Revis was blown away.
Her body rolled and slid across the green ground like a rag doll, carving out a long, deep groove behind her.
After the impact, Revis slowly pushed herself up. The fabric from her shoulder down to her chest had been torn apart, exposing a horrifying stretch of raw, crimson flesh.
Even battered and bloodied, she wore a chilling smile.
"Sure, I took a sword strike, but getting rid of the anti-curse potion made it worth it."
Revis flicked her hand, shaking off bits of glass.
Blood mixed with the spilled potion and dripped onto the green ground.
"Never thought I'd see the day I used a cursed weapon. But don't worry, Aria. That will definitely heal you."
Revis was blown away.
Her body rolled and slid across the green ground like a rag doll, carving out a long, deep groove behind her.
After the impact, Revis slowly pushed herself up. The fabric from her shoulder down to her chest had been torn apart, exposing a horrifying stretch of raw, crimson flesh.
Even battered and bloodied, she wore a chilling smile.
"Sure, I took a sword strike, but getting rid of the anti-curse potion made it worth it."
Revis flicked her hand, shaking off bits of glass.
Blood mixed with the spilled potion and dripped onto the green ground.
"Never thought I'd see the day I used a cursed weapon. But don't worry, [Aria]. That will definitely heal you."
In Revis's yellow-green eyes, the wind wrapped around Ais was visibly weakening.
The cursed wound continued to eat away at the blonde girl's body, steadily draining her combat strength.
"Viola! Keep birthing them, nonstop! Don't hold anything back. Keep going until you wither!"
Revis shouted.
Against the Sword Princess, a single opponent's strength was no longer enough to matter.
At this point, only numbers could buy time, dragging things out until Ais completely lost her fighting strength.
She couldn't win head-on, but with the carnivorous plants as cover, Revis was confident she could toy with Ais in a drawn-out game of cat and mouse.
Before her words had even faded, the entire great cavern began to quake.
...
"Uu..."
The moment Revis was sent flying—
Lefiya's beautiful face crumpled under the weight of guilt, and despairing sobs spilled out with her tears.
She'd kept the anti-curse potion carefully stored in her pouch.
But now the pouch had been torn to pieces, and the potion inside had spilled across the floor.
The blue gem Bell had given her lay not far away.
Yet Lefiya only stretched out her hands and clawed at the green ground.
Glass shards pierced her skin. Lefiya didn't even look at the blood welling up. She just kept crying as she dug at the place where the potion had seeped into the earth.
It looked like she was trying to grab hold of the very last bit of hope.
"Lefiya-san, even if you dig it out, the anti-curse potion is already ruined."
Bell told her the truth.
His words were like an icicle driven into her chest, cold and sharp, sinking straight into her heart.
"Uu... uuu..."
Lefiya bit down hard on her lip, tears immediately spilling in a steady stream.
In those gemlike blue eyes, guilt and self-reproach surged without end.
It's my fault...
If I'd been smarter. If I'd been more careful...
I did this to Ais-san...
"Uu... uuu..."
Bell could read her thoughts plainly in her expression.
"Lefiya-san, the enemy won't give you time to cry."
He placed both hands on her shoulders and forced her to turn around.
"Lift your head. Open your eyes."
"What do you see?"
"..."
The elf girl with the Wooden Blade moved without hesitation, carrying out the task the boy had entrusted to her.
Attacks and blocks flowed without pause, her resolute figure almost like a hymn to justice.
Not far from Ryuu, Filvis was running as she dealt with the newly born carnivorous plants.
A short sword that carried hope. A short staff that spoke of resolve.
The girl mockingly called the [Banshee] had never once abandoned her pride, clearing the way for her people.
Without Bell's cover, Olivas was gradually regaining his footing.
Without Ais pressing her relentlessly, Revis was also slowly getting back up.
The enemy would not give them time to weep.
Crying wouldn't change anything. It would only put their companions in danger.
"....."
Lefiya lifted her head and saw Ais and Bell right in front of her.
