Volume 2 – The World Sneered
The fierce battle against the angels continued on outside the castle.
Mana and endurance were running low.
Cutie in particular was greatly tired after giving it her all, and she was somewhat under Calaria and Ami’s protection at this point.
“How pathetic…… I already used up my mana.”
“It’s fine Cutie, you’re the one who took High Priestess down!”
“Just make sure you don’t end up dead! Mary will cry if you die!”
“I know! I mean, I know, but…… I don’t want to die anyway!”
Meanwhile, Philias continued swinging her sword some distance away from the other three.
“I will avenge you, so sleep easy.”
She sighed after burning a monster who used to be her subordinate to death.
She almost reflexively looked down, then smacked herself on the cheek and raised her head.
And she moved her gaze to look at the royal army recklessly fighting the angels.
They were fighting hard using the large tanks which were planned to be utilized during the training, but their main batteries were meant for site destruction, and could not hit the angels.
A few of them had already turned into scrap metal, and the thick blood of the soldiers who failed to escape were stuck to them.
“……Let’s not get sad about things other than our subordinates, Philias.”
Philias talked to herself and grasped the hilt of her sword more firmly.
When a person feels down, even trivial incidents are enough to hurt them.
However, the matter of the Imperial Guards alone already burdened her heart heavily enough.
She had to kill the king with her hands, after all. Otherwise, the black emotions whirling around in the pit of Philias’s stomach would never be dispelled.
“I wish we could lessen the number of angels a little more.”
Philias dodged a spell aimed at her feet and focused on another angel.
A little distance away from her, a tank that was barely still unscathed got surrounded by angels.
The crew was reacting with the machine guns installed on the tank, but their bullets could not do much real damage to the angels.
“Uuaaaaaagggh!”
The confused screams of the soldiers within could be faintly heard outside.
Their hard battle was in vain as the angels shot spells of varying attributes at the tank.
The tank’s thick armor was about to be easily penetrated.
Then, a figure leaped down from the roof of a building to the side.
It was Mary on her bike.
“You’re in my way, disperse!”
She fired her numerous gatling guns in the air and shot the angels down.
She then dismantled her bike, and landed on top of the tank.
Mary was back after leaving to enter the castle – and Philias, Calaria and the others immediately noticed this.
Then, along with Mary, they all focused their attacks on the angels who now targeted Mary.
The monsters were shot down.
It was for a short time, but they secured a safe period, and Mary forced the tank’s hatch open.
“Eeeh! I-I don’t wanna diiiie!”
In his confusion, the soldier shot at Mary with his pistol the moment he saw her.
She did not dodge it, and spoke in a kind voice after taking the shot with her body.
“Please be at ease, I am not an enemy. I want to use this tank, so could you leave?”
“L-Lady Mary!? I-I-I’m so sorry! What have I…..!”
“You couldn’t help it. Quickly, now! More angels are coming!”
“Y-Yes!”
Mary herself lent the men a hand and pulled the soldiers out of the tank.
She confirmed that the soldiers safely made it away, and put her hand on the tank.
Then, Philias approached her.
She jumped up and stood next to Mary.
“Looks like you have an interesting idea, eh?”
“I do have the arcana of Chariot, after all. I think it should be used on a tank.”
“If that’s why you retreated, Henry must be quite strong.”
“Obviously.”
“May I join you?”
“But the angels-”
“Yeah. But what about you?”
Mary started to think as she charged the tank with mana.
Could she defeat Henry alone like this? She had to admit that it would be very difficult.
“Besides, there’s no problem with leaving these girls in your hands either, but I’m not as much of an ally to you as they are, you know.”
“……Alright. The army is acting as bait as well, so let’s end this quickly.”
“So, what do we do with the tank?”
“My father’s power creates countless soldiers who use swords and bows. It’s difficult to fight in a cramped space, and he didn’t seem to be moving either.”
The tank’s tracks started moving.
With its original specs, its speed limit was around 40 km/h at most.
“I will demolish the castle.”
But now, it could easily surpass 100 km/h.
Indeed, this meant that the tank itself was now a cannonball.
Philias lost her balance due to the quick acceleration, and imitated Mary to hold onto the tank’s frame.
The tank’s tracks crushed the stone paving and shot up dust as it charged towards the castle.
Mary and Philias’s hair danced in the wind.
“We’re just crashing into it, right!?”
“No, first, the gate. I’ll destroy it with the main battery!”
Flames blew out of the main battery along with Mary’s voice.
The ammunition was charged with mana and had its destructive power increased many times, and the castle’s gate got blown open with a massive explosion after the impact.
Then the tank accelerated further to charge through the gate which was forced open.
The tank broke through the smoke, and Henry was visible before the throne room’s entrance when the smoke cleared.
(He came out in front……?)
Despite the fact that he was so intent on showing off his composure?
Mary and Philias signalled each other with their eyes, and jumped down from the top of the tank at the same time.
The next moment, countless arrows created by Henry’s powers pierced the tank.
But their momentum did not slow down.
The opponent raised his hand, and like he had done with Mary’s bombardment, he stopped the massive tank with one hand.
This shockwave caused a strong burst of wind.
As if resisting a current, Mary and Philias slashed at Henry at the same time from both sides.
Swords floated up again and blocked them.
“You think the two of you can beat me?”
Arrows were set loose aimed at the two’s heads.
They backed off to dodge.
Henry quickly floated up a massive quantity of bows and drove Mary and Philias away while firing in rapid succession.
The number of bows was around the same as when Mary was beaten earlier.
But there were two of them now.
So the arrows had to be divided.
And now that they were by the entrance instead of the throne room, it was easier to dodge.
“Look what happened to that solid pillar in just one shot. These are pretty powerful compared to how they look.”
“Philias…… I did not expect you, the one who loses to no one in the filthiness of her way of life, to challenge me.”
“They may be lesser than the average person’s, but even I have feelings. After my subordinates died, I’m not gonna die before I get at least one good hit at you!”
“You’re nothing but a mere arcana user. Do not think that you can even lay a finger on my World!”
Swords suddenly floated up around Philias.
Meanwhile, the attack against Mary softened a little while only the arrows continued shooting at her.
She pointed her arm towards Philias while she ran, and shot a bone shell.
The bullet hit the swords.
Philias saw a way to get through the swords surrounding her and approached Henry after speedily slipping through.
“Burn to a crisp, you shitty king!”
She dodged an arrow as she jumped up, then swung her sword down as its flames burned with even more firepower.
“You can’t use the power of Temperance!”
Henry received the attack with his bare hand and tossed Philias away.
“Uuuggh……!”
“I know your trick, so you’re nothing but a first-class sorcerer to me.”
Philias groaned in pain after getting smashed against the wall.
Henry looked down on her.
(She can’t use it……? It doesn’t work against father?)
Philias had said something peculiar before as well, but there was probably a necessary condition to activate Temperance.
However, there was no need to think about that now.
Henry aimed his bows at Philias who was down on the ground.
It seemed that he was planning on finishing her off first.
In the meanwhile, Mary touched the tank, activated Chariot, then activated Power.
The gun turret rapidly spun and aimed at the enemy.
“Die, you ungrateful, dishonest bitch!”
“Not happening!”
The main battery gave off a dazzling light, then shelled Henry.