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Chapter VI: Inglis, Age 15—Battle with the Prismer (4)

“What is that?! It’s completely different from before!” Rafinha said, astonished.

“Evolving into a human form, huh?” Inglis laughed. “The world is just full of wonders, isn’t it?” A mature Prismer evolving further was something she hadn’t expected at all. She had to hand it to the beast. It was wonderful. Even old King Inglis had never seen such a monster.

“B-But—! Are you going to be okay? You can handle this, right, Chris?”

Inglis answered honestly. “I don’t know. I can’t promise that.”

“Huh?! That’s so unlike you!” Rafinha suddenly looked very uneasy.

“Either way...I sure am hyped for it!” Inglis clenched her fist and grinned.

“Are you sure this is the time for that?!” Rafinha objected, but a faint smile returned to her face, as if Inglis’s gung ho attitude had relieved her somewhat.

“Gotta do what you love, right? You only live once. Yua, take care of Rani. Things are going to get dangerous here.”

“Nope. Can’t,” Yua flatly refused.

That was when Inglis noticed rainbow-colored tendrils wrapping around Yua as she fidgeted.

Rafinha and Inglis stared, perplexed. “Yua...?”

“What are you doing?”

“Something’s growing... Mm, mmm... Nope. Can’t move.” Yua was straining against the tendrils.

“Okay, then. Rani, take Yua and get out of here.”

Just as they loaded Yua aboard the Star Princess, though, someone screamed.

“Aaah!” The noise came from a nearby Flygear. The knight aboard screamed in pain and transformed into a magicite beast before their very eyes.

Inglis gasped. The Prismer’s influence had taken root not with an attack, but simply by being in the beast’s presence. It was proof the Prismer had grown stronger. But most importantly—

“Rani! It’s dangerous! Hurry!”

Rafinha wasn’t safe here. Inglis herself was protected thanks to her manipulation of aether. There were many things she didn’t know about Yua, but she knew one thing for certain: the girl was something exceptional. But Rafinha... Inglis didn’t know what kind of Rune the fallen knight had possessed. However, since the knight had been farther away from the Prismer than they were, and Rafinha was still fine, it must have been middle-class or lower. That led Inglis to believe the strength of the Rune aided in resistance to the Prismer’s influence—but she had no way of knowing how long that resistance would hold out.

A chill ran down Inglis’s spine, shouting at her that it was too dangerous for Rafinha. I need to get her somewhere safe as fast as possible!

“Okay...!” Rafinha tried to start the Star Princess back up, but its normally vivacious engine stayed silent. “It’s not starting! Did it break down?!”

When it was being sucked in by the Prismer, did I use too much force dragging it down? Inglis thought. In any case, this is terrible timing. “Then how about—” She stopped, sensing something behind her. The Prismer had suddenly closed the gap between them and was about to swing its fist down.

“Ugh...! You’re so impatient!” Inglis stopped its massive fist with her dragonscale sword.

Claaaang!

Sound rang out from a blow strong enough to make the blade creak. As she blocked, the ground around Inglis’s feet cracked and her feet sank down. “Rani, run! Take Yua with you!”

“Okay!” Rafinha went to pick up Yua, but before she could, a voice rang from above.

“You’re too slow. You won’t make it in time.” Long red hair fluttered in the wind.

“Sistia?!” Inglis gasped. So they are here!

“Leave it to me.” As Sistia spoke, she easily picked up Rafinha and Yua.

“Eeek!”

“You’re strong, lady,” Yua said.

“My name is Sistia. You would do best to remember that.”

Inglis trusted Sistia to get the two to safety. “Thank you for your assistance!”

“Hmph. I have no intention of fighting by your side. In fact, it’d be better for us if you both fell here.” Sistia leaped high and made her exit.

There was no more need to hold back. “Dragon Lore!” A translucent white sword and copy of Inglis’s arm appeared, striking the inner part of the Prismer’s arm as it bore down. This deflected the force of the Prismer’s blow, throwing it off-balance. The pressure on Inglis suddenly ceased.

“Now!” I can’t let this chance pass me by! Honestly, she couldn’t give any ground at all. She’d put most of her aether into that Aether Cross Lore and sent it flying. She didn’t have enough in her for even a single Aether Strike. Her hands were full just maintaining Aether Shell.

Her dragon lore was at its limits too, but she’d needed it to deflect that last attack. Aether Shell wouldn’t have left her unscathed from a punch that strong. If she’d flinched even a little, she would have been crushed.

Inglis hadn’t been able to push back against the Prismer—only throw it off-balance with dragon lore. It had made the beast more resistant to dragon lore, but she’d had no other choice.

In a situation like this, the only way to attack is to find a foe’s weak point and pierce it! Inglis ran up the Prismer’s arm, close to its face. At that moment, the color of the Aether Shell surrounding her body changed—as did the glow of the dragonscale sword. This was the result of aether. Just like she did when using Aether Reflector, she had changed the wavelength of her aether.

The wavelength of aether was equivalent to the element of Gifts or magic. Changing it was like attacking the Prismer with fire once it had become resistant to ice. However, the manipulation of aether wavelengths was technically fraught. Inglis was unable to find many stable states.

So, I’ve got to use limited methods to the greatest effect! “Right there!” She thrust her sword toward the Prismer’s right eye.

Vwoooosh!

But just before it struck, a beam of light shot forth from the eye.

“Huh?!” Did it lure me in?! Even before it took its half-man, half-bird form, Inglis had noticed the Prismer’s tactical aptitude. It was something that separated the Prismer from normal magicite beasts.

She took the shot on the blade of her sword, unable to dodge in time. She faltered, her abrupt attempt to brace herself having failed, and was sent flying backward.

“Not bad!” Being caught off guard and put at a disadvantage was also part of battle. It might be inconvenient, it might be painful, but surpassing such a test was the best way to grow.

Inglis was still soaring backward toward the defensive walls of the city. Hitting them would spell disaster for her. As she struggled to regain her balance in midair, the force pushing on her suddenly weakened. “Wh—?!”

No, it was the other way around: someone was supporting her. She saw the black-masked leader of the Steelblood Front. Of course—if Sistia was present, he was likely to be nearby.

Inglis pouted. “I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of this,” Inglis complained to the man.

“Mm. Very well, then.” He took his hand off Inglis’s back. However, thanks to the weakened momentum, Inglis was able to get her feet on the ground. This time, she held her footing against the ray of light. But soon, another one came from the Prismer’s left eye.

“Huh?!” Under the doubled intensity, she was pushed back. As her feet dug into the ground, steadily being pushed backward, he followed her at the same pace.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“My work here isn’t finished yet.”

Regardless, he seemed to be respecting her request to stay out of this fight. Quite conscientiously, in fact.

Despite the situation, Inglis couldn’t help but giggle. “And what work might that be?”