One was the person she admired most, the one she had sworn in her heart to keep moving forward for, so she could be of help.
The other was the boy she cared about. Whenever it had anything to do with him, her heart always went unsteady and light, a confused flutter she couldn't control—sometimes joy, sometimes embarrassment, and sometimes a painful ache she couldn't forget.
Now both of them were looking at her.
No blame.
No resentment.
Only gentleness and trust.
Only two seconds had passed, yet Lefiya felt as though she'd climbed out of an endless abyss.
"Viola—!"
Revis's shout echoed from far away.
"The enemy will probably use numbers to stall for time."
Bell didn't try to cheer her up with talk of friendship or comrades. He knew how strong Lefiya was inside.
"I will bring everyone back to the surface."
"Ais-san, don't chase recklessly. I'm going to help Filvis and the others."
"Lefiya-san, if you feel guilty... then sing."
Without hesitating, Bell sprinted toward Olivas.
"Because that's the kind of magic idiot you are."
His last words drifted back to her.
"Mm..."
Lefiya clenched her wand and sprang to her feet.
She wiped her tears away, her fighting spirit surging back.
In the next instant, the last giant Viola wrapped around the quartz pillar seemed to go mad.
Its massive serpentine body trembled and twisted, as if it were wringing every last drop of fluid from the Pantry's core. Even when cracks began to spiderweb across the crimson pillar under the strain, it didn't stop.
Excessive nourishment made the giant Viola swell once again.
That abnormal state lasted only an instant.
The walls, the floor, the ceiling—every green, fleshy surface of the great cavern began to throb.
"A Monster's Feast?!"
Filvis immediately frowned.
Lefiya's wide-area Magic had already wiped out the earlier carnivorous plants.
And Filvis, keeping Ryuu covered, had been cutting down every new monster the moment it was born.
She had already realized the plants' growth depended on the size of the buds. By all logic, what remained should have been immature.
So this was the giant Viola's power...
Under Filvis's stunned gaze, every bud in the cavern bloomed at once.
The green wall blanketing the Pantry above peeled away and withered, dying out completely along with the central giant Viola.
The giant Viola's corpse collapsed to the ground, light as a sheet of paper.
Countless carnivorous plants trampled over it as they surged toward the group.
"GRAAAAAAAH!!!"
A deafening roar shook the cavern as fangs and tentacles swallowed everything.
With the quartz pillars now completely unrestrained, their blood-red glow flared, and a new battle began.
"....."
Lefiya's hands trembled as the Monster's Feast unfolded before her.
She didn't have Bell's courage.
She didn't have Ais's strength.
She didn't have Filvis's nobility.
She didn't have Ryuu's resolve and justice.
If only I could be like them...
Sing.
The boy's words flashed through her mind.
"Ais-san! Please protect me!"
Lefiya voiced a shameless request.
She had pushed Ais toward the abyss with her own mistake—yet now she was asking for shelter.
Guilt hurled abuse at her from inside her mind.
Despicable. Shameless. Cowardly. A useless parasite who only drags everyone down...
Lefiya knew it was all in her head. Ais would never say a single word of blame.
"..."
The blonde girl pressed one hand to her abdomen, gripped her slender sword with the other, and silently stepped in front of Lefiya.
"I wish upon the name of Wishe!"
Light burst from Lefiya's Magic power, and a deep gold magic circle spread beneath her feet.
Sing.
You hopeless magic idiot.
"Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and come to the plains.."
Her beautiful song drowned out the monsters' roaring.
And with the sheer force of her Magic power, it drew every carnivorous plant toward her.
Sing.
Offer your song to [Justice], and let it reach her.
Ryuu swung her Wooden Blade, sweat beading at her temple.
The wounds she'd carved into Olivas earlier were steadily closing. With Ryuu alone, it was becoming harder and harder to keep him pinned.
"Firebolt!"
Bell repeated the same tactic, using Firebolt to steal Olivas's vision.
"That trick again?!"
