Chapter II: Inglis, Age 16—Far-Off Highland (7)
Wilma’s voice got the attention of all the Highlander civilians. “Get the children in the lifeboats! Adults, you’re going to have to cling to the dragons yourselves!”
Torn open by the faceless giant, the tremendous shaft reached near the underground shelters where Illuminas’s residents had evacuated. Wilma had brought the mechanical dragons alongside it, opened the bulkhead, and issued orders to evacuate the city. The children boarded the large, basketlike lifeboats being carried between pairs of dragons, while the adults clung onto the dragons directly.
The boats themselves seemed to have been built into the dragons, and they deployed from a point around their hips when they came alongside the shelter. Unlike Flygears, which could fly or maneuver independently, these were just containers, but they would still be helpful.
“Captain, once we escape, where will we go?!”
“One of the neighboring islands will rescue us—or maybe the dux or the quaestor will!” Wilma replied. “Anyway, we need to get out of here! Hurry!”
“O-Okay!”
Wilma’s intensity was apparently enough to cow both the children and the adults into obedience. They were nervous, but not panicking. Was it because she was a well-respected leader to begin with, or was it because the Highlanders were straightforward and understanding?
Rafinha didn’t know for sure, but she presumed both were true. She would’ve expected pure chaos if similar were to happen in Chiral or Ymir. The Highlanders struck her as mostly kind and gentle like Myce, probably because they were ignorant of the darker dealings surrounding Highland, such as the use of mana extract or the situation on the surface. They truly believed peaceful coexistence was possible.
No sooner did she think of Myce than he appeared, spotting the three and moving toward them. “Rafinha! Leone! Liselotte!”
“Myce! Are you okay?!”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Hey, what’s going on?!” Myce, always a curious boy, was looking around, but he did so anxiously.
“Well...” Many answers came to mind—Chief Academician Wilkin’s betrayal of Illuminas, an attack by the Papal League, the matter of mana extract—but she didn’t know what to say. She wanted to spare him of any additional pain. “Enemies! Enemies are attacking, and Illuminas is in danger! So we need to evacuate!” There was no other way to put it simply.
“Whaaa?! E-Enemies?! Are they magicite beasts from the Prism Flow?!” That seemed to be Myce’s picture of what might be an enemy.
“No...but I’ll protect you, so don’t worry! Just evacuate with everyone!”
“Over there, Myce!” Leone instructed.
“You must hurry!” Liselotte said. The two gave him a gentle push along.
“O-Okay! Thanks! You’re helping save us even though you’re from the surface?”
“That doesn’t matter! We’re friends, right?” Rafinha asked.
“Yeah! Okay, I’ll get going!” Myce ran off toward the mechanical dragons.
Rafinha couldn’t stand the idea of such a kind, carefree child getting caught up in this—she couldn’t let him die here. “Wilma, the hole above! I think Chris sealed it off, so what do we do?!” She saw the gigantic block of ice that had formed a covering over the hole. “We can break it open again if you need us to!”
“No, we need it for defense! It’s protecting us from enemy attacks!”
“But then how do we get out of here? The only way out is up, right?”
“I have an idea!” Wilma’s armor emitted a thin beam of light that struck the wall on the other side of the hole. It opened wide, revealing a passage that stretched on and on.
It would be a little cramped for the dragons, but not unreasonably so if they formed a line.
“A new path!” Rafinha marveled.
“So it connected to here too!” Leone said.
“We may just be able to make it to the outside through here!” Liselotte said.
“I’ll get everyone aboard the mechanical dragons! Sorry, but could I ask you to go ahead and see whether the evacuation route is clear?”
With Illuminas collapsing, it was quite likely that either a cave-in had sealed the passage off or that it was dangerously flooded. They needed to verify that it was safe before any civilians went through.
“Got it, Wilma!” Rafinha said.
“Hold on tight, you two!” Liselotte said.
“Thanks, Liselotte!” Leone responded.
Using the wings from Liselotte’s Gift, the three of them crossed over the hole and entered the passage on the other side. Cracks stretched along the walls here and there, but there didn’t seem to be danger of imminent collapse. From the cold droplets splattering on their cheeks, they could tell water was dripping from the ceiling.
“I think it still should be okay—probably?!” Rafinha said, not sounding completely confident.
“We should still be careful, but hopefully, yes!” Leone said.
“Ah! I see it! There’s the exit!” Liselotte said.
