The Queen’s Space was scorched through. The bloody queen lay facedown as the sorcerer and the self-proclaimed witch faced off.
“Ha-ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha…” The witch snickered under her breath.
Below her feet, her shadow bubbled.
“Me? A cold-blooded killer? What a terrible thing to say… You think I derive joy from hurting others…? You really think that…? Well…it’s true!”
Her shadow burst.
The black silhouette split open in a spray, and a triangular black spike shot out of it.
“O Wind…”
Salinger also engaged his astral power.
A gust swept through the area, twisting and condensing into a shield to protect him. The shadow spike and shield of wind clashed. With a bang, his shield gave out.
“Tsk!”
Salinger twisted as he was blown back.
The spike grazed his cheek and embedded itself in the wall behind him.
She had beaten him.
“You’re all bark and no bite. That’s a cute little astral power you’ve got. Shame your techniques are only half as powerful as they should be.”
Salinger had stolen all his astral powers with Water Mirror, his original astral power. But the techniques he had gathered were only half as strong as their original counterparts. There was no getting around the fact that his individual powers were inferior.
“I will show you even more conclusively the difference in our strengths. Let’s see how much your face will twist.”
“I could say the same to you.”
Despite his reply, Salinger wasn’t looking at the witch.
Crack.
Behind the jubilant witch, the base of a pillar holding up the ceiling cracked. Several tons of weight were now aimed right at her head.
“The only thing that’s cute here is your thoughtlessness.”
“No way?!”
“That pillar was my target, naturally.”
He had used a Wave astral technique.
It was similar to Wind in that the power was invisible, but instead of channeling gusts of air to attack, the technique manipulated matter with waves.
“Be crushed, monster.”
The stone pillar let out an intense groan as it collapsed on the witch.
The palace rumbled.
The Queen’s Space instantly filled with a cloud of dust.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?!”
A hand shot out from the dust and latched onto Salinger’s neck. Though her arm appeared so delicate as to lack the strength to crush even an egg, the witch was in fact a monster with inhuman abilities, and so she easily lifted Salinger with one hand.
“Did I surprise you? I’m invincible. You can’t crush me with a little rock.”
“You fiend!”
She was about to break his neck.
The moment he realized that, Salinger grabbed the monster’s arm. He had no time. The fastest astral power he had was…
“O Lightning!”
Salinger’s arm lit up.
The crackling electricity traveled through the witch’s hand and surged throughout her body.
“Heeagh?!”
She let out a strangled scream as she was sent flying away.
Though the witch had been flung to the floor, she gave Salinger no time to rest. The crystal monster immediately rose again, unscathed.
“Your astral power really is adorable. Oh, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you again?”
“Tsk.”
She hadn’t been kidding when she said she was invincible.
Even after being crushed by a pillar that weighed several tons and being struck point-blank by lightning, the witch looked no worse for wear.
……I was confused as to how she defeated the queen at first.
……It seems like human rules don’t apply to her. She’s an actual monster, just like how she looks.
No.
That was just what she wanted him to think. He had been able to hurt her.
“You really are a monster, but you’re a useless one.” He brushed off the dust on his shoulder. “You’re extremely resistant to any physical attacks. But my astral powers aren’t ineffective. Your left shoulder is cracked.”
A small fissure stretched along her body.
The wound wasn’t from the pillar. Rather, when Salinger had struck her directly with lightning in their tussle, he had heard a faint cracking sound and watched her body start to break.
However…
“……I’m sorry.” The witch apologized, the corners of her lips curling in a wicked grin. “You didn’t cause this injury. I got it when Her Majesty doused me with her flames. It’s mostly healed, but your lightning just reopened it.”
“…”
“Sorry for getting your hopes up. Here’s my apology.”
Her shadow split.
A black spray splattered around it as a gigantic black spike shot out of it. But Salinger had seen this astral power before.
……It’s an order of magnitude larger and sturdier than before.
……But her attacks are boring and dull.
He could dodge it.
He could sidestep it, with time to spare. But the moment he calculated the ideal movements in his mind, his eyes fell on her.
The queen is still lying on the ground.
If I move, then it’ll pierce her while she’s defenseless.
His opponent was unscathed.
Before, he would have challenged the queen to a duel.
“Out of the way!”
He grabbed the queen by the arm and threw her as far as he could toward the wall.
She would be out of range of the spike.
At the same time, an intense pain racked his body, as though he had been struck by a spear.
“Guh…”
“H-how wonderful!” the witch cried out in glee.
As Salinger bled from his back, the witch’s eyes glittered.
“I misunderstood you! You’re not a villain pretending to be the star but someone fashioning himself out to be a hero who protects the Sovereignty!”
“The queen is my witness.” Though he was close to passing out from the pain, his expression didn’t change at all. “She can testify to you being a monster. That’s all there is to it.”
“The queen’s not going to wake up.” The witch snickered. “I injected her with something stronger than astral power. Anyone who can’t withstand it will slumber for eternity.”
“……?”
Instead of the fact that the queen would never wake, what caught Salinger’s attention was the sentence before. Nothing on this planet was stronger than astral power.
Or actually…
“Is that what transformed you?”
“You have no right to know. Besides, you and the queen will both—”
“Thundering Song, roar and cleave!”
Salinger blasted away the witch’s words.
Though it was technically a Sound astral power, Thundering Song was more similar to Wind. Invisible sound waves assaulted the witch, not even allowing her to put up resistance.
“Guh?!”
The monster crashed into a corner of the great hall.
The impact broke the wall, creating a fissure. Salinger knew only too well this wouldn’t stop her, either.
“I told you it’s no use. I-I’m—”
“O Terra Burst astral power.”
“Wha?!”
The witch’s eyes opened wide. She realized that the ground below her feet had started to become thick and sludgy. A powerful heat wave gushed up from below her.
Salinger had summoned magma from the depths of the earth.
“Spout upward and scorch the earth with your rage!”
This was Salinger’s most powerful trick, a technique where he made the magma that had forged the very planet itself spout upward toward the heavens.
It glowed crimson.
The gushing magma engulfed the witch. Its spray melted the walls and even blew off the ceiling.
“What a fool…”
It was over.
Salinger let out a sigh as he wiped away the sweat gathering on his brow. Fatigue assaulted his entire body, and the pain at his back was close to knocking him unconscious.
He wished he could lie down right there and rest, but he was unfortunately in enemy territory.
……That rumble will have alerted the guards.
……They could arrive at the Queen’s Space any moment. I don’t have time to slip out of the hall.
In any case, he couldn’t run while injured.
The second-floor glass windows were broken, so he could leap out of those to get outside.
“You’re not going anywhere.”