…Well, I guess I did leave the shape and color up to Piggymaru. In the end this might be the perfect weapon for the final form Lord of the Flies to wield in battle.
I swung my blade, a sweeping motion that reaped white life from the eucharists around me. The sword was strong and had more than enough of an edge to get the job done.
It’s probably thanks to my stat modifiers, but Piggymaru’s sword seems surprisingly light, given how heavily it strikes. The sword techniques I learned from Seras and Eve are paying off.
The white blood of the eucharists that clung to my blade fizzed away into nothingness. Then it felt like I had suddenly entered the shade. I looked up at the shadow that loomed in the sky above me, enveloping me whole. The giant had the sun at its back.
…Hey there.
I stuck my hand up toward the giant.
“—Paralyze.”
The great eucharist froze mid-swing, its giant sword hanging in the air above me.
All right, then.
That Goddess’s Dispel Bubble came to mind for a moment…but my status-effect skills do work against these massive things.
I fired off Berserk against the giant monster as I passed. It exploded—dropping its giant sword to the ground and crushing several of the smaller eucharists below. Slei galloped onward, sending eucharists fleeing from her charge. I switched my grip on my blade, so its tip was pointed to the ground. Then I fixed my gaze on another of the giant eucharists, killing the smaller ones as I traveled.
“—Next.”
I focused on the giant eucharist targets, killing them one by one. Eventually, Seras and the other caught up with me.
“Alda, move in to support the men who are being surrounded! My unit will continue to follow Sir Too-ka and provide cover! Dorothy, the rest of our knights are with you. Understood?!” said Seras, raising her sword as she called out orders.
The stocky female knight named Alda smiled. “Heh heh… We’d gotten used to seeing Lady Makia as our captain. But being led by you once more, Lady Seras… It truly is stimulating.”
The knight’s name was Esmeralda—Alda for short. She was a veteran of the Holy Knights, and I’d been told that she and Seras had a long history together.
“Yeah—this sure takes me back,” the knight named Dorothy chimed in. She was also one of the older core members of the Holy Knights, and from what I had heard, had a similar relationship to Seras as Alda. She was also quite the prankster.
The Holy Knights of Neah were swift and precise. Seras had commanded the forces of the Country at the End of the World once before, but her knights clearly moved differently when she was the one giving the orders. She never faltered for a moment on the battlefield.
Seras fixed her aim on our human enemies, deftly taking out the eucharist commanders where possible while keeping a calm, open eye on the battle at large. Where our allies were struggling, she quickly sent her knights to reinforce. They certainly weren’t lacking in battle power—or at least, they were strong enough to control the battlefield on which they found themselves.
“Sir Too-ka!” Seras called out when she saw me. “Please focus on the largest ones, and do not worry about anything else! We will handle all of the mid-sized eucharists!”
She was in the process of putting down a mid-sized eucharist as she called to me, clad in her spirit armor.
“Do not worry about positioning either—go where you please! We will find you and follow!”
I answered with a gesture as I fired off a flurry of my status-effect skills. Seras was taking down tough-looking mid-sized eucharists like they were barely a threat.
She’s not using her prime armor yet. She doesn’t need it. The way she’s fighting on this field, it’s as if she can see a few seconds into the future. At least, that’s how at ease she seems to me. She’s the only one that could go up against Sogou Ayaka one on one on our side. It’s so reassuring to have her here.
I set sights on my next target and spurred Slei onward. I fired off status-effect skills, swinging my diabolical fly-colored weapon, reaping the lives of the servants of the Goddess as I went.
Sir Too-ka.
On this battlefield—in the midst of this advance, that’s the name I ordered her to call me. I’ve been asking the Wildly Beautiful Emperor and others to call me by that name for a while now too.
Foul Goddess…
…If you’ve got some way of knowing what’s happening on this battlefield, then so be it.
The Lord of the Flies is Too-ka Mimori.
It’s good that you know. It’s been obvious for a long time, so perhaps it’s only to be expected that you’d know. Revealing my identity here is a preparation for what’s to come. This final form of the Lord of the Flies outfit was also chosen to make me stand out. That’s also why I’m using my skills in this battle.
I’ve given orders that some of the enemy human commanders should be allowed to escape this battle if possible, so they can bring the intel about me back to Alion. It’s all part of my plan. I don’t know if any of this will bear fruit, but I’m planting the seeds while I can. Who knows when and where they might sprout.
…This isn’t just about one battle.
Oh, and… Vicius?
My precautions are in place…
The information war has already begun.
The enemy waves were almost endless and continued to advance on us for nearly three days. In the end, the three-day battle was a victory for our side.
Well—all thanks to Sogou Ayaka, I guess. That’s one way of looking at it.
Sogou had charged into combat solo against the eucharists toward the back of their army, monsters which hadn’t even reached our lines yet. The charge didn’t look reckless—it had been a preemptive strike, made after confirming the location of her allies in the field. Sogou consistently faced down the giant and mid-sized eucharists, as well as the human commanders that Vicius had sent into the battle, defeating them one by one. She also filled gaps in allied lines with her silver knights.