"There are more spell formulas interwoven in that than what Rossweisse just mentioned," I muttered, squinting at the overlapping magic circles. Her voice was tense, and understandably so. The layering made them hard to distinguish, but I could tell, there were a lot.
Then, a massive magic circle spread out from beneath Yasaka's feet, and she let out a powerful roar.
…Yeah. This is bad. Really bad.
If they're forcibly drawing out her power, who knows how much strain that's putting on her body?
"Well then," Cao Cao said with a hint of amusement, "all that's left is to hope Great Red shows up... But until then, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Siegfried, who would you like to fight?"
Siegfried casually pointed his swords, one at Kiba, the other at Xenovia.
"Jeanne. Heracles."
"Then I'll take the cute angel girl~" Jeanne chimed in with a playful tone.
"Guess that leaves me with the silver-haired lady… Red Dragon Emperor's all yours, boss."
"Thanks, Heracles. I've heard the Oppai Dragon is quite the character. I've been looking forward to this."
These guys… They're treating this like a damn game!
Then, just as Cao Cao turned his attention to Saji, asking "And what about your Vritra?", something flew in at high speed from behind them, heading straight for the neck of the one called Heracles!
CLANG!!
"What the—!?"
It was a near miss. Cao Cao had deflected it with his spear just in time.
But even so, a red line appeared across Heracles' neck, and blood began to drip. If it had gone even a little deeper, it might've sliced through his carotid artery!
The weapon that had been deflected buried itself into the ground. I recognized it immediately, it was that twisted, ominous red-black blade.
It turned into particles of light and vanished, no doubt, that was Ikki's Sacred Gear!
He made it in time… I'd believed in him, but with a God-slaying Longinus barrier in place, I hadn't been sure he'd make it through.
Still, opening with an assassination attempt? That's so Ikki.
"...You arrived faster than I expected," Cao Cao called out, voice cool. "Georg's barrier isn't something you slip through so easily. Come out already, would you?"
From the direction the sword had come, Ikki leapt high into the air, vaulting over the crater and Cao Cao's group to land beside us.
Just as he was about to land beside me, another metallic sound echoed around us!
Looking back, I saw another of Ikki's Sacred Gears flying toward Heracles' neck, Cao Cao had deflected that one too!
"Ahh, what a shame," Ikki said, stepping out of the brush with Kunou beside him. "If not for Cao Cao, both of them would be dead right now."
Wait a second! Then who's standing next to us right now!?
As soon as I thought that, the "Ikki" beside us faded away like mist, and at his feet was the other half of his Sacred Gear, stuck in the ground. I see! He combined illusion magic and his weapon to deceive even Cao Cao and attempt a second assassination!
That's so underhanded… and so him.
You're the last person I ever want to face in a real fight.
This time, Ikki landed beside us with Kunou in his arms.
"Sorry. Was I late?"
"Not at all. We were just about to get started."
With Ikki and Kunou now with us, the full team had assembled.
All right then… Time to knock some sense into these so-called heroes!
=====================
[Ikki's POV]After reuniting with Issei, I urged Kunou to stay near Asia, entrusting her protection to Izuna.
Izuna's no longer a mere familiar. Her strength has grown, probably enough to rival a low-tier upper-class devil now. Unless Cao Cao targets her directly or Siegfried uses Gram at full power, she shouldn't be overwhelmed in one strike.
"Kunou, the spirit veins are overloading Yasaka's body. I want you to focus on dispersing that energy, even just a little. As for them, Issei and I will handle it. Everyone else, focus on Yasaka and that magician. If they're working on something delicate, ruin it."
"Understood! I'll give it my all!"
Hearing this, Xenovia's shoulders sagged just a little.
"I was hoping to get revenge on Siegfried for earlier today. I wanted to unleash the full power of this new Ex-Durandal."
"Same here," Kiba added. "But rescuing Yasaka is our top priority. If we let our personal feelings get in the way and fail her, we'd never forgive ourselves."
Sorry, guys, but I'll take it from here.
Cao Cao turned to me with a smirk.
"Arima Ikki. I'm quite curious, how exactly did you slip through Georg's barrier? Mind sharing your method?"
"And why would I do that? You'd just patch the hole."
Cao Cao shrugged, as if he hadn't expected an answer anyway.
Truth was, the barrier hadn't been completely sealed to begin with.
=====================
[A Little Earlier]
Right after we smacked down the Hero Faction's ambush squad mid-transformation scene (how rude), Kunou and I had used teleportation to return to Kyoto.
Now we stood just outside Nijō Castle grounds, in a quiet, secluded area.
