Chapter 930 – Water Knows the Answer – No, It Is the Answer Itself.

000

The rooftop of a mysterious castle spread out on top of a huge wall.

Using the watchtowers, spires, and hemispherical shapes as a stepping stone, Cleon rushes forward at lightning speed.

A strong flash of course fell towards the place where he had been stepping a moment ago, turning the place black.

A curse embodying plague and death leaves an impact and contaminates the place, even if it is not a living being.

If it had reached there, Cleon would have been melting and spewing blood all over his body by now.

Cleon and his party run across the wide battlefield above the castle.

After destroying the ceiling according to Cleon’s strategy, the party burst out of the room and entered the fantastic castle where the king who once ruled this land lived.

Above the ceiling – a place that could properly be called the rooftop – was turned into a stage for fighting.

No, I guess I should say that it was inevitable.

The one they are fighting around is a witch whose body is made of straw that has grown into a huge size.

Her appearance was so grotesque that it could hardly be called a witch, and it would have been more difficult to find a place where she could be called a ‘woman’.

In any case, her witch’s body had already broken the ceiling and swelled repeatedly as if she had thrown off the chains that bound her body, reaching a height of over 15 meters.

She had one leg that would fill the entire chamber, so she would have had to get out of there if she didn’t want to be crushed to death.

Thanks to this, the body that protruded from the castle room could be seen as something moving even from afar.

To see her up close, you have to lift her head and look up into the sky to see her terrible face.

In addition, her body, which continued to grow larger over a short period of time, gradually became like a monster.

It automatically reminds me of Elesia’s ‘Jeolgyesu’ and Humbaba that I fought at the academy.

Cleon was slowly getting used to fighting such a huge enemy.

Even though I don’t think it was my intention.

[Is this really the right way? Coming out of the room… Fighting a witch who has grown so huge.]

The scaffold held in Ninianne’s hands – no, that’s what Chopper muttered as he watched them.

Although the witch was preoccupied with dealing with Cleon and her companions, she still had the power to control the functioning of her execution platform.

Therefore, there were still chains made by the witch on the execution platform, but they had first been moved outside the room by Niniane, so that they were at least some distance away from the battlefield.

“I don’t know.”

To Chopper’s question, Niniane answered that way.

She is just faithful to her role as a castle guide and maid.

When guests come to visit, she is there only to guide them and get them to the places or people they need to be.

Even if it is a request from her guest rather than the owner, she fulfills that role when asked to guide her.

What she was asked by Cleon was to take ‘Chopper’ to a safe place.

The only way out of the council room, where the door had disappeared due to the witch’s magic, was the ceiling, and at the same time as her group burst out of the room, she also came out of it, taking Chopper with her.

Naturally, once she left her room, she didn’t need to keep the weapon with her, so she had already returned it to its original owners.

Thanks to this, the fox handed over from Cleon was stored in the remaining space in the bag, and Vuvre was also protected next to it.

Chopper looked back at Ninianne.

The only part of the body that could already move was the pyramid with the eyes on top of the sphere, but it was fortunate that even that could be moved.

[Yes… I guess so. Right now, you are a maid fairy who guides the fairy castle, nothing more or less.]

“Yes. I have received orders from His Majesty the Fairy King to fulfill that role faithfully.”

A doll-like being that faithfully carries out only the given orders.

The reason she became like that was because of the three fairy nobles, including herself, and Dorothea.

Therefore, there was a hint of guilt in her chopper’s voice when he spoke to her.

＂But…＂

Ninianne brought one of her fists up to her own chest.

She spoke while supporting the heavy and large scaffold with just one arm.

Thanks to this, that part of her clothing wrinkles a little under her fist, but she makes a quiet breathing sound as if she doesn’t care.

[‘But’… What?]

When her chopper asked as if she didn’t know why she stopped speaking, Ninianne answered her.

“No. It’s hard to express these feelings because I’m not used to them, but… If you look at the scene where they are fighting His Majesty the Fairy King – no, the witches who were wearing his shell. Strangely enough, I feel something warm rising from deep within my chest.”

[…

Chopper didn’t respond to her words.

After all, she is a special being.

Even after giving away her feelings, being taken away, and losing everything, deep inside her, she still had the mindset of being a king.

If so-

Chopper was determined.

Even if she makes this decision, she will no longer be who she was before.

There is no doubt about doing the right thing.

And- that right thing will definitely lead to her as well.

[Niniane. There is something I want to give back to you. In the end, she didn’t get it back from the witch. If I had it…]

001

“Ah, really! This magic doesn’t work at all! What happened to that monster!”

As Lila leaves a comet-like trail in the sky, she lets out an exasperated scream.

Her body has already turned into flame and is free from the restraints of gravity.

This was because she had changed from a physical body to a natural flame element, and her appearance must have already been familiar to the party.

