Chapter 143

Episode 141: Encounter

Several small explosions occurred, wiping out the angels nearby.

At the center of the blasts, Clam was moving forward at an incredible speed.

“Kei…!”

A man-eating frog spawned beneath his feet exploded, propelling his body further forward.

With explosive winds hitting his back multiple times, Clam continued to move forward.

In his mind, images he had seen so far were deeply imprinted.

The sight of Solciera suffering from the thorny vines wrapped around her arm.

Moreover, those vines seemed to be extending towards her neck.

If they reached her neck, what would happen to her?

“I will definitely save her!”

How many times had he declared this resolution?

Shaking off his self-derisive thoughts, Clam generated a large number of man-eating frogs in front of him.

“Mar-Chans, big explosion!”

The cluster of frogs that Clam leaped onto bounced like a trampoline, launching him high into the air before exploding all at once.

The blast swallowed up all the angels in the vicinity and propelled Clam even higher into the sky.

“There she is!”

Looking down from the sky, Clam spotted Solciera.

Just as he had seen in the footage, she was fighting the angels alone.

She protected the young man who had tried to kill him earlier, continuing to fight despite her own body being eroded.

Clam’s heart ached just watching her.

“!”

Creating an explosion mid-air, Clam shot straight toward Solciera like a meteor.

And then, addressing the girl ahead of him, Clam spoke.

“It’s safe now. I’ll definitely help you.”

Right before hitting the ground, the explosion caused by the frogs served as a cushion, allowing Clam to land unharmed.

Ignoring Solciera’s surprise, Clam summoned numerous man-eating frogs in front of all the angels.

“Mar-Chans!”

All the man-eating frogs exploded simultaneously, obliterating the angels.

Dust enveloped the area, and when it cleared, the landscape itself had changed, leaving nothing behind.

“…So, Clam, you’ve come.”

“Yeah.”

Solciera smiled with her usual nonchalance.

However, her left arm, still gripping a sickle, hung limply by her side.

“Hehe, what’s wrong? Why are you so serious?”

“Hey, you can be honest in front of me, you know.”

“…Eh?”

At Clam’s words, Solciera’s smile faltered.

But only for a moment.

Quickly regaining her usual smile, Solciera said dismissively, “That’s just how the light of stars works.”

Clam knew that Solciera had a habit of hiding her pain.

Therefore, without pressing further, Clam changed the subject.

“So, should we protect that guy?”

“Yes, he’s a valuable contractor of Demon’s Gear.”

“And what about you?”

“Eh?”

Solciera looked at Clam in surprise.

“What do you mean… What are you asking?”

“Not much, nevermind. Anyway, we need to protect him, right?”

Clam said that and summoned a large number of man-eating frogs around them.

Then, looking up at the frogs waiting for orders, he spoke.

“Mar-Chans, eliminate any angel you find. Alright, scatter.”

The frogs obediently hopped away in all directions cutely.

Clam, satisfied, sat down on a nearby pile of rubble.

He gestured beside him, inviting Solciera to join him.

“You can sit here too. There’s no need to do anything; the frogs are enough already.”

“That’s quite harsh, I might die of boredom.”

“Please.”

“…Sigh, fine, I’ll listen to you this time.”

Seeming to understand Clam’s sentiment, Solciera sighed and sat next to him.

She gripped her left arm, opening and closing it repeatedly as if checking its condition.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Her quick response irked Clam.

“You’re doing it again—”

“But you’re here, aren’t you? So I’m fine.”

“…S-so, that’s right. Hmm, that’s true.”

Though he knew she was trying to deflect, his heart still raced.

Reprimanding himself for feeling joyous at such a moment, Clam glanced at Solciera.

(You look terrible. It must be painful even to stay like this…)

Wishing to offer some comfort, Clam gently stroked Solciera’s head.

Surprised, she shuddered once but then leaned against him without looking up.

“S-Solciera!?”

“This way feels better… Just for a little while, okay?”

“If ‘a little’ means forever, then go ahead!”

As he stroked Solciera’s head, now pressed tightly against his side, Clam looked around to regain his composure.

Although the frogs would explode upon command if any angels appeared, caution was still necessary.

“…Soon, the enforcer will capture the culprit.”

■

“Eina, is this the guy?”

“A, yes, that’s him.”

Rokuhara looked down at the young man lying beneath his feet, scratching his head casually.

“He’s weak… Pathetic really.”

Through Rinka’s detection, they had pinpointed the general location of the perpetrator.

Eina then identified a suspicious explorer—but capturing him turned out to be far easier than expected.

“No way! He took out so many angels in an instant!”

“Idiot, someone like that isn’t going to protect anyone. Even other S-Rank members besides me wouldn’t last a second. A kid wielding a Heavenly Sword would turn both you and the angels into ash.”

