episode_0249

Emergency Evacuation

“Such foolishness…!! Are you acting so impertinently because Aria is by your side, Zeke Looprian…? Do you still not realize that you were nothing more than a pawn in my game!!”

“Oh my? How regrettable for you to say such a thing, Camilla. Didn’t Sir Zeke, whom you dismissed as a mere pawn, splendidly disrupt your plans like this? And if it weren’t for Sir Zeke, Sir Dio V Runner wouldn’t have been able to close the dimensional path because he would have been busy fighting me… She chuckled. Seeing you so furious truly makes me think you’re rather cute~!”

“Shut up, Aria Ritt!! Even if most of my followers have fallen and I’m the only one left right now…. Do you truly think you can handle me, who has almost fully received power from the divine source beyond the dimension?!”

Provoked by us, Camilla erupted in a furious rage, then began emitting divine power from her entire body as if to prove her might. Then, an intense yellow light emanating from Camilla’s body began to illuminate the surroundings, and the rebels resting in the nearby forest gazed at Camilla’s appearance and began to gasp in shock.

“That monster… does she still have power like that left?! I thought it was over now that Dio V Runner closed the dimensional path….”

“It’s the dimensional path that’s closed, not Camilla who disappeared… So, in a word, this situation… it’s not over yet, damn it!!!”

“What’s more, if she fires another beam as intense as the one that created a canyon just now…. No… if she fires a beam even stronger than that… we probably won’t be able to endure it….”

Realizing that Camilla still possessed immense power, the exhausted and heavily injured rebels judged that it would be difficult for them to withstand Camilla’s beams in their current state, and began to feel greatly troubled. At that, Bivi, who had been carried on Protega’s back, slipped from his grasp and landed on the ground, then looked with anxious eyes at Aria and me, standing far away in front of Camilla, and worried.

“Sir Zeke and Lady Aria… I’m worried if they’ll really be alright…. Protega… shouldn’t we go help them again?”

“My heart desires it, madam…. But we are completely drained of all our strength right now…. Everyone had been trying to conserve more strength than us, for Zeke and Aria… Moreover, in this situation where the fanatics are constantly attacking us…. We no longer have enough strength to go help those two.”

Protega was frustrated that even with Dio V Runner’s help, time had been bought, but everyone was still exhausted, and their remaining stamina was insufficient to support the two. At that, Bivi also looked at the two with a sorrowful expression, and Suin, who had been transporting the injured or those disoriented after being freed from brainwashing, panted and asked the elf beside him.

“Gasp… gasp… Is this all done?”

“Everyone on that side has evacuated, Suin. But… something’s strange…. Doesn’t it look like Camilla is looking at us right now….?”

“What… what did you say…?!”

When the elf said it looked like Camilla was looking their way, Suin turned his head in great dismay, and realized that the now colossal Camilla was indeed looking at them, causing him to gasp in shock. At that, Aria and I also became greatly flustered when Camilla suddenly looked towards where the evacuated rebels were, and sensing something, I urgently shouted at Camilla.

“Camilla!! Where are you looking right now!! Look at us, your opponents!!”

“Zeke Looprian… I already know that you deeply cherish those heretics… Above all, all those abilities you manifest with magic are heretical powers…. That means you cherish those heretics that much, doesn’t it…? In that case….”

“….!! Wai… wait… Camilla… it looks like she’s reaching her hand towards us right now…!! Oh, this is insane…!! Run!!! Everyone, run at full speed!!!”

Having grasped Camilla’s true intentions, I tried to divert her gaze, but Camilla was already extending her hand towards the rebels hidden in the distant forest, gathering divine power in her palm. At that, the rebels realized Camilla was targeting them and frantically began to flee. However, with the injured and those still disoriented, they could only escape with difficulty. No…!! At this rate, many people will die…!!!

“Aria!! We have to stop her!! At this rate, there will be many casualties!!”

“She chuckled lightly. Don’t worry, Sir Zeke. This Aria knows best that Sir Zeke is someone who greatly worries about others…!!”

As I worried greatly about the others, Aria, saying she knew I would worry about others like this, began to gather black divine power in both hands. At that moment, Camilla fired a powerful beam from her palm towards the rebels, and Aria, matching the beam, waved her arms to spread black divine power like a curtain, blocking Camilla’s beam. Then, seeing Aria’s brows furrow slightly, as if she was now struggling to block Camilla’s divine power, I realized Camilla had become even stronger than before and gasped in shock.

“Wha… what?! Aria was able to deflect her attacks effortlessly just now… why is she struggling now?!”

“Until just now, I had to concentrate on connecting to the divine source in another dimension…. But have you forgotten that I no longer need to worry about other things? That means I now have the freedom to concentrate even more power on you…!!”

