A Hollow Victory
Jepita collapsed to the ground, and Ludenberg let his sword slip from his grasp right in front of him. His body, drained of every ounce of that strange vitality, no longer had the strength even to lift the blade. Simply holding on without dropping it was the best he could manage.
I won.
But Ludenberg didn't consider this a victory achieved purely by his own power. The vitality that had surged through him during that final strike had already faded from his body. It had been a temporary boost, not his true strength. That surge had merely pushed him beyond his limits and granted him the power to fight for a fleeting moment.
He realized his own skill had advanced a step, but he knew full well it wasn't enough to fell the formidable enemy before him. In the end, despite vowing not to rely on anyone, he'd borrowed Raha's aid. From the trial world to this very moment—it was all the same.
Ludenberg gritted his teeth. The road ahead was still long. He was weak, and his enemies were strong. Without Raha's help, he would have died the instant his right chest was pierced. He despised his own pathetic state.
Still... he had to finish what he'd started.
"You going to kill me?"
"Yeah."
"I see."
"What's your name?"
"Jepita."
"No family name?"
"Salvation Cult members discard their surnames upon joining. It's to erase any trace of their human past. But shouldn't we skip the chit-chat? No time for that."
Jepita urged him on with a tone of resignation, almost relief. As the man said, time was of the essence. Among the knights battling Edga, more were falling one by one.
Ludenberg nodded at Jepita's words, forcing strength into his limp body as he thrust Liberra toward the man's heart.
But suddenly, a sword-black mist gathered before Ludenberg, blocking Liberra's path to Jepita's heart.
"What...!"
The black-red mist began to take human form, and as it dissipated, a clean-featured middle-aged man emerged. The man eyed Ludenberg warily, manipulating the mist to deflect Liberra.
Clang!
"Urk!"
It had been his last reserves of energy, so Ludenberg, with nothing left, was sent flying helplessly.
"Karema..."
"I wondered what was keeping you so long... and I find this absurdity unfolding."
The black-red mist enveloping Karema spread wide, and several figures began to materialize.
"Are you alright, Lord Jepita!"
"Not alright, but it seems I've kept my life."
Blood gushed from Jepita's severed left shoulder in thick spurts, but the Salvation Cult members treated it as routine. They fitted his severed arm back onto the stump and poured a black liquid from a vial over it.
Then, astonishingly, Jepita's left shoulder regenerated in an instant.
"Whew. Much better. Of course... the backlash will be severe."
"Rest now. We'll handle the rest."
"That boy must die. Not only is he of Lavante blood, but he wields monstrous skill. If we don't end him now, he'll become a threat greater than Leonard Lavante himself one day."
"We've just seen it ourselves. Don't worry."
"Very well."
Ludenberg could scarcely believe it. Where the hell were these bastards coming from? He no longer had the strength to even grip his sword. And there were at least five of them—at least judging by their presence. Their auras alone marked them as extraordinary, stronger even than the fully recovered cult knights. These had to be the Salvation Cult's elites.
"Damn it all."
As Ludenberg struggled desperately to rise from the ground, Karema approached, beginning to chant a saint law.
"......"
The black-red mist swirling around him whipped into a storm. Far more vicious than Jepita's saint law, yet lacking physical might—it suggested Karema was a Salvation Cult priest, unlike the knight-like Jepita.
Karema thrust his hand forward. The black-red mist transformed into countless blades, engulfing Ludenberg's front.
He had to move, dodge somehow... but his body refused to obey.
Damn it. Move!
He screamed inwardly, but his exhausted body wouldn't budge.
But just as the blades surged to pierce his life, a fierce storm of flames roared in, barely blocking the onslaught before Ludenberg.
Ludenberg stared at the fiery tempest shielding him. The dark-blue-haired girl he'd thought fallen.
Ashytara was there.
Ludenberg, whom she'd thought could never rise again, had suddenly stood and driven back a terrifyingly powerful Salvation Cult knight. Ashytara watched the scene, baffled by how it had happened, but tears of overwhelming joy streamed down her face at the mere fact he was alive.
"He's alive..."
