{1}

.

{2}

"I believe that you will protect me."

neoles xin cia tis kyel corn.

ualen, yahe, char, kamyu

Sophit, viresel, ole, zarabel

Oo/ X =Elis, teo elmei hypne, ende phio in neightis cley.

— Oe/ sia Eden, Ole ele, Selah pheno sia-s Arma Riris.

Fifty seconds. When the time which they agreed on was up—

The young man shrouded in purple mist s.h.i.+elded the girl who was hugging onto the machine pearl

behind him.

"............ Why are you carrying mateki despite being human?"

The person who broke the silence was Maha.

He gently flipped his robe as he stared at the mateki neutralizing his spells.

"Unconfirmed to be whether human or Yuugenshu — object deemed as highly dangerous."

After pulling a distance away from Sheltis, he began chanting once more.

As Maha's chant began, so did the voice of Kagura.

Everything was in sync — not a second off, nor were there any characters that had deviated.

Absolutely perfect. The young girl chanted it as though she was performing a piano legato.

"— a.n.a.lysis complete. We'll win for sure."

"Eh?"

"There's not much time left, so I'll just tell you the important parts."

Kagura stood up slowly as she said that calmly.

"Sheltis, you should know that this is one of the systems of addition. We are currently using the decimal numeral system, where we will carry '1' for every ten digits. It is speculated that the reason for such a system is because humans have ten fingers. On the other hand, Maha's chants utilizes a ternary numeral system made up of 0, 1 and 2. 'Ka', 'da' and 'za' corresponds with the digits '0', '1' and '2' respectively. These digits are endowed with meaning, which are then used to construct complicated and powerful spells."

Kagura lifted her head slowly.

Her dark-green hair was of shoulder length, and her ears were extending horizontally outwards.

"Phew, it's been a while since I removed my mechanical helmet. The winds are really comfortable."

The young girl closed her eyes in pleasure as she stood against the wind.

"I originally thought 'ra' corresponds with '3', which will make it a quaternary numeral system. However, the frequency of '3' is way too small. Therefore, I deemed it to serve the same purpose as the comma '、'."

"But, why......"

"Why am I sure it's a ternary numeral system? The hint lies in the name of the art, the 'Golden Hexahedral'. I've no idea if you know this, but a regular hexahedral is cube. Well, I guess it will be easier to understand if you picture it as a dice. It represents the length, breadth and height — and all the independent elements will result in a three-dimensional body. It is similar to the concept of the ternary numeral system with the three independent elements of 0, 1 and 2. That is the reason why Maha's art is named 'Golden Hexahedral'."

Kagura opened her eyes once more.

With her s.h.i.+ny black eyes filled with an absolute confidence, Kagura pointed towards Maha.

"Those powerful spells of Maha are supported by these complicated chants. It may look invincible, but there are actually interesting weaknesses within his spells."

But— as she said that, Kagura looked in the direction of Sheltis.

"That is if you believe me."

"Sure. I'll do just that."

"...... You should at least hesitate a little in a situation like this."

Kagura covered her mouth and gave a brief giggle — she then sharpened her gaze.

"Your powers earlier were not s.h.i.+nryoku, but mateki. Am I right?"

"...... So you've seen everything."

"You are really an unfathomable person. Why is a human carrying mateki in his body? To be honest with, if I had seen that randomly by chance, I would have even thought that you're a Yuugenshu."

Said Kagura bluntly.

"You're an idiot for allowing someone untrustworthy like me to witness your strange powers. What are you planning to do should I tell others about it?"

"..........."

That's right. He'll be exiled from Tenketsu Palace

 once more should that happens. He will never be able to fulfil his promise to Ymy.

...... But if I do otherwise, I'll never be able to protect Kagura.

"I—"

"Don't put on such a sullen face."

That line from Kagura was way beyond what he had expected.

"Thank you for revealing such an important secret to me. You were forced to use your mateki in order to protect me, aren't you? You showed me your mateki because you believed that I'll keep that a secret."

The People of Nell will reveal their smile only to those whom they trust — and a smile was appearing on the face of the young girl. The face revealed by the loss of the helmet.

"Ahh, this is great. You've finally answered my question. And with that, I am finally able to put the pride as a People of Nell on the line — in order to repay your trust............ I shall entrust my everything to you."

With her right hand still pointing towards Maha, she placed her left hand softly on her chest.

"I'll a.s.sist you from the side. The weakness to the spells of Maha...... it may be as difficult as putting a thread through the eye of a needle, but we'll definitely be able to shatter that Gold. You can do it, right?"

