Chapter 682 – Shikigami March and Order

000

Kuzunoha, who had been entrusted with the devil’s ledger by Cleon, was running like the wind through the wide garden of Enrai Mansion.

Inside, there are already several signs approaching towards you.

As much as she wanted to fight alongside Cleon, Kuzunoha knew that her ledger should not be taken away again, and that the skill of the masked guy who was confronting him was beyond her ability. Br〉

What she has to do now is to deliver her ledger to Cleon’s colleague so that she doesn’t miss this opportunity.

After that, she will be able to come to Cleon’s aid.

As she continued to run while thinking that, what came into her sight was the main gate of the mansion that she had passed through as Selena.

It was surrounded by a high wall, and in front of the huge gate, numerous guards of the mansion were already waiting with spears and swords in hand.

Moreover, what surrounds the mansion starting from that wall is the ‘Boundary of Ripping Wings’.

‘As expected, I guess so.’

In this place, which is set as a kind of no-fly zone, if you move above a certain altitude, you will be hit by a strong shock.

Even as Kuzunoha thought so, she did not slow down her running speed as she tightened her grip on the tenon she was holding in her hand.

“Stop! There is no place for you to run away!”

When one of the guards said that to Kuzunoha, who was approaching her while aiming her spear, Kuzunoha responded by sticking out her tongue.

＂In this situation, is there anyone who would stop?＂

Then, before she collided with them, she jumped high, moved above the guards, and took something of hers from her arms.

It’s a frog made with origami.

The guards look up as if they are fascinated as they see Kuzunoha flying over their heads.

When the beautiful demon’s hair, sparkling in the moonlight, flutters, she throws the frog in her hand at the guards and shouts.

“I hope. A sentinel of the spring, with a weight of thousands and thousands of pounds! The spirit of the food spirit!”

Then, he makes a hand sign with one hand and exhales his breath filled with magical power, and the origami frog that touches it emits an intense light, blocking the guards’ view.

Then, in an instant, a frog that was twice or even three times the size of Kuzunoha landed on the ground with a loud cry.

Of course, the guards under her were being crushed by her frog and making painful noises, but Kuzunoha seemed to not care and landed on top of her frog, adding his own weight on top of it.

＂What, what? Origami has become huge!? “

＂Yoho guy, using evil spells…!＂

As Kuzunoha was shocked by what she had done, the soldiers could not easily approach her, perhaps because of her embarrassment.

Kuzunoha then has a smile on his face, and while talking to them, he takes out another origami from his pocket.

There are paper models of foxes, dogs, crows, and even dragons.

＂If you still want to do more, wouldn’t it be better to release all the children here? ＂

＂Kuh…!＂

The guards seemed to have broken her heart at Kuzunoha’s declaration.

For them, ordinary people, it was nearly impossible to deal with Kuzunoha, who once had the potential to be considered the vessel of the fox god.

Seeing that, Kuzunoha shrugged her shoulders, and then she patted the head of the frog she had summoned and gave him an order.

“What. There is no need for that. Let’s go! Rainwater song!”

[Grog!]

When the frog shikigami’s name is called, a fairly realistic frog cry is heard even though it is origami, and it begins to move its legs forward.

Every time, the guards standing in front move to the side saying ‘uh-uh-uh’, or they are unable to move aside and are pushed by the frog and fall down, crying out as they are crushed under them.

Some guards turn to the side or back and directly attack the frog shikigami made of paper.

Even though it was clearly made of paper, it had skin as hard as a rock and could easily bounce off weak spear strikes.

Food spirits certainly appear to exist in the material world, but their bodies are actually illusions made of magical power.

The core is the small origami that Kuzunoha was holding until now, and attacks that do not contain magical energy cannot reach the core.

＂This monster…!＂

A soldier makes a voice like that and instead of a frog shikigami, he raises his spear high and tries to stab Kuzunoha who was on top, but Kuzunoha shouts while effortlessly dodging the spears of the guards.

“In my opinion, your master looks much more like a monster! And it would be a good idea to find another job quickly. Soon this house will be destroyed too!”

With those words, the frog swung its front leg, smashed the front door, and left Enlai Mansion.

The moment she escapes the barrier of tearing her wings, she returns her frog to its original form, takes out a shikigami in the form of a bird, and rides on it.

＂Wait!!＂

Without even looking at the soldiers chasing behind him, he flew far into the sky and disappeared.

001

As the swords clashed again and again and the sound of metal breaking rang out, the banquet hall of Enlai Mansion was already in tatters from floor to ceiling.

In a battle between swordsmen, defeat is ultimately decided the moment a vital point is cut, and there is a risk of death with a single blow.

Therefore, Cleon was dealing with the automata by avoiding the enemy’s attacks as much as possible and unilaterally driving his sword into his opponent.

The robe and mask that initially covered her body have already been torn off and shattered, exposing her entire mechanical body.

The artificially created body of steel moved smoothly like a mollusk, but at the same time, it never fell behind in the fight against Cleon with its intense strength.

When Cleon’s sword was swung horizontally, she succeeded in dodging the attack by bending her back.

