Ch.205205. Time of Distortion (3)

Erica, unable to heal herself and completely incapacitated.

Charlotte, whose buffs disappeared first, recognizing she was overwhelmed against the lycans and unleashing her inner beast.

The Tembris party had already lost two fighters to this crisis.

Crack, crunch!

At the front, Charlotte was mercilessly tearing apart the lycans.

The once adorable youngest member was now rampaging wildly, sacrificing her body in the process, yet there was no clear way to stop her.

In the back, Erica was receiving emergency treatment from Cain. However, with no signs of recovery in sight, the situation was truly suffocating.

After the healer, who had reliably supported their sustained battles, was ambushed by a suddenly appearing lycan, their once-solid balance had completely collapsed.

And finally, there was the time limit.

The only option left was to deal with the caster of this brainwashing magic, the corrupted worshipper, within the time limit.

“…Let’s go. Before Charlotte attacks us.”

“But she’s fighting the lycans. If we just watch and intervene at the right time…!”

“You need to see clearly, Aris!”

Aris slightly turned her head at Senia’s admonition.

But the girl with the bun hairstyle whom Aris herself had once eagerly patted no longer existed.

She had felt like she’d gained an adorable little sister. She used to playfully stretch those cute cheeks and rub her own cheeks against them.

That adorable little sister was now berserk, sweeping away any enemy in sight.

It was an utterly unpleasant sight for Aris. She began to feel resentful at her inability to provide any meaningful help.

Finally, Aris averted her gaze, pressing her trembling lips tightly together.

“I can’t do this… We can’t just leave her like that!”

“I’m not asking you to look at Charlotte, but to see who she’s fighting. Don’t you understand?”

Senia grabbed Aris’s shoulder and turned her gaze back to Charlotte.

The fragile girl was rampaging madly, tearing apart the lycans’ bodies in all directions.

Yet even in the midst of this, the entities she recognized as enemies remained consistent.

“She’s not… attacking the Imperial soldiers?”

“That’s right. From what I’ve observed. People right next to her were drawing swords and swinging them as if their comrades were mortal enemies, deploying formations and casting spells. But Charlotte isn’t doing that.”

“Does that mean… she’s selectively attacking only enemies?”

“Exactly. She chose to go berserk herself; this is far from a brainwashed reaction. The results of all her training are being demonstrated right here and now.”

The feral girl didn’t even glance at the trembling soldier nearby.

Even in her rampage, she seemed to be firmly holding onto the minimal rationality of not attacking humans.

“I don’t think I need to explain further. I’ve determined that we need to eliminate Defornice III as we are now.”

“”…””

Silence fell among all members. No one objected to Senia’s decision, indicating their agreement to follow her.

If they didn’t destroy Defornice III’s ritual, an even greater problem would arise. Charlotte had to be left as she was, unavoidably.

Fortunately, the feral girl currently attacking the lycans showed no interest in them, so they wouldn’t be hindered.

However, despite the fruits of her long training, there was zero guarantee that this state would continue indefinitely.

The Tembris party, having experience subduing her when she rampaged like a berserk beast during training, never forgot that Charlotte’s thread-thin rationality would disappear as time passed.

Therefore, they had only one goal: to eliminate the caster as quickly as possible and return Charlotte to normal.

“Then I should stay here.”

“Goden?”

“Though she’s ruthlessly sweeping away the lycans, the damage from the murky mana is undoubtedly accumulating in Charlotte. Someone needs to be able to subdue her.”

“Indeed… if we leave Charlotte in that state, even if she’s not brainwashed, she’ll fully transform into a beast and become another enemy.”

By then, the already weakened Imperial forces would be on the verge of annihilation, collapsing like dominoes.

What if they were attacked by Charlotte while eliminating Defornice III?

Though hypothetical, having more enemies when they already needed to complete their mission within a set time would truly be the worst-case scenario.

To avoid a total annihilation ending, someone needed to subdue her at the right moment, or at least stall until the elimination was complete and they could regroup.

Goden had decided to take on this role, confident he could maintain the appropriate balance having spent the most time with her during training.

