SWNOVELXO Ame no Nuboko Oumukade
Bzzzt!
It has been a few hours since I started playing games with Londinium. Mostly fighting games since this guy is a fighting game freak.
The current score is 45-38, with him winning. Ah, I learned that Londinium is a dude, so there is that.
Now I have a phone call.
"Pause the game for a bit, someone is calling me.", we went back to Road Fighter 6 after a dozen games.
"No, that would be inconvenient.", he slipped his free lower right arm into my pocket and took out my phone.
I let go of my controller for a bit to receive the call, then I went back to escape a full combo by recovering mid-air.
Londinium put the phone close to my ear.
"Hello?"
[Charlotte, we have a big problem. Mitsuki is missing.]
"What do you mean by that?", I blocked his super and returned with a quick combo.
[I mean what I said! Mitsuki is missing! Yuno said she entered the forest, but before she could get to Mitsuki, that girl vanished in some sort of warp in reality!! Can she even do that?]
Tch, he hit me with a heavy attack and quickly went for a triple medium.
"She can, her real Devil is Entropy.", I countered a light attack, making Londinium retreat and block, to which I grappled him and ended the fight.
I have one pixel of hp left, that was a close one.
[Do you think it has something to do with her great-grandmother?]
"Definitely.", we began another match, "After dealing with the ghost, I will go look for Mitsuki. You should look around in the Northeast first, she can't be far."
[You don't sound very concerned... are you really worried about her?]
Tch, he picked another annoying character.
"This is how I speak. Don't be rude.", I opened with a light-medium-heavy combo, then into a grapple to stun him from two frames.
Follow-up with a dragon punch, and unleashing my super-move. Dammit, I was about to grapple him again but Londinium jumped and performed a light attack mid-air, hitting me.
"I will be back with reinforcement, bye~", I signaled to Londinium to end the call.
Which he did by turning off the phone and putting it back into my pocket.
Just as the book says, Mitsuki will go looking for a sword. I just pushed the events earlier than expected, rewriting her history. I should probably check her book again after this match.
Honestly, I hate to admit it but Londinium is better than me. But I am learning his moves, and his tactics, which seem like there are an infinite amount.
I have to remind myself once again, Londinium, despite being a fucking weirdo, is a Jury of the Pale Court on top of being the Records of Venus. Which...
"How powerful are the Juries of the Pale Court?", I asked.
"Strength is a relative term when applied to the Juries.", he commented, "As all of us are capable of destroying a world easily, but there is a basis of hierarchy, if I go against someone from Venus, I would always win. However, there is someone every Jury acknowledges as the strongest..."
He stopped the controller, which let me finish the match without an issue.
"Have you ever heard of Surtr the Fire Giant?", he asked, staring at me.
Surtr...
"Yes, in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, the Primordial Giant was the one to burn down Asgard, the home of the gods. His name with Surtr, the Leader of the Fire Giants of Muspelheim."
Autumn told me to read those books, and so I did.
Londinium nodded, "Do you know the World Tree, Yggdrasil?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"It was the previous Records of Cosmos, a giant tree at the edge of Scandinavia."
Uhh... Reverie?
Checking... checking... the heck?! There is nothing about a giant tree in Scandinavia!
"Explain."
"Your memory bank doesn't have a record of that tree, right?", he squinted his eyes.
I nodded.
"Because as soon as it appeared, Surtr destroyed it. Planting his most valuable sword into the stump of the World Tree, Elderstahl. The World Tree connects to eight other worlds, one of them being Mars..."
Then I realized what Londinium was getting at. Surtr was the Records of Mars... and he one-shotted Chaos... damn, that is strong...
"Just how many Juries of the Pale Court are there?!"
"A couple thousand. You should really expect this, a couple of million years are bound to generate a bunch."
I feel my smile kept on growing. Placing down the controller, I covered my mouth as if trying to contain my smile...
Bathump— Hehahahaha... I want to fight a Jury...
My eyes darted towards Londinium... he stared at me, sensing my bloodlust...
"You should go find your friend... and don't give me that look, I know that murderous look anywhere."
"Tch, fine.", I rolled my eyes and got up from the sofa, "We will delay our fight, so this isn't a loss. I will come back and beat you."
The score is 45-40 now... I'd learned his movements, his controls, everything. And I can counter each and everything he throws at me.
This is the way of human survival. Improvise, adapt, overcome, and... Survive.
My eyes glow a soft azure light as I make my way out of the house, taking Ouroboros Omniscia with me.
I guess I should head to Iwate now...
I blink and enter the Library of Akasha. Infinite amount of books, containing everything that was recorded and known by humanity, past, present, and future.
In a void where bookshelves are reaching further than the horizon, taller than the sky... I can find anything.
"Okita Mitsuki, Gem Holder of Entropy."
A single book flew towards me and... what the fuck? Why the fuck is it so inky? There is ink leaking out of her book.
Quickly, I opened it. Dammit... dammit... fuck... every page is completely blacked out. What the fuck is happening?
"Reverie! Why is the book completely black?!"
Uh— wait!! Let us shift through the library— ah! Here it is!!
Another book flew towards me... Muramasa's Perfection. I quickly took the book, flipping through the pages to read it...
