Chapter 142.3.3: Vol 16 Chapter 5: Kill Steal (Part 3-3)

Putting aside the matter of her innards, the girl's abdomen wasn't even bleeding. Still, it's not like she was completely unhurt, evident by her face twisting in pain and the large gash in her earthen-colored skin.

"P-painful."

The girl took a scroll out of nowhere and activated it.

"[Heal]."

It's a spell from a higher tier than the one she used.

{—Sixth tier! Why, such a scroll! This is bad! She probably healed most of her damage from that. I don't know how much health she has remaining but I am probably the one with more damage unhealed! And, the feel of that abdomen... considering that extreme hardness, it really was a trap!}

The defense provided by the armor's enchantment probably had the attribute to negate critical hits in that part, but it looked like the girl still felt the pain of getting stabbed in the stomach. The trap worked splendidly at leading her opponent's attacks to that part, but it seemed like the girl would have to pay the price of pain for it.

Zesshi clicked her tongue, wondering what wicked person could make this kind of armor. If they knew they were going to be targeted there, they should have added pain resistance to it. This was no different than cursed armor.

Zesshi wanted to furiously scratch her head from irritation, but suppressed the urge. She didn't want to do anything that would increase the pain, but she didn't have the option to do that anyway.

She couldn't feel happy that she made her opponent use a sixth-tier spell. She was not certain that was the last scroll the girl had. Maybe she had multiple stowed away. In that case, there was no chance of Zesshi winning if she fought like usual. But, she had a trump card that could kill the girl, however many scrolls of [Heal] she might have.

That said, she shouldn't use it yet. She should try other methods first.

First of all, she probably wouldn't have used [Heal] for just a scratch. So, considering that she could attack the girl to deal a lot of damage, she should just continue attacking without giving her a chance to use [Heal].

After deciding on that plan, Zesshi took a stance with the great scythe again. While the martial arts that raised her abilities were still active, she approached the girl in a single move.

She would aim for the wrists next.

{What!}

The girl didn't look like she was going to avoid it.

Previously, it was because she wasn't able to catch up with the sudden increase in Zesshi's abilities, but this time it was different. It felt like she didn't even intend to defend. For a moment, the previous exchange of blows surfaced in Zesshi's mind, but there was no choice for her except to attack at this stage.

She spun her body like a top right at the edge of the girl's reach, swinging around the great scythe with the greatest inertia possible and hitting the front of the girl's arms.

The blade went through her body, causing the girl's arm and armor to fall to the ground with a spray of blood—or not. The girls' wrists were unharmed even after receiving the slash that easily cut through all the armor it had met until now.

—it felt tough.

Completely different compared to her navel.

That was obvious because her hands were covered by the armor unlike the navel. Still it was too hard even after taking that into account. Maybe that armor rivaled the ones worn by the Six Great Gods, or maybe she was using a special defense-type martial art.

And the most fearsome thing of all was that she received the blow with all of Zesshi's might behind it with just a single arm of hers and didn't even lose her balance.

But Zesshi didn't have the time for further thought.

Realizing that her right arm was being aimed at, the girl held her staff by her left arm alone and was about to bring it down on Zesshi right at that moment.

Remembering the pain from before, Zesshi desperately moved her body using [Instant Counter] and [Evasion] to avoid it.

She didn't have the time or the space needed to draw the great scythe back to parry that.

But she couldn't avoid it.

Even if she had adjusted her body with the [Instant Counter], it was difficult to avoid the attack even if she used the martial art at the same time.

Zesshi's arm was struck by the blow, but she was ready for it, unlike last time. She was able to activate a martial art at the same time.

[Greater Reinforce Defense].

It was a martial art that increased defense. [Reinforce Hide] was better at reducing damage, but as a Half-Elf, Zesshi didn't have a hide to speak of.

Despite using a martial art, the pain from the blow coursed through the depths of Zesshi's body nonetheless. [Greater Reinforce Defense] was nothing but mere consolation. Perhaps it eased the pain just a little bit compared to the previous strike, but that's about it.

She killed the whimper that rose up her throat as she didn't want to let the opponent know she was hurt. But—

{This is bad...}

The exchange this time confirmed the girl's intentions.

Thinking back, she had been doing the same since the start.

The girl matched her attack for attack. It felt like the girl would bruise her own fist to break her opponent's jaw.

It was possible that she was doing this because she couldn't hit Zesshi if they fought normally, but that was probably not the case. The girl intentionally chose to fight in this way.

{She is confident about defending...a tank like Cedoran? ...That's why she left her navel exposed? Because she will heal any damage with [Heal]?}

It was sound to assume that this girl who rivaled Zesshi in her strength was a tank specialized in defense, who could use magic but was slightly bad at offense. That blow from before was just a bit too strong for this to be the case though.

Or perhaps that staff was a magic item of enormous power. It couldn't be cut even by a weapon of the Six Great Gods, so that was entirely possible.

Her suspicion that this girl was probably the same one that had been beside the Sorcerer King deepened by the second. If it was the Sorcerer King, the one who could cast tremendous magic and who led monstrous armies, it was possible that he would have such stupefying gear in his treasury that he could lend out to one of his underlings.

After putting a little bit of distance between them, Zesshi keenly observed the girl's movements while taking a stance with the great scythe.

The girl stood solidly, rooted to her place; in contrast, she had to jump in and out throughout the exchange.

This battle was slowly devolving into a foregone conclusion between a superior and inferior.

"It's really bad..."

If you asked her who had the advantage at the present, she would answer that it was the girl.

She had received Zesshi's attack with her body and in return hit Zesshi with a single unavoidable attack every time. Health, defense, offense, and healing magic, she couldn't understand which of those the girl placed her confidence in. The fact that the girl chose to trust the simple method of trading blows with her and healing afterward showed that she was confident in winning if she continued to do so. Though it was also possible that she was intentionally fighting with a handicap to make Zesshi reveal her hand.

