When the light gradually faded, Ayaka discovered that only the last figure that appeared was still there, and the other figures had disappeared at some point.
It was a young man, dressed in solemn clothing. His blond hair was mixed with a few strands of red hair, his face was handsome, and his eyes shone with a sharp light like a beast. It made people inadvertently think of a lion.
The woman in black was staring at the man one step away. Her body exuded a strong aura of "death". In contrast, the man who emerged from the light also had an unusual "heat" on his body.
The man looked here and there: "The situation is a bit complicated."
After that, the man looked back and forth between the magician's body at his feet and the woman in black who was guarding him, grinned, and continued: "Looking at your dress and the flow of 'power' I feel...could it be possible that you are
Someone related to 'Old Man of the Mountain'?"
The atmosphere changed instantly.
This sentence was incomprehensible to Ayaka, but to the woman in black, it seemed to touch a forbidden place in her heart.
With a malicious smile, the man challenged the woman in black: "No matter what, since you and I both want to get the Holy Grail, we are bound to be enemies. What are you going to do?"
Whoosh——
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman in black jumped up with murderous intent, and her whole body turned into a shadow and flew away instantly.
In the blink of an eye, the figure of the woman in black had arrived at the side of the stage and jumped one by one from the pillars surrounding the stage, so fast that she left afterimages.
When she shuttled back and forth between the curtains, she looked like she was using a clone technique, and was as unpredictable as anyone.
"Haha! How awesome! This is the first time I have seen a guy who is lighter than Loxley!"
However, the man was not horrified by the actions of the woman in black. On the contrary, his eyes shone like a child's, and he was very interested in it. He also read a person's name in his mouth, which seemed to be the person in his impression.
It is synonymous with speed, and is used to praise the woman in black who is full of murderous intent.
However, these words did not sound like praise to the woman in black. She simply thought that the man in front of her was provoking her.
As a result, her speed increased again, so fast that not even an afterimage was left behind, and her entire body disappeared without a trace.
Ayaka looked a little surprised at this scene. After all, she didn't know the two people in front of her at all. After all, before she met the two people in front of her, she had no idea what the so-called 'heroic spirits' were.
In her eyes, everything that happened tonight was completely beyond comprehension.
Stunned, she could only look up at the sky and murmured blankly: "Gone?"
But in fact the woman in black did not leave.
She just hid in the blind spot of everyone's sight, and the next moment, she appeared from behind the man like a shadow.
An unusually long arm stretched out from the woman's back. It was the hand of death that she had stretched out to the magician's chest a minute ago, killing him with one blow.
The arm rushed straight towards the man, reaching his heart behind his back.
In this Holy Grail War, this move has claimed many lives.
However, this time, she failed.
An arrow was shot from nowhere and her arm suddenly bounced away.
The woman in black opened her eyes slightly. For her, this blow was also a blow from the blind spot of her sight, because the arrow was suddenly shot from the man's feet - the shadow reflected on the stage floor.
"Haha, you're not happy because I compare you with her? However, your skills are still so superb."
After saying this to someone unknown, the man pulled out a luxurious and exquisite sword with a smile on his face.
Even Ayaka could tell at a glance that it was a sword for princes and nobles, and it matched the young man dressed as a noble in front of him.
The next moment, the man kept smiling and swung his sword down with a firm and powerful word.
"...Sword of Victory (Excalibur)."
Light once again filled the entire opera house.
Thunderbolt-like sword light shot out from the man's magical sword, rushing straight towards the woman in black who was trying to distance herself from him.
Ayaka couldn't open her eyes because of the bright light, and only heard the violent impact and the sound of collapse that followed.
When she opened her eyes tremblingly——
What appeared in front of us was the half-destroyed opera house and the starry sky exposed from the collapsed ceiling.
Then time came to the scene before us.
The man asked the stunned Ayaka: "May I ask, are you my master?"
After hearing these words, Ayaka's brain, which had been unable to keep up with the development of the situation, finally began to return to normal and rethink the current situation.
The "ceremony" that the magician wanted to hold seemed to have been successfully completed, but it was different from what Ayaka knew in advance.
Ayaka recalled the "white woman" who forcibly brought her to such a place. According to the "white woman", the ritual would summon the spirit of a hero or someone in the past. She also explained that it was called a "heroic spirit", but it was just a spirit.
Someone will appear.
So, what are the multiple figures Ayaka saw in the light just now? When a man is in crisis, is he himself the one who shot the arrow?
A series of questions appeared in Ayakashi's mind, but she soon ignored them because after she calmed down and figured out the situation, she couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach.
The magician's body is still there.
He died, right in front of Ayaka, very simply.
Although the man looked at the magician's body, he only tilted his head slightly and did not show any shock. He said calmly: "Don't worry, no ordinary people were involved, it just seems that the thief escaped.
It seems that he was able to escape from my hands for a while. But as of now, the other party probably won't come back again."
Ayaka finds it difficult to accept, is human death such a natural thing?
Ah, that's it. It turns out that "white woman" wanted me to do such a thing.
"Let's go and join the Holy Grail War."
She recalled the woman's words.
It turns out that since it is a war, death is natural.
Ayaka couldn't help but think about it, why did it become like this? Why did she have to face this kind of thing? Why did she embark on such a life?
"Based on this, I'll ask again." Just when Ayaka felt regret for her past, the man spoke again. It seemed that the man did not intend to give Ayaka time to seriously think about the reason why she came here.
Facing the chaotic reality, Ayaka made up her mind: I don’t want to accept the death of anyone anymore. Since it is forced by fate, and since disobedience is equal to death, then at least I must die for the fight. Anyway, I am a person with no value in survival.
people.
