Volume 6 Chapter 78-2 Flame and Ice
The icy road went all the way to Lucy.
Airen moved fast on it.
It went from gentle to steep.
Airen's super fast thrust changed the dance.
Airen's sword went through Lucy's side, who opened her eyes wide.
"Agh..."
The moment Lucy groaned in pain, her body turned into flames and exploded.
Airen stepped back from the heat wave.
She brushed her slightly burned hair and glared at Lucy in front of her.
"You're like a street performer."
Lucy frowned at Airen's taunt and clicked her tongue.
The faint trace of blood on her stomach shows that the earlier switch wasn't perfect.
"You little brat... I'll kill you."
Lucy raised her staff with an angry face.
"'Rise, red tower, surround this land, and scorch this sky── (Purgatory Pillar Formation)'"
With a short chant, several pillars of fire rose up with Lucy in the middle.
Lucy smiled and said, "It's the end," as the pillars of fire spun slowly and eerily.
"'Crimson is in the sky, the law of flames dwells in me──'"
Airen ran to stop Lucy's chant, which started again.
Lucy turned into flames and disappeared in front of Airen, who closed the distance quickly.
Airen swung her sword and missed.
She turned around in a hurry, and Lucy was inside a pillar of fire.
"'Burn everything, the earth, the sky, the cause and effect──'"
Airen caught up and thrust her sword, but Lucy was already in another pillar of fire.
She appeared, disappeared as if laughing at Airen, and then appeared again.
"'With your sins, I shall bring down the judgment of flames.'"
A large magic circle appeared, covering the blue sky.
The soldiers around it trembled as they looked at it, which looked like a 'red eye'.
"'Now, dance your last step──'"
The moment Airen slashed at the fire pillar, Lucy appeared in the middle of countless fire pillars.
"'Your footsteps are the fuse of judgment.'"
Airen's sword slashed at Lucy, who grinned, but it also turned into flames and scattered.
"'Come forth! The flames of the end!'"
Airen looked up at the voice from the sky.
The magic circle in the sky shone brightly──.
"(Scarlet Flame Divine Burial)"
Countless fireballs pierced the sky and fell down.
They looked like many fireballs, but their number was simply overwhelming.
Moreover, all the falling fireballs aimed directly at Airen.
Even if she dodged one, another fireball would come, and if she cut one, yet another would follow.
"It's useless! My 'Scarlet Flame Divine Burial' won't stop until it burns all inside the 'Purgatory Pillar Formation'!"
Lucy laughed outside the flame pillars, while Airen thought, "Then..." and tried to step outside the 'Purgatory Pillar Formation,' but was blocked and rebounded by an invisible force.
"Too bad. You can't escape!"
With a mocking smile, Lucy teased Airen, who dodged a fireball and noticed the sweat beading on Lucy's forehead.
The ground was scorched, and with a flurry of magic attacks, Airen sustained wounds.
And this grand technique.
Airen realized that Lucy was nearing her limit and readied her swords with both hands.
"Shall we see who can endure longer?"
Within the dance of the flame pillars, Airen began to slash at and dodge the fireballs with great determination.
Amidst the swirling flames, Airen moved gracefully.
Every movement was a blend of sword skill and dance.
Her dodging turned smoothly into strikes, as the line between offense and defense blurred.
"...Wh-what is this...?"
Lucy's smile twisted as she stared at Airen.
Lucy had already exceeded her limits and could barely stand from the lack of magical power.
Yet, Airen within the 'Purgatory Pillar Formation' was laughing.
It would be beyond Lucy's understanding.
She could reach a state of no thoughts.
Just dodging and slashing.
An opportunity to focus solely on that was rare.
Airen's sword gleamed.
At that moment, it seemed Lucy hit her limit, dropping to her knees.
At the same time, the flame pillars holding the barrier began to dissipate, one by one.
"N-no... this can't be──"
Shaking, Lucy's eyes captured Airen, who walked slowly toward her.
"It's the end, isn't it?"
Airen, wrapped in icy air, pointed her blade at Lucy.
"Not yet... I'm not burned out yet!"
With a furious expression, Lucy stood and raised her staff... but before she could do anything, Airen's thrust pierced her chest.
"──Agh!"
Lucy coughed up blood, sank to the ground, and fell face down.
Her lips were redder than the lipstick she wore, stained with blood.
Lucy smiled.
"...Heh heh... Don't think this is the end for me."
Lucy's eyes, smiling, held a strange light within their emptiness.
"The flames... are still smoldering. They won't be put out by my defeat..."
Blood spilled from Lucy's mouth as she spoke.
"...I'll burn even more... the earth, the sky, everything will be burned to ashes..."
With those words, a pillar of fire engulfed Lucy's body.
The hottest flames of the day burned Lucy's body away in an instant.
Not even dust remained.
Airen, who had been watching the flames that scorched the sky, collapsed to her knees as they died down.
Airen had already reached her limit.
In her fading consciousness, she heard a familiar voice calling from afar, "Milady!"
(It's Wayne's voice...)
Airen's blurry eyes, with a wry smile in her heart, saw Wayne and Yamada running towards her.
"...Wayne. You... ar, rgh──"
Then, Wayne, dressed as a soldier, scooped up the unconscious Airen, shouting, "Get the medics!" He put her on the sled behind Yamada, and they headed back to the castle walls, passing by the destroyed Duke army.
The sun was still rising.
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