Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut Vol 19 Chapter 2 Part 14-19

Part 14

──Meanwhile, at the west side of the camp where Lux’s force was encamped.

A battle against Uroboros that Automata Arshalia was controlling and Diabolos that were approaching the base was unfolding.

「Even though, this isn’t the time to bother with these small fries──」

Krulcifer brushed up her blue hair impatiently while intercepting the enemies with Fafnir’s sniping.

The Diabolos had been strengthened with Elixir injection.

It was slightly disadvantageous for Krulcifer in her current state where she was preserving her Full Connect, but she couldn’t possibly play her trump card here.

If she didn’t use it to face Fugil or at least to stop Arshalia’s movement, she would just play into the enemy’s hand that wished to exhaust the battle strength of their side.

「GISHAAAAAA-……!」

「Tsu……! Another one……」

However, when the third Diabolos entered her sight, she became unable to keep saying that. At this rate, Krulcifer’s defensive line would be breached. If that happened, the formation of the allied force near the camp would be thrown into disarray.

She mustn’t let the enemies approached the location of Airi and Aeril who were taking position to protect the central.

However, when facing multiple powerful enemies like this, even the future prediction of Wise Blood would become inaccurate.

While she was pondering that, one of the three Diabolos in front of her stopped moving.

Its chest bloated up until several times its original size and red cracks were forming up.

「──No good!」

This Abyss’s characteristic was to self-destruct when it was lethally wounded and destroyed its surrounding in a wide range.

Furthermore the Diabolos here had been strengthened by Elixir, so the explosion’s power was also exceptional.

Krulcifer hurriedly acted to shoot it down before it could explode, but it caused an opening to be created. The two remaining Diabolos didn’t miss that chance.

「Damn──!」

Black claws that were sharp like sword attacked Krulcifer from behind.

She managed to block it with Auto Shield, but it stopped her movement for a moment. Bright flash surged from the Diabolos that was in self-destruct mode in that opening.

「Tsu……!?」

Krulcifer’s body stiffened along with the thunderous sound and explosive blast.

She didn’t even need to use the future prediction to realize that she would be unable to block the explosion and got heavily wounded. She lamented that fact but──.

.

「Haa, what are you doing. Aren’t you a bit to slack recently in the emotional aspect?」

「Perhaps her head is filled with the matter of the young man──Mahaprana!」

.

Krulcifer caught the voice of Mel and Soffice while her eyes were closed. Then the situation was overturned.

The shockwave and heat wave that were released by the self-destruction of the strengthened Diabolos only hit the Diabolos diagonally behind. It was instantly burned to ash.

The explosive energy was directed to a single point by the trajectory control of Vritra’s Divine Raiment.

Mahaprana could make use of the enemy’s attack the stronger it was. It could be said as the most suitable ability for this situation.

「──You two, why are you here?」

「You are asking that? We simply didn’t believe that you will be able to manage somehow here by yourself. ──Dual Shift」

Mel used Ddraig Gwiber’s Divine Raiment──the temperature control to lower the Diabolos’s temperature to become extremely low, freezing its surface body.

She smashed it with her Halberd the moment it froze and its movement turned dull.

The falling snow would melt when touching the Abyss’s skin due to their high temperature, causing their skin to be slightly wet. That was why it was possible to freeze them instantly.

The two of them were protecting the camp, but after they received contact from Airi that Lux had determined Fugil’s position and moved to intercept him, these two came to back up Krulcifer.

「Actually it feels like it will be more exciting to face Fugil directly. But I also won’t be able to sleep soundly if I let you my rival die, so I came here to help.」

「That’s what you said Mel, but you’re actually quite an attentive and caring girl aren’t you?」

Soffice’s retort made Mel reddened. Krulcifer smiled wryly seeing her face.

Greifer was also someone attentive and caring despite his appearance. So perhaps his trait had infected Mel before she realized it?

In the past she was at the opposing side against these two girls, but now they were getting along like this. This too was also thanks to Lux.

She could feel Lux’s presence at her side even though he was fighting somewhere else right now.

It made her happy. That was why she couldn’t lose here.

After all the future that Krulcifer wised for could only come if they survived this battle without losing anyone.

「Then──indeed. I guess I should let the other girls to back up Lux for now.」

Krulcifer used her Dragon Voice and sent a call to Airi who was equipping Jormungandr.

