Chapter 323: The Tin Knight and the Reviving Myth - Borealis
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 323: The Tin Knight and the Reviving Myth - Borealis
The fairy’s gestures were gentle, and exceedingly graceful.
As she moved, the hem of her green dress fluttering, her mere presence seemed to transform the space around her into a grand ballroom.
But any who became intoxicated by her beauty would forfeit their lives before they could even realize their folly.
Tap!
Just after the crisp sound of a heel tapping the ground, the fairy appeared behind the White Knight.
It was a perfect surprise attack, with no warning whatsoever.
Aiming for the center of the White Knight’s back, the fairy’s heel struck with all its might.
KRAAAANG!
Though it was a flawless ambush from his blind spot, the White Knight spun his spear around as if he had eyes in the back of his head and blocked her attack.
However, the assault had only just begun.
Swoosh!
The fairy’s legs whipped through the air like lashes, unleashing a flurry of consecutive strikes.
Her kicks seemed light, but their true power was comparable to that of a catapult.
The White Knight fought back with his precise and powerful spearmanship, but the fairy, with movements like a dancer, effortlessly evaded his counterattacks.
Scratches and dents began to multiply across the White Knight’s body.
The difference in their close-combat skills was clear.
However, the princess protecting the White Knight’s back was a rather unique and distinctive individual.
Unlike the princesses of fairy tales who could only pray for their knight’s victory, she willingly chanted magical spells to seize it herself.
『Indestructibility』
The White Knight’s armor, which had been gradually denting, once again began to staunchly withstand the fairy’s attacks.
『Swiftness』
The White Knight’s spear, which had been cleaving through empty air, suddenly accelerated, beginning to chase the fairy’s shadow.
『Superhuman Strength』
The sound of the spearhead tearing through the air grew more violent, and the ensuing barrage of attacks, far from weakening, gained even more momentum.
SWIIISH!
At last, a flash-like strike from the White Knight grazed the fairy’s side, drawing blood.
The verdant green dress was stained red with the fairy’s own blood.
Beneath her mask, the fairy’s smile deepened.
The moment she felt the fairy vanish, the first thing Gale sensed was her vision spinning.
The pain and impact on her temple came next.
Ah, I was kicked—
POW!
A roundhouse kick to the head, then a back kick to the stomach mid-spin.
The two consecutive blows forcibly cut off Gale’s train of thought.
The girl in the stylish suit was sent flying through the air like a kicked soccer ball.
But before her body could land, the fairy, having kicked off the ground again, appeared at the flying Gale’s side.
A spectacular axe kick struck Gale, slamming her body into the ground.
The fairy felt her excitement wane slightly.
Thanks to the defensive magic enveloping her body, Gale had avoided instant death, but even a glance showed her condition was critical.
To be in such a state from a light feint… the fairy was disappointed, concluding that mages were, as expected, not up to par.
The enhancement magic that had dramatically boosted the White Knight’s abilities was certainly noteworthy, but it was meaningless if Gale, the one wielding that power, was left so defenseless.
Was it fine because the White Knight was protecting her from the front? Of course not.
The fairy’s ability was spatial movement with almost no delay. Her entire sphere of influence was her attack range.
A king guarded by a thousand soldiers, a commander hidden deep within a phalanx, a mage concealed behind their familiar—none were exceptions.
If Gale fell, not only would the White Knight’s enhancements end, but his fuel would run out, and soon he wouldn’t even be able to move.
If she had just stayed out of it and watched, the fairy might have overlooked the mana supply to the White Knight.
Disheartened that the first fight would end so boringly, the fairy raised her heel to crush Gale’s head. It was at that moment…
Creeak.
Suddenly, a sensation of her legs becoming drastically heavy.
Magical chains, erupting from around Gale’s body, were connecting the fairy’s legs to the ground like shackles.
Through their masks, the fairy’s and the white witch’s eyes met.
The white witch couldn’t speak properly, her mouth seemingly full of blood, but her lip movements were clear enough to read.
Got. You.
“……!”
The fairy instinctively tried to kick off the ground again, but the white flash that pierced her was faster.
BA-BOOOOM!
The white spearhead impaled her body, and the ensuing torrent of mana struck the fairy like a furious mace.
Normally, the impact would have sent the fairy’s body flying, but the chains binding her legs did not permit it.
