※Below was translated by Sephallia. Thank you very much.
“Lily-sama! With these we’ll be there in no time!”
“Lily… is actually a little scared of being so high…!”
Despite her whimpers, the fact that her pace did at all slow showed just how strong Lily-sama’s sense of responsibility was.
Lily-sama and I were flying toward a volcano―Mt. Sassal―that was stationed just on the Bauer kingdom’s outskirts. It was where Loretta-sama had projected Yunu to be based on the current battlelines. In the past, Mt. Sassal’s eruption had caused a lot of damage to our kingdom. And somehow, yet again, it stood as a potential seed of disaster. It almost seemed to be fated.
“Lily-sama, oncoming!”
“―!”
Small silhouettes of ravenous birds approached us from a distance. We’d already known, but being able to fly wasn’t something exclusive to Yunu.
“I’ll take the right, Lily-sama could you take the left?”
“Y-Yes, leave it to Lily!”
“Alright!”
By now we’d both gotten rather used to flight. Lily-sama and I spread out to the left and the right intending to divide the flock in half.
But then―
“O-Oh my!?”
“Lily-sama!”
The monsters entirely ignored me, chasing solely after Lily-sama. Surrounded by a large number of hawks and eagles, Lily-sama was forced into a defensive position.
“Lily-sama! I’m on my―”
“Do you think I’d just let you?”
“!?”
I felt a piercing chill and instinctively dodged out of the way. That very moment I saw a black orb zip past me. When the orb plummeted into one of Mt. Sassal’s cliffs, a loud crash could be heard as the cliff face burst into disintegrating pieces. All that was left was a crater around the size of a house. The energy contained within that orb appeared tremendous.
“Well, I suppose I should start with a nice to meet you?”
“Why yes, it is our first meeting. Shall I name myself?”
The demon’s commander had possessed a flexible body with four legs like that of a lion’s with feminine features. Her expression was rather difficult to read and nearly as expressionless as a noh mask. As I looked her straight in the face, I bluntly replied,
“There’s no need for that, Yunu. Before you even could you’ll be cut in two.”
“How boorish. In that case, let’s just get this over with.”
The very moment she said as such, Yunu generated four more orbs just like the one I’d just seen.
“These’ll do more than just hurt!”
The four orbs seemed to swirl together as they flew toward me.
“Something like that won’t―!”
I swiftly flew charging into their path, but just barely dodged out of the way as I rushed toward Yunu.
“I have no intentions to engage you close up.”
With that, Yunu snapped her fingers. The moment she did, the four orbs that I’d just barely dodged burst apart into a large spread of bullets that then launched themselves at me.
“Grh…!”
“Just as I’d surmised. Alea François… You’ve lost your colorlessness, haven’t you?”
“What, you think I’d use my colorlessness against the likes of you?”
“And just how far do you think such bluffs will get you? But well, no matter. In that case, I’ll make full use of my magic.”
It appeared as I’d dealt with that last attack, Yunu had already made more distance between us. She then launched more black orbs at me. It appeared her style of combat was to fire magic from a distance.
“If only I was able to make use of my Null Blade…”
Having lost my colorlessness, both my Null Blade which allowed me to cut through magic but also the Extant Blade which allowed me to project slashes outward were unavailable. Beyond that―
“The energy contained in each of these orbs is too high…!”
I was aware Yunu was likely using dark magic, but even then the lethality of each of the orbs seemed far too high. I’d heard that the attacks this time centered around their overwhelming numbers and that their individual strength was lacking, but Yunu herself may rival the Three Great Archdukes of the past.
“I still need to deal with Lily Lillium, so I’ll need to settle things with you quickly.”
After she said that, she generated ten more orbs, launching them all at once. Using the orbs to constrict my path, Yunu encased herself in magic and rushed me.
“Grh… hah…!”
With no options for me to dodge, Yunu crashed into me head on, knocking me back. While I’d managed to put my sword in between us at the last moment, the damage I’d taken wasn’t insignificant.
“Oh? You managed to endure that? Quite impressive.”
“I’m so flattered.”
“But just how many can you take? It doesn’t look like you’ve got any cards left up your sleeve.”
“I’ll have you know I’m only getting started.”
“Is that so? Then go on and struggle.”
Yunu then raised her arms high in the air. The moment she did so, black orbs appeared surrounding me in all directions. It wasn’t just ten or twenty… not to mention the orbs seemed to be getting bigger. Could she be growing stronger as we fought…?
