What was she just told? What did she just say? She didn’t know, she didn’t know, she didn’t know……she didn’t want to know.

All she knew was that the person in front of her had killed her parents, who had given her endless love and whom she loved.

Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable.

What could she do? She absolutely couldn’t allow that person to be here. She couldn’t stand them breathing in front of her eyes. She couldn’t stand the fact that they were smiling. Their existence itself could not be tolerated.

That’s right, in that case, it’s fine to erase that person that should not exist from this world. Only then would her rage subside.

「Mm……AH…….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!」

Byune, who usually only voiced single sounds, let our a roar.

Bottomless hatred and anger filled her voice. As well as a little sorrow.

Byune’s face, which rarely showed any expression, was stained with hatred as she turned towards Pree, who was lovingly stroking the orange-red and light blue gems.

However, Pree didn’t seem to care about Byune at all and even smiled as she spoke.

「Oh, what’s wrong? It’s a chance to reunite parents with their child, you know? Don’t be so angry, be happier.」

「A-A-A-AH……AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!」

Pree’s words crossed Byune’s final line.

With daggers in had, she leapt towards Pree.

That’s right, as if the dolls standing in her way were irrelevant.

However, from the dolls’ perspective, they couldn’t let Byune pass silently. They all drew their weapons at Byune, who was trying to kill their creator.

But Byune didn’t stop. ……No, she couldn’t be stopped.

Swinging blades cut, pierced, and gouged her arms, legs, face, and body.

But even in that state, she didn’t seem to feel any pain at all as she went straight for Pree……to the hateful enemy showing off the gems created from the sacrifice of her parents. She ran only to deliver a blade of hatred.

That was the moment Pree had been aiming for and there was no way she would miss it.

「AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!」

Spears pierced into Byune’s sides.

But it didn’t matter. No, rather, by trapping the enemies’ weapons with her own body, there were less things getting in her way to Pree.

Byune ran forward, ignoring the pain coming from her body.

Normally, the numerous wounds she had received would be enough to stop her. However, for the current Byune, whose mind had taken over her body, her sense of pain was almost completely gone as she rushed towards Pree.

「Stop! We won’t let you get to Master!」

One of the dolls shouted as arrows, swords, and daggers swung out again.

Despite the injuries in her sides, Byune repelled all the attacks, as if they were a hindrance, dodging or stopping them with her body as she moved forward. ……After passing through a storm of blades, she finally succeeded in reaching Pree.

……But, Pree just pointed out with her left hand.

『Thunder Cage.』

With those words, the magic contained in a large amethyst attached to a bracelet on Pree’s left hand was instantly activated.

What was activated was lightning magic. However, instead of the magic that was activated from her ring previously, lightning flew out and formed a cage……

「KYAAH-!」

A scream echoed through the room.

Byune stared out with wide eyes.

……Yes, just before the Thunder Cage was completed, Vihera had appeared out of nowhere and pushed Byune away, trapping herself in the cage instead and eating the countless lightning strikes.

「Ah……Ah…………Ahhhh……」

She didn’t know what had just happened. In such a state, Byune reached out for Vihera, who was trapped in the Thunder Cage while being continuously struck by lightning.

However……

「Wh-at, are you……doing! During, battle……you, told me……that I shouldn’t let the blood rush to my head……isn’t that, right!」

Vihera complained bitterly to Byune as she was burned by the lightning. However, she no longer screamed like when she had been first struck.

「Ah……ahh……We-Wee-he-ra……」

Those were the first words Byune had spoken in years.

However, Vihera didn’t have the luxury of listening to them.

While enduring the pain of the lighting that continued to torment her body, she focused the magic power in her body to its limits.

At the same time, her gauntlets responded to the magic power she was pouring into them as the claws created from magic power grew longer and sharper.

「AHHHHHHHHH-!」

As the lightning continued to strike her, Vihera forcibly moved her body to slash through the Thunder Cage with her claws, which were now over 1m in length. At the same time, her claws swept through the body of a doll that was approaching the stunned Byune, splitting it in half.

「Haa-, haa-, haa-……」

While gasping for breath, Vihera went over to Byune instead of collapsing to the ground.

Pree’s aim had been to capture Byune alive, so Vihera hadn’t taken any fatal injuries. However, it was still true that Pree had intended to inflict enough injuries to prevent her from moving. Furthermore, Vihera’s armour, outside of her gauntlets and footwear, consisted of nothing more than a dancer like costume, comprising of many layers of thin clothing.

Her clothes were a type of magic item that provided more defensive than what it might appear, but even so, it wasn’t something that could nullify all the incoming attacks while trapped in the Thunder Cage.

「Ah……ah……」

「Seriously, get a grip……okay? I saved you……so calm down.」

Vihera said that as she staggered over to Byune’s side.

For some reason, this would have been the perfect time to attack, but Pree just watched them and didn’t make a move.

She even signaled the dolls not to attack.

……However, it was clear from the crooked smile on her lips that Pree wasn’t just watching on because she was merciful.

「Look, I’ve had enough of this……you want to get revenge for your parents, right? Then be more calm. ……You can’t……let the blood rush to your head.」

「Wee-hera.」

It was probably because she hadn’t spoken for such a long time. There was something about the words that Byune spoke that were hard to hear. However, Vihera didn’t seem to care as she spoke with a smile.

