Chapter 100
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Falling Blossoms (2)
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Naive and I spent the entire afternoon immersed in teaching the spirit, staying cooped up in the sealing chamber.
Only when dinnertime was almost upon us did we finally realize and hurry out to grab something to eat.
"By the way, what's the name of that lump of light? Do we just call it a spirit?"
Miles asked out of the blue as we left the sealing chamber.
I thought for a moment.
"Names are a big deal in magic studies, right? Since a spirit's basically just a clump of mana, I don't think we need to give it one. It'll figure itself out once its ego matures."
At that point, we could hand over full management to it.
No more need for Naive and me to take shifts watching the chamber. The well-trained spirit from the dragon's lair could handle a person's worth of work on its own.
"That's convenient... Huh? Where is everybody?"
The Silver Moon Knights' lounge was completely empty.
Normally, after dinner, the knights would gather in groups, chatting noisily.
"The Silver Guard Knight mentioned earlier that they had a meeting with the Royal Knights today. Said it might run late into the night."
"Oh, yeah? Guess I'll head out for a quick drink then."
"Ah, then I'll report to the Silver Guard Knight tomorrow that there were no incidents."
Miles laughed heartily and said it lightly, so I replied in kind.
"Hah, just kidding."
The moment I mentioned the Silver Guard Knight, Miles visibly deflated. I patted his back reassuringly.
"Once the spirit's training is done, things'll ease up. You might even get some leave by then."
"I hope so."
Miles started up the stairs to the first floor ahead of me.
'Liberic.'
I halted mid-step at the sudden sound of Ash's voice as I followed.
I'd slammed the door shut in my haste, right in front of him.
"Oh, sorry."
As I apologized and opened it, Ash stood frozen, staring up the stairs. Tension flickered in his eyes.
"Ash?"
I peered up the stairs curiously.
Miles, who'd gone ahead, was talking to someone. His carefree voice carried down clearly.
"Well, well, fancy meeting such a beautiful young lady here. Lost your way? This building's a bit of a maze."
Miles? Who was he talking to?
"I have one thing I'd like to ask."
A slender yet oddly familiar woman's voice replied.
I couldn't see who Miles was speaking to; they were hidden in the corridor's blind spot.
A strange feeling prickled at me as I climbed the stairs with Ash.
"Sure, sure, ask away. If Miles here knows, I'll tell you anything..."
"Do you have the knot-untying key?"
My spine froze in an instant.
The owner of that familiar voice was none other than Kaella Ermis.
"Huh? What key?"
Before Miles could finish his bewildered response, a pale hand hidden in the woman's long sleeve reached out toward him.
Immense mana surged from her fingertips, morphing into magic.
Kurrrunch!
It happened in a flash.
Black tree roots erupted with a roar, piercing through walls, floor, and ceiling.
Miles vanished from sight.
"Miles!"
Ash dashed past me.
Rumble...
The black roots overran the corridor and stairs, the building groaning as if collapsing.
"Urgh...!?"
Miles's scream was drowned out by the structure's wails.
I scrambled up the stairs, gripping and dodging the sharp thorns sprouting everywhere.
I watched with my own eyes as Miles and Ash were suddenly ensnared by the erupting roots and dragged away.
Ash had shoved into Miles to protect his vitals, but neither escaped unscathed.
"Miles! Are you okay?!"
Reaching the corridor, I searched frantically for him.
He was pinned against a crumbled wall, right shoulder and side wrapped in roots. Unconscious from the impact, blood poured from his head and body.
I instinctively reached out to stem the bleeding, but it was futile.
'Liberic.'
"Ash...!"
Ash lay slumped beside him, bleeding too. One leg entangled in roots, pierced by thorns.
"Looks like there's one more."
Kaella's voice from behind sent chills down my spine.
Forcing my gaze away from Miles and Ash, I drew my staff and whirled around.
The corridor lights flickered wildly, making Kaella's form strobe erratically.
Her hood slipped off, revealing her face.
Utterly changed from our last sight at the trial.
Her pale face stared blankly at me, red eyes lifeless. I forgot to breathe.
The prisoner's black dress was torn, stained with blood. The mana-restraining device had been ripped out with chunks of skin, wounds crusted over.
No pain from those gashes anymore; a faint smile played on her lips.
Red acronium studs pierced the skin of her face, neck, arms, and legs, gleaming ominously.
