Campione 15

by Son of the Goddess

  These two arrows not only skewered the eyeballs but also penetrated into the brain.

  The giant bear was struck dead by the two arrows and collapsed. Witnessing Liliana's archery, the surrounding Franks shouted with excitement.

  However, having exhibited these superb skills, the silver-haired knight shook her head.

  "At this rate, the situation will deteriorate. Alone, I cannot annihilate all the enemies..."

  "My body still can't fight..."

  At least if one or another of Verethragna's incarnations could be used—

  Godou gnashed his teeth in chagrin. Currently, not only did his body feel heavy as hell, but his magical power did not rise at all. Perhaps due to this, despite the battle having started already, he could not think of which incarnation should be used.

  Yuri leaned herself over as though worrying for Godou's condition.

  Feeling grateful for her care and consideration, Godou began to push his mind to think. Just as Liliana said, the situation was going to deteriorate. In that case, a risky gamble must be taken—!

  Then just as Godou intended to start this gamble...

  "...Dragon?"

  Liliana suddenly looked up, staring at the southern sky.

  Godou also focused his eyes. At first, all he could discern was a black dot, but after a while, he immediately saw what was flying in from the south.

  Roughly four meters in body length. Similar to an agile theropod in form. However, instead of stubby forelimbs, it was soaring in the sky using a pair of wings that sprouted from the shoulders.

  The strong hind legs each had a thick claw at the end of its foot, a sharp weapon supposed to be called the "terrible claw" that the flying monster was born with.

  Unmistakable. This was one of the pterosaurs under Uldin's control.

  Furthermore, riding on the pterosaur's back was a glamorous blonde beauty—

  "Erica!"

  Godou could not help but call out her name.

  "What's the matter, Ena-san?"

  "Is it imagination? Ena feels like someone is calling your name, Erica-san."

  Seeing the black-haired Hime-Miko's surprised look, Erica asked her.

  Exceptionally gigantic bears were currently engaged in a chaotic battle with the Frankish warriors below.

  The pterosaur easily glided in the sky ten-odd meters above the ground. Erica was the one holding the reins and mounted on the saddle. Sitting behind her was Seishuuin Ena.

  "His Majesty could very well be down there!? Did he discover us!?"

  "That would be ideal if it were the case. Considering it's Godou, being present at a great commotion is totally not surprising at all."

  "His Majesty really tends to get drawn into things like battle and conflict."

  The pterosaur borrowed from Uldin was able to glide effortlessly despite supporting two people's weight. Hanging on Erica's neck was a pendant made from a dragon's tooth with a string through it. This was also given by Uldin.

  Apparently, his pterosaurs could be tamed in a matter of days, provided one possessed this object.

  Due to the issue of riding skills, Ena did not borrow a pterosaur. Essentially, these pterosaurs could be controlled similar to how horses were ridden. However, it was relatively difficult for the Hime-Miko who was still a novice in this area.

  "Thank goodness we made it. However, I can't seem to find Madame Aisha and the goddess who possessed Sir Salvatore's body."

  "Oh well, it's already time to get into action."

  The Hime-Miko of the Sword smiled happily and reached out. Taking an arrow from the quiver hanging on the saddle, she handed it over to Erica.

  "There is no question that these bears need to be dealt with."

  "Well said. Then, let's get on with it!"

  Erica took down an iron bow from the saddle.

  An iron bow was used to give arrows range and power beyond conventional. Even a burly and muscular man would have extreme difficulty drawing this bow. However, Erica had already augmented her arm strength using magic.

  Taking the arrow handed over by Ena, she effortlessly pulled the bowstring.

  This was mounted archery performed while riding a pterosaur. Erica's feet were supported by the two stirrups hanging on each side of the saddle.

  Relying on the assistance conferred by this equipment, Erica shot the first arrow—

  Whoosh!

  Howling like a strong gust of rapid wind, the arrow flew towards the battlefield below.

