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

===Part 5===

(...Damn it, what the heck is going on!?)

Sharp frozen branches sliced open Kamito's clothes while he was running through the forest.

The Forest of Ice Blossoms was too harsh an environment for humans, totally impossible to step into.

The Elfim's barrier had already vanished and no longer interfered with pathfinding. But the closer to Zirnitra, the stronger the blizzard.

Kamito stared at the giant body that was faintly visible on the other side of the blizzard.

(...So that's the guardian spirit of Laurenfrost, huh.)

However, given the way it was destroying the surrounding forest, it did not look like a guardian spirit no matter what.

Instead, it looked like it had a grudge against the forest.

With a flash of light, the forest was instantly dyed white under the night sky.

Someone had apparently started engaging Zirnitra in battle.

Was it the Wolf Ritters who had gone ahead first, or&mdash;

(&mdash;the sacred sword of Luminaris, right?)

Kamito increased his running speed further.

He used the Demon Slayer to chop away all branches blocking his way.

Finally, a wide open space appeared before him.

Then&mdash;

"...!"

Seeing the bizarre scene, Kamito was rendered speechless.

On the ground were the bodies of countless dragons, piled into mountains. A number of giant ice pillars were standing upright on the ground. The Elfim settlement was wrecked beyond recognition.

"Were they wiped out by the spirit they summoned themselves...?"

Kamito poured divine power into Est, instantly lighting the surroundings with powerful light.

In a corner of his view, Kamito discovered a girl collapsed on the ground.

Dressed in ritual attire, a girl with jade-green hair&mdash;one of the Elfim.

"Hey, are you alright!?"

Kamito frantically rushed over and picked up the girl in his arms.

...She was still breathing. Placing his hand on her chest, he injected divine power to apply a shock, causing the girl to recover her breath.

"...Who, is it...?"

The girl opened her eyes slightly, panting painfully.

...It looked like her life was not in any danger for now. Kamito secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"...'re a... human...?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Kamito nodded.

"...Tell me. What happened here exactly?"

Hearing Kamito's question, the princess maiden moved her trembling lips.

"The Queen of Ice Blossoms... summoned, forest's guardian spirit..."

"...Queen... A human princess maiden?"

The girl nodded slightly in response to Kamito's question.

"That queen failed to control the spirit?"

"...No..."

This time, she shook her head weakly.

"She... No, it, from the start, was planning, to use Zirnitra..."

"What do you mean?"

"...It... ''merged with Zirnitra''."

"Merged with a spirit?"

Kamito asked, unsure of the meaning.

Perhaps the girl was talking nonsense due to a hazy consciousness.

&mdash;At this moment, the blowing blizzard stopped.

Kamito looked up at the sky in surprise. Then...

"...What, that's...?"

He groaned in his throat.

The flying Zirnitra was ''catching and eating all of the ice dragons in the surroundings''.

Catching the circling ice dragons one after another, Zirnitra ate them without holding back at all.

Every time it ate an ice dragon, the domination ice spirit's giant body would expand further.

Crack, crack&mdash;Accompanied by loud noises of rupturing, ice grew out of its back.

Kamito's forehead was breaking out in cold sweat. Indeed, there were spirits that would feed on creatures in the human realm to replenish their divine power, but this thing&mdash;

(...isn't absorbing divine power.)

Instead, it was absorbing the ice dragons, assimilating them completely.

Even demon spirits could not do that.

This was no longer a spirit but just a monster.

"...Please... you..."

The girl touched Kamito's face with her fingers.

Her crimson eyes reflected the pain in her heart.

"Please, let Zirnitra rest in peace..."

"...Yeah, I got it."

Even without needing her to beg, that sort of thing was not supposed to exist in this world.

Kamito nodded and moved the girl to a spot shaded by fallen trees.

At this time, he suddenly remembered and asked:

"Can I ask a final question?"

"...?"

"Uh&mdash;Did you ever see a girl?"

"...A... girl...?"

"Yeah, wearing a black one-piece dress... A very pretty girl."

The princess maiden widened her eyes suddenly.

"...You saw her?"

She nodded.

"That girl was definitely here. I was responsible for taking care of her."

"...! Then where is she now?"

"...Not... sure..."

The girl lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"...Probably, escaped into the forest."

"I see."

Kamito stood up.

He really wanted to chase after Restia.

But currently&mdash;

(...I have to defeat that monster first.)

He glared at the giant spirit that kept merging with a large number of ice dragons.