Just as Minato dispatched her eighth Valiant, she felt the flow of mana in the air around her returning to normal.
“Uh-oh…”
Peering deeper into the garden, she spotted the woman with dusky blue hair lying sprawled on the ground while Sylvia loomed over her.
That probably meant Sylvia had won. From Minato’s vantage point, Sylvia had dominated her opponent from start to finish. She truly was Queenvale’s one and only Sigrdrífa.
“Hey, Sylvia,” she called out—only to freeze when she took in her face.
Her expression was the coldest and most inorganic Minato had ever seen.
“Huh…?”
A horrifying sense of foreboding took root in her brain.
“Enfield! I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to take care of the rest of them!”
With that, she blasted away two more Valiants, leaving the rest to Claudia as she bolted across the garden.
“W-Wakamiya…?! Wait, please…!” Claudia called out behind her, urging restraint.
But Minato’s body was by now practically moving of its own accord.
“Sylvia!”
“…”
Yet as Minato approached, Sylvia remained completely silent.
Around her chest hung the necklace previously worn by the woman now lying prone on the ground.
Minato had promised to help after agreeing not to delve too deep into the present situation, but she had been informed of the true nature of their opponent—a mind-controlling Orga Lux with the ability to usurp its user’s body.
It couldn’t be…
“This is an unexpected discovery.”
That murmur was clearly spoken with Sylvia’s beautiful voice.
But something was different.
Minato couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was definitely different.
“I only took over this human to make my escape, but with this level of compatibility… And to think, a Strega, too…”
Sylvia, flexing her right hand several times, retrieved the sword-type Lux that had fallen to the ground. “Excellent timing. Minato Wakamiya, why don’t you keep me company while I acclimate to this new vessel?”
“…!”
Sylvia’s sword flashed through the air, a dazzling strike careening toward her.
Minato repelled the blow with her Járngreipr, then leaped backward to establish some distance as she glowered at Sylvia—or rather, at the Orga Lux.
“You aren’t… You aren’t really Sylvia, are you…?!”
“Indeed. I am Varda-Vaos. As leader of my abandoned brethren, I shall prepare this world for what is to come.”
With those words, the Varda-Vaos launched into a flurry of ferocious attacks. Two attacks in quick succession from above, before her sword arced gracefully to the left in a sideswipe, then to the right in a reverse diagonal cut from waist to shoulder—all with the intent of taking Minato’s life.
She’s too close…! I need to fall back…!
Minato had never before fought directly against Sylvia—but she was well aware just how fierce Queenvale’s number one was in battle.
Minato, at the time still young and immature, had first met Sylvia more than two years ago, and the other girl had quickly become a close friend and benefactor. If not for Sylvia’s intervention, Minato doubted she would have ever developed the relationships she had now.
But, of course, she too had grown considerably stronger. She had pulled through her rigorous training with Xinglou at the Liangshan and now wielded a powerful weapon of her own, the Járngreipr. She may have dropped out of the Lindvolus, but she had made it all the way to fighting Ayato Amagiri himself.
“So I’m not about to just give up…!”
Minato eluded a swing directed straight for her neck and then, twisting around her foe, delivered a powerful backhand chop to her chest.
Genkuu style—Spiral Rend.
“Umph.”
Her fist, carrying immense force thanks to the Járngreipr equipped to it, blasted the Varda-Vaos backward. Her foe, however, successfully guarded herself against damage. It should have been a considerable blow, but the Varda-Vaos’s expression remained undeterred.
“Ah, yes, the Járngreipr’s ability is mass conversion. You’ve mastered it well. Not bad at all.”
“I’m not looking for praise…!”
Minato closed the distance once more by approaching from her flank, spinning around as she unleashed another punch.
Genkuu style—Spiral Rend.
However, the Varda-Vaos easily dodged the blow by tilting her body half to one side. Minato followed through with a backward kick and an elbow strike, but she was unable to make contact.
As though anticipating her attacks, the Varda-Vaos had dodged them all.
“…I thought as much,” the Orga Lux murmured, easily countering Minato’s palm strike.