However, even with her enhanced fire magic, the witch was able to copy the same spell with her special reversal just by stretching out her finger.

There is nothing more frustrating to her than not being able to use her own magic.

Therefore, it was okay to turn that stress into magical energy of rage and ignite her fighting spirit, but Cleon thought to himself that it would be good if she did not take out her anger on herself for no reason.

Therefore, her main role is to distract the witch’s concentration and to be an aerial command center using her ability to fly freely.

In decisive battles where the entire party participates, she is always the one who takes on the role.

“Lila, it’s okay here. Toward Kuon…”

“That said, Kuon is doing well on his own. Look.”

Cleon said this because he was worried that Kuon, who was not used to close combat, might fall while jumping on top of her rooftop, but Lila raised her arm at Cleon’s words and pointed in the direction where she was.

Then, there, Kuon, Amelia, and Sasha were standing together on one roof, dealing with the scarecrow.

“Sasha! 3 o’clock, curse of corruption!”

＂Oh, yes, yes!＂

When Kuon’s voice rang out, Sasha, who had been pulling the bowstring of her bow, quickly changed her direction and fired an arrow mixed with divine magic towards that place.

It is a magic arrow that Amelia created by infusing her power, but originally Sasha could not have made it.

If Amelia, who lacks long-range attacks, and Sasha, who has little ability to counter the witch’s curse, work together, they can make up for each other’s weaknesses.

And, while Sasha and Amelia focus on defense, what does Kuon do in the meantime?

That was, to attack the witch without moving from the spot and with the support of two other people.

Kuon himself was able to realize from the previous battle that he was still lacking in close combat skills.

So for now, let’s stop forcing close combat.

Considering the difference in physique between the opponent and the limited space where one could step, it could be said to be a wise choice.

So instead-

Clink, the armor on her body makes a sound as it clashes with each other as her body shakes.

Kuon’s gaze is straight ahead.

She was facing the huge witch standing in front of her.

She is the antithesis of those witches.

A saint and a warrior. And what she was holding in her hand was the Holy Sword of the Sun.

Spewing flames that destroy negativity, her great sword is raised proudly and high as if piercing the sky.

And – a flash!

Following Gallatin’s vertical slashing trajectory, a powerful slash of flame, like the wings of a phoenix, flies towards the witch.

‘Flying slash’.

For those who can use both magic and swordsmanship, whether they can use those skills speaks to the difference in the skills of the swordsman.

He reached a level that even Albain of the past could not reach, not through magical power control or swordsmanship, but through communication with the holy sword.

All she did was give her Galatin her own power and slash with her sword from top to bottom with all her might.

A heavy greatsword accelerates even more if you rely on gravity, and can be struck down with force even with the power of Kuon.

Moreover, even if she is weak in close combat, it is possible to see and imitate simple movements like this.

Bang! And it was almost at the same time that Kuon’s sword fell to the ground and the slash of flame flew through and touched the witch’s now gigantic body.

Although she ignores other people’s attacks to a certain extent, if there is one attack that even such a witch cannot ignore, it would be Kuon’s slash, which she is not very compatible with.

That’s why she focused on targeting her Kuon side, but the reason Amelia and Sasha stuck with her was to protect her, who had the most effective power.

＂Fucking damn, damn it!＂

When her slash came, the witch once again had to use her entire body to block it.

The defense of black magic and the cushion made of straw were cut like pieces of paper in front of the slash of flame.

With her gigantic body, evasion is impossible. What she can do is to reduce the surface area to which she can be hit as much as possible, and then cut it out on her own.

It was just a matter of offsetting the damage by taking advantage of her body becoming gigantic.

[Do you feel anything when you see that?]

“… As expected, Kuon is amazing.”

After hearing the words of Galatea, who is witnessing Cuon’s activities, Cleon speaks while looking somewhere in the distance.

In reality, neither Galatea nor Caliburn were able to properly fight against the enemy in front of them, and in addition, Slash was unable to show his full power due to lack of blood.

To be honest, for someone like Cleon, he was an opponent that could only be said to be at a disadvantage.

[That’s not it! I have to work harder too! That’s right!]

“Since when did you become such a passionate character? What. Well, I will do what I can.”

[Because of the structure in which Cleon must be active so that I can also be active, there is nothing I can do about it! Because I also want to beat up that woman! She must have knocked me and Cleon off…!]

Surprisingly, she has been like that many times before, but she seems to care too.

Thinking about taking better care of Galatea from now on, Cleon sighs, taps the ground with one toe, and pushes his foot deeper into the boot he is wearing.

“Lila. How many meters are there to the scheduled point?”

＂About… About 5 meters.＂

When Lila spoke with narrowed eyes, Cleon nodded and answered.

＂Slowly…＂

When Cleon spoke as if it was time to carry out her own plan, Lila still looked a little uneasy.

