The pale blue-white magic power and the dark red magic power formed a vortex and sprayed out.
They both stepped forward simultaneously, the impact causing the ground to explode. With their first step, they reached maximum speed.
By driving the recoil of the Drukken, the speed, which was already faster than the wind, was further increased.
The two-colored magical light trailed a long tail, and Shia and Phantom seemed to have turned into shooting stars.
Shia's consciousness lengthened, and the world's scenery faded.
In a world as slow as a freeze-frame, Shia, like a sword-drawing technique, held Deluken (her partner) at her side. She spun at the speed of her sprint, harnessing the ferocious centrifugal force to deliver a single blow with all her might.
The blow that exceeded the speed of sound broke through the air wall, forming a white air film, and the next moment, a cracking sound was heard.
The phantom did the same, swinging its black hammer as if looking in a mirror.
The two hammers clashed head-on—
In an instant, a huge sound like thunder resounded all around.
A powerful shock wave erupted radially, blasting apart the surrounding air and ground. In an instant, holes appeared on the ground, as if they had been bombarded by the moon's gravity magic.
In the center of the pit was Shia.
"pretty."
The phantom flew out in a parabola in the air, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she praised Xia.
Then, it simply melted away and disappeared.
Standing at the center of the explosion, Xia slowly exhaled and relaxed the strength in her body.
Only a few clanging sounds were heard, and the spent shells fell to the ground, as if announcing the outcome.
Shia looked up at the sky and said naturally:
"...Mother, I want to be a gentle monster."
In the past, when Shia was young, she cried and asked, "Am I a monster?" Mona gently counseled Shia.
──Do whatever you want, you can become anything.
But that's not enough, I need to become even stronger. I need to become a ridiculously strong, gentle monster who can protect all my loved ones.
Because of such expectations for herself, Xia is here now.
If my mother were here, what would she think?
—She held her head high and said loudly, "I'm Shia Hauria. Anyone have any objections?!"
Thinking of what her mother said, Xiaya smiled softly and reported to her mother with her head held high and chest puffed out.
"This is me, the current Shia Hauria. Does anyone have any objections?"
I always feel that my mother's voice seems to gently stroke a pair of rabbit ears.
—You've become quite remarkable, Shia.
Then, as if blessing Shia, a new path opened up in the wall in front.
Shia picked up Druken again and walked forward without hesitation.
About five minutes passed.
Shia swung her rabbit ears, walking briskly through a dimly lit passageway. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something. Realizing it was the scent of someone closest to her, the fur on her ears bristled with joy.
After a long detour, they found themselves in a dead end. However, having sensed the presence behind the wall of the dead end, Xia had no intention of stopping.
If anyone else were here, they'd probably be dumbfounded and say, "Are your thoughts lately just too foolish?"... Regardless, Shia, who claims to be invincible and seems to have given up on options other than 'moving forward', will definitely not stop.
"Barriers are meant to be broken!"
She instantly increased her speed from cruising to maximum. Since there was only one way to go, even if it looked like a dead end, it would probably find its way out automatically, just like before. But Shia didn't even think about it, putting her ability to think aside.
She waved the Deluken—
“Hahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”
Just before the attack, the ice wall disappeared as expected.
Druken suddenly lost his target and swung his sword wide open, sending Shia's body flying into the air.
Just when he was about to land face first—
After all, Xia would not let herself show such an ugly appearance. She immediately landed on the ground with a forward roll and rolled around on the ground.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she raised her hands like a gymnast, shouted "Hah!", and stood up gracefully.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
Sia's expression seemed to say: I'm not ashamed. Everything was calculated, I just overdid it a bit, and I'm not trying to hide my failure.
"...Tsuki-san, no! I did this on purpose!"
Xia looked around and defended herself.
That's right, Xia sensed Yue's presence. Seeing Sorry Rabbit's awful behavior, Yue was speechless again... but it seemed her worries were unfounded.
Yue was here, but she wasn't looking at Xia.
Even at this moment when Xia called her, she did not look back.
"Ms. Yue?"
Xia called her again, but she still didn't respond.
In the trial hall, Yue stood quietly in front of the ice tree. From Shia's perspective, she could only see her back, so she couldn't tell what her expression was.
I always feel that she is a little difficult to approach now.
For a moment, a tiny possibility flashed through Shia's mind—had Yue failed in her attempt? However, this worry was quickly proven to be unfounded. A closer look revealed two more passages besides the one Shia had exited. One was likely the passage Yue had originally entered through, and the other was the new passage for his continued progress. The absence of the phantom proved that Yue had indeed passed the trial.
Xia smiled bitterly, wondering how she could have such a foolish idea. She thought Yue must have just not heard her, so she walked to the center of the room. And then...
"Eh?"
Seeing Yue's appearance, she realized that the situation was beyond her imagination.
Yue looked very embarrassed.
Of course, due to her "auto-regeneration", her body was intact, but her clothes were tattered, proving that she had just experienced a fierce battle.
Yue's opponent, though a phantom, was Yue herself. Unlike Shia, who fought solely with physical melee, Yue was a seasoned witch, so she must have experienced a fierce and varied magical battle.
