Schwartz waved the Key again. “Flauros.” A black, humanoid thing emerged from his shadow and intercepted Percival’s blade. Two bulging eyes were the only evidence of a face. Its torso was vaguely human other than having two sets of arms, but it was a four-legged beast from the waist down.
The shadow caught Percival’s sword with two hands and swung its other two arms down upon the swordsman. Percival yanked his sword free and retreated.
“A demon?”
While Percival was recovering from his hasty retreat, Byaku’s sand-colored circles flew over his head and crashed down upon Schwartz like meteors. However, a swing of the demon’s arms was enough to knock them aside. Byaku fell to his knees, his breathing pained and erratic, yet his eyes were blazing. He had deployed a vast array of circles, but they were flickering and unstable. His hair was now speckled with black.
Angeline grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t push yourself, Bucky...”
“Shit...I feel strange... Don’t come out!”
“Botis.”
Schwartz waved the branch again. Another figure emerged from his shadow, this one long and serpentine.
“Out of the way!” Percival joined the fray again and engaged in a violent clash with the serpent. The demon’s strength seemed to have been considerably amplified by Solomon’s Key, to the point that it could even hold its own against Percival.
Schwartz pointed the branch at Byaku. “Caim.”
“Gah?!” Byaku doubled over in pain as his hair began turning entirely black. The sand-colored magic circles floating all around the battlefield melted away, and the sleeves of his shirt ripped as his hands were replaced with bestial claws, almost like bird talons. His arms and head were covered in black strands somewhere between hair and feathers.
“Bucky?!”
“Gaaaaaaaah!” Byaku cried out as he pounced at Angeline, who hurriedly parried with her blade.
“Quit it, stupid!” shouted Marguerite as she slid in from behind Angeline and kicked Byaku away. As he flew, he recovered in midair and landed on all fours like an animal.
“Guh, urgh... Stop...it. Don’t come—gaaaaaaah!”
Solomon’s Key had seemingly brought out the demon’s soul. Although Byaku desperately tried to resist it, his body was no longer his own. Once again, he raised his talons to strike.
“I’ll hold him back! Do something about Schwartz!” Marguerite howled, deflecting Byaku’s talons with her blade.
The scattered snowflakes were now a whirling blizzard spiraling around them.
Satie bounded forth, Angeline wasting no time following along.
“Ange! Please, just stay back! I’ll handle it!” Satie pleaded.
“What are you talking about, mom?! Percy and Maggie can’t help... He’s not someone we can hold back against!”
“Fine! But don’t get too close to Schwartz, and watch out for the Key!”
“Got it!”
Angeline raised her sword. Solomon’s Key was uncanny, but it wasn’t so bad that she would give up and sit on the sidelines. Satie approached from the left while Angeline approached from the right. They had him pincered, and signaling to one another with their eyes, they rushed him in tandem.
“Eligor.”
Schwartz swung the branch again. This time, the shadow resembled an armored knight. The one with four arms caught Satie’s invisible blade, while the one in armor blocked Angeline’s sword.
Satie clicked her tongue. “Tsk, when did you get so many...?”
After exchanging some blows with the shadow, Angeline cried out, “Mom! Get back!” as she retreated herself. Satie quickly followed suit.
Miriam’s Lightning Emperor spell rumbled above Schwartz’s head, a powerful bolt of lightning crashing down upon him. But Schwartz merely waved the branch upward, erasing the lightning.
Not giving him a moment’s rest, Kasim’s spell came next. It spiraled through the air, sharpening to a point like a jousting lance as it shot straight for Schwartz at breakneck speeds. This was Hart Langer’s Spear, his signature spell.
“Nicely done,” Schwartz said, holding the branch before himself. The grand magic spell that could skewer S-Rank fiends not only failed to breach what appeared to be a mere piece of wood, it was absorbed into it. Schwartz swung the branch again; the volley of arrows that had been hidden behind the spell all split at their points like blooming flowers, softly and fruitlessly colliding with his body before falling to the ground without leaving a scratch on him.
Anessa gritted her teeth. “He’s a real piece of work...”
“An outrageous bastard found an outrageous toy to play with,” Kasim said dismissively, shrugging.
