“There are one, two…fourteen angels! That’s too many for me!”
“I know. Go hide.”
As soon as the rabbit landed on the ship’s deck, Ange and
Lucia hopped off its shoulders. Ange moved forward and Lucia hid behind the
rabbit’s big ears.
Micha smiled as if to welcome them. The 13 silent members of
Dante descended to protect the young man lounging on the poolside.
“Prominence.”
Just like the three witches from before, the enemy’s power would
be boosted by Adam. They would be much more powerful than Ange’s group,
although she did not know exactly how much more.
She would have to go with her max firepower from the beginning.
“Grand Cruz!!”
A beam of light shot from her divine sword and enveloped
everything on the deck.
That wide-range scorching cannon blast had enough firepower
to reduce even the young man named Avalon to ashes.
This was dangerous, but she showed a certain form of trust
in making the attack without hesitation. She knew Micha could endure that much firepower
while returned to her prime.
“When did you learn to control Metatron so well? I’m impressed,
Ange.”
The brown-skinned woman standing in front blocked the attack
with the red flames spiraling out from her back.
She was not reducing the heat. She had simply produced even
greater heat with her own flames. The deck and the rest of the ship should have
melted in the blink of an eye and exploded into nothingness, but the 13 members
of Dante had endured just as well. Avalon was fine and not even the pool water
next to him had boiled.
“You could probably surpass me in my prime with another
century of experience.”
“Kh.”
This was the power of Michael, history’s strongest angel.
The angels did not see much value in combat, so Ange had only ever heard rumors
that she was “really strong”.
This was far greater than she had imagined. Ten times
greater even.
“Prominence Nova!!”
Ange was accomplishing nothing as an outrider, so she retracted
her exploding flames.
She contained them within her sword.
The blade’s outer shell was blown away and the flames were
concentrated into a plasma jet small enough to wield as a sword.
“Dahhhh!!”
She struck at her foe.
She made a large and powerful swing of the sword. Since
Micha was acting as the young man’s shield, she would have to take the attack.
Ange was right in that assumption, so her full-power swing
hit.
But she had been wrong in another assumption. Micha blocked the
flame sword with a karate chop.
She had attacked with her max power at her max speed, but it
had been blocked.
“Kh.”
“How about some close-quarters combat?”
“Loop!”
She could not push through with power, so she split her
sword in two.
Micha responded with karate chops enveloped by the flames
coming from her back. She used both hands for a two-sword style.
They clashed at close range.
While Ange used her swords, Micha responded with her bare
hands, making her a little faster. Her attacks were cleverly made and her fist
wove its way through a gap in the swinging blades.
It caught Ange in the face.
“!?”
Micha’s face tensed in surprise for the first time today when she felt how
light the blow was.
Ange’s face was pulling back as if sucking in the fist. Micha
had thought the girl’s body weight was placed behind the swords, but she had
overlooked the girl shifting her center of gravity to her lower body at some
point.
That small body used the force of the punch to twist around,
with red hair swishing through the air.
The centrifugal force was placed behind a kick aimed for
Micha’s face.
“Gwoh!”
The girl went for the jaw. Micha barely manage to dodge it, but
it caught her in the throat, making her flinch.
“Gh, you have a knack for this. You really do have the greater
raw talent, Ange.”
“Ryahhhhhhhhhhh!!”
The current strongest angel was not about to overlook an opening
like that.
She pulled one sword back and used her full body weight to thrust
it forward while her opponent flinched.
Micha could respond to the slashes, so what about a jab?
“You need another 50 years before you can defeat me.”
The glowing sword’s tip accurately caught Micha’s torso.
But now it was Ange’s time to be shocked by the lightness of
the blow.
As soon as the glowing tip stabbed into that hat ever-bared
brown stomach, it turned to red flames and was blown away. The severed upper
body grabbed at the panicked girl’s face.
“Gah!”
And responded with a headbutt.
That stopped Ange’s charge, so she fell woozily to the deck.
Micha’s separated upper and lower body absorbed the plasma from
Ange’s sword and reattached themselves.
They were both angels, but Ange never would have considered
healing the holy flames of one’s body with an enemy’s flames. She stared in stunned
silence.
The woman’s overwhelmingly greater experience meant more
than her power or speed.
“Enough. Dante, finish her.”
She also had a more efficient view of combat.
While fighting with her two-sword style, she had also been
guiding Ange to the center of the 13 watching from behind her.
