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Vol 05 Chapter 21: Duel

It had been a week since the siege began. 　
The Imperial soldiers who had been attacking us were clearly exhausted and so were we at Erucy. In fact, it was worse. Our numbers, being too small, had increased the individual workload.
To make matters worse, despite being bombarded with arrows, the Imperial soldiers had managed to completely fill the moat in front of the walls over the week. They even threw corpses into it at one point.
Their change in tactics was painful for us; They no longer rushed in as they did on the first day, the Empire’s attacks had become more sporadic, attempting small-scale infiltrations instead of all-out assaults. This approach had significantly increased the fatigue on our side. The Empire could afford to attack day and night and give their soldiers time to rest thanks to their ample manpower, but we could not, increasing our fatigue by the day. 　
…Several times, we were forced to use the cluster bombs, risking a counterattack from Ashno. The situation had become so dire that we had to use them despite the risk.
「Now they’re using catapults?」
The Imperial soldiers were targeting us with a spring-powered giant catapult. It seemed they were trying to attack Erucy’s interior by lobbing stones over the walls.
The catapult looked like a massive bow, using the force of a spring to launch huge stones. However, its range was only about 100 meters. 　
Mounted on a cart, the Imperial soldiers pushed it forward to close the distance, but one of our elves shot a tire of the catapult cart, causing it to dramatically overturn and crush the soldiers pushing it.
「Really, they’re too thoughtless.」
However, there was something strange about it. Using a catapult wasn’t a bad idea per se. Making use of a parabolic attack to overcome the solid but not tall outer walls of Erucy made a lot of sense. 　
If Ashno had been guarding the catapult, it could have caused significant damage. 　
With Ashno around, our arrows wouldn’t reach the catapult, and it would have been impossible for us to shoot down a stone of that mass with arrows without using wind magic.
It wasn’t just with the catapult; if the Imperial soldiers had coordinated with Ashno, they could have launched many effective strategies. But for that entire week, Ashno hadn’t shown up, and they kept failing with impromptu tactics.
There was an instance when Imperial soldiers had tried to dig a tunnel to bypass the walls, but we noticed it due to the tremors and buried them alive with the fire foxes’ earth magic. However, if Ashno had participated, they could have easily succeeded.
Thanks to Ashno’s absence, we had some respite, but the situation was still dire. According to my estimates, we had one more week left at most. The people of Erucy wouldn’t last longer than that.
「If we want to turn this situation around, there are two options.」
The first was to use another trump card we had prepared, different from the pitfalls. 　…This was our genuine last resort. I’d prefer to save it.
The second was for me to find Ashno and attack her. If we could defeat Ashno, we could fully utilize grenades and cluster bombs. That would turn the tide of battle in an instant.
「Hey, Cyril, a girl is coming here. She’s alone, could it be a trap?」
Lucy, who was on watch with me, warned me.
「Just when I was thinking about her, she appears. It’s not a trap. It’s an enemy.」
Ashno walked straight toward the south wall where I was. Her approach seemed reckless, coming alone with no escort. The archers defending the wall attempted to snipe her, but the arrows veered away from her unnaturally. Unrest began to spread among the elves.
It wasn’t surprising. They couldn’t believe that arrows enchanted with [Windbreak], which should prevent them from being affected by the wind, were flying out of course.
「Don’t shoot any more arrows! It’s useless against her. Magic conjured by mana doesn’t work on her.」
When I shouted, the shooting abruptly stopped. Ashno’s approach didn’t halt. With 200 meters left, Ashno stopped.
「Chief of Erucy, come down. If you don’t, I will run straight towards your wall and crush it with earth magic.」
Her voice, likely amplified by wind magic, resonated, in every direction. The elves and fire foxes of Erucy looked at me in shock. To others, her claim might seem a bluff, but knowing Ashno’s capabilities, I found it terrifying.
True to her word, she began to run.
「I’ll be going, Lucy.」
I stood up. In my hand were gauntlets and a high-frequency cutter. I had also changed into clothing suitable for this fight. Additionally, I carried ten magic stones, each filled with my magical power – that was all the equipment I could carry.
