With a screech, Hades reared back, causing Cecilia to back away a few steps instinctively. All three of us watched in horror as the demonic energy raged around Hades, and his perforated body began to regenerate, his countless wounds knitting together and disappearing as he sought to recover from the fatal blow Cecilia dealt him.
"This is…resurrection?" Cecilia gasped, utterly stupefied by the events taking place before her eyes. "No…it's more of a curse, a reversal of time to back when he was still alive?"
"That monster really is immortal," I murmured bitterly. This scenario reminded me eerily of a scene I watched in one of my favorite anime. That meant I knew what to do next. "Cecilia, Alicia, get as far away from here as possible!"
"Huh? Why?" Alicia stared at me in bewilderment.
"Just do it!"
Cecilia was similarly puzzled, but when she turned to look at me, she jumped back in reflex. Alicia too was already scurrying away, diving out of the graveyard and into the woods for cover, and the Stuart Clan's first daughter followed her example.
They had seen me raising Orion, as well as the gargantuan vortex of magical energy that now swirled around me. I was gathering a tremendous amount of magical energy into my right hand and coalescing it into a single arrow.
"That was a marvelous display," I told a grim Cecilia who was rapidly retreating from the scene. "But it's not enough."
She gave me a look that told me that she had watched the same anime as I did, but didn't want to waste her time commenting on that. Instead, she took my advice and disappeared behind a row of tightly stacked gravestones, her figure blending into the shadows like before.
As the arrow finally solidified in my hand, I fitted it to Orion and pulled the bowstring back, taking aim at the slowly regenerating Hades. By now, he was almost fully recovered, roaring defiantly as the countless bloody craters in his body filled out with flesh and muscle, his wounds all but vanishing from sight.
But he wasn't going to remain in that fully healed condition for long.
"Rigel!"
With a shout of vengeance, I released the golden arrow from my hand.
Rigel soared across the cemetery with unerring accuracy and struck Hades, who had just recently resurrected fully, crashing into his chest with apocalyptic fury.
In a blinding flash, the night lit up, becoming day in those few seconds as a tremendous explosion roared through the graveyard, engulfing the entire area in flames. Tombstones were immediately obliterated and the concrete, rock and earth upon which the burial mounds were placed disintegrated instantly, incinerated by the superheated conflagration. A mini-nuke, Rigel essentially razed the entire area into a desolate, barren crater of molten rock and black, charred earth, reducing everything – be it grass, soil, corpses, concrete, tombstones, skeletons – in the vicinity to ash. A mushroom cloud billowed into the air, shrouding the devastated graveyard in its deathly grip, while the inferno ravenously swept across the scorched crater, devouring everything and anything that was within reach.
After a moment of crackling and hissing from the flames, a pall of gloom hung over the razed graveyard, a deathly silence descending upon the scene of utter devastation.
"Impossible…"
Alicia's voice cracked when she saw the incredible sight.
Right in the middle of the scorched crater, surrounded by destruction, a single black giant stood immobile. He was still in one piece, unaffected by the flames and debris that had rained down on him. He was so still that it was almost difficult to tell him apart from the statues that formerly resided in the now obliterated cemetery.
"He survived an attack that's the equivalent of a Rank A Divine Device…"
Alicia's tone was filled with disbelief and almost wonder. Then she glanced at me, just as amazed by what I had did.
"How did you…?"
Evidently she had never realized that archer-class mages could be this powerful. This was the first time she had seen an arrow unleash destruction of such scale and magnitude. And to be honest, it was also the first time for me.
This was the result of me infusing the power of Vermillion Phoenix into a single Constellation weapon.
Earlier, while Cecilia was fighting against Hades, I was wondering what would happen if I converted the power I used to summon Vermillion Phoenix and fuel its spells into a single, one-use Constellation weapon instead, and if it was possible. Obviously, back then I was quite distracted by the impressive spectacle unfolding in front of my eyes, but since I wasn't engaged in a life-and-death situation and Cecilia had the matter well in hand, I had taken to toying with the idea at the back of my mind and ran through a couple of simulations.
Eventually I concluded that it was not just possible but insanely powerful. I was glad to see my hypothesis proven correct in reality.
Still, it was a close shave. A single mistake and I would have failed. In that case, I would have been at the total mercy of a fully regenerated Hades.
"…"
Right now, it appeared that I was still at the mercy of a fully healed Hades, but he remained stationary, not moving to retaliate after taking such a horrifying blow. I wondered if he had actually been slain like earlier, when Cecilia slew him, but amidst the crackling inferno, he had regenerated and resurrected for a second time, unseen.
