Hyouketsu Kyoukai no Eden Vol 1 Chapter 2

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"...... Will you always be by my side?" 

"Do not show such an uneasy expression. For that, I am willing to sing the lullaby for you. Even when you sleep, I shall be forever by your side." 

"Forever...... really?" 

"The lion never sleeps. If you so desire, it can be for hundreds, even thousands of years." 

"phia-So la telah sitra 

Meimel's shinryoku began activation. That was the opening verse. 

With that verse sung, an azure radiance began expanding, and covered the whole chair which the Priestess was sitting on. 

Shinryoku comes in the form of a wave. 

Similar to how the ripples spread from the point where a drop of water strikes the surface of the lake, shinryoku has the property that permeates outward with its caster at the center point. What Meimel did was to sing her chants as transmitting waves, and used it to penetrate outwards into s.p.a.ce. As a result, the speed of spreading of shinryoku increased by leaps and bounds. 

Small dots of light tinier than snowflakes. 

Just like the petals dancing in the winds, the faint lights swirled around Leon and Run, and brought about a gentle breeze. Meimel's mock barriers then expanded over an area of over a ten meters radius. 

—At the same time, the two Sennenshi began their fight. 

Run, with a slight smile, dashed straight at Leon. 

She moved in a straight line without any excessive motion, and her speed was fast for a young girl just in her teenage years. However, in the eyes of the exceptional Leon, her speed seemed to be on the slow side. 

In contrast, Leon did not even move. 

The distance between the two were at ten meters...... eight meters...... seven, six...... five meters. 

At then, Leon moved - just when Ymy had came to realize that from afar, he had already swung the great  sword that is of the same length as his height. 

The only thing seen was a flash of the azure blade, after which the howls of the wind followed. 

Despite its weight being so heavy that even a grown man will have difficulty lifting it, Leon's swing of the sword still exceeded the speed of sound. 

A slash that a normal person would not be able to react to, came crashing towards Run. 

—*don* 

In the next instant, the body of the girl vanished. 

...... Vanished? Leon lifted his head. Ymy followed his line of sight...... 

At the ceiling, about seven meters above his head, the female Sennenshi was standing upside down on its surface. The exceptional muscles that she was born with, together with her speed of response, had enabled Run to perform actions that are normally deemed impossible to a typical person. 

Leon had landed in an unfavorable posture due to his miss. Run clenched her fists tight, and pounced onto the swordsman by kicking on the ceiling. 

However, within the short time period where Run was descending from the ceiling to the ground, Leon had already positioned his blade vertically. Aiming at the girl that was approaching from above his head, he swung his great sword upwards. 

"Ha!" 

A slash coming from the bottom. 

The reflexes of a human does not allow one to change his direction while in midair. That is common knowledge. 

However, that common knowledge was easily debunked by the tanned girl. At the instance where her fist and the swords crossed path, she twisted her body in midair and avoided Leon's sword, then followed up by striking hard on the body of the sword. 

*Kan*, the blade of the sword, which is tougher than metals, gave a dull sound under the huge force. 

Predicting that Leon would not let go of his sword, Run sprang off the sword and made a somersault in the air. With the momentum generated by the spin, she aimed her heel at Leon's head - everyone could see that the attack could not be dodged. 

Even so, the Sennenshi holding his sword was hardly fl.u.s.tered. Knowing that he would not make it if he chose to block with the blade, he swung his hilt horizontally in order to parry away the Run's incoming heels. 

*Zaa* - piercing sounds of friction and burns was generated. Under the lights, silver sparks flew about. 

"That's the first time I have seen that. Is that a new move?" 

While swaying his fringes, Leon stabbed his great sword onto the ground. 

Due to the impact from the hilt, Run's heels had shifted considerably from it's intended position. In the end, her drop had only managed to shave off a few strands of Leon's fringe, before she landed back onto the metal plates on the floor. 

"...... Mmm - that move had worked flawlessly on my subordinates every time. It looked like there is still s.p.a.ces for improvements." 

Upon returning to the ground, the girl gave a troubled expression. 

"It would be better if you skipped the somersault and proceed straight for a kick." 

"You think so too? I have always wish perform the action of somersaulting once in the air gracefully, before proceeding with a kitty-kick. Don't you think that is much cooler?" 

"That is a heel drop, rather than a cat-kick." 

"Mmm, wasn't it cute?" 

Leon crossed his arms, while Run looked at him and answered cheerfully. 

"Well, I am satisfied with trying it once. Well then, it is about time that I get serious." 

Run stopped smiling, and removed her jacket. All that is left was a sports vest. 

At the same time, the atmosphere became much colder. The sparring just now was too quick for Ymy to make much out of it with her naked eyes. However, that was just warming up for two Sennenshi. 

A tense feeling lingered in the static airs of the scene. Then- 

"Oi, Leon. Hurry up and put on your stance. What's wrong with you?" 

The girl had first noticed the abnormality in the swordsman. The silver-haired young man had been staring at the great sword in his hands, while not moving an inch. 

"...... Can't do. As expected, I am not in the mood to be doing this today." 

With that, the blade in Leon's hands shattered into tiny pieces. After watching the frozen azure crystals melted and vanishing into thin air, the young man turned his back towards the girl. 

"Oi oi! Did you eat something wrong?" 

"I have always maintained myself in the best condition." 

"If so, why-" 

"...... I am sorry. I just thought of a weird person all of the sudden." 

Leon focused his sight onto the hilt that had just lost its blade. 

"A weird person?" 

"A friend who I know long ago. He was stubborn and had insisted that dual swords are much better, despite me trying to convince him into using great swords...... Simply put, he is an irreplaceable, strong sparring partner." 

