CH 138

Chapter 138

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : A Name That Calls Death, Part 10 — Those Who Fight

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Eh… ah…?」

「N–Nia… your arm is!」

「My, arm?」

Nia looks at her left arm. The arm that should be there is gone, and blood is gushing out like a broken faucet.

「M–M–My… arm is…」

「Nia? Nia!」

Kazas, who should’ve been in the rear guard, jumped out of the way as if rolling. He runs to Nia without regard for the danger. Nia stares dumbfounded at his face, but realizes the reality from Kazas’ desperate expression. At that moment, an excruciating pain struck her.

「My arm… uwaagghhhh!!!」

「Nia, Nia! You must calm down!」

「I–It hurts. It huuuurrrtttssss!!!」

「Uwaahhh!!」

Kazas is blown away by Nia, who plunges to the ground and storms out. His glasses also come off and fall to the ground and break, but without paying attention to the glasses, Kazas holds Nia down with the maximum force he can muster.

「Something to tie up, fast!」

「Here’s my belt!」

「Aggghhhhh!」

「Shit, the blood’s not stopping!」

「Let me do it!」

Euthy literally flies in.

「I’ll give her first aid with water magic. Aery, bring me the arm that fell off and wrap it in a cloth! And ice if you can!」

「Where the hell is the ice!?」

「Have Alfie make it with magic!」

「I’m sorry, but we can’t afford that yet.」

Alfiris and Miranda stared at the burning Dantalion. Then, as if the flames had shaken, Lifeless appeared, trampling Dantalion, which had turned to ashes.

「…Hmmm… That’s about the extent of the damage…」

「It’s not fair to catch us by surprise. It shows your character, doesn’t it?」

Despite his light tone, Lifeless gave an angry look to Alfiris, who gave him a petulant look.

「…Didn’t you want to say to me『You’re next』 before the fight, did you…? You must’ve had a very obsessive childhood with your weird knight’s tales…」

「No way. It’s Fenna’s fault for getting distracted in the middle of a fight, Nia had faults too. I might have gone for the same thing if I were in your shoes.」

「Hey, Alfie!」

Miranda yells at Alfiris. Alfiris glanced sideways at Miranda, not offended, and sighed a single sigh.

「Well, I got distracted too. I take full responsibility for that.」

「…Heh… How humble…」

「So I’m going to make sure you pay for it. With your life.」

「…Fufufu… nice, how nice… If you’re not that good, you’re not good enough for me.」

Lifeless started laughing happily, very happily indeed. It’s as if he now, for the first time, recognizes Alfiris as an enemy.

「Miranda, ward everyone so they’re all protected. We’re gonna do this the loudest way we know how, so get as far away from us as you can.」

「Alfie, are you all right?」

「I don’t know? I won’t know until I try.」

「I don’t mean that. I mean, I thought you were…」

Miranda swallowed her words as she was about to say that she was worried about Alfiris. She was about to say that she was worried about Alfiris, but that didn’t help. The battle between Alfiris and Lifeless can no longer be stopped, and Miranda knows that if Alfiris cannot stop the Lifeless, total annihilation is inevitable. If that was the case, Miranda wanted to keep her focused on the fight rather than distract Alfiris by saying something unnecessary here and now.

「…I’ll take care of the back. So, go win!」

「I will try.」

Alfiris answers without looking back at Miranda, who is about to walk away. When Miranda returns to Nia and the others, it’s a mess there.

「Kazas, it hurts! It really hurts!!」

「Nia, put this in your mouth!」

Nia is slumped over with a greasy sweat on her forehead. Her remaining right hand clutches his arm as if clinging to him, but her nails dig into his arm with too much force, and blood drips down his arm. Still, Kazas put something to bite on Nia’s mouth to keep her from biting her tongue and held her down as she struggled to keep it in place. Meanwhile, Euthy is using magic to stop the blood. Her forehead was drenched in sweat.

Seeing this, Miranda sends out instructions.

「Lisa.」

「Yes, I’m here.」

「Use your Sensors to find a way out. We’re gonna make a break for it. We’ll get out while Alfiris fights her way out.」

「What about Alfie?」

「Once I get you all out, I’ll go back. In the meantime, Nia and Fenna can’t fight anymore. They are in danger if we don’t get them out of here.」

Miranda looks at Fenna, who is sitting up and staring vacantly at a point, and Nia, who is sprawled out in pain.

「All right, just a moment.」

「Please.」

Lisa concentrates on finding a way out, while Miranda instructs Aerial to check on Fenna and helps patch up Nia herself.

「Euthy, what about this?」

「This is?」

「It’s a special blood stopper made from the bark of the leaves of the tochik and the fruit of the curcio plant. It will manage to control the bleeding for now. It also has analgesic properties.」

「That would be great. But give me a little more time.」

「Why?」

「Now I might be able to build up the blood flow well enough to make it last until we can link her hands again.」

「Can you do it?」

Miranda rolls her eyes. What Euthy said is pretty advanced technology. She had heard that there was a way to do that in water restoration magic, but she didn’t think that the always playful Euthy could handle it.

