Cklares, who had just passed by Shizuku, continued her momentum and thrust her sword into the phantom’s chest.
“Hmm?”
How strange, Cklares thought as she felt the sensation travel through her right hand.
Logically, she had only stabbed her blade into empty air—yet there was undeniably a tangible resistance. However, it was lighter and duller than actually piercing a human chest.
A human body consists of skin, fat, organs, bones, and muscle fibers—a complex structure.
But the feedback from the phantom felt closer to slashing through a leather sack filled with water.
“Well, if I can touch them, it just makes things easier.”
Deepening her smirk, the fairy began her dance with the sword in hand.
Simultaneously, four more phantoms closed in.
She wrenched her thin blade sideways in a slash while transferring it from her right hand to her left in a snap. Catching it in a reverse grip, she lowered her stance and kicked out the legs of the phantom on her left.
As it toppled violently, she drove her inverted sword downward—
“Two.”
—and severed its head in a counter-like motion.
Twisting her body as she rose, she faced the next wave: two phantoms attacking at once.
The right wielded a frying pan; the left swung something like a clothesline pole.
Cklares burst to the right.
Positioning herself directly in front of the right phantom, she then slid further right. With a sharp elbow strike, she disrupted the phantom’s arm holding the frying pan, throwing its trajectory off.
The phantoms seemed to interfere with each other—the frying pan and clothesline pole clashed violently.
As the two phantoms lost their balance—
“Three, four.”
—she dashed past, decapitating them mid-stride.
The next wave came immediately.
“Hmm, counting might be pointless at this rate.”
Without stopping, Cklares engaged multiple phantoms at once.
Unlike Shizuku, who relied on full-body rotations to deliver brute-force strikes, Cklares prioritized precision.
If she could seize the initiative, she thrust her thin blade. If the phantoms attacked first, she used strikes, elbows, or kicks to disrupt their movements—creating openings to swing her sword and sever heads.
Even surrounded, she constantly repositioned to avoid being cornered.
“Five, six, seven-eight, nine, ten.”
Counting the flying heads, the fairy danced.
If she used her ability, she wouldn’t need to move—no one could approach.
If she didn’t, she’d keep moving—no one could catch her.
“Eleven—whoops.”
Mid-count, Cklares halted, pivoted, and thrust backward.
There stood—
“Close call.”
—Shizuku, aiming her gun barrel directly at her.
“Likewise.”
The fired bullet grazed past Cklares, piercing a phantom behind her, while Cklares’ blade impaled another phantom lunging at Shizuku’s back.
“Hey, could you not fire that thing right next to my ear?”
“If that could deafen you, I’d have killed you long ago.”
“Wh—what are you two!?”
●
At Natalia’s shout, both turned to face her.
“I mean… this is insane! Sure, you moved impressively in class, but without relying on your abilities—just like me—how are you pulling off these absurd maneuvers…!?”
“It’s because we’re like you that we trained,”
“[Latent State] or [Distortion State]… not that those terms mean anything to you. The point is, Shizuku, me, and you, Natalia—our abilities don’t enhance our physical bodies. We’re baseline human.”
Cklares said, adjusting her hat with a wry smile.
“But when facing an equal or near-equal Unlaw, especially if abilities clash or are ineffective, close combat becomes necessary.”
“Relying solely on abilities gets you killed. Like right now.”
“Honestly, I’d have been useless alone. Guess this is the power of friendship.”
“Ugh.”
“Then—!”
Natalia’s face twisted as she clawed at her throat with both hands.
“More… more…!”
The [Weeping Woman]’s lament birthed new phantoms.
The ones the duo had felled were replaced—no, exceeded. Nearly a hundred phantoms now filled the courtyard.
“Haah… hahah…! Go on, scream! The [Weeping Woman]’s wails are born from the punished sinners of the past!”
Gasping, drenched in sweat, she shrieked.
────The banshee who brought lament to the flower garden of Manabiya.
“…Ah, I see. So that’s why screams were heard at night.”
“You were screaming earlier too. The victims probably sounded similar.”
Yet, the Tearflower and the fairy remained calm.
“Hey, Shizuku.”
“What?”
“What should we do about Natalia?”
Shizuku pondered briefly before countering:
“What about you?”
“Cheeky, answering a question with a question… Hmm.”
“Exactly.”
As she spoke, Shizuku turned her back to Cklares and raised her gun.
“We’ll think while wiping out this phantom army.”
Cklares, too, turned away and readied her thin blade.
“Works for me. Let’s give it our all—together.”
“Haah—’together’? Sounds like a joke.”
