“…Everis! A ‘Projection’ has appeared, bearing a striking resemblance to the Elven High Priestess!”
“Oh… I observed similar readings, but seriously?”
In response to the continuous call through the call mark, Everis replied with a slightly hesitant voice.
Simultaneously, René, as if plucking a part of her own soul, summoned the soul of her contractor, Salesaya.
The vague outline of the Elven spirit seemed to understand everything as it manifested, looking up at the tense-faced Kurususarina with a noh-mask-like expression.
“Customer.”
“Strictly speaking… that’s not a mere ‘Projection’. It should be called a spiritual manifestation or possession… It’s utilizing the mediumship abilities of the priestess to efficiently wield power. It’s like using a cannon to propel your magical abilities further.”
“So, the important points are that it’s stronger than a normal ‘Projection’ and that the Elf High Priestess Kurususarina is inside?”
“Yes.”
As Kurususarina moved her hands as if kneading something, a ball of light the size of a baseball emerged.
In the next moment, it emitted a pure white flash like a high-pressure washer.
“Whoa!”
An attack aimed straight at René, gouging the ground as it went.
René sidestepped, dragging some people behind her.
Suddenly, the earth split open, revealing something unidentified, and both allies and enemies watched cautiously. But that one strike set time in motion.
Interpreting the current strike as an attack from the opposing force, they resumed combat driven by a sense of urgency.
“Is Panilla there!? Check on the situation at the detention center! Princess-sama, sorry, that thing might be really tough, but please handle it somehow! We’ll reclaim the land veins, so if you can endure for a few dozen minutes, it’ll stop moving.”
“I understand.”
Responding through the call mark, René then projected her thoughts through «Telepathy» to Alastair, who had also been connected all this time.
“Alastair, I understand the situation. I’ll deal with that.”
“Understood.”
“Instead…”
As René engaged in battle with Kurususarina, the enemy party that had been fighting René until just now became free.
However, René’s side had just received reinforcements.
They had been prepared for enemy reinforcements from the south, but now these forces were redirected to their own battlefield, deemed unnecessary.
“Udanosuke. Chenxi. Deal with them.”
“Roger!”
“Understood…”
Emerging like a samurai with a hakama and a straw hat, and a female martial artist with dragon gauntlets and a talisman on her face, they cut through the battlefield dust.
“Chenxi!”
“That ghoul from that time…!”
The enemy party cautiously kept their distance while observing René and Kurususarina, ensuring they weren’t caught in the crossfire.
It seemed they had identified the two newcomers as their targets.
René momentarily forgot about that battle and focused on Kurususarina, now a puppet of God.
It might have been an ancestral or some other will that had taken over the Elven High Priestess, Kurususarina, possessed by the intent residing in the land veins. Whether history repeats itself a third time after twice is uncertain, but at least this occurrence had repeated once.
At this point, it seemed like it was high time to finally make a decision, but René had reasons to save her… at least to spare her life.
First and foremost, she was still needed as bait to manipulate Liellamires. In advancing the dominance of the elves, she was still necessary.
And then there was another reason. It was part of the promise with the spirit of the previous High Priestess.
—The condition for Salesaya to cooperate in seizing the land veins… That was to “help Kurususarina and Liellamires once each when their lives are in danger”.
The reason Salesaya was captured was due to a revenge pact to kill the Imperial Blue Army.
Once the revenge was achieved, apart from being used as René’s bait, Salesaya had no obligation other than her soul being used as René’s sustenance.
Of course, it wouldn’t be surprising if she cooperated with René to achieve her goals. But when René sought her cooperation, Salesaya cunningly added additional conditions.
“No matter who you deceive, lie to, or exploit… Keeping only the contract involving souls faithfully is what defines the honor of evil, isn’t it?”
“Destroy… them…”
Kurususarina murmured solemnly yet mechanically, without any inflection in her voice.
As her hand was enveloped in white light, it transformed into a gigantic weapon integrated with her arm.
“…A bow?”
Indeed, it was a bow.
A massive bow, seemingly formed of light, was attached to Kurususarina’s hand.
When she aimed it at René, the string tightened and a light arrow shot out, even though she hadn’t drawn it.
Flash.
Whizz.
Explosion.
“Atah!?” “Gyahh!” “Eeeek!”
At the moment of firing, René felt a sensation akin to her nape being tickled by dust, and she slightly exaggeratedly used ≪Short Teleport≫ towards the right front, avoiding the line of fire.
Ultimately, that decision was correct, as the attack, even more powerful than the previous sweeping beam, pierced the battlefield.
A straight trench was carved out, sending anyone in its path flying, regardless of friend or foe.
“Not so much a bow as a cannon, that thing…”
Moreover, it was reckless to fire, even involving allies. While attacks purely of ‘anti-evil’ energy would not harm humans, the direct destructive force added meant that collateral damage was inevitable.
It seemed she was aiming for a location where the damage to the Blue Army would be minimal. So, while distinguishing between friend and foe, they were accepting the necessary sacrifices.
For Kurususarina, this massive destruction wasn’t her all-out attack, but rather a minor deterrent. She already had the next arrow ready on her bow.