In that state, her ankle spun and rotated 360 degrees, and she swung her kick towards Cleon’s waist while rotating the blade protruding from there at high speed, and Cleon fell behind her at a level where her clothes were slightly torn.

It can be said that her biggest advantage as an automaton is that she can move in ways that are impossible for humans.

Cleon was getting a little tired of her joints moving so freely that it was disgusting.

However, she is just difficult to deal with.

From a while ago, she was steadily succeeding in destroying parts of her or causing damage to her.

In fact, the reason she wasn’t able to block the attack with her arms in her previous fight was because both of her arms had already fallen to the ground and were rolling around.

However, if you increase the distance between her and give her time, she grabs her arm that had fallen to her foot, lifts her leg as it is, and joins the severed part of her body near her shoulder. Dunny-

Just like that, a crackling spark leaps out and clings to the fibers between her shoulders, reconstructing her skin and completing her regeneration.

[Played again.]

Galatea said that as if she was tired, but Cleon was quietly watching her regenerate.

If Cleon doesn’t attack her, she will continue to regenerate her one remaining arm.

To Cleon, Galatea urges him as if asking what he is doing.

[We must continue to keep them in check with magic so as not to give them a chance to regenerate!]

[No, I’m curious about how that guy regenerates.]

At Cleon’s leisurely analysis of the situation, Galatea raises her voice as if she is dumbfounded.

Cleon has already punctured her stomach several times, cut off her arm, and destroyed her weapon.

However, despite this, the guy quickly healed his wounds and stopped himself, because Cleon felt a little uncomfortable about that fact.

As an automaton, she is ultimately a mechanical device made of metal, and the question is whether such a machine can ‘regenerate’.

It is understandable if the human body is regenerated by applying healing magic to it, or if it is a living being, such as the numerous regenerative monsters that Cleon has faced so far.

Machine, how?

At least as far as I know, what is used to repair broken items is not healing magic, but alchemy.

The material that makes up an object is broken down once and then reconstructed into a usable form.

However, alchemy also has limitations, and since the lost part does not return, a similar type of material is needed to fill that part.

In order to repair an object without iron parts using alchemy, a large amount of iron is needed.

That is also the reason why lead cannot be made into gold in general, but…

Anyway, in Cleon’s opinion, it didn’t look like the guy was making up for the damage done in that way somewhere else.

Because I could see damaged parts rolling around on the ground, protruding from the area pierced by Cleon’s sword and magic.

[Why are you thinking so complicated? Anyway, Adam, it must be an item that uses ancient technology that he possesses.]

[If you think about it that way, everything actually makes sense, but…]

Although that is an absurd advantage for the opponent, what I was concerned about earlier was the spark that occurs when playing.

Since it was similar to what Lila had seen when she used alchemy or when she contacted an alchemist at her request, Cleon decided that the automata’s regeneration was also based on alchemy.

＇Then, where do the missing parts come from? Are there that many spare parts in that body?

If we could reveal that secret, we could prevent its regeneration and completely collapse its body.

Meanwhile, the automata that was guarding Enlai had finished regenerating not only its arm but also its broken sword and was standing still, waiting for Cleon to attack him again.

Even so, the robe and mask worn on the outside are the scope of regeneration.

Thanks to this, the body is exposed without any clothes on.

Of course, the body was close to white and gray, like jade-white porcelain, and the areas of the body and chest that were supposed to be on a human only had the same curvature and did not exist, perhaps because there was no need for certain areas.〈 Br〉

Her face remained expressionless, so although she had the form of a beautiful woman, it felt a little unpleasant.

Her hair was colored, and her dark blue, soft-looking hair was tied into a single strand that went down her back and stopped near her waist.

There was no question of whether the machine needed hair.

＇… Huh?＇

Then, Cleon noticed some changes in her regenerated body.

[That guy’s hair… Didn’t it stop below the waist earlier?]

It was a very slight difference, but it seemed like her hair had become shorter than it was when Cleon first destroyed her robe.

[Cleon… Is it even possible for machines now?]

[From the moment I met the demon sword… No, that’s not it. Maybe she figured out the secret to his regeneration.]

When Cleon said that, Galatea responded by asking what he was talking about, but before she could hear the answer, Cleon grabbed Galatea and approached her automata.

Then, the automata also reacted in an instant as if she had been waiting and blocked Cleon’s Galatea with the sword in her hand, but this time, perhaps because Cleon did not pour her magic into Galatea’s sword body, her sword broke.
It wasn’t going out.

Geek! Then, as the sword and sword pushed each other away while making an ear-piercing sound, the automata moved first, pulled out the blade from the back of its other hand, and stabbed it toward Cleon’s side.

Sigh! Cleon blocks the hidden blade that cuts through the air and catches it with one hand.

The sword did not penetrate as far as the side it was aiming for, but it succeeded in wounding Cleon’s hand.

Cleon frowned at the slight pain, but immediate retribution was necessary.

He immediately kicked up her knee, crushed her wrist that was holding her, and put his strength into her arm that was holding Galatea, pushing the automata’s sword even harder.

