The Girl Who Wields the Sword (3)
By the time Arty knocked Raoul’s sword aside with his fist.
“Die—!”
“O Sun—!”
Clang!
“!”
Aria was hesitating. Beside her, Edrian vomited blood from the sudden, crushing depletion of his holy power. The old man’s body was paying the price for forcing high-tier divine spells through it.
“Cough! Hack…!”
“P-Priest, sir! I’ll heal you right away!”
“Cough, no… Hack… It isn’t me you should be helping.”
“If you don’t take care of yourself now, you’ll be in real danger! You overdrew your holy power!”
“Haa… The path you must walk is…”
Edrian lifted a trembling finger. The direction it pointed was the Holy Sword Danan lying on the floor.
“Do not stop thinking. Do not cage yourself in false truths. Your own… will…!”
“!”
“Cough!”
“Priest? Priest—!”
“…”
He finally collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth.
Aria’s eyes shook. If things continued like this, Edrian might die in the battle’s aftermath.
But if I don’t help the Hero right now…!
In that moment of confusion, a familiar woman’s voice reached her.
“…Please be at ease. I will take the Prayer Priest to safety.”
“!”
Aria turned. Mirian had appeared like a shadow and now stood at her side. She wore form-fitting leather armor, the mask that usually covered her mouth now lowered.
“Miss Mirian!”
“Yes, it has been a while.”
The princess’s maid who had arrived with Lydia’s letter and the carriage. Mirian spoke gently.
“Do not worry about the Prayer Priest. Go help the Hero. It seems he will need someone’s assistance very soon.”
“Miss Mirian?! How…?”
Mirian answered the question with a soft smile in her eyes.
“To remain at Her Highness’s side, one or two fatal secrets are simply necessary.”
“That’s…!”
“I will carry the Prayer Priest to a safe place and return. Please do not worry.”
She spoke with absolute certainty.
“As long as the sacred emblem of the Sun God stands with us, that vile abomination can never defeat any of you. The power of the dark realm scatters rapidly when one fights in this place.”
“!”
Aria reflexively glanced at the emblem placed for the Hero’s test. The sigil, as if forged from solidified light, still radiated a quiet glow above the altar.
“…”
She did not know the full story, but the explanation was enough.
“Yes. I leave him in your care.”
“Then…”
Mirian respectfully lifted the unconscious Edrian into her arms. Then she left the chapel at a speed that seemed impossible.
Whoosh—!
“…”
Aria rose to her feet. She thought deeply.
Do not stop thinking.
She kept thinking, endlessly.
I was too weak and let my first love slip away.
“…”
What I can do in this moment is…
“…!”
The Holy Sword lay before her eyes. A blade that no one but the chosen could grasp, bound by the Sun God’s solemn oath.
But.
You alone hold the right to interpret the Sun God’s will. That is why the Saintess’s autonomy must be respected within the Theocracy.
“…”
If that was true, then she—
I will take up that sword.
And protect Arty.
Not as the Saintess of prophecy, but simply as Aria. That was what she decided.
She reached out and grasped the Holy Sword.
The blade did not vanish like a shadow. Instead it accepted her hand, radiating a clear blue light.
Vwoong—!
“Fate is will. I respect your will.”
Aria’s right hand began to shine with the sword’s emblem.
Flash!
“!”
Her heart pounded violently. The fate of a Saintess taking up the Holy Sword to fight—something no one had ever told her about—was being affirmed by an unknown presence.
“From now on…”
From this moment forward, it was entirely Aria’s own will.
She ran to Arty’s side and declared,
“I will protect you.”
“!”
Arty flinched. Yet more than the shock of seeing the Saintess wielding the Holy Sword, her declaration that she would stand with him filled him with joy.
“…Yes. Let’s fight together.”
“!” “!”
Both Arty and Aria looked forward. The abomination that had once been called Raoul writhed and roared, countless thorns sprouting from its body like tentacles.
Shuuuk!
