Ch.196Collapse – 3

“That… is that guy, right? The former Demon Lord’s Army Commander.”

“Yes. She’s the woman who was the Succubus Queen before Nika.”

“She certainly looks the part.”

Leona quickly scanned Astaroth’s barely-there outfit, her chest more voluminous than her torso, and her figure that seemed capable of seducing anyone, man or woman, before nodding in agreement.

Except for the fact that her body occasionally crackled with static as a being pulled from the past, and her expression was half-melted as if she lacked a sense of self, she looked pretty much the same as before.

“How strong do you think she is?”

“Weaker than the original. After all, she’s neither real nor alive. And… she doesn’t look exactly the same as when we last met her.”

That thing isn’t a living being, just something randomly spewed out when time became unstable. How could it be stronger than the original?

Besides, the last time we met her, she was wildly swinging a demon sword from who knows where, but now she’s empty-handed, suggesting this was Astaroth from her days as a commander. If that’s the case, she’ll be a piece of cake for the current Leona.

Resolute, Leona gripped her holy sword tightly. A brilliant light emanated from the golden-tinted blade.

Seeing the radiant golden light, Astaroth—no, the fragment of the past resembling Astaroth—twisted her body and lunged forward. Judging by how she recklessly charged in headfirst, there seemed to be no need for concern.

—Slash!

Astaroth’s head was severed by the holy sword before I could even step in. The detached head rolled across the ground while the headless body staggered a few steps forward before collapsing.

“Huh… really? She’s extremely weak.”

Genuinely surprised, Leona looked back and forth between her holy sword and Astaroth. It made sense, though—the current Leona was comparable to the Leona at the end of the original story.

Though she hadn’t experienced everything from the original story, she had certainly been through even greater ordeals.

‘The holy sword seems stronger too.’

Perhaps because of that, the holy sword’s output was much stronger than I remembered. While we were both surprised for different reasons, the next wave of enemies began to appear.

“Mira! More are coming!”

“I see them.”

They were pushing through from the sky, which was dyed completely gold. Among them, I occasionally spotted those who had caused trouble trying to claim the Demon Lord’s position when Elysier disappeared.

And former Demon Lord’s Army Commanders too.

‘Durahan… isn’t here.’

Durahan wasn’t among them. I wasn’t sure if he simply hadn’t appeared yet, but at least my honor was safe for now, which I supposed was fortunate.

I channeled mana into eternity and drew a magic circle with my left hand. Unfortunately, I had to seal my holy incantation. It could interfere with the work of the Goddess and Demon God.

The holy sword was an exception because its output was practically negligible compared to the holy incantation. Leona didn’t seem bothered by this at all, taking it as a matter of course.

‘Which commander was this one again?’

I deflected an axe head-on while trying to remember. As the centaur’s body staggered, a bizarrely shaped frog that had been clinging to it leaped toward my face.

I sidestepped slightly and swung my sword. The frog was split in half mid-leap, its upper and lower body falling separately. Next, I crushed the centaur’s ankle and then removed its head as it stumbled.

Meanwhile, the frog’s separated upper and lower halves were attacking independently. A long tongue shot out from its gaping mouth. I grabbed it and swung it hard.

With a squelching sound of flesh being crushed, the upper body smashed into the ground and burst apart. The lower half, which had been about to jump, collapsed. The frog’s corpse immediately transformed into light and dissolved into the air.

I clenched my left fist, causing the ground behind me to transform and shoot upward like spikes. Dozens of monsters were impaled and similarly vanished into light.

“…This feels strange.”

Leona frowned after cutting down a swarm of attacking monsters.

“I feel it too. It’s like swinging through water, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never swung a sword underwater… but let’s go with that. You’re probably right anyway, Mira.”

“They only look the same, but their bodies are just clumps of time, so it can’t be helped. Be careful—if you lose your balance, you might drop your sword and scrape your fingers.”

“Um… it’s a bit odd that that’s what I need to be careful about, but okay.”

Leona tilted her head, finding it cognitively dissonant that she should worry about scraping her fingers rather than being hurt by the monsters before her, but she accepted the advice nonetheless.

“Where’s the next one—”

Leona stopped mid-sentence while looking for the next enemy. I wondered what was wrong, then noticed a different kind of figure approaching from a distance. A male student from Bellium Academy.

Not a familiar face. I could only tell he was from our academy because of the uniform.

“Do you know who that is?”

“No, I don’t. He’s just wearing our academy uniform.”

It seemed Leona didn’t recognize him either. She shook her head.

After hesitating briefly, Leona flashed her blade at the male student who had approached within reach. His knees, elbows, abdomen, and neck were severed in sequence, then disappeared in the same order they were cut.

‘For someone who hesitated, she showed no mercy.’

While I was inwardly impressed, the hesitant Leona spoke again.

“…Hey, Mira. If someone from our academy appeared… does that mean people we know could appear too?”

So that was why she hesitated.