Having connected to the land veins, which were a source of magical resources, she had gained immense magical power and the ability to control it—probably at the cost of her life.
Expressionless, Kurususarina released the next arrow.
Instantly, the weight of flesh left René’s body.
“≪Calamity Flash≫!”
With magical energy imbued into the crimson magic staff that had transformed from a magic sword, René unleashed a flash of reddish-black death.
The arrow aimed at René clashed head-on with the ray of death, spreading shockwaves around as they collided.
The shining magical arrow tore through the death ray, but failed to reach René.
René knocked down the arrow, now reduced to the size of a fishbone, with a swing of her magic staff.
“≪Bloodstained Spears≫!”
Without hesitation, René unleashed the next spell.
As pools of blood-like stains spread on the ground around René, spears of oxidizing blood shot up into the sky like anti-aircraft guns.
One arrow couldn’t counter the scattered incoming spears.
Kurususarina’s bow hand shattered, and she swung her arm. The remnants of the bow were scattered like spray, causing a bright white explosion. Within it, the cursed spear that had pierced through began to rapidly disintegrate and break.
It was theoretically formulated as an imitation of holy power… an explosion of ‘anti-evil’ attributes.
With that brilliance behind her, Kurususarina advanced.
In place of the bow, she wielded long swords resembling beast bone swords used by elves, conjured by light.
—Switching to close combat seeing that magic exchanges weren’t getting anywhere? It’s like the movements of a game AI…
Stepping in mid-air, she swung both swords like a whirlwind.
Each strike was decorative, like a dance dedicated to the gods.
But they possessed sufficient physical power, and above all, they were imbued with the power to purge evil, making them the bane of the undead.
Once again reverting to her Dullahan form, René swiftly turned her wrists, sliding the crimson magic sword in her hand, deflecting attacks. As their swords clashed, gradually wearing down and breaking, they regenerated like wriggling slimes.
Light surged from behind Kurususarina as if reaching upward. Like shining serpents, they darted through the air and charged at René.
“≪Evil Vortex≫!”
A black wind raged fiercely around René, forming a swirling vortex.
Just before being caught and torn apart, Kurususarina distanced herself.
The magic attacks approaching were destroyed as they entangled in the tornado.
The brilliant thrust that tore through both offense and defense spells flashed.
René intercepted it with the belly of her magic sword and countered with a forceful pushback. Dancing through the air as if backstepping, Kurususarina scattered light bullets.
“≪Countermagic Field≫!”
A membrane of magic enveloped René, blocking it.
In a combination of magic and swordplay, Kurususarina fiercely attacked like a torrential rain. René defended against it. Just defended.
Being undead, René didn’t suffer physical fatigue, and her stored magic power was at the level of land veins, so she wouldn’t run out of magic power so easily.
If it turned into a battle of endurance, it was René’s arena. And if she could buy enough time, the feeble “Projection” of Kurususarina existing barely on the unstable land veins control would be neutralized.
However, after dozens of clashes, Kurususarina suddenly changed her attack pattern.
Clashing swords and deflecting each other, at that moment of opening, she raised her hands high, gathering magic there.
Expecting her to use some powerful technique, René instead charged forward.
For most magic, it could be blocked with sheer magic power, and if she could seize the opportunity by breaking through the decisive blow, she should be able to deal a heavy blow.
However, Kurususarina’s target wasn’t René.
The converged magic erupted upward like a fountain.
It was a magic jet similar to an upward-facing shower nozzle.
“Eh?”
Then Kurususarina, with her twin swords, struck away René’s magic sword coming at her.
The flashing of the erupted magic branched out multiple times in the air, turning into a rain of light, causing an explosion that shook heaven and earth.
It was more appropriate to describe it as a “carpet bombing”.
Her aim wasn’t René; it was the surrounding battlefield.
— Detected the stalling tactic? Providing covering fire while in battle…
Most of the strikes landed in the battlefield where the Yellow Scarf Wrestlers and Ogres clashed.
The Yellow Scarf Wrestlers had their armor dented or slightly off balance, but the direct hit on the Ogre resulted in considerable damage.
Above all, the Dark Elf strike team riding wolves suffered particularly heavy casualties. Those who were unharmed were dealing with the fallen comrades thrown off their mounts.
With the support units of the enemy golems already on the verge of destruction, it was unclear how much sense it made to target them now, but Kurususarina’s attack was relentless and unwavering.
Furthermore, magic compressed on top of the raised hand.
Under that pressure, even her ears rang, and the magic was being woven like a spring, but then…
Arrows flew with such force that it seemed they would cut through the air with frictional heat, piercing through Kurususarina’s hand.
“Stop it, Kurusu!”
“Li…ell…a…?”
Liellamires had her bow aimed.
With a face twisted by neither anger nor sorrow.
The magic about to be unleashed distorted and faltered.
Kurususarina looked at Liellamires, then at her own hand pierced by the arrow, her expression frozen in anger, her mask-like face moved slightly.
After that, she didn’t move as if frozen.
“Stopped?”
“Uh, yes…”
Or so it seemed.
With an equally trembling voice, Kurususarina began to tremble.
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
At the same time as her scream.
The overwhelming pressure of the white brilliance swept away everything.