Aria did not dodge the attack. She simply charged forward, raising the Holy Sword high. She would protect Arty while he prayed.
“Haaah—!”
Every dawn, while watching him. The swordsmanship she had unconsciously absorbed. She poured every ounce of strength into that blade.
Squelch—!
The bundle of thorns that had been ready to pierce both Arty and Aria was severed cleanly, falling powerlessly.
“!”
Arty burned the severed thorns with blue lightning.
“O Sun—!”
Crackle—!
Together, Arty and Aria advanced.
Seeing this, the abomination twisted its entire body and spewed more thorns.
A thorn as thick as a torso ignored Aria and charged straight at Arty as if to forbid his approach. The thorn-tentacle flew like a soldier’s spear.
Crash!
“Ugh?!”
Arty was pushed back. Aria shouted from the front, displaying the glowing emblem on her right hand.
“Hero! The first trial—!”
“!”
Arty instantly understood what Aria meant. In a flash of insight, he focused his mind on the emblem on his right hand. Aria’s own emblem shone, and the Holy Sword vanished from her grip.
Now Arty held it once more.
Before the massive thorn, he bared his teeth and shouted.
“Holy Sword, manifest—!”
Radiant light gathered along the blade. A devastating strike was being prepared.
[…!]
The abomination reflexively focused on Arty.
[Holy Sword Art—Heavenly Punishment—!]
The lake-like brilliance collided with lightning stained by shadow. The two powers pushed against each other before exploding.
BOOM—!
The deafening roar made ears ring. Every thorn on the abomination writhed and shrank. The shock was strong enough to collapse nearby altars and pillars.
[Krrgh…!]
The abomination barely deflected the devastating force. Unlike mindless monsters, decades of combat experience were carved into its body. Yet the Sun’s power dulled its movements. It could not forgive that.
[Uraaaah!]
It glared at Arty. After an attack like that, he would be unable to move for a while. Arty was indeed being pushed back by the aftershock.
“Ugh…!”
[I’ll kill you—! Heretic—!]
The answer came from directly in front of the abomination.
It was Aria, holding the Holy Sword with an icy expression.
“No.”
[What…!]
“I cannot allow that.”
The abomination thrashed. The newly sprouted thorns turned toward Aria.
[You—how dare you—! You are mine—!]
“…”
Aria quietly raised her sword and answered.
“My will belongs entirely to me. If it clashes with yours, I will gladly fight and defeat you.”
Her silver hair fluttered. Brilliant light surged around her. Aria’s silver eyes blazed like the setting sun. From the Holy Sword in her hand poured light reminiscent of sunset itself.
[…!]
The girl shining sorrowfully beneath the sunset. The abomination unconsciously reached out to seize her. That light looked far too beautiful, too noble.
[That light is mine…!]
But.
Sunset… could not be caught by hand.
Watching the abomination try to grasp the sunset, Aria spoke softly.
“…Farewell.”
Uncle Raoul.
[…]
The abomination murmured.
[A…ria….]
And then a colossal light exploded inside the chapel. The Holy Sword’s light, glowing crimson like the setting sun, swirled violently and annihilated the shadow-covered abomination in a single stroke.
The holy knight who had slaughtered countless people to become a hero, who had desired to possess a single girl—he vanished inside the very sun he had believed in all his life.
*
[GRRRRAAAAH—!]
The Skeleton Rider urgently wheeled its mount, trying to flee in the opposite direction. Thick vapor was rising from the wide street of the shopping district that had been filled with skeletons.
Hsssss…!
It was steam from holy water being evaporated. Every time the skeletons touched that vapor, they writhed in agony from the sacred energy.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
From atop a tall building, Morgan shouted once more.
“Trembling energy, crimson vibration—ignite!”
The street that had been filled with blue ghost flames now burned with red fire hot enough to swallow a person whole. The flames instantly evaporated the holy water and ordinary water spilled across the ground.
Hsssss…!
As if insecticide had been sprayed, the countless skeletons shuddered and collapsed.
Thud.
