새벽녘의 사수 슌란/10권

Chapter 10: Makigari
Raiju's habitat was the perfect place for this beast that topped the food chain to call home. It sat at the mountain's highest point like a king would his throne, the black, stormy clouds swirling overhead in a natural royal crown. Through thunderous applause did it create its weapon, and its subjects below—its prey—never failed to succumb to it once stricken.
There was just one thing the beast did not realize about this place: that its terrain, impregnable on the surface, was also the perfect environment to set a trap.
There were two paths to reach the summit. One was at the end of a long, spiraling trail that looped around its peak. The other was a straight, steep path surrounded on both sides by high rock walls. The first of the hunters who came to claim Raiju's life appeared from the spiraled road, shouting at the top of his lungs a call unique to the Woodland Wanderers.
'You sleepin', Mr. Bear?!' Dau shouted. 'Cause I'm ready to wrestle!'
Dau leaped from rock to rock, his unique hunting call being shouted between taunts and insults. In a bag slung over his back were a number of single-shot rifles from the cabin—ancient even by Matagi's standards—that were relics of a fallen kingdom.
His cries were used in the past to intimidate meek rabbits and fleet-footed foxes into submission, but Raiju was no small prey and showed no hint of fear upon hearing them. This, however, was well within the realm of expectations. Drawing one of the smaller rifles from the bag, he made a blistering show out of firing a nearby rock.
Raiju paused for only a moment before roaring in turn, fur bristling from head to toe from this mortal threat. Perhaps it still possessed memories of being hunted by the Matagi as a normal bear, but whatever the reason, the sound of the shot was enough for it to understand its position from hunter to hunted.
'Haha! Where's your tough guy act now, ya big furball?!' Dau continued leaping from rock to rock while dodging Raiju's impulsive lightning strikes. After throwing his spent rifle so that it stood upright in the ground, he pulled a second one and fired without hesitation. This one hit its mark precisely, causing the king of thunder to howl upon being struck.
The bullet was too weak and Dau too far for it to pierce through the beast's thick hide, but this, too, was expected. Raiju sent out a flash of lightning as an instinctive counter to the pain delivered, but it was strange—rather than deliver the devastating shock it was meant to, it passed through him harmlessly instead.
'It really worked!' Dau grinned with pleasant surprise. He was touching the upright rifle he discarded after use, allowing the lightning fired to pass through him, it, and into the ground. He was positively giddy with the discovery. 'Oh, you're a genius, Sayu. I never would've thought to use these as lightning rods!'
So long as he positioned the spent rifles like so, he could creep closer to Raiju and never have to worry about the more elemental properties of its offensive. 'I've got as many of these as I've got shots. Now time to show what Woodland Wanderers can really do!'
Dau belted yet another hunting call, and with every shot fired and rod placed, the weight on his back was lighter, allowing him to move at an ever-faster pace. He moved in a circular motion, condusing the bear as he led it successfully toward the other path to the summit sandwiched on both sides with rock walls.
'Guess no matter how strong it is, it's still got the brains of a beast,' he muttered to himself before calling out to his companion. 'It's headed your way, Sayu!'
'I'm ready, Dau! Bring it in!'
While still gathering its electricity for yet another counterattack, Raiju was guided into the straight and narrow path. It was met with a sudden barrier of mist that bathed the beast in its own sparks.
'Got it!' Dau shouted. The barrier Raiju stumbled into was not a physical one, but rather a cage of energy strung between countless arrows stabbed into both sides of the rock wall. Moisture from the air glistened off the arrows' exposed tips.
'I've never done this many at once,' Sayu began, 'but that doesn't mean I can't do it!'
The barrier formed from the fusion of Sayu's energy with the Cylinder of the Frozen Sky's power was, in essence, one of pure fog.
The more Raiju tried to force its way through this barrier, the wetter it became, causing its natural electricity to short out. Any attempt to step into it caused a wealth of pain.
'The way out is just as bad!' Sayu affirmed, shooting additional arrows behind it and filling them with more power, expanding the cage that much farther. Now even if it were to turn around to run out of the corridor, it could no longer do so without sustaining considerable damage from its own thunder.
'Yahoo! That's got it pinned down! Think the rest of the plan's gonna go this smooth?'
'This won't stop it for long,' Sayu responded, 'but it should hold it long enough for Chunlan to give us the signal.'
Raiju could not escape without passing through the cage of fog, but despite having been transformed through possession of an ancient artifact, it was still a wild beast at heart. It had no concept of surrender—only survival—and would persist even if its only route to tomorrow would do it harm.
Roaring wildly, the beast threw itself into the cage wall, blooming a constant fountain of sparks from its massive body.
