Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 12 Epilogue (section)

===Part 2===
A few days later after that.

After a war council at the royal capital, Lux was called as a Seven Dragon Paladin for the sake of conquering the entrance of Avalon that existed in the Marcafal Kingdom──the abandoned capital Guernica. (TN: Now it’s back to Guernica again, what the hell.)

At the fortress base located before the old castle which seemed to be where Avalon was, the Drag-Knights group of the world alliance was already in battle.

The abandoned buildings were prepared using Drag-Rides so they became usable, and it seemed that it was arranged so that it was possible for them to fight continuously for a month here, but the old castle had become a den of the Abyss. Even with the chosen Drag-Knights from every country gathered here, they couldn’t even approach its surroundings. That was the situation.

With the help of Soffice who was a Xfer, the door to the deepest part of Garden was unlocked. Furthermore after that Krulcifer unlocked the door to the deepest part of Hall. And then it was concluded with Magialca using her authority to liberate those Ruins in turn by placing the Grand Forces there.

And then Lux who departed from the Academy arrived at the Marcafal Kingdom as one of the advance troops along with the other Seven Dragon Paladins as well as the Lords.

「Yo, long time no see, Prince-sama.」

The base town that was the nearest to the abandoned capital──the fort city Forto. When Lux arrived there, Greifer who was in front of the fortress called out to him.

Dull blonde hair, sanpaku eyes, and a sulky attitude. Those were his traits, but in reality he was a good person.

He was the Seven Dragon Paladin of the Vanheim Principality, but the other day his aide, Coral, died in battle.

It seemed the fight against the Abyss protecting Avalon had entered a lull, there was no sign of the enemy in the surroundings.

After talking to the fortress guard and confirming that, the two of them began to walk through a stone corridor.

「Sorry about Coral. That, I was unable to save him.」

「Why are you apologizing? Dying is included in the job of us soldiers. You did the best you could right?」

「That’s right……but」

「Besides, somehow I still cannot believe it. Ain’t no way that guy will croak just from an explosion, that’s what I feel.」

「…………」

In fact Lux also couldn’t believe it.

And also about Coral’s dying words that Lux heard from Lisha, where he apologized to him, Lux didn’t understand what he meant.

Somehow everything felt in limbo and his guts couldn’t accept it.

「One more thing, I’ve got a basis why I think that guy ain’t dead. By the way, this is gonna be a bit of an awful story but, if it’s you Prince-sama then I’m fine talking about it, you wanna hear it?」

「Eh……!?」

Lux was bewildered at Greifer’s voice that vaguely gave a hint of a dangerous atmosphere.

「You better not listen to this if you wanna still believe in that guy. It ain’t a story that will make you feel good to know.」

「What do you mean? No──let me hear it!」

When Lux flared up with a serious face, Greifer let out a long sigh and began to talk.

「You know about her highness Princes Milmiette, right? Coral was among us as our princess’s distant relative but, that guy’s name vanished from that family tree.」

「……Eh!?」

Lux was resolving himself to not get agitated no matter what he was told, but as expected, he was perplexed in incomprehension.

「The guy called Coral Esther ain’t existing from the start among the royalty of the Vanheim Principality. Surely his name also didn’t exist in the family tree from the beginning. But for some reason we didn’t have any doubt about that guy’s status all this time. For nearly a year──nobody noticed it at all.」

「Such, thing, no matter how──」

「It ain’t possible, right? Currently we also thought so, yeah. But, I want to ask you Prince-sama, seeing that you were close with that guy. Was that guy male? Or female?」

「-……!?」

The moment Lux was asked that, his vision was covered with static like a sandstorm.

Coral’s figure in his mind flickered.

His figure that he thought was completely a male figure certainly looked like a girl on one occasion.

Even the color of her hair and eyes were different, he wondered why it looked like that to him?

The true identity of Coral Esther.

How did he become able to notice her true identity so suddenly?

The last Ragnarok Sacred Eclipse.

The secret medicine of evolution, Elixir and Baptism.

A memory that he knew nothing about, and the transformed figure of Coral.

(Why at this time I──)

Where did his perception become mistaken?

Perception, perception……?