Then, just before the automata’s sword touches her body, she infuses Galatea with her magic, breaking the sword and cutting off one of her arms once again.

However, this time, instead of leaving behind her arm, she immediately created her black spear like the first time they hit her and completely shattered her fallen arm, disintegrating it to the point that not even a single particle was left behind. 〉

If this happens, it will be impossible to pick up her arm and regenerate it.

Perhaps judging that she was out of control, the automata swung her legs and kicked Cleon’s body, widening the distance between her and attempting to regenerate her body again.

She wouldn’t have done that, and she would have walked away, but her immediate goal was not to lose Enlai, so she couldn’t.

Then, Cleon raised his arm to block her kick, then grabbed her sword and grabbed her hair with her injured hand.

However, there was no way she could have been properly caught because her slippery hair and her hands were covered in blood.

The next moment, electricity shoots out from her legs and electrocutes Cleon’s body.

＂Ugh!＂

A strong shock hit Cleon’s body, but if Cleon had not protected her body with her magic, she might have been reduced to charcoal instead of the impact.

In the meantime, she once again rotated her body and pushed Cleon away with a spinning kick, and her arms and sword began to regenerate once again.

[What are you doing? She could have been destroyed if I hadn’t given her a chance when I cut off her arm a little while ago.]

[I just had a better idea than destroying it.]

As Cleon spoke to Galatea, she quietly watched the automata in front of her regenerate her arm and heal the wound on her hand.

Just like before, when it felt like it was time to regroup, it was the automata that succeeded in regenerating her body before Cleon.

At that moment she seemed to be moving both of her repaired arms lightly, trying to get into a position to defend her enlai once again.

Suddenly, sparks flew out of his body and he stopped moving.

[Warning─ A substance containing abnormal magical power has infiltrated the body.]

And at the sound of her voice flowing out of her, Cleon raised the corners of his mouth.

“As expected, what he was using to regenerate his body was alchemy, which reorganizes the surrounding substances.”

Then, what she is pointing to is the hair that she had grabbed a little while ago and had her blood on it.

Her hair, which had been hanging around her waistline before, became a little shorter and ended up above it.

The ends of her hair, which had been stained red with her blood, were gone.

“That guy used my blood-stained hair to regenerate. In other words, my magical power has penetrated into my body.”

[That means-]

With her black magic floating in her hand, Cleon walked closer to her, who had stopped moving, and extended his hand toward her head.

And the blood that entered that body resonated with her own magic contained there, and a black imprint began to be engraved on her forehead.

The imprint of domination was slowly being engraved on the automata’s body.

Finally, when the purple pattern on her forehead is completed, her body falls to the ground for a moment, but then stands up again a moment later.

[The change in command authority has been confirmed.]

And she speaks with an expressionless expression while looking at Cleon.

[It also works for automata…]

Galatea said that as if it were absurd, but Enlai, who only believed in automata, couldn’t help but look devastated when she saw that.

“I’m sorry. Your guard is now on our side.”

Cleon said that to Enlai, and then she looked back towards the automata and said:

“I have to get out of here. You redirect the guards in the other direction. In the meantime, I will take Enlai and get out of here.”

[All right. If so, please use the back door. The direction is-]

When she gives Cleon directions to the back door of her mansion, Enlai tries to interrupt her by raising her voice as if to make her struggle.

Then, the automata raised her foot and kicked Enlai in the stomach, knocking him unconscious and continuing her explanation.

[…

Cleon nods his head at her explanation and lifts the unconscious Enlai onto her shoulder.

“Good. Then, after we leave, you join us.”

[Because I am not equipped with the function to track the location of the person in charge of command, I will self-destruct after completing the command.]

＂Self-destruction!?＂

Cleon sounds embarrassed. Of course, the reason was that it was unknown to what extent the damage would occur when the automata self-destructed.

“Self-destruction is not allowed. Do you know about the Dark Dragon Company?”

[Relevant information has been entered. Enlai’s input information: persistent guys who interfere with his plans at every turn. I will ruin it someday and make the head girl and her secretary into his playthings.]

＂…＂

Cleon punches Enlai on her shoulder and then speaks to the automata.

“Then, come there when you’re done. Oh, don’t be followed.”

[All right. Please give me orders in case I get caught. The basic command is ‘self-destruct’.]

“I told you to stop self-destructing…”

How on earth did this guy receive orders to self-destruct in case of emergency…

Cleon says this to her as she sighs.

“… The engraving on you is not much different from the engraving on other guys. So, if you can control your magic power, you can send me a simple signal through imprinting… And ask for my help with that. It would be better for me to go rescue it than to let it self-destruct or be destroyed.”

[You are asking for rescue. I understand.]

Nodding to her new master’s command, she walked towards the main gate to fulfill his order.

[Forced domination of the enemy they were fighting with… Wasn’t the original sign of domination written this way?]

After she leaves, Galatea asks Cleon.

＂I don’t really want to imagine it…＂

It happened this time, but since there is no way to inject something like one’s own blood into the other person, there is no way to know.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before Enlai wakes up.”

With those words, Cleon also left her mansion through the path shown by the automata.