“I don’t hate jokes.”
Back-to-back, they briefly leaned into each other.
The fairy’s back emitted a green-glowing distortion, while the Tearflower’s hair-tips shimmered blue.
“Shall we, Tearflower?”
“Let’s, Fairy.”
And they moved.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
●
“Disappear, disappear…! For her sake—everyone just die…!”
Though her ability’s rampage had stripped her of reason, the [Weeping Woman] clung to her feelings for the deceased girl—even if they were now hatred. Even if she knew she was wrong.
Her lament wouldn’t stop.
As if answering her grief, the phantoms evolved.
Their numbers swelled; their sluggish, erratic movements sharpened into a lethal sprint.
“[Fairy Hand: Spriggan Hand]—”
So the fairy, too, unleashed her full power.
Five wrist-snapped slashes in place—
“—[Fountain Script].”
—sent five invisible blades tearing through phantoms.
Without checking the results, she pivoted.
“Spin, Shizuku-chan”
“Yes, yes “
They swapped positions.
While the first wave of phantoms—including faces Shizuku recognized—fell to the air blades, others surged forward.
Using the rotation’s momentum, Shizuku pistol-whipped three phantoms, then fired.
“[Lingering Echoes – Tears of the Flowers – Wave Ripple Pulse].”
The bullet struck a phantom—then the ensuing soundwave obliterated nearby phantoms.
“Hey, you can do area attacks.”
“If they’re ability-born phantoms, yeah. [Ripple Pulse] freezes any phantoms created within its range, though.”
Bantering, they swapped again.
Their tactics hadn’t changed: eliminate what they could.
Only the speed and rotation rate differed—matching the phantoms’ acceleration.
They alternated positions, using guns, blades, and abilities to erase phantoms—
“—Haah.”
—until, mid-fight, both smiled.
Their coordination was unnaturally seamless.
This was their first battle together. Both operated at peak speed, their abilities amplified beyond normal by their [Stabilized State].
Yet, they synced.
They realized why almost instantly.
“Those first three months—forced to train endurance and flexibility to death?”
“Yep. Also, throwing numbered balls at us for instant calculations.”
“Oh, right, that.”
Shizuku’s unorthodox rifle staff-work and Cklares’ swordsmanship and martial arts—both were taught by Norman.
That’s why they synced.
They wielded what he’d given them.
“Haah.”
At the edge of their vision, each watched the other erase their own phantoms—family, friends, neighbors.
“Haha.”
Shizuku’s [Ripple Pulse] vanquished Cklares’ mother; her bullet pierced the maid who’d doted on her; her rifle butt smashed the gardener who’d sneaked her sweets.
“Hahaha.”
Cklares’ [Scissor Slash] bisected Shizuku’s father; [Fountain Script] shredded the older woman from their apartment floor; [Label Press] crushed the landlord.
“Ha—haha—hahaha!”
As they crushed each other’s pasts, they laughed from the depths of their souls.
Because the person they cherished most had made this scene possible.
“Really, you’re crazy!”
“Likewise!”
Shizuku’s lips curled; Cklares’ grin twisted further.
“Ahahahahahahahaha—!”
The two monsters danced.
●
When they finally stopped, every phantom was gone.
“Haah… Phew. Easy win.”
“Total compatibility carry. Alone, we’d have been toast.”
Only their cooperation had made this possible. Had [Weeping Woman]’s rampage occurred among normal people, the phantoms would’ve slaughtered unresisting crowds.
This was why Norman feared [Critical Cases]—why [Category III] breaches demanded safeguards.
“Haah… haah… Why… why…!?”
Natalia knelt, gasping, her face deathly pale.
“Cough—! Dammit…!”
Blood speckled her coughs. Overusing her ability had ravaged her throat.
“Enough, Natalia,”
Cklares said softly.
“Ability rampages consume life. You’ve reached your limit.”
Over a hundred corporeal phantoms—an Unlaw ability’s unchecked use always exacts a mortal toll.
“Haaah……haaah……hah……So, in the end, I failed after all. Haha, ha……”
Natalia laughed mockingly at herself.
“Fine, go ahead and kill me. If this means I can go apologize to that girl, maybe that’s not so bad.”
“Natalia-sensei, that’s—”
“Well, that’s how it is.”
As Cklares tried to speak, Shizuku brushed past her.
“Hm? What are you—”
Shizuku quickly approached Natalia.
“…Huh?”
“Here.”
With her sniper rifle, she struck Natalia under the chin.
THUD. A dull sound echoed as Natalia collapsed, motionless.
“There. That settles it.”
“…………………………Huh?”
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