I took a glance at Roxy as a signal.
Telling her that we would tackle this challenge together. And lastly, to check if she's anxious.
But there's no trace of fear on her face as she looked back at me.
Thus I promptly tried to use "Analyze" on those blood-red monsters.
[Roxy, I leave the monsters to you.]
[Yes.]
The arrangement was similar to when we fought the giant scorpion. Unfortunately, both Snow and Shinn belonged to Area E.
It'd be too heavy of a load for Roxy.
Next, I called out to Eris, who was standing back to back to me.
[Can you keep Shinn busy?]
[Of course I can! That means Fate will take on Snow, right?]
[Yeah, I need to snap Snow out of it.]
[I'm looking forward to it. Until then, I'll try buying as much time as possible.]
Giving me a wink as she said so, Eris laughed.
[Then, what if you get beaten instead?]
[Eeee! I'm not that weak though~]
Replying to me with a sweet voice as she spun the black bayonet around, Eris proceeded to shoot at Shinn's offshoots. The blood red liquid that stretched out like tentacles bursted one after another.
Looking at this, her training seemed to have shown some results.
[Don't get careless.]
[No using the magic eyes as well?]
[Considering the risk, I'd rather you don't use it.]
[Ahaha, maybe I shouldn't have told you the risk.]
[Perhaps.]
With that, all three of us started moving at the same time.
Me vs Snow. Eris vs Shinn. While Roxy would act as our support.
There's no other options.
[Snoooooow!]
I swung my black sword, which Snow blocked with her bare arms.
There seemed to be some sort of barrier encasing her body, one that the black sword couldn't break through.
It reminded me of that barrier the giant scorpion employed.
Snow didn't respond to my call as well.
『Fate! It's like back when we fought her in the desert.』
[That….I thought so.]
『Right. No other choice. That time too, we managed to pull her out of her rampage by knocking her out.』
[This time I'm not so sure she'll remain the same when she wakes up again, what's with Libra's influence and all.]
『That's beside the point. First of all you need to do what you have to do.』
When fighting the giant scorpion back then, we were able to calm Snow down with Dad's help….
But this time I had to do it alone.
『That barrier is in the way. Let's go with the scythe form.』
Changing the black sword into the scythe form, I waited for the right time when Snow was charging at me again.
Now!
I attempted to cut through the barrier…
[Wha!?]
Snow suddenly stopped her advance, opting to avoid me instead.
She should be in the midst of rampage and unable to think properly. So why?
『Perhaps she instinctively sensed danger.』
[What the…..that's troublesome.]
She avoided my attack out of her instinct and reflexes. Moreover, she was able to read my movement accurately, making me miss all the time.
『She's not an enemy to be trifled with. Are you still intending to fight her half-heartedly?』
[Even so, I don't want to hurt Snow.]
I could hear Greed sighed in defeat. But then he laughed heartily.
『Well said. Then, give it a try. Show me how you'll do it!』
[Yeah, I'll do it.]
I held the black scythe firmly.
And then closed my eyes.
If I keep relying on my eyes, good chance that I won't be able to hit her at all.
Therefore, I need to predict Snow's movement by sensing the flow of her magic power. Aaron taught me how, and I've been practicing this for quite a while now.
Just like Eris who secretly trained on her own, I'd also been doing my best.
Actually it's only recently I managed to hit anything during the training… but for the sake of Roxy who willingly became my practice partner, I will demonstrate it to my best here.
Also….I still remember what I said to Dad back when we met in the desert. And Greed who witnessed the whole thing certainly knew me well.
『You…..you are still bothered by what you said to your dad back then, aren't you?』
[I said it to Dad, that I will take responsibility for Snow.]
『I thought you've grown up a little. But you're still a boy after all.』
I really couldn't refute that.
No matter what happened between us, he's after all….still my Dad.
Even if he stole the philosopher's stone, and even kidnapped Raine…
Even if he was a Zodiac Knight just like Libra…
But what actually happened between him and Snow, to the point that he was willing to kill her…?
I leaped from one building to another, trying to chase after Snow who had glided away.
[Snow!]
She's way too fast… but I was able to keep up by predicting her movement path via sensing her magic power.
I would not miss my attack this time.
Steel your heart, keep your calm. Aaron also taught me that.
When I swung the black scythe, it was aimed at where I predicted Snow would move to.
Opening my eyes again, there was Snow. Her barrier was undone by the scythe.
[Yosh.]
『Not half bad!』
However, the real fight had only just begun.
At last I reached a spot where I could reach Snow.
Reverting back to the black sword form, Gread spoke to me as I returned him to the sheath.
『Are you sure you can make do without this me?』
[Yeah, 'cause bare fist is the best way to convey feelings.]
『That's Aaron's favorite line.』
[That's right!]
