Vicius passed behind one of the hallway pillars, but had yet to emerge from the other side. Lis scanned the other windows, but Wormgandr was the only disciple she could see.
Where did Vicius g—
“It’s you, then.”
Two eyes appeared before her—black as night, dark as a bottomless swamp.
—Splat—
There was an awful sound of meat and bone softly crunching together—then Lis’s vision went black.
Lis opened her eyes with a start, suddenly returning to her own consciousness.
“Ah! Aah, Aah…!”
She desperately inhaled oxygen like she’d just returned from the dead, trying to rapidly bring her new consciousness into focus.
“Haah, ah… Haah, haah…”
She had screamed when the connection with her familiar had been cut—or so she thought. I don’t exactly remember…but it appears as if I screamed, fell down, then lost consciousness…
This place… I’m in the house of Erika Anaorbael.
A shiver ran through her tiny frame, making her tremble.
The chill of the void…complete nothingness. Was that…death? Is that what I just felt? A sort of dying? I’m scared. It was scary. The way Vicius looked when she appeared before me… She was smiling, but…she wasn’t. She was cold, yet burning with an endless anger. It was nothingness, but…overflowing with evil.
…I’m scared.
The thought of connecting with a familiar scared Lis.
I might go experience that fear all over again…
“…”
Lisbeth swayed as she got to her feet. Her head was pounding, throbbing with pain. Her body felt heavy, like she was walking under water. The fatigue of delivering so many reports and messages had built up inside of her. Sweat dripped down her backbone and it felt terribly cold. She wrapped her thin arms around her little body as if to protect herself from the cold and returned to the connection crystal. Erika didn’t require the use of one, but Lis wasn’t able to connect to a familiar without hers yet.
I’m scared. So scared… But…I’m more scared of losing Big Sis, and everybody else. Everyone’s out there fighting against her. Fighting that. So I…I have to tell Mr. Too-ka… I have to tell him everything I’ve heard—all that I’ve seen. Now that Erika can’t move, I’m the only one that can do this.
She felt the cold sweat on her face, and on the rest of her body.
Maybe the sweat is a warning sign…a physical reaction to what I’m making myself do.
Lis placed a hand to the carved wooden necklace that Eve had given her so long ago and squeezed it tight.
We decided together… Decided that we would become strong. I’ve always been weak. But maybe now…maybe just a little, I…
She closed her eyes and placed her still trembling hands on the crystal.
…Hey. Big Sis…do you think I…
“Do you think I’ve gotten a little stronger?”
Lisbeth once again established a connection with one of her familiars.
Mimori Touka
A HEAVY RAIN FELL overnight. In the morning, the clouds remained as the rain stopped. The morning dew glistened in the light of the sun as it clung to the undergrowth of the plain. The breeze was cool and refreshing on my skin.
In the crisp, clear morning air, a messenger came to me with a report.
“The Band of the Sun are engaging with the eucharist army on our northern flank!”
We were close to the city of Eno and the eucharist army deployed outside of the capital had begun their attack upon us a few hours before. Our Anti-Goddess Alliance had marched out to meet and defeat them in the field.
“The way they’re deploying, and their numbers…” said Lokiella, giving her analysis. “I don’t think they’re fighting to win this battle. I mean, there are some anti-divine eucharists mixed in with the army out there, right?”
“They’re buying time then.”
“From what I’m seeing, yeah. I hope we can just push them all the way back to the capital…”
“We’ve had no reports of any disciples in the field yet. Vicius and her elites want a siege, then…”
I could see the outer walls that protected Eno off in the distance. The Wildly Beautiful Emperor stood beside me firing off orders. There was a whirlwind of messengers running about, voices raised as reports flew in from all directions. I recalled the Wildly Beautiful Emperor’s proposal for the battle to come.
“With Eno before us, I believe we should conserve the mana of our heroes by not allowing them to participate in the coming skirmishes. They should only be deployed once Vicius or her disciples are located. Let the soldiers of this world serve as the opening act.”
Luckily for us, there seemed to be no giant eucharists in the field.
“Given how short-handed they seem to be… They must have sent their main force of eucharists north to destroy the Holy Eye of Yonato.”
Perhaps because of our days of fighting together, the Anti-Goddess Alliance was working together much better than it had during its first combat. The army was tired from its march, but morale among the troops was much higher than could have been hoped for.
If Vicius is holing up inside of her castle, we should be able to conserve our heroes’ mana for now. That’s good news.
Roughly an hour passed since the beginning of the battle—and it appeared that it was already coming to an end. The Anti-Goddess Alliance won a crushing victory and was now annihilating what eucharists were left.
We managed to fight this battle without the heroes—they haven’t used up a drop of MP or stamina yet. The fact that we managed this without them might turn out to be a big deal. The Anti-Goddess Alliance really fought hard for us.
It was as we were preparing to enter the capital itself that it happened.
“…What?!”
A shockwave ran through the air.
“!”
A moment later, a white beam of light enveloped the capital. When it faded…
“The city…” murmured Seras beside me.
A giant white dome… I guess that’s the only way to describe it.
The thing suddenly appeared in Eno. The half-spherical dome was covered in an outer shell of white, like a giant white pupa or some sort.
“Pff…”