The Paramere Subjugation Battle (9)
The Paramere Subjugation Battle (9)
Dimona thrust her sword forward. She felt the swirling power of Ra throughout her entire body.
It was heavy. Her feet and hands were all heavy. Her body couldn't withstand the output of the sword bursting forth.
But she had to force the intensity of her power higher. Otherwise, she couldn't make that giant stagger.
Forward.
Further forward.
Drive the flames onward. Divine Judge Dimona!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
She spurred her warhorse and rose higher.
She stepped onto the collapsed outer wall and moved forward.
Dimona's sword lashed out.
BOOM!!!!!!!
The giant's body tilted sharply to one side.
"This is insane!?"
"As expected of the Judge!!!"
"A monster acknowledged by the Church!!!"
Those fools!
"Stop yapping and clear a path!!"
Dimona abandoned her horse. She ran along the outer wall just like that. Her shoulders were heavy. Even as she tried to act unaffected, her arms and legs trembled violently.
She hurled aside the rotten monsters blocking her path. She split them in half and carved a path along the collapsed outer wall. Forward. Forward.
Rotten flesh splattered against her face as she shouted the words like a mantra, smearing it with filth. Her entire body was drenched in blood and grew sticky.
When was it?
The last time she had rampaged this earnestly.
「I'm fine. Dimona.」
Belstein.
My mentor.
Will surged into her outstretched sword. Ra's flames raged. In the empty air she glared at, lingering regrets streamed down.
She had trained like mad. Outside of work hours, she had devoted herself entirely to training.
If only she had been a little stronger.
If she had been, she wouldn't have had to see that bitter smile.
Great power comes with constraints. But there is a price worth paying to shatter all of them and still endure. When Belstein lost his position, Dimona had been endlessly inadequate. She had been nothing more than a single inquisitor.
But now.
Now it was different.
Strength filled her hands. It was heavy, but she could move forward.
This time, she could save him.
Ra was whispering. Let us walk on. Dimona.
Toward your true heart.
"Hraaaaaaah!!!"
The battle cry echoing along the outer wall shook all of Paramer.
"Zahard! Come out right now! If you come out even now...!"
The giant raised its body. Flames blazed on Dimona's sword once more.
Output to maximum!
Cleanly enough to leave nothing behind!
"For the sin of tormenting people's hearts!! I'll let you off with a hundred-page written apologyyyyy!!!!"
A seed Ra had never seen. Within the blazing flames, the Divine Judge's talent burned to its utmost.
Forward. Forward.
Devouring the time she had carved into herself like a mantra, growing stronger still to untangle the lingering regrets she had never managed to cast away.
Her advancing steps crossed beyond the realm of a judge. Even the archbishop's Sacred Power mixed into her drawn sword, and for a single moment she surpassed her limits.
Beyond the archbishop, to the feet of a cardinal.
A sword coveting the realm of an Apostle shot out from its sheath.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
. . .
The flames moved. Apostle Estelle could not hide her shock.
She saw someone running along the outer wall. The power blazing like fire was endlessly disrupting the giant's movements.
Firepower that a human body should not be able to produce. The power of Ra contained in the cleaving strike carved up a portion of the city.
"...That's."
Strength comparable to a proper Apostle.
The Church of Ra.
Why would they stick a talent like that in a mere Divine Judge's post?
Estelle gripped her sword. She looked up at the giant with an expressionless face.
There was definitely damage. The destroyed surface of its body was burning bright red.
But it was strange. Even the specialized Holy Arts for purifying twisted souls couldn't land a proper blow.
The wounds were filling back in at a speed no living creature could ever recover from.
"...A mutant specimen."
Even with that much power, she couldn't land an effective hit. All she could do was break down its surface and minimize the damage.
She had to do it. She was the only one who could.
Estelle raised her sword. Then she suddenly looked around.
The warhorses of charging knights.
Soldiers gasping for breath as they kept pace.
Inquisitors sheathing their weapons in flames.
Mercenaries hacking at monsters while watching each other's backs.
Even the Black Scales of the Church of Naga.
"......."
This many people were fighting for the sake of just one man. Why?
Zahard.
She murmured the name. What kind of person was he, to draw this many people here without even asking them to come?
She had crossed swords with him directly before. She had also beaten him senseless with great enthusiasm.
But well...
He seemed to have a delinquent sort of personality.
"......"
But Estelle actually knew. She tried to deny it, but she knew.
