Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 7 Episode 4 (section)

===Part 21===

After going through the ceiling of the old sanctuary site, at the very least Krulcifer should be somewhat seriously damaged.

But, what appeared from inside the dust smoke was an unharmed Krulcifer.

Mel definitely felt response when her attack hit.

The wall off automatic defense, the Auto Shield should have been broken through too but──.

「I finally understand. The true shape of your Divine Raiment──, it’s temperature isn’t it?」

「…………」

Mel frowned hearing the answer that Krulcifer said indifferently.

Alterize protected the father Stiyl and the eldest son Zain while she held her breath in sudden realization.

「Temperature……? That ability capable of ever-changing appearance, came from only one thing?」

「Yes, that’s right.」

Krulcifer accepted it and continued calmly.

「The freezing bullet of my Freezing Cannon was melted, and the ability to freeze the opponent. Creating fog by melting the snow. Causing squall using temperature difference, showing illusion of light using thermal expansion of atmosphere. And then──granting high heat to other Drag-Ride, downing the control function.」

Ddraig Gwiber’s temperature control Divine Raiment.

Mel applied only that one Divine Raiment to produce countless tactics.

Added with her style that was leveraging the Divine Drag-Ride’s trait to freely switch between land battle mode and flying mode, she was really worthy for the name of genius Drag-Knight.

Most likely, even Krulcifer wasn’t a match against her in the sense as pure Drag-Knight.

If there were a few more years, the girl might surpass her.

But──,

「I’m sorry, Mel. Because of a different reason from two years ago──I cannot lose against you.」

Her own weakness that gave up meeting her family halfway because she was under the impression that she was rejected.

She was suffering from loneliness as the result of chasing only after her past in the Ruin while hiding her true wish.

However, Lux and everyone else of the new kingdom were fighting while risking their life for the sake of someone like her.

No──her father Stiyl was also fighting for her sake from several years ago.

In that case, she couldn’t falsify her own feeling.

She couldn’t be scared anymore of using this special power as an XferKey’s Supervisor.

「Let’s settle this Mel. There is something that I have to convey to you no matter what.」

「──Hah」

What confronted her was a violent smile that was like a devil.

But, Krulcifer knew that behind that face that was painted over with hatred, it was hiding sadness that could break the girl down anytime.

The despair from losing all her family since her childhood.

Even though she had obtained the strength as first class Drag-Knight, she let even Orphel who was like a parent to her to die.

She used Elixir to escape from the pain. Mel’s heart was falling into darkness.

But──,

「You actually know aren’t you, Mel? That before her death, Bishop Orphel……didn’t say anything like telling you to kill me who appear to be the cause of the rampage.」

「-…….!?」

The expression of Mel who heard that distorted slightly, a crack entered her devil mask.

「She was already unable to speak. Drakkhen of Dragon Marauder used that, she talked to you using Orphel’s voice. You were only being led astray by that.

「──Wrong. There is no way that’s true! That time, Orphel definitely-……!」

Mel groaned while pressing on her forehead with her flesh and blood hand.

The face of Orphel lying down with pained expression and soaked with blood flashed in the back of her mind.

She became desperate and spoke her last words to Mel.

『Kill Krulcifer. The demon who was the cause that stole everything, your family and the country’s peace……take revenge even if it cost you your life──』

That was why, Mel was,

「……UAAaaAaH!?」

Intense headache and dizziness.

At that time, Orphel’s voice told her that.

She certainly heard that, but.

「The person called Orphel inside you, is she a woman who would say such thing toward you? She would tell you to kill your enemy even if you have to pay with your life? Is she someone who can mercilessly say that to you, while you were already gasping for breath from the burden of Drag-Ride at that time……」

「Ku, AAaAH!」

Mel shrieked in respond to Krulcifer’s question.

It felt like fire hook was ransacking inside her head, everything became mixed up messily inside.

──Wrong, wrong wrong wrong!

I have to kill Krulcifer no matter what.

I have to take revenge!

Orphel, she, said that to me, with her cooling hand in my grasp──.

「Don’t speak! You who aren’t even a human of this world! Don’t speak of ORPHEEeeeLL!」

Mel drove Ddraig Gwiber forward while screaming.

It skated in land battle form before transforming in high speed into flying form.

From below to above, she unleashed an attack using halberd with a momentum that was like volcano eruption.

「──Full Connect – On」

In response, the moment Krulcifer muttered, the seven shields of Auto Shield detached from Fafnir and took position around Mel.

At the same time their surface formed force field of blue light.

「──!?」

Krulcifer intervented at the Drag-Ride’s command order for the special armament that originally would move automatically, and altered their operation.

Right after that, Krulcifer pulled the trigger of Freezing Cannon toward the deployed shields.

The beam of normal bullet that was fired impacted one of the shields floating around Mel. Immediately after that──for some reason an impact ran through the left arm of Ddraig Gwiber from behind.

「Ricochet bullet……!? Using the shield in that way──!」

Mel was surprised seeing the new tactic, even so she began her attack. Krulcifer completely grasped her movement.

