Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Volume 9, 5 - Spirit Weapon

Volume 9, Chapter 5 - Spirit Weapon

Part 1

"...Here, it should be fine now."

"...Mmm... Hmm..."

Kamito picked up Ellis in his arms and carried her to a location a certain distance away from the center of the abandoned city.

These seemed to be the ruins of a massive shrine, where the ceiling was supported by stone columns on the verge of collapse.

Assigning Simorgh to keep watch outside, they stepped into the premises, only to see a spring in the depths of the shrine that was used for divine purification. Although the spring itself had long dried up, a large amount of rainwater had accumulated.

"--Water spirits, pure and clear, exorcise this filth."

Chanting a spirit language incantation and tossing in a purification spirit crystal caused the water to bubble instantly and turn clear.

Kamito laid down Ellis into the spring directly in her uniform.

"S-Sorry, Kamito..."

"Don't force yourself to speak. Conserve your stamina."

Turning his blushing face away, Kamito coughed lightly.

The drenched uniform clung tightly to Ellis' lithe body, an especially seductive sight.

Even though Kamito understood that now was not the time to turn his attention to those matters, he could not stop his gaze from being drawn to the black underwear showing underneath the drenched uniform.

"Th-This is all we can do for now as treatment. Do you feel any better?"

After all, using holy water for a bath was only emergency first aid.

If only Fianna who was skilled in healing were present. But for someone like Kamito who was unskilled in spirit magic, this was as much as he could do.

"Mmm, hmm, do not worry... Ah, ow..."

Ellis panted painfully.

Although elementalists had better poison resistance than ordinary people due to their advanced circulatory systems, unfortunately, the demon tree spirit's poison was far too powerful.

"Ooh... Ka... mito..."

Despite her irregular breathing, Ellis continued to call out Kamito's name in a hoarse voice.

In order to lessen her pain, the front of her uniform had been unfastened. Kamito's gaze was naturally drawn to the undulating cleavage.

(I-I can't let myself stare...!)

As if trying to dispel evil thoughts, Kamito shook his head.

"Your body, does it feel painful?"

"Ah, yeah..."

Ellis' body twisted in the spring that resembled a bathtub.

Biting hard on her glistening lips, she gazed at Kamito.

Then fidgeting with her fingers, she said:

"U-Uh, I hope you will not laugh, but..."

"Hmm?"

"H-Hand... Can we hold hands?"

"--Ah sure. I got it."

Kamito instantly agreed and used both hands to lightly hold Ellis' hand.

"Hyah!"

Halfway in the process, Ellis gave off a cute little scream.

"...S-Sorry! Was I too sudden?"

"N-No, I should apologize instead. It is just that, I am not used to it, holding a boy's hand..."

The skin on her hand was as delicate and tender as that of ladies of nobility. However, due to constant martial training, there were some calluses on her palm.

"Ah, sob sob... I-I cannot believe I have done something so shameless..."

"...?"

Ellis' face was as red as a cooked octopus.

"B-By the way, Kamito..."

Suddenly, Ellis looked up to face Kamito.

"Yeah?"

"Th-That Elfim girl, was she your comrade in the past?"

The fingers holding the hand tightened slightly.

"..."

"N-No, if you do not want to answer, I will not force you to speak--"

"Oh no, it's not that reason... It's just, how should I put it, describing her as a comrade is a little off."

"Not a comrade...?"

Ellis frowned.

"C-Could she be... Your lover!?"

"What kind of logic is that!?"

Kamito objected loudly.

"Hmm, not your lover, I see... Very good."

Ellis breathed a sigh of relief.

...This motion of hers caused her massive bosom to quiver, way too conspicuously.

"Muir Alenstarl, Lily Flame and I were a tactical unit of three... Back then, we had no sense of camaraderie at all."

--Or rather, very likely, none of the kids raised in that insane facility ever had any understanding of the concept of "comrades."

(However, now--)

Kamito involuntarily tightened his grip on her hand.

(...I have comrades I wish to protect.)

This was strength he had never possessed as the Strongest Blade Dancer, Ren Ashbell.

--At this time, Kamito suddenly noticed.

"...?"

Ellis' hand in his grip felt quite hot.

Her usually bright and lively brown eyes currently looked rather unfocused.

"Ellis, do you have a fever?"

Kamito asked with worry.

It was not surprising for a demon tree spirit's poison to include symptoms of fever.

But in that case, although bathing was necessary for neutralizing the poison, the symptoms were exacerbated as a result.