The vanilla-colored flames those 13 produced were already
targeting the girl who was still woozy from the blow to her forehead and nose.
“Gh…dammit.”
Forced to admit she had lost in a one-on-one battle, Ange
gnashed her teeth in frustration.
“Ibekusa! Are you still not ready!?”
She called out to the giant rabbit.
“Complete.”
Its stomach split open and Machina appeared from within.
The rabbit’s interior had become a high-level databank full
of cables. Machina was nude, but she had so many cables inserted into her that
barely any of her skin remained visible. The cables contained those golden
threads which were thinner than the molecules of her skin, so they did not harm
her when inserted.
She removed the threads and moved outside.
She had two devices shaped like bunny ears inserted into the
top of her head. They passed through her skull to enter her brain.
“Data download from Final Y Device O’clock is complete.”
Light vanished from the rabbit’s red eyes. The disconnected
threads changed shape, transformed into black rubber, and covered the bare minimum
of the naked girl’s chest and crotch.
“My, my. What a cute bunny.”
“Activating Grand Guignol System. Laplace molecular movement
measurements complete for current dimension and coordinates. I can respond to
any and all actions you might take. I recommend you surrender.”
“Oh, really?”
Micha laughed in amusement at the appearance of an opponent other
than Ange and she aimed at the girl with her thumb and forefinger extended in a
finger gun gesture.
“FeTUS has spent around 300 years researching how to fight
angels, right?”
“Positive.”
“My prime was already over 300 years ago, so do you have any
data on me?”
Bang. With a wink and a playful lifting of her index finger,
red fire shot out toward Machina in place of a bullet.
This was only a test, but that fire could easily burn away a
human body if not dealt with.
But the flames vanished not 2m away from Micha.
No, they did not vanish. They burned red a dozen or so
meters behind Machina as they flew off into the night sky.
“Oh, dear.”
Micha’s eyes widened at this unexpected result.
On her signal, 5 members of Dante launched their
vanilla-colored flames toward Machina.
But those too were sent behind her after traveling a few
meters. Micha also balled up her flame wings like a fist and sent that flying,
but it too was sent away.
When she pulled the fist back, the flames behind Machina
also returned.
It looked like space itself had been severed. Anything that
approached the girl was sent far behind her.
“All molecules in this space have been made into Springloaded.
Dimensional control complete.”
Machina’s eyes looked even more empty than usual.
The witch herself remained still, but the rabbit ears
stabbed into her head were working overtime with incredible amounts of
electricity pumping through them.
The movements of all molecules – down to the smallest
quantum fluctuation – had to be understood in the space their master could
perceive. That processing speed could not be matched by a combined effort of
every supercomputer on earth and it was a huge burden on Machina’s brain to
keep up with that.
But it was well worth doing.
If the flames did not work, then what about a simple
physical attack? One of the angels threw a knife that was lying nearby.
It flew right up to the witch’s eyes and – poof! – it became
a white clover and fell to the ground.
“Quantum phase transformation of matter complete. No
problems detected.”
“Maybe an angel isn’t one to talk, but I didn’t realize magic
was real.”
Physical attacks were transformed and energy could not reach
her. This was a first even in Micha’s millennia of life, so she was astonished.
With full use of the precognitive Grand Guignol System,
Machina could calculate the movements of the molecules at given coordinates and
apply predictive equations.
God does not play dice. Machina could see the movements of every
molecule, so if she could also influence them, she could quantumly alter things
a few seconds into the future. Se could send energy to a different location and
she could replace the phenomenon of a knife with something else.
“You can rewrite the future, can you? Science is an
incredible thing.”
“One correction. FeTUS’s research is always meant for the good
of the human world, so working up countermeasures to your angels was only one
piece of that. It was not the primary purpose of our research.”
“Ha ha. Shut your mouth.”
“All fields of science pursue perfection, but perfection is
impossible for humans. The hands of the clock grow more inaccurate with every
tick.”
Starting where the white clover had fallen, grass grew across
the scorched deck to create a field.
“So science works to understand that imperfection. This is
one of the answers Miss A spent years working on. This power allows us to apply
the measurements of reality to a realm we can never fully understand.”
Some objects appeared a short distance away: a rocking chair
and a white wooden table that looked perfect for an enjoyable teatime.
“This is the final act of Grand Guignol de Iris: Alice in
Wonderland.”
“So it’s finally working, is it?”
