Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Lustitia, the event-exclusive limited character from Broken Sky, the [Hero].
As far as I knew, she was a character strong enough to have shattered the game's balance once.
In the first place, wasn't she the [Hero] who defeated the [Demon King]?
One of the few beings who could stand against Tia was the [Demon King].
Of course, that was an issue stemming from her special characteristics, not raw power.
But that didn't mean the [Demon King] was weak.
However, this…
"I heard you were under a curse… but you've gotten much weaker."
"Do I look that way?"
No matter how you look at it, this was below my expectations.
There's a limit to how much a character can be nerfed.
I was holding my own in an even fight with her. Of course, that didn't change the fact that Lustitia was stronger than me.
The same went for Lucia, who was secretly watching for an opportunity from a corner.
We were going to be defeated here.
Breaking my arms and legs would hurt, but… I’ve had every bone in my body broken before, so I could probably endure it.
"Hey. Are you really a magic-user? You're quite good at dodging."
"To work in an intelligence unit, you have to master some degree of martial arts… so!"
Swish—!
As I casually lied, I narrowly dodged a dagger that Lustitia had secretly thrown.
A lock of hair was sliced off.
It wasn't actually my hair, so it didn't really matter.
But at that sight, Lustitia’s eyes widened in shock.
"Aack…! I didn't mean to do that to your hair… I'm sorry. I was just going for your arms and legs. To cut off a chunk of a woman's hair, which is as precious as her life…!"
"The implication of that statement, placing arms and legs below hair, sounds a little scary…!"
The same again. I dodge an attack Lustitia swung without warning.
This was a very underhanded fighting style.
At one moment, she would wait patiently and listen to my answer, and at another, she would attack, aiming for the gap in between.
"Argh, stop scurrying around and let's fight properly!"
"Isn't it too much to ask a magic-user to engage in close combat?"
It was just as I was dodging Lustitia's attacks.
"There's someone over here, too. I'd be sad if you didn't pay me any attention, Hero."
Lucia began to fire a volley of bullets to provide cover, trying to separate Lustitia from me.
"Whoops! Sorry, but I'm the type to be devoted to one person~"
But Lustitia lightly dodged the bullets as if they were nothing and strode forward.
She had completely recognized me as the enemy.
This could only be called a rather troublesome judgment.
Even with all those bullets flying, she didn't even give Lucia a glance.
Even with all this, she wasn’t lowering her guard against me.
Why in the world do the big shots in this damn fantasy world never let their guard down?
Even when they have the upper hand, they calmly commit all sorts of cowardly acts.
No, were they strong because they survived by using such methods?
Either way, my head hurts from calculating the state of the battle every time.
"Hmph…!"
Advanced Magic
[Pinaka]
Professor Aira's secret magic.
Right now, this was the best I could do.
My other advanced spells were not only too destructive, but they also had a long delay.
It was better to use a speed-focused spell like [Pinaka], which could recreate arrows just by pouring mana into it, even if its area of effect was small.
Of course, if we were focusing on speed, there were elementary and intermediate spells, but…
Intermediate Magic
[Gust Pierce]
Pssh!
Lustitia could lightly erase it all just by swinging her sword.
"Heheh! It won't work~"
It was the effect of her [Severance], a passive skill that was her origin.
[Severance] was an ability that could literally sever everything about an opponent when she had the upper hand. In the game, it caused instant death or dismemberment to enemies below a certain health threshold.
Now, it has been adapted to reality and turned into an even more bullshit ability.
It didn't just cut the form of the magic, but the spell formula itself.
It didn't break the magic apart, but cut it off at the source, causing the magic itself to revert to mana.
You could think of it as evaporating into thin air.
What a truly cheap ability.
Are you really going to be this cheap after taking the geographical advantage as well?
"But this will work, won't it?"
"Ugh?!"
BA—ANG!
The reloaded [Pinaka] violently struck her sword.
Right now, the limit of what she could sever in one go was intermediate magic.
In the case of [Pinaka], even if the magic was broken apart, it wasn't dispelled. The 'specific health' condition from the game was likely converted into an amount of mana.
This was a truly unfair fight.
If her behavioral patterns hadn't been simplified by the curse, would I even have been able to stand here?
"Ah… this is taking longer than I thought. If I don't get back soon…"
Lustitia clicked her tongue as if she were troubled.
The moment I saw that action, a sense of anxiety began to creep over me.
"Lucia, if you can, stop Lustitia's movements right now…"
Lucia, too, must have noticed the change, as she emerged from her stealth and started firing as many bullets as she could at Lustitia. There was no worry that her opponent would die. That was because…
"…The Princess will worry, so let's end this soon."
