Chapter 5 - Skirmish between Heaven, Earth, and Hell (4/?)

"Stop, Mutsuki-kun. Don't get any closer. It's dangerous."

Mutsuki heard the demon boy's voice as soon as he set foot inside, so he had to be there somewhere.

The tower had only been designed to hold the clock at the top, so the twenty meter wide space was empty save for the spiral staircase running up the wall. There were, however, sixteen columns made of stone and cement with wooden support beams alongside them.

Mutsuki knew nothing of combat, but even he could tell something about this place.

"Over there!"

Darkness dully glistened between two columns and a curved blade poked out. Ange flipped her sword around to deflect the tip and she tried to charge behind the columns.

"…!?"

But just before she did, her sword struck the countless stone columns and wooden support beams.

With her momentum gone, she was the perfect target. The scythe slithered between the columns like a snake and targeted her wideopen body. She twisted her torso at the last second and avoided having her heart skewered, but…

"Vah…!"

Lucia appeared from a different direction and kneed her in the cheek.

Her spine bent like a spring to lessen the impact of the knee to her face, but it still did a lot of damage and her short form wobbled on her feet. The boy instantly pulled his hand back and aimed the tip of the scythe toward her chest.

"Gh…"

"Ange!"

Mutsuki shouted without thinking. That silver blade glistened a disturbing amount in this dim light and it was about to reach his roommate's heart.

He could feel the blood rushing from his face as he watched.

"Suit – Adamah!"

The tip dug into her shirt a bit, but then it stopped.

"…"

Lucia realized he could not stab here because there was something incredibly hard below her shirt, so he swept the blade to the side instead. At the same time, Ange kicked off a column and moved away.

It was a blink-and-you-missed-it exchange. Mutsuki's eyes only caught up after Ange fell to her knees.

Was "the way to deal with that troublesome angel" this place itself? The space filled with so many obstructing columns was a poor battlefield for Ange and her large sword. On the other hand, Lucia's curved scythe allowed him to target his prey from flexible angles.

"What are you going to do now? You can retreat if you want. But only if you're fine with leaving Mutsuki-kun behind."

The boy calmly sat in a place protected by the many columns and support beams.

"Tch."

The girl twisted her face where she had been kicked and held the front of her blazer uniform.

Her clothes had been cleanly sliced from her chest down to the top of her skirt, but she fortunately did not seem too badly hurt. A trail of red blood ran diagonally across her cute belly, but that was all. Her chest was unhurt despite the direct hit.

Just like Micha's underwear, Ange's sports bra and spats were known as a Suit. They were armor made with a special material unique to angels. When it hardened, it was impossible to pierce. However…

"Shouldn't you be retreating? I aimed for the wrong spot that time, but I'll penetrate you next time."

Lucia gave a challenging smile while rubbing his cheek against the scythe resting on his shoulder.

And he had a point. Ange was safe since the boy had happened to target her heart, but what if he lopped off her head or sliced through the abdomen next time?

"Ange…"

Mutsuki pleaded her to leave even as he trembled in fear.

But instead of nodding, the girl flipped her long hair back and stabbed her sword into the floor.

"Mutsuki, close your eyes."

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me. Close them, you pervert."

She made her usual lopsided frown and he finally realized her underwear was visible. Part of him felt this was no time to be embarrassed, but he himself grew embarrassed when he actually focused on her state of dress. It was too much for him, so he did as he was told and looked to the ground.

The girl sighed.

"Plus, you wouldn't want to see this."

She grabbed her sword in both hands.

"A living creature is about to be ripped to shreds."

"What!?"

"Prominence – Loop!"

Drawn by Lucia's shout of surprise, Mutsuki also looked to see why she sounded so confident.

She split her giant sword in two like a pair of scissors, giving her two long blades.

The sense of weight remained and the two curved single-edged swords were clearly quite sharp.

Also, these were the weapons of an angel that fought with fire. A blue flame passed through the portion that had supported the center of the blade back in its original form, making it look like a hacksaw. Just seeing it was enough for Mutsuki to know how dangerous it was.

"Ange of the Double Flame."

"—————"

"So that's where the name comes from!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Lucia was dumbfounded as Ange charged toward him with a weapon in each hand.

"Tch."

Even split in half, it had more than enough power to overwhelm the boy. The sound of the scythe catching just one of them was loud enough to think the scythe was going to break.

And by that time, the other blade was already on its way down.

This wide swing was using the back of the blade. In other words the flame blade.

Lucia's back was bent, so he managed to sway out of the blade's path, but the blue flames scattered by the passing weapon still scorched his skin.

"I'm not done yet!"

As the boy tried to pull back, Ange stepped further forward and placed her body weight behind the first attack.

The boy and scythe were knocked backwards and his smoking body crashed into the wooden wall.

"Kh!? D-damn you're fast."

"No, I'm not."

Lucia grimaced from the damage and the angel's foot was already right in front of him.

He somehow managed to escape to the side and Ange's flying kick shook the entire tower when it hit the wall.

But she used that as her first step and made a second and third step on the nearby column and wall.

"You're just slow!!"

As if to pay him back for earlier, she stabbed a sharp midair kick into his cheek.