"--
'Hee hee!'

　It only took a moment for it to exhale smoke. Cracks appeared in the sooty black seed, and a burst of red-copper smoke enveloped them in the blink of an eye.
　Its momentum was tremendous. But it would not expand and diffuse beyond a certain range.

　Black thorns that must have grown from seeds took root on the ground, and there were buds that looked like they were about to put on a large flower. They continued to exhale smoke for a few moments.
　The black clouds swallowed him up, and Noir landed well with no visibility.

　He kneels down and picks up the scythe with his unaccustomed left hand.

''Goho!　

　The Black Lotus of Hades (Dark Lotus) emits a fast-acting, poisonous gas. In other words, it is a magic that spreads viruses. It enters the body, becomes a parasite on the magic, multiplies, and travels throughout the body from the bloodstream that contains the magic.
　It can be transmitted through both airborne and contact transmission.
　The reason why the range does not expand is because the virus is a toxin that transforms Noir's magic sphere into a toxin. In other words, it dies quickly in the atmosphere due to the degradation of magical information. At the same time, the thorns that disperse the virus will also die in less than a few minutes.

　But even at such a close range, even if you hold your breath, Ars has a scar on his forehead. It can definitely be infected.

(This can't be prevented, because I soaked up blood every night for my seniors.)

　If it wasn't for the pain, he would have had a big smile of pleasure.

　The transformation of magic power is not something that can be done instantaneously. And moreover, in the case of expressing it as magic, a huge amount of magic power and time - a time that is too long for magic to be activated - is required for 【Dark Lotus】 to complete the transformation stage beforehand. It is necessary to have it in place. This allows it to be triggered without going through the AWR. The seed itself serves as a magic trigger. It can be said to be a sort of delayed type of magic.

　The magic virus continues to assimilate with the opponent's magic in the body, destroying the tissue. In a few seconds, the entire body will be changed and the skin will turn darker. And in less than a minute, he coughed up black blood and died.
　The intense pain at that moment is unbearable, and the sensation of the nerves being invaded will not last long enough for you to scream. Noir had seen him struggle, albeit slightly, on many occasions.

''Huh, where are you, senpai? Hurry up and spit out the sloppy blood. Let me see you twitching like a fawn, I don't want to be rushed.

　I stare at my right arm, which has been dyed red by the sweat on my forehead and is still covered by my right arm. I'm in a hurry to see the black silhouette of Ars, and I feel rushed to see if it's now or not.
　I'm in a frenzied hurry.

(I killed him. I killed him.)

　An irreversible result. Already in my brain, I see a face twisted in pain, unable to ask for Ars's help. Even if you know it, the thrill in your heart when you see it in person is irreplaceable.
　I feel like I'm going to scream for joy at any moment.


　The red-copper smoke begins to disappear in fragments. It begins to clear like a bug bite. It's about time for the information to deteriorate. The countdown begins to tick down on my internal clock.
　Immediately after, smoke began to swirl towards the center.

　It's as if they are rewinding the moment the smoke erupted.

　The whirlpool concentrates in front of Noir's eyes.

''Yes?　----!!!

　A jet black sword tip was thrust out from the center. The whirlpool gathered around the knife and condensed, and now a backwind blew in. It is a harmless breeze.
　It caresses the undergrowth in a radial manner. The person at the center of it is Ars, whose expression is no different than before the expression of the [Black Lotus of Hades (Dark Lotus)], shaking his black hair messily.
　A large step was taken, and his foot made the distance between him and Noir into a sure killing range.

''Nah!

　The word "why" is slowest in front of Ars's thrust. I reflexively thrust out the hilt of the scythe with my unaccustomed left hand and split the hilt into the trajectory of the thrust just as quickly as I could.
　The regime is tilted and with an unaccustomed left hand, he won't be able to put in enough force to satisfy. Noir put all the strength he could muster to avoid being played.

　The tip of the knife stopped moving with a snap here. Then Ars's wrist returned and the knife was dispatched to the side cleave as it was going back and forth.

(----!　(Fe, feint!!!)

　It's not too late. I put the scythe back in place by a few tenths of a second. Yes, it was just in time.
　It wasn't hard to imagine that Ars, who was nearly unharmed in this situation, would surpass Noir's speed. But right now, all she could think of was to be on the defensive.
　She couldn't bear any more pain.

　She didn't want this kind of one-sided pain. That's why when she realized that it was a bad move, it would be too late.

''Sheesh--''

　This time he prevented it by swinging down.
　Noir saw that it was a deadly choice. The blade of the knife wielded by Ars has been given a magic to cut off space that was shown in the battle so far.

　It was too easy a mistake for her, who had neither the means nor magic power left to prevent that one. No, it was all in the palm of Ars's hand, and she was surely approaching death.
　If she had been more calm, she would have avoided it instead of preventing it - it was only a short time before she thought that. No, that's not the case. I was made to be unavoidable.
　If they were in a state of evasion, they would have attacked in anticipation of that.

　Ars's knife breaks the hilt of the scythe and flashes aimlessly at Noir's torso in a straight line.

