episode_0250

The resistance members who had safely escaped from Camilla began checking on each other. The resistance members began checking everyone without exception, including those around them and those they had taken care of. About five minutes passed, and a Beastman urgently ran up to Alten and spoke.

“Huff… huff…. It seems everyone is safe. I thought many would collapse trying to block the light beam earlier… It’s truly a relief… that everyone is safe….”

“By the way, where are we? I know we’re far from the Temple of Pioneers, but….”

“This place… it seems to be the path we came from. Look at this. Traces of our campsite remain just as they were.”

The resistance members who fled the Temple of Pioneers realized this was the campsite they had used before, seeing the traces of their previously pitched tents and the campfires they had lit. Meanwhile, an human girl approached Riera, who was sitting on a rock resting, breathless from continuously running, and spoke.

“Excuse me, Fairy Unnie… I… I have something to tell you…”

“Haa… haa…. Huh? Suddenly… Phew… what is it you want to say to me…?”

“I… Th-thank you!! Thanks to you Fairy Unnies, I was able to save my life….!!”

Riera realized that the girl in front of her had previously been brainwashed by Camilla’s divine power and become a follower, and she smiled at the girl who was apologizing to them. Then, Tiara, who was beside her, puffed out her chest and straightened her back as if proud of her fellow fairy, and spoke to the girl.

“Of course!! We are the fairies of Melodian who get along well with humans!!! By the way, which fairy saved you?”

“Huh? Ah… It was a fairy with long yellow hair… They had blue eyes and were wearing blue clothes….”

“Huh…? Wh-what did you say…?”

When the girl told them that the fairy who saved her had long yellow hair, blue eyes, and wore blue clothing, Riera and Tiara were greatly bewildered and dumbfounded by her words. Then, looking at each other with bewildered eyes, they instinctively knew the fairy the girl spoke of was Eli, and Riera urgently asked the girl.

“D-did that fairy… speak?”

“Huh? Ah… Th-they didn’t speak, perhaps their voice couldn’t come out… Th-they wrote in a book to communicate with me. They asked if I was okay… and said they would take me to a safe place….”

“…. Unnie… Surely, this is….”

The girl’s explanation made Tiara and Riera certain. That Eli had saved this girl. Meanwhile, Eli was among the people, bandaging the injured. However, since she was far from Riera and Tiara, the three of them could not reunite.

“Ugh…. Thank you, Fairy…. Thanks to you, my wound seems to be getting a little better… But where on earth did you learn such a healing method…?”

‘I learned it to help people.’

“…A Melodian fairy who cannot speak… How fascinating….”

Eli recalled what Zeke had said before. He had asked if, for atonement, she shouldn’t hide. Indeed, even after Zeke left, Eli couldn’t muster her courage. However, as Riera and Tiara’s forms kept appearing in her mind, Eli finally decided to heed Zeke’s words, and thus, by helping the injured, she was once again coming out into the world. While Riera realized that Eli was here helping them, Yuria and Rapien were sitting under a tree, resting.

“Haaaa…. I released too much ice energy… Thanks to that, I feel completely drained of all my strength…”

“I also used too much power, Yuria-nim… By the way, will it really be okay? Right now, Zeke-nim and Aria-nim are facing Camilla without us….”

Rapien, who was resting while gasping for breath, worried that Zeke and Aria were still confronting Camilla in front of the Temple of Pioneers. Then Yuria let out a deep sigh, exhaled loudly, and said to Rapien.

“Did you forget that Camilla targeted us earlier, Rapien? We, drained of power, would only be a hindrance, dragging them down. And… Camilla used that much energy to kill us too, didn’t she? So… I’m going to trust those two.”

“But still, we can’t just stand by! Once our strength recovers to some extent, we’ll go back and help them!”

“Hahaha… I wonder if those two will still be struggling to defeat Camilla when we return… Phew… Dio V Runner… What do you think…?”

