He who Protects the Transforming Heroines from The Shadows - Chapter 8 - Feliet vs. Spriggan

Youka’s voice rang out in the shrine where the sun had set. As darkness settled over the area, lights began to flicker on here and there.

“…Spriggan, is it?”

The Feliet who had attacked Miya manifested a dark-colored knife, just like the other Feliet who was crossing swords with Kouji using his left hand. With that knife, he cut through the chains restraining his right hand.

“………”

Spriggan looked down at the severed chain, snorted displeasedly through his nose, and the chain vanished into the void.

“Kh! You—! Get away from Miya!”

Youka threw a high-speed right straight at Feliet whose attention was still on Spriggan.

“My, my.”

Feliet dodged Youka’s punch without looking and retreated backward at blistering speed. At the same time, the other Feliet who had been fighting Kouji landed a powerful kick on him and withdrew as well.

“Gah…!?”

Struck painfully in the abdomen, Kouji was sent flying all the way to where Youka and Miya were.

“Are you okay, Kounomiya-kun!?”

Miya called out in concern to Kouji, seeing him crumpled on the ground, and together with Youka rushed to help him.

“I… I’m fine! More importantly—!”

Kouji struggled as propped himself up and glared at the two Feliets. Gripping his sword again, he tried desperately to stand.

“No! Don’t push yourself, Kounomiya-kun!”
“She’s right! A normal person would be dead after taking a kick like that!”

Kouji was determined to fight despite the serious damage he suffered, and Youka and Miya tried to stop him. But Kouji forced a smile onto his pained face.

“Really, I’m okay. I’m really… tough right now. So I can still figh—ngh!?”

Wobbling to his feet, Kouji’s face twisted in agony not soon after, and he collapsed to the ground again. Youka and Miya cried out his name almost in unison.

“……….”

Spriggan gave Kouji a glance, then spoke to the two tending to him.

“Hey, you two. Take him and get out of here.”

Focusing his attention on the two Feliets standing side by side, Spriggan moved to block their path, standing in front of Kouji and the other two.

“Not a chance! We can’t possibly leave you all alone!”

Youka shouted at Spriggan in a voice on the verge of tears. It was impossible—there was no way Spriggan could win against those two alone.

Yet Spriggan responded with cold words, as if Youka’s feelings meant nothing to him.

“…You’re just a burden. All of you.”
“…”

Those words dealt a heavy blow to Youka’s heart, but at the same time, the harsh truth of it struck her down. And it wasn’t just Youka—both Miya and Kouji understood it too. Neither of them could argue back against Spriggan’s cold logic.

“…You two, we need to fall back.”

Breathing heavily, Kouji spoke to Youka and Miya, who were supporting him.

“!… but—!”
“It’s frustrating…! But he’s… right!”

Youka looked at Kouji with conflicted, pained eyes, but Kouji, struggling for breath, stared firmly at Spriggan’s back.

“…Youka, let’s retreat.”
“Miya…”

Miya spoke in an even, emotionless voice, her tone carefully controlled. But because Youka had known her for so long, she understood—Miya only made that face when she was holding back powerful emotions on the edge.

Seeing that expression on her best friend, Youka could no longer say anything.

Miya then placed Kouji’s arm over her shoulder, trying to lift him up. In a flurry, Youka did the same on the other side.

They had been prepared for Feliet to interfere, but surprisingly, neither of the two Feliets moved to stop them.

With Kouji supported between them, the two girls began walking toward the torii gate, trying to escape the shrine. It seemed the three of them would leave just like that—but at the moment they were about to pass through the gate, Kouji turned around.

“…Sprig…gan. This time… I’m grateful. But I… still can’t… trust you… cough cough!”
“Kounomiya-kun!?”

Kouji began coughing violently. It was no surprise. With a blow like that, even if his body was more durable in Guardian form, at least one bone had to be broken.

“………”

Spriggan said nothing. Kouji looked at him for a few seconds, then disappeared from the shrine along with Youka and Miya. The only ones left behind were Spriggan, cloaked in a coat that blended into the darkness, and the two Feliets.

“…That was unexpected. Letting them escape like that.”

Spriggan said to the Feliets. As far as he could tell, their target had been Youka and Miya. And yet, the Feliets had done nothing to pursue the two girls as they fled.

