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Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Chapter8

2014-05-09T04:25:26Z

108.197.151.13: /* Part 2 */

==Chapter 8 - Queen of Ice Blossoms==

===Part 1===

"...Kazehaya, Kami, to... Why are you here?"

Held in Kamito's arms, Luminaris panted while speaking.

"Right back at you. What are the Holy Kingdom's knights doing in Laurenfrost?"

"...That... is—"

Luminaris bit her lip hard. Kamito shrugged and put her down.

"Well whatever. I'll ask about your purpose later. Let's find a way to take care of that monster first."

Kamito glared at «Zirnitra» which was gradually assimilating with the «Forest of Ice Blossoms».

Perhaps due to absorbing the divine power frm the spirits in the forest, the giant body made from cursed ice was giving off a strange light against the darkness of the night.

"—So, what is up with that monster?"

"If you ask me, who can I ask in turn? Spirits do not mutate like that at all—"

After applying «Healing» magic to herself, Luminaris suppressed a groan and stood up.

"Don't force yourself. You're all covered with wounds already."

"Shut up. Do not underestimate a Holy Kingdom's knight."

Luminaris replied sharply then gripped «Murgleis» properly again.

Seeing that, Kamito shrugged.

"I've still got lots to talk to you about. Like all the things you did to my friends, but oh well, let's put that aside for now. How about we join forces right now?"

"...What are you scheming?"

Luminaris's eyes of sapphire showed wariness as they glared at Kamito.

"I simply want a helping hand. It'd be tough if I had to handle that monster on my own. Also, I know your abilities very well, absolutely flawless in terms of combat."

"Stop acting familiar, male elementalist."

"But we are familiar. At least we have crossed blades for real before—"

"What did you say?"

Mid-sentence, Kamito realized he had misspoken and hastily stopped himself.

(...Come to think of it, this girl doesn't know my true identity.)

"I do not remember fighting you before. During the final round, the one I engaged in combat was the user of the hellcat spirit."

The suspicions in her eyes, glaring at Kamito, became deeper and deeper.

"W-Well, let's forget about the trivial stuff for now. Judging by the situation, this isn't the time for verbal arguments—"

Zirnitra's giant body squirmed and gave off powerful light.

"...Tsk!"

Simultaneously, the two of them jumped apart.

Instantly, countless ice blades rushed out of the ground, tearing through the darkness.

The two had barely dodged it, but—

"...! Alda!"

Luminaris cried out. The rushing flow of ice blades on the ground was going to attack her subordinates that were trapped in cursed ice.

Luminaris's sword made a slight noise. A torrent of sacred flames covered the ice blades, vaporizing them.

But the ice blades where overwhelming in quantity. Quite a few of them evaded destruction.

"No good—!"

"Absolute Blade Arts - Third Form, Shadowmoon Waltz!"

Instantly with an explosive kick against the ground, Kamito performed the anti-army technique of the Absolute Blade Arts.

Slicing through darkness, the white blade's furious dance shattered the cursed ice blades completely.

"...What!?"

Luminaris was rendered speechless.

She had also reacted to the ice, but she was definitely incapable of performing the same kind of move.

(...That movement just now, what was it?)

After witnessing Kamito's sword skills for the first time in person, Luminaris could not help but find herself at a loss for words.

These were superb sword skills on par with the Ren Ashbell, the «Strongest Blade Dancer» three years ago.

...She was forced to admit to an overwhelming difference in strength.

Slicing through all the ice blades within the blink of an eye, Kamito stabbed the «Demon Slayer» into the ground and turned to face Luminaris.

"You too have reasons why you can't retreat from here, right?"

He shrugged and looked at the girls of the «Sacred Spirit Knights», imprisoned in cursed ice.

"In that case, now is the time for you to throw that knight's pride or whatever it's called to the dogs."

"But..."

Luminaris bit her lip hard and glared squarely at Kamito.

Then—

"...Just once."

"Hmm?"

"—Just once, I shall ally with you!"

"Yeah. That's good enough."

Kamito nodded and poured divine power into the «Demon Slayer».

"Follow me, Luminaris. Let's take care of that thing in one go by overwhelming its regeneration speed."

"Hmph, when I said I was allying with you, I never allowed you to command me—Kazehaya Kamito!"

The two of them kicked the ground at the same time.

"—We're up, Est!" "O «Murgleis», grant sacred protection to thy knight!"

The two sacred swords ripped through the darkness.

Zirnitra roared, shooting cursed ice blades from the ground in a radial pattern.

"That move's not gonna work!"

Kamito kicked the ground to speed up and instantly raced past Luminaris to serve as the vanguard.,

"Absolute Blade Arts - Third Form, Shadowmoon Waltz!"

A triple flash with god-like speed, slicing the ice blades and blowing them away. Using that momentum, Kamito rushed into the howling blizzard to engage «Zirnitra»'s bloated body in meleee combat.

"O sacred sword that vanquisheth evil, thou shalt turn the enemy into ash—!"

Shouting, Luminaris rushed forward and stabbed her sword towards a mass of ice.

With the sound of shattering, a hole opened up in the ice.

But very soon, new ice rose up to fill up the pierced location.

"Damn it—"

"Ordinary attacks are useless. Coordinate your timing with me!"

"...Like I said, stop ordering me around!"

Countless pillars of ice were growing out of Zirnitra's entire body, then shot outwards.

Faced with suppressive fire from all directions shot at point blank range, it was totally impossible to evade.

(...Fine, I'll just have to retaliate an eye for an eye!)

Kamito went up decisively. Contracted to Est, Kamito possessed «Steel's Protection» which enhanced the body's durability. This allowed him some leeway to conduct self-sacrificing attacks.

"Absolute Blade Arts - First Form, Purple Lightning!"

Sharp pillars of ice shot at Kamito.

Blood splattered from all over his body, but Kamito continued advancing, unfazed.

Smashing ice with sword strikes of god-like speed, he pummeled the monster's body to produce a cobweb-like network of cracks.

"Not done yet—"

Maintaining a thrusting posture, Kamito infused the «Demon Slayer» with a large amount of divine power to cause an explosion. Suppose he destroyed the interior of the body directly rather than using slicing attacks, he should be able to slow down the regeneration speed. However—

'—No good, Kamito!'

(...Eh?)

He heard Est's voice in his mind. Suddenly, he was struck by a sense of powerlessness in his limbs.

The ice where the sword was stabbed suddenly gave off powerful light.

(...It's absorbing my divine power!?)

'...Kami... to...'

Kamito instantly tried to draw out the sword, but—

"...!"

The cursed ice had frozen the sacred sword's blade, trying to pull it in.

'—Kamito, please let go of me!'

"Like hell anyone's gonna do that!"

Using willpower alone to suppress the sense of exhaustion, Kamito yelled loudly.

(...Restia, lend me the power you left behind!)

The seal of darkness branded on Kamito's right hand gave off ominous light.

