The Second Tower (3)
We had cleared the first eight islands with ease, cutting down the key-bearer each time and moving on without trouble.
But a single mistake on the ninth island had left us under constant assault from the angels.
The mistake was simple: until now the one carrying the red cloth had always held the key, so we assumed it would be the same here. We never bothered to check properly before we struck.
The moment we spotted the red-cloth angel, Hyunseok and I rushed it and put it down. No key appeared. Instead the body floated skyward, then detonated with a roar that shook the entire island.
"Oh… we really screwed this one up, didn't we?"
"Yeah? Hahaha! Who knew they'd pull a fake this late in the game."
"Is this really the time to laugh?! Look at them pouring in!"
The blast rolled across the island, and within moments angels came swarming from every direction.
While the endless bang! thud! rat-a-tat! of combat filled the air, we tried to figure out what to do next.
"Haaah—so what's the plan? You two made this mess, so you fix it."
Yeonseo snapped at us, but I knew she would help the second we had a clear path to victory. The way she said it was almost cute.
"Hey, Foxy! Stop thinking useless crap and come up with a solution!"
"Solution? We still have to find whichever one actually has the key before we can do anything. Right?"
I shrugged, making a show of helplessness, and looked at Hyunseok. He thought for a moment, then asked if we could buy him some time.
"Buy time how, exactly?"
He grinned and told us not to worry, just leave it to him. Wind began to swirl around his body—then suddenly his figure appeared somewhere else entirely. The presence I felt, though, was still right beside us.
"What the—? How did you do that? Your presence is still here, but you're over there…"
"Mmm, easiest way to put it is I made a mirage. Anyway, I'll use this to hunt down the real key-bearer outside. You two just need to hold them off for a while."
"Haaah, dumping the annoying job on us again?"
"Does it matter? You can just tank them, or fight them head-on—either works."
"You really are… Once Hyunseok's gone, you and I are going to have a little talk."
The look in Yeonseo's eyes was pure predator sizing up prey. I had no idea what she planned, but it definitely wasn't going to be good for me.
"All right, I'm off! Both of you be careful—and hang in there!"
Hyunseok vanished. Yeonseo and I slowly loosened up and started discussing how best to handle the swarm.
"So, what did you want to say? Hnnngh! Going to talk strategy for dealing with these things?"
I stretched, resetting Durandal and my armor, and asked. What came out of Yeonseo's mouth next was anything but strategic.
"Nothing big. I just realized that this morning the spot you were sleeping in was the exact place Hyunseok had been lying. Care to explain yourself, Ms. Pervert Foxy?"
"Wh-what are you even saying?! Ahem—I just… ended up there while I was asleep. Th-this conversation is over…"
"Hmm~ Funny how every other spot was perfectly dry, and only that one was all damp."
She kept pressing closer, interrogating me step by step. I backed away until my shoulders hit the wall and I realized there was nowhere left to run.
In the end I had no choice… I told her what had happened. The memory of that sensation rose again at the same time, and my body heated just a little—only a little. I prayed she wouldn't notice.
"I… just washed up and lay down, and then… that nice scent hit me all of a sudden… so I just… yeah… that's all it was… Okay? Are we done now?"
I closed my eyes, face burning with embarrassment as I forced the words out. The instant the shutter clicked I snapped my eyes open again. Yeonseo stood there wearing a thoroughly satisfied grin, waving the photo right in front of my face.
I covered my face with both hands and sank to the ground.
"Hmm~ So that's how it was~ Wow, you really are a total. Pervert. Young. Lady."
"Ugh… p-please stop… I'm begging you…"
"Pfft, fine. I'll let you off with that much for today. More importantly—what do we do now?"
"Sniff… I don't know…? How about we wait for Hyunseok to find the key-bearer and signal us, then move?"
I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. Another shutter click sounded, and Yeonseo's sly smile made her look exactly like a devil.
"True. If we start thrashing around now it'll only make it harder for him to search."
"Think this one will be the only one with a different color again?"
"Probably? Or maybe just one of them… Wait—Charlotte, you see that one over there?"