As Rapien passionately declared that they too would help Zeke and Aria once their strength recovered, Yuria began to wonder if the situation would indeed still be the same when they returned. Then, as the image of Dio V Runner, who had entered the dimensional path and closed it, came to mind, Yuria wondered what he would think. While everyone entrusted Camilla to Zeke and Aria for a moment to recover their stamina, Aria and I, floating in the air, watched Camilla fuming at having even missed the resistance members.

“Why… why do things not go as I wish…? I am a Kaju…!! I am a Kaju with the weighty responsibility of managing a single attribute…!! Yet why does the world not flow as I desire….!!”

“To try and judge everything based on such a trivial reason… You are truly foolish, Camilla.”

“What did you say…?”

“I have gone to great lengths to win Zeke-nim’s heart until now. I didn’t get flustered just because it didn’t work once, unlike you. Even with such immense power!! That this is one of the proofs of how pathetic you are… well… perhaps because you are arrogant, you yourself do not know. Isn’t that right, Zeke-nim?”

“Well said, Aria. Camilla!! Don’t harbor such foolish thoughts that everything in this world will go your way!! No matter how much you try to make us kneel, even if we fail once, or fail twice, we will continue to rise and possess the strength and will to turn the tide like this!!! Even I am burning with the will to explore, as there are many things I don’t know in this world, yet your thought that you understand everything in the world through your arrogance is a third-rate idea!!!”

“Silence!! I am not so lowly as to listen to the inferior words of you who haven’t even reached close to the source of power!!!”

At our words, Camilla became even more enraged and began gathering an excessive amount of divine power in both hands. Then Aria and I also began to raise our divine power and magic respectively, to prepare for Camilla’s attack. Then I took Aria’s hand, smiled at her, and said.

“Let’s finish this, Aria. Are you ready?”

“Of course, Zeke-nim! By the way, normally I would worry about Zeke-nim getting hurt… but strangely, right now I feel even better fighting alongside Zeke-nim, you know?”

“Me too. Whenever I see you fighting for me, my heart pounds with the fear that you might get hurt… Ah, have I said this before? It seems we both really like to emphasize things… Hahaha…”

“It just means we’re giving our hearts fully to each other, Zeke-nim. Still… I, Aria, will handle all the power usage, so I’ll leave my flank to Zeke-nim!!”

“Understood!! Let’s go!!”

Aria, who had been chatting briefly with me, smiled and immediately began flying towards Camilla, and I followed her, flying towards Camilla. Then Camilla saw the two of us flying directly at her, stretched out both hands towards us, and shouted.

“Do you think your insignificant abilities can block all my light beams!! And…”

“….?! Wh-what is this?! The circular formations are moving…?”

“I can concentrate my circular formations in one place like this!! Holy Rays Judgement!!!”

The circular formations that had appeared in front of Camilla slowly began to tilt, and as all of them aimed at us, Aria and I were greatly astonished. And simultaneously, light leaked from Camilla’s circular formations, and they all unleashed light beams, beginning to engulf us. At that, Camilla chuckled and spoke as we were engulfed by her light beams.

“Feel it…!! This is the power of the Transcendent you are opposing…!! This is the power of a Kaju….”

“So what if it’s the power of a Kaju?! I too am Zeke-nim’s Saintess, possessing power comparable to that!!!”

“….?!”

The moment Camilla laughed, certain of her victory, Aria’s cry was heard from within the light beam, greatly perplexing Camilla. At that very moment, a phoenix form, enveloped in black divine power, began to slowly break through the light beam, causing Camilla to greatly recoil in shock, and she created a sphere of divine power in one hand, shouting.

“Th-that… that’s just… You’re trying to break through my attack in such a reckless way…!! But… do you think I’ll just stand by and watch that happen!!! IudiciumDivinum!!”

“Zeke-nim!! Match my power!!! Black Judgement!!”

“Understood, Aria!!! Trahan!! Evil Power Destruction!!!”

