The Long Night...

The Long Night...

The sound of three people kicking off the ground.

Scorpia charged straight at us while firing wildly. We split to either side to evade it, activating 'Body Enhancement' from the sword belt at the same time.

The monster swung its muzzle sideways and sprayed bullets at Rosso-san. While pulling the trigger, it turned its gaze toward me.

"Tch……!"

With everything around us already burning, there was no need to worry about starting a fire. I fired magic from the staff, which still had 'Fire Bullet' loaded. The fireball aimed at the gun on its flank was blocked by its rugged forearm.

I continued running, repeatedly loading and firing with spin-cocking, but Scorpia used both arms as shields and forced its way toward me.

Fast. Even on the ground……!

'GGGGUUUAAAAAAA!!'

I ducked beneath its sweeping right backfist, then immediately swung an upward diagonal slash, but it was intercepted by a downward strike from the left.

The hilt nearly slipped from my hand, but I let the impact carry me through a horizontal spin and continued the slash. It was caught by the right forearm and knocked away.

As I staggered, I readied my staff in the slight distance that had opened between us. But before I could pull the trigger, Scorpia's left foot shattered the ground.

"!"

Fragments of asphalt and a cloud of dust briefly obscured my vision. Immediately afterward, my Demon Eye activated. Before I could think about the future it showed me, I tilted my body to the side.

Bullets passed through the spot where I had been standing. Through the swirling dust, Scorpia sprayed lead at me.

I ran with all my strength behind a roadside tree. As the trunk was shredded, Rosso-san approached from behind the monster, raising her great scythe.

But Scorpia swung its tail in a single stroke as it turned. It knocked aside the diagonally descending blade from the side.

The gunfire stopped. I immediately leaped out from behind the tree and fired magic. Scorpia blocked it with its folded wings, but flames engulfed the monster's body.

'GUO……!'

"Haaaaaaaah!"

Rosso-san swung her great scythe upward diagonally. The blade scraped along the ground as it flew, knocking Scorpia's right arm upward when it hastily raised it to defend.

But immediately afterward, gunfire erupted at point-blank range. She instinctively shielded her heart with her left arm, but bullets struck her head and abdomen.

"You bastard!"

I closed in so it could not fire again. I fired one more shot with a spin-cocking motion, but the monster leaped backward to evade it.

I moved between her and Scorpia and slashed straight in. The horizontal blade aimed at the gun in its hand was avoided with a leap wholly out of proportion to its massive body.

Immediately afterward, I felt an impact on my back. Using me as a foothold, Rosso-san leaped toward the dragonkin as it flew through the air.

"Oooooooooh!"

'GGAAA!'

Scorpia blocked the great scythe descending from overhead with its right forearm. A hard sound rang out, and she was knocked away.

Then came gunfire. I changed magazines while running and raced toward the spot where the monster would land.

"Ngh……!"

'GGUU……!'

As Rosso-san fell, Scorpia changed magazines as well and aimed its gun. But before it could fire, I launched magic from below.

The fireball struck the rifle. Magic clung to the barrel like oil and ignited, making the arm at its side release its grip on the weapon in panic.

'GGGAAAAAAA────!!'

Scorpia immediately turned toward me, released magic from its scorched wings, and plummeted downward.

Moving in an 'S' shape, I fired another spell to shoot it down. The flying fireball was punched apart by the monster's mighty arm.

How is that even possible!?

'AAAAAA!'

A claw carrying the force of its fall swung down at me. I hastily leaped backward to evade it, but the ground exploded as though struck by a blast. Flying rubble slammed into my left shoulder.

"Ugh……!"

The staff tore free from my hand. My attention began to turn toward it as it rolled across the ground, but I immediately gripped my sword with both hands and moved forward.

I bent my knees and stepped in, causing the monster's arm to pass overhead. Using its momentum as well, I slammed my sword into its left thigh.

The scales split and the flesh tore. Almost simultaneously, the blade that had bitten deeply into it struck bone and stopped, while its left arm swung toward me.

At the last moment, I got my right gauntlet between my head and the claws coming to crush it. But they pierced the armor and gouged through flesh and bone.

"Gah!?"

'GGGOOOOO────!'

Its left arm swung upward and sent me flying into the air. The pain left me unable to land properly, and I crashed onto my back.

"Kuh……"

The air was driven from my lungs. My consciousness briefly vanished, only to be jolted awake by the pain.

I stood while forcing the pain aside with adrenaline, and Rosso-san was attacking Scorpia in my place.

"Zeeeeeeaaaaaaah!"

'GGUUOOOOO……!'

A powerful diagonal slash, immediately followed by an upward diagonal slash, then a spinning cut.

It was a flurry relying on physical ability, with no technique behind it. But that was precisely why it was fast.

