Regardless of what the woman just said.
When the dark golden vertical pupils of the [Raven]s perched on the railing—eyes completely hidden in the night—snapped open, looking exactly like the woman's own...
Su Yuzu already understood.
She was right.
Neither you nor I... have any road to retreat.
She completely didn't understand how the woman did it.
A single falling feather of a [Raven], followed by a boom, was equivalent to a powerful strike from an ordinary [Third Sequence] [Esper]. Otherwise, [Soga Ishikawa Irube] wouldn't have been injured at all during that [Aberrant attack event].
His ability was 'Strong Spirit Strike'.
It was an ability that converted matchless [mental power] into attack and defense.
Simply put... a melee mage—[mental power] version.
In the past, the [Soga clan] wasn't without 'Strong Spirit Strike' users, but most of them were high-attack, high-speed assassin-type characters.
Although 'Strong Spirit Strike' itself could provide quite excellent defense, their main bodies remained mostly fragile.
Only [Soga Ishikawa Irube] truly embodied the 'strong' aspect of 'Strong Spirit Strike'.
Yet even someone as fierce as [Soga Ishikawa Irube], who once tore apart a [Catastrophe Beast] of the same [Sequence] with his bare hands, still suffered light injuries amidst the bombing of the [Raven] feathers.
The attack power of the [Raven] feathers was certainly worthy of recognition.
However—
Powerful abilities mostly have fatal flaws.
The last time the woman attacked [Soga Ishikawa Irube] and [Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi], she could clearly only manipulate a single [Raven].
After that [Raven] was easily crushed by [Soga Yura], she also suffered heavy damage.
When analyzing the woman's ability, [Soga Yura], [Sakura Mai], and the others almost took it by default that she could only create and manipulate one [Raven].
But now!??
Su Yuzu looked at the pairs of [dark golden vertical pupils] opening in the darkness.
The muscles all over her body tensed up.
"You are seeking death—" Su Yuzu drew her blade.
The snow-bright blade edge cut through the black night.
"No one truly likes death, even [Aberrants] are the same." Stroking the [Raven] perched on her arm, the woman calmly gazed at Su Yuzu.
"Then why..."
"Shouldn't you know better than anyone?" The woman's hand stroking the [Raven] suddenly stopped. "A New King ascending the [Throne] always needs sacrifices."
"If a hero wants to be praised by others—"
"To be the center of attention."
"How can it work without defeating the Demon King."
"Although I don't count as much of a Demon King... the momentum I create is vast enough."
"Caw—"
As the woman's voice fell, countless [Raven]s suddenly spread their wings, fluttering up into the night sky.
Feathers shimmering with a metallic luster drifted down from the air.
The next second—
Boom boom boom boom—!
Almost incessant explosions instantly lit up the winding bay highway, illuminating the pitch-black sea surface as if it were burning.
Terrifying whimpering sounds seemed to come from the depths of the profound ocean.
The great explosion that instantly lit up the night sky of the harbor was, for the woman, nothing more than a takeoff.
The true bombardment hadn't even begun.
She was right.
Her momentum was absolutely vast.
This was no longer a grand scene that an ordinary [Third Sequence] [Aberrant] could trigger.
Su Yuzu looked at the circling [Raven]s in the night sky illuminated by the explosions.
This was... a grand scene caused simultaneously by countless [Third Sequence] [Aberrants].
As a stage for a hero to ascend to the world, this place was already attention-grabbing enough.
"However—" Amidst the sound of explosions, the woman's voice was soft and thin, but clear enough. "I won't show mercy, oh~"
"No one wants to die."
"[Aberrants] are the same."
A smile suddenly bloomed on Su Yuzu's face. "Ah, ah~ That is of course."
"I also don't need you to show mercy."
Su Yuzu looked at the woman; her [crimson eyes] seemed as cold as ice, and as pure as ice.
The game—
Started.
Challenging a Boss higher than one's own [Sequence] level in a game was not some delusional matter.