“Ugh…!”
Her left arm was sliced open, and she fell back grimacing in pain.
The wound was a deep one. It was bleeding heavily, and she could barely move her arm.
“Minato Wakamiya. Have you been aiming only for my own body?”
“…!”
The Varda-Vaos had hit the mark.
Even if the Orga Lux had hijacked it, that body belonged to Sylvia. She couldn’t risk harming her, too.
“Don’t feel ashamed. From what I’ve learned, what you are experiencing is a natural state for humans. Rather, it was this Sylvia Lyyneheym, with her utter lack of hesitation, who was the anomaly.”
If Minato wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of satisfaction in the Varda-Vaos’s voice.
“Yes. That is fine. You humans are simply like that. Acting only in accordance with your thoughts, in obeisance to your desires. Yes, it’s only normal for your kind.”
“Shut up! We’re not dolls for you to play with!” Minato cried back.
The Varda-Vaos, however, appeared not to have heard her. “Now then, what shall I try next…?”
She took a deep breath, then—
“Let’s tear down our walls! Let’s surpass ourselves! No begrudging our wounds, run, run!”
An easily recognizable song began to spill from her lips.
That was Sylvia’s go-to song for boosting her physical abilities.
Minato watched as mana began to swirl violently around her foe.
“You’ve even taken her singing powers…?!”
Taken aback by what she was seeing, she let go of her wound and readied another punch.
If the Orga Lux could even use Sylvia’s abilities, then—
Still singing, the Varda-Vaos took off at a run—her speed much faster than it had been a moment before.
Then, lashing out with divine speed, she aimed straight for Minato’s heart.
“Ugh…!”
It was only thanks to the weight of the Járngreipr that she managed to block it. But how was she to continue fighting one-handed?
And the Varda-Vaos wasn’t finished.
“If thoughts alone can’t reach you, if wishes alone aren’t enough, then I’ll go beyond my limits. I’ll keep pushing on!”
“Don’t you… Don’t you sing that song!”
Minato repelled the Varda-Vaos’s blade with her Járngreipr and lashed out with a sideward kick to knock her opponent’s legs out from under her.
Genkuu style—Sickle Ring.
While she didn’t manage to make contact, her foe, perhaps not having expected her previous move, fell back.
“That song belongs to Sylvia!”
Minato knew even without being explicitly told just how important that song was to Sylvia. Anyone who had heard it would be able to understand that.
Though it had the same words, and though it was being sung in the same voice, the Varda-Vaos’s version was somehow different—the encouragement, the cheer, the warmth that normally imbued the melody was hollow and empty.
“What? A song is a song. There’s no difference so long as you have the proper technique and tune… Like this.”
With that, the Orga Lux interrupted her ability-boosting melody to shift into another.
“Rejoice, rejoice at our heroes’ triumphant return, for the silver gleaming gates of war now stand before us!”
I know this one…!
It was a brave, soul-inspiring battle cry.
The mana began to swirl around them, more shadowy figures than the eye could count appearing behind the Varda-Vaos’s back—faceless women with wings outstretched and swords raised.
It was the song that Sylvia had used against Orphelia in the deciding match of the last Lindvolus, summoning up a legion of Valkyries modeled after herself. Minato remembered watching the live broadcast with her eyes glued to the air-window.
“The heavens my guide, my sword my prayer, my wishes my blade as I sing this grand song aloud!”
At that moment, more than a dozen Valkyrie maidens attacked Minato all at once.
“That’s enough…!”
With her Járngreipr, she repelled the blades of light careening toward her from all directions, knocking down the Valkyries, kicking them away, and getting the better of them—but still she was hopelessly outnumbered. The blows she failed to defend against viciously struck her arms and legs.
“Hah…! Hah…! U-ugh…!”
The song’s effect eventually wore off and the warrior maidens vanished, leaving Minato with lacerations all over her body.
She was barely able to stand. It was only thanks to her experiences fighting against numerous opponents in the Gryps that she hadn’t sustained a fatal injury.