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(Now, how should I fight this?)
I studied Yata no Hebi while piecing together a plan.
The creature had eight heads.
Each one was impossibly massive.
If I focused too much attention on any single head, the others might target Hanemiya again.
Attacking while staying vigilant in every direction was a simple yet extremely difficult task.
At that moment, a sound like space itself warping echoed through the air.
The next instant, two figures appeared right beside me on a gust of wind.
"—I've come to help."
"—It's better to have someone who can use powerful magic, right?"
Two female voices came from behind me.
I did not even need to turn around to know who they were.
Fuuka and Shion.
"You're a lifesaver. I was just short on hands."
With the two of them here, the range of possible strategies expanded dramatically.
"Still, Fuuka… is your body okay? Your wounds seem to have healed, but your clothes are in terrible shape."
Shion asked Fuuka gently.
Indeed, there were no visible serious injuries on Fuuka's body.
However, her kimono was torn in several places and looked ready to fall apart.
She had probably used recovery magic for emergency treatment, but magic could not repair clothing.
The fact that Kiryu had managed to damage her this badly—someone who had come through every previous battle unscathed—showed just how skilled he truly was.
Even so, Fuuka was still standing.
She looked somehow refreshed compared to when we had parted.
It seemed she had overcome something.
"…It's a little hard to move."
Fuuka murmured softly.
Shion smiled gently at those words.
"Stay still for a moment. I'll restore your clothes with [Time Regression]."
As she spoke, Shion activated her special ability.
The air trembled slightly, and the space surrounding Fuuka's body wavered.
The torn sleeves reconnected naturally, as if the threads were rewinding.
The frayed hems smoothed out seamlessly, the unraveling undone.
The ragged kimono returned to the same neat state it had been in when Fuuka first arrived in Kyokuto.
"Thank you, Shion. That helps."
"You're welcome."
After watching their calm exchange, I turned to Fuuka.
"Fuuka, that eight-headed serpent is apparently a monster from this country's myths. Do you know anything about it?"
"I don't, but I think Nagisa might."
"Where is she right now?"
"She's with Hart and Master. Southwest part of Hanemiya."
While I searched for the presence of Hart and the others, Yata no Hebi began to move.
"! First, we gather information on this thing! I'll handle the four heads on the right. Fuuka, you take the four on the left. Shion, support us and block any attacks aimed at Hanemiya!"
"Understood." "Leave it to me!"
The three of us moved out in different directions at the same time.
◇
While drawing the right-side heads toward me, I looked for an opening and recreated [Telepathy].
I connected Fuuka, Shion, and the girl who seemed to be Nagisa Asagiri through the link.
'Nagisa, can you hear me?'
Fuuka spoke to her through the mental connection.
'Eh, Big Sister's voice…? Fuuka Big Sister, where are you right now!?'
'I'm currently engaged in battle with Yata no Hebi. Orun is using his ability to speak with you.'
'Orun…? You mean the internationally wanted "Demon King"!?'
'That's the right Orun. But it's okay. He's my comrade. He's the one who blocked that breath attack earlier.'
'I-I see.'
'So, what do you know about Yata no Hebi? Do you know how to defeat it?'
'What I know is only from the myths, so I'm not sure if it will work the same way, but… In the myths, you had to cut off all eight heads at the same time to defeat it. If you cut them one by one, they regenerate right away.'
(Let's test it.)
While dodging the slamming tail and magical attacks, I closed in.
"—[Third Form: Mont Drei]."
I transformed the magic sword into a greatsword longer than my own height.
"—!"
I targeted the slowest of the four heads under my charge and swung the magic sword with full force.
I added [Momentary Ability Super Elevation: Impact] to the slash and severed the head.
The cut surface wriggled like foam and immediately regenerated.
"I see. The regeneration is fast."
As I muttered that, Fuuka was also slashing at another head.
But the result was the same.
The head that should have been severed instantly reconstructed itself.
The moment Fuuka and I closed in, the freed heads opened their mouths wide.
Concentrated black magical energy powerful enough to warp the air was unleashed toward Hanemiya.
But a clear voice rang out to block its path.
"—Don't think you can beat me in a magic battle…"
A geometric pattern rose in Shion's right eye, and silver magical energy leaked out.
Fine cracks ran through the space around her, and from those fissures, the freezing cold of an icy world poured in all at once.
Ice mist danced, and multiple layers of silver magic circles unfolded.
