Part 2
—[Kouen, City of Brilliant Flames] The practice area in front of the Palace Third Right Wing.
The [Genome Tree] that started the transformation process gave off a bright dazzling light that surrounded Yō’s legs. The tips of the footgear were as sharp as the protruding claws of a wild beast while the materialized armor seemed to be adorned with the fur of a Gryphon.
Being equipped with the new equipment that was created through the mimicking of Eudemon abilities, Yō took to the skies.
The punch that she had shot into an empty spot had suddenly resulted in a spray of blood.
“……What?”
Maxwell gave a surprised mutter as he appeared above Willa’s head. The strike that Yō had thrown at the empty spot had been deeply buried into the back of Maxwell’s waist.
(This works!)
The strike that landed successfully had released the tension that Yō had been feeling up till then.
On the other hand, Maxwell was staring at Yō in a daze due to the unexpected sneak attack that had took him by surprise. It was supposedly impossible for anyone to come between the fight of Willa and Maxwell who were moving instantaneously. But Yō’s strike had made contact to his body and shook him to the core causing him a fatal injury that he had never experienced before.
Maxwell quickly followed Willa’s movements to perform another dimensional leap and when he materialized in the empty spot—
“—this isn’t right.”
Maxwell tried to change his line of thought for it was a little different from the sequence of events. Following up with an attack after his materialization is supposedly impossible or that should have been the case—
For at the same time that Maxwell materialized from in that empty spot, he had been struck by the attack from Yō.
“Willa!”
“Got it!”
They shouted to each other as they begin to follow up their attacks on Maxwell. Drawing out a hand crafted staff, Willa thrust the sharp tip towards Maxwell’s abdomen while channelling the [Ignis Fatuus] from within.
Using the claws and blades from her equipped armor and wings, Yō ripped through the clothes and flesh of Maxwell’s neck.
Beheaded and incinerated by the Azure flames, the red and blue colored jacket and his internal organs had been incinerated instantly and disappeared with the rise of the pillar of fire.
Yō hugged Willa while staying aloft in the air, not moving her eyes at the pile that was his remains for even a moment.
—we won?
Though she had just asked herself that question, she also shook her head to answer it for herself.
“Willa. This might just be out of our calculations.”
“I agree…… it’s quite a problem. I didn’t expect for him to become that strong.”
There was a tinge of anxiety in their voices but this was only understandable.
Maxwell was supposed to be beheaded and have his ashes dispersed by the pillar of fire that incinerated him. But he now stood within the pillar of fire leisurely as the burnt head and other parts of his body started to reattach themselves.
“According to what others have said, I thought that he’s supposed to be vulnerable to physical attacks and be defeated in that way……but if that last move of ours were to be ineffective, there’s no way for us to beat him at this point.”
“Mhm. It’s a headache. It really is a headache-inducing problem.”
The two of them were very calm on the exterior due to their personalities but internally, they were very anxious.
If it were the case of a specific method to defeat him just like those of the God-slaying methods, they were not well-versed on the topic to expose Maxwell’s spiritual source. Whether the two of them were enough to hold out against him with their current firepower was also another problem.
Continuing the fight in this manner would just be an uphill battle that would gradually become worse for them and just when anxiety was beginning to take hold of their hearts…
The figure of Maxwell disappeared.
“Nu, I won’t let you succeed!”
Yō tossed Willa into the air while kicking the right hand of Maxwell that attacked from below. Using the sparkling whirlwind to negate the blizzard released by Maxwell’s left hand, Yō flew higher into the air to pull away from him.
“Willa! Tactical retreat for now! Bring me along with your teleportation!”
“That, That can’t be done.”
“Hah?!”
“If I want to bring a live person along with me in the dimensional leap, you would die if I close off the doorway.”[43]
Yō was speechless at that reply.
She did not expect to learn of that fact only at this important juncture. Having no other plans, Yō could only dodge the continuous attacks, which came from Maxwell who chained his dimensional leaps, while thinking up another battle strategy.[44]
On the other hand, Maxwell was already starting to see through the Gift that Yō was using to continuously dodge his attacks.
(This little girl can perfectly deal with my dimensional leaps and keep up a defensive battle. This…… I see. It’s the same Gift as that guy!)
It was something that happened three years ago when Maxwell had happily appeared before Willa to pick her up, but that man had used the same power to push him into a tight spot.
Maxwell had been brimming with confidence when he entered Little Garden but having been defeated by that real and overwhelming power of that man, he could only run away then.
“Previously, it was the tactical retreat after being confronted with an unknown power yet……Hoho, but I’ve now guessed the workings of it. This time, I will be sure to see the workings of this Gift completely!”