'Aidios! Crazy thing's gonna cook itself alive!'
'I haven't seen Chunlan's signal!' Sayu reported. 'I don't know if I can hold it much longer!'
The Cylinder of the Frozen Sky slotted into her crossbow cycled between losing its brilliance and pulsing with flashes of blue light. Each time electricity surged through Raiju's body, it flickered brightly in response—almost too brightly, as though the cage and the beast's resistance were pushing it beyond its capabilities. Sayu knew that putting any more power into this would risk the danger of an explosion that would leave her far worse off than their target.
Realizing this as well, Dau refused to stand around and do nothing. Dau had one other source of protection: a leather cloth from the cabin he covered in glass powder and resin paint on his body. Wrapping himself from the head down with this repurposed insulating cloack and protecting himself with gloves made from the same material, Dau bounded through the cage of fog and closed in on Raiju.
Flashes of light scorched the robe, but he pushed forward until he was directly before the object of their hunt.
'Dau! Are you crazy?!'
'Nothing crazy about standing in a cage made by you! All right, Raiju—you're in for a real shock, 'cause it's about to get unbearable for you!'
He then threw himself into the body of the beast, lashing out with his protected fists. Though the attacks he landed were of no real threat, the insulated strikes triggered waves of electricity that surged through it with each devastating punch.
'Haha! This works for me way better than any gun. Worth the dive!' Dau cracked before taking stance and drawing in a long breath. Planting his feet before the flinching king of thunder, Dau focused on every muscle in his body and, while filling his lungs with the clean mountain air, became one with the environment's natural flow of life energy. Only when this reached its peak did he spring forward.
'SHIN!'
Dau kicked off the ground, air trembling around him till Sayu could swear she saw snowflakes dancing from his body as he sent an incredible punch into Raiju's chest. This alone was enough to send tremors through its whole form.
This secret craft, Shin, could mean many things—heart, core, quake, deity—and was among the ultimate techniques in a martial arts style created by the Woodland Wanderers. It required synchronizing every part of the body, bone and muscle and all, and compressing one's strength until one forced this dense power forward like a coil in a trap. Certainly, this kind of precise, powerful technique spoke to the wisdom gained through generations of journeying and surviving the wild.
'I can't believe it, Dau! You mastered Shin!'
Sayu followed up Dau's attack by sending a shower of bolts from atop the rock wall down upon Raiju, preventing the staggering beast from steadying itself. Dau took the chance to send another blow to its throat. As it fell back, it no longer saw the cage's walls as a concern, pivoting to escape its hunters through fog and signed fur.
'I doubt that'll kill it, but looks like we put it on the ropes!' Sayu cheered into the corridor to Dau. 'Are you all right?'
'I'd love to tell you I am, but my gloves are done for,' Dau responded, raising up his arms to display his gloves as he did so. 'I can't keep this up much longer!'
'Okay. We've just got to keep it busy, so I'll take over on the offensive.'
There was a hint of hesitation in her voice as she agreed to this; she was already pushing the Cylinder of the Frozen Sky to its limits. Dau's craft was also one of great strength, and she doubted her crossbow would have nearly the same stopping power as it.
Not seconds later into this train of thought did the sign they were waiting for make itself known. A deep bass sound echoed off the mountain, carrying far and strong despite its low pitch. It was proof the two of them had fulfilled their role in the tactic.
'That's the conch shell! Chunlan's ready!' Sayu exclaimed.
'He sure kept us waiting long enough, but now he's got me all fired up for round two! Now come on, Sayu—let's take him down for good!'
'Right!'
As Sayu descended, she released the section of the cage between Raiju and the summit. Doing this would help Sayu to amplify the impact of her attacks as she concentrated much-needed moisture into each bolt fired. She then reunited with Dau and, with their backs against the still-existing cage wall blocking the other path downward, she unleashed a final goading strike at the beast's back.
Sayu and Dau followed behind it as it ran, believing their companion ahead would be able to exact the next stage of their plan: driving Raiju back toward the highest point of the summit.
The king's throne would soon become its tombstone.
