Ch.263Isn’t That a Bit… Questionable?

A gentle touch caresses her chin.

Rosy heat spreads across her cheeks, and shallow breaths escape through slightly parted lips.

Her narrowed eyes, with pupils hazily unfocused, gaze at Isabella with adoration, revealing her affection without filter.

To anyone watching, she appeared perfectly enchanted.

…What are you doing there? I thought you had a way to resist.

Far from resisting, you’ve fallen completely under her spell!

Lacy approached me, gripping her cross spear.

Though her breathing was rough and cold sweat beaded on her forehead from expending holy power, her eyes still shone with firm determination.

Specifically, with determination as resolute as at the Great Fire funeral.

“They say mana naturally attracts mana… but to be so easily seduced and embrace a witch is truly blasphemous. I’ll have to purify you before you fall further.”

…What nonsense are you spouting?

I know priests and mages don’t get along, but pointing your spear at someone who was just fighting alongside you seems excessive, doesn’t it?

“No, stop this foolishness. Don’t you know some way to break this enchantment spell?”

“…Well. Even with a blessing to strengthen the mind, if the person has no will to resist…”

So once someone’s been enchanted, it’s difficult to break the spell, unlike preventing it beforehand.

This is troublesome…

“Hehe. It’s useless? This child is mine now. With such talent and beauty… she’ll have to work very hard in Claire’s place.”

Isabella licked her lips and stroked Ophelia’s hair with a lascivious smile.

Ophelia, eyes closed, embraced Isabella’s body contentedly, burying her face in her chest like a child longing for her mother’s embrace.

“Mmm… sister…”

Or rather, like a sister longing for her older sister’s embrace.

She looked so happy she could die.

“…Sister? Hmm… this child, I wondered why the enchantment worked so well… did she harbor such feelings for Claire? Yes, I’m your sister, Ophelia.”

Isabella tilted her head slightly at the word “sister,” but soon smiled gently as if it were nothing significant and embraced Ophelia’s head tenderly.

Her blackened eyes shot a sharp glance toward us.

A silent threat that she would crush Ophelia’s head if we tried anything foolish.

Damn it, what should I do?

No matter how fast I move, Isabella could snap Ophelia’s neck before I reached them.

Should I give up on Ophelia?

No, but that’s…

While I hesitated, considering my options, swirls of dark mana rose around Isabella once more—

“Ahh…!”

They dispersed with a moan.

Isabella’s brow furrowed slightly.

Ophelia, who had buried her face in Isabella’s bosom, was sucking on her exposed nipple like a nursing infant.

“Ah, aah…! Mmph, wait, wait a moment. This… later…!”

Her sucking technique must have been impressive, as Isabella flushed and trembled slightly.

“Th-this is blasphemous.”

Lacy gripped her cross spear firmly, her face reddening.

…You can say that again.

Really, she’s doing all sorts of things.

It was a scene that could diffuse even the tensest atmosphere.

“Hmm? Why isn’t anything coming out…?”

A pure, clear voice.

Ophelia raised her head from Isabella’s embrace and tilted it questioningly.

Sticky saliva stretched like a thread along her red lips.

…What isn’t coming out?

What exactly had she been doing to Claire’s body…?

“That’s strange?”

With a suspicious expression, before Isabella could react, Ophelia buried her face in her neck.

She sniffed, licked her neck with her tongue, and even kneaded her breast with her right hand.

“Your skin smells different. My sister smells like peaches and violets…? Your sweat tastes sweet rather than sour, and your breasts… are about 7cm larger.”

Suspicion turned to certainty in an instant.

The genius mage’s brain arrived at the answer faster than a breath.

Her dreamy eyes twisted fiercely as if ablaze, and the enchantment curse shattered in an instant.

“…How dare you impersonate my sister!”

Intense mana erupted from Ophelia’s entire body.

Thick lightning bolts struck everywhere, swirling like a storm.

“Gaaaah!”

Isabella, struck directly by the lightning, staggered backward.

Her arms were charred black to ash, and lightning-shaped burn marks were vivid on her heated body.

Ophelia landed lightly and created distance from Isabella, spewing lightning and flames.

“…So, that woman was doing such things with her dead sister?”

“Well, it seems so.”

Come to think of it, did Lacy not know Claire was alive?

Claire was a criminal deserving of execution, so Ophelia had asked to keep it secret.

Though I’m not sure if floating in a tank could be called “alive.”

“Good heavens, there’s a limit to blasphemy…! It seems there were two witches here. Indeed, both must be purified with light…!”

Lacy sighed in exasperation and wrapped holy light around her cross spear.

She looked ready to fire a barrage of light at both of them.

“…Does the Church of Elpinel prohibit homosexuality?”

If so, they should probably lock up Lilies first.

“No, that’s not the issue… that woman’s problem goes beyond sharing the same gender. How could she with her own sister…!”

Lacy’s eyes were twisted as if looking at filth.

…Honestly, I have nothing to say in her defense.

Not only incest, but breaking the enchantment in such a way—it’s a level of depravity that even Isabella, who’s recovering over there, would admire.

