In that case, it was better to shore up his defenses with traps that were fairly lethal. However, the opponent this time around was Bifrons’ chimera, so that wasn’t enough to stop it. The thing merely vomited out enough sludge to eat away at the tree roots in order to free itself. But by that time, the sorcerers who were left in the castle to defend it had finished their preparations, which was evident due to a gust that blew through the forest.
“Heaven’s Phosphor Typhoon.”
It was Kimaris, who was currently in the form of a lion.
Kimaris has pretty good compatibility with Heaven’s Phosphor... The gust blowing through the forest wasn’t one of wind, but Kimaris’ special sound sorcery combined with Heaven’s Phosphor. It was his own creation, and unique to him alone.
Upon touching what could only be expressed as a black wind, the chimera and its sludge turned to ash in an instant. Both of the chimeras that were sent to attack Zagan’s bases were defeated without even getting the chance to fight back, leaving Bifrons to shout in a trembling voice.
“Impossible... Zagan, do you even understand what you did? Are you saying you shared that power with others?”
“Yeah, I did. So what?” Zagan cocked his head to the side as he asked that rhetorical question.
“I don’t understand. You just handed out a power that could even be used to kill you. What are you, an Archdemon of all people, thinking? That’s far too dangerous!”
“Humans can be killed with any ordinary blade, yet they’re still traded on the market and given to others as presents, aren’t they?” Zagan replied with a strained smile.
“Those aren’t the least bit comparable!” Bifrons bit back instantaneously.
“It isn’t all that different,” Zagan declared without hesitation.
There was no way they would ever agree on the matter, and Bifrons would never be able to change that.
◇
With this, the only pawns Bifrons has left are the chimera here and Kuroka... Zagan looked over to the now unmasked Kuroka. Chastille said she would take care of the chimera, but this girl was the bigger problem of the two.
I mean, there’s no way I can kill Raphael’s daughter... Kuroka had her shortswords at the ready and was looking for an opening to charge in as Zagan began talking to her in a casual manner.
“I’m curious, why did you let yourself get caught by those canus if you can fight so well?”
It was somewhat baffling. Apparently, Kuroka’s blindness wasn’t really much of a handicap. And yet, she somehow got caught by some random kidnappers.
“My swords... aren’t meant to be used against people,” Kuroka replied in a cold voice. It seemed she chose who she fought against carefully due to her strength. Her swords weren’t so cheap that they could be used against mere kidnappers. Hearing her practically groan out that response, Zagan shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s one of Raphael’s teachings, I assume.”
“It’s the way of life... I was taught by that man.”
“So it’s fine to kill sorcerers? Aren’t they people too?”
“Sorcerers... aren’t people!” Kuroka screamed, clearly enraged as she leaped in at him.
This anger of hers... Did sorcerers do something to her? Sorcerers were all villains, so it was only obvious that they were despised by all the victims they left in their wake.
“Weren’t sorcerers the ones who stole the light from my eyes!?” Kuroka roared as she slashed at Zagan, then continued with, “They killed Dad, Mom, my entire family, my entire people, and now you’ve even stolen Lord Raphael from me...! That man... was the only person in the world I still loved!”
It was all too common a story. Sorcerers were considered evil precisely because it happened so often.
“...Well, it’s true that most sorcerers are quite inhuman,” Zagan caught Kuroka’s shortswords barehanded as he replied in a nonchalant manner.
“Huh!?”
Kuroka exclaimed in surprise. At that moment, she finally realized that not a single one of her countless slashes had reached Zagan. “...Sorcery,” Kuroka sharply muttered. Then, countless specks of light surrounded Zagan like snow.
“Heaven’s Scale Snowfield... It would be difficult for even a Sacred Sword to break through this,” Zagan proclaimed. Each and every one of Kuroka’s strikes were obstructed by those lights. Zagan had already perfected Heaven’s Scale in its dragon form, so the snowfield wasn’t something he invented for his own use.
