Setina's fingertips were trembling.
I wonder if the fear of seeing someone's death with her own eyes for the first time dulled her physical senses, or if her defensive instinct stopped her from picking up her sword.
Seeing her fingertips trembling like that, she tried to calmly reconfirm the situation she was in.
Zayak was staring ahead, as if he saw nothing but terror.
Seeing Zayak's terrified profile diagonally in front of her, Setina shouted with all her might that there was only one choice she could make right now.
"--Let's run away!"
Just like when Setina called out to him in the dark, Zayak was frightened and surprised.
Bommie, who was a reliable partner, is no more.
(Move… move… move move move move ──)
The frustration of having to protect the princess who has become too much for her, and the fear that she too might die. and the death of her companion.
Zayak's body dulls from the sudden onset of pressure and confusion.
"--Lord Setina... run away--"
The spiky mace struck the ground again.
That slamming action that turned Bommy into an ice sculpture.
Waves spread horizontally and dazzling light spreads out.
(again ── this time...!)
Setina, who was farthest away, hid her eyes with her arm, and tried hard to hold back her sight, which was trying to close due to her glare. Noticed.
(Blue...?)
Setina desperately tried to get even a little information about what was happening, and she tried to catch it with her eyes, but she couldn't stand the glare and closed her eyes halfway through. rice field.
When the light subsided and she opened her eyes again, it wasn't a wrapped ice sculpture like Bommie's, but some of Zayak's limbs were frozen to the earth.
"Mr. Zayak!"
I hear footsteps.
Wearing full body armor, the armor slowly steps forward, one step at a time.
Metallic footsteps echoed as the armor approached—Zayak.
Zayak clutched the spear he held in his unfrozen hand.
And recklessly throw it towards the armor.
However, the slow throwing was repelled with a dull metallic sound that collided with the armor, and the spear fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Lord Setina..."
"No... no..."
A huge piece of armor stood in front of Zayak.
Its overwhelming presence seemed to exceed its size.
Zayak, unable to move, slowly turned around to see Setina behind her, even if it was just her neck.
I don't know why a human being prepared for death would have such an expression, even though he was crumpled with tears, perhaps out of fear, but Zayak was certainly laughing while pulling his mouth.
"Run away—"
The mace was swung down with such force that it felt like a judgment for her condemnation, and her blood splashed.
Setina didn't have the strength of mind or the madness to face someone's death.
She turned her eyes away from Zayak, who was crushed.
(I'm sorry, I'm sorry……)
Regretting his lack of power and his own weakness, he couldn't even help those who died to protect him.
Her anger and sorrow, many emotions attacked her, but she tried hard to endure it and shake off her emotions, concentrating on thinking about her own survival.
(Calm down, Setina──)
Holding back her overflowing tears, clenching her teeth and trying to stay calm, Setina spun her thoughts.
(The blue thing just now is... ether light. Probably water (mist)...)
Despite such Setina, the giant armor stared at me and slowly swung its mace.
(If...)
The mace struck the ground again—at the same time, Setina closed her eyes and thrust her own rapier into the ground.
(Please... Guardian Beast-sama──)
The light emitted from the armor envelops the surroundings──
Setina fearfully opened her eyes.
The armor armor in front of her, and the grassy path between her and her opponent—she confirmed that her feet and even her limbs moved.
(Frozen... not. After all, that is a water-based ether magic...)
By casting water (mist) type ether magic around her, she prevented interference between her ethers.
The reason she escaped danger was probably because she herself was good at handling ice magic.
Not even surprised by Setina's appearance, the armor-clad armor just kept her silent.
The sight of her quietly staring at Setina made her feel even more eerie.
Setina retreated with vigilant caution, and she ran away with all her might to the way she had come.
Her armor slowly followed her, walking in the direction of her escape.
"Haa...haa...haa..."
A princess rushes through Uruji Forest.
(Can you escape... run away... where...? Run away to the monastery... if you follow me to the monastery...?)
She was conscious of the rear and was thinking about such a thing while running on the forest road.
Far in front of me, I could see something gleaming for just a moment.
(Eh──)
Something flew towards her body as she was running with all her might.
She tried to dodge, but all she could do was react to her sudden projectile, and Setina lost her balance and fell.
The flying object that passed by her Setina collided with a tree in the back, releasing a large impact sound and causing smoke to spread.
When Setina stood up and looked behind her, there was a gouge-like shaving mark on the large tree that had hit her.
(what……?)
"Heh... avoid that."
Hearing the sudden woman's voice that she shouldn't have heard, she panicked and looked ahead—but no one was there.
All that was left was the vegetation that I had seen many times and the dirt road ahead.
(... just my imagination... that can't be true... right now, it's true...)
"... show yourself!"
A rare, embarrassingly loud voice roared through the forest.
Then I heard a small sigh from ahead.
"... Well, you're going to die anyway."