"Can I consider you to be my master? As you can see, my rank is Swordsman. If you can understand, then we will complete the contract immediately——"
"I'm not." So Ayaka immediately interrupted the man's words. She squeezed out a sound from deep in her throat, which sounded more like she was giving up on herself than expressing her determination.
"Absolutely not."
"What?" the man replied in shock.
The tattoo on Ayaka's body lit up slightly with the man's voice. She understood that the tattoo was resonating with the man. If she answered "I am the Master" now, she would definitely take away the heroic spirit like the "White Woman" said.
Use it for yourself.
Ayaka didn't want to do what the "white woman" wanted, so she stared at the man.
"I... will never listen to you again." Ayaka swallowed the trembling sound that came out of timidity into her throat, and said decisively with the determination to sacrifice her life, "Don't... interfere with me."
Ayaka thought that the moment she said these words, the man would kill her with a sword. Although she was different from the woman in black just now, Ayaka could also feel from the man in front of her that he was completely different from ordinary humans.
, has extraordinary power. Ayaka couldn't help but think that in his opinion, ordinary people must be no different from ants.
However, Ayaka's speculation did not come true.
The man just tilted his head in embarrassment, put the sword back into its sheath, and said, "So you are not my master, so there is nothing I can do about it."
After speaking, he sighed and looked up at the half-collapsed ceiling.
"Is this the opera house? Oops..."
He narrowed his eyes as if in shock, folded his arms and lost himself in thought.
"Is the modern opera house so fragile... I really don't know that such a thing exists just by relying on the knowledge given by the 'seat'..."
The man muttered to himself and disappeared to the side of the stage.
Ayakashi was left where she was, her mouth open in a daze, and it took a few seconds before she came back to her senses and murmured: "Just...let me go?"
Before he finished speaking——
"Don't move!" A man's roar came from an entrance to the theater. The person who spoke was not the man just now, but Ayaka could tell his identity at a glance.
Then a group of men came in one after another, wearing uniform uniforms-police uniforms.
The police aimed their riot stun guns at Ayaka. Probably because Ayaka seemed unarmed at first glance, they did not draw their pistols even though there was no one around.
"Hold your head with your hands! Lie on the ground slowly!"
"Um……"
Although her voice was lazy, Ayaka did as they asked. Although she thought, "I am a victim no matter what," she also considered that she, an illegal intruder, was at the scene of a suspected bomb attack.
It is reasonable for the other party to react like this. Moreover, the magician's body is next to him, and the weird altar he used during the ceremony is still on the stage... Things are probably going to be very troublesome.
At this time, an incomprehensible idea suddenly appeared in Ayaka's mind - the police station has an elevator. Ah, it's so depressing. It seems that before trouble gets entangled, I might be cursed by the "white woman"
die.
Just like the rumored "ghost story", her fate started to change when she pressed the "elevator" button for "Little Red Riding Hood".
While Ayaka was thinking about this, the police had surrounded her and confirmed the magician's death.
"Hey! Did you do it?"
Ayaka replied in fluent English: "No, no, I am a victim."
A policeman held her arm down and asked: "What happened here? Why are you in this opera house that is being renovated?"
"Ah...I am..."
Ayaka initially wanted to lie and say that she was kidnapped by a magician, but the police would know that she was lying as long as they checked the surrounding cameras, which would make the situation more troublesome, but she could not tell the truth.
Perhaps it was Ayaka's hesitant look that made people feel more suspicious, so a policeman took out the handcuffs.
"You have been arrested on suspicion of illegal invasion and terrorist acts of blowing up buildings. You have the right to remain silent..."
Ah, they would really say this. Ayaka thought while listening to the Miranda warning that often appears in American dramas. Although she didn't know what would happen next, she didn't want to die even if it happened.
Bearing the unjust injustice of killing the magician and destroying the opera house.
Ayaka lay on the ground and opened her eyes, and saw "her" - the little girl wearing a red hood appeared again.
However, the police officers seemed unable to see the little girl and walked past her normally.
The little girl's hood was worn very low, completely covering the part above her nose. She looked at Ayaka and opened her smiling lips as if to say something.
I don't want to hear it, and I don't want to see you again. Even if Ayaka thinks so, she can't look away. Ayaka understands that this is a curse she brought upon herself, and it has been binding her since a few years ago.
It was just to escape this curse that she ended up like this.
Just when the little girl in the red hood wanted to tell Ayaka something——
"Wait a minute."
A cold voice sounded in the opera house. At the same time, the little girl disappeared again.
Ayaka and the policemen looked up after hearing the sound, and saw a man wearing luxurious aristocratic clothing standing in the independent VIP box on the third floor that had survived the collapse.
"Huh? He's not the same as before...why is he still here?" Ayaka looked at the man who appeared again in confusion.
The man declared unilaterally to the police and Ayaka, who looked confused: "I can testify that the murderer of the man was not this woman wearing glasses."
"Who is it? Don't move!"
However, the police did not pay attention to the man's words and began to be vigilant.
Perhaps because of the distance, the police did not use stun guns this time, but took out their pistols.
However, the man did not take them or the gun pointed at him seriously at all, and continued to say frankly: "By the way, let me tell you, she was not the one who destroyed this opera house."
"What?"
"I did it with this sword." As he said that, the man patted the scabbard hanging on his waist.
The policemen all frowned. They winked at each other, and several policemen started running towards the VIP box where the man was.
Although the police did not believe that a man used a sword to destroy the opera house like this, they were still on guard against the man who claimed to be the criminal.
"Be careful, he might have planted a bomb somewhere else."
Perhaps he heard the police's whisper, the man said with some distress: "I don't want to be compared with a bomb... Huh?"
The man was only halfway through what he said when another part of the ceiling began to collapse. ()