Despite a wound that should have killed him, he'd risen and fought to the end. As if it were his sacred duty.
I have to get up too. Help Lude.
With obsessive determination, Ashytara struggled to rise. But she couldn't. A single blow to her abdomen carried Prisper's divine power, continuously sapping her strength.
Ashytara gritted her teeth and thrashed. Meanwhile, the battle rushed toward its climax.
The Salvation Cult knight unleashed a massive surge of divine power, a purple tidal wave upending the earth toward Ludenberg. But Ludenberg cleaved even that wave apart, finally severing the knight's left arm.
"Ahh."
A sigh of relief escaped Ashytara. But it was short-lived. As Ludenberg moved to finish the knight, black-red mist suddenly surged past the Terra contingent, blocking his path.
The moment Ashytara saw the mist, instinct told her it heralded grave danger.
Get up, please!
Ashytara drew on her divine power, expelling Prisper's weakening curse from her body. Fierce flames enveloped her, and she began to rise.
"Ugh, urk...!"
Events unfolded exactly as she'd feared. Ludenberg was flung back by the mist, and Salvation Cult reinforcements emerged from it. The knight's severed arm had already regenerated fully. Ludenberg, thrown aside, didn't rise again—his strength spent. And before him, the middle-aged man from the mist was deploying a saint law.
Visibility zero. Ashytara's vision blurred.
Don't give up.
With trembling hands, she gripped her greatsword. She had to. Why had she survived this long? Because Ludenberg had saved them all. Without him, they'd have died when the high erosion beast struck.
This time, she had to save him.
Ashytara prayed fervently to her god, Solem.
Solem, please... grant me strength.
Then she recalled her childhood, the words her sister Sione had spoken the moment she joined the Solem church.
Tara, remember this. Solem always watches us with eyes of radiant light. If you pray with a pure heart, Solem will grant your wish.
Really?
Of course. So when you face an insurmountable trial, never give up. If you don't, Solem will surely give you the power to overcome it.
Ashytara realized this was that moment.
Right. Don't give up. Fight back.
She burned away any thought of surrender, arming herself with iron resolve. Perhaps Solem heard her desperate plea. Her divine power began to amplify, the raging flames incinerating Prisper's curse.
When the flames fully expelled the curse, she seized her greatsword amid the inferno.
Then, she charged into the storm of black-red blades heading for Ludenberg.
The fierce flames gradually pushed back the blade storm.
"Ha!"
With a shout, the blazing heat from her chipped greatsword trailed afterimages, scorching her surroundings and batting away the blade storm. But the enemy was no pushover—red lines began etching across her body.
Ashytara swung relentlessly. The searing heat swept away Prisper's divine power encroaching on her space, steadily expanding her domain.
"Don't interfere!"
Karema unleashed even stronger saint laws, and the other cult members tending Jepita joined in. Their combined power had long surpassed her resistance. Piling saint laws wore her down, until her knees finally buckled.
"Tara!"
Ludenberg saw it and struggled to rise, but pain wracking his body held him down.
Countless Prisper saint laws bore down on the pair, no escape in sight, despair creeping into their minds.
Suddenly, an earthen barrier erupted from the ground, shielding them and blocking the assault.
"Th-this should buy us a little time."
Idilrock Seraha, who had been collapsed behind them, had regained consciousness and summoned her last strength to protect them.
But it didn't improve their situation. All three were battered wrecks; one more wave of saint laws would end them.
"Saintess..."
"Thank you for saving us. Your Highness. And Young Duke Lavante. We owe you our lives."
Idilrock spoke with evident relief, puzzling Ludenberg and Ashytara.
"The situation's dire."
Idilrock shook her head at Ludenberg's words.
"No."
"Pardon? What do you...?"
"Your Highness. Focus your mind. Can't you feel it? This immense flow of divine power right now?"
As Ashytara concentrated per Idilrock's urging, she finally understood her relief. A mighty, radiant divine power pulsed nearby.
Boom!
Moments later, a massive roar accompanied a brilliant light exploding beside their barrier, illuminating the world.
Crown Princess Sione Solenute. She appeared before them, wreathed in dazzling glory, a massive warhammer in one hand.