Considering that the girl didn't seem like she intended to attack proactively, it was also possible that she was just stalling for time until her comrades arrived. Zesshi didn't know how strong the girl's allies were, but their addition would solidify the tides even further against her. That could be the reason why this girl chose to fight a war of attrition that was sure to accumulate damage on both sides.

There was little Zesshi could do here. The ideal development was to beat her at her own game while playing along with the opponent's strategy. This meant that she would have to hit her while blocking all of her blows, but it was impossible for that to turn out as she had hoped.

The girl's armor was impossibly strong, so she would have to approach quite close to her to be able to land an effective hit. Then, the girl would certainly aim for the gap in her defenses that would be created while she was focused on landing the hit. What should she do then?

{Such a difficult question...Should I use them?}

Zesshi glanced at the great scythe in her hands for a moment.

Used by the God Surshana in the past, Charon's Guidance was made from a metal that was yet to be discovered by the Theocracy. Its extreme toughness and offensive strength were suitable traits for a God's weapon.

It also enabled the wielder to cast [Death] two times every eight hours.

And there's even more.

[Undead Flame], that added negative energy damage to its attacks.

[Undead Avoidance], which protected the wielder from undead without intelligence.

[Create Undead], that literally created undead.

[Disease], that could cause illness.

[Sleep to the Undead], which triggered a chance to destroy the undead without turn resistance in a single hit.

[Evil Eye], which lets you select an ability from the different gaze effects.

[Death Mask], which defended the wielder from gaze attacks while strengthening the fear effect caused by the user.

[Hand of Glory], which could be used in two ways.

She could choose among them and use them five times every four hours.

Other than this, it could also summon the special undead, Spartiate. It was similar in ability to the Fifth-Tier summon [Heavy Skeleton Warrior], but with superior gear. However, they were also weaker in a sense because buffs from special skills wouldn't affect them. This scythe could create a total of 30 every 24 hours, with a limit of 5 being active simultaneously. This weapon was an extremely powerful magic item.

It made her feel like it was too soon to start thinking about using her hidden cards.

Revealing her own hand while knowing nothing about the opponent's would push her into an inferior position on a mental level, which was not good.

She should try out a few more things with this simple method of fighting.

"E-excuse me, aren't you coming?"

Zesshi clicked her tongue loudly at the girl's hesitant question.

{She wants me to attack? This brat! Then, how's this!}

Zesshi jumped backward while activating a martial art at the same time.

After using [Double Air Slash], [Steeled Arm Strike], and [Flow Acceleration], two blades of air flew from the arc created by the slash of the great scythe.

The girl moved into their trajectory.

Yes, into their trajectory.

Martial arts that produce ranged slashing attacks like [Air Slash] were generally weaker than physical hits. Still, one had to be mad to move forward while taking them head-on without a second thought.

{No, I did the same thing to that child in the Black Scripture. This would be seriously taxing on anyone's mental state.}

The girl only made an expression of slight pain—which looked too fake—when the blades of aura hit her. The moment she had Zesshi in her range, she swung her staff without even trying to hide her intention.

Zesshi managed to avoid it, but barely.

The girl's attacks didn't pass a warrior's bar as usual, but they were always the most efficient attacks. In the beginning, Zesshi was able to avoid the attacks somehow but now, even if she was completely ready, even the slightest delay in response would guarantee the blow connecting with her.

{Laugh, laugh! Make her think that I can see through her!}

Zesshi pursed her lips into a thin smile and started laughing, loud enough to make the girl hear.

She wondered whether or not she had succeeded. Her stiff smile—got hit again.

{It will be bad if I don't preserve enough power to use [Greater Evasion].}

She tried to create distance between them by retreating backward, but the girl matched her speed by advancing ahead.

She couldn't widen the gap at all.

"[Spartiate]."

Five undead appeared like a wall between the girl and her.

The girl's first blow immediately took one down.

The five Spartiates would need five hits to be dealt with at most, but that was enough for her.

Zesshi kicked the wall and leaped in the air, nearly grazing the ceiling while trying to land behind the girl.

Just when she thought that the girl had sunk her body down a bit, the girl kicked the floor with enough force to break it into pieces and jumped backward. She probably disliked getting pincered. The Spartiates weren't much of an opponent for her but they could bother her enough to divert her attention for a bit.

It was not like the Spartiates had been able to damage her after all.

After that explosive jump, the girl struck the staff down into the floor, carving out a rut as she quickly came to a stop. Her movements were too haphazard. She was forcibly regulating her explosiveness with her unbelievable physical strength.

{What a weird...movement. Not used to her full power? ...or not used to fighting?}

"U—n, u—n" the girl muttered as Zesshi stood before her with two Spartiates on both of her sides.

Zesshi transmitted "go!" through her thoughts to the Spartiates. The fearless undead swarmed the girl at the same time. Zesshi followed them a moment later.

The girl took out another scroll.

"[Firestorm]."

Fire bloomed outward like a storm that encompassed everything. The raging tongues of flame burned Zesshi, but they disappeared in a moment like they had been just an illusion. Her stinging burns, however, showed that they had been real. Luckily, the damage wasn't that great, probably because it was activated from a scroll.

The Spartiates could still move but barely; they were on their last legs. All of them would be wiped out if they were hit by the spell once again.

Zesshi swung the scythe horizontally with her body as the axis and hit the girl with the pommel of the scythe. She wasn't exactly sure because she had hit the armor, but it didn't feel like the girl was particularly hurt from the hit. The Spartiates matched her attack and threw all of their spears at the same time, but a single swing of the staff, strong enough to create a gale around, took care of them. Just as she thought, only Zesshi's attacks could reach the girl.

Taking advantage of that moment, Zesshi again started rotating as if she was dancing, going low across the floor like a spider and attacking with a very low slash at the girl's ankles.

Meanwhile, one of the Spartiates was split into two, disappearing into the air just like that. But, that's what summoned monsters were good for.

