Desperate Battle (4)
Shiori charged at me with a thrust stance, but my attention was more on her parasol than on her. It clearly wasn’t a typical weapon, yet she’d brought it to the battlefield to use as one. That could only mean it had some special power.
“Pointless. And you’re in the way.”
Every time I created distance with teleportation, the guy with magic eyes would rush me. That was his only move—I’d figured that out already. I swiftly drew my revolver from my hip and fired without aiming, holding it low.
The unaimed bullets hit the magic-eyed man in the arm, stomach, and thigh, making him collapse.
Of course they did. My revolver didn’t just fire bullets—it was powered by magic. And unlike typical magic attacks, it didn’t use mana to guide the projectiles. Which meant he couldn’t read their trajectory.
If you rely on one ability, you’ll never become strong. My father was strong because he could master any weapon, though he preferred war hammers because of their durability.
Next, General Dordlet came charging at me, a bit slower. I tried to parry his spear with my gladius, but it was impossible with my strength; the impact knocked my gladius out of my hand instead.
I used wind magic to blast myself backward, but Dordlet pressed forward even more aggressively.
“Gladius!”
A chain extended from the hilt of the gladius spinning in the air, wrapping around my arm. I pulled it toward me, causing the gladius to fly blade-first at Dordlet at high speed.
“Hah!”
But Dordlet blasted it away with a burst of fighting spirit.
This is bad. He’s planning to use magic armor. If he managed to activate it in this situation, I might not be able to win.
I have to act first!
“Open, doors of the Treasury. Fall down, prototypes. And blow up!”
I could open portals anywhere within my treasury. I opened one under a pile of prototypes—especially under the heap of failed experiments.
Most prototypes inside the Treasury were equipped with self-destruct mechanisms to protect secrets. Though we’d usually remove them once completed, many unfit for release still had them. You never know when someone might try to loot my treasury.
I used Quick Draw to grab a detonator and triggered the self-destruct on the falling pile of prototypes.
I didn’t expect this to kill them, of course. While keeping Shiori pinned with revolver shots, I closed the portal and opened it elsewhere.
“This should finish it.”
I dropped a 20-inch shell through the gate—lucky it was a proximity fuse type, just what I needed.
I opened a gate beneath it and let it drop.
The moment it hit the ground, it caused a massive explosion. I retreated into my Treasury, safe behind its indestructible door. Even with explosions nearby, the door was completely unscathed—seriously, how strong was this thing?
Once the explosions subsided, I exited. I didn’t want to get stuck inside by accident. Besides, this wasn’t the end—I had plenty of revenge left to take.
“… You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Dordlet was alive, though his arms had been blown off and he was on the brink of death.
But he wouldn’t be able to fight anymore, and with that much blood loss, healing him would be impossible. Shiori seemed to have fled to safety and was now running back. I fired my revolver to put an end to Dordlet.
“Three are down.”
Shiori looked furious, unable to accept Dordlet’s defeat.
Yeah, if he had activated his magic armor, I would’ve lost. It was only smart to crush him before he could transform. It’s just like finishing off a boss before they enter phase two.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Using bombs is cheating!”
“They’re shells, actually.”
“Why do you even have something like that!?”
“Because I make them.”
Not that I’d tell her everything. A magician never reveals their full hand.
Alright, time to take care of Shiori too. She was one of the main culprits.
I casually launched Fireball spells. First, I needed to gauge her combat ability. I fired around a hundred, making them impossible to dodge.
Let’s see how much of a threat she really was.
“Too many, seriously!”
She sounded annoyed but not panicked, casually deflecting the magic with her parasol. So it could counter magic too? Then how about bullets?
I fired, and the parasol easily deflected the rounds.
At that moment, I was sure—Shiori wasn’t a real threat.
She was just like the magic-eyed guy, relying solely on that parasol. Nowhere near first-class.
“Can I count on you?”
—Got it!—
Wind wrapped around me, propelling me at high speed toward Shiori.
“Don’t get cocky!”
“I’m not losing.”
Her closed parasol thrust forward, but the chest plate of my armored dress extended and pinned into the ground like a stake. Using that force, I flipped over her head, and at the same time, the tip of my shoe transformed into a blade that stabbed into Shiori’s shoulder as I kicked her.
“Gyaaaah!”
Shiori grabbed her shoulder, rolling on the ground. I took the opportunity to snatch up her parasol and stash it inside the Treasury. That should leave her defenseless… or so I thought, but I could see several knives hidden under her skirt as she rolled around. Was she stupid?
