Countless cracks formed in space, spreading like a spider’s web, and from within the largest crack at its center emerged a girl’s beautiful, willowy hand. Her fingertips spread the tear open, her arm emerging as the crack shattered loudly like glass.
And the one to emerge from the Void crack was…
“…Miss Finé?” Riselia asked, her voice tense and ice-blue eyes wide.
Yes, she was dressed in an outfit they’d never seen before, but there was no doubting it—it was Riselia’s friend and dependable comrade from the eighteenth platoon.
“Miss Finé… What are you doing here…?” Riselia asked again, still confused.
The Seventh Assault Garden was currently defending against a Stampede, and Riselia had infiltrated a Phillet research facility with the help of Elfiné’s sister, Clauvia Phillet. Clauvia had come to her for help with rescuing her abducted little sister. She and her group had stormed the facility in search of Elfiné’s whereabouts, and had just reached the central control room where they had hooked up Schwertleite to the control system’s core.
And then, the Void tears happened. Elfiné herself had emerged from one, clad in a dark mantle and surrounded by Voids.
“…?!”
Why had she emerged from the crack, just as the Voids had? Why was she looking at Riselia with such vacant eyes, as if she didn’t recognize her?
“Miss Finé…”
Something felt terribly wrong—like they were too late, and something irreversible had happened.
“Miss Finé, it’s me! We’re here to save you!” Riselia called out to Elfiné, who remained expressionless. All she did was raise her smooth, slender arm and extend her fingertips.
With loud cracking sounds, six orbs appeared around Elfiné, shimmering in black.
…The Eye of the Witch?!
Riselia could tell, however, that something was different about the orbs. Something felt off. The Holy Sword was charged with a malevolent power. It was… Yes, it was just like…
The six floating spheres opened their eyes at once, revealing blood-red pupils that shifted and glared right at her.
“Lady Selia!” Regina called out in warning.
“…Bloody Blade Storm!”
Riselia reflexively swung down the Bloody Sword, a splatter of blood flying from the blade and forming a wall of sanguine daggers. As soon as she did, the six eyeballs fired off a flash of light. The beam shot through the control device that towered at the center of the room and sliced through the floor.
“…!”
The tower lost its balance and collapsed with a deafening thud.
“Leite?!” Riselia called out into the cloud of dust the destruction had kicked up.
Schwertleite, who was plugged into the tower and completely defenseless, became buried within the tower’s rubble.
Still coughing from the dust, Riselia dispelled the blade barrier. “Regina, are you okay?!”
“Lady Selia, behind you!” Regina’s voice called out.
Riselia turned around in alarm and saw flying insectoid Voids emerging from the crack, their mandibles clicking loudly.
“Why, you…!” Riselia cut down the Voids right in front of her and hopped back.
“Get your hands off…Lady Selia!” Regina used her Drag Striker to shoot down Voids that appeared from overhead, the monsters dying in a puff of miasma.
As she swung the Bloody Sword to defend herself, Riselia called into the darkness.
“Miss Finé!”
But of course, no response came. Instead, crimson lights flickered in the dark once more.
“…!”
Riselia hopped horizontally, entirely on intuition, which proved to be lifesaving. In the next moment, all the Voids in the beam’s line of fire were evaporated. The beam shot through the floor’s ceiling, causing large pieces of rubble to come crashing down.
Oh no…!
It happened the moment Riselia realized it—the floor, with its durability compromised, collapsed beneath their feet.
“Aaaaah!” Riselia heard a familiar scream.
“Regina!”
She channeled mana into her legs and unleashed it at once, propelling herself forward. She reached out to Regina, who was in mid-fall.
I’m not gonna make it in time!
But just before Regina fell, Riselia caught her in the nick of time. She then bounced a few times, her body slamming against the rubble.
“Kch…”
Sharp pain ran through her body; she’d no doubt cracked a few bones. But her Vampire Queen’s mana was rapidly beginning to mend her wounds.
“Regina… A-are you…all right…?” Riselia knelt and laid Regina on the ground.
Apart from a few scrapes, Regina seemed unharmed, but the shock of the fall must have caused her to lose consciousness. The Drag Striker slipped from her limp fingers, breaking up into particles of light.
Riselia looked up at the hole they had just fallen from.
“Miss…Finé…”
Wheeling above them like crows searching for carrion were the six ominously glowing red eyes.
Those are definitely from Miss Finé’s Eye of the Witch, but…
Elfiné slowly swooped down the hall, a pair of black wings spread across her back. Her eyes, cold and bereft of all emotion, were fixed on Riselia.
