“The light! It’s fueling my fighting spirit! Dammit!”
As long as it used light as a medium, there was no way to stop it. Looking around, I saw my comrades grimacing the same way. Worse, even the enemies we were about to fight wore identical expressions.
Sith clutched her head, gripping Hitaki’s hand tightly. Ide, who should have been holed up in the castle, screamed while making the plants on the outer wall writhe like a swarm of snakes.
“Lady Nosfy! That light! It’s disrupting my control of the castle!” Ide shouted.
But what came back was Nosfy’s advice like a denial. “Chancellor Ide, you resolved to duel, did you not? Then you must not waver. You must not hesitate. You must not retreat a single step. Otherwise, you will not even be able to challenge him...like me.”
Those words were gentle. Unlike the previous mockery, they even carried a hint of compassion. Was Nosfy genuinely worried about Ide now? Drawing from her own experience, she seemed to be urging him to run wild, to act on impulse, even if it meant making mistakes, precisely because she cared.
“You should understand that suffering well. You must not be selective. You have a duty to fight for your fallen comrades. That is why you have maintained your strength until today, is it not? Yes, that is absolutely correct. Souls exist not for mere decorative dialogue, but to clash with all their might. If you miss this opportunity, you may never be able to give your all again.” Her words were beautiful, her form divine, like a holy mother, yet her message was utterly dangerous. Clash. Simply clash, soul against soul, with all your might. She incited him, pushing him forward.
Ide accepted that encouragement. “You are correct, my lady. With the magic of Kanami the Founder, words alone could have ended everything. What is happening now remains unknown. Then, no questions asked is the best course! Yes, we should begin the duel swiftly! Immediately!”
He’d made up his mind. Driven by the heightened fighting spirit fueled by the light’s erosion, Ide began to move the castle. He unleashed the rapidly growing plants, causing the castle to swell. The trees, growing without limit, surpassed the uppermost floor and climbed skyward. The roots that had spread across the castle walls and towers thickened further, beginning to flex and contract like human muscles.
With a rumbling sound like an earthquake, one of the massive trunks on the side of Viaysia Castle slowly moved—the giant’s right arm swung down, aiming for the restaurant on the street. It was a wide-area attack, like a wall crashing down.
“Wait, Ide! The duel can wait until after Titee finishes speaking! Ugh, extend! Dimension: Flamberage!”
Judging the blow unstoppable, I instantly drew Lorwen, Treasured Blade of the Arrace Clan, wrapped it in magic power, and extended its blade. I still couldn’t use my Magic Materialization skill with unaligned magic, but with my current power, I could mimic it using Dimension magic. I swung the over-one-kilometer-long Dimension: Flamberage, cleaving the giant’s arm vertically.
Of course, I didn’t actually cut it; I merely shifted the space. As a result, the giant’s fist, split into two halves, fell onto the restaurants flanking the road. The largest tremor yet today and subsequent explosion created two massive craters in the royal capital. The aftermath was terrifying. The shock wave and gale-force winds raged, destroying surrounding buildings. The adjacent restaurants shattered like toys dropped from a great height. Every table and chair lining the terrace was blown away, and the natural scenery adorning the street was torn apart.
Simultaneously, everyone present sprang into action. That was hardly surprising, as the aftermath carried not just shock waves and gales, but also fragments of destroyed buildings.
First, Nosfy, who’d caused this devastation, leaped to the roof of a tall building nearby to take refuge. Sith took the hand of the nearby Hitaki, holding her back while blocking the aftershocks with a Holy magic barrier. Snow also shielded Rouge, blocking the aftershocks with a Resonant magic barrier. Only Titee, without magic, fended off everything approaching with her hands while shouting toward the rooftop.
“Nosfy, stop that blinding light! Wait! Everyone, wait!”
“It’s no use, Titee! Protect Snow and Rouge!” I entrusted Titee with guarding our comrades and leaped onto the roof alongside Nosfy. Taking up a position where I could see both Ide and Nosfy, who had decided to fight, with my own eyes, I clenched my teeth as I looked out over the destroyed city. “Damn it, Nosfy!”
“Hee hee. How kind of you, Master Kanami. But is this really the time for such worries?” Nosfy, standing on a distant rooftop, replied with a laugh.
“So it was cut down by magic after all! But I knew that much!” A voice calling my name echoed from high above. The colossal figure blocking the sun swung its remaining left arm, attempting to strike me from above. Instantly, I readied my longsword again, preparing to intercept.
“Attacking me with such clumsy movements is futile, Ide!”
If it were merely a matter of size, there were countless ways to fight the castle. Within the Arrace Swordsmanship techniques that I knew, there were plenty that were designed to handle even a giant big enough to pierce the sky.
I shouted my warning, but Ide didn’t halt his movement. “What?! I never thought this mere bulk would work either! Of course, my true target is different! And the purpose of this giant body is yet another matter!”
Hearing this cryptic remark, I ignored it and countered with my sword. Slicing through the air with Dimension: Flamberage, I aimed to cleave the enemy’s massive arm vertically once more. But laughter echoed from behind me.
“Master Kanami, is that really what you want?” It was Nosfy’s voice.