As if to say the price for harming his master was far heavier than this, the White Knight mercilessly unleashed a second attack.
The spear, slammed down with full force, dug into the fairy’s shoulder.
However, before the White Knight’s spear could reach her heart, the fairy’s foot stomped the ground.
Her form blurred and vanished, and the spear cut through empty air.
The fairy reappeared far from the two.
The White Knight started to charge toward her again, but a blood-choked cough from below made him hesitate.
The thought occurred to him that the moment he ran toward the fairy, she might leap the distance again to target Gale.
A silent standoff ensued.
Crack. A piece of the mask covering the fairy’s face broke away.
The fairy opened her mouth.
“—I thought your defense felt a bit soft. It wasn’t that you lacked power, but that you were dividing it elsewhere, I see?”
A sudden question in the middle of battle.
Depending on the situation, it could be seen as an opening, but Gale Elilaz, for better or worse, was not the type of person to ignore it.
Pushing her dust-covered body up, Gale coughed up a mouthful of blood, then smiled confidently.
“Having borrowed your power, I know better than almost anyone in the world how tricky it is. If I focused solely on defense, I could protect myself, but I’d never be able to catch you. So, of course, I had to set a trap. It hurt, even though I was prepared for it!”
Her words, spoken as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, were, to put it bluntly, insane.
“Sacrifice the flesh to take the bone” sounded plausible, but if the mana and concentration she’d invested in her defensive magic had been even slightly less, Gale would have crossed over to the other side.
Conversely, if the mana invested in the trap had been insufficient, the fairy would have escaped with ease.
It wasn’t as if she’d been hit by the attack beforehand; to find that perfect balance by instinct was, frankly, less a strategy and more a gamble that relied on luck.
“How bold. I suppose luck is a skill, too.”
Her words held no sarcasm.
While it relied heavily on luck, that in itself was to the fairy’s liking.
Therefore.
“Watching you fight Sig gave me a pretty good idea.”
“……?”
The fairy couldn’t help but tilt her head at the matter-of-fact reply.
Gale puffed out her chest with a composure unbelievable for someone who had just been vomiting blood.
“The extent of the dents in Sig's armor, your agility in dodging his spear, the sound of the impact when your heel clashed with his weapon. With that much data, I could get a rough estimate of your attack power! All I had to do was prepare my defenses accordingly and set a trap! After all, I know Sig better than anyone!”
The fairy was silent for a moment.
Mulling over the meaning of Gale’s words, she soon reached a conclusion.
Ah, she’s insane.
The fairy herself had been called that by her comrades in the underground, but the girl before her seemed to be on a different level.
Well, from the fairy’s perspective, that wasn’t a bad thing.
The fairy placed her hands on her shoulder and the large hole in her side.
At her touch, the bleeding wounds were cleanly sealed.
It might have looked like regeneration, but the white witch before her seemed to have seen through its true nature.
“It’s something like a hallucination with a bit of physical force, isn’t it? It might be effective enough to cover the surface of a wound, but it’s meaningless for actual healing, no?”
“It has the most important effect of ensuring a dancing lady doesn’t have to show an unsightly appearance.”
“That is certainly important.”
The fairy and Gale nodded in agreement.
Seeing them seem to get along so well despite having just inflicted serious injuries on each other, the taciturn White Knight felt an indescribable emotion.
He almost felt a sense of destiny in the fact that his master had been the first to acquire the Shoes of Borealis and had worn them the longest.
However, even as they conversed, the two women did not forget what needed to be done.
Gale was recasting the defensive and support magic that had been shattered by the fairy’s attack, while the fairy, for her part, completely shook off the chains that had stubbornly clung to her ankles even after her spatial jump.
The moment they smiled at each other.
The fairy’s body appeared at Gale’s side.
Her leg bent lithely, aiming for Gale’s body, and just as the White Knight thrust his spear to intercept…
In the exact same kicking posture, only the fairy’s position shifted to behind the White Knight.
CRUNCH!
An ominous sound echoed as the White Knight’s body was severely crushed.
The White Knight tried to counterattack, but the fairy’s new attack struck him faster.
Crunch! Thwack! Crack!
To throw a punch again, one must first retract their fist.
That was the foundation of martial arts, its basic premise. But to the fairy, such things were meaningless.
