Chapter 20 [Stepping Stone]

+++第20話　踏み台

TL : Cnine

ED/PF : MystiKnight

Part 1

Although it was called joint training, all it involved was entering the training ground at the same time since there was no common ground between A-Class and D-Class.

But, today was different.

The two classes were facing each other in the middle of the sporting ground, filling the atmosphere with the image of violent sparks.

The trigger was something trivial, which then turned into a revenge match between the spear user and the holy sword user.

「You must win, Ayato」

「「「Do your best, Ayato-kun！」」」

「Ou, leave it to me！」

Because of all the encouragement Tendouji Ayato received from the army of beauties that was the A-Class, the killing intent from the males of the D-Class skyrocketed, whether they liked it to or not.

「Brother, beat ‘em up ‘til that philanderer can’t even stand again！」

「「「WOOOOOOO！ KILL, KILL, KILL HIM！ 」」」

「You’ll get a prize from Hinata-chan if you win you kno~w」

「WAH- what are you talking about so suddenly!?」

「F-Fightoo… 」

Following the male students’ bold encouragement, and while bathing under the voices of the few girls, Souji too left for the stage.

「Well then, according to your demands, we will commence the match between Sorachi Souji and Tendouji Ayato」

Acting as the referee was Irogane Ayako, the triangular glasses-wearing teacher who was also the homeroom teacher of A-Class.

Ogawara Ouma, the homeroom teacher of D-Class, was somehow unable to come to the grounds today.

（But, they just brazenly approved it）

Making use of their lesson time to solve a conflict arising from the quarreling between students… it was something that would never have been approved if they were undergoing real military training.

But Ayako didn’t even try to stop it, rather, he felt like she’s encouraged the match between them to come faster.

（Is there some reason for this？）

Both sexes were the same, but only the A-class received special treatment.

Even for an institutional education, stretching all kinds of ridiculous measures for this match would be impossible.

If, if there’s someone who knew the answer —

「Ayato, will definitely win！」

Chikagesawa Otome was cheering passionately without even minding the public eye, her bizarre side from last night nowhere to be seen. She acted as if Souji wasn’t here at all.

But, the event from yesterday wasn’t a dream, and her words still remained in his ears even now.

『There can only be one winner, only one absolute invincible hero』

Those words seemed to be the key for that riddle.

If that was the case, everything pointed to—

「Armament Activate！」

The shining Holy Sword Excalibur appeared to answer Tendouji Ayato’s call.

While Souji called his Tonbogiri, he’s also called to Ayako the referee.

「Sensei, and everyone else too, please move back since it’ll be dangerous」

「Okay, we’ll do as you say」

Despite her haughty manner, Ayako followed Souji’s suggestion, and the other pupils also moved around 50 metres away from Souji and Ayato.

「E~eh, so we won’t be able to see Ayato’s gallant figure！」

「Are you an idiot, do you want to get dragged into their fight again?」

Though the female students of A-Class were complaining, the students of D-class silently took some distance.

Remembering the gigantic holy sword that split the heaven, they felt that 50 metres alone won’t be enough.

「What’s the matter, are you going to sabotage Souji again by purposely standing in a place where you’ll be dragged in…」

「Uwa~, they really are going to do everything~」

After warning them not to cause any hindrances, Hinata was watching the movements of the female students of A-class.

「Well let’s start the match then. START！」

With the signal from Ayako, the revenge match finally began.

「UWOOOOOOO  ―――！」

Tendouji Ayato suddenly lept forward just like last time.

But now, after measuring the ability of his opponent, Souji didn’t need to worry about going on the defense.

「Fuh！」

His Tonbogiri was unleashed along with his breath and easily caught Ayato’s chest.

「KUH, IT’S NOT OVER YET！」

Although Tendouji Ayato still tried to close the distance without faltering, Souji wouldn’t let him do that.

He’s using thrusting and slicing attacks one after another without entering the effective range of the sword.

「COWARD！ IF YOU’RE A MAN, FIGHT FAIR AND SQUARE！ 」

「YOU FOOL！ THAT”S HOW A SPEARMAN FIGHTS！ 」

Without hearing Eisuke scream to the A-class girl who was giving critism again, Souji was doing nothing but earnestly attacking with his spear.

Shortly before receiving the tenth piercing attack, Tendouji Ayato finally realized that getting closer was impossible.

「LIKE HELL I’M GONNA LOSE, UWOOOOOOO―――！」

After that he jumped back, raising a war cry while pointing the tip of his sword to the sky.