She slashed with the great scythe as if to gouge out the girl's Achilles' tendon—sparks flew.

It was tough there too.

Even with [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Slash Strike], and her class abilities, it didn't feel like the weapon managed to penetrate deep.

But that wasn't the only reason she aimed for her legs.

Zesshi immediately spread her legs apart and gritted her teeth, she swung the great scythe up with all her effort even as it stayed stuck into the girl's legs. She was trying to destroy the girl's balance. But—

The girl didn't even flinch.

She was like a great tree.

Impossible.

But, that was the truth.

She used her full might with the opponent's strength in mind, but it felt like she would be the one to lose balance and fall forward instead. There was too much of a gap between the weight she was feeling and the lovely appearance of the girl before her.

Perhaps she was using some special skill or a magic item, but it felt like Zesshi was dealing with a humongous tree that had its branches spread towards the sky. Considering the response that she received, it didn't look like she would be able to make the girl fall no matter the amount of strength she put into it.

She suddenly felt cold, sensing something bad was going to happen.

The girl probably found Zesshi's loss of balance to be a good opportunity. She extended the staff in her right hand as much as possible and brought it down on Zesshi in between the Spartiates trying to obstruct her.

An attack with the greatest reach and the most force possible behind it, an attack that made Zesshi's spine go cold.

Her stance was too awful to be able to avoid it. The Spartiates couldn't resist it more than a few strands of hair would, so it was useless even if she used them to obstruct it.

Still, Zesshi sent an order to Spartiates through her thoughts.

Immediately, one of them that was standing beside her tackled Zesshi with its body and sent her flying away. The girl's staff swung down like a black comet and the Spartiate that took Zesshi's place was smashed into tiny pieces.

While rolling across the floor, Zesshi gracefully adjusted her weapon and freed it from the girl's legs. In the same motion, she quickly stood up, holding the great scythe in front of her as if to hold back the girl.

But the girl didn't follow with an attack on Zesshi. With a violent motion of her body, black winds raged and the Spartiates were blown away into pieces.

Amidst the scraps of bone disappearing mid-air, the girl stood calmly, readjusting her grip on the staff. Then, she started fidgeting like she just remembered something.

{Should I summon Spartiates again?...But, I have to confirm something first.}

Zesshi started spinning the great scythe above her with a deliberate motion. The sound of the blades cutting through the air filled the room. The girl stood still, observing, taking on a completely defensive stance.

Little by little, by a nail's length each time, Zesshi approached the girl.

With the distance reduced—

Zesshi took a sharp breath and swung the considerably accelerated great scythe towards the girl's left wrist.

The girl wasn't slow when compared to the blades that were so fast that they physically slashed the air apart. Instead, it felt like she intended to take the hit again like a machine while getting ready to land a blow on Zesshi. Perhaps she had already gotten used to Zesshi's speed, as she didn't falter in her movements.

But—the blades that originally parted apart the air to aim at the wrist suddenly arced upwards.

A change in the pattern repeated till now.

Zesshi was aiming for the neck this time.

Would the girl die if she sent her neck flying? Improbable, considering what she felt from the previous hits. However, her neck was exposed just like her navel. It could be a trap as well but if she managed to hit her, it would be highly likely that she could hurt her just like when she cut her abdomen. If she did manage to do that, she could probably wound her enough to turn the tide of the battle with all of her class skills put to use in a single strike.

From their exchanges till now, Zesshi understood that she was the better fighter. It was for this very moment that she didn't use any feints till now, she only used simple attacks. The girl who got used to Zesshi's simple-minded attacks would be taken by surprise by the sudden change just like when she used martial arts before, and would fail to defend her neck.

The great scythe slashed the girl's neck. And—

"Guh!"

—Zesshi caught the staff's blow in return.

She endured the pain but still ended up letting out a whimper.

Zesshi took a great leap back and then widened her eyes.

"...not again."

There wasn't even a drop of blood coming out from the girl's neck, but there was a faint slash mark left behind.

It was impossible for the girl to be unhurt, maybe she had an ability that nullifies strikes at vulnerable points. In that case, many of the skills Zesshi had learned wouldn't even trigger.

{Is she even really alive? Maybe...is she an undead made by the Sorcerer King?}

The girl probably sensed Zesshi's discomposure as she hesitantly put a proposal forward.

"E-excuse me. W-won't you, surrender, please? Y-you see. I will not cause you any more pain if you do that, and will guarantee your safety afterward."

Zesshi's impression of that was—nauseous, to say the least.

It had been the same since before, but she couldn't even sense a hint of hostility or killing intent from the girl's attacks. Whether this could be considered gentleness or something different depended on the person, but it was hard to think that the opponent was being gentle when she was trying to cave her head in just because she wasn't being hostile or showing killing intent.

Zesshi felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart by this girl. She could be her niece, but Zesshi didn't feel even a bit of familiarity with her.

If the proposal had been from pity or a sense of superiority, she might have felt unpleasant, but then she at least wouldn't have been so disgusted. She couldn't feel such emotions from the girl.

{...It's reasonable if she is just an undead without emotions who is just acting the part.}

She felt everything about the girl was incoherent, making her wonder if all of her words and actions had been an act. However, that wasn't the important thing right now. Zesshi's personal opinions on her character were irrelevant.

The important thing was how she should proceed here to break through the situation and lead to a result that was beneficial to her. She could try acting like she was willing to surrender if that could lead to some advantage.

"I am fine with surren—"

Zesshi suddenly turned silent.

That's right.

It was better to limit talking to when one needed to stall for time or when one had won.

And was the girl winning?

—No. There wasn't a clear victor yet. The girl had a slight advantage but that's all it was. In that case, couldn't it be that she started talking because she was stalling for time?

"—Tch!"

Clicking her tongue loudly, Zesshi again reduced her distance from the girl. Even if she attacked using martial arts or from range, the opponent had the magic from the scrolls. She didn't know how many were left—and where she was storing them—but assuming the worst-case scenario that she still had a lot left, a battle of attrition would be to Zesshi's disadvantage.