The glimmering stars of the night sky came into view at the passage’s end—well, “end” so to speak. It resembled less an engineered exit and more like the evacuation route had collapsed. They could see water splashing up as if waves were lapping at the passage’s mouth. Whatever lay beyond had been caught in the collapse and sunk into the ocean. But with what remained of the land now, the passage was simply shorter. However, if it sank even a little bit farther, seawater would suddenly pour in. They needed to escape now, while they still could.
“It looks like it’s still okay!” Rafinha said.
“But the water is so close!” Leone warned.
“Let’s head back, we can still evacuate through here if we do it quickly!” Liselotte executed a turn and began to head back along the path they’d followed, when—
Smasssshhh!
A nearby wall exploded with a roaring sound, and Rafinha grunted in response.
Leone gasped. “What?!”
“Has it begun collapsing?!” Liselotte’s voice went tight with worry.
That wasn’t the case, though. A gap in the wall had opened—and beyond it was a person, who made their entrance through it.
“Oh my, so there you were.” A self-satisfied chuckle announced the entrance of a beautiful hieral menace clad in golden armor.
Inglis may have pinned down Charlotte and Maxwell, but Tiffanyer had made her way here.
“You’re—” Rafinha began.
“Ah, our selfish guest’s selfish girl. You’re trying to help the civilians escape, aren’t you?” Tiffanyer looked along the passage, directly toward where Wilma was.
Rafinha couldn’t let her continue on. If she captured Wilma, they wouldn’t be able to evacuate Myce and the other people of Illuminas. And if Tiffanyer took Myce and the others hostage, Wilma would be unable to continue her resistance. Either way, she had to be stopped here. “Leone!”
“Rafinha...! Got it!” The two girls’ eyes met. They both let go of Liselotte’s hands and landed in front of Tiffanyer.
“Rafinha! Leone!” Liselotte cried out to her friends.
“Go, Liselotte! Warn Wilma!” Rafinha said.
“We’ll hold her off here!” Leone added.
“Understood! I’ll be right back!” Liselotte turned and headed back toward Wilma.
“We won’t let you stop us!” Rafinha yelled. “You can’t have Wilma!”
“Rafinha and I won’t allow it!” The two raised their Artifacts and faced Tiffanyer.
“You don’t understand your position, do you? You’re nothing more than a sideshow to that kid.” Tiffanyer sneered at them condescendingly. “Even if rabble like you can stop me...” She trailed off, her face suddenly tensing up as she saw Leone’s right hand. “A special-class Rune? Oh my.”
“That’s right!” Rafinha shot back. “Look down on us, and you’ll be sorry!”
“R-Rafinha... Um...” Leone tried to quell Rafinha’s provocation. She had heard that the combat power of a holy knight with a special-class Rune and a hieral menace in human form were around equal, but she wasn’t particularly confident yet that she could go toe to toe with Tiffanyer.
She certainly didn’t think she had caught up with Leon or Rafael yet. Even if she also had a special-class Rune, there were differences in their abilities. She didn’t believe she was automatically their equal by having a special-class Rune.
“It’s fine. Even if all we do is argue, we’re buying time. You try saying something too,” Rafinha whispered to her, surprisingly calm. This was all calculated.
“I see. That makes sense.”
Rafinha smiled mischievously. “But I bet you can take her. I’m a little jealous of that special-class Rune.”
“Ah...!”
She was right, though. Even though the end result of a holy knight—which one could become only with the required special-class Rune—wielding a hieral menace was not all fun and games, it was something to which all knights aspired.
Leone was no exception to that aspiration. Inglis lacked that particular desire, just as she lacked a Rune, but Rafinha and Liselotte still admired the work of a holy knight. Now that Leone had been granted the honor of a special-class Rune, and at least until Rafinha and Liselotte earned the same, she couldn’t let them down. She mustn’t forget her willingness to serve as someone worthy of such a Rune. This was no time to let her lack of confidence cow her.
“Yes, understood, Rafinha!” Leone stepped forth. “We may not be on a level with Inglis, but we’ve grown as well! Tiffanyer, we won’t let you do as you please!”
“That’s right!” Rafinha agreed. “But she’s such a meanie, I bet she hasn’t grown at all!”
Tiffanyer giggled. “So that means your position’s changed as well, no?”
“Huh?” Rafinha tilted her head.
Tiffanyer pointed at Leone. “She’s the sideshow”—she then pointed at Rafinha—“and you’re all the way down to being the sideshow’s warm-up act. You poor thing.”
“That’s not true! Just try me!”
“I always planned on challenging you. I don’t have much time to play around, after all!” Tiffanyer leaped toward the two, in a straight line. Whether that was from impatience or condescension, Rafinha didn’t know.
“Rafinha! On your mark!”
“I’m on it! Shiny Flow!”
