Ninomiya endured the attack by using his arms as a shield.
This was the Neighbor's counterattack. They had launched a cutting and artillery attack during their initial charge, but the Neighbor had responded with a high-speed tackle.
He of course had his real shields up to take the brunt of the impact. Similarly, he had layered it for a full guard. Once his body was lifted from the ground, he fired on him using Meteora and used the explosion to move back.
…But he still hit me with this much force!?
He slammed back-first into the wall.
He did not curl up his back. Even if he was in a trion-made body, the fear of what would happen came to him naturally. He distributed the impact across the entire surface of his back and even slammed his arms against the wall to let all the remaining force escape into the wall. However..."
"Kh..."
He could feel phantom pains.
His mind registered what had happened and what it could have done to his real body, setting his mind to make him think there was actual pain.
When hitting something back-first, certain parts would hit first and the joints would shift or twist in a strange way. So he had tried to ensure it all hit at the same time. But..."
…The harder material makes this much of a difference!?
The solid parts sent a powerful vibration into his body. He normally could not feel it, but when taking an impact like that at such great speeds, it was like taking a hammer blow to each shoulder.
When his mind finally calmed down and the phantom pains ended, he knew he would want to vomit once this was over.
From the very first move, I'm completely at his mercy, he thought.
"Kah…"
He finally managed to get a breath out and he fell down the stone wall.
It was a two meter drop. That height was nothing for someone who had jumped around multiple buildings, but his knees wobbled and…
"—"
They held. He was a former A-Rank captain. He was dusted by the debris and the focus of his eyes wandered, but he managed to speak.
What he had needed to protect was in his arms.
"Damn faker. …We endured the enemy's attack."
.
"Figured as much, idiot cosplayer."
With that, Yuki took a step away from Ninomiya's arms.
Ninomiya responded with his eyebrows raised.
"I was only repaying you for catching me earlier. In other words…"
He stepped forward.
Yuki tried to support him, but Ninomiya ignored it as he walked ahead.
He would not rest his back on the wall. He simply continued forward and more light returned to his eyes with each step.
"Now we are even, damn faker. I will not save you the next time. …You need to figure out why the enemy is unharmed even after a hit from your cutting power."
Great, thought Yuki. Guess he's also gone back a bit. Back to when he was A-Rank.
…No, he is now back to just Ninomiya Masataka…!
Up ahead, the white dragon Neighbor named Othóni slid his body along while he crouched low and aimed his right foreleg toward them. Since he swung his tail to keep his balance, he would be charging along an arc instead of a straight line.
This would be difficult to intercept. And…
"Here he comes! Masataka!"
.
Ninomiya saw an explosion.
It was a white burst of speed and a white collision. At that size, the word "tackle" was no longer appropriate.
It was an explosion of power plowing toward them.
Realizing this would be impossible to stop, Ninomiya focused on evasion instead.
He summoned a cube of trion and used its explosion as a thruster to leap right.
He moved away from Yuki. Just as he thought he had put a decent distance between them, a gust of wind passed by to his left.
Even Ninomiya's eyes could only see it as a white wind and it was accompanied by a seemingly solid surge of air.
But the Neighbor used more than just speed and wind.
…This is the identity of the previous attack!
Ninomiya made a prediction about the seemingly invisible attack that had slammed them into the wall.
He had been hit by this once before. But instead of fearing it, he worked to understand it.
So he responded based on his prediction.
He spun around a bit and used a shield to jump down and to the right.
As his knees slid across the dirt floor, something scraped along his cheek. And...
"…!"
A horizontal blast of wind struck his entire body.
He was hit, but it was not a direct hit. That was…
…His tail!?
He clearly saw it for just a moment. Something like a giant white whip had straightened out as it raced forward.
That swinging movement could easily overtake the white dragon Neighbor's charge.
But Ninomiya knew why he did it. If his tail was extended behind him, it would act as a weight and hinder his speed when he accelerated forward.
So he swung his tail forward. And he charged forward at the same time. He initially accelerated using his great strength, and once that lifted him from the ground…
…The forward momentum of his tail gives him a second burst of acceleration…!
That was why he had so much difficulty reading his movements.
There was no point in reading his movements when he could reaccelerate that giant body in midair while already moving so quickly. The two boys felt like they were moving quickly, but from his perspective…
"He's just using a ridiculous amount of speed to guarantee he can crush us…!"
Ninomiya raised his voice and was blown away by the wind, but he also took action.
He used Meteora as a thruster to slide along the ground while...
"Asteroid!"
.
Ninomiya used the bullets as a foundation to view the white dragon Neighbor's path.
How would the enemy respond to the bullets he had fired which was fired as a siege weapon?
…Will he dodge…!?
He did not.
The white dragon Neighbor kept his back turned to the high-speed shells and took a zigzagging saw blade of a path.
He was not just moving out of their way. He made a game of passing between them and letting them fly past.
"—!"
Ninomiya sensed the enemy's next action.
The white dragon Neighbor swung his tail to accelerate, but this was not just to move forward.
After ducking to let the shells pass him by, he made an immediate leap to the left and right to move back in front of them.
…That's insane…!
But that was how this Neighbor attacked. He used the physical strength of a high-spec Neighbor to perform a massive charge with overwhelming speed. And not only was his accuracy incredible, but he could take evasive action even in the middle of an attack.
He was a monster.
Wind exploded and the entire hall shook as the white dragon Neighbor tore into the ground to spin around.
He used the turning motion to bite through the first of the three bullets he had just passed and he swung his head to avoid the remaining two.
By that point, he was facing Ninomiya.
Just as Ninomiya realized another charge was imminent, he heard a voice in the wind.
"Senkū...Idōgetsu!"
.
On the other side of the Neighbor from Ninomiya, Yuki raced through the wind and ran below the Neighbor.
…How did my cutting attack work!?
This was the second time.
The first time had not worked.
He had tried to attack head-on as he charged, but he had adjusted for it.
And during the following charge, he had avoided his body, but his tail had come for her instead. If Ninomiya had not covered for him, he might have been killed instantly. So for his next try…
"How about an attack on the thinner belly armor!?"
With that, trion spray burst out.
This was not a cut. The cut had been negated and its power had reverted to trion and burst.
…So that's it!
Yuki understood now. This enemy naturally possessed one method of defending against Senkū and other weapons that tried to cut or slash.
"Does his white armor just made the slash slide off!?"
But what happened next overturned those words.
As Yuki looked to Idōgetsu's crescent blade, it appeared to be wrapped in light.
Except it was not.
It was not the blade that was shining. All of Othóni' white armor was emitting light.
Yuki recognized that light.
"A trion cannon!?"
It can't be, he thought. Aren't trion cannons fired from the mouth or thrusters?
But the answer was simple.
"Indeed," said Othóni as he prepared to attack. "I am a white dragon Crown Trigger. Something stronger than most others. …My entire body can launch a dragon cannon."
After a beat, light exploded from his entire body.
The underground hall rumbled with light.
In the upper hall, Toby received a direct hit from a trion cannon.
…Kh…!
Even with his reflex Side Effect active, he was helpless in midair. However...
…I have to do something!
Several dozen defense barriers opened courtesy of those around him and they were all shattered in the span of a single breath.
A Scorpion was extended toward Takeshi and Suzume and he used them to pull himself toward the two teammtes. But…
"…!"
The Neighbor's light had been weakened by the defense barriers, but it was still on its way. And it was still large enough to harm the two behind him as well.
It was going to hit. However…
Mantis!
Toby swung his arm and sent an attack down toward the approaching power.
It was the piece of the ceiling he had wrapped a Scorpion around when leaping above Lekfo. He forcefully broke it off and slammed it down toward the trion cannon.
"…How about that!?"
This would not be enough to stop it, but the trion cannon lost further power and scattered somewhat as it shattered the solid mass.
The trion cannon still had power left, but at this point…
"Suzume!"
He looked back to see Suzume there.
Suzume had already started up Turning Point, the base foundation of her Side Effect dances.
"Borderline staying and shouting."
It played a song. Suzume sang and danced along.
"Hoping for the next future."
More and more shields opened between the trion cannon and the B-Rank squad. This was Suzume's Summit Dance defense.
"Borderline flying again."
It reached Toby and collided with the trion cannon.
.
Light burst and scattered like water.
As Toby watched, the shields displaying the Summit Dance flowers shattered, but the trion cannon was also split.
The raw power did not reach him.
It had been blocked.
Toby spun around and landed. And behind him…
"Let's grab that smile."
White lines flew out in time with Suzume's song.
Those were the paths of the two shots Takeshi had fired.
.
Lekfo gasped.
…That was fast…!
This was nothing like his former combat experience. In the past, it had taken a bit longer to fire an attack powerful enough to affect a Crown Trigger.
But the times had changed. It could be seen as Miden's very own history, but if even they had polished their combat techniques...
…They probably grew stronger in their battles with us!
There were no records of the groups' activities. Because they were not a part of history.
But that experience had remained in a different form. That is…
"The evolution of humanity's resistance!"
Pórta saw the path of the cluster bullets and took action. He used his power as a Crown Trigger.
.
Pórta vanished from Toby's vision.
"—"
He could only see Takeshi's cluster shots as they passed through the broken ceiling and disappeared into the forest and sky.
Then the #6 Attacker raised his voice.
"Chisato!"
He and the Shiraishi Daughter immediately took action.
The #6 Attacker protected everyone with a line of trion light formed from a Kōgetsu slash. And the Shiraishi Daughter…
"Now this is dangerous."
She rapidly pulled lances out of empty air and stacked them up horizontally to build a massive lance shield.
Some light appeared without warning.
The Shiraishi Daughter's lances were shattered with a diagonal cut. As for the #6 Attacker's extended slash…
"…Nh!?"
He suddenly closed his spread arms and there was a slash running through his arm.
