Chapter 206: The Little Lion and the Giant's Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 206: The Little Lion and the Giant's Dream
The first time I opened a door, what I saw before me was a horde of bandits.
The second time I opened a door, what I saw before me was a pair of masters, one old and one new.
And the third time I opened a door. Only one person was there.
Her crimson armor gave off a heavy yet alluring glow.
Decorations modeled after a tiger and a bear asserted their presence.
A greatsword so large it was closer to a bludgeon. A belt worn so naturally it seemed a part of her.
It was a figure from my memories.
An opponent I could never forget.
The champion of the arena assumed a combat stance, facing Adelaide.
The mana emanating from her body, her flawless posture—nothing had changed.
But for some reason…
Adelaide realized she was strangely disappointed.
It was the reunion she had hoped for. The rematch she had yearned for.
And yet, her heart wasn't pounding with surprising excitement.
Finding it strange, her body still moved on instinct.
Thud!
Two sets of footsteps stomped on the arena floor.
Two shadows rushed forward, facing each other.
The first move they chose was an identical downward diagonal slash from the upper right, as if reflected in a mirror.
CRASH!
Both were wielders of the Belt of Amaryllis.
Superhuman strength clashed with superhuman strength, a feat difficult for a human body, and their colliding weapons let out a terrifying roar.
Their power and momentum were evenly matched. The swords, intended to cleave their opponents in two, failed their purpose and swung in a wide arc.
The choice of attack was the same this time as well.
A reverse spin using the recoil. A diagonal upward slash from the lower left.
CLANG! CRASH! KABOOOM!
Same physical abilities. Same power type. Same two-handed weapon.
An evenly matched battle unfolded.
Precisely because they were evenly matched, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
With every clash of swords, Adelaide's sword speed grew marginally faster.
With every contest of strength, Adelaide's slashes became a little heavier.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that physical abilities do not grow so rapidly in a short period of time!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that, however, the skill of handling one's body can change for better or worse even in a short time!]
Kalidahs was strong, but she was an opponent fixed in the past.
But Adelaide was continuing to grow, even in this very moment.
A difference of a toe's length grew to half a step, half a step grew to a full step, and that one step overtook her opponent's shadow.
Slash!
A large sword wound was carved into Kalidahs's chest.
The overflowing sword energy damaged her helmet, and a piece of it broke off and fell to the ground.
Adel sharpened her senses.
This was a realm that her past self had also reached.
Of course, unlike in the past, where she'd had to literally fight for her life and—though she hadn't realized it then, only recently—borrow the power of the violet lightning, this time she'd reached this point with relative ease.
But Adel knew.
Kalidahs's true power began from this moment.
Therefore, she braced herself for the coming storm.
“Huh?”
Soon, she let out a dazed sound upon seeing the empty space visible through the cracked helmet.
The blood-red hair, the violet eyes burning with killing intent—neither was there.
《Reproduction error detected. Commencing correction.》
Not the White Witch's playful voice, but a mechanical voice like the one she first heard in the library echoed in the air.
Immediately after, something like static began to form around Kalidahs's body.
Though it tended to be somewhat underrated because its purpose was simple entertainment, the game book was one of the masterpieces created by the Witch of the North.
If its functions were properly utilized, it was an item capable of realizing hundreds of thousands of soldiers one by one and even directing a battlefield where they clashed.
Recreating a 'single person' who was merely somewhat strong was not a very difficult task.
And yet, the very air seemed to strain.
As if the remaining reserve resources were insufficient, the book began to reclaim other already-realized resources and reinvest them.
The audience that filled the surroundings vanished. After that, all other structures disappeared, except for the arena where the two stood.
The more the resources constituting the world were stripped away, the more Kalidahs's form transformed in inverse proportion.
Flesh and blood began to fill the inside of the armor, which had been filled only with emptiness.
Her presence grew stronger, and stronger, and stronger.
At that moment, Adelaide realized something was wrong.
‘No. This is…’
The one before her was no longer the champion of the arena Adelaide had fought.
Even the berserk Kalidahs that the Tin Knight had fought did not exude this level of presence.
It was impossible.
Recreations are based on memories.
The strength of Kalidahs that Adelaide and the Tin Knight remembered was nowhere near this level.
Then this strength…
This memory…
Whose could it possibly be?
The world was overwritten.
*
“Haaah. This scouting method is good for not getting caught, but the efficiency is terrible. I send out a hundred, and maybe one or two hit the mark.”
“Still, perhaps because your proficiency has gone up, aren't you getting the hang of seeing the 'viewpoint' you want?”
“That's true, but... Hey, wait. Your mana is leaking all over the place. And I already can't be bothered to wait for it to recover.”
