Chapter Forty-Two: The Ancient Town (Happy birthday, Ksm~) / Chapter Forty-Three: A Past Long Since Predestined

The moment she gripped the sword hilt, she heard a crisp snap. The blade broke in response.

LAYER stared blankly at the half of the broken sword in her hand.

Everyone stared blankly at the half of the broken sword in her hand.

"...Huh?" LAYER rarely looked so flustered. She turned to Number Two. "I really didn't use any force." Number Two nodded dazedly.

Ako and Shiko exchanged glances. "This must be... the divine sword choosing its own master, or something like that?" Ako guessed.

Shiko had already climbed beside the boulder. She expectantly tapped the half of the broken sword still embedded inside. "Kozamurai, you can come out now."

There was no response.

Things became awkward for a moment. Shiko hurriedly changed the subject. "Since you pulled it out, the sword belongs to you... But what should we do about the remaining part?" She looked at the still-bewildered LAYER.

"No, that counts as pulling it out too...? Uh, let me take another look." LAYER pinched the half of the blade stuck in the boulder. Another crisp snap rang out, and a tiny shard of blade ended up between her fingers.

Another silence descended.

"Um... considering its age, this isn't impossible..." Sayo tried to explain.

LAYER accidentally touched the boulder itself. At once, a cloud of dust exploded outward. After several deep bass notes, the dust was dispersed, revealing a huge rock—or rather, fragments of one—in front of LAYER, with the remaining half of the blade buried inside.

"...LAYER, are you very strong?" Shiko took another look at LAYER from head to toe.

She suddenly felt a little worried about Tae's future.

"I should be... at a normal human level?" LAYER glanced at her hand, then tried pushing the pillar beside her. Naturally, it did not move.

When they left,