Olivas took a heavy hit, yet his face twisted into a savage grin.
"The anti-curse potion's already gone. Once the Sword Princess loses her combat strength, you'll all die here!"
"[Her] blessing won't disappear. Fine, I'll play along with your boring little game a bit longer!"
Olivas's combat gear was in tatters, but that ominous steam kept rising from him without end.
Bell and Ryuu couldn't land a fatal blow.
Before, they could rely on coordination to keep draining Olivas's Magic power. But now, with Ais wounded by a cursed weapon, they didn't have time to keep grinding him down.
Once Ais lost her fighting strength—and once Revis joined the fight—the battle would become completely one-sided.
Bell and Ryuu both understood it clearly.
They had to end this fast.
"Ryuu-san, use Magic. Leave the rest to me."
"Understood."
Ryuu had been fighting Olivas at close range the entire time.
If she detonated Magic there, she'd take even worse damage herself. That was why she hadn't chanted until now.
But Ryuu trusted the boy.
No extra words. No doubt. No fear.
She began chanting decisively.
"—In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky...."
Olivas swung a heavy punch, but Bell slipped away with ease.
"Concurrent Chanting?! Useless! Even if you're trying to take me down with you, this tough body [she] gave me will be the one still standing!"
Ryuu's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
Her Wooden Blade whipped up a gale as she maintained her chant.
...
"Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the circle and dance around."
Lefiya wove her summoning Magic.
The one she called upon was Riveria—the attack Magic every Mage longed for.
"Come…ring of fairies."
Lefiya could never become anyone else.
If she had lived through that nightmare.
If her companions' cries and screams had echoed in her ears, if their last moments and mangled ends had played out before her eyes—
She would have broken.
She would have cursed fate and hated herself.
That abyss called "growth" was something Lefiya believed she could never cross.
And yet another elf girl had done it.
"Please... lend me your strength!"
That was why, the moment Filvis spoke the word "filthy," Lefiya had burned with rage.
"Elf Ring."
Sing.
Let your song speak of [Purity], and carry it to her soul.
Filvis kept fighting in the oncoming tide of carnivorous plants.
She swung her short sword again and again. Even when monster blood spattered across her beautiful face, Filvis didn't care.
She slipped past tentacles and fangs, raised her short staff, and fired bolt after bolt of lightning.
These immature Viola were smaller, and Filvis alone was able to clear the threats near Ryuu and the boy.
But it couldn't last.
Even if they ignored Revis as she recovered her strength, there was still an urgent problem.
Fatigue was written all over Filvis's face.
Bell could tell this proud, unyielding elf girl was nearing the limit of her Magic power.
"Filvis, leave things here to me for now. Use what you have left to chant barrier Magic."
After firing Firebolt, Bell caught a gap, ran to Filvis's side, and spoke quickly under his breath.
"But the direction those monsters are coming from..."
Filvis frowned.
If they were pinned at a corner or a passage entrance, a light shield could hold back the monsters.
But they were out in the open. Her defensive Magic wouldn't be easy to use.
"Listen—"
Bell laid out his plan in a few rapid words.
"I understand."
Filvis cut down a monster that lunged at her.
Thanks to Lefiya's chant, most of the Violas were swarming toward Ais's side.
Revis must have known these monsters' potential was low—they wouldn't be enough to take down Bell's group.
So she had them act as decoys, buying time while Ais's wound worsened.
Taking advantage of the fact that the monsters weren't focusing on her, Filvis conserved her Magic power as much as she could.
"—Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else.."
Ryuu shot Bell a glance, signaling her chant was nearly complete.
"Go."
Bell stopped firing Firebolt and began chanting [Argo's Ship].
"Holy grail that smites evil, become my shield!"
Filvis extended her left hand without hesitation.
"Guh...?!"
Olivas's expression darkened.
"What are you trying to pull?!"
"This great body will never be defeated by mere Magic!"
Olivas launched into a frantic counterattack.
He sounded fearless, but anxiety gnawed at him.