As Camilla hurled a sphere of divine power at us, which seemed to have lightning surging within it, after we broke through the light beam, Aria and I, gathering immense divine power and magic into our staff and Trahan respectively, swung our weapons directly to clash with Camilla’s sphere of divine power. Then a powerful shockwave, strong enough to make the surroundings reverberate, began to spread, and that impact was transmitted directly to our bodies as well.

“Ugh…!! No matter how much I strengthen my body with magic and the power of the feather imbued with Merzel’s blessing… this impact…!! At this rate, I’ll be pushed back….!!”

“Don’t worry, Zeke-nim. Because I am by Zeke-nim’s side….!! It doesn’t matter if it’s lacking, Zeke-nim!! If Zeke-nim’s power compensates for my insufficient power… then such an obstacle is nothing!!!”

“Do you think that’s possible!!! Saintess Aria!! Weren’t you the Saintess who couldn’t stand a chance against the Thousand-Weight Sphere!!! Even if you managed to withstand the previous attacks, you won’t be able to easily withstand that sphere….”

“You…. talk too much…. And when you say things like that, usually!!!”

“….!!”

As Camilla once again shouted, confident of her victory, Aria smiled and told Camilla that she talked too much. At that very moment, cracks began to appear on Camilla’s sphere of divine power, and Camilla, startled, urgently began gathering divine power in both hands.

“Why… why….?!”

“When you say such things, you usually end up getting it back tenfold!”

“Give me more power, Aria!!! Haaaaaaah!!!”

As Aria warned that those who confidently predict victory and belittle others usually end up getting countered, I let out a battle cry and began pouring more power into Trahan. At that, Aria also began to let out battle cries, following my lead, and thus Aria and I completely shattered Camilla’s sphere of divine power, then immediately poured energy back into our weapons and shouted.

“Take this and fall, Camilla!!! Demon Black Arrow!!!”

“Black Miracle Ray!!”

Having broken through the sphere of divine power, I used the magic flowing through Trahan to create a black arrow imbued with magic and shot it straight at Camilla, and Aria also unleashed dark divine power in the form of a light beam from her staff, attacking Camilla. At that, Camilla was sent flying back with a shockwave, having taken both our attacks to her chest and abdomen, and we smiled in relief, having finally landed a powerful blow on Camilla.

“Phew… We finally defeated her… didn’t we, Aria?”

“Indeed… Now, only happiness remains for us…!! Hehehe… at the inn, Zeke-nim… like this… and like that…!!”

“…You don’t intend to stop at just embracing me, do you….”

“Hehehehe… Now that we’re officially dating, isn’t that only natural? Ehehehehe….”

Realizing that Aria was really going to… ‘get’ me now, I instinctively knew that the journey ahead would become even more exhausting and was greatly flustered. As I let out an awkward laugh and, to catch my breath, turned around with Aria to return to Todrua, at that very moment, a massive pillar of light suddenly appeared behind us, and we turned back, greatly bewildered. Then, Camilla’s figure, emitting divine light from her entire body and staring at us with yellow eye-glow, came into our sight, and I was greatly astonished that Camilla was still perfectly fine after taking those attacks.

“Wh-what is this…? Just how tough is this damned goddess!!!”

“Haaaa…. To think I hadn’t even reached this form after saying I would use all my might… I was foolish. It was I who was foolish for underestimating you even a little, and for not showing you this form sooner.”

“Indeed, Zeke-nim. Even Saintesses can transform into a form called Sacred Ring Radiance… There’s no guarantee Camilla wouldn’t do it, is there? But Zeke-nim… if we defeat Camilla in that state… don’t you get a feeling that it will truly all be over?”

“…. That’s true. But… I also have a feeling that the real fight is going to be difficult now… It’s a little scary.”

“Don’t worry, Zeke-nim. Because if it’s the two of us, we will surely overcome any adversity…”

With the premonition that defeating the current Camilla would end this long battle forever, and at the same time, the premonition that the fight with the current Camilla would be truly fierce and difficult, I was able to gather a little more courage after hearing Aria’s words. Thus, carrying the tension and anticipation for the final battle deeply in our hearts, we rushed towards Camilla once more.