“Will it really work out?”

“No matter which side it is, the magic power on that side is close to infinite, right? In that case, it is inevitable that the regular method will not work.”

As Cleon says so, he returns Caliburn to its sheath and injects dark magic into Galatea.

“But… It can’t be helped.”

Lila recalls Cleon’s premonitions at times like these and how her strategies rarely go astray.

Then he climbed high into the sky to get out of the range where Cleon could swing his sword.

“Then Galatea. Let’s try to follow the plan. As you probably know, I’m not ‘attacking’ him this time. It’s about feeding them.”

[I don’t feel like it, but if it’s a strategy, there’s nothing I can do…]

Galatea did not complain at Cleon’s words, but she let out a small sigh.

And as usual, according to Cleon’s will, he concentrated the dark magic accumulated in his body.

Normally, Galatea’s role would have been to unite Cleon and his consciousness, hone his magical power and turn it into a giant blade, but this time it was different.

As if to act as a sprayer to spray water on plants, that was the role that Galatea had to play this time.

[The injection angle has been adjusted… We made it possible to absorb magic power with as little resistance as possible. You can scatter it at any time.]

＂Okay… Then-!＂

Cleon heard her words and lightly swung the arm holding Galatea.

Then, something like a black mist spread out from Galatea and flew towards the witch, who was concentrating on confronting Kuon and not even paying attention to her.

Then, the witch may not have noticed in the frantic attack and defense, but the widely dispersed black magic power is absorbed by the witch.

As a result, not only did she recover from the wounds she suffered from Kuon, but her body became even larger.

No matter how you look at it, it was not a good result for the party.

＂Good.＂

But when Cleon saw that, she muttered that.

＂Keep going…!＂

After that, Cleon channeled as much magical power as possible towards her at once.

If we take the time, it will only make it difficult for the other three people.

Even more concentrated black magic flows towards the witch.

Then, no matter how much attention she devoted to fighting Kuon, she would notice the abnormality.

Because her eyes are growing higher, her body is regenerating, and her magic is recovering.

＂What…?＂

That’s why she looks straight at Cleon.

“What are you doing? Why is she channeling her magic towards me? Are you betraying your colleagues?”

To her question, Cleon shrugged his shoulders and answered her.

“What. A tall woman is my ideal type, so I just wish she was a little taller.”

＂He’s not even funny… Well. The story of making you a new fairy noble is still valid. If you surrender and become my side…”

“Ah. That is rejection.”

Cleon interrupts her witch’s words and continues.

＂What?＂

“That’s a rejection. Because the game has already been decided.”

The witch frowns at Cleon’s words, so she points all ten of her arms towards Cleon.

And she loaded each of her fingers – all 50 of her fingers – with different curses and black magic, and she began to prepare to pour them out on Cleon.

＂Okay… You have to pay for the crime of playing with a woman, right?＂

“Female? … Just look at your reflection there and tell me.”

Cleon doesn’t even prepare to avoid her, and speaks to her coldly while looking at her.

＂… Where?＂

＂Above your head.＂

The moment after Cleon said that.

Her head, which grew in size in an instant, touched the surface of the lake below the castle.

＂-!?＂

The witch raised her head in astonishment and saw that her own head, touching the surface of the lake, was so high – no, it was low.

“I thought you were on your guard too. “You’re not used to suddenly growing taller, right?”

From the point where it touches the lake, strength drains from her body.

This is because the magic of the previous Fairy King remained in her lake, blocking the witch and denying beings like her from approaching.

“Oh, you idiot…! No way, what you were aiming for was- Ugh…! If you don’t wake up…!”

She tries to bend her back to somehow keep her own head from touching the water, but-

Even if you put in effort, you are embarrassed that things don’t work out.

“Your head will be a little heavy.”

Lila will talk to her like that.

＂An inverted gravity pulling from the castle where your feet touch. And – the ordinary gravity that exists in this Fairy Incense. Because they are pulling you from both sides.”

There wouldn’t be a problem if she were only caught by gravity on one side – but thanks to her body becoming so huge, there are parts of her body that are free from the influence of the reversed gravity of the sexes –

A force that felt like it was being grabbed from both sides and stretched was applied to her, causing her head to rise and be pulled towards the lake.

“No! This lake is not allowed! The body, the technique! Aaaaa… Aaaaa-!!”

The face of a witch screaming.

However, she was unable to control her growth, and soon her head was completely submerged in the lake, and all she could hear was a voice struggling in the water.

“This is water torture prepared for you, whose weakness is fire. I think it’s quite merciful.”

Her Cleon muttered that and smiled wryly as he watched her submerge in the water.

[I don’t know which one is the villain~]

Although none of Cleon’s party nodded at Cali Byrne’s words-

In their hearts, everyone agreed.