Chapter 73

“Sorry, Rino, would you switch with me? “Yes.” They switched, leaving Rino to supply magic while her mother started stretching her shoulders, her face brightening. “Is it time for a little violence?” Regina passed by Arian, who was still panting, before launching into Elazonia. “Lightning—” Elazonia immediately started to cast a spell, but Regina suddenly disappeared from in front of her. In the same moment, a fist appeared to her right, crashing directly into her face. “Gah!” “So slow.” Regina had used Teleport without an incantation to move next to Elazonia and follow through with an attack. The punch was strengthened enough to break through a steel plate. If the Goddess weren’t a mass of magic that surpassed Regina, she would have been turned to mincemeat in a second. “You’re tough.” “Grr…!” Elazonia vanished from in front of her. The Blue Princess of War didn’t bother to turn around, instead casting a spell behind her. “Explode, Chaos Blast.” Hundreds of tiny black flames scattered across the area. They focused on Elazonia, detonating in a huge explosion to prevent her surprise attack. “Gah…!” “Ha-ha-ha, the only person who can thrust me from behind is my husband.” “Try not to make dirty jokes! There are children watching!” shouted Shinichi, but Regina didn’t seem to care, glaring at Elazonia. “Pity. You haven’t made use of your talents.” The fact that she’d been able to handle Arian’s dragon sword and immediately engage with Regina meant Elazonia was a quick learner with good intuition. However, the Blue Princess of War had left thousands of corpses in her wake over her lifetime. She possessed far more battle experience. Elazonia was originally a magicologist, not a soldier, and it was obvious that wasn’t the greatest problem. “You’ve never fought someone who was as strong as you, huh?” “Don’t be stupid. I am Elazonia. There are none better than me,” she boasted. “Maybe not…” Regina was looking at her in pity. Before Elazonia had become a goddess, she still had magic on the same level as the Demon King or Regina, meaning she had been unrivaled back then. Regina was painfully aware of the reason Elazonia had become so twisted. “There’s no one more powerful than you, meaning you can get away with anything. Nice, isn’t it?” Regina spoke to the woman named Elen and herself, the Blue Princess of War. No matter the enemy, she could blow them away with one magically enhanced fist or remove any trace of their existence with one spell. Regina was so powerful and committed so many acts of violence that everyone knelt to her, giving up on resisting. In Elen’s case, there was the potential enemy—the country itself—but it would have been easy for her to evade the law and become a murderer or any other kind of criminal. They were the same in that they were free because they were powerful. “It’s really fun to use your power for whatever you want, beat the crap out of anyone who upsets you, and really feel like you’re all-powerful.” But there was nothing after that. There was no one in front or beside them. It was just an empty desert called freedom. Their powers might have let them do anything, but there wasn’t even a friendly rival that could take on everything. “You can be ‘free,’ but things get really boring when no one admonishes you or tries to tell you off.” Regina, the Blue Princess of War, had found lots of things that took away her freedom, like her student who constantly complained about her getting involved in her personal life; or her husband the Blue Demon King, who she could fight against for her life; or even her beloved daughter. Elen had never been able to find a friend or companion who would put her freedom in check. Maybe her colleagues in the Magicology Department, but she had become too corrupted before she met them. Now that she’d given up being a human and become the Goddess, there wasn’t a single person standing beside her. “I’m sorry I didn’t fight with you thousands of years ago. Take my fist as a token of my apology.” “Are you done with your jokes? Thunder Beast!” Regina’s words would never have reached Elazonia. After all, she no longer had her memories of the past. She created beasts from lightning and sent them to attack Regina. But before the spell could attack Regina, a red cyclone rushed from the side, slicing apart the horde. “Sorry to keep you waiting!” cried Arian energetically, brandishing her dragon sword now that she’d cooled off. “Tsk. Were you buying time?” asked Elazonia. “No, I meant what I said before,” answered Regina as she patted Arian’s