The #6 Attacker's body had been split with a creaking sound.
…Just how strong is that cutting power!?
As Toby wondered that, the #6 Attacker took a step back and the Shiraishi Daughter did the same.
"There, maybe?"
With an instantaneous snap, she grabbed a surviving trion lance from the air and then threw it.
It flew, and…
"Ohh, that was close."
Pórta appeared there in the center of the hall.
He had just leaned back to dodge the trion lance.
Just then, Toby noticed the Shiraishi Daughter giving him an instantaneous glance.
It only lasted a moment, but Toby sensed meaning in her eyes. Namely…
Iko: "Oh, so you wanna eat some steak."
Ortlinde: "The scary part is that you're not exactly wrong."
Lobo: "I have no idea what that means."
But there was no time. Pórta had already retaken his combat stance and he was leaning toward Toby once more.
He was going to charge. And the Shiraishi Daughter chose that moment to speak.
Ortlinde: "This is the same as the night before last."
Eh? thought Toby. Behind him, Takeshi had yet to create his next cube of trion. Pórta was learning, so he would make this charge in the gap between Takeshi's shots
He swayed his body toward them.
"Here I go."
And he vanished just as he started running.
He became invisible once more.
.
Pórta viewed the enemy while erasing his visual form.
The laser user was not yet ready for his next attack. That meant his enemy was not prepared to counterattack.
But there was still something they could use: a bullet.
The laser user's bullets could be used as direct objects instead of projectiles.
Of course, it would be difficult to rival the power of a fired bullet with human strength or even Trigger-enhanced strength. So they would not attempt a penetrative attack.
…It will be a scattering attack!
Of course it will, thought Pórta.
It was an obvious tactic depending on how the enemy viewed his invisibility technique.
He might not be visible, but his giant body remained. Even if he silenced his footsteps, he was still there.
So they would use a scattering attack to hit an entire surface
And a trion attack would be able to destroy his stealth. That was the basic strategy.
So as she danced, the dancer held a cube in the palm of her right hand. It had to be heavy, but she swung it around like it was a light bag.
"There's something I will protect."
She aimed for his chest.
"No matter what I must abandon."
And she threw it.
In that instant, Pórta moved with his visible form entirely erased.
.
Toby sensed the enemy's presence.
He had some information from Takeshi and he had him more or less located, but he was not entirely confident.
After all, this enemy was massive and powerful. A single mistake could get them all annihilated.
So he looked to two people for further proof of what he was sensing.
The first was Pórta. That girl had been facing straight forward this entire time.
She looked very nervous.
And the other…
…Those guys.
Some of their eyes met. He thought it might have been a coincidence, but then the branch Operator among them also looked him in the eye.
Once he noticed, the girl nodded and pointed her right thumb downwards.
Toby found it a little worrying that he could almost hear the Operator's voice saying "go get him" in his mind. Nevertheless, he took action.
He had the confidence he needed to win this.
And a moment later, the scattering bullets exploded in the air.
.
A roar rang out.
Chisato saw the black Neighbor appear in the space ahead of them.
He had been hit by the scattering power of the bullet.
But it was not a direct hit. It had only grazed him lightly on the front left shoulder. However…
…It hit!?
Chisato questioned that. But Pórta shook his head as dark armor scattered from his shoulder.
"That was a close one…!"
What does this mean? wondered Chisato with a frown.
Based on her understanding of the situation, this should not have happened.
…That shouldn't have hit!
Chisato questioned herself about this.
But Pórta crouched low as if to push aside her confusion.
And he started forward.
Just then, the Kotowari Squad Captain fired his next shot with perfect timing.
This third one was a laser-like beam.
The flash of light was launched with a great and heated noise, but…
"—!"
Pórta vanished again. He swung his body forward and used his charging motion to disappear into thin air.
Everything about his motion seemed to fit together, so as Chisato watched it play out…
…This is dangerous.
She drew eight trion lances at once and prepared to intervene.
She leaned forward and warmed up her legs.
"Wait, Chisato."
The Attacker to her left interrupted. He pointed at the floor.
"You were correct. …And someone convinced of the same thing is asking for assistance."
Sure enough, Chisato saw something in front of where the Neighbor had disappeared and the laser vanished into the sky. Something was moving toward them along the floor.
…A trion whip!
His voice seemed to reach her from overhead.
"I dunno when he learned how to use Mantis, but this'll be a good change of pace."
.
Undetectable Pórta charged toward the enemy.
He raced forward in a pose much like a human with their hands on the ground and their knees pulled up to their chest.
He aimed straight ahead at the throats of the fighters whose gazes were racing through the air diagonally up from them in search of the vanished opponent.
First the wolf, then the dancer, and lastly the laser user.
They had done it.
Yes, they had done it.
…Ohh…!
Because he was undetectable, he did not roar aloud.
Pórta moved in to hunt the enemy.
.
The Crown Trigger ran.
Those longer years ago, he had lost his creator without a chance to face them.
Later years ago, the attack had been so sudden he was forced to retreat.
So this was his first time holding a proper battle that allowed for introductions. So…
…Let's do this…!
As he charged forward, Pórta saw something out of the corner of his eye on the left: lances.
The wolf's trion whips had taken them from the hood girl to the left. There were six of them in all.
They could not stop the Crown Trigger's charge, but…
…It can't be…!
Pórta's bestial eyes widened as he saw something in the center of his vision. Unlike the two people behind him, the gray wolf was not looking up into the air. He was directly facing him with his eyes closed.
"…!"
Pórta gasped, but this was not worth feeling shock over.
He saw this as a continuation and a beginning.
It was a continuation of the battle from those years ago, but it was also their first confrontation.
So he sent out every attack he could muster.
He used everything for the hunt.
.
Everyone in the hall saw sparks scattering around Toby.
But not from a swordfight.
He had no opponent.
His body was swaying as he swung his arms and whips around like some kind of one-boy show.
"…!"
The gray wolf rapidly sent out the trion lances. Each time, sparks and light scattered.
The sounds were loud and numerous. And finally…
"The sun rises from the east to the west."
He sped up as if pushed on by Suzume's song.
Countless Summit Dance shields appeared around the wolf.
"To shine on you today."
As they shattered, Toby did not even bother raising his lances anymore. He instead used the momentum provided when the lances were deflected by the unseen enemy.
"Change the new world."
Within the sparks, the wolf incorporated his attacks and other movements into a dance of his own.
"Change the new world."
.
…What the heck is this?
Kimura honestly admitted she had no idea what was going on.
Toby had his eyes closed while he danced within a storm of endless clangs, light, and sparks.
He spun his arms, twisted his body, and used it all to provide more speed as he sent out the lances.
The lances were launched from his hands, swung around by his whip-blades, and…
…Deflected…!
But the wolf did not allow the lances to fly away. Like a fanged mouth snapping shut, he would catch the airborne lances once more. With his eyes still closed, he started forward as if in search of something.
"—!"
He advanced step by step, and…
"Have some more, Kotowari Attacker!"
The Shiraishi Daughter tossed the wolf four more lances. They flew toward the advancing storm of sparks and light, but once they were within range…
"They disappeared?"
No.
The noise and sparks suddenly doubled in intensity. And Toby leaned forward while swaying his body to the left and right.
"Whoa!"
Kimura could see Toby's hands shoot out and grab the airborne lances' shafts for just an instant.
But that was as far as she could see.
Instead, something else came into view: the enemy's blades.
Several dozen simultaneously-fired scythes of light drew arcs in the air.
Each glowing blade was twenty meters long.
They were made of trion. They must have been too pale to notice normally, but now that they were overheating, a green light surrounded them.
That was the enemy's primary weapon.
But Kimura was confused as she watched Toby send his own unseen lances to clash with those rapidly-fired blades.
"How can Awdry see those?"
They had to be nearly invisible at that speed, so how could he see them coming?
"Toby's got some good reflexes," said the idiot with a smile in his voice. "I don't doubt that he's just letting his body take over so his reflexes can go wild. ...And that lets him see the coming attacks. Or react to them, I guess."
"You idiot, human reflexes, no matter if they're a Side Effect, can't react that fast, can they?"
It was not the idiot who answered that question.
It was Amatori. She was sitting with her knees together behind Oki's crouched form.
"The movement he has is like a beast already...and the song and dance guide him along a track," she explained. "So Awdry-senpai...is being helped by Misaki-senpai and Kotowari-senpai's voices and actions."
.
Toby was intoxicated by the freedom he held.
Two days ago and the morning of the current day, he had been restless due to knowing who he would be fighting in the upcoming B-Rank War match. That simple fact, combined with finding his real equal in Asuka, had caused him to start building something up inside so he could enjoy himself in his next real battle. It did make him feel some Attacker-style guilt.
But here, something even more powerful reached him: support.
Both of his teammate's support.
He had not gotten their support in battle ever since he had met them. He had learned not to rely on them during battles since they were all pretty selfish when it came to battles.
That sort of foolishness had led to many losses and put them to the brink of destruction.
No matter what his former captain and Operator said, he had said he would come in to take their places in battle and then failed to do so.
So he had decided he would use their support to achieve victory.
He would vindicate himself using the very support that he had refused due to his carelessness.
In the past, it had been a simple selfish desire to fight. But now, he would offer everything to obtain victory with them. And...
…Here it comes!
Within the many attacks, the slight movement of his teammates reached him from the enemy's body.
It was faint, like it was being pushed passed him, but that was exactly why it sharpened his reflexes as it stroked across his body and brushed through his hair.
It tickled.
The more he crossed blades with the enemy, the more of his reflexes moved him so he could reach them from the blades and wind.
Compared to what he had felt when around them normally, the support made him want to keep moving in time with their movements and voices.
That great support mixed with his memories as it embraced his dancing body.
It intoxicated him.
