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Volume 3, Chapter 4 – A New Threat Part 3

“Ugh…

“You’re awake… ugh… Thank goodness.”

“Ah… Feigreid-san…?”

Yasuo’s vision was blurred and the only thing he heard was Feigreid’s voice. He used all his energy to sit up.

Yasuo eventually looked through the dust-laden air and spotted Feigreid lying on the ground near some rubble, but he was in no condition to rush over to Feigreid’s side.

When he tried to stand, a sharp pain ran through his right leg and he collapsed to the ground along with a cry.

“W-What happened…?”

“The tower… collapsed… I somehow managed… to save you… But I made a mistake.”

“Feigreid-san…”

Without even knowing why his right leg was hurting, Yasuo looked over to where Feigreid was lying down and was shocked.

A blood-soaked piece of wood was sticking out of Feigreid’s abdomen.

Yasuo was not sure if he was pierced by some shrapnel when the tower collapsed or if there was some other reason for it, but it was obvious that Feigreid, whose whole body was covered in blood, had no strength left to move.

“P-Please wait! I’ll heal you right away…”

However, Yasuo had the ability to use healing magic.

As long as Feigreid hadn’t lost too much blood, it should be possible to save his life. That is what Yasuo thought.

“Ugh… dammit!!”

When Yasuo looked closer, he saw that his right foot was bent at an impossible angle.

The moment he noticed that, he was assailed by a sense of pain strong enough almost knock him senseless.

At this rate, it would be impossible for him to heal Feigreid.

If he didn’t heal himself first, he wouldn’t even be able to move through the rubble to Feigreid’s location.

However, Yasuo noticed something else as well.

The surroundings were strangely dark.

The midday sun was being blocked out by something.

Yasuo forced himself to look away from his ankle that was screaming with pain and he looked up at the sky. What he saw there made him unconsciously hold his breath.

“Wha……”

It was a giant monster.

That was the first description that ran through his mind.

Even though it was so massive, it was still moving in a coordinated fashion..

That alone was enough for fear to take hold of his entire body.

It was impossible.

There was no way that something like this could exist.

Moreover, those black flames. And that red eye.

Was this thing a Shii?

“It seems like… it was the one who destroyed the tower… Haha… You’ve got to be kidding me… How are we supposed to… Fight a monster like this……”

Feigreid’s voice had lost all traces of vitality.

He had been overcome with despair as well.

The giant creature that was staring down towards them only had to take one step forward, and they would be squished to a pulp.

Despite that, the two of them were not even able to run away from this place.

After that, Yasuo and Feigreid were cast even further into shadow by an object that suddenly appeared in their field of vision.

“A… spear?”

Yasuo, who was sitting near the creature’s feet was not able to immediately realize it, but this thing was carrying a weapon.

Looking at the absurd length of that weapon, Yasuo instinctively understood.

This was the creature that was truly responsible for creating the Hideo Holy Sword River.

……This is insane.

As this line of reasoning suddenly floated up in his mind, Yasuo felt like he was going mad and started to laugh.

And then, the giant lifted one foot as if to stomp on Yasuo and Feigreid.

However the two of them couldn’t move a single step, and all they could do was to struggle fruitlessly.

Despite the fact that death was closing in on him, perhaps his sense of danger had been numbed by the all too unrealistic sight in front of him, Yasuo did not feel as afraid as he had back when he was attacked by the Shii and William Bareig in Tokorozawa.

He could not use the holy sword summoning to summon his father here, and nobody would come to save them.

“……This is just insane.”

That phrase he muttered at the end were going to be his last words.

“I am… the one who nurtures the vast lands.”

Or at least, that was supposed to be the case.

“Grow, ye sprouts! Thaw, ye snow! Awaken, ye which sleeps in the depths of winter! Holy Bow of Water, Pomona! Answer my call and take form!”

There was no impact, and the only thing Yasuo saw was a large amount of light cutting through the sky.

Yasuo unintentionally closed his eyes against the light that seemed to be bright enough to sear his eyes.

“Uwaah!!”

When he opened his eyes again, he felt a spray of water against his face that felt like a light drizzle, and Yasuo let out a groan.

At the same time, he heard the sound of something massive falling to the ground and saw that the giant creature that had been moving towards him had fallen heavily on top of the rubble.

“Wha…”

Even Feigreid, who had prepared himself for the worst, was completely taken aback, and the two of them looked up into the sky.

The sun was once again visible now that the giant had fallen over, and a dark speck swooped down towards Yasuo with the sun at its back.