shoulder. “Thanks for covering for me.” Right after that, Regina turned away and rushed over to her husband where he was encased in ice. “Dear husband! Time to wake up, or did you plan on sleeping through all of this?” asked Regina, sounding like a newlywed as she began pounding at ice stronger than steel. “I might have called you weak and cowardly, but you used your own body to protect our little Rino. I still love you!” She smiled gently as her fists unloaded a succession of punches, cracking the ice pillar. “Hurry up and wake up. If you don’t…I’ll start to think about finding someone else.” Her kind eyes suddenly narrowed to a sharp glint. “She’s annoying, but she’s strong. I mean, she beat you, even though she relied on underhanded tactics. I’d understand if you fell in love with her and gave yourself to her, but…” Her hostility chilled the air, and black flames erupted from her fists, like physical manifestations of her jealousy. “…I’d rather we go up in flames than give you to another woman. ” Her girlish smile was like a demonic mask. The splits in the pillar ran deeper, cracking as they covered the entire pillar of ice. It exploded violently out from the inside, showering the area with sparkling shards, and the massive blue giant lowered his thick legs to the ground. “I apologize for keeping you waiting!” “Daddy!” “Very uncool, Your Highness!” retorted his advisor. The Demon King elected not to listen, wrapping his large arms around his wife for a long-awaited reunion. “Regina, I apologize for the trouble.” “What are you talking about? It was fun fighting for you.” She smiled, laying her head on his chest, which made him open his eyes wide in surprise. “Haven’t you stopped loving me for my shameful loss…?” “Don’t be stupid. I’ll only stop loving you if you lose to me.” “Hmph, well then, I will retrain until I am more powerful than a dragon.” “There’s my husband.” “Sorry to break this up, but we’re in the middle of a broadcast!” interrupted Shinichi as the married couple started smooching, forgetting everything was being livestreamed to the entire continent. Arian had been facing off with Elazonia to afford enough time for their little reunion. “Your Highness, could you please lend a hand?!” “Of course.” He looked at them, signaling he owed them one, before using magical flames to warm his chilled body. “Elazonia, it’s not my style to pick on one fighter with a whole gang, but I cannot forgive you for your treachery. And you’ve made my beloved daughter cry, and that cannot be repaid with ten thousand deaths!” “That’s what you care about?!” “This place will become your grave! Blade Storm!” Rays of light sprung from the Demon King’s palm, autonomously moving toward Elazonia and slashing at her as she barely managed to dodge Arian’s dragon sword. “Gah! I’m the Goddess! I can’t allow these disgusting beasts to—!” “Your comebacks just show that you’re pathetic.” Shinichi’s comment stung. Still, Elazonia knew how this battle would end. Arian’s dragon power was too much for her to control, even with the Demon King not being at full power, having just come back from the brink of death. And then there was Regina, who was in the same class as the Demon King. Paired with their experience and synchronicity, it was hard to believe this was their first time fighting together. They had three times her raw power, and she didn’t have the battle experience. On top of that, she’d lost the faith of the people. There was almost no chance of her winning. As her ghost form was whittled down, she used Apport to bring magic conductors up from the floor below, but that only bought her more time. “Bastards… Bastards—!” Rino looked sad as she watched Elazonia in pain, driven back into a corner. “Shinichi…” “Okay. Let’s pause!” Shinichi understood, calling for the three to stop fighting. “Hmph. What is it?” asked the Demon King, surprised; he was about to land the finishing blow. He pulled his fist back and put some space between him and Elazonia. Shinichi waited before addressing the ghost who was a moment away from destruction. “Surrender. Commit no more evil acts and use your knowledge to help the people and atone for your sins. If you do, you’ll leave with your life.” “What?!” exclaimed the Demon King. He wouldn’t be satisfied until not a single shred of Elazonia remained, but he noticed Rino’s tears and shut his mouth. “And are you okay with this?” Regina asked Shinichi like she couldn’t accept it. “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten when she used your childhood friend against you, even if it was