『I’m glad you are safe Krulcifer-san. Yoruka-san is dealing with the remaining Diabolos while the rest, around ten of them are slowly heading toward the camp here. As for Nii-san──he is in the middle of fighting Fugil together with Celis-senpai and Philuffy-san.』

『──I see.』

『Also, please quickly return here when you can. If not……』

『Yes, I’ve already sensed it. But, it’ll be better for us to join up after all of the Diabolos has been taken care of. Either way we need someone to stop them on their track right?』

If Lux and Fugil were currently engaged against each other, then she had to face the other formidable enemy in his place.

Krulcifer and others were already starting to hear its footsteps from their location.

『──Warning』

The Automata Arshalia broadcasted her voice using the Drag-Ride’s voice amplifier.

That gigantic Drag-Ride that was hiding using camouflage suddenly appeared before their eyes.

「──That’s!」

「Artifact Uroboros……! It’s already this close-」

This Divine Drag-Ride’s approach was too fast despite its enormous size. It dumbfounded Mel and Soffice.

If it kept its current pace, it would arrive at their base in the east in less than several minutes.

Even though they were also pressed to deal with the remaining ten-odd strengthened Diabolos──.

『It will be against Fugil’s wish to erase all of you here. But, if you’re going to keep getting on our way no matter what, I will be forced to do so. I will hold back for three times, but it won’t be my responsibility if you die with just that. Prepare yourself.』

「How very kind. Though the way it’s looking down on us like that──」

Mel sweated nervously even while grinning fearlessly after hearing that warning.

For the two Seven Dragon Paladins here, they had faced this threat before with six of them but still got defeated. And now they would have to face it with less battle strength than before.

Of course, their objective was only to hold it back until their base camp finished its attack preparation. But this opponent wouldn’t make even such thing easy for them.

There was a long-distance sniping cannon that equaled Sevens Heads, protruding from its stomach. It was also equipped with a giant sword that looked more like a steel tower. If they got hit directly by those weapons even once, it would be suspect whether they could survive or not even using barrier that was fueled with all their energy.

「You can run away if you’re sacred. No one will scold you.」

Krulcifer made a light talk in front of the overwhelming threat. Mel snapped at it.

「Nice idea, how about we bet who will be the first to run away?」

「The first person to run away will have to treat everyone.」

Soffice said jokingly. Then the three of them readied their weapons.

Right after that, the giant Divine Drag-Ride that was like a fortress flew forward. Its movement shook the trees of the Ancient Forest.

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Part 15

「GISHAAAAAAA-……!」

『──Yoruka-san! Are you safe!? You are being surrounded by three Diabolos──』

『There is only two. I have defeated one just now.』

『You’re still the same……. It’s a bit relieving though.』

Airi said with a sigh that was a mix of exasperation and admiration.

Even in such overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation, this girl’s strength that towered above the rest was still the same.

「More importantly, is Aruji-sama alright? This is a disgrace for me as a servant. To waste time for taking care of opponent of this level and be unable to immediately rush to my master’s side──」

「You don’t need to worry. Nii-san also has strong allies accompanying him right now.」

Yoruka was able to pilot Yato no Kami perfectly after resting and recovering for a few hours. She was reliable as usual.

She didn’t have any worry at all even when being surrounded by multiple strengthened Diabolos.

Because they were biological creature, she could read their breathing and took advantage at the opening of their awareness and used Critical Hit.

Krulcifer’s group was stopping the invasion of Uroboros from the north, while Yoruka was suppressing the Diabolos that were approaching from the west.

Lux and Fugil were in the middle of fighting at the south──that was the battle situation at present.

Before long some Diabolos would also arrive at the camp where Airi and others were taking position, so the crucial moment still hadn’t arrived but──.

『……Err, Krulcifer-san’s group has defeated three, and Yoruka-san just defeated one──there should be twenty Diabolos──there is still one that is unaccounted. Or is it just my imagination?』

Airi suddenly spoke her doubt that her calculation might be mistaken. Her doubt came from a simple anxiety, so it shouldn’t be something that would cause anything major. But,

『──That, is indeed strange.』

Although it was a powerful Abyss that was in question here, in the end it was just a single Abyss.

Airi thought that it would be beneath the notice of someone as skilled as Yoruka, but she clung at Yoruka’s comment.

