BXBX NOVEL Arc 5 – 35, “Ambushes and Surprises”
Arc 5 – Chapter 35, “Ambushes and Surprises”
Subaru’s first merciless strike had been blocked by teeth.
Subaru: “——”
Biting the front end of the whip, dancing as if deliberately intending to infuriate, was Gluttony, Roy Alphard.
Alphard. Subaru was a little surprised at the name.
Subaru: “This bastard also shares the name of a star—hk!”
Crusch: “Subaru-sama, that topic is over! Allow me to engage him!”
As Subaru raised his arm for another brutal blow, Alphard drew his own weapon. At the same time, Crusch unleashed her Hundred Man Strike.
A frenzied blade of wind instantly swept through the first floor of the City Hall, bisecting chairs and the reception desk.
Of course, the cut should also have mercilessly cut Alphard, but—
Roy: “Wow, awesome! But although this one looks tough…”
Crusch: “—Eh!?”
The boy, as if seeing the invisible blade of wind, bent over backward to avoid it. Like a bridge, his head rested on the floor briefly, before he flipped backward.
That action had transformed him into a battle-ready pose.
Roy: “As an attack, that was a rather third-rate tactic. It doesn’t seem all that delicious!”
Finished, Alphard leapt up from the ground, his body flying forward like a bullet.
His mouth opened to expose rows of sharp teeth resembling a hounds. Coupled with his appearance, people would mistakenly think he was a straggly wild dog. Only, a wild dog’s danger level could never compare.
Crusch brought her sword up to meet him, attempting to behead him, but…
Roy: “Although your qualifications are good, they’re not enough! To us, you’re not even a beginner!”
Crusch: “—Ah!”
As he waved his right hand, Crusch’s sword bounced away with a sharp sound. At a closer look, swaddled in the cloth wrapped around Alphard’s wrists, were twin daggers.
He held a dagger in each hand, a weapon allowing his thin, small body to fight with speed and flexibility.
While parrying her sword, his left hand swept toward Crusch’s throat. Although she immediately shifted to avoid it, Alphard flipped through the air, around her shoulder, and kicked her aside.
Crusch: “Wha—!”
Subaru: “Crusch-san!”
Roy: “Don’t just stand there and watch when you’re the easiest target!”
Alphard stomped on the ground, flying at Subaru. In the dim lighting, the thin figure of Gluttony, wrapped in rags, disappeared in the darkness, Subaru lost sight of his figure—
Subaru: “Not good…”
Alphard: “In your Sloth, you couldn’t keep up.”
Subaru: “Wha!?”
Aiming at the flaw-filled Subaru, Alphard revealed another one of his flaws.
Once, feeling powerless, Subaru had sworn to himself that no matter the situation, he wouldn’t act impulsively and hastily.
Biting his lip, he grounded himself with the pain, allowing their most powerful party member an opportunity to strike.
And Julius’s quiet command cut through the air.
Alphard immediately managed to twist evasively, but his body was still cut down by the Knight of Knights.
Gluttony rolled onto the floor, entire body covered with blood.
Roy: “Ughya! Woah, surprising—”
Julius: “Then, how about another surprise. Watch as my buds bloom!”
As Julius spoke, his spirits began another set of attacks as Alphard bounced back to his feet and darted away.
At that moment, iridescence filled dim hall. An aurora blossomed forth from Julius’s back, diving toward Gluttony.
Roy: “Spirits!”
Julius: “I hope one such as you, who appreciates gourmet, will enjoy. No matter which bud, I am proud to enjoy the bloom of these child flowers.”
Roy: “Awful, they’re pretentious, we don’t like them!”
Seeing the world burning in the aurora, Alphard spoke as he escaped high. Julius’s thin sword followed his back, pressing him one, and he attempted to escape with a sharp jerk.
Julius: “—Lolimancer!”
Subaru: “Don’t call me by that name! Juli!”
Julius: “Take Valkyrie with you to the top floor! Stop the broadcast!”
While choosing one another’s pseudonyms, Julius declared that he would hold off Alphard.
While supporting a wheezing Crusch, Subaru judged this as the most reasonable course of action, but he couldn’t quite agree with it.
The mocking boy who was darting around was, after all, Gluttony.
This was the enemy who Subaru had pursued for more than a year. Saying that defeating him was one of Subaru’s top priorities would be no exaggeration.