just a fake copy.” “I haven’t forgotten, and I’ll never forgive her for that. But I wouldn’t be any different from Elazonia if I wanted to destroy someone because I had a personal grudge against them… Rino showed me the way.” “Hmm…” Regina had no choice but to close her mouth when her name came up. “Huh? I never—” “Lady Rino, quiet,” said Celes, covering the girl’s mouth. Arian found that strange and tried to express her concerns. “Shinichi…” “It’s okay. Leave it to me.” Shinichi smiled at her before turning back to Elazonia to demand her surrender. “You don’t have a single follower left on the continent of Uropeh. We’ve got you in checkmate. Set aside your hate and surrender.” “…I see.” Elazonia nodded, her face turned down. “Apport.” All the magic conductors from below appeared in neat rows behind her, a ghastly grin on her face. “If none worship me here, I will destroy all the fools who allowed themselves to be manipulated by the demons. And then I will start anew on another continent!” “So that’s what we’ve come to.” Shinichi was actually impressed by her idea, which made her seem like an evil god incarnate. It was true that their broadcast was only reaching people on this continent, partially because the world was round and partially because they had limited magic. If she killed everyone who lived in Uropeh to silence them, she might be able to rebuild the church on the remaining two continents. Shinichi wasn’t panicked at all. “It’s a perfect strategy—except for the fact that you can’t implement it.” “You think I can’t? If I replicate the power of a Nuclear Blast —” “No, that’s not what I’m talking about.” Shinichi cut her off as she started to recount the power of the destructive spell. He already knew she’d researched nuclear fusion. He knew she could destroy the continent. “But you don’t have any magic left,” he said, his mouth curling up into a crescent as he pointed to the magic conductors summoned to her. The massive crystals should have contained enough magic to set off a thermonuclear blast and destroy the continent, but they had all lost their shine, indicating they were empty. “That’s absurd! How?!” Elazonia sent an eye down to the hero resurrection facility, witnessing golems broken from overuse and dead elven heroes scattered across the floor. “This can’t be!” “It’s a trap I set just in case. I wasn’t sure it’d go so well.” A short while before Shinichi was smiling smugly in front of Elazonia, the elves were starting a massacre in the church of Oriens, a town on the far eastern side of the continent. The men were being slaughtered by an onslaught of attacks, but there was nothing for them to be upset about. In fact, their smiles were full of pure joy. “Magic Arrow.” “Let the elven arrow pierce my heaaaaart! ” “Disgusting pigs! Pressure Sphere!” “Break my whole body and turn me into mincemeat!” The masochistic heroes put themselves in the way of Clarissa and the other two elves, groaning with pleasure as they were destroyed. As soon as their bodies disappeared, they were resurrected. “A fire spell next! I want to feel your burning love!” “Don’t come any closer, pervert. Freezing Blood!” “So coooold! But I like it!” The hero let out another yelp of joy as he felt his body freeze from the inside out, then he died and was resurrected by the Goddess’s power. The infinite loop of death and rebirth was actually leaving the elves exhausted. “Huff, huff… Clarissa, how much longer do we need to do this?” “That dirty human said we should do it until these guys stop getting resurrected!” “But how long will that take…?” Her two friends complained as she wiped the sweat from her brow. They’d repelled attacks from this same number of heroes in the past, but this was the first time that they killed them hundreds of times in a short period. Even though the elves were used to death, repeatedly killing the same person would be enough to warp even their minds. “The whole church reeks like blood and guts. Blergh…” “Is it my chance to receive this holy hurl?!” “Outta the way! It’s mine!” “Even roaches wouldn’t stoop so low! Fire Storm!” While one of Clarissa’s friends violently vomited, Clarissa was busy burning away the heroes. Then she tried to encourage her friend who was near tears. “It’s tough, but we’ll push through this. Then that dirty human will introduce us to some hot sadistic dark elf boys!” “I would rather have a boyfriend who isn’t mean…” Clarissa’s friends looked at her in irritation as she started to pant from all the excitement of imaging the torture inflicted by her future boyfriend.