“Aria…”
Seeing Aria and Karla about to clash amidst the flames of the temple, Feld gripped the hilt of his greatsword.
Giant pillars of fire rose as if to surround the Royal Capital… If that black-haired girl was involved in this extraordinary sight, it wouldn’t be surprising if an unprecedented catastrophe occurred.
(…Should I intervene?)
The battle against Karla and the demon was supposed to be left to Aria. This was partly because Aria was the only one who could match them in combat power, but also because she was the only one with the ability to evacuate if a supernatural destructive phenomenon occurred.
Aria and Karla… The two girls would fight to the death to settle their own feelings.
But, in an emergency like this, is it really okay to just watch? Currently, with the demon defeated, the rioters have calmed down, and thanks to the castle soldiers, the evacuation of this area is complete.
If I intervened now, the damage could be minimized. Just as Feld thought this and was about to take a step forward—
—Stop—
An intention to stop him reached Feld from behind.
“…Nero.”
“Graa.”
Nero narrowed his eyes as if looking at something dazzling and quietly watched Aria and the others. The newly evolved Nero could probably intervene in their fight. But seeing Nero watch over the girls without doing so, Feld sighed and relaxed his grip on his weapon.
—Withdraw—
“Understood. It’s true, I should probably fall back.”
Nero probably intended to stay here. However, if Feld remained, there was a possibility Aria wouldn’t be able to fight at full strength. Faced with this fact, Feld clenched his fists tightly, then glanced back for just a moment.
“Win… Aria.”
＊＊＊
My peach-colored hair turned a steely gray, like scorched iron, and from it, particles of light and darkness scattered, becoming “silver” and spreading out like wings.
Black thorns surfaced on Karla’s deathly pale skin, coiling around her entire body as if writhing, and from those thorns, an immense amount of Magical Element erupted like flames.
“—[Chase Lightning]—”
Multiple bolts of lightning shot out from Karla’s fingertips, changing angles in mid-air as they attacked all at once.
“—[World Rejection]—”
In that instant, the silver particles became my Phantom Images, leaving afterimages. As the lightning pierced through the numerous afterimages in front of me, I simultaneously kicked down at Karla from directly above her.
“—[Iron Skin]—”
CLANG!!
Karla swung her fist up, and an impact and a striking sound, as if I had truly kicked iron, echoed. But as if I’d falter from the hardness of iron at this point!
With a slight delay, I brought down my other kick. The force of my charge and the added weight from my Illusion Magic sent cracks running through what remained of the temple, originating from Karla, and caused the temple to collapse as if to drive her into it.
“Haaaah!!”
I wrapped the light of World Rejection around my dagger and fired the silver particles towards Karla, who was buried in the temple directly below me.
The swirling light gouged out, engulfing flames and rubble, and just as it was about to pierce through the temple itself, countless black thorns burst through the debris as if to engulf it further, and a voice that seemed to resonate from the depths of the earth was heard.
“—[Blizzard]—”
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!
A colossal blizzard that could freeze even flames—Level 7 ice magic—blew away everything of the temple, which had been reduced to mostly rubble, right down to its foundations. From the center of the now crater-like area, Karla stared intently at me as I soared through the air, using the scattering debris as a shield.
“—[Shadow]—”
Amidst the raging blizzard that seemed to shave away my silver particles, I used World Rejection to teleport behind Karla and slammed an elbow strike into the back of her head.
However, Karla’s figure blurred and vanished into “Darkness,” and a kick from Karla, her legs wrapped in black thorns, was unleashed from directly behind me.
At that moment, I closed my eyes, relying solely on the sensations on my skin to twist my body and evade, while simultaneously entangling my leg with Karla’s.
“—!”
For the first time, I sensed Karla gasp. Slashes wouldn’t damage her. The moment I put strength into my leg to break hers, Karla unleashed a spell, as if to engulf even herself.
“—[Digvolt]—”
BZZZCRACK!!
“—!!” “—!!”
The unleashed electric shock clashed with my particles of light, scattering violent sparks. Blown apart, Karla and I took distance from each other and faced off once more on the frozen, razed remains of the temple.
“…” “…”
We stared at each other in silence.
Karla’s entire body was enveloped in light Magical Element, and the burns she had sustained from her own lightning strike vanished in an instant. I, too, re-clad myself in the shaved-off particles of light while taking out a Dragon Blood Pill from my pouch—to suppress magic consumption—and crushed it in my mouth.
“…[Bless]… [Regene]…”
Seeing that, Karla raised her own defense and regeneration, and a faint smile escaped her lips.
The probing was about over. Having finished our exchange and confirmed that neither of us had any room to hold back, we quietly raised our magical power and took a forward-leaning stance.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human ♀] [Rank 5]
[MP: 287/400] [HP: 243/300] 10 Up
[Total Combat Power: 2484 (Special Physical Enhancement: 4560 + 500)] 36 Up
[Battle Art: Iron Rose / Limit 574 Seconds]
[Illusion Magic: World Rejection —《Silver》]
[Karla Lester] [Race: Human ♀] [Rank 5]
[MP: ∞/650] 20 Up [HP: 27/45] 3 Down
[Total Combat Power: 1885 (Special Combat Power: 5405)] 58 Up
[Divine Protection (Gift): Soul Thorn Exchange/Life Time]
THUD!!