He was about to use the power of the Holy Sword Excalibur, the Sword of Light.

Even if that light led to the reversal that happened in the previous duel, Souji face showed his patience.

「As expected」

Tendouji Ayato looked at him is as if he had already secured his victory.

In that case, the countermeasure that he thought up.

Souji suddenly discarded his Tonbogiri and kicking the ground with a swift motion.

Leaping the length of his spear with his first step, jumping into the effective distance of the sword with his second step, then stepping right in front of his opponent’s chest with the third step.

If their knees collided at this distance, his opponent wouldn’t be able to swing such a gigantic sword.

Moreover, even if Souji threw away his spear, he still had a weapon.

「HAH！」

With a flash and a shout, the fist pierced with all his might into Ayato’s virtually defenseless side.

「GUHA……！」

Even if the light vanished from the faltering holy sword, Souji’s fist didn’t stop.

Right, left, center, backhand blow, palm strike, he incessantly rained all kind of blows without letting his opponent counterattack him.

「UWOOO~！ BEAT HIM UP！ 」

「BEAT THE CRAP OF THAT HANDSOME FACE！」

「No~, Ayato-kun！」

The students who screamed and cheered didn’t notice the unusual phenomenon due to their distance and excitement.

The only one who noticed it was Irogane Ayako, who froze in shock after witnessing it.

「Impossible…」

The body of the ACE troops was protected by a strong barrier called Phantom Material Armor.

If it’s pistol, it’d take 100 bullets. Even for the troops that used an anti-materiel rifle, it’d take one shot, or two shots to be safe.

In short, half-hearted attacks won’t pierce through PMA. It’s was impossible to do even between ACE troops.

Even if a normal person attacked with a metal bat, ACE troops can calmly receive it.

Even so, Tendouji Ayato who received Souji’s punches was obviously tumbling around and receiving damage.

「How can it be……」

Part 2

Despite her surprise, Ayako’s eyes caught the answer to that riddle.

Just before ramming into Tendouji Ayato’s body, Souji’s fist was clad in a thin light.

Normally this light was too thin to be seen, but although his whole body was covered by PMA, the accumulated light released from one point.

「 Convergence Phantom Material (Pinpoint Phantom Punch)……」 [TL : CPM]

In the case of the barrier, there’s no reason for the barrier to remain unbroken.

Coming up with the idea to concentrating all of one’s might into a small point in order to break through an enemy’s defence.

「KUH, UWOOOOOOOOO — ！」

The cornered Tendouji Ayato released a backhand blow with his left hand.

Though it was easy to avoid that, he swung the holy sword in his right hand toward Souji who was faltering slightly.

「I got you！  」

The blow that was supposed to reverse the situation never reached its target.

Before the holy sword was swung down, Souji’s right palm was thrust towards the sky.

It wasn’t aimed at Tendouji Ayato, instead he seized the pommel of the holy sword.

「Leap！ 」

Sorachi Style – Tusk Shot

The grasped part of the sword was blown away from Ayato like a rocket, flying away in an arc then pierced into the ground far behind.

「AH…」

Souji released a front kick toward Tendouji Ayato who was swinging with his empty right hand like a karate chop.

Without wasting any time, he pressing his left hand to the Phantom Converter on his right hand while the distance between them opened.

KACHIKACHIKACHI.

「Armitize」[TL : 武装化]

He deactivated the Tonbogiri that was thrown to the ground, and then made it appear again in his hand.

Due to practicing it so many times while sparring with Eisuke, Souji’s ability to quickly re-arm had been imprinted into his body. There was no way Tendouji Ayato could have copied it.

Without him knowing what just happened, the spear user relentlessly charged at the unarmed and dumbfounded holy sword user.

「Ha~, Ha~, Sei~！」

Sorachi Style – Three Severing Step.

Heart, throat, and between the eyes. There were three deadly thrusts towards vital points that would cause certain death if any of the strikes connected.

「UWAAAAAA―――！」

Buuu~!

The alarm that resounded to indicate the limit of PMA reverberated from Tendouji Ayato, who fell while screaming in an unsightly manner.

That was the bell that signified the end of this one-sided match.

「H-He won…！」

「YOSSHA, as expected of my brother！」

In a beat, the D-class started cheering loudly.

「…」

Facing the female student of A-class who were silent, as if frozen in place.

「See that, that was the potential of the D-class who’re treated like complete garbage！」

「…」

「Hey Ayako-sensei, even if you’re the homeroom teacher of A-class, quickly announce Souji’s victory 」

「…」

Eisuke quickly nudged his elbow towards Ayako who was standing in silence.