Compared to the giant, that person was far too small, however they appeared in that place with a sound filled with vitality.

Golden hair that sparkled in that town filled with death and rubble.

The bow that she held in her hands was releasing a divine aura, and nobody who saw it could deny the overflowing amounts of vitality and mana that it gave off.

And more than anything else, that dignified voice that he had grown accustomed to over these past few months.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting!!”

As he looked up at her hair ornament that was shaped like a flower, glittering in the light of the sun, Yasuo called out her name with an unbelieving expression on his face.

“Diana…?”

“Yes!!”

It was Diana.

Dianaze Krone had arrived, wearing the uniform of Resteria’s Magitech Knights that Yasuo had grown used to seeing.

However, what she held in her hands were not the standard Techno Weapons of Resteria’s Knights Division, Castor and Pollux.

It was a weapon Yasuo had never seen before, and it looked like a flowering branch had been used as it is to make a bow and arrow.

“I guess the day we feared has finally come. Demon General Balor… The day when one of the demons from Demon King Kaul’s army was resurrected as a Shii!”

“Diana… Just what… why are you…”

“We can talk later. Yasuo, I will buy you some time. Please heal your leg and save that Magitech Knight from Gaz.”

“I-Impossible, there’s no way… you can face something that massive by yourself.”

No matter how superhuman Diana’s strength was, that was only in comparison to Yasuo’s own strength.

Feigreid notwithstanding, none of the Magitech Knights from Gaz had been able attack that giant, and Yasuo could not believe that Diana would be able to face it by herself.

However, there was no hint of doubt in Diana’s eyes.

“I have no choice but to do it. I am… I am also a Hero’s daughter, after all!!”

“Diana!! Uwaah!”

Diana drew the bow without nocking an arrow, and leaped into the air with a thunderous sound.

Before her was the massive spear that was held aloft.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The next instant, Diana gave a yell loud enough to overpower Yasuo who was on the ground, and the overwhelmingly powerful blast of magical energy that she fired from that empty bow forced the spear back along with its wielder.

“I’m not done yet!!”

Balor=Shii’s shoulder was wide open after its attack was repulsed, and Diana shot several arrows of light at it in quick succession.

Balor=Shii tried to intimidate Diana with a bloodcurdling scream, but perhaps it could not withstand the power of those arrows, as it no longer attempted to raise its spear.

However, the characteristic ability of the Shii was their power to steal the hearts of living creatures.

As Diana was struggling with inertial forces while flying through the air, a red beam of light was released towards her from Balor=Shii’s red eye that was easily larger than her height.

“Diana!!”

Yasuo, who had once had been exposed to that attack from a terrifying enemy, shouted in alarm, but it looked like timing with which the beam was fired made it impossible to evade.

However, miraculously, an even stronger power appeared to interfere with that attack.

“I’ve had enough of your rampaaaaaage!”

A frighteningly large object appeared between Diana and Balor=Shii with the speed of a bullet.

Shouko, clinging to the back of the scaled dragon, had appeared as if to protect Diana from that red light.

“Shouko!? Watch out!”

By the time Diana noticed Shouko, the red light was right in front of her..

A chill ran down Diana’s spine as she thought that they were both going to be swallowed up by that red light.

『…………!』

Balor=Shii closed its massive eye along with a roar, and the red light dispersed into the sky an instant before it hit Shouko and the scaled dragon.

“Diana-san, the Shii can’t attack me so don’t worry, more importantly if you have anything up your sleeve now is the time!!”

Shouko shouted that in a single breath from the back of the scaled dragon as it passed by Diana while maintaining the momentum of its arrival.

Diana felt that she had someone other than Shouko riding on the back of the scaled dragon as well, but she couldn’t spare the time to confirm that.

She could not afford to lose this opportunity where Balor=Shii stood with its eye closed and its spear was out of position.

Diana accurately made use of the momentary gap that Shouko had created by risking her life.

As Balor=Shii moved sluggishly trying to regain its stance, Diana poured every last drop of mana she had into her bow.

“Disappear!!”

She fired the arrow directly into the center of Balor=Shii’s chest while it was off-balance.

“Guh!!”

Yasuo groaned when he was hit by a portion of that thunderous sound and shockwave, but when he opened his eyes again, what he saw was a sight that was even more unimaginable than Balor=Shii itself.

“Eeeeehh?”

That giant body that had been strong enough to cleave the tower in two had been blasted into the air.

