Arc 8, Chapter 72 – "The Sun Princess"
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???: [――I have use for you. You shall serve me well, in order to grant my wish.]
Those were the first words the man spoke to them, and they symbolized the relationship between him and them, which, until the very end, had not changed even once.
They had spent decades together with the man.
During that time, they were never given freedom, amounting to being shackled and confined in a basement.
Although they had a caretaker to keep them from dying, the cautious man would silence them and replace them periodically, so the man was the only one whom they could say they had any contact with over the decades.
――Leip Barielle.
A nobleman of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, a man dominated by what was, to put it simply, a foul ambition.
During the Demi-Human War, House Barielle had been commissioned as viscounts, but were demoted to barons, forfeiting their titles, upon being forced to take responsibility for their defeat during the civil war.
That humiliation and anger ought to have been the driving force behind Leip's actions, but if such were the case, then one would have to wonder for how much time could human anger and hatred retain their intensity.
Leip would constantly remind himself of the humiliation of decades ago as if it were only yesterday.
Leip: [Eventually, I will certainly have you make yourself useful. I am the one keeping you alive. You best not forget that.]
Human beings who possessed intelligence, had something known as emotion.
For example, if one spent ten or twenty years with another, even if they did not like the other person's personality or relationship, their attitude would soften, and the harshness of their contact would dissipate.
However, that was not the case with Leip. There was always a fresh sense of hostility coming from him.
Not once did he ever speak warm words to them.
They did not know anything regarding Leip's personal history, family makeup, or House Barielle's affairs.
Day after day, they spent a long, quiet, and idle time in captivity, only to be told by Leip's occasional visits about the current state of affairs in the Kingdom and the unchanging days of lying in wait.
However, on merely one occasion, they had a different conversation with Leip.
Leip: [You led the civil war in collusion with demi-humans. Just what in the world was your objective?]
More than twenty years had already passed since the Demi-Human War, and it was far too late to discuss that topic anymore.
Leip asked this question at a time when both Valga and Libre, who had fought with them, had already died, and the major figures of the Demi-Human Alliance at the time were all gone.
Why he wanted to know that, they did not ask.
They had a feeling that if they asked questions back, Leip would be taken aback, and the topic itself would be closed. Therefore, they did not say anything out of line and did not feel the need to hide their purpose, so they spoke frankly.
Their cooperation in the Demi-Human War was to fulfill their own purpose of creation.
Leip: [――Rubbish.]
Upon hearing that the Demi-Human War was part of the process of trying to achieve the purpose of their creation, something they had been pursuing for more than a century, Leip readily spat back that retort.
They did not feel any anger or sadness from Leip's reaction. They had always been that way, and Leip's reaction was as expected.
From the point of view of this man with foul ambitions, all wishes other than his own were worthless.
But――,
Leip: [You were born as yourself but wish to go out of your way to become someone else? Why bother to pretend to live under someone else's name and way of life, only to let your own name die?]
That conversation, which they had thought would end after being cut off with that single word, had continued.
Leip turned toward them with eyes clouded with negative emotions, more frustrated than ever, as if to say that this was a truly repugnant idea.
Leip: [Your objective has no value whatsoever. As expected, you are to be used by me. After all, your desire is one that would not have even a shred of value when fulfilled. Should you intend to squander it, give it to me.]
???: [You――]
Leip: [Your purpose of creation is worthless. If you cannot live without someone telling you what to do, then you ought to be used for the sake of my wish.]
There was not an iota of righteous indignation or compassion in Leip's eyes as he spoke.
In Leip's clouded eyes was anger toward those who had brought about his undiminished humiliation, resentment, and hatred toward an era and a world that refused to acknowledge his existence, and an ambition, like a flame of black, to push himself into a more deserved position.
They were so violent, as if trampling them, as if pouring sludge on them, that they would certainly plunge a blade into their being, tearing them apart and causing them to bleed cold blood.
――To fulfill their purpose of creation, borne out of their creator.
That was the meaning of their life, the purpose of having kept walking forward for such a long time.
Yet, had they ever harbored an intense ardor for that purpose? Never. Never once had they harbored a passion for it. The need to accomplish what was given to them only because they had been given it, such was the habit and compromise bereft of ardor, which ruled their life.
However, intrinsically, was this not what a wish, what a desire, was meant to be?
To deeply desire something, to try to fulfill a wish that one wanted to, was it not correct for those to become like this?
Was Leip Barielle's way of being not the correct method for one to grant their desires?
???: [――――]
Once again, a long time had passed. During that time, their relationship with Leip had remained unchanged.