「It’s my first time too… but if I can get to the fairy village, I might be able to do something about it. Fortunately, the amputation was done by magic, so there is little chance of germs getting in, but still, the sooner the better.」

「Got it. But do it in 5 minutes. I don’t know if Alfiris will last that long.」

「…Is it really that bad?」

「Yes.」

Miranda remembers the old days. A good person of her own—— No, her lover would be more accurate, but Miranda no longer thought of him as her husband—— He is a man who takes Elrich, the man whom Aude had defeated in a friendly fight, under his chin. His ability should be known.

「（If Alfie doesn’t win… I will stay by her side. No matter what happens to me.）」

While Miranda was making up her mind inwardly, Lisa ran over her sleeve.

「Miranda, I have a hard time telling you this.」

「What more is there?」

「There is no… way out.」

「Eh!?」

Everyone else reacts to the screams let out by Miranda.

「What does that mean?」

「The surroundings are blocked by a very wide range of warding. I was so focused on the fight that I was blamed for having a very limited Sensor range.」

「…Curse it!」

Miranda’s frustrated look and the explosion at her back were simultaneous. And then Alfiris blows up.

Alfiris rolls on the ground, but manages to regain her position.

「Kuh…」

「Alfie!」

「Stay back!」

Alfiris blackmails Aerial who is about to approach her. Her eyes stare in the direction from which she has just been blown away. And then, Lifeless walks leisurely toward him.

「…There’s no way out, is there…? Lisa, I believe…?」

「So you are the culprit after all?」

「…Did you really think I was just spectating…? I was able to ward myself properly as I watched the battle… But when it came out in front of you bunch, some things had already been put up… I’m not some idiot like Doom… The trick is to be thorough… You have to have many tricks when you fight… You have to have many trump cards hidden… It’s the basis of combat…」

Lifeless looks at Alfiris and the others as if to say, “Don’t you know anything about that?”

「…The most important thing to keep in mind when fighting a battle is to secure your exit… If you rush in without a clear path of retreat, you will inevitably be wiped out… There is no room for mercy…」

「I don’t want to be told by the person who initiated it.」

「…That too… by the way…」

Lifeless looks at Miranda. He takes his eyes off of her in a matter-of-fact manner, even though he is in combat with Alfiris. It’s as if he had already read through Alfiris’ abilities.

「…After this battle, I’m bringing you back…」

「What, are you blinded by my beauty?」

「…I’m sorry, but I don’t care about the female form… you’re immortal, aren’t you…?」

「…What if I’m like that?」

Miranda raises her guard.

「…You didn’t know…? Perfect immortality has never been achieved… To reach other stars in the heavens, to transcend time, to attain immortality, these are the long-held dreams of mages…. As a student of magic, I am no exception to that… just the thought that the answer may be right in front of me… intrigues me…」

「It has nothing to do with me.」

「…Not interested, but you’re involved… Once the mages find out about this, there will be no end to the number of people who will try to unravel its secrets, even if it means taking you apart… Not only me, but also those in the Magic Association… Miliazar was smart enough to realize this and protect you as quickly as she did… Or maybe she just wants to keep that secret to herself…」

「Our Master Bishop isn’t that kind of person!」

Miranda’s voice is unintentionally strained. She owes Miliazar a great debt of gratitude, and although they usually argue a lot, she also respects her. Miranda is not mature enough to keep quiet when Miliazar is mocked by an unidentifiable boy. But Miranda’s feelings were of no concern to Lifeless.

「…I don’t know… that’s not the justice you think it is… she’s not afraid to do dirty things and sacrifice her men when necessary… Did you know that she once completely burned an entire town and its inhabitants to ashes…?」

「How do you know that? What do you know?」

「…At least more than you… after all, we’ve known each other since before the Great War…」

「What?」

「…We knew each other back then… but she didn’t recognize me because I look so different now…」

Lifeless speaks plainly. The content of the story was a surprise to Miranda, and to be honest, she was intrigued, but she couldn’t take everything this boy said seriously.

「…Is that true?」

「…If you’re interested, follow me… but since I’m taking you after this, the result will be the same… I’ll tell you everything I know before you lose your mind with a proper experiment…」

「Do you think I’d let you do that?」

Alfiris stands up with a yielding smile.

「As long as I am alive, Miranda will not be touched.」

「…How problematic… I’m not supposed to kill you…」

「By whom?」

「…I’m afraid I’ve been a bit too chatty… but I’m not expected to be alive and well… so I’ll just have to keep my hands and feet…」

Lifeless is once again ready for battle. Seeing this, Alfiris also readies herself.

「…Show me your desperate resistance… and I’ll let you live as long as I can, but… there’s a complete pervert who want to tamper with you guys as experimental material… You’d be a billion times better off dead…」

「You’re a big deal too.」

「…I just want to fight the strong… and I’ll kill their loved ones if I have to… if they’re strong enough… I’d kill everyone but that person if I had to… Tools are interesting because they can change their expressions in their own way even if they can’t fight, but I still prefer fighting…」

Lifeless has a look on his face that says he just had a good idea.

「…You too… Are you a person who would work harder if at least one of your friends died…? Which one would you prefer…?」

Lifeless points her hand toward Miranda and the others. Miranda and the others are startled by this, but before they can react, Alfiris spills out even more killing energy and magic than before.

「You, shut up!!!」

「…You can do it, can’t you…? …Then that’s good…」

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Then it was Lifeless and Alfiris who were once again ready for battle.