Chapter 6
Chapter 6 The Speed
The starting position of Moroha and the rest of the rescue team was at the foot of Nokogiri Mountain .
Only those whose specialty was 《Godlike Movement》 .
A form to easily travel on the steep mountain, go round, cut in from the south and take Labyrinth overhead .
The 《Metaphysical》 camouflaged as a rocky mountain .
Tekka told them “You can get inside its body from the countless holes of all sizes at the entrance of the cave . ”
– Alright, shall we go?
Watching the fight that started with the Stronghold class at three places in Arasawa, Moroha called out to his companions .
Then entrusted Blaise with the transceiver . Once they get inside the belly of the Labyrinth, the radio waves weren’t going to pass through . It would be useless .
Blaise, who received it politely, sunk into Moroha’s shadow while bowing .
Seeing his figure completely disappear into the shadow, Moroha jumped down .
He went down the declivitous-looking steep slope as if he were sliding, using the sole of his shoes .
Haruka, Tanaka and the three people of the Internal Audit Office followed him without delay .
The three Guardian Stronghold class were attracted by the diversion forces, so they could get inside without trouble .
From this point, things depended on Moroha and company .
The entrance had the appearance of a cavern, but soon it turned into an eerie scenery .
The floor, walls and ceiling were made of rotting flesh .
When they raised their eyes, visible arteries ran everywhere . They were light sources that emitted an obscure glow and flickered with irregular pulsations .
Although lights weren’t a problem, the visibility was dim, stimulating an uneasy feeling .
Getting into the interior of a living creature made them understand with disgust rather than with their heads . *
*TN: I don’t get the meaning of the last part and couldn’t find an explanation for it, so I went full literal there .
– Ugh… . It’s more disgusting than I thought… .
Haruka grumbled . She stepped on it to ascertain the feeling at her feet .
Moroha and Tanaka followed suit .
– It feels restless, don’t you agree…?
It wasn’t to the point of hindering their actions or make 《Godlike Movement》 grow dull .
They weren’t used to that stepping feeling .
– Although it’s as the old man says, this is just…
It seemed that the adult Tanaka, who wasn’t that much perturbed by things, was a bit defeated .
– Let’s hurry .
One of the Internal Audit Office suggested and Moroha agreed .
He took the lead and went further inside .
At the end of the gentle downhill, the flesh passage branched off into two but──
– This way .
Moroha pointed to the right passage without hesitation .
This was also Tekka’s testimonial, he had said that the central part of the Labyrinth was where the people who got their souls pulled out were imprisoned .
How did he get that? That was the densest place with satana .
Now, the inside of Labyrinth was full of satana, even near the entrance .
They couldn’t feel whether it was dark or light . When they normally could .
However, Moroha strained his eyes and made a distinction .
It was easy to detect the characteristics of the opponent from the color of the prana .
Unlike prana, mana was poor in color so it wasn’t very clear .
And telling satana apart was even more difficult .
Still, Moroha focused his attention and distinguished the thin shades of color .
The satana filling the right passage was slightly darker, and with that, he decided it was the way that led to the central part .
In that way, Moroha took the lead, selecting a number of forks, with that, the rescue team progressed deeper and deeper .
The roads he wanted to go were very rarely blocked, and when that happened, he was forced to make a detour, but there were no big problems . The structure of the maze was stable . It was a proof that the diversion forces were making great efforts and that Labyrinth was spending all its time and energy on recovery .
Moroha and the others used 《Rentei》 to isolate sounds of footsteps and their presence .
It was highly likely that the Archfiend “Shade” was lurking somewhere in this maze .
If possible, they wanted to reach the captured ones without being detected .
Running and using 《Rentei》 at the same time was impossible, quick steps were the most they could do, but there was no choice .
The headless Evil Spirit class with which he fought the other day was terribly tough .
Encountering such a thing was a great waste of time .
Until now everything had gone well, but──
– Haimurkun .
Suddenly having his name called from behind, Moroha got startled .
Turning around with Haruka and Tanaka, he made the gesture of 「Shh」 by putting the index finger on his lips .
The one who called Moroha was one of the people of the Internal Audit Office──their name, if he remembered correctly──was Suzuhara .
– I’d like you to hear an extremely personal request .
Suzuhara ignored that gesture and continued talking .
