Chapter 4: Back and Forth
Lucci was busy facing Ifritah. No, to be more precise, he was busy chasing after Ifritah, who was circling Celia’s magic barrier.
“Stop running around, you pest!” he yelled, aiming a slash of darkness at Ifritah.
“Grrr!”
Although it was a few meters in size, Ifritah was a lion. It could move around speedily with ease and evade attacks by distancing itself in an instant.
However, it wasn’t focusing entirely on fleeing. When Lucci tried to ignore Ifritah and attack Celia’s barrier, Ifritah breathed fire from its mouth in an attempt to kill Lucci. “Grah!”
“Tch...” Lucci swung his sword, swallowing the fire with his blade’s darkness.
“Grrr!” It seemed that Ifritah was especially wary of the darkness Lucci could release from his sword. That’s why it focused on running around without facing him properly. When Lucci grew impatient with the game of chase and tried to ignore it, it would come back to interrupt him. It also attacked the mercenaries trying to break the barrier when it had a breath to spare. Because of that, the mercenaries were struggling to make any progress against it.
If I keep battling this thing, I’ll run out of magic essence first. Is that its goal? What should I do? Even if I can warp my blade, I can’t keep up with its movements right now. I need to get right up close to it the moment it stops moving...
If the battle drew out, Lucci would be the one disadvantaged. His only options were to avoid any combat with Ifritah or eliminate it completely, but he lacked the means to do that.
Thus, while Lucci and the mercenaries struggled to attack through Ifritah’s defense...
“Alma...” With a strained expression, Celia thought about how to retrieve Alma from where she lay a short distance away.
“I will go assist her.” Louise, who had been standing at the front of the barrier to lead the knights, turned back to whisper in Celia’s ear.
“Louise?”
“Now’s the time to save her, while the enemy’s in disarray.”
“But...” Celia hesitated.
Although Ifritah was running around, there were roughly ten mercenaries surrounding them. Even if they enchanted their physical abilities with magic, the knights had little chance of keeping up with their movements. One wrong move and Louise could end up on the ground next.
Although it had been a surprise attack, Lucius’s enchanted sword had taken down one of their opponents. With that sword now chasing after Ifritah, the other mercenaries began to feel more confident in themselves. Alma lay collapsed a mere ten meters away from the barrier Celia had set up, but the situation made that distance feel much farther.
“I haven’t contributed anything to this fight. Allow me to do this much for the sake of Lady Alma, who has protected us until now. It is a knight’s duty to stand in the face of danger,” Louise insisted, determination burning in her eyes.
Celia looked uneasy, but eventually nodded. “I understand... Please take care of her.”
“I will. Knights, fire your magic at any enemy that tries to approach me after I leave the barrier. I will focus on movement and evasion alone.”
Louise gave her orders, chanted the spell to enhance her physical abilities, then activated the magic. She watched the mercenaries’ movements carefully.
“Now!” Leaping over the dirt wall Alma had built to provide them cover, Louise leaped out of the front opening of the barrier. She headed straight for where Alma lay. Lucci was the first to notice her.
“Hmm?” He ceased his attacks on Ifritah and focused his magic essence into his blade with the intention of finishing off Louise.
“Grrrah!” Ifritah must have sensed his intentions. In order to protect its contract master, it breathed fire towards Lucci.
“Tch...” Lucci swung his sword, summoning black energy to block the flames. In that time, Louise reached Alma and picked up her wounded body.
“Ugh... Sorry...” Alma apologized in agony. She had stemmed her bleeding with her spirit arts, but the serious wound prevented her from keeping the art activated consistently. She had suffered heavy blood loss and it was clear her mind was getting hazy.
“Kill them!” The other mercenaries joined Lucci in an attempt to attack Louise.
“Photon Projectilis!” The knights stationed within the barrier cast their magic to hinder them. They were all united in rescuing Alma.
This monster shows no sign of attacking the knights... In fact, it seems intent on protecting that brute of a girl. Which means...!
