Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Chapter7 (section)

===Part 4===

&mdash;Meanwhile, a giant demon bird was flying in the air above the Kyria Mountain Range.

"Ellis, I never knew your spirit could carry two people at once..."

"Hmm, it is normally not possible, but right now, I am in excellent shape."

This was Ellis's demon wind spirit Simorgh.

The enlarged Simorgh was flying casually over the Kyria Mountain Range after the blizzard subsided.

Although they were unsure why the blizzard over the mountains had suddenly stopped, the situation at the Laurenfrost forest at the foot of the mountain left them with no attention to spare for the blizzard issue.

"Look, dragons are gathering in the forest."

Hugging the demon bird's wing tightly, Claire pointed below and said.

"That's&mdash;"

The bizarre scenery caused Ellis to hold her breath.

Countless dragons were circling in the air above the Forest of Ice Blossoms.

A blizzard was blowing in the air above the forest. A mass of ice could be seen faintly in the center of the blizzard, but it was hard to get a grasp on its full appearance due to the darkness of nighttime.

"...What on earth is happening at that forest?"

"Ellis, lower the altitude. We might be able to see clearly if we get closer."

"I want to do that too, but getting closer will be dangerous. We will be in trouble if we get caught up in a blizzard."

After crossing the mountaintop, the demon wind spirit's flying had shown large-scale instabilities.

"Uwahhhh!"

Almost falling off, Claire grabbed the base part of the wing.

"...We cannot keep flying anymore. Let us land first."

"...No helping it. There is a village over there."

The demon wind spirit cooed and landed at a small village at the foot of the mountain.

While landing, the two girls jumped off from Simorgh's wings.

The village was instantly in a commotion.

"W-What people are you!"

Holding torches, the villagers hurried over.

The flames illuminated the faces of Claire and the others.

"...Eeek, th-this frightening demon bird!"

Seeing Simorgh appearing in the darkness, the villagers screamed and fell on their bottoms.

"How rude. Simorgh's feelings will be hurt."

Ellis said with displeasure.

"Do not mind them, Simorgh. Thank you."

"Yeah, you worked hard."

Ellis gently caressed Simorgh's head and the demon bird cooed, transforming into its elemental waffe form.

"C-Could you two be noble ladies?"

At this moment, an old villager asked in trepidation.

"We are students from Areishia Spirit Academy. What on earth happened to this forest?"

"The Forest Dwellers did it. Those people revived Zirnitra!"

"...Forest dwellers?"

Ellis frowned.

"It's a name for the Elfim who live in the Forest of Ice Blossoms. I heard Rinslet mention it before. Anyway, what's this about Zirnitra? I remember it being the Laurenfrost guardian spirit, sealed in the ancient past, right?"

As an honors student, Claire roughly knew the legends circulating in various lands.

The old man turned his gaze to the center of the forest where the blizzard was howling.

"There is a giant ice dragon at the center of the blizzard. That's Zirnitra. The Forest Dwellers awakened that spirit in an attempt to regain control over these lands."

"But the spirit seems to be destroying the forest..."

Ellis calmly pointed out. Supposing the Elfim had revived the ancient spirit, then why was it destroying the forest they lived in?

"It's gone berserk. There's no way that kind of spirit can be controlled so easily."

Claire murmured.

At this time, a large scream was heard in the village square.

Strong winds toppled the watchfires, turning the surroundings pitch dark.

"&mdash;Come, Scarlet!"

Claire snapped her fingers, summoning the fiery hellcat in the air.

The flames lit up the surroundings, showing shadows that had gathered on the square.

Ice dragons with flashing eyes of crimson.

"...Two, three... A total of six huh..."

"A bit troublesome&mdash;"

Licking her lips, Claire murmured. The scales of dragons possessed excellent magic resistance. For Claire and Ellis who were contracted to spirits belonging to the traditional five major elements, dragons were challenging enemies.

(And clearly we have to hurry and find Kamito...)

Claire knew Kamito's strength quite well.

Mere ice dragons were no match for Kamito no matter how numerous.

...But that did not mean she would not worry.

(...Seriously, to think he's making me worried, I'll have to teach him a lesson later!)

Claire turned Scarlet into her elemental waffe Flametongue.

"Ellis, I'll take care of them. You haven't fully recovered, right?"

"Hmph, no need to worry."

Standing back to back with Claire, Ellis readied Ray Hawk.

&mdash;Just at that moment...

"Wait, that's..."

"...Hmm?"

Just as Ellis was about to release wind blades, Claire stopped her.

An ice dragon had pinned a girl to the ground, trying to feed.

"...Ah, sob... sob sob...!"

She was clearly wearing clothing different from the villagers, a leaf-green garment.

It was the traditional clothing of the Elfim race.

"Why is one of the Elfim appearing in a human village&mdash;"

"...Save... me..."

Under the ice dragon's foot, the girl moaned in pain.

The instant she made eye contact with the girl, Claire gasped.

Illuminated by the light of fire, the girl's face seemed familiar.

"No way... Y-You are!?"