122 – Decisive Battle (6)

[“aaargh!”]

The monster shrieked, recoiling.

[“It hurts, it hurts!”]

The voice of a girl, sobbing and asking why she was being hit, mingled with a voice that thundered, demanding who dared harm the king.

“The Light of a Hero?”

Tiria murmured.

“Was Major Rachel of the hero’s lineage?”

“And what manner of nonsense is this, now?”

“This sacred power isn’t for just anyone. It’s the Goddess of Battle’s blessing, bestowed only upon the bloodline of the hero, a force of annihilation against evil.”

Adora, snapping a bubble with her gum, muttered, “I care not for this hero business, is this power not simply our hope?”

“It is.”

“Then we must defend it.”

With those words, Adora shot forward like an arrow.

In that instant, tendrils lashed out towards Rachel. I raised my hand, summoning forth the rock. The springing crystals transmuted, as they ascended, into lapis lazuli.

I incanted the spell.

*Snap! Crackle!*

The lapis pulsed, severing the monster’s tentacles. Adora weaved through the gaps. My focus remained fixed on Rachel, so the fox sisters and Salvira intercepted any attacks aimed at Adora.

“Major, look out!”

A monstrous arm snaked around, targeting Rachel’s blind spot.

That arm, Adora’s Jindô blocked.

[“Falling Blossom.”]

*Schkt!*

Like petals adrift, the descending blade severed the monster’s right arm and leg in one fell swoop. An eerie blue-green fire, imbued with magic, flickered across the wound.

Rachel pulled out her spear and retreated rapidly alongside Adora.

The two women exchanged glances. Their expressions were complex, a blend of many things.

“What say you? A blade cleaves truer than bullets, no?”

“What are you on about?”

“If you don’t understand, so be it.”

“Keep your eyes forward. Do you desire to die from inattention?”

The monster writhed.

Though weakened, having lost effectively half of its body, it remained a grave threat.

That long tongue slithering between its fangs, those hedgehog-like spikes jutting from its head…who knows what form its next attack will take?

I glanced over the strewn corpses, assessing the situation.

“Best to deal with it quickly, before it can rampage further.”

The plan was simple.

Focus an immense torrent of firepower in one swift moment, obliterating it without a trace.

“Now’s our chance, with its mobility so greatly diminished.”

But, the monster’s condition was… strange.

[“Krrreeeaaakkk.”]

The monster twisted grotesquely.

As if a chrysalis preparing its emergence, a shell peeled away. Soon, its back split open, and from within, a vast hand covered in countless yellow eyes burst forth.

Trdddddd.

The earth shook as if the heavens themselves were being rent asunder; it was hard to keep my balance.

[“That, that’s the Demon King?”]

“Lord Demon King?”

Salbira and the vampire cried out simultaneously. One muttered that it was impossible; the other, beaming, rose to her feet.

“That’s the Demon King?”

“It’s just a giant arm, though?”

“It’s probably the Demon King’s arm! Once that shell is torn away, his true form might be born!”

The arm, towering into the sky, clenched into a fist.

What would happen next was obvious.

“Everyone, fall back to the corridor!”

Slowly, the arm began to descend, picking up speed. In truth, Salbira was deploying her webs to slow its momentum. Even without a direct hit, the aftereffects could cause injury, so we ran like mad.

Kwwaaang!

As the arm fell, as expected, debris flew everywhere. Fragments grazed my cheek.

[“Ah, Lord Demon King!”]

Turning back, I saw the vampire, still bound, walking towards the hand.

In my haste, I’d forgotten to drag her along.

[“So, you’ve finally resurrected!”]

[“Befisha! What are you doing! Get over here!”]

Salbira pulled on the rope binding her, but the vampire didn’t budge. She rooted her legs deep into the ground and looked up at the gigantic arm.

[“Do you recognize me?”]

[“That’s not the Demon King! It’s just a husk!”]

[“I know. You wouldn’t. You’re already dead, and what’s here now is just a wretched soul only partially restored. But none of that matters. Because, either way, I’m doomed to die. “]

[“Befisha!”]

[“Salbira, even if I die, I won’t die at the hands of a traitor like you, or some low-born human. A court martial? Uncovering the truth? You’re quite the comedian. What makes you think you can turn me into some kind of scapegoat, needed for you to reconcile? I’m a vampire, descended from the blood of the First Ancestor. I was once a noble princess!”]

The vampire truly intended to die.

The look in her eyes as she faced us brooked no hesitation; it was proof enough.

“Erich Ronstein.”

The vampire muttered my name in the language of the Magocracy, eyes fixed on me.

“The others I might dismiss, but you I’ll grant some credit. To use a Burn for someone other than yourself…a foolish choice, certainly, but compared to those who are all talk and shallow at heart, there’s a consistency… I like it.”

She smirked.

“So watch closely. Just as you were sincere in your efforts to save those women, I’ll show you just how sincere I am about this.”

The colossal arm splayed its hand wide. In the center of the palm, a mouth like that of a lamprey gaped open.

