A Headache of a Reunion
The sight of that Sword Magic tells me this isn’t some ordinary opponent.
“My thoughts exactly. Let’s take that thing down first.”
I could only hope the dark mage had poured every last ounce of his power into resurrecting Eldacrad. Otherwise, I’d have no choice but to fight until my right arm was completely shattered. The worst-case scenario.
Huh?
In that instant, Eldacrad vanished. No—he was suddenly right in my face. That massive body moving at such speed?
Crack!
I barely managed to form a Sword Magic blade in time to block. But then I noticed it. A blue sword had also sprouted from Kiriel’s hand. She was using Sword Magic too.
Just who the hell is Kiriel?
“Wait a second. Aren’t you from the Ashtar clan? Even if Eldacrad can use it, it’s weird that you’d know how!”
That’s what I wanted to say.
“What about you? How are you using Sword Magic?!”
Ah. Fair point. But wait, is that really the issue right now?
How many people in this world could even use Sword Magic?
“I’m from the Land of Destruction, that’s why!”
“The what—ugh?!”
Eldacrad’s attack slowly began crushing us. His raw power alone seemed to surpass even Pector. Was I really unable to withstand the strike of a hero from decades ago?
Well, I suppose that level of strength explains why he marched straight into the Demon King’s territory.
“Hold on, we can’t keep this up much longer!”
Completely overwhelmed by Eldacrad’s power, we pulled our bodies back. But the mana sword that had lost its target smashed into the second-floor ground.
Crunch! Rumble!
The floor collapsed, and we plummeted to the level below. If I hadn’t protected my body with mana, I would’ve been done for instantly.
“My right arm feels like the bones are completely shattered.”
I could still fight, but the arm was in even worse shape than before. The sensation was almost gone. After pushing Olivia’s body—which hadn’t fully returned to its Noah prime—against Pector, this was probably inevitable.
“Damn it. Where the hell are we?”
Looked like we’d fallen to the third floor. Or rather… maybe this was actually a good thing?
“First, we need to deal with that thing quickly. We can talk afterward.”
“You called him grandfather, didn’t you?”
“I’m about to die here. Who the fuck cares about that right now?”
If someone’s trying to kill me, even my own little sister becomes an enemy. In that case, did she really think I’d go easy just because it was Olivia’s grandfather?
Besides, was I even in any position to hold back?
This guy needed to make some stupid mistake, or we were screwed.
“Wow, you’re even swearing now. Heh?”
Crack!
“Damn it. Why is he so strong?”
“You beat Pector, didn’t you? Can’t you do something?”
What kind of nonsense was she spouting? Did this bitch think Eldacrad was a joke? Couldn’t she see that terrifying mana blade made with Sword Magic?
“He feels about as strong as Pector. And even then, I got lucky against him. Right now, my right arm isn’t even in working condition.”
“So in short…”
“You take him on.”
If she was a member of the Hero Party, she should at least be able to handle that much.
At my words, Kiriel’s hidden face seemed to twist. The mood instantly grew heavy. Her expression practically screamed, What the hell are you saying?
Still, she wasn’t an idiot. If she didn’t want to die, she had no choice.
Kiriel was forced to block Eldacrad’s incoming attack.
Shiiiing!
The mana sword that had fallen with us swung down with all its might.
“This is really making me want to swear!!”
Clang!
Still, she managed to hold out a little. She seemed capable of putting up a decent fight. Maybe this was doable?
“Hold him off. I’ll take care of the dark mage.”
It would be better if I fell back and dealt with the dark mage myself. No matter how skilled he was, controlling something like Eldacrad must have cost him a lot of power. That meant I had a chance to end it in one blow.
“Do you even know where he is? Didn’t you say his subordinates were in the mausoleum too? What if they’ve been resurrected as well?”
“Ah, shit.”
In short, we had to take down Eldacrad here and now. This was bad. We might actually die if we messed up. Looked like I’d have to risk my life for real.
“Um, shouldn’t we deal with this guy first?”
“Fuck. All I can do is swear.”
“You really are my brother……”
“If you have time to spout nonsense, fight properly!”
Eldacrad’s sword came crashing down again. Kiriel belatedly drew her mana sword.
Crackle!
She blocked Eldacrad’s attack with the mana sword. Even with both of us facing him, it was exhausting. This was insane. How was he this strong?
No matter how I thought about it, power on this level belonged to one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
“This is crazy. He’s stronger than Pector?”
Even if my current body was in bad shape, this was a bit much, wasn’t it?
In the end, I unleashed a barrage of Mana Bullets. As strong and dense as possible. Until my hand creaked from the strain.
Boom! Crunch!
The sound of Eldacrad being pushed back and falling echoed. In that moment, I grabbed Kiriel’s hand and bolted.
“Do you know the way around here?”
“No idea!”
We ran blindly. Anywhere, as long as it put distance between us and Eldacrad. Other enemies? Even if we ran into them, they’d be less dangerous than Eldacrad.
We eventually reached the area with the knight statues.
“Won’t these start moving?”
“If they could, they would have already. The dark mage is probably quite far from here. That’s why the knights couldn’t move.”
It was obvious. Since even these knights weren’t under his control, the dark mage had to be quite a distance away. Just controlling Eldacrad alone must have been difficult. Reviving a hero of this caliber as an undead was not something an ordinary dark mage could pull off.
“More importantly, why is that grandfather so ridiculously strong?”
“How should I know? How are we supposed to beat that thing?”