Even though he was right there—
Crusch: “I-I understand. Juli-sama, I will pray for your blade to be swift and true.”
Crusch: “—hk”
However, before Subaru could protest, Crusch climbed to her feet and gave a response to Julius, her face full of unwillingness.
Crusch was another victim of Gluttony, having been robbed of her memory.
Of course, she had also wanted to seize this chance for the search of her memory. Even so, she assumed her own responsibility and entrusted the fight Gluttony to others.
Even aside those feelings, she was also well aware of her own lack of strength. Considering Subaru and Crusch’s abilities, this was the only way.
Roy: “So what’s going to happen? How are we doing it? Are we all going together? Even the disappointing woman and scummy man can be served as appetizer. Then, Juli-sama, we’ll eat him, swallow him, nibble him, lick him, taste him, swallowed him, bite him, bite him into pieces, into pieces, and devour! Not bad!”
Julius: “Don’t say anything unnecessary. I didn’t become Juli in vain!”
While the auroras in the narrow space are gradually disappearing, Alphard is still a comfortable smile. Julius pursued the victory, the sword struck each other issued a steel sound.
At this moment, Julius and Subaru instantly glanced.
That line of sight is relative to Subaru, as if it means there is no need to go further—
Subaru: “Ah, dammit! Listen! Bastard, you absolutely can’t lose!”
Julius: “That’s my line. It doesn’t matter, I won’t, no, I absolutely can’t die here.”
Crusch: “Let’s go, Lolimancer-sama!”
Scratching his head, for time being, Subaru set aside his feelings and made movements to comply.
Although he should at least walk in front of Crusch, in truth, although it was shameful, she could react to any surprise attack much faster than he could.
Subaru chased behind the still wounded Crusch, and they both sprinted up the next flight of stairs. Before leaving, he took one last look and Julius and Alphard.
Julius seemed to have the advantage, but he couldn’t let his guard down.
Julius: “Go!”
Subaru: “—Bastard!”
Aware of Subaru’s gaze, Julius made him restless to the very end.
Although he was incredibly annoying, the idea of something happening to him was troublesome. Subaru turned to follow Crusch, bounding up the stairs in one breath.
Knowing that an ambush may have been awaiting them, they immediately took another flight of stairs, heading toward the topmost room.
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There were several important elements of an ambush.
First of all was the location. Ambushes were a tactic that had been put in place by an opponent waiting for opportunity to attack an enemy from a dominant location. That was the most essential element.
Secondly, the enemy needed to indeed appear at the set location. Finally setting the ambush but finding the key opponent missing would render it completely pointless.
Moreover, it was also necessary to speculate on the time when the enemy would arrive at the place of ambush. If there were a lack of concentration of ambushes en route, their effects could not be maximized.
So, assuming that Lust was setting an ambush, all three of these conditions had been fulfilled.
In any event, they needed to Break Into the Broadcast Room Within a Set Amount of Time. From their enemy’s perspective, there was no prey that would be more enjoyable to hunt.
Subaru: “Therefore, we must first destroy this situation.”
Crusch: “I understand this point… No, I’ve decide to believe in Subaru. I will say no more.”
Having arrived at the topmost room, they found a staircase.
That is, a staircase to the rooftop, where the Subaru and Crusch would have to be prepared to defeat Capella’s strategy.
Crusch, who was initially puzzled by Subaru proposal, seemed determined. This way of doing things was her invariable merit, both before and after losing her memory.
Crusch: “I honestly just want to see how the battle in the square is faring…”
Subaru: “But if we go check on them, then our actions will be meaningless.”
Even at this height they could hear the clashing of sword and Garfiel’s cursing. That fight was still ongoing, so no aid from that front could be expected.
Subaru: “Speaking of which…”
Looking around, Subaru examined the situation of the roof.
Claw marks had been left everywhere on the ground, traces of the black dragon walking around. The railings and fences that looked over the square were collapsed by the magic that Julius released.
Subaru thought of that terrible power, as he examined the room, confirming that they really were below the broadcast room.
Of course, Capella would be waiting there in ambush.
Crusch: “… ah.”
Subaru: “What happened? Please take a moment if you’re unprepared.”
Crusch: “I’m sorry, but just now, I noticed something.”