Phantasms shot forth from the blade of Leone’s dark greatsword. Meanwhile, countless arrows of light shot forth from Rafinha’s Shiny Flow. The barrage met the oncoming Tiffanyer head-on, but she did not waver an inch. She simply crossed her arms in front of her face defensively without slowing at all. Even when the phantasms and arrows of lights scored direct hits, they bounced off her golden armor.
“You’re wasting your time with those!” Crashing through the oncoming fire, Tiffanyer closed in to attack.
Rafinha gasped. “Ah! Nothing happened?!”
“You need to hit me harder!” After all, Tiffanyer was an armor hieral menace; her stout defenses were her strongest weapon.
“Rafinha! Stay back, focus your strength, and shoot her! I’ll hold her back!”
“Okay! Got it!” Rafinha agreed.
Leone took the front line, while Rafinha stayed behind her to prepare her own attack.
“Yaaaah!” Leone swung her dark greatsword at Tiffanyer, who was almost upon her. She didn’t extend the blade. Her Gift let her attack at a distance, but it left her wide-open if it was dodged. What was important now was to not be broken past.
“That’s a big swing!” Tiffanyer lowered her body and twisted to avoid the top-down slash.
Thunk!
The greatsword slammed down into the ground, its tip digging into the floor and leaving a crack.
“You’re wide-open!” Flowing forward, Tiffanyer got up close with Leone and aimed a punch at her side.
“Leone!” Rafinha gasped.
So this is the power of a hieral menace, Leone thought. She’s so fast! But I can still see her. It’s like when I practiced with Arles. I can still tell what she’s trying to do to me. I can see it. So...
Just before Tiffanyer’s punch connected, the supposedly defenseless Leone was flung backward.
To Tiffanyer, it seemed impossible, but it was as if the floor itself had shifted. “Huh?!” But even without a target, she still had to follow through.
“That was so sweet!” Rafinha exclaimed. From her more distant perspective, she could see that just before Tiffanyer’s blow had struck, Leone had extended her greatsword, pushing herself backward.
This was why Leone hadn’t first used her Gift. She’d deliberately missed, pretending to leave an opening to bait Tiffanyer into attacking, and then evaded it with her Gift. And that had, in turn, left Tiffanyer vulnerable to a counterattack.
All right! I can do this! Leone told herself.
The practice she’d done every night since arriving on Illuminas had paid off. It may have just been the use of her Gift, but she never would have been able to accomplish it before getting a special-class Rune.
Previously, her Gift had only been capable of enlarging or shrinking the blade, not changing its shape outright. Now, the tip of the sword had curved itself into something like a spade, digging into the surface and securely supporting her weight. She could only do this to a small extent, but that she could do it at all was impressive. The Gift itself was probably capable of it the whole time, just not combined with an upper-class Rune. With a special-class Rune, though, she could use it to full effect. After all, special-class Runes were versatile. They could handle any Artifact.
Apart from that, there was the matter of the speed and precision with which she could extend the blade. Up until now, if she had been forced to extend her blade to counter Tiffanyer’s speed, it would have extended much longer. Fundamentally, the changes she had produced were faster the farther she extended, slower the shorter. However, with her new Rune, any change seemed to take about the same amount of time. If she had been the same as before, even if she could have avoided Tiffanyer, she would have ended up too far away for a counterattack. But now, as Tiffanyer whiffed her punch, she passed straight in front of Leone. Nearly touching her. This was proof that she could now manipulate the blade as short—and as quickly—as she wanted.
“Ugh...!” As Tiffanyer stumbled forward, trying to bring herself to a stop and reorient herself, Leone found a chance.
“There!” The tip of Leone’s greatsword thrust forth with all the might she could muster, catching Tiffanyer squarely. She felt the hardness of the hieral menace’s armor as she struck the side. And in that moment, Leone extended the blade as hard and fast as she could. “I’ve got you!”
“Aaaaaah!” Tiffanyer, carried by the tip of the sword, was thrown backward rapidly. The force of the blow was not enough to pierce her armor, but it was enough to buy a good amount of distance.
That’s fine. We don’t have to defeat Tiffanyer; we just have to defend our position. “I can do it... I can do it! Just keep pushing her back!” Leone raced forward on her own two feet. Her Gift could extend the blade, but not infinitely. Using her own legs would help keep Tiffanyer as far away as possible. “Let’s keep this up!”
Suddenly, her advance stalled. Leone came to a stop as something powerful held her back. Tiffanyer had regained her footing and wrapped herself around the blade, halting it. What Leone felt coming back through her sword’s long blade was completely extraordinary. “Ngh! Y-You’re so powerful!”
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