The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"Sakura, I need your support!"
"Woof!"
I moved forward first.
I readied Kusanagi and charged toward Verg.
Using the momentum of my charge, I swung my sword at him.
A moment later, Sakura came running in.
She approached with quick, nimble movements, trying to sink her sharp fangs into Verg.
"Whoa, whoa, isn't two against one a little unfair?"
"Isn't attacking us out of nowhere unfair?"
"Hah, that was self-defense."
"What nonsense!"
"Grrrrrr!!!"
I slashed at him with Kusanagi's blade...
Verg dodged, but Sakura immediately leaped in, trying to sink her fangs into him.
Verg's shadow rose as though it possessed a will of its own, taking the shape of a shield and stopping Sakura's charge.
It wasn't just capable of attacking.
It could defend as well.
Its versatility made it quite troublesome.
But I wasn't afraid of him.
I didn't feel the oppressive pressure I had experienced when facing Alterra, nor did I sense the eerie aura that Mona had displayed.
"But..."
Never let your guard down.
I would fight seriously and deal with him properly.
First, I would aim to incapacitate him...
And if that proved difficult, I would take him down here.
With that level of determination, I accelerated the battle.
――――――――――
"Mina Lusage. Please surrender peacefully and submit yourself to the judgment of the kingdom and the Church."
Eris reached for the hilt of her sword while glaring sharply at Mina.
This was the last chance to settle things peacefully.
If Mina refused the warning, Eris would cut her down.
Yet Mina neither cowered under Eris's intimidating presence nor allowed herself to be overwhelmed by it.
She simply met Eris's gaze head-on.
"No, I cannot surrender. I have a mission that I must fulfill."
"And what is that mission?"
"To bring peace to the world as a member of the Hero's party. Not by defeating the Demon King, but by making peace with the demons... The means may be different, but what we seek is peace."
"You are no longer a member of the Hero's party. Arios Orlando has already been stripped of the title of Hero."
"That..."
For a moment, Mina's expression turned bitter.
However, she quickly seemed to regain her composure and continued.
"To me, the only Hero is Arios. He is the true Hero. Therefore, I must work as his hands and feet to make the ideals Arios strives for a reality."
Fight for Arios.
At first glance, it seemed no different from the feelings Kanade and the others had for Rain.
But there was one decisive difference.
Mina had no will of her own.
She believed that everything Arios thought was absolutely correct...
Without forming opinions of her own, without ever questioning him, she simply did as she was told.
Kanade and the others were different.
They basically trusted Rain's words and acted for his sake...
But if they felt he had done something wrong, they would correct him.
They would tell him that what he was doing was wrong.
And if he still refused to listen, they would stop him by force if necessary.
Fortunately, things had never escalated that far...
But they possessed enough resolve to do so, along with wills of their own.
"Mina Lusage... you really are..."
Eris concluded that there was no way to persuade Mina and drew her sword.
"Then I will have to restrain you by force."
"Don't assume it will be that easy."
Eris struck first.
Displaying explosive acceleration, she closed the distance in an instant.
At the same time, she swung her sword, aiming for Mina's arm.
Mina, on the other hand, still had some room to spare.
She avoided Eris's attack with a backstep.
She cast a counterattack spell to prevent Eris from pursuing her...
Then fired several more spells in rapid succession, completely reversing the momentum of the battle.
Despite having fallen from grace, she was still a former member of the Hero's party.
Her combat ability was considerable, and even against a Holy Knight, she wouldn't be defeated so easily.
...At least, that was true in the beginning.
Eris specialized in close-quarters combat.
Mina specialized in supporting from the rear.
There was no need to think about who had the advantage when they clashed head-on.
"Ngh!"
The force behind Eris's sword strikes increased, and Mina was gradually driven into a corner.
She hadn't suffered a fatal blow yet, but it was only a matter of time.
"I can't lose here...!"
Mina summoned every ounce of her strength and desperately chanted spells to fight back.
She couldn't lose here.
She couldn't be captured.
If that happened, then what had her entire life been for?
Everything she had done alongside Arios, believing that she was doing it for the good of the world, would all be dismissed as meaningless.
It would be declared that she had been wrong.
That would be tantamount to denying Mina's entire life.
"I... I haven't done anything wrong!"
Mina screamed with all the strength she could muster.
"Don't you dare!!!"
As if trying to drown out those feelings, Eris hurled her words at Mina with tremendous force.
"What...?"
"Because of you... because of you...!!!"
Eris's eyes burned with fury.
No.
Calling it anger would be far too mild.
They were flames of hatred.
Distracted by this completely unexpected reaction, Mina's attention wavered...
Comments
Post a Comment