The silver-white blade with dazzling radiance gradually took on a coating of darkness.

"Go forth and pierce, all-annihilating demon lightning of punishment—«Vorpal Blast»!"

The «Demon's Sword»—Terminus Est Zwei.

Imbued with powers of darkness, the sacred sword released jet-black lightning.

The ensnaring cursed ice was instantly vaporized. Kamito took this opportunity to withdraw the blade and distance himself all at once.

Just at this moment...

At the lower abdomen of this giant mass of magical ice, countless «Ice Dragon» heads sprouted.

These were the remains of the ice dragons absorbed by «Zirnitra».

(...No way!?)

The ice dragons all widened their jaws together and spewed out an astounding amount of blizzard breath.

Kamito hastily readied the «Demon's Sword» to use as a shield. But having had his divine power sucked out just now, he was unable to bring out power sufficient to melt the blizzard.

Just before he was about to be attacked by the blizzard and frozen all over—

"—O «Sacred Shield» of protection!"

Luminaris chanted protective magic to neutralize the blizzard.

"...Sorry, thanks for saving me."

Kamito fell to his knees, panting.

Torn by ice blades, his uniform was gradually dyed the color of blood.

"Looks like melee weapon attacks are useless."

Luminaris groaned.

"But we don't have enough firepower to burn the thing up using ranged attacks—"

Right, without overwhelming power to destroy it in one go, Zirnitra would probably become capable of infinite regeneration after merging with the «Forest of Ice Blossoms».

But they did not have an attack capable to annihilating the mass of something so gigantic—

(...If Rubia's «Laevateinn» could be used here, it'd be a piece of cake.)

'—Kamito, please listen to me.'

"...Est?"

Hearing her, Kamito rested his gaze upon the «Demon's Sword» in his hand.

'The core for maintaining that spirit weapon should be present somewhere.'

"...Core?"

'Yes, this monster absorbs divine power endlessly from the surroundings. That kind of thing will rapidly collapse on its own. But it is able to stay materialized all this time because—'

"...I see. In other words, there's a core somewhere that's enough to sustain it?"

Hearing Kamito's mutterings, Luminaris reacted.

"—Core huh? I see now. I have some idea."

"...Some idea, really?"

"Yes. A human princess maiden at the Elfim settlement. I personally saw that girl merge with «Zirnitra». Most likely, that girl is the—"

"A human princess maiden..."

Kamito was struck with surprise.

...Indeed, the Elfim girl had mentioned it too.

Something about the «Queen of Ice Blossoms» merging with «Zirnitra».

At the time, he had been skeptical about the notion of a human merging with a spirit—

"As long as the core is targeted, there's a way to stop that monster huh—"

Kamito looked towards the monster, restless in the darkness.

Zu... Zuzuzu... Zuzuzu...!

The traces of damage inflicted by Kamito and Luminaris had already started to regenerate. With ice dragon heads sprouting all over, the massive body was currently still devouring the land slowly. At this rate, it could swallow the entire forest, turning into a monster that even an army would be unable to stop.

"...Wanna try a gamble?"

Readying the «Demon's Sword», exuding miasma of darkness, Kamita said:

"Luminaris, when I give the signal, release your strongest move as much as you can."

"Like I said, stop ordering me—"

"—I'm begging you. Most likely, this move can only be used once."

"..."

Faced with Kamito's serious voice, Luminaris fell silent.

"...Understood. You shall decide the timing."

"Yeah, just leave it to me—"

Holding the «Demon's Sword», Kamito rushed towards the howling blizzard.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Kicking the ground hard, he instantly closed in, then—

"Absolute Blade Arts - First Form, Purple Lightning!"

A strike with god-like speed left a large crack on the ice.

"—Luminaris, here you go!"

"Yes—"

Answering Kamito's cries, Luminaris raised the sacred sword high.

"Ancient guardian of the Holy Kingdom—Thou art «Murgleis», the sacred sword defending the country!"

The surging sacred flames blasted the blizzard apart and pierced the crack made by Kamito.

Surpassing the cursed ice's regeneration speed, the burning sacred flames howled inside «Zirnitra»'s body.

(...Not bad at all!)

While mentally offering praises to her, Kamito charged into the howling sacred flames without hesitation at all.

—This was a gamble. Suppose his predictions were wrong, Kamito would likely be burnt into ash. However—

(Luminaris's elemental waffe is purely of the holy attribute. In that case—)

It would be the same as for healing magic. Having inherited the «Darkness Elemental Lord»'s power, his «Demon King» body was going to deflect it.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Covering the jet-black «Demon's Sword» with lightning of darkness, Kamito charged into the flames.

He could feel overwhelming heat on his skin.

—However, the sacred flames did not touch Kamito.

Brushing away the flames in front of him—He saw ''it'', right there.

(...That's ''it''!)

The final wall of ice that even the howling sacred flames could not approach.

Inside the wall of ice was the core sustaining «Zirnitra» here.

Roaring, Kamito kicked the ground to accelerate further.

Then—

He released the final move from the Absolute Blade Arts.

"Absolute Blade Arts - Destructive Form, Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance - Eighteen Consecutive Strikes・Lightning Flare!"

Slashing freely left and right with lightning everywhere, he instantly smashed the wall of ice standing in his way.

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen—With every slash, a layer of the ice wall was shaved off, destroying it.

Even time for regeneration was not given. Ahead of the consecutive slashes with god-like speed was—

(...That's!?)

Kamito saw the figure imprisoned securely inside the wall of cursed ice.

He saw the figure of a human girl, dressed as a princess maiden.

(...Could that be the Queen of Ice Blossoms!?)

After seeing the girl's appearance up close, Kamito could not help but shudder.

He had seen the girl's face before.

Yes, it was what Rinslet had shown him at the «Water Elemental Shrine», inside a spirit crystal.

(...Judia Laurenfrost!?)

—Just at that moment...

The girl inside the cursed ice slowly opened her eyes.

She opened her emerald eyes that were identical to Rinslet's.

Za, zazaza, za—zazazaza, za, zaza, za—

Her adorable lips trembled slightly—

(...!)

In the next instant, Kamito's body was engulfed in black cursed ice.

===Part 2===

"...Why did this happen!? Then merging with «Zirnitra» is—"

After hearing Iseria's confession, Rinslet's face instantly went deathly pale.

What happened on that fateful day, four years ago.

The cruel truth shockedly her deeply.

"No way, I can't believe it... Iseria-sama... Please tell me that isn't true...!"

'...Sorry, Rinslet. Everything is due to the sins of my past self.'

"Iseria-sama..."

Sitting astride Fenrir's back, Rinslet was at a total loss.

(...Why? ...Why not me but her...)

Fenrir jumped over fallen trees and landed on a piece of barren land ravaged by a blizzard.

—Just at that moment, still in a dazed state, Rinslet opened her eyes wide.

"—Kamito-san!?"