The magical energy around her was drawn toward the center of the circles as if having its heat stolen away.
Pointing her staff through the magic circles at the oncoming breath, Shion activated her spell.
"—[Absolute Zero Silver Burial: Glaciel]."
A silver radiance burst from the tip of Shion's staff.
It was a cold, quiet torrent of destruction that could freeze even space itself.
The black magical energy and the silver magical energy collided in midair.
The dark breath froze, eroded, shattered, and burst apart into flying ice fragments.
The silver barrage that pierced and froze continued on, engulfing the head that had fired the breath and blowing it away into the distant sky, leaving behind a trail of silver afterglow.
However, even the head Shion had blown away immediately began to regenerate.
'Just like Nagisa said, it looks like we have to cut them all at once or it won't die.'
'In that case, I'll do the cutting.'
Fuuka's mental message was quiet but carried unshakable resolve.
'Got it. I'll leave the finishing blow to you. Do you need any preparation?'
'Five seconds.'
'Understood. Shion, I'm counting on you to cover our backs.'
'Yeah! Leave it to me!'
Fuuka moved a short distance away from Yata no Hebi and focused her concentration.
Shion stepped forward in her place.
"—[Second Form: Mont Zwei]."
I split my magical energy to create two magic swords.
Yata no Hebi let out a low, rumbling sound, and its eight heads turned in different directions.
Some of them twisted their bodies slightly, attempting to target Fuuka.
"Like hell I'll let you!"
I leaped out first.
I closed in on the right-side heads, sliced away the jaws that thrust forward with roaring force using both magic swords, and deflected them sideways to draw their attention.
At that moment, another head charged straight at me.
I parried it with the left sword and delivered a flash of the right sword beneath its jaw.
It was not enough to cut it down, but it served as sufficient provocation.
I continued moving freely in every direction, slashing and drawing aggro.
Timing it carefully, I moved into the air above Yata no Hebi.
The creature began preparing a breath attack to strike me.
But it never reached me.
Before the breath could be fired, Shion activated her magic.
"[Silver Blizzard of Frost: Boreas]!"
A silver storm far below freezing swept across the area, transforming everything it touched into a silver world as it assaulted Yata no Hebi.
Parts of its body surface froze solid, slowing its movements.
"[Sixth Form: Mont Sechs]."
I transformed the two magic swords into a bow, nocked an arrow of concentrated magical energy, and infused it with my ability before firing downward.
The arrow pierced Yata no Hebi's body, and the space around the impact point warped slightly.
From there, the surrounding air was crushed inward all at once in a contracting surge.
It was a torrent of gravity.
The ability loaded into the arrow detonated, and an invisible pressure slammed into the giant creature as if trying to crush it.
The effect was overwhelming.
The heads already slowed by ice were dragged further downward by the gravitational force.
The massive, writhing torso also came to a sudden halt, as if frozen in place.
—Right after that, cherry blossoms bloomed wildly.
(So that's the true form of Fuuka's demon blade.)
I caught my breath at the sight of her.
The blade in Fuuka's hand was no longer the previous copper-red color. It had transformed into a soft, pale cherry-blossom hue.
The youkai power rising from the blade resembled cherry petals dancing on the wind.
And those same petals floated within Fuuka's eyes.
All eight heads of Yata no Hebi turned toward Fuuka at once, drawn by her overwhelming presence.
But thanks to the cold and gravity, its body could not move properly.
"Thank you, both of you."
Fuuka murmured quietly.
She readied her demon blade atop a platform solidified with ki.
After a brief pause, her lips moved slightly.
"—Yaezakura."
In that instant, the blade was swung with a speed too fast for the eye to follow. It left no sound of cutting air, only a single gust of wind.
Eight slashes were released, dissolving into the wind like cherry blossoms.
They danced like flower petals and, at the same time, surely and precisely severed all eight heads of Yata no Hebi.
The heads that fell afterward collapsed silently, as if they had not even realized they had been cut.
A moment later, as if to announce that something had ended, Fuuka quietly sheathed her blade.
"…It's over."
At her words, the eight heads and the massive body began to disperse into mist and melted away on the wind.
Pale cherry-blossom youkai power lingered in the clear blue sky and fell over Hanemiya like a flower blizzard.
It was not a blessing or forgiveness.
It was simply the exiled princess quietly letting everyone know that she had returned.