Chapter 172

CHAPTER 11 Coexistence “Firing next wave.” A portion of the few hundred crystals floating in front of Seiya’s hand fly toward Hydral. The dragonewt swiftly moves out of the way with his fiery wings, but he isn’t able to dodge every last icicle because of the Fenrir Shot’s spread. Hydral lets out a pained groan. It’s like he’s using a shotgun! He doesn’t really need to worry about aiming as much like this! “I was careless with Meteor Strike, so I’m going to unload every last bullet I have this time.” I wouldn’t call that “careless,” but Seiya seems to be regretting his actions. which is probably why he is creating countless small ice crystals before his right hand. Despite having already fired off three waves of icicles, it still looks like there’s more to come. However… “Merely pelting me with pebbles will not be enough to kill me!” Hydral fiercely descends toward us while bathing in the ice crystals. N-no way…! Fenrir Shot isn’t working?!” “The damage is greatly hampered due to the spread.” Seiya says this as if it were no big deal. Every Fenrir Shot staggers Hydral a bit, but he still manages to advance between each attack. “The moment you run out of ice crystals, you’re dead!” Hydral continues to shrug off the frozen onslaught. His progress may be slow, but at this rate, it won’t be long before he reaches us! “S-Seiya…! He’s not going to stop!” “D-don’t worry, Cerceus! Those hits are adding up, right?! Even if they’re not doing that much damage individually, surely after enough hits he’ll—ah?!” When I look in Seiya’s direction, I realize just how grave the situation is. Every last ice crystal is gone! “A-are you out of ammo?!” I hear a proud cackle coming from above. “Ha-ha-ha! It appears you’re out of pebbles!” There’s nothing we can do to stop him from descending now! He’s flying straight for us! “Here he comes…! We’re done for! I’m so scared!” Just as Cerceus tries to flee, Seiya lowers his right arm, then aims his left hand at Hydral. “Locked and loaded.” Countless small ice crystals suddenly materialize before Seiya’s left hand! “Fenrir Shot.” But the moment Seiya says that, Hydral is already less than ten meters away. He’s going to reach us in mere seconds, and yet, Fenrir Shot manages to hit him before he can. “Gwah!” Hydral, having been hit at point-blank range, flies back before slamming against the ground. Watching his opponent roll around in the dirt, Seiya contently mutters: “Good. Around eighty percent of my projectiles made contact thanks to him getting closer.” “Th-thank goodness! I was worried there for a second! I totally thought you were out of ammo!” “I won’t run out of ammo. I was concentrating magic into my left hand while shooting with my right. It takes ten seconds to unload every bullet with my right hand, but it also takes only ten seconds to reload with my left. The moment I finish attacking with one hand, I am already fully loaded with the other.” “You mean you can keep shooting those forever?!” “Until I run out of MP, of course. Incidentally, I have around 60,000 MP, and one Fenrir Shot consumes 2 MP, which means I can use it around 30,000 times.” That’s basically forever! I feel stupid for even worrying! There’s pretty much nothing the enemy can do now…! Even while talking to me, Seiya continues to pelt Hydral with Fenrir Shot. Every time the dragonewt tries to get up, another ice crystal pierces his body, knocking him back down. I-it’s working! Hydral’s out of options! All Seiya has to do is wait for the damage to build up! “G-gl…ah…!” Hydral grunts. After each ice crystal pierces his body and turns the spot pale, another one immediately joins it. Before long, his fiery skin begins to frost over as his body freezes. “M-my body is freezing…? This cannot be…!” “S-Seiya…! What’s going on?!” “I was never trying to damage him with the bullets. An ice spell is activated once a certain number of ice crystals hit and freeze the target. That is the true nature of Fenrir Shot.” Hydral uses his final ounce of strength to knock away the encroaching ice crystals. The black flames manage to evaporate the icicles, but he is instantly hit with a second wave, causing even his right arm to freeze. “Heretic…!” That word he grunts in agony ends up being his last. An ice crystal hits him in the chest, immediately causing the frost to spread through his entire body, and soon, the endless Fenrir Shot completely turns Hydral into an ice sculpture. “Yes! You won!” Seeing Hydral frozen solid gives me some much-needed relief, but Seiya doesn’t relent. He continues to blast the dragonewt’s body with Fenrir Shot, thickening the ice around it. “S-Seiya! That’s enough, don’t you think?!” “We shouldn’t underestimate his fire magic. He might thaw himself out and attack, so I need to make sure he’s really frozen.” “W-well, if you say so… I-I guess it is better to be safe than sorry, after all!” But clouds of white frost and powder begin to rise, and the temperature rapidly lowers as