“Aria…”
Feld gripped the hilt of his greatsword, spotting Aria and Carla about to clash amidst the flames of the temple.
Giant pillars of fire rose, encircling the Royal Capital… If that black-haired girl was involved in such an extraordinary sight, an unprecedented disaster was likely to occur.
(…Should I intervene?)
Aria was entrusted with the battles against Carla and the demons. This was not only because Aria was the only one capable of confronting them in terms of combat strength, but also because she was the only one with the ability to evacuate in the event of a supernatural destructive phenomenon.
Aria and Carla… The two girls were about to kill each other to settle their feelings.
But was it right to just stand by and watch in such an emergency? Currently, the rioters had calmed down with the defeat of the demon, and thanks to the soldiers of the castle, the evacuation of this area was complete.
If he intervened now, the damage would be minimal. Just as Feld was about to take a step forward—
—Stop—
The will to stop him reached Feld from behind.
“…Nero.”
“Gaa.”
Nero narrowed his eyes as if looking at something dazzling, and quietly watched Aria and the others. Nero, in his newly evolved state, could intervene in their battle. But Feld exhaled and relaxed his grip on his weapon, seeing Nero watching over the girls without approving of it.
—Retreat—
“Understood. You’re right, I should fall back.”
Nero intended to stay here. But if Feld remained, there was a possibility that Aria wouldn’t be able to fight with all her might. Feld clenched his fist tightly at that fact, but turned back for a moment at the end.
“Win… Aria.”
My pink hair changed to an ashen gray, like scorched iron, and the particles of light and darkness scattering from it became “silver,” spreading like wings.
Black thorns surfaced on Carla’s sickly white skin, writhing and coiling around her entire body, and from those thorns, vast amounts of Mana erupted like flames.
“—[Hunting Lightning (Chase Lightning)]—”
Multiple lightning bolts were released from Carla’s fingertips, changing their angles in mid-air and attacking all at once.
“—[Real Breaker]—”
At that moment, the silver particles became my phantoms, leaving afterimages, and as the lightning struck through the numerous afterimages in front (・・), I kicked down from directly above (・・) Carla.
“—[Iron Skin]—”
Clang!!
Carla raised her fist, and a shock and impact resounded as if kicking iron. But now, would I be daunted by the hardness of iron?
With a momentary time difference, I swung down the other kick. The rushing force and the weight added by Illusion Magic caused cracks to run through the remaining temple, starting from Carla, and collapsed the temple as if smashing Carla into it.
“Haaaaaa!!”
I wrapped the light of Real Breaker around my daggers and fired the silver particles towards Carla, who was buried in the temple below.
The swirling light gouged out the flames and rubble, trying to pierce through the temple, but at that moment, countless black thorns pierced through the rubble, wrapping around it, and a voice that seemed to echo from the depths of the earth was heard.
“—[Blizzard]—”
Gooooooooh!!
A huge blizzard that froze even the flames—Level 7 Ice Magic blew away everything in the nearly ruined temple, foundation and all, and Carla stared intently at me, who was dancing in the air using the scattered rubble as a shield, from the center of the mortar-shaped crater.
“—[Shadow]—”
In the blizzard that raged as if shaving off the silver particles, I used Real Breaker to teleport behind Carla and slammed an elbow strike into the back of her head.
But Carla’s figure disappeared into the “Shadow” as if blurring, and Carla’s kick, with black thorns wrapped around her leg, was unleashed from directly behind me.
At that moment, I closed my eyes and twisted my body, relying only on the sensation I felt on my skin, while entangling my leg with Carla’s leg as if colliding with it.
“—!”
It was then that I felt Carla gasp for the first time. Slashes wouldn’t do any damage. Just as I put strength into breaking her leg, Carla unleashed Magic as if engulfing even herself.
“—[Lightning Strike (Digvolt)]—”
Bageeeeen!!
“—ッ”
The released Digvolt collided with my particles of light, scattering sparks violently, and Carla and I, who had taken distance as if blown away, faced each other again in the frozen temple ruins that had become a wasteland.
“”…””
We stared at each other in silence.
As Carla’s entire body was enveloped in Mana Particles of light, the burns she had suffered from my Digvolt disappeared in an instant, and I, while re-equipping the particles of light that had been shaved off, took out a Dragon Blood Pill from my pouch to suppress Mana consumption and crushed it in my mouth.
“…[Bless]…[Regene]…”
Seeing that, Carla raised her defense and regeneration, and let out a faint smile.
The reconnaissance (・・) was about to end. After finishing the sparring and confirming that neither of us had any room to hold back, we quietly increased our Mana and took a crouching stance.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 287/400] [HP: 243/300] 10Up
[Overall Combat Strength: 2484 (Special Body Enhancement in progress: 4560 + 500)] 36Up
[Combat Art: Iron Rose /Limit 574 Second]
[Illusion Magic: Real Breaker -《Silver》]
[Carla Leicester] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: ∞/650] 20Up [HP: 27/45] 3down
[Overall Combat Strength: 1885 (Special Combat Strength: 5405)] 58Up
[Divine Protection (Gift): Soulthorn Exchange/Life Time]
Thump!!