"Do you want to get out first?"

"...No, d-do not worry... Ah..."

Suddenly, Ellis emitted a cute little scream as her hand let go.

"...E-Ellis, what's wrong?"

"Mmm... Ah, hah, mmm..."

Ellis panted as her wet arms and legs twisted in suffering.

"H-Hey, come on..."

Kamito grabbed her shoulders with worry.

"Mmm, hyah...!"

Immediately, Ellis' body shuddered intensely.

"Ah.. Haa, haa..."

She was blushing to her ears and her breathing was a complete mess.

Wrapped in the wet skirt, her legs were rubbing against each other coyly.

"Mmm, ooh... Ka, mito..."

Looking as though her breathing was petering out, Ellis finally spoke up.

"Ellis, what is going on!?"

"D-Dunno why... M-My body, suddenly feels burning hot, huah..."

"...Could it be that the slower-acting poison is now taking effect!?"

"...Hmm, c-come to think of it..."

Ellis panted with great suffering as she tried to form words.

"Th-That Elfim girl, did say... The demon tree spirit, ooh... Amongst the poisons it concocted, huah... Uh, there is also that kind, of effect..."

"...That kind of effect?"

Repeating her words, Kamito found Ellis lowering her gaze shyly.

"B-Basically, an... A-Aphrodisiac..."

"Aphrodisiac!?"

Kamito's voice was instantly turned inside out.

...What were known as aphrodisiacs were drugs that caused people to act in lustful ways.

"...Huah, mmm... Help, me, Kami... to..."

Embracing her bosom tightly, Ellis pleaded as she rubbed her legs together.

Probably because she was suffering, her pleading eyes were moist with tears.

"E-Even if you say that..."

Kamito held his breath.

...What on earth was he supposed to do?

"L-Let it stabilize, ooh... Once this hot flash passes..."

"...!?"

Sweet breath escaped from her glistening lips.

The stern maiden knight's enraptured eyes were emanating a dangerous aura of attraction.

(...Th-This is clearly a no good situation!)

Kamito shook his head vigorously in his mind.

If he did that kind of thing to the Fahrengart family's precious daughter -- a death sentence awaited him without escape.

However.

"...Haa, haa... Mmm... Ahuu..."

"..."

Hearing Ellis' pained breathing--

"...I-I got it!"

Kamito steeled himself and nodded.

...After all, she was suffering and he could not ignore it.

Still in uniform, Kamito entered the spring and embraced Ellis.

"...I-Is this better?"

"Mmmhmm..."

Ellis nodded. Her sweet breath blew against Kamito's ear.

Her soft bosom pressed against him through the drenched uniform, accommodating in shape with great suppleness.

Kamito's face instantly went red.

"...If you're feeling unbearable, don't fight it so much."

"S-Sorry..."

Ellis obediently relaxed and leaned tightly against him.

Kamito's heart raced in response.

"...L-Let me be clear, do not mistake me for some kind of immoral woman."

Ellis whispered softly with an ashamed expression.

"...A-Acting this way, i-is all the poison's fault."

"Yeah, I know."

To help relieve the pain and suffering from the poison, Kamito tightened his arm around Ellis' waist.

"Ah... H-Harder, a little more..."

"L-Like this?"

"J-Just a bit more... Ooh, smooch?"

"...!?"

At this moment, Kamito felt a sense of numbing sweetness rush into his brain.

Ellis had begun to nibble Kamito's neck.

"Mmm, hmm... Smooch?"

"E-Ellis, this... is too...!"

Maintaining his posture of embracing Ellis, Kamito squirmed.

(...Please, my sanity, you must endure!)

Kamito closed his eyes and screamed in his mind.

Part 2

(...I-I'm saved. My sanity is mere inches from the limit.)

--After that, several minutes had passed.

Ellis was now sound asleep on Kamito's lap as he listened to her calm breathing noises.

It seemed like the aphrodisiac's effects had ended.

Because sleeping in wet clothes would result in catching a cold, she was now in her underwear with Kamito's jacket draped over her.

Despite the immense difficulties faced when taking her clothes off just as she was falling asleep, Kamito channeled the superhuman self-control he had developed through the Instructional School's training and managed to complete the task without distraction.

...That said, he did stare once or twice at the impressive contours of her cleavage.

In any case, she should recover her strength after some rest.

Placing a fire spirit crystal on the ground to give off warmth, Kamito suppressed a yawn.

The sun had just set outside, causing the interior of these ruins to become rather dim.

(...We'll have to spend the night in this place.)