Yeonseo had been scanning the angels; suddenly she pointed. There stood a figure with an extra pair of wings. The cloth it wore was ordinary white, but its wings were different—two full pairs, decorated with elaborate ornaments the others lacked.
"Huh? Did we have one like that before?"
"Hmm. Looks like we don't need to wait for Hyunseok after all."
We exchanged a glance, finished our combat preparations, dropped our barriers, and moved straight toward it.
"Behind us this time!"
"I know! Big Dipper!"
Bear-shaped summons the size of their own bodies, each carrying a translucent blue shield, shifted to the rear and blocked the angels' attacks. Behind them the centaur-form Chaos series loosed arrows that shredded wings and punched through bodies, sending angels plummeting.
"Charlotte! Did you check where Hyunseok is?"
"Yeah! I sent a Flamberge at the one that might have the key—he saw it and headed straight that way!"
We had planned to wait for him to locate the key-bearer, but when Yeonseo and I happened to look up and spotted a form we'd never seen on this island, I immediately launched a flaming Flamberge so he would notice. He quietly changed course toward the double-winged angel.
Of course, that was exactly why we were taking this much heat right now.
"Atlantes!"
Spears and arrows of light streaked toward me. I snapped open a circular shield and blocked them while Yeonseo's summons answered with a coordinated volley that dropped more angels. We repeated the cycle over and over.
"Whew… how many left?"
"About half?"
Yeonseo was leaning against her ice lion Marinarion, cold sweat on her brow, trying to cool her exhausted body. I sent holy power into her to restore her vitality and scanned the surroundings.
We had been fighting for roughly thirty minutes. Cutting the swarm down by half felt pretty solid. At the same time I caught sight of Hyunseok closing in and launching his attack.
Whirlwinds spun around both of his arms and shot forward. The angel tried to flee, but the twin gales seized it and ground it apart like meat in a mill, tearing the body to shreds.
The angels that had been targeting us began dissolving into light one after another until the entire attacking force vanished. A heavy clunk echoed in the distance, and a massive door came into view.
"Yeonseo, I think we're done. You okay?"
"Uwaah~ I'm wiped. Totally wiped! Thanks for the heal. Still a little rough, though."
She dismissed every summon except Marinarion. I scooped her up as she hung draped over the ice lion and walked toward Hyunseok, who was descending from the sky.
"Did you get the key?"
He held up a golden key and smiled.
"Yep! Thanks to you two it was easy. I was going to search for it myself, but haha…"
"Don't mention it. That finish of yours earlier was cool, by the way. Both hands firing whirlwinds and then—shrrrk—the thing just got shredded. Super satisfying~"
"Thanks. Looks like Yeonseo's completely out of gas, though. We've got the key, so how about we rest a bit before we move on? The color and shape are different from every key so far—this is probably the last one."
"Makes sense. This was the ninth island, so next is the tenth?"
"Yeah. And the boss is probably going to look something like this."
He handed me the key. I examined it closely.
The golden key's blade was shaped like a sun instead of the tower design we had seen before, and the handle was carved with six wings.
"So the one we just killed had two pairs… does that mean this time it's a 'six-winged archangel'?"
As he spoke he turned and sent a gentle breeze toward the exhausted Yeonseo. A sudden throb pulsed deep in my chest.
Huh…? What's this…?
Without thinking I stepped closer and touched his hand.
"Me too… do me too…!"
"Huh? Sure. Anyway, about that archangel—"
The wind washed over me as well. I sat down, took his hand, and simply felt its warmth.
"Yeah. Looking at the key and that last angel… don't you think an archangel has to show up next?"
"I think so too. Once we don't have to run around hunting them one by one, things should get a lot easier. So for now, just rest properly."
"Okay!"
I closed my eyes, holding his hand and savoring the breeze. When I opened them again—
Ah… damn it…!
—Yeonseo was watching me, one eye half-lidded, the corner of her mouth curled up, Polaroid camera already in hand.
Click!
Haaah, at this rate she's going to finish a whole album of me and force me to take it home…