I was the first to move. I stepped out as if crushing the frozen ground, and closed the distance of several dozen meters in an instant, dragging particles of light like a comet.
“—[Hurricane]—”
In response, Carla released a Hurricane from point-blank range, and I flew through the air as if dancing in the wind, leaving afterimages, and swung my knife at Carla’s neck from the side (・・).
But Carla was suddenly caught in the wind she had released and danced in the air, unleashing the Mana she had accumulated in her arm as if swinging it down.
“—[Cyclone]—”
A wide-range wind, different from a Hurricane, attacked all of my afterimages.
A range attack with no escape was the right answer to Real Breaker, where everything was both real and phantom. Moreover, the Cyclone had not only wind but also rain.
“—[Ice Storm]—”
The Ice Storm released by Carla froze the water droplets and turned them into blades of ice.
At that moment, I spun and danced, batting away the incoming fine ice with the hem of my black dress, and slammed the ball-shaped Pendulum released by one of the afterimages from directly above Carla.
“—[Cataract]—”
At that moment, Level 5 Water Magic spewed out a huge amount of water centered on Carla.
The amount of water killed the power of the Pendulum, and Carla, who easily flicked it off with her bare hands, unleashed even more Mana.
“—[Flare]—”
Level 6 Fire Magic—the released pure white Fireball struck the ground, and the vast amount of heat instantly turned the surrounding water into steam.
“—!”
While protecting myself with my black dress, I teleported into the sky and dodged the steam, but I lost sight of Carla for a moment in the steam containing Mana that spread over too wide an area.
“I’m here.”
At that voice I heard from directly behind me, I twisted my body and unleashed a kick. But Carla’s figure was not there, and beyond the [Noise] that shattered the darkness, Carla’s figure was reflected in my eyes, floating multiple Fireballs in the air towards me from a distance.
“—[Fireball]—”
Several Fireballs attacked me all at once. I immediately released the knife I had drawn from the slit in my skirt, and in the instant of blinking through the flames that exploded upon touching the blade, I kicked out the blade on my heel with that momentum.
“—[Cataract]—”
Water gushed out again, protecting Carla.
“Ha!”
I exhaled with spirit, wrapped the particles of light around the leg that unleashed the kick, and the swirling silver light pierced through the water’s defense.
Clang!!
Carla, who had guarded with black thorns, was blown away with a hard sound.
I immediately chased after her. But the moment I saw the lump of darkness that floated like a parting gift, I averted my face, and an ice spear released from the darkness flew past, grazing me.
“—[Typhoon]—”
A storm blew from Carla, who had regained her posture in that instant. I dodged it with the teleportation of Real Breaker, and kicked down on Carla as if stomping on her from directly above.
“—Cataract—”
The gushing water weakened the force of my kick for the third time, and in that moment, Carla vanished into the darkness, using Spatial Transfer.
“…………”
Something’s not right. Why is she using water? Carla used fire as well, but alternating between them should weaken the power as the fire and water Mana Particles cancel each other out. Besides, she doesn’t need to overuse Level 5 Water Magic to evade the Pendulum and my kicks, even if she has infinite Mana.
I felt a sense of unease at the excessive use of water and wind—attributes Carla hadn’t used much before because they lacked destructive power. At the same time, I noticed the surrounding scenery was darkening.
“Carla!”
I looked up at the sky, glaring at Carla floating within the cloudy sky that hid the moon.
Using Night Vision and the flames engulfing the Royal Capital as a distraction, she used water and fire to create water vapor, which she then summoned into the sky using the wind attribute.
It was all a setup, just like the pillar of fire, to use magic over an impossibly wide area.
As Carla’s Mana increased, a dark cloud spread to cover this entire area, and light flickered within it—
“Take it… Aria.”
Carla, looking down at me, gently extended her hands as if offering a bouquet.
“—Thunderstorm—”
In that instant, countless bolts of lightning rained down as if to incinerate this entire area.
Real Breaker’s transfer jumps to the location you see. The remaining water vapor obstructed my vision, and the Level 7 Thunderstorm, utilizing the rain clouds, was obliterating my escape routes over a wide area.
But…
“Okay… I’ll take it.”
I spread the silver light of Real Breaker like gigantic wings, and unleashed a pillar of silver towards Carla, engulfing everything.
The two’s feelings clash in a “deathmatch.”
Next time: “Passion”
Last night, I found a mistake in the calculation of combat power, recalculated everything, and realized that the mistake was in a part that had been omitted from the text, which made me feel drained.