He wanted to loosen his beloved hat and let it reach his head and the rest of his body. He wanted it to lift his head, pass through his limbs, and tease the back of his body and his feet.
But the support was not strong enough for that. So...
"…Is that all!?"
Toby raised his voice with his eyes still closed. He danced, swung his body around, and launched the lances as he spoke.
"You need to hit me with more than that!
.
Pórta clashed with the enemy.
He raised both his arms and sent his long scythe blades forward.
…You fool…!
He increased the number of blades from tens to hundreds and moved in to crush the enemy.
…Begone…!
The trion blades glowed red as they overheated and he slammed them toward the gray wolf.
But the enemy endured. He knocked back his consecutive slashes and moved forward.
How could he do this? These attacks used all of his great strength as a Crown Trigger. He converted his cannon trion into ultra-thin trion blades, extended them to more than twenty meters in length, and sent them forward with his immense strength.
How could he stop his attacks and…
…Advance on me like this!?
It did not matter if his attacks were horizontal, vertical, swung like a scythe, or jabbed forward.
"…!"
They all harmed the gray wolf's skin. These attacks were made after shattering the many defenses placed around him by the songstress.
But those wounds were immediately covered.
That was due to them not having enough time to open any more than they were. Small shields were placed to cover them up as soon as they appeared.
"Allow me to teach you something." The wolf's cheeks were pulsing and his tongue poked out from his lips. "Do you know what happened to everything after you threw yourselves down here? ...Neighbors are nonhumans to us. So in what eventually lead to the creation of Border, Neighbors were persecuted. At first, it was only the nonhuman-like ones, since we only knew of those ones. But it soon spread to the ones who appeared to be humans. Then again, there are only a few that I know of. So..."
So what?
"In order to fit in better with humans, the humanoid Neighbors decided to become a part of Border and most know nothing of them. It might be commonplace, it might not be, but in the end, isn't it like we're putting the same side against each other? Either way, there was something we humans had learned through all of this, and something else we gained."
Solid sounds rang out.
"How to truly fight against nonhumans."
Those words were accompanied by another sound.
"Us humans had developed techniques for defeating nonhumans. We were behind them all, so what happened when those nonhumans began helping out?"
The sound did not stop. But what sound was it? And…
…Flowers!?
Pórta saw red flowers scattering all around them.
Is that blood? he wondered.
It was not.
It was his blades. The hundreds of overheated blades had all shattered.
Countless pieces of red light scattered and a closed-eyed smile spoke from beyond them.
"Unfortunately, I'm just a brat who hates seeing others put down when they want freedom. ...I have even gone so far as to speak to only you in this battle. So there was something I was taught while under Yuki's care."
However...
"I know enough to deal with powerful Neighbors."
.
Chisato rewrote her mental estimation of the Kotowari Attacker's skill.
…He's fighting a much rougher battle than I imagined.
Chisato had expected the boy to primarily fight in a more elegant and classy way.
But that was not the case.
He truly was a wolf. He charged in toward the enemy, pursued them, and latched his jaws onto their throat before they could attack.
He did not even check to see what his enemy was doing. He would rather crush them than observe them. And if that was not good enough, he would endure the attack and then go for the throat.
To pull that off, he did not adjust to match his opponent. He simply kept his own balance using just the direction of his own power and he made the battlefield his own territory.
…He really is a pack of wolves.
That made him a difficult opponent for someone like Chisato who carefully cornered her opponent and made sure she was guaranteed to finish them off.
"But I'm impressed by his strategy too. …He provoked his opponent to get below him."
The Kotowari Attacker appeared to still be receiving the attacks as the trion blades were swung down toward him.
But he was not.
That was clear from the continuous solid sounds and the glowing red fragments of the shattered blades.
"Even with the Neighbor's strength behind the attacks, he targets a point without that force behind it. The base of a sword's guard doesn't pick up much speed even when it is swung. It does gain decent power, though."
"Oh." The Suzunari Captain looked toward Chisato. "That is a lot like what Kō explained to me before. Similar to a blade, the speed at the tip and the speed at the base are different, aren't they?"
"Yeah, that's right. That black dragon Neighbor is producing hundreds of blades right now. If you're at the tip of those attacks, you have to deal with the full speed of those slashes. But if you move in closer, the attacks are a lot denser, but their speed is lower. And…when the slashes are slower, targeting them and shattering them with a hit from the side is a simple enough task."
Even more solid sounds rang out. They were high-pitched sounds that carried into the distance. They never seemed to stop.
"We will see the enemy's trick before long."
As soon as Chisato said that, the gray wolf sank down even sooner than she had expected.
Hundreds of red blades had been swung down from overhead to crush him.
…Well done.
But the Kotowari Attacker ducked even further down and charged within the arcs drawn by the blades.
From there, he stood back up while carrying trion lances horizontally on his back.
"That hit."
The momentum of the hundreds of slashes collided with the trion lances that rose up in a counter attack.
Countless sounds much like breaking glass rang through the air.
The Neighbor's hundreds of blades had all been shattered at once.
.
Red flowers scattered. The red lights danced and blossomed like a blizzard.
Within that storm, Pórta watched his enemy while he kept his form hidden.
The enemy was there. He had his hips lowered and lances jabbing overhead from his back.
"—"
He discarded them to either side.
His lances were no longer usable. Not one of the ten lances had survived and only the shaft remained for four of them.
But, thought Pórta. I still have blades leftover.
Some of his hundreds of shattered blades had survived. That was thanks to the absolute difference in quantity.
He only needed one to cut down the enemy before his eyes.
So he gathered strength in his arms. Between his left and right arms, he had a total of seven blades.
So this will work, he thought as he raised the attack.
"Oh…!"
A voice escaped his lips. He was about to settle one part of what had happened in the two different years. So…
"Ohhh…!"
He relaxed all excess strength. The slashes slipped surprisingly smoothly through the air as they left his hands.
Losing all the other blades must have lightened the load because all air resistance seemed to have left those seven swords as they moved in toward the gray wolf.
They were going to hit.
But the gray wolf moved just before they did.
He suddenly kneeled down and kept his body low.
Was he buying time until the blades hit? Was he shifting where they would hit? Or…
…It can't be…!
The kneeling pose gave Pórta a view of something beyond him: an enemy.
The laser user was aiming an attack his way.
"Kh."
It was a scattering attack. That was why the gray wolf had gotten down.
Meanwhile, Pórta was in the middle of swinging down his swords.
He was unable to dodge and the blast hit him.
.
Explosive pressure raced out and the power passed through him.
The undetectable Neighbor's trick was revealed to everyone there.
Twelve meters ahead of where Toby kneeled, a figure was nearly blown away by Takeshi's cluster laser shot but managed to endure it.
It was not a dragon-like apperance.
"A person…!?" shouted Kimura.
A slender-faced man in black clothing stood there with shimmering heat rising from his entire body.
"…Tatsuhito, he's just like you."
Oki slowly nodded.
"I guess there's more strange people like Iko-san. ...But this would explain how that black dragon Neighbor disappeared. In the instant after the transformation, he hid himself with the same sort of invisibility as Chameleon. And his power's probably too much for that kind of body, so he sent it out as blades in a way only a humanoid form could."
Meaning...
"This was a trick takin' advantage of the human fear that tells us a Neighbor like that would never take on a weaker form."
.
Toby looked to his opponent.
His hair stood on end and his skin was dark. Trion leaked from his entire body and he looked to him with his hips lowered. His arms were held forward in a guarding pose, but in truth…
…That's just the result of swinging those blades.
The others who had retreated began to speak when they saw the truth of Pórta's undetectable form.
It started with the idiot.
Life: "Y'know…"
Lobo: "Hm? What is it, Jinsei?"
Life: "Why is he wearing clothes?"
Almost Everyone: "Why do you always say the things we're trying to tactfully avoid…!?"
When someone as large as a dragon-sized Neighbor transformed, the "excess" was likely cycled through their body.
His human form would also be drawn from there, so it was not a simple transformation.
But Toby spoke words of thanks.
Lobo: "I need to thank you, Chika. You too, Take."
Rice Girl: "Eh? F-for what?"
Lobo: "You had figured out the enemy's trick from the start, hadn't you?"
When the Neighbor had first appeared in front of them, Chika had gave a strange noise.
Once reaching the start of the fight, she had reached a hand out into empty space and had not looked directly at the Neighbor.
Pórta had appeared before them as a dragon Neighbor, but Chika had seemed confused.
If she had thought of him as a dragon Neighbor, she would have said so.
That meant Chika must have noticed something else.
Something with a dragon's presence but a human form.
"You sensed the enemy at about the same height as us, didn't you?"
Toby had used the direction and height of Chika's gaze to confirm his suspicious that the enemy had a human form. Chisato's reaction had also helped since that girl had probably seen through the trick as well.
"And of course, something seemed off about the height that the movement coming at me was at."
Takeshi had gathered all of that information and sent it to him.
"So," said Toby while facing his enemy. He spoke to that man who was surrounded by shimmering from all the trion spilling from his body. "I won't say anything. I know Neighbors don't want human pity. But I'll do the bare minimum required of me as a Combatant."
Toby stood proudly tall and raised both hands.
A trion sword - Kōgetsu - flew into each one.
He wrapped his fingers around them and he threw one of them upwards.
It spin high above and, due to the weight of the tip, it fell with the point of the fang shape aimed down.
With a dull sound it stabbed into the earthen ground right in front of Pórta.
Toby raised his trion blade in front of his forehead and asked a question.
"What will you do?"
.
The Neighbor roared.
"…!"
He instantly abandoned his human form and took on a dragon form that was shining with green trion.
…Kh!
His entire body ached. He had been hit with an anti-giant blast while in his humanoid form. He was lucky to be in one piece and for all his senses to be functioning.
But he forced himself to move.
…I must do this! Because….
"I will settle this, humanity!"
