As we approached Thalion, I could see a gigantic tree. It was still some distance away, but it was clearly visible. That alone made me understand just how big this sacred tree was…but no matter how massive it was, it’d be no match for Milim’s fury. Her overwhelming force instantly convinced me of this.
I had seen my fill on the way. The only reason this planet was still safe was because of Velgrynd offering to help. She was worried the planet would be in a state of chaos if things continued as they were, so she came all the way over for me. I supposed Velgrynd wouldn’t like it much if this world fell apart, either, so I didn’t really need to thank her that much—but then, if it did, she could just do one of her Trans-Dimensional Leaps, right? Not that I was gonna turn down her help, but…
She told me she’d left a Separate Body by Masayuki’s side, so the Velgrynd I saw contained just 70 percent of her power. Even so, it was helping me enough, and I was relying hard on it.
I suppose that’s why I dared to ask Velgrynd:
“Hey, not to get too greedy, but is there any way you might be able to keep that sacred tree from getting damaged?”
The results were about what I figured.
“You’re as silly as ever, aren’t you? Milim isn’t even trying, but I’m working my hardest keeping a Star Barrier going, you realize. And even then, she’s still causing tons of damage. She can work directly with stellar particles, you know. And there’s no such thing in this world as a barrier that can absorb a Drago-Nova head-on.”
She gave me a cold look, like this was the most stressful day of her life.
Her side-eye glare made my heart accelerate, and I regretted asking the question.
“But I thought Drago-Nova got deflected by that, too…”
“Yes, because Milim wasn’t really trying. I know for a fact stellar particles can’t be deflected, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Oh, uh, okay. I guess Milim was always in full control of her powers, whether she was “going easy” or not. It made sense that she wouldn’t go 100 percent all the time—she couldn’t go destroying the planet while she annihilated an enemy army, after all.
Right then, though, she really was out of control. Asking her for mercy would be a big mistake. Somehow or other, we had to remove the orders placed in Milim’s mind before she broke out Drago-Nova. So what would we do?
Ciel’s plan was to gather all possible forces and launch attacks in waves to attract Milim’s attention. In the meantime, I’d find a way to neutralize Feldway’s authority over her and cancel out his orders.
In fact, Milim was being controlled by Feldway’s power, but it wasn’t perfect. Ciel was pretty confident I could take this thrall off her…or, really, Ciel would. But for this to work, we apparently needed to distract Milim in some way first, which I couldn’t accomplish on my own. I was thinking Velgrynd could tackle Milim and I could remove the orders when I saw an opening…but apparently the shock waves from that could cause a huge catastrophe on the ground. I should have known. Velgrynd wouldn’t have come of her own volition if this weren’t a serious crisis.
No, as much as possible, I wanted to be the target so we could keep collateral damage to a minimum. But it wasn’t working out that way, and there was no way to tell how much damage all this would cause. This whole operation was beyond reckless, really.
All that, and the odds of success were so incredibly low…
Good news. I have discovered an element that may increase the probability of success.
Oh? Well, I hate bad news, but good news is always welcome. Let’s hear it.
I have confirmed the presence of the demon lord Leon and the enemy general Zarario in the vicinity of our destination. This is very convenient for us, so I’d like to ask them to provide some help. Can you give me your permission?
Sure, of course, but will they really help out? I know Leon would, but Zarario’s kind of on Feldway’s side…
Not a problem. I’m sure he’d be glad to cooperate with us.
I wasn’t sure where that confidence was coming from, but in times like these, I could always trust it. Without another thought, I gave my permission. And it wasn’t long before I found out what resulted.
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