It was an unreachable arena, a ring atop the sea.
The perfect location to conduct the rite Argana so desired.
And it had Kali’s name written all over it.
“—Found them.”
At the same time as Tione was boarding the ship, Aiz was focusing on a certain glint of light far off in the distance. She rose to her feet from her hiding place atop a building near the pier, alerting the girl behind her.
“Narfi, go get the others,” Aiz ordered.
“Roger!” Narfi responded, but Aiz was already gone. Darting out ahead of the group, she raced her way toward the shipyard.
Tione…!
She could already surmise Kali Familia’s plan the moment she saw Tione board the ship together with the group of Amazons. She had to catch up with them before that ship crossed over the ravine in the lake and disappeared into the open sea.
Her legs moved even faster, turning her into a golden bullet as she sped forward.
Only then—
—Guuuuuwwwwooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhh!!
“?!”
A thunderous roar shook the very air around her.
“Violas?!”
“At a time like this?!”
Her peers shouted out in surprise from atop the roof behind her.
There were seven of them, emerging with an explosive boom from the cargo area where multiple ships had unloaded their freight. Vibrantly colored petals parted to reveal spine-chilling jaws, sending tremors all throughout the peaceful port town.
“Wh-whhhhuuuuaaaaaaaaaaagh?!”
They’d appeared in the middle of the port, close to the trade pier, and upon seeing the monstrously large flowers reaching for the sky, the few sailors who remained in the vicinity let out screams of terror and ran for their lives.
Why now? It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, could it—?
But Aiz didn’t have time to process the multitude of questions currently racing through her head. She had to act. And she had to act now.
Ahead of her, she could see Tione’s ship putting more and more distance between them.
Behind her, the violas were already going to town on the passenger ships currently moored at the dock, tentacles flying.
Screams were now rippling all throughout the trade pier, and though it pained her, Aiz shouted instructions behind her.
“Gngh—take care of them first!!” she screamed, sliding to a halt before spinning around.
Though Tione’s ship was now disappearing behind her, she had a duty to protect the lives of the town’s civilians.
“Violas?!”
Tione looked out from her rapidly accelerating ship to see Aiz and the rest of her companions facing off against the swarm of man-eating flowers. As she stood there, slack-jawed, Argana’s voice rose to meet her.
“Those are nothing but a diversion. Nothing more, nothing less. Pay them no heed.”
“…Then…then you’re involved with those monsters after all?!”
“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about. We here knew nothing of the method of diversion prior to now,” the other Amazon responded noncombatively, her gaze fierce.
Tione felt her rage begin to grow as the ship passed over the lake ravine and out into the open sea. Meren got smaller and smaller on the horizon, together with its accompanying cliffs.
“But enough about that. Let’s begin.” Argana smiled with a sort of pure, unadulterated joy now that the time had come.
Tione turned around, her mouth still closed as she faced off against her opponent for the rite.
“…”
The golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman struck out against the giant man-eating flowers. A ship was wrenched in two by those flying tentacles and flipped over on its side; the sailors fled for their lives; the fishermen pointed at the spectacle in frozen fear; shrill screams began to echo from every corner of the city.
He watched all of this as he walked against the flow of the fleeing crowd of demi-humans and away from the scene.
“Riveria.”
Loki took note of the man in question.
The fishing pier was enveloped in a catastrophic cacophony as crowds of people came racing one after another out of the trade pier, joining the fishermen as they raced toward the safety of the city up on its higher ground.
Riveria and her small group were standing by on the fishing pier, ensuring Aiz and the others could keep the monsters firmly contained within the net of the pier. She’d just started to make her way over to help them fight when Loki stopped her.
“Now of all times! What is it, Loki?” Riveria and her comrades turned toward the goddess with a start.
“I’m peacin’ out. Gotta go chase down a culprit…the one who set those violas loose in the lake, that is. Detective Loki has arrived!” Though her words were jocular, her eyes held a very real sense of sincerity.
“Then we’re to come, too? But what of those monsters?”
“Aizuu and the rest of ’em can handle those critters. ’Sides, all of us groupin’ together is exactly what the enemy wants,” Loki explained. The timing was simply too perfect for them to be anything other than a diversion, and Loki knew it. “You noticed it, too, yeah?” she continued, throwing a glance at the silent Riveria. “Not even our opponent knows what’s goin’ on anymore…Maybe they’ll turn tail and run.”
“Then you’re saying now’s our chance?”
“That I am. It’s time to present them with some evidence they can’t talk their way out of.” Loki’s eyes turned toward where the man she’d been watching previously had vanished.
Though most of the group had no idea what Loki was talking about, Riveria remembered their conversation from earlier and the “threads” Loki had been hoping to follow.