As much as he wished to meet up with the rest of the team as quickly as possible, Ellis' current condition did not allow for reckless action.

"Mmm, Kamito, I will make you into a ham sandwich..."

On his lap, Ellis talked in her dreams.

"O-Of course, you are the ham, I-I am the bread, okay..."

"What on earth is she dreaming about..."

Kamito shrugged wryly.

Ponytail untied, her innocent sleeping face was truly adorable.

(By the way...)

Kamito looked up and immersed himself into a different line of thought.

(I never expected even Lily would be roped into being their teammate...)

Number seven of the Instructional School -- "Venom" Lily Flame.

Not only was she accomplished in combat techniques, she was also top class in espionage ability in the facility.

When they were teamed up in the past, she was still a girl who spoke little. However, the impression she gave off just now was much different from back then.

--Ever since the Instructional School's destruction, four years had passed.

(...In other words, I'm not the only one who changed.)

Kamito had heard that basically all the orphans from the facility had obtained protection from the Knights of Ordesia. However, amongst those that were already executing missions, the so-called "Ranked Ones" there were apparently a few whose whereabouts were unknown.

Team Inferno's commander -- the masked elementalist who stole Ren Ashbell's name, where and how did she come into contact with the lost children of the Instructional School?

"--Kamito."

"Hmm?"

Suddenly hearing his name called out, Kamito turned to look.

Dressed in her uniform, Est was approaching from a dark corner.

"Est, are you okay now?"

"Yes. Although I still need rest in order to fulfill my duties as a sword."

Depleted in power by the contamination of Forsaken Spirits, Est had apparently recovered enough to maintain human form.

Est walked quickly over and sat down lightly beside Kamito.

Her mysterious violet eyes kept staring at Kamito.

"Kamito, I am hungry."

"Yeah, it's already that time of the day."

Spirits normally did not need to eat but there were many high level spirits who treated human food as a kind of hobby they indulged in. Especially Est. Because she required three square meals a day at the Academy when together with Kamito, it did cause him some grief as he agonized over the increase in the food budget.

"Speaking of dinner, all we have is this sort of thing..."

Taking care not to wake up Ellis on his lap, Kamito took out from his uniform pocket a pill the size of a pea.

This was a drug regarded as a treasure amongst portable food for elementalists.

It was prepared from dozens of herbs and flavored with sugar and honey.

Filling, easy to digest and highly nutritious, it was known as a masterpiece.

"..."

"...Uh, Est?"

"Kamito, you don't have any food?"

Est inquired with innocent eyes.

"...I'm sorry. Right now there's only this."

...Feeling inexplicably guilty, Kamito apologized.

Due to the matter of weight, all conventional food and cooking equipment were stored in Fenrir's belly. Before meeting up with Rinslet, they had no choice but to endure.

"...I understand, Kamito."

Est nodded obediently.

"I'm really sorry. When we return to Ragna Ys, feel free to eat your favorites as much as you want."

"Yes."

Est nodded again, then said:

"Then Kamito, please feed me that snack."

Like a baby bird waiting to be fed, she opened her little mouth.

"..."

Currently, the legendary Demon Slayer was making an "Ah--" posture with her mouth open.

...How should one put it? It was cuteness overload.

Kamito coughed and surveyed the surroundings.

"...Yeah, say ah--"

Holding the pill in his fingers, he delivered it to Est's mouth.

Bite... Chew chew.

Expressionlessly, Est slightly dilated her pupils.

"...This is quite tasty."

"Really? Good to know you like it."

Seeing her offer unexpected praise, Kamito breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Est looking like that--

"By the way, Est--"

Kamito suddenly thought of something and asked.

"...?"

"Just now, when we were being attacked by those swarms of Forsaken Spirits, you were trying to say something. Yeah, just before you changed into a sword, Est--"

'...Tsk, these guys are not targeting me but Est!?'

'Apparently so, Kamito. Very likely, I--'

...There had been an exchange like that.

"What were you talking about back then?"

Hence Est nodded.

"Yes. Back then, the reason the Forsaken Spirits attacked was most likely because I am a spirit weapon -- that was what I wanted to say."

"...A spirit weapon?"

...An unfamiliar term.

(No wait, I remember from the lectures at the Academy...)

Kamito tried hard to recall his supplementary lessons with his teacher Freya.

(...Right. I remember it was an umbrella term for powerful spirits mobilized during the Spirit War.)

"Est, is it that kind of spirit weapon?"

"Yes. That is what fragments of my memory tell me."