“You must be joking. You would’ve made a move if I dared to do anything, wouldn’t you?”

The Feliet on Spriggan’s right responded with a faint smile. Since that was exactly true, Spriggan didn’t argue. Instead, he looked at the two Feliets with a fed-up expression.

“…It doesn’t matter now. Just dispel that clone already. You’re not twins, are you?”
“…And what makes you think it’s a clone?”
“I saw it.”

Spriggan’s golden eyes had perceived why there were two of them. His golden eyes were relatively enhanced in terms of vision—this included kinetic vision as well.

Feliet had split during that first ultra-fast charge. The second Feliet had separated from the first’s back, kicked off the air, and landed behind Miya.

“You have good eyes.”

Feliet narrowed his own eyes with a thoughtful look and snapped his fingers. The Feliet on Eito’s left dissolved into darkness and was reabsorbed into the other Feliet. Then, wearing a cheerful expression, he spoke to Spriggan.

“Then allow me to ask something as well. Are you—one of us?”
“…What are you implying?”
“You know perfectly well. That power you used just now is the same as mine. In other words, the power of Darkness.”

Feliet’s expression turned frighteningly serious as he stared at Spriggan. In other words, he was saying: Are you a Darkian too?

“The young Guardian boy earlier said he couldn’t trust you—he must have realized that your power came from darkness. But that’s strange, isn’t it? If you’re the same kind of Darkian as I am, why would you help the Lightguide Princesses?”

Feliet tilted his head in an exaggeratedly theatrical manner. His monocle on his right eye swayed slightly.

“…You’re quite the talker. Do you think I owe you an answer?”

The three had probably already escaped to safety. Which meant Youka and Miya had likely reverted from their transformed states. That would mean the anti-civilian barrier had been lifted. If so, there was no guarantee people wouldn’t approach this area.

Which is why Spriggan acted first.

” O’ Darkness, become my sword.”

When Spriggan murmured those words, a dark-colored sword materialized in his right hand. He then leapt like a black shooting star blending into the darkness and slashed down at Feliet from the upper right.

But Feliet, having conjured a sword from darkness as well, coolly received the strike.

“So this is your answer…! Very well! Then I’ll half-kill you and ask again!”
“Try it if you can…”

Feliet conjured a dark-colored knife in his left hand and, with just a snap of his wrist, threw it from point-blank range. It flew straight toward Spriggan’s left eye.

Spriggan evaded it with a backstep—but Feliet seemed to have predicted that movement, and immediately threw two more dark knives from his left hand toward Spriggan.

“Not yet!”

Like a beast chasing its prey, Feliet pursued Spriggan, sword in hand.

“Skills of Butler: Double.”

From the charging Feliet, darkness split off and formed another Feliet. It was the same clone from earlier. And, courteously enough, the clone was also wielding a sword.

“Tch…!”

Two knives and two Feliets. Spriggan had to deal with all of these troublesome attacks.

“O’ Sword! O’ Chain!”

While picturing each in his mind, Spriggan summoned another sword in his left hand and unleashed a dark-colored chain from the void.

He knocked away the two high-speed flying knives with the chain and handled the two Feliets using dual blades.

Holding the sword in his right hand in a reverse grip, he blocked the strike from the right Feliet, while clashing with the left Feliet using the sword in his left.

Then, using his physical abilities, Spriggan deflected the right Feliet’s sword in their clash and redirected it. Twisting his body with the momentum, he delivered a kick to the left Feliet’s temple.

After driving his kick into the clone’s temple, Spriggan spun again, using the same motion to deliver a heel roundhouse kick with his left leg at the real Feliet.

“Kh…!”

The left Feliet took Spriggan’s kick and vanished. It seemed that the clone would disappear if struck with enough force.

Meanwhile, the real Feliet evaded Spriggan’s left kick by twisting his head away. Seeing Feliet’s posture thrown off, Spriggan transformed both swords in his hands into two pistols.

“Form shift: Gun.”

Then, at point-blank range, he unleashed a volley of dark-colored bullets. Feliet, his balance still off, took every shot head-on.

“Ugh…!?”

Apparently, the attacks did deal damage. Spriggan had worried that Darkians might be immune to attacks from anyone except the Lightguide Princesses, it seemed he could fight with the powers he did wield.

