The Amphisbaena by Gakuto Mikumo Page B

the middle of an urban area like this would cause.
    Yukina raised Snowdrift Wolf in a hurling posture, aiming to strike her foe down in midair. However, it had already been proven that her spear was ineffective against the Masked. Kojou instantly began trying to summon his second Beast Vassal. But if Al-Nasl Minium couldn’t touch his opponent, would his other Beast Vassal, Regulus Aurum, fare any better…?!
    Fighting off premonitions of despair, Kojou raised his right arm to the sky. It was the next moment when…
    “Wha—?!”
    …a beam of light flew through the sky above him, going right through the Masked, reading its sword of light.
    The beam of light was actually a small silhouette with misshapen wings—the other Masked that had been watching their battle from above.
    The first Masked let out an anguished cry as she was struck by the surprise attack from the blind spot behind her.
    The “beam” having shot through her, she crashed right into the guts of the cell tower. She writhed around as fresh blood splashed all around her.
    The second Masked pounced on her from above, using her talon-tipped arms to mercilessly gouge out her wounded comrade’s body. Ribs snapped, bare flesh rent; the misshapen wings were torn right off.
    The first Masked continued to fiercely resist, but victory and defeat had been determined by the first blow. The heavily wounded Masked inflicted only light injury upon her comrade before she herself stopped moving.
    “Was she…protecting us…?” Kojou murmured as he stared at the side of the blood-splattered face of the Masked.
    What she did couldn’t be written off as a mere surprise attack, with her picking her timing through careful assessment of the combat situation. It felt clear to him that she’d acted with the goal of saving Kojou and the others from their predicament.
    Even Yukina, keeping her guard up as she held her spear, had a faint look of bewilderment come over her.
    Right before their eyes, the plate that covered the head of the Masked came off. The metal mask was cracked all over from the attacks of her comrade.
    Symbols on the surface of her bare skin, resembling electrical circuits, illuminated her uncovered face.
    “…That’s crazy! That face… She’s…?!”
    “It can’t be…”
    The instant they beheld her beautiful, too-young visage, Kojou and Yukina were at a loss for words.
    She had silver hair reminiscent of a snowy plain and pale blue eyes that glittered like a glacier…
    Bearing misshapen wings, her bare flesh covered with bizarre symbols, it was Kanon Kanase. The middle school schoolgirl, who loved animals and who always had a gentle smile on her face, was completely drenched in blood spatter as she looked down at her fellow Masked.
    “…Kanase, stop…!”
    Realizing what she was about to do, Kojou let out a disjointed cry.
    Kanon’s beautiful visage twisted as her mouth opened wide. Growing in her mouth cavity were countless fangs like those of a great white shark. Kanon’s fangs bit into the bare, exposed neck of her comrade, lying upon the cell tower…
    “Kanase……!”
    As Kojou yelled, an incredible amount of blood gushed out before their eyes.



Her throat rent, the body of the wounded Masked heavily convulsed.
    Tears flowed from Kanase’s pale blue eyes as she bit into the torn-off piece of flesh.
    That moment, Kojou finally understood the meaning of this battle. They were being made to fight each other so that one would consume the other. Kanon was consuming her fellow Masked.
    Kanon, having finally completed her objective, spread her wings and soared into the sky once more.
    Her form, surrounded by that malevolent light, suddenly blended into the sky and vanished from sight.
    Kojou and the others could only watch her go, shocked.
    All that remained were heavy traces of destruction and the gravely wounded Masked girl…
    A breeze carrying the scent of blood blew through the moonless sky over the city.



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