The Man Chased by the Red Sky (3)
#150
After that, Mortaya went on and on with her explanation. A very long story about the current situation.
There was no clock in the library, but if there had been, we would have been forced to endure roughly two hours of relentless TMI.
Anyway, to summarize what she said:
1. If we can't subdue Risie Maman, they can't get out either.
2. They don't know themselves whether Maman can be subdued. The triplets have the ability to glimpse someone's fate — that is, the future — but they told us that if the target is of a high enough class, it doesn't work without their permission. Which must mean Maman's class is that high.
3. So we asked them to at least look at our fates, but they refused. Something about how if they carelessly speak of a glimpsed future, even an ominous one, it becomes irreversible. Or whatever.
4. There are no more personnel in this watchtower who could serve as additional combat strength. Everyone else is either dead or fled. Furthermore, the triplets have absolutely no combat ability whatsoever.
5. Countess Valenor is continuously searching for 'something.' If we can figure out what that is, we might be able to reinforce our strategy.
6. Lastly, we received permission to freely use this archive no matter what happens to Mortaya. If things go wrong, we're to flee back the way we came and knock on the wall.
That about covers it as an excellent summary, I'd say.
Estelle straightened her back and spoke.
"In any case, from now on we'll have to break through with our own strength."
"Yes!"
"Yeah."
"We wish you good fortune in battle."
Very reassuring, that.
Truly, there could be no greater reassurance than having people with absolutely zero combat ability wish us luck in battle.
"Then let's go."
The blonde girl turned her back first and headed toward the door we had entered through.
We also nodded and began to turn our bodies toward the door.
That was when it happened.
"Wait!"
The girl with the white ribbon.
Nona Parca opened her mouth.
Everyone's footsteps halted at that bright, confident voice.
Nona probably wasn't looking at us. To be precise, she was looking at Lily—
"Last Lily of Rosenheim!"
?
Lily tilted her head and asked.
"Me?"
"Yes!"
Nona answered stoutly.
Lily's expression was clearly reluctant, as if she found that title quite uncomfortable.
"Drop that weird nickname. Anyway, what?"
The girl with the black ribbon stood before the girl with the white ribbon and continued speaking. The black ribbon swayed quietly beneath the dim library light.
"Last Lily of Rosenheim. It is fundamentally taboo for us to carelessly speak of the fates we have glimpsed."
It seemed the triplets had no intention of giving up the nickname.
"Hah.................. And?"
"However, to you alone — no, to the two of you alone — we truly wish to say this."
Is she talking about me as well... Judging by where her black eyes were directed, I assumed I was included.
"What? Keep it short. I'm fed up with your long-winded explanations."
That moment.
All three triplets' expressions turned grave simultaneously.
The smile vanished from Nona's bright face, Decima's indifferent eyes grew darker and deeper, and Mortaya's mouth became as solemn as someone reading the final sentence of an ancient book.
"This will be your final journey!"
"Yes. The final journey."
"Please, make your choices carefully on this journey. There will be no next time."
With those words, an awkward silence settled over the archive.
Probably not everyone present understood the meaning and weight of what the triplets had uttered.
Judging by Estelle's bewildered expression and Rubel's narrowed eyes, those two seemed to think the triplets were spouting some kind of nonsense.
Mortaya simply stood still, as if waiting for Lily's answer.
To that, Lily's response was—
"Mind your own business."
She retorted, as if annoyed.
At that moment, the triplets' gazes simultaneously turned toward me.
Receiving the fierce stares of the three sisters was a burdensome thing, enough to make cold sweat run down my spine for no reason.
"Is it my turn this time?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah. Your turn."
"Listen comfortably. There is no problem even if you do not understand."
Then say something understandable from the start, young ladies!
Before I could mutter anything, Nona opened her mouth.
"After the Lily of Rosenheim withers, your journey shall begin!"
"It will begin."
"But keep it firmly in mind. Whatever path you choose— every path has its duality."
"........."
What a load of bullshit.
"Hey, sorry, but I don't understand a single word of what you're saying?"
"We wish you good fortune in battle!"
A single bright phrase returned in place of an answer.
With those words as the end, we fled out of the archive as if chased.
***
***
We retraced the path we had run alongside the triplets and arrived at the central plaza.
"Where do we go now?"
At Rubel's question, Estelle glanced around.
"If it's true that the Countess is searching for 'something,' then rather than wandering aimlessly, it would be wiser to find that 'something' first. Sis, do you have any idea what that might be?"
"I'm not sure about that either... It's the first time I've heard of it... Sorry."
"Then do you have any guess where it might be?"
"Originally, Mother's place was the command room one floor up — but it doubles as her bedchamber. Given how utterly insane she's become, I think trying to specify a location is pointless."
Lucien took over the conversation.