“O’ Darkness, become a platform.”

Still airborne, Spriggan summoned what looked like a slab or board in the sky. He kicked it off with his right foot, spun once in midair, and landed on the ground.

(Surprisingly, I can move pretty well.)

This was only Spriggan’s second time in this form. Honestly, he couldn’t say he hadn’t been worried about whether he’d be able to move properly.

“…Honestly, such terrible manners.”

As if nothing had happened, Feliet placed his hands behind his back and looked at Spriggan. Seeing that, Spriggan slightly widened his eyes.

“…You’re ridiculous.”
“You’re one to talk. Still… just what are you? From the looks of it, your darkness appears to be the same as mine…”

Feliet peered through his monocle to examine Spriggan again. The darkness that had been in the form of a sword earlier had now shifted into firearms.

(Frankly, this mysterious man calling himself Spriggan is more troublesome than that Guardian.)

Judging from his appearance, Feliet concluded that Spriggan was likely an adolescent man. To be honest, it had been a very long time since he had taken any damage.

(That last attack—I withstood it using one of the Skills of Butler; Tenacity, but… I let my guard down.)

Feliet’s darkness attribute was “Versatility.” He had the ability to alter his darkness into all sorts of forms. The reason he was barely harmed by Spriggan’s bullets was because he had reinforced his body with darkness to make it tougher.

(Now then, how should I go about this—)

Just as Feliet was thinking about how to attack Spriggan, suddenly, his master’s voice echoed in his head.

『Feliet, it’s time.』
“! Oh my, has that much time already passed…?”

His master—Reizeroll—spoke only that one line to him through telepathy and said nothing more.

Darkian can communicate telepathically with Reizeroll. After all, the source of a Darkian’s power is Reizeroll herself. However, this telepathy is one-way—from Reizeroll to the Darkian only. That’s the catch. (Incidentally, Dark Thralls have such low intelligence and no grasp of language that telepathy is essentially meaningless for them.)

“I’m afraid the fun ends here. However, as it stands, I have nothing but failure to present to my master. Therefore—”

Bathed in the light of the lanterns, Feliet let out a theatrical sigh. Then, with quiet murderous intent in his eyes, he looked straight at the mysterious boy before him.

“I’ll at least take your head or an arm as a souvenir.”
“…Then I’ll give you something to take back—pain.”

Spriggan raised his two dark pistols. Feliet, on the other hand, stepped back with his left foot, formed his right hand into a blade, and lowered it to his left hip in a stance. To Spriggan, it resembled the posture for iai—the art of drawing and cutting with a blade.

“Unfortunately, I’m a butler. I’m quite resistant to pain, see?”
“…That has nothing to do with being a butler.”

Spriggan let out a small sigh at his opponent whose head seemed a bit unwell. And then, for a few seconds, only the sound of wind filled the air.

“…”
“…”

A leaf fluttered down onto the shrine path. In that instant, Feliet charged like a meteor, generating a sonic boom as he dashed straight at Spriggan. The stone paving cracked under the pressure of his footfalls.

It was an attack so fast, no human—no, not even a high-ranked Lightguide Princess or Guardian—could perceive it. It was truly a godspeed strike. Feliet, emerging from outside perception, swung his hand-blade in an iai-like motion at Spriggan’s neck.

“Tch…!”

But Spriggan saw what should have been an undetectable strike. It was thanks to the golden eyes that pushed his visual acuity beyond its limits.

In a split-second reaction, he twisted his body to buy a fraction of a second. He then kicked both legs into the air and pointed both pistols at the starry night sky. His posture looked ridiculous—like he was about to slam into the ground flat on his back.

In that state, Spriggan pulled both triggers. He wasn’t trying to hit anything. Proof of that: the dark bullets missed Feliet entirely and vanished into the sky.

So why fire at all? To use the recoil.

Spriggan had never fired a real gun before. Obviously—he was just a kid from a peaceful island nation.

But he knew guns had recoil. Enough that if a regular person fired one-handed, the force could fling them backward. Maybe even dislocate a shoulder.

Earlier, when Spriggan fired both pistols mid-air, the same recoil occurred. That recoil let him hover for a few seconds while shooting. So how did he manage to fire both guns properly his first time? Simple—Spriggan’s physical abilities surpassed those of a normal human, including muscle and bone strength.