Lucci confirmed that Ifritah was clearly acting to protect Alma and started thinking of a way to use that to his advantage.
Immediately after, he chose to close in on Louise, who was running with Alma in her arms. His decision to ignore Ifritah’s interference here was proof of his exemplary senses as a mercenary.
He easily outpaced her running speed by more than double. The few meters between them were closed in an instant, and the black sword enshrouded in darkness was raised in attack.
With him this close, Ifritah was unable to breathe fire over him. It could end up burning Louise alongside Lucci.
“Gaaarh!” Ifritah lunged at Lucci.
“Just as I thought!”
Lucci smirked, having predicted that move. He immediately switched directions from Louise to Ifritah. At the same moment, Ifritah opened its mouth to bite at Lucci.
“Take THIS!” Lucci’s sword released a shock wave of darkness, engulfing Ifritah’s large body.
“Ifritah!” Seeing that made Celia scream—but Ifritah’s efforts had accomplished one thing.
“Ngh...!”
“Uhh...”
Louise leaped over the dirt wall before the barrier, tumbling to the ground. Alma fell with her.
“Ifritah will be all right...” Alma muttered to Celia before falling unconscious.
“It’s only natural to prioritize the monster’s extermination over the wounded brute of a girl,” Lucci cackled heartily as he basked in his victory over Ifritah. He then turned to Ven, who was staggering to his feet by the mansion. “Yo, Ven! You having trouble against a single girl? Need help?”
Ven had been hit by Satsuki’s attack, which had sent him through the window moments before Lucci defeated Ifritah. A short moment later, his fellow mercenary and a spear-wielding Satsuki jumped out of the window after him.
“Shut up! Stick to your own damn post!” Ven yelled in irritation. One of his men was unconscious after Latifa’s attack inside the mansion, but there were still three on their side capable of a fight. The three of them moved to surround Satsuki.
“Everyone...”
Satsuki spotted Celia’s magic barrier, the soldiers surrounding it, and the unconscious Alma inside, and fell speechless.
“How... How could you do such a thing?! Who are you people?! Stop this already!” she yelled at the mercenaries, glaring at them with all her might.
“Ha ha.” The mercenaries exchanged looks and smirked as though Satsuki’s anger was terribly misplaced.
“A bastard called Haruto killed our commander. That’s why we’re here! We’ll take you hostage to get our revenge on him. We can’t let a bastard like that walk free,” Ven replied.
“Haruto did what? Wait... Do you mean... What are you saying?! That was because your commander killed his parents! He also abducted Princess Christina and Princess Flora! Haruto protected the two of them. Your commander was wrong first!” It was unjustified resentment, and Satsuki tried to protest with logic.
“Who cares!” Ven clearly had no intention of listening to such arguments.
“But...”
“We’re only accepting the fight that was picked. If you don’t want to be hurt, don’t resist in the first place. That’s all.” It was the equivalent of saying that the victim should just endure their pain, that they wouldn’t allow an excuse of self-defense. That they could go and cry about it.
“What a horrible way of thinking...” Their senses of values were so different, Satsuki was at a loss for words. She barely managed to utter a comment in response.
“Horrible? He’s the same as us. The type to return things in kind. That was why he sought revenge on the commander,” Ven said.
Satsuki snapped back. “No. Haruto is not like you people.”
“He’s exactly the same as us.”
“No, he’s not! Haruto will throw aside his own happiness to protect the people important to him. He’ll never be the same as you.”
“He throws aside his own happiness? Spare me the jokes. He’s living blissfully in a mansion surrounded by women. His happiness is right there—and we can’t forgive that. Seeing you makes us want to mess up his happiness even more.” Ven slowly drew near Satsuki as he spoke.
“I won’t let you do such a thing!”
“Then in order to protect your own happiness, you’ll have to murder us all with your own hands. I don’t know if someone as naive as you can kill a human, but I doubt you’ll find happiness in doing so!”