They stopped using 《Rentei》 and the sticky sounds of stepping on the flesh resounded gloomily .
– Why at a time like this?
Moroha didn’t stop walking and asked in a low voice .
– I couldn’t begin to talk until I waited for a moment like this . Otherwise I would have been removed from the rescue team .
Suzuhara confessed in a depressing voice and her two companions nodded .
– Have you ever wondered whose soul is the core of “Shade”?
– ……
Moroha held his tongue .
It didn’t mean he didn’t consider it himself, but he listened to what Edward, Charles, Tekka and the others discussed next to him .
The headless Evil Spirit class was a 《Metaphysical》 whose core was created from Flavie’s soul .
Furthermore, not only the Evil Spirit class was confirmed, Shade was confirmed too .
From that, two speculations were born .
The first was: when using the soul of a 《Savior》 as the core, they became Evil Spirit class?
The second was: were the 《Saviors》 kidnapped by “Invisible” turned into Evil Spirit class?
Based on those speculations, whose soul was the core of Shade then? The answer could be narrowed down from 10 kidnapped people .
They were all talented 《Saviors》 of the leader class .
When seeing the 「fighting strength」 status, Flavie was the weakest of the ten, and because of that, a powerful headless 《Metaphysical》 was born .
“My head hurts when thinking about the rest”──Edward complained .
“Blue Knight” Boris Terry from the British Division .
“Phoenix” Graham Gerrard also from the British Division .
“Flash Sword” Leonard Van Percy from the American Division .
And “Wolf Girl” Melaine Flamini also from the American Division .
And Kashiwaba Gen’ichi, the former Internal Audit Office Head of the Japanese Division .
These five people were esteemed as the most powerful 《Saviors》, expressly among Ranks, so the Evil Spirits that had their souls as their cores would be surely troublesome .
As a result of the discussion, Edward put his hand on his forehead and stated:
『This is quite the worst-ish scenario . What Shade is using as its core seems to be Gen’ichi Kashiwaba’s soul…』
The Evil Spirit class scattered what seemed to be human intention around .
That became a big hint .
Moroha could only hear a mere shrill voice, but Tekka seemed to have heard nuances of Japanese language from Shade . A skill that was unique to a multilingual who had mastered dozens of languages in order to live 500 years and to express his love to women around the world .
In the past, there were four 《Saviors》 from the Japanese Division who were kidnapped by “Invisible” .
Among them, the person who seemed to have a strong feeling of 「wanting to hear」 was no other than Kashiwaba Gen’ichi .
– Office Head Kashiwaba is the victim of “Invisible” . Possibly he made up his mind .
The fact was that Suzuhara and the others also gathered information on their own .
During that, she got the opportunity to talk to Tekka and seemed to have learned the same story Moroha had heard .
– I… we want to save the office head . Will he be freed? If we defeat Shade?
– … If the result is the same as what happened to Flavie-san, then yes .
There was no absolute guarantee, so Moroha replied prudently .
– If so!
Suzuhara said loudly .
Her enthusiasm was transmitted . In other words, she wanted to be purposely found by Shade and fight .
Was this the reason for her pre-departure tension?
– Is he a good boss?
In response to Haruka’s simple question, Suzuhara shook her face with a bitter look .
– Honestly, he’s a detestable boss . He was someone who wouldn’t be satisfied unless seeing what is inside other people’s wallets and how they would spend their holidays .
Although it was mixed with bitterness and sadness,
– Still… he was by no means a person who had to become a monster and have his dignity as a human trampled underfoot .
She made her clasped fist quiver .
Moroha gave a glance at that and scratched his head .
(The subordinates are better people than their boss, huh…)
However, he was compelled to say he was an inconsiderate credulous person . He was sorry .
(If possible, I wish you had said this before departure…)
He understood the feelings of Suzuhara and the others . However, the highest priority should be to carry out the operation as quickly as possible and to rescue the ones who were caught .
If she had said this first, they could have discussed the subjugation of Shade freely afterwards .
– Please, Haimurkun! When I heard that you are an S-Rank who actually defeated an Evil Spirit class once and became the captain of the rescue team, I thought there was no choice!
(I give up…)
Because of Suzuhara’s words, he could see that her foundational thought that said 「Since you’re an S-Rank, you can do something about it」 was all visible .