Lucia had been hiding due to his weakness to angel fire, but now he hopped out from
behind the unmoving rabbit. The flames could not reach him as long as he
remained behind Machina.
“Ibekusa, clear the way.”
“Positive.”
Machina formed a finger gun of her own and aimed it at
Micha.
And when she pulled the trigger…
“Kwah!”
Micha and the 13 of Dante all burst in flames.
“Wait, wh-what the hell!?”
The 14 of them audibly burned, starting from their stomachs. They did not seem
in pain, but they were clearly confused as to what this was.
“Wait, is this- gh.”
Micha spat out some saliva.
When the liquid hit the grassy floor, it turned into a black
Succubus. It existed in the middle of the angel flames, so it turned to ash and
disappeared a moment later.
This told her why their bodies were burning.
“Hey, could you please not violate our fabulous bodies like
this? It’s gross enough for me, but these girls are all virgins.”
“Ah ha ha. It’s probably a good experience for them.”
Lucia laughed in amusement.
When the 13 of Dante also noticed the change, they screamed like
nails on a chalkboard and writhed around, but more out of disgust than pain.
This was the opposite of when Machina had sent the angel energy
elsewhere. She had sent demon power into their bodies. The moisture forming
their saliva, blood, and the rest of their body had been turned to Succubi by
the demonic influence.
“Honestly.”
Angel bodies were a divine light that sliced through everything
demonic.
Divine lightning showed no mercy and made no exceptions. If it
contacted a demon, it would automatically burn them away.
They themselves burned away the moisture of their bodies.
The demonic influence did not affect their entire body, but
it had reached their blood vessels. They were essentially losing more blood
with each pump of their hearts. Plus…
“Micha…surrender. Surely that’s enough.”
Ange got up despite still being woozy.
It did look like the battle was over.
They were no longer even using their flames, but their blood
was being drained by their own biological reactions. If they kept fighting,
they would only worsen their wounds with their flames and Ange’s attacks would
now be fatal to them.
Micha sighed in exasperation and brushed a hand through her
hair.
“Dante, that’s enough. You can leave.”
Micha gave a command to the 13 waiting behind her.
They had no emotions, so they simply shut their eyes in
response. A moment later, flames engulfed them and they burst just like Rapha
had. 13 golden seeds entered the pool.
Ange’s group watched in shock.
Micha had sent her allies away, but she was clearly not
going to surrender since she was still here.
“Get ready, Ange. I will go all out, but it wouldn’t be any
fun if I killed you instantly.”
She removed the earring visible on the ear revealed when she
brushed up her hair.
It was round, small, and shaped like a wing.
“Big Bang.”
“Ah.”
When it transformed into a thin, glowing rapier, Ange
subconsciously let go of her own sword. Her innate battle sense told her what
was going to happen next.
The thin line of the sword swept through the sky.
Ange’s Prominence was sliced in two. Ange herself jumped
back and tackled Lucia and Machina to the floor.
A gust of wind passed by overhead.
“My molecular serialization can’t keep up.”
The energy coming from Micha should have had its molecular
data rewritten before it arrived too close, but Machina’s eyes widened.
The floor had become a grassy field, but now it returned to being
a plain ship’s deck.
The magic had been dispelled. More accurately, the molecules
needed to perform the magic had been blown away by the gust of wind produced by
the sweeping sword.
They had avoided the energy itself, but space looked
distorted in the night sky back where it had flown. The sword had such a sharp
edge and high temperature that it had tugged on space itself and violently
moved the molecules in the air.
“Tch. Focus on clearing the way, Ibekusa! And on my fire resistance!”
“Positive.”
Machina’s bunny ears stood upright.
She resumed the Laplace molecular movement measurements and
created a hole through which to insert demons into Micha’s body. More than just
her stomach, fire burst from all over the woman’s brown skin.
“Hee hee. Excellent. This is definitely a drain on my stamina.”
Micha swung her rapier again while acting like the damage
was actually pleasant.
There was nothing that thin sword tip could not cut when fully
swung.
So before it could fully emit its power, Ange blocked it
with Prominence’s hilt. That just barely prevented them from being sliced
through.
“Nova!!”
The sword’s blade was replaced by roaring flames.
“Dahhhhhh!”
And Ange went on the attack.
Micha blocked it with an elegant sway of the rapier’s tip.
“It has been a while since we sparred with swords, hasn’t
it?”
“Only because a certain someone insisted she was too old for
it anymore.”