“Wh...” Satsuki’s anger had reached its peak. She no longer had anything to say, and all expression had fallen from her face. Only her lips trembled as she tightened her grip on her spear. She was completely ready for battle.
Just then, Latifa appeared beside her. “I’ll fight too, Satsuki!”
“We’ll assist as well.” More people came out of the drawing room window—Miharu, Charlotte, Christina, Flora, and Vanessa.
“Latifa, all of you... Why...?”
Why had they left the safe room? It was dangerous—they should return immediately. Those were the unspoken words in Satsuki’s confused expression.
“We’re here to prove our pride as women. I’m only half-serious, but we overheard you talking. As a princess of the Galarc Kingdom, I cannot allow such low-life rabble to wander freely. That is why we are here,” Charlotte explained cheerfully.
“Ha. Those are some harsh words from such a cute-faced brat. But are you sure you should be showing yourselves in front of enemies here to abduct hostages? Those are the princesses of the Beltrum Kingdom with you as well.” Ven looked at Christina and Flora and sneered even more coldly.
“Oh? Why do we need to fear cowards who can’t even face Sir Haruto without hostages?” Charlotte wasn’t about to lose to them in words.
“What did you say?” Ven frowned, having a sore spot pointed out.
“I don’t know how you found out, but you came to this kingdom after hearing of Sir Haruto’s absence, did you not? A feat that shows no fear of a major nation’s power. As expected of a top-class mercenary group—except it also means you did fear Sir Haruto’s presence. I suppose even cowards are capable of having some good judgment, don’t you think?”
Charlotte turned to Satsuki with an alluring giggle. Somehow, that helped her calm down a little.
“Umm, don’t ask me... But, I agree. You thought it’d be easier to take on everyone in the castle than Haruto. A rather arrogant view to have.” Satsuki smiled more like her usual self.
“Indeed. So, let’s show them. Abduct us if you can,” Charlotte said, provoking the assailants.
“Ha! Doesn’t that sound interesting, Ven?” Lucci walked up to them, ready to face Satsuki.
“I told you to go back to your post, damn it.”
“I’m outside the mansion, aren’t I? Plus, a bunch of easy targets just came outside to offer themselves. They seem to enjoy talking big, so I should naturally teach them their places, no? The tiny sorcerer can be dealt with by the people I left behind.”
Alma had collapsed and Ifritah was gone, so there was no one left to protect Celia’s barrier. The only ones left standing were Celia and seven knights that could only enchant their physical abilities with magic.
Three mercenaries with physical body enchantments could easily overwhelm them in no time. Like Lucci had said, there were enough people remaining for that. Meanwhile...
“What should we do? We put on a brave front, but the only ones who can move around and fight are Latifa, Vanessa, and myself. If they push past us, we can’t protect you all... We even brought Princess Christina and Princess Flora out here... Is that okay?” Satsuki whispered quietly to Charlotte.
“Flora and I are greatly indebted to Sir Amakawa, and these men were involved in our abduction as well. It is our duty as royalty to stand and fight in times of need. Let us offer what little power we have to the cause.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best for Sir Haruto!”
“Please don’t worry about us,” Christina said resolutely. Flora also seemed worked up—possibly because the matter involved Rio—as she was unusually enthusiastic.
“Don’t worry. It seems like Lady Miharu and Lady Latifa have a plan,” Charlotte said, glancing at Miharu beside her.
“Latifa...and Miharu?”
Satsuki looked at Miharu worriedly. They had been friends for a long time, and she knew Miharu didn’t have the personality type for conflict. She couldn’t imagine her fighting.
“Yes, please leave it to me.” Miharu looked a little nervous, but she nodded with strong determination.
“At my signal, Miharu will take her place and the battle will begin,” Latifa explained. “Satsuki and I will be the vanguards, and the princesses will support us with magic. If the enemy comes near, create a barrier with magic. Understood?”
“Yup, got it,” Satsuki said. She was still a little concerned for Miharu.