“…You’re right that Aiz and the others should have no trouble taking care of the situation on their own. But what of Tione and Tiona?” she asked after a moment of silence. The entire reason why Riveria had chosen to take out the violas immediately rather than wait—even despite the obvious trap—was so that either Aiz or she could continue to chase after Tione and her sister.
Loki could see the high elf was concerned, perhaps thinking that Loki was simply hanging the two sisters out to dry. She replied optimistically all the same.
“I’ve got faith in my kids! Everything’ll be fiiiiiiine.”
Riveria didn’t have a response to that.
Instead, she simply sighed.
“’Sides! S’not like you can just go burning things up with your magic in the middle of town, right? Even you said so earlier! Leave the city destruction to Aiz and the others.”
“…I suppose there’s nothing for it, then. Understood.”
“Great. Then I’m leavin’ you in charge of that.”
“Leave it to me. Alicia!”
“Y-yes, m’lady?…What is it?”
Riveria quickly leaned forward to whisper in the young elf’s long, slender ear.
Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she nodded.
As the two mages ran off ahead, Loki turned toward the rest of the group. “Rakuta! Elfie! Come with me, if you would? I know you just recovered, but yer gonna be my good luck charms. Leene, you and the other healers’ll stay here to look after anyone who gets hurt.”
“U-understood!”
Then Loki sped off into the night, followed by a very flustered hume bunny and elf.
“We’re into the endgame now, girls!”
Tiona continued straight along the path Argana had indicated.
She walked out through the back of the shipyard, up and over a pile of ship parts in the far corner, then into an outcropping of wild trees near the lake’s cliffs.
The way will become clear. That’s what Argana had told her. Just as she was beginning to wonder what on earth the other Amazon had be
en talking about, a sudden certain odor made her nostrils twitch.
“This smell…”
She knew this smell.
Sniff, sniff. Her nose twitched like a dog’s as she made her way among the trees, when all of a sudden it came to her.
Iron. It was iron. Iron mixed with rust.
It was a smell she was all too familiar with, her daily bouquet back in her stone room in Telskyura.
It was the smell of home.
She understood what Argana had meant now. No doubt, they’d left her a trail of blood from wounds cut with rusted blades. Following the unforgettable smell through the woods, she began to run.
“Here…?”
She burst out of the trees, coming face-to-face with a small inlet, remarkably similar to the one she and the rest of the familia had played in upon their arrival in Meren.
It was a little smaller, making it even less noticeable than their previous oasis, and deeper, too, more like a miniature ravine. The biggest difference, though, was its lack of a beach. Rather than facing the lake, this inlet took on the brunt of the sea, and the salty waters cut away at its walls of rock.
“A sea cave…?”
She spotted a small opening in the rock, carved away by the waves and large enough for a gathering of people to pass through. Descending down the cliff, she made her way over to it and found that it didn’t stop there, instead traveling deep into the earth. The black rock formed a cavernous tunnel of sorts, and after standing there studying it for a moment, Tiona made her way inside.
The salty water barely came up to her knees, perhaps a result of its proximity to the lake, and after walking a short while, she found it disappeared completely, as the higher ground held the water back. Soon, the tunnel itself began to split off into all directions, almost like an ant colony, and her bare feet slapped against the darkened rock as she continued along.
“Geez, it’s like the Dungeon down here.”
There was no way anyone was going to be able to find them. Even if one were to stumble across the cave, sniffing out anyone hidden within its passageways would be near impossible. It was no wonder Kali and the others had chosen this cave to conceal themselves, and now Lefiya was down here, too.
Most of it formed naturally, but…human hands certainly helped it along, she thought as she eyed the magic-stone lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The light was mixing with the faint moonlight peeking in through tiny cracks up above. The smell of blood she’d been following continued down one of the tunnels, and Tiona hastened her step, occasionally descending farther into the long, vast cavern.
Finally.
“So you made it.”
“!”
She found herself in a large open grotto.
High above her head, the ceiling formed a wide cylindrical shape. The jet-black stone of the rest of the tunnel continued into the expanse, making the cave feel almost like the inside of a giant stone coffin.
Atop the piles of rock to her either side stood her former colleagues, the warriors of Telskyura, and sitting cross-legged on the highest of the peaks was the source of the welcoming call—Kali herself.
In front of her, though, was the one who mattered the most.
The sandy-haired Amazon, her face half-hidden by her black neckerchief, stood there in silence, waiting for her.
“Bache…”
“…”
Bache didn’t respond, instead merely directing her gaze toward Tiona. Her eyes glinted beneath the strands of her sandy bangs.
“…Where’s Lefiya, Kali?”
“We’ve got her somewhere else. Don’t worry, though. We’ll let her go…once the rite’s been finished,” she explained, her bloodred eyes narrowing in a look not dissimilar to a child who’d just recovered her long-lost treasure. “I must admit, I never thought this day would come. The opportunity to watch pupil challenge teacher, to see just how far they’ve each developed.” Her words crackled with an earnest zeal.