「By the way can I ask a question too? The guy who last contracted Dragon Marauder──the mastermind who made them betray that tanned girl, it seems you got an idea about it, is that true?」

It seemed Greifer heard about that from Soffice.

He was a caring person in spite of his outward appearance, so Lux introduced Soffice to him before this gathering. This seemed to be the result from that.

「Yes……it’s still nothing more than my personal speculation though.」

Although, Lux couldn’t be the only one keeping secrets after he heard confidential information from Greifer already.

And so, he said it.

The conjecture that he didn’t want to be correct.

A person other than the Lords who shouldn’t be in that place, and who was able to control the Moon. If speaking about such person──

「It’s……Hayes vi Arcadia. She should have died, but it’s likely that she is alive.」

That way of talking which was conveyed through Re Plica, it was the very tone of Hayes.

And then, in case his reasoning was correct, it hinted at a single fact.

The Lords who right now became the central existence of conquering Avalon.

He didn’t know when Hayes was resurrected, but she contacted Dragon Marauder once more and controlled them by using Avalon as bait. If that was the case──

「Oi, then don’t tell me……」

Greifer seemed to reach the same conclusion. His expression turned forbidding. Lux nodded.

「Yes. I have to tell this to Captain Magialca. If she, Hayes, is alive, then from the beginning this battle──……-!?」

Lux suddenly looked forward. The moment he saw the stone paved corridor, a single person──no, a girl was standing there.

A girl with braided hair wearing a pilot suit for females.

Her face features that looked somewhat androgynous but well-ordered, was familiar to Lux and Greifer.

「Co……ral!? No, you──」

Greifer’s eyes opened wide and he stiffened while raising his voice.

But, the figure of he who should have died was colored differently from before.

The same silver hair and grey pupils like Lux and Airi.

But only her right eye was dyed with faint light green color.

It was the proof of Baptism that the Lord Listelka and Hayes also received.

「──I’m sorry, both of you.」

Coral withdrew her Sword Device with an expression that looked somewhat sad.

Without pause her sword flashed towards Lux and Greifer, hitting the back of their heads.

Fortunately it seemed she was hitting them with the back of her single-edged sword so they weren’t slashed, but the impact made them collapse.

It seemed she hit the precise spot, strength left their bodies and their consciousness was getting far.

[[File:SaijakuBahamut v12 09.jpg|thumb|right]]

Lux looked up at her face while still not understanding what was going on.

「……There is, no more time. All of you are more able than we imagined. If you reach Avalon and learn this world’s secret, the truth, the countries will surely cause a bloody war. I’m sorry, for deceiving you two all this time. Also──thank you for calling someone like me a friend.」

「Co……ral, you, bastard……!」

Greifer’s groan came from the side.

Coral who heard that looked down on the two of them with her differently colored eyes without a single twitch in her expression.

「My name is Aeril vi Arcadia, the second imperial princess of the Holy Arcadia Empire. The power of Baptism that was applied to me is to use a part of Avalon’s system that can convert other people’s perception.」

「Perception, conversion?」

「Even though I’m deceiving you two, now I have no more leeway to use this power. Now if I don’t use it to trick the eyes of the Seven Dragon Paladins, I wouldn’t be able to make it in time.」

In other words, Coral’s figure was like this since the beginning.

Whether it was the color of her hair and eyes, or the bulge of her chest, everyone was only made to hallucinate that they weren’t there.

「However, don’t worry. I won’t let Nee-san kill all of you. When this battle is all over and we obtain Avalon, at that time let’s one more time──……such thing, is just too selfish isn’t it.」

Coral muttered with a smile that looked somewhat pained.

Lux’s consciousness was falling.

At the end Coral’s……no, her voice remained in his ear.

「……But I, saw a possibility inside you. That’s why, I intend to try opposing this fate in my own way. Not just as a Lord. I intend to show my own answer.」

Her footsteps were getting farther.

Someone was carrying Lux’s body.

「Thank you, Lux-kun. I really like you, you know?」

「…………」

Not to mention replying, he was unable to even think about those words.

Lux’s five senses were enveloped in darkness and before long his consciousness was sinking.