“Yes, leave it to us. I’m starting to get excited.” Although it had to be her first time experiencing such a thing, Charlotte looked like she was enjoying the situation.
“I have no objections either.”
“Yes!” Christina and Flora also replied.
“Then here goes...!” Latifa took a deep breath. “Now, Hel!” she yelled.
“Grrrah!” Sara’s contract spirit, a silver wolf, appeared, with Miharu riding its back.
“Wha?!”
“There’s another one of those monsters?!”
For a brief moment, Lucci and Ven froze.
“Go, Hel!” Miharu clung tightly to Hel’s back as it charged forward faster than the eye could follow. It weaved its way through the mercenaries until it arrived before the magic barrier Celia had cast.
“Miharu!”
“Celia!”
“H-Help Lady Miharu inside!”
Miharu jumped off of Hel’s back and rushed over the dirt wall with the help of the knights. The group over here had originally been planning to take down parts of the barrier for the knights to rush out, but the start of Latifa’s strategy had put an end to that idea. With Hel fighting in place of the knights, the situation turned in their favor.
“Wh-What’s happening?” Celia asked, bewildered.
“I’m going to help Ifritah materialize once more.”
“Y-You can do that?!”
Miharu nodded assuringly. “Yes. As long as I supply the magic essence needed.”
Spirits weren’t able to be physically harmed in their spirit forms, but their material forms could be damaged. Their physical abilities would decline if they maintained a wounded material form, and their bodies would disperse entirely if they sustained too much damage, but it wouldn’t result in their death. They were simply forced back into their spirit form. If the necessary essence was resupplied, they could regain their material form without issue.
The problem, however, was regaining that essence. Whether it was magic or spirit arts, the more unnatural the phenomenon occurring was, the greater the amount of magic essence needed. And it was highly unnatural for a spiritual existence to take a material form. That’s why it took a considerable amount of essence for a spirit to materialize. And it would take even more for a wounded spirit to regain an unwounded body.
Because of this, uncontracted spirits would take time naturally storing essence themselves, but a contracted spirit could receive essence from their contract partner and recover in an instant. Furthermore, humanoid spirits like Aishia could freely absorb essence from their contract partner through their connected path.
But that wasn’t the case for mid-class spirits like Ifritah. Whenever it needed essence, the contract partner had to be the one to supply it. However, Alma was currently unconscious and unable to prepare any magic essence.
“I’m going to send you magic essence, Ifritah. You’re listening, right? Here goes...”
Miharu would form a temporary contract with Ifritah in order to send it the essence it needed. The spirit needed to be the one to accept a temporary contract, but Miharu was well trusted by Alma, so that wouldn’t be a problem.
In terms of pure combat power, Miharu was indeed the weakest amongst the residents of the stone house. However, when it came to magic essence, Miharu had more than everyone but Rio. No matter how many times Hel and Ifritah were wounded, she would be able to bring them back without issue.
The main concern was the distance required for a temporary contract partner to supply magic essence—they had to be right beside each other. However...
“Grr!”
Ifritah made a full recovery outside the magic barrier. Hel and Ifritah—with these two mid-class spirits on the battlefield, the battle at Galarc Castle was about to reach its climax.
◇ ◇ ◇
On one side of the battle were Lucci, who was equipped with the jet-black sword formerly used by Lucius, and thirteen mercenaries including Ven, who were equipped with enchanted sword imitations that, while not as powerful as their genuine counterparts, could still provide physical enhancements superior to ability-boosting magic.
Facing them were Satsuki with her Divine Arms and Latifa with her physical body enhanced by spirit arts. Alma was still unconscious inside Celia’s magic barrier.
Vanessa could only use magic to enchant her physical abilities, so it would be difficult for her to hold back the mercenaries alone. Even if she worked together with Charlotte’s seven knights inside Celia’s barrier, they would only be able to fend off three or so of them.
