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sutepriI somehow managed to screw up the chapter divisions as I translated, which means part 8 would have been like two pages. So I'm just going to close out the chapter here.
. . . counting is hard.
[Content Notes]
[Disclaimer]
Scrapped Princess | Prelude of the Stray Cat Princess | The Guardian's Melancholy | Part 7/7
One, two, three steps.
The moment Chris came close enough for the blade of his battleaxe to reach, he used both arms to launch that lengthy weapon with unbelievable speed.
From the right!
Shannon just barely managed to read the direction of that slashing attack and dodge it. But though the battleaxe was at full swing, this time it reversed the direction of its rotation--heedless of its own momentum--and came slicing down at an angle.
This, too, Shannon somehow managed to avoid. But even so, the battleaxe flowed into its next strike, without slackening its rotation.
A chain attack1.
Chris was not merely swinging his axe around and around in rapid succession. While making delicate adjustments to the velocity and angle, he occasionally interfused a thrust. Normally, dodging an attack will give rise to a momentary opening, but this boy's skill allowed no such thing.
As he fired off these deadly techniques, he showed no trace of conceit about it. Even if one attack was avoided, he simply moved right on to the next one. That stunning speed--Shannon just could not catch the thread of his attacks.
A one-sided battle, with Shannon on the defensive.
Moreover, he had thought he had been narrowly avoiding the attacks, but little by little, the battleaxe had begun to inflict wounds on Shannon's body. They may only have been skin-deep, but he had been cut in dozens of places, and eventually the bleeding would drain his strength. Blood oozed from his wounds; any dramatic movements would cause it to go flying.
He could hear Pacifica screaming as she saw this. The fact that her voice sounded so terribly far away was probably because Shannon was only half-conscious of her.
He was aiming for just one point.
If I miss, it's all over for me.
With this thought at the corner of his mind (detatched, as though he were thinking about someone else) Shannon drove his katana at that one point.
The sound of steel biting into steel.
The battleaxe's rotation stilled. At Chris's fingertips . . . at the place on the battleaxe's shaft where its rotational power was the lowest, the katana bit in, locking up its movements.
"Well done," Chris said, seeming not the least bit surprised. "But you held back in using that technique just now, didn't you?"
"Mind your own business."
"It's Shannon-san, right? Have you ever killed a person?"
Shannon kept silent and glared at the boy.
"You haven't, have you? That's why, then."
"I said mind your own damn business!"
In other words, this was the greatest difference between them.
He had been in countless life-and-death battles. However, he had never once killed an opponent. This was partly because he could win without having to kill . . . but it was also a fact that he hesitated to do so.
Against a masterful opponent like Chris, that hesitation revealed itself in the blunting of attacks that ought to have been lethal. If one considers killing a person to mark the coming of age, then calling Shannon callow would be too generous.
"But you know, it really is a mystery."
". . . what is?"
Their weapons still locked and pushing against each other, the two exchanged piercing stares.
"Why are you going so far to protect that girl? Do you stand to gain something from it, I wonder?"
In a sense, Chris's voice--which sounded as though he were honestly mystified--mystified Shannon in turn.
"Well, I mean . . . I'm her older brother."
"But not by blood, right?"
"That's . . . all the more reason."
A girl who had been abandoned by her own birth parents.
If she were forsaken by Shannon and Raquel, then just who would protect her?
"So . . . what do you intend to do if thousands, no, tens of thousands of people die because you protected her? She just may be the embodiment of evil2 itself, sent to destroy the world, right?"
They were the words of accusation that Shannon feared the most.
But strangely enough, he felt no disquiet over them.
The girl's words passed through his mind.
. . . even if I end up getting killed by you, Oniichan . . . Because if that happens, I'll just think . . . "There was nothing else that could be done, I guess" . . .
"I'll kill her," Shannon said languorously . . . yet distinctly. "At that moment, I'll kill her. I won't let anyone else kill her. The only one who has that right3 . . . is me."
"It's no~t about rights." Grinning, Chris gave his battleaxe a twist. "It's about power."
The shaft suddenly collapsed into thirds. He had probably undone whatever it was that kept the segmented, folding-style shaft4 fixed in place. The force Shannon had used to push his katana against the halberd turned against him now.5
Overwhelmed by his own momentum, Shannon lost his balance and was met by Chris's knee in his stomach.
