113. Thanatos Battle

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Saul

“Come forth… Star of Eden!!”

From my raised hand, six jet-black spheres appeared in a spiraling formation and swirled around me… the “Star of Eden”.

At the same time, Thanatos sent its flames flying toward me.

“Is that all you’ve got?!”

In conjunction with the movement of my hand, the black spheres drifting around me shifted and rotated in front of me, forming a shield-like barrier.

The flames coming into contact with the barrier were dispersed… no, they were absorbed and vanished into it.

Star of Eden’s true nature… was a gravity field that only affected magical phenomena, such as flames composed of magical energy.

“…Alright, that should do it.”

Relieved that the technique I had newly acquired over the past month had demonstrated its intended effectiveness, I let out a sigh of relief.

This was by no means all-powerful; if subjected to magical energy surpassing its capacity at once, it would saturate and collapse. For instance, Miriam’s “Photon Blaster”, a highly concentrated blast of pure magical energy, would undoubtedly overwhelm and nullify the Star of Eden.

However, I only faced against mere flames at the moment, which my Star of Eden was more than capable of dealing with. Still, the approaching heat was considerable, and a burning sensation was gradually prickling on my skin.

…If this drags on, it might get a little dicey.

As I thought about having Iris treat me up later…

“So much for running your mouth earlier… Get it together, you jerk!”

Accompanied by an angry shout, a glaive… a type of spear with a single-edged blade, thrust before my eyes.

As the spear pierced the ground, it stirred up a fierce whirlwind to protect me, scattering the flames.

This was undoubtedly the skill “Turbulence” of the “Dragoon” class from the Lancer grouping. And that means…

“You saved me, Ouka-san. Thank you.”

“Hmph… You said that, but your face tells me that you’re expecting me all along, and it sickens me.”

An angry-looking Ouka-san walked over and pulled the spear from the ground.

Then, she all but hurled the metallic object she had been carrying under her arm toward me… a round shield.

“It’s made of mithril, so it should be pretty sturdy. Don’t get too cocky, will you? It’s just a dusty old piece from the corner of the workshop.”

“I’ll make good use of it.”

“…Hmph.”

She turned away, not bothering to hide her animosity.

Upon closer inspection, her hands and knees were still trembling slightly. However, her fiercely determined face spoke volumes about her will to fight.

“…Well, that’s a passing mark alright.”

“Huh? What on earth are you on about, jerkface? Once this is over, get ready, because I’m going to give you an earful.”

Although she was scowling at me, and her tone was venomous, the corner of her lips seemed to twitch slightly, almost as if she were smiling.

“I’ll be sure to remember it.”

I replied with a wry smile.

Ouka

Back when it was still a game, even though combat was somewhat realistic and often intense, my body in the real world would never come to harm.

…But this is reality.

Briefly engaging in combat just now had made me keenly aware of that fact. The combat in this world far exceeded all of my expectations.

And I felt fear.

The flames weren’t CG; they’re actual fire. Although I was currently protected by various defensive magic, if I were to take a direct hit by mistake, my skin would surely be scorched, and the pain would be unimaginable.

By wielding a spear at the frontline like this, I finally understood that fear.

One step ahead of me, the prince readied his sword. He, along with his companions, had endured such fear and come this far…

“It’s going to launch fireballs!”

“I know…!”

Unlike the sporadic flames, the ice wall I was hiding behind wouldn’t hold against massive balls of concentrated fire.

I raised my spear to confront the incoming fireball while scattering the evaporating ice shards.

“Blow it away, Vortex Shield…!”

I rotated my spear, enveloped in wind, in my hand and parried a fireball to the right. As the second fireball approached, I forcibly shifted my stance to the left to take it on.

However, that left me vulnerable to a third fireball that’s also quickly closing in my position.

A shiver ran down my spine as it was about to hit…

The next moment, a figure leapt in and swatted the fireball aside, sending it flying toward the direction of the sea.

“T-Thanks…”

“You were a great help yourself.”

With a slight smile, the prince stood before me once again.

My Lancer grouping, despite its aggressive impression, only has middling attack power.

Its essence lies in manipulating wind to bind enemies or deflect attacks, making it more akin to an evasion tank… at least that’s how it was in the game.

