The katana held in both hands
Glitters
brilliantly.
Blue light trailed behind each slash, and when it collided with Novem's great scythe, blue sparks blazed to life. Both fighters pushed their speed even higher, and in Novem—who was fighting with more desperation than before—I could read frustration, and then fury, on her face.
When Novem's great scythe swept sideways, I ducked under it and crossed both katanas, cutting from inside out. I rolled along the ground as I shot past Novem, then immediately sprang to my feet and readied my twin blades again.
I put on a grin and bluffed.
"Your Speed's dropped since earlier, hasn't it? And—this is just a personal opinion, but... I prefer shorter skirts."
Novem was wearing a skirt that reached down to her ankles. When she turned to face me, the skirt fluttered outward. But it wouldn't give me the view I wanted. At the last second, it gently settled back into place.
"...Shouldn't you be asking that of the other women who would become your wife?"
I pressed forward.
"Sorry about that. I've got a seat reserved for you too. But don't worry—even if you're not interested in me yet, I'll have you head over heels in no time!"
Remember. Remember. Remember who you are when you're fired up. Remember that feeling where you believed you could do anything!
That's what I kept telling myself. If I showed even the slightest hint of weakness, I'd crumble. So I pushed, I pushed, and I kept pushing—to get my voice through to Novem.
I'm not some dark god. I'm not some goddess. To reach Novem—!
I knocked Novem's strike aside with my wakizashi and drove my katana through her heart. No blood sprayed out. Seeing that, Novem's expression twisted.
"You can't just be this selfish forever!"
"Idiot! Every generation of House Walt has been—selfish, hasn't it!"
I pressed further in, slipping inside her guard to prevent her from swinging that scythe, and this time I stabbed at Novem with my wakizashi.
"I volunteered for the pioneer corps because I wanted my first crush to look my way!"
I forced the two blades I'd thrust sideways, making Novem pull back.
"You could never be honest, and you always rebelled against your parents!"
I closed the distance so she couldn't create space, then used an illusion to deflect her scythe swing. She must have been rattled enough—she was looking at the phantom.
"I got so pissed off I punched a royal, and—"
I laid both blades side by side and slashed Novem horizontally across the body.
"—I worked my butt off on domestic policy because I love money!"
When Novem raised her left hand, I threw the katana and wakizashi in opposite directions. When she cast magic at me, I first recalled the wakizashi and charged at her. She blocked it, so I immediately warped to retrieve the katana and struck again.
It was shallow, but I grazed Novem's side.
"I cared more about animals than children!"
Without stopping, I slashed at Novem in rapid succession. Holding both blades in reverse grips, I spun, kicked her scythe away, and carved into her again and again. Shallow didn't matter. I just kept cutting, over and over.
"I hated my parents and ran away from home!"
Novem gritted her teeth. I created four illusions and slashed at her from all four directions. Meanwhile, I warped above her head and brought my sword down in a spinning strike.
"Even knowing it was impossible, I tried to prove that my gun was powerful!"
I'll say it plainly—our family is selfish.
Novem turned her left hand toward me while staring me down. Small fireballs poured out of it by the dozens—thousands, tens of thousands launched at once.
I cut through the fireballs while backing away, dodging them, and—
"You keep focusing on just the bad traits again—"
"—and you keep sugarcoating everything, ignoring all the bad parts! You only see what you want to see, so don't stand there playing mother to me!"
Wind wrapped around my katana, blowing the fireballs away. The fireballs that were sent soaring crashed into the ground and exploded. When Novem raised her left hand, purple lightning crackled into existence. Watching it grow larger and larger, I drove the wakizashi into the ground and launched myself forward.
The bolt of lightning Novem generated surged toward the wakizashi, and with every ounce of strength I had, I tore past her in a crossing slash.
I spun around and slashed her back, but Novem swung her great scythe at me, so I warped toward the wakizashi. I retrieved it, gripped both blades in each hand, and took a deep breath.
Novem was panting too, her head bowed. Her hair was disheveled, and through the tangled strands, her purple eyes glared at me.
"—I am—even so, I am! —For the sake of the future!"
I drew in a deep breath and screamed. Screamed from the bottom of my heart.
"Who the hell knows about destruction or what happened in the past! I—I'm more scared of the battlefield right here, today and tomorrow, than some distant future!"
Something had happened in the past.
That's why Novem and the others were born. I understood that.
But if you'll let me speak—from where we stand now—
"The distant past and the distant future don't matter! If you ignore the precious present, there'd be no past or future at all! For you, right now—are you happy right now? Can you proudly say that now is the best? What do you think of yourself right now?!"
Even Novem, who thinks about the future.
Even Novem, who's bound by the past.
