Chapter 25

Chapter 25
. VERMILION WORLD

Under the cold weather with the sky full of twinkling stars, Roppu Nezaarand was leaning forward .
Timidly looking at the entrance of the underground corridor, he was eagerly waiting for Riku and Vrusto to come back . Since they had gone in there, a good amount of time have already passed . But even so, there were no changes to the residence where Charlotte is at, nor there were any signs of them coming back .
“Uu… I wonder if they are alright . Maybe… It might be good if I go in too? But it goes against the orders . ”
Roppu was indecisive .
It would be weird if he were to go at the place Riku and Vrusto were invading . His hearing and leg strength were excelling even within the demon lord army . But he couldn´t follow after smell just like Vrusto could . There wouldn´t be any marks remaining so that he could reach to them and he didn´t feel like he would be able to follow after them by himself .
“I guess I should wait a little more so I can think about what to do . ”
It was right at the moment he let out a sigh .
Suddenly, the ground shook . After a thundering sound similar to the one of an explosion, there was the sound of something crumbling down, both coming from the entrance of the underground corridor .
“Eh, eh!?”
Roppu looked at the entrance in panic . But unfortunately, it was too dark, hence he couldn´t see anything . Guessing from the sound from before, it didn´t look like what crumbled down had actually been something around him .
But because something had crumbled down, there was a high chance that Riku and Vrusto were in danger . Unsteadily, he was giving a few steps back .
“T-this… I need to report it to lieutenant colonel Fostar!”
Roppu ran through the path they had took to come there before . This case was an “unexpected incident”, which was what Riku told him to be attentive to . Because they got involved in a problem, he needed to let a superior officer to be aware of it . Taking much less time than the amount they took when they were being guided by Kurumi before, Roppu got back to the inn .
And then… He became speechless of the scene happening in front of the inn . The stone floor there was dyed in blood . The air was filled with the smell of blood . Not having the composure to think of closing his nose, he could only be in shock from the tragedy that was in front of his eyes .
“W-what in the world…Happened . ”
He muttered that in surprise . And right at that moment, the sound of footsteps were coming close to him from behind . Roppu turned back as if trying to protect himself from what would come, but it was already too late . That person had closed the distance between then enough to easily touch Roppu .
With cold eyes, the person looked at the trembling Roppu . And clenching the first that was holding that sword dripping blood…
____
At the underground corridor, there was a mountain of rubble .
Because of the shockwave of the explosion, part of the walls and the ceiling crumbled down . The corridor was now filled with dust and the smell of blood . The figure of Kurumi, who was at the center of the explosion, was no more to be seen . Only the knives she used were meaninglessly lying on the ground .
Vrusto crawled out of the pile of rubble that had accumulated on his back .
“Really, she was bluffing even at her last moments . Why would she blow up all of the sudden… Did she put something at her teeth for that?”
Vrusto mildly coughed . Through his whole body, many fragments of the rubble pierced him and the wounds made by that were bleeding . Demons were more resilient than humans, but if one was to directly receive an explosion, there would be danger of dying . Maybe because of lack of blood, his eyesight was slightly trembling . Vrusto clicked his tongue loudly .
“Hey, get a grip . ”
After he got out of the rubble, he extended his hand to the place he was buried before . While complaining, he was drawing Riku out of the rubble . At that moment the white light of the explosion filled the whole place, using his sense of smell, he ran to where Riku was sent flying . Riku had a superhuman strength that was comparable to demons, but her body was still the body any human would have . Being caught by an explosion from very close, it wasn´t strange that she would be sent flying . For her to have her body intact was close to a miracle .
While slapping her cheek, Vrusto muttered .
“Hey, ojou-chan? Are you still alive?”
“…More or less . ”
Riku opened her eyes slightly . Because Vrusto had protected her, she had less superficial wounds than expected . But even so, she was badly hurt . The moment she tried to pick up the halberd that was lying on the floor, pain went through her head .
“…gh . ”( ……っ、)
Right at the center of her head, there was a ringing pain . Riku lightly pressed her right hand on her head . Touching it, she noticed that the back of her head was swelled . Perhaps when she was blown away by the explosion, she had violently hit her head on the wall . Maybe it was just the feeling, but she was slightly nauseous .
“Are you alright?”
“…If it is only this much, there is no problem . ”
Picking up her halberd, she leaned on it like a staff . Then, as if she remembered something, she looked at Vrusto .
“Thank, you . ”
“Stupid, it´s my duty . Duty . My babysitting still continues . ”
Vrusto had his usual tone, but he wasn´t hiding his complete exhaustion . Riku gave a wry smile .
“I´m already seventeen . ”
“By me, you are still a brat… Now, what should we be doing, ojou-chan . ”
Riku was whipping her head to work .
By how loud the sound of the explosion was, it was certain that the spiritualists noticed it . They should assume that soon they would investigate about it, and then get to where they are . If it was her usual self, she would have been able to immediately kill them all, but at her current condition, she was a bit anxious about fighting . If it was only one or two people, she would be able to win . However, if it was more than that… If there were more, she didn´t know whether she could do it .
Besides that, at this condition, fighting Rook Barusak was impossible .
Although with all the issues, he was someone she had lived under the same roof for seven years . Riku knew very well Rook´s talent . In order to confront the Barusak genius that would only appear once every one thousand years, she had to have her body condition in perfect state . He wasn´t a opponent that could be so easily defeated with her body being in such bad condition .
“It´s frustrating, but… We are pulling back . ”
“Understood . ”
Riku and Vrusto started walking . The path they came from was blocked . Since it couldn´t be helped, they could only look for another way to the surface . No matter how much they walked, they couldn´t find the exit . Gradually, her headache worsened and the feeling of nausea welled up . Desperately bearing all this, she kept moving her feet .