『Strange……really? Certainly you can call this strange but──』

Even after listening to Yoruka, Airi still couldn’t find any point of focusing on just a single Abyss.

When speaking about the seriousness of the threats, Fugil or Arshalia would be far more dangerous.

『Perhaps, the enemy is hiding something. If the aim of the enemy’s tactician was to lure me out alone like this──』

『……tsu!?』

Airi came to a sudden realization after listening to Yoruka’s voice that was accompanied by the whirring sound of the Drag-Ride.

Yoruka who possessed wide range radar through her special equipment type Divine Drag-Ride was forced to move west in order to locate Fugil──she was baited to move there.

Airi thought that Celis and Philuffy were the most suitable people to give Lux back up against Fugil because of their mobility, but to be honest she wished that it could be Yoruka who assisted Lux because of her ability to use Spell Code.

Thinking very carefully, Lux indeed succeeded in predicting Fugil’s aim and intercepted him but──the situation that was created was also advantageous for the enemy cap.

『Don’t tell me, no……. It’s nothing. Yoruka-san, please fight carefully. I will contact you again if something happen.』

『Understood miss commander.』

Airi finished the light talk and cut off the contact with Yoruka.

And then she started wracking her brain about the meaning of the words that Yoruka said.

「What’s the matter Airi?」

「No──」

It was hard to believe that the whole situation right now was going according to Fugil’s plan.

However, if she considered at minimum that Fugil had managed to obtain an advantage by making Yoruka facing Diabolos instead of confronting him directly──then as she thought, Fugil’s ability to predict ahead couldn’t be underestimated.

In a sense he was surpassing Lux who got ahead by using the trump card that was Airi who could use Jormungandr.

After thinking to that point, she also came to suspect the Diabolos that vanished to who-know-where.

She must not underestimate the advice from Yoruka and just thought of it as her imagination.

Airi felt that she had to use her brain and made herself useful, for Lux’s share too.

「More importantly, Lisha-sama. Please get to your position. Three strengthened Diabolos are heading our way. They will arrive soon!」

「Yeah, leave it to me. Let’s go! You all!」

「Yes, Ane-ue!」

The Drag-Knights remaining in the temple site──at the base where the central was sleeping underground, drove their respective Drag-Ride forward.

Alma of Azure Division served as Airi’s guard just like the Triad. Lisha, Greifer, and Rosa were to intercept the Diabolos.

After they left there was only Aeril remaining here, but Zahhak was still half-broken. Her stamina was also exhausted from connecting with the central, so she didn’t go out──or rather, she couldn’t.

What was left was giving her all to do what she could like putting up barrier or collecting the wounded Drag-Knight.

Airi and others had to build as much advantage as possible before Fugil could reach his destination, the central──.

Considering that, how much groundwork could they finish in order to put the victory conditions in place?

That would become the greatest key for grasping the victory.

「Everyone──please stay safe.」

Airi saw off Lisha and the other two who went to intercept the Diabolos while muttering.

The Divine Drag-Ride Jormungandr was consuming her stamina greatly just by wearing it, but she mustn’t whine here.

Compared to the suffering of being someone who could only be protected until now, this situation where she was standing in the thick of it felt pleasant instead for her.

.

Part 16

「Haaaaa-……!」

Inside a forest two kl south from the temple site where the central was sleeping.

Celis lunged with her Lightning Lance along with a shout that sounded like a roar.

The deadly thrust that was clad in electricity possessed the power to blow away the trees crowding the area.

And even if it was blocked, the electricity could even bring death to Fugil’s body after it penetrated his thinned armor after the Break Purge.

However, Celis showed no hesitation at all.

Although he wasn’t a normal human anymore──he was still made from flesh and blood. Celis had resolved herself to kill him and let out a deadly attack──but,

「──Reload on Fire」

Fugil activated Bahamut’s Divine Raiment an instant faster. His target was Celis and Lindwurm.

「Wha-……!?」

Instantly Celis’s movement──her flow of time was drastically reduced to a fragment of the original.

Due to the characteristic of Reload on Fire’s compression strengthening, her movement turned dull and her attack was sealed.

No matter how powerful and unblockable the attack was, there would be no problem as long as it didn’t hit.

Then next in this situation Fugil was aiming to perform the battle technique that Lux invented, Violent Strike.

