CH 324

「Damn it! No other choice, attack him! We can’t intercept Prisma like this!」

A Knight, captain of the unit, gave the order.

「B-, but, he’s our own…!」

「Y-, yeah…! He’s a good guy!! Captain, you know he is!!」

「Can’t you see, we got our backs to the wall! Kill him or else we’re all going to die! I can’t possibly let that happen! After me!」

The captain Knight drew his sword, an Artifact, and slashed at the humanoid Magic Stone Beast that emerged from his unit with his lightning-embodied blade.

「S̲h̲i̲t̲! F-, fine, as you command!」

「I’m sorry…! Forgive us for this!!」

Seeing their captain’s action was true to his words, the shaken Knights made their resolve to follow suit. Released from their initial shock, the Knights charged at their turned friend, but the Magic Stone Beast hit them faster with its body, knocking them down.

「「「UWAAAHHH?!」」」

「Kgh! Such strength!」

「He’s no ordinary Magic Stone Beast!」

As the captain Knight was knocked over, the humanoid Magic Stone Beast extended its claws sharply, fully intent to pierce him through.

「Uugh?!」

The claws zoomed into the Knight’s breastplate, moments away from piercing him… when a flash of light zapped down from the heavens. It rushed vertically from the turned Knight, cutting the huge body in half.

「「OOoohh?!」」

As the Knights were stunned by the lightspeed action… Someone appeared standing beside the fallen Magic Stone Beast, Eris.

「Ooh…! Lady Eris!!」

「A Hyrule Menace came to save us!!」

With a calm but loud and pronounced voice, Eris called out to those around her.

「Leave this to me! The rest of you should keep the formation in place and prepare for the incoming enemies!」

「「Roger…!」」

The unrest among the Knights faded. If a Hyrule Menace said so, then that must be the correct choice! Eris’ words had the power to make the Knights feel so at ease and unify. This was the result of the trust and respect that she had been building up over the long years.

Eris then called out to Miliera who was in a Flygear Carrier.

「Miliera! Tell me if you know anything! Do you think the transformation will spread throughout the whole army?! Should we evacuate the entire army?!」

「You don’t know about this phenomenon, Miss Eris?!」

「Of course not! How could even a normal human turn into a Magic Stone beast?! If this had been happening often, then the world would have been destroyed a long time ago! So, what do you think?!」

「I can’t be certain without deeper analysis, but I don’t think it’ll spread to the entire army! My guess is that the ones who turned are members of the Ironblood Chain Brigade who possess Prism Powder! It is likely that the proximity of the Prisma caused some kind of reaction!」

「With the Prism Powder?! I see!! Although, there may be other factors at play as well…」

Eris, too, reached the same conclusion as Miliera. That being said, the Prism Powder being the main factor was the most likely truth.

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「If that’s the main reason, then it’s pretty ironic… to have the Prisma, of all things, identify the moles of the Ironblood Chain Brigade!」

「Yes!! It truly is!」

「Either way, I get the cause now! Maintain the position, and be ready for interception any time!! I will deal with these new Magic Stone Beasts myself!」

Eris rushed at another Magic Stone Beast that had appeared nearby.

The Magic Stone Beast threw a punch to keep her at bay, but its arm itself was shredded and flew away. Eris’ right twin sword cleaved said arm that was coming at her.

With the same momentum, she dashed closer to the Magic Stone Beast… and, this time, she used her left sword to slice through the body, dissecting it at the waist.

「Ooh…?! Amazing—!」

「How magnificent!」

「One more!」

Eris kicked the ground, towards a nearby wall, then kicked the wall to once again leap high into the air. With the momentum of her kick, zooming like a shot arrow, her target was… the transformed Maurice that Yua was holding upside down from the roof.

「Hyaah!」

Her high-speed slash flashed in the dark night, but then… She missed, as Maurice’s body was softly lifted, avoiding the trajectory of Eris’ sword. Of course, it was Yua who lifted him up and saved Maurice.

「—?! You’re a Knight Academy student…」

「No. Can’t… this one is Beansprout, so you can’t…」

「I understand your feelings! However, a Magic Stone Beast can’t turn back! If we leave him be, he’ll kill you or your friends! So, just leave it to me! You can close your eyes and ears…」

Unusual for Yua who was always dozing off, she showed a strong rejection.

「YUA! But— he’s already…!」

Silva, too, understood painfully well how Yua felt. Maurice was no stranger to Silva; He was his good junior who became the in-between for the incomprehensible and uncontrollable Yua, and he took good care of Yua as well.

Regardless of how he turned out to be Ironblood Chain Brigade’s mole, Silva wanted to help if he could. However, Silva, too, understood what Eris was saying. There was no method to revert a Magic Stone Beast to its original existence.

And now, with hordes of Magic Stone beasts approaching the city of Arlman, followed by Prisma… Being thrown into chaos by the outbreak of humanoid Magic Stone Beasts and collapsing from the inside out was the last thing they needed.

There were also humanoid Magic Stone Beasts among the approaching hordes. It didn’t take a genius to know that those, too, must be formerly humans who turned, much like Maurice and the other Knights.

If the troops were too cowed to eliminate the enemies within their own ranks, they wouldn’t be able to fight the oncoming hordes. It might even end up annihilating the entire army. The only way to avoid that happening at all was to shake off any doubts and unify their resolutions ASAP.

That was what Eris was trying to make an example of. Moreover, she didn’t ask people who were close to the turned ones to take the killing blow, but rather she took it upon herself to do it. She was ready and willing to bear the burden of grudges should she be proven wrong.

And, if that was the case, then as a bearer of a Special Grade Rune whose future was to fight alongside the Hyrule Menaces, then Silva, too, should take the initiative and cooperate with Eris!

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And yet, there was part of him who wanted to side with Yua. At the very least, he wanted Maurice to be let off the hook, one way or another… Should he just let Yua do whatever she wanted?

But, he only thought that way because he knew Maurice personally, so… Everything was contradictory. However, he had to say it…

「Mister Silva.」

Principal Miliera called Silva’s name, and when he looked at her, she made a restraining signal with her hand. Her expression told him that she would be the one to say it, so he didn’t need to.

Silva, personally, was relieved. However, at the same time, he realized that he was still a student, nothing more, and it frustrated him. He had to have the Principal cover for him!

But, even before Principal Miliera could say anything, Eris made her move.

「—I’m sorry about this! Resent me if you must!」

From the ground where she landed, Eris swung her twin swords sharply to the side. As there was nothing between them, her blades should cut nothing but air… and yet, the space before Eris’ hands was distorted, as though it had been twisted.

「—!」

And then, the blades of her golden twin swords appeared beside Maurice. Being caught off-guard, Yua’s reaction was too late. The blades were to seize Maurice’s body… before another blade appeared in front of them.

It was the tip of a golden spear. It sparked violently, halting the swords’ trajectory. Much like what Eris did with her twin swords, space was distorted and only the spearhead appeared out of thin air.

「?! That’s the same as my…!」

「Sorry for interrupting… but I’m obliged to protect my comrades…」

The voice came from the roof of a different building than the one Yua was on. There, a tall, beautiful woman with long red hair appeared. In her hand was a golden spear, the very spear that deflected Eris’ swords.