Episode:19 Clash
While bouncing around like a flea to avoid the monster woman's repeated
"You're such an annoying little pest! Just die already!!"
The magical attacks unleashed by the enraged woman were all poorly refined in their magical formula, making it easy to read their trajectories and dodge them, or deconstruct them by altering their magical structure.
However, her defensive coating is multilayered, and even if a few layers are shattered, they will be quickly repaired.
With this, while I won't lose, I also won't win... No, if it turns into a drawn out battle, there's a high possibility that I'll be overpowered due to the difference in magical capacity.
(Should I take a gamble here...)
When I unleashed a barrage of
Without missing the opportunity, I charged into her embrace with momentum...! With all my might, I swung the machete at her skull!
(Ouch!!)
With a dull metallic clang, a strong recoil reverberates to my hand through the blade that was deflected by the thick defensive layer.
It feels like I swung a metal bat down hard on a telephone pole or a big rock...
Damn, my hands are stinging and hurting...
"I caught it!!"
"Huh?!"
In a moment of impulse, my arm was suddenly grabbed by her... Her eyes, hard, cold, and seemingly insane, locked onto me...!
"This is the end, you little brat."
The palm of her hand pressed against my face began to exude a sinister aura... The protective coating guarding me started to sizzle and melt...!!
This is seriously bad!
I desperately flail my body, trying to escape her restraints, but it doesn't budge at all... At this rate, really...
(I'm going to die!!)
At the moment when the
Her technique started to go out of control, and in the momentum of the heat ray being shot back at her dull gray face, the monster woman and I were both flung in opposite directions.
"Kai! Don't let your guard down!!"
"Erika...!"
The warm presence that supports my body, which was about to tumble off the roof of the train... it's Erika!
My voice trembles involuntarily with surprise and relief.
It seems that Erika has cast a counter-spell against the "Heat Ray Magic."
"Ugh, what the hell is this...?!"
The face of the monster woman, who had been directly hit by the backlash of the
"Erika, how's your injury...?"
"Ah, it's fine. More importantly, how are we going to defeat her..."
The look of urgency on her face, the unchanging state of the battle... But why?
Just feeling her warm body next to me brings a strange sense of reassurance and strength.
"Erika, I have a plan."
"Strategy?"
"Ah, I just attacked her, and I figured out roughly how much magical energy it takes to break through one layer of her barrier."
Roughly speaking... well, if I concentrate on this sword for about two minutes, no, a minute and a half, I could channel enough magical power to pierce through that barrier and take her head off.
"Kai, that's too dangerous... Just now, you were almost hit directly by his heat ray. If you had taken it head-on..."
"I know. But that's about all we can do to break through. So, Erika, I need you to buy me some time while I gather enough magical power to strike her down."
Erika's profile, now by my side, was filled with anguish, but it was utterly serious.
The earlier flustered and blushing demeanor is nowhere to be seen now.
"Erika, there's no time left. Before she recovers from the earlier
"Got it, Kai. In that case, thirty seconds will do. Can you buy us some time? If so, I can completely hold her off for about two minutes."
"Well, if it's just that much... leave it to me!!"
I grinned and dashed over to her.
She was already recovering from the shock of the accidental explosion, and upon seeing me, her eyes, now black and white, glinted with intensity as she mindlessly unleashed several blasts of
I can't help but be impressed that she doesn't run out of magical power with such a inefficient method of casting spells.
I dodged her attacks with the agility of an acrobat, attempting to counter with spells like "Thunderbolt Magic" and "Air Hammer."
She doesn't avoid it at all and tanks them face on.
What an incredibly sturdy and resilient protective shield!
"Don't you think the way this 'Empire' operates, the way the world operates, is strange?"
Huh? What's with the sudden interrogation ?
Suddenly being spoken to by her, I was a bit bewildered.
However, neither she nor I will let up on our magical attacks.
On my back, the shock from her unleashed
"You were called Kai, right? The son of the bankrupt Viscount family, the Toudo family, weren't you?"
"You seem quite knowledgeable. It's an honor to be known even by a thug like you, a terrorist."
"Don't you think it's strange? No matter how much you serve the country, your house can be demolished over money issues, and you can even be turned into a slave to pay off debts. Isn't that the rotten state of the world?"
[Note: a very happy slave;) ]
I didn't answer that and unleashed the Spirit Water Blade at her neck.
The shock from the water cutter created by magic causes the monster woman's body to recoil slightly and stop moving, but it is blocked by her protective coating, preventing any fatal injury.
Her rambling monologue continues.
"My organization, the 'Crimson Wolves,' also includes fallen nobles like you. Why not join us and move from being part of the side that maintains this rotten world to the side that changes it? Isn't that the true duty of a noble—noblesse oblige?"
The
(Noble duties... huh)
It's not that I don't have doubts about the way this "Empire" operates.
Having lived in a world like "modern Japan," which is the epitome of being oblivious to the realities of war, the stability of the world under the hegemony proclaimed by the "Empire" sometimes seems too bloody to me.
But... when I think of my mother who died protecting this country, Kanade who strives to be a guardian of the "Empire" and the world, and my classmates from military school, I can't even think of betraying them. Besides...
"I have no intention of denying your ideals."
"Then, you too..."
Sorry, but I'm just a materialistic guy. Since I was a virgin in my previous life, I decided that in this life, I would rise to success and live happily with cute wives...
And above all! I can't team up with someone who would hurt a woman I love!
"That worthless guy..."
She threw me a look of contempt, as if he had slipped into a cesspool or something.
Nice, huh? It's been a while since I've been in a world where I can be hit with such straightforward negative emotions.