She saw Kamito charging into the punctured crack in Zirnitra.

The punctured crack quickly regenerated, intending to imprison Kamito inside.

(...Now is not the time to be shocked!)

Supposing what lay inside was really the existence that Iseria mentioned—

"—Fenrir, quickly!"

Receiving Rinslet's command, Fenrir took a massive leap.

While roaring to blow the blizzard apart, he jumped into the gradually closing crack.

Inside the crack were intensely burning flames.

Seeing that, Rinslet immediately chanted spirit magic while riding Fenrir.

"O king ruling over cold winter, I beseech thee to grant unto me thy protection—«Field of Cold»!"

At the last minute, a shield of cold air deployed in Fenrir's surroundings protected her.

Originally, these were not flames that could be defended against uisng spirit magic but fortunately, they had lost over half their power inside Zirnitra's body.

"—Kamito-san, where are you!?"

Cursed ice stood upright before her, blocking the way. In response—

"O primordial ice, shatter mine enemy—«Icicle Spear»!"

Rinslet summoned a giant spear of ice frm the air, destroying the obstacle in one hit.

Inside the shattered wall of ice—

"—Kamito-san!"

She could see the figure of Kamito trapped inside the black cursed ice.

"...Guh, Rins... let...?"

His upper body already covered with cursed ice, Kamito moved his lips slightly.

Rinslet instantly jumped down from Fenrir's back and rushed over to his side.

"...Kamito-san, I shall save you right away!"

"...Rins... let... no... Hurry, escape..."

Kamito's voice sounded like he was out of breath, but Rinslet simply shook her head in response:

"I am a noble from the honorable House of Laurenfrost. I shall never abandon others!"

Rinslet took a step back and chanted spirit magic.

"O primordial ice, shatter mine enemy—«Icicle Spear»!"

The spear of ice summoned from the air pierced the black cursed ice that was afflicting Kamito.

Inside the magical chamber sealed in ice, a crisp sound was heard.

—But that was all.

Not even a single crack appeared on the cursed ice covering Kamito.

"...Why is this happening!?"

'The cursed ice is absorbing Kazehaya Kamito's burgeoning divine power. This level of spirit magic is unable to deal any damage to it—'

Iseria's voice sounded in her mind.

"Why is this happening..."

The black cursed ice even absorbed Rinslet's magic as well, advancing even faster.

"...Guh, ah, ahhhh...!"

Strangled with cursed ice tightening around his throat, Kamito made painful noises.

"Kamito-san... Kamito-san...!"

Rinslet reflexively hugged him, cradling her arms around his neck.

This was to protect Kamito's head from the spreading of the cursed ice.

But that kind of action proved fruitless as well.

The cursed ice mercilessly froze her arms gradually.

"...Guh, Rins... let... hurry... let go..."

"...No... Don't... wanna!"

Rinslet kept shaking her head like a child throwing a tantrum.

Throwing her usual elegance out the window, she screamed with a crying face:

"B-Because if you're gone, Claire will be heartbroken!"

"...!"

"Also the Captain, Her Highness the Imperial Princess, Miss Sword Spirit... As well as m-me..."

Rinslet stared in the Kamito's face while cradling his head in both arms.

They were close enough to feel each other's breaths. Rather ill-timed, their cheeks went red.

"Rinslet..."

"...That's why... I will never... ever give up!"

Hearing Rinslet's words—

"...Ahhh... Right, ah...!"

Despite his hazy consciousness, Kamito still nodded.

(...Th-There should be some solution...)

He felt an intense chill all over his body. Spreading to his feet, the cursed ice was absorbing divine power.

"...Guh... Ah...."

Kamito's eyelids slowly closed over his eyes.

"—Kamito-san!"

Rinslet screamed loudly but Kamito did not wake up.

...He had apparently lost consciousness completely.

(...Ooh, shattering this cursed ice is the only way!)

Rinslet refined divine power, preparing to unleash spirit magic again.

—At this time, something glowed inside the cursed ice that was gradually imprisoning the two of them.

(...Miss Sword Spirit?)

What was glowing was the sacred sword in Kamito's hand.

Indeed, even with his entire body covered in cursed ice, Kamito still did not let go of the «Demon Slayer». Even with his divine power sucked dry, in a state of unconsciousness, he still maintained its elemental waffe form without dispelling it.

That was Kamito's will, resisting to the very end.

He knew. That this «Demon Slayer» was his only hope for breaking the cursed ice—

(...So long as he has enough divine power, he can allow Miss Sword Spirit to bring out her power!)

And the only method was—

Making her decision, Rinslet nodded.

"Kamito-san... I, love you, Kamito-san—"

She touched Kamito's cheeks with both hands.

Then—

"E-Even as a noble, I have confessed my feelings. Before I hear your answer, I will not permit you to die...!"

She kissed the unconscious Kamito.

With every breath, she sent refined divine power into Kamito's body.

Kamito's throat moved as a result, despite the fact that he was supposed to have lost consciousness.

"...Guh... Ah, ku..."

"I offer you all of my divine power, Kamito-san—"

Hugging Kamito's neck tightly, Rinslet kissed even deeper.

The «Demon Slayer»'s light strengthened, its rays producing diffused reflection inside the cursed ice.

The cursed ice cracked. From that crevice, the sacred sword, shining with silver-white luster, appeared.

"...O-Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Just as Kamito's mighty yell echoed within «Zirnitra»'s body, in that very instant...

The prison of cursed ice locking them away was shattered.

===Part 3===

The cursed ice's remains scattered like glittering stars.

In the center was Kamito standing there, holding Rinslet in his arms.

"...Kamito... -san...!"

Rinslet's lips, as lovely as a flower bud, parted slightly.

Kamito placed her onto the back of Fenrir who was waiting on the side.

"—Thank you, Rinslet."

Rinslet had exhausted her power. Kamito gently placed his hand on her head.

Currently, massive divine power was flowing in a fierce torrent inside Kamito's body.

This was the divine power that Rinslet had used all her strength to deliver to him. Light from the «Demon Slayer» in his hand illuminated every nook and cranny inside «Zirnitra»'s body.

The light illuminated the figure in the deepest part of the cursed ice where darkness resided.

The «Queen of Ice Blossoms»—Judia Laurenfrost.

Za, zazaza, za, zazazazazazaza, zazaza, zaza—

Her lips kept producing strange noises, creating cursed ice in Kamito's surroundings.

But it was useless. So long as the «Demon Slayer» in Kamito's hand still had divine power, the cursed ice was unable to approach him.

"Judia..."

With a pained expression, Rinslet stared at her sister inside the cursed ice.

But Judia's empty gaze did not reflect her figure.

"...What is going on? What is actually up with her—"

While staring at the girl in the cursed ice, Kamito asked Rinslet behind him.

Rinslet bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before...

"—Like the corrosion of the «Elemental Lords», the «Otherworldly Darkness» is responsible."

Finally, she explained with an expression of suffering.