“I suppose they could. Nothing’s certain, so just take it as a possibility.”

“…Okay.”

Leona nodded obediently and resumed fighting. I also continued to deal with the approaching enemies.

At one point, a witch who had clearly been a Demon Lord’s Army Commander—one who had appeared infected with tentacles after being defeated by Astaroth—attacked us, but she wasn’t much of a problem.

At worst, Leona coughed a bit from the poison.

—KUUUUNG!

That was until the tattered form of Mahbat appeared in the distance. Leona momentarily faltered as the dragon, still the size of a small mountain, looked down at us.

—KUOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

With a roar that seemed to tear the heavens and earth, its mouth opened, and a murky crimson breath spewed forth. Though weaker than the original, its absolute power was still tremendous.

I drew another magic circle with my left hand. As the geometric pattern completed, a translucent blue hemispherical light covered Leona and me. Immediately after, the breath raged all around us.

Inside the barrier that rippled like seawater in a typhoon, Leona, seemingly contemplating something, drew upon her divine power. The holy sword, receiving her power, vibrated softly.

“You’re going to handle this?”

“Yes. You killed it last time, Mira. And it was extremely painful and agonizing for you.”

“Well…”

I couldn’t argue with that. From an outside perspective, it certainly would have looked that way. It was a forbidden spell precisely because too many people died from the aftereffects.

Whether I could endure it or not, the sight of skin melting, swelling, and regenerating in real-time amid the intense heat couldn’t have been pleasant to watch.

“So this time, I’ll kill it.”

Wings of light formed on Leona’s back. Golden feathers fluttered from the wings spread wide on either side. As Leona flapped her wings vigorously and leaped into the sky, the breath attack suddenly stopped.

After briefly watching her soar upward with those golden wings, I drew a magic circle. A spear of lightning and flame, about my height in length, flashed into existence.

The monsters flying toward Leona burst simultaneously. Golden eyes glanced at me briefly before ascending even higher.

She rose until Mahbat had to lift its head to look up at her. Leona raised both arms holding the holy sword high above her head. A golden ball of light began falling downward.

—KUOOOOOOO!

This time, the breath was shot toward the sky. It was so powerful that an orange light briefly settled on the ground. But Leona was plunging down, dispersing all of the breath.

Light gathered in the holy sword. For an instant, the world seemed to stop, then resumed as Leona brought the sword down vertically.

The sun touched Mahbat’s head. In that moment, the slash extended to the tip of the body, precisely bisecting the mountain-sized body vertically.

—KWAAAANG!

The light dimmed. As the sun touched the ground, the resulting shockwave swept away all the beings from beyond time that were nearby.

Through the spreading shockwave, the clear image of Mahbat disintegrating piece by piece, unable to withstand the mighty power, was visible.

“…”

Leona, who had been kneeling on one knee, stood up. Though she didn’t express it in words, her face betrayed inner satisfaction. Her wings were spread proudly, confirming it.

If she had a tail, it would have been wagging from side to side.

“You finished it in one blow? Impressive.”

Leona grinned broadly at my compliment. Even if it was weaker than the original, taking down a dragon the size of a small mountain in one strike was no easy feat.

“…Wait. Getting such praise from you, Mira, gives me a strange feeling.”

I subtly avoided her gaze, which was becoming ambiguous. Leona raised her holy sword again with a half-doubting expression.

It was then that I felt as if my ankles were being swept by a rapid current and hurriedly steadied myself. At the same time, I caught Leona as she was about to topple over. She reflexively clung to my arm with a short scream.

Narrowing my eyes, I began to see the flow. Time was rushing forcefully in one direction. Whether this was a good sign or not, I couldn’t tell.

By the feel of it, it was more likely not a good sign.

“I think something’s wrong with the Goddess and the Demon God. Just in case, we should prepare—”

“Waaaaaah!”

Before I could finish, a dimensional gate suddenly opened and people came pouring out. I was momentarily stunned seeing their faces. I was pretty sure they were supposed to be waiting in the club room.

“…Huh? Mira? Leona?”

They seemed just as confused by the current situation, staggering and looking at us with similar expressions. Judging by their faces, they hadn’t come here voluntarily.

The flow that had felt like a rapid current had also stopped, suggesting the two events were somehow connected.

“…Is that really you?”

It certainly seems like them.

Just to be sure, I activated a magical tool. Elysier flinched slightly, then smoothly pulled out a necklace from her cleavage.

‘It is them.’

I pretended not to notice as she put the necklace back into her inner pocket. Elysier was staring at me intently—or more precisely, at Leona who was clinging to my arm.

She must be wondering what was going on, since she’d heard we were fighting, yet here we were clinging to each other. Leona, sensing the gaze, quietly moved away.

“But why suddenly…?”

We all tilted our heads in unison, suddenly gathered together like this. All except me, who had a rough idea of what was happening.

“Usually in cases like this—”

—Special human, we have a problem.

—We have a problem, special human.

“…There’s only ever trouble.”