Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”- [LN] Volume 1: Chapter 6.3

[LN] Volume 1: Chapter 6.3

This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 6.3
An Unforgettable Birthday Part 3
Translator : PolterGlast
Mars found himself intervening between Rugato and Tima, knocking away the magic bullets that were about to land on her with his Qi-infused fists.
"Mars......-kun?"
Tima muttered his name with a dumbfounded expression on her face. She was so surprised to see Mars come to help her.
Hearing her voice behind his back, Mars asked himself why he had protected her.
When they first met, he did not like Tima's attitude of being timid and avoiding others' gazes.
The fact that she had no courage to talk back to the man who had been rude to her, even though she had achieved A rank, irritated Mars just as much as Nozomu had in the past.
However, her current expression as she struggled to protect Somia showed her strong desire to "not give up".
Seeing her determined expression, Mars couldn't help but step forward to intervene between Tima and Rugato, swinging his fist toward the magic bullets that were closing in on her.
"What are you fooling around for? Just focus on your magic. I'll take care of that old man's magic."
Mars did not turn his head toward her but kept glaring at Rugato, while slowly readying his fist.
The Qi in his clenched fist gradually intensified as it swirled around.
The wind produced by the Qi gradually transformed into a visible mass of wind, which enveloped both of Mars' arms.
[Qi-jutsu・Wind Mass Palm]
A Qi-jutsu in which compressed wind is wrapped around one's fist to increase the power of the strike.
"...... Un, please!"
Receiving Tima's determined voice at his back, which seemed to betray her usual meekness, Mars, unbeknownst to himself, loosened his mouth.
"Nozomu, come and get our weapon."
"Eh?"
Nozomu and Mars left their weapons with the maids when they entered the mansion.
"I know where it's kept, but what about the key? ......."
"Nozomu-kun, here!"
Irisdina tossed a master key of the Francilt mansion to Nozomu.
Both Nozomu and Mars currently have no weapons at their disposal. And their opponent is a monster who can easily deploy multiple magic spells simultaneously. It is obvious that Irisdina and Tima alone are not enough to deal with this monster.
"Alright. Please hang on for a little longer!"
Mars heaved a deep exhale as he watched Nozomu run out of the great hall.
His skin tingled from excitement and nervousness before the pressure exuded from Rugato's body.
"No matter how you look at it, this old man's definitely higher in rank than we are."
"Yeah, he's definitely S-rank, the same rank as Jihad-sensei."
S rank. That is the rank of this powerful man, one of only a few dozen on the Arkmel Continent. It was said that a single individual was capable of taking on hundreds of people.
Mars' emotions grew excited in the face of such a ridiculously powerful opponent.
"...... So, what are we gonna do?"
"That familiar is summoned by the parchment that Rugato has. That means ......"
"We need to do something about the contract that the powerful old man is carrying so carefully, huh?"
Irisdina gave a small nod in response to Mars' words.
"How about we kill that Grim Reaper?"
"If the main cause of the summons is the existence of the contract, then it is unlikely that the contract will be broken that way. Besides, I doubt the old man would give us enough time to do so."
Rugato is an extraordinary being who can manipulate ten different kinds of magic at the same time. Considering the way he deploys his magic, it is not hard to imagine that he can manipulate as many magics as the number of fingers on each hand.
A long-distance attack with magic or Qi-jutsu at the current level of Mars or Irisdina would be ineffective.
The only way for them to achieve victory would be to get up close and make it into a close-quarter battle.
"But isn't it difficult to even get close?"
"Yeah, the difficulty is far too great."
The only magic Rugato used so far was beginner-level magic that only fired magic bullets, and long-distance manipulation magic utilizing a fresh-blood-colored sword that he created.
He might need to use more than one finger when using higher-level magic, but even so, the difference between them would still be far too great.
"Even so, we will win. Mars-kun, I will leave Tima in your care."
"I know."
Upon hearing Irisdina's self-inspiring declaration, Mars also nodded in agreement.
There was no doubt that their opponent was one of the highest-ranked people on this continent. Even so, they had no intention of losing.
After nodding to each other, Mars and Irisdina glared at Rugato.
Rugato, while facing the challenge from both of them, held out his hands like an orchestra conductor with a graceful gesture.
A silent provocation. It was as if he was saying, "Come at me".
In response, Mars and Irisdina assumed their stance and ran across the ground.
◆
Nozomu, who had retrieved the weapons from the storage room, was running down the corridor to get back to Irisdina and the others.
(Rugato-san is probably of the same caliber as Shisho ......)
While moving his legs with all his might, Nozomu calmly surmised the power of Rugato, who had attacked them.
The old gentleman's expression did not change even when he was confronted by Irisdina, Mars, and the others, reminding Nozomu of his master.
Magic and Katana. Although the two's directions differed, Rugato, like Shino, exuded a distinctive atmosphere that a powerful individual would give off.
And at the same time, this atmosphere made Nozomu certain of something.
(Irisdina-san and the others would not be able to win against him ......)
It was a certainty that he could feel only because he had been by the side of someone so powerful and had fought with his life on the line.
Moreover, they also have to stop the familiar that Rugato summoned.
(I have to hurry. But can we win? Without me using "that" ......)
The first thing that came to Nozomu's mind in order to win against Rugato was to release his [Ability Suppression].
However, the fear that had been nestled in Nozomu's heart made him hesitate.
Fear of the unleashed power, fear of being looked at with terrified eyes, fear of being rejected as a monster. These were the thoughts that came to Nozomu's mind.
Because he had always been rejected by those around him, Nozomu's thoughts tended to lean in a negative direction.
His heart sank upon imagining such a future, and his body trembled with fear of falling into loneliness again.