"Heh…marvelous. Very impressive."
Cecilia, Alicia and I whirled around as Selina approached us, clapping jovially. She peered at the inferno in front of her, unperturbed by the fact that her summoned spirit was still being trapped by its raging flames.
"You're not bad at all, brother. I've taken quite an interest in you."
"Um…I'm quite the boring person, actually," I assured her. "There is absolutely nothing interesting about me at all."
Selina ignored me. "I wanted to take care of this boring mission as quickly as possible, but I've changed my mind."
"What, are you running away?" Alicia demanded, astonished by the assassin's audacity. However, there was a trace of exhaustion in her voice. Even though she kept her guns trained on Selina's gorgeous figure, she made no move to pull the trigger. She knew it would be pointless. Not only would she be unable to penetrate Selina's barrier, she recognized that we were at a disadvantage if we were to pursue her or continue the fight.
"I guess you can put it that way if you want." Selina shrugged flippantly. "I don't really care about the Stuart family because it's just another routine job for me, but I'm curious about that guy."
"Trust me, there is nothing you should know about me. I'm just a regular guy." I raised both hands up to display how pathetically weak I was. Selina laughed, not buying my declaration at all.
"Still so modest, I see. But you can't really claim you're a regular guy after doing something like this, can you?"
She gestured toward the demolished graveyard, as well as the colossal crater her spirit was standing in.
"Can I at least have your name?"
"No," I blurted out in reflex. There was no way in hell I was going to give a terrifying assassin my name.
"Ah~ you're hurting my feelings, you know?" Selina clutched her well-endowed chest mockingly, the smooth, tight fabric stretching and emphasizing those well-curved mounds. I tried not to focus my gaze there. Selina was extremely gorgeous, and she knew how to use her feminine wiles to her maximum advantage. As expected of an assassin, I guess. "Well, it's fine. I've other ways of finding out who you are." She studied me, a sly smile touching her lips. "There aren't many summoners your age capable of unleashing such power."
"You'll be surprised."
"Perhaps. But I think there's a connection between us, you know? A thread of destiny. Since we're both summoners, I'm sure our fates will be irrevocably tied together."
Spare me. I honestly didn't want to get involved with this femme fatale, not if I could help it. She was more than I could handle.
"Why don't you join me? Become a member of the assassins' guild. You can put your talents to good use."
"No thank you."
I had no intention of being an assassin. I was going to be a full-fledged combat mage, fighting to protect the innocent, as well as for the glory of the Global Federation! Okay, maybe not the second part, but I wanted to save lives like Dad, not take them.
Killing was antithesis to my ideals, and my goal to become a hero. No, not the Hero of the Federation. Who cares about all that propaganda bullshit? It was fine just to become a normal hero.
"What a waste…" Selina shook her head, disappointed. She glanced at the smoldering iron giant in the middle of the crater that my Rigel had gouged out of the earth. For a moment, I thought she was going to order him to attack us again, but Hades obediently and quietly climbed out of the crater in a single bound and stood behind. Tilting her head, as if listening for something, Selina sighed. "Oh, well. Time is up. I really enjoyed playing with you all…hopefully we'll get to meet again."
Huh? Time was up? Why?
Selina merely turned away and disappeared into the forest on the outskirts of the razed cemetery, and her massive partner also followed her, his immense size swallowed up by the dark shadows of trees and other flora.
Then I heard the screeching noises of vehicles braking desperately in front of the black-iron gates that served as the entrance to this burial ground.
Oh, I see. Clearly reinforcements had arrived. As powerful as Hades was, there was no way he could fight against so many people…or perhaps Selina had sensed there was a troublesome opponent among them. Given how he so easily mopped the first contingent of bodyguards who protected Cecilia, I was more inclined to bet it was the latter.
As if to confirm my suspicions, Cecilia cocked her head toward the entrance, and smiled slightly in relief.
"Uncle Yuan Dao is here."
The name didn't ring a bell in my mind, but I assumed he must be someone extremely powerful if he could force Selina to retreat.
"The two of you, are you all right?" Cecilia turned to check on me and Alicia. Alicia nodded hesitantly.
"I'm not injured at all."
"What about you?" Cecilia asked, glancing in my direction. I grimaced.
"For now."
"What do you mean, for now?" Cecilia demanded.
Chewing my lip nervously, I glanced in the direction where Selina had disappeared to. For some reason, my heart was still being clutched by icy dread.
"…I've an ominous feeling I'll encounter that assassin again in future…"