"Geh!"
Shannon was dashed to the ground. His katana flew from his hand and tumbled down.
The blow had not gone so far as to rupture his internal organs, but . . . he could not stand. The intense pain shattered his concentration. Even if he could stand, there was no way this SpecOps combat technician would allow the opportunity to slip away.
He was going to be killed.
"Shannon!"
Raquel's voice.
She had probably sensed something was wrong and come racing over.
Having run to Pacifica, Raquel stood protectively in front of her. From there, she held up her right hand and chanted swiftly:
Chris swiftly braced himself.
However.
The incantation came to a fruitless close . . . and nothing happened. No blast of either lightning or flames came forth; only the meaningless silence remained.
"A misfire . . . huh? What a shame. But it's not exactly wise to use magic to intervene in such close quarters combat, you know. It would probably have been impossible for you to hit me anyway, and at worst, you might have hit him instead."
In this, Chris was correct. Magic which requires the three-phase process of initiation, alignment, and effect activation is most consistently efficacious for mid- to long-range sniping, support, or ambush. Even if you do use it at close range, if your opponent is a first-class soldier, it will only result in her evasion.
And yet . . .
"Oniichan!" Pacifica cried out as she tried to run to him. But Raquel caught her in her arms. Kicking and struggling, Pacifica looked back at her older sister with a look of disbelief on her face. "Oneechan?"
"You can't. You'll be killed."
"But--!"
"If you go to him, it'll just increase the number of corpses."
Raquel held her tight, with surprising strength. It seemed she would not let go, no matter how much Pacifica struggled.
Raquel was probably just as frantic.
"Let go! Let go!"
Pacifica's voice resounded. But her older sister's hands did not loosen. Watching with frantic eyes as that lengthy battleaxe thrust toward Shannon, Pacfica screamed at the boy.
"I get it! I get it already! I just have to die, right? If I do that, then this'll all be over without anyone else having to die, right? So . . . So I'll die! So--!"
This was what she had feared.
That she would rob her older brother and sister of their lives.
If anyone was going to die, it would be her. The one that Shannon and Raquel had treated as a little sister and protected until today, the one they had cherished, even though she was not tied to them by blood. The life that should be offered was not Shannon's, but her own.
That was fine.
She could die, not as the Scrapped Princess, but as their little sister. Because they had taken her in. That was why she had no regrets.
Neither did she regret being born.
Her father. Her mother. Shannon. Raquel.
She had met them, and lived as a part of their family--that alone gave her birth meaning. She truly felt that. And if she were going to die at all, then it would not be for the sakes of her real father and mother--whose faces she did not even know--nor for anyone else's . . . but for Shannon and Raquel. That is what she decided.
She would die telling them, "Thanks for everything you've done."
That's what Pacifica thought.
However . . .
"Idiot."
That hoarse voice belonged to Shannon.
"If you say that kind of thing so readily, I'm gonna smack you."
"Oniichan! But--"
"Don't you dare die."
A peremptory command.
". . . we'll protect you."
That was their vow.
That was their power.
Batch spell7, initiated.
Emulator, deployed.
Main spell, initiated.
". . . ?"
Though he lacked a mage's intuition, Chris must have sensed that something unexpected was happening. He stared hard at Shannon, a suspicious expression on his face.
"What are you . . ."
A mighty sword burst from Shannon's hand.
"Wha--!"
Chris jumped back in astonishment. But it was too late.
Shannon had no ability to control magic. However, when it came to magical power . . . the scope of his consciousness's ability to handle a casting ritual was the same as Raquel's, perhaps even greater.
And so . . .
The first-class military-grade offensive spell, Ragnarök.
A white light surged forth, tracing out a double helix.
Before that torrent of light--which extended up toward the heavens, as though to issue a challenge to some being beyond the sky--Chris was helplessly blown away.
"You had a trick . . . up your sleeve, huh? . . . amazing," Chris said, still lying where he had fallen to earth.
