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SCREEEEEECH!!
The sharp clang of blades crossing echoed through the parking lot.
Yumi and Xenovia had also plunged into battle against Sona Sitri's peerage.
Yumi's opponent was the 'Queen' of the Sitri peerage, Vice-President Shinra Tsubaki. She wielded her longsword with masterful, unpredictable movements, leaving no opening to exploit.
Xenovia was fighting the 'Knight,' Meguri Tome. Tomoe was a technique-type knight, a bad match for the power-type Xenovia. She deftly parried Durandal with her katana.
And there was one more, the 'Rook,' Yura Tsubasa, watching the battle intently.
She was likely waiting to reinforce her comrades if either Yumi or Xenovia gained or lost an advantage.
An announcement had declared one of Sitri's pawns had retired earlier. Since then, the swords being swung seemed to carry a more vicious edge.
Of course, Xenovia's Durandal possessed a special effectiveness against devils, just as Yumi's Holy-Devilic Sword did. A single solid strike from either should secure a decisive advantage.
Just as Yumi thought this, Tomoe was sent flying by a blow from Xenovia. She seemed drained by Durandal's intense holy aura. Seizing the opportunity, Xenovia raised Durandal for a finishing strike. But Yura intervened, stepping between them.
"Reverse!!"
The moment the wave of energy released by Yura made contact, the holy aura surrounding Durandal vanished. Tsubasa Yura caught the blade with her bare hand and kicked Xenovia away.
BANG!!
'What was that? A magic spell? A Sacred Gear? Since it's called 'Reverse,' did it invert Durandal's holy aura into a devilic one, neutralizing it?'
'Whatever it was, it was a terrible match for Xenovia.'
In this case—
"Xenovia, switch!"
Yumi deflected Vice-President Shinra and sprinted toward Yura. Xenovia, getting back to her feet, immediately launched an attack on the Vice-President.
'Now this is much better.' While crossing blades with Vice-President Shinra, Yumi had found her defenses incredibly solid. Yumi lacked the raw power to break through, but Xenovia's strength could overwhelm her.
It seemed her assessment was correct. Under Xenovia's furious assault, the Vice-President lost grip of her longsword and was driven back against a wall.
"Got you! Sitri's Queen!!"
Just as Xenovia brought down her final blow, a massive mirror materialized in front of Shinra Tsubaki.
Unable to halt her momentum, Xenovia shattered the mirror.
CRASSSSSHHH!!
The sound of shattering glass echoed, followed by a tremendous shockwave erupting from the broken fragments, slamming directly into Xenovia.
"──────!!?"
Xenovia took the full force of the impact. She collapsed, scattering droplets of crimson blood. 'What the hell was that?!'
"My Sacred Gear, [Mirror Alice: The Recalling Mirror]. This mirror returns the force used to destroy it, doubled, back onto the attacker. I'm a counter-type user. Sending your power-type Xenovia against me was a mistake."
They'd been played! They'd shown Yura's 'Reverse' ability first, baiting her into switching opponents!
Yumi rushed to Xenovia's fallen form, biting her lip hard in frustration.
"I'm so sorry, Xenovia. It's my fault…"
Being outmaneuvered was galling, but more than anything, the guilt of her poor judgment costing Xenovia this injury was crushing. Xenovia's black combat suit was torn in several places, her exposed skin smeared with fresh blood.
With these wounds, she could no longer fight. She could only wait to be teleported out and retire.
"Don't apologize… taking that counter was my own mistake. Trying to smash through everything in my path… Heh, I guess this is why Kazuki-senpai calls me a 'muscle-brain'…"
"You idiot… If you know that, you should try to fix it."
"I'll work on it… Yumi, don't hang your head. Face forward and fight. Show me your victorious form."
Yumi tightly gripped Xenovia's hand.
"Yeah. Watch me, Xenovia."
Yumi stood up and turned around.
"Not attacking while we talked… that's awfully generous of you."
The three remaining members of the Sitri peerage watched from about ten meters away.
"We didn't want to be rude. So? Are you prepared?"
Vice-President Shinra answered as their representative.
"Indeed, I am—prepared to defeat all three of you and avenge Xenovia!"
"Foolish…! You think you can win against three of us alone!?"
As the Vice-President spoke, the three charged. Yumi dismissed her Holy-Devilic Sword and began weaving a new power.
"[Sword Birth]! Answer my will, change form, and manifest!!"
Answering her desire, [Sword Birth] activated in a form unlike any before.
"Wh-what is that───!?"
Countless devilic swords materialized behind Yumi and shot forth toward Yura and the others.
"Tch! What the hell!? I never heard about this ability!?"
"I can't! There's no opening to use Reverse!"
Tsubaki met them with her longsword, Yura with her fists, and Tomoe with her katana, but the sheer number was overwhelming. They couldn't handle them all, gradually accumulating wounds.
Finally, the devilic swords pierced through Yura and Tomoe──!
"Kyaaaaaaahhhhh!!"
[Sona Sitri-sama's Rook, one retired. Knight, one retired.]
The injured Yura and Tomoe emitted light and vanished. Yumi's magical energy was also at its limit. As she deactivated [Sword Birth], Vice-President Shinra fell to her knees, utterly spent.
"Haah… haah… Wh-what in the world was that…?"
"It's a new form of [Sword Birth] I mastered during my recent training. [Sword Birth Meteor: Sword Birth Me-teor]."
'[Sword Birth Meteor]. Thank you for this idea, Kazuki-senpai' Yumi thought.
"Now that I think about it, you stopped using other magic swords after obtaining the Holy-Devilic Sword, didn't you? Your forte should be the versatility to create a multitude of different devilic swords to suit any situation─"
Kazuki Fuwa once pointed this out to Yumi during their morning training.
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