— There was no need for him to answer.

Sheltis stomped hard against the ground as the young girl finished her statement.

Accelerate. Accelerate. And accelerate.

As he accelerated to hyper speed, the scenery flew past him in a flash. Riding on the gale, he sprinted on the plains at speed that exceeded those of the winds — his eyes were fixed on the man who was waiting for him.

"Define."

Three soil statues appeared by Maha's side.

"Replicated with soil. Color - 'deep red'; nature - 'gallant'; shape - 'lion'. Three shall appear before me. Defined to eliminate the enemy before me."

Three red lions, deemed as the mystical beasts of the floating continent. They gave an earth-splitting roar before pouncing towards Sheltis with their powerful limbs.

"...... Ugh!"

The lions were agile and armed with sharp teeth and claws. It would be fine if he took on them one at a time, but fighting three of them together at once would not be easy. Just as he was about to change his direction and take on them separately—

"Stop moving!"

Far behind him, Kagura yelled,

"Objects defined as 'gallant' will only target moving objects! Just stop moving and wait till they pa.s.s by you!"

How could that be possible?

That is just...... despite the suspicion of him hearing her wrongly, Sheltis chose to believe in Kagura. He stopped quickly and stood still with the swords in his hand.

The lions appeared before him in a flash, and just as the claws were about to tear through his nose—

When they realized Sheltis was no longer moving, the three lions sprinted past Sheltis as though they were uninterested in a target that has lost his will to fight.

"It's fine now. Continue running!"

Upon receiving her instruction, Sheltis resumed his sprint.

"Listen to me as you run. Remember, what supports those powerful spells of Maha are the long chants as well as the hundreds and thousands of complicated definitions. But at the same time, that is their weakness as well. You can render a large majority of the spells useless once you've a.n.a.lysed the defined conditions. Maha's chants were made out of a ternary numeral system precisely because he does not want others to realize the conditions to his spells!"

"...... d.a.m.n you."

Maha's moan was proof of the accuracy of the young girl's hypothesis.

"Define — replicated with poison extracted from the ground. Color - 'white'; nature - 'timid'; shape - 'snake'. Fangs with deadly poison, thirty of them shall appear. Defined to seal the enemy before me with poison."

Poisonous white snakes appeared before Maha.

And as for his action towards the white army that was slithering towards him—

"Just run through them!"

And this time, he followed Kagura's instruction without hesitation.

"Contrary to what happened earlier, objects defined as 'timid' will only attack those who are rooted on the ground from their fear! Raise your swords and continue your das.h.!.+"

The snakes stopped moving as though they feared Sheltis. Sheltis ran past them without even giving them a second look.

— Got you!

Maha was within the range of his swords. There was no time for him to pull a distance away, neither does he have any form of defence.

"...... My arts is invincible."

Maha looked upwards towards the sky. He then spread opened his arms and swung them down hard.

The final spell used by the man who continued standing on where he was.

"Defining the 'Golden Hexahedral'."

Golden sand flowed from the sleeves as he swung his arms. No, the sand were much more brilliant than the sun. There was no doubt that they were gold itself.

"Replicated by gold. Color - 'golden'; nature - 'Maha'; shape - 'human'. Attention to details is unnecessary. Appear before me with gold within. Defined to manipulate the universe."

Another Maha appeared.

An avatar formed by gold. It was then when Sheltis finally understood. That was the true strength to Maha's arts — the profound and yet basic 'Golden Hexahedral'.

"Sheltis, this shall be my last a.s.sistance for you."

Kagura's voice rang behind him.

"I believe you. Shatter that Gold!"

The Golden Maha brandished both of his fists.

The fists came flying towards Sheltis at an incredible speed, carrying with it an incredible amount of power. Strangely, there was no fear within Sheltis.

The girl puppeteer, and also—

The words conveyed from his childhood friend to him.

*Shhh*— the golden fists grazed past his cheeks and severed several strands of his hair...... and Sheltis could feel a warm sensation on his cheek. The shockwave from the punch sc.r.a.ped his face, resulting in blood flowing out from the injuries.

However, that did not stop the young man in his tracks.

"Remember this, Gold

!"

A slash of his sword. A glowing violet blade appeared all of the sudden to split the golden Maha statue apart. Next, Sheltis lifted his two swords high up in the air.

"Don't you ever think of harming my companions again!"

The dual swords of the young man—

Swept through the golden spellcaster, together with the Yuugenshu water tank behind him.

{3}

"But...... you don't seem to