When she was acting as [Kujou Iruka] intercepting the [Seventh Sequence] [Aberrant], Su Yuzu's strength had barely stepped into the [Fourth Sequence].
Although... there were all sorts of side plots, items, and the [protection] left behind by [Saint Michael] that could close the gap between Su Yuzu and [Kujou Iruka].
But—
That was still a war that could be called a miracle.
And the various Bosses that players challenged daily were basically all battles across levels.
There was a terrifying chasm between the [Third Sequence] and the [Fourth Sequence].
But... this woman right now, hadn't she also not crossed that red line?
"Caw caw—"
Accompanied by the unpleasant sounds of the [Raven]s, feathers shimmering with metallic luster drifted down, exploding instantly upon contact with any object.
In the dark red [erosion domain], everything seemed to be ignited.
The earth was red hot; the rocks seemed to be burning and melting.
This was the true form of 'Fire' in [Wind · Fire · Mountain · Forest].
Su Yuzu moved through the burning fire feathers, rapidly closing in on the woman.
Her long blade danced, and a [Raven] dove down from the sky, blocking in front of Su Yuzu.
The moment the blade edge contacted the [Raven], it triggered a violent explosion, and the girl was sent flying backward like a rag doll.
The woman just watched Su Yuzu indifferently as more [Raven]s circled above her head.
The moment Su Yuzu, who had been blown back, landed, empty blue lines traced out shapes, and a dark red giant shield was gripped in the girl's hand.
Su Yuzu felt like she was playing a Soul-like game.
The woman before her was a King who commanded meteors with a wave of her hand.
Casually sticking the long blade, which had already turned red, into the melting asphalt road beside her, Su Yuzu slowly rose holding the giant shield.
She looked at the woman, the smile on her face becoming increasingly brazen and fanatic.
"So that's it—"
"What?" The woman looked at the young girl whose mouth was spilling fresh blood yet seemed to be laughing wildly.
She suddenly... felt a bit afraid.
Some inexplicable words suddenly appeared in her heart.
A King is a King not because she sits upon a [Throne].
But because... she is born to be King.
Rather than saying the young girl ascended the [Throne] to become the New King, it would be better to say... precisely because of the young girl's existence, the [Throne] had meaning.
Even without needing to liberate that beast in her chest, she could still look down upon the world with disdain.
"Your ability doesn't let you summon AND manipulate so many [Raven]s."
"So."
"You just simply summoned them."
"..." Biting her lower lip, the woman fell into silence.
Su Yuzu was right.
Although summoning and manipulating [Raven]s both required a large amount of power, manipulation was a process of continuous depletion of [mental power], and [mental power] was very hard to replenish.
But summoning was different.
With the help of [Dai Ling], she could completely continue to summon [Raven]s, gathering them into flocks, constructing a scene as grand and magnificent as tonight's.
Su Yuzu tightened her grip on the giant shield in her hand.
She had realized it during her attack just now; as a researcher, the woman, even if she had ascended to the [Third Sequence], could not keep up with the speed of her attacks.
That [Raven]... had flown down to protect the woman by its own will.
Honestly speaking, there was nothing wrong with this mode of action.
Just like newbies in some complex games: rather than operating chaotically themselves, it was better to hand over control to the AI for auto-battle.
However—
While that raised the lower limit, it also lowered the upper limit.
"The game—" Wiping the blood from the corner of her lips, Su Yuzu smiled brilliantly.
"Only starts right now."
At the same time—
News headlines began to spread across the internet.
[Shock!!! [Third Sequence] [Aberrant] descends upon the [Tokyo metropolitan area].]
[The largest urban battle in nearly seventeen years.]
[The person fighting the [Aberrant] is...]
In the pitch-black night, the sound of the tide surged. Amidst the sounds of explosions and waves... it seemed to be mixed with a near-terrifying whimpering from the depths of the [Abyss].
The tide beat against the embankment.
Submerging the young girl's ankles.
A young girl in a thin white dress... stood barefoot in the tide, gazing in the direction of the explosions.
"Su..."
"Su..."
"Su Yuzu."
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