Ch.320Chapter 320 – Palace Assault (9)

“Demon race…”

“They did it over there.”

Ideia and I, who had been fighting intensely, paused for a moment.

In the distance, I could see a giant ramming a three-headed hound with his shoulder and letting someone down from his hand.

I had been worried for a moment when the tower collapsed in the direction where Eve and Sera were, but I could tell they had escaped safely.

And with the giant’s appearance, changes began to occur in the sky as well.

‘The Soul-Devouring Formation is disappearing.’

Whether it vanished because the tower collapsed, or they had succeeded in destroying it beforehand.

The red sky slowly began to clear, and a blue sky started to appear beneath it.

The influence of the Soul-Devouring Formation had disappeared from Florence and the kingdom.

Then only one thing remained.

‘We just need to succeed in retreating.’

The reason my companions and I came here in the first place was to destroy the Soul-Devouring Formation.

Having achieved our goal, the only task left for me now was to retreat safely.

Of course, that’s if my opponent has any intention of letting me go.

‘As expected, he won’t just let me leave.’

Ideia was quietly pointing his sword at me, emanating killing intent.

While I had no need to fight him in this place anymore, that wasn’t the case for Ideia.

After all, he had come here because of me and my companions, so it was only natural.

I blocked Ideia’s swinging sword with my own sword.

And when Ideia quickly withdrew his sword and thrust it again, I changed my weapon to a shield and blocked it.

With a loud noise, my arm trembled, and I stretched out my arm, targeting the moment when Ideia withdrew his sword again.

A sword created using Chris’s divine power appeared in my hand, and I thrust it toward Ideia’s neck. Ideia avoided it by turning his head.

I changed my weapon to a halberd or spear and pursued Ideia, then blocked his counterattacking sword with my shield.

Seeing an opening, I deliberately jumped backward, and Ideia immediately began to chase me.

“Think you’ll escape?”

With just one stomp on the ground, Ideia instantly closed the distance between us.

Once again, I blocked Ideia’s attack with my shield and launched a counter by changing the weapon in my other hand.

Then I changed my weapon to an axe and threw it at Ideia’s head. As Ideia deflected it with his sword, I took the opportunity to strike his abdomen hard with my shield.

With a loud bang, Ideia was pushed back slightly and fell, but immediately used the rebound to rise again and swing his sword widely. I stopped my pursuit, jumped upward, and blocked the attack with my shield.

The impact flowed through the shield, sending my body flying backward like a cannonball, breaking through walls as I went.

“Kuk!”

After breaking through about two walls with my back and feeling the shock run through my body, I regained my posture and saw Ideia coming after me.

This time, I threw my shield at the approaching Ideia.

Ideia deflected the shield that was flying toward him in a horizontal spin with his sword, then swung his sword at me, now weaponless.

I quickly avoided that sword by briefly unleashing red lightning to increase my speed, just as I had done when facing Minos.

“You’re quick.”

Ideia said.

Then, while looking at me, he suddenly stretched his arm backward.

And with his fist, he struck something away.

-Tung!!

With a dull sound, whatever Ideia had struck soared into the sky.

And what had soared into the sky rotated and then, as if by agreement, landed in my outstretched hand.

Holding out the returned shield toward Ideia, I quietly said,

“You noticed that.”

“I was just being cautious when I saw that weapon not reappearing on your arm.”

It seemed he had noticed at some point that my weapons reappear on my arm if they get too far away.

So when he saw that a weapon hadn’t appeared on my arm for a while, he must have realized that I had thrown my shield like a boomerang to target his head.

I thought I had disguised it cleverly, but he saw through it.

After staring at each other for a few seconds, Ideia quietly spoke.

“I have a proposal, Kei.”

“I’m listening.”

It’s probably going to be nonsense anyway.

And Ideia quietly said to me,

“If you offer your neck, I will let your companions go today.”

“I knew you’d say something ridiculous, but since you’ve opened that heavy mouth of yours, let me ask. Why do you want my head?”

I spoke while maintaining my hostility toward Ideia.

Ideia replied with an indifferent face,

“Because you haven’t abandoned anything.”

As I remained silent, Ideia murmured gloomily,

“Because you, who have abandoned nothing, should not be standing before me.”

“…So you want me to abandon my life?”

In response to my words, Ideia simply pointed his sword at me in silence.

It seemed he had no intention of continuing the conversation, only demanding an answer from me.

“If you abandon your life, you could save your companions. That’s the outcome you want, isn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, I have no neck to give you.”

I said, creating a weapon again using divine power.

“Because I promised I would return alive.”

Was this the answer he had expected?

Ideia’s mouth opened immediately.

“Then I will kill your companions.”

“You can’t kill them. You’d have to kill me first.”

I glared at Ideia and said,

“You can’t kill me. I have to keep the promise I made to them. And you can’t touch them either. Because I will protect them.”

