Chapter I: Inglis, Age 16—Far-Off Highland (6)
Illuminas, the island home to the machinator—one of Highland’s Triumvirate—was aflame. And in the heart of the city, before its central laboratory, the authors of this destruction—Charlotte, Tiffanyer, and Maxwell—knelt as one before Chief Academician Wilkin, one of Illuminas’s movers and shakers.
“Huh?! What?! What’s going on?!” Shocked, Rafinha looked at each of them in turn.
Inglis, however, wasn’t so surprised. “I see. So it was you who brought Tiffanyer and the others here, Chief Academician Wilkin?”
It would be impossible for Illuminas to burn so intensely without serious preparation. And without the machinator, who acted as the city’s core, Illuminas had ground to a halt. The city was empty, so any suspicious behavior would have been quickly detected and snuffed out. Wilma was currently in command of the mechanical dragons fighting the fires across the city, but it should have been the machinator himself deploying them to eliminate the intruders. So Tiffanyer must have known in advance that the malfunction would occur, and then waited to make her arrival until the preparations for the arson were complete.
“And I assume, then, that the malfunctions and the splash landing were your doing as well,” Inglis continued.
“What?!” the rest of the group exclaimed.
“D-Dad! Is that true?!” Wilma shouted.
Wilkin listened to Inglis with a grin on his face, one which did not change even as his daughter questioned him. “That’s right, yep! When the machinator was working properly, I had to watch my step,” he responded cheerfully.
“What?! But why?! How can you smile like that?! Illuminas is being destroyed!” Wilma insisted.
“That’s right!” Rafinha agreed. “Sorry, Wilma, but I knew it! You can’t trust anyone with a face like that!”
Wilkin shared a striking resemblance to the Papal League’s Archlord Evel, an unpleasant person they had faced off against before. Both he and Evel used artificial bodies known as hi-mana coats.
“Honestly, I didn’t really mind Evel,” Inglis said. He was aggressive, even violent, but that meant he was a good sparring partner.
“We all know better than to trust your opinions of people!” Rafinha immediately fired back.
“Awww, so you don’t like me? That’s a shock. I thought I was more than kind enough to you guys,” Wilkin said.
“I’m reserving judgment for now,” Inglis said. “Though if you’re trying to be kind, may I suggest offering me a fight?”
At that, Charlotte, Tiffanyer, and Maxwell immediately rose and placed themselves between her and Wilkin as if to protect him.
Inglis chuckled. “Looks like you’re popular, Chief Academician. That’s nice to see.” That meant that the other three would join in any fight with him as well. She could have a little extra—as a treat.
“You might have gotten smaller, but your ego’s still huge,” Tiffanyer snapped.
“So, according to the Papal League, the culprit in the destruction of Illuminas will be Chief Academician Wilkin himself, and it won’t be a reason for war? Chipping away at the enemy, stripping away some valuable talent, and securing it for yourselves. Maybe the Papal League isn’t as monolithic as I thought,” Inglis said.
“Yeah, I guess,” Wilkin said. “I’m just looking for anyone who’ll take me and let me enjoy my research, you know? This is just a gesture of good faith.”
“You’re so selfish!” Wilma objected. “What was so wrong with Illuminas anyway, dad?!”
“I can’t help it, Wilma. Illuminas...well, really, all of the Triumvirate...they’re on the way out. Like a sinking ship. And I don’t wanna have to give up my research.”
“A sinking ship how?!”
“Highland’s lifespan.”
Wilma furrowed her brow at him.
“Not just Illuminas—all the Triumvirate’s bits of Highland. They all come from the period of the Highland-Surface war, the last year we ever fought with the surface dwellers more than four hundred years ago... The archlords who won themselves glory were granted their own private pieces of Highland to rule as they wanted. That was the start of what became the Triumvirate.”
“And it turns out that that was too much power to hand them, and they ended up able to rival the Papal League that had previously been the legitimate rulers?” Inglis asked. This was the first time she’d heard much about Highland’s history, or how it came to have two struggling factions. Perhaps the fate of her beloved Silvare Kingdom from her previous life was hidden within this history somewhere.
Wilkin nodded approvingly. “Well, that’s what it seemed like, but that’s not how it turned out.”
“Meaning?”
“Without the Floating Circle, you don’t have a Highland, and unless you’re the Pontifex himself, you can’t make them. They last a long, long time—hundreds of years—but not forever. How long one survives is how long that part of Highland survives. And there wasn’t much life left in the Floating Circle here; I just sped it up by a little. It doesn’t matter what we do—Illuminas will never soar in the skies again.”
“That’s terrible! Then what happens to the people?!” Wilma demanded, shaken and agitated. This was clearly news to her.
“Well, I have my doubts that His Holiness is all that interested in giving a member of the Triumvirate another Floating Circle. That was a onetime-only deal. So...yeah. The Triumvirate’s a sinking ship, literally. Sooner or later—well, pretty soon, actually—they’re going to fall to the surface, just to be slaughtered by the natives for what they’ve done, or maybe they’ll be turned into magicite beasts by the Prism Flow. Neither one of those is a particularly appealing fate.”
