Without raising her sword in a formal stance, Rui gripped the hilt in a reverse hold. Still crouched low, she swung her arm sharply to the side and let go.
The released sword flew straight through the air and pierced one of the creatures.
In that instant, lightning burst from the sword like fireworks exploding in bloom.
Countless fine streaks of light spread in a flash, skewering every last insect in the swarm.
But they didn’t vanish without a fight.
Their swollen bodies released one final act of defiance, black slashes flying outward in all directions.
Rui scooped Aoi into her arms with ease and retreated.
To the eyes of an ordinary person, she may as well have teleported.
Shielding him from the crushing acceleration, she held his weakened body tightly against her chest.
Without delay, Rui’s sharp gaze caught a constellation of dark specks in the sky above.
They multiplied, until the black swarm spread like a storm cloud, blotting out the sky.
Far more than before.
「Rui, put me down.」
「…What do you think you’re going to do? We need to get your body stabilized first.」
Rui frowned at Aoi’s request, never once glancing at the swarm.
Her strong-willed eyes stayed fixed on his.
「I’ll fight too. Just give me two minutes.」
As she processed his words, Rui reached a hand into the air, like a conductor drawing out a symphony.
In response, the city itself answered her call.
Blue flames erupted from every boulevard, flooding the streets like a tsunami.
They shattered the remaining glass and crumbling decorations of the surrounding buildings,
and in mere moments, the city was submerged in a sea of searing heat.
The insects that dove in evaporated with grotesque hisses.
Swallowing hard at the hellish sight around him, Aoi still managed to speak.
「I’d hate myself if I ended up too injured to fight, just because I lost control.」
Even in this world dyed in blue, Rui’s eyes still shone brighter than anything else.
Those eyes held onto his words, and at last, Rui eased into a slight crouch.
Aoi rose to his feet with her help, staggering in the midst of the flames.
He still looked like hell. No other way to put it.
Even as she helped him, Rui kept her arm moving with grace.
The flames swirled through the city like knights obeying their king’s command.
Without sparing a thought for the dying shrieks of the growing swarm, Rui spoke.
「Honestly. You were never going to listen to me anyway, were you?」
「…Sorry.」
Rui sighed quietly through her nose.
「You’d better come back.」
Aoi gave a grateful nod, and turned slowly.
「Wait, Sazanami Aoi.」
His heart leapt.
Rui was holding Aoi’s hand.
His body refused to move.
That unwavering gaze, her flowing hair, her breath, the floral scent around her, that beloved voice,
They held Aoi fast, refusing to let go.
「There’s something I need to tell you.」
Aoi couldn’t even move his eyes. He could only keep staring at her.
In that moment, he was wholly and completely captivated, overwhelmed, by the presence of Saotome Rui.
She had always been too overwhelming to look away from.
This warmth, which he had come running toward from so far away, would not let him look elsewhere.
He pushed back the flood of words threatening to spill out of him.
His chest ached with pressure.
「These words might bind you again. But even so… I’ve decided to live the way you do.」
――Not with eyes like that
――Or else this feeling that once hurt you… will never stop
「I regret the day I pushed you away. That I ran from our match without settling things between us.」
A rumble sounded from the sky.
And then, lightning struck right beside Rui.
Left in its wake, was a single sword.
Beyond her, deep within the flames… something moved.
It’s her.
She’s coming.
He knew it. But Aoi’s gaze wouldn’t leave Rui. Not even for a second.
His body trembled, shaken by emotions surging up from somewhere deep within.
But Rui said nothing more.
Aoi opened his mouth to speak, but the words died on his lips.
The more Rui’s words echoed inside him, the more he felt like molten metal was being poured into his chest.
「I want to talk with you, slowly, properly… after we save your friend. And if you still want to hit me, I’ll accept it.」
Aoi gripped Rui’s hand back.
He shook his head, no way I’d do that.
「I wanted… to be the one to say that.」
The flames roared, but now, there was another sound behind them.
The Queen of Malice was just beyond the wall.
「…Yeah. Let’s talk. After we win this.」
Aoi didn’t say much more.
But the impulse to live was bursting from every fiber of his being.
So much that it felt like the azure sky itself, no, the heavens above, were set alight by his passion.
「We’re both coming back. I’ll answer you, no matter what.」
「Yes. I believe you. …Thank you.」
Their hands separated naturally.
And just as Rui’s lips curved into the gentlest of smiles,
With a shrill, mocking laugh, the black-haired girl shattered the wall of azure flame and came crashing through.
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