Subaru: “…?”
Crusch spoke rather weakly as Subaru busied himself with an iron fence. Subaru looked at her with surprise, and she looked back at him with a stiff expression.
Crusch: “I seem to have a certain fear of heights.”
Subaru: “An unexpected weakness… got it. Ready!”
Confirming that it has been fixed firmly, Subaru nodded toward Crusch, who returned a stiff one, and stepped meekly into Subaru’s arms.
Crusch: “—Please don’t let go.”
Subaru: “Crusch-san, there are many men who will misunderstand, so it’s be better if you don’t say those kinds of words often.”
Crusch: “——?”
Crusch turned her head with a wry smile. Then, with Crusch nestled in his arms, clinging to him, he swung loose from the building.
Of course, their bodies were drawn downward by gravity. As they fell, they reached the lowest point the whip wrapped around Subaru’s wrist would allow them to.
Subaru: “—hk!”
At the same time, supporting the weight of the both of them, Subaru’s shoulders were in enough pain to be in danger of breaking.
Twisting sideways, the two swung in an upward arc, reaching another outer wall of the City Hall. Seeing a window approaching, Subaru stretched out his feet and broke through it.
Crusch: “Gah—hk!”
Subaru: “Wha!?”
As the glass shattered, Subaru and Crusch rolled into the broadcast room. For a moment, Crusch seem to let loose a small cry, but Subaru pretended not to hear it as he released her from his arms.
Both climbed to their feet, immediately looked around, and found that…
Dragon: “——hk”
Staring blankly at the two who had just jumped in, with eyes wide open, was a black dragon sitting in a stiff posture.
The same massive body that they had seen on the roof was stuffed into the room. The black dragon had folded her wings, facing the door that one would normally enter from.
Presumably, she had originally intended to turn Subaru to ash the moment he tried to enter, but that strategy had been completely defeated.
Obstructed by her huge body, she was in a room that confined her movement greatly. Although the black dragon attempted to prepare herself to attack, moving her wings…
Subaru: “Crusch-san!”
Crusch: “Right!”
As if ridding herself of her fear of heights, Crusch nodded a response, before loosing her cut.
Her blade of wind sliced into the black dragon, damaging a wing and severing a frontal leg. The black dragon screamed loudly as dark blood began to spray.
Dragon: “AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”
Subaru: “Watch out! Get down… oah!?”
Capella writhed in pain, her dragon wings sending the room into disarray as she flapped her wings wildly.
Although this room was rather larger than usual, its durability was not so strong that it could withstand the riots of an elephant-sized creature. In order to escape from this destruction, Subaru turned to run, but at that moment he found,
—At the foot of the black dragon, a chained young girl trembled.
Girl: “——!”
Subaru met eyes with that tearful girl.
Realizing that Lust had adopted a very effective hostage strategy, should the initial ambush fail, Subaru was filled with rage.
Focusing, Subaru instinctively chose to move forward rather than escape.
Thinking of a way to dodge the tail hanging over his head, he slid toward the little girl. Picking up the trembling petite body, he flicked his whip fiercely at the black dragon’s back. It didn’t seem to inflict too much damage, but it allowed Subaru to express his rage.
But Crusch’s strikes were not so powerless.
Dragon: “Wait! Wait! I’m not… hk!”
Crusch: “No need to answer! This is retribution for the disaster you’ve wrought upon the city!”
Crusch’s relentless blade moved as if it had a mind of its own.
With an almost disappointing fragility, Capella bore no defense to that force.
Crusch cut the remaining wing, and Capella gave a keening wail. Although this likely didn’t have much to do with Subaru, that huge body was shaken violently by a plethora of attacks, and she stumbled backwards to the opposite direction of the window Subaru had broken.
The black dragon’s wings didn’t regenerate this time.
Although she’d called her body immortal, if this was her speed of regeneration, then it could not be called a threat.
Crusch: “—It’s over!”
Dragon: “Wai—”
Not allowing her to finish, Crusch loosed several successive attacks on the black dragon’s body, head, and wings. Her huge body hit the wall hard, smashing through the window frame and falling outside.
The falling black dragon would like to expand the wings, but one side of the dragon wing is chopped from the roots, the other side of the dragon wing is like being hooked fragmented, it is unable to support the state of flight.