「No, Cyril. That person is the monster you’ve always talked about, right? The one who completely controls all attributes of mana. If it’s in front of that person, you can’t use wind magic, right? An elf without wind is just a human. No, don’t go. Let’s all fight together.」
Lucy grabbed my sleeve, pleading. I slowly shook my head.
「…You heard what Ashno said. I have to go.」
Lucy gasped. Then, instead of me, she aimed her crossbow at Ashno. Naturally, it was deflected by the wind.
「Everyone, shoot her! If we don’t take her down, Cyril will go. We’ll lose. I don’t want that! We have to take her down!」
The other Elves began to fire arrows in quick succession. The fire foxes frantically supplied the Elves with arrows for their crossbows, desperately trying to keep me from heading into danger.
But Ashno, unbothered by this, kept running. I gently placed my hand on Lucy’s head, who was continuing to shoot her crossbow.
「It’s okay, Lucy. I will win, so don’t worry.」
「But, an elf who can’t use wind magic, and moreover, facing someone who can use all attributes, how can you possibly win…」
Tears were welling up in Lucy’s eyes. So, I smiled mischievously.
「Lucy, what do I always say?」
「「I only say I can do what I can do. 」」
Lucy’s voice overlapped with mine. Tears still in her eyes, she smiled.
「You ruined my cool moment. I can’t win against you, Lucy.」
「I’m your wife, after all. …Yeah, that’s right. If you say that you will win, I’ll believe you. I’ll believe in you and protect Erucy. So, win against that person.」
I nodded. Then, I gathered all my strength.
「Of course. I’ll win, Lucy.」
I kissed Lucy and jumped off the outer wall.
◇
Ashno halted her advance when I jumped off the wall.
「Cyril, you are deeply loved, aren’t you? I understood that during the fight. This is a good country. Every single citizen is desperately trying to protect the country they love.」
「I’ve built it… no, we’ve all built this treasure together.」
「Is that so, a treasure… Sorry, but that treasure ends today.」
Ashno’s magical power intensified as she prepared for combat. Even if she couldn’t use her right arm, how far could I go against this monster?
「Can I ask you one thing? Why didn’t you come forward for a whole week? If you had been in front, the Empire would have had an easier fight.」
「If I had won by brute force using my power, it wouldn’t count as defeating you in war. I wanted to win with just the Imperial soldiers’ strength.」
「It’s still early to give up on that, I think. You are somewhat advantageous now. If it continued like this, you might have overwhelmed us.」
「Maybe. But you have another trump card, right? If you use it and it turns the tide, this war will become a nasty quagmire.」
「Well, who knows? It would be nice if there were such a convenient thing.」
「Also, Voldeck is at his limit. He seems ready to break the seal at any moment.」
I chuckled wryly. So, she knew about my trump card. The Duke of Voldeck growing impatient was bad news. I had to deal with it somehow.
「So you gave up on everything but winning and protecting the seal.」
「Yeah, so I’m sorry, but I’ll have to overpower you with my strength. That way, at least, the seal won’t be broken.」
Quite a terrible situation.
「There’s an easier way to protect the seal. You just have to take Voldeck’s head. Then the fight will end, and the seal will be protected.」
「No way. Then I’ll lose the bet with you and won’t be able to meet Dad. I will cut down both you and Erucy with my power. That way, the seal will be protected, and I can meet Dad. So don’t get in the way… Or will you surrender and hand over your body to Dad?」
「In your dreams.」
「I thought you would say that. I’m the same, the two of us have something we can give up on. So, let’s settle this with our fists from here on.」
There was no point in more words. All that was left was to settle it in battle. …I couldn’t use ​​【Samsara Recursion】in this fight. If Voldeck breaks the seal, and I don’t have 【Samsara Recursion】​​, I won’t be able to redo the seal. Besides, I had to defeat Ashno with my own strength for it to mean anything. I absorbed magical power from the magic stones, circulating it through my body as I glared at Ashno.