If Gale truly decided to throw everything away and take him down with her, Olivas knew he wouldn't survive it.
Instinct screamed in his ears.
Dodge it. Avoid this no matter what.
"Violas!"
Olivas bellowed.
But the monsters seemed to be following someone else's orders. They ignored them completely and charged straight for Ais.
"Revis!!!!"
Olivas's eyes went wide with fury.
It was obvious with even a moment's thought. For the creatures, the real threat was Ais, wrapped in that violent storm.
She had beheaded the giant Viola with a single slash.
Even without using Ariel, she had held the advantage against Revis.
Only once Ais weakened enough from the cursed wound to lose her grip on Magic would the creatures have a path to victory.
Olivas realized he was the one being abandoned, and rage flooded his pale face with color.
"You trash—don't you dare push me any further!!"
Ignoring his injuries, Olivas swung a heavy punch at the elf girl as if he meant to die with her.
Ryuu slipped past the monstrous force, but the shockwave from his fist threw off her footing for an instant.
The blood-smeared knuckles grazed her forehead, raising a cold sweat.
Olivas had entered a true, all-or-nothing state.
Before, his desire to survive had made him cautious, and Ryuu could meet him head-on.
Now, having turned himself into someone ready to die, Olivas unleashed his brute strength without restraint, sending wave after wave of violent fist wind through the air.
"[She] is supreme!"
"[She] is invincible!"
"How dare you mortals stain [her] beauty?!"
More and more wounds opened across Olivas's body.
Ryuu's brow tightened, and even her grip on the Wooden Blade began to waver.
In just a few seconds, the flow of attack and defense flipped.
And then—
The spells were completed.
"Dio Grail!!"
Filvis aimed her left hand at Olivas and spoke the name of her Magic.
White light gathered, forming a circular barrier.
"Wh—?!"
Olivas sucked in a sharp breath.
Confusion took over.
Filvis hadn't used attack Magic, and that massive sacred shield hadn't appeared in front of Ryuu either.
Instead, the light shield rose like a wall—
Blocking the space behind Olivas.
"What?!"
Olivas' eyes flew wide as he lunged, throwing himself forward and driving his fist at Ryuu.
But the elf girl had been ready. She lowered her body and swiftly slipped out of range.
"—Divine Light • Voyage (Argo's Ship)."
The answer to that crushing punch came in the boy's voice, along with another radiant shield.
"?!"
Olivas' fist slammed into the sacred barrier.
The strain of accumulated injuries and the completely unexpected counter left him hesitating for a split second.
Barrier magic like this couldn't move.
That mistaken assumption cost him his best chance to break through.
In the next instant—
The light shield in front of the boy began to advance, pressing forward.
[Argo's Ship] granted special properties to magic, much like how Dia Fratel once couldn't extend beyond the range of its healing barrier.
On the way to the Pantry, Bell had already realized something unusual about this defensive magic.
By consuming magic power, he could make the light shield move with him.
When it absorbed an impact, the drain on his magic power increased, softening the force of the blow.
[Strength] and [Magic Power] worked together to resist the monstrous force.
At first, Olivas had tried to slip out from either side, foolishly choosing not to smash through head-on with a full-powered punch.
By the time the shields began advancing, he had already lost the space to swing.
"You think this is enough to beat me?! Don't get carried away!"
The Creature's body was built differently from a normal human's.
His muscles alone could stop a blade.
Olivas was convinced he wouldn't fall to such a trick.
But the smile quickly vanished from his face.
The two radiant shields pressed tightly against him, leaving no room to escape.
Through the narrow gap on the right, the elf girl's green hair shimmered and danced in the glow of magic.
"Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."
"Luminous Wind!"
With her clear, ringing voice, countless spheres of light materialized at Ryuu's side.
"Impossible… the body bestowed by [Her]…"
"How could I—chosen by [Her]—fail?!"
Through Olivas' distorted vision, endless green light bullets poured into the gap.
"Damn it… damn iiiiiit!"