The force of Diana’s arrow of light had been strong enough to knock Balor=Shii of its feet and send it flying to the plains beyond the town walls.

“Yasuo!! Hurry up with the healing!!”

“Ah… Right!”

After shouting to Yasuo who was just blankly staring into the sky, Diana flew off in pursuit of the Shii that she had just sent flying.

It had been less than two days since Yasuo last saw her. Just what had happened to Diana in that time to enable her to easily blow away the giant Shii that was a symbol of despair beyond the town walls using some power that Yasuo had never seen before?

“Ouch!!”

Along with that doubt, Yasuo’s body was suddenly overcome by the fact that he was still alive, and his broken leg sent a complaint in the form of a sharp pain.

“Dammit… This pain feels entirely different from having my stomach pierced through. Gaaaaah!”

Yasuo somehow managed to set his ankle back in the proper position, and less than a minute after applying healing magic to it, his ankle returned to normal.

“Ugh……”

Since he had used the requiem and healing magic continuously without taking a break, he felt dizzy due to lack of mana.

However, Feigreid was close by, on the verge of death.

In order to share what had happened here with the people of this world, the presence of Feigreid, who was a Magitech Knight of Gaz, was indispensable.

More importantly, for the sake of Director Kelly and the children of the House of the Fireflies who were waiting while being worried about him, Feigreid definitely could not be allowed to die.

“A-Are you still alive?”

“…Somehow. Yasuo… what just happened…?”

“Well, that is… Ah.”

Feigreid, who unexpectedly didn’t look too worse for wear, asked that question, and just as Yasuo was about to answer, they heard a dull sound from somewhere far away.

When they looked in that direction, they saw that the left hand of the giant shii had been ripped off and it landed on the bank of the Hideo Holy Sword River.

“Haha… I’m just as surprised as you are. I honestly have no idea what just happened… but I’m sure that……”

That chant, that had similar wording to the chants used to summon the Holy Sword of the Wind, Liutberga, and the Holy Staff of Fire, Marlowe.

“Perhaps… she is the true hero that the current Ante Lande needs. However, the truth is…”

Dianaze, daughter of Swordmaster Alexei Krone and the Great Sorceress, Erijina Radagast.

If you just looked at her lineage and ability, she was a thoroughbred who was on an entirely different level compared to Kenzaki Yasuo.

He didn’t know the reason or the circumstances behind it, but it looked like she had been granted a power that was on the same level as the Holy Sword.

“Some like me probably has no right to say such a thing, but I’m a little worried about her.”

Unable to slow down in time, the scaled dragon that had shot past Diana at a high speed landed with the same force and tumbled across the ground that was strewn with rubble.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Shouko, who was enveloped in the flames of the Shii, managed to catch Catalina who was thrown into the air, and somehow managed to land on the ground without any injuries while hearing the sound of the scaled dragon crashing into something and destroying it in the background.

“I-I thought I was going to die!”

“T-That’s my line!”

The two of them sank to the ground while shouting at each other.

“Catalina-san! Yasu-kun and Feigreid-san managed to survive! Let’s hurry back!”

“Wait! Are you just going to leave that scaled dragon in that sort of condition!?”

When Shouko looked in that direction, she saw that the scaled dragon had crashed into some rubble and was struggling pitifully to free itself.

It didn’t appear to be seriously injured, but it probably wouldn’t be able to fly again right away.

“Also, that Shii is no longer inside the town! Even if we hurry to their side, we have no means by which we can heal them. Thanks to that Magitech Knight, they should not be any danger of dying right away! Shouko! You’re not exactly in perfect condition either, so calm down!”

Hearing Catalina’s rebuke, Shouko took a single deep breath to try and calm herself down.

At that instant, they felt the tremors caused by some large object falling to the ground far away, and Shouko turned in that direction, and saw that Balor=Shii had been blown all the way to the edge of the forest.

“Diana-san is amazing… But how did she know that we were here?”

From what Shouko had heard about Diana’s battle strength from Yasuo and Khalija, she was certainly far more talented than average, but even so she should not have such an incredible amount of power.

Also, despite the fact that Shouko was ignorant of the details related to the military situation of Ante Lande, even she could tell that sending Balor=Shii flying to a location beyond the town walls was not something that could be achieved with a normal level of power.

And most importantly, she was not able to understand how Diana had arrived at this place, as if she had pinpointed Yasuo’s location.

Shouko’s question was soon answered by the person who was beside her.

“Just like how the two of you were on your guard with me, I too was scared of whatever brought the two of you here. Especially after I learned that Yasuo was Hideo’s son. That’s why, I contacted them last night.”

