episode_0246

Clench…

As the two Awakened clashed and collided, Rahel intensified her power even further, confronting Thirteenth.

Outside the world where the two were isolated, back in the hotel hallway where they originally were.

“S-Sister…! How…?!”

Dorothy lowered herself in front of the hero who had lost consciousness, about to slam the knife in her hand down.

And then there was Dorothy, gripping the blade of Doraji’s knife tightly with her hand, preventing it from going down any further.

“Let go, Doraji… I told you, don’t do anything that could kill someone…”

“Sister! This is…!”

“Let go of that hand, Doraji.”

“Ugh, ugh…!! Sister, your hand is bleeding… Let go quickly!”

“You let go! Doraji!!”

At Dorothy’s uncharacteristic shout, Doraji seemed startled and released the knife.

Seeing this, Dorothy sighed and threw the knife away.

Having grabbed the blade of the knife with her bare hand, her hand was covered in blood.

But perhaps because of the drug that Doraji had injected, she didn’t feel much pain. Rather, it was frightening because it felt like it was turning into pleasure.

“D-Doraji… don’t… touch my hand… That’s an order, Sister…”

“Ugh… Sister…!”

“What did I tell you…!! I clearly told you not to kill…!! As your sister, I’m clearly telling you…! Do I have to punish you?! Do I have to hate you!? Doraji, answer me!!”

Ugh, Dorothy staggered as if she were about to collapse.

Doraji tried to support Dorothy, but Dorothy held out her hand to stop Doraji.

‘The drug… shouting like that… my head is ringing…’

She wanted to let go of her mind and succumb to the drug right away.

Even now, she didn’t really know if she was really angry or not.

It was just that her consciousness had partially returned with Thirteenth’s voice a moment ago.

Seeing her sister Doraji trying to kill someone, she felt that this wasn’t right and acted on her heart’s prompting.

But with her reason and thoughts messed up by the drug, Dorothy couldn’t even properly understand what she was saying.

While Dorothy was sweating and panting due to the drug, and showing bizarre behavior such as giggling or crying.

Doraji sat down away from Dorothy, biting her lip tightly and clenching her fists.

The younger sister seemed to have made some kind of decision in her heart.

And.

The situation was ended by a newly intruding third party.

“Alright, that’s enough~.”

Clap!

A loud clapping sound was heard.

And with that sound, Doraji experienced her vision becoming greatly distorted and staggering.

‘Huh…?’

“So that Thirteenth-nim isn’t worried, let’s quietly wait outside, shall we~? What’s the point of making things complicated~? If Captain Rahel wins, we’re all going to die anyway, and if Thirteenth-nim wins… well, if someone dies or gets even more injured, that side won’t be safe either, right~?”

“You, are…!”

“So, shall we be quiet for now?★”

Doraji’s strength drained away, and she could barely lift her head, curling up like a turtle.

In her gaze, she could clearly see Apple, who had fainted, looking down at her.

She had clearly fainted, but it was a mild concussion caused by the sound of the flashbang at close range, so she had woken up quickly.

The Staff Officer was just unable to wake up because Thirteenth had injected him with drugs.

“So, listen. Let’s just wait a little more quietly, younger sister.”

Doraji seemed resentful and gritted her teeth, but when Apple patted her shoulder, even the strength to grit her teeth disappeared.

She belatedly realized that this was due to Apple’s brainwashing technique.

“Now, let’s relax.”

“Keep going, keep going, all the way~.”

“First, starting with the legs… also the arms… the stomach too… the neck too… the head too….”

“Let’s relax, let’s relax.”

Along with Apple’s voice, which sounded like a spell, strength was leaving Doraji’s body in real time.

And before long.

Doraji lost consciousness and collapsed….

Turning Doraji’s face to confirm that she had definitely fainted, Apple also sat down on the floor.

“…This side is done, so I’ll leave that side to you. Don’t lose. Fighting, Thirteenth-nim.”

She narrowed her eyes and muttered, looking at the empty space where the two had disappeared….

* * *

Clang! Clang!

“Hah… Hah…!”

Clang!!! Crack…!!

“Hoo… Hoo…!”

Inside the isolated space, the battle between Thirteenth and Rahel continued.

Just by being there, just by moving forward, an intense coldness that froze everything around them emanated.

Each slash she swung was terrifyingly powerful, as if it could split a mountain.

Such pure white slashes continued and continued, but.

However, the sword never reached Thirteenth.

Rather, Rahel, who was continuing her offensive, was showing impatience on her face.

That was because Rahel had already allowed three or four more effective hits, in addition to being thrown into the pond a while ago.

