An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Meredith couldn't send her voice out in spirit form; simply maintaining herself was a struggle. Since power is said to reside in the soul, Meredith told herself: "Use your strength! Escape!" She focused her consciousness on the source of her inner strength, but in reality, it wasn't that easy. She seemed to sense something...

Regardless, Natsu seemed to have sensed Meredith's thoughts from her expression, and he gritted his teeth in regret.

"It's there, right?"

Noticing that Ross had sensed Lutilis's presence through the "Hole", Natsu immediately released the "Hole".

"Ros! You're incredible! You've finally captured the leader of the heretics! I'll be your witness! Come, punish the heretics!"

Mulu came to Laus's side, looked at Meredith, and his face showed an ecstatic expression. He kept shouting resentfully: Kill her! Kill her! Let her know the wrath of God! Death to the heretic!

The glowing chains were manipulated to hang Meredith's body and spirit in front of Rouse, like a prisoner on the gallows or a sinner nailed to the cross.

Ross and Meredi faced each other. At the edge of their vision, they could see the Empire's fleet of airships shining brightly, and hundreds of huge magic circles preparing to launch a second wave of attack.

"Any last words?"

Ross looked at Meredith with emotionless eyes.

Meredith's real body lowered its head, but the transparent Meredith behind it looked directly at Royce.

Royce looked into her eyes and narrowed them.

Because even though death was imminent, Meredith remained undaunted. Despite being transparent, despite being a spirit, Meredith's celestial eyes shone brighter than a physical body.

"No?"

Not only that, she even had that arrogant and annoying smile on her face as usual.

"You think I won't kill you?"

Meredith smiled and replied, "How could that be possible?" The surrounding knights, seeing that the heretics showed no sign of despair, were filled with indignation. Then, Meredith's expression changed, and she replied with a calm smile.

"I have already prepared myself that I could die at any time."

A shimmering hemispherical barrier, approximately three kilometers in diameter, appeared around the tree. It shone with an earthy glow, like the earth itself. It was Natsu's barrier, blocking space. Powered by Lutilis's "sublimation," the immense barrier not only obscured the capital, but also the tree and surrounding settlements.

Meredith had an expression of trust on her face.

She believed that she could block the next wave of attacks, and the next and the next wave would be no problem either.

"But I'm not going to die yet, absolutely no problem."

When Ross heard her say this, confusion appeared in his eyes, and he couldn't help asking her why she was so sure.

"Why? Of course!"

Meredy replied with a smug look on her face:

"Because I have the best companions in the world!"

Just after she said this.

Nearly 40% of the Imperial Army's air fleet exploded with a resounding explosion. The ships that exploded were distinctly different: they were all well-equipped airships, likely the main fleet, including the flagship. The main mast, the key to the strategic composite magic, shattered, and flames billowed from the stern, where the propulsion magic engine was mounted. The airships disintegrated and slowly fell.

At the same time, a blizzard and moonlight-colored flashes descended from the sky like a downdraft, freezing the masts of nearly half of the airships.

At this moment, as if pursuing a victory, the demonic swords rained down like a torrential rain, instantly shattering the frozen parts. Then, they tracked down the surviving airships, petrifying their mainmasts and sterns.

Only twenty airships remained, and though they managed to fire composite magic, they were unable to break through Natsu's barrier. As expected, the flying flames collided with the spatial wall before crashing into the sea of ​​trees, dissipating into nothingness.

Seeing this shocking scene, not only Rouse, but even the knights present, led by Mulu, were speechless. At this moment, the reliable elder sister jumped out from the "cave entrance".

"Give back my beloved little sister, big sister!"

“──!?”

A large amount of water appeared out of nowhere, sweeping away the surrounding knights and at the same time sealing Rouse and Meredi in a huge block of water.

As long as it was in the water, it was Mei's home turf. Rolls couldn't breathe, and because of the heavy body in the water, his movements were slow, making it impossible for him to avoid the water knife with a bad edge.

“Ugh!?”

Oxygen leaked out, water entered his mouth, and it became even more difficult for Ross to breathe. In this way, even Ross's control of magic would be lost, and the glowing chain on his hand would dissipate.

