Chapter 50
... The scene shifted.
"Hey, Shido. Welcome back."
Kotori greeted Shido from the Command Seat. A moment later, her expression turned deadly serious.
"Leave everything to Ratatoskr from here on out! Don't worry—we'll save Lingmeng!"
She rose, assumed the air of a commander, and issued orders to the crew below.
"All hands, listen up! Battle stations, now! Make for the Tengu City high ground at full speed! Mission: rescue Qian Lingmeng!"
"Roger!" ×N
The crew immediately set to work at their computers.
At that moment, Fraxinus sprang into action.
After being forced into a half-vacation because it could not interfere with Lingmeng and Shido's date, Fraxinus could finally show what it was capable of again!
"Come on! Let's get our war—our date—started again!"
... The scene shifted.
"Wahaha... How do you like that, Element Maker!? You're almost out of stamina, aren't you?"
Watching Lingmeng gradually lose ground under their combined assault, Anlia Finlander laughed like a maniac, her face twisted into a ridiculous expression.
"Anlia Finlander, I know you're excited, but could you show a little dignity?"
Beside her, Amabane Shizuna shook her head helplessly.
"Hmph! Even Ellen couldn't beat the Strongest Spirit, Element Maker, yet I've subdued her. Looks like I'm the real Strongest Wizard!"
Emilia Reylos folded her arms, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
Do these three seriously have something wrong with their heads?
Lingmeng sat slumped on the ground, breathing hard, with a little sweat on her forehead. Scrapes of various sizes covered her body. None were serious; they did not even hurt enough to make her cry out.
Still, she had to admit that this was the first time she had been injured since arriving in this world.
Her wounds were not severe, and she had taken down around two hundred Wizards in hand-to-hand combat.
But that was as far as she could go. Unable to use her powers and besieged by so many enemies, she was nearing the limits of her stamina.
Even Ellen, the world's Strongest Wizard, would probably be no better off in this situation.
But Lingmeng had not given up.
She looked up at the five hundred Wizards still in the sky and the three fools—Anlia Finlander and the others—without a trace of fear or worry in her eyes.
Instead, she clapped her hands in inexplicable praise.
"Well, I can't use my powers, and I'm at less than a sixth of my usual strength. Even so, I have to give you credit. Pushing me this far is pretty impressive."
Anlia Finlander and the others merely stared at her in surprise.
"Huh? Are you still trying to act tough when you're about to die? At least look at your situation before spouting nonsense! We can crush you like an ant whenever we want!"
"You really are a stubborn Spirit. Why not just admit defeat to me?"
"Honestly, I'd advise you to stop resisting. No matter how hard you fight, you're still going to end up as Lord Isaac's test subject."
Anlia Finlander, Emilia Reylos, and Amabane Shizuna spoke one after another.
"Haha... Whether I spend every day as a test subject hidden from the light, or live happily with someone I care about, my life isn't yours to decide."
Lingmeng closed her eyes and chuckled. Her voice sounded remarkably relaxed, nothing like someone on the verge of being captured and turned into a Puppet.
"You... You keep provoking me, Anlia Finlander, again and again! I'll teach you what it costs to look down on me!"
A vein bulged on Anlia Finlander's forehead the instant Lingmeng finished speaking.
Gripping her twin swords, Anlia Finlander fired up the thrusters on her back and flew toward Lingmeng to deliver the final blow.
Lingmeng neither dodged nor raised her Angel to defend herself.
She simply remained where she was, eyes closed, and murmured inwardly.
All right. I'll be bold this time and gamble with my life. Shido... you'd better keep your word...
The Tide Turned
Clang!
Steel rang against steel. Anlia Finlander's swords had not harmed Lingmeng in the slightest.
When Lingmeng opened her eyes, she saw a man in white armor with long blond hair and the kind of handsome face that often appeared in boys' love novels. He held a Light Sword, which had stopped Anlia Finlander's strike.
To be honest, Lingmeng's first impression of his outfit was not good.
He was wearing a Realizer. You knew the kind: a skin-tight suit with only a little armor around it. It was an incredibly embarrassing getup.
On a woman, it could show off a stunning figure. On a man, it inspired an indescribable sense of embarrassment.
The man before her was a perfect example. If he walked down the street dressed like that, most people would probably mistake him for a pervert.
"Ah, I made it just in time. If I'd been any later, the Commander would have given me a terrible scolding.
"Then again, I'd be delighted if the Commander cursed me while punishing me with a whip. ╰(*'︶`*)╯"
The blond man glanced back at Lingmeng, muttering to himself with an expression of unmistakable pleasure.
Why does this guy seem so sleazy?
He had saved her, but what he said wiped away every bit of gratitude Lingmeng felt.
"What!?"
Anlia Finlander's eyes widened when she saw how easily the man had blocked her attack. She immediately withdrew her swords and returned to her side.