…she was a superhuman worthy of the title of Hero.
BOOM!
The moment she said that, I came to my senses and found my body floating in the air.
The same went for Lucia, who had revealed herself from the shadows. She had already lost consciousness.
"Kgh!"
"Hm?"
As I flew through the air, I glanced to the side and saw a golden aura forming around Lustitia.
One of her active skills, [Golden Vow]. It was a self-buff skill that greatly increased her stats, and the boost was quite significant.
Could you think of it as Alexios's ultimate skill, [Unprecedented], but without the status immunity effect?
What absurdly broken balance.
If I hadn't been wearing the [Starry Sky Robe] underneath, I would have lost consciousness like Lucia.
"…The feel is different."
No, would it have been better to lose consciousness?
Lustitia, who had clearly struck with enough force to crush bone, gave me a quizzical look when she saw I was fine, then took a running stance once again.
She was planning to immediately give chase.
To see her like that even in the slowed world of [Contemplation], she must have absurd physical abilities.
Should I let her have her way, or should I put up a bit more of a fight? If I go down too easily, she might become suspicious.
I really shouldn’t have worn the [Starry Sky Robe].
…Well, if we're going down that road, I should have taken off the wig first.
"Hmph…"
And above all, it didn't suit my personality to just take it without doing anything. Resisting as much as I can is also…
"Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of holding back against someone whose eyes don't show that they've given up."
"…"
When I came to my senses, Lustitia was right in front of my eyes.
There was no problem with [Contemplation].
I, who had seen even the moment the [Death King]'s sword came down, had no reason to miss her movements.
If so, this must be her second active skill…
"Even so, you didn't know about this, did you?"
[Leap of Light]
One of the charge skills that warrior-type characters possessed, a skill that made it seem as if they had teleported.
And the most important point was.
"Even so, this is probably going to hurt quite a lot…"
This was a skill with a pretty high attack multiplier.
CRACK—!
A bone broke.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Lustitia and Eleanor had soon reached the border of Chrysos.
Of course, the surveillance networks of various countries were still spread out at the Chrysos border, but it was a problem to monitor the entire border line.
It was possible to see those coming from the inside out through real-time video magic, but the reverse was difficult.
One could simply break the magic tools from the outside and then enter.
There were patrols and surveillance magic on the outskirts, but it wasn't as tight as it was on the inside.
"Heave-ho. There we go, Princess Eleanor. We can go in now."
"…Sister Lustitia, sometimes you seem even more reckless than me. That's not a common trait."
"Oh, it's not that bad."
"…"
Once Lustitia made a decision, she never hesitated in her actions.
That's why she first destroyed the magic tools in another location, and then, avoiding the guards who came to check on it, entered from a different place.
Of course, it went without saying that she had destroyed the magic tools at that time as well.
"Hey, isn't it uncomfortable to call me by my full name like that, Princess Eleanor?"
"No, that's your name, sister."
"How about Tia for short? The sound is cute, so I think it'd be nice."
"That nickname might give me a little PTSD, so I'll have to decline…"
Eleanor broke into a cold sweat as she recalled the intimidating figure of the [Dragon Emperor] in Scientia.
Just thinking about the overwhelming violence she had shown against Alexios during the comprehensive evaluation was enough to make her knees weak even now.
"You call me Princess Eleanor every time, too, Sister Lustitia."
"Alright! Noah! Is this okay?"
"…"
Eleanor was at a loss for words at Lustitia's actions, who switched to informal speech and used a nickname as if she had been waiting for those words.
"…Then I'll call you Sister Lus, too."
"That's a bit disappointing, too… How about 'Justice' sister, in the style of the Lunar Federation?"
"It doesn't suit you."
"Uh… I'm a hero, though?"
"Actually, I think the role of a pleasure-seeking criminal suits you better than a hero, Sister Lustitia."
Eleanor was relatively lacking in self-awareness.
"Let's just stick with Sister Lus."
"Hmm… If that's what Noah wants, then I guess I can't help it."
After chattering about nicknames for a while, the two crossed the border and stepped into Chrysos.
At first, there were no problems. Crossing the border didn't bring about any dramatic changes.
They were only setting up camp on the border line in preparation for international problems; the real problem area was further inside.
Yes, that's how it would normally be, but…
"Sister Lus."
"Yeah… It seems they've come out to greet us."
An 'Outer Being' had come out to a considerably close distance.
The constantly shifting monster had a form that, if one had to say, was close to that of a crocodile.
The monster let out a bizarre cry and charged at the two of them.