Thanks to that, her pure white uniform had become dirty with mud and dust….

‘After all… it was a big drain when I fought the 4th Squad Captain…’

‘………………Ashe was amazing.’

Perhaps because she had taken off the 『Brainwashing Device』 she had been wearing, the thoughts that had been restricted until just before were slowly reviving.

Who am I.

Why am I doing this here?

Who is the opponent in front of me?

Those things were not yet clearly emerging….

“ 【Bloom, Ice Flower】 !”

Rahel shouted, jumping back greatly.

With her incantation, swords of ice were created around her.

The swords of ice floating in the air were shot at Thirteenth as they were, or swung at him as if they were thinking and moving on their own.

Thirteenth was surrounded by swords of ice.

Towards such Thirteenth, Rahel kicked the ground again.

“ 【Bloom】 !”

With that incantation, Thirteenth’s feet froze with a crackling sound.

Judging the distance from Thirteenth, who had been created by jumping back a moment ago, Rahel charged her body with magic power.

And as if bursting the magic power she had gathered in an instant, she became a pure white meteor and rushed towards Thirteenth.

Thirteenth’s chain anchor was in a state where it was difficult to handle properly because the ice swords, which had a strength greater than diamond, were stuck or surrounded.

Likewise, proper movement would also be impossible due to the threat of other ice swords and the ice pillars that had risen from the ground, freezing his feet.

‘You won’t be able to avoid it, villain…!’

Rahel’s powerful magic power was concentrated on her sword.

Rahel, who was chosen by 【Libra】 and received its grace, was blessed with 『Invincibility』.

If the opponent is strong, she becomes even stronger, and if the opponent is weak, she tramples on them with her excellent inherent power.

Strong strong weak strong.

With this power, she can never lose.

Losing, defeat, is not allowed with this power.

Remembering that fact deeply in her heart, Rahel, who had become a ray of light, unleashed a swift slash.

The 『Invincible』 slash instantly cut Thirteenth in half——

Srrr…

“Huh…?!”

——Disappeared.

Like a mirage, the man who had been pierced by the sword disappeared before Rahel’s eyes.

Crackle crackle crackle crackle crackle!!

The large rocky mountain that had looked like Thirteenth until just before Rahel swung her slash cracked, and the area around the trace of the slash was instantly covered in ice.

It was clearly a terrifying power that would not leave even Thirteenth unscathed if he were to receive it with his bare body.

But the Thirteenth she was aiming for was not here….

“I’m here, Rahel.”

Swoosh!

At the voice coming from right next to her, Rahel immediately swung her sword without delay.

But as expected, the presence of Thirteenth, who had been in that spot, disappeared as if melting away in an instant, and Rahel’s blade cut through the innocent air.

‘This ability… this magic is…!’

It was a very familiar feeling.

Rahel knew it well.

Her subordinate, Coco, a member of the same 7th Squad.

It was the magic of 【Illusion】 and 【Mirage】 that she used…!!

“Did you notice, Rahel? This ability is pretty good.”

As if mocking such Rahel, a large number of illusions appeared around Rahel along with Thirteenth’s voice coming from the air.

It was all Thirteenth.

Short Thirteenth, tall Thirteenth.

Lean Thirteenth, fat Thirteenth.

And many others, Thirteenth’s doppelgangers, with slightly different or the same appearances, appeared on the ground and in the sky, blocking Rahel’s vision and surrounding her.

“”““Now, who is the real ‘me’~?””””

Each of the doppelgangers that appeared said, teasing Rahel at once.

The overlapping voices, even if they were not loud, seemed to echo as if they were echoing, making Rahel feel as if she had entered a cave.

“To think that such an ability would work on me…!”

She had misjudged Thirteenth’s power.

Until now, he had only been engaging in close combat using that ridiculously large anchor, so she had unconsciously concluded that that was all there was to it.

She didn’t know why he could use the same abilities as Coco, the magic she favored.

However, showing off that ability as if he were boasting was his downfall.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!”

Rahel’s magic power was greatly released, and a storm of coldness emanated from her center.

The white storm containing that magic power swallowed everything around in an instant, covering and erasing the many doppelgangers that Thirteenth had created.

Coco’s magic, the illusions that Coco created, could no longer maintain their form and disappeared when hit by strong magic power.

Having Coco as a subordinate, Rahel knew the countermeasure to that ability well, so to overuse and show off his own cards like this to her.

Thirteenth could only be called foolish.

Thinking that, Rahel became complacent and let her guard down.

It was at that very moment.

Swoosh——

Thud!!

A swift bullet that pierced through the storm of ice struck Rahel’s temple directly.