Luckily, it could be conjectured that the opponent didn't have any means to attack long-range except for the scrolls. If she had any, she wouldn't need to use scrolls in the first place.

{Does she have rogue-type classes that focus on using scrolls like this? ...no, she cast something like a self-strengthening spell by herself so it's very unlikely.}

Zesshi didn't have any effective long-range attacks either, so she thought there was no chance of victory in fighting from a distance.

Then what about a close-quarters fight?

Not a bad idea. So Zesshi chose to fight like this.

This time, Zesshi aimed the great scythe at the girl's face. Maybe she couldn't let her face get wounded, the girl deflected the scythe with her staff.

Even Zesshi's hands became numb from the force of the collision.

The girl counterattacked with her staff, swinging it down in a large arc. Zesshi easily avoided that by activating both [Greater Evasion] and [Instant Counter] at the same time.

They were evenly matched, or maybe not. Maybe the difference in their ability as combatants—the ability to predict an opponent's actions and adapt one's own to match them—was finally showing itself on the surface, the scales were somewhat leaning to Zesshi's side now. That said, no matter what amount of damage she did to the enemy, the girl could instantly turn the tide with a [Heal] and she would lose in the end with certainty.

{Should I use them here then...}

Zesshi held two trump cards.

One was a skill that was a surefire way to kill the opponent.

The other one was an extremely adaptable skill.

She could use the latter to either kill the opponent or to escape, so she shouldn't be using that so easily.

Then, should she use the first one here?

The girl showed pain when she was hit, but was she really feeling it? There would be no end to it if Zesshi started doubting that.

All of Zesshi's conjectures till now were based on assumptions, so they could all be wrong. Perhaps her opponent really was a cute girl who disliked fighting as she appeared to be.

Even so, she couldn't help but feel a certain sense of anomaly from the girl.

{What should I do...If...if there are others here who are on par with this girl, I am not sure if it's good to use it here...but...Ideally, I'll want to kill this girl before she can reveal her trump card...is it possible though?}

If asked whether she could do it or not, she could only answer: "I don't know."

If those were all the scrolls of [Heal] she had, then she could probably succeed, but it was impossible to finish this quickly.

Of course, Zesshi continued to act even as she contemplated. She was slashing continuously with her scythe, but she wasn't able to make the girl bleed. All the while, she was receiving counterattacks from the girl's staff.

Unlike the girl who only needed to stay still and aim for her, Zesshi had to repeatedly jump in and out of her strike range while swinging her scythe, using her legs to control the distance while handling the weapon for attacks. Without such concentration when trying to evade and defend against the attacks, it would be difficult to defend against the enemy who was countering her while ready to take damage in return.

Though the girl was fine with taking hits on her navel or on her armor, her face was the only part she didn't let Zesshi hit.

Zesshi started to analyze the information she had gathered until now.

{Should I just...use it? I will win for sure if I use it...}

The only issue was whether to use it now or later.

They exchanged blows multiple times after that.

In return for slashing the girl, Zesshi received a clean hit in her flank.

She was blown away, the sound of creaking bones echoing through her body. Suppressing her urge to vomit from the pain, Zesshi forced her heels into the floor to stop herself.

That blow was unexpected. It was a bit hard to even breathe. Though her sides stung from pain, Zesshi made an effort to look nonchalant, sticking the scythe's shaft into the floor and leaning on it. She then crossed her legs, took off her helmet, and sneered to make it seem like she wasn't affected at all by the hit just now.

She could do this only because she knew that the other side wouldn't proactively attack her.

"Well, it can't be helped then."

She muttered to herself in a light-hearted tone and resolved herself to it. She would use one of the trump cards to kill the opponent here.

The girl didn't try to approach Zesshi, who had opened up some distance between them.

That was a saving grace.

"...you there, you asked me to surrender before, right? I want to ask one thing...are you an undead created by the Sorcerer King?"

"Eh? B-but why are you asking such a question? Don't you want to ask about how you will be treated after surrender?"

"Answer me."

"...N-no, you are wrong. Just as I appear, I am not an undead."

"I see," Zesshi replied and started thinking.

Did the girl not answer immediately because she was confused by the question? Or because—she wanted some time to think of an answer?

{In the first place, I asked her that question because I couldn't figure that out from her appearance...that aside, did she just completely ignore how I brought up the Sorcerer King's name? But, well, whatever. It doesn't matter whether she is an undead or something else, she will die without doubt.}

Zesshi put on her helmet again and activated the power she was born with.

By guiding that power into the weapon once held by a God, she could use the greatest power wielded by the God of Death, Surshana. And so—

"[—The Goal of All Life is Death]."

A clock manifested behind her immediately.

This was one of her trump cards that she could only use when she wielded this great scythe.

The skill that brought certain death.

The skill which made one's death impossible to resist.

The skill that hadn't been beaten even once.

"Eh!?"

The girl let out a voice of surprise. A display of emotion so honest that even Zesshi found it genuine.

{—What? So she wasn't an undead? Well, I can very much understand her feelings. Anyone would assume that I was using some mysterious skill with unknown effects if they didn't know about this skill. But, you see. This clock behind me doesn't have any effect by itself. It's nothing more than a herald for the power that will be coming later. Really—it's too soon to be surprised yet.}

Following that, Zesshi brought out the spells infused in the great scythe.

And naturally, the one she selected was—

"—[Death]."

She heard a click at the same time she activated the spell at the girl. The clock started to count the time.

—She had won.

Zesshi was sure of her victory now.

"[Phoenix Flame]."

She saw a bird of flames extending its wings behind the girl.

{Another spell! But, fufu. It's useless. I don't know what spell you cast but once I used this power, there's no way you could stay alive...Taking me down before I could use this power is your only chance!}

[Death] was generally effective the moment it was cast, but when she used this special skill, it needed 12 seconds to activate. She was unsure what would happen if she was killed before the timer ended, so she chose to take a defensive stance now.