“Well, you’re too exhausted to fight that evolved Prismer, are you not? That would hardly be right. A battle is much more enjoyable if it’s a fair and even match, don’t you agree?”

“Well, true. But what are you going to do about that?”

The black-masked man extended his hand to Inglis. “I grant you my aether. I too have exerted myself, so I will not be giving you all of it—I must avoid being too conspicuous in my interference.”

“So you just want to foist the glory on me?”

“Is glory not what the lieutenant colonel of the Royal Guard seeks?”

Apparently, he had heard Inglis’s announcement to her allied knights. And he was right. Glory was not something someone could avoid in taking on a Prismer one-on-one amidst a crowded battlefield, nor had she had any plans of doing so.

That’s why she had accepted the commission in the first place. If some nameless academy student took down a Prismer, the only question on people’s lips would be what the Paladins, the holy knight himself, and the hieral menaces had been doing in the meantime. In situations like these, the lower the prestige of the ones who claimed glory and the higher the prestige of the ones who had it snatched from beneath them, the more the reputation of those who were outdone would suffer. If someone from a low background were to take the wind out of the brass’s sails, it would be grasped as a dangerously thrilling story of revolt.

And Inglis didn’t want that. She didn’t want Rafael’s position to weaken, nor did she want the expectations which would be thrust upon her if he were humbled. And, most importantly—it would be a terrible loss for her to miss the opportunity to be invited back the next time there was a Prismer.

She didn’t expect Eris or Ripple to have any such intentions, but their word only carried so far. Those two and Rafael formed the heart of the Paladins, but above them were Prince Wayne and Ambassador Theodore, who each moved in their own circles and had their own positions to consider.

From that perspective, if the colonel of the Royal Guard were to assist the colonel of the Paladins in the Prismer’s defeat, there would be no such thrilling insubordination—simply two leaders of equal caliber joining forces. As a result, any impact on the Paladins’ reputation would be minimal, and Inglis would be called on again to fight future Prismers.

“I decided this arrangement would be the most convenient in the end.”

“I’m in agreement. I have no intent of letting word of our participation leak out, and seeding chaos across this land. Our only enemy is the Highlanders, who would devour this earth.”

When an organization gains fame for its deeds, people naturally applaud it and place their hopes in it. For an organization like the Steelblood Front, this would surely be taken as a challenge to the existing social order. While their existence had been clear for some time, there had been no organized effort to cut them down to size. But if their fame were to swell, even if unplanned, the risk of such a purge would become more intense.

The black-masked man claimed that he sought not rule of the surface, but only the defeat of Highland. He had said as much the first time he and Inglis had met, in fact.

But with the Prismer on the move and Karelia itself in danger, he had been unable to refrain from action. Not to mention, there were those among the Karelian authorities—like Mimosa in Nova, who had administered the prism powder to Cyrene—who aligned themselves with the Steelbloods. It was only natural that he’d take action to defend his own.

“You say the same thing whenever we meet,” Inglis noted.

“I’m a man of strong convictions. And are not yours just as strong? Or is there another reason you’re content to be shoved around like this?” As they spoke, Inglis was still leaving ruts as she was pushed back, and the black-masked man kept up neatly.

Inglis laughed appreciatively. “You’re not wrong. I suppose I’ll tell you. An army marches on its stomach—I consider this my pre-battle meal.” She wanted to test her strength at full power against a rare enemy such as this. That was, after all, a warrior’s instinct.

“Then...” The black-masked man laid his hand on Inglis’s shoulder. The wavelength of the aether surrounding him, and its color as well, changed to match Inglis’s, and she felt it permeate her body. Her lost aether suddenly filled back up. In an instant, she was at almost full strength.

The Steelbloods’ leader had said that he was exhausted as well, but Inglis found that intriguing considering how “little” of his aether had put her in nearly perfect condition. Thus, she could deduce that he harbored more aether than she did. One’s raw amount of aether—endurance alone—was not decisive in a battle. The black-masked man had said himself that, at full power, she could bring far more destructive power to bear. But it still reminded her that she was still learning. It was good to have a rival to set her sights on. It would give her even more motivation to train.

“Mm. That should be enough.” The aether flow from the black-masked man faded.

“That was incredible! You said you were exhausted as well, but I’m pretty much back to full.”

“Do not expect too much. I am nearly at my limit. Expect that there will be no next time.”

“Yes, I understand. You have my deepest thanks! Someday, on another battlefield, I’ll repay you.”

“Mm. Then, just once, if we meet again on the battlefield, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t attack me.”

“Huh?! But—” But that would be boring. Inglis had wanted to use the opportunity to keep training and someday thank him by showing what she’d learned.

“Anyway, I leave the rest to you. I wish you luck!” The black-masked man turned and leaped. He distanced himself rapidly. Inglis had wanted to discuss a few more things with him, but given the circumstances, she had to let him go. Right now, she needed to deal with the Prismer.

More specifically, she needed to immediately deal with those beams of light pressing her back. That was why she had accepted her rival’s power!

“Aether Strike!” A massive blast of aether formed in front of Inglis.

Booooooom!

It began to push the Prismer’s beams away from her.

“All right!” Inglis, freed from that pressure, chased closely behind the advancing Aether Strike. I can push on!

The town of Ahlemin lay behind her. Not everyone had evacuated to the tunnels yet, and the battle against the countless magicite beasts continued. If the Prismer’s attack had struck there, who knows how many people would have been hurt.

But Inglis wasn’t going to let that happen! She was going to push back the Prismer!

It wasn’t going to let that happen easily, though. Along with both its eyes, now both its hands fired beams of light as well. The Aether Strike was being forced back toward Inglis and the city once more.

“It’s overpowering my Aether Strike? Interesting!” The strengthened form of an already-mature Prismer after it evolved was not to be trifled with. It defied imagination. To think that something could so easily push back an Aether Strike...

“But how about this?!”

She adjusted the wavelength of her Aether Shell to that of Aether Strike’s opposite—that which would repel it. It was just like Aether Reflector, where she could reflect Aether Strike and control its new path. “Haaaaah!”

Blammmmmm!

Inglis’s dragonscale sword swatted back the Aether Strike. The force of her swing combined with the repulsive effect of the wavelength of the aether infusing it sent the blast back toward the Prismer, but only for a time.

She followed after it while it still moved; when it stopped, she swung again. Each time, it would again advance toward the Prismer and then stop.

Advance again. Swing again when it stops.

And again. And again. And again!

If Aether Strike itself wasn’t enough, she could add more power by other means. Inglis made up the distance she’d been pushed back, and closed into melee range with the Prismer. There, the Aether Strike which had exhausted her power fully canceled out the Prismer’s light beams. They all disappeared.

“Ah—!” Inglis immediately changed the trajectory of the swing she’d wound up to propel the Aether Strike. Instead, her blade plunged into the ground. The shock opened a pit and kicked up a cloud of dust. A smoke screen—a distraction.