“I see,” Inglis said. “So that’s why the Triumvirate has been so intent recently on appeasing the surface. The plan is to look like they might join forces with the surface against the Papal League, but really, their aim is to keep the surface content enough to cool down, all the while hoping the Papal League is pleased and grants new Floating Circles...” That must have been why they’d sent down new weaponry like Flygears and Flygear Ports in recent years.
“Yup, and I don’t think their bet’s gonna pay off, so I decided I’m all in on the Pontifex now. That lets me keep doing my research.”
“I see...”
Inglis hadn’t realized that the Triumvirate was on the downswing due to the limited lifespan of Floating Circles. This put a big question mark next to Karelia’s decision to deepen its relationship with the Triumvirate, including Theodore, and use the Rangers as a way to bring surface countries closer together. The reliable backing they thought they had might suddenly collapse. If the Triumvirate’s pieces of Highland came crashing down, then the supply of Flygears, Flygear Ports, and even Artifacts might be cut off. It may have been a better choice for Karelia to side with the Papal League to begin with, despite how oppressive they were.
Venefic’s General Maxwell lightly adjusted his monocle Artifact as he triumphantly said, “I understand your country believes they have firm backing from the Triumvirate, but they may well be a tower built on shifting sands. Is that really the correct choice for something to lean on? I’d recommend that you reconsider your decision.”
“What a strange coincidence. I was just thinking much the same.”
Maxwell chuckled. “A clever one, you are.”
“Hey, c’mon, Chris!” Rafinha interjected. “I don’t think that’s right! I don’t know what problems the higher-ups might have, but with Flygears and Flygear Ports, and us all working together to form the Rangers, we can protect more people than we ever could! I don’t want to give up on that!”
Leone and Liselotte nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, that’s fine. It was just a stray thought,” Inglis said. If that was Rafinha’s opinion, and Leone and Liselotte agreed, she didn’t mind following it through.
“Mm,” Maxwell continued. “Purehearted, definitely. But ignoring everything outside of what you see in front of you. Not trying to see what’s really happening. It’s what you could call naive honesty.”
“They’re children,” Tiffanyer added. “And that narrow vision is proof.”
The two looked mockingly at Rafinha. Meanwhile, Charlotte listened quietly.
“Ugh!” Rafinha had no words to offer up in return, even though she probably wanted to.
Inglis stepped in front. “I think that the only people who have ever changed the world are those who stick to that childish naivete. Don’t you?”
Herself included. Granted the divine protection of Goddess Alistia, she’d resolved to use it not for herself but for the greater good, and while she thought she’d managed to stick to that, she’d become so busy dealing with emergent situations that she hadn’t been able to see much of what was really going on. She began to understand this only after she stopped and looked back at her fervent effort.
Rafinha, Leone, Liselotte—they were all young. Of course they were caught up in what they saw happening in front of them. Of course their field of vision was narrow. That was fine. The naivete that Maxwell and Tiffanyer sneered at was something Inglis thought might change the world if seen through. Rather than people naturally leaving that childlike honesty behind as one grew up, she believed they struggled to maintain it.
Maxwell laughed. “And you think she’ll change the world?”
“Well, who knows?” Inglis couldn’t tell. Honestly, she didn’t care. She was going to stick by this sweet girl and watch over her as she grew up, just as any loving grandparent would do. That was enough for Inglis.
“A few have that power, but most are crushed and disappear,” Maxwell pointed out.
“Yes, I suppose. That’s convenient for me.” If the world wanted to crush that spark out of Rafinha, that meant conflict. If that led to fights, it meant Inglis could be happy both fighting off opponents and helping Rafinha. A good thing for both of them.
“If you want to change the world so badly, how about changing it so we can get new Floating Circles?” Wilkin asked. “If they weren’t dying, I wouldn’t have to take the side that I am.” He placed his hands together a bit pleadingly and looked at Rafinha.
“Why don’t you figure out how to make them, then?! I thought you were supposed to be some genius researcher!” she shot back.
“Oh, sheesh, ha ha ha. That’s right, that’s kind of awkward. Guess I’ve gotta work real hard over with the Altar to get to that point!” Wilkin replied coyly, a bit self-consciously, though it didn’t hold him back.
“You can’t, dad! I won’t allow it!” Wilma protested. “I want you to stay here and help us restore Illuminas!”
“No, wait, wait, Wilma. That’s not how it works, if anything you should be coming with me.”
“Huh?! Why?”
“Why are you so surprised? Of course you’d follow! You’re my daughter. I wouldn’t leave my daughter behind, would I?”
“That’s absurd! Altar, Throne, it doesn’t matter! I am the knight-captain of Illuminas, and my responsibility is to protect it!” Wilma argued.
Wilkin shook his head, his usual grin replaced with a calm and serious expression. “That responsibility wasn’t anything you wanted, though, was it? You were born so sickly, you wouldn’t have survived without that mechanical body. And a knight’s duty came along with it. I know you had such a hard time with that... Didn’t you, Wilma?”
“D-Dad...”
“I wish I could have given you a hi-mana coat, but that wasn’t possible. The machinator wouldn’t approve it. Well, maybe he just didn’t want me to give special treatment to my own daughter. Anyway, his word is law in Illuminas, so doesn’t it feel like the whole place crashing down because he can’t get a new Floating Circle is exactly what he deserves? That’s why nothing’s come of the research into how to make a new one—kind of.” Wilkin’s grin gradually returned. “Maybe if I’d really been able to focus my effort on it? Ah ha ha ha, I guess I’m kinda bitter.”