To Be Continued

第10回　《巻狩》
　《雷獣》の頭上に渦巻く黒き雷雲は、まるで彼の王冠のようであった。事実、山頂に鎮座して常に頭上の雲に干渉できる環境も、彼を食物連鎖の頂点たらしめる大きな要因だ。腹が減れば頭上の雲を雷雲に変え、適当な動物に落雷させれば良い。後はそれを玉座に持ち帰るのみだ。
だが、彼は知らなかった。雲に近く、自身が利用しやすい難攻不落の地形。それが異なる知恵を結集させた人間の手にかかれば、逆に自ら囲む巨大な罠となる事を。
山頂に至る道は二つあった。一方は山頂に向かって螺旋(らせん)状に接続する山道の終点。そしてもう一方は、両側面を岩壁に囲まれた急勾配な一本道である。
《雷獣》の運命を絶つ最初の使者は、螺旋山道からけたたましい声と共に現れた。
　　「フォウ！　フォーウ！　寝ぼけてんのかい熊さんよ！
おれはまだピンピンしてるぜ！　フォーウ！」
《森の遊人》が狩猟時に発する特有の掛け声を響かせながら、軽快に岩の上を跳ね飛び山頂に躍り出るダウ。背中の篭には、《マタギ》の物でも特に古い、今は無き国の遺物たる単発銃が何丁も収められていた。先程《マタギ小屋》で調達したものだ。「ちっ、狐や兎とは勝手が違うぜ。だが、今はこいつが！」　
ダウが普段から相手にしている小動物とは違い、雄叫び如きは威嚇にもならない。無論それも想定済みだ。ダウは篭から小ぶりな単発銃の一丁を抜き、岩の上で撃ち鳴らして見せた。　
《雷獣》は一瞬動きを止めたかと思うと、全身の毛皮をで逆立てながら咆哮した。至近距離での銃声は明らかに脅威と認識している――普通の羆(ひぐま)魔獣であった時に《マタギ》に追われた記憶などがあるのか。何であれ、この瞬間においてそれは、彼が狩られる側に回った証に他ならなかった。
　　「ハハッ、強がるのもここまでだぜ熊野郎！　次はこうだ！」
岩から岩へと《森の遊人》伝来の体術を駆使して飛び移り、雷撃を躱(かわ)すダウ。彼は撃ち終えた単発銃をその場の地面に突き立て、そして二丁目をすぐさま撃ち放つ。
《雷獣》が苦痛の声を上げる。二発目は威嚇射撃ではなかった。しかし、十数アージュの距離であっても、球体に過ぎない銃弾では、その分厚い毛皮を穿つには至らなかった。
《雷獣》はダウに反攻の雷撃を放つ。だが、この反撃がダウの身体を焦がすことは叶わなかった。
　　　「……マジで上手くいきやがった！　やっぱりサユは天才だ！
こんな避雷針、おれには思いつかねぇ！」
ダウを守ったのは、地面に突き立てられた二丁の単発銃であった。撃ち終えた単発銃の銃身を避雷針とする事で《雷獣》との近距離戦を可能としていたのだ。
　　「こいつぁ良い！　弾の数だけ避雷針がありやがる！
おら、《森の遊人》の本気を見せたるぜ！　フォーウ！」　
銃を地に突き立てた分身体も軽くなり、より軽快に《雷獣》を翻弄するダウ。彼が《雷獣》の周囲に円を描くように機動しながら追い立てる先には、壁に挟まれたもう一方の山道がある。「サユ、そっちに行ったぜ！　奴さん、所詮はケダモノだ！」
「こっちも準備万端。ダウ兄、そのまま追い込んで」
反撃に備え帯電しながらも、狭い一本道を疾走する《雷獣》。しかし彼はその先で突如として障壁に阻まれ、噴出した膨大な火花と白煙に包まれた。
　　　「かかった……！」
《雷獣》の行く手を阻んだもの――それは、通路の左右を挟む壁に打ち込まれた、幾本もの矢であった。矢を支点に形成された直線状の力場が交差し網目状となり、それに沿って空気中の水分が凝結していたのだ。
　　　「この数を同時制御するのは初めて……
それでもやってみせる！」
《凝空(ぎょうくう)の筒》の力とサユの力量によって作られたそれは、まさに“霧の檻”とでも言うべきものであった。“霧の檻”を突破しようとすればするほど、《雷獣》は高濃度の水分による漏電を強いられ、そのショートで自らを痛めつけてしまう。
　　「退路もこのまま……！」
サユは続いて更なる矢を《雷獣》の後方に打ち込み、《凝空の筒》を発動させる。自ら発した雷撃に侵され悶える《雷獣》は後退に思い至るも、既にその道は絶たれていた。
　　　「うっしゃあ、まずは足止め成功だ！
流石はサユだ、このまま作戦通りに行けそうか！？」
　　　「長くはもたない……でも、シュンランの合図までなら……！」
進むも退くも“霧の檻”。しかし《雷獣》は如何に古代遺物の力を得ていようと、野生の獣。降伏の概念は無く、生存本能は万物に勝る。