(Oh, this is so nice....I don't need the two of you. But it's a little........frustrating)

　There was some resignation, but it was somewhat heartbreaking. In this moment, the pain in my whole body is far away, no fear. A delay in time that seems to flow in a runaway. Is the brain malfunctioning, or more importantly, achieving unthinkable speeds of rotation?
　It didn't matter either way to Noir anymore.

　He hadn't expected the wait for death to be this long. Still, it was a dense moment of time. Instead of thinking about it, something filled his insides as if he had let his body soak in hot water.
　Such a dense sense of happiness didn't make an expression of despair, as a person just before death would do.

　With a huff, Noir closed his eyes and smiled innocently.

　A moment before the blade touched the top of his clothes, the knife made a half-turn and the knife's ridges struck Noir's side unexpectedly.
　Although it was so powerful that Noir, who was prepared to die, felt like he was going to be weakening.

''--Uh!

　A tremendous impact to the left side of my left side, which was completely unprotected. Following that, the body was blown away as if it was breaking. When he realized that he had been kicked, he heard the sound of several ribs breaking with a crunch, and Noir's body was flying through the air.
　The scythe left his hand, and there was no way to do anything about the violent blows, only to have his kicked away body slam into the ground several times.

　After rolling like a puppet, he stopped a few steps ahead of Morweld and unconsciously held the body in his arms. The agonizing pain of having his face rubbed against the ground doesn't even allow him to roll around.

''Uhhhh.........!　

　I pressed down on my side as I squatted in pain. I couldn't even breathe well, let alone speak. I guess the bone may not be sticking into my lungs, but I can only know that it's being squeezed.
　Blood-covered saliva dripping from the edge of my mouth. I could only scream and writhe in agony.

''..........''

　Ars stands dumbfounded against Noir, toothless and dumbfounded. What did I just do? The blade that was released with the intention of killing for sure was deflected just before - also by himself.
　It was not for a diversion, etc. The proof of this is that Noir should have completely realized his defeat.
　It was an action that was not the plan.

　What had caused it, Ars recalled what he had seen in the present moment. He hadn't thought about it, so he would only go back to the information he had seen. But it would be in vain.
　Because Ars himself can clearly remember the cause of it in progress even now. The expression Noir showed in that moment made him deflect the blade.

　It was no longer the face of a killer. It's a young face with a future. An expression that was no different from Tesfia and Alice for that brief moment. That was a flicker.

　Noir, who has killed a number of humans, including Ars, should not be able to die outright.
　Knowing this, Ars hesitated at the last minute to kill. Perhaps it was an expression of his own shallow wishes. It was already too late, and the two of them would continue to kill humans in the future.

　Maybe he couldn't kill her here because he was looking for that atonement to be found somewhere. If he did that, Ars would never be able to return to that noisy place. That was how he felt.

　Ars opened and closed his hands as if to confirm the physical abnormality. Even though he knew it was meaningless, he had to understand that this was a result of his own choice - derived from what he had cultivated.

　When you think about it, you find yourself somewhat convinced.

　When you are somewhat heartbroken, a shout of abuse like a shout tore through the silent silence.

''Noirrrrgh!　What are you doing? Get up and get rid of him now!


　Morweld approached Noir with an exasperated look on his face. His paces punctuated with short intervals, as if he were being hurried to warn Ars.

'What are you doing? I've had enough of your fun!　When you take care of him, you're the best in the world. And I'll be on top. You know that.
"...ts, hahaha, guh!
I asked if you understand me!　You couldn't possibly feel pain, because I did.

　He swung his foot over at Noir's side. The tip of the fine leather shoe pierced the side of Noir's suppressed side as it gutted.

'Aaaaaaaaah!　Kahaha!

　Coughing up blood as if it were overflowing from her mouth. The pain is so intense that it almost makes you want to throw up, you close your eyes with a gulp, and tears pool as if they are strangled and run down your cheeks.
　Twice and thrice, Morweld's frustration builds up with each kick.

　Blood splatters from his mouth and he screams in a scream that is not even audible.
　He grabs her by the hair and forces her to look up.

''Ahhhh........''
You still got it, Noir?
'Hey!　Morweld!　You......
Major General, Viziest!　You'll have to make him work for you because you won't do anything. Besides, this is no reason for Noir not to fight!　Right?　Noir, you're taking pleasure in your usual glee, bad boy!

　He lets go of his hand as if to slam it down and swings his leg with a dull thud. It slams like a pendulum over and over again, and sweat floats on Morweald's forehead. His breathing begins to fail, but by then, Noir can't even scream anymore, he's just a doll spitting red blood out of his mouth. Whether it's from her nose or her mouth, the sound of her breathing, like a leaf whistle, is complaining about the windfall.

''Enough!''

　That's when Vizayst, who had stood on his feet, took a step forward.

'Haa, haa ... oops!

　The kick came up empty, as if someone had pushed her back, as if she was tired. As a parting shot, Morweld aimed his toes at her swollen side, which was so swollen that even the top of her clothes could be seen.
　A large swing.

'Oh, an?'

　When he was standing on one leg, his vision was tilted and he couldn't keep his balance. The foot that was swung over to rebuild the body that was tilted to the point where it was impossible to stand up, stepped on the ground in a hurry.
　A thud, a vibration runs through your entire body, making it resonate to a point.

''Hmm?''