“Hm? Oh my. This isn't me. The mana itself is moving on its own, heading for the game book. Besides, Miss Adel's belt is acting strange, too.”
“Are they... resonating with each other?”
*
When she came to her senses, Adel realized her point of view had become incredibly high.
From head to toe, from her heart to the very tips of her fingers and toes, power overflowed.
Adel had a gut feeling that, as she was now, she could throw a massive ship as if it were a pebble.
She could probably destroy a decent-sized house with a light kick, and she could likely uproot a decades-old giant tree like a weed.
A giant whose very existence was a calamity.
A tiny life form, one that would barely reach the giant's ankle, was blocking its path.
“You truly are a dishonorable lot. All of you.”
Words flowed from Adel's mouth. No, from the mouth of the 'giant' whose vision Adel was borrowing.
“While we swept across the land, you hid in the heavens and watched idly, yet now that the humans of the earth are holding out longer than expected, you scramble to send support. What a sight.”
As if curious what the opponent would say in response, the giant's gaze fell upon the small being at its feet.
Her appearance was similar to the one in Adel's memory, yet different.
The armor, a mix of leather and metal adorned with tiger and bear motifs, looked much newer than the one Adel knew, its design subtly different, and the greatsword in her hand was even larger than the one Adel remembered.
Above all, the greatsword was not made of metal, but of a giant emerald.
Because she wore no helmet, her blood-red hair fluttered in the wind.
Her violet eyes, which had been muddled with all sorts of killing intent and hostility when Adel saw them before, were now gazing at the giant with a mechanical look, devoid of any emotion.
Despite being insulted by the giant, her expression was utterly impassive, and she showed no sign of replying to the giant's words.
As if to say there was no need to converse with an enemy.
As if displeased by this, the giant clicked its tongue.
“You angels are a truly unpleasant bunch. Facing the knight I've heard rumors of would be a far more worthy battle.”
Power filled the giant's limbs.
To crush the small creature before it, the giant raised the club in its hand.
“Step aside, you lackey of a worthless false king. I will dispose of you and show the heavens our fury!!”
The club slammed down where Kalidahs stood.
KRA-KOOOOM!
As if shattering a thin wooden board, the earth, struck by the giant's blow, split apart to the left and right, forming an inverted triangle.
No one could block something like that, Adel thought.
It's not over yet, the giant sensed.
And as if to prove the latter correct, violet lightning exploded from beneath the giant's club.
BA-BOOM!
The club, larger than a house, was flung upward as if it were a light wooden sword.
And from below, Kalidahs's emerald greatsword took on a violet glow.
FWOOOOSH!
Adelaide didn't know how to describe that attack.
The closest description would be 'releasing sword energy,' but she wasn't sure if such simple words could fully convey the crescent-shaped slash, ten times larger than Kalidahs's own body.
The giant retreated with an agility that belied its size and blocked the slash with its club, but even so, its body was pushed back dozens of meters.
The buildings of the city, already in ruins and leaving only their former glory, were shattered to pieces at the giant's feet.
“Ha!”
A roar erupted from the giant's mouth.
The giant reached for a magnificent mansion nearby and casually gripped it as if it were just a somewhat oddly shaped stone.
And then, it hurled it at Kalidahs with all its might.
A tremendous mass attack that would shatter an ordinary person—no, even a sturdy steel structure—with a mere graze, rushed through the air.
Clank.
Faced with an attack that seemed impossible to dodge or block, Kalidahs's action was almost stubbornly straightforward.
As she swung her greatsword, crammed full of sword energy, the mass that seemed unstoppable was casually deflected.
KRA-BOOOOM!
The mansion, crashing to the ground a moment later, left a tremendous trail of destruction in its wake, scattering its debris.
The giant and Kalidahs rushed toward each other.
Every time the sword and club clashed, a tremendous roar like a thunderclap echoed.
The giant's power, which easily pulverized all sorts of structures as if they were sandcastles, was immense, but Kalidahs, who fought it on equal terms in a contest of strength with a much smaller body, also seemed to have half-departed from the common sense of this world.
‘It's the same.’
Watching Kalidahs through the giant's eyes, Adel could understand.
The violet lightning cloaking Kalidahs's body was the same power as the violet lightning she herself used.
Its properties weren't anything special.
No, in terms of its function, you could say it was the same as simply strengthening the body with mana.
It was just that the 'level of enhancement' was on a different dimension.
Enough for a child to overpower an adult. No, enough for a praying mantis to win a power struggle against a charging carriage.
The battle, intense enough to require redrawing the surrounding map, continued, and finally, the giant's right arm was severed.
The crimson monster's greatsword swung hard at the giant's head—
《External awakening request confirmed.》
《Terminating the story.》
—Adel woke from the dream.
When she opened her eyes, what awaited her was another battlefield.