Chapter 219: The dormant weapon, part 7
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
The two ladies and I bolted up the stairs hoping to locate Lyla.
「Couldn’t you have taken care of her easily?」, asked Elvi from behind.
「There’s some nuance to it」, I replied. 「I could have, but Rodje was the one who wished for that elf to be ‘Resurrected’. And my interference will have put her in a tight spot.」
「That’s true」, agreed Almeria. 「I doubt she’d want to see someone else lay a finger on her own sister, even if she’s a fake.」
The reanimated elf didn’t seem too troublesome for the Rodje I knew to deal with, not to mention that Orlando was also present to deal with the ‘Boulder Soldier’. We searched the second floor, then the third.
She’s probably on the top floor, I thought. I also realised that there was no way to climb upwards from the outside — probably a spell that Lyla had cast.
「Wait, we’re almost at the Great Hall…」
「Ah, the Great Hall.」
The two ladies’ eyebrows narrowed. Perhaps nasty recollections had come back to them.
The ‘Great Hall’ referred to the hall used by the former royals to host evening banquets for nobles. A few hundred demon cavalry, all considerably strong, had been there waiting for us the last time we were here. It was the only way to reach the Demon King, however, and fighting there had drained us. Once we had cleared the area, I had decided that it would be easier to take on the Demon King on my own.
The path on which we were walking ended in an old door. It was the only thing between us and the Great Hall. At that moment, it opened and a person walked out.
「…」
She broke into a sprint.
「Hey, you guys!」
It was Lyla.
「Lylael?」
「Lylael-dono?」
「I somehow managed to escape from Van’s grasp」, she said, motioning in the direction of the Great Hall.
「Rodje told us that you sustained a critical hit」, I said.
「I found an opening to heal myself」, replied Lyla smugly. 「Those folks must be panicking right now.」
「I’m glad you’re safe, Lylael.」
「Yeah. We’ve achieved what we came here to do, then.」
「…」
There was no way she could look me in the eye and act as cheerfully as she did.
「You’re a fake.」
「What are you saying, idiot?」
Fuming, she tried to hit me.
「Yup, something’s off」, said Elvi.
「What exactly is off about me, huh?」
「You’re behaving too casually with Al and I.」
She looked at Almeria, who looked at her too, and both nodded.
If she had actually managed to patch herself up, then she would probably have struck back. She certainly had enough backbone to do so.
「So, what’s wrong?」, pouted Lyla. 「Tell me. I want to know.」
I grabbed her hand, yanked her in my direction, and kissed her on the lips.
「Mm…?」
「Kya, kya –! What the!?」
「R-Roland? What are you doing!?」
I glanced at the ladies. They had covered their faces with both hands, and their ears were red. Lyla’s face had turned red too, and she averted her gaze when I released my lips from hers.
「There’s a time and place for everything… why now?」
「I don’t remember teaching you such a kiss.」
She sighed.
「Figures. So this is the man I… no, we fell in love with. I guess this isn’t enough to pull the wool over your eyes.」
She stamped her foot on the ground, causing the magic circle for a mobility spell to expand in the corridor.
「I’ll see you in the Great Hall」, she said.
I stuck my hand out again, but only grasped thin air this time. She had already disappeared, leaving naught but her voice. That was slow of me, I thought. I should have dealt with her straight away instead of trying to catch her. Is this the effect one can produce on me just by adopting Lyla’s form?
Almeria and Elvi had removed their hands from their faces.
「Leave it to us, Roland.」
「We’ll show you what we can do.」
The way they spoke reflected the tremendous growth they had experienced.
「You have profound feelings towards Lyla」, said Almeria. 「So profound, that they can dull your instincts.」
Maybe. Had I not realised this before?
「Ok, let’s go」, said the princess, nudging the door open.
Lyla stood there alone — probably the same fake we had spoken to a moment ago. I looked at the two ladies behind me.