“I take it back. Maybe someone can have that face and still be a good person,” Rafinha murmured.
Inglis chuckled. “You seem a bit conflicted over there, Rani.”
“Well of course I am! It’s not like I have any good memories of Evel.”
“I remember having a good time.”
“Of course you do, because you’re you!”
While they were conversing, Wilkin stretched his hand toward Wilma. “Come with your dad, Wilma. You’ve tried your best. It must have been really hard on you. I know how kind your heart is, but you’ve done enough. If we go to the Papal League, we can even get you a hi-mana coat.”
“Wilma...” Rafinha searched for words, her expression conflicted as she watched Wilma. If Wilma did decide to go with Wilkin, Rafinha wouldn’t be able to stop her.
“Dad! I’m happy you feel that way...but even if this wasn’t something I wanted, even if it was hard, it’s something I’ve become proud of! I have no intention of stepping down as knight-captain of Illuminas!”
Wilkin’s shoulders dropped. “I see... Wilma, you’ve gotten so strong... I’m overjoyed to see how you’ve grown up, but I can’t just go along with that. It’s obvious what would happen to you if I leave you here.” He glanced over at Tiffanyer and the others. “You three—sorry, but can you bring her along with us? I know it’s a lot of work, but think of it as helping a father in trouble.”
“Very well.” Charlotte nodded.
A creepy smile rose to Tiffanyer’s lips. “I might have to break a few limbs, is that okay?”
“Those parts are mechanical, so sure! Go for it!”
“The mechanical dragons she’s controlling are helping with civil defense... Wiping them out wouldn’t hurt.” Maxwell didn’t seem to object either.
“Gah! Try it!” Wilma barked.
“Chris, let’s protect Wilma! We need to save Eris, Myce, the evacuated Highlanders, and Princess Meltina from Venefic too! And even Charlotte!” Rafinha said.
“Indeed we do, Rani.” Inglis chuckled. “Sounds like a busy day.”
“The shelters are below! They’re the level above the Greyfrier sarcophagus! Her Highness is inside the sarcophagus!” Wilma pointed toward the central laboratory.
“Which means we just have to protect the central laboratory,” Inglis summarized. That was an easy task to understand. The trio of Maxwell, Tiffanyer, and Charlotte would be focused on Wilma, so Inglis only needed to concern herself with intercepting them.
“I wonder, will it really be that simple for you?” Maxwell grinned as he brought a finger to his monocle.
Rrrrrrumble...!
Inglis could feel her footing sway again. “Ah!”
“What?!” Rafinha gasped.
Although it wasn’t as strong yet as the initial wave of explosions, they could clearly feel the intensity increasing.
“Below us?!” Leone began.
“Something’s rising up!” Liselotte said.
Thump!
A hole opened in the ground near them from which Maxwell’s faceless giant leaped out.
“It’s that giant from before!” Rafinha yelled. “I thought you blew it away, Chris!”
It had disappeared in the direction of the beaches near the arsenal, but now it split the earth and reappeared.
“Hmm, it changed its form and slipped underground, then circled around beneath us. How underhanded, to do that while we’re talking!” Inglis said.
“This is war, not sport! Especially with how much of a grudge you’ve earned yourself!”
“And how exactly did I earn it?”
“Maybe you should ask yourself that!”
Well, Inglis thought. I did attack his giant without warning, and there was that conversation that didn’t go so well. And before that I took Rochefort and Arles prisoner, captured their flying battleship, and fought off Venefic’s strategy of using the Prismer.
I guess there might be a lot he’d be angry with me about, as a Venefic general. “Well, I do suppose that, as a loyal and patriotic servant of Venefic, you might not be able to stomach me.”
As she watched Maxwell, she realized something: Maxwell, like Rochefort, had a special-class Rune. She could see its rainbow glimmer on the back of his right hand, but it kept disappearing, then reappearing again. It was blinking. She’d never seen a special-class Rune do that before.
Maxwell’s monocle Artifact had the powerful ability of creating and controlling the undying. It must have been an Artifact on a level with Dragon Claw or Dragon Fang, a superclass Artifact so to say. The eerie aura of the undying that it emitted seemed to be eating away at Maxwell himself. Its blinking seemed like proof.
“No, wait, that’s not— What are you?” she asked.
Maxwell laughed. “Aren’t there more important things than chatter right now?”
“Chris!” Rafinha said. “The ground! It’s collapsing!” Cracks ran from the hole the giant had made, spreading rapidly into gaping fissures.
Krrraaaak!
Illuminas, already heavily affected by the explosions, was at its limit. The land separated from the central area by the fissures began to sink into the sea.
“Th-The island’s breaking apart!” Leone yelled.
She was right. The land separated from the central laboratory area along the cracks and immediately slipped away into the depths. Weak as the Floating Circle had become, it could still keep things afloat in water—but once physically cut off, they would inevitably drown.
“This part is going to tip over!” Liselotte shouted with urgency.