That the path he had walked had clearly held people's lives in the balance. That the eyes Isabella had looked at him with held admiration and longing.
A reputation that someone whose nature was truly wicked could never possess. He must be a good person who seemed to prioritize his own interests yet quietly looked after those around him, which was why so many had gathered here.
.
"...Idiot."
An idiot who threw his life away for someone else.
Right. An idiot.
Everyone here was an idiot except herself.
"Estelle!"
A warhorse neighed harshly. Isabella deflected a spear of bone that flew in through the rotten dust.
Her body was fouled with blood and flesh. But even so, her eyes had not died.
They still shone. Brightly enough to sting the eyes.
"If you're tired, please preserve your strength! I'll handle this!"
It was obvious to anyone who the exhausted one was. Estelle stared blankly at Isabella's heaving chest.
...Right.
I'm an idiot too.
"It's fine. Isabella. Rest."
Darkness clung to the serpent-blade she raised. Honestly speaking, Zahard or whatever didn't really stir much emotion in her.
But if anyone touched Isabella, her only ally and the sister who had become her will to live...
"I'll split this place apart."
She would burn it all to nothing.
. . ..
The detached force led by Rosemary dashed desperately through the underground.
Rotten monsters clung to them. The axe she gritted her teeth over caught fire.
"Move!"
BOOM!!
They pushed through the explosive roar. The flesh stuck to their feet made squelching sounds.
It's straight ahead. There's not much left.
Wrapping flames around her entire body, Rosemary stretched her legs into the underground cavity where she had left him behind.
"Zaha...!"
But he wasn't there.
No one was there.
The empty underground was quiet, with nothing in it. It had completely settled.
"...Huh?"
Rosemary's feet stopped. The inquisitors who had been diligently following also stopped.
"Rosemary?! This is the end...!"
"There doesn't seem to be any other way out..."
"Brother Zahard is nowhere to be seen!"
"Search every inch! He was here!"
Rosemary's voice trembled.
"He was definitely... definitely here..."
But no matter how much they searched, Zahard was not there. There was only a torn piece of clothing and marks scraped all over the floor.
Come to think of it, the refugees she had seen earlier had all vanished too. If a group of that size had moved, there would surely have been traces left behind...
"...Rosemary."
Someone grabbed her shoulder. Rosemary turned around with a blank gaze.
The inquisitor shook their head.
"Brother Zahard is not here."
Too late.
She was far too late.
"...Crunch."
Rosemary did not choose to collapse or shed tears. She simply stood up. She straightened her body as the strength drained from it.
Hadn't she confirmed it just this morning? He was definitely alive. That mercenary he had contracted with had proven it.
He must have moved somewhere else. That was it. So for now, if she could just somehow put down that monster in Paramer...
"...Rosemary."
"Everyone grab your gear and move."
Rosemary took a deep breath. She inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled.
The eyes she closed and then opened again no longer wavered. She neither wailed nor spat out her exhaustion.
She had come too far to collapse now. It would be nothing but a burden to everyone.
"Zahard is definitely alive."
Just forward.
"Once we subjugate the source of Paramer's disaster, he'll definitely crawl out from somewhere. Him dying? Ha. There's no way something that absurd could happen."
To grasp at a thread-thin hope.
"...Let's go. There's nothing here."
Just forward.
...Forward.
. . .
Isabella gritted her teeth. A sweeping slash split the giant's arm. A violent sound like a scream. Amid the echoing noise, warhorses reared up fiercely.
Before she knew it, the troops that had entered Paramer had formed a circular defensive line. To bring down the massive giant, they were pushing back the rotten army with Apostle Estelle as the focal weapon.
"Push theeeeeem!!!!"
Desperately thrust swords mingled with the rotten army. Squelching. A stench that stabbed at the nose.
Isabella swung her sword. Radatok, back-to-back with her, glanced over at her.
"Tired, paladin?"
"Not particularly. Inquisitor."
Isabella watched Dimona running along the outer wall. She watched Apostle Estelle, who had kicked off the empty air and risen, carve a deep slash into the giant's body.
I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. I want to look down at everyone from that same realm.
But right now, that's impossible.
Isabella was aware of what role she had to play right now. Building the defensive line and lending strength to Ashval Haltz's command.
The defensive line wavered dangerously. The rotten army broke through between the soldiers' outstretched spears, grabbed one soldier, and dragged him out.
"Gaaaaaaaah!!!"