The hand, which had raged so fiercely only moments ago, descended slowly, deliberately, before the vampire.

“Humans and Mazoku cannot coexist. Farewell.”

The vampire was devoured by the arm.

There was no crunch, no splatter of squeezed gore.

She vanished as if nothing had ever been there to begin with.

Was the will of the Demon Lord still lingering within that alien flesh, just as it had lingered within the already-dead daughter of Admiral Dietz?

I could not know for certain.

All I knew was that one pretext for ending the war had disappeared, and that the foe before us had become even more formidable.

The arm, having completely absorbed the Vampire Princess, lunged, spraying blood.

The assault allowed for not even a moment’s respite, forcing us immediately into a defensive stance.

Salbira, face grim, unfurled her iridescent threads, binding the arm once more.

“Everyone, hold fast!”

“oooh!”

The golems grabbed onto the elongated spider silk, digging in their heels. They had to somehow restrict its movements, creating an opening to strike.

“It’s only going to get stronger!”

Time truly was running out.

Since our lives were forfeit anyway, now was the time to spend the remaining mana without reserve.

“Don’t think about what’s next! Use everything you’ve got!”

No one argued or objected. They all knew instinctively. If they failed to hold here, then this handful of strength alone would no longer be enough.

Tiria raised Vaculus high.

“———.”

Divine Utterance, a melody of the Goddess.

A lovely song reverberates within my mind. Strength surges, momentarily reviving the body, which had been dulled by the burnt offerings.

A Goddess-granted steroid.

And, with a jolt of clarity, I see it.

Just as magic stones were discovered within the monsters I’d felled, a similar thing resides within this aberration’s body.

A core.

Ordinarily, I’d need direct contact to manipulate it, but I’ve reached a point where I can manipulate rock without touching it, through surgical control.

“Erich? Are you alright?”

“…I believe I can deliver a fatal blow to that thing.”

I extend my hand.

“Kugh.”

The resistance is considerable.

So, it seems the more it resists, the more vital it is to destroy?

However, if I can somehow manipulate the mana to flow in reverse, it may not be impossible. It will require a great deal of mana, but what does it matter?

I grit my teeth and plant my feet.

My head throbs as if it would explode, but heedless, I focus all my mental power and advance, step by step, towards the magic stone that is the demon’s source.

I seized it.

Even this alone leaves my mouth parched and my legs trembling. The signs of mana depletion are unmistakable. It’s clear I won’t be able to hold on for long, so before my strength gives out, I detonate the source.

Smash!

Wooom!

A sound like a deafening roar.

Simultaneously, my arm begins to crack like plaster. With a jagged ripping, my pinky finger breaks off.

The demon lord’s arm thrashes in agony, tearing at the net Salbira had painstakingly woven, trying to charge forward. The golems attached to the net were dragged along.

“Johannes! Hold on tight!”

“I’m doing my best! Dammit, why am I suffering even in death!”

“Be grateful you haven’t become like those people!”

“What, which people?”

“The National Security agents!”

Gggrrraaah.

Whether it was due to the vampire’s abilities or something else, the already-dead agents had risen as ghouls.

“Oh, this is just getting ridiculous!”

“I’ll hold them off!”

Liyo, having emptied her crossbow, grabbed a stray rifle and kept the corpses in check.

I dearly wanted to help, but I’d spent all my mana in that last burst of focus and exhaustion was setting in.

“Hah… hah…”

“Erich!”

Tiria supported me.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… alright. But, we need to take care of that… quickly…”

“You’ve done your part. I can feel the monster weakening suddenly. We’ll handle the rest, so Erich, you rest. Okay?”

I nodded silently, unable to argue.

My consciousness was beginning to drift.

*

Since Erich shattered the core, the arrogant Other was losing its form and collapsing.

Even so, it still posed a threat.

To finish it off here, definitively and safely, Rachel realized she had to slam it with Radiance one last time.

“Woman.”

“Me?”

Rachel nudged Adora’s shoulder.

“Help me.”

“Whatever, fine.”

Here, rank and nationality were meaningless. Adora, too, gathered the last of her mana and poured it into her sword.

Rachel, risking everything, beseeched the Goddess for the maximum amount of Divine Power.

“——.”

[“Celestial Karmic Punishment.”]

The two women, uttering words incomprehensible to each other, charged towards the monster’s final struggle.

White light is light, and black light is light.

Either way, it’s blinding.

Tiria, who had been briefly watching over Erich, and Liyo, who was holding back the ghouls, were drawn to that dazzling light. They also clasped their hands in prayer.

“O Goddess of Creation.”

“———.”

Not a simple wish.

Liyo’s prayer hardened the two women’s sword-edges even further, while Tyria’s incantation imbued them with a vast amplification of divine power, and a staunch fortitude that knew no fear of the enemy.

Truly, they had wrung out every last drop.

Divine power depleted, Tyria and the fox sisters slumped, as if collapsing from the effort.

Then, two blades shimmering with captured light, flashed, cleaving through the monstrosity’s forearm.