Celis would be practically defenseless during the remaining four seconds of the time compression. If she was attacked right now, the accumulated impact would burst at the later five seconds.

「Phi-chan!」

Lux was still unable to move properly. He called out to Philuffy to stop Fugil.

In respond Philuffy immediately shot her Pile Anchor from the middle range to attack from the side at Fugil who was moving to slash Celis.

「──Fu」

But, Fugil smiled and showed a super reaction speed as though he had anticipated it.

The tip of a pile that moved quickly like bullet was deflected with his great sword. The chain’s trajectory was changed and it entwined around Celis’s Lindwurm.

「Tsu……!」

Right after that, the chain of Pile Anchor that twined around the electricity spear became a conductor that sent the lightning attack to Philuffy’s Typhon, sealing her movement.

Fugil then twisted his body to dodge the remaining anchors with the smallest movement.

That whole exchange only took three seconds.

Fugil landed a slash with his Chaos Brand on Celis’s shoulder using the remaining two seconds.

「U-aah……!」

The instant the later five seconds of the strengthening compression of time arrived, Celis got blown backward while Philuffy was stopped from moving due to the paralysis from the electric attack.

「……Im-possible!」

Because Bahamut had entered kamikaze attack form due to the Break Purge, the Drag-Ride had certainly turned lighter and its offensive power also increased.

On the other hand──its defense had thinned and it couldn’t even produce a barrier. But Fugil was easily dealing with Celis and Philuffy who were in full strength despite the high risk to himself.

He only used Reload on Fire to dodge the Lightning Lance that was clad in electricity, wrapped a Pile Anchor from Typhon around the lance, causing a friendly fire, sealing the two’s movement.

Lux thought that even for Fugil, it would be next to impossible for him to break through this situation while he was being unable to use Uroboros directly.

But, using instantaneous creativity that even Lux couldn’t think up on the fly, Fugil magnificently overcame his predicament and turned into counterattack.

「How, can you possibly……? You’re──」

「I have previous experiences of facing teamwork at that level many times before. I met a painful experience when I was at the receiving end of such attack for the first time. Though I can’t even remember how many hundreds of years ago it happened──」

Fugil picked up the words that Lux muttered unconsciously and smiled derisively.

Previous experiences.

Fugil had repeated history many times to maintain the equilibrium of the world. He had fought people piloting Divine Drag-Rides many times through it all.

No──he had even experienced every kind of disadvantageous situations throughout the strives in the era of Holy Arcadia Empire.

He almost died many times. Each time he would overcome the borderline between life and death. The power of experience he obtained from all those was unmatched.

Lux shuddered inside his heart against this strength.

Even he himself had amassed experiences of many battles as the Weakest Undefeated to learn how to read the pattern of enemy’s attack.

But Fugil was in the possession of experiences that were dozens of times greater than Lux.

「Lux! You mustn’t falter! His target is you!」

It was just for several moments, but Lux’s movement had stopped from astonishment. Celis who was blown away raised her voice to warn him.

Lux gasped and came back to his senses. But Fugil was already moving at that time.

「──Did I ever say something like that? Stop acting under the wrong impression if you don’t want to mistake your path again.」

「Tsu……!」

Fugil’s target wasn’t Lux, but Celis who was unbalanced after Lindwurm’s shoulder was slashed.

The slash that was unleashed while flying at low altitude flashed to stab her shoulder armor. It was then,

「Kuuh!」

Celis immediately twisted her body and avoided direct hit to the Force Core that was a Drag-Ride’s vital part.

However, the chest part where the barrier was thin got cut in exchange. Celis opened her eyes wide due to the impact that penetrated through her armor.

「Uaaaaah……!?」

「Celis-senpai!」

She was just barely hanging on so that her armor wouldn’t be dispelled, but she wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while now.

It could be said that at least they avoided having Lindwurm getting taken down and couldn’t be used anymore in this battle, but the compensation for that was great.

However, Fugil’s aim in attacking Celis first was something that Lux painfully understood.

The lightning that Lindwurm unleashed dealt electric attack that couldn’t be blocked from the tip of its lance.

For the current Fugil whose defense had been rapidly decreased due to the Break Purge, he would instantly lose just from getting hit by the lightning attack.

That was why he carefully brought Celis down first.