Blood sprayed. Torn chunks of flesh scattered in all directions.
Like that, one by one. They kept being devoured.
"This is the worst."
Radatok muttered. Isabella inwardly agreed.
The situation was the worst. The giant rose endlessly, and Estelle and Dimona's Sacred Power was slowly draining.
Apostle Estelle's slashes were certainly powerful. But for some reason, they couldn't penetrate to the giant's interior. Without being able to land an effective hit, all they could do was desperately block its attacks.
If this turned into a war of attrition, it was clear who would claim victory.
"Rosemary!"
Some of the inquisitors who had broken away rejoined the line. But beside Rosemary, who had gone out with such bold words, the person they had hoped for was absent.
"...No way."
Isabella's sword trembled. Rosemary gritted her teeth.
"There was no body! So he's not dead yet! Raise your weapons!"
Rosemary gripped her axe tightly. Flames flickered.
"He's definitely alive!"
A situation that couldn't be viewed with mere optimism. Isabella felt the sky darkening once again. The giant's palm, beginning its downward strike, was covering Paramer's sky in black.
Flames poured from atop the outer wall. The strike Dimona unleashed bored into the rotten giant's hand.
But it was shallow. The cleaving strike ended after cutting only halfway into the palm.
"...Ngh!"
Estelle, who had been focused on carving away at the giant's interior, urgently twisted her body. She kicked off the empty air, but she was somewhat too far.
The giant's falling arm and the attack that would crush humans.
Amid the eerie cries, Isabella raised her sword. But she couldn't bring herself to thrust it forward.
If I deflect this, then what?
And if I somehow block the next one too... beyond that...?
Sounds reached her. The sound of swords piercing rotten monsters. And within that, there was another sound.
The screams of humans pierced by spears of bone.
"......."
It echoed. Despair. Those who had held hope were falling. Now they were completely surrounded and couldn't even escape. They couldn't break through.
A knight whose strength was spent knelt on the ground. The wizards' magic had reached its limit.
The mercenaries shouted. Blood flowed from their throats until they couldn't even cry out anymore.
The inquisitors' flames flickered as if about to go out at any moment. The Serpent Church's paladins' hands trembled violently.
Death was closing in. From above, from the sides, from the front, from behind—everywhere, without exception.
The end.
The end was in sight.
"Isabella?!"
Someone's voice calling her name reached her ears dully. She moved her strengthless sword. She gritted her teeth.
Isabella wanted an answer. But there was no answer.
All she could hear within the shout echoing inside her was the scream of despair.
"...Ah."
Her vanished drive stole away even the last handful of will she had left. She muttered without realizing it.
"...Are you... even... alive...?"
The moment a crack formed in the will she had been pretending was unshaken.
"Yes."
The answer she had waited so long for came.
"...Huh?"
Something latched onto the giant's half-severed hand. In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn to it.
Slash.
The sound was brief. But its impact was different. Surging black Sacred Power covered the monster's entire arm.
Someone made a sound. Opened their mouth and blinked.
"...Huh... huhhh??"
The first voice pulled others along with it.
"...What... is that..."
"What is that absurd power...?"
"Who is that?! Is it Apostle Estelle?!"
"It's not her! She's over there!"
Amid the stirring cries, a slash surged upward.
From the front, forward. Amid the giant's eerie scream, a rain of flesh buried everyone.
The battlefield was covered in silence for a moment under the surging Sacred Power. Through her dirtied hair, Isabella blankly raised her gaze.
The giant's right arm was collapsing. The slash that had started from its hand tore the entire surface of its skin to shreds and completely devoured it.
A black star fell. The building where it crashed shook with a rumble.
What? What in the world?
Isabella urgently followed the back of the man who revealed himself on the building's rooftop with her eyes.
A familiar face. But something was different.
The body that had simply been a boy had become a man, and now she saw the back of a man whose martial power had reached its peak. Isabella whispered.
No way.
No way.
"...Za...ha...rd...?"
The priest robes of Ra tied around the waist of the man who had landed atop the building swayed. Ominous Sacred Power streamed down from the sword he gripped over his shoulder.
The wind blew. In the wind foul with the stench of rot, it carried the only cool, refreshing scent.
"Big Sis Isabella."
The man who had sent all the remaining survivors out of the city and remained alone swept his gaze across the battlefield. His eyes met Isabella's.
There was a smile mixed into the greeting he casually let slip.
"It's been a while."
The tide of battle turned.