On the third step, strength returned to his knees. So…
"I will finally settle this…!"
Pórta approached as a Crown Trigger. As a mass of power, a symbol of fear, and a representation of absolute selfishness.
"—!"
He charged.
The hall shook, he raised his body, and he attempted to slam all of his power toward the Combatant before his eyes.
He used his forelegs, his jaws, and his entire massive body.
He moved forward, but he heard a sound and saw something.
Ahead and at the ground, the wolf had raised his trion sword.
Some things were reflected in the black handle: his changing form, the sky, and...
…An attack!?
The gray wolf asked once more.
"What will you do?"
.
Takeshi gasped.
…Is he going to dodge it!?
All of the cluster shots he had fired so far had had no homing ability but had some trajectory control. So he fired a laser this time.
After flying into the distance, they had flown in a large arc and returned. That was all that their trajectory control could do as the newly used Viper Laser, but that created a time-lagged surprise attack on the enemy. He had fired three such lasers.
But Toby must have let him see them out of a weird sense of chivalry.
Pórta chose to evade.
Without even looking back, the black dragon Neighbor swung his body left and right to avoid the three lasers.
His entire body was badly injured, so it had to have been difficult to move much. But with a great roar and tremor, the black dragon Neighbor sent dirt flying and completed his evasion. And from there…
"Ohhhhh…"
He sent a sword out in a straight line.
The ultra-thin blade extended from his raised right foreleg and he sent it toward Toby.
But Toby turned to face Takeshi.
He held his Kōgetsu's hilt between his right index and middle finger, swayed like a dancer, and shut his eyes. He spoke with a smile on his lips.
"You guys. ...Your support was the best feeling in the entire world."
The wolf's instantaneous action sprang up along the hands of a clock.
In an instant, it pierced the descending blade from the side as if scooping it up.
It shattered.
The Neighbor's final blade was destroyed.
.
Pórta realized something.
He could not move his legs.
Even though he had been performing so many evasive actions and had just been charging forward.
…What is this?
His legs would not move as if the soles of his feet had sprouted root.
He tried moving forward.
…No.
It's no use, he decided.
He could not move. So…
"Fine, then."
With that, he collapsed forward.
And he belatedly remembered that the sun was shining on the center of this hall.
That warm sunlight made him sleepy. And…
…That's right.
Small, firefly-like lights rose from his body.
That was the trion light that composed his body.
His body as a Crown Trigger had been around for so long, but it was old, falling apart, and attempting to cease functioning.
I can't believe this, he thought. I really have gotten old.
So he simply said what he had to say.
"Be careful down there. Othóni is taking this seriously. And…"
While lying on the ground, he sensed a movement within the underground.
"These underground areas are going to collapse soon. …So hurry."
.
Takeshi nodded at the Neighbor's words.
It was true the underground was both rumbling and…
Ortlinde: "They're tilting. Only a bit though. Still, they were already somewhat tilted, so I doubt this is going to stop."
Manager: "I guess I should ask Ōji and Kurauchi to prepare for a rescue…"
"That's right," said the others as they exchanged a glance and hurried toward the passageway deeper into the underground.
Takeshi's group followed. They first moved into the sunlight in the center of the hall.
While he ran, Takeshi pushed on Toby's back. So did Suzume as she caught up from behind.
"Toby, are you tired?"
"Nah, I'm still fine."
"If you have to say 'still', then you're honestly not fine at all. …Get someone to rub your chin later."
Since Toby gave a sigh of bitter laughter instead of protesting, he must have been truly exhausted. Mentally at least.
However, there was a Neighbor in the center of the hall. He was falling asleep and scattering trion into the sky.
When he passed by, Takeshi decided to do whatever he could to help.
He had permission to do anything while in the underground, so...
"My apologizes."
He came to a stop and paused for a moment, but then he fixed the surrounding area with his lasers set to low.
There was not much he could do, and this Neighbor had seemed to have it rough. He figured it was only polite to make a small grave.
When he did, the Neighbor moved his head a little.
"You."
He was large, but once he paid attention, he realized he had the voice of a child.
He sensed no ill will or malice there. And his teammates detected no hostility.
So Takeshi responded.
"What is it?"
.
Takeshi listened to the Neighbor's words.
"Do you always do that?"
Behind him, Toby stopped and took a fighting stance, so Takeshi gestured for him to relax.
…Always?
Did he mean the grave?
If so, his answer was obvious.
"I have only recently learned that I am far behind when it comes to being a 'human'. But I know for a fact that sending someone off in a grave is at least proper etiquette. That is how I decided to do things, at least. I want to make sure I understand others well enough by the end of my life, that way they can do the same for me."
"...Is that so?" asked the Neighbor. "Hey, I just remembered... Do you know...a family that...is like a burning sun...and has a name like that as well?"
Takeshi's eyebrows rose somewhat.
…Well, yes, I do…
While wondering why he was asking, Takeshi answered his question.
"Our former captain has an original name like that."
The Neighbor opened his eyes a bit at that.
His weak eyes looked his way and then looked to the objects piercing the ground around him.
He saw the three penetrating lasers there.
"I…"
Takeshi did not know what he was trying to say, but a thought occurred to him.
He had dodged his trick shot in the very end. So…
"You defeated me here."
When he heard that, the Neighbor narrowed his eyes.
"Ohhh."
He let out a long breath. He was most likely using the last of the air remaining in his body.
"…At long last."
The battle intensified.
The white dragon Neighbor named Othóni released a trion cannon of explosive light all around him and turned the other way without checking on the results.
The enemy had moved beneath him to use his Trigger's cutting power, so he had released the trion cannon to show him it was useless.
From the enemy's perspective, the counterattack was sent down from above.
That should have been impossible to dodge, but…
…Did he avoid it!?
He was almost certain of his prediction: The enemy had worked together to avoid his trion cannon.
He followed that prediction by looking to the wall.
There was a hole gouged there.
A cluster shot had caused that.
The enemy was not there, but it clearly told him that the enemy had indeed avoided his trion cannon.
How?
The method was simple and the sound he heard explained it.
It was the echoing sound of something beinf fired. It was a simple sound of the air being torn and split. But there was only one person on this battlefield who could produce it.
He turned around and looked over to see a man wielding cubes of trion by the opposite wall.
"Did you fire on your companion!?"
And he heard another sound: racing footsteps circling around behind him.
They belonged to…
…The fast Miden warrior!
No. He knew what to call this boy. He had heard it up above before through the hole in the upstairs part of the underground.
...He is the Yagura Branch Representative.
The enemy had definitely been knocked away by a bullet.
.
…That was a close one!
In the instant of his evasion, Yuki had seen the approaching bullet and recalled the Kotowari Squad match before last.
He remembered Toby's battle with Yuba.
Back then, he had kicked off of his Scorpions to leap. Each bullet fired had been a guiding point to use for steps.
But those had been bullets and blades. He had caught the first shot with a Scorpon blade to raise his speed like a running start.
This was different. It was a cluster shot and Yuki could not use Idōgetsu as a running start shield.
But there was a way to accelerate.
…Take the ideal action like I did back when I was a fighter!
He had to repeatedly open and control instances of Kiyome - Everyone likes to call it something different, so I will too! Let's go with White Chase! - to add extra precision to his movements. He would use the acceleration Trigger to fine-tune and eliminate all hesitation from each and every one of his body's actions.
His body had been built for speed, after all.
Doing so required placing a great number of White Chase instances on his body. If one of the Triggers on any part of his body were to break, it would create a ripple effect across his entire body and send him flying.
But what if he used that to accelerate?
I can do this, decided Yuki.
…But…
Now that I think about it, that was a dangerous thing Toby did during a match.
He probably trained with Suzu beforehand, but that would be with her support. Looking at it that way, he must have been really worked up when he fought Yuba and Kazuaki.
Yes.
That was dangerous. And so is this.
Very, very risky. That idiot cosplayer is asking for a lot, expecting me to react to a cluster shot without warning like this.
This is different from the bullets others use. This is so much bigger and more destructive.
So if possible, I would like to find some other method.
"Oh, the shot is right in front of me."
.
A single thought entered Ninomiya's mind in the instant Yuki avoided the trion cannon: That was a direct hit.
After all, the damn faker had been entirely defenseless.
Despite having a trion cannon approaching fast, Ninomiya slapped his forehead.
But the word "idiot" was not what filled Ninomiya mind.
…Die (just once)!
Oh, wait.
...That already happened. In that case, die (once more)!
He added the parentheses in his mind because he had trouble deciding whether it was better with or without that part.
But then he saw something else.
An incredible number of Trigger sign frames appeared across the back of the damn faker's body.
It looked to Ninomiya like the boy's movements slowed.
But that was not the case. The initial speed was slow, but it clearly accumulated. And by the time the shell arrived…
"—"
The damn faker looked his way.
He lightly raised his right hand. It was like a casual greeting.
Ninomiya had no idea what this meant, but…
"…!"
He leaped. And Othóni' explosive light burst across the hall as if to pursue him.
This was the same process as before.
"Honestly," said Ninomiya as the battle continued. "How much do I have to go along with your nonsense?"
.
Well done, thought Othóni.
He had met several acceleration Trigger users in the past.
His power was light and speed, so people who wanted the same had always stood in his way.
They had faced him using trion-based Triggers, trion-alteration Triggers, other types of Triggers, machines, and even martial arts techniques.
When avoiding his trion cannon, this enemy had reached a rare level of speed.
He did not often see someone with that kind of instantaneous speed.
Not often. So Othóni spoke.
"If that is all you have, I have faced others at your level."
With that, he accelerated. He swung his entire body toward the Yagura Branch Representative who was trying to circle behind him.
"…Let us do this!"
He moved the other way to circle behind him from the center of the hall.
.
…Well done!
Yuki was impressed by the white dragon Neighbor who had run up behind him.