"...The «Otherworldly Darkness» is in her body?"

"Yes. Iseria-sama told me—The truth of that particular day."

Rinslet nodded and lowering her gaze slightly, she began to recount.

—Four years ago, on the day of the «Water Elemental Festival».

Corroded by the «Otherworldly Darkness», the «Water Elemental Lord» was on the verge of losing control. If further corruption continued at the same rate, it was easily conceivable that she would eventually end up along the same path as the «Fire Elemental Lord» who had destroyed the town of Dylus.

But her actual condition was actually more severe than that of the «Fire Elemental Lord»'s back then.

The «Otherworldly Darkness» corroding the «Water Elemental Lord» not only intended to invade «Astral Zero» but also the «Human Realm» which was supposed to be isolated on a material level.

"...Coming into contact with that darkness by chance was Judia."

Looking at the girl in the cursed ice, Rinslet bit her lip.

"If only I had conducted the ritual on that day as customary—"

Sensing that a princess maiden in the human realm intended to contact the «Water Elemental Lord», the «Otherworldly Darkness» caused part of the darkness to sneak into her body through the ritual.

Judia was an excellent princess maiden. This was perhaps one of the factors causing the tragedy. Infected by the insanity of the «Otherworldly Darkness», she intended to summon the main body of the darkness to the human realm—

"...I see."

Listening to this point, Kamito suddenly reacted.

"In order to stop that, Iseria—"

"...Yes."

Rinslet nodded and continued.

"On that day, the «Water Elemental Lord» was on the last vestiges of sanity. In order to prevent the worst outcome, she sealed her—Judia—in cursed ice, together with the «Otherworldly Darkness»."

—Those were the memories of the truth that Iseria had found from within the «Water Elemental Lord».

"But it has awakened once more—"

Most likely in the instant when Kamito and his team was liberating the elemental lord in «Astral Zero», the «Otherworldly Darkness» was activated.

The darkness sealed in the cursed ice resonated and recovered its power.

Then breaking the cursed ice, the darkness controlled Judia and started moving autonomously.

First it used mind control on the Elfim inhabiting the forest and started preparing the revival of the powerful spirit, «Zirnitra». Then merging with the powerful entity, it intended to summon the true body of the darkness into the human realm to replace itself.

"...Is there a way to save her?"

Looking at Judia who was still making noises, Kamito asked.

Rinslet readied her bow elemental waffe and stood next to Kamito.

"—Definitely possible. Assuming it's you, Kamito-san, the one who freed the «Fire Elemental Lord»."

Kamito silently nodded and readied the «Demon Slayer».

Concentrating the turbulent divine power into one point, he poured it into the blade.

"Freezing fangs of ice, go forth and pierce -- «Freezing Arrow»!"

Rinslet used the last of her divine power to fire the final shot.

Anxious to save her sister, the arrow she had fired with full concentration pierced the wall of cursed ice, creating a tiny crack.

Kamito made a thrust with the sword's tip towards that crack—

"—Come back. Your sister is waiting."

Shining silver-white, the sacred sword pierced the chest of the «Queen of Ice Blossoms».

<noinclude>
{{SeireiDance Nav|prev=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Chapter7|next=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Epilogue}}
</noinclude>

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Chapter7

2014-05-09T03:42:55Z

108.197.151.13: /* Part 3 */

==Chapter 7 - Zirnitra of Dominating Ice==

===Part 1===

"...Wh...y..."

Faced with Judia Laurenfrost's unexpected disappearance—

Rinslet seemed totally lost as though her soul was gone.

"Where... Where has she gone...?"

In front of the shattered cursed ice, she had collapsed to her knees in shock.

"..."

Kamito's gaze fell upon the shattered fragments of cursed ice all over the floor.

The fragments were scattered in a radial shape, implying that the the cursed ice was not melted from outside but broken from within instead.

(Judia Laurenfrost broke the magic ice on her own? That's totally ridiculous—?)

Cursed ice that all the elementalists in the nation were unable to melt could not possibly have been destroyed by a human's power.

That left the possibility of the «Water Elemental Lord» releasing the cursed ice, but Iseria Seaward herself had rejected the notion.

She had said that even herself could not melt the cursed ice until she recovered her full power.

Besides, supposing Judia was released from the cursed ice, then why did she not return to her family at Winter Gulf Castle first?

(...What on earth happened here?)

Just as Kamito was stuck in deep thought—

Crash—;The temple was suddenly shaken.

"...An earthquake?"

A deep rumbling sounded from the earth. Columns of ice fell from the ceiling.

Kamito frantically shielded Rinslet who had crouched down.

"Staying here further will be dangerous, let's get out first."

"...Yes... Right."

Rinslet nodded, still half-dazed.

After they hurried out of the temple—

They were met with an unbelievable sight.

"...What... is that!?"

Dozens, no, fully a hundred—

Near the peak of the Kyria Mountain Range, countless ice dragons were circling in the air.

"So many ice dragons, where on earth did they come from..."

Rumble, rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble—!

The ground shook violently.

"The Kyria Mountain Range is shaking...!"

The long, giant mountain range. The snow accumulated on the surface of the mountains were sliding off, causing avalanches.

With a flash of lightning, a giant tear appeared in the air above the Kyria Mountain Range.

"...That thing, is it really a gate to «Astral Zero»!?"

"Impossible, how could such a massive «Gate» be possible to open in the human realm!?"

"Something's coming out...!"

The tear in space expanded. Violent blizzards began to blow.

Appearing from the tear were countless ice dragons swirling in the air as well as—

A massive claw. It enlarged the tear further.

"...!"

Frozen in space, Kamito was unable to utter a single word.

It was an immensely huge sculpture formed from blue ice.

Spreading its wings in darkness, the emperor of ice dragons.

There was a tragic sense of beauty about its appearance.

"Domination ice spirit «Zirnitura»..."

Rinslet held her breath.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!

«Zirnitra» flapped its wings, shaking the atmosphere.

"...Could it be that the Elfim in the forest released the seal!?"

"Why would they do that kind of thing...!?"

"...No idea."

While muttering, Kamito recalled a certain term.

(...Queen of Ice Blossoms. The princess maiden appearing in the forest huh?)

Did the appearance of the guardian spirit have anything to do with that?

At this moment, the spirit seal on his right hand generated slightly pain.

'—Kamito, that is likely a being similar to me.'

He heard Est's voice in his head.

"...A super-ancient «Spirit Weapon», is it?"

'Yes, Kamito—'

Spirit Weapons—an umbrella term used for spirits that were deployed in battle during the «Spirit War» that had occurred several thousand years ago.

During the Blade Dance, Kamito had battled Muri Alenstarl's «Valaraukar» which was also a spirit weapon. But the pressure he could feel from the domination ice spirit far surpassed that of the demon flame spirit.

From atop the peak, the domination ice spirit flapped its wings fiercely, flying into the sky.