Perhaps she found that her spell didn't work, the girl charged at her with the staff in her hands at an unbelievable speed.

The girl who did nothing but defend and counter till now turned to offense, probably because she sensed that something was wrong. In this situation where she didn't know what was happening, she didn't choose to take a defensive stance or just observe what would happen. Zesshi had to concede that the girl had some good battle sense.

But, Zesshi was the one better at technique and grasping the flow between them. If she only stuck to defense without planning to attack, parrying and avoiding hits was pretty easy. Of course, she couldn't continue to avoid every single attack indefinitely, but doing it for a few seconds was possible.

{—six.}

She avoided the girl's consecutive hits. Even heroes, no, not even outliers could clearly see the trajectory of those explosive attacks. It was like she was standing in the same realm as Zesshi. Zesshi observed the girl for a while as her defense didn't require all of her attention and realized that although the girl's physical capabilities were pretty high, she wasn't using them to the fullest extent—that she was not used to the strength.

{--eight.}

This was something common with those who were strong from birth.

Because their body's capabilities were too high—because they could just win through brute force, they tended to disregard finer techniques and things like reading the opponent's movements. Most of the strongmen who were like that were made to eat dirt when they faced the truly strong. They had yet to realize their own arrogance until then.

Yes. Just like the girl before her.

{—eleven. This is the end. Farewell.}

Evading another one of the girl's attacks that would have caused cerebral concussion in ordinary people just by grazing them, Zesshi bid farewell to the girl.

The girl made her nauseous in a way that was difficult to put into words, but looking at her now—after she had confirmed her victory—she was pretty cute. When she thought about it, the girl was still too young to understand everything. The sin didn't belong to this girl, but to the parents who raised her.

Zesshi deflected another blow—while ignoring a chance to attack—and then noticed the abnormality.

The girl didn't die.

"...eh?"

Her mind went blank for a moment.

The opponent didn't die from the skill that brought certain death. Then, Zesshi probably miscounted the time. That's the most likely reason.

Excluding the time during her training, this was the first time she had fought someone so strong. It probably made her tense and she just didn't notice it. Counting time accurately in such a mental state would be difficult. A simple mistake.

{...two.}

So she counted two seconds more, slowly at that.

But—the girl didn't die.

The girl was energetically making cute sounds like "ey!" and "yah!" which didn't match the fearsome blows that accompanied them.

"B-but how!?"

She couldn't understand.

A skill that absolutely killed. A skill that killed even the undead and the lifeless golems though even Zesshi couldn't understand how it did that. But, it didn't manage to kill this girl.

Her attacks hurt Zesshi, so she wasn't an illusion, but what else could it be? Maybe that skill didn't work on Dark Elves or on blood relatives. Or else—maybe the spell cast by the girl broke through it.

If that's the case, then why did the girl know about this skill? Even she herself could only make use of it because of her talent, she didn't know everything about it. It was the same for the few people in the Theocracy who knew that she could use this skill. If there's someone who could be said to know everything about it, it would be none other than the original owner of this great scythe, Surshana.

Was that God behind this girl? Seeing as the girl didn't die, she felt that thought strangely plausible. If that was true—

"--thh!"

Her body went stiff from the confusion and the nervousness, making her take a hit that should have been avoidable.

"Aaah, enough already!"

Enduring the pain, Zesshi swung her scythe. The slightly reckless attack slashed into the girl's body, but the staff came down on her before Zesshi could see whether it was effective or not. She began to see stars due to pain, but she put a leg forward before she could collapse.

Zesshi started to think desperately.

Her plan had failed.

What should she do now?

What would lead to the best outcome possible?

She took a lot of hits, but she still had some energy to spare. She was still far from being defeated, but there were the opponent's reinforcements to think about. She had to decide whether to continue the fight or run away.

Then, if she decided to run, would she be able to succeed with her speed? She was not sure. In that case—

{—Should I reveal the other trump card?}

It was not a bad idea, but what she experienced just now made Zesshi hesitate. The girl already broke through a skill previously thought invincible.

It was hard to imagine that this skill would get nullified as well, but maybe the girl could just disperse it with some other awesome magic.

{—how many scrolls she has, and what magic can she use?! There just isn't enough information!}

She hesitated to reveal all her cards while still not having read the opponent's hand. However, just as she had thought before, time was the girl's ally and her own enemy here.

Although she could bear the pain still, it continued to dull her thoughts.

Zesshi's smile deepened.

Smiles could completely hide her sentiments, thoughts, and emotions from everyone—especially from the enemy.

So she smiled, and came to a decision.

{—I won't think anymore! No amount of thinking is useful in this situation without enough information!}

The only thing Zesshi was clear about was that on top of her revealing one of her cards, the opponent also got proof that they had a way to deal with the said skill. Just this alone was a greater loss for Zesshi than all the damage she had received until now.

On activating the final trump card, light coalesced into another Zesshi.

Zesshi held two trump cards.

One is certain death—or to be more precise, her power made it possible to draw out the trump cards of the former wielders of the equipment she held.

The other was from the class she acquired—Lesser Valkyrie/Almighty—a clone.

Einherjar.

It was slightly weaker than Zesshi, but still an overwhelmingly powerful summon as Zesshi was considerably strong herself.

The girl widened her eyes again, letting out an "eh!" from surprise. However, it was Zesshi who felt a bad premonition, finding the girl's reaction similar to the one when she revealed her first trump card.

Before Zesshi could even send a single command to her clone—the Einherjar—the girl took out a globe.

The next moment, a huge earth elemental—which found the corridor a little too cramped to stand in normally—appeared beside the girl.

Zesshi was confused again.

She thought that it was highly likely that the girl was a druid, but instead of using spells, she used a magic item to summon the elemental.

Especially since the elemental didn't seem too strong.