Dragon: “——hk”
The black dragon, without a chance to regenerate, had no time to say anything, simply falling to the ground.
A few seconds later, Lust hit the ground with the sound of meat hitting a wall or a wet towel falling to the floor.
Crusch: “I’ll go confirm the situation. Subaru-sama, can you take care of this child?”
Subaru: “R-Right, I got it.”
Watching the black debris falling from edge of the window, was the ever vigilant Crusch. With heartfelt trust in her, he also set down the girl he’d just recovered.
The girl was still in a state of fear, confusion in her quivering gaze as she looked at Subaru. This was inevitable. After that long, anyone would be afraid.
Subaru: “It’s okay, the dragon just now has been killed by the superheroine big sister over there, though not easily… where’s everyone else?”
Girl: “Ah, eh…”
Subaru: “Although it is hard to believe, we’re one of our own, and came here in order to save you. We have to finish shortly, before the bad guy comes back. Can you help me?”
He bent his knees, keeping their lines of sight the same, and spoke with a steady tone.
This was the unconscious behavior he would use whenever speaking to someone younger. She seemed to calm down slightly, taking deep breaths as if steeling herself before replying.
Girl: “There’s a room over there… everyone’s, in there.”
Subaru: “Is it locked? That room…”
The girl pointed to a little room inside the broadcast room.
Actually, this room wasn’t the broadcast room, right? Although the room was large, there was no broadcast equipment at all. Even if the radio was a magic device, Subaru could find anything that it could possibly be in this room. Then, the room that the girl was pointing to was most likely the real broadcast room.
As he turned his gaze over, Subaru hesitated. He wanted to inquire about the life or death of the people inside.
However, asking the girl such a thing was far too cruel and inconsiderate.
Subaru touched the still shaking girl’s head, slowly making his way toward the room.
Girl: “——”
Heart trembling, Subaru felt sweat break out on his neck.
Even the chaotic battle seconds earlier hadn’t made him so nervous, but suddenly, his throat felt parched and try. This was the sense of a nasty premonition, a terror which preoccupied his mind.
Crusch: “Subaru-sama?”
Subaru: “Everything’s fine. I’m about to start looking around. What happened to Lust?”
Crusch: “…Everything’s fine here too… I don’t know why, but she’s staying where she is.
Crusch replied with that warning about Lust. After hearing that answer, Subaru took a deep breath and headed for the room, reaching out to brush the doorknob.
In the radio room, there was a possibility of other cultists hiding. That would be something Subaru needed to take into consideration.
But, for some reason, that kind of worry seemed superfluous. In fact, this idea is right. Because, in actuality, no cultists occupied that room. Occupying it, was—
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With speechless gazes, they looked at Subaru with amazement.
No, maybe he just want assumed they were looking. Subaru had no way of understanding how they observed the world, and he didn’t particularly want to know.
He simply felt dismay. His voice wouldn’t work. This situation could only be described as speechless. His thoughts froze, and he thought of nothing. However, there was something he finally did understand.
— The source of that irritating sound accompanying the broadcast he’d heard in the shelter.
Subaru: “—What, is this?”
In response to Subaru, That Voice spoke.
That Voice was one which welcomed Subaru, a fearsome sound, a defiant sound, a joyful sound, a meaningless sound—
The sound of numerous beating wings echoed throughout the room.
In the darkened room, countless blinking red compound eyes moved, as if watching Subaru.
The broadcast had sounded as if many many flies had been crammed into one room. And all the flies were the same size as people, this one, that one too, all of them.
“—AAAHH!!”
Subaru: “—Eh!?”
In a sea of blankness, Subaru registered a sudden pained cry.
Shocked into a sudden response, Subaru slammed the door, closing along with it the sound of a hundred beating wings. Looking back, he found…
???: “Gahahahaha! Stupid, stupid! You dregs, the meat in your heads simply isn’t enough. You actually tried to match me in a battle of the wits? Who put the sugar into your brain and melted your cerebrum~! Kahahahaha!”
Crusch was crushed under the heel of the girl who issued that sharp raucous laughter. There was no doubt that this was that familiar poisonous laughter,
Capella: “It’s me, Capella-chan! Gaahahahaha!”
As Capella winked and stuck out her tongue, Crusch vomited blood, the whites of her eyes barely showing.