“Is that any way to speak to the person who taught you
everything you know?”
Micha cleverly shifted her sword to ward off Ange’s rapid strikes.
There should have been an overwhelming weight difference between
the large sword and the rapier, yet their power was even. If anything, the
weight difference was the only reason Ange was not being overpowered.
Micha naturally had the greater speed, but…
“Sh!”
“Oops.”
When a scythe suddenly grew from the space behind her and
aimed for her neck, she caught it on her rapier’s hilt.
“You never relax, do you? I can see why you and that old hag
Lilith get along so well.”
“Watch what you say. That’s what makes Lilith so classy.”
Lucia joined in to make it two-against-one.
When they attacked in waves, they could match Micha’s speed.
Machina played a support role by redirecting the fatal
flames away from Lucia and by obstructing Micha’s movements by sending steel-strong
vines out to grab the woman’s legs or arms.
“Ryahhhhhhhhh!”
“Hee heee.”
Their teamwork was not a calculated thing. They were far
from in sync.
But Micha could tell while fighting them that they were
getting better at it by the moment. She was having trouble keeping up with
their speed and, when she tried to catch up, the weight of the rapidly-swung
sword nearly pushed her rapier away.
And as expected, Ange had the superior raw talent.
In the moment she was distracted by Lucia’s scythe, a kick
hit her in the knee.
She stumbled for a moment and history’s strongest warrior understood
all too well what that meant.
As soon as she brought her center of gravity to the foot
behind her, the floor sank down below her foot. That would be Machina’s doing.
Her center of gravity was thrown off and she could not gather any strength in
the hand meant to block the scythe coming for her throat.
She was forced to use both hands to block it, but that left
her wide open to Ange.
“Ange.”
“Prominence!”
“I knew bringing you to the surface was a good idea.”
That veteran warrior knew all too well that she had lost.
“You made some good friends there, didn’t you?”
“Shining!!”
That sword was made from two blades pressed together like a
pair of scissors and those two blades fell away to leave only the central
flames.
The narrow and perfectly straight beam of light pierced
through Micha’s gut.
That was the exact spot that had been constantly erupting
with flames due to the demonization process.
“Gah!”
All the air burst from her lungs.
It was mixed with blood that sprayed out into the air.
The blue fire – that divine light of judgment – pierced through
the core of the strongest angel.
It burned through all of her blood that was being converted
into demons. Her brown skin split open and the red of blood and fire scattered
everywhere.
“…”
That partner had practically been family to Ange, so she frowned
for just a moment upon seeing her body split apart like that.
“!”
But a moment later, all pride vanished from her face.
“But that aside.”
Micha persisted in keeping her rapier raised.
And her other hand reached for her other earring.
“I really, really hate losing.”
“Micha.”
“We’re a lot alike, Ange. That’s the biggest reason I chose
to bring you down to the surface with me.”
And…
“Big Bang – Loop!!”
As soon as Micha readied the two rapiers, her brown skin
turned to fire and she unraveled.
Her body began to vanish starting from the stomach.
She had gathered every last ounce of strength to continue the
game, but her body collapsed first. She blinked in confusion.
“That’s enough, Micha-san. It pains me to see you hurt and I
do not want to see Ange or the others hurt either.”
“Oh, dear.”
The young man stood up.
He must have intervened and forcibly returned the fire to her
body. She had no choice but to give up now.
She was clearly not happy about it, but that was that. She
laughed and winked at stunned Ange.
“My, my. That was fun, Ange. You’re glad you came to the surface
now, aren’t you?”
“Micha.”
A moment later, she burst and disappeared like she had never
even been there.
Only a speck of light remained and that fell into the pool.
The young man quietly watched it go and then turned an emotionless
look toward the other three.
“It’s time, Satowa, Ibekusa.”
They had expected Micha to give them the most trouble, but
this was their greatest objective here.
“I’ll tear Mutsuki-kun out of there, so you do something
about Lilith once she’s all that’s left.”
“Right.”
Prominence had broken and only the core remained, rendering
it mostly useless, but since Queen Lilith was a demon, an angel would have the advantage.
With nothing left to blow the molecules away, Machina was
nearly omnipotent on this deck. There was no reason they should lose.
The three of them lined up side by side.
“Let’s do this!!”
Thank you for continuing to do this series! <3
ReplyDeleteGreat Job on translating these series. Can't wait for the next chapter. Loving Lilith :P
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