  Erica had already applied iron alchemy to all of the arrows, a spell to increase penetrative power. Combined with the iron bow's power, the arrow easily skewered a giant bear's body that was as large as a house.

  Having penetrated the enemy, the arrow did not lose momentum and embedded itself into the ground.

  The targeted giant bear collapsed with a crash and stopped moving. Dead on the spot.

  The skillful archery required to pierce a moving beast's eye was quite superb. However, achieving the power of a one-hit kill required aiming for the relatively less mobile torso—in particular, sniping the heart was the most efficient.

  This bold sniping was repeated ten times continuously, carried out from the air.

  In rapid succession, ten arrows pierced the giant bears nearby, producing ten corpses.

  Fighting with all their might in the bears' surroundings, the Franks stared in shock at the airborne reinforcements. However, there was no time to pay attention to them.

  "Go to a place with many bears. Let Ena down!"

  "Understood!"

  Since this was wide open plain, there were also open spaces in addition to areas where the density of people and bears were high.

  Using the pterosaur's mobility effectively, the duo swiftly moved to the air above another zone of intense battle. Ena instantly jumped down. Indeed, directly from the pterosaur's back!

  Like a cat or a monkey, the agile Hime-Miko landed lightly, descending on the battlefield.

  Usually, she wielded the divine sword, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi. But right now, she was holding in her hand a broad sword in its sheath—Rather than a Japanese sword, this was a western double-edged sword.

  "Cuore di Leone! Help Ena-san right this instant!"

  The magic sword in Seishuuin Ena's hand responded to its master's request. The silver blade shone faintly with light.

  Normally, Erica used Cuore di Leone in the form of a slender sword. On this occasion, she had returned the sword to its form as a longsword, lending it for Ena to use as the divine sword's substitute.

  "Yahhhhhhhh!"

  Wielding the magic sword of the lion in the stance of hassou-no-kamae[3], Ena ran.

  In order to be swung hard with two hands, Cuore di Leone's hilt was quite long. Consequently, it could wielded in the same manner as a Japanese sword.

  Armed with this magic sword, Ena rushed towards her target—naturally, one of the giant bears.

  Although the giant bear was being surrounded by six Frankish warriors, Ena breezed past the warriors like the wind and jumped with movements as agile as a monkey's.

  With the giant bear standing on its hind legs, its head was roughly five meters above the ground.

  Ena jumped up high, slashing at the giant bear's short neck using the stance of hassou-no-kamae. The enemy swung its thick forelimbs, trying to tear the Hime-Miko's delicate body apart.

  However, Ena and Cuore di Leone did not stop moving.

  The lion's magic sword first chopped off the giant bear's elbow then proceeded to sever its head in one flowing motion.

  Compared to wielding Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, the sharpness and power was equal.

  "Next!"

  Having slaughtered one giant bear, Ena immediately turned and ran towards a second one not far away.

  The second giant bear was surrounded by Frankish warriors as expected, but again, Ena squeezed through them and slashed at the giant bear's body with the magic sword. Cuore di Leone's blade pierced into the area below the ribs,
chopping the abdomen horizontally without hindrance. With the blade buried deeply in its liver, the second giant bear was also effortlessly struck dead.

  "That's rather magnificent."

  While praising her rival, Erica did not stop either.

  Seeing her quiver empty, Erica waved her hand and used summoning magic. Hence, ten-odd arrows instantly appeared and could be shot again.

  Erica controlled the pterosaur while continuing to snipe the ground from the air.

  Every arrow shot out was accompanied by the creation of a giant bear's corpse. This repeated like mass production. In this manner, she and Ena continued to clear away the giant bears. Once the surrounding enemies had been exterminated, Erica made the pterosaur descend.

  It so happened that there were several Franks below.

  Seeing the pterosaur descending overhead, they began to panic.

  Running towards where the pterosaur was descending, Ena jumped with agility, landing behind Erica neatly. With two passengers again, the pterosaur flapped its wings violently to ascend.

