The compressed darkness of my spell wrapped itself around Rosalia’s spear, infusing it with magic. There was no way I’d be able to land a blow on him by myself, but Rosalia could since she could still track the fight.
“Understood. It is time to reveal my true power!” Darkness called. “O, sword! Dance before the wind dragon’s blessing!”
“What’s going on?!” Emilelio cried.
“This is the secret skill I created in order to defeat my master! I call it the Darkness Special!”
Darkness threw the sword in his left hand, which flew upward as if it had a mind of its own, striking Emilelio.
Amazing! It’s just like a Gundam funnel!
By attacking Emilelio with his funnel-like sword and the blade he had in his other hand, Darkness was able to break Emilelio’s stance and create an opening in his defenses for us.
“This is punishment for insulting Lord Weiss!” Rosalia cried as she threw her spear, grazing his arm.
That’s right—she only grazed him.
“Rrgh?!”
That was still enough to cause the deep darkness to spread outward from the small wound on his arm and devour it instantaneously. The princess of the underworld craved the life force of the living. Emilelio had to cut his own arm from his body to survive the relentless attack.
But doing so left him open, and Darkness didn’t hesitate. “Claws of the wind dragon, shred my enemy to death!”
Just as Darkness’s attack pierced Emilelio’s stomach, blades of wind burst forth from the sword and began to tear into him, sending him flying. He smashed against the wall and groaned in pain. As expected of a member of the Twelve Apostles of Zeus, Darkness was able to use High-rank magic.
“But how?” Emilelio groaned. “I transformed into Reinhard, one of the strongest men alive…”
“Not quite,” I corrected him. “What you copied was the version of Lord Reinhard who took it easy on me in a sparring match. The real deal is way stronger than that.”
“Ha ha! Your Appraisal skill saw right through his blessing, then. That is why you told me to hide myself, right?! Well done, Weiss. I give you the right to call yourself my friend!” Darkness shouted triumphantly.
Quickly, he threw two knives imbued with wind magic. Those blades pierced Emilelio’s throat and forehead, silencing him for good.
I decided not to correct Darkness about my skill. It wasn’t like he’d believe me if I told him it was game knowledge.
If things had progressed the way they did in the game timeline, Emilelio probably would have copied the most powerful person in Darkness’s memories, then killed him. As a member of the Twelve Apostles of Zeus, Darkness was sure to have experienced many more real combat scenarios than I had at this point, which meant there would be many more options for Emilelio to choose from.
Now, we were the victors, and Astesia had been saved without anyone dying.
Right as I was feeling good about our accomplishment, my body started to grow heavy. A side effect of using King-rank magic, no doubt.
“Lord Weiss, are you okay?! Please, hold on!” Rosalia grabbed me to support my weight before I could topple over. Her gentle touch and sweet scent helped to relieve my headache. “White’s worried about you, and you’re going to worry me as well.”
I was significantly more exhausted than after my battle against Hades. Yes, I was putting myself through special training to better handle the blowback from casting High-rank spells, but that King-rank magic I busted out at the end to enhance Rosalia’s spear was a step too far.
I had put all of my focus into controlling the spell so the magic wouldn’t go wild and hurt her.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, Rosalia. I’m okay,” I said.
“You won’t convince anyone with that look on your face,” she said softly.
White chirped, licking my cheek. As I felt somewhat better mentally, I tried to stand up on my own, when suddenly a part of the ceiling came falling to the floor.
Upon closer inspection, there were cracks in the pillars holding up the building. No good!
“Oh, my. I might have gotten a little too serious,” said Rosalia. “I damaged both the walls and the pillars. It truly is terrifying how talented I am.”
“Argh! Rosalia?!” I yelped as she suddenly lifted me up in her arms. Wait, she was carrying me like a princess!
“Fear not, Lord Weiss. I will protect you no matter what. I can only be at ease when I have you in my arms, right here with me. If I leave you on your own, I feel as though I might never get you back.”
“Rosalia…”
Seeing the wistful look on her face left me at a loss for words. It was true that I’d been pushing myself a little too hard as of late. Rosalia never said it out loud, but she must have been deeply anxious about my behavior.
“Well, well, you two are quite passionate,” Darkness said. “In any event, he should be dead. Let us make our escape.”
“Wait, but what about Catalina?” I asked blearily.
Darkness chuckled. “You need not worry, There was no one else in the church. One of my men is searching the area and should have found her by now.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Lord Weiss?!”
Once I heard the good news, my consciousness began to fade. Rosalia was holding me so tightly in her arms. It was warm…
I’m going to worry her again. I’m sorry, Rosalia…
Still, I’d managed to save Astesia before she succumbed to the darkness, and while we hadn’t planned on it, we’d also helped one of the influential Twelve Apostles of Zeus. This was pretty good, all things considered.
Moments later, everything went dark.