Chapter 25: Shishiba Honoka Wants to Run Wild

Intermittent explosions echoed—boom… boom… boom…

"《Soul Flame》—'Burst Barrage'!"

Kisa kicked away the oncoming ant-type Deep Calamities one after another. Against a single opponent, she could handle them just fine—but there were far too many this time.

Enough Deep Calamities surged forward to completely fill their field of vision.

"Ahaha, that’s a lot~"

Even so, Kisa charged ahead without a hint of fear. Normally, facing this many would be overwhelming, but her close-range attacks could strike multiple targets at once, allowing her to keep up.

Crackle, crackle, crackle—sparks scattered across Kisa’s palm.

"Here I go!"

The moment she swung her hand, the sparks spread outward and detonated all at once.

Kisa’s skill, Soul Flame, converted the power surging from the depths of her heart into explosive fire.

With the enhancement from Connect Link—and a heart that had broken free and become unrestrained—she had gained enough control to manipulate explosions to some extent, even without direct contact.

"《Magic Word》—'Thunder'!"

From behind her, Reina unleashed a bolt of lightning. The Deep Calamities blown away by the explosions were scorched one after another.

Even then, more and more Deep Calamities continued to emerge.

—A Deep Calamity Disaster: an absurd phenomenon that seemed to spawn endlessly.

That was why it was called a disaster.

Kisa breathed heavily. The constant movement was gradually wearing her down. Behind her, Reina was also sweating, repeatedly activating her skills.

"...!"

Shinozaki Nagisa could do nothing. Connectors had no combat ability.

All she could do was grit her teeth at her own helplessness.

But only a Connector could perceive the state of their connections.

"...Akegami-san!?"

—Her Connect Link with Akegami Yuri had been severed.

"Shinozaki Nagisa, did something happen?"

"The Connect Link with Akegami-san was cut."

"...That’s bad."

A Connect Link could only be severed if the Curse Seeker on the other end rejected it.

Which meant Akegami Yuri had cut it herself. Something must have happened.

"Then we’ve gotta get to Yuri—but there are way too many enemies!"

"...Indeed. 《Magic Word》—'Ice'."

The Deep Calamities around them froze solid. But from beyond them, more kept advancing.

"Isn’t this way too many!?"

As Nagisa spoke, thud—the heads of several Deep Calamities dropped to the ground.

"《Slashing Domain—Slash Territory》—Switch, full auto."

Something swept past like the wind—and the Deep Calamities were sliced apart piece by piece.

"Finally found you. There are way too many enemies, seriously."

"Shishiba-san!?"

A girl with brown hair tied in a side ponytail—Shishiba Honoka—stood there.

"Huh? Akegami’s not here?"

"Yuri was dealing with a composite-type, but the Connect Link got cut."

"...Ah, so you want to go help, but there are too many enemies in the way."

"More importantly, why are you here?"

"I’m not on any team, but leaving Akegami alone felt like a bad idea, so I came to check. Looks like I was right."

She raised her blade.

"Load: Slashes."

Once again, slashes erupted around Honoka, cutting down the newly appearing Deep Calamities.

"Then I’ll handle things here—why don’t you go?"

"...Got it. But will you be okay?"

"This much? Easy."

"I see. Then I’m counting on you."

"We’ll come back once Yuri’s situation is handled!"

In truth, Honoka’s slashes were already cutting down a significant portion of the spawning Deep Calamities. Even alone, she seemed capable of suppressing the entire area.

"Ah—but I’m going all out, so do me a favor."

"...Understood."

Smack—Honoka struck Nagisa’s hand.

"'Connect Link.'"

In that instant, power flowed from Nagisa into Honoka.

"Without this, I’m not allowed to go all out."

Her hair tie slipped free. Her hair lengthened, shifting toward a golden hue.

"Abyss Return..."

"Heh. So you know about it."

Slashes began to swirl around Honoka.

"Anyway, just go."

With a bold grin, Honoka bared her teeth.

Since I stopped going to school right after enrolling, it’s been a while since I’ve fought like this. I’m really glad I practiced beforehand… Even now, that awful feeling from when the Deep Calamities took my hometown, my friends, and my family is starting to resurface—but surprisingly, I’m holding up. Maybe I’m just putting on a brave face, but my fighting instincts haven’t dulled.

Then there’s no problem.

Even so, no matter how many ant-type Deep Calamities I cut down, more keep pouring out. What a pain in the ass.

Still, it looks like Shinozaki Nagisa and the others have already left, so I might as well go wild however I want.

I swing my blade, and slashes fly off on their own, carving through the enemies—again and again.

But… yeah, I’m starting to run low.

My skill, Slashing Domain, stores up a number of slashes and then fires them off.

In other words, it has ammo—and once that runs out, I have to reload.

I’ve been overusing it, so now I’m running dry. Well, it’s not like it’s that convenient of an ability. It’s strong, though.

"《Slashing Domain—Slash Territory》—Switch, Assault Mode."

So I switch to close combat. The blade becomes wrapped in slashing energy.

I cut through a Deep Calamity as I pass, kick off its body to leap, and the moment I land, I drive my sword into another. I yank it free and slice across the face of the one behind it.

In Assault Mode, a fixed number of slashes automatically generate around me, so anything that gets close is cut down without me even trying.

Even the needle-like projectiles flying in from afar are knocked away by those automatically generated slashes.

Still, this also runs on limited ammo, so I can’t rely on it too much.

At this rate, holding this position should be easy enough.

My golden hair sways lightly. It’s gotten longer… kind of annoying.

Right now, I’m in a state called Abyss Return. Curse Seekers have a form known as Abaddon—a berserk state.

Abyss Return is when you’re on the verge of turning into that, but can still come back to normal. I’ve got one foot in the danger zone, so if I push too far, things could get really bad.

In exchange, though, I get a huge boost in power.

And since Connect Link can suppress Abaddon’s rampage to some extent, I can go all out even in this Abyss Return state.

Changes like my hair color and physical traits are symptoms of Abaddon—proof that I’m standing right on the edge.

Man… all I did was follow Akegami, and I ended up stuck with this weird role.

Honestly, we’re not even close. We just went to the same middle school. Back then, all I ever heard about her were bad rumors.

They said she was easy—stuff like that—but later I found out it was just that her sense of personal boundaries was off. Seriously, what a joke.

Well, with a face like hers, there was probably a lot of dumb jealousy mixed in too.

Still, I heard through the grapevine that even an airhead like her managed to make some good friends. And because of that… the gloomy look she had after the Third Deep Calamity Disaster was honestly hard to watch.

Not like I can talk—I was pretty messed up myself.

That’s why, when she showed up to see me, it seriously creeped me out. Like she was pretending to be someone else—killing her real self.

I don’t know her that well, but… you’re not that kind of person, are you?

I’m sick of people I know dying on their own. No—more than that, I just hate it.

How many times do you think I’ve had to watch surviving Curse Seekers charge recklessly at the enemy… and die?

There’s no way I’m letting you die the way you want.

That’s why I keep swinging my blade.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead. Yeah… anyone would get tired after taking down this many.

"Load: Slashes. 《Slashing Domain—Slash Territory》—Switch, Semi-Auto."

I fire off a few slashes while cutting down the Deep Calamities closing in.

Shinozaki Nagisa… that Connector will probably manage something for Akegami.

I’ll believe that—for now. Not like we’re close enough for real trust—but it’s enough.

So I leave it to her, and fix my gaze on the endlessly spawning Deep Calamities ahead.