well. B-brrr…! Does he plan on freezing me, too?! My breath is white, I have goose bumps dotting my skin, and my legs begin to shake until all that lies before me is a giant hunk of ice. “…?! He looks like an iceberg! Don’t you think you’ve done enough already?!” “He would have a difficult time escaping from this. Now, it’s time to get started. Not even ice magic can freeze an opponent forever, so I need to deliver the final blow.” Seiya unsheathes his sword. “Berserk: Phase 2.8…” After inhaling deeply, Seiya unloads on the iceberg with the most powerful berserker form he can currently muster! The piercing sounds of ice cracking reverberate as the block of ice is gradually shattered into tiny fragments. Like a snow cone, powdered ice scatters over my feet as I watch Seiya fight against what appears to be an inanimate object. …One minute passes. The iceberg—or should I say Hydral—has been reduced to a mountain of glittery powdered snow. “Y-yes! It’s over!” Surely, even Seiya should be satisfied now. Anyway…ugh. He went way overboard again! I get how he feels, though, since I’d rather not have this dragonewt resurrect, either! I smirk when I suddenly realize that Cerceus hasn’t made a peep these past few minutes. Is he dumbstruck by how cautious Seiya is? Or did the S+ ranked battle scare him into silence? I search for Cerceus…and gasp. For some reason, he’s covered in a thick layer of ice just like Hydral was a few moments ago! “Seiya?! You accidentally froze Cerceus while you were freezing the enemy!” “Yeah, it looks like the attack’s range was so broad that he got himself frozen as well. He sure loves wasting my time.” Seiya stomps his foot, and the ice covering Cerceus’s body immediately cracks before crumbling to the ground and giving birth to a purple-lipped, shivering deity. “S-s-so…cold…! I’m gonna…freeze to death…!” “Relax. Deities can’t die no matter how hot or cold it is.” “But…it still really hurts…!” Ignoring Cerceus, Seiya faces the snowy surface Hydral once lay on. “Although I turned him into a fine powder, I’m still a little concerned. I should burn it.” After using Conversion and changing back into a fire knight, Seiya uses Hellfire and begins scorching the area. W-will this ever end?! It looks like Seiya isn’t going to send his enemy’s remains to the planet’s core this time. Instead, he plans to go with his burn-it-until-nothing-remains policy. His “usual policy…” I don’t even know what to say. While I’m a little weirded out, someone else speaks up. “Ah…! Warmth! It feels so good!” Cerceus has his hands over Seiya’s fire in an attempt to warm himself up. It’s a very surreal sight…until Seiya suddenly stops his flames. “Huh?! Seiya…! It’s getting cold! Don’t stop the fire yet!” “Shut up. I heard something.” I strain my ears, which can hear far better than any human’s, and notice the faint sound of footsteps. A man wearing a gray robe suddenly appears from the shadows of a ruined house. Seiya’s face immediately tenses far more than it ever did when he faced Hydral. “A human…? That’s impossible. There weren’t any signs of any people within a kilometer radius.” Seiya is unusually startled, but the hooded gentleman seems surprised as well. “I can’t believe my eyes. A mere human was able to defeat the Blazing Dragon…” It sounds like he was watching Seiya fight from the shadows. The man removes his hood in admiration. Seiya promptly unsheathes his sword and gets into stance for battle, but I feel like I’ve seen this person before. “It appears the dragonewts were right. The Hero and Goddess have arrived.” The man raises his arms into the air to show he is no threat. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Flashika, an imperial mage of the former nation of Roseguard.” Roseguard… Wait! That Roseguard?! Oh yeah! That’s the man who was with Rosalie and the emperor! “Um… You were a lightning mage, right?” “Oh…! I am but a mere mage, yet you know of me! Are these the majestic superpowers of the Goddess?” “No, uh… Ha-ha… Wait! Flashika, how’s Rosalie?! Is she okay?!” “Yes! The princess is in fine health!” Thank goodness! I really hope Mash and Elulu are okay, too… “So you know of us? That makes things much easier. I would like for you to meet with the princess. Would that be possible?” “Of course! Right, Seiya?” We’d learn so much more about the warped world if we met with Rosalie, so I readily agree. Seiya, however, is still cautious. “There is one thing you need to tell me first. Where did you come from? I didn’t even sense your presence.” “I used a magic circle to teleport here from our town of Iglu, where I, the princess, and the rest of the human race currently live.” Flashika begins drawing a magic circle in the dirt with his staff. “This teleportation circle used to be a secret ritual known only by the dragonewts. In the past, they used this to travel between the human continent and the dragonewts’ homeland located on the continent of Yulea.” I suddenly think back to the