Not many words were exchanged, and time ticked moment-by-moment without a role having been prepared for them, for which they had been told they would be of use.
Then, eventually, there was a change.
Leip: [At last, it seems an opportunity has presented itself.]
Indeed, Leip, whose eyes blazed with a maniacal glint, had grown thin and gaunt, his face and body corroded by an age that could not be reversed, despite his undiminished ambition.
The time he would be able to seize the thread that dangled in front of him had finally arrived, and it delighted him that he would finally be rewarded after prohibiting himself from even blinking.
According to what they had heard, Leip had established himself among the Royal Family of Lugunica over the past few decades and was entrusted with the management of the tablet of prophecies called the Dragon History Stone, which the Divine Dragon had conferred on the Kingdom.
Having grasped the fact that the prophetic tablet had been inscribed with information about a calamity that would soon strike the Kingdom of Lugunica―― a disease that would spread through the Royal Family, Leip blazed with aspirations towards the next battle for the throne that would follow thereafter.
Leip: [I will find a candidate before anyone else. I will take her as my wife and send her to the Royal Selection… and I will surely get my hands on the throne. I will make use of you, too.]
With fists clenched tight with nothing but skin and bones, Leip was determined to do just that.
They had always been told that they would be of use, but now that it was feasible, even as someone who had been connected to them for several decades, there was a small sense of excitement. ――They, had expectations.
The next time he came, Leip had found a candidate, and he ordered them to prepare a technique to break their mind. By doing so, he would turn the candidate into a puppet and rule the next age of the Kingdom with his own hands.
Leip's ambition to mastermind such a grand scheme, to plot its realization with unusual tenacity, and to actually bring it to the brink of fruition was, for all intents and purposes, dazzling in a dark way.
They wanted it to come true. They wanted him to fulfill it. All while following that passion.
They wanted him to fulfill his foul ambitions that would compel anyone to look away, to use the Kingdom for his own desires, to use even a Witch as a stepping stone for his own desires, and to achieve his deluded obsession.
The thing that was lacking from within themselves was none other than that; that was what Sphinx wanted him to teach her.
So, they waited. They kept waiting.
They eagerly looked forward to breaking the mind of the woman Leip had married to take advantage of as a candidate to participate in the Royal Selection.
They waited, and waited, and waited, but Leip never showed up.
In order to find out why he had not appeared, they undid the bindings that had not been broken for decades, and ventured out on their own.
And, it was only when they found out why Leip did not show up, that they understood.
Sphinx: [――Ah.]
――They understood, this was the "ardor" of wanting to accomplish something.
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???: [Countermeasures: Required―― No, let us see if you can prevent this.]
As Sphinx declared so, her trump card, her ace up her sleeve, her hidden trap was overturned.
Reflected upon the shimmering surface of the water mirrors were the struggles of those who overcame the schemes prepared by the Witch one after another in an effort to prevent the destruction of the Empire.
???: [――――]
Narrowing her crimson eyes, Priscilla, chained, looked at the mirror and at Sphinx's pale face.
Yearning, drowning, Sphinx had subjected themself to the greatest burden in order to fulfill their own desires. The substance of this would be an abomination to the world, to the Empire, and to Vincent, but to Priscilla it was no abomination at all.
She did not wish for the downfall of the Empire or the world, nor for the squandering of the tireless efforts of her own older brother, Vincent.
However, the fact remained that for the sake of a desired outcome, confronting things while expending all of oneself was always beautiful.
Even when that hatred which bordered on resentment was directed against them, it was no exception.
All things had their proportional value.
Those who lacked the understanding of their own caliber and desire, overestimating it, would often be doomed. However, Priscilla wisely spoke that she did not like those who could console themselves with only what they could fit in their vessels.
She wanted to love the way of life of the fool who sought what was beyond the capacity of their caliber, who went on a path that may lead to ruin, who aimed for the sun only for their wings to melt, regardless of whether they succeeded or failed in their challenge.
Priscilla: [How lovely.]
All those who would risk their lives on the battlefield would not believe their ears at Priscilla's words.
However, that was Priscilla's genuine intention. In the first place, Priscilla did not prefer to act or speak in ways that conspire and deceive others. She would never wish such a way of life upon her own self.
Hence, it was genuine praise.
All those who took up arms on this battlefield, lent their shoulders to others, shed their blood, and burned their souls, regardless of whether they were alive or dead, were to be loved.
If that could come true――,
Priscilla: [――I suppose it is a sentimentality uncharacteristic of mineself.]
Priscilla closed one of her eyes, a rare grimace forming on her beautiful face.
