Ranking Battle (3)
A mighty voice thundered from the sacred flames packed densely around the outer edge of the arena.
Dignity clung to that voice—an authority that made one listen without thinking—and a weight that had settled into it over long years.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop—
It walked out from the sacred flame.
That thing.
Parting the tenth sacred flame, it set foot into the world.
“Wh-what…?”
Friga’s axe trembled faintly.
Someone had suddenly shouted for the match to stop, and something had burst from the sacred flame.
A horse.
A horse white as fresh snow from head to hoof.
A horse with a horn upon its brow had appeared.
And that horse was descending while treading upon empty air.
It fixed its gaze straight into Friga’s eyes and approached her—slowly, deliberately, without the slightest hurry.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop
Hoofbeats rang through the air, pure and crystalline.
Stars were woven into the white mane that streamed on the wind, forming a river of light like the Milky Way. Every light step that pressed upon empty air carried the dignity of one who looked down upon all living things.
A single horn rose proudly from its brow, thrusting skyward as if to pierce the heavens.
Its clear eyes held the depth of a seasoned sage.
Its deep, resonant voice carried a weight that compelled belief.
It wore the shape of a horse, yet it was a being that pierced, explored, and judged the soul.
Ah—one scarcely dared meet those eyes.
“All of you, cease this battle!!”
The horse that had emerged from the sacred flame halted before Friga and spoke.
Look upon those profound, mysterious eyes.
The moment Friga’s gaze locked with the horse’s, she felt as though her entire body had been stripped bare and was being licked over every inch.
“Ugh!”
She shuddered hard at the crawling sensation, rubbing the gooseflesh prickling along her arms, and deliberately averted her eyes.
“Y-you… what are you? No—wait. That horse that was standing in the sacred flame over there… don’t tell me—”
“Indeed, beautiful maiden. I am a body prepared as the divine treasure of this festival.”
A sacred horse born of light, one that loved purity and chastity—the fairy steed.
“In other words, one may call me a Unicorn.”
“Unicorn?”
Friga tilted her head at a word she had never heard in her life. Unicorn?
At least, she had never heard of any horse by that name.
No—that isn’t what matters right now!
What mattered was that this Unicorn which had leapt from the sacred flame had stopped the fight.
Friga still had not punched a hole through Estel’s face.
The Unicorn itself looked tempting enough, but that could wait.
If she forced her way into the top ten by her own strength, she could claim the horse legitimately. She had both the confidence and the power to do so.
Right now the absolute priority was punishing Estel, who had dared call her a barbarian.
Friga leveled her axe at the Unicorn.
“I get that you’re the prize prepared for this festival, but that doesn’t give you any reason to stop this fight. Quietly go back where you came from. I’ll come collect you later.”
She glared at it, sharp killing intent rolling off her. The Unicorn merely shook its head.
“Rough, yet beautiful. You are like a rose that hides thorns, maiden. That you would come to claim me thrills me greatly—yet regrettably, this time I cannot withdraw.”
“…What?”
“I shall stop your battle. No matter how you try to bar my way, I will stop this fight. Even my Creator—the Great and Exalted One—cannot break my will!”
A clear refusal. Friga stood momentarily speechless.
In a festival overseen by a god, the very prize prepared for that festival was defying the god in order to halt the fight?
Why the hell…?
Curiosity finally overrode everything else. She lowered her axe and asked,
“No—why the hell?”
“Reason?”
Prrrrr—
The Unicorn snorted roughly as it stared at her.
It looked half-excited, half-furious.
“Maiden. I love maidens so very much.”
“…Huh?”
“I love maidens so very much, I tell you. I love the fresh earthy scent of a country-wife maiden. I love the shy expression of a library-attendant maiden. I love the figure of a childhood-friend maiden who grew up holding hands. Even a brazen little thing is good so long as she is a maiden. Ah—and a cool, blunt city lady who is still a maiden is excellent as well.”
“You… what the hell are you even saying right now.”
“I find maidens utterly adorable. Do you understand? Every woman is most beautiful while she remains a maiden. That form is like a fragile flower bud blooming precariously on a cliff’s edge.”
“Crazy bastard…”
“Curse me if you wish. I do not seek understanding! Yet I possess a mission I can never abandon—to protect every maiden in this world and to guard their purity! That is why I could not simply stand by and watch beautiful maidens such as yourselves tear each other apart!”
Friga edged backward step by step.
She had never retreated—not against the Frost Dragon, not against the demon that once possessed Kenis’s body, not even against the plague-rats that flooded in like a black sea.
But this creature was different.
It stared at her with a madness of an entirely different order from any enemy she had ever faced—an incomprehensible, pure obsession.
Prrrrrk—
The Unicorn snorted again, eyes locked on her.
“Well then, maiden. Will you now acknowledge my noble purpose?”
“You’re insane… You’re a complete lunatic!”
“Call me whatever you like. For the sake of maidens I will gladly defy even my Creator!”
Friga kept retreating, glancing around. The stands were in an uproar at the sudden interruption, yet the holy knights outside the arena still did not enter.
Did they believe even this was the god’s will?
They stamped their feet in place, unable to rush in rashly, looking utterly lost.
“They will not come. Everything we have spoken has been heard only by you and me. The two of us alone. They do not understand the situation and therefore dare not approach.”
One step. Another step.
The Unicorn closed the distance with deliberate clip-clops of its hooves.
Its muzzle drew nearer; its snorts grew hotter and more forceful.
Friga squeezed her eyes shut and shrank in on herself.
Why in the world had this insane god created such a perverted freak of a horse that she now had to endure this?!