I changed my weapon to a halberd and pointed it at Ideia.

“You won’t take anything from me. And I won’t abandon anything.”

“Greedy and foolish.”

Ideia said quietly.

“You’re saying you’ll defeat me in an incomplete state where you’ve abandoned nothing?”

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

I quietly said to Ideia,

“An incomplete person who has abandoned nothing surpasses someone who claims to be complete. Isn’t that romantic?”

“Nonsense.”

Ideia glared at me and pointed his sword at me.

I also quietly aimed my halberd.

“Any more talk will only hurt my mouth, Kei.”

“Who would have thought you and I would agree on something.”

There was no need for further conversation between us.

I immediately blocked his swinging sword with my shield, and while retreating slightly, I swung my halberd.

+

The western gate began to fall into chaos again.

The gate, which had regained a brief moment of peace after the resistance successfully occupied it, was soon covered with the shouts of the resistance fighters, the Imperial Guard, the Holy Knights, and knights in black armor, starting with the battle between the giant and the massive three-headed hound.

Everyone was suffering from the three-headed hound’s indiscriminate attacks, and the giant was taking those attacks with his body to protect the resistance fighters.

And Vanilla was supporting that giant, Gigas.

“Damn, it’s really tough, probably because it’s almost a dead creature!”

Vanilla grumbled while launching flames, lightning, and icicles from her staff all at once.

The three attacks merged, creating a considerable explosion that forced one of the three-headed hound’s heads to jerk backward.

However, the remaining two heads lunged at Vanilla simultaneously, and Gigas deflected them with his fists.

“Gigas, your punches seem a bit weak?”

[I told you I’m injured! I’m lacking strength!]

Gigas’s power was significantly diminished compared to when he was in Alfheim.

Gigas thought he could easily handle this if his injuries were healed, but the wounds were still eating away at him.

They say you can’t always fight in optimal condition, but he wished for a little slack.

[I can’t maintain this state for long, so hurry up and finish it, Vanilla!]

“Try to hold out for at least 3 minutes, will you!”

Vanilla shouted what could have been either encouragement or criticism.

And passing by them, Chris, who had spread her golden wings, shot a golden light toward the three-headed hound.

-Kyaang!!!

One of the heads retreated, showing extreme aversion to that light.

As Vanilla had observed, this monster, created with necromancy, was also weak to divine power.

Even when it tried to bite again, Chris’s defensive magic wasn’t so weak that it would break under poorly positioned claws or teeth.

And with Chris’s support, the two demon race commanders joined forces to attack the three-headed hound.

“I never imagined in my life that I’d be fighting alongside a divine power user, and a goddess at that!”

“That makes two of us!”

“Ah, it would have been nice if we could also be healed by some goddess power!”

“I’m sorry about that!”

Chris managed to respond to Vanilla’s words even while flying around.

And they could see the three-headed hound rising again after being hit by their attacks.

‘I hope things continue to go well.’

Vanilla said, glancing at Gigas.

Steam-like substance was rising from Gigas.

Though she had brushed it off with jokes, his duration had clearly shortened, and his strength was gradually draining.

‘We need to end this quickly.’

While other areas might be fine, the resistance fighters were suffering fewer casualties only because Gigas was taking the enemy’s attacks with his body.

If his giant form wore off, it was obvious that there would be more casualties.

So they needed to settle this before Gigas’s giant form wore off.

‘Should I go all out without thinking about injuries and aftermath?’

Vanilla thought as she began to gather her power.

She briefly surveyed the battlefield around her.

‘Those black armors are definitely dangerous…’

From earlier, the Holy Knights and the Imperial Guard were completely outmatched.

At some point, it seemed as if the Holy Knights and Imperial Guard, who had been enemies, had agreed to deal with the black armors first.

Nevertheless, the number of black armors hardly decreased.

The only reason they hadn’t swept the battlefield was that the Holy Knights and Imperial Guard vastly outnumbered them.

Naturally, the resistance forces couldn’t match them.

Even Archery, judging that he couldn’t face them one-on-one, was now at the frontline, repelling soldiers.

Princess Gabriella and Domestica were helping him while retreating their forces.

Occasionally, they also fought against Holy Knights or Imperial Guards who targeted the resistance fighters.

But the damage to the resistance hadn’t increased much yet.

This was due to the presence of two people fighting alongside the resistance fighters.

‘They’re fighting well.’

Sera and Eve were holding their ground.

Enemies were being toyed with by Eve’s swordsmanship, which moved as if she could see right in front of her, and Sera was subduing enemies using mysterious tools created through magic or alchemy.

Particularly, Sera was using what Vanilla recognized as a grimoire.

Various tools or ropes of light emerged from the pages of the book, binding the black armors, and Eve delivered fatal blows to them.

As if keeping their promise not to hold back the White Dragon before coming here, the two were definitely fighting well.