Thus, using the recoil from the pistols, Spriggan slammed his body into the ground faster than usual. That impact let him narrowly dodge Feliet’s fatal strike.

The missed attack carved cleanly through one of the clouds in the night sky.

“Holy hell…!”

Spriggan muttered as he saw the scene from his flipped perspective. If that had hit, even in Spriggan form, his head and body would have been separated.

“Wh-…!?”

Feliet hadn’t expected that strike to be dodged. Shock spread across his face.

And in that brief opening after his failed kill, Spriggan made his move. Dissolving his two pistols into the void, he reached his left hand over his right and extended it toward Feliet.

“O’ Darkness, pierce one before me—I’ll give you that pain you asked for.”

Lying on the ground, Spriggan aimed for Feliet’s wide-open torso. From the space between them, a dark spear’s tip emerged.

“Kh…!?”

Feliet activated Tenacity in the nick of time, but even so, the dark spear from point-blank range pierced the area between his chest and stomach.

“Gaah…!?”

Confirming the hit, Spriggan quickly sprang up and jumped back. Feliet’s body remained skewered by the spear, black, bl00d-like liquid pouring from his mouth and wound.

“…Would you look at that. You guys bleed too. Well, the color’s different though.”

Spriggan muttered, looking at the liquid under the lantern light. People used to say nobles bled blue—looks like Darkian bleed black.

Spriggan stared coldly at Feliet. Seeing those eyes, Feliet felt something he hadn’t in a long time—fear.

(What a terrifying boy…!)

Sure, he hadn’t been going all out. But that previous attack had been near full power. Had it been the Guardian or the Lightguide Princesses from earlier, they wouldn’t have even seen it coming. But this boy—this “Spriggan”—not only dodged it, he counterattacked. Feliet had been a Darkian for a very long time, but never had he fought someone with such power and physical ability.

(There’s no choice but to retreat…)

He’d failed to kill the Lightguide Princess. He hadn’t taken out a single Guardian. And now, with his bl00d leaking from his gut, retreat was the only option.

Darkians can only be purified by Lightguide Princesses. Same with Dark Thralls. But once they bleed this black bl00d, their dark power temporarily weakens. Right now, Feliet was in a weakened state.

Resolved to retreat, Feliet squeezed the last of his dark power and activated two abilities.

“…I’ll remember you…”

Even Darkian can feel pain. Grimacing from the pain near his gut, Feliet glared at Spriggan through his left eye and right monocle.

“Ugh… Skills of Butler: Phantom. And… Recovery.”

The moment he muttered that, the surroundings were wrapped in mist, transforming into the ruins of a crumbling building. Feliet, who had been in front of him just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.

“What the…?”

Spriggan was bewildered by the sudden change of scenery. But of course, the shrine couldn’t just turn into ruins. It had to be an illusion.

“In that case… O’ Chain of Darkness.”

Spriggan summoned dark chains from the surrounding space and sent them to the spot where Feliet had been.

If this was just an illusion, then Feliet—wounded—should still be at that spot.

But against Spriggan’s expectation, the chain passed through empty space.

“He’s gone…?”

Where did he go—Spriggan was still thinking when suddenly the scenery returned to the original shrine. It had been an illusion.

Yet Feliet was still nowhere to be seen.

“…He fled.”

Realizing Feliet’s absence, Spriggan understood: the illusion was a distraction, a smokescreen for retreat. Surprising that he could still move after that wound, but if he escaped, there was no helping it.

“Well, my job’s done anyway…”

His mission had been to protect Youka and Miya. That goal was accomplished. There was no need to chase after someone whose whereabouts were now unknown.

“Cancel.”

With that word, Spriggan’s transformation was undone. All that remained was a dull, unremarkable boy in a school uniform with bangs too long—and a pendulum bearing a black jewel.

“…I feel bad for the shrine people.”

Back as Kijou Eito, the boy looked at the smashed stone pavement and felt a bit sorry. How much would repairs cost?

“Well, not my problem…”

Muttering like it didn’t concern him, Eito retrieved his bag from the woods and began the walk home.

After all the acrobatics today, the muscle pain tomorrow was guaranteed—leaving Eito in a slightly gloomy mood.