Amor’s battle concludes.
“——【Real Breaker】——”
From the Light and Darkness composite Magic 【Real Breaker】, “Darkness” particles scatter, and my body is transferred dozens of meters away.
Thump!
The Black Knife, swung the instant I appeared, cleaves through the trees while engulfing particles of Light. But Amor’s body is not there; his figure has already leaped to the next tree, and I could only see his back.
“——っ”
Amor could leap with his monstrous form, but he couldn’t fly. I could jump to a visible point, but my gaze would stray from the target for a moment.
If he ran on the ground, I could catch up with the transfer, but Amor is now more monster than human. He’s probably heading to the Royal Capital, leaping from tree to tree like a monkey, preventing me from launching a proper attack.
Even with the Dragon Blood Pill suppressing Mana consumption, my Mana is nearing its limit.
I give up on finishing Amor for now, cancel 【Iron Rose】, and drink a Mana Recovery Potion from my pouch while pursuing Amor.
“…………”
I wonder if Melrose is safe… There’s no guarantee the Undead will stop even if I defeat Amor.
If that was Amor’s 【Gift】, it should stop. But from my experience meeting the two Spirits in the Dungeon, I didn’t think it was a Gift.
The same goes for Nasanitaru’s ability. I can’t imagine being able to control such a demon with a Gift.
If so, what is that demon? Just as Elena wished for Cure and reduced her attributes, if it was simply a result of seeking power, could there be a forced “contract” with a demon?
Demons are probably involved in this incident. If Amor’s power was brought about by a demon, then at the center of it is… that “Saint”?
Melrose has already defeated most of the Undead with a will, so if she uses tactics well, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Praying for the safety of the people I left with Melrose, I ran across the ground after Amor, who was heading to the Royal Capital, trusting in them.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Amor, screaming a bizarre cry, having lost his reason from the left half of his face, runs across the ground.
His words and actions are no longer human, and his figure, mowing down the trees leading to the Royal Capital, felt like he had become a “Monster” in both mind and body.
Carla flies in the night sky behind Amor, who is running through the Forest at several times the speed of a human.
With Carla’s attack power, she should be able to stop him with rock bullets or ice spears. If she got serious, she could probably burn the Forest to the ground, though it would cause damage.
“Fufu…”
But Carla didn’t try to interfere, a faint smile on her face.
Carla also has weaknesses. Her physical fragility is that of a sick person, and she forcibly prolongs her life by forcibly healing with Light Magic, but that only postpones “death.”
Carla’s weakness right now is that she can’t overuse her 【Gift】 to maintain her life, but it seemed that she was letting Amor run for some purpose.
Amor flees, and Carla pursues him.
The closer they get to the Royal Capital, the higher the probability of encountering people. Even at night, a large amount of supplies are being transported to the Royal Capital, and merchants are coming and going.
Still, they were lucky enough not to appear in Amor’s path, but instead, Amor, who jumped out of the Forest and onto the highway, encountered the First Knight Order, which had departed from the Royal Capital towards Dandole.
“What is this monster!”
“All troops, prepare for interception!”
Faced with the suddenly appearing monster, some of the three hundred knights of the First Knight Order, who could not recognize it as Amor, took up a defensive stance.
“Don’t get in my wayaaaaaa!”
Amor, who had turned into a giant, blows away the First Knight Order’s cavalry, horses and all.
Several cavalrymen were incapacitated by the blow, but fortunately, most of the Worms scattered by the blow had died due to Amor’s Magic Stone breaking.
The Worms, which had barely survived because they were connected to Amor, disappeared into black dust when they were separated from him.
“Engage!”
While the other Knight Orders mainly guarded the Royal Capital, the First Knight Order was equipped and trained to take on the offensive. It was an effective tactic to immediately take up thrusting Spears without fear upon seeing Amor’s figure, but the problem was that the “monster” was beyond their expectations.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Multiple Spears pierce Amor’s Worm body. But Amor, screaming, wraps the spearheads with his Worm body and blows away several knights with his mighty arms.
“How dare you be so disrespectful!”
Several knights stop moving at the “voice” shouted from Amor’s mouth.
Those knights knew that the ringleader of this rebellion was the “Royal Brother,” and they were high-ranking knights who knew his appearance and voice.
The knights realized that the monstrous monster was originally a “person,” and their movements became dull, becoming victims of the rampaging Amor.
But at that moment——
“——【Lightning】——”
Dooooooom!
Lightning falling from the night sky with a roar strikes Amor, mowing down the surrounding knights as well.
The Magic of 【Lightning】 flies in a straight line and is a Magic that does not easily affect the surroundings. The knights who were repelled by the aftereffects groaned in pain, but they recognized the black-haired girl floating in the sky and grimaced.