Celia, Miharu, Christina, Flora, and Charlotte were all rearguard sorcerers—or spirit art casters, in Miharu’s case. They had to stay away from the front line of the battle, but there weren’t enough frontline fighters for them to maintain such a distance.
That was how Lucci and Ven saw the situation—that is, until Hel and Ifritah joined the fray.
“Whoa?!”
“It’s damn fast!”
Hel and Ifritah freely ran around the front of the mansion. The mercenaries might have been able to evade the attacks if there were only one of them. The physical body enhancements of their enchanted swords allowed them to react to the movements in time.
But with two spirits moving at once, they were helpless. If one of them had their attack evaded, the other would just wait for the right timing to make a follow-up attack. The two beasts moved in perfect synchronization, hunting the men down skillfully.
The mercenary men were instantly thrown into disarray. Three of them had already been hit by a charging attack and were now incapable of combat.
Satsuki and Latifa knew they’d just get in the way if they moved too much, and any spells had a risk of hitting Hel and Ifritah, so they left the combat entirely up to them. Instead, they were able to focus on protecting the princesses. However, that didn’t mean they were spared from facing Lucci or Ven.
“Be careful of that man with the black sword! That sword can release a wave of dark energy strong enough to swallow up Ifritah’s flames! It also has other abilities—the blade of the sword was stabbed into Alma’s back while she was facing him. It was as if it teleported!” Celia yelled from the other side of the magic wall, warning Satsuki and Latifa of Lucci’s sword.
The blade teleported...? Could it be...?
Unaware of the identities of the spirits, Christina had been greatly confused by Ifritah and Hel’s appearance. But after hearing Celia’s explanation, she felt a sense of déjà vu from Lucci’s sword. It was the same sword that Rio had struggled against when he saved them from Lucius.
Christina gasped. “Th-That black sword is the sword that Lucius used! It was able to slash at us from a fairly long distance away! The blade disappears from the body and reappears wherever the darkness is. The sword’s wielder can teleport in the same way, so watch out for any darkness around you!”
She quickly shared all the information she knew about it. Things would take a turn for the worse for them if Lucci used that ability here.
“Wh-What?!”
“That’s terrifying!”
“Hmm.”
It was quite the troublesome ability. The ones who reacted with the most caution were Latifa, Satsuki, Vanessa, and Louise’s knights within the barrier. They looked all around themselves, searching for any darkness. The most likely targets for Lucius’s sword weren’t the two mid-class spirits moving about, but the groups stuck unable to move. But they didn’t find any darkness.
“Tch...” Lucci shot a resentful glare at Celia, then Christina. His enchanted sword’s ability had been accurately exposed by the two of them.
An ability like that would have caught one of us by now, but he’s barely used it. Why...?
Celia considered the reasons. Perhaps Lucci lacked the magic essence to bring out the sword’s ability, or perhaps...
“He hasn’t teleported himself during this battle! And he only teleported the blade once, to stab Alma in the back... He might not be able to use the sword’s ability very well yet! There have been plenty of opportunities to take, yet he didn’t.”
That was the more likely reason. And in reality—
Shit...
Lucci frowned at the pinpoint analysis. He was unable to use the enchanted sword as freely as Lucius had been when he was alive.
In fact, he was moving to evade Hel and Ifritah’s attacks right now when he could have just teleported away to gain distance. If their goal was to take a hostage, he could have teleported inside Celia’s magic barrier or behind Christina and Flora at any time.
“Seems like that’s the truth.”
“Yes, but it’s best not to let our guards down...”
Satsuki and Latifa’s expressions relaxed a little. But just then—
“Wraaah!”
Just as Celia’s side gained reassuring reinforcements in the form of Hel and Ifritah, Lucci’s side gained unexpected reinforcements of their own. It was the remaining revenants on the grounds. There were a few dozen of them left. Without a sideward glance, the revenants charged straight for Hel and Ifritah.
“Wh-What are those things?!”