No, more importantly,
(I can’t dodge them all―!)
With no choice, I resolved myself to make a rush in the direction that’d result in the least hitting me, but then,
“To your left!”
“!?”
Following the voice I rushed to the left. For some reason, the orbs that had specifically been on that side had disappeared and I managed to break out of the encirclement
“Much thanks! Lily-sama!”
“It’s not something Lily can do much more! Sorry but it’s up to you!”
If I had to guess, Lily-sama had likely just used the Time Magic that she so detested and refused to use under normal circumstances. As it turned out, time magic was also quite burdensome. When I looked in her direction I saw her biting her lips to endure the after effects. Lily-sama had gone out of her way to use the very magic she saw as a symbol of her past sins to help me.
If I couldn’t make the best of this opportunity, my pride as a woman would be tarnished.
“Hmhm. You’re holding on better than I’d thought.”
“Something’s off.”
“…? And what might that be?”
“You’re too strong.”
I calmly made that observation.
“Too strong? What, admitting defeat already?”
“No, not at all. Just taking a step back and making the observation. Even during the fight you’re continuously growing stronger. If you were really this strong, it wouldn’t have been the Three Great Archdukes, it would’ve been the Four Great Archdukes.”
Again, the Three Great Archdukes was a title granted to the three powerful demons who served under the Demon Queen during the last war. Aristo, known for his ingenuity and strategy, Plato, who boasted his brawn, and finally Rates, who possessed near infinite regenerative capabilities and was considered near immortal.
“If you can repeatedly fire off spells while they also get stronger, you’d practically have to be the Demon Queen herself! And yet, despite seemingly possessing that power, you do not proclaim yourself the new Demon Queen.”
“It’s out of my respect for the Demon Queen.”
“Put simply, there’s some sort of trick behind your strength.”
Ignoring what Yunu had to say, I continued with my own deductions.
“Your attacks until now focused on sheer quantity, haven’t they? In actuality, they were effective as well. Humanity struggled to repel the hordes, but, what if you had a separate goal?”
“…”
Yunu’s already inexpressive face seemed to lose all remaining emotion. That itself felt like enough to confirm my suspicions.
“In that case, in order to display the strength you do now the constant waves of ‘overwhelming numbers’ were necessary. Let me guess, you must be converting the strength of your allies to use as your own?”
“… It must be true when they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Both parent and child are nothing but trouble to our kind.”
Then, after breathing out a long sigh, Yunu continued.
“That’s correct, Alea François. I receive a special providence in proportion to the number of beings that share my ideology.”
“Hm?”
“Yes, the realization that we all eventually return to nothing. The more that come to reach that ultimate conclusion, the more powerful I am.”
“My, you’re even willing to reveal how it all works? Don’t you know that’s the kind of mistake a third rate villain makes in a cheap novel?”
“Wrong, Alea François. Because even revealing it now, it’s too late.”
“!?”
“Why don’t you take a look below?”
While keeping my guard up against Yunu, I took a brief glance below. Countless monsters were lined up marching to the capital like a stroke of black ink about to blot the capital off of the map. Despite the massive numbers, the horde was organized in rank and file. Wolf shaped monsters led the march, various flying monsters looming above, and commanding officers howling their orders from the back. Monsters and demons of various shapes and sizes were packed together in their forward march.
“The reason we kept quiet for these ten years was so that my power could rise to its peak. Even if I cannot truly match the Demon Queen, I am currently stronger than any other demon out there.”
Yunu spoke proudly.
“… I’ll admit it.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I’ll admit that you’re strong.”
“Then will you sit still and await your end?”
She clearly asked that question to mock me, but,
“No. I vow that I will never give up and struggle ‘til my last moment.”
“…?”
My abrupt declaration made Yunu’s face flare up in confusion.
“It’s the oath that Mother Claire once made to Mother Rei.”
“And?”
“I just thought that the oath didn’t need to be limited to my mothers.”
“You mean?”
I corrected my stance, holding my sword ready in front of me.
“To not give up to the end, to struggle, and to live―I believe that is what it truly means to be human.”
“So you reject nihilism.”
“We do not return to nothing, but have to make the choice to continue on within one another.”
“… Looks like we’re entirely incompatible.”
“It would appear so.”
Just as I did, Yunu readied her stance as well.
“If you insist on struggling to the very end, then I’ll make sure to grant you that end quickly!”
“I must decline!”