Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 21

Ariel 3

Pontiff Dustin, who no one was paying any attention to, since he was the weakest person here—or more accurately, since he fainted right at the beginning of the fight—just changed the entire course of the battle.

His attack-nullifying skill created an opening for Reise to successfully land an attack, followed by a chain of even more attacks.

I wasn’t expecting Natsume to be so reckless as to use two special skills in a row, and then Sophia and Wrath took that as a cue to reveal their own special skills for the first time.

On top of that, Yamada used the Sword of the Hero.

He’d been working on the back lines as a combat medic, so I wasn’t expecting him to suddenly jump into the fray like that.

We basically hit D with all our trump cards.

And yet she’s still standing there…perfectly unharmed.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t do any damage.

It’s just that her wounds were healed instantaneously.

But I guess that’s a minor difference, since it leads to the same result in the end.

D being unscathed after that all-out barrage of attacks is more than enough to break everyone’s hearts.

D really is holding back for all she’s worth.

There’s no doubt about that.

If she wasn’t, we would’ve all been killed on the spot no matter what we did.

But even when she’s holding back, I don’t see any way we can win.

Knowing D, there probably is some specific set of conditions we can meet to achieve victory.

I’m sure she wouldn’t just set it up so her wounds heal indefinitely.

Most likely, there’s a specific amount of damage that would count as defeating her.

It’s not her fault we weren’t able to reach that amount.

We had to give it everything we’ve got, of course.

Only by surpassing that limit and mustering up even more strength would we stand any chance of defeating D.

I’m sure she thinks that’s the least we could do if we’re trying to get her to save the world.

It would be way too easy if she just agreed to do it for free.

At this point, I have to wonder if the line she drew was actually one we could possibly have achieved or not.

If D truly values fairness, she wouldn’t save the world for such a cheap price.

Where does she get off calling this a “bonus stage”?

It’s more of a “boss stage,” isn’t it?

Ugh…

“At this rate, I won’t get the chance to say thank you…”

I said before that I would thank White again properly once it was all over.

But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

“Ael, Sael, Riel, Fiel…thanks for everything. After I die, I want you to keep living strong for me, okay?”

I give my thanks to the puppet taratects instead, not that it makes up for not being able to say it to White.

The puppet taratects shake their heads furiously and cling to my legs.

Are they telling me not to go?

I appreciate the thought, but I have no choice.

As it stands, I only had a year left to live at the most.

So I won’t have any regrets about laying it all down here and now.

Well, except my regrets about not getting to say thank you to White, I guess.

I stand up from my chair again.

Oof, that made me dizzy…

Summoning two queen taratects was pretty rough on my body in its weakened state.

That’s why even though I was able to stand up at first, I sat right back down after summoning them and slouched in my chair, watching the battle.

Still, I think that was probably the right call, since it’s not like I could’ve contributed anything to the front lines the way I am now.

I would’ve liked to keep sitting, to be honest, but I guess that’s not an option.

Instead, I wait for the dizziness to fade and for my vision to stop flickering before I begin to walk.

The battlefield has clearly been busy while I was recovering from my dizzy spell: The hero’s little sister is going after D in a wild rage with the Sword of the Hero, while Ms. Oka and Hasebe are healing the bloodied Yamada some distance away.

Lying next to Yamada is Ronandt, who’s missing an arm.

He probably used Short-Range Teleport to retrieve Yamada, and lost an arm in the process.

Still, it’s impressive he was able to rescue Yamada from that situation at all.

…Ah, Dustin’s bleeding all over his body.

He must have used Harmony a second time.

Maybe he timed it to match Ronandt’s retrieval of Yamada?

No wonder they were able to save him from that obviously hopeless-looking situation.

Both of those old men pushed themselves way too hard.

So did Natsume, for that matter.

He’s bleeding all over, just like Dustin.

Neither of them can use their special skills anymore, I bet.

If they do, they’ll die.

Yamada is down for the count, too.

Which means we can’t depend on him to revive anyone.

Ms. Oka and Hasebe are too busy helping him to heal anyone else, either.

And Ooshima has to stay put to protect the two healers.

Hyrince and Shinohara are out, mostly because they’re not strong enough to contribute.

And Balto…is still unconscious. Yeah, fair enough.

That leaves our side with Sophia, Wrath, Byaku, and the Sword of the Hero–wielding little sister, Reise, Hyuvan, Nia, and the two queens.

Also, Merazophis has technically been throwing in long-distance attacks this whole time, not that he stands out much.

With his stats, I don’t think his attacks make any real difference, either.

“You guys stay here. You’ve gotta survive and thank White for me.”

I stop the puppet taratects from following me.

They would be valuable allies on the battlefield, too.

But for some reason, I don’t want to let them join this fight.

I want them to survive.

“All right. Guess I’ll give it a go.”

I raise my arms in a stretch.

D is the first to notice that I’m approaching.

“Are you done observing already?”

D easily fends off the little sister’s bellowing attack as she looks at me.

“Yeah, I think so. Doesn’t look like they can win this without me.”

“You realize you’re definitely going to die if you join in, right? In fact, your soul will probably be destroyed. You really want to fight anyway?”

“Yeah, why not? I wasn’t long for this world anyway.”

“I see.”

D puts a hand to her forehead in an exaggerated thinking pose.

“YAAAAAAAH!”

The little sister ignores our conversation and keeps charging at D, who basically ignores her.

Now that its power has been used, the Sword of the Hero is just an ordinary sword, albeit a particularly solid one.

Well, I guess the fact that it won’t break is still a strength in itself, theoretically speaking.

“Miss Ariel?”

In the meantime, the other fighters besides the hero’s sister gather around me.

Wrath, who speaks up first, has painful-looking burns on his skin.

That must be the backlash from using his special skill.

Sophia looks kind of emaciated, too, and is leaning on Merazophis for support.

The ancient dragon chief trio of Reise, Hyuvan, and Nia all look exhausted, visibly panting.

“You guys are a mess.”

“Forgive us.”

Wrath looks ashamed as he responds, while Sophia silently bites her lip.

“Can you hang in there for one more push?”

“Of course.”

“Certainly.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.”

Wrath, Sophia, and Merazophis are still up for a fight.

The problem is the ancient dragons.

“What’s up, Reise? Don’t tell me you’ve lost heart?”

“…PERHAPS SO.”

“Don’t be such a wimp. We get to die in this incredible battle. You could at least have the guts to give it your all till the very end and go out with a smile on your face, you know?”

“…YOU’RE RIGHT, OF COURSE. I WAS GOING TO DIE HERE ANYWAY. LET IT BE A GLORIOUS DEATH.”

“Whoo! Now that’s rock-and-roll, baby! Let’s go out in a blaze of glory!”

“…I would really prefer not to, personally.”

One of those responses sounded less than enthused, but I’m just going to ignore it.

As far as I’m concerned, our hearts are united as one!

“Let’s go down fighting, then.”

If I use the Humility skill again, I’m probably going to die.

But I won’t have any regrets as long as I’ve tried everything I could possibly have done.

I’ll burn up everything I’ve got left and give D one last run for her money.

“You never did manage to become a god, in the end. But I must say, your soul shone more valiantly and with more worth than any lesser god.”

“Thanks, I’m honored!”

Now, let’s finish this!

…Wait, what?

Is it me, or are there a bunch of tiny white spiders around D’s feet?

The moment I notice the tiny spiders, space suddenly fractures around them.

And a white silhouette comes flying out of the crack formed in midair.

The bright shadow swoops directly at D…

And then a tremendous impact shakes the entire battlefield.