「Astonishing. You managed to avoid direct hit to your Force Core in this situation, but, it’s still foolish. That man who you believe in has no value for you to risk your life until that far. The weak who provoke other people to challenge an impossible battle can’t be called a hero. In other words──」

Fugil brandished his Chaos Brand once more and swung down toward Celis.

Philuffy was still paralyzed by the electricity, so she couldn’t move.

In order to block the finishing blow to Celis, Lux ignored the pain in his body and drove Bahamut forward.

「STOP! FUGILLLLL!」

He charged in a straight line through the shortest and fastest route. Even so he most likely wouldn’t make it in time.

However, he judged that Celis’s life might be spared if by some chance Fugil changed his attack target to Lux.

But, Lux could clearly picture it.

The future that would occur in one or two more seconds.

The Bahamut that Fugil equipped would swing down the great sword without hesitation, causing fresh blood to gush like fountain.

Lindwurm’s armor would break into pieces. Blood would spurt out from the severed arm. Such scene flashed inside Lux’s head.

The instant Lux thought that, his consciousness was dyed white.

He wondered whether it was sadness, anger, or despair that was filling him now.

Lux’s thinking speed that was reinforced by Baptism was lengthened until the extreme.

「HAAAAAAAA……!」

The distance was too far for him to block the attack aiming at Celis.

A preparation would be needed to gather the energy for launching Howling Roar.

He wouldn’t make it in time even by throwing a dagger. Philuffy and Celis also couldn’t move.

However, there was something that he could do.

Lux grasped his own situation and reeled the Pile Anchor under his feet toward him using Linker Pulse.

The next instant, Fugil’s arm that was raised to finish off Celis using Chaos Brand was stabbed by the tip of Lyndwurm’s lance.

「──What?」

Fugil who had never showed a shaken expression until now slightly raised his eyebrow.

Due to the Break Purge, he had lost his barrier generation device and his armor was removed until the very minimum. So his flesh arm could be stabbed just by lightly pointing the lance tip to him.

Right after that, the great sword that Fugil swung down was averted from Celis’s body, cleaving the layer of snow piling up on the ground.

「──I see」

Fugil finally noticed the true identity of the special technique that Lux used after seeing the result.

Before this Fugil used the Pile Anchor that Typhon fired to entwine around Lindwurm’s Lightning Lance, causing friendly fire.

He grasped that Philuffy was paralyzed by the electricity and naturally wouldn’t be able to move right away.

But when Lux reeled the Pile Anchor, he could also control the lance that was entwined by the wire even if only slightly.

It was the tactic of making use of other Drag-Knight’s weapon just like Fugil showed him.

Lux went further to improvise using the current situation that was born from Fugil’s tactic so he could counterattack at Fugil himself.

This was an event that was established because the armor of Fugil’s Bahamut had been extremely reduced through Break Purge.

If his Bahamut was still in its undamaged form, something like a lance that was only lightly moved without even any energy empowering the blade would only get repelled by the barrier easily.

However Lux used that opening and chose the best plan that could be carried out due to the change in situation.

He made use of Fugil’s action that he had only grasped just now and broke down the despairing situation of this battle.

「──Good move.」

Once more Fugil brandished Chaos Brand that missed its attack and smiled.

「But, in the end you are simply buying a little time. The result for all of you──haven’t changed.」

Fugil’s other hand touched the Sword Device on his waist. It was then Celis’s eyes snapped wide open.

「Is that so? You are looking down on him and also on us too much.」

「──!」

The flash that Celis suddenly unleashed blinded Fugil’s eyes.

The light reflected on the surrounding snow and became even more dazzling. It burned his retinas.

Celis who still couldn’t move properly activated the Lightning Lance and released bright flash from its tip.

She still couldn’t control her Drag-Ride to counterattack Fugil, but she could produce a bit of energy to at least produce blinding light.

In addition, for Fugil who owned physical ability and five senses that were several times better than normal human, the damage to his sight was also great.

But Fugil immediately closed his eyes and focused on his hearing. He searched for the whirring sound of the Drag-Rides.

Lux was flying straight toward him. He predicted the timing of his arrival and gathered energy to his head armor before releasing it as shockwave.

「──Howling Roar」

Even Fugil would find it hard to dodge Lux’s charge while his sight was blocked.

And so he hindered Lux’s flight with Howling Roar while flying backward using the recoil at the same time.

Fugil bought time and distance with that. And so he became able to summon Uroboros.

