Emotional Howl

by Shūsuke Amagi

With this blade, he could easily slice open a filth monster's hard shell.

  "Next........."

  Time to go? His mind flew back to earlier.

  (Mei, can she do it?)

  He didn't think she'd ignore his request. It was difficult to enter the Locker Room during a match. If she could get them out of the Locker Room smoothly......

  "Hey, wait a bit more. They're softer when they're awake~"

  A filth monster's shell became much denser and harder during the monster's dormant period. A hard shell would hinder a filth monster's movement, so the shell tended to soften up when the monster was awake. Another saying went that the shell was harder in the filth monster's sleep to prevent other filth monsters from eating it. Was it really true.........

  The filth monsters stirred, half buried in the ground. They should have felt Zuellni's closeness. Perhaps the shells really were softening to allow greater flexibility.

  "......It's all right if I just clean up my part."

  "Ugh. Allow me to show you the beautiful cooperation of my team. You just shut up and see," Haia said, bending down from the rock he was on.

  Layfon originally intended to ignore him, but.........

  [Please wait a moment more.] Fermaus' voice stopped his feet from moving. He glanced at Haia. It appeared he hadn't heard Fermaus.

  [I'm only speaking to you.]

  "Why?" Layfon asked in a low voice.

  [Haia's interested in you. Ryuhou always mentioned you. He was happy that you were given a Heaven's Blade, as if you were his own apprentice.]

  An electronic voice that should be devoid of any feelings, but Layfon felt nostalgia in that voice.

  "You......"

  [I knew Ryuhou since I was little. Well, he was older than me. I had also met Derek......Don't know whether he could recognize me with my looks as they are now.]

  Layfon recalled Fermaus' face without the mask.

  [I wanted to meet you, but I gave up. We didn't intend to return to Grendan soon. I never guessed we'd meet this way.]

  ".........What does the Queen want with the Haikizoku?"

  Since he couldn't ask Haia, he turned the question to Fermaus. This current situation was due to the Haikizoku. Best if it disappeared. However, he wouldn't feel any more relaxed if the Haikizoku was taken to Grendan because Leerin and Derek were there.

  [What does she want......I want to know too. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang was formed to find the Haikizoku. Our mission remains the same even if our leader changes. This is some kind of a secret among the royalty.]

  "So the Mercenary Gang has been following that order and seeking the Haikizoku?"

  [Well.........It felt like a heavy mission in the first stage of the Mercenary Gang, but the feeling has become less urgent in Ryuhou's generation. Besides, Ryuhou didn't join the Mercenary Gang for that reason.]

  "Huh?"

  [Ryuhou just wanted to travel.]

  Layfon failed to reply to that unexpected answer.

  [He always sighed that because of him, Derek couldn't have left......He was really happy when he heard Derek's apprentice had become a Heaven's Blade successor.]

  "............"

  But that apprentice did something to taint the name of Psyharden.

  [That's why Haia hates you.]

  "Why?"

  The thought of himself tainting Psyharden flashed in his head.

  [No, that's not it.] Fermaus denied as if he had predicted Layfon's thinking. He might have read Layfon's expression with psychokinesis.

  [Haia wasn't born in Grendan. He was an orphan and Ryuhou picked him up. Haia was very full of himself, but he fell under Ryuhou's influence. He and Ryuhou had developed a father and son relationship. No one wants to see his own parent praising another child, right?]

  "I don't get it."

  Layfon was also an orphan, so he didn't understand the feeling between a father and his son. But he understood it wasn't anything funny when Derek praised other apprentices.

  [Haia wants to take the Haikizoku back to Grendan so he can take the Heaven's Blade. He wants to prove whatever Derek's apprentice can achieve, Ryuhou's apprentice can do it as well.]

  Fermaus laughed. It felt strange and itchy to hear that electronic laughter.

  A feeling between family members? No.........How should he put it......Layfon held his hand, confused by his own feelings. Another voice suddenly cut in.

  [What're you doing?]

  Felli's voice was icy. But it was comforting to him as he was used to it.