There were no evil intentions . But that was just a mental block .
He understood well why a good adult like Suzuhara took an unthinkable action like this .
If Moroha weren’t there, Suzuhara and the others would have been cautious too, and if that was the case, they wouldn’t have lost sight of what they understood with a little thought like “carrying out the operation is more important”, and this extremely helpless conversation wouldn’t exist .
Moroha was depressed inside .
He could take it easy because he realized it was already too late .
Something was in sight of Moroha’s eyes .
The satana that filled his path suddenly became dense .
Not because they were getting close to the central part .
Someone with an absurd dense satana was approaching .
──I heard you .
Together with a telepathic-like thought, a shrill voice that felt like it ruptured their eardrums echoed, and Moroha grimaced .
Be that as it may, the appearance of the owner of the voice wasn’t captured by the eye . Haruka turned her eyes all around, looking confused .
──Let me hear more . Let me hear to my heart’s content .
The shrill voice pierced their ears one more time .
But again, neither its shadow nor shape couldn’t be seen .
No . There was a shadow .
There were shadows everywhere in the dim maze of flesh .
──Disclose all, everything about youuuuuuu!
Moroha, Haruka and Tanaka .
Suzuhara and the other two .
During that time, something jumped out of the shadow cast on the ground as if hitting a wedge .
Similar to a person but it wasn’t a person .
If compared to something, it was an incarnated silhouette .
Its body all jet black . Without facial features .
It was Shade .
It spread both arms as if to show off its own strength .
Large and sharp claws were all lumped and lined up at the spread fingertips .
Shade rotated its body and attacked Tanaka in front with its right arm and Suzuhara in the back with its left arm .
It appeared from an unexpected place and even attacked, an instant and perfect surprise attack .
– Ahyaah .
Despite Tanaka letting out a funny scream, he jumped backwards with a surprisingly brilliant defensive body movement .
– Guaaaah .
Suzuhara got the top of her shoulder to the side of her torso slashed by the claws .
Even though she fell and was supported by her teammates, her eyes directly stared at Moroha .
Even in a situation like this, her eyes sincerely said 「I leave it to you」 .
(How troublesome…)
Seeing Suzuhara, who lost consciousness, Moroha clicked his tongue in his mind . An instant when he could sympathize with Edward’s loneliness .
But Moroha reached for his breast pocket,
(Come, Saratiga…)
He unsheathed the ID Tag and put all his prana into it .
A flash of light exploded in his palm .
When he traced the engraved name of Satsuki with his thumb, the metal plate expanded and changed its shape .
A sword materialized .
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A long sword with a beautiful mirror-like blade .
A completely polished treasured sword .
A genuine holy sword that wasn’t a tiny bit different from his memories .
Moroha held his partner aloft,
– Suraaaa .
He attacked, putting white light prana in the long sword swing .
《Jupiter》 hit the side of Shade’s face that was about to go after Suzuhara .
《Metaphysicals》 were generally tough . Something like this couldn’t inflict much damage .
But the Evil Spirit class was lightweight . The instant shock stopped its movement . It interfered with the pursuit .
– Fall back .
In that instant, Moroha came close to Shade .
The glistening sword blade with prana drew a bright white trail in the air and ran, aiming at its shoulder .
Just before──it was bisected into two, Shade dived at high speed into the shadow cast on the ground .
It dodged it .
– Behind you, Moroha!
Then Haruka’s warning flew .
Moroha turned the trajectory of the sword backwards right away and connected it .
Shade emerged from the shadow of the ground as if to take his back .
A pincer attack from the front and back with Haruka .
A combination that wasn’t discussed in advance and with which Haruka worked well with Moroha .
Shade, who had tried a back attack, dived into the shadow on the ground as if giving up .
– I won’t let you get away .
Moroha roared and swung his sword, but it escaped, the point of the sword just grazed it a bit .
It dodged the pincer attack . Shade getting behind them could happen again . Being prepared was essential .
After making eye contact with Haruka, they both jumped back at the same time .
Moroha put his back on the wall and tried to take a short pause .
However, from the shadow cast on the wall, the Evil Spirit revealed only its upper body and waved its claws from overhead .
– This bastard .
– Watch out!