  Erica and Ena had already defeated nearly twenty giant bears.

  However, there were still a great number of them. While having the pterosaur soar, Erica looked for her next prey.

  "Their clean manner is really quite absurd..."

  Watching Erica and Ena's active performance from afar, Godou muttered.

  Due to the separation of four or five hundred meters, their detailed actions could not be seen clearly, of course. However, judging from the way they flew around the battlefield on the pterosaur, they were evidently victorious again and again.

  For those girls, the most important aspect was being individually powerful.

  Furthermore, in order to apply this power effectively, they made maximum use of the pterosaur's mobility, fighting all over the place with fervor.

  This was an active performance that only those two could achieve, in command of both power and clear minds.

  Meanwhile, standing by Kusanagi Godou's side were Liliana and Yuri. The silver-haired knight was obvious, but even the Hime-Miko also possessed extraordinary powers. In the past, she had employed the spirit power of psychic sensing to protect Godou from the goddess Circe.

  The two of them were staying by Godou's side to protect him.

  Despite being far from the chaotic battle's center, a few giant bears approached on occasion in search for prey. Every time this happened, Liliana shot the bear dead with arrows.

  "Thanks for the help, both of you."

  Another giant bear was slowly approaching. Godou instantly said quietly:

  "No need to protect me anymore. It's fine if you leave me alone."

  Saying that, he started moving towards the giant bear.

  Yuri went "Godou-san...", intending to chase after him but Liliana shook her head and placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder. Presumably reminded of what she "should be doing," the Hime-Miko immediately stopped and with a worried expression, watched Godou leave.

  "Kusanagi Godou..."

  Despite worrying as well, her dignified and beautiful face tensing up, Liliana watched him silently.

  During this time, Godou continued to walk. Still injured at this point in time, even his footsteps were unsteady. Nevertheless, he still forced himself to continue, finally facing off against the giant bear one on one.

  GROWWWWWWWWWL!

  The four-meter giant bear howled loudly and stood up on its hind legs. This was a threat made by displaying its gigantic body.

  Next it swung its left arm, intending to strike Godou viciously with its massive paw and claws.

  In response, Godou desperately moved his unsteady body, jumping backwards and successfully evading at the last moment, However, the tip of the bear's claws scratched his chest slightly. Searing pain wandered over his chest as blood splattered.

  "Gah—!?"

  Enduring the pain, Godou focused his concentration.

  Currently, he needed magical power no matter what. He need to raise his fighting spirit to rouse combat power from the depths of his body—

  However, he could not feel any signs of power surging forth. Godou was shocked.

  At this moment, the giant bear pounced, intending to crash into Godou's body, tearing the enemy apart with its vicious jaws and teeth. Simply being struck by this giant body would crush someone to death easily.

  Moreover, in contrast to its gigantic body, the giant bear moved rather quickly.

  Whether escaping left, right or backwards, there was probably no time. Hence, Godou swiftly dodged "forwards." Rolling forwards, he slid beneath the pouncing giant bear.

  GROWWWWWWWWL!

  The bear growled as though displeased by its two failed attacks, glaring grimly at Godou.

  On the other hand, Godou was getting anxious. Despite fighting like this already, challenging an opponent that he definitely could not defeat in his current state of health, there was no surge of power at all.

  His magical power had not recovered either. Speaking of which, Liliana had called magical power "ki."

  Could it be possible that he needed to use some kind of special ki technique? Such as special breathing or meditation... No, he had never done any of that before.

  In other words, all Kusanagi Godou needed to do right now was—

  "Just do the same as always, huh?"

  Muttering thus, he stopped moving and stood upright.

  Naturally, the giant bear attacked with great intensity, swiping with its front limb again. However, this time Godou did not evade. Instead, he clenched his fist hard.

  "Yahhhhhhhh!"

  Charging at the approaching giant bear instead, he attacked with his fist accompanied by a shout.