The central landmass with the laboratory and the Floating Circle shuddered and began to angle itself as well. It wasn’t sinking immediately like the others, but with its center of mass disturbed by its newly marred form, it had definitely tilted. At this rate, it might eventually sink too. It seemed to Inglis like she could no longer just enjoy a fight with the enemies who were after Wilma.
“We can’t let this happen! We need to evacuate the civilians! If the island sinks, they’ll be in danger!” Wilma yelled.
“But where can we evacuate them to?! The arsenal was destroyed, and so was the ship we were on!” Rafinha said.
“As long as that’s still there, we’ll be fine!” Inglis pointed to a flying battleship floating high above Illuminas. It was the Aethelstan Trading ship that Maxwell and the others had arrived in, holding position safely out of danger in the opposite direction from the arsenal. They could take it for their own and use it to evacuate the people of Illuminas.
“Do you really think I’d let you? I’m not here just to hand out ships!” Maxwell said.
“Ah!” Rafinha gasped. “It’s climbing away!”
Pinning the ship down, capturing it, and loading the people of Illuminas on board was a tall ask. Just shooting it down would be easy, but that wouldn’t accomplish what they wanted. And if they took too much time, the land they were on might sink.
“The mechanical dragons! Load the people on them! At least they won’t have to sink along with Illuminas!” Inglis said.
“Great idea!” Rafinha nodded.
The mechanical dragons which had been engaged in firefighting were lacking a task now that the city itself had mostly sunk. It made sense to use them in the evacuation. They were huge; each one could carry a large number of people. And fortunately, it seemed like they could use the hole the faceless giant had opened when it appeared in order to go underground. Well, “fortunate” wasn’t quite the right word given that this rescue wouldn’t have been necessary if not for the hole tearing Illuminas apart.
“Mechanical dragon squadron! Enter that hole, and proceed to the emergency shelters!” Light rose from Wilma’s black armor, and the dragons, following their orders, flew near at once.
As they tried to enter the hole, the giant jumped up, trying to grab one. “Stop them, giant!” Maxwell ordered.
“I won’t let you get in the way!” Inglis yelled. Aether Shell! Wrapped in the pale blue light of aether, she leaped forth, but she was clearly a step behind and could only insert herself between the giant and the mechanical dragon. Smash the giant away, and protect the dragon! “Haaah!”
But her tiny fist did not reach the giant. The haft of a golden halberd stopped it.
Clong!
It was Charlotte. She had kept up with Inglis even with Aether Shell active.
“Ugh! Such a heavy fist for such a little girl!”
“Good job! I knew you could do it!”
Inglis was overjoyed by Charlotte’s capabilities. They were clearly a cut above those of the hieral menaces she’d known before. If she really was Liselotte’s mother, did that mean their aptitude was hereditary? Wilkin had said that Liselotte had extremely high aptitude. If Charlotte did as well, maybe their relationship was the reason for her extraordinary ability. And if that was the case, then if Liselotte ever became a hieral menace herself, she could be just as strong.
Inglis and Charlotte’s momentum canceled each other out, and they both landed. That was enough of an opening for the faceless giant to weave by Inglis. It grabbed the tail of one of the mechanical dragons and slammed it into the ground.
Ba-thump!
The shock of the massive beast’s impact shook the earth.
“Ah! The mechanical dragon!” Rafinha gasped.
“Hyaaah!” But Leone’s dark blade had become gigantic and now swung down precisely toward where the giant had thrust its arm.
“Leone! Nice!” Rafinha said.
“Excellent work!” Liselotte said.
“But...! I can’t cut through it!”
The blade carved into the giant’s arm but couldn’t cut all the way through. The dragon, still caught, thrashed back and forth on the ground trying to break free.
“Ah! I know! Then—!” Rafinha drew back Shiny Flow as far as she could. “Leone! Don’t let up! Keep pressing!” As she spoke, she let loose an arrow of aqua-colored light, one imbued with its healing Gift. It struck Leone’s greatsword, and the blade of the sword began to glow with the healing light. As it did, it bit more deeply into the giant’s arm.
“Tch! A healing Gift?!” Maxwell spat in disgust.
“Healing power hurts the undying, right? Wasn’t that how it worked?!”
“Good job, Rani! You remembered well!” Inglis called out as she exchanged punches for halberd thrusts and cuts with Charlotte. Rafinha was steadily growing too.
“Now I can cut it!” Leone said.
“I’ll lend you my help too! Yaaaaaah!” Pale wings sprouted from Liselotte’s back, and she took flight before suddenly diving, her halberd swinging down. That pushed Leone’s sword the rest of the way, completely severing the giant’s arm.
“All right!” Rafinha and the others cheered.
The mechanical dragon, freed, spread its wings to take flight again. But in the next moment, a golden gleam flew toward its neck.
Fwoosh!
The dragon’s head was severed from its body forcefully enough to seem like it had popped off. Left headless, its body crumpled to the ground and lay still.
“Eeeeeeek!” the group of girls shrieked at the mechanical dragon, beheaded in a flash.
Tiffanyer giggled. “Awww, now isn’t that so sad? After you got yourselves all worked up too.” She smiled from behind her golden armor.