“Even if we do beat it, won’t the dark mage just resurrect him again? We need to find another way!”
Find another way?
“Like what?”
“Just cast some grand magic right here. Losing an arm is better than losing your life, right?”
Was this girl insane? Grand magic inside the mausoleum?
“Even if we could use grand magic, what would we cast? The ceiling would have to open for lightning to strike or a meteor to fall.”
And even if it were possible, the mausoleum would be destroyed the moment we used it. We’d be crushed to death.
This bitch’s head was clearly not working properly. Also, her voice from earlier… I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before.
“Then what do you want me to do? Fuck, telling me to take that thing down alone. What kind of dogshit suggestion is that?”
Now I was certain. That sharp, obnoxious voice—!
“You’re Noel, aren’t you.”
I yanked back Kiriel’s hood. Sure enough, it was Noel. A girl with long black hair who looked strikingly similar to me.
“Now that I see it… I did think that even though you looked like a girl on the outside, you had the personality of a fake older brother. So it really is you?”
The way this bitch was talking to her own brother.
Anyway, it was definitely Noel.
“Wow, the girl who ran away from home was in the Hero Party?”
She really knew how to pick the most useless things to do.
“Why did the person who was in the Hero Party turn into a woman? Did you awaken some kind of hobby like that?”
“Do you think there’s magic that turns someone into a woman?”
Logically speaking, that was impossible. Changing appearance wasn’t out of the question, but there was no way I’d suddenly switch from living as Noah for decades to becoming a noble lady. That would be insane.
“But you’ve always been such a weirdo, brother!”
“No, I’m not. Wait, that’s not the point. What did you say earlier? That the Hero was handsome so you’d marry him? That you’d reform him?”
Was the fact that Noah had become a woman the real issue? No. The biggest problem was that my one and only little sister was attempting the impossible. And she was staking her entire life on it.
I had to set this crazy little sister straight before she tried to reform the Hero and land herself the perfect husband.
“What about it?”
“Drop that shitty plan right now! You picked that bastard as husband material? Did a meteor really smash into your skull?”
Just where had she been getting beaten up after running away from home?
“You said it was fine before! You literally said so with your own mouth just a while ago!”
That was because it was someone else’s business.
“That’s because it’s someone else’s problem, you idiot! If you weren’t my sister, I wouldn’t give a damn if you married some mutt walking down the street! But my own sister wants to marry a piece of human garbage and take on an impossible challenge? Of course I’m going to stop you!”
This had to be stopped. Absolutely.
“I can pull it off just fine. All I have to do is take down one of the Four Heavenly Kings! Think about it. Reform the Hero and defeat the Four Heavenly Kings. Easy, right?”
“Yeah. That’s why you got your ass kicked by Pector and I had to come clean it up. If I’d known you were my sister back then, I would’ve beaten you up along with Yuria!”
I should’ve realized it back then.
“Are you going to keep acting childish, brother? You’re the one walking around in a skirt after turning into a woman!”
“I became like this after fighting the Demon King! It’s not the same as you!”
Boooom!
Ah, our voices had gotten too loud. Eldacrad smashed through the wall and appeared.
Right. That guy was still here. I’d momentarily forgotten.
Since he was still a fair distance away, we needed to prepare.
“Brother. How about we take that bastard down first?”
“Yeah. Let’s take that thing down first.”
Catching my little sister would only be possible if I stayed alive.
We retreated further back to avoid Eldacrad. There was no way we could fight something like that head-on. Right now, we needed to fall back, conserve even the slightest bit of mana, and aim for a single decisive strike.
In the Land of Destruction, my sister and I had always fought strong monsters this way. Rather than stupidly clashing head-on and wasting time, it was better to run, then finish it with one blow.
Noel glanced at my arm.
“How’s your right arm right now?”
“I can’t feel anything.”
“You don’t regret using Mana Fusion? Wow, thinking about it, you used Mana Fusion in that body?”
Even now she was being sarcastic.
“If I hadn’t used Mana Fusion, I would’ve died against Pector. It’s convenient except at times like this.”
Right now, Mana Fusion had instead become a shackle. I used Sword Magic. As expected, my arm throbbed every time I used it. If I could adjust the output properly it might be manageable, but I didn’t have that luxury right now.
“Is there really no easy way to kill that thing?”
“Do you want to see me die? The mausoleum would get destroyed too.”
Hanging around the Hero must have rotted her brain.
“Then what are you going to do? Fighting the same way as before will just lead to a war of attrition until we both die. Landing one decisive blow is your specialty, isn’t it?”
“That’s only when I’m in good condition. I didn’t want to use this…”
I never thought I’d have to use the insurance Jerato left behind here. I hadn’t used this much even when fighting Pector. But right now I couldn’t rely on mana alone, so I had no choice.
I activated the demonic energy circuit hidden inside my mana circuit. Since I couldn’t suppress it with mana, I felt my appearance change noticeably. Noel’s face twisted comically.
“I knew it when you turned into a woman. Now you’re even involved with the demon race? Just what the hell have you been doing?”
“This is what happened after I got hit by Jerato while you were flirting with the Hero, you idiot.”
Actually, this was good timing. Now I could gamble.
I imbued my mana sword with the attribute of Pector’s demonic energy blade, which radiated thick demonic power. At least now I could fight Eldacrad on equal footing.
“So what? You’re going to fight demonic energy with demonic energy?”
“This.”
I took out a fragment of Pector’s sword from my subspace. I would grant Pector’s attribute to my mana sword.