Furthermore, considering Yue's original fighting style is to "rely on automatic regeneration, ignore enemy attacks, and use powerful magic to overwhelm the enemy when they attack", it is normal that she will not get through unscathed.
But the problem was that the battle was over now, so there was no reason for her not to use regeneration magic to repair her clothes. Thinking about it more carefully, she didn't move forward, but instead stood there as if thinking about something. This was indeed quite unusual.
Having never seen Yue like this before, Xia took a deep breath and stopped in her tracks. However, she quickly changed her mind and called Yue in an unusually lively tone.
"Ms. Yue~!"
“──!”
Yue's body trembled at the sound of the cheerful voice, and she turned around with a surprised expression. Seeing Xia's sunny, lively and warm smile, Yue narrowed her eyes, seeming to feel that it was dazzling.
“…Shia.”
"Yes, Miss Yue, it's me."
Shia chuckled softly and replied easily. Yue also showed a happy expression. It was obvious that she was soaking in a hot spring, and the strength in her body was gradually relaxing.
"...Are the rooms connected?"
"That seems to be the case. I came here through the newly opened passage after passing the trial. Miss Yue also passed it, right?"
Xia said this while looking at the exit of the room without mentioning the miserable state of Yue's clothes.
“…Yeah, no problem.”
Only then did Yue seem to realize her own miserable state. She glanced at the unharmed Shia, then at herself. She seemed a little embarrassed, blushing as she cast her regeneration magic.
Xia watched Yue quickly restore her clothes, feeling uncertain. How much should she raise the topic of the trial, and how far should she go in her questions?
Yue's resolve must not have wavered, otherwise she wouldn't have passed the trial.
But Yue was obviously worried about something that made her unable to let go.
That's why she forgot to repair her clothes and didn't hear Xia's call.
(What exactly happened…? Miss Yue wasn't affected at all in the labyrinth. I presume the darkness in her heart stems from the betrayal she suffered three hundred years ago, but… by now, that shouldn't be a problem for her anymore, right?)
Xia didn't know how to approach Yue. Should she ask her what she was thinking right now? Or should she just stay with Yue and wait until she felt better?
It is precisely because the moon is so important to Xia that Xia is struggling inside.
"...Shia, I'm fine. Anyway, let's move on."
Seeing what Xia was thinking, Yue couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Ms. Yue... that's true. Let's quickly meet up with Mr. Hajime and the others!"
“…Yeah, I want to see Hajime soon.”
"Haha, that's right!"
While she was hesitant, Yue was the one worrying about her. Xia drooped her rabbit ears in frustration.
That being said, there's really no point in standing still. As long as I meet up with Hajime, Yue and Hajime will naturally create a pink space, and Yue will definitely become more energetic. Shia told herself this, wagging her rabbit ears and moving forward with a lighter step than usual.
In this way, the two walked side by side in the newly opened passage.
"Everyone's okay, right? They seemed to have a hard time in the maze..."
"...Yeah, that's true, especially Yuuga and Shizuku."
"Shizuku-san is quite surprising, because she always seemed so calm and composed back in the Sea of Trees maze... Kaori-san is really worried about her."
"...Byozaki is already ill. I think she's even less optimistic than Shizuku."
"You're saying that again. Miss Yue really likes Miss Kaori."
“…I don’t like her.”
They chatted about irrelevant topics along the way.
This was the same scene as usual. Most of the time, their conversation style was that Xia would start a topic first, and then Yue would take over.
Yue's responses were clear and concise, and he would occasionally joke during the conversation.
However, Xia felt a strange feeling that was almost like a noise, which was imperceptible to outsiders.
Xia knew that even during a conversation like this, Yue was still thinking about other things, and her consciousness and heart were not here.
In fact, even though Yue was talking to Shia, he was still thinking about the previous battle with the phantom.
──Do you really think you can stay by his side forever?
The trial began anew with this question. Just when Yue, unwavering in his resolve, was about to secure victory, the balance of victory and defeat began to tip back little by little.
"...boring question."
Yue refuted Phantom's question with a single sentence, then used gravity magic to try to crush Phantom. Phantom dropped to his knees, as if about to be crushed, but with a calm look in his eyes, he asked again:
"Hey, why are you still alive?"
Of course, because Hajime saved me.
Phantom seemed to see Yue's inner response, and she denied it:
"Don't you understand what I mean? Let me put it another way."
──Why didn't my uncle kill you?
Yue shouldn't have to listen to her, he could just crush her to death without any problem.
But Yue couldn't ignore that question.
It felt like a sharp knife was pressed against my throat.
Unconsciously, the gravitational field began to loosen.
"You should understand that your 'immortality' is not absolutely unbreakable, so it can't be because I can't kill you."
That's right. Yue's immortality is supported by automatic regeneration, which in turn relies on mana. Once the mana is depleted, regeneration will cease.
That day, Yue gave up resistance and endured continuous attacks, being forced to the point where his magic power was almost exhausted. If he wanted to kill Yue, it should be possible.
Dinglied should be able to kill Yue.
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