How much speed could he draw out of that giant body? And more importantly…
"What excellent positional control!"
The white dragon Neighbor was running along the wall.
While making a high-speed turn to circle behind him, he had used the wall as a floor.
The hall shook while he accelerated toward him as he moved along the floor. And in the instant he descended from the wall and passed over the seam between the floor and wall…
"…!"
He swung his tail forward and toward him.
This was his two-stage acceleration.
He already had enough speed to use the wall as a floor and he accelerated again while descending from the wall.
A shadow appeared overhead. The pursuing Neighbor's head was extended forward in his running motion and it had arrived above him.
And his mouth was opened. His running roar was a trion cannon that used its great volume to attack.
Instead of being released from his entire body, this was a straight-line trion cannon fired from his mouth.
Yuki raised her voice in response.
"Masataka!"
.
Othóni saw a man move in front of him as he pursued his enemy.
It was Ninomiya Masataka.
He was not just using his legs to run. He was using an acceleration Trigger.
"A pursuit type…!? Miden has advanced that far...!?"
A new challenger had approached using the Yagura Branch Representative's acceleration.
He knew what he was after: The mouth he had opened for the trion cannon.
He did not see it often, but the inside of his mouth was the color of flesh and his teeth and tongue were different from his exterior armor.
A cluster shot could make it through and the Yagura Branch Representative's polearm attack would be effective. That was why…
…They lured me into firing this trion cannon!
Just as he thought that, he heard a voice. It belonged to the Yagura Branch Representative who held his polearm in his right hand behind Ninomiya.
"Idōgetsu...Senkū!"
The cluster shot and the cutting were fired toward his mouth simultaneously.
.
Ninomiya's cluster shot produced an explosion of wind in front of him.
The fog was blown away in an instant and the damn faker shouted out while holding Ninomiya in his right arm.
"Did we get him!?"
They had launched two attacks on the pursuing Neighbor. Timing-wise, it had to have been a direct hit. However…
"Kh…!"
Ninomiya quickly used the strength of his arms to shove the damn faker toward the wall.
He used the recoil to escape to the center of the hall himself. And in response…
"Masataka!"
There was no point in answering the damn faker's question. He would see the answer soon enough. In fact…
"—!"
Before he could catch his breath, a beam of light stabbed through the space between the two of them.
It was fast for a trion cannon and resembled an attack from a master spear-user.
Then Ninomiya looked back to check on the enemy.
There was a white Neighbor behind him. He was unharmed. He could tell he had used some kind of method to forcibly stop himself and avoid their previous attacks.
…But how did he do it!?
He did not know. But staying still would be dangerous, so he immediately fired.
He was firing blind, but he had trained for this. He had a perfect grasp of where the trion cannon had fired from.
So he fired.
He thought this would hit. Even if he was a high-speed and high-mobility Neighbor, his center of gravity would be shifted forward after braking so suddenly while pursuing them. That would force him to brace his four beast legs against the floor.
And he aimed his counterattack there.
There was no way this could miss. If he dodged this, it would have to mean he had no weight at all.
However…
"…!?"
Ninomiya saw the Neighbor's action.
He moved.
The white dragon Neighbor had grown more distant behind him as he ran, but he suddenly leaped to the side.
And he did so easily.
.
At first, Ninomiya did not understand how the enemy named Othóni had been able to move.
That was because his mind had not allowed him any thoughts outside of "how?"
But his vision had calmly seen through to the principle behind his movement.
That white dragon Neighbor could freely move because of…
…His tail…!?
That white tail gave off a sense of length, weight, and speed. He had used it for a two-stage acceleration earlier, but…
…Does he swing it to brake and slide as well!?
Before, he must not have dug his feet into the ground to stop his high-speed movement. He had used his strength to swing his tail backwards, which pulled his giant body back as well.
And now he had used a swing of his tail to slide to the side, allowing him to…
"Dodge it…"
"Is something the matter?"
After landing from his sliding evasion, Othóni slammed his strength and legs against the ground. He seemed to be kicking his claws and muscles at the dirt to accelerate toward him with his full-speed mobility.
He was coming.
During his sharply angled leap, he relaxed the tail he had swung sideways before.
"—"
And he reaccelerated.
The white dragon Neighbor quickly approached.
"Is something the matter?" he asked again. "You've stopped moving."
No, he was still running. He was using all his strength to get away from him.
But even that was nothing to this Neighbor.
As a Neighbor, he did not use his teeth against people. This white dragon Neighbor simply fought by using his giant body to crush them.
"…!"
Ninomiya fired a counterattack and used the recoil to leap back.
But he was still catching up.
Even Meteora's recoil was no match for the Neighbor's reaccelerated dash.
He was going to hit him.
But Ninomiya suddenly realized something.
He could see someone beyond the white dragon Neighbor.
…Eh?
It was the damn-...
It was the Yagura Branch Representative.
.
"Huh?"
This is odd, thought Ninomiya.
Hadn't that boy been running alongside him just a moment before?
And hadn't Ninomiya shoved him toward the wall?
But at some point, he had ended up running along the wall beyond the white dragon Neighbor. He was running along the outside and toward Ninomiya. He ran in a curve that pursued the white dragon Neighbor's back.
…It can't be…
It was a ridiculous prediction, but Ninomiya allowed himself to make it.
He knew what the boy had to have done.
"Did he run the perimeter of the hall in that short time!?"
.
Yuki was thankful for the size and structure of this place.
If it was not a hemispherical hall, he could not have kept his acceleration up like this.
White Chase was applied many times over to his knees and shoulders.
He had enough speed. His mental exhaustion was reduced and everything felt clear. And…
"Sorry…!"
Just as he saw Othóni dodge Ninomiya's cluster shot, Yuki passed him by.
She moved forward. She reached out toward Gin as the white dragon threatened to catch up to her.
"Masataka!"
His position shifted.
Before he could even say "oh?", he had passed Ninomiya by.
In another two steps, he would leave Ninomiya behind.
…Oops.
Letting up on White Chase now would be dangerous.
But if I don't save the idiot cosplayer, I have a feeling the others would be mad at me.
…Should I make another circuit?
No, since everything feels so clear, it might be best to leave things as they are. In fact, I have no other choice.
However…
"There is no reason to reach out your hand."
Ninomiya was directly beside him on the right.
He had appeared suddenly, but…
"Ohh, so you survived…! I was about to give up on you!"
"If I didn't have this pursuit-type acceleration Trigger, I would have died! I've been running around all over the place thanks to you! Just be happy your younger sister is good enough to make this stuff!"
I angered him. Good. And don't add Hoshi into your sentences. It makes me want to take you out myself. But…
"You sure have a short temper, idiot cosplayer."
.
Ninomiya had grown sick of so very many things here.
Nino: "Minoru! Minoru! …I can't stand this damn faker!"
Transmission Failure: The walls may be too thick: If correct, press "Y". If incorrect, give up and smile: By, Border.
He did indeed give up on a variety of things while a strange smile appeared on his face.
And even if I hit "Y", wouldn't the transmission interference prevent my response from getting through? wondered Ninomiya, but he concluded the response must travel via the local signal.
However, there was nothing he could do while reliant on the Yagura Branch Representative running alongside him.
That boy was about to decide this battle for himself.
And…
"Masataka!"
"What?"
"My Idōgetsu is useless right now!"
"Impotent," said the Trigger.
"That doesn't mean you can leave!"
The look of astonishment on the Yagura Branch Representative's face could not have been more blatant.
After another three seconds of running, he shook his head and tried again.
"Masataka!"
"What!? And stop using my name!"
"My Senkū's cutting power doesn't work here!"
"Ineffective," said the Trigger.
"How is that any different from what you said before!?" shouted Ninomiya. "Isn't a Branch Representative supposed to find a way despite that kind of setback!? Weren't you taught that when you joined that strange branch!?"
The Yagura Branch Representative proudly puffed out his chest.
"I was made Branch Rep in an emergency!"
Oh, right. And that was our doing, wasn't it?
Ninomiya gasped and felt like he had been hit by the return of an extreme long-throw boomerang. Then the Yagura Branch Representative held Idōgetsu up for him to see.
"I bet I know what you were thinking, idiot cosplayer. You thought I would awaken to a mysterious power during this battle. You thought I would finally be able to use Idōgetsu's superior drive to cut right through that Neighbor's light and whatever-you-call-it armor!"
"No, I wasn't thinking any of…" started Ninomiya, but before he could get it out…
"But you see! Idōgetsu does not have a superior drive!"
"Upgrade needed," said the polearm.
Ninoe: "Minoru! Minoru! If I had a cursing card that let me kill whoever's name I wrote, I would be justified in writing his, wouldn't I!? Wouldn't I!?"
Transmission Failure: You may be too far away: If correct, press "Y". If incorrect, do a dance: By, Border.
…Why is it different from before!?
Since arriving with the others, he had learned just how laid back this sort of thing was. Most others were very strict despite being developed in the irresponsible land of festivals, so what was this?
But…
"Masataka!"
"I'm aware!"
The racing Neighbor had fired a trion cannon behind them.
.
Othóni saw the enemy split up to the left and right. The gray went left and the black right.
But the gray on the left had no means of attack.
And the black on the right had no speed.
So he knew what they were bound to do.
…The gray pulls in the black and the black attacks.
His trion cannon passed between them.
The black used a pursuit acceleration Trigger to bring them back together.
A moment later, the black and the gray worked together.
The gray launched the bottom of his polearm forward and the black caught it on the palm of his hand.
…Huh!?
This was the opposite.
Wasn't the gray supposed to pull in and the black attack?
That was not what happened.
After the gray struck the black's hand with his extended polearm bottom…
"Let's go…!"
He ran directly toward Othóni.
"Idōgetsu...Senkū!"
.