…this isn’t a Holy Sword. Yes, it’s just like…
Riselia had an inkling as to what this might be, but the conclusion she arrived at was terrible. It meant Elfiné had lost her sanity. She’d seen people being manipulated before when under the influence of Muselle Rhodes’s dominating Holy Sword. And she knew narcotics could be used to brainwash people. But right now, Elfiné’s condition was neither of those.
…mental erosion, caused by a Demon Sword’s power…
Holy Swordsmen who came to possess the power of a Demon Sword all exhibited some degree of mental affliction. Even someone as stout-hearted as Liat Guinness, the captain of the seventh platoon Elfiné was once a part of, couldn’t resist the afflictions a Demon Sword dealt to his mind.
Riselia had to accept talking to her in this state might well have been futile.
…This might get a little rough, but I have to temporarily knock her out.
Riselia swiftly got to her feet and held up the Bloody Sword in an attempt to shield Regina. She brought the weapon to her arm. Nicking her skin with the blade, she scattered blood over the rubble. The blood dripping at her feet glowed with mana.
“Aaaah!” Riselia stepped over the rubble and charged forward, materializing the crimson True Ancestor’s Dress over her body.
This was the Mode Scarlet Tyrant, which focused on augmenting her physical prowess.
“Bloody Blade Storm!” She swung the Bloody Sword through the air, producing sanguine blades that swooped at Elfiné at an acute angle. Riselia wasn’t aiming at Elfiné herself, of course—the attack was aimed at the six orbs encircling her.
But Elfiné opened her hand, prompting the six Eyes to open and unleash beams of energy.
“…!”
The powerful beams knocked down the blood blades weaving through the air. With a flap and a flutter of her crimson dress, Riselia avoided the beams, kicking against the walls rapidly to ascend above Elfiné.
If I knock out Miss Finé, even for a second, the orbs should disappear…!
Blood converged at her Holy Sword’s tip—
“Haaaaaaa!” Riselia swung down her Holy Sword with a battle cry.
However, the blade of raging blood was deflected by a barrier deployed by the dark Eyes.
“…What?!”
This was the Eye of the Witch’s auto-guard feature. Even after being corrupted into a Demon Sword, they retained their original abilities.
“Take this…!” Riselia pumped mana through her body, her sword still swung down. Her silver hair shined bright, and the Eyes’ barrier shattered, unable to withstand the explosive output of mana.
But Riselia sensed an attack from behind and jumped into the air to dodge. A beam of sizzling heat grazed her shoulder.
“Kuh…” Riselia winced from the burning pain as she looked around.
Four Eye orbs floated about, surrounding her.
The Eye of the Witch’s all-range attack…!
The four Eyes hovering around her lit up all at once.
“Bloody Rondo!”
Blades of blood revolved around her, deflecting the beams of light as she raced over the rubble. She wouldn’t have been able to avoid their attacks this quickly without the True Ancestor’s Dress augmenting her body.
But I can’t get closer to her if this keeps up…!
The True Ancestor’s Dress rapidly exhausted her mana and blood reserves, and she’d be fully depleted in a matter of minutes.
But as Riselia tried to figure out her next step, the barrage of beams raining down on her suddenly stopped.
“…?!”
Riselia stopped in her tracks and looked up—Elfiné, flying in midair, looked down at Riselia and slowly reached out her arm. Three Eye orbs gathered in front of her, forming a triangle. Blinding light coalesced in Elfiné’s palm.
That’s dangerous.
Riselia could tell instinctively. Elfiné was going to blow her up along with the floor she was standing on. She couldn’t avoid it, because moving away would expose Regina to the attack.
…I’ll have to use my trump card.
Riselia took a red gemstone fragment from her breast pocket—this was the last remaining bit of the shattered Dragon Blood gem. She flicked it with her thumb and swallowed it without a second thought.
She could feel her heart throb hard—a violent current of mana ran through her body.
“The Binary Star of Ruin—Tri-Flare Blaster,” Elfiné uttered quietly.
A crimson flash converged at one point in space and began barreling toward Riselia.
“Burn through all, Dragon Blood of Hellfire—Flaming Howl!” But at the same time, Riselia swung her Holy Sword.
The blood dragon’s flaming howl collided with the flash in a spectacular blast.
“Miss Finé!” Riselia shouted, mustering all the mana in her body.
The intense current of light began swallowing up the blood dragon enveloped in hellfire—
…The Dragon Blood is being pushed back!
The next moment, a blinding flash of light overwhelmed Riselia’s sight.