I turned backward and looked up at my father. He had run up to the very front of the stands and was screaming my brother’s name, his face white. I saw sunlight reflecting off of my brother’s necklace in his hand.
“He lost his amulet...” Lou grimaced.
Had Schneider’s ice attack grazed it? My brother wasn’t hurt, since his defense was perfect, but the ice must have broken the chain...and then Maribelle woke up at the worst possible time and spotted him.
So, that necklace I made him really worked, ha ha... I wish I didn’t have to find out this way.
I fearfully looked back at my brother. Maribelle stood up, clinging to him. All of her visible skin, not just her face, now looked ominously dull and black.
“Finally, Larouza, you’re here! What took you so long? Where have you been all this time?”
“...”
“Everything went wrong because of your sister, the villainess, you know! The story is all messed up! Help fix this and crush her! Hurry!”
“Sere! Watch out!”
Lou ran over and pushed me out of the way just as a three-meter long arrow of lightning shot where I had been a moment before, crackling with electricity. It sliced my tied-back hair, which came undone and fluttered in the air.
My own brother...had just attacked me without moving.
“Appraisal!” Miyu shouted. He shone blue.
Larouza Granzeus (Heir to a count, S-rank adventurer, prodigy→sage, under protection of Loudarylphena and Miyu-geld)
Status: Charmed
Skills: Short lance, shuriken, one-handed sword, new magic, librarian, explorer, collector
It shows “charmed...”
“Sere! Stay focused! You have to do something about Larouza!”
“B-Brother! Brother! Brother! Brother!!!” I shouted with all my heart, trying to reach him.
Miyu’s eyes flashed and she put up a wall of water in front of me! Immediately after, a spear of lightning fell on me again. The spear sank into the water.
Time seemed to instantly rewind. On that day, we had been in this same place, the magic academy.
Gardner, Cecil, Cain, and Harry were all pointing at me derisively, spitting at me. And behind them, my brother held a fearful Maribelle, comforting her...his glass-like green eyes looking at me scornfully like a corrupt creature.
“We’re together...”
“We’re finally together!” Maribelle’s eager voice lined up with the one in my head.
When I had been trampled by Cecil in the book, I looked up to my brother as if to beg for his help, as he smiled adoringly at Maribelle with no thought to me lying on the ground in an unseemly state...
My brother had always been that way. He never paid any mind to anybody but those he loved. The person he’d nurtured in his arms had always been me...but in an instant, that person had switched to Maribelle.
My brother...was betraying me again...
“Sere! This isn’t Larouza! Get yourself together!”
“Larouza! Wake up!” My father contorted his face, thrust his right hand upward to summon hellfire, and hurled it at my brother!
“Father! No!”
The hellfire sucked in the air around it as it went for my brother. A direct hit!
“Brother!”
Just as the flames reached my brother, he wrapped Maribelle in my cloak to protect her...!
Fwoosh... The flames disappeared. I looked up at my father, and he was on his knees, the hand he had been raising lowered.
Father...
“Sere!”
I snapped my gaze back to my brother, and he threw a lightning arrow! It went over my head...straight for our father! He wouldn’t miss on purpose like our father had!
“Father!”
He was looking dumbfoundedly at the arrow his own son had shot at him... It was too late to dodge!
The air around him suddenly vibrated, and a tornado appeared just in time to deflect the arrow.
“You idiot! Don’t let your guard down! Larouza! Come to your senses! Erza is going to give you a beating!” Ziek scolded from behind my father, who drew in a breath and lowered his head to Ziek. Then he leaped to my side.
“I’m sorry, Serephione...”
I shook my head. My father wasn’t at fault for this at all.
“I’ll bring your kind brother back for you, Serephi.” Tears glistened in his eyes. The fighting spirit that he suppressed on a daily basis was on full display.
So this is the true power of a Granzeus. He really was a demon lord. He was going to bring my brother down...by force.
I knew that my father was incredibly strong...but he would stop at the last moment. His body and mind were made of love for us. He could never stand to see my brother hurt.
But that didn’t matter to my brother right now. He would counter without emotion. I couldn’t just stand by and watch it happen.
I had to take the brunt of his hatred...just like in the book.
Tap! Gillain landed between me and my father, bringing a magical presence that surpassed even my father’s. He gave my father’s hand a twist. Some kind of spell dispersed.