Yuki controlled White Chase in the midst of the rapid crossing of paths.
He was making a forced 180 degree turn. Even as he took the ideal movement for White Chase, his body ached and was on the verge of being blown away by his speed.
"…!"
And he used that speed to send himself toward the white dragon Neighbor.
Senkū's activation had no effect.
But he wanted to see exactly how the cutting power was deflected.
His technique did not work on him, so he would find a way of overturning that.
And as he traveled through the cold air, Yuki saw some light.
Before reaching the enemy, Senkū's cutting power had been shattered into glowing shards.
It really could not reach him. That was unfortunate, but he had also seen something.
Senkū's cutting power had not simply been destroyed.
…It was fully reflected back…!
Senkū worked by extending out the slash made by a blade. But this enemy had it slide off the back of his white armor.
Senkū could not slash at something like that, so its cutting power vanished.
That was a high-level defense that felt out of place against other Neighbors he had fought.
This Neighbor did that with the armor covering his entire body.
He was naturally resistant to this sort of weapon.
Yuki spun around in their rapid crossing of paths.
A giant foreleg had fallen where he had been a moment before.
It produced a tremor, but the Neighbor did not move past him.
He understood why.
The white dragon Neighbor was performing a turn directly above him.
He no longer saw him as an enemy and was simply attempting to crush him underfoot.
But Yuki set up a chain reaction in his body. He chained his rotation and turn together so he could move between those falling and swinging objects.
…Kh…!
He suddenly recalled some of his own battles with Yuba.
Those times too, he had spun around and taken up a position behind his enemy.
"…!"
The two forelegs suddenly arrived overhead. Othóni had swung his tail to control his position and lift his body up from the ground. And his raised forelegs seemed to be targeting him while he was at it.
…Don't look!
He would never respond in time if he looked up before dodging. To move around behind the forelegs, he moved…
…To the side!
He moved out from below the Neighbor's belly as if launching himself.
Because he was making such a large turn, Othóni's forelegs slid in a large arc to pursue him.
He dodged. He spun his body, and…
…Yuba did this…!
He performed a turning slide.
It swung his body around more than he expected, and his empty hand…
"Oh."
…touched Othóni's foreleg. But he used that contact to push himself.
…One more time!
He felt like he had done a better job than last time, so he took his eyes off the enemy, rapidly launched himself across the center of the hall, and…
"Masataka!"
.
Ninomiya did not overlook the opportunity provided by the Yagura Branch Representative.
When they had split up earlier, Ninomiya had leaped toward the center of the hall.
And the Yagura Branch Representative had run straight forward to draw the enemy's attention. Or so he had thought.
…I can't believe he charged forward to test the enemy's defenses.
Idōgetsu of course lacked any offensive power against this Neighbor.
But the enemy had reacted.
As a Neighbor, he could not overlook an enemy running around at his feet. Especially for this white dragon Neighbor who was so confident in his high-speed mobility.
He had somewhat overreacted in his attempt to crush him underfoot.
He had been turning toward Ninomiya, but he continued to turn a little further and raised his forelegs.
That was enough. Because…
…He has to lower his center of gravity to stomp!
This was not like his previous tail-controlled turn. Even if he tried to use that, his feet would slide along in a drift.
"I'll blow him up! Meteora!"
Ninomiya fired repeatedly.
.
Othóni detected the enemy's attack.
He saw eight cluster shots in the center of his vision. The rapidly-fired series of shots was lined up horizontally.
He was likely trying to capture him along that horizontal line.
It was a good decision.
The enemy's shots looked like they were meant to attack castles. A Crown Trigger's armor was sturdy, but there was no avoiding damage from this. And the line of shots was meant to negate any evasive action on his part.
.
Of course, the cluster shot velocity was inferior to his strength. If he reaccelerated with his tail, he could dodge it just fine.
…So it all comes down to this!
With that thought, Othóni jumped forward. And he immediately reaccelerated to the…
…Right!
He launched his midair body to the right.
Or he should have. However…
"…!?"
He realized he had been thrown off the proper trajectory
His rightward momentum was somewhat lacking.
As he wondered why, he sensed something else.
Something had struck the tip of his tail in the very instant he reaccelerated.
Based on how solid it was and how much the blow reverberated through his body, it had to be a metal projectile. But it was not one of those large cluster shots meant for attacking castles. It was…
"A sniper shot from a new attack!?"
It had likely been fired from behind the large cluster shot's rapid fire. The hit slightly unbalanced his tail.
That created a small waver.
But that minuscule difference was devastating when he was trying to just barely dodge before charging in.
One of the large cluster shots hit his left collarbone.
.
Ninomiya looked directly at the great cloud of dust created by the hit of an accelerated object and the water vapor explosion created by the shockwave. In the distance, he could tell the stone forming the hall had broken and crumbled with a sound like scattering sparks.
…I hit him!
He had sensed it connect. The cluster shot had provided a solid blow.
He had set everything up to ensure it.
He had used a delayed cluster Hound for that setup.
And he had lowered its initial speed as far as possible.
The cluster shot he had chosen was setup with a focus on impact. That was all that mattered here.
After all…
…This enemy primarily uses his vision!
He had noticed something when Othóni dodged his triple Meteora shots soon after the battle began.
Hound's initial speed was greater than Asteroid or Meteora, but the white dragon Neighbor had outdone that. It had been why he switched to Meteora.
That meant he was not reliant on sound. He detected attacks with his senses of sight and touch.
So he had fired a low-speed cluster shot high into the air while he was swinging his legs around to crush the Yagura Branch Representative.
On top of that, he had fired several times from straight ahead.
Since he primarily used his vision, he would see the eight shots flying in at eye level. Which way he would move had been a gamble, but he had guessed he would jump left due to the direction of his turn.
In the end, his swung tail had arrived in the position he had predicted.
"Now that we have struck back…"
Ninomiya was about to finish his sentence with "this battle can truly begin", but at that very moment, a yell reached him from the direction of the Neighbor.
"You idiot…!"
It was the Yagura Branch Representative.
"To the left!"
.
Ninomiya did not look left.
He simply activated Racing Words toward the Yagura Branch Representative.
The Yagura Branch Representative also began running as if in response.
And as Ninomiya ran, he saw something arriving from the left.
It was the white dragon Neighbor.
He was unharmed.
How strange, he thought. The cluster shot had hit his left collarbone, so he should not have been able to move at full strength. Plus, he had been right in front of him when…
…The hit to the tail should have prevented him from reaccelerating!
So how had the Neighbor arrived to his left?
What was it he had sensed his shell hit earlier?
…Is this…!?
Ninomiya did not look left. But a large presence arrived from that direction and covered her vision.
These were wings that came into view. The white dragon Neighbor had six wings on his back. He had not used them before this, but now they were fully spread.
He had used them for a third acceleration.
"Ohhh…!"
There was clear anger in his roar.
"…!"
Ninomiya was hit and sent flying.
.
Othóni felt shame.
…I cannot believe this!
He had underestimated the enemy and been forced to use his wings.
Even if he had wings and could fly, he specialized in ground combat. Using his wings was normally unthinkable, but…
…These opponents were enough to require it!
He was impressed.
They had repeatedly endured or dodged his attacks, come to understand the traits of those attacks, and then worked to destroy them.
They had used a small attack to produce a waver in his giant body and great strength.
That was a truly human technique. And a sign of intelligence.
He could not simply trample over this enemy. So…
"To make up for the shame of using my wings, I must use my full strength here…!"
He charged toward the black enemy. He opened his jaws and held his mouth sideways to devour him.
Crown Triggers did not really have to eat. As simple lifeforms, they only needed to remain in a place that matched their "mold".
To "eat" someone was a Crown Trigger's greatest sign of affection, as it meant allowing them to become a part of him. It was the highest praise for an enemy.
But an enemy arrived from the side in the instant he snapped his jaws shut.
It was the gray boy.
He raced toward the black man, and…
"Masataka…!"
He extended a hand, but…
"Oh?"
The length of his pace did not quite match and he kneed the black man instead.
.
Ninomiya saw something completely insane.
Not only was that idiot idiotic enough to race across the hall so quickly, but after looking like he was going to save Ninomiya…
…He kneed me!?
Ninomiya had fortunately managed to get his left arm up to guard in time because a direct hit would have destroyed a portion of his body.
That was how much momentum the boy had.
He had wanted to work in a support role to help, but he could not even manage the most basic kind of assistance.
Not to mention that the Yagura Branch Representative was now in the same spot Ninomiya had been.
Which meant…
"Ah."
The approaching white dragon Neighbor's sideways jaws snapped shut on him.
…He's dead (again)!
Ninomiya reached that immediate conclusion while he was flying through the air.
He felt both surprised and a little disappointed at how simple it had been.
…He's dead! That boy is dead, Minoru! Eaten by a dragon!
He did not know if he should rejoice or celebrate. That was because even a warrior was not accustomed to seeing a dragon eat someone.
But Ninomiya heard an odd noise lingering behind the action.
It was a solid sound like someone climbing a ladder. And it came from…
"The Neighbor's jaws…!?"
Once he realized that, he saw a gray form several meters up in the air.
It was the Yagura Branch Representative. And if he was soaring there…
…That guy…
"Did he kick him up from the closing jaws!?"
.
Othóni was briefly confused.
He could have sworn he ate him. That thought was lodged in his mind. But the sensation in his teeth wiped away that confusion.
The enemy had rapidly run up the teeth of his closing upper and lower jaws.
Othóni had never seen anyone dodge an attack like that before.
But that meant it was his turn. After all, the black man was nearby and the gray boy was airborne.
Which meant…
"Ohh…!"
He fired a trion cannon from his entire body.
.
Ninomiya fired Meteora and accelerated, but he was still hit.
Yuki kicked off of the fired Meteora, but he too was hit.
