Chapter 116.5

CHAPTER 116 . 5: —SIDE KAREN AND ATHENA— DIFFICULTY CAPTURING SPIRITS

Karen and Athena were in the plains west of the town .

In this huge wide plain, they were confronting a huge green colored tornado .
The tornado was slowly but surely approaching the town .

「The color matches, but this is the spirit?」
「Yes, this is proof of its magic power . The wind spirit has a light green color . This makes it certain that it is in there . 」
「Karen really knows a lot . So, how are we supposed to catch it?」
「Normally we’d counter attack with magic to get the spirit to acknowledge our power but……」

Karen looked at the giant green tornado .
It was many times larger than them . It was the first time she’d seen a wind spirit grow to this extent .

「At this point, I think you and I need to do a full powered attack to somehow weaken the tornado and in that gap use the pendant to seal it . 」
「I see……then let’s do our best . 」

Athena said, and the look in her eyes changed . She went from smiling and happy to completely serious .

「For now, I should just attack with strong magic right?」
「Yes, I will match my attacks with you so please go ahead . 」

Athena nodded and took out a wand from her bag .

「I’m not as strong as Onee-sama but……I am a quasi-Arch mage after all . Let’s go with the greatest firepower . Burn and Burst Artillery of Flames —「Fire Cannon」—」

When she finished the chant a large ball of flames appeared at the tip of her wand and flew towards the tornado . Then,

「I will match you . 「Mixed Breath」!」
PICTURE

Karen gathered an ashen colored aura in her mouth and it suddenly blasted forth with shocking speed .
The ashen aura caught up to the ball of flames and coiled around it, pushing it forward with greater speed and strength .

Then the ball of flames boosted by the gray aura slammed into the green tornado .

「——!?」

The green tornado stopped for a moment and its force weakened .
But, it still did not cease its advance .

「Haaa…… . . haa…… . did it, work?」

Athena’s face was colored with fatigue .
She had put a lot of magic power into that fireball so it was no wonder .

…… . . Truly…this spirit had become very strong .

Karen had also put quite a lot of power in the breath she shot out .
One shot was enough to cause a cold sweat .
However, she was still in a better state then Athena .

「Fuu…… . not yet Princess Athena . It worked, but the true form of the spirit hasn’t emerged . We need one more shot . 」
「D-Daichi-oniisan did this so easily… . but yeah…I’ll work hard . —「Fire Cannon」!!」

Once again Karen and Athena combined their attacks .

Ignoring their fatigue they fired off an attack just as powerful as the previous one and it pierced through the tornado . Then,

「Guuuuu………」

From the center of the tornado the green, semitransparent spirit looked at them aggressively .
It seems as though they’d succeeded in breaking through the defensive tornado .
But in exchange…

「Haa……… . haa…… . Even with Karen…ku…ah, it’s……quite hard… . 」

Athena sank to the ground .
She had just used a huge amount of magic power .

「Can you stand?」
「Y-yes, it’s been a while since I’ve had to use this much magic power . Sorry Karen . 」
「No please don’t worry about it . Normally to capture a spirit you would need quite a lot of military force . Even as a dragon, you couldn’t let your guard down . 」
「Is that so……that means that Daichi-oniisan is really amazing huh…」

Athena’s words made Karen think back to Daichi .

……certainly, he was completely outside the norm .

She had heard here and there about the events with the other Dragon Kings and how he was looking after them…just from that you couldn’t really believe he was human .
Even gathering spirits…it was thanks to him they could do it this quickly…

… . for there to be such a reliable man… . .

This time was a delightful surprise .
However, completely pushing everything onto him was simply being spoiled . That was no good .

They should do what they had to do…what they could do, Karen thought .

「Alrigth, at this point it should be weakened enough . Even if by force, let’s go seal it . 」
「Guuuuu………」

Karen took out the pendant from her chest and approached the angry looking spirit .
The wind was still whipping around powerfully and she could feel strong power as she wielded the pendant,

「Now, be sealed!」

The spirit’s body was taken into the pendant .

「Fuu~…… . now we’ve gathered all of them!」
「Yes, the Four Spirits are complete . 」
「I wouldn’t have believed that we’d finish while the festival is still going on… . . but thank goodness!」

Athena laughed brightly .
Just as she’d said, they didn’t know how many months this would take, but it ended within a few days .

「…… . really, we have to thank Daichi . 」
「Un, we need to get a lot done once we get back to the First Royal Capital…… . when we get back it’ll be busy . I also still have special training with Karen too . 」
「Fufu, that’s right . 」

but as they talked…

「… . . hm?」

Karen felt her chest getting hotter .
What? She thought and looked down to see the black pendant . A black aura was leaking out of the pendant into her body .

……the spirits’ power is leaking…… . . ?

Furthermore, it wasn’t just one of them . The fire, water, earth, and wind powers were all leaking .

「No, this is… . the four spirits going wild! They’re trying to enter my body……!?」

With her many experiences as a Dragon King, she could understand the spirits’ movements .
They were trying to utilize her body and her power to go rampage around .

…… . The spirits grew too much and the pendant cannot hold all of it… . .

The instant she understood she began coping with it .

「Princess Athena . Bad news . 」
「Eh?」

Karen calmly showed what was happening to the confused Athena .
Athena’s eyes flashed with shock at the distorted appearance of the pendant .

「U-ummm… . what’s happening?」
「Right now the four spirits are mixing their power and going berserk with their power leaking . This is power that would normally be used to protect the country . 」

This was the original way of using the Royal Family’s pendant .
However, it had begun the process on its own .
This power, if activated here, would instead harm the people of Prussia .

「Right now, I am sealing the energy within my body . So for now the power has not run wild . In the meantime, please go to the town and inform Dianeia……to evacuate the citizens, call the people who can fight against the spirits…… . and call the other Dragon Kings… . . 」

The spirits’ power continued to pour into her body .
She was resisting, but she felt as if her ability to think and consciousness was slowly being eroded .

「K-Karen… . . 」
「Princess Athena…you need to go… . . —-Hurry!」
「I got it! {Emergency Teleport}!」

Athena nodded and immediately disappeared .
Then, the woman who was left alone in the middle of the plains fell to her knees .

「Now…how long can I last against the power of all four of them… . . 」

She thought of herself as strong even among the Dragon Kings .

However, when pitted against the power of all four of them working together…she couldn’t put up much opposition .
Once she realized that, she did what she could .

「Well, until the other Dragon Kings come……I have to… . . try and shave off their power… . . as much as possible…… . 」

And so Karen collapsed on the ground…and lost consciousness .