Foll should be able to handle it, but its weakness is that you can’t move when you’re in the middle of it... In exchange for not granting Foll Heaven’s Phosphor, Zagan created this sorcery for her. However, there was still room for improvement. He dared to use it here as a test run, but it was also something that was useful when attempting to defend a wide area.
There’s too many damn Angelic Knights around... From their perspective, they were acting out of necessity to prevent any damage from spreading to the town, but they were actually a complete hindrance. At this point, Kuroka also seemed to have realized the effective range of this version of Heaven’s Scale and made a confused expression.
“Why is a sorcerer... doing something like protecting Angelic Knights?”
“Who knows? Is that something you need to know in order to enact your revenge?”
It was just some light provocation, but Kuroka’s face twisted with anger as she slashed in at Zagan once more. Zagan let go of the shortsword he caught and let her go wild as much as she liked.
“What’s wrong? I’ll have you know that Raphael was able to break through this Heaven’s Scale. Is this as far as your desire for revenge goes?” Zagan inquired. Thinking back on it, the only one who was capable of breaking through Heaven’s Scale head-on was Raphael.
That’s all the more reason that I have to properly respond to his devotion... That was why Zagan stepped forth to face Kuroka.
“I can somewhat sympathize with your circumstances. However, I don’t have the spare time to keep you company forever,” Zagan said as he pushed the snowfield against Kuroka. And pressured by the particles of light, Kuroka jumped back a great distance.
“You listening? Just once. I’ll permit your attack just once. If your sword does not reach me, then give up and go home. If you can’t grasp this one chance, then it will be impossible for you to ever beat me,” Zagan said. He hadn’t once raised his hand against her. All he was doing was allowing Kuroka to vent her anger, so it couldn’t even be called a fight. She had surely also sensed this by now, as her tightly sealed lips were trembling. Next, she turned to her surroundings as if taken aback. And then, as if her resolute attacks had all been a lie, her body began trembling in fear.
“Haaah... Haaah... Haaah...” Kuroka breathed roughly as sweat began to drench her entire body. Zagan could tell exactly was going on within her.
I’m an expert when it comes to revenge, after all... After swinging her sword so much, he was completely unharmed. Even if she didn’t want to, it was easy for her to understand the difference in power between them. Nevertheless, Zagan was giving her one last chance. A last chance where she was permitted to perform a completely one-sided attack, one that was impossible to fail.
In other words, she was at a standstill. If this were to turn into a real fight, she would simply die. She would accomplish nothing, leave behind nothing, and be remembered by none. Once she came to a stop, she had no choice but to look that reality in the eye.
“Do you understand now? This is revenge. The fear you feel right now is the price for revenge,” Zagan called out to her in a strict tone. Most people who sought revenge managed to bury that fear due to their anger. However, they simply forgot it, so it wasn’t like they conquered it. And if they were unable to conquer it, they would never become an expert like Zagan.
In the end, Kuroka’s desire for vengeance was more than valid, but she was a complete novice. She only knew how to challenge her target in a fair fight. With that strategy, she wouldn’t be a
ble to persist and exhaust herself if she didn’t win. She was far too unfamiliar with the concept, which made Zagan give her an introduction to the basics.
If he was in her place, Zagan would use all his powers to drive his target into a corner. After all, revenge could only be considered properly enacted upon taking one’s target, drowning them in despair, trampling on their very existence, and cornering them to the point where they begged for death.
For that purpose, it was necessary to conquer one’s fear and keep a composed mind. Even if Kuroka somehow managed to kill Zagan, with the way she was doing it, nothing would be left. She would be empty, and upon losing her only goal in life, she would just silently wait for death. There was no way that Raphael wished for such a conclusion, and that was why Zagan spoke to her in a provocative manner.
“What’s wrong? Are you giving up already?”