"A strong sparring partner? How can there be any swordsman on the floating continent that can match you in terms of swords-play?" 

Run scratched her head, looking all confused. 

There are up to a thousand guards in Tenketsu Palace , out of which many are swordsman. However, Leon is the strongest out of all of them. The only people who are on par with Leon, are the Sennenshi, which includes Run. However, all the other Sennenshi specializes in their own weapons, and none of them wields a sword. 

"Don't you always say that you can't find someone whom you can pit your swords against? Since there is no one inTenketsu Palace  who can do so, then it is impossible for you to find anyone else from the floating continent." 

"...... There is." 

"Mmm? What did you say, Ymy?" 

"Ah, no....... Noth...... Nothing." 

With a painful expression, Ymy shook her head ever so lightly. 

...... No, Run. There is really such a person. 

Though he is not in Tenketsu Palace , but there is such a person on the floating continent. The person who Leon was about to name, before they had came to this training room. The only person who lived ordinarily in the living sector, but was able to defeat a Yuugenshu- 

"There is only one person." 

At the front of Ymy's chest, the machine crystal  hanging from the necklace shone. 

"A teenage boy by the name of Sheltis Magna Yehle." 

"...... Ilis?" 

She had wanted to cover machine crystal , but it was too late. 

"Ymy, what is forbidden is coming into contact with Sheltis. However, his name itself is not included into the restriction - Leon, the person who you are thinking of is him too, right?" 

Leon did not answer. However, from his motionless stance, it meant that he did not deny it either. 

"Oi - you two and machine crystal  over there, what are you guys talking about?" 

"If I remember right - that name had appeared on the list of the permanently removed members of Tenketsu Palace , years ago." 

Meimel crossed her arms in front of her chest, and stared into the ceiling, while deep in her thoughts. 

"Run, that was something that happened before you have became a Sennenshi. Back then, Syun-rei and Ymy were still apprentice-Priestesses, while Leon was at the position of executive-guard, just one step away from rising to a Sennenshi, right-?" 

"Oh- What about the details then, Ymy?" 

"That......" 

No words could form successfully from her parched throat. In actual fact, she had not intended to tell it to anyone. That was because her heart was in a state of mess ever since that incident. 

"Ymy, I should not be the one to talk, but regardless, this is a good chance for you to openly tell everyone about it clearly. You can just treat it as a sort of information, so that as Priestesses, Meimel and Syun-rei will know about it - that there is such a unique person living on this world." 

In the silence, the Priestess sitting next to Ymy gave her an uneasy look. 

"...... Ymy, if you do not wish to talk about it...... you do not have to force yourself." 

"No. Thank you, Syun-rei, but I think Ilis is right." 

Under the gaze of Syun-rei, Ymy nodded slowly. 

"...... Sheltis is my childhood friend. We two had always been close to each other, and it was rare for us to be separated. But-" 

The two of them were together even during meals, or while playing. She had thought that such a thing can go on forever. However, the thing that brought about a change to all that, was a letter. 

"I was shocked...... It was written on the letter, that I had been chosen to be an apprentice-Priestess." 

If she was to become a real Priestess, then she will have to spend nearly all her days at Tenketsu Palace . As it is hard for commoners to obtain permission to visit the Priestesses, she may never get to see Sheltis ever again, if she was to become one. Despite so, Ymy had a reason to be one. 

"I had thought about it for days...... and finally, I had decided to tell Sheltis about it. That was because, this continent has always been under the shadows of the Yuugenshu. Even if we are to live a stable life now, we will never know when we will be attacked by Yuugenshu in the future...... If I can become a Priestess and maintain the barriers, it will mean that I am protecting Sheltis as well. That was what I thought." 

She hoped that she can protect the memories between them, as well as the floating continent which had matured her, with her own hands. 

That's right. Her motive for becoming a Priestess is so that she can protect the ones who are most precious to her. 

"Thus, I told Sheltis about my decision to enter Tenketsu Palace ...... Though we have always been together, but sorry. It is about time that we say goodbye." 

—To protect him, she had chosen to leave him. 

It was inconceivable to her as well, as she could not hold back her tears. Even though it was a decision that she had finally made, after much deliberation. 

However, he smiled and said to her crying self, 

"On the very day that Ymy entered into Tenketsu Palace  as an apprentice-Priestess, Sheltis had entered into Tenketsu Palace  as a guard as well. That was something which Sheltis told me personally." 

"...... Yes." 

There was someone by her side, who was working his hardest in order to protect her. Due to that sense of security, Ymy had managed to endure past the harsh training of a Priestess. 

"To add on, while Ymy was enduring through the harsh training, Sheltis was working tirelessly to improve himself. Despite him not having any exceptional talents or build, he had managed to find himself a good opponent - am I right, Leon?" 

"I have no comments on that." 

The silver-haired young man smiled bitterly. 

"Eh? So it is you?" 

Run was surprised. As for Leon, he puffed up his chest, and showed a rare expression of pride. 

"I'll say this first. I am leading with seven hundred and ninety three victories, against my seven hundred and ninety two defeats." 

"Strange? Sheltis told me that his records are seven hundred and ninety three wins, with seven hundred and ninety two losses." 

"What?" 

"............ Ymy?" 

Upon being asked by Syun-rei, Ymy whispered into her ears with a wry laugh, 

"One of those matches ended in a draw, but both parties felt they had won." 

That's right. She and Sheltis, together with Leon whom they knew later, shared a very close relationship. The three of them had always sneaked out of Tenketsu Palace  to travel about, and the three of them were reprimanded together when they were caught. 

—Despite the tough training on the route to become a Priestess, everything seemed so enjoyable when the three of them were together. 

"However, it is not easy for someone to be on par with Leon. I can&