Now that the barrier was gone, I could use my bare hands against Snow.
While being wary of her chops and kicks, I tried to find an opening…
Once, her heavy kick struck my head. My vision blurred, feeling like I almost fainted as the attack sent ripples throughout my body.
『Fate! You really sure you don't need this Me?』
[I said it already, didn't I?]
Greed's call kept me awake, so I resumed my pursuit.
Yosh, here goes.
After some struggling I managed to hold both of Snow's hands down as well as taking her back to the ground. The problem was we landed in the midst of those blood red monsters.
[What a good place to land…]
The monsters instantly went to attack me….and at the same time, Snow too.
They shouldn't be able to hurt us due to their inferior stats. But then, after seeing their fangs and claws, I was quickly reminded of something.
The monsters called the nightwalker. Turned crazy and controlled by Shinn's blood, unable to die, and only driven by the desire to increase their number by infecting other living beings through bites.
What didn't make sense was that these creature's bite could go through Area E protection. According to Greed, it's because of Shinn's power.
They're now opening their maw wide, trying to get a bite on me and Snow.
[Kuh.]
I had to release my restraining hold on Snow to draw my black sword.
While I was thinking so, the red monsters were already upon us.
There's no time to hesitate.
Hopefully I made it in time…
[Fai!]
While I still hesitated, that voice calling out to me brought me back to reality.
The sacred light of the "Grand Cross" shone forth from the ground beneath me, preventing the monsters from reaching me.
[Roxy! This is…]
I couldn't hide my surprise. That's because the holy light burned away the blood red monsters very easily.
These monsters were at least very strong under Area E. And yet, Roxy decimated them in but a moment.
[I also do not know why. Maybe the attack is their counter?]
[In that case, please help Eris.]
[Yes.]
Roxy herself didn't know why she could…. But it may prove to be useful in the fight against Shinn. In this regard, she might even surpass the limitation of the status.
While I felt happy that Roxy could contribute more now, I once again confronted Snow.
[I won't let you off.]
[…..Guhhhhh.]
It's a bit of a struggle, but I managed to keep her pinned on the ground.
[Stop rampaging. Snap out of it, Snow!]
She didn't seem to listen to me, but even if I knew that, I kept calling her name.
As we struggled against each other, Snow lashed out and managed to bite into my neck.
[Ooww…ugh…]
At that moment, "Mind Reading" suddenly activated.
I've often been in direct contact with Snow since she joined our little group, but the skill never activated before. I began to suspect that, just like Myne, she had something that prevents mind reading from working on her.
So the fact that the skill successfully activated surprised me.
Snow's hazy memories flew into my mind.
Among those, only one scene was reflected very clearly.
In that memory, Snow looked more mature than she is now. Her body was ragged and tattered with wounds.
She's obviously heavily wounded; copious amounts of blood seeped to the ground with each step she took.
She was walking alone in the middle of a dense forest.
She finally reached her limit, collapsing near a cliffside.
The scene blurred for a while… Before being replaced by her opening her eyes to the sight of a boy.
（That's…..no way…..）
That's impossible. I actually met Snow when I was still a child!?
This gotta be wrong! Otherwise, how come I had no recollection of meeting her?
If I met someone with such a grievous wound, I should've remembered very clearly.
And yet…as I recalled, I remember nothing about meeting Snow. Is this perhaps the memory that Libra mentioned before?
However, is there any benefit for Libra to fabricate such a memory?
Then was it truly Snow's memory?
Whilst thinking so, the scene continued to play in my head.
[Are you alright?]
The boy asked Snow, but she didn't reply. Well, I guess it's only natural.
She was too injured to utter a word.
The boy finally realized what's going on, and started to look as if he was panicking. That gestures… Was it truly me after all?
Snow tried to move away by wringing out the last of her strength, but the boy didn't let her.
[You're injured, so you shouldn't move too much. I have these herbs I gathered for my dad, but I think you need it more urgently than him.]
[…..]
Snow remained silent. But the boy wasn't fazed by that.
He only knew that Snow wasn't doing well from her expressions.
[Sorry. I'm not really good at this just yet. Dad always gets hurt, so I at least want to get better at treating wounds.]
The boy covered his mouth with his hand upon looking at the wounds under Snow's clothes. But with a determined face, he proceeded with the treatment silently.
Rinsing the wound with water from the bottle he brought, apply the herbs, then cover it with the cloth he tore from his own shirt.
[Un, this should do. I'm sorry, elder sister. I can only do this much.]
The mind reading stopped working at that point.
The reason being Snow now powerlessly slumped in my arms. Even when I tapped on her cheek, she made no response.
『She seemed to have fainted. What a troublesome girl. What's wrong, Fate?』
[...no, it's nothing]
I wasn't sure yet whether that memory was true or not.