If Uroboros was summoned while Lux had not other allies around him, the difference in strength would become enormous and Fugil’s victory would be fixed in stone.

「I won’t……let you-!」

──But, Lux easily dodged the wall of shockwave that was sent to him and approached right before Fugil.

「……!?」

Fugil’s eyes opened wide. In that instant Lux flew toward Fugil who was flying backward from the recoil of his Howling Roar and swung down the Chaos Brand he brandished.

「──End Action」

The first slash was blocked by the great sword that Fugil immediately used as shield. However──Lux paid it no attention.

Lux rained down consecutive blows that were coming endlessly like a storm, not allowing Fugil to even catch his breath.

How did Lux slip through the wall of shockwave from Fugil’s Howling Roar──.

It was related with the Reload on Fire that he activated at the same timing with Celis’s flashbang.

The force of the shockwave was drastically reduced until a fragment of its original power using the compression strengthening.

And so the power of the Howling Roar was reduced until almost zero and Lux succeeded in taking Fugil by surprise.

But──the pressure that was caught on his armor and body would return by several folds in the later five seconds.

Therefore, Lux needed to bring down Fugil within these five seconds before the feedback damage descended on him.

「So you’re coming to defeat me without thinking of the consequence. You’re making a reckless gamble here.」

This was a method that Lux wouldn’t be able to choose if his flesh hadn’t become tougher due to Baptism. Even so the risk was still high.

With just five seconds of End Action──he couldn’t even break through the defense of Fugil’s Bahamut that had ended up with minimal armor.

Far from that, currently Lux was exposed to a terrifying threat.

In order to breakthrough Fugil’s Howling Roar, he had used Reload on Fire beforehand.

The burden of the impact that he received from the beginning would attack him at the latter five seconds, but not only that, if he got attacked by Fugil’s Bahamut in that latter five seconds, that damage would also get multiplied and his defeat would be unavoidable.

But, Lux needed to seal Fugil’s hands in order to prevent him from summoning Uroboros.

And then──.

「You’re holding me in check to prevent me from summoning Uroboros while waiting for your allies to recover, is that your plan? You’re attacking with the readiness to self-destruct for that──」

「……tsu!」

Lux unconsciously gulped hearing Fugil pointing out so.

Lux was exerting all his strength desperately without thinking of the damage from the recoil of compression strengthening after this was because he was entrusting a certain thing to his comrades.

He didn’t want to entrust the dangerous role to her, but he judged that there was no other choice than that.

「I’m going to unite everyone’s strength, to defeat you!」

Two seconds remaining until he entered the latter five seconds of Reload on Fire. Lux continued the End Action with everything he had to seal Fugil’s movement. It was then,

──*Giinn!*

Lux’s blade was suddenly deflected and the flow of his combo was severed.

「What a troublesome fellow. You become like that because you’re mistaking other people’s strength as your own strength. Someone who can’t cut open the path by himself doesn’t know that you will weaken by relying on others.」

「Why, how did my attack got stop──!?」

End Action was a secret technique to rain down slashes without even taking a breath.

There was no gap between the attacks.

Even if Fugil could block the attacks with precision, he wouldn’t have enough time to control the Drag-Ride so it would switch to attack after defending.

Therefore, once Lux managed to make the opponent blocked his first strike, it would be impossible for the opponent to switch to counterattack in the middle as long as Lux hadn’t run out of breath.

Lux had tested it before in a one-on-one mock battle against Drag-Knight.

And yet──.

「That’s only when talking about battle between two normal Drag-Knights isn’t it? Two thirds of my armor has been removed by the Break Purge. And so──」

In exchange the moving speed of the Drag-Ride was also increasing even if it was only slightly.

Because the number of frame that had to be moved was decreasing, Fugil was able to take advantage of the gap in End Action.

「One more second──. This is where we say farewell, my wise younger brother.」

Fugil brandished his blade toward Lux who was unbalanced.

Right after that, the recoil from the latter half of Reload on Fire would come down on Lux with an impact that was multiplied by several times.

But Lux and Fugil heard a voice in that moment when the despair was going to arrive.

.

「──Missing Faith」

.

「──!?」

A black pulse was radiating from Philuffy’s Typhon to the surrounding.

The Divine Raiment that nullified other Divine Raiment enveloped Lux and Fugil.