How long has she been walking? By the time she didn´t know anymore how many times she had turned to another corridor, Vrusto stopped his feet . With a serious expression, his nose diligently moved .
“Sorry… Ojou-chan, keep walking straight to this way . ”
“What´s the matter?”
“Ah… It´s just that it looks like I dropped something captain gave me to look after . I will go back pick it up in just a moment . Ojou-chan should just keep going forward . What, I will catch up right away . ”
Giving a silly smile, Vrusto ran back to the way they came from . All happened very fast, so Riku could only keep standing still motionless, glaring at direction Vrusto went to .
“Liar . ”
After muttering that, she forced her weighting feet to turn back .
She didn´t hear anything about Leivein entrusting Vrusto with something . He most likely noticed with his nose the presence of spiritualists . If it was to become a fight against the spiritualists, then Riku, who was wounded, would only be a hassle .
For some reason, she didn´t have the feeling that Vrusto was using Riku as a bait so that he could run away to safety .
Vrusto was probably standing in the spiritualists way to buy time for Riku to run away . Perhaps this was just that he doing that for Riku to run away as an officer of higher ranking, and it being only the extension of his “babysitting” . She wasn´t able to get a grasp of Vrusto´s intentions, but at least, if she was at his place… She would choose to let Vrusto run away and go fight the spiritualists .
Slowly, little by little, Riku was getting back to the path they came from . And then, she had heard a deep sound of something clashing that had no comparison .
A thick voice full of anger and metallic sounds resounded from the depths of the corridor ahead . Tightly holding her halberd, she hurried her feet . It was clear that further at the next corridor, there was a battle happening . Running through the other side halfway, it was possible to see the death bodies of spiritualists at the ground . There were five, six spiritualists lying at the floor with blood flowing from them . There were some that were twitching, making one wonder if they were still breathing .
But there were others that were still standing . Three spiritualists pointed their swords to Vrusto, who was full of wounds . Vrusto was fighting against three spiritualists by himself . He had a spear stuck at his body and a sword pierced through from his back, but even so, he still held his sword tightly .
“Shit, this is a tough one . This savage demon!!”
“As if I would let you by that easily!!”
Wielding his sword, he charged to one of the spiritualists . But, maybe because of his wounds, comparing to how he usually was, his moves were dull . Being hit by the spear, his sword flew to the air . Losing the weapon he is skilled at, Vrusto was surrounded by the three spiritualists .
But even so, Vrusto kept fighting . Clenching his fists, he glared at the three spiritualists . Right at the moment he bended forward his back as to go break through the encirclement, he stopped moving right away . From where Riku was standing, she was able to notice that Vrusto´s nose moved .
“That´s the end! Demon!”
The spiritualists brandished their swords from three sides at Vrusto, which had stopped moving .
But Vrusto was showing a fearless smile .
“Stupid . The ones that are finished are you guys . ”
Together with these words, mustering her strength, Riku kicked the ground . She leaped in direction of the spiritualists . And then, aiming for that defenseless back, she swung her halberd down .
“Hello, spiritualists . ”
While slashing at the back of that spiritualist, she muttered in a small voice . The spiritualist that was suddenly attacked had the expression of shock on his face . Riku cut off his torso, sending it flying .
“Wha? Another one!?”
By Riku´s intrusion, the spiritualists had their encirclement broken . As to protect Vrusto, she went to the front of the spiritualists .
“Hey, brat . You… Why didn´t you do as I told you?”
“…This is giving false reports to a superior officer . I hate lies . ”
Saying that, she pressed her halberd down at the ground . In fact, just for her to keep standing, Riku was already giving her all . The intensity of her headache worsened; if she were to stop paying attention, she would have probably collapsed . But even so, Riku held her halberd .
“Anyhow, if I were to run away like that, they would have caught up . Besides, something like being chased by spiritualists… Just by that my nausea gets worse . ”
Saying only that, she forced herself to move her body .
The spiritualists were taking distance from Riku, but Riku wouldn´t let them run away . Pressing the halberd at his bosom, Riku horizontally swung it . With the halberd deeply gorging at his belly, the spiritualists fell down on his back .
“Ho-how dare you! You red head!”
The remaining spiritualist shouted something, but what he shouted… Riku didn´t hear . From the pain and the nausea, Riku´s consciousness began to become hazy . After bending her body to deflect the sword that was thrust at her, aiming at the spiritualist´s head, she dropped down the big lump of metal her halberd was . With his scared expression, his head was crushed more easily than a fruit would . Liquid similar to the red juice of a watermelon poured upon Riku .
“With that… Would this be the end?”
At the that she muttered that, she had already went over her limits . Crumbling down, she sank in the sea of blood . With a splash, she fell to the ground . By that time, it had become difficult even to slightly move her finger .
Even so, Riku was mustering strength to somehow get up . She didn´t have the time to be lying down at such place . She needed to stand up as fast as possible, get out of that place together with Vrusto and meet with Roppu . And then, she needed to rethink of a plan to defeat Rook . Riku was forcefully trying to raise her eyelids .
As she did that, inside her vermillion colored world, she saw a pair of white shoes that particularly stood out .
“Thank goodness… You were still alive, Riku Barusak-sama . ”
The woman wearing white clothes was looking down at Riku . Overall, her body was slim, and she felt like she was the purest thing Riku ever saw . The woman, who had her eyes closed, extended her hand to Riku . And then, she muttered in a way that seemed somehow apologetic .
“Nice to meet you . I am Shibira… I am your ally . ”