When Mirokuji Yūya appeared, a crushing pressure instantly spread over everything around.
"After seeing Selesia and her kami-sama bicker, I got curious about what my own kami-sama would be like. So I've been hanging around your group. Didn't expect I'd bump into you here, old man. From the way you talk… sounds like you've joined up with that little brat in the military uniform, huh?"
Mirokuji Yūya had arrived in this world around the same time as Blitz Talker. They'd even run into each other once—back at Ohtaneguro Park. The two had exchanged a brief clash, but no victor was decided.
Blitz didn't answer. His gaze sharpened, and he simply raised his revolver, firing straight at Mirokuji. The super-high-speed bullets melted into the night, but just as they were about to pierce his body, they were blocked by the black wooden blade Mirokuji had raised. The impact of metal bullet against wooden sword rang out in sharp metallic clangor.
The black wooden blade in Yūya's hand was called Shinboku Kuro-Nagimaru. His most beloved weapon. When swung, it could release devastating shockwave slashes, and its hardness was no weaker than steel.
The gunfire seemed to rouse Mirokuji's ferocity. His grin twisted, becoming more hideous, and he threw his head back with a furious shout:
"[Hangaku]!"
Azure-blue flames ignited behind him. Out from that fire emerged a figure—his companion, known as Hangaku. She clutched a long naginata in one hand and charged Blitz head-on. The dragging slash she swung at his neck carried thunderous force.
The blade's frigid gleam stabbed at Blitz's eyes and skin. His expression tightened; twisting the mechanism on his wristwatch, he was suddenly flung upward into the sky, narrowly evading Hangaku's cut.
Blitz's watch controlled the gravity around him—that was how he could fly. He also possessed his special bullets, [Gravity Bomb], which upon hitting a target triggered a hundredfold gravitational collapse. Meteora had been struck by one earlier, completely off-guard.
Even as he took to the air, Blitz fired several more shots down at Hangaku. But her naginata spun like a whirling windmill, intercepting every bullet.
Still rotating her naginata, Hangaku surged upward after him. In an instant she closed the gap, her weapon lunging like a coiling dragon, its point shimmering with cold killing intent.
Though every bullet had been rendered useless, Blitz's face remained unreadable. He twisted slightly, and the blade-light of the naginata slashed so close it merely grazed his coat.
The instant an attacker strikes is when their opening is greatest. Blitz seized that chance, raising his gun to fire—but Hangaku wasn't one to fall for such a move. With a tilt of her head, the bullet only whisked through her hair. Both hands gripping her naginata, she twisted her waist and unleashed a slash like a crescent moon. But by the time it fell, Blitz had already withdrawn, widening the distance.
Yet before he could breathe relief, a hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder. The overwhelming aura was like a mountain pressing on him.
"Don't just keep your eyes on Hangaku!"
Grinning ferociously, Mirokuji's left hand crushed Blitz's shoulder, while his right raised the black wooden blade high. His voice shook with excitement:
"Your opponent is both me and Hangaku together!"
With force like splitting Mount Hua, he cleaved downward. Blitz was hurled away, smashing hard into one of the overpass's support columns.
The pillar didn't break, but a sizable crater was left behind.
Brushing aside rubble, Blitz slowly stood up, his figure a little disheveled.
He had survived thanks to manipulating the gravity around him into a special field to blunt the strike. He wasn't badly injured—just made to look battered.
"In my world… I've never faced opponents this troublesome. At least against the demi-humans, firearms were still plenty effective."
Muttering to himself, Blitz lifted off into the sky again, distancing from the crater. The next second, a sword scar like a crescent cleaved down where he had just been, nearly slicing the pillar in two. Hangaku raised her head, locking eyes with him above.
Blitz swept her with a cold glance, then looked at Mirokuji, standing balanced on the guardrail. Finally, he looked farther out—and saw someone had joined Meteora's side.
Selesia.
"You're worried they'll step into the fight?"
Catching his gaze, Mirokuji grinned wide. "Relax. Beating you doesn't need their help. That'd just make it boring."
Hearing this, feeling the battle-lust surging ever stronger from his opponent, Blitz was silent for a while before speaking, voice low.
"I've never once thought combat was fun. It's a means to an end, a process to achieve a purpose. Along the way, pain and scars accumulate. Morality and bottom lines crumble under the threat of death. Battles happen because our purposes, our beliefs, clash. They cannot reconcile. And for that… no matter how dirty the method, it becomes permissible."
As he spoke, Blitz had already replaced his spent shells with fresh rounds. His eyes, heavy as storm clouds, cast a fleeting glance at Mirokuji.
"You refuse aid from comrades—that shows you're a warrior who enjoys battle. But me… to kill an enemy, I'll take all the help I can get. After all, I'm nothing more than a filthy bounty hunter."
Mirokuji blinked, still chewing over the meaning of his words—when suddenly a streak of gold shot down from the horizon like a meteor.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yūya caught that streak. His body shivered, and his lips curled upward, unable to hide his excitement.
"Good! Come at me!"