The next moment, Lux’s defense made it in time to block the Chaos Brand that Fugil swung down.

「……I, see!」

Fugil felt strange because Lux was moving even though he should be unable to. However Fugil understood what just happened after a moment passed.

The output of the two’s Drag-Ride would be lowered as long as they were within the territory of Missing Faith.

But, the reason Lux could block his attack wasn’t that.

Lux and Philuffy were working together to prevent the Reload on Fire backfiring to Lux using Missing Faith to erase it.

「That was one hell of an idea that you thought up just now. There was no man who ever thought up such thing even in these one thousand years.」

Even Fugil’s memories throughout his eternal life never saw someone who used in reverse Typhon’s Divine Raiment that erased even its ally’s Divine Raiment.

Lux’s scenario.

His tactic that freely used his power of imagination as weapon had grown until this degree from directly facing unimaginably powerful enemies and defeating them until now.

In addition──these girls who had competed against each other and polished themselves had also grown stronger together with him.

「HAAAAAAAAH!」

Lux who was blocking Fugil’s attack couldn’t move his Drag-Ride well right away because Missing Faith was lowering its power output.

In exchange he personally drew out his Sword Device to slash at Fugil. But Fugil also did the same thing with Uroboros’s Sword Device and blocked his slash.

「Kuh……!」

If he was in point-blank range where his Drag-Ride couldn’t move satisfactorily, he would slash with his Sword Device directly.

Lux and Fugil both reached that same conclusion.

However, the result was clear to see.

*Kin!*

With a high-pitched sound, Bahamut’s Sword Device in Lux’s hand was sent flying. It was revolving in the air.

Supposing that Lux managed to reach the same level in tactic and strategy against Fugil, Fugil still had his physical capability that surpassed even Abyss.

「You made one wrong move. Even if you manage to reach the same conclusion like me, you can’t surpass me with that body of yours.」

「That’s not necessarily true.」

Right after Lux made a smile to pretend to be tough, Fugil swung down Uroboros’s Sword Device.

Instantly, Lux’s body retreated along with his Drag-Ride. Fugil’s attack cut through empty air.

「Lu-chan. Leave the rest, to me.」

「Yeah. Be careful……Phi-chan」

The Pile Anchor that Lux reeled in before this was entwined around the torso of Lux’s Drag-Ride.

With Typhon pulling on it, it was possible for him to escape even this situation where his movement was dulling.

From here Philuffy would serve as Fugil’s opponent until Lux and Celis recovered.

Lux was anxious in his heart, but there was nothing he could do in this situation.

He could only pray for Philuffy’s safety while focusing to be able to return back to the battle as quickly as possible.

「──Fu」

The expression of Fugil who was watching Lux retreating sported a slight smile.

He deflected a Pile Anchor that was fired toward him while making the anchor’s chain entwined around a tree with Linker Pulse.

The next moment, crimson light of Reload on Fire was emitted from Fugil’s armor before he turned around and ran away.

「So the preparation is finished? Then let’s stasrt, Arshalia.」

「……!?」

Fugil suddenly chose to escape while leaving behind some ominous words. Lux gasped in realization and held his breath.

He hurriedly used Dragon Voice to contact Airi who was at the temple site.

.

Part 17

『Airi──!? How is the situation over there? Is there anything strange?』

Airi who was wearing the special equipment type Divine Drag-Ride──Jormungandr raised her face when she was contacted by her brother.

『Are you safe Nii-san!? I’m the one who is worried about you. There is nothing strange at this side. We are putting up a good fight thanks to Fugil and Uroboros being hold back. But──』

『But?』

『No, it’s nothing important.』

Airi hesitated to answer Lux’s question.

It was only a slight discomfort that she felt, but she was hesitating whether it was something important enough to say in this situation.

『The remaining Diabolos that were encircling us are starting to move to a single point. What’s more they aren’t heading our way, but to the north of the base.』

『──?』

Several of the twenty Diabolos had been destroyed.

But, the moment they saw that they were in disadvantage, they swiftly changed direction and retreated.

Because they needed to protect the base where central was sleeping underground, Lisha and others couldn’t chase after them too far and let them left.

『…………』

He felt some kind of bad premonition.

Lux closed his mouth without being able to express it with words.

.

Part 18

While Lux and Airi were in the middle of conversation through Dragon Voice.

