How to Achieve Peace Through Vallitics
It is a widely known fact that when an enraged elf draws her bow, one ought to feel the genuine threat of death.
And if that happens inside a cramped space, all the more so… Elisa knew this better than anyone, and Camilla knew it just as well.
“What exactly do you plan to do to me with that little toy?”
Yet it was almost funny. The most gifted mage of her generation found the whole situation deeply amusing, precisely because she knew that even if her comrade was pointing a lethal weapon at her, it would never work on her.
“Interesting.”
She said the words, but the situation was not entirely amusing.
At this distance, in a sealed space like this—could she really block Elisa’s arrow? Camilla trusted her own magic, yet she also understood that if they truly fought, she would have to stake her life on it.
“You fucking bitch… scavenging after someone else like a stray dog? I’ll show you right now what happens to greedy little thieves who touch an elf’s property.”
“You’ll show me right now? How foolish…”
“Afraid Sloan will wake up, so you won’t even use that fancy magic of yours? Don’t worry. I’m not planning to kill you either. One arrow through your womb and we’re done.”
Elisa glanced back at Lylie. The large-breasted Saintess was watching the two of them fight, trembling violently.
“Once I put a hole through that bitch’s womb and drain all the cum out, heal her. You can at least stop the bleeding, right?”
“No… fighting isn’t right!”
“The one who’s not right is that bitch! Humans cut off a thief’s hand for stealing, don’t they? This is more than she deserves!”
Hey, I’m not anyone’s property…
Vallitics, who had been staring blankly at the filthy spectacle, mumbled to himself as he gathered his discarded clothes and began putting them back on.
This was never the plan…
The original plan had been to wait until the Hero Party was exhausted from fighting, then pick them off one by one while their guard was down.
But things had steadily gone sideways, and now it had escalated into an internal brawl.
Vallitics thought it over carefully… What if he just left them alone? Even if they didn’t kill each other, if they both took critical wounds—
If I step in and finish both of them off then? The Hero Party would take a massive hit for sure…!
No matter how he looked at it, there was nothing but upside. Vallitics let a sly little smile curl his lips and silently cheered them on.
Hoping for a vicious, mutual slaughter, he quietly edged backward.
“So you really think that thing’s going to put a scratch on my belly? Cute—”
Kwaaaaaaak—! Elisa did not let the taunt slide.
The mana surging even more powerfully through her body flooded into the bow, and as a result the draw weight rose several levels at once.
To pull it, the muscles of Elisa’s arms and back stood out in sharp relief. Watching that lovely skin transform like that, Vallitics gave a small shiver.
If one of those arms hits me, I’m actually dead.
There is a common perception that archers are cowardly, weak warriors.
But even people who hold that view would never say such a thing after seeing the arm muscles of a truly skilled archer.
The elf’s bow, already monstrous in its draw weight, was pulled even farther back.
Is she really going to shoot? If she does, I’m the one who dies… right? It won’t end with just a hole. The arrow will punch straight through and blow my gut open.
“You insane bitch…!”
“The insane one isn’t me—it’s you!”
Thwoong—! The string snapped forward. At last the elf loosed a single, lethal, murderously intent shot straight at her own comrade.
Yes. It’s over! Camilla, you’re dead!
The cave was already narrow; the two of them stood only about ten meters apart.
Given how terrifyingly fast Elisa’s arrows were, the attack would succeed regardless of Camilla’s reaction speed.
Vallitics laughed inwardly… How dare you violate me like that. Now it’s your turn to suffer!
“This little—!”
The first magic Camilla deployed was Time Distortion. And she had cast it thirty seconds before the arrow was even released.
She twisted time by roughly a factor of ten, slowing everything down. One minute becoming ten was mentally exhausting, but there was no other way to stop that vicious elf’s arrow.
Still fast, though? What the hell…
Even so, the arrow continued to streak toward her at frightening speed. But Camilla had more than enough time to cast her next spell.
Shield…!
Mana Shield, five hundred layers. Normally a single layer could tank one full-power swing of a longsword from an ordinary person, and each additional layer increased the strength exponentially.
What the…! Five hundred layers and it’s still—!
Time Distortion only slowed the visible speed; it could not interfere with the actual physical force.