“Emperor Gillain...”
“I can’t let family fight.”
I drew in a breath. Those were heavy words because Gillain, of all people, was saying them.
“I’ll take the stage here. Stand back, dear father-in-law.”
“Your Imperial Majesty...” My father, who would have been unable to attack his own son anyway, smiled sadly, lowered his head to Gillain, and took several steps back.
I looked up at Gillain. Can I really involve him in a fight with my family?
“Don’t worry, Sere. I’ll end this without having to kill Larouza.”
He was going to stand in the line of fire for me and my father and do something more difficult than fighting at full power—take his opponent alive. I should have been the one to do it...but I knew I couldn’t attack my brother either. We weren’t siblings who hated each other! We’d loved each other ever since we were born.
A cowardly part of me was relieved to let Gillain take care of my dirty work. I shook hard, my teeth chattering.
Gillain pulled me to himself without looking away from my brother.
“Ah...”
“You’re finally relying on me. I’m glad I came,” he said, resting his cheek on my head. “This is my first time fighting for someone I love. It’s romantic.” He tenderly kissed my forehead.
“Here and now, we’re going to sever the sorrows that followed you into this life.” He gazed into my eyes and nodded as if to seal the promise.
“The emperor of Galé?! See, we’re back to the story now! Larouza, Galé is our enemy! The emperor and the villainess are targeting our kingdom! They’re the bad guys! They did such mean things to me! Please defeat them for me so we can create a peaceful world together!”
My brother took Maribelle at her word and turned to look at us. He gave me a chilling glare. My heart felt like it was being squeezed.
“Maribelle... You’re badly hurt. You should retreat for now.” Schneider used the last of his strength to interject. Is he trying to buy me some time?
“Did I ask?! I don’t need you anymore now that Larouza is here. You’re just a background character, anyway. Right, Larouza?”
Maribelle had cut Schneider off without a second thought. That changed the situation drastically.
Terl, sensing danger, took a protective position in front of Schneider and readied his magic. He seemed to think that depending on Maribelle’s mood, the brunt of Larouza’s attack may fall on them...
“Lou, have Sere stand back. We can’t fight with her here,” Asu said from Lou’s shoulder before he took off and began to hover in the sky.
I noticed Lou hesitating to leave my side and gave him a push. “Please, Lou... Save my brother. I’ll stay in the corner for you.”
Having Lou assist them would give them the edge they needed. It would also reduce the risk to Gillain and make it easier to capture my brother alive.
“Miyu, restrain Maribelle, and attack from two places at once to keep my brother from focusing. I don’t think Maribelle can move because of the backfired curses, but be careful still.”
“Miss Se—my master...please make sure not to endanger yourself.” Miyu kissed my cheek and immediately slipped into a crack somewhere. Once I’d seen Miyu off, I nodded to Lou and stepped back toward my father.
Lou sat his giant form next to Gillain. “Larouza... I’ll have to punish you later for forgetting our past together.”
He pulled the giant emerald necklace my brother had given him from inside the fur on his chest, but my brother’s face remained cold.
“Unacceptable!”
Lou’s magic inside me was wild and enraged. It had never felt like this for as long as I’d known him. I could tell I’d become sensitive to the state of the magic in my body that I’d received from others...but noticing how I’d grown didn’t change my current situation.
Lou wasn’t angry at my brother. He was furious at this contrived, unfair situation.
The magic my brother exuded steadily swelled until the entire stadium creaked under its pressure.
Asu’s voice sounded from above. “Larouza is strong due to his past devotion to Serephione. Go all out on him, Gillain. As long as he doesn’t die, I can make it work.”
“I doubt Larouza will hold back this time either. Whatever happens will happen, I suppose.” Gillain grimaced and cast a sparkling magic on both himself and Asu—probably defense magic.
Gillain... Brother...!
My father squeezed my hand. Intertwining our fingers and gritting our teeth, we braced ourselves where we stood. We had no choice but to have faith that Gillain would save my brother and he would return to his normal self.
My expressionless brother took his trusty shurikens and threw them at the ground. Where they landed, the earth protruded like spears into the sky, projecting toward Asu one after another. This was a forbidden earth magic technique, Landsharp. It was a one-shot kill he had taught me a long time ago. Remembering one of the many fun days we’d spent training together with Lou and being scolded by our grandmother made me want to cry.