Ever since childhood, she had imitated her older brother when entering contemplation. Vincent understood all too well the weight of the responsibility he bore, and never closed his eyes, not even when he slept.
That attitude was admirable, but excessive. ――Sometimes, there were those whom one could only meet upon the back of their eyelids.
Priscilla: [You as well, elder brother, had better find someone you can be with, someone you can shut both eyes with.]
Yang Sword in hand, Vincent had burned down the plans of the Witch who had spearheaded the Great Disaster; Priscilla uttered these words while showing respect for his way of being.
Then within the water mirrors, Priscilla saw something that caught her eye.
――Aldebaran and Natsuki Subaru.
Priscilla's laudable clown and the Knight of the half-devil who, despite being somewhat loathsome, had been named as a Royal Selection Candidate.
Like Sphinx's perceived threat, Priscilla also understood their struggle―― She understood the very fact that they twisted the destiny of the stars that could only be described as something more than a trivial matter.
Priscilla: [What in the Witch's… Nay, what in the heavens are you both deceiving?]
Sphinx, the mastermind behind the Great Disaster, was not half-hearted in the numerous artifices she had laid out.
The undead army created with the Sacrament of the Immortal King, the use of the Stone Muspel to realize them, her advent as the Witch of Greed who managed to evade the flame of the Yang Sword once before, the murderous intent toward Arakiya who shared her destiny with the lands of the Empire, the starlight and the Magic Crystal Cannon, the subsequent overload of the Magic Core, the deployment of the magic circle to utilize the magic crystals, and the staging of the plight of the Fortified City――.
Who could have predicted that such well-orchestrated plans would be foiled at every turn?
For the Wise Emperor Vincent Vollachia, for his right-hand man Chisha Gold the White Spider, and for none other than Priscilla Barielle, it would have been impossible.
The ruination of the Vollachian Empire ought to have been inescapable.
It ought to have been inescapable, if it were not for those who broke through that dead-end of fate with an unthinkable power.
That was why――,
Priscilla: [――Just one more hand to play.]
Priscilla's lips spun those words as she peered at the scene that floated on the mirror's surface.
The massive water mirror above the Imperial Capital reflected the plight of the distant Fortified City and tried to break the will of those in the Imperial Capital to fight. ――The fire of obliteration, previously swallowed by the void, drowned it out.
The starlight had been negated by the Magic Crystal Cannon, the pride of Imperial Capital, and the water mirror shattered.
At last, it seemed that all of Witch's stratagems had been thwarted.
However――,
Sphinx: [I am not done yet.]
The starlight over the Fortified City had been drowned out, but even so, the Witch's all-encompassing plans yet remained to be exhausted.
While the Witch watched as the mass-scale disaster she had prepared was prevented, she used this as a springboard to set up a trap.
――The water mirror shattered in the sky, turned into raindrops, and poured down upon the entire Imperial Capital.
Like a passing storm, it drenched the Imperial Capital, with raindrops striking the living and the dead alike.
And so they were blades of water, the harmful disguised as the harmless.
Slowly, the drops that slid over the skin of those struck by raindrops shuddered, becoming blades. This danger loomed equally over everyone, except those who were inside buildings or the transcendent beings who avoided the rain by instinctive intuition.
It became a fatal line, one that could no longer be avoided.
Priscilla: [――――]
Hence why, Priscilla closed her eyes.
Earlier, she had thought about Vincent, and then she did the same thing. ――Schult, Heinkel, Emilia, Crusch, Felt, Anastasia, Serena, and Arakiya, in the darkness behind her eyelids, Priscilla saw many faces, many souls.
Among them, Vincent, Lamia, Rem, and Aldebaran were also present.
All of them, people who lacked one more hand to play.
Priscilla: [――The world is made for my convenience.]
Priscilla muttered thus, and Sphinx's movement ceased as she attempted to brandish these blades of raindrops.
Through the water mirror she gazed towards Priscilla, her black eyes wide open.
In the next instant, the alternate space created to hold Priscilla collapsed. ――In the blink of an eye, it was unbearably engulfed by the scintillating flames brought about by the Sun Princess trapped within.
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The moment the starlight flashed over the Fortified City, everyone who looked up to the sky was speechless.
???: [――――]
This was right after they had succeeded in defeating the Blight Dragon that had attacked them just priorly, and the fact that they had successfully defeated a powerful enemy together had boosted the morale of all the soldiers who were challenging the siege to their utmost.
However, before the fact that the undead's most powerful force had been destroyed was conveyed to all, beautiful destruction loomed overhead, many forgetting the beating of their own hearts.
Of course, there were those who tried everything they could under these circumstances.