Leaping from the cloud of dust, Inglis ran around the Prismer’s right, toward its back. With the town behind her, she couldn’t avoid the Prismer’s shots. Any misses would cause so much damage there that she wouldn’t be able to bear to see it.

She’d had no option of simply evading in that situation; she’d had only the choice of bearing the brunt of the blow or finding a way to repel it. Her solution instead was to first stop the attack before she could do anything more.

Of course, she was doing this at full speed with Aether Shell active, but before she could fully move behind the Prismer, it looked her in the eye.

It was aiming; an attack was imminent. A beam of light fired from its eye toward Inglis.

“I see...! Your reaction speed has increased too!” Before its further evolution, it had always been a step behind Inglis. But now, even at her full speed, it could chase her with its eyes. Not only that, there was a beam ahead of her—an attack fired from its wingtips—as if the Prismer was trying to wall her off.

She evaded it, but only barely, thanks to her rapid adjustments. Without stopping, she ran the tip of her sword along the ground, which kicked up a cloud of dust that concealed her. That would keep the Prismer from being able to see her twists and turns. If she stopped for even a moment or let the Prismer realize where she was going, she’d take a direct hit that she couldn’t just shrug off.

In fact, the beams were flying far and wide, some leaving gigantic furrows in the ground and others blowing away entire hills and mountaintops. The destruction was tremendous. This was a skin-of-the-teeth battle where Inglis was constantly dodging at the last second!

“Ha ha ha... This is tension on an entirely new level,” Inglis muttered without thinking. She couldn’t see what her face looked like right now, but she was sure it carried an incredibly graceful smile, like a blooming flower.

As she did, she waited for the situation to change.

If she continued to evade, the Prismer would eventually become impatient and commit to something. It would use the cage of light it had before its transformation, or something like it, to limit her movement—and that would be her chance. If she had nowhere to escape, neither would it. Her own attack would take most of her aether, so she needed to be sure she wouldn’t miss.

Wait for an opportunity, strike as hard as I can—until then, this is a test of who blinks first.

But the end of the back-and-forth came in an unexpected fashion: the Prismer suddenly stopped attacking. Inglis expected the cage of light, but nothing happened—it simply stopped in place.

“Hmm?” Keeping her legs moving in case she needed to suddenly dodge, she eyed the Prismer warily.

“NO...MOVE...”

“Wh—?! Human speech?!” When the Prismer had absorbed humanoid magicite beasts and taken human shape, had it also learned human words? Perhaps this was also a reflection of its learning ability.

The Prismer thrust its large hand forth—not at Inglis, but in the direction of Ahlemin.

“OR...ELSE...”

Light gathered in its palm. The entire town of Ahlemin had become its hostage.

Inglis had expected the Prismer to try to stop her somehow, but not like this. It truly was full of surprises—but this was unfortunate. This wasn’t what Inglis wanted at all. She wanted something more akin to the ultimate magicite beast.

She couldn’t hold back her disappointment. “It seems by becoming closer to human, you’ve also acquired human wile. And that’s too bad. A magicite beast should be a destroyer, attacking anything which moves by instinct alone! Come on, remember your pride as a magicite beast!”

“GONE...ALWAYS...ONLY...SEARCH...”

“Searching? For what?!”

“SHARD. PRECIOUS!” With Inglis stopped, the Prismer grabbed her tightly, its grip threatening to crush her.

“Nnngh!” Even with Aether Shell active, the pressure was tremendous. If she didn’t do anything, she’d surely be killed. The sharp pain shot through her. Her bones creaked, and somewhere she felt them about to snap.

“INTERFERING...DIE!”

“No thanks!”

I’ve put all my aether into my dragonscale sword! You shouldn’t rely on cheap tricks—they can turn on you! Now that I’ve stopped, you got too close all on your own! 

And you never said not to counterattack!

“AH?”

As Inglis unleashed her power, the clump of aether which had swelled up in her sword pushed the Prismer’s hand away. Its wavelength and color were, of course, the type she’d used for rebounding, which the Prismer had not yet built up a resistance to.

Its crushing grip loosened, and she crashed to the ground. Her limbs ached all over, but she had no time to worry about that. She faced the Prismer as it kept trying to bat the aether away.

“Dragon Lore! Haaaaaaaah!”

She struck with all her might!

“AHH?!”

A burst of brilliant light filled Inglis’s vision. The explosion of Aether Cross Lore at close range pushed her back even more intensely than the previous time. As she was smashed into the ground and rolled away, she saw a pillar of light in the corner of her vision. The Prismer was surely caught within.

But then the ground collapsed, and the cloud of dust rushing upward obscured her sight. “U-Ugh... How about—”

Before she could finish speaking, a gigantic foot stretched out from the cloud of dust, its momentum whistling through the air. It was, of course, the Prismer’s.

“Ngh!”

Clang!

Somehow, Inglis managed to move her dragonscale sword into its path and avoid a direct hit. But due to her wounds, she couldn’t keep her footing. Inevitably, she was sent flying, at the speed of a bullet, toward the walls of Ahlemin.

“This...isn’t good...” Managing to regain her composure in the air, she thrust her sword toward the ground to try to slow herself, but even that wasn’t enough.

If I keep going, I’m going to slam into the wall! Deeper! If I can plunge the sword deeper, I can stop!

Krsshhhhh!

However, her trusty dragonscale blade, unable to handle the stresses, shattered. “Wh—?! Fufailbane, I’m sorry, but I seem to have ruined your kind gift!”

This was bad timing. Terrible timing. Still, the sword had held up well, all considered. Of the weapons she’d had the chance to try, it had outstanding performance and strength. It was especially significant as one which could act as a vessel for all her aether. Thanks to that, it made the use of Aether Cross Lore, an attack even more destructive than Aether Breaker, practically viable. Without the dragonscale sword, that technique would not have been possible.

But anyway, the situation’s gotten worse. What do I—

“Chris!” Rafinha’s voice rang out from behind her.

“Rani?!”

Near the walls, Rafinha stood in Inglis’s path.

Is she going to try to catch me? But if she gets dragged into this, she’ll be in even more danger than I am now. “Don’t! Rani, get out of here!”

“No! I’m going to help you!” Rafinha’s expression intensified as she loosed arrows from Shiny Flow. The countless arrows converged and fell en masse into Inglis’s trajectory. Striking down, they raised clouds of dirt acting as sandbags to support her back, but Inglis’s momentum blew through them. Rafinha tried again and again—as many times as she needed to. Bit by bit, they slowed Inglis’s flight.

“Hyaaah!” As Inglis closed in, Rafinha herself leaped into her path, trying to stop her somehow.

“R-Rani!” Inglis gasped. Her strength was honestly not enough to accomplish it. The strength the black-masked man had used to support Inglis had been many times stronger, and the impulse propelling Inglis now was many times stronger than it had been then. Tens of times. Hundreds of times. Maybe infinitely.