Mixed with hail, the wind swept towards the forest, causing many shards of ice to cut open the ground.

"...Tsk, it's going to the center of the forest—"

There was impatience in Kamito's voice. The forest was Restia's possible location.

"...Rinslet, return to the castle first."

Saying that, he gripped the «Demon Slayer»'s hilt.

Seeing that, Rinslet seemed to realize Kamito's intentions.

"...Going alone will be very dangerous."

"I'm not going to fight that spirit. I'll just look for Restia and come back."

"What are you talking about? It's already so dark now, how are you going to look for the darkness spirit—"

"Once I get close, it should be clear."

Kamito shook his head and rested his gaze upon the spirit seal on his right hand.

"As long as she's still alive, there will definitely be a reaction—"

Kamito poured his divine power into the «Demon Slayer».

Instantly, the blade gave off dazzling light, illuminating the surroundings.

—Just at that moment.

Multiple dark shadows descended upon them.

"...!"

A group of ice dragons, baring their fangs and claws. Crying out shrilly, they breathed out cold air.

Kamito swiftly drew his sword to block the cold air. However, he was unable to deflect cold air that was released in a wide area. Thus his feet were frozen to the ground. As sharp claws attacked from the side, Kamito instantly pulled the blade back to deflect the claws. Then stabbing the blade into the ground and releasing divine power, he instantly shattered the ice on the ground.

"Freezing fangs of ice, go forth and pierce -- «Freezing Arrow»!"

As soon as she spoke, the aimed arrow instantly pierced an ice dragon's head with perfect timing.

"Kamito-san, I'll cover you!"

"Thanks—"

Switching the «Demon Slayer» to a reverse grip, Kamito instantly chopped down two ice dragons that had landed behind him. At this moment, Rinslet's next wave of projectiles rained down, turning the ice dragons' giant bodies into ice sculptures.

Although he had a tough battle on the snow mountain last time, mere ice dragons were no match for Kamito to begin with. Landing one after another, the ice dragons fell to Kamito and Rinslet's combination attacks.

—That being said, the enemy numbers were quite problematic.

(We'll just have to force our way through.)

"Dance, a storm of ice summoning destruction—«Diamond Dust»!"

Suddenly, an awe-inspiring voice sounded in the forest.

Dazzling light appeared in the air before their eyes. Just as Kamito was thinking it was about to explode, a powerful blizzard started blowing with Kamito and Rinslet's location as the eye of the storm.

"...!?"

As many as dozens of ice dragons were trapped in ice within the blink of an eye, turning into immobile ice sculptures. This was high-level spirit magic as well as being combination magic requiring multiple casters of top caliber.

"Rinslet?"

"No, it was not me."

As Kamito turned to look at her, Rinslet shook her head.

"This spirit magic must be—"

"—Princess!"

Accompanied by the sonorous sounds of horses' hooves, a shout came from the darkness.

Out emerged several knights riding dappled gray horses.

The leading knight raised a torch, illuminating her face.

"You're..."

Kamito opened his eyes wide.

A girl clad in silver-white light armor. Upon closer examination, it was the head maid who had presented the food for dinner at Winter Gulf Castle.

(...So she's really a spirit knight.)

The knights swiftly dismounted and knelt down before Rinslet.

"Princess, are you unharmed?"

"Natalia, why are you here?"

"Mireille-sama said you have come here, Princess... Any injuries?"

"I am fine."

"Princess, please return to Winter Gulf Castle immediately. The castle is under attack from ice dragons."

"...What did you say!?"

Surprised, Rinslet looked in the castle's direction.

A swarm of shadows was converging towards the castle walls lit by the numerous watchfires.

"Why would this...!?"

"Thanks to the isolation barrier, they can still barely manage to endure, but Mireille-sama is not capable of commanding the «Wolf Ritters»—"

"...Hmm, then I shall return immediately."

Rinslet nodded and looked at Kamito.

"Uh, Kamito-san—"

"I..."

Whether he should head to the forest to look for Restia or return with Rinslet to Winter Gulf Castle for defense—

Just as Kamito was hesitating between the two choices...

"Kamito-sama, I have a request for you."

Natalia spoke up.

"...A request?"

Kamito repeated the words. Natalia nodded and said:

"Yes, elites of the «Wolf Ritters» have headed out to attack «Zirnitra». It is my hope that you could converge with them, Kamito-sama, and join the attack party."

"You can't be thinking of fighting that thing, are you?"

"Zirnitra is the culprit summoning the ice dragons. Unless we drive it back to Astral Zero, the castle will fall eventually. The lands of Laurenfrost would surely be ravaged as well."

Natalia spoke with an expression of determination.

"However, our current forces are insufficient for defeating a spirit of that level. Also, we have no choice but to divide our numbers for the sake of the castle's defense... We have a very good idea of your power, Kamito-sama, for you have fought alongside our princess in the «Blade Dance». Please lend us your assistance."

"Kamito-san, I am begging you too."

Rinslet faced Kamito.

"You are the only one who can oppose that spirit, Kamito-san."

"...I understand."

Kamito nodded lightly.

"I am not good at joining forces with others, but I'll try my best. Rinslet, you can focus on protecting the castle."

"Very well, leave it to me."

Kamito turned his gaze to the domination ice spirit flying towards the center of the forest.

(...If it's defeated, Restia should be safer to some extent.)

Crack—The ice sealing the ice dragons began to show fissures.

The magical resistance of dragons was nothing to sneeze at. They were probably going to break out of the ice very soon.

"Quick. Hurry before the ice dragons wake up."

"Kamito-san, I am counting on you."

Rinslet gallantly mounted one of the dappled gray horses of the knights.

"—May you be victorious."

"Yeah, don't worry."

Kamito nodded and ran towards the forest with the «Demon Slayer» in hand.

===Part 2===

"—Found you, darkness spirit!"

The voice of Luminaris resounded through the forest.

Her gaze was directed straight towards the girl standing in front of the temple.

Despite a change in attire, the girl before her eyes was undoubtedly that darkness spirit.

In her surroundings, Elfim princess maidens could be seen trapped in blocks of black ice.

(...An internal struggle? Or did the darkness spirit do it?)

While drawing her sacred sword and starting to charge, Luminaris was struck by doubt regarding the incomprehensible situation.

(No, now is not the time to care about such matters—)

The prey she had been chasing after was finally before her eyes.

(—With this, I can redeem my subordinates' honor.)

Kicking the ground to take a leap, she closed in on the darkness spirit all at once. In that very instant...

(...!?)

A chill down her spine forced her to halt.

Correction—She ''was halted''.

The source of that presence—A girl standing before the temple.

Her platinum blonde hair was illuminated by the bonfire.

Empty eyes of emerald were staring at Luminaris as though observing her.

"...What business do you have?"

Shocked by the bizarre atmosphere exuded by the girl, Luminaris put on a stance with her sword.

(...A human princess maiden?)