The instant an attack landed, she would ‘move’ back to her pre-attack posture.
The moment an opponent’s attack swung, she would evade to another spot, and once the attack passed, she would ‘move’ back to her original position.
Closing the distance, widening it—none of it mattered before the fairy. She simply repeated her movements, always shifting to the optimal position and posture for herself.
The White Knight fought back, relentlessly swinging his spear, but not a single one of his attacks landed.
Watching the White Knight being pushed back one-sidedly, Gale realized.
There’s no tell.
The act of kicking off the ground with her heel—the action that had to precede her spatial jumps.
But now, the fairy was repeatedly teleporting at will without fulfilling that condition.
And the price for that was clear.
Spurt!
Blood gushed from the fairy’s shoulder and side, the red stain on her green dress growing ever wider.
The fairy’s body, which had possessed a distinct presence, began to blur, turning into a translucent haze.
It was inevitable.
The fairy was already dead.
She was a remnant of the eight generals, subjugated in the distant past.
Even with the enhancements she received through the Kingdom of Heaven’s machinations, it was impossible for her to draw out her full power so easily.
The brighter the flame on the wick burns, the shorter the candle’s life becomes. It was a simple truth.
As the fairy’s fierce assault continued, the White Knight’s condition grew more and more wretched.
His magnificent armor-like body was dented, broken, and torn open, revealing its contents.
If his body hadn’t been forged from all manner of rare metals and the latest processing techniques, it would have been an offensive impossible to withstand, even with Gale’s enchantment magic.
But even that reached its limit in the blink of an eye.
An idea flashed through Gale’s mind.
I just have to change the type of enchantment magic.
She could either maximize his durability to buy more time, or conversely, enable a wide-area attack that would be difficult to evade.
There were plenty of options. The problem was whether her opponent would let her.
Gale knew.
The moment she used magic for the White Knight, the fairy would come to kill her this time.
Hoping for the same luck as before was unlikely.
The fairy already knew Gale’s methods, and her overall power output had increased.
If the durability-enhanced White Knight was in such a state, Gale’s own body wouldn’t last even a few seconds, even if she focused solely on defense.
Conversely, if she bided her time, there was a chance the fairy would reach her limit and burn out before the White Knight was destroyed.
One path was certain danger for herself. The other was a path where she alone might be safe.
There was no hesitation.
“Sig!!”
Gale changed both her own and the White Knight’s enchantments, converting them all into a single type of magic.
『Superhuman Strength』 『Indestructibility』 『Swiftness』 『Protection』 『Slow』 『Bind』
Just as the various magical characters were being erased and rewritten…
The fairy’s body moved a step ahead, appearing next to Gale.
Having spent all her power on other things instead of defense, Gale could neither react nor withstand the attack.
Just before the fairy’s heel could shatter Gale’s head, the characters were finally completed, but it was meaningless now.
『『『『『『Swiftness』』』』』』
At least, that’s what the fairy mistakenly believed.
In an instant where everything seemed to have stopped, only the White Knight’s body moved, as if freed from the stasis of time.
His body, already on the verge of breaking, screamed from the strain of enhancement and movement that surpassed all limits.
His superior processing functions concluded that at this rate, he would self-destruct before his attack could land.
The White Knight didn’t care.
His master had told him he would become a hero.
If so, it was only natural that he should be able to overcome such limits.
Lifting his left arm in place of his severed right.
Gripping the shortened, broken spear shaft like a sword.
With his two legs bent at grotesque angles, he kicked off the ground valiantly, as if it were nothing.
An attack that literally turned his own body into a bullet pierced the fairy’s heart.
The heel that had been inches from Gale’s head was pushed back along with its owner.
The enchantment’s effect ended, and the knight and the fairy’s bodies tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap.
A deathly silence fell.
The mask covering the fairy’s face shattered completely.
She looked one last time at the enemies she had fought.
The taciturn White Knight, who, though battered and broken, had lived up to his master’s expectations.
The white witch, who had trusted her knight without a shred of hesitation, even when the slightest misstep would have meant her own death.
It was a good fight. They were good enemies.
And—
“—My thanks, for a wonderful ball.”
Like a butterfly that lingers by a flower for a moment before departing…
The fairy vanished into light.
Fairy Borealis VS Gale Elilaz & White Knight
—Winner: Gale Elilaz & White Knight