“Grrrrrr!” Taking Rafinha’s embrace, Inglis forcefully planted her feet on the ground and slowed to a halt. Her legs had already hurt, but now they were probably broken. But her own scream cut through the pain. Saving Rafinha was all she was focused on. Her will somehow won out, and the two managed to not smash into the wall. Her back merely thumped against it, perfectly to lean back and rest. “Phew! Rani, are you okay?!”

“Y-Yeah! Sorry I couldn’t get you to stop.”

“No, you did great! You saved me—ngh!” Inglis suddenly winced as pain wracked through her.

“Ah! Don’t move! I’ll heal you.” Rafinha activated her healing Gift, and touched Inglis, nearly in an embrace. Inglis’s pain faded, and she could tell her wounds were healing. She must have been imagining things, but it even felt like she recovered a little bit of her aether. Perhaps Rafinha’s devotion had filled her heart.

Inglis had never been seriously wounded in front of Rafinha before, and thus she had never been healed by her. This was a new experience for her, and one that was very soothing—but she had no time to sit back and enjoy it. The Prismer was still alive. Its right arm and fist were blown off, and it was generally beaten up otherwise, but it was still alive.

It had stopped, but its body was glowing brightly despite its wounds—in fact, it was shining even brighter. The air trembled with a high-pitched buzz. The ground beneath Inglis’s feet wobbled. Had the Prismer come to regret its facile attempt to outwit her and instead decided to blow her away with all its might? Inglis didn’t know what form such an attack would take, but she was sure it would wreak havoc. It might destroy the entire town of Ahlemin. She sensed the Prismer’s growing power. If Inglis was going to stop it, now was the time.

But first she needed to get Rafinha to safety. She was too close to the Prismer and was in danger of being turned into a magicite beast. “Rani, you need to get out of here! The Prismer’s going to attack!”

“What are you talking about?! You can’t fight like this! I need to hold out and help you for as long as I can!”

“That moment’s already come and gone! Please, don’t be stubborn!”

“I don’t care if I’m being stubborn!” Rafinha shouted her insistence and looked Inglis straight in the eyes. “Even if I am being stubborn, I want to be with you to the very end! That’s only proper for a knight and her squire!”

“Rani...”

Rafinha understood the danger, and that’s why she didn’t want to leave on her own. Inglis felt partly apologetic, partly pitying. Inglis was the reason Rafinha was acting this way. The squire felt nothing but shame at her own weakness and inexperience, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

“No! This isn’t over yet!” The voice which called out belonged to someone else. It was a young man’s, dignified and powerful but with tenderness in its timbre. Clad in crimson armor, he settled to the ground in front of Inglis and Rafinha.

“Rafael!”

Rafael turned to them while watching the Prismer’s movements. “Leave this to me. Thank you. You’ve done enough. You’ve fought well.” His expression was one of calm determination. “Chris, you’ve wounded the Prismer significantly. Thanks to that, we can finish it off!”

Two others landed next to Rafael. They were, of course, the holy knight’s counterparts: the hieral menaces. Eris and Ripple shared Rafael’s expression. It was clear that they had completely accepted what was to come.

Eris praised Inglis without any reservations. “Honestly, I’m truly impressed that you managed to wear it down this far. It’s stronger than any Prismer we’ve ever seen—unbelievably so. You really are something special... I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, yeah. It would’ve been super tough if we had to fight that from the start. Thanks so much! Leave the rest to us, and get some rest.” Ripple didn’t seem that different from normal, but Inglis could just make out the tremor in her voice.

“Lady Eris, Lady Ripple, let’s go! Show me your true power!” Rafael called out intently.

“Yes! Let our hearts be as one, and our power be yours!” Eris said.

“Yeah! Please, Rafael! Save the surface, this country, and everyone here!” Ripple agreed.

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

Eris and Ripple’s forms were surrounded by a golden glow, noble, beautiful, and sublime. The kind of glow that produces instinctive awe in all who see.

“Rafael...” Rafinha clutched Inglis’s arm, unable to do anything but whisper her brother’s name. She could find no other words to say, but her feelings were clear from the tears welling up in her eyes.

Rafael looked back at her with a smile. “Rani... Get along well with Chris. I’m going to protect your future, so...give my regards to mother and father.”

“I will! I swear!” Tears fell from Rafinha’s eyes. She couldn’t hold them back any longer.

“Chris...” Rafael turned a soft, warm expression at Inglis as well.

“Yes, cousin?”

“Somewhere inside me, I’ve always felt like I was trying to catch up with you. Even though I have a special-class Rune, you’ve always been more incredible than I could imagine... I remember when you were just a newborn and defeated a magicite beast that I couldn’t.”

“You...remember that?”

“Yes. For a long time, I thought I’d only dreamed it, but seeing you fight, I know it really happened. I know you’ll surpass me. It’s like a source of pride for me to protect you now... Take good care of Rani. I know she’ll be safe with you.”

“Yes,” Inglis agreed. “As she has been, as she will be...” With a graceful smile on her face, she strode toward Rafael.

“Chris?”

“Cousin, I too will do what I can...” She looked up at him...and brought her hand up to softly brush his cheek.

“Ch-Chris?!”

“At least let me give you a blessing before battle... Could you close your eyes?”

“Huh?! Ah, uh, o-okay!”

Full of nervous energy, Rafael flitted his eyelids shut...

Inglis stared at Rafael...just before she dipped down into a boxer’s crouch, clenched a fist, and—pow! She socked him square in the gut.

“Gah...?!” Rafael’s feet lifted up off the ground for a moment as he bent double and then slumped to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

“Huh?!” Rafinha, Eris, and Ripple couldn’t believe their eyes. Their eyes about to pop out of their heads, they stared at Rafael’s fallen form.

“I’m sorry, Rafael... I didn’t think there was time to explain.” Inglis bowed deeply to him. To be sure of a one-punch knockout, she’d needed him to be completely defenseless. She’d even had to lead him on a little bit with her feminine wiles.

Or, put the other way around, she’d knowingly taken advantage of him a little bit with her feminine wiles. The idea had come naturally. It embarrassed her a bit in more ways than one, and she blushed a little.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha-Wha-Wha... What is wrong with you?!” Eris was the first of the three to come to her senses, looking more out of sorts than Inglis had ever seen her. Her voice, always steady and controlled, had shrunk to nearly an inaudible whisper, albeit a panicked one. “Don’t you understand the situation we’re in?! Without Rafael, who will wield us to defeat that Prismer?! Aaaaagh... You fool! What do we do now?!” She grabbed Inglis by the collar and shook her.

“Rafael! Rafael! Get up! Get up, pleeease!” Ripple called out. “It’s no good, he’s out cold! Rafinha, can you use your healing Gift on Rafael? We need to get him up—quick!” She tried to get Rafinha to help wake Rafael up.