Instead of dodging, he charged straight at it. Both hands tightened on his blade, and with a downward hew met the strike head-on. Black wood and silver lance clashed—
The explosion that followed tore through the night. Even ordinary bystanders far away felt their eardrums about to rupture.
The roar was followed by shockwaves, enough to tear the overpass apart. The ground slabs were torn up and flung high, smoke and dust rolling in waves. Cracks spread wide along the bridge's supporting pillars.
Even Selesia had to grab Meteora, drop to her knees, and brace against the gale, lest they be blown away.
The instant of collision—shock filled Yūya's eyes. An overwhelming force surged through his hands gripping the blade. His feet left the ground, and his body was hurled like a cannonball, smashing through the railing, flying between two office towers.
Through the clearing dust, a figure emerged—Alicetaria. Armor shining, a Valkyrie's might in her form.
Seeing who had blasted Mirokuji away, Selesia's eyes widened as she shielded Meteora, emotions surging within.
"Alicetaria…"
Alicetaria's emerald eyes flicked to her, brow furrowing. Her voice was cold.
"Selesia. Step aside. I have words for my Creator."
"…Alicetaria."
Selesia bit her lip, forcing clarity into her head. Her voice dropped, low and sharp:
"You know as well as I do—their kind don't wield such grand powers in their world. Here, they're ordinary people. Does your justice truly allow you to strike down such helpless ones?"
"Enough talk, Selesia."
Alicetaria's face darkened. "Even now, my kingdom is trampled by the enemy's claws. Every moment, more die. All because my so-called kami-sama is that kind of man… If he truly bears that title, then he must pay the price for what he's done!"
Her grip tightened on her lance. In her emerald eyes, for just an instant, flashed gold.
"Since he set my personality to be like this, he should have foreseen this day would come… Selesia, if you believe your path is right, then raise your blade. Fight for your faith."
With words like these, how could Selesia fail to understand? This battle could no longer be avoided.
She drew her longsword. Though her aura did not blaze as fiercely as her opponent's, it still burned bright.
That courage—to face a mighty foe without fear—won Alicetaria's acknowledgment. Her expression remained stern; even against weaker foes, she would never look down on them. That would be insult.
With one hand, Alicetaria swung her massive lance as though it were a twig. The gesture alone carried overwhelming ease.
And just that swing sent a gust, tearing through the smoke, howling toward Selesia.
Selesia's eyes hardened. She stepped forward, blade flashing down. The gale split into two streams, like a rushing river parting around a stone. The winds roared past her, carving a V-shaped scar into the ground.
Those behind her were safe, though badly shaken.
Meteora, already stirring after Yūya was flung aside earlier, now stood among the others—protecting them, eyes locked on the battlefield.
Swordlike eyes met across the smoke. No words. Only motion—both Selesia and Alicetaria vanished.
And then—steel struck.
Bang!
Boom!
Clang!
Storm, fire, steel. Gun and sword clashed in a storm of sparks, dazzling and unrelenting. The brutal elegance of melee weaponry was laid bare in its most visceral, awe-inspiring form.
The slender longsword, under the crushing weight of the lance, showed astonishing resilience.
Deafening metallic cries filled the air.
The ground shattered under their impact.
Sword-light split the smoke into ribbons.
Selesia leapt back, landing with a slash that diverted another gale skyward. But Alicetaria was already upon her. The momentum of her charge poured into her lance—its killing wind stabbed Selesia's skin before the tip arrived.
Clang!
The collision boomed like a great bell. Her sword bit into the side of the lance, the weight numbing her arm. Selesia's face tensed, teeth clenched, forcing the lance aside just before it would have pierced her.
Missing, Alicetaria showed no discouragement. Planting her feet deep into the ground, she swept her lance with crushing force, tearing up the pavement in her wake.
But Selesia vaulted upward, dodging.
Harnessing gravity, she fell fast, sword gleaming cold, aiming straight for Alicetaria's head. The tip was about to strike—when Alicetaria suddenly raised her left arm. The blade sank into the grotesque gauntlet encasing it.
Boom!
The ground split under her feet. Sparks showered from sword meeting armor, lighting their faces in fierce glow.
One hand still gripping her lance, Alicetaria swung with its full weight, preparing to smash Selesia—
But at the last instant, a naginata thrust between, pressing down the lance and driving it into the cracked pavement.
Clad in Sengoku-style armor, engulfed in ghostly blue fire—Hangaku had arrived.
Of course, not just Hangaku.
"That hit just now… was something else."
In a blur like teleportation, Mirokuji Yūya appeared before Alicetaria. His foot crushed a stone under brutal weight, muscles swelling, radiating explosive power.
Half his face shadowed, he grinned like a beast. Blood at his lips only deepened the madness in his smile. Red light burned in his eyes.
"This one's payback!"
With both hands occupied, Alicetaria had no way to counter. She could only watch as Yūya's black wooden blade slammed into her stomach.
The compressed air burst on impact, exploding outward as a shockwave slash, hurling her body like a cannonball into the distance.
Along the road, wild winds howled, tearing up the pavement like invisible blades, hurling rubble to either side.