Tiffanyer’s transformed form was not a sword or a spear, but armor. Arles, formerly of Venefic’s army and now an instructor at the knights’ academy, was a shield hieral menace as well; sometimes these beings took on defensive forms rather than offensive ones.
Encased in her armor, Tiffanyer was safer from a beating, but she was faster and stronger too. It had an effect—like Inglis’s own Aether Shell or dragon ice armor—of raising its wearer’s physical capabilities. And using those enhanced capabilities and the armor’s own hardness, she’d taken the mechanical dragon’s head off with one kick.
While trading attacks at a dizzyingly fast pace with Charlotte’s halberd, Inglis watched Tiffanyer out of the corner of her eye so that in an emergency, she’d be ready to intervene. As long as Rafinha lived as a knight, the girl could not completely avoid fighting. Inglis understood that, but it was still bad for her heart to watch Rafinha fight a knight with a special-class Rune or a hieral menace. Inglis couldn’t keep herself from worrying.
To make matters worse, when the faceless giant brought the stumps of its arms close to its fallen hands, they reattached as if nothing had happened. “Even though we took its arm off...” Inglis murmured.
Rafinha gasped. “It’s back as good as new?!”
“Even though we managed to bring it down earlier...” Leone said.
“Were our attempts for naught?!” Liselotte asked.
Maxwell controlled the giant, but it was made from a liquid called mana extract. Slicing or stabbing at it would not be enough to destroy it. The only way to deal with it was to unleash a torrent of power, like Aether Strike or Fufailbane’s dragon breath, and completely annihilate it. And Rafinha’s healing arrows that combined her Artifact’s Gifts would have a hard time beating it in one shot, but maybe dozens or hundreds would eventually do the trick.
“No!” Wilma shouted. “You bought us time! And that was only one of them!”
While the battle continued, the remaining mechanical dragons had flown one by one into the hole the faceless giant had created. Six of them were still safe. And the last was flying into the hole now.
“You take care of things up here! I’ll go help evacuate the residents!” Wilma said, jumping from the rim of the hole to the shoulder of the last dragon.
“Rani, Leone, Liselotte, you go too! I’ll hold them off here!” Inglis instructed.
“Okay! Leave it to us, Chris!” Rafinha said.
“Both of you, hold on to me!” Liselotte said.
“Will do!” Leone said.
Liselotte, bearing Rafinha and Leone, took off after Wilma. This left Inglis with the opportunity to enjoy a good fight without having to worry. She wanted to take on Charlotte, Tiffanyer, Maxwell, and the faceless giant, and she wanted to avoid having Rafinha fight dangerous opponents if possible. This was a best-case scenario.
“Tiffanyer, go after them,” Charlotte ordered.
The armored hieral menace was clearly uncomfortable at being ordered around. Inglis could tell that she didn’t like taking orders from her at all. “Now, now, Tiffanyer,” Inglis said with a smile. “Why don’t we all just play nicely together?”
It seemed to have had some calming effect on Tiffanyer. “Hmph. Are you trying to say I shall not pass, or something?”
“I’m glad you get the picture.”
Tiffanyer stared at her unenthusiastically. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take being ordered over having to listen to this brat!” Tiffanyer, ignoring Inglis’s exhortations, leaped toward the hole and after Rafinha and the others.
“I won’t let you!” Inglis barked.
Shiiinnnnk!
A clear sound announced the arrival of a massive block of ice in midair. Appearing in the center of the hole, it expanded in an instant.
Inglis’s friends were completely shocked. “What?!”
Growing beyond the size of the hole, the ice formed a lid over it to block it off.
“Whew...” Inglis sighed. It was a block of ice even larger than the one Inglis had used to seal away Cyrene when she became a magicite beast. In order to create it with magic, it had been necessary to convert considerable amounts of aether to mana, but Inglis was now capable of using aether techniques, magic formed from mana, and dragon lore all at the same time. She could even fuse mana and dragon lore into dragon magic.
Inglis had just been fighting Charlotte using Aether Shell while accumulating mana in preparation for that spell. In the battle with Cyrene, she had needed to stop and focus, to use all her strength. However, now she had plenty of leeway. The mass of ice she just created spoke of her obvious improvements in both control of her powers and endurance. It was good to be able to see her improvement—improvement that was the result of her many battles since leaving her hometown of Ymir to enroll at the knights’ academy. A real fight was better than any practice.
And while she had expected Highland to be completely untouched by war when she departed for it, it had followed her there.
This was, perhaps, a turning point in history. Times like these tended to produce vast, sprawling conflicts. Illuminas was engulfed in flames. Maybe, just maybe, the goddess Alistia had chosen for her to be reborn in this era because it was the most suitable for her desire to push her powers to their absolute limits.
If so, it was a wonderful thing for which Inglis was grateful.
She laughed. “Now we can fight with no distractions. Illuminas may be sinking, but we still have some time, don’t we?”
Inglis smiled adorably, only to be met with a tsk of disgust from Maxwell. “You bloodthirsty freak! Did coming in close contact with the Prismer eat away at your humanity?!”
Inglis hadn’t been expecting that response. Standing up tall, she argued back, “Well, that’s not very nice! You’re quite mistaken. I’ve always been like this!”
“That’s even worse!”