After the light exploded, Ninomiya was launched several dozen meters from the hall's center and slammed into the wall.
Yuki crashed into the ceiling.
They took damage.
Ninomiya used his left arm to soften the blow, but its surface skin shattered when it hit the wall. When Yuki hit the ceiling, his body wrappings came undone, leaving only his exposed skin, and trion leaked from his face.
It only took an instant.
They both grew limp, Ninomiya fell to his knees, and Yuki seemed to peel away from the ceiling before falling.
The Neighbor roared in the center of it all.
"…!"
The white dragon Neighbor spread the wings on his back and roared.
"Things seem to be getting exciting down below."
In the afternoon sun and inside the tent prepared at the entrance to the ruins, Akasora looked over while eating curry from a paper plate.
He was looking to Murakami who stood at the entrance.
He had his back to the underground and his hand on his chin.
Akasora asked about the slight wrinkle of his brow.
"Kō? ...Worried about Yuki?"
"Uh, why would I be?"
That question stopped Akasora as he skewered a leek with a toothpick. He shrugged at the great roar heard from underground.
"Don't things sound kind of incredible down there?"
"Yeah," agreed Murakami, so Akasora asked another question.
"What if Yuki is injured? And transmissions seem to be cut off."
"True enough. I will only run down there on one condition."
"What's that?"
"Right." Murakami smiled a little. "When Ninomiya-san decides to end him. I won't let him be harmed any more than that."
Ninomiya collapsed, but he just barely avoided falling to his knees.
…That's right.
A warrior could not allow himself to fall to his knees during battle. Even more so for someone who is a former A-Rank.
Yes. Something similar had happened several times in the past.
Before he had his higher position, he had fought even more against the faker. He had fought him, he had been an even match for him, he had grown too weary to support himself, and he had collapsed. He would always be followed by that boy.
So he would hold himself to the same standard.
Because he was now someone who would never collapse in the middle of battle.
"If his worst enemy were willing to grow weak and leave everything to a dead person..."
He got up.
"...it would disgrace everyone who decided to live."
He stood up.
His left arm would not move. It did not weigh him down due to the natural control, but combat motions were out of the question.
…Then I need to think of that arm as holding a shield.
He nodded and turned to place his left side forward.
Ahead of him, the Neighbor stood in the center of the hall. He had turned his way.
He crouched low with his six wings spread, so he was clearly not holding back at all.
"Tell me your name," he said.
"No need," he replied as he drew and prepared a cube of trion to his right. "There is only one person in Mikado City to whom I must name myself to."
"And that is?"
"That idiot who likes to pretend to be a faker, Taiyōko Kiyoshi."
Ninomiya filled his false lungs with air.
And he gave a shout to rid his body of its remaining shaking and weakness.
"If you want to go back that badly while remaining who you are now, I'll go along with you! ...Tsukiko Yuki!"
A moment later, something crashed down into the white dragon Neighbor's back with the acceleration of a meteor.
That gray form held a polearm vertically and scattered the color of leaking trion as it fell.
"Yagura Branch Representative!"
.
Yuki's mind was still hazy, but he had woken up.
"Kh…"
Pain filled his body and some parts were trembling and numb. It was strange when he considered what body he was currently in.
The trion leaking was especially bad. During the previous exchange, some of his wrappings had been knocked away and trion flowed from his shoulders and head.
Oh, no, thought Yuki. This isn't good at all.
...A member of that family, the one filled with soldiers, are to never be injured during their entire combat history.
She was far from that now. So…
"At the very least, I must win here…!"
He fell toward the center of the white dragon Neighbor'ss back.
He was leaking trion and unsteady, but he realized something.
…Eh…?
He saw something familiar on his back. He should not have felt this kind of nostalgia here, and yet…
"…!"
His mind fully returned to him.
Saying his mind grew clear was too kind an expression. It was more like his mind itself had been kicked awake. This awakening hit him like a tremor that spread from the tips of his toes to the top of his head.
And he could move just like he wanted. He targeted the nostalgia found on the white dragon Neighbor's back.
"Ohhh…!"
He swung his entire body downwards and slammed the polearm tip down.
.
Othóni worked to shake off the enemy on his back.
It was the gray boy, the Yagura Branch's representative. However, his attacks were meaningless.
A Crown Trigger's back was their strongest area. The armor there could not be pierced by a mere polearm tip.
This was proven by the solid sound as the polearm tip was deflected.
And Othóni was moving too. He ignored the Yagura Branch Representative on his back and moved forward. He would charge toward the black man in front of him and crush him.
"…!"
So in an instant, he threw the gray figure from his back and made a three-stage acceleration straight ahead.
.
Othóni tore through the air.
At first, he was enveloped by a muffled roar, as if he were moving through water, but then an extreme lightness reached each of his body parts.
As he moved forward in search of that lightness, he saw something in his dim vision.
…Good.
His entire body grew lighter, as if he were shedding his skin and pushing himself forward.
Instead, a messy current of impacts washed over him as if pushing him forward and massaging him. But he loved that cold and rough feeling.
Speed was wonderful. The speed gained by using his strength to run was truly superb. His kind had wings, but power came from one's strength. There was no substitute for the invisible space gained by an all-out run.
Othóni continued forward. He would crush his enemy and turn just before reaching the wall. He would not allow even a three centimeter gap between himself and the wall. He would utterly crush the enemy and enjoy his perfect control.
"Good."
The joy filled his heart in advance.
But he viewed that joy as negligence. So to ignore the happiness in his heart, he raised his speed even further. He leaned forward and launched himself ahead once more.
He ran.
But as he did, he saw someone running alongside him on the left.
It was the Yagura Branch Representative he had just thrown from his back.
.
Yuki ran.
He ran alongside the Neighbor. With each step on the dirt floor, his speed gradually increased.
The source of his speed was not White Chase.
…Is this…?
The sign frame for a special original Trigger had appeared behind his head.
It said Racing Words and it floated alongside an orb of trion.
This was from Ninomiya.
He had to have attached this to Yuki when Yuki had kneed him before.
It could only be used once and for a short period of time, but he could ride the Neighbor's acceleration for that time. So for three beats…
"…Nh."
He reached a point where the momentum placed a great burden on his body.
This was hard on his body.
But he was used to having a burden on his body.
His constantly deteriorating, flesh-and-blood body always had a burden placed on it that made living hard and painful for him. Trion bodies were the only escape from that, but he was used to that kind of burden already. But not even that could support him if his speed increased further.
Of course it could not. When Toby and Kanzaki used this kind of Trigger, they would also go to the very edge before knowing when to slow down. But Yuki was grateful that he could return to the battle, even if it required this kind of burden.
His body was overexerted, he was starting to feel a nostalgic push, and he was leaking trion again.
He was lucky. The trion flowing from his shoulder was stopped by the remaining wrappings on his arm, so it did not affect his grip on the polearm.
So the only other thing to worry about was the enemy running alongside him.
"…!"
Are you doing this, Neighbor? Or should I call you Othóni-dono?
I had felt like the only reason to fight you here was "duty", but…
"I will be your opponent here."
Yuki changed Triggers. He was partially pushed away as the Neighbor tried to ram into him instead of just running, but he also ended Racing Words and…
"…White Chase."
.
He's so light, thought Ninomiya as he watched Yuki's movements.
Before, he had moved his body primarily by running, but now he was simply placing all his speed into his body.
Most likely…
…This is his true personality…!
This had to be what had defeated other A-Ranks before.
And Ninomiya had seen this during their battle.
After slipping through the return fire from Meteroa and Asteroid, Yuki had passed Ninomiya's many close-range attacks and struck him.
He had not been intercepting the attacks Ninomiya had sent his way.
Ninomiya only realized it now, but…
…He was simply striking down everything that would obstruct his speed, wasn't he?
He was troublesome.
This boy is nothing but trouble, thought Ninomiya. Teleport is terrifying when he uses it, but speed is where he reins.
After all, he was not looking at his opponent. He was merely pursuing his own speed, as if trying to catch up to his own back. So to battle him…
"You must first get him to notice you."
That was why Ninomiya shouted to the high-speed gray charging in from dead ahead.
"Over here!"
Notice me.
"If you overlook this, I will beat you to the ground!"
With that, Ninomiya used what he had prepared to get the boy's attention.
He fired his right Asteroid toward Yuki as a counterattack.
He fired it thrice.
.
Yuki was simply facing forward.
Oh? he thought when he saw three stone- or ball-like objects up ahead.
…Are they just sitting there?
They appeared frozen in midair.
So he jumped over one and…
"—"
He stepped on another to continue on ahead.
A moment later, light reached his vision. It was a blade. A green blade reflected light toward his eyes as he hung in midair and began to fall.
He saw twin cubes by the wall. They were being used as lights to shine light on his face.
Only then did Yuki realize who was by the wall.
"Idiot cosplayer?"
Yuki landed.
Good, he thought. My body's burden, mental exhaustion, and mental pain are being thrown aside.
So he ran. He sent his landing momentum forward and rode that speed. From there, he simply extended his left hand forward.
"…Masataka!"
.
Othóni saw the enemy's actions.
What would that pair do now that they had regrouped by the wall? Would they go right or left?
…Right!
That was Othóni's decision.
The gray boy, Yagura Branch Representative, held his polearm in his right hand. He held his left hand forward and the black man responded by holding out his own barely-functional left arm.
The gray boy used his speed to pull the black man along with him.
In that situation, he could only pull him to the right.
So Othóni raised his tail back and to the left. By returning it to the front and right, he could pursue the enemy to the right.
That was his plan.
His eyes could see high-speed movements and they were locked onto the enemy's actions.
The enemy did not go right. Hand in hand, the two of them seemed to pull at each other by the wall.
"—"
And they spun around.
It was almost like a dance. And during their two rotations, the black man gained speed. Several acceleration Trigger sign frames appeared, and…
"Here I go."