"Who the hell are you!?"
She scowled at the blond man who had appeared out of nowhere.
As if he had heard her, the man gave Lingmeng and the DEM Corporation forces a gentlemanly bow.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kyohei Kannazuki, vice-commander of Fraxinus. Shido and the Commander sent me to help Miss Lingmeng."
"Fraxinus? What's that?" ×2
Anlia Finlander and Emilia Reylos looked puzzled by Kannazuki's introduction.
Amabane Shizuna did not know what Fraxinus was either, but Kannazuki's name sounded familiar.
"Kyohei Kannazuki..." Shizuna repeated softly. Then her eyes widened. "I remember! He's AST's former ace!"
Shizuna pointed at Kannazuki in shock. Emilia Reylos looked much the same.
"What? Didn't he disappear ages ago? Why is he here all of a sudden? And how did he become vice-commander of this Fraxinus thing?"
Shizuna could only give her a speechless look that said, How should I know?
"Miss Lingmeng, are you all right?"
Ignoring the conversation across from them, Kannazuki pulled Lingmeng to her feet and asked after her. The Commander had sent him to protect Lingmeng; it would be disastrous if anything happened to her.
"Yeah, thanks. I'm fine, just a little weak. I'll be all right after some rest."
Lingmeng smiled easily and assured him she was fine. In fact, she had anticipated this turn of events.
DEM Corporation did not know who Shido was, so they would likely take him for an ordinary civilian and let him go.
She was their target, after all. They had no reason to capture an unrelated high school student as well.
What they did not know was that Shiori had Ratatoskr backing her.
As long as Shido got away safely, he would never abandon Lingmeng. Knowing him, he would contact Kotori to rescue her at the first opportunity.
To make sure Shido could leave, Lingmeng had even put on a tragic performance, as though they were parting forever, to lower the DEM Corporation Wizards' guard.
In short, Lingmeng might have looked panicked, but she had been calm inside. She only needed to hold out for a while, and someone would come to her rescue.
Well, there had been some gambling involved. But she had clearly won her bet: reinforcements arrived before she kicked the bucket, and that was worth celebrating.
"Well, Shido didn't let me down," Lingmeng said.
Kannazuki merely smiled.
"Shido worked very hard for your sake, Miss Lingmeng. Leave these enemies to Ratatoskr now. You should get some rest."
"Don't mind if I do."
With a rare chance to sit back and watch, Lingmeng agreed without a second thought.
"Haha! Have you two lost your minds? How long do you think one former AST ace can hold us off?"
Anlia Finlander covered her face as she mocked them.
They had five hundred people on their side, while the other side had only two. Thinking one man could defeat them all was a fantasy.
"Oh? Is that so?" A girl's voice rang out. If Lingmeng was not mistaken, it was Kotori.
A powerful current swept through the sky, and an enormous warship slowly appeared. It was Kotori's ship, Fraxinus!
"All hands, switch to attack mode!"
"Roger!"
At Kotori's command, the crew immediately worked the computers before them.
The gun turrets on Fraxinus sprang to life and began targeting the DEM Corporation Wizards.
"Fire!"
No sooner had Kotori spoken than countless Magic Cannon blasts erupted from the turrets and hurtled toward the opposing force.
"!!!"
Realizing the danger, the DEM Corporation Wizards scattered frantically like ants from a kicked nest.
Even so, many were struck. Their force lost around a hundred people in an instant.
The remaining Wizards either kept dodging the barrage or, like Anlia Finlander and the others, used their Realizers to block it head-on.
"Please excuse me for a moment, Miss Lingmeng."
With that, Kannazuki flew toward Anlia Finlander and the others.
... The viewpoint shifted.
"Damn it! What is wrong with this guy!?"
After fighting Kannazuki for a while, the three women were left with a strange feeling.
Emilia Reylos was the first to complain.
The man was exceptionally skilled, with superb combat technique. He should have been able to deal with any one of their attacks. Ordinary strikes, at least, should never have hit him.
Yet for some reason, whenever Kannazuki faced their attacks, he simply took them without resisting.
With his abilities, dodging would have been easy. But it was as though he was deliberately refusing to move.
Apart from blows that would have killed him, Kannazuki let them slash at him like a living practice dummy. Not only did he show no pain, his face was full of pleasure.
And he kept saying things like, "Ahh~ Harder~ Yes, right there! Push the sword in deeper. That's not enough to satisfy me~"
Just hearing it sent a chill down their spines.
Everything Kannazuki did left Anlia Finlander and the others utterly baffled.
Then Amabane Shizuna seemed to remember something, and her face darkened.
Wasn't there a rumor that AST's former ace was a total pervert and an extreme masochist?
Back and Forth
"What the hell is wrong with you!? Who gets happy when someone cuts them!?"
Emilia Reylos cursed at Kannazuki, who looked as though he were about to ascend to heaven.