“Ugh…!! You’ve certainly grown stronger than before, Camilla…!! But I can withstand an attack of this magnitude…!!”

Aria gritted her teeth and said that even if Camilla could now unleash powerful attacks upon them with full concentration, she could withstand a beam of this magnitude with her own abilities. Aria… you used a lot of power when you liberated those people earlier… Now you’re being stubborn in front of me…!!

“Saintess Aria…!! But haven’t you forgotten something? Don’t you know well that I haven’t just been attacking by firing beams from my hand until now?”

“….!! Wait… don’t tell me….!!”

“Didn’t I tell you? I can now fully concentrate my mind on our battle…!! That means I can now destroy you with all my might…!!!”

Camilla re-emphasized that she could now fully concentrate her power on them, then formed countless circular formations around her. Those… those circular formations… they aren’t beams from Camilla’s hand, but they can still fire beams powerful enough not to be ignored…!!

‘Oh… this is bad…!! Aria’s curtain won’t be enough to block all those beams…!! And Aria will definitely be stubborn and spread her curtain wide to block the beams anyway…!! In that case, what I need to do is!!’

“Now… can you block all of this, Saintess Aria…!! Can you block all these countless beams of mine with your meager black divine power!!”

“Ugh…. But if it’s to fulfill what Sir Zeke desires…. This Aria… will burn her body to fulfill Sir Zeke’s wish….!!”

“Hold on a little longer, Aria!!! I’ll help you now!!”

“…?! Si… Sir Zeke?!”

As Aria, as I expected, tried to forcefully pour all her divine power to expand the curtain, I began to pour magic into Trahan. At that, Aria and Camilla, sensing the strong concentration of magic, became flustered, and I immediately gripped the magic-condensed Trahan with both hands and shouted at Camilla.

“In that case, let’s see if you can defeat our magic with your meager beams, Camilla!!! Go, Trahaaaaan!!!”

I threw Trahan, heavily imbued with magic, directly at Camilla. At that, Camilla looked at Trahan approaching her, and her face contorted in disbelief, as if she found it ridiculous that I thought I could hurt her by simply throwing Trahan.

“Ha…! Do you think such a primitive attack would work on me? A greatsword like this can be handled with just one beam….?!”

Camilla, showing her arrogance, tried to shoot down my Trahan by simply firing a beam from one circular formation. However, thanks to the magic I had been pouring into Trahan since before, my Trahan now contained highly concentrated magic, and a single, weakened, divided beam from Camilla couldn’t possibly stop it.

“Do you think your divided beam can pierce through concentrated magic…?”

“Tch….!! How annoying…!!”

As Trahan continued to fly towards her without stopping, Camilla finally fired beams from five surrounding circular formations, shooting down my Trahan. Good…!! Camilla’s circular formations work on the principle that they disappear after firing a beam… She just summoned around thirty circular formations, by a rough count…!! At least I made a few of them useless!! And then!!!

“It’s not over yet, Camilla? Didn’t you focus too much on my Trahan?”

“What did you say…? What do you mean…!!”

“Camilla!!! Take this back too!!!”

The moment I summoned Trahan, which was falling to the ground, back to my hand and said that she had focused too much on Trahan, Aria bounced Camilla’s beam, which she had been blocking, right back at Camilla. At that, the beam emanating from Camilla’s hand was deflected by Aria, splitting into several strands, and engulfed Camilla. Good…!! She took a hit with enough force to create smoke…!! And thanks to the beam splitting into multiple strands, some of the circular formations should have been broken….?

“How trivial…!! Did you think my circular formations would break if you bounced my attack back…!!”

“Wha… what!?”

When the smoke cleared and I saw that the circular formations, which I had thought would be broken by Camilla’s beam, were still intact, I gasped in great shock. At that moment, Camilla’s circular formations began to glow and then started firing beams indiscriminately, and Aria and I desperately tried to somehow block Camilla’s beams with our combined strength. But even when divided, Camilla’s beams were still immensely powerful, and we could only struggle to swing our staff and Trahan to deflect them.

“Ugh…!! There are too many beams; it’s hard to shoot them all down…!!”

“Agh…!! You keep choosing to do only annoying things, Camilla…!! In that case, I’ll just attack you directly….”

“Do you have the luxury to do that, Saintess Aria…!! Even if you aim for me, my attacks won’t stop…!!!”

“….!!”

The moment Aria gathered a mass of black divine power in her staff, intending to target Camilla directly, Camilla summoned about fifty circular formations in front of her, preventing Aria from even thinking of such a move, and aimed them directly at the rebels in the forest. At that, we looked at those circular formations and instantly realized that they couldn’t all be blocked, gasping in shock. Oh no…!! There are too many beams…!! This is…!!! The moment Aria and I were greatly shocked and our minds went blank, Uncle Gid’s hearty voice called out to us from below.