Moroha brought his waist down just in time, evading it, then Tanaka threw a knife at it, protecting him .
The knife pierced Shade’s right hand .
When Shade disappeared into the shadows again, the knife fell to the ground as if being left behind .
(This is difficult)
Moroha stepped slowly, gaining distance .
This monster appeared in unexpected places and at unexpected moments .
If he stayed in one place, it would come from behind .
(Where is it? What is it going to do next?)
He searched with his eyes while jumping back .
(No… this way of thinking won’t do)
He was already one step behind .
Instead of doing so, he would seize the initiative .
Shade appeared, striking Tanaka’s back and Tanaka rolled at the last moment, avoiding it .
– Blaise-san .
It was safe to come out now . Grasping the progress of the battle, Moroha shouted .
– Did you call me?
Immediately after, Blaise showed up as if emerging from Moroha’s shadow .
Because having time to talk about his thoughts was irritating, Moroha put a line of magic characters into written form .
Blaise, who read that phrase, said 「Understood」 in astonishment . Roger that .
Shade, who had failed to deliver a surprise attack to Tanaka, disappeared into the shadows again,
– I command Let there be light!
Moroha hit the magic characters written in the air with his left hand .
Ancestral Arts Dark Arts 《Flash》 .
A blinding and intense light exploded .
It filled the ceiling, walls, ground and passage fully with an ardent light .
The shadows, which had spread faintly throughout the passage, were destroyed exhaustively .
──I just want to know all the secrets of this world!
The flash emitted by Moroha was for an instant .
However, Shade had completely lost its hiding spots despite being for an instant, and without bearing it, it showed up .
Moroha followed its movements with scrutinizing eyes and assaulted it with the sword .
Shade waved its claws to meet his attack──but it was too late .
The raised right hand . It went straight down, taking the fastest and shortest route .
A slash .
Moroha cut off the right arm that Shade waved .
──I can’t hear, I can’t hear, I can’t hear, I can’t hear anything due to this paaaaaaaain
Shade escaped as it suffered in agony .
Moroha began a pursuit, but the passage had already returned to its original darkness, it had succeed in taking refuge in the darkness .
It was there ──
– In other words, my role is to be the beater on a hunt, is it not?
Without a moment’s delay, Blaise’s 《Flash》 happened!
The light drove the shadows away again, and Shade appeared suddenly as if it had been shooed away .
– We’ll guard Blaise-dono!
The two people who were guarding the fainted Suzuhara escorted Blaise together .
Without having to worry about him, Moroha could slash at Shade .
– Signal with your eyes at least!
Haruka slashed at Shade with Moroha as she glared at him .
Tanaka also followed them with knives in both hands .
The two, who were unable to react after the first 《Flash》, demonstrated they could deal with it the second time .
Shade was surrounded by three people and attacked from three sides .
Tanaka’s knives pierced its head, Haruka’s small sword slashed its shoulder and Moroha’s long sword bisected its torso .
Or so they thought .
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(I feel no response in my hands?)
Moroha gazed at it in wonderment .
Shade, who should have been hewn from three sides, disappeared as a haze .
He understood .
What Moroha and the others had slashed was its afterimage .
With this, it resembled 《Komon》, the way of walking Shiroganes used .
The 《Metaphysical》 controlled Light Techniques?
*Shivers* ──shivers ran on Moroha’s spine .
At the same time, the inside of his nose became irritably dubious .
An enormous amount of satana was imaging behind Haruka together with bloodlust .
Shade, who had made an afterimage and slipped through the siege, raised the left claw overhead and back-attacked Haruka who couldn’t understand the situation yet .
(I’m sorry)
Moroha didn’t hesitate and kicked Haruka flying .
Thanks to that, the kicking foot became her substitute .
He had no choice but to clench his teeth and concentrate 《High Durability》 on his right leg .
The five claws tore his shin and gouged five scars .
Although the wound was superficial, it was a vital part of the body . A sharp pain tormented him .
– Mo-Moroha!
– I’m okay!
The kicked-flying Haruka finally understood the situation and worried about him .
But Moroha replied as if rebuking and jumped backwards with all his strength .
The pursuit of Shade was about to approach .
The five claws raised a buzz .
Yes, the right arm that Moroha should have cut off had regenerated .
Labyrinth and the satana lines weren’t connected, this recovery was completely made by its own ability .