「Fufu, Byune……be shure to avenge your father and mother. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to fight any more battles right now……」

Vihera’s injuries were by no means fatal. However, they weren’t so light that they wouldn’t interfere with combat.

Because of that, leaving her own injuries alone, Vihera took out a potion from a pouch at Byune’s waist and poured it over the injuries on Byune’s sides, where she had been injured the most by the dolls’ attacks.

Byune’s injuries began to heal with the potions she had bought for emergency cases.

「Here……you’re welcome. You’re a girl……you shouldn’t have any scars.」

「Umm.」

Byune nodded at Vihera’s words.

Her expression, which usually didn’t change much, was now distorted by heartbreak as tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

Leaving Vihera sitting on the floor, Byune rubbed her eyes and turned to Pree.

This time, her gaze had completely changed.

There was no doubt that it was still a strong gaze. However, unlike before, when it had been painted with hatred, a determination now dwelled in her eyes.

「Mm!」

With that voice, as if to give herself strength, she dashed straight towards Pree again.

「Fufu~, your eyes that were filled with hatred were beautiful, but I also like your eyes right now.」

Pree muttered and spoke as she lightly tapped her heels against the floor.

『Like the Wind.』

In that moment, the yellow gem attached to Pree’s right anklet glowed and the magic inside was activated.

Just by jumping backwards lightly, she created an unimaginable distance between herself and Byune.

「-!?」

Even though her eyebrows shifted in surprise, Byune’s feet didn’t stop.

She no longer had anymore needles she could use as throwing weapons and the two daggers in her hands were her last.

Coming to this place, she had also dressed lightly to maximise her abilities.

Even so, Byune’s legs didn’t stop moving. Holding both her daggers, she closed the distance to Pree.

However, what was different this time was that she didn’t ignore the dolls that tried to block her path. She dodged incoming attacks, deflected them, and blocked them as she pushed forward, avoiding any injuries as much as possible.

 

 

「Fufu~……seriously, you’re such a pain to deal with. ……Unfortunately, I don’t think I can leave you alone.」

Vihera muttered to herself as she watched Byune rush forward.

At the end of Vihera’s gaze, several dolls were approaching her.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been anything for her to worry about. But now, things were really bad.

The injuries she had suffered from the Thunder Cage had left Vihera feeling numb, making it impossible for her to make any precise movements. Of course, fighting was no exception.

Considering her current situation, the fact that she was able to take out a potion from Byune’s pouch earlier was already close to a miracle.

「Still……I can’t……die in a place like this.」

Staggering as she stood up, she could no longer form claws with her magic power due to the numbness.

As one of her greatest weapons, it did hurt her ability to fight, being unable to form her claws, but even so, Vihera didn’t plan to sit there and go down quietly.

「Capture her!」

Two spears thrust out along with those words.

Considering that the spears were aimed at her body despite the order to capture her, it was clear that the dolls were aware that it would be better if they didn’t risk dying for now.

「Flying Slash!」

A voiced suddenly shouted out. At the same time, the sound of something breaking was her as something cold splashed onto her body.

It was obvious what it was as the injuries she had taken from the Thunder Cage began to heal in no time at all.

「Rei……?」

She quickly turned to the place the shout had come from, but Rei was still fighting Oricule.

The only difference from before was that Oricule was now pushing back.

Seeing the fragments of the potion container on the floor, Vihera realised what had happend as she stomped the ground with her numbed feet.

「Seriously……throwing a potion over and destroying it in the air to pour the contents over me.」

While muttering to no one in particular, Vihrea looked down at the dolls, who had become more wary and distance themselves after seeing her injuries heal.

The person in front of them was no longer the woman who had been injured all over and couldn’t even stand up a moment ago.

In order to reduce the injuries she took from the Thunder Cage, Vihera had used up most of her magic power to reinforce her light clothing. Furthermore, in order to destroy the doll that had been approaching Byune, she had poured more magic power into her claws than necessary to increase their length. But while she had used up most of her magic power, the wounds on her body had healed and her physical strength still remained.

In order to heal her injuries……even if it was to stop their own combat strength from being reduced, Rei had disrupted the flow of battle that was in his favour to allow her to recover. Vihera was someone who loved to fight to the point she was called a battle mainiac, so there was no reason she would not feel indebted and it left a strong impression oh her.

Badump.

Watching Rei repel Oricule’s rapier and sword breaker with the Death Scythe’s blade and shaft, she suddenly became conscious of her hearbeat, which she could faintly hear from her chest.

(What……is this? I don’t know. But I don’t feel like I’m going to lose to those dolls like this……)

There was something mysterious inside her, something warm.

The moment Vihera became conscious of that, power welled up from within her body.

「Not at all!」

Shouting out the continuation of her internal thoughts, Vihera dashed forward as she charged towards the dolls that had been attempting to capture her.

Punches and kicks flew out.

Vihera’s main strengths were her claws formed from magic power that extended from the back of her hands, as well as the blades that extended out from her heels, but both could not be used due to her lack of magic power.

The dolls were puzzled by Vihera’s actions, but they moved to avoid her attacks……

But, the next moment, something flew out from nowhere, piercing their bodies and slashing them to pieces.

While moving freely through the air like a whip, the blades attached to the whip like weapon slashed through the dolls that were trying to move behind Vihera as well as a doll that was heading for Byune.

What kind of weapon was that? Vihera recognised it immediately.

And, of course, she knew the person who used it.

Because of that, she shouted out their name.

「Elena!」

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