He was anxious that she’d find a fault, just like the time at the entrance ceremony.

Maybe because his feeling were seen through, Ayako slowly raised her right hand — Then placed her triangular glasses on top of her head.

「My glasses, my glasses, where are you…」

「WHAT THE HELL！」

To the unexpected self-performed classic gag, Eisuke’s straight man act also exploded.

「A~, I can’t see anything without my glasses」

「Didn’t you just place them on top of your head！ Moreover, the alarm is already ringing, right!?」

「A~Ah, I can’t hear anythi~ng」

「ARE YOU DEAF！」

She was completely ignoring Eisuke while plugging her ears just like a grade-schooler.

[ED NOTE: :/ ]

「Forget it, brother, just deliver the finishing blow to that lady-killer！」

「No, stabbing is forbidden, right?」

Souji was dumbfounded while pointing his spear to the fallen Tendouji Ayato with great caution.

The alarm is still ringing. He would completely pierce the PMA if he attacked again, and could cause a fatal injury, or in the worst case, kill his opponent.

As fellow comrades who would fight together against the CE, this match was so they could both increase their skills. It wasn’t a desperate battle where they put their lives on the line.

When he reached that conclusion, Souji suddenly noticed that something was out of place.

（Wait a minute, why aren’t our PW disappearing？）

For the safety reasons during training, once the alarm sounded when one’s PMA was reduced to half, at the same time, the PW was set to vanish.

Even so, Tonbogiri was still within his grip.

（Did they forgot to set it？ Or…）

Maybe this setting was on purpose.

So that when Tendouji Ayato was defeated like he was now, it wouldn’t be seen as a loss.

（No, that’s unreasonable）

There might be some kind of accident leading to the scenario where Tendouji Ayato is killed.

He had immense war potential due to holding terrific power in his Holy Sword. It might have been for that reason that he got such special treatment.

The special forces teachers wouldn’t allow any dangers to his life, even due to pure chance.

（Then why…）

Unable to deliver any more attacks, Souji couldn’t do anything but continue to worry.

Because, the course of events beyond this point had already been decided.

「…I won’t lose, I won’t be defeateeeeEEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDD —– ！

Shouting those familiar words, Tendouji Ayato leapt off of the ground.

And then, running toward the holy sword that was sticking in the ground.

「Kuh…!」

Souji chased after him from behind while making a sour expression.

Though he was no longer interested in victory or defeat, he was anxious since the sports ground was going to be blown away again.

If it’s come to that, he couldn’t help but accept he would need to get a little injured.

After deciding that, he stretching his hand to grasp Ayato’s shoulder as he grasped the holy sword.

But, the moment he was about to grab him, his figure vanished from Souji’s sight.

「UWOOOOOO―――！」

He leapt toward the blue sky while shouting a war cry.

「WHA!?」

Part 3

Even though he was shocked, Souji noticed the origin of the strange phenomenon.

Before he knew it, a pair of pure white bird-like wings were growing from both of Tendouji Ayato’s feet.

「Flying in the sky, shoes with a pair of wings growing from them… Hermes’ Sandals!?」

The golden sandals which allowed one to fly in the sky were the property of Hermes, the runner from the greek mythology.

Perseus, the hero who exterminated Medusa, also borrowed the rare artifact to use it.

Though Ayato was wearing ordinary sneakers and not sandals, it seems that this is also the Phantom Extension, similar to when he pulled out Excalibur’s beam.

（But Phantom Weapons can only form one weapon per person, isn’t it？)

Looking down on the bewildered Souji from 100 metres away in the air, the young hero released the light of his holy sword again.

「EXCALIBUUUUUUUUR―――！」

Being swung from the sky, the sword of light split the earth.

Although the entrance ceremony event was repeated, no one was behind Souji this time.

That’s why he ran with all his power to the right, avoiding the gigantic but slow sword of light by some margin.

Souji pondered calmly while dancing around the scattered earth and sand from the devestated ground.

（What should I do？）

Even if he had no means to launch an attack toward the sky, it wasn’t that difficult to keep avoiding the holy sword in this way.

In that case, after Tendouji Ayato exhausting the majority of his power, it seemed that he would fall from the sky.

But, just how much damage would he do to the grounds with his holy sword before that time?

It’d be a hindrance to the lesson, and when he thought about the cost to repair the destruction, Souji decided that it wasn’t the time to be selfish.

「I give up, it’s my loss！」

Ayato stopped after hearing the declaration of his surrender in a loud voice.

