Arc 7 - Chapter 56: The Great Disaster

Arc 7 - Chapter 56: The Great Disaster:

――Abandon the city and withdraw from battle.
When the oni-masked man declared these words, Jorna's cheeks hardened and her gaze sharpened.
　One moment ago, she had decided to respect the opinion of the man before her, because she believed that this was the best way to protect the Chaos Flame that Jorna ruled over.
However, contrary to Yorna's resolve, the man declared the abandonment of the city...,

Yorna: "I cannot possibly agree with such an opinion."
Abel: "Oh. Why is that?
Yorna: "Why would I agree to that? This is Chaos Flame, the last place for those who have been driven out of the empire and have nowhere to go or stay..... And you want to throw it all away?! ..."

Abel: "Unacceptable, is that so? ――foolish sentimentality."
Yorna: "――, Vincent Vollachia ......!"

With a steely look in her eyes, Yorna called out to the man with crossed arms, gnashing his teeth, with the cold words of the ruler of the Empire. In response to her call, the man touched the oni mask on his face with his hand. Then, he looks at Yorna through his black eyes, which are visible even through the mask,

Abel: "Now that I call myself Abel, that name is inappropriate. If you're thinking of begging for mercy from the Emperor, your thoughtlessness is unwise."

Yorna: "――The people of the empire are strong, are they not?"

Vincent: "Yes."

The emperor -no, the man who now called himself Abel- declared that this was the way of the Empire. The emperor who is the pinnacle of the Volakian Empire must be the embodiment of the iron-blooded code that the people of the empire believe in and revere. Whether this was the case or not, the emperor must affirm it.

Following Abel's affirmation, Yorna admonished herself that she had made a mistake in begging.

In the first place, did Abel know the true nature of the great shadow, the immense darkness that engulfed the crimson lapis castle?

Would that be the cause of his ruthless decision to abandon the city?

Yorna: "Does the Lord deem it so dangerous that we must make our escape at once?　What the hell is that thing?"

Abel: "――[The Great Disaster]"

Yorna: "Great, Disaster...?"

Abel's answered Yorna's question with quiet words.

However, despite the quietness of his voice, the weight of the words he spun was enough to cause Yorna's deep bewilderment. ――The Great Disaster, he described it in that expression.

Yorna: "What on earth do you mean by 'Great Disaster'?"

Abel: "A monstrosity that endangers the existence of the Empire and brings untold ruin beyond the reach of even the sunlight... That is what the 'Stargazer' has said. When I first heard it, I immediately understood it was a serious statement."

Yorna: "――――"

Abel: "When you look at that, you know that there was not the slightest exaggeration in his expression."

Abel, his jaw clenched, called [Great Disaster] the manifestation of darkness that brought ruin.

Yorna couldn't help but feel bitter inner thoughts at the evocation of the 'Stargazer' by Abel's mouth. The existence of the 'Stargazer' is one of the evil customs of the Vollachian Empire. At least, that was all Yorna could say about it from her standpoint. In the first place, the origin of Yorna's strong yearning for her wish was by no means unrelated to the "Stargazer".
　Anyway...,

Yorna: "So you are going to swallow the words of the 'Stargazer', turn your back and run away, are you? If that is the case, it is the very manifestation of gutlessness. The embodiment of the imperial way is so very, very, very ...... I can't help but think of it that way."

Abel: "If you think you can sway me with cheap provocations, you'd better correct your misconception as soon as possible. First of all, I was not the one who took 'Stargazer' at face value and acted recklessly."

Yorna: "... The Lord also seems to have an opinion about the 'Stargazer'."

Abel: "No one with sound judgment would like them. However, if you dismiss them as unnecessary, the next one will soon follow. That's where things get tricky with them. ――Mwaah."

Louis: "Uoohh!"

Abel's words were interrupted by Louis' vigorous growl.
　She seemed to blame Yorna and Abel for lack of a direct connection between their conversation and a technique to subdue the 'great Disaster'.
　And rightly so. 'The Great Disaster'――

Louis: "Uau!" (うあう, trying to say Subaru?)