“The effect is excellent.”
Lydia, who had been throwing barrels of holy water from the building for some time, let out a dry laugh. They had run out of holy water and even resorted to water-attribute magic, yet the result was almost too effective. Thanks to that, they could slowly press the Skeleton Rider from the opposite side where Lucian’s group was holding the line.
The Skeleton Rider that had hidden in a corner now found itself being cornered. Even when it tried to escape, the solid anvil of their formation slowly chipped away at it.
[GRRRRAAAAH—!]
Its formation was collapsing. It was gradually being crushed from both sides. The Skeleton Rider spun in place, trying to flee.
Clop, clop, clop.
But it could not escape. The place it had thought was a fortress had become a trap in an instant. So it frantically circled the area.
Lydia spoke to Mave, who was throwing holy water beside her.
“Now let’s drive that Skeleton Rider toward where Senior Lucian is waiting.”
“Yes!”
Mave answered reflexively, then flinched.
“…Um, how?”
“When the Skeleton Rider spins around in confusion and comes near us, you and I will jump down. Then we will each strike the Black Stake embedded in its neck at the exact same time.”
“The Black Stake?”
“Yes. It was also lodged in the Skeleton Rider’s neck when you were knocked down. Arty completely destroyed it with the Holy Sword’s power.”
“With that farm boy’s Holy Sword…”
“Right now we have no choice but to cut it cleanly with precise swordsmanship. Arty struggled at first because he missed the Black Stake, but now that we know, we can do it.”
“…”
Mave muttered darkly.
“Can I… really do it?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“!”
Lydia gripped Mave’s shoulder firmly.
“Aren’t you my proud friend and the future Knight Commander? Have confidence. Do not think of failure. Follow your heart.”
“…Yes!”
After confirming Mave’s answer, Lydia looked down at the Skeleton Rider with cool eyes.
“…”
The blue ghost flames spun endlessly. The creature that had moved far away was circling back.
Clop, clop, clop—
“Now!”
“Yes!”
Lydia and Mave leaped down simultaneously, swords drawn. Like the blade of a guillotine, they aimed to sever the Black Stakes each had been assigned faster than anyone.
“Haaah—!”
Mave’s eyes flashed. Right now, in this moment, she would repay her defeat…!
*
BOOM—!
Along with the massive roar from far away, countless skeletons suddenly turned to powder.
Crackle…!
“!”
Lucian shouted loudly.
“The Skeleton Rider has fallen! Maintain formation and return to the fortress—!”
“Waaaaah—!”
“Do not let your guard down yet! Protect the fortress from the remaining monster stragglers—!”
The shopping district was filled with cheers. Hope was gradually spreading across the area.
The endless monsters were intercepted by the Academy students and staff. The corrupted holy knights who had roamed about slaughtering people now lay with their heads severed.
The monsters were defeated. The sun had triumphed.
“Waaaaah—!”
People wept and cheered.
“We did it! We’re alive—!”
“Long live the Golden Knight!”
“Long live the heroes of Arjen Academy—!”
Through the jubilant crowd walked a venerable clergyman. It was Albert, returning under Jacques’s guidance.
“Your Eminence Cardinal Albert!”
“Are you all right?”
Albert answered with a benevolent smile.
“Yes, of course. It is all thanks to the Sun God’s protection.”
“Thank goodness!”
“Just what on earth is happening…”
“Hehe, do not worry too much. Everything will turn out—”
At that moment, the woman in the black dress who had walked up beside him spoke.
“Hmm? Really?”
“?”
Albert turned around and froze in shock. The woman in the black dress was lightly holding the Sun God’s emblem. The sigil that looked as if it had been twisted from light was still glowing.
Albert’s face twisted in horror.
“Wh-What?! What are you—?!”
“Eeei~!”
Beatrice playfully pressed the emblem against Albert’s lips.
In that instant…
“KRRRAAAAAAGH—!”
Albert’s body convulsed. The Black Stakes that had been buried inside him began to force their way out.