Kuroka, who looked to be falling into the depths of despair, trembled with a start. And after closing her eyes, she took a quiet breath. Then, her hands stopped trembling as she held her shortswords at the ready.
“...Hey, Mister, did you find Kuu?” Kuroka asked. She had a composed tone. Those were the words of someone who had actually managed to conquer their fear.
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. She’s fine. Once she wakes up, she probably won’t even remember any of the bad things that happened.”
“You really are kind after all, Mister. If possible, I would’ve liked to meet in a different way than this,” Kuroka said, a faint smile on her face. Then, she corrected her stance and held her shortswords in an underhand grip, declaring, “I’m Kuroka Adelhide. I’ll be taking revenge for my father, Raphael Hyurandell... Here I come!”
Kuroka charged in with her blade hidden behind her back. It was a stance that made it impossible to read whether an attack was coming from the right or left. Once she got into range, her first move started with her right arm. Based on that observation, it may have been possible to sever her right arm before she finished swinging. However, she didn’t swing the shortsword in her right hand.
A feint? It was likely a feint that sacrificed her right arm. The attack, which was loaded with her drive to deliver a killing blow, was the one with the shortsword in her left hand. It was a gamble that occurred in an interval shorter than the blink of an eye. The Angelic Knights in the area surely saw Kuroka swinging both shortswords at the same time, and those terrifying swords closed in on Zagan. And then...
“Huh...?”
The one who let out their voice... was Kuroka. Her face was wet from a spurt of bright red blood as both swords... stabbed right into Zagan’s chest without erring from their mark.
“Wh...y...?” Kuroka muttured. He had clearly seen the swords. He could have stopped them with his snowfield. However, Zagan didn’t even attempt to dodge or block them.
Ugh... It really hurts... The blades were obstructed by his strengthened muscles, so they didn’t reach his heart, but they severed his bones and gouged out his entrails. Plus, the shortswords seemed to possess a similar power to a Sacred Sword, which made him unable to regenerate his wounds using sorcery. With blood flowing from his mouth, Zagan pulled out Kuroka’s shortswords.
“Why... didn’t you dodge? No, even if you didn’t... you should have been able to block it with your sorcery, Mister,” Kuroka mumbled, seemingly unable to understand what was happening.
“I said that I would permit your attack,” Zagan replied resolutely despite how painful the mere act of speaking was to him at the moment. Permitting it meant that he would accept it. Dodging or blocking it with sorcery wasn’t accepting it. That was why Zagan intended to take the full brunt of her attack from the very beginning. The fact that the wound was far more serious than he imagined just went to show how powerful Kuroka was.
“Wha—” Kuroka, who stood there in bewilderment, exclaimed as Zagan stretched out his hand to her. He remained silent as he gently embraced the trembling girl.
“Raphael was a strong and proud Angelic Knight. He’s the only man I truly respect from the bottom of my heart. That man told me... the daughter that had no connection to him by blood was more important to him than anyone else,” Zagan spoke to her in a quiet voice, which made the ears atop Kuroka’s head quiver.
Even now, you’re loved by Raphael. Notice it already... Those were the words that Zagan wished to convey to her.
“Wh... y...?” Kuroka mumbled, her face covered in tears. And with a thud, she feebly struck Zagan’s chest and continued, “Why, Mister...?” Kuroka bellowed as she threw her tiny fist against him before finally finishing her question by asking, “Why didn’t you save Lord Raphael when you’re so strong!?”
Unfortunately, all Zagan could do was continue to embrace the girl who was crying and yelling like a child.
◇
Nephteros was sitting on the ground, grasping her knees, as the fight between Zagan and Kuroka settled down.
I am... Nephelia’s clone... Bifrons had obtained several strands of Nephelia’s hair from the hidden elven village and used them as a base to create Nephteros. That was the truth she heard from Archdemon Orias.