Fuck... fuck... fucking hell!!
This is all wrong!!
Muramasa's Perfection, it's not just a fancy name at all... it's the name of a God Slayer! So she had in her possession a God Slayer this whole fucking time!!
Quick! Place the books together!
Following Reverie's instruction, I put Mitsuki's book and Muramasa's Perfection together—
And they combined, creating another book...
"Ame no Nuboko Oumukade, Heavenly Spear of the Giant Centipede..."
I began reading the book... this is a tale of a samurai hunting the Giant Centipede of legend, who killed the monster with his bow and sword, bringing prosperity to the land... hundreds of years later, a bladesmith by the name of Muramasa, founded the scraps from the arrows and sword of that very same samurai...
Muramasa, the Cursed Swordsmith, reforged the arrowheads and the blade into a sword. It is said that every blade he forged is always sharp, they will never dull... but there is a catch, there is always a catch. Once drawn, the blades can never be sheathed unless they have tasted blood.
That blade forged from a sword made of goodwills and the hope of prosperity clashed with the evil nature of the bladesmith... all God Slayers are evil, so it could be said that all Muramasa blades are God Slayers...
But what would happen if the material came from something good? A paradox would be created.
And that sword, Muramasa's Perfection... is that paradox. It can slice everything, but also repair everything it sliced.
That God Slayer belongs to Mitsuki.
But why is it called the Heavenly Spear of the Giant Centipede? The reason is extremely simple.
Mitsuki decided to strap the sword onto a stick and called it a day.
Well... not Mitsuki entirely. There is a reason why I didn't know Mitsuki had a God Slayer despite me reading her book. The one Muramasa's Perfection chose wasn't Mitsuki herself, but her Devil, Entropy.
And according to this book... Muramasa's Perfection will be in her hands tomorrow... but not exactly her, not Entropy either...
A name blanked out by ink.
I sighed, closing the book and throwing it away.
Who knew it would come to this so soon?
I smiled wryly, exiting the Library. My eyes darted towards Ouroboros Omniscia... or rather, what's inside it.
I like having this many arsenals, it lets me be creative with my approach. But damn, I missed Fallen Starlight.
"Gate of Akasha, come, Shield of Arthur, Prydwen.", I summoned my shield.
Even though throwing ships at people is super fun.
I pulled out my phone, calling Enna.
"Enna, are you keeping track of Mitsuki's location?"
[Yup, she's... heading for the coast, she's holding a spear that looks like a sword taped onto a stick.]
Well, it looks like I have to use the ship again, not as a battering ram but as its actual function.
"She is in Myagi now, right?"
[Yes, she's repeatedly teleporting to gain more distance. It won't be long until she reaches Iwate and...]
As much as I appreciate Mitsuki... that thing inside of her is a problem... heha... to think we had already met.
"I will be there soon.", I smiled and ended the call.
=0=0=
Blurry... her mind is becoming more and more blurry. What time is it now? Is it midnight yet?
Mitsuki remembered she had to switch shifts with Charlotte. But... Charlotte probably beaten the ghost or whatever was haunting the house already.
So...
She should focus on her current situation... Entropy was in control, it was an odd one. Usually, her Devil being in control was a sign of it taking over her.
But she can still take back control whenever she wants. It was like another personality more than anything. Which is weird.
And even weirder... Mitsuki does not remember when she became a Gem Holder, she is a dork by heart but she would never forget something that important.
"Mitsuki, we are at the cliff...", a sharp tone came out of her mouth, she stopped at the edge of a cliff, with waves sloshing in her ears.
"Yeah, can we reach Iwate from here—" BOOM!!!
Before she could finish, a loud crash interrupted her train of thought. Quickly, she readied her spear and jumped backward to create distance.
"Uh... should we move a bit closer?", Mitsuki suggested.
"Y-Yeah...", her other self agreed.
She began to move, still on guard about what would come out to spook her.
Reaching the edge, she looked down and see... a silver vessel with green sails, and a whole lot of artillery...
"Hello there, Mitsuki.", on the deck was Charlotte, smiling but... her eyes, her azure eyes were piercing, there was some sort of storm behind it.
"Holy shit...", Mitsuki flinched.
"She is like a storm that is approaching.", Entropy followed.
If there is anything Mitsuki knows about Charlotte, it is her temper. She is royally pissed.
"Stop talking to yourself and hop on, we are accelerating the plot!", that was not a suggestion, that was a demand. The artilleries of the ship is pointing at Mitsuki.
"I'm coming!!", she decided to not know what would happen if those things were fired. She jumped down onto the deck.
"You know, Klara was very worried about you. Why didn't you say anything to her?", Charlotte asked as she went up to the helm.
"Well... I thought of going to confront my great-grandmother...", Mitsuki closed her eyes, and they became resolute, "I will end this tradition of body-hopping, once and for all."
Charlotte merely stared at her, with her hands crossed on the railing. Those eyes, as if staring into the abyss itself, nobody knows what Charlotte was thinking.
"Welp, we are going to Iwate, grab onto something for dear life.", she took out a cigarette and lit it, "For this baby is a little rough!"
"Full throttle!!"