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

“Wait, Rani!” Inglis stopped her. If Rafael got up, her efforts to stop him would have been in vain. “Eris, Ripple, I have a reason for doing this—and I have a plan.”

“A plan? You had better! Tell us quickly! There’s no time!” Eris demanded.

“Inglis... What do we do?!” Ripple asked.

“I will wield you. Lend me your power.” Inglis smiled serenely.

“Wha—?!” they both blurted out. Their upset expressions became calm and somber at once. If Inglis was taking Rafael’s place as their wielder, that meant she was also taking on his duty of sacrifice.

Pained, Eris cast her eyes downward. “I know it’s too late to say so...but I don’t think it’s fair that you take Rafael’s place. If sacrifice is unavoidable, then he should... He, who has always accepted his duty and his fate, should be the one...”


“Inglis...I agree with Eris. But... Yeah, at this point...”

“No, that’s not what’s happening here,” Inglis said.

“Eh?” the two hieral menaces gasped, sharing the same expression.

“I won’t die even if I wield a hieral menace.” Inglis smiled again.

“Huuuuh?!” Their doubt quickly overcame their shock.

“You don’t have to lie for our sake...” Eris said.

“Yeah,” Ripple agreed. “We’ll handle it somehow...”

“No, it’s true,” Inglis insisted. “I’ve already gotten some practice in. Right, Rani?”

At Inglis’s call, a light bulb came on in Rafinha’s mind. “Oh, right! I-I remember! She’s telling the truth! When we went to Alcard, we fought a hieral menace called Tiffanyer, and when she turned into armor, Inglis put her on! But she’s still here, alive and well!”

“Tiffanyer?! She was there?!” Eris gasped.

“You know her, Eris?!”

“Yes. From a long time back. A long, long time back...”

Inglis described their battle. “When we fought, Tiffanyer even transformed herself into armor and girded herself onto me, trying to kill me. But thanks to that, I learned how to avoid the hieral menace’s curse while wielding their power.” Proper use of aether made certain processes of a hieral menace malfunction.

A transformed hieral menace drained their wielder’s life force and then dispersed it outward. However, to use a metaphor, the hole from which one’s life force was drained could be blocked with aether, allowing Inglis to ignore that consequence and simply use the hieral menace’s great power for free, in a sense.

When the Steelblood Front’s black-masked leader had “killed” Evel, he had wielded Sistia without noticeable problems. Witnessing that had set Inglis’s mind to working out how he’d managed such a feat. Thanks to that, when Tiffanyer had equipped herself to Inglis, she’d been able to quickly put such countermeasures into action before she lost her life.

“I can’t know for myself whether that really occurred, but if it did, Tiffanyer definitely wouldn’t have been holding back,” Eris mused.

“Inglis... If that’s true, you must have...” Ripple began.

As the hieral menaces wavered, Inglis knew she had to persuade them. “Eris, Ripple... I don’t think I could ever truly understand how much you’ve suffered, but I know it must have hurt you deeply. Fighting at a person’s side, getting to know them, and having them torn away...over and over... I don’t think I could endure such a thing. I can’t even imagine losing Rani.”

Eris and Ripple were both experienced hieral menaces. They must have, at one time, fallen for their wielder, just as Arles had fallen for Rochefort. But as death separated them from lovers and trusted companions alike, both must have eventually taken a resigned outlook on their duties. While they looked the same age as Arles, who still retained a childish innocence, Eris and Ripple gave completely different impressions. That they had long years of experience was obvious. And through all this, they continued to protect Karelia and its people as hieral menaces.

Inglis found that admirable. No matter how unbreakable and eternal their bodies were, their hearts could be shattered—yet they remained unbroken, unyielding, devoted to protecting the people of the surface. Hieral menaces were the guardians of humanity, and those two, in their way of living and their very selves, embodied this to the utmost. It was something Inglis knew that she could never and would never do, but she respected it. It deserved respect. King Inglis had lived a long life devoted to duty and was now reborn to have some fun, but Eris and Ripple must have lived even longer lives, bearing their duties the whole time.

“I offer my utmost respect and gratitude for all you have done as hieral menaces.” Inglis again bowed deeply. As she rose, she smiled and extended her hand. “You’ve worked hard all this time. Isn’t it time to have some fun? As long as I’m with you, there’s no need to worry. No need for sorrow, no need to hurt. I’ll prove it to you, so don’t worry. Take my hand. I will protect Rani. I will protect Rafael. And I will protect your hearts.”

Plip...

A tear fell, and it wasn’t from Rafinha, who had already been crying.

“Eris?!” Ripple gasped.

“Ah...?! S-Sorry! I... I’m not even fighting yet, but...!” Eris wiped her eyes in a fluster, and turned away, embarrassed.

“Sheesh. You get so emotional sometimes... But I understand. I’m about to cry too.”

Ripple also wiped her eyes before she took Inglis’s hand. “Inglis, I guess I’m leaving it up to you! Let’s do this, okay?!”

“Yes, Ripple! Leave it to me!” As Inglis held Ripple’s hand, the demihuman began glowing golden, before letting off an intense pillar of light, which concealed her within. Inside, Ripple took on a new form.

“You too, Eris,” Inglis prompted.

“Yes,” Eris replied. “I leave it to you! Please, protect...protect everyone!” Eris kept her head low, embarrassed to have been seen crying, but she firmly grasped Inglis’s hands with both of her own. Just like Ripple, a golden light embraced her, and she transformed.

“That light was amazing! Chris, are you okay?!”

“Don’t worry, Rani. Take care of Rafael.”

“Got it! We’ll be fine here, so do your thing, Chris!”

“Of course! It’s not every day you get a chance like this, right!” Inglis smiled, a pair of golden-sheathed swords resting on her hips—they were Eris transformed. Their glittering, elegant design befitted a hieral menace. Tucked into the small of her back was an equally beautiful double-barreled gun that was Ripple.

Inglis unsheathed the blades and looked at them. They glimmered beautifully, like the stars, and when she swung them lightly, they left trails of light in the air. Faint as the trails were, the intense force behind them was palpable. “Amazing. So this is the true form of a hieral menace!”

Grasping them in her hands, Inglis could tell the difference. Ordinary Artifacts—or even the blade made of the ancient Fufailbane’s scales—were like toys compared to this. The dragonscale sword had been a fitting vessel for all of Inglis’s aether, but Eris and Ripple were different. They didn’t just accept her aether; they amplified and returned it.

Inglis had felt this before when wearing Tiffanyer. Her power increased to the point where she was barely even herself. Something similar happened to Rochefort when he’d wielded Arles, who’d sublimated his mana into dusty aether, and now it was happening to Inglis. The quality, the sheer volume, of the aether was far beyond that of a divine knight, half-human and half-god. Right now, she thought she was at least seventy or eighty percent of the way to being a true god. A vessel which could amplify her aether to this extent was truly awesome. It was a weapon closer to those of the gods than even the holy swords they had bestowed upon humanity. Perfectly befitting of its epithet as the ultimate Artifact.