But it's not the time and place to feel upset. I decided to put aside the matter regarding my meeting with Snow in the past.
[In any case, this isn't Snow's fault. The real cause is…]
『That guy, Libra. That man has always been like that. Never to dirty his own hands whenever he could.』
[When this is over, promise me that you'll tell me everything about the past, okay?]
『Fine. But for now, focus on the fight. Look, Eris is having trouble there.』
Following Greed's warning, I turned to look at how Eris and Shinn's fighting was going.
Certainly, Eris was under pressure.
After all, she's fighting against numerous Shinns on her own.
[Roxy, please look after Snow.]
[Alright.]
She must've been worried about Snow. Just as I called for her, I saw her decimating numerous blood-red monsters with the holy light from her attack to open the path towards us.
[Is it working?]
[I guess? Somehow, it felt like she wasn't actually trying to kill me.]
[Of course. Snow-chan would not go that far.]
Her optimism mysteriously convinced me the same. Unlike me, Roxy believed from the start that we would be able to reach out to Snow.
Patting the head of the still unconscious Snow, I got up and drew out my sword.
[From here on out, things will get more serious. Roxy should take Snow outside.
[…..understood]
She looked somewhat disappointed.
When people belonging to Area E fight, it'll be too dangerous for Roxy to stay around.
She believed that she'd eventually break through to that realm by forging a bond with me. But it's not that simple.
After all, I was the one who deliberately put our relationship on hold.
I thought so as I looked at Roxy's back as she left.
『Again with the selfish thought.』
[You got it wrong, I was thinking about Aaron.]
『You just don't want her to get involved with the mortal sin skill, do you?』
Aaron was a gentle and caring person. I'm always grateful at the fact that he's willing to help and trust me. But that aside, I also felt bothered by how significant the mortal sin skill had affected his life.
If only he didn't bond with me, his life would've been more peaceful perhaps.
Imagining such a possibility…
Made me unwilling to let Roxy cross that line. That's what I thought.
『Let me tell you this again.』
[What is it?]
『She would never give up. You should already know that better than anyone else.』
I know. I'm scared exactly because I know that.
『Now then, let's go, Fate!』
With Greed's strong urging as the signal, I joined Eris in battling Shinn.
Firstly, I cut down Shinn's body that was about to strike at Eris.
Even when I split his body in two, I knew he's far from being defeated. Because I didn't hear any announcement about stat increase.
[You're slow~. If you come a little bit later, I would've been in grave danger.]
[My bad… It took longer than I thought it would be. But where does the confidence you showed me earlier go to?]
[I think it's obvious to see.]
No matter where I looked, there would be a Shinn there. Not to mention the blood-red monsters.
It's like fighting against an army alone.
Putting our backs close to each other, we struck down the incoming Shinns one by one.
[Here I thought Eris would be able to make do after all that trainings you mentioned.]
[There is no way I could do that without relying on my magic eyes.]
[Then I guess it's my fault. Joke aside, I think it's meaningless we can't find Shinn's main body.]
[Exactly!]
Eris nodded after shooting one of the Shinns in between the eyebrows.
[These fellows are connected to Shinn who is somewhere in the underground. They're just puppets. There's really no point in killing them.]
I was kinda amazed at her lack of tension as she said all that. I guess it's true that our emotions gradually turn dull after living for a very long time.
Now that I think about it… Myne also had something similar. In her case, it's her sense of taste.
[Somewhere in the underground you said…? Can you trace his magic power to find his location?]
[I can't. Especially not in this situation. Do you think those creatures will stand still and let me be?]
Originally, Shinn was slumbering thanks to his fragmented body being scattered all over the continent. Philosopher's stone was what humans at large called some of these fragments.
Because it took the form of a mineral instead of a living being.
Perhaps right now, he has changed shape and is controlling the offshoots and monsters from a safe place.
[He's hogging all the huge advantages as much as possible, isn't he?]
[Ahahaha, I guess he's scared of us.]
[Nn? What do you mean by that?]
[I mean he's scared of you. To be exact, the holder of Gluttony skill. Shinn had challenged the previous holder over and over again. This is probably what he came up with to not be defeated again.]
Eris explained all that with a combination of giddiness and pride.
[So I wonder what will Fate do now?]
[Isn't that obvious? I'll just have to do it like the previous holder did then.]
[How reliable. In that case, I need to do my best too.]
[Oii]
Eris' eyes visible glow faintly. The tell tale sign of her activating the magic eyes.
[No worries, this one only burdens me ever so slightly. But…]
[I get it. This fight shouldn't drag on longer than necessary.]
[That's right! I'll be counting on you to keep me safe.]
Eris began to run north.
Apparently she's unable to fight while focusing on using the magic eyes.
So I just have to swing my sword to pave a safe path for her.