"H-how did you escape prison? And that acronium..."
I recognized those red acronium pieces.
From Kaella's staff. The Silver Guard Knight had sliced and confiscated it.
"Let me ask you something."
Kaella tilted her head slightly, staring. Madness was all I saw.
She wielded mana effortlessly, unpredictably. Dark as a demon's.
"Boy, do you have the knot-untying key?"
I bit my lip, silent.
My reaction answered for me. Her face twisted.
"So, it's you."
Black roots surged toward me the instant she spoke.
I thrust out my staff, stepping between Miles and Ash, clashing my gathered mana against them.
The roots inches from my face shattered into blue crystal shards.
Simultaneously, I transformed and dissolved the roots binding Ash and Miles into blue crystals.
"Ash, can you move?"
'No problem.'
Ash staggered to his feet. Drawing in mana, his body swelled silver, minor wounds healing swiftly.
Blocking Kaella's roots, I spoke quickly.
"I'll lure Kaella away. Head to the infirmary and get Weddin. Can't leave Miles like this."
'...Got it. Back soon.'
Ash nodded and slipped out through a root-pierced wall.
Confirming he headed to the infirmary, I pushed mana harder, shoving her roots back toward her.
Crackle!
Under the flickering corridor lights, blue crystals and black roots shattered together.
Kaella's eyes widened as my blue crystals reached her fingertips.
"These crystals..."
A nail-sized blue crystal fragment floated in her palm.
Kaella peered at it curiously.
In the lull, I caught my breath.
The crystal thrashed to escape her grasp, but her mana held it firm.
It gradually lost its glow, reverting to red.
"I heard 'the red crystal killed Varkus.'"
Kaella crushed the red shard with a chilling voice.
"If you hadn't turned Varkus into a demon..."
My trembling hand gripped my staff tighter.
The branch's defense barrier belatedly activated, alarms blaring inside.
Any remaining knights would come running.
Kaella casually waved off the alarms.
To her, drawing from the dragon's lair mana, the barrier was meaningless.
"What's the problem? I just gave him what he wanted. Like how I tried to give strength to this feeble kingdom."
As her arm extended toward me, I spun and fled outside.
To let Weddin save Miles with Ash, I had to lure her elsewhere.
Thorned roots lunged immediately behind me as I burst out.
I twisted away barely and touched one.
From my hand, it crystallized blue and crumbled.
But the crystals didn't reach Kaella.
She ignored them, sending more roots at impossible speeds for plants.
The dark garden had little light.
Running through, I conjured light orbs between trees and paths everywhere.
"Come here. I won't fuss over Varkus. Let's just talk."
She smashed each light orb she passed.
That confirmed she was following.
Garden trees shimmered like her magic, darkening black.
Soft soil, grass, moss writhed as black roots rose.
Not a good spot to fight.
Kaella wielded natural elements, amplifying the dragon's lair mana.
To weaken her...
Crystallizing and batting aside rising roots, I bolted toward the garden's edge.
Grumble.
Grotesque sounds of earth crumbling and trees uprooting echoed around.
Shatter her embedded red acronium, and she'd weaken.
Couldn't stop the dragon's lair mana, but the acronium...
"Whoa!"
A black tree pillar burst from the darkness; I skidded to a halt with a yell.
A human mouth formed on it, speaking in Kaella's voice.
"Just hand over the key, and I'll leave."
The pillar morphed into Kaella.
Catching my breath, I raised my staff.
"Key? What are you talking about?"
"Ahahaha."
She laughed creepily. Wood grain turned to pale skin; red acronium on face and arms gleamed.
Kaella smiled with her eyes, stepping toward me.
"How cute. Saying that with such a brazen face."
Thorned vines sprouted endlessly around me, sealing every escape thickly.
Her mana filled the air, making it hard to breathe.
I drew in mana, focusing my mind.
"I can't hand over the key."
"You look young. Think about it. Not worth your life."
Crack...
Vine thorns reaching me crystallized and crumbled.
Kaella advanced slowly; I retreated step by step.
More vines turned to crystal dust.
Had Ash brought Weddin? Miles had to be okay. Needed more time...
"What do you even want with the key? Turning Varkus wasn't enough, now attacking the branch?"
"'They' will know. To me, it's just trade goods."
"They? Who..."
As a faint smile ghosted her face, a black root plunged at my face with terrifying speed.