Campione 12

by Transient Holy Night

  Erica indifferently answered Godou’s primary suspicion.

  “The biggest mistake that strange divine spirit or divine artifact’s willpower committed is using that completely flawed memory manipulation to strive for more than ten days worth of time.”

  After a brief glance at the Crown floating in the sky, Erica spoke in a provocative manner.

  “Regardless of how urgent a situation is for one or two days, once its duration is dragged out, many irrational doubts will arise. When I conversed with Godou today I also felt something was amiss. Hence, I was skeptical on whether or not I was struck by some kind of psychic attack so I decided to seek out Hikari.”

  “I was startled when I suddenly received Erica-neesama’s call.”

  Hikari energetically smiled as Godou nodded towards this revelation.

  “After trying to eliminate any spells on my body, my memory suddenly returned to normal. Later, me and Hikari went to find Yuri and Lily together.”

  “H-How cruel, you should have immediately given me a call!”

  Godou said what seemed to be a retort to Erica’s shocking announcement.

  Consequently, a devilish smile was revealed by this girl who exhibits her talent in a dazzling manner like a painting.

  “Since you seemed to be very busy, I thought it would be okay to excuse you. Plus, to a Campione like Godou, you should’ve been able to remove the curse through your own power right?”

  It was the patented demonic smile of Erica that he had sorely missed.

  To see this type of smile once again made him feel very happy, however there was always something that kept him ill at ease. But, well——.

  “No matter how you look at it, being able to meet up with everyone once again should count as good news.”

  The disjointed gears were finally able to be smoothly combined together.

  Having grasped the mood of the situation, Godou nodded towards the assembled group of people.

  Erica and her haughtiness, Yuri and her sincerity, Liliana and her seriousness, Ena and her proud smile, and there was Hikari with her youth and liveliness. Everyone had their own perspective expression and nodded back at Godou.

  However, a voice descended from the skies to throw cold water on the group——.

  ‘N-No! Young lady, don’t say I committed a gaffe. In my opinion, the outcome this time is satisfactory. Despite encountering some trivial problems, being fortunate enough to be able to disrupt the relationship between you guys allowed me to achieve this——the arrival of the day of the grand festival!’

  “The sky! Everyone please look up at the sky!”

  Yuri suddenly shouted and directed her finger towards the Crown of Saturnalia hovering in the sky.

  “A coffin……the coffin has been opened……”

  She probably received a spirit vision as she spoke with a quiet, trembling tone.

  Immediately after, the Crown of Saturnalia floating in the sky broke into pieces and scattered below. The broken pieces splashed into the ocean upon impact. In contrast to the emblem that had been at this location until now, a radiant golden oval appeared in its place.

  To Godou and the others on the ground, it appeared to be as large as the moon.

  A meteor descended towards Kasai Rinkai Park from the oval. Right when the violent impact occurred, a gigantic divine tree germinated from the crash site.——No wait.

  The existence that emanated this time had a peculiar form compared to the divine trees up until now.

  Its body length was approximately thirty meters. Candidly speaking, it appeared to be a wooden figure created by a clumsy child through mimicry.

  The widest area resembled a torso. The human-like form was barely recognizable.

  Both of its legs were thick and short. Its arms on the other hand were slender, with a length that reached the ground. The head was tiny and solitarily placed above the carcass. Not only that, but there were shoots, branches, and leaves germinating all over the body.

  The greenish-blue shoots and foliage decorated the brown tree in specks. This combination formed an indescribable color arrangement.

  “Be careful everyone. That guy is much stronger than before!”

  Ena had a worrisome expression as she warned the others.

  The user of divine possession probably sensed that the existence’s power can be compared to that of a god. Godou felt it as well. He still wasn’t a heretic god. He didn’t feel that boiling sensation when encountering a god.

  There is the fear that this divine tree represents a middle-ground existence that is between a god and non-god. Perhaps it could be considered as an ent demigod——.

  ‘Soon the sunrise of the grand festival will arrive…...I only serve as a priest to last until this very day…...now it seems that the moment has arrived. My remaining mission is to incur the seed of Saturnus and send it to the ground…...should be…...time…...silencing..….now…...’

  The voice coming from the sky finally dissipated.

  Acting decisively towards this was Erica. She turned to her old friend and rival and sent her a signal with her eyes.

  “Lily, it would be quite meaningless to hold anything back at this point. Let’s charge with everything we have ok? Ena-san are you fine with this?”

  Afterwards, she grasped the Cuore di Leone and sped off.

  Liliana and Ena both nodded and followed. The target for the three of them was the gigantic ent demigod!

  "And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them!"

  "And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses!"

  Erica and Liliana both chanted as they rushed in.

  These were the divine annihilation privileges bestowed upon them as they implemented their smiting spell words.

  "Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword!"