There’s no point in making weak excuses… better to change the subject.

“Anyway, lend me your ear. I’ve thought of a way to break that power.”

“…Is that true?”

Lacy brightened and brought her head closer.

After hearing my explanation… her expression said “is that even possible?”

[What a crazy idea. But it would be interesting.]

Hersella chuckled. I knew she’d find it amusing.

This woman seemed to secretly enjoy such bizarre antics.

The problem was Lacy…

“What do you think? Can you do it?”

“…Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’s possible, or if it would actually work even if successful.”

“We’ll find out by trying. Even if we fail, we don’t have much to lose, right?”

I smile confidently at the skeptical Lacy, trying to persuade her.

After all, this was a strategy that couldn’t be implemented without her agreement.

A bug-like exploit I’d routinely used in games.

Lacy’s role was crucial to this plan.

“Hey! What are you doing standing there? How am I supposed to hold her off alone?”

The psycho mage obsessed with her sister’s body shouted urgently.

Through her windswept red hair, bloodshot eyes looked toward me, pleading for help.

Where was that confidence from earlier when she was firing spells? Left alone, she couldn’t even last three minutes.

『Sing』

“-Salta.”

Isabella, who had been mangled by Ophelia’s magic, had somehow revived and was now overwhelming her.

A weakened version of the ritual that had collapsed the underground waterway.

Black vortices rose one by one around Isabella, and the dark mana that poured out intercepted and destroyed Ophelia’s magic.

Light shattered and sound exploded.

The young genius and the old mage fired all kinds of magic at each other like madwomen.

Lightning collided with lightning, and flames scattered in the wind.

Curse-laden beams shot out in straight lines, colliding with and canceling Ophelia’s mana barrier.

The ground rose up as stone fists swung, and torn flesh fragments stuck together and exploded.

It was a spectacle unmatched in splendor.

“You’re much better than Claire! Indeed, a talent worthy of her jealousy!”

“Don’t talk about my sister with that seafood-smelling mouth!”

…Anyone watching would think she was a deeply devoted sister.

Is she really devoted? Well, few sisters are as close as they are, I suppose.

Anyway, the power difference was clear.

Though Ophelia was a genius whose mana quantity and spell manifestation speed rivaled high-level mages, despite not having mastered high-level magic.

However, Isabella’s main combat style was simultaneously manifesting dozens of spells and bombarding her opponents…

Even in simplified form, it was beyond Ophelia’s ability to counter alone.

All of Ophelia’s spells were intercepted and dissipated, and black tentacles extended toward her.

Tentacles glistening with black oil, oddly blunt in shape.

Though they didn’t look designed for killing, they seemed powerful enough to shatter bones on impact.

“Haaaah!”

A blue-silver flash cut through the tentacles in a crescent.

From the severed cross-sections, pale fluid spurted out.

No, this is… shit, really…!

“Disgustingly obscene! Still playing around?”

I leap toward a pillar, avoiding the fluid I didn’t want to touch.

Ophelia, who wasn’t quick enough to react like me… let’s express our condolences.

“AAAAARGH!”

Ophelia let out a scream-like roar at the texture of the fluid covering her hair and face.

Mana filled with rage erupted like an active volcano.

—-

“I’ll kill you!”

Mana filled with hatred, released without calculation, driven purely by emotion.

Surprisingly, its power exceeded all the magic Ophelia had manifested until now.

– KEEEEEEEE!

A sound like a needle piercing the eardrum.

A whirlwind rising from the ground lifted Isabella’s entire body.

“Oh my. This is unexpected.”

And everything the whirlwind touched was ground up like fruit in a blender.

Debris scattered on the ground, walls and pillars within range, even Isabella’s body.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Isabella’s body was ground to dust.

That power was undoubtedly high-level magic.

Clearly, she had the potential to awaken as a high-level mage given the right catalyst…

But who would have thought such an indignity would be the trigger?

Truly, she’s a perplexing woman in many ways.

—-

Panting, Ophelia extended her right arm sideways, and groundwater rose like a waterfall to wash her body.

Even after grinding Isabella to dust, her face remained contorted with rage.

Well, Isabella would revive anyway.

“I’ve heard false rumors that a man’s essence helps improve magical power, but I never expected someone to actually awaken as a high-level mage. Should I congratulate you?”

With a cheerful laugh as if finding it hilarious, black mist-like substance gathered at the point where the whirlwind had appeared.

Of course. A witch’s immortality was so tenacious that even if the entire body was destroyed, it would reconstitute itself.

Like molding clay into human form, the gathered mist transformed into Isabella’s shape.

She appeared completely unharmed despite taking a direct hit from high-level magic.

And I was standing right in front of her.

The revival location is where life was extinguished. The moment when the netherworld escort activated due to the high-level magic was the best opportunity to approach her without interference.

“It’s too early for congratulations!”

Durandal glowing pale, Frosting flashing crimson-black.

Two streaks of light pierced Isabella’s body.

This is the end of your games relying on revival.

That power you trust in? It’s surprisingly easy to break.

Spurting blood tickled my cheek.