When I said those words, a part of the scenery in front of Setina, which should have been nothing, was distorted.
As the distortion gradually changed into the shape of a person, the person stood there as if it had been there from the beginning.
"Ah, really... I'm not kidding."
Somewhere along the line, there was a woman with short ruby red hair who was sighing and mumbling.
She carries a magic wand that makes it easy to tell at a glance that she is a magician, but she wears light clothes that do not look like a magician, and she wears clothes that reveal her thighs.
"... who are you?"
"Well, it doesn't matter who we are."
The woman replied, tapping her shoulder with her magic wand lazily.
“…Is the armor from earlier also your friend?”
"Companion? Huh... I'm not kidding. Damn you idiot... you absolutely cut corners, you don't even run... remember that later."
"... why are you targeting us?"
"Why? Because you are Setina La Almeria? What other reason do you need?"
"What the hell am I doing—"
"Ahh. Stupid. It's enough to get you killed while you're talking about what you've done. Then—dead."
“Wait—”
"Ah, I'm not good at quiet magic."
While saying so languidly, the ruby-red haired woman held her cane in front of her with her left hand.
She simultaneously formed a triangle with her right thumb, her index finger, and her middle finger, each of which glowed with an ocher ethereal glow.
Her triangular fingers converged, and the etheric light extinguished like a spark.
Setina was wary of the female magician in front of her, but she suddenly felt a presence from a direction she had never expected.
(──Behind!?)
When she sensed her approaching from behind, she quickly flew wide to the side──
A diamond-shaped rock mass flew from behind her.
Passing through Setina's side, she felt a sense of relief--but it was supposed to be a diamond-shaped lump of rock that came flying from where Setina was avoiding--
(──eh)
If she landed firmly like this, the block of rocks would hit her directly, and her body would be carved like that big tree.
However, my body is already jumping and I can no longer change my landing posture.
At some point, while jumping, Setina's left fingertip emitted a blue ethereal light.
What she used was water (mist) magic ice cream, and the destination she released it was the ground.
A small piece of ice created where she lands.
When she landed there, Setina didn't resist the ice, and her foot slipped and she fell.
She quickly fell to the ground and over her head, a diamond-shaped rock mass passed by one, then another, and each one was on its way to the big tree, and she vigorously moved. bumped into.
A quick wit paid off.
By creating an icy ground and falling quickly—on purpose, she was able to omit one of the movements normally required for landing, and succeeded in evasive action.
It was part of Setina's reflexes, but it was her original way of fighting, an idea she had trained in sword dancing like Valiet.
"Hey, don't do it."
(…The enemy probably shot Stone Blast, a type of Stall (earth) magic. ─)
Setina collected her own mana on her fingertips and traced them from the base of her rapier to the tip of her sword, gathering ethereal reactions.
(I don't have much mana to spare... but--)
Twisting her body, she threw the ice horizontally to the ground, emitting a blue aether light that was stronger than ever.
She created a large area of ice instead of the small size she made on the ground earlier.
"Have you frozen the ground? What can you do with it?"
The ruby red sorceress again formed a triangle with her fingertips, this time swiftly—turning around twice—casting her stone blast.
(Coming──)
Setina dived onto the ice and danced across the ice on her one leg as she slipped and accelerated.
A diamond-shaped rock, Stone Blast, flies toward Setina.
She hits from the side - crouches, then twists to dodge, then left. Using the slip of her rotation, she changes the trajectory of the rocks by parrying them with her rapier, and fluidly avoids the rocks one after another.
Setina's fighting style, swordsmanship like Variett, requires a good footing as a minimum requirement.
However, it was not possible to have a slippery battle in a place with bad footing, such as a mountain road or a forest road where we are right now.
What made it possible was her idea of freezing the ground with ether magic.
Even though Setina avoided her attacks, she gradually closed the distance……but――
“You have an interesting way of fighting.
"Eh ──"
The ruby-red sorceress touched the red jewel adorning the tip of her wand.
She held her wand down to the ground when a white horizontal letter appeared in the red gem that had lost its light.
Then, a wave of small flames, like a turf burner burning a lawn, melts the ice formed on the ground one after another.
“Ice…!?”
The ice she was skating on melted one after another and landed on the molten ground.
However, perhaps aiming for that chance, the female magician was preparing for her next spell from the front.
She cut her lengthwise with the staff she held in her hand, and a gust of wind erupted, blowing her body of Setina far behind.
"...Kyaa!"
Setina's rapier, which fell to her ground and let go of her hand, also dropped behind her.
The flame that spread out in a circular shape disappeared with the magic of the wind, but here and there it turned into ash as if the plants had been burned.
"It's unsightly. Ah, even so, I'm not suitable for moderation, hey, you think so too, right?"
Setina stood up and tried to pick up the rapier that had fallen behind her, when she saw a familiar presence.
"Volks"
The being called Volks by the magician just killed Bommie and Zayak.