“That’s impossible! You spiritified part of your body?! That isn’t... That isn’t human magic!”
“Unfortunately for you, the opponent I’ve set my sights on has long since surpassed the limits of humanity.”
I was now out of mana and my Ice Spiritification came undone. My right arm was frostbitten. It felt hot, as though it were burning. When Spider saw the state I was in, his smirk disappeared. I could tell he wasn’t in the mood to toy with his prey anymore. He radiated killing intent.
“You’re dangerous. Too dangerous,” he said. “I must kill you here, even if it goes against the young master’s wishes!”
“The young master?” I repeated, puzzled.
“Thread Puppet: Dragon!”
“Like hell I’ll let you do that!” Egret exclaimed, stepping in front of me with one hand still pressed against his wound. “You retreat, Ellie!”
The dragon, however, completely ignored Egret. It went around him to attack me.
“Ellie!” Egret screamed.
“Everything is...fine,” I mumbled, despite being on the verge of losing consciousness. “Time’s up.”
A shadow appeared overhead. A figure had just leaped down from the head of a massive mud serpent that was slithering across the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Before we knew it, the thread dragon was reduced to useless fibers. The person who’d defeated it was a veteran knight.
Egret’s eyes widened in surprise. “Th-That’s...”
I held on to my painful arm and lowered my head as well as I could. “Thank you for saving us, Sir Rhodostos.”
This man was Mathias Rhodostos, the grand master of the Imperial Knights and the most powerful knight in the empire.
“I apologize for the delay,” he replied, glaring at Spider. “Allow me to express my gratitude and respect for the wonderful fight you’ve put up.”
“Are you okay?!” Sistia asked, immediately taking out a high-grade potion and pouring it over my arm.
She’d been the one to lead Mathias here. I’d noticed that he was on his way to the square thanks to Synchrosense, so I’d asked Sistia to find him and relay to him what was happening. After summoning numerous Mud Dolls to distract Spider, she’d left atop her mud snake to get Mathias. I’d known that all I had to do was hold on until Mathias arrived. That second thread dragon had been a serious threat, though. I was incredibly thankful that Sistia and Mathias had made it back in time.
“Sorry for the trouble,” I told Sistia.
“Oh, it’s not a gift. I’ll bill you for that potion later.”
“Ha ha! Of course; I’m happy to pay up.”
Even with the high-grade potion, the frostbite wasn’t healing well. This most likely wasn’t normal frostbite, but rather the backlash from using Ice Spiritification. This time, I hadn’t used a spell I’d borrowed, but rather my very own spiritification technique. As it turned out, the price to pay for such power wasn’t cheap.
Spider groaned. Even since he and Mathias had started glowering at one another, he hadn’t moved one inch. Or rather, he couldn’t move, I assumed. Mathias was a seasoned knight who’d emerged victorious on innumerable battlefields—a man as powerful as the revered Rank S adventurers. Even Barl had told me that Mathias was far stronger than he was. This was my very first time seeing Mathias on the battlefield, but a single look was enough to understand his power. Spider must have been searching for a way out, but even he could tell that the only thing that awaited him if he moved was death.
“Mathias Rhodostos,” Spider said. “This is unexpected. Who would have thought you’d leave the emperor’s side?”
“You’re the ringleader, aren’t you? I’ll make you regret daring to lay your hands upon His Majesty’s treasured subjects.”
Spider took a step back, unable to bear Mathias’s bloodlust. At that moment, his right leg fell to the ground, neatly cut off. Mathias hadn’t moved. His hand wasn’t even on his sword!
No, that’s not it. My eyes simply hadn’t been able to follow his movements.
“Urgh!” Panic finally started to settle on Spider’s face.
Mathias began slowly unsheathing his sword. Suddenly, Spider fired a large number of threads at him and took off running. He’d replaced his severed leg with a makeshift woven prosthesis. Before I could process what had happened, Mathias had swung his blade and put it back neatly in its scabbard.
As the sound of the hilt hitting the scabbard rang out, blood splattered. There was practically nothing left of Spider. I had no clue how it was possible to make someone vanish into a puddle of blood with just a sword, but one thing was certain: Spider was dead for good.
The jewel of death had been destroyed alongside Spider. Although I couldn’t tell whether it was thanks to that or to Spider’s death, the undead that had been wreaking havoc started disappearing.
“The criminal who attacked the capital is dead. Victory is ours!” Mathias declared.
Cries of triumph echoed around the square. As I watched Mathias walk away, I couldn’t help but lose myself in thought. Who was the young master Spider had mentioned? The leader of his organization, most likely. Spider had judged that I would be a danger to that master of his and had tried to eliminate me, but that was apparently against the master’s wishes. Why was that?
“I can’t make sense of this,” I whispered.
“What are you muttering to yourself about, Ellie? You should rest for now,” Egret said.
I rested my head against his shoulder in an attempt to remain upright, but I soon passed out.