"Ah…"
And to Eleanor, that bizarre sound came as the scream of someone captured by the monster.
Whether she wanted it or not, the [Key of Understanding] was forcing her to understand that being.
"Are you okay?"
"…I'm fine. So I'll do it."
Lustitia had also heard about it beforehand, so she knew about the characteristics of the Outer Beings.
But knowing and understanding are different. To Lustitia, the monster before her just looked like a monster.
It didn't look like a screaming person, as it did to Eleanor.
The sense of revulsion the two of them would feel would surely be different.
"Yes, you have more than enough of the qualities of a hero."
But Eleanor, knowing that, stepped forward.
She knows what she must face. She does not turn away from the path she must walk. And furthermore, she knows how to understand and support others.
Those were the requirements of a hero, as Lustitia saw them.
There was nothing so grand about it. But it was also something difficult to put into practice.
SWISH!
Eleanor's greatsword swung down at the monster. A golden aura had gathered on the greatsword.
The power of harmony from the [Key of Understanding] severed the chains of the soul captured by the Outer Being.
"…I know very well that this is saving them."
"I'm proud of you. If Decentura saw you now, she would be so proud she'd cry her eyes out."
"Decentura cried easily even without things like this."
"She must have been a more sensitive child than I remember."
Lustitia gave a bitter smile.
She had left home too early to become a [Hero].
Her memories of Decentura weren't actually that many.
They were just memories like a small diary they shared when they were young.
"Do you have any regrets, sister?"
"I'm trying not to have any."
"…That answer is a little cool."
Eleanor understood as she looked at Lustitia's slightly distorted smile.
Lustitia was not a perfect superhuman. She was just a human striving to become a superhuman.
And to Eleanor, the latter felt cooler than the former.
"Then let's hurry on our way."
"Shall we?"
"Yes, you don't have that much time, sister."
Lustitia froze for a moment at Eleanor's bold words.
"Haha… You knew?"
"Of course. How long have we been together?"
"Not that long."
"That's true, actually."
It hadn't even been a month since the two of them had been together.
"But I still know."
She understands. She understands that Lustitia doesn't have much time.
She is more sensitive to the gazes of others than anyone else in the world.
So how could she not know the gaze of someone who looks down at her every night, unable to sleep?
Eleanor wanted to save the people of Chrysos as soon as possible.
But that didn't mean she wasn't paying attention to the present.
"If I were to suggest that we solve your curse first, you would object, right? Then I have no choice but to solve my problem as quickly as possible."
Eleanor had been listening to Lustitia's monologues at night. And she knew that even if she suggested they solve the curse first, she would refuse.
Because Lustitia was even more stubborn than her.
That's why Eleanor had no choice but to make a slightly unreasonable decision.
She decided to confirm her own purpose as quickly as possible, and then solve Lustitia's problem.
"What do you think? Of my perfect plan! It's amazing, right? You were surprised too, right? Huhu!"
That's why Eleanor pushed herself. She moved forward in a way that made it seem so.
Lustitia, too, couldn't doubt the sincerity of Eleanor, who was acting as if she were shocked by the problems related to Chrysos.
"…You are a royal."
In that image of Eleanor, Lustitia saw not only the image of a hero, but also the image of a king making a decision.
If they can't bend their opinions, they find a way to accommodate them all.
Even if it is a difficult and arduous path, if there is a way, they move forward.
That was the road that Eleanor had decided to walk.
"I think it's a wonderful decision. But for now, I'd rather you prioritized yourself over me…"
"It's all of us."
"…"
Eleanor said it flatly.
"I want to prioritize all of us. So after this is over, let's go and solve your curse. At that time, just as you did for me this time, I'll help you."
"Are you sure? Your friends will be waiting for you."
"It's fine. They are people who can do well even without me."
Eleanor nodded calmly. She had already said her goodbyes.
'It's a shame I couldn't see my master and the kids' faces before I left, but…'
Eleanor had no intention of returning to Scientia.
There was no reason to return. Because she now had people who supported her, and whom she, in turn, had to support.
She had now decided to walk a rugged path.
Eleanor followed Lustitia and began to advance relentlessly into Chrysos.
But in her steps, a faint hesitation remained.
Something was holding her back.
It was the middle of the night at a certain party.
— …Even if I were imprisoned in a dark, narrow place, blindfolded and gagged, unable to speak and isolated, would you still find me?
— Yes. Even if it were in the middle of a battlefield, I would find you and speak to you.
A promise she had made with someone.
'Still, a little bit…'
It was because she felt it was a shame.
'…Will I regret it?'