Est nodded again.

The reason why she acted so ambiguously was because the current Est merely inherited the memories of the true Terminus Est as fragmented knowledge.

"I do not know whether I belonged to the side of the Elemental Lords or the rebels. However, I am sure my past self exterminated large numbers of spirits in this abandoned city."

Est murmured with her usual ice-cold expressionless demeanor.

...No emotions could be read from that kind of face.

"Those ghosts should all have been famous spirits before they fell to such depravity. However, they are now beings without sanity, relying on hatred to exist--"

"..."

Come to think of it, after leaving the central area of the abandoned city, Kamito no longer saw any signs of Forsaken Spirits.

Considering that those things were ghosts bound to the land, perhaps their appearance depended on the location. Or maybe, they did not attack right now because Est's current output of divine power was relatively weak.

Est closed her violet eyes--

"Kamito, I will enter a dormant state to prepare for the next battle. Please rouse me if anything happens."

"...Yeah."

Dissipating into particles of light in the air, she returned to sword form once more.

Kamito swiftly reached out with his hand towards the sacred sword fallen on the ground -- At this moment.

"Mmm, hmm..."

Ellis stirred slightly on his lap.

"Ellis, you woke up?"

"Mmm, I already woke up back when you were feeding Est."

"...Y-You saw it all!?"

"I-I could not possibly get up during such an embarrassing situation!"

For some reason, Ellis began to sulk and pout.

"But wait, weren't the things you did earlier even more embarrassing, Ellis?"

"...~S-Speak of it no more!"

Thud thud thud thud.

Ellis sprang up and tearfully hammered her fists against Kamito's shoulder.

...Oh well, it's good to see her energy recovered.

"Okay, go and sleep a little longer. You still have a bit of fever."

"A-All your fault..."

Ellis instantly blushed, but had no choice but to lie down again with Kamito's jacket draped over her shoulders.

Watching this pure and innocent maiden of a knight, Kamito smiled wryly--

At this time, his gaze rested on his leather gloved left hand.

(By the way, what was with that pain earlier...)

Currently, there was no reaction at all from the spirit seal on his left hand.

(...Did something happen to Restia?)

--A long night was just beginning.

Part 3

--Meanwhile.

In a dark underground maze that stretched to who knows where, a young lady was walking with a white wolf.

"Sniff sniff, I can't find my way to the surface..."

Rinslet's eyes were full of tears.

...After the Leap took her to this underground maze, she had been spending hours walking in circles in the same place.

As if trying to encourage its master, Fenrir licked her hand.

Rinslet rubbed the white wolf's head as she illuminated the surroundings with a spirit crystal.

"By the way, where on earth is this place?"

The faint light shone on the stone wall.

Its surface was carved with spirit language script. Given enough time, Rinslet had sufficient knowledge to decipher them but her current priority was getting back out onto the surface.

...Rumble, her stomach growled.

Sighing lightly, Rinslet sat down on the floor.

"So tired. My feet hurt. I'm hungry too."

In any case, she had already walked for several hours.

Even though she was a trained elementalist, her stamina was reaching a limit.

Fenrir caressed its master's feet with its furry tail.

Using ice-cold air, Fenrir soothed the pain in Rinslet's red and swollen feet.

"Let's rest here. Walking around randomly isn't the best choice."

Shrugging, Rinslet leaned her back against the wall.

"--Fenrir, take out the luggage."

Fenrir opened its jaws with a roar and spat out the luggage bag.

The demon ice spirit's stomach was connected to an alternate dimension.

"I originally hoped to make this for Kamito-san..."

Readying chilled eggs and a bottle of milk, she used her familiar frying pan to make splendid pancakes with a fire spirit crystal placed on the ground.

Then she laid out napkins on the floor and prepared teaware.

Always maintaining the composure to enjoy a good cup of tea under any circumstance -- this could be considered one of the Laurenfrost family's precepts.

...Several minutes later, the fragrance of tea wafted through the dark underground maze.

"...Phew."

Finishing her after-meal tea, Rinslet breathed out a sigh.

Beside her, Fenrir remained in proper sitting posture, having already finished eating the pancakes.

"...Somehow it doesn't taste too delicious when eaten alone."

...Then she sighed again.

Her past self never considered matters of this sort before--

Only recently did she come to realize the joys of having meals together with teammates.

...Furthermore, cooking for Kamito was also a joy.

"Oooh..."

As soon as she recalled his face, she could not help but smile.

"Woof?"