Abel: "――Yorna Missigure, I want to make sure of one thing."

Yorna: "Why is she here?"

Abel squints at Louis, who points at the large, writhing "great disaster" and pleads strongly for help. Yorna's long, slitted eyes narrow as she sees Louis directing her appeal at her.
Were Louis able to speak, she could roughly guess the words that would follow,

That is――

Abel: "If you and that girl are together, a black-haired boy should be here too. Where did he vanish?"

Yorna: "If you're speaking of that child, then――"

A glance at Yorna's eyes answered the question more eloquently than words could have. Yorna's gaze turned toward the 'great disaster' that Louis was so frantically pointing at. The boy was there when the darkness that engulfed the Crimson Lapis Castle first erupted. ――No, in the eyes of Yorna, that "great disaster" overflowed from within the boy.

Abel: "After all, that's how it is."

Upon receiving Jorna's silent reply, Abel placed the last piece of the puzzle in his own mind. In what sounded like an ultimatum, Yorna, looking at Abel said, "Lord,....". But to her call, Abel shook his head loosely,

Abel: "Although our expectations have been dashed, it cannot be helped. There is no point in being obsessed with the plan when results cannot be achieved."

Yorna: "What do you mean?"

Abel: "I'm saying that our plan remains the same. We'll abandon the Demon City and withdraw. ――Still, we will suffer some damage. We cannot avoid all of it."

Yorna: "Well that answer is――"

Yorna was about to tell him that she could not agree to it when she heard――

Louis: "Aaaah,uuuhh!"

Abel: "Gaahh!"

Abel let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees on the spot, clutching his abdomen with his hands.
　It was Louis who had jumped into his chest faster than Yorna who was closing in on him, and had struck him with the bottom of her palm with her short arm.
　She glared at Abel, who made a ruthless decision, snorting and snarling at him,

Louis: "Uau!!! Uau!!!" (うあう, Subaru?)

Shouting, she turned around, and Louis' little figure disappeared from their sight in the blink of an eye. It was the same instantaneous transition that she had shown during the attack on the Keep and during the battle against Olbart. After repeating these warps over and over again -as they cannot be performed over long distances- Louis returned to the battlefield dominated by the "Great Disaster".　In the distance, Kafma used the insects from his body to hold back the "Great Disaster".

Yorna did not think that she had a game-winning move to offer against the "Great Disaster".
If she had one, she would have tried to rescue the boy by herself instead of relying on Abel. However, she was powerless.
　If only such a trump card existed..,

Yorna: "――I think the flame of the Yang Sword should be able to counter it."

Abel: "――――"

Yorna: "My Lord!"

Abel kneels on the roof of the building while holding his stomach.
Yorna considers Louis' blow a deserved one, but at the same time she thinks that Abel is the one who holds the key to overcoming the situation.
　The emperor of the Vollachian Empire, the one who possesses the right to wield the Yang Sword, one of the sacred swords of power.

Yorna: "With the flame of the Yang Sword, even if it is the "Great Disaster", we must be able to fight back."

Abel: "――I'm not going to draw it."

However Abel's answer to Yorna was not the one she had hoped for.That answer wasn't one Yorna would consider to be the result of a rational judgment. He won't draw it even if he considers the "great disaster" as a threat, and knows that it is a cataclysm that will lead to the abandonment of the Demon City.

Yorna: "How can you accept that without pulling out your 'Yang Sword' ......?"

Abel: "――――"

Yorna: "Answer, Vincent Vollachia!　If you are the Lord, the Lord―― ...... the emperor of this empire has a role to play! If you are the lord... The emperor...!"

Her vision reddened, and Yorna grabbed Abel by the collar as she knelt down and faced his gaze.

Meanwhile, Chaos Flame which is ruled by Yorna is being driven into a corner. To what extent can Kafma and Louis fight against the "great disaster"? How much did the impact of the swallowing of the Crimson Lapis Castle help reduce the might of the "Great Calamity"?

　They knew nothing but that they must not go on like this. At this rate,

If things continued that way, Yorna's oath and wish would not be fulfilled.