"~, Damn it!
He couldn't help but shout at his own weak heart for trying to escape so easily. He felt disgusted at himself for hesitating. His desire to escape and his frustration at the possibility of losing his friends.
Caught in a dilemma, Nozomu could only speed up his pace, as if to hide his anguish.
◆
Mars continuously repelled the oncoming storm of magic bullets with his fists. Rugato showered Tima with magic bullets without mercy, but Mars, intervening between them, acted as a shield and kept blocking Rugato's magic.
"Ugh! Haaaaaaaa!"
However, no matter how well he strengthened himself with Qi, it was not an easy feat to repel the magic bullets with his bare hands.
And even though the magic bullets were beginner-level magic, they were still the magic cast by someone of S-ranked ability.
Rugato's magic penetrated Mars' Qi-jutsu applied to his fist and tore his hand's skin to shreds.
His fist was already covered in blood, and in some parts, white bones were visible.
Even so, he still kept swinging his fist. Each time he did, blood splattered on the floor, making the white marble floor bloom with blood.
"Haaaaaaaa!"
Irisdina was just as badly outmatched.
Although not as visibly wounded as Mars, she was utterly unable to get close at all.
The fresh blood-colored sword that had been re-generated was hovering in the air, blocking her charge.
Even when she unleashed magic with [Immediate Deployment], Rugato responded instantly, quickly drawing magic formations with his multiple fingers. He deployed his magic as fast as she did, or even faster, and canceled her magic out.
"Haa, haa, haa ......"
"Kuh~...... Mars-kun. Are you ...... alright?"
"Haa, haa ...... shut up, focus on maintaining your magic instead of worrying about me."
Tima called out to Mars out of concern, but she was also quite pale and looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
(This is impossible, huh? It takes a lot of magic power and concentration to maintain such a high level of magic.)
Tima's magic is a highly advanced magic that simultaneously uses all four attributes at the same time. It requires an enormous amount of magic and mental power to both activate and maintain the magic.
Moreover, her body had already been subjected to several rounds of Rugato's magic bullets. Tima herself was by no means resilient, and the wounds she suffered hurt her, slowly but surely eroding her concentration.
The three of them were desperately trying to hold their ground, but the constant barrage of magic began to push them over the edge, and they finally reached their limit.
Just as Mars was unable to handle the oncoming magic bullets and his stance collapsed, a follow-up magic bullet struck him.
"Gaaahhh!"
With a cry, Mars' body was flung away and slammed against the wall.
"This is the end, huh?"
"~!"
With Mars gone and no one left to block Rugato's magic, multiple magic bullets were fired toward Tima.
"Kyaaa!"
There was no way for her to dodge it, and the magic bullets hit her directly. She fell to the floor in a collapsed state.
At the same time, the [The Four Circles of Sealing Formation] that restrained the familiar was broken, and the Grim Reaper was once again freed.
"Tima! Mars-kun!"
Irisdina screamed, but neither of them could move. All they could do was groan.
"Kuh!"
Irisdina tried to reach Somia to stop the Grim Reaper, but she was stopped in her tracks by a magic bullet that passed in front of her at high speed.
Rugato, who had stopped her sprint, released a magic bullet with his free left hand and started a further pursuit while controlling the blood swords with his right hand. Irisdina was completely stuck by the intense attacks, which were incomparably more intense than the previous one.
The familiar of death stopped right in front of Somia and raised its scythe. There was no one who could stop this familiar of death any longer, and Somia's death was certain.
"Somia!"
"N-, no ......"
The older sister desperately called out her sister's name, while the younger sister was engulfed in the fear of death.
The fate of these sisters had already been decided ...... at least, it was supposed to be that way.
"~ !"
A flash of Qi flashed through the air.
The scythe that the Grim Reaper was about to swing down was thrown into the air. Seemed like, both of its hands had been slashed off, and it flew along with the scythe.
"...... Eh."
The thoughts of everyone present stopped, and for a moment, time seemed to stagnate, and that sense of stagnation took over the place. A shadow was sprinting in the midst of that very time.
With a snap, the drawn blade was sheathed back into its scabbard.
The shadow quickly charged toward the Grim Reaper, drew the katana at his waist, and with a flashing motion of his blade, struck a fatal blow.
[Qi-jutsu・Phantom]
The slash, sharpened to the utmost limit, bisected the Grim Reaper's body and shattered the bracelet that served as its core.
The shattered bracelet danced freely through the air near the Grim Reaper, who dissipated like a mist.
"Nozomu ...... -san?"
Somia muttered Nozomu's name as if to make sure.
The girl was amazed by his broad back, different from that of her older sister.
Nozomu did not respond to Somia's question, instead confronting Rugato.
(Shisho. What should I do?)
Without an answer to his own anguish.
◆
Somiriana could only feel frustrated in front of her loved ones who were getting hurt in front of her eyes.
Tima and Mars, who were covered in wounds tried to help her.
Her older sister was still able to fight, but her beautiful body was covered in numerous scars.
Ignoring her older sister, an incarnation of death descended upon her in an attempt to reap Somia's soul.
Somia's body trembled as death approached her, and her throat could not even scream.
She was afraid.
The fear clung to her body along with the chains of the Grim Reaper that bound her body, depriving her of the freedom of her entire body with an icy coldness.
The Grim Reaper swung down its scythe.
Somia closed her eyes tightly as if to escape the pain that would come with her death. It was as if she was running away from reality. It was all she could do.
But no matter how long it took, the pain never came.
When she opened her eyes, she saw not the Grim Reaper, but a man's back.
His back was by no means huge.
But to her at that moment, his back seemed bigger and more dependable than anything else.
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