  Ultimately, dodging alone could not be considered fighting. Only when both sides attacked each other did a fight occur. More importantly, no matter how much he defended, Kusanagi Godou never gave up the will to attack!

  That said, this was undoubtedly foolish behavior.

  After all, he was using this body, incapable of wielding any authority, to fight a giant bear that was more than double his own size.

  However, that was precisely why he was filled with tension, his throat becoming parched. The effects of excitement and adrenaline dispelled his weariness and for the first time after so many days, his heavy body exhibited agile movements once more. Furthermore, while confronting the fear of death directly, the so-called killing instinct of "I must crush this enemy before me!" surfaced.

  Godou's dynamic vision was quite outstanding to begin with.

  This was combined with the concentration Campiones exhibited in battle.

  Even when the enemy attacked with bestial speed, he could easily see through the attack exceptionally clearly. Godou just barely evaded the giant bear's hammering fist and leapt to the gigantic beast's chest at the same time. Then he struck as hard as he could.

  —GROWWWWWWWWWLLL!?

  The bear screamed pitifully.

  Grabbing the opponent's giant body with both hands, Godou raised the bear high above his head. Toyed with like a barbell by a 180 cm human, the giant bear made a troubled expression on its face.

  Unconcerned, Godou tossed the giant bear with one hand like a ball.

  Tracing out a parabola, the giant bear's body flew over a hundred meters, landing on empty ground by chance.

  The giant bear lay there, not moving. Naturally, this astounding feat could not have been accomplished by Godou's usual state. This was the result of using the [Bull], only available when the enemy possessed mighty strength beyond humans.

  Phew... Godou took a deep breath.

  Willpower, honed under attack, as well as massive amounts of magical power were flowing out from within Godou's body.

  Still, although he recovered just as expected, putting this sort of prediction into action really turned out to be a most terrifying gamble... However, there was no time for catching one's breath.

  Roughly two kilometers away, there was a giant fissure in the ground. />
  That was the underground entrance that had devoured Doni-Artio. Right now, giant beasts were slowly crawling out from this crevasse.

  Thirty meters in body length. A form that resembled some sort of owl-bear hybrid.

  This was the kind of divine beast that Godou had encountered previously. Fallen to the depths of the earth, Artio's spirit must have sent them to the surface. Furthermore, there were three of them this time!

  "The one unblunted and unapproachable, oath-breaking sinners be purged by the iron hammer of justice!"

  Godou immediately chanted spell words.

  "Those are divine beasts!? The goddess Artio's minions!"

  Riding the pterosaur, Erica was soaring the skies magnificently.

  Naturally, she was able to survey the ground more clearly than anyone else. At a crevasse that sliced deeply across the plain like a wound, giant owl-bears were crawling to the surface. Also, there were three of them in succession...

  Divine beasts had suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

  Furthermore, there were still fifty-odd giant bears remaining on the ground.

  Clearly in a disadvantaged position, Erica frowned. The Franks on the ground finally lost their will to fight as well. Due to the appearance of the giant owl-bear, the warriors were in turmoil and starting to flee.

  However, next to appear was a pitch-black giant boar—

  Seeing that, Erica smiled fearlessly, flying on her pterosaur.

  Wielding Cuore di Leone on the ground, Ena also noticed. No matter one's location on the battlefield, no one could possibly miss the gigantic [Boar].

  Also, the Hime-Miko of the Sword also noticed the recovered presence of her "partner."

  "Ama no Murakumo...! From the arm of the one whose interests I shoulder, come to my hand!"

  Since she was currently holding Cuore di Leone in her right, the jet-black divine blade manifested in her left. Ena proceeded to summon Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi's divine aura into her body while calling out to the sky at the same time.

  "Erica-san!"

  "Yes. Cuore di Leone, return!"

  The magic sword vanished from Ena's hand, reappearing in Erica's right hand. This was summoning magic.