In that case, I should have been able to defend myself, but…

My vision blurred.

My breath quickened.

Although I thought I was prepared, the combat where actual lives are at stake was too terrifying, and my body was being worn down by extreme tension.

On the other hand, the prince remained extremely calm as he deflected the relentlessly approaching flames produced by the flapping of Thanatos’ wings, filling our field of vision.

…It’s frustrating, but I have to admit, the prince was much stronger than me. Or rather, he was just more accustomed to actual combat.

“Why are you being so calm about this? Just how many battles have you been through…?!”

Not wanting to lose to him, I did my best to catch up, but he was so far ahead that all I could do was provide backup.

Even though this should have been my responsibility, I had no choice but to leave the frontline to him. I bit my lip in frustration…

“…It’s still scary even now, you know.”

“Huh?”

Despite his calm demeanor, he muttered quietly as he deflected the approaching tsunami of flames with something resembling black spheres. His words made me involuntarily turn to him.

“…When I first cut down a person, my head was filled with anger, so I didn’t think much about it… It was only after some time passed that the memories came back to haunt me.”

“That’s…”

Killed someone.

It’s not something you’d typically experience if you were in peaceful Japan. Although I’d come out here with the will to fight, I only took up the spear to help, and I couldn’t imagine being prepared to kill people.

“After losing to the enemy and suffering severe injuries, sometimes I still feel pain in the places where the injuries once were, even though they’re already completely healed.”

That’s perfectly understandable.

Now matter how miraculous that princess’ healing magic was, it couldn’t heal the wounds in the heart.

“Sometimes, I woke up in the middle of the night out of fear. Thinking that tomorrow, I might really die.”

There was no trembling in his voice. How could he talk about it so calmly?

“Iris too… When Reiji and I were in a coma, occasionally she would wake up in the middle of the night. She said she couldn’t sleep because she had bad dreams when we weren’t able to wake up.”

“I didn’t expect that seemingly airheaded girl to have such a side…”

“Haha… Iris’s actually really timid. So every night, either Reiji or I had to check on her to see if she’s sleeping properly. On the days she wasn’t, the sight of either me or Reiji was enough to calm her down.”

The prince recalled with tears in his eyes.

According to him, on such nights, unable to sleep anymore, they huddled together in the lounge, wrapped in blankets and killed time until morning… The prince nonchalantly talked about it like it’s the most normal thing in the world, despite having to fend off the flames’ onslaught as a tank.

Though, his profile seemed profoundly sad.

As it turns out, they aren’t that much different from me. No matter how brave they seem, in reality, they always have to combat and overcome their fears.

Realizing this makes me feel ashamed of having given up earlier, thinking I couldn’t do anything because I was weak, and they were strong. And now, I understand why he got angry.

But still, there’s something else I want to know…

“If fighting’s so scary… Why do you guys still take up arms?”

“Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but as long as us three are concerned…”

His expression suddenly tensed.

In his line of sight, the giant bird wreathed in flames, which had stayed by Kirsche until now, took flight into the sky.

“…As long as our little world is concerned, I don’t want to lose anyone no matter what, that’s all. Now, look out!”

Thanatos’ movements changed.

Its beak opened wide, and several magic circles lit up, overlapping before it. In no time, these formed a massive three-dimensional magic circle, and within it, a fearsome power that made my skin crawl began to swell.

In that moment…

“…?! No, I didn’t mean to…!”

The voice of my stepsister, who seemed devoid of any conscious will earlier, shouted from within the storm of flames.

“Kirsche?! Are you back to your senses?!”

“…Onee-chan?! Please, get away from here, I can’t stop it anymore… Emotional Flow is about to activate!”

It was already too late. Although she, the caster, had regained her sanity and was desperately trying to suppress its power, the berserk Beast of Spiritual Chant, now in top form, couldn’t be contained.

“No! All of you, run!”

I hastily shouted to everyone fighting nearby, trying to get them to run.

As someone who’d been playing with my stepsister with the longest time, I understood better than anyone else how grave the situation is.

“Emotional Flow” was the ultimate move of the Beast of Spiritual Chant, with each Beast having a single, unique version.

Thanatos’ version, “Floga”, was an all-annihilating blaze that signifies death and destruction, befitting its name.