The Elfim race was pride and xenophobic. It was hard to imagine them accepting a human girl as a princess maiden.

Za, zaza, zazazaza, za, zazaza—

Strange noises leaked out of the girl's mouth.

"...!?"

Instinctively, Luminaris jumped backwards.

Black cursed ice instantly spread, freezing the surrounding ground.

(...Spirit magic? No, this is—!)

Failing to dodge, her left foot was frozen, immobilizing her position.

"...!?"

Instantly, her entire body was struck by a powerful sense of fatigue.

(...No way, it is absorbing... my divine power...!)

Luminaris could not help but tremble. This cursed ice apparently had the ability to steal divine power.

Then that meant the princess maidens trapped in ice were also having their divine power stolen?

The black cursed ice attacked Luminaris whose foot was caught—

"—Luminaris-sama!"

At the very last moment, one of her subordinate knights blocked in front of her.

Stabbing her sword elemental waffe into the ground, she used her entire body to block the cursed ice.

"...Aisha!?"

"...Please hurry and escape...!"

Along with her elemental waffe, the knight was instantly imprisoned in cursed ice.

"...Damn it!"

Using the sacred sword to shatter the cursed ice, Luminaris made a thrust at the girl.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Swish—!

Readying her sword while in the process of running, Luminaris swung «Murgleis» sideways without the slightest hesitation.

But there was no feeling of striking anything. The girl vanished from sight like a mirage.

"...!"

"Luminaris-sama, the darkness spirit!"

She heard her subordinates call out from behind.

Swiftly turning her gaze, she found the darkness spirit running towards the depths of the forest.

"Don't let her escape, chase her!"

But before her orders could reach them—

"Uwaaaaah!" "W-What is this!?" "Kyahhhh!"

Suddenly, a powerful blizzard blew in the forest.

The view was instantly blocked. She could hear her subordinates screaming on the other side of the blizzard.

A group of ice dragons was flying above the forest.

Flying freely in the blizzard, they attacked.

"Luminaris-sama... Uwahhhhhh!"

"...Regroup! Don't lose sight of the darkness spirit!"

While chopping down the attacking ice dragons, Luminaris hollered.

But her voice was drowned out by the blizzard's rumbling winds.

"Damn it, I cannot believe this would happen, by this point..."

Luminaris's voice trembled.

(...I will not let you escape!)

Luminaris raised her drawn sacred sword overhead.

Her beautiful blonde hair stood up amidst the howling gales.

"Ancient guardian of the Holy Kingdom—Thou art «Murgleis», the sacred sword defending the country!"

She spoke the words of releasing.

Pouring in divine power beyond the limit, this was a «Waffe Release» with the intention of causing the elemental waffe to go out of control. Giving off powerful light, «Murgleis» instantly exploded.

Accompanied by a blinding flash of light, sacred flames melted the randomly flying pieces of ice, instantly clearing up the fieled of view—!

The burning sacred flames instantly incinerated the surrounding trees. Circling above, the ice dragons also fell one after another with painful roars.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

The sacred sword lost its light. Stabbing it into the ground, Luminaris observed the surroundings. There were no signs of that princess maiden. Luminaris decided she must settle the score with that girl assuming she was still in the area.

Her subordinates, the «Sacred Spirit Knights», were safe and sound because «Murgleis»'s sacred flames would absolutely not burn anyone protected by spirits with the holy attribute.

Also—

(—The darkness spirit?)

The sacred flames of «Murgleis» were supposed to cause astounding pain for darkness spirits. Even if she evaded burns from the sacred flames, the secondary effect of sacred light should be enough to stop her from moving.

But Luminaris's hopes were soon dashed.

"Luminaris-sama, look over there—!"

Hearing her subordinate's voice, she shifted her gaze to see the figure of the darkness spirit running through the forest.

"...What!?"

Luminaris could not help but exclaim.

(—To think the sacred light of «Murgleis» had no effect on a minion of darkness?)

—At this kind of distance, it was supposed to cause critical injuries to the darkness spirit.

Luminaris gripped the sacred sword's hilt tightly.

"—Chase her down. Everyone still able to move, follow me. The rest should focus on healing your wounds."

Saying that, she chased after the darkness spirit that was disappearing into the forest.

The darkness spirit ran through the forest with stumbling steps.

Compared to during the «Blade Dance», she seemed much weaker than before.

(...Is she really that darkness spirit?)

At the very least, that darkness spirit was a high-level spirit capable of fighting Luminaris on equal terms.

She was able to use powerful spirit magic of the darkness attribute. During the «Blade Dance», she had paired up with Nepenthes Lore to defeat numerous teams.

(But her current self? No different from a weak prey—)

—Suddenly.

"...!?"

Feeling a strong presence, Luminaris stopped.

On the ground was a giant shadow from something covering the night sky.

Looking up—

She saw a super large ice dragon, formed from blue ice, flying the air, looking down at the world below.

"...A spirit...is it!?"

Luminaris murmured in surprise. The knights under her command all stood rooted to the spot, speechless.

An elementalist of her level would be able to deduce a spirit's level by presence alone.

That thing was undoubtedly a spirit of the highest rank, Archdemon class.

A monster that required the decisive deployment of a major power's knights in order to vanquish.

ROAR, ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAR—!

The super large spirit's roars caused the forest's trees to shake intensely.

As though responding to its sound, the ice dragons circling nearby all roared, summoning fierce blizzards.

"Is that something like the king of ice dragons—?"

Just as she was murmuring to herself, acute murderous intent appeared behind her back.

"—Accursed humans!"

An arrow flew past her neck with the sound of slicing wind.

Then immediately, several more arrows were shot from the trees.

"—O «Sacred Shield» of protection!"

Luminaris instantly chanted spirit magic to deploy a defensive barrier of light.

"Stay out of my way, Elfim. Do you wish to seek death?"

The archer was an Elfim living in the forest. Although he was of no consequence, getting in the way of the darkness spirit's pursuit was annoying.

"Foolish human, «Zirnitra» will destroy you!"

Readying his bow and arrow, the youth yelled.

As though responding to his voice, which was of course, actually impossible—

The ice dragon king dominating the sky blew towards the forest on the ground.

The powerful cold air, covering a large area, instantly swallowed the forest dweller's settlement.

"...Th-The village!" "Zirnitra-sama!?"

Elfim screams were heard one after another.

«Zirnitra» flapped its wings and slowly descended towards the ground.

The ground shook as a result. The giant tail of ice swept mercilessly through the forest, felling trees.

"Zirnitra-sama, please calm your wrath!" "This forest is your domain—" "Your enemies are the humans, not the forest!"

Tragic screams came one after another.

—However, their pleas were easily drowned out by the sounds of trees breaking.

"...Naturally."

Luminaris murmured with agitation.

"How could the likes of you possibly control a spirit of that level?"

The reason why a large number of «Strategic-class Militarized Spirits» were sealed and scrapped was because even the military of major powers could not guarantee 100% stability of control.