　For that, she really needed the cooperation of the man in front of her.

Yorna: "If this lord is the Emperor of the vollachian empire, then..."

Abel: "... I won't use the Yang Sword."

Yorna: "... Ugh, the Lord"

Yorna tries to intimidate Abel who still stubbornly refuses to change his mind by showing her sharp canine teeth.

She doesn't often show the fangs in her mouth in such a vulgar manner but if she wanted to, these fangs could easily tear off the thin neck of the man in front of her.

　　But this kind of threat, in front of him, is an everyday occurrence for Abel. He is the Emperor of the Vollachian Empire, a figure who is constantly faced with the unceasing murderous intent and hostility from those around him. That's how he came to be in such position in the first place,

Yorna: "This Lord is the ... ... of the Vollachian Empire ..."

Abel: "Will you ever understand, Yorna Missigure?

Yorna: "――――"


Abel: "The emperor of our generation, Vincent Vollachia, is different from the emperor you envision him to be. I am under no obligation to act according to your wishes and ideals."

Yorna let out a small exhale at the apparent rupture. Then she released her hand from the man's collar and took a measured step backward. Yorna gritted her teeth as she looked at Abel, who was standing back and holding his neck.

She knew it without being told.
With or without his mask, the man in front of her bears no resemblance to the man Jorna envisioned. Even if he had the blood of Yorna's beloved running through his veins.

Yorna: "... I cannot accept the words of this Lord.

Abel: "If you don't abandon the Demon city, you will lose everything else."

Yorna: "The demon city is all that I have now!"

Answering with open arms, Yorna pulls out her smoking pipe from her chest and lights the tip of it. Immediately after, she inhaled smoke from the pipe with all her force and blew it into the sky.
　The spreading purple smoke formed a huge, gigantic cloud and headed towards the exterior of the battlefield where the "great disaster" was stirring, over the heads of the people of the demon city who were probably frightened at the sight of that menace. The cloud of purple smoke slowly dissipated, and rained down on the residents - her children - one by one, the purple smoke fell into each person's hands.

Yorna: "I love you ..."

Yorna's murmur was so faint that only Abel, who was in the same location, could hear it.
However, Yorna's intention was understood by all those who held the purple smoke in their hands. Therefore, even though her voice did not reach them, they all threw the purple smoke into their open mouths.

Yorna: "――I love you"

　Yorna's continued words and mutterings were not meant to bring anything to anyone. If anything, they were probably an indulgence that Yorna gives to herself. It was a congratulatory prayer, a necessary ritual to push herself.

Those who received Jorna's purple smoke, those who took it in, gradually, slowly raised their faces. ―― Each one of them with a flame lit in one eye.

　Those who are loved by Yoruna and who love Yoruna look up at the "Great Disaster" and their souls begin to burn. The very power of the " art of soul marriage" - those who are tied together by their souls - pervades the Demon City.

Yorna: "The city of Chaos Flame will not be lost. I and this Lord will demand our impudent guest to return home." (could be wrong and Yorna calling herself the lord of the City, or Yorna asking Abel to go back but my understanding is this)

In front of the unwelcome guest stands Yorna, shaking her smoking pipe.
A resounding tremor arises from the ground around them, coming from all over the city. The sounds of countless legs trampling the ground, countless footsteps, countless breaths, and countless war cries echo furiously and menacingly.

　When Yorna saw this, she lightly bent her knees and leapt high into the air.
The destination of her leap was awaiting her, the disaster, a shadow filled with profound darkness. As a thing that threatens the Demon city, it is a thing that all of them must repel...,

???: "――Yorna Mishigure the Flamboyant, I will be your partner."

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The earth rumbled and the entire city came together in a furious yell.
In a world dominated by these sounds, Abel lowered his hand to his neck and looked out upon the battlefield.

Abel: "――――"
Yorna, who was recklessly roaring, swung around the wreckage of the shattered Crimson Lapis Castle and the destroyed streets, and struck a powerful assault on the "Great Disaster".