This bitch is completely insane. She shot this at me? If I’d taken it bare, my entire upper body would have been blown clean off. She was actually trying to kill me.
The arrow that struck the barrier slowly began boring through the genius’s defenses. She poured mana into thickening the shield, trying to slow the physical phenomenon.
But even that could not reduce the force by even a fraction. Thus, over the course of ten seconds—what would originally have been one second—a hundred layers of shielding were pierced.
What kind of monster…! I can’t keep this up. At this rate I’ll collapse from exhaustion first.
Unable to endure the mental fatigue caused by the slowed time, Camilla released the Time Distortion. The instant she did, the remaining shields were smashed through in a single breath.
“Ugh!”
“…You blocked it?”
“You twin-tailed bitch—! You really shot to kill, didn’t you? Fine. If that’s how it is, then I’ll blow you away along with the entire cave!”
The arrow had shattered four hundred eighty-three layers of shielding before clattering to the floor. She had bought time. Camilla’s eyes rolled back with fury as she loaded a fireball onto the tip of her staff.
“Aaaah! A-Are you crazy?! If you fire that in here we’ll all die!”
“It’s all or nothing! That fucking bitch started it!”
“No, right now—!”
Camilla’s fireball voraciously sucked in the oxygen inside the cave and swelled to enormous size in an instant. The sensation of being roasted alive forced everyone to retreat without even thinking of opposing it.
If that thing struck the floor or the wall, not only Elisa but Lylie and Vallitics as well would be in mortal danger.
“Aww… Why are you two fighting?”
Of course, with Sloan present, no such thing was allowed to happen.
“Hwaaaah… Damn it, I was sleeping so well. Why is everyone making so much noise? Do both of you want a beating?”
“S-Sloan, I can explain everything!”
“I can roughly tell why you’re fighting. Uuung… Maybe the alcohol hasn’t worn off yet. My head’s all fuzzy.”
Sloan rubbed her eyes. The hangover still hadn’t cleared, so her head ached. Still, she had to deal with this. She wiggled her fingers a few times, then flicked a sharp knuckle-rap through the air—whoosh.
That was all. The fireball that had been greedily devouring every scrap of oxygen simply vanished.
Overwhelming magic resistance… combined with the Holy Sword’s magic-nullification ability snuffed Camilla’s fireball out like a candle flame.
“….”
“Elisa. Camilla. I get why you’re fighting. Ugh… my head hurts, so I’ll keep this short. Got it?”
“….”
The Hero Party had only one rule: no matter the reason, they were never to fight among themselves. It was a rule Sloan had stated over and over again.
Therefore neither of them could escape punishment. She raised her fist and struck—thud! Elisa’s body flew through the air like a jointed doll with its limbs snapped.
“I couldn’t even se—”
Next was Camilla. Unlike Elisa, she was hit more gently. The gap in their physical abilities was like heaven and earth; the same force would have killed her.
That did not mean Camilla was fine. Sloan slapped her across the face with the back of her hand and sent her flying. Crack! The loud sound of bone breaking rang out.
“Uuung… Lylie. Heal them both.”
Even though the two of them had not really resisted, the fact that Sloan had subdued them with nothing but her bare fists sent a shiver through Vallitics.
Elisa in particular looked as though something had been broken, yet she showed almost no outward sign of injury—thanks to the precise, crushing force of those punches.
“Ugh…”
“Still, she broke them cleanly, so fixing them won’t take long.”
“Shut up for a second… My head’s killing me. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“You should swallow that. It’s probably bits of your organs. Once you get healed, the loose chunks of meat will just break down into nutrients.”
Sloan let out a long yawn and turned to look at Vallitics. He had already finished dressing and gave a little start. She’s not going to hit me too, is she?
If she did, he would truly die… As a Demon King, Lylie’s healing would not work on him at all.
“Valli?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Hmmm. Our Valli is so cute it’s a problem. Ever since you joined, the party’s been a complete mess. This isn’t good. Ssssuuup.”
“Ahahaha… Th-That’s not exactly my fault, is it?”
“It’s not your fault. So… will you help me out a little?”
Help her? He absolutely did not want to grant any request of Sloan’s.
“For a while, take care of both of them. So they can share you nicely.”
“Ah.”
It was truly the worst request imaginable.