Eris’s voice echoed in Inglis’s head. “A-Amazing! This is amazing! I can’t feel your life force flow out! You just might really be able to wield us safely!”

Then she sensed Ripple’s voice. “Me too! I think we can do this! Go for it, Inglis! Give ’em hell!”

“Well, if you say so!” Inglis sheathed Eris and pointed her finger at the Prismer, which was gathering its power. “Aether Pierce!”

Inglis fired not one shot but an entire barrage. At first, they tore small holes in the Prismer, but then they became ineffective, and then the wounds healed. This was not the power of the hieral menaces, but Inglis’s own aether, and the results were as expected.

“Its resistances! It healed,” Eris remarked.

“Inglis, be careful!” Ripple said.

“Yes! Aether Strike!”

Two voices shouted in her head. “Huuuh?! Wa—”

Blammmmmm!

Before they could stop her, Inglis slammed an Aether Strike into the Prismer. The wavelength was the same as the Aether Pierces Inglis had just fired, and the Prismer, struck by a massive blast of light, recovered quickly. In no time at all, it was back to perfect health, without a scratch on it. It glowed with an ever-increasing, sublime brightness—one so dazzling that it was hard to even look at.

“All right!” Inglis nodded, satisfied.

“What do you mean, all right?! Just what are you thinking?!” Eris demanded.

“I told you to give ’em hell, not pandemonium!” Ripple said.

Inglis could hear Eris and Ripple’s confused voices. “I don’t have any ulterior motives. Just, it’s wounded, so I helped it recover. If both fighters aren’t in their best condition, it can’t be called a fair match. And even so, it’s essentially three-on-one.”

“Now’s not the time for that! You’re supposed to be protecting everyone, right?!” Eris asked.

“There’s a time and a place for everything, and this is time to be serious, yeah?” Ripple said.

“I am being serious! But I didn’t say I wasn’t going to have any fun!”

“Agh! Right, that’s the kind of girl you are! And to think I was so moved!” Eris complained.

“Well, now that we’re in this situation, let’s stay positive and do our best from here on!” Ripple said.

“Hee hee!” With an excited grin, Inglis again drew the twin blades that were Eris. Dropping her hips low, she readied herself to strike at any moment. “Sometimes, it’s nice to get drunk—drunk on the ultimate power!”

“We certainly are not going to become drunk on power! We’re not bloodthirsty like you!” Eris protested.

Ripple, though, had other thoughts. “Right there with you, Inglis! Show me that ultimate power!”

“Not you too, Ripple!” 

“I kinda wanna take down a Prismer and feel good about it for a change! Don’t you think so, Eris?”

“Well... Yes, I think I’d like that, but...!”

“Leave it to me! Here I go!” Inglis took a step forward—and as she did, a ring of light pulsed from her foot, like a ripple on the surface of water, and she seemed to vanish. She took a second step, reappearing and disappearing again.

The next ripple appeared halfway between where she had begun her last step and where the Prismer was. A mere two steps had taken her this far. Of course, it was a distance that could not be covered in only two steps, and yet she’d done it. Inglis was using a flow of aether that allowed her such feats. In fact, she’d created that flow of aether.

That was thanks to the effect the hieral menaces had, as they sublimated her aether. She had taken a step beyond being a demigod divine knight—into the realm of the truly divine.

Without stirring, a god could look down upon the world, and if the desire took them, be in any place in an instant. The gaze of the almighty is not the same as the gaze of mankind, and a goddess’s pace is not the same as a human’s.

A casual glance, a single step. It was true divinity, true aether that could control the relativity of the world at will with such simple gestures. Not by making a quicker or stronger effect within the physical world, but by changing the world itself to make their step infinitely faster or stronger. It was true omnipotence. It was what it meant to truly control aether. Inglis’s normal use of aether was still unrefined—crude brute force, but nothing more complex than that. It was not true divine power that could rewrite the world itself; it was not yet hi-aether.

Even the purest of the gods were not perfect and had their strengths and weaknesses. Only the primordial God, the Creator, was unlimited in its capability with hi-aether—or so the goddess Alistia, who had made Inglis a divine knight, had said. She herself was not infallible, and thus required Inglis’s aid, she had said.

And now Inglis too had stepped into the realm of hi-aether—if only a little bit, with Eris and Ripple’s help. This was the result. To turn one step into ten, a hundred, a thousand... With enough power, Divine Feat could be made as large as she wanted. With her third step, Inglis was directly behind the fully recovered Prismer.

“Good day to you.”

As she smiled and curtsied, the Prismer turned around in surprise.

“Ah! She somehow appeared across that distance!” Eris gasped, amazed by the movement from Divine Feat.

Ripple was just as surprised. “Huh?! When did she—?!”

“BE...GONE!” The Prismer took to the sky with its restored wings. In the blink of an eye, it was just a speck in the distance. It was amazingly fast. It raised its hands in the air. Its starlike gleam faded.

And in exchange, a fearsome globe of light appeared in its hands.

“What?! What is that?!” Eris shouted.

“It’s big enough to swallow all of Ahlemin?! How do we—?!”

The intense glow was the same as what had enveloped the Prismer. It must have been building up its power for this attack, and it seemed to have been well worth the effort. This attack would be far grander than the ones before. It reminded Inglis of a moon, or a falling meteor. That was how tremendously huge it was. If the Prismer was able to loose this attack and let it explode, there wouldn’t be a trace left of Ahlemin.

The knights gasped in dismay.

“It... It’s all over, isn’t it... There’s nowhere to run from that!”

“We’re doomed...”

The incoming attack was overwhelming. The feeling of despair on the battlefield inside Ahlemin was heavy. Even Eris and Ripple were in awe. It seemed unavoidable. The intensity of the battlefield had turned to tense quiet.

Only Inglis was pleased as she gazed upon the Prismer’s gigantic blast of light. “It’s beautiful. So fierce... Filled with the determination to destroy everything that moves... That’s what I was waiting for. You’ve remembered your pride as a magicite beast. How wonderful!”

“That’s making you smile?! How can you be pleased by that?!” Eris asked.

“And your eyes are gleaming in anticipation!” Ripple pointed out.

“A real fight is better than any training! The stronger your foe is, the more you learn! Here it comes!”

As Inglis expected, the Prismer swung down its raised arms.

“TAKE THIS!”

Rrrrrrrrrumble!

Like a meteor falling from the heavens, the ball of light plunged downward. Even before it exploded, the air itself shook, light spurted forth, and the ground shook and crumbled. It was like the end of the world.

“Then I’ve got something too!” For the first time, Inglis reached for the golden gun holstered at the small of her back. As she rested her finger on the trigger, she raised her right hand holding the gun and pointed the muzzle toward the center of the blast of light. “Fair and square, head-to-head! Here we go, Ripple!”