Scorpia caught all of them with its right arm, then counterattacked by driving it through her abdomen. Its left arm rose, intent on destroying her heart next.

Before that……!

"Ooooooooooh!"

I slammed my sword into its left elbow.

I shattered the scales, thinner than those on its forearm, tore through flesh, and slid the blade between the bones.

I pressed down on the back of the blade with my left hand and swung through with all my strength.

Blood sprayed from the monster's left arm like a fountain. The instant its massive arm was severed, the arm at its side swung a backfist toward my face.

I could not evade it and took the fist to the cheek. My face guard shattered, and I was blown several meters away, scraping across the asphalt.

In the middle of it, I saw Rosso-san, sent airborne by the momentum of her raised arm, gripping her great scythe with both hands.

"Guh, gah……"

She swung it down at the monster.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

'GY────!?'

Scorpia hastily raised its right arm to block the incoming slash, but the great scythe's blade did not stop.

Perhaps because of all the damage accumulated during the battle, its scales shattered, and the blade cut through flesh and bone.

The great scythe was swung down with such force that it stuck into the ground, almost simultaneously with the monster's arm being severed and flung away.

'OOOOOOOOOO────!'

Even then, the mother of the dragonkin let out a battle cry.

Her kick caught Rosso-san in the abdomen, and as it launched her upward, its tail swept sideways into her neck. She too was blown away in the opposite direction from me.

But she was not dead. She bounced twice off the ground and struck her back against a roadside tree, yet immediately stood up again.

"Fuuuuuh……!"

"Ngh, aaaaah……!"

Breathing harshly through the pain, the two of us readied our weapons on either side of Scorpia.

A red pool was spreading beneath the monster's feet.

The dragonkin had its heart destroyed and both arms severed. How much longer did it have to live?

'GA'

At any rate.

'GAAAAAAAA────!'

Until that flame went out, it would not stop either.

Scorpia spun horizontally in place, gouging the ground with a sweeping strike of its tail. Through the rising dust, I sensed its magic turning toward me.

In an instant, the monster burst through the dust and leaped out. Its enormous jaws opened wide, making its intent to devour me unmistakable.

I hastily leaped to the side to evade it. Scorpia immediately turned around and swung its tail at me.

I received it with my sword and let the impact send me flying. I somehow landed safely, and Rosso-san rushed past me and attacked.

"Haaaaaaaah!"

'GAAAAAA!'

Scorpia caught the great scythe sweeping horizontally in its jaws and stopped it.

The shaft snapped in an instant, and the blade was crushed between its teeth. The shock of losing her weapon left her unable to move as both arms at its sides turned toward her.

Then I noticed. Numerous magical characters were appearing across its scales.

"!"

An explosion. At the same time the two arms at its sides blew apart, two fireballs sent Rosso-san flying.

Did I manage to shield my heart? No, whatever—get to cover……!

I readied my sword and started running. Immediately afterward, my Demon Eye activated.

A huge mouth came rushing down from overhead, as if to crush me. I avoided it by throwing my body forward with the momentum of my charge.

I rolled forward and immediately swung my sword behind me. But the blade collided with one of the monster's raised horns.

Our equipment had accumulated just as much damage during the battle. My one-and-a-half-handed sword snapped effortlessly.

"Damn it—"

'GGGGGUUUUUOOOOOO────!!'

Even when I could see the future, I could not evade it.

I somehow caught the kick that followed with my left arm. As I heard something crack, I was kicked away.

I could not breathe. With excruciating pain in the left half of my body, I experienced an unnaturally long time suspended in the air before crashing to the ground.

"Gah!"

I slowed down while scraping the road with my head and shoulder, finally coming to a stop more than twenty meters from Scorpia.

I raised my head through my dazed consciousness and saw that the monster was also staggering, a large amount of blood spilling from its mouth.

Its eyes glowed ominously. Was it aiming for a mutual kill……? No. Was it planning to eat me and prolong its life……?

I somehow staggered to my feet. But my knees gave out, and I fell to one knee.

My mana was being consumed rapidly. More than anything, my head still felt like it was shaking.

"Tch……!"

'GGGGUUUU……!'

A building beside the road burned, then collapsed with a roar.

Of the two growls echoing through it all, the monster was the first to regain consciousness.

'GGGGUUUUOOOOOO────!'

With a battle cry, it planted both feet on the ground and charged.

My consciousness returned a moment later, but there was no time to reconstruct my 'Demon Armor.'

The only weapon I had left was a dagger. With this……!

At that moment, my Demon Eye activated.

Through future sight, I saw an object flying toward the back of my head.

"!"

I tilted my head aside and caught the passing object with my right hand.

It was my staff. Still down on one knee, I immediately raised it with both hands, but Scorpia did not stop.