Using the senses and super reaction speed she obtained from Full Connect, she sniped Mel who was charging forward in super accelerated speed.

Blue flash. First it was freezing bullet to stop her momentum and offensive.

Weaving through the instantaneous gap while Ddraig Gwiber’s Divine Raiment was thawing the frozen part, Krulcifer aimed to bring Mel down using ricochet shooting from seven directions.

──But, even now when her weapon was instantly frozen, Mel’s momentum didn’t stop.

「DON’T UNDERESTIMATE MEE!」

She used her left armored arm that almost broke as shield to cover the Halberd that her right hand was holding.

She removed the arm’s armor the moment it froze and without pause she forcefully let out an attack.

「Wha-……!?」

The attack that was released at the risk of Mel’s life took Krulcifer by surprise. But, even then Fafnir’s mobility was slightly superior.

After Krulcifer barely dodged the sure kill attack, squall struck from above to knock her down.

Her path of escape──was predicted.

The mist enshrouding the area was groundwork to shut down the Divine Raiment of future foresight, Wise Blood beforehand.

Thus, this result was inevitable inside Mel’s heart.

As long as Krulcifer’s future foresight was sealed because she was unable to see due to the mist covering the field of vision, she wouldn’t be unable to surpass Mel and Ddraig Gwiber.

Fafnir’s barrier was pierced through and she aimed at the shoulder──toward the Force Core.

It was an unavoidable perfect timing. With this, Mel’s victory should be set in stone, but,

「What──!?」

Fafnir’s left armored arm that wasn’t holding the Rifle barely blocked that Halberd.

The deadly attack was averted even at the cost of broken one arm.

「How!? Because of the mist, your future foresight shouldn’t──!」

「This is from my own prediction. I thought that if it’s you, you will do at least this much. And then──」

Because of the squall that Mel caused, the surrounding mist cleared up.

「Wise Blood – AccelWisdom of Fortune and Calamity – Insightful Gaze」

The future foresight of the Divine Raiment was assembled at the same time with her mutter, and then it was sent into Krulcifer’s head.

Several hundred prediction calculation was carried out, producing the formula to reach victory.

Right after that, dozens of reflective shots that were fired following that formula attacked Mel like a storm.

「────」

The back wings, every kind of join parts, and at the end, concentrated shooting in one spot that pierced the barrier.

All of Mel’s option in escape and dodging were predicted, and the vital spots on her whole body were sniped.

And then the finishing blow finally pierced the Force Core on her shoulder without even an inch of deviation.

「……Wh, y. I can’t win……」

The Force Core that was the core of Drag-Ride was smashed by the light bullet, and the function of Ddraig Gwiber halted.

The armor that lost the lifting power from its propulsion device lost strength and fell toward the ground head first.

The moment Mel’s heart yielded, the body reinforcement that was brought about by Elixir──the black geometrical pattern emerging on her shoulder until her left chest was vanishing.

The expression of Mel who recovered human reasoning was already returning into the face of a normal girl.

In the span of few seconds during her fall from the sky, Mel discerned what the truth was.

(I’m sorry, Orphel……)

With sad and hollow expression, her thought was running toward the bishop who was her guardian who had just died.

At that time, when Orphel ordered her to kill Krulcifer even if it would cost her life, the lips of the woman whose throat was crushed were showing different words.

『I’m sorry, Mel.』

Those were all, she was speaking only those words with her whole feeling.

But, the sound of voice that entered her ear was different.

Amidst the chaos and despair, she hesitated between the words that Orphel’s lips displayed to her, or the voice that her ears heard.

When it was time she had to decide which words to believe, the negative emotion inside Mel chose to fight against enemy.

However──.

However, if it was the real Orphel.

She was a woman who tried to make use of her by encouraging her path as Drag-Knight, but she was concerned about Mel’s well being more than anyone. If it was her, what would she say to her at that time?

「Watch out-!」

Alterize who was wearing EX Wyvern yelled and rushed toward the falling spot Mel was heading.

But, faster than her, Krulcifer who was chasing after Mel using Fafnir caught Mel whose armor was dispelled inside her arms.

「Or, phel……」

The girl’s hand moved powerlessly, stretching toward the corpse of that woman.

In front of that body that was half-hidden behind rubbles, a bloody sentence written by the woman’s own fingers was left behind on the stone paving.

『Save Mel』

The choppy letters consisted of only those words.

She was worrying for Mel’s safety until the very last moment she stopped breathing.

That was, the truth of that time.

「……I’m sorry.」

Mel apologized to that woman with a haggard expression that could break into tears anytime.

「I……couldn’t understand at all, about Orphel’s feeling……」

Even though she wanted to tell her all this time that she actually liked her, even though she was imagining what if they became family.

She kept her at distance because of her stubbornness and pride, and she was unable to pay her back with even a single thing.

「I’m sorry, Orphel……. Okaa, sanMo, ther……」

After whispering only that, Mel ran out of strength and closed her eyes.

A trickle of tears flowed along her cheek and the girl lost consciousness.

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