His clothes were torn to shreds, and he was bleeding from all over his body--just the sight of him told you what a terrible state he was in, but . . . despite having taken the earth-shattering impact and intense heat of Ragnarök (which is an offensive spell used only when laying siege to a castle), none of the injuries he had sustained seemed fatal.
Of course, Shannon was not a mage by nature, so the accuracy and precision of his offensive magic were low, and its power was more diffuse than it appeared . . . More importantly, Chris had jumped backward instantly and, most of all, had taken a stance that minimized harm. All of these explained his lack of fatal injury.
". . . you're pretty damn sturdy, yourself," Shannon said in a fed-up tone as he stood up. To be perfectly honest, inwardly, he had broken into a cold sweat, thinking that perhaps he had ended up killing Chris.
". . . you don't seem to be a mage, though."
"I've got magical power, but I'm hopeless at controlling it. That's why I had Raquel imprint me with a virtual managing consciousness--it temporarily plants the abilities of a mage in my brain. Well, it is 'virtual,' after all, so it's not like I can use magic at will like a pro or anything."
And then those words.
They were Shannon's incantation. The vow he had given when he decided that he would protect the princess . . . no, his little sister. With those words, he had activated the first spell, which had in turn activated the initiating incantation to invoke the first-class military-grade offensive spell, Ragnarök.
Needless to say, it was (so to speak) an underhanded trick that would work only once. Activating multiple dangerous spells could only be a last resort to begin with, and an opponent would most likely be proof against it after the first time.
"It's my loss . . . But it's strange. I'm not really upset about it."
Chris smiled.
He looked as though he had been set free from something. Perhaps even this boy--an absolute beast when it came to his strength in combat--had nights when he dreamt of being, not a SpecOps combat technician, but an ordinary child.
"Now . . . go ahead and finish me off."
Without speaking, Shannon raised his katana overhead.
Unless he killed him here, this boy could return one day, seeking their lives. And there was no guarantee that Shannon would be able to win the next time. Killing him would be best.
He knew that. He knew that, and yet . . .
". . . Pass." Shannon returned his katana to its sheath. "It'd be a pain in the ass."
Throwing these words back over his shoulder, Shannon turned his back on the SpecOps combat technician--who stared at him in wonder--and walked toward Pacifica and Raquel.
[Next] [Previous]
Notes:
1) The text has renzoku kougeki (連続攻撃). A combo attack, serial attack, continuous attack, multi-hit attack--you get the idea. Back
2) The text has maou (魔王). This is variously translated as Satan, Demon King, archfiend, evil lord, etc., but I dunno. None of them really sounded right in this context. Back
3) The text has shikaku (資格), literally "qualification." It can also have the sense of an endowment, so I hope "right" isn't too much of a stretch. Back
4) Basically, Chris's modified halberd is a sansetsukon that has an axe at the end. Back
5) The text actually has "押し込む刀の力が、あらぬ方向に流されてしまう。" A more literal, unenglish translation would be something like "the pushing-into katana's power ended up being poured/spilt in the wrong direction." Back
6) You think I have any confidence in this translation? Come on, now. Here's the raw text in case anyone else is willing to take a shot: 我と汝の盟約において・欠けたる者よ・司る力・御者たる資格・仮初めなれど・今こそ与えん・秘めたる汝の力を示すため！ Back
7) See batch processing. Back
It makes much more sense this way. The whole point is that the Casull siblings are so strong because they have each other, while Chris is entirely alone (. . . for now), so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Shannon to be able to beat him by himself. That said, I'm kind of glad this wasn't animated because I'm not sure I could take the emotional beating that Orikasa Fumiko's acting would surely have provided. It's bad enough hearing it in my head. Also, d'awww at the "incantation."
. . . speaking of voices, somehow I can't help hearing the spell activation sequence in Watanabe Akeno's Tiamat voice.
. . . counting is hard.
[Content Notes]
[Disclaimer]
Scrapped Princess | Prelude of the Stray Cat Princess | The Guardian's Melancholy | Part 7/7
One, two, three steps.
The moment Chris came close enough for the blade of his battleaxe to reach, he used both arms to launch that lengthy weapon with unbelievable speed.
From the right!
Shannon just barely managed to read the direction of that slashing attack and dodge it. But though the battleaxe was at full swing, this time it reversed the direction of its rotation--heedless of its own momentum--and came slicing down at an angle.