"Th-then, how about we split up here to search for the Countess..."
"Then from now on we'll divide into two groups and search. Me, Lucien, and Mister Do-yun as one team. Lily and Sis, I'd like you to take the other."
"I think it'd be better for me to stay with Do-yun. At least I can detect when the Countess gets close—"
Lily's words cut off there.
At first, I didn't know why she stopped mid-sentence. I just thought it was the start of one of those usual catfights over me!
Lily— no, not just Lily, but every girl's gaze was fixed on one spot.
The subtle flow of air descending from the ceiling of the tower's upper floor chilled in an instant. Then the silence that had blanketed the vast plaza began to take on a different quality than before.
Stillness.
The stillness of someone holding their breath.
The stillness of something watching us.
"...... Mister Do-yun."
The blonde girl spoke, moving only her lips.
"Don't move."
At those words, I reflexively held my breath and slowly, very slowly, lifted my gaze—
Creak— Kigigigigik—!
Along with the sound of long-trailing garments rustling in the darkness— the faint, rough scrape of a slender blade dragging across the floor echoed.
And at the source of that sound stood Risie Valenor herself, the one we had so desperately been searching for, quietly watching us.
"Everyone to your positions. Move as planned—!!"
At Estelle's command, the women of the expedition and Rubel Valenor retreated in perfect unison, putting distance between themselves and me.
But Risie didn't so much as twitch.
Ah.
She still hadn't seen me.
No, she wasn't seeing me as a person. Like a single tree on a distant mountainside — just another living lump of meat.
And her crimson eyes passed over me and began to turn toward the existence that posed the greatest threat to her.
Lucien.
She might not seem reliable on the surface.
But clearly, Cassian Eurasia had entrusted the expedition's military force to her in times of crisis.
Risie raised her sword.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!!!!!!!"
Along with Estelle's scream, the plaza was torn apart.
***
***
#151
A single thrust.
The thrust of that blade, far thinner than the rapier Lily usually carried, displayed destructive power that easily surpassed Lily's finishing move.
When I first saw it, I thought it was just a fencing sword, so I never imagined it could produce such a devastating scene.
A non-standard attack that completely ignored the distance between the thin blade and us.
The instant a single red line pierced the empty air, the world split in a straight line as if stabbed by a needle.
『—Ab orbe sēcērne—』
—Sever from the World—
Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!!
The golden barrier unfurled before us at a truly hair-raising moment.
It seemed as though Estelle's golden mana had successfully withstood the attack, but that was an illusion.
"Kuh...!"
The blonde girl staggered and was pushed back.
The long trails her two feet left in the earth were proof of that.
Seeing that, rough words spilled from Lucien's mouth.
"You're, you're insane..............."
So you knew how to say things like that.
As Lucien muttered in a daze, Estelle answered through gritted teeth.
"Lucien!!! If you have time to talk, attack!!"
But her wish couldn't be fulfilled right before Estelle's eyes.
Because Risie was caught in the act of drawing her sword back and extending her arm this way again.
Shhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!
A second attack.
Kagagagagagagagak!!!!
This time it wasn't a single strike but a rapid chain of blows.
Thud!
As the red line poured down onto the barrier once more, Estelle's small body, which had been deploying the defensive spell, crumpled to the floor like a marionette doll that had lost its master.
Huh?
"Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!"
Having witnessed that scene right before her eyes, Lucien went berserk with fury, let out a bizarre shriek, and sprinted toward Risie Valenor like a madwoman. Rubel muttered something and followed behind her.
Goddammit, I was going too!!!!
I reflexively drew up my power.
Mana blazed from my back.
But I could never win with the mana inside my body alone—
The Netherworld is the physical energy flowing through Risie's body.
『Ālaya-vijñāna—Origin Usurpation』
Light distinctly welled up along the pattern carved into my spine, and omnipotence flooded my body.
If I reached out my hand here, it felt as though I could steal every last bit of Risie Valenor's power—
Next— an attack without defense that would shatter the enemy's sword in my imagination.
『Unique Magic — Equivalent Exchange』
Hummm—!
Thump.
But in that moment, Lily passed before me like a graze and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Do-yun, stay still."
Chaeng!
Along with a flash of white hair, Lily drew her own sword.
"Run away— change of plans."
"No, what kind of..."
Lily's blue eyes flashed coldly as she murmured in a low voice.
"I just changed my mind a little. Take that collapsed idiot, and go find the triplets in the archive."
Why was she suddenly acting like this?
The white-haired Lily gazed at me as I stood there dumbfounded like an idiot and whispered.
"Run. Go on, struggle to the bitter end."
With those final words, Lily followed the two heading toward Countess Valenor and vanished from sight.
"............... So what do you want me to do, then?"
The moment of choice had come.