{She can't summon elementals and she can't use offensive magic either...a self-strengthening type druid? Or am I missing or misunderstanding something crucial? ...I heard that the one used by the Elf King was a huge earth elemental...is this the one? But...it doesn't feel...that huge?}

The earth elemental that was rumored to be used by the Elf King was supposed to be overwhelmingly strong, something not even outliers could win against.

Compared to that, the elemental before her was too weak. That said, what appeared to be weak to someone as strong as Zesshi could appear overwhelmingly strong to weaker people.

An elemental this weak wasn't too much of an issue.

Zesshi was fine with leaving the summon to Einherjar and fighting the girl herself. It would probably take down the elemental quickly, and then it would be two against one.

{...No, let's take down the elemental together in one go.}

"Let's go!"

Zesshi charged ahead and attacked the elemental with her scythe. Einherjar did the same.

Earth elementals had resistance against physical attacks, but the difference in the strength between them was simply too great. The blades left deep gashes in its hard exterior.

Naturally, for something that was known for its durability, an attack or two wasn't enough to kill it.

But the earth elemental disappeared unexpectedly.

"—huh?"

She didn't understand at all. It's not like they took it down.

The very next moment, another earth elemental appeared before them. This one was larger than the one before.

What was this even?

Zesshi didn't feel like it was the same as the one before.

"Don't tell me it's a sacrificial summon!"

She never heard of such a spell or special skill, but that phrase was just too appropriate for the situation that she ended up shouting it.

She was unsure if this was really a new summon, but the elemental was certainly stronger than the one before. Not even outliers could win against this one. But—

{I can...is it the right thing to do though?}

Would this earth elemental become even stronger after taking damage or after getting destroyed?

Zesshi thought that was impossible however which way you might look at it, but she wasn't completely sure at the same time.

She made the Einherjar stand by and observed the girl.

The girl was only taking hesitant peeks from behind the earth elemental, and the elemental itself didn't try to attack them immediately.

{Who is this child really? I can assume that the Sorcerer King made her if she was an undead but if she really was just a Dark Elf child... How exactly has such a child been hidden till now? With this kind of strength, she should have been more famous, right? Or, was she hidden by some country till now, just like me?}

The Sorcerer Kingdom was founded only a few years ago.

The Empire declared that the area around it originally belonged to the Sorcerer Kingdom in the past, but the Theocracy—which existed for a long time—knew it to be a shoddy lie.

There never was a Sorcerer Kingdom or a Sorcerer King in this land in the past.

{The Sorcerer King suddenly appeared out of nowhere so there were some unconfirmed theories that he was an existence like the past Gods...but, no way, right? Though...if that really was true...then this girl's the same? No, considering the mark of royalty in her eyes, she was more likely to be related to that guy. Did the Sorcerer King come up with a plan to come over here from a faraway place and unite the non-humans after he got his hands on this girl?}

She just didn't know, and she had no proof either. She found it difficult to even imagine that this girl was related to the Sorcerer King.

But, she should assume the worst-case scenario here: that there was a possibility for that to really be the truth.

{If this girl really belongs to the Sorcerer Kingdom...then it means that the Sorcerer Kingdom had at least two people on par with me including this girl...no way, is the Sorcerer King here too?}

Zesshi started panicking.

How stupid had she been? She had thought about the possibility of the girl being related to the Sorcerer Kingdom, so she should also have thought about this possibility.

Normally, it's impossible.

No amount of lives would be enough for a king to come to the battlefield where two other countries were fighting their decisive battle. Yet, didn't the Sorcerer King do just that, going and doing whatever he liked in the Holy Kingdom? He made every country realize that a magic caster capable of destroying armies could appear anywhere now.

Plus, they also received the hard-to-believe report that he had appeared in the arena as a gladiator right before the Empire became their vassal. Then, it was completely believable that he would come to this Elven Country moments before its fall.

Zesshi fiercely admonished herself.

It would be the worst if the Sorcerer King was here as well as she had surmised. This girl alone was enough of a problem, the addition of that undead would wipe away any chance of victory she might have had. The Theocracy had yet to complete its analysis of the Sorcerer King's true strength, but it was hard to think that someone who could annihilate an army of over a hundred thousand soldiers could be weaker than this girl.

{At present, it's nothing but layering conjecture over conjecture, but everything fell into place—everything really did fall into place. I don't know what the other party is aiming for, but if the Sorcerer King himself is here, should I negotiate?}

If they managed to steal the earth elemental, then that was the same as usurping this country.

The girl had the mark of royalty—her eyes.

If the Elves were shown that as proof of royal lineage and shown the earth elemental used by the Elf King obeying this girl, they would surely bend the knee.

{If they also fought us back, they would be highly popular as well...what perfect timing. What, perfect, timing?}

Zesshi started feeling even more uneasy.

{—The Theocracy had accelerated its war with the Elven Country, rushing it to its conclusion only because the Sorcerer Kingdom started invading the Kingdom, seemingly to destroy it. But, is that what the Sorcerer Kingdom was truly aimed for?}

Suddenly, she felt like the different colored cubes of the Rubik's cube had fallen into their proper places, completing it. Just for a moment, Zesshi, who had never experienced any fear in any battle, suddenly trembled all over her body like she was filled with ice.

Yes, if all of this had been the Sorcerer Kingdom's plan all along, then everything fell into place.

{Their original goal was not the Kingdom, but making the Elven Country come under their rule while hurting the Theocracy? In that case, their invasion getting repelled at E-Nauru and the leaking of information about their invasion was not because they wanted to instill fear of their impending doom into the Kingdom's population, but to push the Theocracy into making a move at their desired time? No, he aimed for both? Trying to put both countries under his rule in such a short period of time? Unbelievable! It's too unbelievable to think we had been dancing along to the Sorcerer Kingdom's tune all along...simply impossible.}

She didn't want to acknowledge it, but had to assume the worst-case scenario like before.