I was the first to move. Kicking off the frozen ground as if to shatter it, I closed the tens of meters between us in an instant, trailing particles of light like a comet.
“—[Hurricane]—”
In response, Karla unleashed a tornado at point-blank range. I soared through the air as if dancing on the wind, trailing afterimages, and swung my knife at Karla’s neck from the side.
But Karla was instantly caught in the wind she herself had unleashed, soaring into the air, and then shot out the magical power accumulated in her arm as if swinging it down.
“—[Storm]—”
A wide-ranging wind, different from the tornado, assaulted all of my afterimages.
Against World Rejection, where everything is both real and illusory, an area-of-effect attack with no escape was the correct answer. Moreover, a storm has not only wind but also rain.
“—[Ice Storm]—”
The Ice Storm Karla unleashed froze the raindrops, turning them into blades of ice.
In that instant, I danced, spinning, and batted away the incoming minute ice shards with the hem of my black dress, while one of my afterimages slammed a Rope Weight Type Pendulum down on Karla from directly above her.
“—[Cataract]—”
At that moment, Level 5 water magic erupted an enormous amount of water centered on Karla.
The sheer volume of water nullified the Pendulum’s force, and Karla, who easily knocked it down with her bare hands, unleashed even more magical power.
“—[Flare]—”
Level 6 fire magic—the moment the unleashed pure white fireball hit the ground, an immense amount of heat instantly turned the surrounding water into steam.
“—hk!”
Protecting myself with my black dress, I teleported into the sky to evade the steam, but for a moment, I lost sight of Karla in the steam, which contained magical power and spread over an incredibly wide area.
“Over here.”
Hearing that voice from directly behind me, I twisted my body and unleashed a kick. But Karla wasn’t there. Beyond the darkness of the [Noise] that my kick shattered, my eyes caught sight of Karla, floating multiple fireballs in the air aimed at me from a distance.
“—[Fireball]—”
Numerous fireballs assaulted me all at once. I instantly threw a knife, drawn quick-draw style from the slit of my skirt, leaped through the flames that exploded upon contact with the Blade in the blink of an eye, and with that momentum, kicked out with the Blade on my heel.
“—[Cataract]—”
Water gushed out again, protecting Karla.
“Hah!”
I exhaled with spirit, wrapping particles of light around the leg I was kicking with, and the swirling silver light pierced through the water’s defense.
CLANG!!
I sent Karla, who had guarded with her black thorns making a hard sound, flying.
I immediately pursued her. However, the moment I saw a lump of darkness floating as if left behind as a parting gift, I averted my face, and an ice spear shot from the darkness flew past, grazing me.
“—[Typhoon]—”
In that instant, a violent wind blew from Karla, who had regained her stance. I dodged it with World Rejection’s teleportation and kicked down as if to stomp on her from directly above.
“――【Cataract】――”
For the third time, the gushing water diminished the force of my kick, and in that interval, Karla vanished into the darkness as if by spatial transference.
“…”
Something’s off. Why is she using water? Karla used fire too, but if she alternates them, the fire and water Magical Elements should cancel each other out, reducing their power. In the first place, even if she has infinite magical power, there’s no need to overuse Level 5 water magic just to dodge my Pendulum or kicks.
Water and wind… attributes Karla hadn’t used much before because they lack destructive power. As I felt a sense of unease at her frequent use of these, I also noticed the surrounding scenery growing darker.
“Karla!”
I looked up at the sky, glaring at Karla floating amidst the overcast sky that hid the moon.
She used her ability to use Night Vision and the flames burning in the Royal Capital as a diversion, then used water and fire to send steam billowing into the sky, and summoned it with wind-attribute magic.
It was all a setup, just like the pillar of fire, to cast magic over an impossibly wide area.
As Karla’s magical power surged, light flickered within the dark clouds that spread to cover this entire area――
“Catch this… Aria.”
Karla, looking down on me, gently extended both hands as if offering a bouquet of flowers.
“――【Thunderstorm】――”
In that instant, countless bolts of lightning rained down as if to incinerate this entire area.
The World Rejection’s transference jumps to a location seen by the eye. The lingering steam obstructed my vision, and the Level 7 lightning, utilizing the rain clouds, had eliminated my escape routes over a wide area.
But…
“Fine… I’ll catch it all.”
I spread the silver light of World Rejection like enormous wings, and launched a silver pillar towards Karla, as if to engulf everything.
Their feelings clashed in a “deathmatch.”
Next time, “Passion.”
Last night, I found an error in my combat power calculations. I recalculated everything and realized the mistake was in a part I had omitted from the text, which left me feeling drained.