The first of the two demons to move was Ria.
Fwiiish!!
A pure-white whip woven from curses came lashing through the air, brimming with magic power.
It shot straight for Jonne beyond the barrier and seemed about to coil around the hand of [Jonne] that held the Abyss Core, but [Jonne] dodged in a flash, and the whip sliced through empty air.
"Ha! You still start with cheap little tricks, just like always!"
Muttering that, [Jonne] raised the Abyss Core high and drew back to a single point the magic power she had scattered a moment ago.
[Nuclear Magic] [Nuclear Flame].
It was a form of [Nuclear Magic] with less destructive power than [Gravity Collapse], but in exchange, it activated faster and consumed less magic power.
[Jonne], who knew Ria's abilities better than anyone, had judged that she couldn't settle this in a short fight. That was why she had held back [Gravity Collapse], her trump card.
Unlike Ria, who had become a [Demon Lord] and shaken off the ten-percent restriction, Jonne still had no name, leaving her overall abilities at the level of an [Arch Demon]. For her, the only way to win was to create an opening somehow and land a blow strong enough to destroy Ria's body.
But there was no way Ria wouldn't know that.
"Die!! [Nuclear Flame]!!"
As [Jonne]'s cry rang out through the sky along with the savage roar of blazing fire, a flame as large as a building came crashing down onto the white barrier.
The barrier had already defended against dozens of spells and was on the verge of vanishing from lack of magic power. It was an attack that even the barriers placed over Eldorado itself didn't seem capable of stopping.
[Multilayer Barrier].
But Ria only watched the falling flame with calm ease as she created layer upon layer of barriers.
Every single one was large enough to cover all of Eldorado and more.
Those barriers were also a declaration of intent.
A declaration that she would crush [Jonne]'s greatest strength head-on.
KWA-BOOOOM!!!
In the next instant, the countless barriers and the nuclear flame collided and exploded, swallowing the entire field of vision. The sharp crash of shattering barriers and the feral thunder of the blast kept pounding at my ears.
The ground began to tremble from the impact, and the knights of Eldorado, the kingdom's greatest military force, couldn't hide their awe at a scene that felt like something out of myth.
And yet, the clash that had seemed like it would go on and on vanished like a mirage the moment I came back to myself.
......
The barriers and the spell had perfectly canceled each other out, and only the two of them disappeared without a trace.
The [Nuclear Magic] had shattered every layer of the barriers, but not a single explosion had directly reached Eldorado.
"Tch...!"
"Hehe. Then I suppose it's my turn now?"
Just as [Jonne] frowned and began preparing her next spell in frustration, Ria seized that instant and shot up into the air.
'...!! She's going for close combat?!'
Seeing Ria rush in with her whip, [Jonne] was startled inwardly.
She had never expected the normally composed Blanc to launch such a provocative attack.
No matter how much Ria had the advantage when it came to having a body, [Jonne] was still Agera's master.
That meant she had once kept the swordsman who had been Hell's Greatest Sword as her servant and had learned the basics of martial skill from him.
Naturally, in pure technique, [Jonne] was above Ria.
And yet Ria still chose to force a close-range fight because [Jonne] was already injured from her clash with Noir...
...and because even for Ria, [Gravity Collapse] was a troublesome spell to block.
"Hehehe. Did you really think I wouldn't see through your plan?"
Ria curled her lips faintly as she watched [Jonne] draw a yellow longsword.
As the battle continued, the scales of victory, which had been hanging in a razor-thin balance, slowly began tipping toward Ria.
**
Unlike the fierce battle raging overhead, the ground of Eldorado had grown comparatively quiet after the shockwaves stopped.
"...You're not going to step in?"
Leon, tense-faced as he watched the fight between [Jonne] and Ria with the God-grade weapon [Flame Filler] in hand, turned to ask me.
......
Hearing that, I didn't answer right away.
I was too busy thinking over what way there might be to mediate this situation.
'It's only natural that Ria's furious... but even so, I can't let things end with Jonne and us completely at odds.'
[Jonne] definitely couldn't be called an ally yet, but at the same time, it was hard to call her an enemy either. In the [Great War] that would come someday, she was a demon who might stand on our side.
On top of that, I knew the truth about [Jonne] almost as well as the other [Primordial Demons] who could be called her siblings, and because of that, I didn't dislike her.
Just as Ria possessed both cruelty and tenderness, I knew that [Jonne] too had both a destructive side and a bright one...
...and because of that, I couldn't hate her.
In the end,
this wasn't a situation where I could simply take one side and ignore the other.
And in a situation like this, there was only one best thing I could do.
'...At the root of it, Jonne is fighting because of me, so I should take responsibility.'
Instead of just standing here and watching, I had to step in myself.
"...No, I need to step in too."
This fight between the two of them wasn't really either of their fault. It had happened because of my actions, which meant I had to deal with it myself.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register