The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Sora VS The Siblings (2/2)

  Immediately after he kicked Klimt outside the gate, Sora let out a groan.

  It wasn’t because he was in pain. If anything, it was the opposite. His voice had leaked out in the moment since Klimt’s soul that flowed into him through his soul equipment was too enormous.

  After a short pause, the feeling of being renewed from within coursed through his body. His level had gone from 『9』 to 『10』.

  Since Klimt was still breathing, he didn’t get a few levels like the time he defeated Jijinbou, but he had definitely taken a considerable amount of his soul. Also, based on the feedback he felt when he cut him, Sora was certain that he had incapacitated him.

  「Klimt!!」

  The scream of Claira, who turned completely pale, echoed.

  She didn’t do something like rushing to her brother and leaving her back open, but in terms of an opening, she pretty much showed one when she took her eyes off Sora.

  Sora did not miss it. He stabbed his soul equipment on the ground before him, then he put one arm over the other one in a cross. The palm of his right hand facing Gozu, the palm of his left hand facing Claira.

  And then――

    『Give my enemy the embrace of death――Flame princess!』

  He unleashed the most mana he could into the strongest magic in his arsenal.

  Three from his right hand, three from his left – The fiery tentacle arms that are as thick as logs rushed at Gozu and Claira. Their speed and destructive power were incomparable to the time he used this spell against the basilisk in the past.

  「Wha-?!」

  「Hm」

  The two people’s reaction after they witnessed Sora’s magic was entirely different.

  Claira leaped back in astonishment, while Gozu only raised his eyebrow slightly and waited for the spell without moving a step.

  After a few seconds, the sounds of a piercing explosion echoed in the streets of Ishka.

  Gozu directly took on the attack of all three arms as he remained standing straight. The impact made the stone pavement crack and shatter, creating a violent cloud of dust.

  Meanwhile, after Claira leaped backward, she got rid of the astonishment she felt and focused on the approaching arms of flame. She then pointed the long, jade-colored sword in her hand directly at them.  

  Right after that, her clear voice shook the air of her surroundings. 

  「――Please come out, Kusanagi!」

  At that moment, Claira’s sword carried the wind.

  It had a tyrannical wind pressure that seemed to blow everything away by just existing. That wind pressure easily stopped the fiery arms that were closing in on her and made them scatter. 

  The magic that lost its target crashed into the stone pavement violently, sending pieces of rocks and sand in the air. Even those were blown away in an instant by the wind that Kusanagi produced.

  If Klimt’s soul equipment is a sacred sword of flame, then Claira’s was a sacred sword of wind. If she wants to, she could probably sit down somewhere and create tornados to destroy half of Ishka.

  Sora was aware of that. And there’s one more thing he is aware of.

    「Mr.Sora. Prepare yourself」

  Without blinking, Claira stared at Sora with her blood-red colored eyes.

  The anger from having her brother cut down couldn’t be sensed from her mask-like features.

  However, looking at her rumbling soul equipment, it was clear that she was furious inside.

  She cares for her brother as much as he cares for her, or even more. If Sora killed Klimt, his entire home would have surely been blown away with no trace of it left by now. 

  Under that calm personality of hers hid a fierceness that surpassed her brother’s. That’s the type of person Claira Berch is. 

  ――Therefore, it’s easy to take advantage of that.

  After picking up the soul equipment that he stabbed into the ground, he said in a taunting manner,

  「That’s my line. Don’t get carried away with your unjustified resentment」

  「There’s a reason why we have to kill the kijin」

  「If that’s the case, go die following that reason. Your brother who is lying there behind you in an unsightly manner can do the same」

  「――I understand. There’s no use in talking anymore. Let us settle this with our swords」

  「That’s what I want to hear」

  Then, Sora’s black blade increased its mana as if it howled. The swirl of mana made Claira feel a paralyzing pressure from just facing it, as though she was facing a small dragon.

  ――To think that he’d be this strong.

  Claira muttered in her mind.

  She definitely had no intention to take Sora lightly by any means. However, since she knew what he was like in the past, she couldn’t stop seeing the young man before her as the boy from five years ago. She couldn’t help being reminded of the Mitsurugi Sora who was stunned after failing the trial ceremony.

  Two utterly different Soras. The feeling of discomfort that she feels because of that had become a small string that is restraining her limbs even now.  

  Perhaps, he exchanged words with Gozu to throw them off like this? Was he declaring to the three of them that he was undoubtedly Mitsurugi Sora?――It was when Claira started to have such questions-

  Sora held his soul equipment over his head. The crimson blade that was swung high reflected the sunlight and was bathed in the color of fresh blood.

  Claira slightly squinted her eyes and took on that light, and then she cautiously renewed her stance.

  Since there was some distance between them, he wouldn’t reach her by just swinging his sword down. Sora was probably going to use “gale”- a flying slash attack, she thought.

  Even though “gale” is a basic kei technique, she can’t lower her guard. When Klimt was slashed, Sora had definitely canceled out the power of her brother’s soul equipment. It’s dangerous to take Sora’s kei technique head-on.

  Needless to say, it would be a bad idea to go clash swords with him too.

  She will use Kusanagi’s wind to ward off Sora’s attack first. Then, she will try to gauge the strength of her opponent as her top priority――The moment she decided that and tried to do so, Claira was struck with a sense of discomfort.

  She felt a shift. A shift in where Sora is looking.

  The one he is looking at as he’s about to release his slash attack was not Claira, but someone who is behind her――

  「!!――Klimt!」

  Sora’s mouth cracked into a crescent shape when he heard that.

  Right now, the spot Claira is standing at is between Sora and Klimt. They got in this position before she realized――No, Sora made it so that they would be positioned this way. The magic he used just before was a strategic move for that. 

  If Claira avoids the attack, it will hit Klimt who was on the ground.

  When she looks at the soul equipment that’s raging violently in his hand, that attack will definitely be lethal against Klimt.

  She could only take his attack head-on in order to protect her brother.

  She bit her lip in frustration after realizing that.

  She was cornered. Was it a coincidence? There’s no way. However, if it isn’t, just how much of this was planned? Since when did she start dancing in the palm of her opponent’s hand?

  If even the fact that Klimt was still alive was a strategic move in order to have his attack hit her…

  The horror became a chill that ran up Claira’s spine.

  Right after that, a sharp voice stabbed her ear like a needle,

  「Let’s see you stop this, golden generation」

  Together with those words, a slash attack that she could not see was unleashed.