"So, Ikki," Kunou asked, "what now? We can't get in by normal means, can we?"
"True. But there's one route the barrier doesn't cover... Power is flowing from every spiritual hotspot in Kyoto straight into Nijō Castle. And senjutsu teleportation rides the current of that spiritual flow."
"Ooh! But... it can't be that easy, right?"
Kunou lit up for a second, then immediately realized the catch.
"Yeah. They've probably got filters at each entrance to block out foreign energies. I already tested a light transfer and got rejected, so yeah, that confirms it."
"Then you have a plan to bypass that, right?"
"Yep. Remember the Tsuchigumo, the Earth Spider that brought us together?"
I knelt and placed my hand to the ground. Kunou nodded firmly.
"Of course I remember!"
"Their clan ability, 'Tsuchigomori,' lets them hide within spirit veins. I'm going to imitate that. It'll take intense focus to fully synchronize my energy with the spiritual flow... So Kunou, hold onto me. First, match your aura to mine, and I'll guide it into the spirit vein. Don't resist, it might feel weird."
"Got it! I'll entrust everything to you, Ikki. Let's go save Mother together!"
She wrapped her arms around my neck from behind, holding tight, and fell silent, letting me concentrate.
Slowly, we aligned our auras with the spiritual flow.
=====================
I'm not sure how much time passed, but when it felt right, I triggered the teleportation, and we successfully slipped into the Hero Faction's alternate Kyoto.
With our presence cloaked, we began scouting the area.
"...Ikki, unless my memory fails me, wasn't Nijō Castle supposed to be right over there? Did they not recreate it?"
"Nah, it's there, just hidden."
As we moved forward, we spotted a giant crater where the castle should be, surrounded by the Hero Faction.
They hadn't started a full-scale battle yet, though the scene looked post-apocalyptic already.
Still, with them distracted, it was the perfect chance for a sneak attack. I figured I'd try to take out one or two before they noticed.
=========
[Back to Present]
...Didn't land a single kill. Figures. Cao Cao's on a whole other level.
Still, Kunou said the sync with the spirit vein was easier now. So I'll call it a draw.
"So, Issei," I asked, "they clearly want to fight you. Want to take on Cao Cao, or should I?"
"He did seem dead set on me from the start. Guess I'll go smash his smug face myself!"
"Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker!!"
Issei donned the Red Dragon Emperor's armor and stood beside me.
But the Hero Faction was looking pretty irritated now.
The biggest guy, Heracles, roared at us.
"Well, well! Look who's acting tough! Gonna take us all on by yourself, huh? What, you want a painful death instead of a quick one!?"
"I think I'll be fine. After all, you'd have already died twice if not for Cao Cao's help."
If I recall, this guy, Heracles, didn't even land a hit on Sairaorg when he Balance Broke. Bit of a letdown.
I liked Fate's version of Heracles way more. This one's just… meh.
Veins bulged on his forehead. Clearly, his taunt resistance stat was E.
Then a blonde girl stepped forward with a focused stare.
"I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I'm Jeanne. And this angry guy is Heracles. Nice to meet you, I've been dying to meet you three."
She turned her gaze to me, Issei, and Kiba.
Issei's eyes widened in realization.
"Wait… don't tell me, you're one of those older-sister types who wants to 'devour' all three of us at once!?"
YOU IDIOT.
Ignoring the outburst, Jeanne fired off a question:
"So, which one of you is top, and which one's bottom?"
...Huh?
"I've collected every volume of 'Prince x Beast,' 'Beast x Knight,' and 'Knight x Prince' from Kuoh Academy! Even the alternate takes like 'Beast Hyoudou x Kiba-kun,' 'Kiba-kun x Ikkun,' and 'Ikkun x Beast Hyoudou!' But knowing your real dynamics would really take my fantasies to the next level! Don't worry, I won't let it diminish my love for the original works"
There she stood, eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, one of the world's most famous saintly souls… and a total fujoshi.
We're doomed.
"...Issei, I'll take Cao Cao. You handle this side."
"Sorry, Ikki. But right now I'm genuinely grateful to be fighting the strongest Longinus user alive. Anything but her, man…"
Issei?! The pervert king is rejecting a fight with a beautiful girl!? Is it really that bad!?
Jeanne's starry-eyed gaze kept locking onto us. Stop it! There's no answer to your question!
With morale shot and dignity in tatters, we each moved into position for battle.
=====================
Note: The BL series Jeanne mentioned is officially used as part of the Hero Faction's entrance exam. This time, Ikki's entrance was a textbook case of: "Hello. Die now." ...Is this really our protagonist!?