What I wanted to know was how Novem Foxes felt right now.
Novem raised her great scythe.
"Over and over… over and over… you're so damn annoying! My feelings—nobody—nobody could ever understand! Nobody could ever grasp them! That's exactly why I know you can't! I know, and that's why I—!!"
A single tear streamed down her face. Seeing that, I smiled. She was wearing down. The evil goddess, the divine goddess—all of it was being stripped away, and Novem's true feelings were surfacing.
"There! The mask is peeling off! Yes, that's it—more! Bare even more! Show me everything, right in front of me! And then… I'll take it all in!"
I pointed the tip of my katana at her, and Novem surged forward in a massive stride. The rubble where she had been standing exploded outward, and she closed the distance in an instant.
"You think you can take it all?!"
I swung the katana without hesitation, and as we passed each other, the blade cut clean through Novem's body.
—Aria was panting, facing a metallic land dragon armored in metal scales.
Her red hair was in disarray, sweat dripping steadily down her face. The spear she gripped was battered and worn. Against the land dragon, shielded by its hard scales, Aria was thoroughly outmatched.
"Honestly... I need to go save Lyle, and here I am. I really am powerless, aren't I?"
Was she about to cry, or was she about to laugh?
Even Aria herself couldn't tell what she was feeling. Clara raised her staff and directed a powerful beam of light at the land dragon. While its vision was obscured, Eva loosed an arrow.
The arrow lodged in the gap between the land dragon's scales and exploded, but the creature didn't so much as flinch.
From the air, Monica and the Valkyries were landing hits, but all they could do was slow its movements. Novem had prepared this unfavorable monster purely to buy time.
From above, Monica clicked her tongue in frustration.
"You're so persistent!"
Hundreds of beams of light rained down on the land dragon, but it curled into a ball and endured. Its surface glowed red from the heat, only to cool back to its original color almost immediately.
Aria steadied her breathing and tightened her grip on the handle. With her left hand, she clenched the red jewel.
"How many more times—no, I don't care how many times. I'll give it everything I've got!"
Her body was on the verge of screaming. The overuse of Skills had taken an increasingly heavy toll. The strain from repeated use in such short intervals was bearing down on Aria with crushing weight.
Even stepping forward
was
too much of a burden.
Then, a hand touched Aria's back. Four right hands—the sensation of four distinct touches. Together with a red light, gentle voices enveloped her.
'Do your best.'
'Show them the power of Lockward.'
'—We've been watching. We saw how hard you've been trying all along.'
And finally, in a voice that sounded like Aria's own.
'The descendant of that person, and Aria — my own descendant — have found each other. This must be destiny. We too shall give you our power — the power to take one more step forward.'
As the red jewel blazed brighter, every trace of fatigue blew away from Aria's body. Explosive power erupted from within.
The spear in her grip lit up with crimson light. Just a little more — just a little further —
'—!'
But at that very moment, the Land Dragon charged at Aria, sensing the danger. It meant to crush her first and foremost.
'Aria!'
Eva loosed an arrow straight at the Land Dragon's eye, and it struck true. Yet the Land Dragon, perhaps feeling even greater alarm at Aria's surging power, kept charging straight at her.
Monica and the others attacked from above, but the creature didn't flinch in the least. Monica, who primarily wielded optical weaponry, screamed from the sky.
'I should have brought live rounds!'
Clara scanned her surroundings and spotted Porter's cart section half-buried in rubble.
'Porter, please!'
The cart section blasted the debris aside and surged forward. It rammed into the Land Dragon's flank, and the beast crushed it under one massive forepaw.
Then — the two small, round eyes set into Porter's cylindrical head, nothing more than decoration until now, both lit up.
Its face rose. The magitek ore embedded in its chest blazed with searing light. Wind whipped into a vortex, and Porter's upper body launched itself directly at the Land Dragon. The impact drove the beast stumbling backward — and then Porter detonated. The enormous explosion hurled rubble skyward, and the shockwave hit every one of them. When they managed to withstand it, Clara stood there in stunned disbelief.
'No way... I never had any such function —'
Monica, still overhead, was equally at a loss.
'I didn't have that capability either — a rampage? We really did push the modifications too far, didn't we?'
From the smoke, the battered Land Dragon took one heavy step forward with its enormous forepaw. Then, dragging its ruined body, it took a second step.
The Land Dragon opened its mouth and coughed up blood. And still, it advanced.
Then Aria's eyes flew wide open. Crimson light blazed within those violet irises, and she felt a force at her back, urging her onward.
"Go on, show them. And don't you dare be self-deprecating. You are a proud daughter of the Lockward family."