The same was true of the Spirit Knight clad in an aura of light, the female warriors who would never lose their fighting spirit, the soldier with insects within him and the hulking frame clad in gold, the Battalion who was assembled in the light of their own star.
Even the wise ones, who lacked the strength to fight, considered countless thoughts in that brief gap of time, sparing no second to attempt to overcome their desperate predicament.
But still, just like ants gathered together to stop a giant, it was certain that everything would be trampled, and reaped.
――Until the fire of destruction flew from the distant sky, colliding with the light of the star, and the world flashed white.
???: [――――]
At the time, no one knew what had happened.
However, the retinas of those who did not look away were scorched white, revealing that the destruction that ought to have arrived before the return of their eyesight did not descend upon them.
And then――,
???: [――Hk.]
The two lights, the white of the star and the red of the fire, blended together, and a shockwave covered the sky of the Fortified City.
The blast, which occurred a moment later, scattered in all directions, shaking even the city's sturdy walls, sending gusts of wind throughout the city, blowing away the living and the dead entire.
In addition, intense winds cracked even the great mountain that supported the city, causing rock faces to collapse and detach, large falling rocks engulfing a corner of the great fortress with a roar.
Unfortunately, that location had been assigned as a first aid station where the injured were being brought――.
???: [――Rem! Hey, Rem!]
At the call of a frantic voice, Rem's eyes blinked several times.
For a moment, her thoughts were whited out, and it took her a moment to figure out what had happened.
But, she soon realized that it was Katya's voice frantically calling to her, and she remembered that the relief station had been involved in a collapse caused by falling rocks.
Seeing cracks in the walls and ceiling, Rem had quickly pushed Katya away, and then, collapse.
And yet――,
Rem: [I'm, alive…?]
Katya: [Of course you're alive! You really shouldn't have done that! If you died protecting me, my heart really would have died this time…]
Buried beneath the rubble, Katya's tearful voice struck Rem's ears, confirming that she was still alive. That powerful grief was interrupted by the sight of Rem pushing aside the rubble from atop her body.
Certainly, she would be surprised. The debris on top of Rem was quite heavy, and even with Rem's strength, which was that of the Oni Clan, it should have been too heavy for her to move it so easily.
Yet, Rem was still able to do it.
Katya: [R-Rem, your… your eye!]
Pointing at Rem's face, Katya let out a shrill, high-pitched scream.
Rem could guess that Katya was pointing to her left eye, which probably had a blaze lit within it. This was because, Katya's left eye also had a flame burning.
――No, it was not just Rem and Katya.
All those in the aid station, except for Rem and Katya, who had been caught in the collapse, stood up with only minor scratches and no serious injuries.
She could see a flickering flame in one eye of every person.
That flame, the power that came from it, brought forth strength to Rem.
And that was because――,
Rem: [――Priscilla-sama?]
Rem muttered to herself as she felt the heat of the painless flame in her eye.
Unsure. Rem was not even sure why. But, Rem followed her heart and was certain of who it was that had brought about that flame.
Rem: [Katya-san.]
Katya: [W-what is this!? Water… where's some water!? Quick, quick, I need some water to put this out…!]
Rem: [No, I don't think this is a fire that should be put out. Besides.]
Katya: [Besides?]
Before the flustered and confused Katya, Rem stood up and found her overturned, barely damaged wheelchair, lifted Katya into it, and sat her down.
Then, she looked at the people in the relief station who were standing up, and nodded.
Rem: [I feel like I'm being told something. ――That, we've got to hang on just a bit further.]
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――The water mirror shattered, and the crimson woman descended from the sky in a spray of droplets.
All were transfixed by her overwhelming presence, looking up at the sky as if being bathed by the setting sun.
And, of course, that held true for the Witch as well.
???: [――Priscilla Barielle!]
At this moment, after deconstructing the magic crystals with the activation of the incomplete magic circle, there were forty-four Witches that Sphinx had manifested by absorbing some of the vast amount of Mana.
Each of them turned their palms toward the sky, and light appeared around the descending Priscilla.
But――,
???: [Don't look away and don't touch the dancing lady!]
???: [I dunno about that, bad move that.]
Not missing this opportunity, the transcendent beings interfered, reducing the number from forty-four to thirty-six in one fell swoop.
Despite that, the balls of light, more than enough to threaten one person, gathered all at once towards Priscilla. A lethal attack from all directions, it tried to capture the sun as it escaped its captivity――,
???: [I won't let it!]
Responding to that cry of parental love, the streets of the Imperial Capital shifted and moved before shooting out like spears.
They blocked the blasts of light that were trying to reach Priscilla in the air, and a series of explosions and blasts painted the sky as they protected her.