She glanced toward Tiona’s chest, eyes narrowing in disappointment.
“Though some parts haven’t developed as much as I would’ve liked…”
“Can we cut it with the comments on my figure already?!” Tiona shouted back with an angry wave of her hands.
As an aside, while Argana’s and Tione’s bust sizes were approximately the same, Bache’s surpassed both of them. Between the two younger sisters, Bache had beaten Tiona by a landslide.
“—Prepare yourself, Tiona,” Bache spoke up, uttering her first words since the now red-faced Tiona had entered the room. Her voice was cheerless, a signal that the pleasantries were finished. “This is a fight to the death,” she continued matter-of-factly as she flung out her right arm to settle into a battle-ready position.
“…We really have to?”
“A little too late for that now, isn’t it, Tiona?” Kali said from above.
“Yeah, but…I don’t wanna kill Bache…” Tiona responded without looking, her eyes focused directly on the woman in front of her. It was much the same as when she’d expressed her unwillingness to kill Tione all those years ago.
“I should never have read those books to you…” Bache stated, her tone callous. She didn’t even move.
Tiona scowled, but even as she did, she couldn’t help but notice something. Bache was cold, much more so than she’d been ten years prior. In fact, it almost seemed like she was now so sharp that the icy aura of antipathy around her was tangible.
She was now more powerful and heartless than Tiona could have ever imagined.
So close to becoming a “true warrior” of Telskyura.
“You…killed Elnea, didn’t you?”
“I did. Just as Argana killed Belnas…It’s what allowed us to reach Level Six.”
Elnea and Belnas were the other two candidates in the running for familia captain. The last time Tiona had seen them, they’d been Level 5s, powerful enough to make Tiona shudder in fear and awe. Killing Elnea had been Bache’s final test—the rite that had propelled her to Level 6.
Just like Argana.
Both of them had become monsters manufactured by Telskyura, the sole survivors in the barrelful of rats, cannibalizing the others to make their way to the top.
“I’ll give you no choice but to fight.”
If Argana was the snake…
…then right now, the warrior with bloodlust permeating her eyes was…
“—Die Asura.”
The ultra-short chant from Bache’s lips cut off her thoughts.
It was similar to Aiz’s spell. Bache’s only magic.
“Velgas.”
Bache thrust out her right hand, a blackish purple film of light surrounding it.
Then it solidified, growing rich and viscous enough to completely hide the initial radiant image summoned by the chant; it wriggled and squirmed to form a raging spiral.
This was Velgas. An enchantment Bache cast upon her right hand.
Element: poison.
An undefendable, venomous fang she’d already used to incapacitate so many of her brethren in the rites.
Yes, if Argana was the snake, then Bache was the venomous insect.
Even her magic itself had been appropriately dubbed the “Poison Queen.”
“!!”
As though waiting for just this moment, the crowd of Amazons surrounding them stamped their feet down in unison. Amid the tremors and shouts, the excitement and roars, a volatile sense of passion and fervor erupted throughout the stone coffin, bringing the rites of Telskyura to life before their eyes.
“…!!”
The poison in Bache’s magic guaranteed a swift kill.
If Tiona didn’t fight back, she’d be dead before dessert. She had no choice but to ready her own fists as her former teacher—and another younger sister—aimed for her life.
Standing there in the middle of their grotto battlefield—no, arena—their gazes met.
“Heh. Perfect. Let’s begin.”
Kali smiled as she looked down a
t them—then the two Amazons struck.
“Nowwww, Haruhime.”
Heavy clouds shielded the moon up above. Down below, the woman in question responded with a resigned “Yes, ma’am.”
“—Grow.”
She began the spell, chanting softly.
“That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes.”
Though her voice was delicate as it wove the ephemeral tune, the magic it summoned was strong.
“Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion.”
As the sky shook with a thunderous roar, the shouts of adventurers shrill in the air, not a single soul noticed the hum of her chant.
“—Grow.”
The heavenly, commanding sound of her voice drew forth a golden light. It formed a mist, a golden cloud of luminous particles, rising from the ground.
The veil hiding her face fluttered.
“Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above.”
She hated this chant.
Even if it ended up hurting someone, she had no way to save them.
“Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you.”
No, she couldn’t save anyone, this puerile girl who refused to stand up against the laws that bound her. And to hold such a hope was nothing short of shameful.
But perhaps, this light by itself would one day become a blessing.
Though someone as stupid as she couldn’t be saved, perhaps it could be the sliver of hope that could save someone else.
If that moment ever came, she would bestow everything upon that person, her body, her heart, and this light.
Her jade-green eyes now uncovered, she looked away, then released her light.
“—Grow.”
The light became strength.
“Guuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhh!!”
The deafening roar ended in a cry of agony as it pierced the very heavens.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 6 Page 19