Rokuhara grabbed the young man by the collar and forced him to stand.

“Alright, arrest under enforcer authority. And stop creating angels.”

“Y-you think I’d just stop because you tell me to? How about a deal—if you admit defeat—”

“Listen here…,”

The building beside the young man vanished without a trace.

In Rokuhara’s hand was a sword.

“I don’t want to deal with fools either. Wouldn’t you prefer a less painful ending?”

Having shoved the young man away, Rokuhara brandished the sword in front of him.

Recalling the sight of the building vanishing, the young man trembled and cried out.

“You can control this thing!”

“Huh? Is that a trumpet? Are you messing with me?”

What the young man held out was a small trumpet.

Snatching it, Rokuhara examined it closely and shouted angrily.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a well-made toy.

“It’s real though!”

“Are you hiding something else? Try jumping after standing up.”

“Ugh…”

“Can’t you hear the jingling sound?”

“Ahahaha, that look suits you perfectly! Leader, looks-wise, you’re definitely more of that type!”

Ignoring his partner’s laughter, Rokuhara began searching the young man’s body.

(No Dive Gear, so no expanded field exists. Only loose change in his pockets.)

“Is this trumpet really it?”

“Yes, the professor said with this, I could control the angels…!”

“The professor? …I see. Alright, stop the angels and spill information about the professor. In return, I’ll put in a word to lighten your sentence.”

When Rokuhara patted the young man’s shoulder, he brightened for the first time.

“Phew, really!?”

“Yeah, that’s right. So first, use the trumpet to stop them. I’m not blowing it.”

Taking the trumpet back from Rokuhara, the young man hesitantly blew it while glancing at Rokuhara.

Confirming this, Rokuhara connected communication with Rinka.

“How’s it going? The angels should have stopped appearing by now.”

“Let me check… Yes, the appearances have stopped!”

As the angels within the territorial war zone ceased their movements and disappeared, Rinka confirmed this through cameras mounted on the man-eating frogs and said, exhausted, “This solves the case.”

However, immediately after—

“Wait! Something appeared near Solciera and Clam! This… Could this be the master of those birds!? Also, angels are starting to appear again only around her!”

Hearing Rinka’s near-scream, Rokuhara calmly called out his partner’s name.

“Eina.”

“…Yes, confirmed. Based on the magic depth waveform, this must be the unified control entity of the angels so far. In other words, this guy pretended to stop them but betrayed us! Worst-case scenario!”

By the time Eina finished speaking, Rokuhara had already hoisted the young man by the collar.

“Hey, what did you do!?”

“I-I don’t know! What’s happening suddenly? Hey, I did exactly as told! The appearances should have stopped…!”

“So why did the master show up near Solciera?”

“T-that’s none of my business!”

Seeing the young man on the verge of tears shouting, Rokuhara struck him in the stomach, knocking him unconscious.

Throwing him aside, he sighed.

“Could I reach the angel master in 12 seconds and return here…? Still, this guy is technically the culprit, so I shouldn’t leave him unattended…”

“It’s fine, someone like this. More importantly, killing the master for the bonus—oh, something else has appeared near Miss Solciera.”

“Damn… How much does she get liked…”

While Rokuhara muttered half-jokingly, Eina continued her detection and spoke.

“Well, this reaction is—”

■

Clam stood face-to-face with the angel that had suddenly appeared before him.

Explosions continued endlessly around them, indicating the increasing frequency of angel appearances.

“Solciera, step back. I’ll handle this one.”

“No, it’s beyond your capabilities. Let me handle it…!”

The moment she stood up, thorny vines rapidly extended toward Solciera’s neck and coiled around it.

Attempting to shake them off, Solciera found the vines wrapping around her neck like a collar, layer upon layer.

“Gah… Ah…!”

“Solciera!”

Remembering the presence of the angel, Clam stopped mid-stride as he rushed to her aid.

The nest-like structure resembling intertwined human arms.

The countless eyes visible through the gaps made it clear that this was alive, not an object.

“…I’ll end this quickly.”

“No…!”

Ignoring Solciera’s protests, Clam summoned man-eating frogs around himself.

(A few have already exploded, but it didn’t work. Strong armor… If I detonate them in large numbers and concentrate the heat on one point—)

At that moment,

“Ah, this is entirely my fault.”

An airy voice belonging to a girl.

And the next instant, every angel in the vicinity was burned to ashes by black flames.

Among them was the nest-shaped angel Clam had been about to attack.

Without exception, all the angels turned to ash.

The wind carried the ash of the angels, swirling around as a figure emerged.

A black overcoat, paired with a mechanical-looking straight sword.

Upon seeing this figure, Clam stiffened.

“…Are you Nameless?”

“That’s right. Though, this form makes it our first meeting, doesn’t it?”

Bowing politely, the girl in the overcoat smiled.