But as they all prepared to attack again, Graham bid them all to stand down. His voice was heavy and solemn, and his simple words reverberated in all of their bodies even without having to raise his voice. Angeline, Satie, and Percival (who was still contending with the serpent) immediately retreated.
Graham brandished his greatsword and took a step forward. He’d spent the duration of the fight until now concentrating and molding his mana. An immense pressure now filled the air and sent shivers down everybody’s spine.
The look on Schwartz’s face changed. “So you’ve decided to make your move, Paladin.” The three shadows stood in front of Schwartz protectively.
The holy sword growled bestially as Graham swung the blade downward. A torrent of light surged from the sword in a wave of mana, consuming and pulverizing the shadowy beings all at once. Byaku, who had been locked in combat with Marguerite, stopped moving before toppling over face down in the dirt. His claws and plumage faded away.
“Splendid,” said Schwartz. His three minions had disappeared, but he still stood there, albeit missing his left arm from the shoulder down. It didn’t seem that he had completely avoided the attack.
Graham was leaning against his sword, breathing heavily. He had clearly put his all into that swing. Percival was a ways behind him, and it didn’t seem that Marguerite could jump into battle at that instant.
I need to settle this now, Angeline thought as she raced in for the kill. “This time...it’s over!”
“Ange, wait! You can’t!”
Satie’s yell came just as Angeline thrust forth with her sword. Schwartz moved his body aside slightly, and the tip of her blade only stabbed into his shoulder. Angeline clicked her tongue. I was aiming for the heart...
“I’ve been waiting for this.” That was all Schwartz had to say about it.
Angeline tried to leap away, but before she could, the tip of the branch lightly poked at her chest. Her heart beat with one loud, conspicuous thump. Something closed off within her...and something else opened up.
“Huh? Ah...”
The strength drained from her body. She pulled her sword out of Schwartz as she staggered away from him unsteadily one pace, then another. Schwartz’s cold gaze was focused on her, even as he teleported out of striking range.
“Ange?”
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
She heard Percival and Kasim. Angeline turned to them. The light was gone from her eyes.
“Ahh...”
“Ange?! Get a hold of yourself!” Satie rushed over to her.
Her vision was cloudy. All of a sudden, a bizarre loneliness filled her chest. She wanted to return. She wanted to return and be praised. And what did she have to do to be praised? She had to kill more.
Angeline swung her sword suddenly. The sharp blow was blocked by Satie’s invisible blade.
“Ange!”
“I need to return... So I...” Angeline muttered unintelligibly as a palpable aura of danger emanated from her. While her sword was locked against the invisible blades, she kicked her mother away. Percival caught Satie with a look of shock. She broke into a coughing fit from the blow to her solar plexus.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Have you gone mad?!”
“Brainwashing magic...? No, it’s Solomon’s Key... Angeline is a demon, so... Dammit, I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I realize earlier?”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Percival frowned.
Satie spoke through her coughs. “Cough... Ange’s a demon, so she’s highly susceptible to magic focused through Solomon’s Key... I didn’t know what would happen exactly, but I didn’t want her anywhere near it...”
Kasim groaned frustratedly. “By Vienna... We’ll need to take some drastic measures.” Gritting his teeth, he swiftly wove together a net of magic to ensnare Angeline, who was in hot pursuit of the three of them. She was temporarily halted but quickly tore through the spell with brute force.
“Ugh, that should have been stronger than metal.”
“You magicians... Just stay out of it!” Marguerite jumped in before them with her rapier drawn. As soon as Angeline was close enough, she slashed at Marguerite with hollow eyes. The Black-Haired Valkyrie was maneuvering like a vengeful specter. Marguerite was startled, and though she managed to dodge the first strike, it was immediately followed up by a second and then a third. This lethal style was completely different from how Angeline normally fought when they sparred, and Marguerite’s skin was mercilessly sliced up. They were hardly fatal injuries, but she was covered in seeping red lines all along her arms and legs.
Marguerite gritted her teeth. “Ange... You seriously tried to kill me there!”
“Uh-huh...” Angeline mumbled, delivering further emotionless strikes.
Marguerite had no intention of killing Angeline, so she inevitably held back. Against an implacable Angeline fighting to kill, she was forced onto the defensive. Would I even be able to beat Ange as she is now, even if I weren’t holding back? Her wounds were only growing in number, and her foe was gaining momentum.