"Xiao Mi! Are you okay!?"

"I can move now! Wow, my body is being drawn in!"

The body and spirit seemed to be drawn to each other, and even if she did nothing, Meredith's spirit would be pulled back to her body. After confirming that her soul and body were one, Mel released the water block and then, holding Meredith in a princess-like hug, stood over the current. Meredith then spat out the water.

"Xiao Mi is back to life~!! Mei'er, I love you!"

"Alright, alright, Mei'er loves you too~"

Meredi floated in the air, her index finger pointed toward the sky, and she posed with one hand on her waist.

Then she looked south...

The remaining airships were shot down one after another by the rain of demonic swords and the breath of absolute zero.

Suddenly, huge golems appeared and caught the airships, placing them on the ground in order, or huge chains flew out from their arms, tying up all the falling ships to prevent them from crashing and shattering.

Then more than a hundred flying dragons flew over and climbed onto the ships that were falling slightly faster, helping them to land softly.

Of course, the airship also fired back magical attacks, but it was after all falling, and the attacks were launched in a panic, so they had no effect on the people in the sky.

That’s right, that’s the majestic ice dragon with its back to the sun and wings spread, and the young man in black standing on the back of the ice dragon.

"Ahaha, ahahahahaha!! You're taking so long! I'm getting impatient waiting!"

Meredy called out the name of the world's best companion with a tone full of emotion.

"Oh! Ban!!"

(Illustration 012)

Her joyful voice seemed to reach the ice dragon Bandu and Oscar who was riding him. The duo flew up in one breath and began to collect the remaining fleet.

Before the Ice Dragon Bandu's flying ability and the breath that even the Demon King had to fear and retreat, the air fleet was slow and fragile.

Even if an anti-air attack was launched against him, Oscar would deploy the Black Umbrella's Ten Styles, "Holy Spell," or defend himself with the six-sided gravity-space composite artifact, "Black Shield," which functioned as a portal, completely blocking it. Furthermore, he would rain down demonic swords as a counterattack.

"Oscar Orcus... and the New God Age Magician, so you weren't in the Sea of ​​Trees from the start."

The knights who escaped the rapids surrounded Milady and Mel, with Laus on the right and Mulu on the left.

The eyes of the surrounding knights were bloodshot and their expressions were distorted with anger. Compared with them, Ross's tone was very calm. He glanced at Oscar and Bando who were showing their might and said.

"How's it going? Want to keep fighting? Xiao Mi is doing very well now, I'll play with you for as long as you want, okay?"

Meredith twisted her hips and swung her waist, showing a smug expression of provocation.

Basically, before the warrior group re-established the front line in the sea of ​​trees, Meredith's duty was to trip up the knights, so her provocation was also to accomplish her mission.

"Oh my, Xiao Mi, you're so brave now that Oscar and Ben are here! You get carried away the moment your fighting power increases. You're really an amazing little scoundrel."

"Wahaha, wahhahaha! Give me more compliments... Hey, how can you be called a punk, Xiao Mi?"

Meredith glared at Sister Mei and yelled.

Seeing such a farce, the number of blue veins on the knights' foreheads increased.

The situation was on the verge of breaking out. Mei'er looked for a chance to escape, intending to return to support the retreat. Meredith, with a proud smile on her face, waited for the bell to ring for the second round.

But it seems that there is no need for that.

"...Did you hear that, Mulu?"

"Well, although it's infuriating to let them live for a few days, there's nothing we can do about it."

Ross and Mulu seemed to have received an order and exchanged glances.

"retreat."

The knights were already full of fighting spirit and were carrying out an extraordinary assault. Ross's sudden order was really unbelievable to them.

Of course, I thought it would be like the West Sea incident, with people complaining, but—

"Eh? Are we retreating?"

The knights retreated quickly, leaving Meredith's eyes wide with surprise. Rouse, who was personally covering the retreat, replied:

"Are you dissatisfied?"

"That's not the case... What are you planning?"

Before Rouse could answer, a message arrived from Niez, saying that the Confederate Army, which had launched a frantic attack earlier, had also begun to retreat.

"Is the Empire your trump card? Are you retreating because your trump card was broken?"