A black sphere emerged around the left side of the chest of Shade .
This was the central part of the Evil Spirit class . The core that stored an immense amount of satana .
The Evil Spirit class began to overflow the satana from there and performed a physical regeneration at the expense of consuming it .
Moroha jumped and stepped back .
Shade went after him .
The tip of the claws cut Moroha’s bangs, gently falling down as if dancing .
It was exactly an evasion by a hair’s breadth .
Shade didn’t have consideration and raised its left arm overhead again .
The cornered prey attacked consecutively so as to not let him get away .
– W-wait!
Haruka slashed at Shade from behind .
Since it was stubbornly fixated on the pursuit of Moroha, its composition was sliced off by Haruka .
Shade didn’t stop the chase .
However, it perfectly dealt with Haruka .
The body of the Evil Spirit suddenly split into two .
A clone . 《Donrou》 . Such word came to Moroha’s mind .
Shade α continued going after Moroha and Shade β turned around, intercepting Haruka .
──Let me hear your screeeeaams!
Moroha managed to stop the blow with the sword, but his abdomen was immediately pierced by the claws on the other side .
Haruka was completely taken by surprise and mowed down in that state; five scars were carved into her slender body .
Fresh blood danced .
Shade’s body returned to one, Tanaka threw knives to try taking advantage of it, but it ended up escaping into the shadows .
There was no recoil or anything even when using a powerful technique such as clone attack .
If Tanaka hadn’t covered them with the knives, in all probability, they would have been chased . Aside from Moroha, Haruka was in danger .
Blaise was also dumbfounded and forgot to use 《Flash》 .
– W-what do we do, Moroha…
On the verge of tears, Haruka came near him .
Moroha stood back to back and both of them covered each other’s blind spots as if to say that Shade could appear from anywhere .
– Setting 《Komon》 aside, no attack reaches him even if 《Donrou》 is used, it’s invincible . Like Tekksan .
– Bringing up our common sense to a 《Metaphysical》 opponent is irrational, isn’t it?
Moroha felt around his stomach and confirmed that the wound was superficial .
On the spur of the moment, he had concentrated 《High Durability》 there .
– Don’t crack jokes!
Haruka was also fine . The wound didn’t seem to be deep .
– On a serious note, and from my point of view, 《Komon》 is way scarier .
– Fue…?
The back of Haruka put against his back twitched .
A sort of dubious sign was transmitted across her back .
– Should I restate it in an easy-to-understand way? If it’s us──we can do something like gapless 《Donrou》, no?
– Oh…!
Once again, the back of Haruka put against his back twitched .
However, this time, motivation was transmitted across her back .
– Which way will we go, Moroha?
– From the side we’re attacked first .
– Alright . Got it .
A conversation transmitted only between them .
Both Tanaka and Blaise were perplexed .
– Please use 《Flash》 one more time .
However, when Moroha entrusted him with that matter, Blaise immediately obeyed .
It seemed that he got used to being given sudden and incomprehensible orders on a routine basis .
Light exploded, burning shadow after shadow to exhaustion .
Shade, who had lost its hiding spot, jumped out .
At the same time, it attacked Haruka .
– Like I’ll let you do it!
Moroha turned around, lined up next to Haruka, exaggeratedly readied the sword again and displayed an interception stance with Haruka .
Sure enough, Shade would try to make a clone and deal with both of them .
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– Momo-senpai .
– Yes!
Haruka moved forward first .
Her figure was divided . By 5 .
Five clones as if to laugh at Shade’s clones .
Slipping through the claws of the α and β Shades, the five Haruka attacked them with slashes .
The five Haruka immediately ran past from behind them and kept them at a distance, remaining on their guard .
However, and after she used a great technique, there was no change, and couldn’t move due to the recoil .
Shade immediately dived into the shadows, and a moment later appeared behind Haruka, taking advantage of that gap .
– Are you sure you can ignore me?
However, he was not going to let it do it . Moroha sprung at Shade from behind again .
With the same 《Donrou》, with four clones .
He vigorously slashed four places── right arm, left arm, right leg and left leg──with four slashes .
──I can’t hear! I can’t hear! I can’t hear that kind of thing at aaaaaaaall!
But Shade’s limbs quickly regenerated, it couldn’t be brought down .