“Okay! If it’s come to this, I’ll give it my all! I don’t know what we can really do, but I won’t give up! Let’s do this, Inglis!”

Now, to see the power of the hieral menace, the ultimate Artifact! Inglis thought. “Go!”

“Gooooooooo!” 

Blammmmmm!

A torrent of light shot forth from the golden gun, one as wide as the Prismer’s sphere of light which bore down on them. It was like a waterfall of light that had reversed its course and flowed upward, from the ground to the heavens. It burst through the night sky, scattering its beautiful radiance.

And then, it struck the falling meteor dead-on. The surging bullet of light didn’t struggle with the meteor, but instead at once immediately began to lift it upward!

Blammmmmm!

The light continued upward, not slowing or quieting at all.

“What?! There’s no resistance?! That’s incredible!” Eris said.

“It’s never been like this before! Not with anyone who’s wielded me!” Ripple said. They were both awestruck by the sight.

The Prismer’s meteor attack was repelled past it, practically grazing its beak. “OHHHH?!” Even the Prismer was astounded by this turn of events. The meteor and the upwelling of light, having reached the heavens, exploded and disappeared.

A tremendous explosion raged in the sky. It was like a new sun, lighting up the earth.

And clearly in the light of day, the Prismer saw a human figure descend toward it. It grunted in surprise.

The figure was, of course, Inglis. “That was a nice attack!”

Landing on the Prismer’s shoulder, she smiled. With Divine Feat, it was no problem at all for her to move above the Prismer, to make one step carry her up into the great blue yonder, rewriting the laws of the world such that it would be so big. That was how divine beings moved. “Now let’s fight some more.” She smiled, as if she were inviting the Prismer to dance.

If this were a soiree, and her partner an ordinary man, surely an invitation from such a beauty would be accepted.

But the Prismer refused. “STAY AWAY!” The Prismer swooped downward, trying to shake Inglis off.

As it plunged toward the ramparts of Ahlemin, it found her there, already waiting, her arms spread and gripping the blades that were Eris to hold it back. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come any closer to this town. Just you being near it is dangerous.”

Grunting, the Prismer looked to where it expected her to be in the sky, then back to where she stood. It was clearly quite confused. Back and forth again it looked, then again, before flapping its wings. It moved back and to the right silently—or rather, it was so fast that it moved faster than the speed of sound. But as it flitted away in an instant, rings of light like ripples on water appeared in its flight path. And together with that light, Inglis appeared ahead of it again.

Sensing her, the Prismer reacted with a start.

“Thank—” As Inglis began to give it her appreciation for moving away from the town, she was interrupted.

Boooooom!

The shock waves from the Prismer’s speed drowned out her voice. The clouds of dust they produced blocked her vision. Taking advantage of this, the Prismer turned sharply away from her. But even there, her smiling face awaited it.

“FAST?!”

Boooooom!

Its sonic booms swallowed its own gasp of surprise.

“Yes? Did you say something?”

“GRAHHHH!” With a shout, the Prismer began to fly in all directions. Up and down, side to side, in every way possible. Just the supersonic flight of its massive body was enough to cause a raging shock wave around it.

But even in the midst of that, Inglis was staying ahead of the Prismer. Quietly, and with no hurry, she closed in on the beast with every step.

In the end, breathing heavily, the Prismer was brought to a stop near Ahlemin’s walls. “WHY! SO! QUIET... FAST?!”

The Prismer’s full-speed flight had created a storm of shock waves. Yet Inglis, even while staying ahead of it, was completely quiet. The Prismer was unnerved by this realization.

“I’m neither running around nor jumping. I thought I should try to be ladylike,” Inglis responded with an incredibly graceful smile. Her expression, at least, achieved that goal. If she had physically moved faster than the Prismer, she would have caused even more damage to her surroundings. That was just a law of nature. But Divine Feat was not subject to the laws of nature.

Hearing Inglis’s response, the Prismer kept its eyes on her as it raised its right palm toward the town. “NO...MOVE! THIS TIME... THIS TIME!”

It seemed to want to try the same thing again. Unfortunately, after all the confusion, matters had returned to the same place.

Well, not completely the same—this time, it seemed to want to attack from a distance rather than catch her and crush her.

“That won’t help you.” The moment Inglis spoke, countless lines of light ran up and down the Prismer’s right arm. The arm went to pieces, and fell away.

“RRRAAAH! HATE...YOU!” Still not giving up, the Prismer thrust its left hand toward the town.

A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Inglis would have preferred if, rather than relying on that superficial borrowing, the Prismer had shown more of its magicite beast instinct to be always aggressive and always on the attack, pressing in on her to the very end.

“I’m sorry, but that won’t help you either.”

This time, the Prismer’s left arm was shredded in the same way. “GWAHH!” the Prismer bellowed as it writhed. Behind it stretched the outskirts of town, foothills leading to a mountain.

Slash, slash, slash!

Countless flashes of light raced forth, leaving long, deep, tremendous scars. In an instant, the landscape changed completely, as if it had been cut to pieces. With a muffled roar, the mountain seemed to crumble from within. It was the aftermath of Eris’s attack—but aftermath hardly did it justice.

“That was amazing, Eris! More than I could have imagined!” Inglis was honestly shocked. Hieral menaces were just too powerful. Just grasping one in her hands had enhanced her power to that of an actual god. Truly, it was the ultimate power. Truly, it was intoxicating.

“Er... Ah... I cut through that?! I didn’t even notice! What just happened?!” Even Eris herself didn’t seem to understand completely.

But the most surprised, the most horrified, was none other than the Prismer. “OH... OH! FEARSOME! FIRST!” Perhaps it was because it had become so human. The Prismer shuddered as it backed away and soared upward as fast as it could.

“Please wait! The battle isn’t over yet.” Inglis stepped above it with Divine Feat.

But the Prismer swept her out of its way and continued its climb. “FEARSOME!” It was in a frenzy, and seemed to be completely blind to its surroundings.

Another use of Divine Feat. Inglis reappeared above the Prismer’s head. “Calm down! Let’s fight calmly!”

Shaking that off too, the Prismer single-mindedly climbed higher and higher. This repeated over and over, and as they pierced the clouds Inglis saw something floating in the sky—far, far away. Was that Highland?

Were they that high? This might be a bad sign. If Highland could see this display, it might cause quite the stir.

“FEARSOME, FEARSOME, FEARSOME!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! I won’t try any more attacks you can’t see, let’s go back down and take our time!”

“UWAHHHHHH!” Unfortunately, the Prismer’s twists and turns had pointed it toward Highland.

“Is that Highland?! Oh no, we have to stop it!” Eris gasped.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, Inglis!” Ripple chimed in.

“When you put it that way, I guess I have no choice!”

She’d learned a new technique: Divine Feat. A real fight truly was better than any training. Inglis had gotten quite used to this. A ring of light spread in the sky like a ripple on water—and above the Prismer’s head, Inglis appeared, ready to swing Eris’s pommels toward it. “Haaaah!”

