Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume10 Chapter9 (section)

===Part 3===

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Rinslet's mournful screams resounded through the forest.

Before her eyes, the demon spirit swallowed Fenrir.

"Fenrir...!"

Displaying despair on her face, Rinslet stood motionless in shock.

The spirit seal carved on her hand disappeared silently.

"Rinslet, what are you doing!?"

Ellis cried out acutely.

In front of the dazed Rinslet, the massive white sphere opened its jaws.

"..."

However, Rinslet remained in a daze, collapsed sitting on the ground.

The gigantic tongue that had swallowed Fenrir licked its lips&mdash;

"...Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"

At the very last second, Ellis rushed from the side and took to the sky with Rinslet in her arms.

Then she landed some distance away and put down Rinslet.

"...How could this be possible, to devour a contracted spirit?"

Ellis moaned with a terrified expression.

Ahead of her gaze, the sphere acted restless, its appearance undergoing a massive transformation.

Expanding and contracting repeatedly, it gradually took on the form of a four-legged beast.

The simple limbs grew sharp claws and teeth appeared in the gaping jaws.

It looked like some sort of farce in mockery of proud Fenrir.

"It assimilated Fenrir...!"

"How... could..."

"Fufu, I already said so, right? Bandersnatch takes everything by force."

Sjora Kahn giggled and sneered.

"Well then, I'm not holding back against the Fahrengart spirit next."

Bandersnatch opened its massive jaws and exhaled a blizzard.

Its breath instantly froze the ground, pinning down the two girls.

&mdash;Its power was now vastly superior to earlier.

"...Take, this&mdash;"

Readying Ray Hawk, Ellis aimed at the demon spirit.

However, Rinslet grabbed her arm with the intent of stopping her.

"Rinslet, what are you&mdash;"

"Captain, Fenrir is inside there!"

Rinslet cried and lamented. Her emerald eyes were tearful.

"..."

Gripping Ellis' arm tightly, she sobbed.

Never shedding a single tear normally, she was now crying like a child.

"B-But..."

Amidst the howling blizzard, Ellis gritted her teeth.

She could sympathize deeply with Rinslet's feelings. For an elementalist, the contracted spirit was a special existence. These bonds were comparable to family ties.

However, if she did not counterattack, they were going to be frozen to death helplessly.

The witch's jeering laughter was heard again. She probably figured out they were unable to counterattack.

"Damn... it...!"

Legs frozen to the ground, they were going to be completely immobile very soon.

"Is this the end..."

Faced with the blizzard blowing forth, Ellis fell to her knees. Just at this moment&mdash;

"&mdash;What a truly ugly monster."

Clang!

"...!"

Suddenly, a great sword descended from the heavens and pierced Bandersnatch's head.

ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!

The demon spirit instantly changed into a spherical form, howling as it rolled about on the ground.

"...What!?"

Sjora Kahn exclaimed with her eyes wide open.

Swiftly pulling out the great sword and landing on the plains of snow was&mdash;

The lovely knight dressed in the military uniform of the country of dragons.

Leader of the Knights of the Dragon Emperor&mdash;Leonora Lancaster.

Having retrieved the great sword that stood as tall as her, she embedded it into the ground.

"Leonora-dono...!"

Ellis exclaimed with surprise. Why would she be here&mdash;

Leonora turned towards Ellis' side.

"Kazehaya Kamito requested that I assist you two. Although I can't use my full power, I should still have strength to spare for driving the witch away."

"Kamito!?"

At this moment, the Bandersnatch that had been rolling on the snowy plain got up once again.

The open cut rapidly regenerated and the original ball shape was restored.

"I see, its endurance is commendable."

Leonora remarked in admiration and took up the Dragon Slayer.

"You still have the strength to spare for driving the witch away? Interesting words you said there, Dragon Girl."

Sjora Kahn's lips separated in a cruel expression.

"Your dragon spirit, I want to eat it too."

"What could a mere demon spirit do to my Nidhogg?"

Leonora released the sword's aura, shaking the atmosphere.

(So this is the strongest elementalist from the Knights of the Dragon Emperor with their longstanding victorious renown...)

Ellis gulped while Rinslet stared with her eyes wide.

The Theocracy's witch and Dracunia's Dragon Princess.

As the two faced off, tension levels rose to a maximum, at that very instant&mdash;

"...How!?" "What is happening!?"

Suddenly, the Lost Cathedral shook as the sound of an earthquake was heard.

"&mdash;Hmph, so it finally started."

Sjora Kahn cast her gaze towards the tower and smirked.

The sudden change in the witch's tone felt quite jarring to Ellis&mdash;

"Started? ...What is going on?"

"&mdash;The Demon King awakened. Darkness Elemental Lord Ren Ashdoll."

"Wha&mdash;"

"...Demon King?"

Ellis was dumbfounded while Leonora frowned with surprise.

Sjora gazed up at the tower as if she had lost interest in these girls. Then&mdash;

"Feel grateful for the Demon King's awakening. I'll play with you girls some other time."

Together with Bandersnatch, the witch disappeared into the magic circle on the ground.