Suddenly feeling a sense of dissonance, she frowned.

(...These people, ''are they actually completely ignorant of this''?)

No, impossible.

The Elfim was a race far closer to spirits than to humans. It was hard to imagine them summoning an Archdemon-class spirit without preparing control methods beforehand.

Then that meant—

(—Powerful mind control, huh.)

Feeling an astounding presence, Luminaris turned around.

The human princess maiden who had disappeared earlier was there.

Behind the girl were Elfim boys and girls following her.

All of them staring lifelessly at Luminaris.

(...All of the Elfim inhabiting this settlement are under mind control?)

However, human elementalists could not possibly cast mind control on the Elfim who had magic resistance to begin with, and on so many people simultaneously.

"...Who are you? Are you the one who summoned that spirit?"

Pointing the sacred sword at her, Luminaris asked.

She was no mere princess maiden.

But she did not seem to be a humanoid high-level spirit like that darkness spirit.

...It was ''something'' even more terrifying.

Za, zazaza, za, zazazazaza, za—

Strange noises were coming from the princess maiden's mouth.

Instantly, the children behind her were instantly trapped in black cursed ice.

The girl's hair gave off faint light as the divine power within her expanded all at once.

"Luminaris-sama, this is..."

A knight subordinate gasped.

"—Indeed, a veritable monster."

This was what intuition told Luminaris.

This thing before her eyes was far more dangerous than the Archdemon-class spirit in the air above.

The girl reached towards space and made noises as though summoning the giant spirit.

Za, zazaza, za, zazazazaza—la, lalala, la, dolulululu—

Suddenly, the girl's body hovered lightly to approach the spirit.

Her fingers touched the spirit's chest—

(What...!?)

With that, the girl's body was sucked in, buried inside the blue ice.

"...Unbelievable, she merged with the spirit!?"

Witnessing an incredible sight, Luminaris could hardly conceal her surprise.

===Part 3===

"The west side's barrier is broken, send troops over immediately!" "Fear not, just strike them down!" "Princess maidens go strengthen the barrier, holy magic users go heal the injured!"

Faced with the fierce onslaught of countless ice dragons, Winter Gulf Castle was trying its best to maintain the defensive line.

As a secure stronghold and border defense center of Ordesia, Winter Gulf Castle could not fall that easily. Nevertheless, if these fierce attacks continued at this rate, the isolation barrier protecting the castle was going to reach its limits sooner or later.

"Calm down. Ice dragons are a type of dragon with excellent flying abilities. Ordinary weapons cannot pierce dragon scales but the wings are not that resilient. Aim for the wings—"

Dressed as a maid, Milla Bassett was patrolling the surroundings of the castle walls, directing the ordinary soldiers manning the catapults. Despite losing the contracted spirit in her Demon Sealing Eye, she used to be a elite knight serving under the Principality of Rossvale's «Rupture Division» after all. Her tactical command skills were quite superb.

"...Milla, are things okay?"

"Mireille-sama, do not come out here. Hurry and return to the castle—"

"...Yes, yes. But I'm worried about you, Milla..."

Mireille's emerald eyes harbored unease.

She only knew Milla in her maid phase and knew nothing about the Milla Bassett who was born as a military weapon and belonged to the knights serving the Principality of Rossvale.

Milla gently stroked Mireille's head.

"...I am fine. Thank you."

Normally expressionless, she smiled faintly.

At this time, cheering came from the plaza at the foot of the castle walls.

Milla looked back to see Rinslet exiting the castle gates. Natalia of the «Wolf Ritters» had brought Rinslet back.

"Onee-sama!"

Mireille could not help but smile.

"Ohoh, Princess!" "The princess has returned!" "Thank goodness she is safe and sound..."

"Everyone, my apologies for making you wait."

Having entered the castle from an underground passage, Rinslet gave encouragement to the wounded soldiers while climbing the steps leading to the top of the castle walls.

Natalia hastily followed behind her.

"Princess, the castle walls are very dangerous. You should at least command from the inside—"

"No, I shall command from here. Taking the lead on the battlefield's frontlines is part of my obligations as both an Ordesian noble and an elementalist. Furthermore—"

Standing openly on the castle walls, Rinslet raised her bow elemental waffe.

Firing numerous arrows into the air, she shot down ice dragons that were flying in the sky.

"I enjoy being the center of attention."

With a fearless smile, she nocked her next arrow.

"...Sigh, that is the kind of person who the princess is."

Natalia laughed wryly and shrugged.

"We cannot lose either!" "Wow, the princess is watching!"

Rinslet's heroic figure standing on the castle walls seemed to be rousing the soldiers' morale inside the castel.

Set up on the castle walls, the catapults and ballistae fired in succession upon the ice dragons that were frozen and fallen on the ground.

"...By the way, the numbers are too great."

"Yes. Indeed. Unless the ice dragon king «Zirnitra» is defeated—"

While using a spear elemental waffe to pierce an ice dragon's wing, Natalia concurred.

Rinslet directed her gaze towards the center of the forest in the distance.

Zirnitra was currently rampaging at the «Forest of Ice Blossoms», blowing trees down.

(To think that the guardian spirit of Laurenfrost would be destroying the forest...)

Furthermore—

(Judia...)

She was concerned about her younger sister's sudden disappearance.

(...Where on earth has she gone?)

"...Princess!"

Natalia yelled acutely as an ice dragon penetrated the barrier and collided towards the castle walls.

Their foothold collapsing, a large amount of rubble was falling onto the plaza below. The screams of soldiers were heard.

"...! The barrier has been..."

"Winter Gulf Castle's barrier makes use of the leylines in the «Forest of Ice Blossoms». Most likely, «Zirnitra»'s revival has disrupted the leylines in the area, causing the barrier to lose its original power."

Damaging the castle walls, the ice dragon attacked Rinslet.

"Princess—"

At the last moment, Natalia blocked in front, using her spear to defend against this strike.

Instantly, the spear elemental waffe shattered into particles of ice. She had apparently depleted a great amount of divine power through sustained combat against the ice dragons, causing her contracted spirit's power to reach a limit. Natalia's spirit—a small wolf very similar to Fenrir—dissipated into particles of light and disappeared.

"...!"

The ice dragon opened its jaws, preparing to use dragon's breath.

"...Not so fast!"

Rinslet instantly nocked three arrows and fired them simultaneously. Two struck the wings while one hit the interior of the mouth. Losing control, the breath exploded, causing the ice dragon to fall down the castle wall.

"Let the soldier retreat to the castle. I will hold the ice dragons off from here."

Since the barrier was broken, ordinary soldiers who were not elementalists would have a tough time fighting dragons.

Swiftly issuing orders to Milla Bassett who was in charge of commanding the west side, Rinslet then hurried over to Natalia who had collapsed on the ground.

"Princess... A thousand... apologies..."

"Natalia, you should go back inside the castle walls too."