The Supreme Executive Council evaluated the Sorcerer King as someone to be regarded with the highest level of caution. That, though he was a cut above the rest when it came to scheming, his fearsome power was what should warrant most caution.

But—

Yes, but—if this had been the Sorcerer King's scheme, then the truly fearsome thing was not his power that could kill a hundred thousand soldiers in an instant. It was not the fact that he commanded subordinates powerful enough to eliminate all the nine million citizens of the Kingdom either. It was his ability to read a hundred moves ahead while playing his opponent like a puppet through invisible strings; what they should fear most was his scheming mind.

It was hopeless for them if someone who's already strong could also scheme. That would destroy the only weapon the weak had against the strong.

{Or, was it the demonic Prime Minister Albedo who schemed this? Whoever it was...no, wait? ...was it not just these two countries...but also the Theocracy? Are they planning to wipe out the soldiers deployed here and declare war?}

It was true that there were some people who would say that there was no problem no matter how many weak soldiers died. A person who stepped into the realm of heroes was strong enough to surpass a few thousand soldiers. But, that was how a strong person would think, and not what an ordinary citizen would think.

The Theocracy extolled human supremacy and united the country with that notion. The intention behind it was that unless the weak humans united and made the first move against non-humans, they would be the ones to get destroyed instead. And there was a good example of that scenario in the Draconic Kingdom, which bordered the beastmen.

However, were the common populace strong-willed enough to continue to fight if they realized that they were about to be destroyed by this hypothetical person with tremendous power? After hearing of their failure to destroy their arch nemesis, the Elven Country, and that their soldiers were wiped out instead?

Zesshi made her usual smile—the one she used to hide her heart.

It's not that she was happy or that she found something interesting. Actually, her state of mind was the total opposite.

It's her despair at having fallen into the trap—into the perfect scheme their enemies had laid out.

{What should I do? Try to let the soldiers escape? Or, escape myself so that I could live?}

The death of the Theocracy's strongest trump card would be a tremendous loss for the nation, so escaping should be the better choice.

With her attention diverted to think about the next best move, Zesshi stood still, which then made the girl talk.

"E-excuse me? I am repeating myself but won't you surrender? I t-think it's not too late yet. I don't want to kill you."

It's not a bad idea considering that she might get information on the opponent. But—

"—can't. I can't run away!!"

"Eh?"

The girl raised a puzzled voice. Understandable. Zesshi's response didn't match her question from the girl's point of view, but it was logically connected inside Zesshi's mind.

That's right. There was nothing else to be done.

If this really was the Sorcerer Kingdom's scheme there's only one way to break through it: fight with the ferociousness of a wounded and cornered animal, kill the girl before her and destroy the Sorcerer Kingdom's plan along with that.

The loss of an individual this strong would greatly derail the Sorcerer Kingdom's plan.

Perhaps a most wicked trap was lying in wait for them, but this was their only chance to foil it and she was the only one able to do it right now.

{Yes. I am the only one who can save my country!}

If asked whether the Theocracy did enough for her to make her bet her life on them, she would feel complicated emotions. But, from time to time, there were some humans she liked. She saw most of them pass away over her long life, but she thought that they mattered enough for her to wager her life once for the sake of the country they loved.

{—I will probably die, but I will use all my might to kill her. That's good enough for me.}

Zesshi made her decision.

She really did think about retreating for a moment, but if she had to do that, she would like to do it at her own pace rather than escaping narrowly by the skins of her teeth. There was a certain part of her in this battle until now which hadn't been serious about killing her opponent. It was not due to any sentimentality on her part regarding the girl possibly being her niece. Even if the opponent was a mere child, she would cut her limbs and bind her or kill her without hesitation if need be. But, she certainly prioritized leaving with her life the most, until now.

She would throw it away.

If she didn't gamble here then where else could she?

Tomorrow would surely be worse than today.

"Go!"

She bellowed.

Einherjar attacked, following her command.

Frankly, she need not have shouted it out loud. She could give the order silently in her mind. In a sense, this was a poor decision that gave away information to the opponent. Zesshi understood that as well. She shouted despite that to stir herself up and to strengthen her conviction even more.

She made the Einherjar deal with the elemental while she tried to go after the girl herself.

However, the elemental extended its hands out to the sides like it was trying to block the corridor.

Zesshi didn't mind if this was how it was going to be.

She and Einherjar would take the elemental in a rush and then kill the girl after.

If the elemental before them was the one used by the Elf King, destroying it would be destroying one of the symbols of royalty as well. Perhaps that would slow down the Sorcerer King's plan by a bit.

The two great scythes slashed the elemental multiple times in an instant.

Frankly speaking, elementals, which didn't bleed and didn't really have any vital points, were troublesome opponents for her.

On top of that, high-class elementals had resistances against physical attacks. Even Zesshi's scythe couldn't take them down in a single hit.

This was not the kind of opponent Zesshi would choose given a choice, but she didn't have a say in this matter.

Still, the girl's attack couldn't reach them either with the elemental obstructing the corridor, and it would be hard to get a clear line of sight to attack with magic from the scrolls. The thing they should be more cautious of was the girl being able to cast her strengthening spells on the elemental.

{I am the one at an advantage here because they are two of us, but it's not an absolute advantage. We can't go behind the elemental so we can't stop her from casting buffs...but...}

She wondered if the girl truly didn't realize this.

Something bothered Zesshi slightly, but she couldn't express it in concrete terms.

The elemental brought down its arms, which were made of boulders. She was about to jump back but this wasn't a situation where she could slowly grind it down with hit-and-run attacks. She used the great scythe to hook the arm and deflect it. The earth elemental's attack had tremendous force behind it, but deflecting it by applying force from the side was easy.

That said, this wasn't a weapon suitable for that, and she was only able to do it through brute force because of the overwhelming difference in their strength.

She could see Einherjar doing the same from the corner of her eyes.