The surprised demon ice spirit tilted its head in puzzlement.

Seeing that, Rinslet coughed lightly.

"N-No, it's not like I'm thinking about Kamito-san!"

Frantically, she shook her head.

"...Eh?"

At this moment, Rinslet's gaze stopped upon a certain location on the stone wall.

On it was one of those carvings in spirit language that one could find all over the maze.

--There, she found a familiar name.

"...Terminus Est? Ah, that's Est-san's name!"

Frowning slightly, Rinslet brought the glowing spirit crystal closer to the stone wall.

Even though the words on the stone wall differed from contemporary script, it was still readable.

Were it written in High Ancient that was taught only to high ranking princess maidens, it would have been a completely different matter. But this degree of difficulty was still within Rinslet's ability to manage.

"Fenrir, take out the spirit language dictionary."

Fenrir opened its jaws wide and instantly spat out a dictionary. Spirit language dictionaries were essential for analyzing the spirit magic and barriers of enemy teams.

Flipping through the dictionary, Rinslet deciphered the words on the stone wall.

"Tiamat, Jormungandr... And also, Valaraukar. All the ones recorded here seem to be very famous spirits."

Anyone who had attended lectures in spirit studies at the Academy would find the names of these spirits familiar.

Next, Rinslet's finger stopped at a certain spot.

She found a name on the stone wall that intrigued her.

"Scarlet Valkyrie... That's quite similar to the name of Claire's hell cat spirit."

The inscription of the true name was in High Ancient and therefore undecipherable to Rinslet. But given that Scarlet was the renowned contracted spirit belonging to the Elstein family, it was not inconceivable for its name to be inscribed here--

"--Carved on there are the names of ancient war princesses who once exhibited splendorous might here."

Suddenly, a girl's voice was heard.

"...Who approaches!?"

Rinslet swiftly released her elemental waffe and aimed towards the darkness.

...No one's presence could be sensed. If the other person was an elementalist, she was definitely quite accomplished.

Is it an elementalist from the Sacred Spirit Knights or the Knights of the Dragon Emperor--?

"Please show yourself. I, Rinslet the Ice Demon, shall be your opponent."

Readying an ice arrow, Rinslet declared with awe-inspiring sternness.

"--Wait. I am not an enemy."

Out from the darkness appeared--

A girl in a mysterious princess maiden outfit with hair like a watery mirror.

Her bangs were cut to uniform length. With eyes resembling the surfaces of lakes, she gazed at Rinslet.

Based on her rather petite stature, her age was probably about the same as Rinslet's little sister Mireille.

"...?"

Rinslet tilted her head in puzzlement.

Was there any girl this young amongst the participants of the Blade Dance?

...Though given the precedent of the imperial princess Linfa of the Four Gods, it was impossible to be certain.

(...However, this uniform does not belong to any of the participating countries.)

Rinslet pondered in amazement with her brow furrowed.

"That..."

At this moment, the young princess maiden pointed near Rinslet's feet.

"That?"

"...That, I wanna eat."

"Huh?"

Lying by Rinslet's feet was the frying pan used for preparing pancakes just earlier.

Part 4

--Enshrouded by the dark night.

Two girls dressed in the Theocracy's uniforms were stepping into some ruins.

"Say, will we really be able to meet Onii-sama here?"

"Yes. Although they have already left, with one teammate suffering from poison, they shouldn't have gone very far off from here."

Lily Flame nodded as she answered the gray-haired girl's question.

These were the same ruins where she had battled Ellis earlier.

There were still several large holes dug out by the demon tree spirit in the ground.

"Hmph, nearby eh--"

Muir Alenstarl lightly jumped off a collapsed wall of stone.

"Then let me turn this area into a wasteland, then he'll be found."

"Muir!"

Lily reflexively shouted to stop her.

If she used the militarized spirit Valaraukar provided by the Theocracy, indeed, the entire vicinity could be turned into a smoking and smoldering wasteland.

However.

(...That spirit is far too dangerous.)

Muir had already fought an elementalist from the Knights of the Dragon Emperor, defeating her.

The pillar of fire in the city center observed earlier was precisely the flames of spirit magic released by Valaraukar during the battle.

This level of destructive power even surpassed the annihilation spirit Tiamat that Kamito had defeated in the past.

However, Valaraukar had a major shortcoming -- or rather, flaw.

The astounding power released by the spirit would attract Forsaken Spirits from the area.

Ghosts appearing from all over the abandoned city rushed forth and attacked recklessly as if attracted by Valaraukar, perishing in the crimson flames.