Satsuki had been inside the safe room earlier, so she was seeing them for the first time. They had humanoid forms, but their shocking appearances were clearly inhuman.
“They’re the monsters that fell on the castle! Their movements are quick and they can’t be killed without hitting their heads or hearts, so be careful!” Celia called, providing her with more information. Celia, Sara, and Alma’s fine teamwork had rapidly eliminated the revenants around the mansion, but there had still been many remaining in the other areas of the castle.
On top of that, Arein’s group was still in the air, bombing them with attacks and dragging out the battle within the castle walls.
Reiss’s monsters, huh? Honestly, there’s so much that we don’t know about him and his monsters, but... Arein thought, definitely grateful for the help right now. Lucci and the others were similarly shocked by the unexpected reinforcements, but they had guessed it was Reiss who had sent them and smirked.
“Ha, perfect timing! The monsters can take it out on each other!”
“Use this chance to capture the hostages!”
Lucci decided to use the opportunity to ignore Hel and Ifritah. Ven and his men responded accordingly right away.
“Grah!”
“Grr!”
Hel and Ifritah tried to mow down the approaching revenants with their breaths of ice and fire, but their hardened skin was resistant to the elements. It was also possible that they couldn’t feel the pain. Whether their bodies were frozen or burnt, they advanced without a care.
Meanwhile, the majority of the remaining mercenaries—including Ven—headed towards Satsuki and the others by the mansion. There were ten of them in total.
“Guh...”
Satsuki swung her spear to create a storm wind to push them back. But Ven and his men dispersed to the sides, allowing six of their ten to escape the attack.
“Now’s the time! The five of you, go!” Louise shouted from within Celia’s barrier.
They had aimed for the exact moment Satsuki activated her Divine Arms. Celia opened a cavity at the rear of the barrier, allowing five of the knights inside to begin charging. She then closed the holes at both ends of the barrier, preventing anyone from entering at all.
“Haaah!”
The knights mercilessly struck their swords at the stomachs of the mercenaries that had been knocked off-balance by Satsuki’s wind. A strike in the wrong spot could be fatal, but they spared them from a direct kill in hopes of interrogating any captured men later.
At any rate, four of the mercenaries were taken out in one go. The knights remained calm in the face of their difference in abilities, stubbornly waiting for a chance at victory.
On the other hand, there were still a large number of revenants remaining, clinging to Hel and Ifritah as they tried to shake them off.
“Force your way through! Advance at all costs!”
Ven and the remaining five mercenaries spared no thought for their fallen comrades, moving to surround Satsuki’s group. They were met by Satsuki, Latifa, and Vanessa.
They were outnumbered enough for the situation to be grim... Or so they thought.
“I won’t let you!” Sara leaped out of the window, slipping past Charlotte to kick away the mercenary that had been approaching her. The other two knights that had been inside the mansion arrived moments later.
“Sara!” Her appearance made Latifa rejoice.
“Sorry I’m late! We’ve taken care of the enemies inside.”
However, the situation was still uncertain. It was easy to have tunnel vision on a battlefield with so many people jumbled together, and ambushes could lie in wait where one least expected it. The ambush in this case was Lucci; he was missing from the mercenaries that attacked Satsuki’s group.
“Wait! Where did the man with the black sword go?!”
Satsuki was the one to finally notice his absence, pushing back Ven’s sword with her spear and questioning the people around her in a fluster.
“I’m over here!” Lucci called out himself.
There, standing inside of Celia’s magic barrier, were Celia, the unconscious Alma, Miharu, Louise, and another knight—and Lucci. He had used his fellow mercenaries and the revenants as a decoy while he headed for the barrier. Celia had sealed all the exits of the dome to make it impossible to infiltrate, yet Lucci was beside them. This meant...
“Ngh, he really can teleport!”
Louise, who had been on guard inside the barrier, was first to slash at Lucci.
“With enough time to prepare and across a short enough distance, that is!” Lucci replied, giving a compact swing of his sword.