Seeming like an attempt to put some distance between them, he performed a dimensional leap to the back where he dispelled the endless emissions of flames and snow from his hands. For the Demon Maxwell who controlled heat, flames and snow were far from his true powers.
Compressing and extracting the heat to use it as energy. That is the sort of idea that made the foundation of ‘Maxwell Demon’’s existence.
“With just me alone, I’m not that strong a Demon Lord; hence to fill that weakness of mine, I’ve had someone create this thing for me— Summon, Coppelia[45] Sister!”
*Pak* With the snap of his fingers, a spiral shaped [Astral Gate] opened.
Just like the summoning with the Titans, the practice grounds were awash with the violent eddies of heat and sleet while many girl-like dolls appeared amidst the storm to surround Yō and Willa.
The dolls, which were modeled after females while possessing transparent pupils and platinum white hair, were continuously summoned to the practice grounds.
Though they were lined up neatly, their movements were exhibited much dexterity and did not seem to belong to dolls as they lifted the hems of their skirts in a curtsey. Although their eyes were lifeless, the skin of the dolls were flushed and seemed to have the heat of blood flowing within them.[46]
“Co…..Coppelia……”
“Their appearances are quite appealing right? These are the results of a certain [Third kind of Perpetual Motion Machine] that was sealed by someone three years ago. Feeling that it’s a waste to leave it sealed up, I’ve gotten others to help mass produce them. Although they are still in the prototype stages, they are still valuable experiment materials—- so let’s get this going and have a dance, [Coppelia Sister]s!”
Maxwell gave his command.
The summoned platinum white haired dolls rushed towards Yō and Willa in a wave as they waved their wicked looking blades while stepping lightly in a dance like footwork while the various blades hidden on their bodies were flashing out in succession.
While dodging the blades hidden between their fingernails, wrists, elbows and hems of their skirts, Yō also launched her own kicks at them which easily shattered the dolls with the enhanced strength from the collective genes of the Eudemons.
(Individually, they weren’t strong, but their numbers are great!)
And the worst part was their lithe and rapid movements.
Willa was engaged in her teleportation guerrilla tactics but melee has never been her speciality and her dodging movements were awkward with the lack of practice. It was just the girlish action of jumping back in panic while releasing a handful of Azure flames in retaliation.
Even so, the two of them were barely managing to meet the onslaught of the dolls. Although they were outnumbered, the difference between their strengths were levels apart. Willa and Yō kept up a constant pace of destroying the dolls with the respective firepower of Azure flames and sparkling winds.
However, the rate of summoning is clearly much faster than their rate of destruction.
In the time that they took to destroy twenty dolls, thirty more had already been summoned.
“We will be overwhelmed by the numbers if this continues……Willa!”
“Wha,What?”
“I will be the decoy! Take this time to use your biggest firepower to blow up this practice grounds, okay?”
The bold battle strategy caused Willa to widen her eyes.
The soldiers who were battling in the vicinity had also chorused with, “What did you say?!”, “Don’t Joke around!” and “Oi! What kind of joke is that?!”, as they piled comments of displeasure one upon another in protest. However, they were all ignored by the two.
Willa understood that Yō had the ‘Fire Rat’ leather lamellar armor to protect herself. Realizing that this was a strategy that had taken the backup defense system into account, Willa nodded her head in agreement.
“……Ten sec…No. Just get me five seconds to be readied!”
“Got it!”
The [Genome Tree] shone blindingly as it constructed more blades of higher durability. The agility of Yō’s reactions as she charged towards the main bulk of the dolls had also increased.
Using a sparkling wall of wind to deflect the dolls that pounced over from all directions, while effectively dismembering those that managed to pass through the defense. She then prioritized on destroying the dolls that were summoned closest to her without allowing them to make a single move.
Be it from above or below, left or right and all corners of the directions in addition to the dimensional leaps that can be chained, Yō unleashed her blades to mow down her enemies without a blind spot within her reach.
(It’s just as I thought! This reaction time cannot be the result of responding with the five senses! She clearly……knows what will happen in the next second!)
Maxwell who was watching over the battle from above had already seen through the Gift that she wielded. In the situation where all her opponents were surrounding her, moving in response to the information received from the five senses would have been much more restrictive.
(I’m afraid that the Gift she’s using might actually be the power of premonition! And it should be a continuous casting type that can be used in a limited radius! For the sneak attacks from behind to be noticed, it shows that she’s using her senses and hearing to obtain information a few seconds in advance!)
Then, how many times can she cast it in a chain? How many seconds would be the limit of her premonition?
To discover the answers to those questions, Maxwell summoned yet another fifty dolls.
Within the five seconds before Willa started the summoning of a large scale [Ignis Fatuus],—at the third second, the equipment on Yō’s legs were swapped out with the sparkling armor of the Pegasus.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!”