  "Felli......Senpai," Remembering that Fermaus was still listening, he hurriedly added 'senpai'.

  [It'll take a while for my flake to arrive so I'm borrowing this flake.] Dissatisfaction filled her voice.

  [Incredible.] The electronic voice sounded. The flake beside Layfon held psychokinesis from two different people.

  [You didn't cut off my psychokinesis but merged yours with mine? Brilliant. I can interfere with another's use of psychokinesis, but I've never heard of using it this way.]

  [Sorry, but......] Felli's voice was lighter than usual when she responded to Fermaus' excitement. [I've something to say to this hopeless idiot. Unrelated people please leave.]

  [Ah......]

  Fermaus didn't say anything else. It appeared Felli had completely taken over the flake. Though she wasn't physically here, it felt like she and Layfon were alone, together. The discordant and tense atmosphere descended on him. That was Felli's anger.

  "Uh......I'm sorry."

  [Never mind. I understand.........I'm deeply shocked by Zuellni's level.]

  "That's not it," he shook his head, relieved that she understood him. "This is an Academy City. It must be common."

  [......How troublesome.] She then told him of what happened with the 17th platoon. [Then why did you call us over?]

  Why did he call them over when their strength wasn't enough to fight filth monsters?

  "To watch."

  [Watch?]

  "The fight. My style of fighting isn't useful, but the Mercenary Gang's is. Felli, I'd be happy if you recorded as much as you can."

  Young Military Artists at Grendan would watch the fights of veterans. They'd fight after feeling the atmosphere of the fight and the horror of filth monsters. They'd prepare themselves mentally for the fight, and figure out their own styles. This was a habit only seen in Grendan because of Grendan's numerous contacts with filth monsters.

  [It'll be difficult to turn the images in my head into video images......I can record the images from the helmet though.]

  "Please. If only Sharnid senpai and everyone else saw it, Captain would get angry......"

  [Please don't say something that'd make me not want to prepare for this.]

  "Huh?"

  [A joke. Then I'll relay this to them.]

  "Yes, please tell them where to wait and watch. How long until you get here?"

  [I can start recording when I see the battle. When my flake arrives, it can record the entire fight.]

  Layfon nodded. "Then I'm counting on you."

  [Let this flake be your aid.]

  The vision dimmed in Layfon's helmet and immediately turned into a colorful world.

  "This really is better."

  [......I won't forgive you even if you praise me. And please don't force yourself.]

  "I know."

  Felli didn't say anything. She must be relaying the message to Sharnid.

  "Next......"

  His preparation was done.

  (Next is to trust the Captain in that.)

  He worried about the Captain more than his impending fight. While he was thinking of this, the situation over at Zuellni came through. Felli deliberately left it out of her report to Layfon.

  Nina descended into the center of the Mechanical Department on the lift that was fenced waist-high. As the lift stopped, she ran out of it. The time was dusk, and there were no other cleaners around. Almost all of the workers here were in the Resting Room. Nina ran without worryi
ng about knocking over people. No one else was around.

  Zuellni was on a rampage. She couldn't believe it. That young girl on a rampage? But it was true that the city was heading straight for filth monsters when it should be avoiding them. Layfon was now fighting because of that.

  (Damn, just what's happened?)

  She was running now because of that reality. Nina didn't have to doubt.

  (A child that gentle.......)

  She and Zuellni met for the first time when she started working at the Mechanical Department. She didn't' know Zuellni as long as she knew Harley, but Zuellni was her first friend since entering the Academy City. Zuellni was important to her, and this had nothing to do with the amount of time they had spent together.

  "Something bad has happened."

  She didn't think Zuellni would want to be like this. She stopped, a figure floating up in her mind. Thick metallic plates stood before her. A small hill piled by a number of metal plates....... The center.

  "Zuellni!" Nina could only call as she walked around the hill. She didn't see an entrance into the hill.

  "Zuellni!"

  The sound of mechanisms working drowned out her voice. A feeling of something suppressive rushed up her chest. Her heartbeat quickened. Was she tense? Excited. She put a hand on her chest, realizing the emotions inside her.

