The Young Princess Kills Everyone: Re
“Vent Tempestus…… Haha, hahahaha, ahahahahaha!”
Mitis’s laughter echoed in the president’s room.
She was furious when she saw the emergence of Wheel of Fortune.
“I can’t believe the man himself is here! Is he trying to atone for his sins? After all that. How egotistical!”
She stood up from her chair and shouted into the empty air.
Yelling calmed her down a little, and her spread arms went loose before she sighed and spoke.
“You can’t atone by saving some lives created in a world like this.”
She squinted her eyes.
She remembered far away memories that were so vague yet still so pronounced.
♢♢♢
Ami’s body crumbled and a god of mechanism emerged from within.
It was formed by a golden frame with gears not just in its arms, but all over its body.
Yet Mary knew that this truly was arcana without a doubt.
Because she had seen Star in Francis’s memories after consuming her.
“Wheel of Fortune…… Then, Ami! Where did she go!?”
“She devoted her entire life to me.”
“But-”
Mary’s voice was filled with despair.
She had an ally now, but she could not bring herself to be happy about that fact.
“Can’t I…… Can’t I even say farewell to that girl……?”
She clenched her fist tight.
Right now, she was only still alive so that she could at least kill the people she loved by her own hands.
“I can see it. That girl always wished for your happiness more than she ever wished for hers.”
“I know. I know that’s the kind of girl she was.”
“Thus she chose this path. There is nothing else I can tell you.”
It seemed cold, but it was the truth.
Mary knew Ami would choose that path if it was possible.
Even during their journey together, Ami always had a bright smile on her face despite offering her life as compensation.
“So to make Ami’s wish come true…… I have to fight, and I have to win.”
“Indeed. I shall fight Moon and Sun, as I know their powers. Temperance is yours.”
“I understand.”
Mary forced herself to accept a reasoning she could not comprehend and pushed her feelings down.
“When I beat them…… Please let me hug Ami’s corpse, okay?”
“Of course, because that is also Ami’s wish.”
That was not much relief for Mary, but she left things in the hands of Wheel of Fortune for the moment and approached Philias.
Erini thought about chasing after Mary, but a motionless wheel blocked her path.
She pouted and glared at the god.
“I don’t care if you’re an arcana.”
“No one can defeat us.”
“Not in the past, not in the future.”
“Fate belongs to us.”
Erini and Erio got ready to fight.
Wheel of Fortune looked at them to his left and right, and spoke.
“Moon and Sun. Arcana that govern the past and the future, yes? I remember, the humans who were their origins were also twin sisters.”
“And we’re twins too!”
“So we can wield the same power as a god!”
The twins quickly closed in.
“Twins are still twins…… I see that even after hundreds of millions of years, causality does not disappear.”
Wheel of Fortune sounded sad somehow, and a part of the gears scattering around from his body started to spin at high speed around him.
♢♢♢
Mary finally had a 1 vs. 1 with Philias.
Mary saw this as a good chance and assaulted Philias like a surging wave.
In order to also distance herself from the battle against Moon and Sun, she blindly fired countless gatling guns in their direction.
“How barbarous of the princess to destroy everything from the ground up.”
Philias dodged with nimble movements and backed off.
“Do you think some smoke and noise is enough to stop Temperance?”
She brandished her sword.
Surging flames cut through even the smoke surrounding her.
“……Oh, I can’t see you. Ah, it must be Hermit. Thorough, very thorough. You’re hiding from my eyes and trying to find the condition, aren’t you?”
Philias could not sense Mary in any way whatsoever.
The only thing Philias could be certain of was that Mary was not running away.
The rest of it was completely up to her intuition.
“By the name of the angel, do not attack me.”
The moment she said that, her gaze turned faintly to the right.
“You’ve stopped, my princess.”
Philias could not see her, but she knew Mary was there.
“By the name of the angel, do not move from that spot.”
“……”
“By the name of the angel, cancel Hermit.”
“……!”
Hermit’s seclusion automatically lost its effects without the user’s will.
Mary was standing there with her scythe raised overhead.
“Your surprise attack failed. What a shame.”
Philias slashed with her flaming sword.
A bone arm broke out from Mary’s body and caught it.
“Dear me…… What a nuisance, that arm is. It seems I can’t stop your arcana from moving with Temperance, even if I can stop your body.”
“You still seem quite comfortable despite knowing that.”
“Yes, I’m reluctant to give it out. Do you want to know the ace up my sleeve?”
“I refuse.”
“By the name of the angel, may your heart be crushed.”
Mary sensed a warm fluid spreading through her body.
Her body temperature suddenly dropped right afterwards.
“Uugh, ugh…… Guh, ah……!”
Mary was frozen, and she groaned as cold sweat wet her forehead.
“Stop breathing.”
“Kah, hnnh, ah, aaaaggh……!”
She was also forbidden to breathe now, and her body twisted as she opened her eyes wide and repeatedly gasped for air.
(This is…… This is more than just stopping someone from moving!)
Was it due to the mana enhancement effect of angelification?
Mary could not block that power despite the overwhelming difference in their Sorcery Ratings.
“I can see that it does feel good to control someone.”
Philias had a triumphant, ecstatic look on her face.
That part of her character seemed to remain despite her being under control.
Indeed, Mary had no means to counterattack any more.
Philias could safely gain victory by slowly breaking Mary’s body like this.
Or she thought she could.
However, her face suddenly stiffened.
She glared at the ground with a dubious look on her face.
Philias had finally noticed the slight shaking.
The ground beneath her feet bulged and a snake-shaped monster with a big open mouth emerged from underground.
“A worm? Ah, you had extended bones from below your feet.”
Philias thought it was the bones Mary extended out from her feet – but then the worm’s entire body came to the surface.
Its body was not linked to Mary, and it was moving completely autonomously.
“It’s almost like a living creature. It matters not, my flaming sword will handle it!”
She raised her sword overhead.
Then, perhaps noticing an abnormality in her own body as well, Philias suddenly stopped and jumped to the side to evade the worm’s charge.
“Stones on my arms…… Oh my, I see you used Hierophant’s precept too.”
Its effect was negligible, but the feeling of discomfort definitely took some speed and focus away from Philias.
She gloomily squinted her eyes, and stared at her petrified elbow.
“However, a power that deteriorated after being consumed by Death God cannot directly prohibit the use of an arcana. Ah, I think I get it. The thing you prohibited is that thing I always say.”
Mary could not stop Philias from activating her powers, but she could prohibit her from saying specific words.
If those words were necessary for Temperance to activate, then this indirectly blocked Philias from using her powers.
“Alright, then let’s do it this way.”
But Philias boldly smiled.
Almost as if telling Mary that she was off the mark.
Then, she splendidly dodged the worm’s fangs, and while Mary was still unable to move, Philias said:
“May your legs rot and crumble.”
It was too direct compared to her orders from before.
Mary did not think something like that would work, but her legs immediately weakened and she collapsed into the ground.
(Impossible…… Those words, my body……!)
Mary glanced over at her feet, and saw that her flesh had faded and crumbled, and that her bones were laid bare.