"...Hmph, guess what."

"Hmm... shameless fellow."

Behind Ross, Mulu and Adra emitted sharp breaths, ready to provide cover at any time; behind Milady, Mei'er also rolled up the water flow, also ready to respond.

In this atmosphere, Meredith and Royce's eyes met.

"I won't let you down again."

"...I'll take care of you next time."

Each of them expressed their inner feelings in a voice that only the other person could hear.

After a pause, Royce seemed unfazed by the possibility of a sneak attack from behind and briskly turned and walked away. Meredith watched his back until he disappeared into the thick fog.

"Xiao Mi, are you okay? You must be feeling very uncomfortable after being touched by this uncle, right?"

"Sister Mei'er, please choose your words carefully."

Although it was not wrong, according to Mei'er, Ross was described as a pervert.

Meredith instantly destroyed the solemn atmosphere, and she looked at her coldly. However, thinking of her own mistakes, the incomprehensible attack and retreat, she couldn't help but sigh heavily and looked up at the southern sky again.

The surviving airships began to retreat, and the fleet that had been forced to land on the ground could also see a large number of imperial soldiers disembarking and heading towards [Agris].

Above them, the ice dragon Bandu glided leisurely. Oscar took the Black Knight King back to the "treasure house" and stood majestically on Bandu's back. He watched the imperial soldiers leave, then turned to face Meredi.

With a snap, Oscar was knocked off the dragon's back by a blow from the dragon's tail.

"ah."

"Oh my god."

I could almost hear a painful sound. Incidentally, I could also almost hear the Ice Dragon Bandu yelling, "How long do you want to sit here? You stupid glasses guy!"

Meredy was stunned. Mel, her hand resting on her cheek, looked like she was enjoying the show. Meanwhile, Oscar launched a counterattack. He leaped in front of the Ice Dragon Bandu with his black boots... and unleashed his eye-beam! Bandu, shielding his eyes with his front paws, cried out, "My eyes! My eyes!" and rolled in agony. Oscar, relentlessly pursuing his victory, swung his black umbrella at Bandu's head, sending its massive body flying.

If I don't fight back one more time than the other person, I feel like I've lost! I can almost hear Oscar's thoughts.

Then it was stuck in a quagmire.

──You lousy glasses guy! Go to hell!

──You're the one who's going to die! You stinky lizard!

Just then, I saw breath spraying and magic swords flying everywhere. Then, Bandu released the "Ice Dragon Transformation" and started a fight in the air. Even here, the clanging sound of the impact could be heard.

"Ahh, really! Why are you two like that?! Instead of fighting, you might as well be caring about Mi-chan~~!"

With a bang, Meredith rushed towards Oscar and Bandu, who were fighting, at a speed that seemed to explode the air. It was such a joy to be reunited, but the two ignored the touching reunion and started fighting. Meredith was angry, but she also wanted to talk to them.

So, with this complicated girlish feeling (?), Xiao Mi used "Huo Tian"!!

Mel, who was left aside, used the telescope function of her glasses to smile as she watched Oscar and Bando, who were shot down to the ground together, and Miledy, who free-falling and hugging them, while listening to the sudden communication in her ears.

"Uoooh, Bart!? What are you doing!? What the hell are you doing!? Why are you slashing at me!?"

"Stop talking nonsense! You traitor!"

"Traitor!? What are you talking about!?"

"Stop playing dumb! Or are you actually laughing at me in your heart? Damn it! You must be thinking: I'll send you an invitation when Michaela and I get married, haha!"

"No, no, Michaela and I haven't reached that level of relationship yet..."

"You old uncle, stop blushing in front of me!"

"Uwaaa! Are you really going to fight me?! I just saved you from the Knight Commander's attack in the nick of time!? Someone, come! Someone stop Bart! He's turned into a jealous monster!"

It seems that under Michaela's guidance, Marshall came to the rescue in the fog to save Bart from danger, but was attacked by Bart because of his jealous outburst. Although it is not clear what they are talking about, it seems to be the case.

"Men are like that. No matter how old they get, they still act like children."

"Don't count me in."

"Onee-sama, I think the times have evolved to the point where women can pair up with each other."