The previous world... it makes me recall the regrets and frustrations!
"Kai! I'm ready!"
From behind, I feel a wave of magical power that gives me goosebumps.
I immediately jumped down from the passenger car's edge and hung onto the side of the train.
――＜Ice Magic＞――
The magic unleashed from Erika's staff instantly froze the surrounding air, enveloping the area in a breath-stealing cold.
The silver storm, boasting a power so formidable it could be likened to the cold of Cocytus in the lowest depths of hell, instantly enveloped the monstrous woman and dragged her into the icy world without a word.
The frigid wind howls, and the only sound that echoes is the cracking of the frozen air.
I was hanging off the end of the train, and with a burst of momentum, I returned to the roof... and I couldn't help but gasp at the unimaginable sight.
(This girl is ruthless... Even though she's on our side, she's quite terrifying at this point.)
In front of me stood the figure of a monster, trapped in a thick pillar of ice.
Her entire body was covered in thick ice, frozen pale and unable to move.
Erika's freezing technique completely immobilized the and encased her body in ice.
However... if it were an ordinary human, they would have perished by now, but the monster woman is glaring at me resentfully from within the ice.
Since being trapped in it, cracks had already started to appear on the surface of the ice pillar in just a few seconds.
It seems like there's no time to be dazed.
I let out a deep voice, pumped myself up, and with all my might, continued to pour magical power into the blade while holding the mountain sword in a raised position.
The blade, suddenly infused with a massive amount of magical energy, began to vibrate at an imperceptible speed, scattering incandescent steam as the power had nowhere to go.
Thirty seconds left... twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven!
"Don't underestimate us! You pampered scum of the privileged class!!"
Most of her body was still encased in ice, but her face was already breaking through the ice.
Fifteen seconds left! ... Fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten!
I can hear the sound of ice shattering. But, still... still, the magical power is not enough!
Five seconds left! ... Five, four, three, two, one!!!
"Don't eat me...!!!"
I swung down the enchanted blade, aiming for the neck, as if performing a powerful diagonal slash...!
When the blade hits her protective coating, it starts making a high-pitched sound like glass shattering...!
With each layer of the protective coating that breaks, a nauseating smell like burnt rubber pierces my nose.
"I'll kill you!!!"
The beast-like roar and the sound of ice shattering... Has she already broken that thick ice pillar?!
Although the lower half of the monster woman was still frozen, her upper half was completely free...!
This is... faster than I expected! Not good!!
She started to twist my neck with her strong arms, putting all her strength into it.
The terrorist had imbued her arm with an absurdly powerful magical energy, and the protective barrier around my body was already starting to scream in response to the intensity of that magical heat.
"Kill! Kill!! I'll kill you!! You damn noble!!"
"Just hurry up and die already, you damn woman!!"
The moment the last barrier protecting my body vanished, his attack grazed my shoulder!
Directly hit by the magical heat ray, a sharp scorching pain runs through my entire body...!
However...!
Due to excessive magical power reaching its critical point, the partially melted blade pierced through the final defense membrane and touched her neck... an explosion and shock like a volcano erupting right next to my ear...!!
I had put all my weight into the slash, and with that momentum, I ended up crashing onto the roof of the passenger car.
…Plod
A dull thud sounds from behind.
Crawling on all fours, I turned my body... and there was the head of that monster woman.
Did we win...?
"Don't you dare lick me, you noble brat..."
Hey, hey, are you still breathing?! Are you a cockroach or something?!
The severed head glares at me with intense hatred.
No! On the contrary! From her head, something like crustacean legs began to sprout, and he started to move with a rustling sound.
Its body is still flailing around, searching for the host's neck. It's the most disgusting thing imaginable, but... it seems like this isn't the time to be saying such things.
Probably... if her head reaches his body, she will be revived.
If all the hard work we put in with Erika ends up going to waste... if that happens, we won't have even a one in a million chance of winning.
(My body! Please! Move! Move already!!)
Using excessive magical power, my body, having taken a blow to the neck from him for just a moment, seems like it won't be able to move properly anymore.
It's ringing in my head like a bell tower.
There is no longer any sensation in my feet.
Even if I try to shout to pump myself up, the bleeding from my throat gets in the way, and I end up just bubbling like a crab.
At this rate, really...!!
"Those up top, we're going to stop suddenly now!! Grab onto something!!"
A loud, deep voice of a female engineer echoed, rivaling the rumbling sound of the train.
A sudden stop, you say?!
A few moments later... an insane amount of kinetic energy from the sudden brake slammed into my body...!
Gently, my body and the severed head of the monster woman rise... Ah, I'm dead now.
(Well, I guess I've lost my virginity in this world. If I can protect the girl I like until the end, then that's the true fulfillment for a man.)
At a time like this, I really want to see a cool running lantern, but it seems I'm just a worldly person no matter how you look at it.
While I was bitterly smiling in mid-air, prepared for death, my body was wrapped in something soft, warm, sweet, and gentle.
The screeching and jarring of the rapidly decelerating train wheels should be extremely unpleasant, but I am enveloped in a strange sense of tranquility that makes even that seem inconsequential.
Ah, this is...
"...Heaven?"
"Kai! Don't say stupid things!! I will never let you die!"
If you shift your gaze just a little... there, with her eyes filled with tears, is Erika's face.
Seriously, what kind of face is that woman making?
In the bright blue sky, the shadows of several small black flying dragons could be seen.
Probably... the Southern Colonial Army responded to the call of the spirit I released.
(Seriously. You're late to come and help...)
After confirming her safety and the sight of her rescue, the tension within me snapped, and I lost consciousness in her embrace.