  A scarlet ray of light wrapped around Erica’s body. The slender blade, Cuore di Leone, also deformed into a barbed lance.

  "And they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian—And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire!"

  Liliana’s body was also surrounded by a blue ray of light. The hilt of her saber, Il Maestro, was also elongated which transformed it into the shape of a naginata.

  "The hero takes up his bow and shoots a soaring arrow... Leaving a legend passed down the ages to this day without human guardianship."

  In addition, Ena too began to chant her spell words as she wielded the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi——.

  Each of the three girls went towards the newly risen ent demigod to deliver their strongest blows.

  Erica flew straight up into the air and used her magic sword to mercilessly carve out the ent’s flanks.

  Gracefully moving around in the air like a swallow, Liliana sent a horizontal slice towards the ent’s neck.

  The ent stumbled after its legs were cut off by Ena’s lighting strike. One of its legs shattered into pieces.

  “Not putting up any resistance!?”

  Liliana felt astonished and the other two probably felt the same.

  After receiving three strikes, the ent demigod let out a loud cry.

  ooooooooooaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNnnnnnnnNNNnnnnnnn……

  Following that, the ent’s body collapsed just like its predecessor, the divine tree, when it was struck by Jonathan’s bow. However, after several seconds had passed——.

  The golden oval floating in the night sky once again spat
out another meteor.

  As expected, another ent demigod being was produced.

  Considering Christmas had seen better days, Godou’s body violently jolted. It wasn’t due to the extreme cold or because of fear, rather it was a tremble of excitement. The godslayer slightly sensed the aura of the enemy he would meet in battle.

  “Its power has risen from before!?”

  Having intuitively deduced this, Godou looked towards Yuri.

  “I sense it as well. I’m afraid that as time elapses——as daybreak approaches, that divine tree will become more and more like a heretic god!”

  “Furthermore, it will just revive no matter how many times you kill it…...”

  What a troublesome opponent. Godou could not help but smack his lips.

  If the power of everyone assembled here was combined, the ent demigod giant could be smashed into pieces. However, if done like this there would be no way to solve the core of the problem.

  “If only Yuri or Liliana could use spirit vision to see through the reason why this divine tree is able to continuously revive itself…...”

  Erica mentioned as such. Liliana and Ena walked back together to Godou’s location since they probably figured out that attacking the ent demigod was meaningless.

  Furthermore, up until now the ent seemingly didn’t have any intention to battle against Godou and the girls. There were differences in comparison to the incomparably violent divine tree. It was very quiet——like a genuine tree constantly towering there.

  Moreover, it began to chant. The sound appeared to be coming from an opening that resulted from a split crevice.

  oooooooaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAANNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNnnn……

  A sharp jolt. Godou’s body once again shuddered from excitement. If it continued to raise its power levels it will gradually approach the strength of a heretic god.

  “Hey Godou, I have a suggestion.”

  “What is it?”

  “Since that tree wants to transform into a god, we might as well not disturb it and wait a bit right?”

  Godou was extremely surprised by that shocking statement. Erica calmly continued speaking.

  “The most suitable weapon to defeat that ent is probably the spell words for the Sword right? Once we figure out his means of revival this mystery will be solved. Since we are already at this stage, it doesn’t matter if the enemy is a divine tree or a heretic god since there isn’t that much of a difference. If that is the case, don’t you feel a more rewarding battle would be better?”

  If he could defeat a heretic god, then Kusanagi Godou could attain a new ability. She was hitting on this point.

  Detecting the meaning behind Erica’s statement, Godou offered his reply.

  “Of course not. Obtaining a deity’s power has no importance to me. I already possess all the power I could ever want.”

  “All the power you could ever want? What do you mean?”

  “Everyone has already assembled together like this right? Having partners together in combat who also care about me, this much is already more than enough.”

  His voice could not help but become emotional. Was it because of the current situation?

  Towards this honest statement, Erica revealed a blossoming smile and Yuri also displayed a gentle smile. Liliana nodded her head, seemingly saying I feel the same while Ena too knowingly smiled.

  “Onii-sama, I would also like to accompany everyone.”

  “Haha, Hikari has also helped us in many aspects.”

  The youngest hime-miko in training smiled as she spoke with Godou who nodded in response.

  However, she still was only an elementary school student. If the situation had become more dangerous than it was now, then it would only be right to have her take refuge.

  After he nonchalantly sent Erica an eye signal, she looked as if she already understood its meaning and redirected her gaze. She truly knew how to clue in on one’s thoughts. That said——.

  They faintly sensed that the restlessness had already unwittingly subsided.

  “Furthermore, another reason is we don’t want that guy turning into the god Saturnus.”

  Godou, who just remembered this point, spoke of the phenomenon that this god brought upon 150 years ago.

  It was within the report sent by Lu Yinghua. In regards to this, the expressions of the girls became tense.