KRAAA-KOOM—!!
A dazzling bolt of lightning crashed down from the clear sky, striking so close to the Unicorn that a sheet of paper could scarcely have fit between them.
The blast was powerful enough to make Friga’s hair stand on end.
Ihihihing—!
The Unicorn glanced at the scorched ground, then threw its head back and roared at the heavens.
“O my Creator, Great and Exalted One! Even Your august will cannot halt my steps!! I live solely for maidens!! Not even You can stop me!”
Estel, who had been hanging onto Friga’s arm and moaning, had at some point fainted and now lay quietly on the ground.
The Unicorn slowly approached the fallen elf.
Prrrrrk—
It twitched its nostrils and began sniffing every part of Estel’s body.
Then it smiled.
“Indeed… my senses were correct. No mistake.”
“What?”
“This fragrance, this richness, this depth… at least a century’s worth—no, more than that? Remarkable.”
The sight of a horse burying its nose all over an unconscious person’s body while muttering to itself was truly grotesque.
Friga’s brows knotted hard.
“You… what the hell are you? Wait—was this one a woman?”
“Indeed. Hmm. Others might not have known. She dressed herself quite thoroughly. Yet a maiden can never escape my eyes.”
The Unicorn savored Estel’s scent a moment longer, then turned its gaze back to Friga.
“Maiden, I make a request of you. Can you not find it in yourself to forgive the maiden who lies here?”
Friga’s eyes went cold. She had no intention of forgiving anyone.
Even if Estel herself had knelt and begged, forgiveness would have been doubtful. A third party’s plea changed nothing.
“No. This one insulted my family, my honor, my land, my brothers—everything. I will take the price of that insult.”
“Resolute. If that is your will… very well.”
The Unicorn turned and moved toward the fallen Estel.
Sensing something ominous in that retreating back, Friga lunged.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I protect maidens. I am a body that cannot fight against you, who are yourself a maiden. Yet I must protect maidens. Therefore I shall take this one and leave far away.”
“What?”
It slowly knelt before Estel.
Just as the Unicorn skillfully began to shift the unconscious elf onto its back—
KRAAA-KOOM—!! BOOM!! CRACK-BOOM!!
Countless bolts of lightning poured from the clear sky, all of them aimed squarely at the Unicorn.
“Kkhaaaaak!! Hwaaaaak!!”
Even a fairy steed born of light could not withstand divine lightning. The Unicorn screamed in agony and thrashed, yet still shielded Estel’s body with its own so that not a single bolt would touch her.
“O Great One!! Why do You stop me!! Have You forgotten that I permitted Your touch only because You are my Creator?! This pure body is allowed solely to maidens—yet because You are the Creator I endured!! Why do You treat me thus?!”
The Unicorn actually turned its fury upon the heavens.
Friga, who had been watching the entire farce in silence, could only stare in disbelief.
So this Unicorn had refused even to let its own Creator lay a hand on it because the god was not a maiden—and had merely “endured” it?
…Is this thing actually insane?
She began seriously reconsidering the idea of ever riding the Unicorn.
It would look magnificent, true… but she had a strong feeling she would die of old age still wearing her virginity like a badge.
That was a problem. She was obligated to take a son-in-law and continue the Nix family line.
Dying an old maid was not an option.
KRAAA-KOOM—!! BOOM!!
“Kkheu…! Uaaaaak!! Stop—stop!!! I understand!! O Great One, I was wrong!! Please withdraw Your wrath!!”
After a thorough roasting by endless lightning, the Unicorn finally raised the white flag. It made a deep bowing gesture toward the sky, openly admitting defeat.
Then it turned and began walking back toward the sacred flame from which it had come.
Even as it left, its eyes lingered on Estel and Friga with dripping regret.
“Regrettable… rose-like maiden. I shall wait for the day you come to claim me.”
Clip-clop, clip-clop—the Unicorn climbed once more into the tenth sacred flame and was soon wrapped again in its roaring light.
Friga stood dazed in the aftermath of the storm that had just swept through.
What in the world had just happened…?
“Uh… uhh… so—”
Even the announcer had lost the plot and was babbling. It was only natural.
A horse had suddenly appeared from a sacred flame, tried to carry off a fallen challenger, been struck by lightning, and then returned to the flame?
What kind of situation was that supposed to be?
And Friga and the horse had clearly been conversing—what on earth had they said?
Feeling every gaze in the arena lock onto her, Friga scratched her head. She had a sinking feeling this was going to become a massive headache.
“…I will take this challenger.”
“Huh?”
Number Five appeared without a sound from the shadows and lightly gathered the unconscious Estel into her arms.
Friga flinched hard at the sudden presence right behind her and nearly swung her axe on pure reflex.
“Uh—ah. Right. Don’t just pop up behind people. I almost took your head off.”
“…Then I shall take my leave, my lady.”
Number Five gave Friga a short bow and quietly carried Estel out of the arena.
Friga frowned as she watched the holy knights now sprinting toward her from outside the ring.
Ha, shit. They’re definitely going to ask what we talked about.
Telling the truth wouldn’t be difficult. The problem was…
Would anyone believe me if I said a horse obsessed with maidens got horny, barged into the middle of a duel, and the god stopped it with lightning?
Even she wouldn’t believe that story.
And those whose faith had already crossed into fanaticism would believe it even less.
I’ll have to dress it up somehow.
How to invent a version they would actually accept—Friga’s mind raced as she glared up at the six great thrones.
What kind of god couldn’t even manage its own creations properly?
You owe me one for this.
She muttered the words while staring at the empty thrones.