“Zeke!!! Aria!!! Don’t worry!!!”

“…?! Un… Uncle Gid….?”

“He chuckled heartily. It’s troublesome if you think we’re just rebels gathered to make a last stand!! Everyone already came here prepared for a direct confrontation with Camilla!! So… trust in all of our strength!!!”

“Our strength…? What do you mean, Un…!! Wh… what?! Si… Sir Zeke!! Look at the rebels!!”

Aria, bewildered by Gid’s words, looked greatly flustered, then turned her head towards the rebels, discovered something, and urgently called out to me. At that, I heard Aria’s shout and turned my head towards the rebels, and seeing something unexpected happening there, I was greatly astonished. Contrary to my expectation that everyone would be overwhelmed and brutally killed by Camilla’s beams, the rebels who could still move were somehow blocking Camilla’s beams by unleashing their most powerful abilities. At that, Yuria flew towards the rebels, taking Uncle Gid with her, and shouted to us.

“If everyone combines their strength, it’s about the power of one Aria, Zeke!!! So, can’t you trust our strength a little!?”

“Yuria…”

“Im… impossible…. Those… those insignificant heretics are blocking my beams….?!”

Camilla, perhaps having expected the rebels to be unable to block her beams, was more shocked than us. The elves combined the power of the spirits they contracted with and the power of other spirits to create a massive barrier of energy, blocking Camilla’s beams, and the beast-kin and humans were blocking the beams by combining the power of the moon and magical energy. The dragons, along with the fairies, were also blocking Camilla’s beams by releasing energy from their mouths, and the monsters were somehow enduring the beams using their tough bodies. Meanwhile, Andres, who was blocking the beams alongside Protega, gripped his staff tightly and shouted.

“Graaaah!! These beams…!! We’ve already experienced this through a priest named Shalev or whatever he was!!! Isn’t that right, Protega!!!”

“That’s obvious, Andres…!! We’ll buy time until everyone evacuates, even if we have to squeeze out our last ounce of strength!!!”

At Protega and Andres’s shouts, everyone, exhausted and with barely any strength left, began to struggle to protect the people from Camilla’s beams, using all their remaining power. It didn’t matter if the targets of protection were of different races. At the threshold of death, everyone was equal, and no one wanted anyone else to fall, so they used all their might to block Camilla’s beams. In the midst of this, a beam flew towards an injured person.

“Aaaah!! Th-the beam…!!”

The human knightess, resting under a tree because she couldn’t move due to her injured leg, began to tremble in fear as the beam approached her. At that moment, Cecilia, Merzel, and Remie appeared, then released their auras to protect the knightess from the beam. Upon confirming that the human was safe, Cecilia said to Remie.

“Remie! Quickly take that person and get out of here!! Merzel and I will cover you!!”

“Understood, Cecilia…!! Let’s go, quickly!!”

Just like before, everyone moved for everyone else, beginning to escape from Camilla. Since they no longer had to rush to defeat Camilla, everyone, this time, frantically began to flee in reverse to escape from her. Thus, the rebels moved as if one body, slowly retreating backwards, and finally, when all the distant fallen personnel were rescued, only Aria, I, and Camilla remained in front of the Pioneer’s Shrine…. Wow… I didn’t think this would succeed…

“Heh…. Hahaha… Everyone really retreated safely, didn’t they…? Well… those people are strong, even if they can’t do anything against Aria…”

“She chuckled. Finally, a situation like this has arrived, Sir Zeke. To be alone like this… it’s a strange feeling, experiencing it after so long… So… if we get rid of this bothersome goddess in front of us, wouldn’t we feel even better?”

“…. How can this be… How… how did those wretches block my attacks…?”

When Aria asked if I would feel even better if they just got rid of Camilla now, I quietly nodded and turned my head towards Camilla with Aria. Then, Camilla, who was still staring blankly into the air, unable to shake off the shock of the rebels blocking her attacks, came into view. And at that moment, when Aria shot black divine power at Camilla’s face, Camilla snapped out of it and glared at Aria, and Aria and I smiled at such a Camilla and spoke.

“Well… now there are only the three of us left. Although the rebels have disappeared… it’s actually fortunate, isn’t it? Isn’t that right, Sir Zeke?”

“Now we can move freely without worrying about anyone…. What’s more, Camilla!! You can’t take anyone else hostage now either!! Isn’t that right!!!”

“…. You truly are nothing but obstacles in my life… If I just kill you, I can proceed with my plan to make this world my own again… Yes… I will utterly crush you…!!”