???: [Together, Beatrice!]
???: [No need for you to say it, I suppose!]
An amethyst glow appeared around Priscilla as she continued to descend through the blast of light. It was a disk-shaped crystal, acting as a shield to intercept the approaching balls of light, that was created by the combined efforts of both Spirit and mage to protect and defend Priscilla.
However――,
Witch: [Not yet!]
With emotion to the point of spitting blood, the Witch shouted.
Immediately afterward, the disk was struck hard and began to creak; eventually, the cracks widened, and the disk shattered all at once.
Having done so, the Witch, her white hair fluttering, rose into the sky and attempted to shower life-rending light upon Priscilla, as the latter fell unprotected.
???: [Uuau!!]
???: [I will not let you do that!]
The blonde girl teleported from the ground, and the deergirl jumped and kicked with a force that could break the Crystal Palace, striking a blow to the torso of the Witch, who saw none else except Priscilla, at the same time.
The Witch crumpled, and the heat ray that was fired missed its target.
Witch: [Catalyst: Required.]
The crumpled Witch shattered into bits of dirt, but even that was part of the plan of which she spoke.
A moment later, multiple Witches on the ground joined hands with each other; because they were the same being, in perfect synchronization, they shortened the construction of a technique, generating a great storm.
It became raging water, wind, and light, engulfing Priscilla in the sky.
In the next moment, Priscilla would be torn to shreds, her body left in a pitiful state――,
???: [Icicle Line――!]
The storm of destruction exploded from within, and what appeared next was not the torn figure of Priscilla, but rather a flower of ice that split open in the heavens as if to protect and adorn her.
The great, ravishing flower petals trapped the light, not allowing it to reach Priscilla.
And then, a figure furiously approached, as Priscilla defied all of the death, destruction, and demise that loomed around her.
It was――,
???: [――Princess!!]
Aldebaran rose from the ground of the Imperial Capital, stretching into the sky with a distorted, misshapen pillar of stone and earth beneath his feet, drawing ever closer to Priscilla.
The column rapidly grew, and the distance between the falling Priscilla and the ascending Aldebaran shrank, and shrank, and shrank, and shrank―― until the distance became zero.
Al: [――Hk.]
Balancing on top of an unstable pillar, he stretched out his right arm to forcefully catch Priscilla as she fell. Just as they were about to fall together, Aldebaran secured his legs firmly atop the pillar, risking his life to protect Priscilla from the fall.
Priscilla's almond-shaped eyes narrowed at Aldebaran's life-or-death decisive action,
Priscilla: [It is a great service.]
As Priscilla briefly spoke, Aldebaran, overcome by emotion, bowed his head. Then he looked up, his voice trembling,
Al: [Princess, Princess, my Princess…! Finally, again… OUCH!!]
Priscilla: [Nonsense. Who belongs to you?]
Priscilla struck Aldebaran, who was on the brink of losing it, on the head with the hilt of her Yang Sword. Aldebaran instinctively crouched down as he felt the force of the blow, which threatened to dent his steel helmet. He was unable to rub the spot where he had been hit, as he was supporting Priscilla with his one arm.
Priscilla gave a short snicker to the pitiful Aldebaran, with a "Heh",
Priscilla: [However, that was an excellent effort from you. I bestow mine praise.]
Al: [Well, I'm very grateful and honored… what about you, Princess? Everything okay? No injuries? Did they hurt you or anything? I mean, you look so pretty for someone who was being held captive.]
Priscilla: [Do not repeat such nonsense. In the first place, mine beauty is not going to diminish from being imprisoned for a short while. Mind your tongue, Al.]
Al: [――――]
Held by his arm, Priscilla told him so in a stunning manner, and Aldebaran's―― Al's breath caught in his throat.
Then, once again, he nodded deeply, confirming that Priscilla was indeed before him. To Al's reaction, Priscilla, still in his embrace, looked around,
Priscilla: [Witness, the true star of the show. You shall have grand excitements.]
Reflected in Priscilla's eyes as she spoke atop the stone pillar were multiple figures, those who were putting their lives on the line in this battle, and in the eyes of each of them, a flame was lit.
The flame of Priscilla Barielle's soul blazed within the eyes of those she deemed worthy of love.
That, of course, included――,
Al: [Princess?]
With Al right beside her, she lifted the visor of the helmet he wore with her finger and peeked within. ――The right eye upon his face, which he had never revealed to anyone but Priscilla, was lit by the same flame.
Upon seeing this, Priscilla smiled pleasantly, and spoke.
Priscilla: [It is no matter of consequence. ――As always, this world is made for my convenience.]