“No. I’ll take that role, Goden.”

Retying her disheveled ponytail, Michelle interjected.

“We need to handle this while ensuring Erica’s buff doesn’t break. That means constantly adjusting our power, and being forced to modulate your defense against an attacker is a terrible matchup, isn’t it?”

“Hmm… that’s true. But Michelle, doesn’t the same apply to you? The attacker is also at a disadvantage.”

“My unique magic burns mana. Considering that, I’m better suited to face Charlotte. Fire magic doesn’t particularly lose to ice magic in a confrontation either.”

“You may be right about that.”

Blue Flame Michelle’s unique magic, Mana Burn.

That power burns mana, which is essentially the foundation of living beings.

Michelle had already faced berserk Charlotte most frequently during training, and considering Charlotte’s current state due to the murky mana’s nature, there was even a faint possibility of neutralizing and subduing her, making Michelle nominally the most appropriate choice.

“Go quickly. It’s urgent, isn’t it?”

Watching Michelle preparing to subdue Charlotte, all remaining party members departed.

***

Swish.

Michelle put on gloves she rarely used.

Though she always paid attention to power control, this time required particularly meticulous handling, so she wore the control gloves she used only during training.

Then she deliberately made a sound loud enough for Charlotte to hear.

“Charlotte, now that you’ve mostly dealt with the lycans, you should look at your big sister!”

“Grrrr…!”

The thread Charlotte had been desperately clinging to was about to snap. Considering the damage to her body, it was time for Michelle to step in.

“That’s right. Our cute youngest. You should only look at your sister. Don’t rush at anyone else, okay?”

Michelle’s blue flames were renowned throughout the empire, earning her the title “Blue Flame Michelle.”

Her flames mercilessly burned away mana, the foundation of living beings, sometimes passing judgment on evildoers by burning their mana.

For Michelle, this fight would be both the most difficult and exhausting.

Unlike during training, they hadn’t taken precautions anticipating a rampage, nor was this an environment conducive to subduing her, and they weren’t wearing protective gear.

This was a fight requiring full power. Moreover, with the penalty sealing their original strength, it was undoubtedly an even more challenging battle.

“Still, I’ve never really gone all-out against you like this before.”

Michelle had competed with most members in trials of strength, often matching or winning.

However, due to Charlotte’s distinct issues, a duel between them had never materialized.

So this time, even Michelle was extremely tense.

“Shall we have a proper match for once, little sister?”

Since this would be their first real confrontation.

Another bow, previously unused, was released from her back, and she took out the strong bow from Letipia she had been carrying.

Then she overlaid the bow with magical power, creating a magical boundary. This was Michelle’s shell-type magic armor, which she had never revealed before.

Twang-!

It wasn’t nocked on the bow, and it didn’t even exist among Michelle’s possessions.

Yet from her bow, an arrow with a sharp tip emerged, precisely targeting Charlotte’s left leg.

The arrow, carrying blue flames, pierced through the thick ice wall Charlotte had barely managed to create.

The tip of the arrow now slightly touched the girl’s left leg.

She probably couldn’t even understand where this arrow had come from. The ice wall, belatedly created, was something Charlotte had instinctively made after sensing the magical power’s presence despite her dulled senses.

“To be so wary of your sister. Isn’t that a bit much?”

Though exhausted from fighting the lycans, Charlotte must have felt the arrow’s pressure. Seeing Michelle immediately take a stance to draw her bowstring, Charlotte entered a defensive posture.

Fear had arisen that if even one arrow hit her directly, it would force her back into her inner self.

Detecting the threatening power of Mana Burn from the arrow tip that had barely touched her, the beast that had emerged from within tensed up.

Where would the magic arrow aim next?

And how should she move to deal with this annoying presence?

Following survival instinct, the beast within the girl lowered her posture. She was poised to spring forward.

A moment of silence.

Even breathing stopped, with only the sound of the tightly drawn bowstring breaking the shallow stillness.

Twang!

When the red-ponytailed archer finally released the blue flame-infused arrow at her berserk party member.

The battle between the two began in earnest.