Both pommels struck the Prismer at the same time!

Slammmmmm!

A roar that must have been audible even in Highland shook the sky. The Prismer plunged back downward, falling headfirst. In an instant, it was only a speck in Inglis’s vision.

But the next moment, it was filling her sight again. Not because it was coming back, but because she had gotten ahead of its fall. She was back on the outskirts of Ahlemin, a ripple-like ring of light surrounding her again. Sheathing the blades, Inglis drew the golden gun and aimed it skyward. There was no need to aim precisely; she just glanced up at the night sky. The target would fall into her sights on its own!

“Farewell!”

Blammmmmm!

Again, a torrent of light flew skyward. It wrapped around the Prismer’s form, tearing it to pieces. In a matter of seconds, no trace remained of the Prismer; all that remained was a beautiful column of light.

“Next time, don’t forget your pride as a magicite beast. Be born again and find me for a rematch, please.” Inglis looked up at the sky with a wistful smile. No one was there to answer her.

And finally...

“Phew, I’m exhausted.”

Inglis rested her back on a nearby boulder and sat down. She was at her limits. The toll of her wounds, and of wielding hieral menaces at full power, was great. She had gotten drunk on the ultimate power, just as she said she would.

“We won the fight, but during it... I was impressed by your power,” Inglis said to the Prismer that no longer existed.

To Inglis, Eris and Ripple were not merely weapons. Wielding them had made this a three-on-one fight. It wasn’t exactly the fair match she’d wanted. She’d tried to avoid that for as long as possible. In the one-on-one, she’d honestly been on the back foot. If she couldn’t come out on top, she couldn’t truly say that she’d mastered the blade. If it was for Rafinha’s sake, she was willing to bend her convictions, but...

Even though she had intoxicated herself with the power of the ultimate Artifacts, even though it had been a good learning experience, she had her regrets about this victory. She still had room to grow. She needed to work harder at her training and learn to take down a Prismer without the aid of hieral menaces.

The blades and gun she wore shone and changed their forms. Eris and Ripple were back to human shape.

“Ha ha, I didn’t know I could be that awesome... I’ve never seen shots like that,” Ripple said.

“Yes, that was shocking. There isn’t a trace left of the Prismer...” Eris said.

“Good work, both of you. Thank you.” Inglis bowed, and they answered with beaming smiles.

“It was our honor. You did so well!” Eris answered.

“Thanks!” Ripple said. “Thanks so much, Inglis!” She was so excited that she tried to embrace Inglis, but Inglis could do nothing but collapse, sprawled out. Even sitting up had been hard for her.

“Whoa! Are you okay, Inglis?!”

“Yes, just... I am a bit tired...”

A hand lifted up her head. “Eris?”

Eris rested Inglis’s head on her lap. “This is all I can do for you... But please, get some rest.”

“Yes... Thank you...” Exhaustion washed over Inglis, and she closed her eyes.

“Inglis?! Are you okay?!” Nervously, Ripple brought her ear to Inglis’s chest, listening for a pulse. The hieral menaces hadn’t felt Inglis’s life draining away when they were weapons, but Ripple was still worried that she may have missed it.

“Y-Yes!” Eris said. “She’s okay! She’s breathing! It seems like she really is sleeping.” Eris let out a sigh of relief as she felt Inglis’s breath.

“Thank goodness... But she looks so cute sleeping, it’s making me feel tired too...”

“Yes... Me too...”

Existing in their weapon form was draining for Eris and Ripple, but this was exhaustion like they never had felt before. The power Inglis had drawn forth from them had just been so intense. Their consciousness faded as well...

Rafinha came rushing up to the three of them “Chris! Eris! Ripple!” She checked on the three of them collapsed together. “Thank goodness, they’re just sleeping—but...!”

One problem remained. Behind her, Ahlemin was noisy.

“Wow!”

“The Prismer has fallen! We can’t afford to die now!”

“Yeah! If we survive this, we’ve won!”

Sounds of battle still echoed in its streets. The Prismer was gone, but its army of magicite beasts remained. They couldn’t let their guard down yet. But Inglis, Eris, and Ripple each slept, too deeply to be awakened. And Rafael, whom Inglis had knocked out, was still down for the count. So it fell to her to do their parts.

“Chris! Thank you so much! Thank you for everything! I’ll try my best with the rest!” Rafinha hugged the sleeping Inglis before she turned her eyes toward Ahlemin.

Then, as she rushed to battle, something suddenly appeared over her, and three familiar voices from overhead cried out. “Rafinha!”

“Leone! Liselotte! Pullum!” She saw the three riding on a huge dragon. “M-Mister Dragon?!”

The dragon’s form was familiar. But the Highlander Evel had taken over Fufailbane’s body, turned him to a mechanical ancient dragon, and brought him back to Highland. And this one was smaller than Fufailbane personally—Is “personally” the right word? she wondered. If Fufailbane was an adult, this was like a child.

“Are you okay?! We were watching from far away and saw a real bright light come flying up,” the dragon spoke.

“Huuuuuuh?! Lahti?!” The voice was definitely his. What in the world?! Rafinha began to marvel.

“Yeah, that’s me! We finished up there and came down to help out!”

“How are you—? No, never mind that! Chris, with Eris and Ripple’s help, defeated the Prismer!”

“So that’s what caused that light...” Leone said.

“It was like a waterfall streaming up into the sky!” Liselotte exclaimed.

“So we’re a little too late...” Pullum said.

“No, you’re not late at all!” Rafinha insisted. “After that, all three were too exhausted to keep going! Look, in town! There are still magicite beasts! We need to take them down! Chris is asleep, so let’s help out!”

“All right, leave it to me!” Lahti said. “I can carry more! A lot more!”

“Thanks! Let’s get Chris and the others! And Rafael too!”

“Even Rafael?! Is he all right?! Did one of the Prismer’s attacks hurt him?!” Liselotte checked.

“N-Not exactly... Brother, well, Chris kind of...”

“Huh?!” Pullum exclaimed in shock. “D-Did they get in a fight?!”

“She had no choice! Anyway, let’s hurry! The Prismer’s already down, so let’s handle the rest!”

“Yes, of course! I’m so grateful to you for protecting Ahlemin! I know I’m late, but I’ll do everything I can!” Leone nodded intently to Rafinha, her expression full of fighting spirit.

“You seem all fired up, Leone!”

“Yes! A lot’s happened here, some good, some bad...but it’s where I was born and raised! I want to do whatever I can! For Leon’s sake too!”

Because Leone had phrased it like that, Rafinha figured she must have gotten a chance to talk with Leon, and made up a little. That was what Rafinha had been hoping for anyway.

The dragon Lahti, carrying Rafinha and the others, rushed toward the battle within Ahlemin. “All right, everyone! Let’s go!”



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