It tried to swing its right arm backward toward Moroha who couldn’t move after 《Donrou》, tearing him off .
Was he in a predicament? No, this was within their calculations .
– Are you sure you can ignore me?
Haruka, now recovered from the recoil, came to back him up .
She made five clones and hit Shade . She used 《Donrou》t and immediately after she was unable to move thanks to the great technique among great techniques .
It was a high-risk Light Technique that could usually be used once .
However, when the users were two, the story changed .
If they released it alternately and covered each other’s weak spots, the theory said it could be used continuously .
Moroha learned that when fighting with the Beletskaya twin sisters in Russia .
He went back to Akane Academy, consulted with Haruka about giving it a try but it was too hard to try doing it .
If they weren’t perfectly synchronized, their cooperation would collapse, while one of them stiffened, the other one wouldn’t be in a posture to use 《Donrou》──something like that .
Moroha and Haruka weren’t twins, they thought that perhaps it was impossible to materialize .
But Moroha and Haruka didn’t give up and did special training after school .
This was the first debut of the results .
Tanaka was astonished as if forgetting he was in the middle of the battle .
– Unbelievable… . Even though the students who could master even 《Donrou》 were only you…
The untiring attempts that increased even the combination blows and combination attacks more and more beat Tanaka’s heart . *
*TN: Combination blows is the furigana reading for swift continuous attacks and combination attacks is the furigana reading for inexhaustible continuous attacks .
– Let’s keep pressing it as we are doing it in one go .
– I know that!
Moroha and Haruka attacked and attacked and attacked while making fine eye contact and minute adjustments to the timing of beginning with 《Donrou》 .
In the dim cave of flesh .
The five-cloned Haruka swung their swords, hewing Shade’s afterimage .
Without a moment’s delay, the four-cloned Moroha cornered the real body .
Without bearing it, Shade slipped into the shadow of the ground but it was brought into the open by Blaise’s 《Flash》 .
Haruka ran up the wall and went after Shade who jumped into the air and escaped .
Moroha ran up the wall on the other side, taking a pincer attack stance .
A combination that alternately released 《Donrou》 .
With it, they tried cornering Shade every second .
Shade couldn’t notice or even afford to counterattack the exchange of continuous and powerful cloning techniques .
In other words, Moroha and Haruka dominated .
Since they concentrated their attention on the essence of 《Godlike Movement》, Moroha took the lead and Haruka synchronized with him as if it were a dancesport .
It wasn’t just a mere dance, but a dance of drawn-moving swords .
The clad-in-white-prana Moroha and the clad-in-blue-prana Haruka drew dazzling light tails .
They ran on the walls, kicked the ceiling and filled the spacious cave, running about as they pleased .
That phase was practically an air battle .
Moroha and Haruka kicked no matter what was a foothold, jumbling and intersecting with Shade in the air .
Shade, who ran around trying to escape, was fast, but they still carved small wounds on it steadily .
Each time those wounds regenerated, Shade’s black heart lost satana .
(If we keep attacking steadily like this, it will be our victory)
What was not straightforward was the nuisance of the bunch called 《Metaphysicals》 .
Moroha sunk deeply into his mind and concentrated again .
However──
An unexpected situation broke out suddenly, even for Moroha .
Something flashed ahead, in the back of his field of vision .
Exactly in the direction of the road that Moroha and the others came .
Light wasn’t one of it .
Their number increased .
It wasn’t 10 or 20 . Not even 100 or 200 .
The light filled the high-ceiling wide passage .
And closed in .
They were butterflies .
Thousands of butterflies with electric bodies flapped their wings .
– Wicked Spirit species!? No, they’re small…
Tanaka was confused .
They were unidentified . Where did they come from?
No──think about it later .
He couldn’t let something like this flood him .
Moroha moved to the front to intercept them, bore the brunt of the attack and started spelling .
If those were really Wicked Spirit species, Light Techniques wouldn’t work . He couldn’t leave this to Haruka or Tanaka .
– Moroha! Behind you!
Haruka’s warning came there . A killing intent from behind .
Shade was creeping soundlessly .
Countless electric butterflies in front .
The silhouette of death behind .
A perfect and unparalleled pincer attack stance .
Moroha was driven to an inescapable situation .