This, too, Shannon somehow managed to avoid. But even so, the battleaxe flowed into its next strike, without slackening its rotation.
A chain attack1.
Chris was not merely swinging his axe around and around in rapid succession. While making delicate adjustments to the velocity and angle, he occasionally interfused a thrust. Normally, dodging an attack will give rise to a momentary opening, but this boy's skill allowed no such thing.
As he fired off these deadly techniques, he showed no trace of conceit about it. Even if one attack was avoided, he simply moved right on to the next one. That stunning speed--Shannon just could not catch the thread of his attacks.
A one-sided battle, with Shannon on the defensive.
Moreover, he had thought he had been narrowly avoiding the attacks, but little by little, the battleaxe had begun to inflict wounds on Shannon's body. They may only have been skin-deep, but he had been cut in dozens of places, and eventually the bleeding would drain his strength. Blood oozed from his wounds; any dramatic movements would cause it to go flying.
He could hear Pacifica screaming as she saw this. The fact that her voice sounded so terribly far away was probably because Shannon was only half-conscious of her.
He was aiming for just one point.
If I miss, it's all over for me.
With this thought at the corner of his mind (detatched, as though he were thinking about someone else) Shannon drove his katana at that one point.
The sound of steel biting into steel.
The battleaxe's rotation stilled. At Chris's fingertips . . . at the place on the battleaxe's shaft where its rotational power was the lowest, the katana bit in, locking up its movements.
"Well done," Chris said, seeming not the least bit surprised. "But you held back in using that technique just now, didn't you?"
"Mind your own business."
"It's Shannon-san, right? Have you ever killed a person?"
Shannon kept silent and glared at the boy.
"You haven't, have you? That's why, then."
"I said mind your own damn business!"
In other words, this was the greatest difference between them.
He had been in countless life-and-death battles. However, he had never once killed an opponent. This was partly because he could win without having to kill . . . but it was also a fact that he hesitated to do so.
Against a masterful opponent like Chris, that hesitation revealed itself in the blunting of attacks that ought to have been lethal. If one considers killing a person to mark the coming of age, then calling Shannon callow would be too generous.
"But you know, it really is a mystery."
". . . what is?"
Their weapons still locked and pushing against each other, the two exchanged piercing stares.
"Why are you going so far to protect that girl? Do you stand to gain something from it, I wonder?"
In a sense, Chris's voice--which sounded as though he were honestly mystified--mystified Shannon in turn.
"Well, I mean . . . I'm her older brother."
"But not by blood, right?"
"That's . . . all the more reason."
A girl who had been abandoned by her own birth parents.
If she were forsaken by Shannon and Raquel, then just who would protect her?
"So . . . what do you intend to do if thousands, no, tens of thousands of people die because you protected her? She just may be the embodiment of evil2 itself, sent to destroy the world, right?"
They were the words of accusation that Shannon feared the most.
But strangely enough, he felt no disquiet over them.
The girl's words passed through his mind.
. . . even if I end up getting killed by you, Oniichan . . . Because if that happens, I'll just think . . . "There was nothing else that could be done, I guess" . . .
"I'll kill her," Shannon said languorously . . . yet distinctly. "At that moment, I'll kill her. I won't let anyone else kill her. The only one who has that right3 . . . is me."
"It's no~t about rights." Grinning, Chris gave his battleaxe a twist. "It's about power."
The shaft suddenly collapsed into thirds. He had probably undone whatever it was that kept the segmented, folding-style shaft4 fixed in place. The force Shannon had used to push his katana against the halberd turned against him now.5
Overwhelmed by his own momentum, Shannon lost his balance and was met by Chris's knee in his stomach.
"Geh!"
Shannon was dashed to the ground. His katana flew from his hand and tumbled down.
The blow had not gone so far as to rupture his internal organs, but . . . he could not stand. The intense pain shattered his concentration. Even if he could stand, there was no way this SpecOps combat technician would allow the opportunity to slip away.
He was going to be killed.
"Shannon!"
Raquel's voice.
She had probably sensed something was wrong and come racing over.
