The Queen's Last Arrow

"Titania! You cannot die! Without you, Elvenheim will—!!"

The elf working over her was trying to save Titania through tears.

Sylphy kept loosing arrows into the sky, trying to bring the wyverns down. The moment Olivia had taken to the air, their numbers had dropped sharply—but somewhere along the way, Olivia had vanished from the heavens.

Which meant there was a monster strong enough to pin even her in place.

Was there truly a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Demon King Army Cadre here?

Olivia herself had said that her current strength sat at Demon King Army Cadre class—and that against those who ranked among the upper echelons of that class, she could not be certain of victory. A third of her head gone, her heart run through, one arm lost, her body gutted by a curse—and she still called herself Cadre class. It was almost absurd. But when it came to measuring her own ability, Olivia had always been ruthlessly objective.

In other words, Olivia was almost certainly fighting with everything she had.

"There's no end to them! The wyverns aren't decreasing—they're multiplying!"

"How can there be this many wyverns...?!"

The timing is too perfect.

The World Tree was ailing, and Olivia—in peak condition—happened to be here besides. The timing was too convenient to be anything but deliberate.

"Look! Over there!!"

"Wh-what is that?"

"What the hell is that!?"

Startled by their reactions, Sylphy looked up—and saw something enormous.

A burning boulder. The magic of annihilation that scorched the earth itself.

If a Meteor had been summoned, there was no question a Demon King Army Cadre was present.

What now?

Meteor had never been a spell one could cast alone. Neither humanity nor monsterkind could wield it without a mage of the highest caliber. Even then, the casting time was considerable—which meant dealing with a Meteor already in motion was no simple matter. There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a reason the best response to a Meteor was said to be fleeing the impact zone the instant you recognized it.

But that thing is too large, even for a Meteor.

Abandoning Elvenheim and running was no easy thing in the middle of this battlefield. And even if they did run—how were they supposed to escape a Meteor of that size?

What should he do?

Olivia might have been able to do something. But Olivia was not here.

Then.

What.

"T-Titania!"

"...Grandmother?"

A hole still punched through her chest, Titania staggered to her feet and came to stand beside Sylphy.

"You are unharmed?"

"Ah—yes... No, Titania! Why are you standing?! You need treatment!"

Titania touched Sylphy's cheek and smiled, gentle as anything.

"Sylphy. I am Titania."

"What?"

"To sit as king of a nation, one must place the country before oneself. Even should that mean a life no longer human."

Coming from Titania—who had lived through war, and who had become queen of Elvenheim in the chaos that followed—the words carried a weight all their own.

She had abandoned her name. Abandoned her life. Abandoned everything, and sat upon that throne as Titania and Titania alone.

That was the covenant Titania had sworn with the World Tree.

A low hum filled the air. A bow materialized in Titania's hand.

"Titania?"

Titania snapped her fingers. The building's ceiling vanished, and the Meteor came into full, terrible view. Blood streaming from her wounds, she drew the bowstring.

A deep rumble built in the air. Unfathomable mana was gathering into that small arrow. Sylphy had lived a reasonably long life, but he had never seen power concentrate in such volume. Titania's own mana, joined with the power the Meteor Bow generated of its own accord, wove together into something even more explosive.

"Titania! You mustn't! The Meteor Bow is not something you can use in that condition!!"

The elf who had been treating her cried out as if she had already sensed Titania's fate—but she could not even push through the gale of mana, staggering in place.

And yet Titania seemed to understand that fate perfectly well.

"Don't—please...! Grandmother...! Grandmother!! You can't! There has to be another way... I-I'll draw it myself! Or I'll bring Lady Olivia here right now!!"

"..."

At Sylphy's cry, Titania smiled. She smiled as if those words had made her happier than anything in the world.

In that moment, she was not the lonely queen who had sat upon the throne alone through the long years. She wore, unmistakably, the face of a grandmother looking upon her grandson.

She had believed that the hatred and the sins accumulated over those long years would not be undone even by her death.

And yet they had been.

It was enough.

The loosed arrow swelled as it flew, bloating larger and larger until it rivaled the Meteor itself—and the two met in midair.

For a single instant, light bloomed. Ahead of the sound.