  “I take that back. In the end, as a knight I cannot permit that kind of disorder occurring in Tokyo and brush it aside. Let’s quickly take down that ent.”

  Even Erica’s facial expression was serious as she said:

  “Since it is like this, we must quickly prepare the Sword.”

  "Instead of the giant, the key should lie over there, right?"

  Ena used her fingers to point towards the golden oval that emerged in the sky.

  “Yuri, what is this coffin you mentioned just now?”

  “Y-Yes, it looked like someone was buried inside. At least that was what I felt. That’s why I didn’t want to say the word coffin outright. Perhaps that was the coffin of the Grey One.”

  “Speaking of which, that guy previously mentioned he was a god in the past.”

  Godou nodded towards Yuri’s speculations.

  “In short, if we could get closer while staying on the ground, then perhaps it shouldn't be up to me but rather Yuri who might be able to obtain a more detailed spirit vision."

  When coming in close contact to a historical divine artifact, the success rate displayed in Yuri’s spirit vision is astonishingly high.

  It was probably because of this that Liliana would have an expression of regret as she spoke. As a result,

  "If it’s just getting closer then perhaps there is someway to accomplish that."

  Yuri spoke in a soft and determined tone.

  "Although, I'm not certain if going there will result in me obtaining a spirit vision......but no matter what we must give it a try!"

  After finishing her statement, the hime-miko crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes.

  This was her praying stance. Following that, a faint white light arose from Yuri's body. Next, the ray of light ascended up into the sky like a pure white satin fluttering in the air.

  "Spirit body separation! Isn't this the Princess's ability!?"

  Consequentially, Godou remembered the conversation he had with Liliana.

  The one who was regarded as Europe’s highest ranking hime-miko was Princess Alice. Her secret technique was the ability to utilize psychic sensing from a spirit body detachment. Despite having her physical body slumbering in her residence at London, she was able to fly all over the world with her spirit body. Yuri was now able to achieve the same feat——.

  Alice's spirit body was no different from her real body, but to Yuri this was still quite difficult. However, the resplendent ray of white light actually flew towards the sky heading towards the its target, the golden coffin!

  Two minutes passed just like that. With her eyes closed, the hime-miko suddenly collapsed.

  "Onee-chan!"

  Hikari immediately came to help up her sister. Godou and the others also rushed over to her side to assist.

  Yuri had an exhausted appearance as she weakly knelt on the ground while gasping for air. Because she used spirit body separation, her body was probably overtaxed.

  She wasn't even able to look them eye to eye. However, during the intermittence of her gasping, the hime-miko quietly said:

  "Godou-san, in the end......I saw it."

  "What do you mean Mariya?"

  "T-The light, it’s being hidden in the abyss of that coffin. That light is currently the underlying cause of this inextricable revival. If we can eliminate it then......"

  She was finally able to stabilize her breathing. However, she wasn't finished speaking.

  Yuri closed her eyes and then lost consciousness soon after.

  "What does the abyss refer to?"

  Godou felt perplexed as he looked up towards the night sky. The horrific
oval that sparkled with golden light rays was hovering in the sky.

  She said it was a ray of light in the abyss. Did it have to be sealed somehow? After all was said in done, Godou and the others were located on the ground. But as for a means of flying there......they do have it.

  Godou examined that approach but then hesitated. He once again reviewed his options.

  Sure enough, there were no other alternatives.

  "Hey Liliana, haven’t you recently been saying that I have been too polite numerous times?"

  Having an unrelated question being suddenly thrown at her, the female knight replied 'yeah, you’re right' in response.

  She didn't seem to understand and said ‘why do you bring this up now?’

  "Only during times like these will I impolitely request something from you. Furthermore, besides you there’s no one else I can request. Please send me over there!"

  The golden oval floating in the night sky was an existence that Yuri succinctly revealed as the coffin.

  Godou pointed to that majestic sight as he pleaded towards Liliana Kranjcar.

  Part 4

  A period of time passed after Godou and Liliana took off.

  Suddenly, the ent demigod let out a roar.

  oooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAANNNnnnNNNNN!

  This one was a bit more intense compared to that steady cry from before. Its yell came from a crevice that was the equivalent of a mouth as it gazed towards the sky.

  At the forefront of its sight was the golden coffin that Godou and company were heading towards!

  "As expected, that coffin appears to be a crucial point for the ent as well."

  "It probably became restless after it sensed Your Majesty and everyone closing in on it."

  Erica muttered in response while Ena offered her speculations.

  The only two battlers left on the ground were those two. They had already decided on what should be done next. Erica and Ena wordlessly exchanged eye signals and each understood the other's intentions.

  Just when they did that, the ent demigod raised its elongated right arm into the air.

  A wooden staff suddenly appeared in its hand. The wooden staff was divided in two at the end, giving it a shape that resembled a tuning fork.