Seraphim is a Bystander

The Voice I Hear
 
I knocked the incoming dagger away with the scythe I’d already summoned. But by the time I did, the man in black had already slipped inside my range.

“Woah…!”
Clang!
His dagger clashed against my scythe with a sharp impact. The man in black kept his calm, relaxed demeanor, like he wasn’t even trying. But the shock traveling through my hands told a different story—this wasn’t the kind of force you’d expect from a simple clash of weapons.
“Tch…!”

“Hmph. You’re decent—for a kid. But I doubt you’ll be a problem.”
And what exactly can you tell from just one exchange?! Not that I could say that out loud. While I was using both hands just to deflect his dagger, he was holding his weapon in one hand and still pushing my scythe back.
Am I going to have to use that? I haven’t fully mastered it yet and didn’t want to rely on it in a real fight, but...

If I’m going to use it, I need the right timing. Unless I land a clean, decisive hit, someone like him will just adapt immediately and shut it down. I need to turn the tables now.
I swung my scythe wide, trying to push his dagger off and cut him in one motion. But he evaded it, slipping right past the arc of the blade like he was gliding.
“…!”

“Is this really the time to be thinking about something else?”
No, he hadn’t literally phased through my attack. He just used minimal movement to dodge and step right back into my range. Still, it felt like my wide swing had done nothing—he was already standing right in front of me again, forcing me to fight him in close quarters where my scythe was at a disadvantage.
“You can’t move from there, can you? Well, you could, but in that case… what would happen to the lady behind you?”

“Shut… up…!”
Damn it! He really knows how to get under my skin…
He was right. I couldn’t retreat backward or to either side to gain distance. Because—

“Ah… aaah…”
Yuna was behind me, frozen in place, unable to even stand properly.
If I were to leave her side, even for a second… the outcome would be too terrible to speak aloud. I was the only thing standing between her and a blade.
I kept trying to push him back, spinning my scythe in wide arcs around me, but he either blocked it with his dagger or slipped through with light footwork—never letting our distance widen.

—Just use it already, you have no choice.
I know! With my current power, it’s only a matter of time before I’m killed. That’s why—
“〈Overdrive — Overspec!〉”

“!!”
Layering my ability on top of a physical enhancement, I swung my scythe with everything I had. That finally made the man in black widen his distance—maybe he hadn’t expected me to power up further. I seized the moment and lunged in, closing the gap again, this time with me on the offensive.
“Oh? Impressive… Maybe this isn’t going in my favor after all.”

“Then… maybe you should just… back off already…!”
With the boost, I had more raw strength than him, even with his dagger. I drove his blade aside and kept pressing forward, narrowing the distance with every step. I didn’t feel like I had the upper hand at all—but at least now we were far enough away from Yuna.
“Crimson Flame Barrier!”

As I shouted the name I borrowed from my mom’s ability, a wall of blue fire erupted behind me with a whoosh. The flames split the courtyard in two—separating me and the man in black from Yuna, who still couldn’t move.
For once, even the man in black ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ looked a little surprised.
“…I didn’t expect that. Truly. I didn’t think you had anything more up your sleeve besides physical enhancement.”

“I’m actually better at manipulating external abilities than internal ones.”
“I see… Then it’s even more reason I need to eliminate you here.”
…This might be the best worst-case scenario I could’ve hoped for. I’d managed to isolate him and keep Yuna safe, but now he could focus all his attention on killing me.

Honestly, even getting this far was a gamble. It worked only because he underestimated me. He assumed I couldn’t do anything besides physical buffs—and I bet he didn’t even think I could form a real barrier. If he had taken me seriously from the start, none of this would’ve worked.
—Behind you.
“…!”

“Oh? I didn’t think you’d catch that in time.”
Clang!
I just barely managed to deflect a dagger that had been aimed straight at my throat. That was way too close. I’d let my guard down for a second after the barrier went up, and he went straight for the kill.
Even so… I couldn’t track that move at all. If he came at me with that kind of speed nonstop, I probably wouldn’t last a few seconds.

—This might be your limit.
“…Huh?”
It was only then that I truly noticed the voice I’d been hearing this whole time. But the moment my focus broke—that tiny flicker of distraction—

The man in black vanished from my sight.
Crap—!
I spun around, but it was too late. All I saw was a blur of black, and the dull gleam of a blade.

Then—
My consciousness faded into darkness.