　It was an out-of-this-world onslaught, as she was hitting it with a "building" (/as if hitting a "building", unsure of translation), but its substance is vague and the effectiveness is unclear against the jet-black darkness that continues to expand in total volume - the "Great Disaster".
　Is it more or less effective, or perhaps is it completely meaningless?

Yorna: "―― It's not completely futile, is it?

　Although it was not directly influenced by Yorna's reckless attacks, it could be read from the decline of its power of action that it was not an absurd opponent against whom all of their attacks would be fruitless.
The Crimson Lapis Castle, which was swallowed by the "Great Disaster" as soon as it appeared, and Yoruna's attack, which converted her attachment to the castle she had used for a long time as her residence into a destructive force in itself, had certainly weakened the momentum of the "Great Disaster".

If it had not been for this, the "great disaster" would have expanded with its initial momentum, engulfing this Demon City at once and stretching out its abyss across the whole empire.

――If we ignore the situation, the collapse of the empire that we have postponed so far will not be averted.

Abel: "That's one of these damned things about them."

　　Teeth clenched, Abel recalls the thin face of the man who had foreseen the "great disaster". A convenient being who foresaw the coming threat but refused to be asked for more. Or perhaps he was a pawn of the spectators.
　In any case, my resentment toward that one is of no use here. If anything, though, it might be worth pondering the existence of this position, to put it bluntly.

Abel: "Natsuki Subaru, you bast*rd."

Abel looked at the wriggling "great disaster" and said the name he had been avoiding to say.
That's when.

Medium" Abel-chin! I'm back!"

Abel: "――――"

　In the midst of the various noises permeating the city, where any sound could be drowned in the rumbling of the earth and the cries, the high-pitched voice reached Abel's ears. As he turned around, the voice fell from the sky behind him. Landing with a light thud were a girl waving her hand and a brown-skinned woman holding her.

Abel: "You're back, Medium, Taritta."

Medium: "Somehow! But the situation is different from what Abel-chin said? What about Yorna-chan?"

Abel: "――Over there."

Abel shook his chin at the question of Medium who landed on the roof now released from Taritta's arms. Beyond that, there is the image of a Jolna flying in the sky against an opponent and repeating mass-based kinetic attacks using buildings from all directions.

　The two who are challenging the "Great Disaster" head-on are Yorna and Kafma, who possess means of carrying out long-range attacks.
　However, since Kafma's thorns are "insects" that he keeps within his body, they cannot continue to be swallowed by the "great disaster" inexhaustibly.
　In addition, the residents of Chaos Flame who have gathered together are dismantling the buildings around them and attacking them by throwing them into "the great disaster" like cannonballs.


This was a formidable group tactic using the city itself as a weapon, which caused the Imperial soldiers to suffer when Jorna rebelled against the Empire in the past and they were trying to capture the city.
　However, it was unclear whether that tactic, which was effective against a group of soldiers, would be effective against the "Great Disaster", whose strength was unfathomable.
In the first place, as you can see if you look at it from a distance,

Taritta: "The Great disaster", ghhk, it's is getting bigger.....?"

Medium: "Oh, we can't leave it unattended, can we!? Abel-chin, what are we going to do!"

Looking at the gradually expanding " great disaster", Medium and Talitta inquire about Abel's decision.
Originally, the plan was to shift to a withdrawal strategy with Yorna's cooperation, thereby abandoning the city, but this was not carried out due to Yorna's attachment to the city.　In that case, the situation will change depending on Vincent's actions.
――No,

Abel: " ――Or first, can you change the situation, Taritta?""

Taritta: "Eh?..."

Asked by Abel by name, Taritta opened her sharp eyes and uttered no words.
　However, it was not so much a reaction of surprise at being asked something she had not the faintest idea about, but more of a reaction in response to something she was not expecting to be asked at this point.
In other words, she was well aware of what Abel had just insinuated.

Taritta: "Hey, that was weird? What do you mean?"

Abel: "Nothing. Taritta, what did you call it?"

Taritta: "Na, what are you saying..."

Abel: "――"Great Disaster", that's what you called it. Where did you learn that name?"

Taritta gasped at Abel's words.