Fugil and Arshalia had linked up and they were also conversing about an important strategy.

『──Fugil, are you seriously planning to do that? If by any chance it works, this forest will become unusable for some time.』

『Yeah. Defeating them without killing them has proved more troublesome than I thought. If I use more of Uroboros’s energy to defeat them, it will become troublesome to do the world revision after that. From here I will use all my strength──to crush them.』

『It’s unusual for you to meet enemies that forced you into such difficult battle.』

『…………』

Until now Fugil was focused to remove Lux alone.

He wanted to kept the balance of the world and watched over the ruling of the vessel of king that he discovered.

For Fugil whose objective was to ascertain the choice and the path that human took, he was reluctant to do this battle.

Especially if he erased all the people here who were each powerful Drag-Knight of their respective country. There was a possibility that it would cause domestic strife in their countries.

However Lux was had grown far stronger than Fugil imagined.

──No.

Lux had been polishing his strength to win over other people into his ally.

Lux’s allies would synchronize their action with him, surmise his intention, and cooperate with each other to multiply their strength many times over.

Such strength was different from the strength of Fugil who had been keeping the balance of the world all alone for more than thousand years with overwhelming strength and the strength of Singlen who polished his own genius.

『They don’t seem to be opponents──who I can go easy against for more than this.』

Fugil retreated from the direct confrontation because he had given up finishing off Lux alone as quickly as possible.

『Under-stood.』

That was to say it would be the crucial moment after this.

What was the reason Fugil intentionally led twenty Diabolos to here?

That secret plan was going to assault Airi and others after several more minutes.

.

Part 19

「Quick, we have to go, to where Airi and everyone at……」

Lux tried to stand up after sensing the unsettling signs. But Celis held him back.

Philuffy was already chasing after the retreating Fugil with her Typhon as fast as she could, but it would be difficult to catch up with Fugil that was wearing flying type, what’s more with its armor already lightened.

In that case he also had to go in pursuit. Lux whipped his body to move, but,

「Wait a second Lux. Your body is still injured, you have to rest it at least a little. Besides even Fugil shouldn’t be completely unharmed──」

Fugil’s body should be considerably damaged after he stripped off his protective armor until the very limit and fought them in the kamikaze attack form.

Even with his endurance that far surpassed normal human, the damages they dealt to him should have some effect that couldn’t be ignored.

Rather the possibility was high that he was exhausted and couldn’t recover immediately just like Lux right now.

However──it was terrifying.

He didn’t intend to underestimate Fugil at all, but he estimated that he would be able to obtain the advantage even if only slightly if he had the help of Celis and Philuffy while Fugil was separated from Uroboros’s main body.

But in reality, even now after he was greatly successful in his surprise attack, Fugil still overcame them with his skill as Drag-Knight.

In addition, they still couldn’t see the bottom of his strength.

Rather it felt like he was pulling out even more tricks the more they fought him.

「What can you do even if you head there in your condition right now? If you don’t want to regret it, you should bear with it until you at least recover and can move around.」

「……You’re, right」

Lux listened to Celis’s remonstration and collected himself.

He was losing himself because of Fugil’s overwhelming strength and his fear of losing his comrades, but exactly because of that──it would be pointless for Lux to head there while he was unable to move decently like this.

「I’m sorry, Celis-senpai.」

「Let’s believe in everyone. Those people who have trained together with you aren’t that fragile.」

Celis was also feeling the same in wanting to head to where everyone was for even a second faster. It was clear to see from her trembling body.

Even so, she was trying to accomplish her duty as Syvalles’s captain.

Celis gently hugged Lux’s body that had been removed from his Drag-Ride.

Her body and her Drag-Ride’s heater were warming his chilly body that was exposed to the blizzard.

「That’s why, please rest your body right now for several minutes, until the feeling in your limbs return and the pain vanish. I will become the shield that protect you until then.」

Even Celis had gotten injured from her battle with Fugil, but right now she was holding Lux in her arms while driving her Lindwurm forward without resting.

She was intending to shoulder the role as transporter and bodyguard at the same time for Lux who was distracted and couldn’t move.

Her consideration to Lux and her devotion made him felt deep affection toward this older girl once more.

He was really──blessed with great companions.

That was exactly why, he wanted to end this world that kept repeating in circle without losing anyone.

He renewed that feeling and closed his eyes for a bit.