《雷獣》はたとえ自らの力に焦がされようとも生きる可能性を選択した。絶え間ないスパークに身を曝し、無秩序な唸り声を轟かせながらも“霧の檻”への体当たりを敢行し始めたのだ。「畜生、奴さんヤケクソになりやがったぞ！」
　　　「シュンランの合図はまだ……これ以上もつかどうか……！」
サユのボウガンに据え付けられた《凝空の筒》は《雷獣》の漏電に同期するかのように、輝きの規則性を失い、時として青い光が弾ける。負荷による霊力漏れだ。これ以上“霧の檻”に力を注げば、暴発がサユを傷つけかねない。
　　「よし……無茶は兄貴に任せろ！」
　　「だ、ダウ兄！？」
　サユが傷つく可能性――ダウが行動を起こさぬ理由は無かった。ダウは《マタギ小屋》で調達したなめし革にガラス粉末と、自身のペイントと同様の樹脂を塗布した“絶縁体ローブ”とでもいうべきものを腰に巻いてきていた。それを頭から被り、同様の素材で作られたグローブを嵌めた彼は、“霧の檻”に飛び込み、《雷獣》へ肉薄する。弾ける閃光にローブを焦がされながらも、ダウは《雷獣》と同じ土俵に立ったのだ。
　　　「ダウ兄、流石にそれは……！」
　　　「サユの作った檻ん中だ、何も怖がるこたぁねぇ！
さあ、とっておきをくれてやるぜ、《雷獣》さんよ！」
ダウは《雷獣》に躍りかかる。その絶縁体のグローブを以て拳を叩き込む。体表に絶縁体の拳を叩きつけられた《雷獣》は打撃自体が致命傷になる事こそ無いが、更なるショートを誘発する攻撃の連続を受け、余裕を見せ続ける事は出来なかった。「はは、やっぱり銃よりこっちのが性に合うぜ。
よし、出し惜しみは無しだ！　フゥゥウウウウウ……」
ダウは《雷獣》が怯んだ隙に大地を踏みしめ、全身の筋骨をバネと化し躍動させる。そして、山に満ちた気の循環に同化するが如き呼吸法が臨界を迎えた時、それは放たれた。
　　「《シン》！」
ダウが大地を蹴り、彼を中心に震える空気を雪が可視化する。刹那に放たれた拳の一撃は、《雷獣》に命中するや、その巨体の重心を大きく揺さぶった。
《シン》――《森の遊人》が編み上げた体術の、一つの極致である。“心”と“芯”、そして“震”や“神”など複数の意を持つこの奥義は、全身の筋肉と骨を一つのバネとして完全に同期させる事で、下半身と上半身双方から生み出された打撃力を一点に集中させるのだ。帰るべき場所を持たず、旅を続ける中で生き残るために受け継がれた先人の知恵である。
　　「ダウ兄も流石……！　《シン》も様になってきたね……！」
続いてサユは大きくよろめいた《雷獣》に、壁の上から幾本もの矢を射かけた。矢を受け、体勢の立て直しを阻まれた《雷獣》の喉元に見舞われるダウの追撃。後ずさりする《雷獣》は背後の“霧の檻”を気にする間も無い。再び自らの力に焼かれる罠に捕らわれてしまう。
　　「致命傷にならずとも、一応の牽制にはなってる……！
　ダウ兄はまだいける？」
　　「ああ、と言いたいところだが、グローブの方が逝っちまった。
すまんが長くは戦えねぇ！」
　　「……わかった、陽動に徹して。ここからの攻撃はわたしが」
とはいえ、サユは《凝空の筒》をフル稼働させている状態だ。果たしてダウの《シン》にも頼らず射撃のみでどこまで《雷獣》を牽制できるのか……サユとて確信は無かった。
だが、間も無く二人は自分達の粘りが実を結んだ事を実感した。高地の空に響き渡る、その低さにも関わらず力強く、どこまでも通り行く重低音。それは二人が一つの役目を完遂しきった証であった。
　　　「法螺貝……シュンランも準備を終えたよ！」
「ハッ、あの野郎待たせやがって！
だが、お陰様でこっちも柄を立てられたってもんよ！
サユ、今一度おれらの意地であいつを唸らせてやろうや！」「勿論……！」
サユは壁を降りると同時に、“霧の檻”の山頂側を解除する。合流した二人は山道側の“檻”を背に、《雷獣》の背に更なる牽制攻撃を叩きこむ。
“檻”の一方を解除し負荷を減らしたサユに至っては、《雷獣》の身体に打ち込んだ矢に直接水分を凝集させて攻撃するほどの戦いぶりだ。そう、作戦の次の段階は山頂に戻るよう追い立てる事。万全の備えで構えるシュンランの待つ山頂に。
まさにこれぞ《巻狩》。
　玉座が墓標に変わる瞬間。その時がために、二人はひた走る。
獲物を追い込むその先に待つ仲間が、未来を掴むと信じて。
　　続く