“Not that I really mind, but if you keep blocking the tunnel...I won’t be able to chase who I’m supposed to chase, right?” Tiffanyer shot a sarcastic smile at Charlotte.
“I am ashamed,” Charlotte replied. “But truly, for her to have gathered enough mana to create such a huge block of ice, all while she was attacking like that...”
“Whatever! Just break the ice!”
Following Maxwell’s will, the faceless giant turned toward the ice block and raised its fist.
Inglis noticed this immediately. “Stop right there!” She wouldn’t stand by and let that happen after all the trouble she’d taken to set everything up. She had no intention of letting powerful foes get away without a fight. Leaping up, she put herself in the path of the giant’s fist and met it head-on with her own.
Bammmmm!
The giant’s fist shattered as if it had exploded. The mana extract from which it was made scattered into droplets. The aftershock of Inglis’s blow sent the giant to the ground, on its rear.
She had protected the ice lid from its punch. However, the battle was not over.
“Tailwind! Lightning Spear!” Charlotte swooped in on Inglis from the side and was soon upon her. Impressively, she could keep up with Inglis even at her best. Not only that, but the head of her halberd was crackling with lightning.
Up until now, Charlotte had fought with a powerful effect she called a tailwind to speed herself up and another kind of magic much like Inglis’s own enhanced gravity. The combination of enhancing herself and slowing her foe down was a fearsome one, yet those shackles of enhanced gravity on Inglis fell away once she activated Aether Shell.
Aether Shell was a powerful defensive barrier and repelled Charlotte’s gravity magic. Thus, against Inglis enhanced with Aether Shell, Charlotte’s combo was not much of a combo at all, just the effect of the tailwind on herself.
Charlotte realized that immediately and abandoned her ineffective technique and instead enhanced the power of her attacks by wreathing her halberd in lightning.
The clear implication, Inglis thought, was that if she abandoned the enhanced gravity for another effect, she could use exactly two at once. It was an astute decision—an appropriate choice of which Inglis approved. Charlotte’s competence was wonderful.
Charlotte pointed the tip of her halberd at the gap opened in Inglis’s stance as the squire swung her fist and knocked the giant away. As it was, the halberd would strike her before she could adjust.
“Got you!” Charlotte was as convinced of this as Inglis was.
But Inglis still had another move to make.
“Dragon Lore!” From Inglis’s tiny back, a misty dragon’s tail appeared. This was dragon lore, which she had access to thanks to Fufailbane. Now that she had become practiced at using it, a stronger focus would have given it the form of part of her own body, granting her more destructive power. But for now, she left it in the shape of a long dragon’s tail. Her currently rather short arms and legs weren’t long enough to reach Charlotte, and the task for it which she had planned did not require raw power.
The dragon lore tail flexed itself and pushed away the haft of Charlotte’s halberd. Inglis was tiny enough that even a small change in trajectory was enough. The halberd passed just in front of her, followed closely by Charlotte herself.
Inglis had expected Charlotte to be waiting for her to leave an opening. That’s why she’d had dragon lore ready to deflect it, rather than using it offensively. One-on-one fights were good, but chaotic melees like this were as well. It really let her enjoy the tactical complexity.
And Charlotte didn’t just flit by Inglis. Tiffanyer had swooped in from the other direction, and now they crashed into each other.
“Ugh...! That clever little—!” Charlotte snapped.
“Why, Charlotte, I didn’t know you were interested in other women!” Tiffanyer smirked.
The collision itself was not a huge blow to either of them, but they were both left wide-open as they stiffened in response.
“Haaaaaaaaah!”
Bam!
Inglis struck them both with one kick. The two, still wrapped in their unintentional embrace, shot off like a bullet directly toward the faceless giant, which was just rising. They crashed into its chest, and were left as easy targets.
Just as I expected! “How nice of you to all line up together! Aether Strike!”
Blammmmmm!
A huge blast of aether roared toward Charlotte and Tiffanyer.
“Guhhhh! So powerful!” Tiffanyer said.
“We need to deflect it somehow!” Charlotte, as expected, brought her halberd up to use as a shield, refusing to back down. Tiffanyer, too, joined in rather than continuing her diving swoops. They both braced themselves against the faceless giant.
If it were just the giant itself, it could probably change its form to survive a massive hole being blasted through its chest, but then Charlotte and Tiffanyer would be in danger of Inglis’s attack blowing them far away. The giant was barely able to hold its ground now—a direct hit from Aether Strike could obliterate it.
But Inglis had a feeling this fight wasn’t over. Maxwell, who controlled the giant with his Artifact, continued to watch stonily. She suspected he had some further plan. She could sense something in him saying that it would take more than this. And she had high hopes for him as a foe.
“So, what’s your move?” Inglis asked him with a prim smile.
Inglis’s supposedly cute smile sent chills down his spine. The only truly cute thing about her was her appearance—her deeds were anything but. That expression was nothing more than the relaxed grin of a predator facing down its prey. She was just a young—purportedly sixteen, but still—and adorable girl. Why did she have such power?