Where Aria burst through, wreathed in crimson light, rubble had been sent flying skyward—and Aria herself soared high above it all. The Land Dragon couldn't keep up with her Speed; it craned its neck upward, watching her ascend into the sky as if trying to give chase.
Then a streak of crimson light flashed.
The Land Dragon was cleanly bisected, its two halves slowly splitting apart.
Rising from the gap was Aria. She rested her spear on her shoulder, still clad in crimson light, and addressed everyone.
"Let's go. I still need to land one good hit on that idiot Novem before I can call it even."
At the far end of Aria's gaze, she could see Liriel locked in combat with Novem.
Monica descended to the ground and picked up Porter's mangled head. Clara rushed over to join her.
Eva approached the two of them.
"We're heading out first."
She and Aria would go ahead to Liriel's location. The Valkyries gave chase after the two of them. Yet all eyes lingered on Porter.
Monica cradled Porter's head in her arms.
"You can't just write this off as a malfunction. You were one of us—a fine comrade, Porter."
Clara too offered a silent prayer for the partner she had spent so many years beside——.
——At what had once been the main gate of Central, the army led by Maisel, the Eighth Generation, was cutting down skeletal soldiers as it pushed into the city.
The Eighth Generation surveyed the battle unfolding in the heart of Central.
"Looks like we arrived late. But it's not over yet."
Beside him, his wife Claire nodded.
"No, it isn't over yet. We still owe Liriel a proper apology."
With so many enemy forces concentrated at the front, Maisel's group had been the last to arrive. Surrounding him were the lion warriors and Maxim, clad in armor of sand.
The lion warriors strode over the crumbling walls that had once stood there, pressing onward in a hurry. On their shoulders rode Miranda, Shannon, and Mireia.
When Mireia spotted multiple skirmishes breaking out in the distance, she spoke to Miranda.
"We're heading toward where the golden dragon is."
Shannon looked up at Mireia.
"Huh? What about Liriel?"
Mireia gave a light shrug of her shoulders.
"Let's give her a little more time. It seems like Liriel's worked through her issues, too. Besides, there's someone I'd really like to deck. Shannon... you'll help me out, won't you?"
Shannon nodded again and again before Mireia's irresistible smile.
Miranda looked at the battered state of the golden dragon.
"But that one looks like it's almost finished too, doesn't it?"
To which Mireia replied.
"That's exactly why. I just want to crash the party a little."
Mireia grinned wickedly.
Various fighters were battling the Legend Dragon, but in the end the Successive Heads had closed in as a group of seven.
The First Generation swung a massive sword around and around.
"You coward! Show your face now, will you?!"
The Third Generation extended the Bladeless Sword and inflicted a deep wound upon the Legend Dragon, laughing as he did so.
"Hmm? Whatever do you mean? Well now, at this rate, it looks like I'll be the one dealing the finishing blow. Oh my, that's rather conspicuous. I suppose the strongest of all the generations is decided on me then? Well, I was the last to remain inside the Jewel, so it's only natural!"
When the Legend Dragon opened its mouth, the Third Generation shrank the Bladeless Sword inside, then thrust it forward—the blade extended and pierced deep into the dragon's mouth.
The Sixth Generation, having finally driven off Fonbeau's predecessor and returned to the dragon hunt, shouted at the Legend Dragon.
"Ha—hold on! Hold on, dragon! Just bite through the blade like that!"
The Fifth Generation spoke while looking at the Third Generation.
"That guy's purely strong. His swordsmanship alone is something else. You can't let someone like that wield a weapon like that!"
The Second Generation said while nocking an arrow.
"That's always how you do things—always taking the easy way out!!"
The Fourth Generation said in frustration.
"Still, spending any more time on this is—"
The Seventh Generation was about to aim the muzzle at the Third Generation.
"Let go, Zell! I'll shoot it down right here!"
"No you don't, Lord Broad!"
The Third Generation pulled the blade back in midair, then twisted his body while airborne. He added centrifugal force to the extended blade aimed at the dragon's neck, attempting to cleave it clean through.
"Ahahaha, sorry about that!—Wait, what?!"
But the strike went awry. An impact struck the blade midway through, throwing off the Third Generation's balance, and the blade plunged uselessly into the ground without finishing off the Legend Dragon.
When the Third Generation touched down, what he saw was a golem shaped like a lion warrior. Perched on its shoulder was Mireia, who had just handed a single-shot pistol to Shannon. And she was grinning from ear to ear.
"That woman!! She held a grudge just because I teased her!"
Even the normally mild-mannered Third Generation was absolutely furious at being robbed of the chance to earn the title of Dragonslayer. Then the Sixth Generation spotted Mireia.
From the Sixth Generation's vantage, it looked like Shannon had fired the shot.
"You missed, but great work! Mireia, you made it in time too!"
