Semua Bab Dragon-kissed : Bab 61 - Bab 70

“The Ayakashi’s face had also undergone a complete transformation after ice crystallized on it then cracked open like some glassy cocoon. Even her eyebrows had frozen over like tiny upward icicles. She now looked half her age and was an attractive, albeit severe, woman. I wasn’t sure why but I thought I recognized her, not only from the confused flashbacks we had shared but from my own memory. For some reason she also reminded me of Lorelei. “Now she looked less like a wild woman or a Haxan but more like the White-haired Ice Czarina, a jōnin who ruled before the Dark Ages and was notorious for her wanton extravagance, her opposition to reform and for saying ‘So what if their crops have frozen over? Let them eat ice cream!’ She had been stripped of her riches and executed by peasant revolutionists. “The Ayakashi floated towards me like a snowflake. It was my first time to witness levitation outside the Clan of Stork. This removed every doubt in my mind that the Ayakashi was a powerful

“Another crucial factor was the non-existence of a true double-bladed sword. A double-bladed long weapon like a spear or naginata can be wielded effectively without hurting oneself. The same goes with a double-bladed dagger or knife. But a double-bladed sword is a completely different matter. The only time such a weapon can work is if the blue Slayer alters the length of the hilt in the middle by stretching it and shortening the blades, basically transforming the weapon into a polearm. The problem was, in a real match between blue Slayers, we’re able to inhibit each other from liberally making or changing ice constructs. This is the very practical reason a sliding blade function was designed for the jotō along with a mechanism that would lock it on either end, not both. “The Ayakashi must’ve forgotten I didn’t have any recourse to my elemental powers in The Maw. Out of pure habit and training from Wani Academy, she was once again reduced to making single-blade, single-sword attacks. B

“The exact same thing happened. There was a muffled whoosh like that of air exploding, or bits and pieces of me scattering and then I felt another sensation of reverse plopping. My brain must’ve made up the feeling for such an unnatural experience. “I spun around and called out to the kunoichi, hoping this time things would be different and she would hear me. I hounded her like a street casanova but she acted as though she was deaf or I had gone mute. I knew the second hypothesis was false because I could hear my own voice. As much as I hated to admit it, everything pointed to the explanation that I had replaced the Ayakashi and I was now on an altogether different plane from the rest of Wani Academy – perhaps even the rest of Pan-Terra. Terror and panic were gradually winning against my forced positivity. “The kunoichi was knocking on a door with a number above it. It took a while for another female student to answer. The second one looked disheveled like she’d been sleeping in

“As both of you know, in the summer night sky, there are three prominent stars: Wega, Altair and Dhanab. Among easterners, the legendary weaver girl and cowherd symbolize Wega and Altair respectively, and their love story inspired the Star Festival. To us northerners though, the Milky Way looks like the vast blue sea and we see Toyotama-hime in Wega and Hoori in Altair. “According to northern lore, Toyotama, the daughter of Watatsumi the sea god, fell in love with and married a handsome mortal by the name of Hoori. For three years, the couple lived in Ryūgū, the undersea palace made out of red and white coral and fish scales. However, deep down Hoori felt lonely and missed the surface world. And so, with the sea god’s blessing, the couple ascended to the surface world, riding the back of a one-fathom-long wani. Once they arrived, Toyotama announced her pregnancy and Hoori built for her a child-delivery hut thatched with cormorant feathers. She requested that her husband not watch

“Nevertheless, another part of me felt oddly conflicted about running out of time and everything going back to normal. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up my extraordinary circumstances just yet. I mean, I hadn’t completely tested the span and limits of my unexpected abilities. Think about it. I was probably the only Slayer in the world who had defeated a ghost and ended up in an in-between realm. Apart from the obvious goal of scientific research, I had plenty other things I wanted to do before I lost my newfound freedom.” “Really?” Aki asked. “What things?” “Well, for one, I had to make a quick trip to the school library.” “The library?” Aki echoed. She admired Sasha’s devotion to study but wondered if it wasn’t a bit much. “Oh,” Sasha said, guessing what the other two were thinking, “it’s not what you think. You remember the numbers the Ayakashi gave me right before she disintegrated? I had figured out what they were. They were book call numbers.” “Call numbers? That can’