He cursed to himself, What is this, what is this, whaaaaaat is thiiiiiiiis?! Argh! They said she was the heroine who took down a Prismer, but that’s not the half of it! She’s a monster! The only monsters that were supposed to be here were the hieral menaces the Altar has for dealing with Karelia! They didn’t tell me—they didn’t tell me a damn thing! No one human should have all that power! They can’t! They just can’t! What will become of my beloved Venefic?! She could destroy it single-handedly, no doubt!
“I won’t let that happen!” To Maxwell, she was a foe who must be destroyed, even if it cost his own life. The hairs standing on the back of his neck were screaming that at him. He had to kill her with his own hands.
There was more to a book than the cover, and her sins would not disappear no matter how many ages passed.
“Huh? What seems to be the problem?” Inglis asked, genuinely confused. Maxwell swore he saw the shade of a dignified elderly man rise behind her. He felt a deep grudge against her, as if he’d impossibly held this grudge against her for a long, long time. That didn’t make sense—they’d first met only when he’d come to Illuminas. Shaking his head, Maxwell looked at the girl again, but the elderly man had vanished.
Nay! Nevertheless! She remaineth that which I must bring low! This was only whispered of even in legend, is something that never have I ventured, but—!
This was the path of a knight who fought fiercely for his beloved homeland. And Maxwell would follow it until the end.
“This is the last time you’ll make that face! Behold! Unlike that Roche-fool, I comport myself as a true knight of Venefic!”
By Roche-fool, he means Rochefort, right? Inglis wondered. She remembered how Rochefort had spoken poorly of Maxwell as well, so she assumed they were not on good terms. And Inglis was quite fond of Rochefort. Sarcastic complainer though he was, he always ended up going along with her training.
On the other hand, she didn’t mind Maxwell either. Anyone who viewed her as an enemy they’d try to defeat was welcome.
“Do your best!” she said.
“Be quiet, you brat!” Maxwell replied. Her encouragement only prodded him into full-on rage. She frowned.
In any case, he ran up to the giant’s feet, leaped up onto its knee, and hopped again, flying backward into the giant’s chest, which he plunged into.
“He sank in?!”
At the same time, the giant wrapped its hand around Charlotte and Tiffanyer.
A dazzling golden light rose up, enveloping the giant’s body. Inglis recognized its shine. “The light of a hieral menace transforming?!”
Maxwell had a special-class Rune. Just like Rochefort, he was a general in Venefic’s army. Inglis wasn’t surprised that he could wield a transformed hieral menace.
However, the size of the gleam was surprisingly large. It formed a tremendous pillar that wrapped around the giant completely. Then, within the light, she saw a tremendous halberd materialize in its hand.
“Oooh! The giant’s wielding a hieral menace!”
How unexpected. She hadn’t realized Maxwell could do something like this. How powerful will it be? she wondered. In terms of foes wielding hieral menaces, I’ve fought against Rochefort as he’s wielded Arles—can I expect something similar? Inglis couldn’t help but look forward to it.
Then, in the moment the gleam faded, the giant struck Inglis’s Aether Strike with the halberd in its hand. The Aether Strike changed direction and shot back toward Inglis.
Blammmmmm!
“That’s good! That’s exactly what I was looking for!”
“Ha ha ha ha! Die, die, die, dieeeeeeee!” Maxwell, embedded in the giant’s chest, laughed loudly. Only his torso, not even his arms, protruded; the rest was completely buried in the giant. It seemed as if, by becoming one, he could use his special-class Rune in the body of a giant. Inglis had to applaud Maxwell’s creative application of the group’s abilities.
“I will not bend and break so easily!” Inglis couldn’t fall yet—there was still so much fun to be had.
She reactivated Aether Shell and punched the Aether Strike as it approached her. She had adjusted the wavelength of her aether so that it would bounce off. By doing so, she could once again change its direction.
Blammmmmm!
“Too easy!” The faceless giant swung the halberd which Charlotte had transformed into, and the Aether Strike was again reflected back.
“I can do that too!” It’s just a test of endurance now!
Bam! Bam! Bammm!
The Aether Strike shot back and forth between Inglis and the faceless giant over and over. She didn’t find this on its own very entertaining, so each time she stepped forward to close the distance. Her foe seemed to have the same idea and was closing in as well. As such, the distance of the Aether Strike’s trips became shorter and shorter.
Blammmmmm!
“Haaaaaah!”
“I will have revenge!”
In the end, Inglis’s fist and the giant’s halberd hit the Aether Strike at the same time. Unable to move either forward or back, it rocketed upward and popped.
“Good job! That was wonderful!” There was one thing Inglis was worried about, though. The cost of wielding a hieral menace. Hieral menaces sapped away their wielder’s life force and dispersed it, eroding their vitality. If Maxwell fought wielding one for a long time, his life would drain away.
But there were exceptions. When Rochefort wielded Arles, he himself was suffering from a terminal disease and was already half-dead and likely to perish at any moment. If that happened, the hieral menace would find no life force to drain, and Rochefort could wield Arles as he wished. He couldn’t give what he didn’t have.
That was proof that the life force was not required for the hieral menace’s transformation in itself: it still functioned even if the wielder had none. The drain was just a measure to discourage hieral menaces and knights with special-class Runes from ever turning on Highland. From Highland’s point of view, this was only natural. It would be meaningless to bestow weapons that would then be used to defeat them.