"But—"

"Don't worry. I shall take care of defense here on my own."

Rinslet stood up and readied five arrows at the same time.

She shot them simultaneously. The freezing arrows struck down multiple ice dragons at the same time.

"Princess, when exactly did you acquire such power..."

Looking up, Natalia was staring wide-eyed.

As «Team Scarlet»'s archer, having obtained victory throughout the harsh trials of the «Blade Dance», Rinslet's current power level was enough to rival spirit knights on active duty.

Furthermore, this was the territory passed down generations of the Laurenfrost family, the place best suited to bringing out the full power of the local spirit <Fenrir».

—But that was not all.

Currently, her body was also harboring another power that she had never possessed before.

(...What is this feeling—)

Opposite to the divine power flowing in her body, unknown divine power.

Every time she used the power of spirits, that power would graudally strengthen.

It was the power she had felt during the kiss with Kamito in the ice cave at the Kyria Mountain Range.

Her heart kept beating faster while her emotions heightened more and more.

"Go forth and blow, raging storm of ice—«Icicle Storm»!"

Using high-level spirit magic released through her elemental waffe, she blew away all of the ice dragons swarming towards the castle walls.

"Huff, huff, huff... Finally, I wiped out half of them..."

Rinslet kept panting. Despite striking down the majority of them, the numbers in the air were still increasing. The temporarily frozen ice dragons were also going to break out of the ice eventually.

"This castle cannot... fall yet."

Suddenly, the ice dragons' fierce assault stopped all at once.

"...Huh?"

Rinslet could not help but exclaim.

It was a very bizarre sight.

As many as hundreds of ice dragons—

...were facing the same direction, completely motionless in the air.

"...What... happened...?"

The ice dragons' gazes were directed towards Zirnitra that was flying through the sky.

ROOOOOOOAAAAAAR!

Zirnitra roared towards the sky.

The atmosphere shook as a result. Then the howling blizzard in the «Forest of Ice Blossoms» was instantly blown away.

In the next instant...

"—Princess, look!"

Natalia pointed at the sky and called out.

The ice dragons in the air surrounding the castle were all flying towards Zirnitra.

"..."

A strange silence arrived.

The soldiers in the castle were all exchanging glances with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What on earth happened..."

Just as Rinslet was murmuring to herself, a sharp pain suddenly appeared on her left hand.

'—t... Rins... let...!'

"Iseria-sama!?"

'—Listen to me... I have... something, I must, tell you.'

===Part 4===

—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—"

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 it?

"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.

"—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—"

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».

—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—"

"...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!?"

===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—

(—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—

"...!"

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—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.

—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—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—

(...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—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—

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

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

===Part 6===

"...What exactly happened there!?"

Rinslet was riding Fenrir, passing through the forest where trees have fallen left and right.

All the soldiers were left in the castle while she made her way towards the deepest part of the forest.

The ice dragons that had attacked Winter Gulf Castle were now gathered around «Zirnitra», offering themselves to be eaten. Having merged with a large number of ice dragons, «Zirnitra» no longer resembled its original form. Its entire body being eaten away, bulging with pillars of black ice that resembled stakes.

"That's the legendary guardian spirit of Laurenfrost?"

'Wrong. That is no longer something that could be classified as a spirit—''It has been replaced''.'

Iseria's voice resounded in Rinslet's mind.

"What do you mean?"

'That is a sin that my past self committed—Iseria Seaward's sin.'

Then she told the whole story.

The truth of that day, buried in the memories of the insane «Water Elemental Lord».

===Part 7===

"O sacred sword that vanquisheth evil, thou shalt turn the enemy into ash—«Murgleis»!"

Releasing silver-white light, the blade tore through darkness to pierce «Zirnitra»'s head.

—But that was all. Having melded with ice dragons, turning into a strange block of ice, the monster quickly regenerated.

"...Huff, huff... This monster!"

Luminaris was kneeling on the ground, panting. She had vanquished Archdemon-class spirits before, but that was achieved while leading knights under her command.

(Also, this thing no longer counts as a spirit...!)

Clang—Clatter clatter!

Peeling off from Zirnitra's body, ice fell on the ground, causing noise and the scattering of dust.

"...!"

Luminaris instantly went pale in the face.

There were reasons why she could not leave this place which was under the falling ice.

Because of her subordinates from the «Sacred Spirit Knights», trapped in cursed ice.

...They should still be alive, but taking them all away was impossible. At this rate, they were going to get caught up in «Zirnitra»'s attacks eventually, or die from the cursed ice when completely drained of divine power.

(Before that happens, this monster must be exterminated...!)

But after sustained combat against ice dragons and one instance of waffe release, Luminaris had almost depleted all her divine power. Driving her current self was nothing but stalwart willpower.

No reinforcements. Fighting here, she was the last person remaining. The three «Wolf Ritters» sent from Winter Gulf were already devoured by the cursed ice after depleting their strength.

(...Oh well, at least it worked in buying some time.)

Staring at the pitch-black sky, Luminaris adjusted her breathing.

At this time, Zirnitra underwent changes in the air.

Unable to support its body weight after excessive expansion, it started to free fall.

Crash!

The landing impact shook the ground.

The wind pressure swept away the trees in its surroundings. The impact created a small crater on the ground.

"...Guh—"

Luminaris hastily released «Shield» magic to protect her frozen subordinates.

After landing on the ground, Zirnitra had released cold air from its giant body, freezing the surrounding land,, causing the trees in the «Forest of Ice Blossoms» to wilt gradually.

"It has already become a monster that only knows to devour everything huh..."

Standing up unsteadily, she readied «Murgleis» again.

(But while it has fallen on the ground, there are still chances for victory—)

But soon, she realized that this notion of hers was too naive.

Suddenly, the ground swelled as countless ice blades rose up in the surroundings.

Assimilating the «Forest of Ice Blossoms», Zirnitra was turning the very ground itself into blades of ice.

Caught unprepared, Luminaris reacted an instant too slow.

"Guh, ahhhhhh—!"

Pierced all over her body by the sharp blades of cursed ice, she screamed from her throat.

(...Is this... the end...?)

A tear slid down Luminaris's cheek. Ever since she suffered defeat three years ago at the hands of that «Strongest Blade Dancer», she had vowed to never shed another tear again.

(...Sor...ry...)

Her final thoughts were with the subordinates who had followed her faithfully all along.

Her fingers had no more strength. The sacred sword fell from her hand to the ground.

The cursed ice invaded up to throat level. Just as Luminaris sighed in despair, at that moment...

"—Don't give up. Your past self never gave up back when you were fighting ''her''."

(...?)

A flash of white light. The cursed ice covering her entire body shattered with a crisp sound.

Thrown into the air, she was caught by a pair of powerful arms.

"—You look like you're struggling, Miss Paladin."

"...You... are...!"

«Team Scarlet»'s male elementalist.

—Kazehaya Kamito.

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