“Contacted them… Ah!”

Shouko remembered that Catalina had said something about making contact with someone when they were in front of the House of the Fireflies.

“You should have seen how worried she was when I contacted her and said, 『I’ve picked up a boy who looks exactly like Hideo, do you people have anything to do with that?』Despite how I look, I am still a famous painter, and I have had a long relationship with the people who saved this world along with Hideo.”

Catalina pointed at the light that was piercing Balor=Shii and continued to speak.

“That light is from the Holy Bow of Water, Pomona. It is the bow that the Great Sorceress Erijina Radagast used when she fought against Demon King Kaul. However, it looks like the person who is using it now is not Erize, although I only caught a glimpse of her from far away…”

“Diana-san is the daughter of that person called Erijina.”

“……I see, so that’s how it is. So it was Resteria that brought you two here after all.”

“……Ah.”

“You don’t need to worry about hiding things from me at this late hour. I can guess that all of you were traveling to Ante Lande in secret, but due to some trouble, just the two of you ended up landing in the Gaz Commonwealth. From what I can see, Erize’s daughter was the one who asked you to travel to Ante Lande. Am I right?”

“……T-That is…”

“In any case, we can talk about that in length if that girl manages to defeat Balor=Shii. For now, we should get away from here and find some shelter. Shouko, could you scout around the surroundings, just in case? There might be some Magitech Knight who mistakes you for a threat, or a Shii that has not yet been sent off in the area.”

At that moment, the two of them heard the roar of an animal from behind them.

The scaled dragon had managed to crawl out of the rubble, and it was glaring down at them unhappily.

Catalina started to pacify it by playing on the pipe that she pulled out of her robe, and spoke to Shouko.

“As I thought, it won’t be able to fly again right away. We are pretty close to the House of the Fireflies, so let’ begin with guiding Director Kelly and the others to some place where the Magitech Knights will be able to protect them. After that, we can go search for Yasuo and Second Lieutenant Feigreid. Let us believe in Yasuo’s powers of healing. Is that okay?”

“……Yes, I understand.”

Frankly, Shouko wanted to go save Yasuo as soon as possible.

However, abandoning the people in the House of the Fireflies was also not an option.

“I should probably get used to this power a little more, anyway.”

The increase in her power caused by the Shii’s flames was still in effect, and Shouko could tell that the more she used that power, the longer she was able to maintain it.

When she thought that more humanoid Shii might appear in the town, she felt like testing the limits of that strength.

“Ahh… It looks like I’ve been completely influenced by this stuff as well.”

Had she always had such a combative mindset?

Despite the fact that it was a serious situation where people’s lives were on the line, Shouko felt it oddly amusing and couldn’t resist smiling.

“I wonder if Tatewaki-san and Catalina-san are okay. The went flying off at such a high speed, after all.”

“I’m not sure either… I had no idea scaled dragons could fly that fast, so I really can’t say for sure…”

Yasuo was doing his best to heal Feigreid after pulling out the piece of wood that had pierced through his abdomen and applying pressure to reduce the flow of blood.

As Yasuo healed him, he could feel that Feigreid’s overflowing vitality that probably came from his rigorous training as a Magitech Knight had already brought him out of a critical condition.

“Is that good enough…. I feel like I’m going to throw up….”

“Ah!”

As soon as Yasuo judged that Feigreid was no longer in immediate danger, his entire body was assailed by a sense of fatigue.

As Yasuo was about to crumple to the floor, Feigreid hurriedly put his hand out to support Yasuo.

“……Thank you very much. My life was saved by the son of the Hero Hideo… This will be something I can take pride in for the rest of my life.”

“Haha, if you want to put it that way, then you are the one who saved me from the tower when it was destroyed, right? If anything, you should take pride in that instead….”

“No. In the end, I was not able to let you escape from that Shii. I’m sure a large number of people lost their lives as well… Despite being a Magitech Knight, I feel like I’ve only shown you such worthless things.”

Yasuo was not one to rashly say that that wasn’t the case, and Feigreid probably wasn’t expecting to hear that either.

“And besides, the one who saved you, Yasuo, was….”

Feigreid stood up while supporting Yasuo, and gazed at the light that shone far away from the town wall.

“…that beautiful Magitech Knight.”

“Umm, Feigreid-san…”

“Please, call me Feig.”

“……Feig-san. Can you please take me to where she is… to where Diana is? I’m sure that the fight will be over soon.”

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