Zesshi's Einherjar was weaker than herself. So, seeing that it was even possible for it, Zesshi confirmed that this elemental wasn't strong, just like she had expected.

This was probably not the one used by the Elf King, the elemental the Theocracy was most worried about.

That said, it didn't mean that the earth elemental before them was exactly weak either.

Someone only on the level of heroes wouldn't be able to avoid its punches. It was hard to be sure if the hit would kill them or not, but it would certainly damage them heavily.

She dodged another attack and turned her gaze to the girl hiding behind the elemental. They were right in the bosom of the huge enemy so it was dangerous to take her eyes off it, but it was far more dangerous to ignore the girl's movements.

What she saw made her doubt her eyes.

{—huh?}

The girl was running away with her back turned to them.

Though her running looked cute, she was unbelievably fast.

She ran.

She ran away.

"—!!"

Zesshi realized.

This earth elemental wasn't summoned to handle her Einherjar.

It was to stall for time so the girl could escape.

She didn't realize based on the girl's attitude, but perhaps she was at her limits all this time.

The girl never intended to fight or risk her life. Didn't her actions at the start make that pretty clear?

That time when she retreated back with great force, when Zesshi tried to jump behind her was not because she disliked being pincered, it was because she didn't want her escape route to be cut off.

Her words and actions had put her intentions clearly on display.

"Damn!"

She needed to choose one of the three choices before her immediately.

She could somehow catch up with the girl.

She could defeat the earth elemental here for now.

Or she could escape as well.

Among them, she could easily put the third option into practice.

The summoner couldn't give commands adapted to the changing battlefield to the summon if they couldn't see what was happening.

So, for example, if the elemental was commanded to "stay here and kill everyone that tries to pass through the corridor," it wouldn't chase after Zesshi if she ran away. But, if it was commanded to "kill the woman before you," it would probably try to chase and kill her.

That said, it would just give chase in a straight line and wouldn't use its brains to do things like trying to waylay her.

So, there was no way it could catch Zesshi who was faster and more agile than it if she did decide to run.

If she ran away at full speed, the elemental would wander around aimlessly, searching for her like a mindless drone.

However, she refused to do it. Refusal was the only path open to her.

She couldn't avert her gaze from the possible future crisis—the Sorcerer King's schemes.

Then, the choice was between the first and the second option.

Catching up to the girl was difficult as well. Even if they destroyed the earth elemental obstructing them quickly, it depended on luck whether or not they could catch up to the extremely mobile girl. Plus, her reinforcements were probably waiting for them at her destination. Zesshi wasn't sure how the battle would end if that was the case.

So the second option was the best one.

It made her resolve from before a joke and would be completely meaningless if it turned out that this was not the one used by the Elf King.

Still, considering the risk and the return, this was the only choice she could take.

She shouldn't be tempted by the greener grass on the other side.

Zesshi stared sharply at the earth elemental and then realized that the girl behind it—who had put some distance between them—turned back to face them.

Zesshi continued to observe her without diverting her attention from the earth elemental, expecting the girl to say something. And then, the girl moved her lips.

"It's good that I conserved my mana."

It shouldn't have been audible considering the distance, but maybe because of Zesshi's Elven blood or because of her extremely high capabilities, she could faintly hear the girl's words of relief. Before Zesshi could understand the meaning behind them, the girl raised her staff high against the ceiling.

One of Mare's classes was named the "Disciple of Disaster," which had a trump card.

It was the inferior version of the World Disaster's trump card.

Its name was [Petit-Catastrophe].

In return for consuming enormous mana, its damage surpassed even the Super-Tier spells that Ainz could use. Of course, it was still not as powerful as [Grand Catastrophe], but the raging torrents of energy born from it was enough to blow away everything in an instant.

The very next moment, Zesshi was hit by tremendous energy.

{Bad—will—die.} Zesshi immediately realized.

The fierce currents of energy blew away the earth elemental in an instant.

She finally realized at that moment that the earth elemental was neither a countermeasure for Einherjar nor a wall to let the girl escape. It was nothing more than a decoy, to keep Zesshi and her clone from escaping that single tyrannical attack.

And in reality, her Einherjar had also disappeared just a moment after the elemental did.

Following that—

{—not yet! I will not die! I WILL NOT DIE!}

Though the storm of destruction raging around her was sweetly whispering to her to give up and take it easy, Zesshi brought all her vitality to the forefront to bear through it.

But—her consciousness weakened. She could no longer sense the pain that had been stinging all over her body from before. She could no longer even sense if she was still standing or where she was.

So this was how death felt like.

What the heck is this?

That was the only thing that she could think of.

Wasn't she supposed to fight, risking her life, after this?

Wasn't she supposed to fight with all of her body and soul to protect the Theocracy—her country, from the fiendish enemy and their diabolic schemes?

How mean.

Of course, it was just Zesshi excusing herself. She realized that even amidst her awareness fading away.

Even so, she couldn't help but complain.

She didn't feel any relief at the elemental getting destroyed. It probably meant that it was no more valuable than a sacrificial pawn. Or, maybe they thought it was an acceptable loss for taking out the strongest trump card of the Theocracy.

In the end, who was that girl really?

If she really was from the Sorcerer Kingdom, to what extent were they dancing on their palms?

This was defeat.

She finally realized that defeat didn't mean getting taken down by the enemy's attack. It was getting one's wish, which they put their body and soul into, smashed without a trace and then falling into an endless pit of despair.

Cruel.

She didn't want to lose.

Her wanting to taste defeat was an outright lie.

She only wanted to deny her own strength. Or maybe—deny her mother.

Deny the blood that ran through her veins—and the loveless days it made her go through.

But, if she could have protected what she held dear with this unwanted power...

Even though she would have probably forgiven her mother a little then.

Even though she seriously didn't want to lose for once.

All those feelings still ended up getting crushed.

{I hope at least that she isn't from the...Sorcerer...Kingd...}

And then—the world went dark.