Chapter 843 – Battle of Vajra -2-

000

At the place where the other party entered, they were confronting the exiled church and Mea, an official of the church who suddenly appeared.

The request Aine received from Cleon, who was the first to leave, was to first find and neutralize the cannonballs that were ready to fire.

No matter how much one entered the fortress, there was no change in the fact that if the launch could not be prevented, Asteris would be reduced to ashes.

Therefore, the first thing to do was to stop the firing of the magic incineration bomb, and it was also a kind of diversionary operation for the other party members to remain in place.

Walking around the inside of the fortress alone was a very risky task, but Cleon judged that Aine, who was good at infiltration and had a quick body, would be able to do the job.

And Cleon’s judgment was exactly right.

In order to prevent the party from invading, most of the troops in the fortress flocked there, and Aine was able to freely move around the interior of the facility.

Checking the map of the fortress that had been completed in advance based on her blueprint, she ran through the ring-shaped passage that surrounded the fortress.

Then, go inside the facility where there are batteries for firing magic incineration bombs installed in the middle, and install the magic tools you received from Laila.

The size of the fortress was considerable, but to Aine, who patrolled Asteris every day, the fact that it was a fortress that was narrower than Asteris and that it had a facility that could be rotated by simply moving forward was nothing.

Just like that, how many shells had she neutralized? At the point where she had completed half a turn, Aine had no choice but to stop her running.

The reason was simple. Because there was a person blocking her path.

Aine’s body, which had been running non-stop, was already completely heated, and even breathing sounds came out of her mouth, which was covered by her mask.

Her heart was pounding, and the feeling that even her breathing was freezing ran down her spine.

＂…＂

Without saying a word, she drew her own sword, which she had hung at her waist.

The opponent is a woman wrapped in a white blanket and wearing a hat on her head.

The flowing navy blue hair stimulates Aine’s sense of déjà vu.

“I’m going. Be prepared…!”

The other person also looked at Aine and said nothing.

Aine, she doesn’t call her name.

Now, the girl in front of her is instinctively telling her that she is not the girl she knew-

This is because he noticed the woman standing in front of him, feeling the ‘hostile life’ that she was emitting towards him.

The person standing in front of her to kill herself in this mechanical way is a different being from her ‘her self’.

Because she had changed even more than when she had met her before, Aine was able to aim her sword without hesitation.

The feet that run on the ground at pure speed do not even leave a trace.

The sword held backwards reflects light with its sharp blue blade.

A flash. The trajectory of the sword that passed while cutting the opponent without leaving the ground formed a beautiful straight line from the starting point to the ending point with no bend in the middle.

From beginning to end, the sword skills I learned from her were the same.

But, that’s why.

Aine looked back, biting her lower lip in exasperation.

There was definitely a feeling of cutting down the other person, but it was only a blanket on the outside.

Rather-

As she cried and blood dripped onto the ground, Aine looked down at her own side.

Standing motionless on the spot, holding her sword in her hand, she dodged her own blow with minimal movement and, in return, slashed Aine’s side.

And, what Aine herself was upset about was-

More than her resentment at her own inadequacy, that her own sword could not hurt her.

She was relieved that she wasn’t hurt, but she was resentful of herself for still feeling vulnerable in her heart.

This weakness threatens her life on the battlefield.

Isn’t that really what she always said?

Using the power of a half-demon, she raises her body’s regenerative power.

When the wound, which she thought was quite deep, began to heal in an instant, her bleeding stopped, and she could move without any problems.

Meanwhile, the other person ran towards us, assuming the same posture as us, as if he had designated us as a target to be completely excluded.

＇─Fast!＇

Truly a flash of light.

It would be much more advantageous to protect one’s body to raise the sword by instinct than to catch up with her eyes.

Empty! The sword that struck bounced back as if it were attached to a spring, but the opponent instead rotated his body as if taking advantage of the recoil.

The sword held in reverse is swung horizontally, aiming for the neck, in the opposite direction to the direction from which it was just attacked.

＂Keuak…!＂

Forcibly holding onto her sword with her numb hand, Aine once again held her sword upright and blocked it.

Be heavy. Since speed is also weight, it was natural for a fast sword to be heavy.

However, this heaviness is not limited to physical causes.

Every time her sword strikes and falls, Aine shakes the core of the sword she holds.

If this continues, the sword will break.

The next moment she thought she had to do something, she was barely able to stop the trajectory of her sword from digging into her own body.

Pow! And, something powerful flew towards Aine’s face.

＂Big…!＂

It was only after the flash before her eyes disappeared and flew behind her that she realized it was her fist.

With a patter, I felt blood dripping once again, the mask sticking sticky.

After rolling on the ground, she somehow managed to stand up, and as she chased after her, Aine took out her tool from her waist and threw it at her.

At the same time, she tears off the obstructive mask covering her face and focuses on the trajectory of the flying dagger.

Naturally, she dodged the seemingly empty throwing dagger, but Aine grabbed the invisible, thin wire attached to the handle of the thrown dagger and pulled it.