But what rendered me speechless wasn’t fear of the flame.

“…Iris, it’s coming! Match me!!”

“I’m on it!”

The prince’s shout was promptly answered by the girl’s delicate voice. The prince and princess signaled loudly to each other.

First, the prince was shielded by an invisible barrier—likely a Priest’s Protection spell—and as they began their synchronized chanting, I was left in stunned silence.

No way… Are they planning to take “Floga” head on?!

“That’s too reckless! Oh, for crying out loud!”

The boy named Shin, the only remotely reasonable member of the player aid organization, who seemed to have cooperated out of necessity, cursed as he cast resistance magic on the prince.

Knowing it’d be futile, I clicked my tongue in frustration.

I grabbed the prince’s collar, trying to pull him back, and our eyes met.

It’ll be alright, just trust me.

I felt the confidence in his gaze, and in the next moment…

From the sky, a blinding heat ray turned the world a searing red.

Even in a world dyed red, I saw the prince’s black spheres and the double-layered magic barrier.

They clashed violently with the heat ray from above. I don’t know how many seconds or minutes passed after that.

“…Hey, is your smug face okay?! Hey!”

I called out frantically to the epicenter of the blast, shrouded in dust and steam.

Anxious about the prince’s safety, I waited for a few more seconds…

“*pants*… I’m alright… mostly.”

Gasping for air, the prince emerged from the dust, discarding the shield that had nearly melted away.

“Thank goodness… But to actually withstand that…”

“It’s nothing… Iris and I had seen worse. With the support magic and barriers from Iris and I, I was almost certain from past experiences that I could withstand it.”

“…Did you actually practice that before?”

“No, but I’d rather do this than letting someone defenseless get hurt. Besides… stay alert.”

The prince, still panting, stood up and refocused his sword towards where Kirsche had been.

“But Thanatos just used its ultimate attack, shouldn’t it be over…?”

“…We’ll see about that soon enough.”

Only half-convinced by the prince’s ambiguous response, I readied my spear and followed his gaze…

“…I’m sorry, I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry…”

There sat my stepsister, muttering broken apologies like a broken record, looking completely out of it.

“Um, Kirsche…?”

Thanatos was still present by her side as she kept mumbling deliriously, her eyes vacant. I cautiously called out to her, and her frail shoulders flinched before she looked up.

Her face, raw with emotion, was starkly different from her usual timid demeanor.

Amidst her confusion and fear, I saw a desperate plea for help in her eyes.

Seeing her like that, I felt a prick in my heart… My regret of not being a proper sister to her welled up again, and I couldn’t help but look away.

That was a mistake I’d soon come to regret.

“…………Why?”

“Eh?”

As I struggled to find the right words, her voice, now unexpectedly subdued, reached my ears.

Puzzled, I turned back to Kirsche… and almost let out a pathetic gasp.

Tears streaming down her face, she stared at me with dark, sunken eyes, saturated and heavy with anger and resentment… unmistakably toward me.

“Why, why, why? If I only caused trouble to you, if I was nothing but a bother to you, why didn’t you tell me?”

“What…?”

“…If you find me annoying… if you hate me, just say it to my face! Then I can give up, I don’t have to hold onto false hope anymore!”

“Wait, what are you…?!”

Tears pouring down her face, Kirsche wailed like a child throwing a tantrum.

“I don’t care if you scold me! I don’t care If you hate me… I JUST WANT YOU TO PROPERLY LOOK AT ME…!!”

Thanatos’ flames, now more malevolent than ever before, flared up with renewed vigor.

It was as if… it were the manifestation of my stepsister’s wounds of the heart that had been kept suppressed until now.

Come to think of it, when was the last time I properly looked at her?

…I really couldn’t remember.

Since becoming a family, had I ever paid any genuine attention to her?

In contrast, she had always been trying so hard to help me, despite her shyness, striving to close the distance between us.

“…I’m just the worst, aren’t I?”

The words slipped out of my mouth.

“Ouka-san, I don’t know what happened between you and her, but you did a lot to earn her ire, I presume?”

Stifling a laugh, the prince dryly commented.

I couldn’t retort with anything.

It’s like he said, a lot of this was my fault.

The world was drowned out again in flames…