The Thorn Witch… Carla Leicester.
Many people have witnessed her fighting demons in the Royal Palace and the Royal Capital, and many colleagues have been caught up in the battle and lost their lives, and her existence is known with terror.
Seeing the area around Carla become electrified and dark clouds gathering in the starry sky, several knights screamed inaudibly as if they had encountered a “Demon Lord” from a fairy tale.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
The Lightning that was released again strikes Amor, blowing away several knights who were too late to escape.
“M-Miss Leicester, what are you doing!”
A knight, probably the captain, shouts at Carla, but she doesn’t change her expression at the criticism and opens her mouth slightly, as if annoyed.
“Are you still here? Go to Dandole’s mansion quickly. If you stay here…”
Carla changes only her lips into a smiling shape as if speaking to the knights and Amor.
“…You’ll die.”
Everyone there felt an unusual “demonic presence” emanating from the girl, who was not yet an adult, and took a step back without realizing it.
However, that instinctive fear, unbecoming of a knight, saved their lives.
“…Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Perhaps it was the harm caused by becoming more of a monster, or perhaps it was the Worm’s instinctive “fear,” the Worms invaded and devoured the human face that remained on Amor, and Amor’s body, which had lost its mind again, began to run in the direction of the Royal Capital.
Carla raises the corners of her lips and follows it. The knights of the First Knight Order could only watch in amazement as they passed by like a storm, causing damage.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooh!”
Amor, screaming, reaches the outer wall of the Royal Capital.
The countless short arrows and discolored parts on his back are the result of my struggles, but the arrows have no effect, and the poison only kills the Worms on the surface.
The Amor’s body that existed at the beginning, except for the right half of his face, is no longer there…
Neither poison nor slashes will work on that anymore. The only way to defeat it is to grind it down with overwhelming power. Can my Illusion Magic do that?
If he stops for even a few seconds, there’s a chance. The moment he reaches the outer wall, whether he climbs it or destroys it, there are a few seconds.
But——
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
A scream was heard from the outer wall. I put strength into my tired legs and increased my speed, and there was a figure of a civilian there.
“There are people from the outer perimeter in a place like this!”
Even though it’s called the Royal Capital, not everyone lives inside the walls. There are those who cannot afford to have a house in the Royal Capital, and there are simple inns and shops for individual merchants who could not reach the gate by closing time, and hundreds of people, including guards who manage them, have created something like a settlement in front of the castle gate.
But that’s near the gate, and I didn’t think there would be people so far away from it.
The screams of people. Men and women, nearly naked and in Confusion, cling to me as if seeking help, having found me as Amor begins to climb the outer wall.
I dodged them with footwork, using the face of a seemingly Adventurer-like large man as a springboard to jump over, but by that time, Amor was already at the point of climbing over the outer wall.
“——【Levitate】——”
Instead of climbing the wall, I used Levitate to jump over the ten-meter outer wall in one go.
The difference in the means of jumping over that wall closed the distance with Amor.
“——【Phantom Pain】——”
Amor stopped moving for just a moment due to the 【Phantom Pain】 I released. 【Phantom Pain】 is already losing its effectiveness. But in that instant, the ball-shaped pendulum I threw shattered the back of Amor’s head, but only the corpses of Worms scattered, and Amor continued to run.
That direction is… the Holy Church’s Temple.
“——【Iron Rose】——”
My pinkish-blonde hair changed to an ash-gray color like scorched iron, and I spread particles of light like wings, leaving a trail like a comet of light as I slashed off Amor’s arm from behind, grinding it into the Worms as if engulfing them in particles of light.
“——!?”
However, that arm regenerated in an instant, and I was blown away by the new arm that was swung around, smashing through the doors of a closed store.
Amor’s regenerative ability is increasing? What is in the Royal Capital? I jumped out of the destroyed store, put a Dragon Blood Pill in my mouth, and continued to chase Amor.
The distance widened. Using the screams of the people who finally noticed the appearance of the grotesque as a landmark, I jumped onto the roof and saw Amor’s back jumping across the rooftops as well.
But as I tried to chase after him, I saw a huge fire Mana rising from afar.
Boom!!
A flame like a dragon’s breath flew, grazing Amor and incinerating a large number of Worms.
『Guooooooo! Come, my other half!』
As Amor screamed while being burned by the flames, a charred giant Worm with the same appearance as Amor came running across the rooftops from the same direction the flames had come from.
Other half? Could it be that the reason his body was only half there was because he was split?
If my proximity to that is what increased the regenerative ability of the Amor I was chasing, then I must not let it get closer.