Then, her dagger came flying at her from behind again, and she ducked as soon as she noticed it.

Aine didn’t even catch her dagger, which just barely grazed the hat she was wearing on her head, but picked up her dropped sword and swung it at her, who had lowered her posture.

It is a natural fact that a sword struck from the top down is stronger than a sword thrust upward from the bottom.

Aine’s decision to decide that she had a chance of winning against her by widening this small environmental gap was clearly a strategic one.

Aine and her sword collided, feeling quite different from before.

However, Aine’s tension does not go away, she does as she was taught – as she was taught, then as she is –

Widely! Then, she felt something underneath her, passing her feet.

Aine could tell without even looking that it was her own leg that she was swinging, aiming for her own leg.

However, since Aine was also reading the move, she was able to avoid being hit by taking a short leap at the right time.

She was able to respond because she remembered her teachings to use even cowardly moves as long as they are effective.

At the same time, she had to somehow restrain her defenseless legs.

Before Aine’s own feet hit the ground, she lets go of her sword, and she feels it brush past her cheek.

At the same time, she pulled out her dagger, which she had for the purpose of wielding it this time –

She took the shot down on her legs, especially her calves.

Wow! And hot blood splashed onto her hand.

The clothing she wore around her body was nothing more than a piece of paper, light but with little protection.

The dagger’s blade penetrated her leg without any problem, stopping the moment it touched her bone.

＂─Aaaaa…!!＂

A crying voice came out of Aine’s mouth.

Even though it was clearly Aine who attacked.

Aine, who had landed on the ground with a cry that seemed to be filled with her anger, had to be separated from her by kicking her injured chin, which blocked her movement.

Because she had a deep wound on her leg, she tried to swing her sword again at herself, who had lost it.

＂Haa… Haa…!＂

She somehow inflicted a wound on her leg using a single blow, the little tricks she had learned, cowardly means, and all the tools she had.

She rolled on the ground like she did before, and got up from her seat, staggering on her one leg, which was barely able to move.

Only by bringing her down to this extent, can she herself fight as an equal.

Aine grabbed her fallen sword and confronted her once again.

It was clear that the longer this fight lasted, the more there would be lost.

With the teacher. With my hometown. And her own heart, all.

001

When Lila and Selena’s magic exploded at the same time, as he had promised in advance, Cleon was able to hide his body with magic and escape from the scene.

There are two reasons.

The first is to prepare for when all the incinerator bombs were not neutralized by Aine.

And secondly, as he had feared, he was concerned that as time passes, this side’s cards will be revealed, and the defending side, the Exiled Church, will be able to deploy additional power.

Therefore, Cleon was heading to the innermost part of the fortress, where the magic engine that powers this fortress was installed – the power room.

The structure of the fortress consists of an outer ring-shaped barrier area where batteries are installed, and a general area surrounding the inside.

Of course, the place where the party is now is the barrier area.

And, in order to move to the general area – you couldn’t cross it by physical flight, but had to use the transfer magic circle installed along the way.

The transfer magic circles were placed at equal intervals in the north, south, east, and west of the fortress, and each was connected to a transfer magic circle in the general area.

If so, can I go into any of them? It’s not like that if you do it.

The passageways in the general area were intertwined like a maze, so depending on the entrance, there were places you couldn’t reach, or you had to go around far away.

In that case, it was clear that if you chose the wrong place to enter, you would not be able to reach the power room in time.

Cleon drew up the route that he and Lila had created by putting their heads together and looking at the blueprint for hours.

This is something that can’t be helped, but when entering the fortress, you have to use the nearest gun port, so the first location is a kind of lottery.

As soon as Cleon came out of the warehouse, he first had to figure out which direction he was in the barrier zone.

If you jump into the transfer magic circle without knowing the east, west, south, or north, you will end up lost in the labyrinth called the fortress.

For him, the first thing Cleon checked was…

It was an ancient letter written in large letters on the wall of the hallway.

＂… Clearly, this was the character meaning east.＂

Cleon scratches out the knowledge of the ancient script that was instilled in him by Lila in a short period of time.

Of course, the humans of the Exiled Church could read the ancient script, so they probably left it behind, but they probably didn’t think that the people who invaded this fortress could read it, too.

Cleon sighed and ran down the passage from east to north.

He must have been worried about leaving his colleagues behind, but he knew their skills best.

I had no choice but to believe that nothing like that would happen to someone else.

Just like that, when the room with the northern transfer magic circle appeared in front of him in just a few seconds, Cleon increased his running speed a little.

If you go a little further, it will be possible to crash the fortress.

At the very moment Cleon thought so, was the flag turned off?

Thud! When he thinks he hears a sound, he feels something coming from behind Cleon and turns around.

Then-

＂What!?＂

Something like a huge iron ball was flying towards me.

It was so huge that it filled a wide passage.

And—

Boom!

A loud sound rang out once again.