Mireia waved back at the Sixth Generation with a bright smile. But when she looked at the Third Generation, she flashed him a thoroughly smug grin.
Her mouth kept moving, mouthing the words "Se·r·ves· you· right."
The Legend Dragon opened its enormous maw and summoned every last shred of its strength. But one outstanding woman — the First Generation's wife — soared even higher, gripping her naginata with both hands and delivering a single devastating strike that cleaved the Legend Dragon's head clean off.
Then, touching down on the ground, the First Generation's wife drove her naginata into the earth.
"Good grief, how long are you lot going to keep at it? Look, it's already over, so let's get dinner going. And I'm going to go call over that young one still fighting over there, so you lot follow me. Also, make sure you butcher that dragon properly! We need to drain the blood too!"
The barbarian-looking men standing nearby all responded in unison.
"Yes, boss!"
They bowed their heads all at once. The Successive Heads, whose thunder had been completely stolen, reluctantly trailed behind the First Generation's wife.
"Grandma, I'm coming too!"
"Alright, you're coming with Grandma. Honestly, I don't know how long you two are going to keep canoodling. I'll put you to work getting the banquet ready. Maybe tease you a little while I'm at it."
"Yep! Grandma really is amazing!"
"Of course I am. You think just anyone could be a bride of House Walt? ...Now watch your step. There's a lot of rubble around."
A lot of rubble — it was more like they were standing on a mountain of rubble.
The First Generation's wife and Dewey were holding hands. Despite her foul mouth, her expression was gentle.
And so, following the First Generation's wife — who kept saying that Laiel and the others were canoodling — the Successive Heads and their wives fell in line behind her.
The First Generation slumped his shoulders.
"Come on. You could at least let me have the last word for once."
The Second Generation placed a hand on the First Generation's shoulder.
"Come on, let's go. Once we bring Laiel along, it's straight to the banquet."
The First Generation linked arms with the Second Generation.
"A banquet — now we're talking! Let's go all out with dragon meat! ...Though, that dragon's meat doesn't look very tasty."
A pair of parent and child, laughing together.
And watching that scene, the Third Generation was walking together with the Fourth and Fifth Generations.
"My plan—"
"That was honestly horrifying. You should reflect on it."
"I agree, that was way out of line. Reflect on what you did."
Behind them walked the wives of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Generations, careful not to interrupt their husbands' conversation. The Fourth Generation's wife was the only exception—she cradled a set of beautiful scales in her arms, appraising their worth.
The Sixth and Seventh Generations trailed behind, flinching at their own brides following close on their heels.
"Why am I the only one walking on eggshells like this…"
"You brought it on yourself. Even one is more than enough to handle—yet you went and married three. That's what you get."
At that, Xenoa snapped her fan shut with a sharp crack. Smiling sweetly, she was busy intimidating the Seventh Generation.
"You—?!"
"I'm lying! I'm perfectly happy having married the finest bride around!"
The Sixth Generation was grinning as he watched the Seventh squirm. Then Mireia, who had climbed down from the lion beast-warrior, rejoined them.
"Brother, I'll be coming along too."
"Sure, come on! You're probably worried about Laiel and Novem anyway."
Just then, the former Fonbeau came charging toward the Sixth Generation in a tattered state.
"You old geezer! What do you mean my granddaughter is your great-grandson's consort?!"
The Sixth Generation fled while laughing, Mireia and the former King of Fonbeau in hot pursuit. The Seventh Generation watched the three of them with a look of utter exasperation.
"…Good grief. What a lively bunch."
He was saying that—
—while leaving Ludmilla and the others behind.
Eliza looked around, troubled. All around her, the dissection of the Legend Dragon had already begun.
"Hey, how do we even cut this thing up?"
"We should eat the organs first, right?"
"Bring the booze! Booze! There should be barrels and barrels of it somewhere. If an army came, there's bound to be some."
Gracia was also agonizing over what to do. Just then, Miranda dismissed her Golem and descended to the ground.
Shannon turned to everyone.
"What are you all doing? Let's get going already. The banquet can't start until we finish, you know."
Eliza, told off by her friend Shannon, started walking.
"R-right. I'm not sure if a banquet is the right call, but... well, we can't just leave Laiel and the others behind."
Gracia sighed.
"Fine. Since it's come to this, I'll see it through to the end. Bring it on!"
Miranda looked exasperated, a disgusted expression on her face. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she started walking.
"I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop dragging this out any further. Besides, I need to get a few things straight with people, or it'll keep eating at me. And I still need to deck Novem one good time."
Ludmilla carried her sheathed longsword in her left hand as she watched the group marching ahead——
"...House Walt is way over the top. Forget strongest—they're the most insane."