  "......What is this."

  Unrelated to her consciousness and the situation, her body was becoming excited. Her consciousness and her body seemed to go in different directions. Her body temperature rose as if blood was draining from her head.

  "Uh......" Her legs weakened and she put a hand on the metal plate. And then......

  "What?"

  The support beneath her hand folded inward. Nina fell, reacted instinctively, and rolled on the fallen plate. The plate lay on an angle and Nina slid down on it. Her shoulder hit the floor and stopped her movement. The slide wasn't a long one.

  "This is......the inside." Nina never thought she'd enter the hill this way. She stood up and confirmed her surroundings. She thought she was in total darkness when she rolled down the plate, but it wasn't entirely dark in here. Dim light pulsated in the middle of the small space. Gold and green light flowed, slowly chasing away the darkness. The light made Nina dizzy. Her heart still beating fast. She felt uncomfortable.

  "Is it here......"

  Without waiting for Kei to help her body recover, she took a step in the direction of the light. Nina walked around the light and discovered the space wasn't as big as she thought. The face exuding the light greeted her.

  "Zuellni!"

  A gem sat on an enormous pedestal cut out by machinery. The base of the pedestal was about the height of Nina's waist. It was wide enough for four to five people to surround it with hand touching hand. The gem on the pedestal was in its raw uncut form. Several tubes extended from the base of the pedestal. Calcite stuck on the gem here and there, transparent like the surface of calm water. Zuellni was in there. But Nina wasn't sure whether it really was Zuellni.

  "......What is this?"

  Nina's voice trembled.

  Zuellni's pupils had lost their focus. Nina didn't know what was inside the gem, but she saw the girl form of Zuellni floated, as if her hands and feet were stretching out. As if she was dead. A chill ran down Nina's back.

  "Why is it here?"

  A huge creature with golden hair and branching horns stood behind Zuellni inside the gem. A male goat. The Haikizoku.

  "You......Why are you here!?" Nina shouted and snatched out her Dite. She restored it, and urged by outrage and dizziness, she used her Kei. Her iron whips struck the gem, giving off a crisp sound. Green and golden light weaved together like a heart beating. They swayed and instantly vanished into normality.

  "Fu!" Rebounded into the air, she did a backflip and landed. She continued to strike the gem but failed to do any damage to it. No.........

  (Something pushes me away before I strike the gem.)

  That was what she felt.

  (Then......? Damn.)

  Felli's flake should be in here. Nina could ask her to analyze the gem. Maybe Felli was already running an analysis.

  But she didn't ask the psychokinesist on her team. She suppressed her instinctive urge to call Felli by breathing in deeply.

  (Isn't Layfon also alone?) She thought.

  Outrage caused her to briefly forget herself. The dissatisfaction she had up till now was gone. She didn't attack the gem again.

  (This might affect Zuellni.)

  This was the center of the Mechanical Department. If she destroyed it, the city might cease functioning. Outrage made her forget herself, and in that instant, she realized that she might end up damaging the city itself. Horror filled her. But what should she do.........

  "My......"

  "......!"

  A voice filled her head. Her body turned stiff.

  "My body is already rotten. It is useless. Driven by the madness of hatred, I turned into flame. I now seek a new master for a new purpose. You whom I hope for, obey my wish. Possess my spirit and show my value. As such, I'll turn the Ashes of Ignasis into a sword, and eliminate all your enemies."

  Layfon had heard of these words from the Haikizoku in the ruined city. Now these words were directed to Nina for the first time.

  "You.........You can speak? The Ashes of Ignasis? What're you saying?"

  She didn't understand the Haikizoku's words, but she quickly chased away that puzzle. She understood some of it because of what happened in the match with the 10th platoon.

  "You, you're looking for someone so you can fight filth monsters? Is that why you're doing this to Zuellni?"

  "In order to obtain the person who can hold my spirit, I now take action."

  "What......?"

  "The situation will help a person change and grow," it said curtly and fell silent.

  (To change and grow......)

  Nina was only puzzled for a while, then realization flooded through her.