“Kgh—Aah!”
Louise was blown back, sword and all. Her body struck the inside of the barrier, and she slumped down on the ground. Lucci’s enchanted sword had boosted his physical strength too much for her to handle.
“Captain!”
“Whoa, there.”
Only one knight remained. She swung her sword immediately after Lucci was done swinging, but he swiftly blocked the blade.
“Gotta take out the trash first, right?!”
Lucci believed the knight was the only obstacle left and moved to eliminate her first. However...
“I’m sorry!”
Miharu held her palms out at him and released a blast of wind. The way she apologized while doing so was an expression of her personality.
She managed to avoid hitting the knight, but that was because of her current limits in attacking rather than any intentional adjustment.
“Oof...”
The unexpected strike sent Lucci hitting the wall this time.
“Photon Projectilis. Nice one, Miharu!”
With her instantaneous judgment, Celia canceled the magic barrier and chanted a magic spell. She was trying to land a rapid-fire follow-up attack on his rolling body.
“That hurt, you little brat!”
“Gah!”
“Urk...”
Lucci was desperate too. Getting hit by someone he had been underestimating angered him greatly, and he yelled while he rolled to evade the bullets of light. At the same time, he swept Celia and the knight off their feet, making them topple off-balance.
“Go to sleep forever!”
“Gwah!”
Getting to his feet, Lucci used his left hand to backfist the knight’s face and knock her out.
“You’ve done it now, haven’t you?!”
“Oww...” He stomped on Celia’s back with all his might as she tried to get up.
“Celia!”
“Don’t move, woman! The rest of you freeze as well, or I’ll crush this brat’s body.”
He must have been especially wary of Miharu, who attacked without chanting her spells. He pointed his sword at her throat while warning Satsuki and the others by the mansion.
“Guh...” Satsuki and Sara pressed their lips together in frustration, grinding their teeth.
“Looks like this battle is over,” Ven sneered, distancing himself from Satsuki. The other mercenaries also backed away.
“Tch, what a mess.” Lucci checked the status of his unharmed comrades and clicked his tongue.
They had sent a total of twenty mercenaries to the mansion and its surroundings, but only seven were left standing, including Lucci and Ven. Sara had defeated the men inside the building, and most of the men outside were picked off by Hel and Ifritah.
“First, let’s have those knights move towards the mansion.”
“...”
At Lucci’s order, the five knights that had left the barrier reluctantly dragged their feet over to Satsuki and the others.
“And who do the monsters belong to? Let’s have them removed promptly.”
Lucci made his next demand, glancing at Hel and Ifritah. He didn’t know who they served, so he looked around at all their faces.
Hel and Ifritah were currently being clung to by revenants, sealing their movements. Both of them were struggling to shake them off, but the revenants hung on with their teeth and nails, making it extremely difficult to do so.
But conversely, that also meant Hel and Ifritah had suppressed the revenants from any other action. If the two of them disappeared now, dozens of revenants would be released at once.
“Wha— If we removed them now, those monsters would be freed!” Satsuki shouted.
“I don’t care about that,” Lucci snorted.
“No, wait. Just leave them like that,” said Ven.
“What? Why?”
“That monster reappeared after being defeated. It’d be a pain if that happened again. If we leave them this way, we can at least see their positions.”
“I see...” Lucci nodded in acceptance, convinced by Ven’s reason.
“But don’t try any funny tricks. Order them to be docile, let themselves be attacked, and let the monsters have their way.”
“Wh...”
As Hel’s contract partner, Sara trembled with rage. Spirits felt pain in their material form just like any other living being. As someone who worshiped spirits, their ability to regenerate their bodies in spirit form didn’t mean she was fine with leaving them in pain.
However, Miharu and Celia would be in danger if she didn’t comply. Alma and Louise were also unconscious beside them. She had no choice but to endure the situation.
“Fine. This black-haired woman and sorcerer brat should be more than enough. Let’s get going. Retreat!” Lucci called Ven and the others back to him.