The exaggerated screams were fake. At first, I thought maybe she just had no pain tolerance, but this was clearly acting.
I approached Shiori and stabbed Gladius into her leg.
That should keep her from moving.
“Gyaaah—just kidding.”
“Completely obvious.”
Naturally, Shiori pulled a knife from under her skirt and tried to stab me as she pushed herself up, but I let go of Gladius’s hilt and quickly created distance. At the same time, I yanked on the chain wrapped around my wrist, pulling Gladius out of Shiori’s leg and back into my hand.
“Ehehe, you caught on quick.”
“Your acting was over-the-top. And your knives were plainly visible under your skirt. Are you stupid?”
“Ahaha—oops, my bad.
But you really have no hesitation, do you? I’ve always wondered about you after hearing the rumors in this world.
A scary witch-like woman like you is called a saintess? What a joke. I couldn’t help but laugh.”
“I never called myself that, though.”
That’s just something people started saying on their own. I’m not some saintly character. I don’t even pray to gods most of the time.
Besides, I’m considered more of a spirit believer and don’t have that great of a relationship with the Church. Not bad, but there was definitely some distance. I’ve even gotten strange looks before—like resigned glares without any hostility. People like that wouldn’t call me a saintess.
Spirit worship is basically nature worship, a pretty laid-back religion, and there’s no such title as saint within it. Meaning, I’m not a saint.
“First of all, what exactly are you after? I’m obviously stronger than you.”
“Oh? You really don’t get it? This whole war is to capture you, you know.”
I had suspected as much.
“Not that it matters. The emperor’s plans are meaningless anyway. My brother’s going to take over the Empire soon. And you? You’ll get to be the new emperor’s consort! Aren’t you thrilled?”
“Take your disgusting fantasies and write them in your notebook or something. First off, there’s no benefit for me, and I’d never marry someone I don’t know.”
“……”
A shadow fell over Shiori’s expression.
“I see… so you really don’t know. Well, that’s just like you. You trampled all over my brother’s pride without even realizing it… I think you can afford to lose a limb or two. You can always heal it later.”
She probably knew Iris from my past life. Honestly, Iris never cared about other people. Not a single teacher or classmate’s name or face stuck with her. She only remembered those close to her and was terrible at forming attachments.
So this grudge was probably just nonsense. I’d experienced that often enough—where my research surpassed predecessors and they got resentful.
“Getting resented by strangers is nothing new, so I don’t care.
But anyone who harms my family is my enemy.”
Now, I had the power to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
I fired at Shiori with my revolver. One shot, two, three. I reloaded with magic and continued firing.
She deflected about thirty shots, but one of the ricocheted bullets struck her thigh where the gladius had been embedded. The moment her movement dulled, I closed the distance and kicked her wounded leg with all my might. That should hurt.
“Urgh!”
“I win.”
I raised Gladius.
“Alice, stop!”
“Ugh—!”
I froze mid-swing—someone called out to me in my brother’s voice… No! It wasn’t him!
In that brief moment of hesitation, I took a punch to the stomach.
“Ahaha, fell for it!”
“……”
Shiori straddled me triumphantly, pummeling my face without mercy. Pain? No, this wasn’t just pain.
“People always fall for this. My Transformation is a gift from the goddess. Even you can be fooled for a second.”
She laughed, striking me again and again. But I grabbed her hand. My gauntlet’s palm shifted, sprouting spikes. Not just that—spikes burst from multiple parts of my armor, skewering her.
“Eh…?”
“… You’re in the way.”
With a body-strengthened backfist, I slammed Shiori hard enough to send her tumbling.
I pressed my foot down on her shoulder.
“I really hate fakes… especially fakes pretending to be family.”
A small, frightened whimper escaped Shiori. Was I really that scary right now?
I shot her hands and legs to immobilize her. Even so, she seemed to be slowly healing herself with recovery magic. No wonder she could keep moving after taking hits.
“For impersonating my big brother, you’ll pay. Die.”
I kept shooting her legs until I was sure she couldn’t move. Her healing might be decent, but she wouldn’t be walking for at least ten minutes.
From my Treasury, I retrieved some C4 and tossed it at her. I’d detonate it and be done.
Ugh, this was aggravating. Whatever—I wouldn’t win against the rest of them like this. Better to strike first before that man started anything.
I began chanting.
“Great Emperor.”
And in that instant, my consciousness was cut off.
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