However, if the weapons weren’t strong enough to counter a Prismer—the greatest threat to be encountered on the surface—then Prismers would ravage the surface. If that happened, Highland’s survival would be threatened as it would be left unable to procure food and supplies from the surface. In other words, this neatly threaded the needle.
However, the suffering of hieral menaces like Eris and Ripple, who felt guilt for taking the life of the holy knights who wielded them, was ignored.
In any case, though, Maxwell was impressive; he was putting up quite the fight. If Inglis wanted a rematch, she couldn’t push him too hard. She was aware that while she was having a good time, his life was draining away by the second.
“Hm? No, wait... Is that not the case?!” Watching him closely, Inglis could sense no sign of his life being sapped away. Instead, she could see steam apparently evaporating from where he connected to the giant.
This is—
“I see! It’s mana extract! So you can do that with it!” Instead of Maxwell’s own life, the mana extract of which the giant was made was consumed and evaporated away.
Mana extract was a forbidden fluid made of people. Their life force still remained within it. Charlotte, as a weapon, had consumed it, leaving Maxwell himself unaffected. So as long as there was still mana extract, Maxwell could fight without the normal effect of wielding a hieral menace.
So far, Inglis could see steam rising, but there was no other change in the giant’s form. With how massive it was, there was probably enough mana extract to last for a long time. That meant she could fight on without hesitation.
Because mana extract was made from human corpses that had lost their form and will, it could be manipulated by those with a Gift that could control the undying, and since the life force alone remained, it was possible to use it to provide the sacrifice hieral menaces demanded. Maxwell had understood those properties of mana extract and joined himself with the faceless giant.
Unlike Inglis or the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front’s use of divine aether to block the effect, this was an example of humans overcoming the cost of wielding a hieral menace through their own means and ingenuity. Leaving aside the fact that the production of mana extract required human sacrifice en masse, it was a brilliant move which made the most of both Maxwell’s abilities and the materials at hand.
“Given all the implications of mana extract, I can’t give it unreserved praise, but you’re impressive nonetheless!”
“I don’t want your praise! Give me your life!” The head of the gigantic halberd swung toward Inglis.
“Here you go! If you can take it!” Dropping down into a crouch, she clenched her fists, and focused dragon lore and mana together as she mimed drawing a sword.
“Gwohhhh!”
The sword which appeared in her hands, shaped like a dragon’s fang or claw, let loose a dragon’s roar. This was her dragon icebrand. It was the strongest weapon she could create unaided right now; she wanted to try directly blocking the halberd with it. When she’d fought Dux Jildegrieva, she’d managed to wound Eris in weapon form by doing so, but this way she wouldn’t cause anyone trouble, so she had nothing to worry about.
“Disappear! Vanish! Be snuffed out!”
“Haaaah!”
The halberd that was Charlotte clashed with the dragon icebrand.
Clink!
And the dragon icebrand shattered, crumbling without surviving a single blow. Inglis’s breath caught, and she spun her body, avoiding by a hair’s breadth the fall of the halberd’s head. But the shock wave the attack produced as it hit the ground was something she couldn’t avoid.
Blown away, Inglis flew into the air. She chuckled. “That’s some impressive power! That’s what I wanted to see!” She’d expected her dragon icebrand wouldn’t last long, but had brought it out to see exactly how many clashes it could endure—only for the answer to be none at all.
I wonder how the dragonscale sword I made from Fufailbane’s scales would have held up. The dragon iceblade didn’t quite measure up to the dragonscale sword, but Inglis estimated that it was about sixty or seventy percent as powerful. Perhaps even the dragonscale sword would have been destroyed in a continued battle.
When Rochefort had wielded Arles in the battle with Inglis, her dragonscale sword had exhibited no signs of strain at all. Meaning, Charlotte was more powerful than Arles as a weapon. Charlotte was a cut above any other hieral menace that Inglis had encountered. And it seemed that that carried over to the power of her weapon form.
Inglis laughed happily, even as her body rocketed toward the wall of the central laboratory. If she continued on her current trajectory, she would crash into it. Not only that, but the giant was charging after her. “Haah!” She twisted her body in midair and jumped back off the wall.
“Raaaaagh!”
Inglis barely slipped by the halberd’s head as the giant’s swing struck the wall of the central laboratory. It bit into the wall and continued down, cutting down the entire building. The upper half, cut loose, crumbled with a tremendous roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Amazing...!” That had been a tremendous attack, due to its massive size. Even Inglis would have a hard time collapsing the central laboratory with one attack.
“You can keep scampering around, but I won’t let you get away!”
“It’s not like I’m trying to!” As Inglis spoke, she traced her fingertips down herself, painting her body with dragon lore. To overlap it with mana, she needed to match it with her own movements. As her fingertips brushed by, azure armor with a draconic design began to materialize.
“Gwohhhh!”
When the process was completed, the armor emitted a dragon’s roar—dragon ice armor. The dragon icebrand had shattered in a single blow; being the same hardness, the armor probably would have as well. However, like Aether Shell, it also had the effect of raising her physical abilities—not by anywhere near as much, but most importantly, she could use them both at the same time. On her own, without a hieral menace, she was most powerful when she layered the two atop one another.
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