Since that could be heard by all the classmates behind him, it should’ve been heard by Tendouji Ayato in the sky.

But though he expected that the sword of light would somehow vanish, instead its glow increased even further.

「BEEEEEEEENDDDD―――！」

With a sweeping movement, it arced toward Souji who avoided it.

「What is that!?」

Souji ran with all his power from the light that descended and formed an avalanche of rock and earth while gouging the ground on it’s path, but then suddenly stopped.

（OH SHIT！）

With Tendouji Ayato as the center, he was running in a counterclockwise direction – without realizing it, he had run in front of his classmates.

At this rate, the sword of light will reach them too.

「I lost, please stop your attack！」

Souji shouted his surrender once again, but maybe because it couldn’t be heard over the noise of destruction, Tendouji Ayato didn’t try to stop his holy sword.

（No way, at this rate, won’t they get dragged in too!?）

Not only the D-class, but Ayako and the A-class too, his own homeroom teacher and classmates.

Tendouji Ayato was flying in the sky and had a clear view. There was no way he didn’t see this.

The girls of A-class would still be okay. They won’t receive any serious injuries since they were wearing PMA.

But, what about Ayako, who was only flesh and blood, without any protection?

「KUH……！」

Going through both hesitation and surprise in the blink of an eye, Souji made a quick decision.

「Eisuke！」

While calling the name of his pal with loud voice, he threw himself towards the incoming blade of light.

The club user from the Ehime prefecture would surely understand Souji’s resolution.

「Ayako-sensei, run quickly！」

「Everyone, quickly protect sensei with your PMA！」

「Y-YES…！」

Eisuke ran toward the school building while pulling Ayako’s hand while the others followed Hinata’s order, ready to use their own PMAs as shield if it came to that.

After he heard that voice, Souji plunging himself toward the incoming sword of light with a smiling face.

「Sorry, Tonbogiri！」

Using it like a pole again, he thrust his spear into the ground while apologizing, trying to stop the advancing sword of light even if just a little.

Similar to last time, though the spear was destroyed in ten seconds, the current Souji still had his trump card.

「OOOOOOOO―――！」

Raising a war cry, he punched with both his fists toward the sword of light.

The individual defensive instinct that was stacked up a countless amount of times won’t lose to the holy sword that was bundled with hopes of many people. He definitely will stop that sword.

But still, it was no more than the instinct of a single person.

「DON’T, G-！」

Ayako cried out painfully, as if she was trying to stop someone.

PARINPARINPARIN!

After the dry sound of his PMA being broken was the ominous alarm indicating that it was at its limit.

The instant that sound resounded, Souji’s body was engulfed in the light once again, and his consciousness vanished into the darkness.

+++【Legend of Holy Sword Chapter 3 Page 37】

+++【聖剣の英雄伝説・第３章・３７ページより】

「ORAORA, JUST DROP DEAD ALREADY！」

To the incoming cowardly punch of the spear user, Ayato’s receiving it by standing upright.

Ayato received the spear user’s incoming cowardly punch by standing upright.

「GUH……！」

「O~, you still have such cocky eyes？ If you keep up such an attitude, I wonder what will become of that Tatsumiya, KUKUKU」

「You bastard！」

Ayato, whose classmate Tatsumiya Miyako was being held hostage, had no choice but to silently receiving the beating.

But, the goddess of salvation appeared in that place.

「Ayato, it’s alright！」

Otome noticed that foul plan and was going to save Tatsumiya Miyako while repelling the spear user’s underlings alone.

「DON’T LOSE, AYATO-KUN」

「Heh, it’s too late！」

The fist that was about to deliver the finishing blow hit empty air.

「YOU BASTARD, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?」

「I’m right here！」

The voice fell from the blue sky to the flustered spear user.

When he raised his eyes he saw a pair of silver wings growing from Ayato back, who was flying with his back facing the sun.

「W-WHAT THE HELL!?」

「It’s okay if you come for me… But I won’t forgive your actions towards Tatsumiya」

The heart of justice that detested evil gathered in Ayato’s holy sword.

「W-Wait a minute, I give up, I’m sorry —–」

「Say that when you repent for your wrongdoings in hospital! HOWL, EXCALIBUUUUUUUUR ——- ！」

SHUGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO———————–!

「GYAAAAAAAAAAAA―――！」

The sacred light blew away the evil spear user that was trying to make an unsightly escape.

「Good grief, you meddle far too much」

Otome complained happily while waving her hand toward her childhood friend, who was like an angel flying in the sky.