“W-Wait a minute! We have your comrades held hostage as well!” Satsuki cried, looking at the mercenaries lying on the ground. She probably thought they’d be able to negotiate a hostage exchange.
“Ha. Do what you want with them. We all came here prepared.” Lucci was uninterested in the offer. They must have all agreed in advance, as Ven and the other men showed no objection either.
“Why...” Satsuki muttered in a daze. Weren’t they here for revenge on Rio, who killed their commander? If they could feel that much rage at having their comrade killed, they should feel the same rage for their comrades sacrificed here. It was illogical.
In fact, they weren’t acting out of logic. One of their own was hurt, so they would repay that pain and then some. If they got hurt in the process, they’d just make sure to add that pain on in the end. That was all it meant to them.
They wouldn’t allow themselves to be one-sidedly bested. They couldn’t allow it, which was why they had to harass the other side in return. They weren’t moving logically, but emotionally.
“You keep an eye on this one.” Lucci removed his foot from Celia and grabbed her by the clothes. He then threw her towards Ven and the others, who were approaching gradually.
“Aah!” Celia rolled on the ground helplessly. Then, Lucci’s gaze turned to Miharu.
“Too bad for you, eh? Your connection to that bastard is what led to your abduction. You and that sorcerer crawling there are about to experience a world of regret for that connection, but if you’re gonna resent someone, make sure to resent him, yeah?” he sneered crudely.
“Eek...” Miharu trembled, but she desperately clenched her fists to suppress her fear.
“W-Wait! I’m the hero! If you’re going to take someone, take me!”
“I-I’m his little sister!”
Satsuki and Latifa offered themselves to protect Miharu and Celia. They were followed by Sara and Flora, who were more emotionally driven than not.
“Ha! Who would keep this many liabilities by their side with the threat of retaliation looming over their head? That bastard sure is a fool. But that just proves how it’s his fault you’re being abducted. We’ll give you plenty of reasons to resent him, don’t worry,” Ven, annoyed by their attitudes, said mockingly, spitting his malice at the girls.
“Ngh...” Satsuki grimaced.
I see... Haruto knew this could happen. That’s why he tried to distance himself from Miharu at the banquet...
Her expression turned bitter. She felt terribly panicked at the thought of things going exactly as Rio feared, when—
“Y-You’re wrong!” Miharu shouted.
“Huh?”
“Haruto tried to distance himself from me. But I said I wanted to stay with him anyway! That’s why it’s not his fault!”
Miharu faced Lucci and his men without any fear. In a rare show of both volume and emotion, she tried to stand up for Rio.
“That’s right... That’s why we have to be the ones to fight. I don’t want to have Haruto protect me all the time—I’m not going to be a burden!”
From her position on the ground, Celia used both arms to struggle up weakly. She squeezed out her voice to convey her determination.
“Tch, what a damn drag... So what?! No matter how much you struggle, reality won’t change!”
“Hey! Enough already, Lucci.” Ven called for Lucci to hold back his raging tantrum.
“What?!”
“Leave the rest for after the abduction. Arein’s squad is struggling with their burden. We gotta get going.”
Lucci looked up to see Arein’s squad holding back the castle’s aerial knights even now.
“Fine... But this one attacked me without chanting a spell earlier. It’d be a pain to have her awake while moving, so I’m going to put her to sleep first. It’ll also be a thank-you for earlier.”
Lucci had nodded reluctantly, but he was fast to change his mind. He removed his sword tip from Miharu’s neck and swung the flat side of the blade at her face.
“Eek...!” Miharu squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the impact. However, what she heard next wasn’t the sound of a sword hitting her face...
“My sincere apologies for the delay.”
...but the sound of clashing metal and the gentle voice of an older man. Miharu opened her eyes timidly.
“I, Gouki Saga, have arrived to exact justice.”
On the other end of Lucci’s sword was Gouki, blocking the blade with his own.
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