Just as he heard his voice, the enemy was there.
Right in front of him.
One was high and the other low.
The low one was the black man on the ground right in front of him.
The high one was the gray boy running up the inner wall of the hemispherical hall.
They made simultaneous straight-line attacks.
.
They were fortunate the Neighbor had tried to jump to the right.
While his forelegs rose hesitantly from the ground, Ninomiya charged forward.
He made it between them.
But the enemy reacted. He crouched down before he could bring out a cube of trion.
He no longer had enough space to aim the large cluster Meteora vertically. But he still created it. He just aimed it horizontally backwards instead.
"I will be going on ahead."
He used it to blast his own body forward. He passed below the Neighbor and out below his left side.
And from there…
"Go, Yagura Branch Representative!"
.
Yuki saw it.
As he jumped down in an arc from the hall's ceiling, he saw something on the Neighbor's back.
It was right in the center of his back.
There, where he had slammed the metal-like tip of his polearm earlier, he saw a mark that resembled a crack.
He recognized its shape. It filled him with nostalgia.
"That is a cut from Senkū!"
He did not know why it was there, but he knew who had to have made it.
"Did you do battle with my teacher at some point!?"
"The thing is, we all went over there together."
A voice spoke in the clearing as a Neighbor roared in the distance.
It was Shinoda. He was resting his elbow on a wooden table in front of a small screen displaying "Ruka".
"It was really only Seidō and Rindō that had to go there, but Chishi was a good sport, so he went with me for part of my journey around the area. Of course, Yōkina was doing well back then, so he clearly just wanted to spend the night with her somewhere on his way back."
"How about you stop reminiscing about the past and actually explain what happened in the past?"
"Now, now," said Shinoda. "At the time, he had a prototype of a certain Trigger...well, it itself was a prototype for another Trigger, but this was before even that. It was used to test the cutting power and the later Senkū was based on it. It's range was pretty limited. But..."
"But?"
"Yeah." Shinoda nodded, smiled a little, and looked up into the sky. "At the time, those ruins were a refuge for the Neighbors that had escaped something pretty bad. ...But, well, we were Neighbors to them, right? It was not us who had done anything to them, but those ones in the ruins still asked for a fight. They were plenty kind since they knew we had nothing to do with previous issues and the others understood their situation at the time."
But...
"That group of Neighbors still wanted to have their say, so we had our very own battle. ...Those ones were approaching the end of their functionality, you see, so they wanted o go down fighting. Against the three of us, that is."
"Three, including Yōkina-san?"
"Yeah, although she insisted she only did it because Chishi really wanted to do it. …That said, she definitely had the most wins with all those Neighbors she hunted down."
"Did you come in last?"
Ruka sighed, but Shinoda raised the corners of his lips.
"No, no. I came in second."
"Hm? You mean Akasora came in last?"
"Yeah. Chishi only went for the big prizes. He focused on the biggest Neighbor there and ended it with a fight against Othóni on the pretext of teaching him a lesson for not stopping the commotion."
Shinoda then looked to Ruka.
"Am I boring you with all these old stories?"
"As long as you aren't mixing nostalgia with sorrow, I have no problem with it."
"That ain't easy." Shinoda crossed his arms and looked up into the sky. "Since we were finally allowed this, I can only assume Othóni and Pórta have made up their minds. They must want to leave something behind when they leave this world. Or in this case, any world. So I hope our kids give their all in these fights."
"How does that make you feel as someone who has been left behind by others so often?"
"Looking at things, I should really have been the first one to go," he began. "But I think our kids have the power to give Othóni and Pórta what they want."
Yuki prepared to attack while he dropped down.
Of course, Idōgetsu's attacks were ineffective against the white dragon Neighbor below him.
But his teacher's cut had reached him.
What was different between his and his teacher?
The specs or traits of their weapons?
Or, he wondered as he dropped toward Othóni. But he moved below him. Ninomiya had circled around below him and forced him to lower his legs, but…
…Is he using his wings!?
The white dragon Neighbor slammed his six wings down, using the recoil to lift his body.
He immediately moved forward.
With an instantaneous action, he moved several dozen meters and made a turn that seemed to simply reverse his front and back.
He had used the full power of his wings, his tail, and the twisting of his body.
Yuki was now falling right in front of him. Which meant…
"A trion cannon…!"
As soon as he landed, a beam of light shot straight toward him.
.
Yuki simultaneously defended against and attacked the Neighbor's blast.
He stabbed Idōgetsu's tip straight toward the oncoming attack.
This was not just a jab. He was running toward the Neighbor as he did it.
It hit and stabbed in, but…
…Pierce through!
Just as he thought that, something happened.
Light burst before his eyes.
It split, scattered, and shattered into a spray. And then…
"Ohh…!"
The outthrust polearm tip destroyed the trion cannon.
.
The glowing wind pummeled the surrounding area and piercing fragments filled the air.
Ninomiya saw Yuki moving through that.
He was unharmed. He had fully pierced through the trion cannon and continued straight toward the Neighbor.
He was running forward.
…But what was that?
How had he shattered the white dragon Neighbor's trion cannon? Ninomiya pondered the reason.
"Was it…light?"
The Neighbor had initially called himself a dragon of light. And after having his attacks deflected a few times, Yuki had realized that he pushed aside his attacks.
Senkū's cutting had no effect on this dragon Neighbor of light.
But Yuki must have realized that, if his blade was reflected, then he was the same.
Just like the version emitted from his full body, Othóni's trion cannon was light.
So he had intercepted with a reflective attack: the prototype Trigger called Starlight.
By thrusting it into the light, it had reflected that power. And the trion cannon's deflected power had enveloped his surroundings, broken, and fallen apart from within.
Yuki had done it.
But, thought Ninomiya. That should not be possible.
He should not have been able to pull off a stunt like piercing the very center of an incoming trion cannon.
Who could make a head-on counterattack against such an unbelievably fast blast of light?
But Yuki had done it. Ninomiya did not understand how, but…
…This is…
This was what that boy was capable of.
And as the strands of light blew in the wind, the Yagura Branch Representative continued forward. That gray figure had lost his body wrappings, so his black hair and clothes fluttered behind him as he nimbly raced toward the white dragon Neighbor.
And the white dragon Neighbor responded.
"—!"
He unleashed a roar and threw himself forward.
He attempted to collide with Yuki head on.
.
Othóni roared.
It was a long, long roar.
He was a Crown Trigger and he had once been a key factor in protecting the Mother Trigger.
He had made himself known through constant battle and slaying his enemies.
That had lasted many years. Another long number years had passed since he had been defeated and forced to flee.
He had spent the same amount of time slaying people and living alongside them.
But he had fought a human - a person from Miden - once during that life with them.
It was someone impartial to them. He believed the man's name was Chishi.
After a few dozen minutes of battle with him, the man had avoided all his attacks, smashed his trion cannon, finally split his back, and then said, "I'll leave it at this. You've still got stuff to do, don't you?"
Someone capable of outdoing him had put a stop to so much and said they still had "stuff to do".
But now their lifespans were at their ends. Most of his friends had already left and Pórta had likely stopped functioning as well.
In that case, thought Othóni. His battle here would act as a memento by sending those who inherited his will to other nations, but in addition to that…
…People of the past.
The white dragon Crown Trigger thought to himself as he charged forward, slammed his feet against the ground and used his multi-stage acceleration to leap.
…We lived two different lifestyles.
They slayed people and they protected them.
Even now, he was fighting to protect the future of Miden's people in his own way while also attempting to slay those who would not be able to hold up to it.
But, he thought. I already had that twenty-odd years ago.
He had been given that by someone so many years ago.
So the Crown Trigger gave voice to what he was settling here.
"This right here is the 'stuff' I still had to do…!"
.
Yuki did not let up on his speed.
He would be in serious trouble if he did not continue moving forward and setting his center of gravity and central axis further and further forward.
He had to keep his axis straight for what he was about to do.
Which was…
…Send my cutting power into that Neighbor.
He knew he could do it.
He had figured it out from the fact that his teacher had done the same. He had only needed to ask himself how he could have done it.
And his thoughts had led him to a single answer.
Yuki moved straight forward to reveal that answer. He bent back as if to thrust his stomach forward and he charged in a straight line. He raised Idōgetsu toward the enemy, who was charging toward him with a burst of speed, and he gave a cry.
"Idōgetsu, Senkū!"
.
Ninomiya saw the scattering light.
It was a spray of trion light. But it was not the rejection of a cut.
…Is that…!?
It was the destruction of a Neighbor.
As he charged forward, Othóni's face was cut from the tip of his nose to his forehead.
The attack he had deflected and negated until now had suddenly hit him.
Ninomiya's vision had seen the position of the slash.
It had been along the Neighbor's central line.
And Ninomiya understood: it all came down to the central axis.
…That Neighbor's entire body, from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, is symmetrical.
The scales covering his body were angular and could reflect anything.
But while the scales down the center of his body were symmetrical, they formed a mountain shape.
The ridge of that mountain could not reflect anything. Due to the mountain shape, that reflecting power was slanted.
"So if he targets the ridge of the scales and hits that with his cutting power, it won't be deflected…!"
That was why he had charged straight toward him.
That complete head-on attack had been to ensure he hit his enemy's central line.
And he had raced toward him to ensure his own axis was not shifted.
If his timing had been even slightly off, the cut would have been deflected and he would have been sent flying.
But he had just passed below the Neighbor and come to a stop.
His hair was undone and he spun Idōgetsu around before propping it up against the floor.
A moment later, the white dragon Neighbor rose up.
"Well done."
With that, he wobbled. And he collapsed onto his side in the center of the hall.
He fell.
With a rumble, the hall shook, and Yuki opened his mouth.
His dignified voice rang through the hall.
"White Dragon Neighbor Othóni…defeated…!"