A blue flame arrow projected toward the forehead. Michelle’s preemptive attack.

Facing the threatening Mana Burn with uncertain consequences, Charlotte concentrated a much thicker ice wall than before to block it.

It didn’t connect. Confident in her successful defense, the berserk girl rushed forward with her blue hair flying.

No matter how much rationality had flown away, survival instinct filled her mind.

She couldn’t fail to notice the delay in drawing the bowstring, so she intended to rush in before the magic arrow could be fired again.

But humans aren’t so simple.

Pak! Papak!

“!!”

Who said there was only one prepared arrow? The process of drawing the bowstring was merely a motion, and the number of arrows fired wasn’t fixed.

The greatest weapon humans possessed was intelligence.

“…Still not hitting.”

Though human intelligence is impressive, the two arrows fired with twisted trajectories to exploit a moment of carelessness didn’t connect against extremely heightened instincts.

The arrow aimed at the forehead didn’t connect at all due to her wariness, and the two arrows fired to exploit an opening only made minimal contact like the arrow to her left leg.

The magical power erased by this was negligible.

Despite the ice barrier being much thinner than before, the failure to penetrate it was due to Michelle’s current power control issue.

Although the dark blue demon wasn’t at full condition due to the sustained battle with lycans, she could still use her power, making the difference palpable.

“Tch…!”

With such a major weakness exposed, Charlotte no longer feared the arrows.

Once it became obvious that Michelle couldn’t exert power beyond a certain level, the same strategy wouldn’t work.

Nevertheless, Michelle didn’t flee and continued shooting arrows. She divided the power loaded into her bow and fired multiple times, without moving a single step from her position.

Eventually, the distance between Michelle, unable to use her full power, and Charlotte was reduced to within twenty paces.

This distance continued to shrink.

Ting!

Three steps reduced.

Ting! Ting!

Five steps reduced.

Ting!

With the last loaded arrow stuck in the emerging ice wall, the two were now close enough to grasp each other’s hands if they reached out.

It was the moment to confirm victory.

“KYAAAAH!!!”

While close combat is the worst situation for an archer, the one screaming now isn’t the red-ponytailed archer. After all, her essence is that of a mage.

When facing beasts, looking for a decisive blow is commonplace, but the method of landing that decisive blow isn’t fixed to just one approach.

A pillar of blue flame generated from the ground enveloped Charlotte’s body. A perfect hit with no question of missing.

“Now, return to normal!!”

Michelle poured the maximum power she could muster into the blue flame without turning off the mental interference immunity buff.

This was the best she could do with the power borrowed from artifacts and equipment.

“KYAAK, KYAAAAK!!!”

Yet the life of the berserk one, with only survival instinct remaining, was tenacious.

The dark blue magical layer possessed by the inner beast, not Charlotte’s own, was too thick to burn easily. The critical flaw of being unable to add more fuel despite having lit the fire ultimately led to hand-to-hand combat.

“What? Moving in that state… ugh!”

Michelle barely dodged Charlotte’s swinging arm and fell.

Though the power was much weaker, it wasn’t something that could be endured barehanded.

Moreover, Michelle, pouring maximum magical power into the blue flame, couldn’t even apply simple enhancement magic to her body.

Could she hold out in that state until Charlotte’s murky magic was completely burned away? That would be impossible even for Goden, Senia, and Cain together, all skilled in close combat.

Dark blue magical power began to rise from the petite youngest member’s hand. It looked as if she was accumulating power for one final blow.

Soon, within seconds, Michelle was destined to be struck down by that dark blue magic-infused hand.

Surely that was the case, but.

-Clank!

“Kyak?!”

Charlotte sensed an iron chain flying from somewhere and dodged.

“Grrrr.”

She glared fiercely in the direction the chain had come from, as if she’d encountered a natural predator.

Michelle followed her gaze, and a boy’s figure appeared.

“What a shame. If it had caught her, I could have dealt with this quickly.”

“Junon? How did you get here…”

To the entity possessing Charlotte’s body, he could be seen as a definite natural predator who had already dealt it one defeat.