battle against the Great Mother of Dragons. Seiya, Mash, Elulu, and I used this magic circle to teleport from the cave to the dragon village in prewarped Gaeabrande. Flashika is telling the truth. Nevertheless, Seiya gets on his knees and searches for something on the ground like he lost a contact lens while Flashika is drawing the circle. “Psst. Rista. What is Seiya doing?” Cerceus whispers to me in a soft voice so Flashika can’t hear. “You know how insanely cautious he is. He’s probably just trying to make sure Flashika’s teleportation circle is actually safe. Last time we were here, he caught a lizard and sent it through the magic circle first just in case.” “H-he did? Oh! He must be looking for a lizard, then!” But after a few moments go by, Seiya shakes his head. “Dammit. There aren’t any good creatures around here… Cerceus, you go first.” “What the…?! Am I worth no more than a lizard to you?!” Cerceus protests, but Seiya gives him a chilling gaze and says: “Remember, Cerceus. Gods don’t…?” “Huh? What do you mean?” “Gods don’t…?” “G-gods… Um… Gods don’t…d-die…” “Exactly. Now, go.” “…Okay.” Oh my gosh! He made Cerceus say it! How pathetic! But if it weren’t for him, I’d probably be the one treated like garbage. So with that in mind, I can’t help but inwardly feel grateful to him. After Cerceus and Flashika go through the teleportation circle, then return together once more, making a round trip, which I find hard to believe was necessary… “All right, let’s go.” Seiya finally steps inside the magic circle as well. The moment I step foot outside the glowing magic circle, I immediately feel cold. Snow is falling from the cloudy sky, slowly packing on top of the rooftops of the wooden houses scattered about. “This is the town of Iglu.” “Brrr… It’s so cold…and I was just getting over being frozen by ice magic…” I know how Cerceus feels. But this time, it isn’t a magic-induced cold but nature itself. Flashika pulls his hood back over his head. “I apologize for the extreme difference in temperatures. The magic circle warped us far away from the Edona Village to the cold northern continent of Alphoreiz.” “Alphoreiz… W-wait! Isn’t this where the Demon Lord was?!” “You are correct. Mankind has survived and escaped the wrath of the dragonewts only because of the powerful force field surrounding this continent where the late Demon Lord’s ambitions still linger.” The continent where Seiya and I fought the Demon Lord is now the only place mankind can survive. It’s a strange feeling. “Anyway, I’m just glad we’re finally in a town with humans. I feel like I can relax now.” I agree with Cerceus, then survey the area. Men and women of all ages, wearing tattered clothing, stand around us and stare from beside the snow-covered trees. The clothes are basically thin rags, just barely enough to keep them alive in the cold. Even the people of Little Light—the underground settlement back in Ixphoria—were dressed slightly better than this. “This town seems to have its own share of hardships. Right, Sei—huh?!” I’m shocked when my eyes find Seiya again. A powerful aura is emanating from his body, and his hair has already turned crimson! “Wh-why did you suddenly enter berserker mode?!” “Look.” When I look in the direction Seiya is pointing, I see demons mixed in with the humans. They seem to be whispering in the humans’ ears. “What the…?! Demons…! There are demons here…!” “Wh-what is going on with this town?!” Cerceus and I shout, but Flashika meekly smiles. “Do not worry. They mean you no harm. We are only able to live here safely because of their aid. Humans and demons worked together to create this powerful force field that not even the Dragon Lord can destroy.” “So you’re living with demons now?!” “Yes. Iglu is a town where both humans and demons can coexist.” Wh-what’s going on here?! Just how warped does a world have to be for this to make sense?! A distorted realm ruled by a Dragon Lord… It appears this place is very, very different from the Gaeabrande Seiya and I remember. Just then, I feel a chill run down my spine. It isn’t because the temperature lowered, though. It’s fear. It’s the evil aura of a powerful monster, and it appears my gut was right. A demon trudges toward us through the snow, then greets us in an alluring voice. “Flashikaaa, so this is the Hero and Goddess you spoke of…” Her appearance is far different from the other generic-looking demons around here. Despite the cold, her clothing amounts to little more than a bikini. Her hair is the pitch-black of raven feathers, and her body is so captivating, I can barely look away. Th-this can’t be happening…! Seiya places a hand on the sheath at his hip and gets into position for battle. While we’re on the edge, just waiting for battle, she affectionately smiles and greets us in an all-too-familiar way: “It’s a pleeeasure to welcome you to our dimension, O Hero chosen by the Goddess. I am Chaos Machina, one of the former generals of the Demon Lord’s army.”