――"Prometheus Execution".
It was a scorching prison which I had also used when I was forming
Hihiirokane.
Except the super metal Hihiirokane, everything trapped in it would
return to ashes—or so it was supposed to be.
"Haah, haah…"
I never thought there would appear another exception to it.
Should I say as expected of the leader of the saints?
Halfway through, his body had enlarged and he forcibly broke free of
my restraint, after which he slashed open the space and escaped
outside.
Right now, his body had returned to normal, but that transformation
of his was probably the 'Beastification' that he had mentioned in his
conversation with Shangarula earlier.
It most likely worked in the same way as Vermillion Bird Form in that
it evolved oneself into a form that allowed them to exhibit their power
to the fullest.
"Come to think of it… you are 'immortal'… I see, that was definitely a
miscalculation on my part…"
I replied in the same surprised manner to Elysium who was
breathing heavily, "I never thought you'd be able escape that move
either. But thanks to it, you're heavily injured now. Sorry but, I'm
going to end this."
Holding up a bow, I took aim at Elysium without hesitation.
However, he didn't show any signs of panic even in this situation,
rather, calm returned to his face and he said, "That's a somewhat
hasty judgment, Youngster…"
"…What?" As I furrowed my brows, the same darkish aura as before
grew out of Elysium's Sacred Treasure, then it twined itself around
his body.
――Fssssssshhhhhhhhh
After which, it regenerated his wounds at a speed visible to the eye,
and within a few seconds he was practically completely recovered.
"What…!?"
"I told you your judgement was somewhat hasty. Did you think that
you were the only one who had immortal-level regenerative power?"
"Kh…"
Now that it has come to this, there's no other way.
So as to inflict a serious damage on him again, I switched the bow
with an axe.
However.
"I have fully grasped your capability. —Let's end it here for today." He
said after putting his tachi in the scabbard, and then he began to turn
around.
Looked like he had no intention of fighting anymore.
In that case, I dematerialized the axe and looked at Elysium's back,
who was leaving calmly.
I could strike him right now, but there were still many things I didn't
know about him, like the darkish aura from earlier.
It would be better for us to collect ourselves and recover to get in tiptop shape for now.
You could say this time's fight ended in a 'draw', I guess.
That said, our side got beat up comparatively worse, though.
◇ ◇
Having staved off the saints' attack, we headed back to the village.
Along the way, we could see the dwarves sighing and patting their
chests in relief thanks to the fact that we returned safely.
"Oh, you're back. How was it?" Nazarie-san asked casually when we
entered her workshop.
Looked like she was sure that we would come back safely.
A welcome expectation, I'd say.
"Yes, we managed to send them away somehow. No small thanks to
Amaterasu Orb. Thank you for it, Nazarie-san."
When I bowed deeply, Nazarie-san replied with some
embarrassment, "U-umu, looks like it was helpful to you, and that's
all that matters. Your armors will be done shortly too, so you should
wait for a while."
"""""Yes(yeah/ou).""""" The girls all nodded, causing Nazarie-san to
make a satisfied look.
"So, what's the deal with the visitors?"
In response to Nazarie-san's question, we told her everything that
had happened earlier.
After which, she folded her arms with an inscrutable look on her
face, "A new world of only demi-humans, huh…"
"Well, can ya really obliterate mankind? The goddesses ain't gonna
stay silent to that, aight?" Ophir asked.
"Yeah. I don't think it's very realistic," Zana agreed.
Tirna nodded, "Mm. My mother and I, including the other mermaids,
are really thankful to everyone. Maybe so are the dwarves. So, I
think not all demi-humans wishes for the destruction of mankind."
"Yes. I'm sure only a part is hardliner like them. That person called
Shangarula said he was just doing it to kill time, too," Magmell said.
"Good grief, to kill time by killing people, what an intolerable
person…" Arca shrugged her shoulders.
I agreed with her, "Yeah. That's exactly why we have to stop them at
all costs. For that reason, as soon as your new equipment is
finished, let's go meet the goddess of thunder—Fluga-sama. We
may get an answer as to who the Goddess of the End is if we ask
her, too."
"""""Mm."""""
Seeing the girls nodding, I gave back a big nod to them.