　Medium, who had no idea what the exchange between the two was about glazed over them and muttered "Taisai ......?" a word she did not recognize on her tongue.

No ignorant person can look at such an unknown entity and call it a disaster out of left field. Only those who are familiar with its existence can rightly call it a "great disaster".
　In other words...,

Abel: "Have you been taught by the stars how to avert the upcoming ruin?"

Taritta: "――! Wait a minute, I'm ......!"

Abel: "――――"

Taritta: "I, ha..."

Taritta takes a step forward, puts a hand on her chest, and stammers over her next words. Seeing Taritta's face turning pale and her eyes darting about; Medium rushes to her, shouts: "Taritta-chan!" and nestles beside her, supporting her body.
However, Taritta could not afford to respond to Medium's compassion.
Perhaps, she had thought she could keep it all hidden. Perhaps she had thought she could remain silent indefinitely.

Abel: "Fool."

There is no secret that can be kept, no truth that won't be exposed.
A day will eventually come when everything is revealed, at least that is the case if we make no effort to conceal our secrets and the truth. All we can do is to keep it away.
Or if we could delay it until after our death, we might be able to say that the secret was kept to the end in the perceived world.

Abel: "Taritta, if you know about the "great disaster", do you regret it?"

Medium: "Regret it? Do you regret it? ... Abel-chin! What are you talking about!? What did Taritta-chan do?..."

Abel: "It's a no-brainer. --That you failed to kill me with that arrow in the forest."

Taritta: "Ahh..."

　Astonished, this time all color drained from Taritta's face and the light in her eyes flickered feebly. Abel looked straight into her eyes, held his breath, and continued.

Abel: "Or will you answer your calling now, Hunter of the [Buddheim] jungle? Maybe should I call you that?"

Taritta: "――――"

Abel: "A new 'Stargazer' who inherited the mission to prevent the 'Great Disaster'."


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　The violent rumbling of the earth, the resounding thunderous roar, it is as if they were calling for the end of the world.

Al: "Uh-uh, uh-uh ...... !"

　I hold my head and try to cover my ears, but I can't.
　That's the problem of having only one arm. I cannot cover my ears with both hands to completely shut off my consciousness from the ending world.
　I place my right ear on my lifted shoulder, stick the fingers of my outstretched hand into my left ear, and try to block the din with an incomplete earplug. It is impossible.

　The ground shakes. The atmosphere is frightened. The world is dying.
　All of it was a symbol of the fear that was eating away at Al, robbing him of his strength.

Al: "Why, why...... Why here ...... Why are you here?"

　His voice is drawn tight as he curses and curses the hopeless events that unfolded at this very moment.
　Of course, such a curse is meaningless. Because in truth, this is not a curse at all. It is nothing but the appeal of a sore loser who denies the events only to console himself after defeat.

　They must have thought that they were prepared for this to happen.

――No, that's not true. He was not prepared for it. Whenever the possibility crossed his mind, he simply turned away, pretending optimistically that it would not happen.

Working with Natsuki Subaru, there was a definite danger of this happening. Not just a definite danger, more than enough

In fact, had he worked with anyone other than Natsuki Subaru, this situation would not have happened.

Still, it was unavoidable. He couldn't leave him alone. He couldn't leave them alone. Natsuki Subaru could not have been allowed to break down there.

He knew that much was necessary, and that's why――

???: "Oh oh, if you look at who's crying now, it's you."

Al: "What the――"

???: "Kakakakkaka! What was that bouncing just now? It was like a caterpillar! Excellent! Excellent! A masterpiece, truly."

Suddenly, he hurriedly got up and looked for the voice he heard in the room.

The person who observed him clapping their hands―― or more accurately, stomped their feet in reaction―― while laughing hysterically.

Unfortunately, the other party would likely never be able to clap their hands again.

Because――,

Olbart: "My right hand, which had been with me for more than ninety years, has vanished before me. I'm in trouble, how am I going to make Hyorogans from now on? Kakkakaka!"

The suspicious looking old man, Olbart Dunkelkenn, smiled in amusement as he waved his right hand, which had disappeared from the wrist down.