I allocated the Body Enhancement of Iron Rose to speed, held my Knife, and instantly approached Amor’s back.
“——!?”
But at that moment, Lightning flew, and in my eyes, which barely dodged it, I saw black hair fluttering and undulating further in the sky.
“Carla!”
“Fufu.”
Why is Carla here? Did that Amor run away from this one? I confronted Carla in the night sky as she stood in my way.
“Why are you interfering?”
“You’re the one interfering.”
Carla simply replied to my question.
“——【Real Breaker】——”
“——【Soulthorn】——”
Particles of light and darkness mixed together from my entire body, and silver wings fluttered.
Black thorns entangled Carla’s entire body, and an enormous amount of Mana overflowed.
Gooooooon!!
Carla interrupted me as I tried to chase Amor, and the Royal Capital resounded with a heavy boom and shockwave, like iron clashing against iron, in a clash exceeding a combat strength of 5000.
Multiple bolts of Lightning released by Carla slipped through my body.
Carla deflected the countless Phantom Blades I released with thorns that dyed her entire body black.
Is this your Desire… Carla!!
“——【Firestorm】——!”
“——【Dancing Ripper】——!”
I cut through Carla’s exploding flames by layering Combat Art upon Combat Art, and blood spurted from my overexerted right arm.
“But who cares!”
I threw the Dagger in my still slightly moving left hand into the air, and kicked it into Carla with the sole of my shoe, as if entangling it with my foot.
Gooooooooon!!
Once again, a roar echoed in the sky above the Royal Capital, and the surrounding roof tiles were blown away by the shock of Mana.
“Gah…”
Carla, who had taken the Dagger with the force of my foot, retreated while spitting blood from her mouth. But Carla’s fingertips moved slightly, and Lightning was fired from there.
Can I dodge it at this timing? Just as I was about to jump out, prepared for the damage, a “lightning strike” released from the darkness collided with the Lightning, and a black giant took the Lightning as if protecting me.
“Nero!?”
『Gaaaaaaa!』
Why is Nero here? But without time to think about it, the roar of a “Monster” could be heard from the direction of the Temple.
『Uooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!』
The two Amors merged, and the right half of Amor’s face, the only one left, floated an expression of terror and ecstasy, shedding tears of blood as if seeking salvation for a moment, and disappeared as if being swallowed by Worms.
The giant body of the Worms swelled… The giant body, exceeding twenty meters, roared directly above the Temple, and its ominous appearance was reminiscent of a demon, and the screams of the residents who had tasted that terror many times reached even here.
No… that’s not a scream.
“What is that…”
Not just the surrounding residents. Residents who had gathered from here and there, probably still in their nightwear, were raising their voices around the Temple.
In the center of that was that woman—the “Saint.”
“Everyone, God is testing our faith! Now, offer your prayers to God!!”
『Pray to God!』
The voices of the people merged with the Saint’s “words” and “appearance.” My consciousness momentarily wandered at the sight of the residents, who seemed to be manipulated by someone, offering prayers to the Saint and Amor.
“Well then, see you later, Aria. It was fun.”
“Carla!”
Seeing that, Carla, who was still alive, smiled with a blood-stained face and headed towards Amor.
“Nero!”
—Yes—
Nero, who understood in an instant, put me on his back and chased after Carla.
But our movements were a moment too late, and Carla, who had reached the sky above the Temple, smiled more devilishly than a devil and pointed her fingertip towards Amor and its surroundings.
“——Stop!”
My voice echoed in the sky, and in response, Carla’s voice spilled into the night.
“——【Freeze】——”
An enormous chill was released, dyeing the completely Monster-fied Amor white.
As an aftereffect, even the nearby residents were frozen, collapsed, and shattered.
“Carla… is this what you wanted to do?”
When I called out while glaring in the scene like hell, Carla turned around to me while wiping the blood from her half-frozen mouth.
“Yes. My business is over. Although, it seems that I was also used by ‘that’.”
“…………”
Carla’s Desire is to defeat Amor in the Royal Capital?
Saint Alicia used that as a material for incitement?
What are the two of them thinking?
The Saint’s Desire is to give the people terror and crush Elena’s plan…
Even if it was an emotion implanted by a demon, the people would further worship the Saint, and for that, she even discarded her companion, Amor, as a pawn.
But Carla… what is your real “Desire”…?
Carla disappeared somewhere with Spatial Transfer, and I, with my half-frozen hair and robe, couldn’t help but think that the victors were her and the Saint, who was offering prayers with the people.
Carla’s “stage” is set.
And what Saint Licia desires is…
Next time, the conclusion of this and the prologue to the final phase.