She was something that was created, a tool that could be replaced at any time. Once she found that out, Nephteros ran away from Bifrons. She never thought she would be able to get away, but she felt that was her only choice if she wanted to survive. And as a result, Bifrons let a chimera loose to hunt her, and Nephteros’ life on the run began in earnest. It was painful, but there were many people on the way who helped her. It seemed the world wasn’t as wretched a place as Nephteros initially thought, and she felt like she grasped a thin thread of hope within it.
But it’s useless. I can’t bear this anymore... The chimera that Chastille was fighting was also Nephteros. It didn’t just have the same face as her. It had the same form, the same blood, the same flesh, and it was even made in the exact same way. Everything about it was the same. The only difference was the order in which they were born.
The Nephteros before her eyes was strung up like a toy, had her body violated by that sludge, and was turned into a chimera. The fact that she was alive, her meager pride that she could tell others she was Nephteros, had been trampled on and violated. Archdemon Bifrons was inhuman. Nephteros thought that she understood that already, but she didn’t previously believe it possible to trample on the foundations of humanity to such an extent.
“I won’t let you take Nephteros!” Chastille roared, making her desire to protect Nephteros plain as day.
If I don’t help her... she won’t stand a chance of winning... A desire to help Chastille began welling up within Nephteros. Those feelings possessed a strength which stirred up her body, and she began hearing voices.
“You should be supporting Chastille. Chant your celestial mysticism,” they said. However, the image of the chimera was reflected in her eyes.
“Urgh... Ack... Ugh...” Nephteros groaned as she vomited. She wasn’t strong enough to remain sane upon being shown such ghastly sights. And still unable to stand on her own two feet, she saw Zagan standing before her. Perhaps because that girl called Kuroka was quite the difficult opponent, his entire body was covered in blood. She had never seen him in such a state, even after the battle atop that ship, or when he stood against Archdemon Orias.
“You’re being quite docile today,” Zagan said, shrugging his shoulders.
“...” Nephteros couldn’t answer, so Zagan moved to stand next to her. His gaze was pointed at Chastille as she swung her Sacred Sword in battle. That girl was certainly strong, but even the person in question likely knew she couldn’t beat the chimera alone.
How can that girl keep fighting...? She already knew the answer. That girl was able to fight so desperately because of her desire to protect others.
“...Please, save that girl. It would be no big deal for you, right?” Nephteros begged as she grabbed hold of Zagan’s clothes. She felt she was unable to fight. No matter how repulsive its figure was, that chimera was also Nephte
ros. The only reason she wasn’t like that herself was because of luck. If she was any less fortunate, then she would be in its place. There was no way she could attack herself, especially not when she couldn’t even look it in the eyes.
“I spoke with Orias,” Zagan said as he placed his hand on her head with a thud. That statement made her realize he knew about the truth she had discovered. Well, it was pretty easy to tell upon seeing that chimera, and Zagan likely already knew from the beginning and just kept it a secret, but that was neither here nor there. Unfortunately, the despair of having a secret she never wished to be revealed discovered crept up her legs.
“It seems she’s decided to think of you as her own daughter,” Zagan told her quietly.
“Daughter...?” Nephteros stared back at him blankly, unable to understand why he was telling her such things.
“Thinking of your growth, it could even be said that you’re Nephy’s little sister, though you may hate the thought. And my bride’s little sister is also my little sister,” Zagan stated in a clear tone. Then, he looked straight into Nephteros’ eyes with his silver gaze and continued, “I’ll protect you from that chimera, and from Bifrons too,” Zagan declared. His words were thoroughly reassuring, and promising, but... “However, that’s only after Chastille is defeated.”
“Wh-Why? Isn’t she your ally?”
“That is a human I have acknowledged as a sworn ally. And she said she would fight. She does not desire help from me. If I were to force my way in to save her, I would dishonor her trust,” Zagan claimed as he looked down at Nephteros with a strict gaze.
“But...” Nephteros muttered. At the current rate, Chastille would die. That much was clear to her.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 5 Page 19