「There’s not a second to waste. Go. Now.」
「Exactly. The real one must be waiting for you.」
Dee had disposed of the previous fake Lyla. If this fake was equally powerful, then perhaps the two ladies were on equal footing with her.
「Do me proud.」
I sprinted off without waiting for their reply. The fake Lyla made no effort to stop me — maybe because she didn’t want to, or knew that it would prove futile. Either way, I managed to leave the Great Hall without encountering any resistance.
◆Almeria◆
My body felt hot. My face felt as if it was next to a furnace. I felt myself getting into gear as I watched Roland head off into the distance.
「Two on one?」, said the fake Lylael plainly.
「Apologies」, said El as she readied her shield. 「But we didn’t have much choice.」
The Holy Knight’s breathing was more strained than usual. She probably felt the way I do, then.
「I’m not calling you cowards. In fact, I must applaud you for not bringing more people.」
「That’s just as belittling as the former…!」
「You’re belittling me.」
I didn’t feel the overwhelming pressure that Aimée had exerted. As long as I have El with me, I thought, we can actually do this.
「Begone, phoney!」
「I pity those who will lose to a phoney.」
Roland had entrusted this fight to us — for that, I was happy. I knew that El felt this too.
Her shield in position, she was steadily narrowing the distance between Lylael and herself. I could tell that she was channeling her skill from the way her arms moved. When we were in range, I leapt from behind the shield, drew my sword and charged the enemy from her blind spot.
I channeled ‘Indignation’, enveloping my sword in it.
My sword, ‘Levin’, greatly increased the range of my attacks. It was a sword in which I held a lot of pride as it required serious skill to dodge.
「Raaaaaaah!!」
「Impressive」, chuckled Lylael.
Laugh while you still can…!
I thought I had her for sure. However, before I knew it, my magic had struck something that caused it to disappear in an instant.
「‘Dimensional Wall’. It is impervious to both physical and magical attacks. It will be good for you to learn why I became the Demon King.」
Wait. It should have been attracted by El’s skill, so why was it still aimed at me?
「My skill might have been dispelled by some sort of magic」, said El.
「I see how it is!」
I tried attacking again, but only struck the magical barrier as I had before.
「…」
「Get it? This is what futility looks like.」
I activated ‘Bulwark’ and rammed it against the invisible wall.
「What is that –」
「Try dispelling this!」, I yelled.
Lylael frowned.
The magic that could dispel El’s skill could dispel mine too — just as I had expected. I channeled extra magicka to feed the ‘Bulwark’, and it began eating away at Lylael’s barrier. I knew that Lylael was making her next move, though I wasn’t sure what it was. A loud thunk came from behind.
「Leave the back to me, Al.」
A barrage of black spikes rained down on El’s shield.
My ‘Bulwark’ had finished eating away at Lylael’s barrier. It’s showtime!
I stopped channeling ‘Bulwark’ and swung my sword at Lylael, who took a step backwards and somehow managed to dodge it. Quickly closing the distance between us again, I tried another swing with no intention to let her escape. She parried it with a sword she had fashioned out of magicka.
So this is the extent of your sword fighting skills? Pfft, Roland is much, much stronger!
I attacked again and again with ‘Levin’, and noticed from Lylael’s expression that she was taking a little bit of damage with each attack she fended off. Wait for the enemy to reveal an opening in their defences by making a shoddy, panic-fueled attack, and then land a devastating blow — that was what Roland had taught me long ago.
Could it apply here…?
「Nice try!」
Lylael swung her sword a little too wide. There it is!
「It’s over!」
I took careful aim as if I was using the wind-powered sword ‘Tempest’ and attacked.
「…! Gah…」
My sword went right through her. I pulled it out and brought it down on her shoulder. She didn’t collapse, however, and simply melted into a sticky puddle instead. She’s truly a fake, I thought. You can’t deceive Roland.
I sat down and pumped my fist in the air.
「We… we won! She might have been a phoney, but that doesn’t matter!」
El hurried over and helped me to my feet.
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