Having run to Pacifica, Raquel stood protectively in front of her. From there, she held up her right hand and chanted swiftly:
. . . by the covenant between me and thee,
O Absent One,
Though my worthiness to wield
The power at thy command
Be transient,
Grant it me now,
And, thou who art hidden, show thy power!6
Chris swiftly braced himself.
However.
The incantation came to a fruitless close . . . and nothing happened. No blast of either lightning or flames came forth; only the meaningless silence remained.
"A misfire . . . huh? What a shame. But it's not exactly wise to use magic to intervene in such close quarters combat, you know. It would probably have been impossible for you to hit me anyway, and at worst, you might have hit him instead."
In this, Chris was correct. Magic which requires the three-phase process of initiation, alignment, and effect activation is most consistently efficacious for mid- to long-range sniping, support, or ambush. Even if you do use it at close range, if your opponent is a first-class soldier, it will only result in her evasion.
And yet . . .
"Oniichan!" Pacifica cried out as she tried to run to him. But Raquel caught her in her arms. Kicking and struggling, Pacifica looked back at her older sister with a look of disbelief on her face. "Oneechan?"
"You can't. You'll be killed."
"But--!"
"If you go to him, it'll just increase the number of corpses."
Raquel held her tight, with surprising strength. It seemed she would not let go, no matter how much Pacifica struggled.
Raquel was probably just as frantic.
"Let go! Let go!"
Pacifica's voice resounded. But her older sister's hands did not loosen. Watching with frantic eyes as that lengthy battleaxe thrust toward Shannon, Pacfica screamed at the boy.
"I get it! I get it already! I just have to die, right? If I do that, then this'll all be over without anyone else having to die, right? So . . . So I'll die! So--!"
This was what she had feared.
That she would rob her older brother and sister of their lives.
If anyone was going to die, it would be her. The one that Shannon and Raquel had treated as a little sister and protected until today, the one they had cherished, even though she was not tied to them by blood. The life that should be offered was not Shannon's, but her own.
That was fine.
She could die, not as the Scrapped Princess, but as their little sister. Because they had taken her in. That was why she had no regrets.
Neither did she regret being born.
Her father. Her mother. Shannon. Raquel.
She had met them, and lived as a part of their family--that alone gave her birth meaning. She truly felt that. And if she were going to die at all, then it would not be for the sakes of her real father and mother--whose faces she did not even know--nor for anyone else's . . . but for Shannon and Raquel. That is what she decided.
She would die telling them, "Thanks for everything you've done."
That's what Pacifica thought.
However . . .
"Idiot."
That hoarse voice belonged to Shannon.
"If you say that kind of thing so readily, I'm gonna smack you."
"Oniichan! But--"
"Don't you dare die."
A peremptory command.
". . . we'll protect you."
That was their vow.
That was their power.
Batch spell7, initiated.
Emulator, deployed.
Main spell, initiated.
". . . ?"
Though he lacked a mage's intuition, Chris must have sensed that something unexpected was happening. He stared hard at Shannon, a suspicious expression on his face.
"What are you . . ."
A mighty sword burst from Shannon's hand.
"Wha--!"
Chris jumped back in astonishment. But it was too late.
Shannon had no ability to control magic. However, when it came to magical power . . . the scope of his consciousness's ability to handle a casting ritual was the same as Raquel's, perhaps even greater.
And so . . .
The first-class military-grade offensive spell, Ragnarök.
A white light surged forth, tracing out a double helix.
Before that torrent of light--which extended up toward the heavens, as though to issue a challenge to some being beyond the sky--Chris was helplessly blown away.
"You had a trick . . . up your sleeve, huh? . . . amazing," Chris said, still lying where he had fallen to earth.
His clothes were torn to shreds, and he was bleeding from all over his body--just the sight of him told you what a terrible state he was in, but . . . despite having taken the earth-shattering impact and intense heat of Ragnarök (which is an offensive spell used only when laying siege to a castle), none of the injuries he had sustained seemed fatal.
Of course, Shannon was not a mage by nature, so the accuracy and precision of his offensive magic were low, and its power was more diffuse than it appeared . . . More importantly, Chris had jumped backward instantly and, most of all, had taken a stance that minimized harm. All of these explained his lack of fatal injury.