Its jaws opened wide. A roar reverberated through the air, and the dragonkin's mouth, lined with spearhead-like fangs, drew right up before my eyes.

"Hunnnnngh!"

It was caught by a pair of slender arms.

Fingers wrapped in black gloves seized its upper and lower jaws, stopping the dragonkin that was trying to bite through my head and staff together.

I took careful aim at the mouth before me.

"Go flying……!"

I pulled the trigger.

The flaming hammer struck the inside of its mouth. With an explosion, it blasted the monster's massive body away.

Rosso-san's hands slipped free, and Scorpia's upper body arched backward.

After taking one step, then two, it planted its scaled feet on the ground with a thunderous boom.

"This creature still……!"

"No."

I answered Rosso-san's voice from behind me while moving the lever.

Scorpia glared at me and her as I loaded the next scroll.

'………RUUUU……!'

Still standing tall, the light faded from its eyes.

The monster's massive body turned into black mist, and a magic stone fell to the ground. The rifle magazines wrapped around its waist and the tools presumably used to maintain its guns scattered across the ground with a clatter.

Several seconds later.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaa……"

At last, we both exhaled deeply.

"……Are you alive, young oni?"

"Thanks to you…… How about you, Ishiyama Iwako-san?"

"I am 'Rosso Vendetta,' you fool……"

When I turned around from where I sat on the ground, Rosso-san was lying spread-eagled on her back.

Our bodies were in perfect condition, but the mental exhaustion and the listlessness of being on the verge of mana depletion left us barely able to move.

"……Your legs are spread."

"Don't say that. I am seriously exhausted. I just want to sleep."

"I agree, but……"

────CRASHHHHHHHH!

"Isn't this the kind of place where we'll die if we sleep here?"

"……You think?"

A nearby building collapsed, sending a tremendous cloud of smoke into the air.

When I looked even farther behind her, a burning truck was blocking the road. When I turned my face forward again, several cars in the distance had piled into a collision and were burning as well.

……Wait, this is worse than I thought, isn't it?

I silently staggered to my feet.

And then.

"This is really bad, Rosso-san!? If we stay like this, we'll either burn to death or suffocate!?"

"C-calm down! Prime numbers—count prime numbers! Two! Four! Six!"

"Those are even numbers, you idiot! Is this really the time for a classic gag!?"

I panicked completely.

You know, Mr. Adrenaline seems to have gone home.

"Huh!? Right, let me have some blood—blood! Then we'll escape from above!"

"What!? Th-that would be……indecent……!"

"This is not the time for that! And drink from my arm—my wrist or something!"

"Ehh……"

"Don't look so dissatisfied, you perverted chuunibyou blood-sucking bat!"

"I am a noble of the demon realm!"

"What noble buys fried chicken at a convenience store!?"

……Actually, there probably are some!? In Europe, for instance.

Anyway, that did not matter. I partially dismissed the 'Demon Armor' and rolled up the sleeve on my right arm.

"Here, my wrist! Drink! Hurry!"

"W-wait. Even so, I need a little time to prepare myself……"

"You're only drinking blood!"

"A maiden has her considerations! Ah, you have a little sand on you. Honestly, there is such a thing as manners, you know."

"Shut uuuup!"

"Hngh!?"

I grabbed the back of the idiot's—of Rosso-san's—head and pressed my wrist against her mouth.

……The feel of her plump lips made my heart skip a beat, but this really was not the time to be thinking about such things.

"Nng……ng……ng……"

It hurt a little, as expected. Legends claimed that being bitten by a vampire felt strangely good, but…… were the legends lies, or was 'Rejuvenating Blood' resisting anything akin to an aphrodisiac?

That aside.

"Nn……nn……slurp……nn……"

"This is taking too long! You have enough for the flight already, don't you!?"

"……Delicious. Another serving!"

"This isn't an izakaya, damn it!? Ahhhhh!? The fire is almost here!?"

Somehow, it did not feel like this was happening after a fierce battle—or perhaps precisely because it was after one.

With the atmosphere thoroughly deflated, we took off into the night sky.

"……Um. I don't have enough mana left to use 'Levitation,' so my left arm being pulled along hurts like hell."

"Endure it. You are a boy, are you not?"

"That's sexist……"

"A-and besides…… b-being carried in your arms would be embarrassing……"

"Well, that is true as well."

Her hands held my left hand, leaving me dangling beneath her.

Looking down over the burning city, illuminated by the full moon, we flew unsteadily through the sky.

Toward our companions waving from the ground.

And toward Rosso-san's family, surrounded by those companions.

"……Good work, Rosso-san."

"Yes…… Good work. And thank you…… Kota."

I deliberately did not look up, reading the mood. Even so, I knew.

Surely, right now, her face was more beautiful than the perfectly round moon.