‘Sia went to rescue the White Dragon.’

Sia, who should have been slaughtering enemies on this battlefield or helping to face the monster, had gone to confront the Dragon Slayer.

While they needed strength here too, the Dragon Slayer was particularly dangerous, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘I hope he’s not too late.’

From Vanilla’s perspective, the Dragon Slayer was the worst match for him.

If he had been touched by that sword that absorbs magical power, he would likely already be dead.

Yet Sia had assured her that he would stubbornly survive.

And she had rushed off, saying that if she arrived quickly enough, they might be able to defeat him with a coordinated attack.

‘Let’s leave the White Dragon to Sia.’

The black armors to Eve and Sera.

The White Dragon to Sia.

Having sorted things out, Vanilla made her decision.

She immediately called out to Chris.

“Goddess, can you buy me some time?”

“No problem, but what are you planning to do?”

“What else?”

Vanilla gathered all her magical power.

Her white skin, disguised to look like an elf, disappeared, revealing her original chocolate-colored skin.

Returning to her original form, Vanilla grinned.

“I’ll show you why I was a commander in the Demon Lord’s army.”

Immediately, viscous magical power began to gather around her.

Judging her to be dangerous, all the heads of the three-headed hound focused on Vanilla at once.

“Your gaze is too intense?”

Vanilla’s magical power was released.

Suddenly, spears of ice shot up from the ground, piercing the three-headed hound’s body.

Soon the three-headed hound shook its body violently to shake off the ice, but then Vanilla snapped her fingers.

“Is your body too cold?”

Immediately, fire began to engulf the three-headed hound.

The three-headed hound began to suffer from the flames, which had a different output than before.

And as blood burst from Vanilla’s side, Chris shouted,

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, just attack!”

“Okay!”

At Vanilla’s words, Chris immediately converted her divine power into an attack.

Holy light began to scorch the three-headed hound multiple times, and the creature, already battered by Vanilla and Gigas, finally began to collapse.

Whenever it tried to bite with its teeth, Gigas would intercept or Chris would defend with divine power.

‘I should make my decisive move soon.’

While continuing to support her companions, Vanilla looked at her body.

Blood was beginning to burst not just from her side but from various parts of her body.

It was due to the strain of fully wielding her original magical power.

‘Let’s hurry.’

Deciding it was time for her trump card, she shouted,

“Protect the surroundings, Goddess! This attack will spread out!”

Chris immediately used her divine power at those words.

A golden barrier appeared, and Gigas pushed the three-headed hound into that barrier with all his might.

As soon as the barrier trapped the three-headed hound, Vanilla grinned.

“‘A curse and great blessing given to those who betrayed the World Tree, following the gentle demon god.'”

Vanilla’s incantation began.

Black mist began to emit an ominous light.

“‘The beginning and end of the cycle formed by earth and vegetation.'”

Vanilla pointed her staff at the three-headed hound.

“‘Guide all to the path of circulation.'”

The black mist traveled along the barrier toward the three-headed hound.

The three-headed hound was surrounded by the black mist.

Vanilla completed her incantation.

“‘Rot and crumble. Become blood and flesh. Be reborn!'”

As the incantation ended, blood burst from various parts of Vanilla’s body.

And the three-headed hound, which had been trying to bite the black mist, stopped moving.

Then it began to scream.

-Keoong, keong?!!!

The three-headed hound began to writhe.

Shadows emerged from the black mist and began to bite the three-headed hound, and the bitten parts began to rot.

“What is that…?”

“The Art of Corrosion.”

Vanilla said quietly.

And that was explanation enough.

The three-headed hound began to melt.

Looking at the monster that was struggling wildly, Vanilla quietly said,

“No matter how much of a monster you are, you can’t survive when your entire body is rotting.”

Even though it was created using necromancy, there was nothing it could do when its body was rotting away.

Thinking this, Vanilla grinned and said,

“Be reborn as a beautiful tree next time.”

With Vanilla’s words, the three-headed hound continued to melt and soon began to transform into a massive lump of flesh.

The lump of flesh was surrounded by black mist, and watching this, Vanilla put her hands together as if praying for its soul.

And after finishing her prayer, she grinned and looked at Chris in the sky, and at Gigas who was slowly beginning to shrink.

[We did it.]

“Yes.”

Watching Gigas shrink and Chris descend from the sky, Vanilla thought everything was settled for now.

‘I still have some explaining to do, but…’

That’s something to think about later.

With a hazy mind, Vanilla just smiled and looked in the direction Sia had gone.

And she discovered something strange.

“…Huh?”

It was an object that seemed completely out of place here.

Involuntarily, Vanilla closed her eyes once and opened them again.

And she was surprised again.

‘…What is that?’

An enormously large water sphere had appeared in mid-air.

And inside it, the silhouette of a massive, elongated creature was visible.