After that, Valaraukar began to get confused as if possessed by ghosts, on the verge of running totally amok.

Although it was still unclear why exactly the ghosts swarmed Valaraukar --

(Hypothetically, what if the Theocracy's Snake provided that spirit because they knew this would happen?)

Most suspicious of all, why would the Theocracy's military, which had refused to provide any additional militarized spirits, suddenly reverse their rigid stance to prepare such a powerful spirit --?

It was not difficult to realize there must be ulterior motives.

"Muir, postpone the battle with Kamito for now. Let's meet up with Cardinal first."

"Don't wanna. Muir can't wait to use this new toy to play with Onii-sama."

"Muir!"

"What? Are you ordering me?"

Instantly. Woosh -- Lily felt an intense chill down her spine.

Those eyes, evocative of bottomless lakes, pierced right through her.

"...!?"

Trembling in fear of a mere fourteen-year-old girl. This was no joking matter.

Muir Alenstarl was the "Monster" born from the Instructional School. She probably would not show any mercy towards anyone who defied her will, not even a companion who had accompanied her for years.

Muir was completely uninterested in obtaining victory in the Blade Dance.

Neither did she possess any Wish she wanted realized.

This petite Monster only sought the momentary thrill of destruction.

The only exception was Kazehaya Kamito.

The reason for Muir's obsession with Kamito was unknown.

Only that dating back to their days at the facility together, she adored Kamito as her elder brother with blind devotion.

--No matter what, there was no stopping this Monster.

"Wait for me, Onii-sama, I'm coming to pick you up."

"Muir, stop--!"

The mithril bracelet gave off intense light--

"Show yourself, creature of destruction, trailblazer of those who lament the darkness -- Valaraukar!"

The gigantic demon of flame was summoned to the abandoned city.

Part 5

--Boom!

Crimson flames danced wildly as they swept across the land, devouring the red dragon's massive body.

With a massive roar that reached the skies, the red dragon soon disappeared in the burning flames.

This was the red dragon spirit Lindwyrm, possessing high resistance against flame type magic.

Even so, its gigantic body was instantly burnt into charcoal.

"...Is this as far as I can go...?"

The girl dressed in the Dracunia military uniform -- the second-in-command of the Knights of the Dragon Emperor, Yuri El Cid, collapsed on her knees as she stared beyond the blazing flames.

The air shimmered from the heat.

In that direction, the scarlet masked girl approached on foot.

Commander of Team Inferno -- Ren Ashbell.

"...Leonora-sama, I am truly sorry. But--"

Yuri panted heavily in her hazy consciousness.

"Upon the honor of Dracunia's great name, I swear I shall not return emptyhanded--!"

Pouring in the last of her power, Yuri chanted high level dragon magic.

Gripped tight in her right hand was the Dragon's Jaw formed from a vortex of flames.

"--By these dragon flames of mine, vengeance shall be exacted upon Ren Ashbell, the Strongest Blade Dancer!"

Devoting her entire body and mind to this strike, Yuri began to charge.

This was the Knights of the Dragon Emperor's traditional charging tactic, as well as Yuri's most prided technique. Even if she could not currently use her elemental waffe, a direct hit should still inflict damage--

However.

"--These flames of yours are merely inferior knockoffs."

Ren Ashbell lightly raised her hand and lit a fire on her fingertip.

"To honor your courage in daring to challenge me singlehandedly, I shall bid you farewell with the Flames of Elstein."

Using the fire at her fingertip, she traced out a magic circle in the air.

"Not even time can escape a frozen fate, conflagrating flames of absolute zero -- Frost Blaze!"

"...!"

The instant the dancing blue flames made contact with Yuri El Cid's arm--

The Dragon's Jaw shattered into tiny particles as if it were frozen and brittle.

"How could this be possible... I don't believe it, flames that freeze other flames--!"

--That sort of thing absolutely did not exist in this world.

This was an unknown power that transcended the laws and precepts of Astral Zero.

"...Ren Ashbell... You, really..."

Having exhausted the last of her strength, the dragon knight collapsed on the spot.

"..."

Ren Ashbell took away Yuri's magic stone and turned her gaze towards the evening sky.

The sun had already descended and the cold moon was rising.

"--The moon eh? Perfect for the Demon King's revival."

Her crimson overcoat fluttering, she gradually disappeared into the abandoned city beneath the evening sky.

These freezing flames, one day they shall consume the entirety of my body.

--Before that happens, I must end everything.