And then the Meteor that had swallowed the sky was gone, and the blue heavens showed themselves once more.

Come to think of it.

Titania thought, in that moment.

In the end, I never did have a proper conversation with Rayna.

If she had a regret, that would be it. As a queen, she might have been "not so bad." As family, Titania had surely been the worst.

And yet.

"Grandmother!!"

Why do you look at me so?

He could not possibly be unaware that most of the suffering in his life had come from Titania's wrong choices. Sylphy himself had said it would be a lie to claim he did not resent her.

And still—that face, calling her Grandmother, both hands reaching out—looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

And she was glad.

"Hhk... G-Grandmother. Blood... there's blood...! Your mana nerves have ruptured..."

"Rayna's sins..."

"Grandmother?"

"Leave them all... to Olivia..."

"Wh-what are you saying? Y-you can't do this... You can't! Don't close your eyes!"

Titania had given her entire life to Elvenheim. For that, she had done everything, and abandoned everything. She could no longer even properly remember her own name. Over the long years she had made many mistakes, and committed many sins.

A Titania who had sinned in the name of Elvenheim was surely bound for hell after death.

She hoped there was a hell. For if those who had sinned and those who had not arrived at the same place, would that not be unjust?

"Huh?"

At some point, the Meteor Bow had come to rest in Sylphy's hands. The Titania collapsed in his arms seemed to have pressed it into them.

There was no strength left in Titania's body. She simply leaned against him, eyes closed, as if she had fallen asleep.

"Ha... ah... hah..."

His breathing grew ragged. Sylphy forced down the part of himself that wanted to break, and checked Titania's condition.

"Not yet."

"What?"

"Her heart is still beating!! Hurry!!"

He had forgotten even his manners. The elf who had been using healing magic snapped back to her senses at those words, rushed over, and began treating her once more.

Either way, Titania could do nothing more in this battle. She had already, with a hole through her chest, used the Meteor Bow to shatter a Meteor falling from the sky. She would have expended a catastrophic amount of mana, and there was a high chance her mana nerves had been damaged as well.

Stay calm.

Anyone skilled enough to pin Olivia down was certainly a Demon King Army Cadre. But no one fighting Olivia would have the time to cast a Meteor.

Which means there's another one, besides the Cadre Lady Olivia is fighting.

A monster capable of casting Meteor. That one, too, was undoubtedly a Demon King Army Cadre.

Olivia Reinhardt had killed more than half of the Demon King Army Cadres on her journey. And of those who remained, at least two had invaded Elvenheim? No matter how he looked at it, this was not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a situation that could be called normal.

Lord Lois is with the World Tree. Lady Olivia is likely pinned down by a Demon King Army Cadre.

And Titania was on the verge of death. In this situation, who was supposed to take down the other Cadre?

Rayna and Les came to mind. Both possessed formidable skill even among the elves—and Rayna, however powerful Olivia had been, was someone who had faced multiple Demon King Army Cadres. That difference in experience, Sylphy thought, was not something that could be ignored.

First, he had to find Rayna. Sinner or not—that could wait until this crisis was over.

"Kyaaaa!!"

"This is—magic...!!"

"Magic?"

He looked down quickly. The elven soldiers were collapsing one after another. A violet aura washed over them, and in an instant it was stealing the life from their bodies.

"To think you would actually stop the Meteor."

At the center of it, someone was walking forward at a leisurely pace. An unholy presence. That rotting, corpse-like face told everyone what it was: a Lich.

"But she was already gravely wounded. A foolish choice. Rather stupid and meaningless, for Titania's end, wouldn't you say?"

"..."

A vein swelled at Sylphy's temple, as if it might burst.

It was almost funny to admit, even to himself, but Sylphy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had never wanted to kill anyone. The hatred of humans. The hatred of elves. He had received both, and still he had believed that those were their sins—that one could hate the sin without hating the person. To be consumed by that hatred and live cursing someone else had always seemed to him a life too small, too worthless.

But.

"Hup."

Sylphy leapt down and faced the Lich.

"Hm?"

He felt the Meteor Bow in his hands connecting with him. An overwhelming surge of mana seemed to awaken inside him.

"Don't you dare judge her...!! I'll kill you...!!"

For the first time in his life, Sylphy's eyes shone with killing intent.