＂Kuhuhhh…!!＂

He blocks it by pulling out Galatea and Caliburn at the same time and crossing them, but the weight of the iron ball pushes Cleon away.

Cleon himself didn’t know how far he had to push, but because the smooth floor had little friction, it didn’t stop properly.

＂Damn…!＂

The iron ball pushes in as far as you can go, and you are pushed by it.

Cleon, who thought that if things continued like this, he would end up spinning around the ring-shaped structure, he created a magical platform under his feet to stop himself from being pushed away.

Kagak! And when his foot is caught and his leg is forcibly pinned to the ground, the iron ball begins to slowly decelerate.

Soon, he continued to be pushed for a few more seconds, and when both the iron ball and himself stopped, he realized that he had traveled a long distance, so much so that he had no idea how many meters he had been pushed.

[Cleon, are you okay!?]

[It was all of a sudden~]

Both Galatea and Caliban raised their voices of concern for Cleon.

“… Ah. Are you okay? Damn it, the destination was right in front of me─＂

As Cleon said that, he lowered his two swords and tried to step back to cut down the iron ball blocking his eyes.

But-

Pajik! And if you think that something like a spark has been thrown on the iron ball, even if Cleon pulls the two, they do not fall off the iron ball.

＂Ha?＂

It feels as if it is stuck together with glue.

[Wait a minute, this feeling…]

[It’s not good~]

Both Galatea and Caliburn muttered that as if they felt something.

The next moment, the iron ball that had pushed Cleon back was trying to move away from Cleon.

＂W-what!?＂

The two swords were still attached to the iron ball, and Cleon was also holding on to them, so he tried to be dragged there, but no matter how hard he tried, the two swords would not come off.

＂Why on earth doesn’t it fall… Is it that kind of magic!?＂

When Cleon raises his voice in embarrassment, Galatea and Caliburn speak.

[This is…!]

[It’s an electromagnet!]

And— Boom.

When you think the moving iron ball has stopped, Cleon faces you.

A huge automaton looking down at us with its iron ball attached to an organ that looks like an arm.

＂…＂

He was about twice as tall as Cleon, and his massive body was literally like a chariot.

On his head was a helmet painted red, and the crescent-shaped decoration between his eyebrows looked quite impressive.

Also, the arms seemed to be quite thick so that they could move freely even with the iron ball attached, and the visible organs were emitting light and looking down at Cleon.

[Retrieve unauthorized weapons.]

When he thought that a human voice was coming from the automata, Cleon was embarrassed and tried to retrieve Galatea and Caliburn one last time.

Meanwhile, his shoulder cracked open and-

Just by looking at it, weapons that seem to be targeting this direction are deployed and aimed.

[Now, get away from Cleon!]

The next moment Galatea hurriedly raised her voice ─

Kwakwakwang!!

A sound resounds as if many fireworks were exploded.

An explosion that shakes the passage of the fortress.

What was fired from that shoulder, although he couldn’t have known it with Cleon’s knowledge, was a multiple missile, an ancient explosive weapon.

[Cleon!]

Although Galatea’s urgent voice resonated like that, it was inevitable that it would be drowned out by heavy drinking.

[… Subject’s reaction. Decrease…]

After feeling that Cleon’s reaction had disappeared in the rising smoke, the automata mumbled, and this time pulled out a mechanical hand from its back as if to retrieve Galatea and Caliburn from the iron ball.

But then.

“Don’t even think about touching those two people…!”

Thinking that the smoke was broken by something, Cleon fired a missile from close range and hit the magic barrier and another sword-

After blocking with a slash, he held his breath and then counterattacked.

Kaang!

As the high-pitched sound rang out as the slash and the iron ball collided, both Galatea and Caliburn let out an ‘ah’ sound at the same time.

The slash is also a sword made of metal.

So, naturally, it was thought that the slash would also be attached to the iron ball.

It was the same for the automata, which did not take any particular defensive stance and simply held out the iron ball.

─But.

Kagagak! And when I thought I heard an ear-piercing sound again, the slash made a deep scratch in the iron ball, and then cut the iron ball and came out to the side.

[… !?]

[W-What!?]

Galatea raises her voice as the opposite of what she expected happens, and Cleon exhales.

Then, the automata blinked and looked at the black sword that seemed to have red veins running through it, which Cleon was holding in his hand, and analyzed it.

[Material of object. Analysis complete. An alloy of rusty iron and adamantite… Has diamagnetic properties.]

“It was just as Slash said. I heard that magnetism doesn’t stick to magnets like that…”

Both Galatea and Caliban, who heard Cleon mumbling like that, were dumbfounded, but since it was actually happening before her eyes, they had no choice but to believe it.

[… Confirm that the target’s threat level increases rapidly.]

As Automata said, Cleon released his suppressed magic power and increased his physical abilities.

“Let’s deal with it quickly and let’s go. Slash.”

[I want to deal with a guy with blood!]

At the voice of the greedy sword, Cleon sighed and raised the corners of his mouth.