  "Could......Could you be making us fight filth monsters!?"

  People could become strong by being forced into fights. They couldn't survive if they weren't strong. Electronic Fairies protected their city and their people. If the Electronic Fairy was taken away......... And if the city itself headed for filth monsters.........Then people had to continuously fight filth monsters to survive.

  "Ridiculous.........The city will die."

  A city would face constant danger of annihilation if it continued to fight filth monsters. That was why Regios moved to avoid filth monsters.

  "If a person can possess me, then many more people will be saved by the Ashes of Ignasis."

  "That is.........That isn't a logical theory," Nina groaned. How could it say that destroying Zuellni was all right for the sake of finding a new master? It had possessed Dinn before.

  "I won't let you do what you want here.........Let Zuellni go!"

  The sight of Zuellni's dead posture increased the impatience and worry in her.

  "My determination is infinite."

  The Haikizoku stirred within the gem.

  "But you possess a strange feeling."

  "Wh, what......?"

  "You who think of protecting the city, come and try. Even though you do not have the will to feed me, I'll bet on that feeling of yours."

  "Wh......"

  Though she didn't understand what the Haikizoku meant, she felt the danger and readied her stance to defend herself. But it was meaningless. The Haikizoku vanished the next second when her iron whips blocked her line of sight to the gem. And quickly.........

  "What, Ah......"

  She felt something filling her chest......

  "Can, can this be......"

  It was forcing itself into her. The hole she didn't know she had in her chest was being stuffed full. Her consciousness started to fade as she felt herself drowning.

  (Can this be......)

  Was this what Dinn felt............?

  "St, stop it!"<
br />
  Only Felli heard Nina's scream. She didn't know what happened next as her psychokinesis couldn't reach it. Felli conveyed the event to Karian so he could send people over to the Mechanical Department. She didn't tell Layfon about it.

  "Next......" Haia stood up on the huge rock. The filth monsters had awakened from their dormant stage, spreading their wings.

  "About time to go," he murmured as the other Mercenary Gang members increased their Kei without exciting the filth monsters.

  "How's it over there?" Layfon asked Felli.

  [The preparation is completed.]

  "You don't have to record me......Actually, better if you don't record it."

  [I know. Even if I want to, it's not possible to make you a target.]

  Felli's words were as unforgiving as ever. He smiled bitterly as he confirmed the movements of the filth monsters. The filth monsters should have already discovered him and the others by smell. Will they take the bait here or fly straight for the more plentiful Zuellni.........

  "Then please watch."

  [Don't force yourself.] That was Sharnid's voice.

  Layfon spoke to Haia. "We have to time our fights. It'll troublesome if even one filth monster heads for Zuellni."

  "Who're you talking to?" Excitement showed through Haia's voice. He laughed. "We're hunting dogs on a battlefield. Don't take us for little dogs that need to be taught how to take a bite."

  "I can tell you how to fight," Layfon shouldered the huge sword in his hand. Haia took the same posture with his Katana.

  "I'll reap them all."

  And External Kei burst out of Layfon. The Kei shattered the ground before him as it swept up the dust and swallowed the filth monsters.

  "Time for the hunt!" Haia roared and ran out, moving at high speed with his body close to the ground.

  "Restoration 02."

  Layfon's Sapphire Dite became steel threads. Looking at the filth monster that first flew out of the dust cloud, he used Whirl Kei – a variation of Internal Kei. The rock underneath him broke into pieces as he jumped. The filth monster's body curved like a snake, its wings beating in repeated motions to lift the filth monster into the sky. Layfon's sword chopped into its exposed chin.

  The hard shell cracked easily. The power of the Whirl Kei remained steady. He leaned his body onto the sword, and using his own weight pushed the sword through, cutting through the filth monster's body. The enemy collapsed and fell. Layfon landed, his momentum carrying him across the ground. The dust surrounding him did not hinder his vision since he had Felli's support. He slid to a stop and turned around to feel his surroundings with the steel threads. He still had five filth monsters to defeat. He confirmed that all five were caught in his steel threads, then he let go of the Sapphire Dite.