Yō roared with all her might as she used her power to release a huge sparkling whirlwind. The reinforced sparkling whirlwind became an iron wall that protected the two of them from the attacks that came from all directions.
But understanding the basis of that action, Maxwell started to smile.
(I’ve seen though the trick! Three seconds—That’s her limit!)
The [Coppelia Sisters] that he had invested as the fighting force had totaled a hundred and twenty-two.
But with that sacrifice, Maxwell was able to fully grasp the ability of Yō. This young Demon Lord having been humiliated three years ago had now learnt to be humble and calm when analyzing the abilities of the enemy.
(At the instance when the [Ignis Fatuus] of Willa’s summoning ends, I can summon twice the number of the fighting force. And when it becomes a confusion in the battle grounds, I will get rid of that girl when she reaches her time limit! So go ahead, summon the [Ignis Fatuus]! O’Bride of the Azure Flames!)
Having meticulously plotted the factors for the setting of his stage, Maxwell took off his jacket while allowing himself to be intoxicated in the thoughts of victory.
Willa raised her hand crafted staff up high as she opened the portal.
“Summon, [Ignis Fatuus]—!”
An Azure wind picked up above the ground.
The searing heat caused temperatures in the region to sky rocket and it incinerated all the [Coppelia Sisters], which surrounded Yō and Willa, to crisp as it shot up into the sky. During this time, Maxwell retrieved a [Geass Roll] that shone with a dark light in preparation for his next move.
(Willa……I can finally get you to join my Gift Game of courtship!)
Shortly after, the blaze had diminished in intensity and the jet-black charred surface of the Practice Grounds started to be visible.
As the heat rose from the ground, the moisture from the evaporated grounds made it difficult to make out any figures within the vapor, obscuring the both of them from view.
Maxwell had a face full of trepidation and happiness as he observed the scene.
But no matter how long he waited, the two figures never appeared on the grounds.
“……Willa?”
Maxwell’s mouth was hanging agape as he looked down upon the Practice Grounds.
After the vapor had dissipated, his beloved person did not appear.
His arms hung down lifelessly as he stood in mid-air in a daze.
The current Maxwell was full of openings to be exploited and this is not a metaphoric expression. Even the soldiers would be able to behead him in this current state.
From being intoxicated to a state of daze, and regaining his bearings once more, Maxwell crushed the [Geass Roll] in his hands.
“Willa……Aaaaaaaah, WILLA! Willa, Willa, Willaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! UUuuAAAAAAAAAAAAA leeeaaaaaaaaaaa! URIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa! Where have you goneeeeeeaaaahhhhh!”
After three years of rumination, the [Geass Roll] that he had injected all his feelings of love had been totally ignored. Using both his hands to grab his hair in frustration, Maxwell gave an unworldly roar.
The echoes of the roar continued to reverberate in the Palace for a full three minutes.
Abruptly stopping the shouts and returning to his calm self, Maxwell coolly shrugged his shoulders.
“—Mah, this sort of thing is also possible. I guess I will just listen to the next instruction from the “Tactician(Game maker)”-sama. Hoho, what a shy bride she is.”
Maxwell Demon Lord threw his jacket over his shoulders and disappeared.
On the other hand, Yō and Willa had flown to the blind spot of their enemy, hiding in the Forth Right Wing of the Palace. After Yō, who wore the ‘Fire Rat’ leather lamellar armor, had confirmed the disappearance of Maxwell’s presence, she then let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s over now. Come, it’s okay now, Willa.”
“……Sniff, Uu…..”
Willa started to sob in the embrace of Yō’s arms.
Somewhat troubled by the turn of events, Yō stroked the head of Willa while thinking in admiration ‘Uwa~Though she’s obviously petite in size, her huge racks are really surprising’, while feeling healed by the sensation of those ample breasts.
“Sniff… Uu…It was really scary, really disgusting!”
“Mhm, yeah. That was really disgusting.”
Although Yō had never been a target of a stalker, she was able to empathize with that level of disgust. It was physiologically unacceptable.
“We must also rest and regroup. Moreover, it seems that he’s not interested in anything that does not concern Willa. So thank you for your hard work, let’s rest a bit for now.”
“Mhm Yō……Thank you.”
Willa dried her tears as she sat down.
Even though it couldn’t be called a victory, it was still a success in stalling the Demon Lord.
In regards to that achievement, Yō was confident.
[The current me can now fight when matched against a Demon Lord. I’m no longer a burden in fights.]
—But, just this once had already made her exhausted. If she were to continue fighting in this condition, she could only see an imminent defeat for herself.
Drawing out her Gift Card, Yō materialized a twig of the Water Tree to replenish her bodily fluids as she made preparations for the next battle.
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