In the next second, a continuous roar of explosions echoed high through the cavern.
…
"—Before long, the raging flames shall be unleashed."
Lefiya focused on weaving her spell.
Alongside her light, delicate voice flowed a chant as smooth and rounded as polished pearls.
Riveria felt as though she were standing right beside the golden-haired Elf.
"The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all."
Lefiya had received far too much kindness.
How many times had that golden-haired girl she admired saved her from monsters?
And yet, she couldn't even safeguard something as important as the anti-curse potion.
So—
Sing.
The boy's words echoed in her ears.
She would carve this guilt deep into her heart, make it the foundation of [friendship], and offer her strength to that golden-haired girl.
Ais followed the boy's instruction and did not move.
In this vast cavern overrun by man-eating plants, in her current condition, catching up to Revis was impossible.
Ais dismissed her tempest and cut down the monsters that lunged at them.
Terrifying fangs. Grotesque tentacles.
None of them could slip past Ais to reach Lefiya.
She reminded herself firmly: the destruction of the anti-curse potion was absolutely not Lefiya's fault.
She had to protect her…
She had to endure, preserve what little strength she had left…
Her golden eyes, eroded by the cursed wounds, were tinged with pain.
But the golden-haired girl had never once lost her fighting spirit.
Beyond her gaze, a storm of starlight projectiles erupted, raising a thick cloud of smoke that swallowed the glow of the shields.
As the bombardment came to an end, Filvis's magic power was nearing its limit.
The light shields vanished, revealing Olivas within the smoke.
His face was no longer human, and his entire body was scorched black.
Amid the rising steam, behind the remains of what little body he had left—where his heart should have been—glimmered a brilliantly colored Magic Stone.
"Impossible… [Her]… [Her]…"
Half his throat had been blasted away by the barrage, his words spilling out in chaotic madness.
Just as Ryuu rushed forward to deliver the finishing blow, Bell shouted:
"Get back!"
A violent gale and overwhelming force crashed in at the same time.
Ryuu reacted instantly to the boy's warning, stepping back on instinct.
Revis' figure flashed past, snatching up the dying Olivas and vanishing with him.
"You really are a pain. I honestly thought I'd gotten you just now."
Revis gave a light laugh and casually tossed aside the torn green hood she had ripped off.
"..."
Ryuu tightened her grip on her wooden sword, eyes locked on the enemy ahead.
If she'd been even a fraction of a second slower, at the very least one of her ears would be in the other woman's hand right now.
Bell had tried to end the fight as quickly as possible, yet even in that short span of time, Revis had already regained her footing.
"Your name is Revis, right? How about we stop here? If we keep going, it won't end well for either side."
Bell made the suggestion calmly.
From the look on Filvis's face, she no longer had the strength to chant.
Ryuu had also spent a great deal of energy. Asking her to face Revis in this state was pushing it too far.
While stalling for time, Bell did his best to recover his stamina alongside the others.
"Call it quits? You're quite interesting. Compared to the idiot next to me, you seem much more useful."
Revis licked the blood from her lips and looked at the boy with playful interest.
"Sorry… Revis…"
Olivas's throat was slowly regenerating.
But in the next instant, a hand mercilessly plunged into his steaming chest.
"You…?!"
Olivas's eyes widened in shock.
"I'm injured too. And eating Violas won't make me stronger."
Revis coldly grasped the multicolored Magic Stone.
"I'm your only kin! A being blessed by [Her]!"
Olivas had no strength left to resist.
"Kin? Blessed? Don't make me laugh. We're all just ugly tentacles."
Revis tore the Magic Stone free in one swift motion.
Olivas's body immediately dissolved into black mist, just like a monster.
Revis popped the multicolored Magic Stone into her mouth and bit down without hesitation.
"Besides, an idiot can't protect that."
The wounds across her body closed completely.
She blinked her bloodthirsty yellow-green eyes, as though looking toward Ais in the distance.
Or perhaps at the boy standing closer by.
...
...
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