". . . you're pretty damn sturdy, yourself," Shannon said in a fed-up tone as he stood up. To be perfectly honest, inwardly, he had broken into a cold sweat, thinking that perhaps he had ended up killing Chris.
". . . you don't seem to be a mage, though."
"I've got magical power, but I'm hopeless at controlling it. That's why I had Raquel imprint me with a virtual managing consciousness--it temporarily plants the abilities of a mage in my brain. Well, it is 'virtual,' after all, so it's not like I can use magic at will like a pro or anything."
And then those words.
They were Shannon's incantation. The vow he had given when he decided that he would protect the princess . . . no, his little sister. With those words, he had activated the first spell, which had in turn activated the initiating incantation to invoke the first-class military-grade offensive spell, Ragnarök.
Needless to say, it was (so to speak) an underhanded trick that would work only once. Activating multiple dangerous spells could only be a last resort to begin with, and an opponent would most likely be proof against it after the first time.
"It's my loss . . . But it's strange. I'm not really upset about it."
Chris smiled.
He looked as though he had been set free from something. Perhaps even this boy--an absolute beast when it came to his strength in combat--had nights when he dreamt of being, not a SpecOps combat technician, but an ordinary child.
"Now . . . go ahead and finish me off."
Without speaking, Shannon raised his katana overhead.
Unless he killed him here, this boy could return one day, seeking their lives. And there was no guarantee that Shannon would be able to win the next time. Killing him would be best.
He knew that. He knew that, and yet . . .
". . . Pass." Shannon returned his katana to its sheath. "It'd be a pain in the ass."
Throwing these words back over his shoulder, Shannon turned his back on the SpecOps combat technician--who stared at him in wonder--and walked toward Pacifica and Raquel.
[Next] [Previous]
Notes:
1) The text has renzoku kougeki (連続攻撃). A combo attack, serial attack, continuous attack, multi-hit attack--you get the idea. Back
2) The text has maou (魔王). This is variously translated as Satan, Demon King, archfiend, evil lord, etc., but I dunno. None of them really sounded right in this context. Back
3) The text has shikaku (資格), literally "qualification." It can also have the sense of an endowment, so I hope "right" isn't too much of a stretch. Back
4) Basically, Chris's modified halberd is a sansetsukon that has an axe at the end. Back
5) The text actually has "押し込む刀の力が、あらぬ方向に流されてしまう。" A more literal, unenglish translation would be something like "the pushing-into katana's power ended up being poured/spilt in the wrong direction." Back
6) You think I have any confidence in this translation? Come on, now. Here's the raw text in case anyone else is willing to take a shot: 我と汝の盟約において・欠けたる者よ・司る力・御者たる資格・仮初めなれど・今こそ与えん・秘めたる汝の力を示すため！ Back
7) See batch processing. Back
It makes much more sense this way. The whole point is that the Casull siblings are so strong because they have each other, while Chris is entirely alone (. . . for now), so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Shannon to be able to beat him by himself. That said, I'm kind of glad this wasn't animated because I'm not sure I could take the emotional beating that Orikasa Fumiko's acting would surely have provided. It's bad enough hearing it in my head. Also, d'awww at the "incantation."
. . . speaking of voices, somehow I can't help hearing the spell activation sequence in Watanabe Akeno's Tiamat voice.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Thank you.
Date: 2011-08-14 03:45 pm (UTC)Indeed.
I'm glad Shannon had something else up his sleeves. However, that doesn't make the scene less intense to read.
"it'll just increase the number of corpses."
I like how practical Raquel is :)
Pacifical's internal resolve was so moving.
"The whole point is that the Casull siblings are so strong because they have each other, ..."
I totally agree. They can support each other.
Re: Thank you.
Date: 2011-08-14 04:35 pm (UTC)Also he doesn't think it would be too difficult to fight Raquel and Shannon at the same time because he knows about mages.
It's great a story comes together so neatly, in re: Shannon's magical abilities. Also Ragnarök sounds very damn cool. Or maybe that's just my Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann bias showing.
Holy crap, man, that line from Raquel is chilling. It must be tough, having to be the strong one in a situation like that.
I love Pacifica's epiphany that, no, it wouldn't have been better if she'd never been born.