III
On the battlefield, life’s defiant cries melded together with the rich fetidness of death, blurring the line between reality and unreality beyond all recognition. Even the deatheater birds fled.
While the imperial army and the army of the alliance glared at each other beneath an azure sky, Olivia, perched atop a rocky crag that towered over the imperial side, clicked open the pocket watch that Otto had given her back when he was alive.
Not long now... Putting away the pocket watch, she turned to the fairy who was staring dumbfounded at the horde of the undead.
“What’s up, Comet?”
“My name’s Silky! Get it through your stupid head!”
Olivia laughed. “Oops, sorry. Anyway, you looked kind of out of it. What’s up?”
“I’m not out of anything! I would never, not after Felix chose me especially to keep an eye on an ugly cow like you.” Just as Silky finished saying this, the moans of the undead drifted to them on the wind. She twitched.
“Are you scared...?”
“D-D-D-D-Do...Don’t be stupid! As if the beautiful and exalted fairy Silky Breeze would fear a pack of walking corpses! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“You sure talk fast,” Olivia said after a pause. “You sound sort of funny too.”
“Agh!” Silky clawed furiously at her pale-pink hair. Then, abruptly, she scowled at Olivia. “You’re sure this stupid ‘magic’ of yours will work, aren’t you?”
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine.”
“You’re ‘pretty sure’? Pah! You might have got Lassara’s respect, but I don’t trust you, not one bit. Well, don’t worry. Even if you do turn out to be useless, that’s why I’m here keeping an eye on you. You won’t know what hit you once you see fairy magecraft.” Silky grinned nastily.
Olivia had no idea why Silky had been so aggressive toward her ever since they’d first met. What Silky didn’t know was that Felix and Lassara had asked her to take care of the fairy. Olivia, suspecting it would lead to trouble, wasn’t about to tell her that.
“It’s time.”
“Hmph. Let’s see what you’ve got then,” Silky said condescendingly, folding her arms. Olivia planted her legs far apart, then brought her hands together with a clap. As she did so, she compressed down her prepared mana and the magical essence she drew in until it was incredibly dense. A single ray of light shone out from the gap between her palms, then many more burst forth. What appeared at first was a ball of light no bigger than a fingernail. As Olivia parted her hands, spreading one out to each side, the ball let out a high-pitched screaming sound in fitful bursts. It filled with black lightning of the sort never seen in nature, endlessly expanding, flashing, and obscuring the wasteland under its vast shadow.
“Crystal Planet Polychromus.”
Olivia’s creation was like a second sun. Yet unlike the sun, it shone with a kaleidoscopic array of colors. Surrendering to gravity, it began its descent over the imperial army.
“Wh...What the hell is that...” Silky’s voice trembled like she didn’t know what had hit her.
The army of the alliance seemed to have forgotten both their voices and the enemy in front of them. They should have been letting out a rousing battle cry; instead, they simply stared at the fantastical scene as it unfolded.
There was no sound, only a shining kaleidoscope of color. The undead, men and beasts alike, were engulfed by the torrent of light and disappeared without a trace. Rosenmarie, commander of the Crimson and Helios Knights, smiled to herself with a touch of self-deprecation.
“It seems that all this time I was wrong,” said Arvin, the shimmer who had once crossed blades with Olivia. “A mere monster couldn’t create all this. It’s like something straight out of a tale of gods and myths.”
“Arvin, that sounds like you’re calling Olivia a god,” Rosenmarie said teasingly. The terror did not leave Arvin’s face, but he forced a smile.
“If anything, it sounds like that’s what you think, Lady Rosenmarie.”
Rosenmarie, unprepared for this counterattack, cursed and clenched her fists. Felix told me about magic, but who could have imagined it would be that powerful? I wouldn’t put it past her to conquer a whole nation single-handedly.
Thinking back on all her bluster about settling the score with Olivia, she wanted nothing more than to punch her past self in the face. Even if she employed all her Odh, her chance of victory would be smaller than a grain of sand, while the likelihood of defeat stretched out like an endless desert.
She was pleased when Arvin said plainly, “Right now, I think she’s terrifying, but that’s all.”
“She’s terrifying, all right. But that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Fear is essential to survival.”
Arvin stared up at the ball of light. “Have you thought about giving up on your revenge?”
The sudden question sent a small tremor through Rosenmarie’s heart. My revenge...?
She had not been cowed by the worlds of difference in their power, much less forgiven Olivia for killing her mentor. On the other hand, she was conscious of her fury at the girl ebbing. The conviction she should have felt had lost its direction, leaving her with her emotions knocked off-balance.
After dropping this on her, Arvin gave a small bow. “But I am only a shimmer. I have overstepped.”
Snapping herself out of it, Rosenmarie raised her voice a notch and said, “Anyway, you’re a real madman, aren’t you? You’ve had plenty of chances to back out, yet here you are. You’re a traitor now, and don’t think you can worm your way out of it.”
“I simply wish to see this battle through to its conclusion in my capacity as a shimmer. Isn’t it the same for you, my lady?” Arvin replied, glancing significantly to the left. Rosenmarie’s forces were positioned on the edge of the right flank, with the Azure Knights formed up right beside them in plain sight.
Rosenmarie snorted. “The day is here. There’s no need to play pretend anymore. Simple as that.”
Arvin nodded, then his mouth curved in a small smile. “And yet they still seem on edge, don’t they?”
The Azure Knights had walled off their right flank with a heavy defensive formation. They wouldn’t hesitate to fall on Rosenmarie’s forces like a pack of hungry wolves if she did anything even the slightest bit suspicious. Felix was so gorgeous that it distracted people from the fact that he commanded a band of unmatched warriors who subsisted on death. There was nothing gorgeous about that. Not for nothing had the Azure Knights remained the empire’s mightiest army up until the day they had rebelled.
“I can’t blame him. It’s the natural thing to do in his position.” There was a light burning in her crimson eyes that was both sublime and ruinous as she turned her thoughts to Darmés and the god of death lurking in his shadow.
Olivia has this insane power, and yet she said the god of death utterly crushed her. The enemy must truly be a god. She has to be out of her mind to take on such an opponent again, and the same goes for Felix for joining her. Not like I have any room to talk, since I’m going along with it too.
Arvin, watching as the light slowly dimmed, muttered to himself, “If what she says is true, then what we’re trying to do is hopeless. Mortals cannot triumph over gods any more than water can flow uphill.”
“What do you suggest, then? Stay here and rot like those ghouls? Once you cut off your own escape routes, the only way is forward, even if you have to crawl. Even if you know you’ll be covered in mud.” Rosenmarie gripped the hilt of her sword tightly and bared her teeth viciously. Letting her fighting instincts guide her, she released her Odh.
The last of the light faded. A horn sounded from main command, heralding battle.
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