Eclair Feradria (2)

Turn 2. Our attacks could only beat on Vyletta's shield.

There are hate-drawing effects and effects that force you to attack a target, but I had to acknowledge the effect of Vyletta's Unseen Armor.

This drew you in without question.

"Vyletta, do you maybe have an exhibitionist streak…?"

"I do not! As a knight protecting Eclair-sama, this too is my duty!"

I'd better not tease her too much. I'd tease her on the bed once I won, though.

Next was their attack.

"Hmph… If you think I only have attacks that are easy to erase, you're mistaken.

Let's go, Kanna."

"Yeah! Nami-chan! Demon Art - Incinerate!"

Boiling flames filled the field.

"Demon Art - Cocytus."

What Nami used was the same as before. But…

"Combination Magic - Stardust Rain!"

And then… glittering stars poured down over the entire battlefield like a torrent of rain.

So the various effects switched depending on the magic each of them used. This was rich in variety and interesting.

But this was no time to be admiring it leisurely.

Pouring rain… this certainly looked like something Abyss Gate couldn't defend.

If it fell from above downward, I figured I could just deploy it upward like an umbrella, but some droplets were being driven sideways by the wind, slashing in at an angle, so that was no good.

But I'd use teleport and Abyss Gate together to suppress the damage as much as possible.

"Sanka! Abyss Gate over the thick part above!"

"Yes. Abyss Gate!"

She deployed an umbrella over a portion of the sky. She created a spot where the rain in the air was thin.

Covering Miria and Vivia with Sanka…

"Kanan!"

After that, Kanan became the umbrella.

Clang clang clang…! Star droplets struck, and the Elemental Shield shattered.

This attack… a massive number of raindrops, each dealing damage.

As a shield-destroying skill, it was quite troublesome. Every single raindrop carried destructive force, so it amounted to easily a 40-to-50-hit multi-hit attack.

Even using Abyss Gate as an umbrella, ten Shields didn't seem like enough.

But… the rain had to stop eventually.

I somehow stared at the breaks in the rain from the outside, and…

The instant a break came into view,

"Kanan, grab Miria and go up!"

I directed Kanan to teleport. I had the two of them escape into the airspace where the rain had cleared.

The small-bodied Vivia I somehow had Sanka protect under the umbrella, and we just barely weathered the Stardust Rain.

"Dragon Art - Whirlwind!"

The whirlwind Sanka generated nicely blew the raindrops away, too.

… The result was 25 damage each to Vivia, Miria, and Sanka.

Despite all that effort, we couldn't defend perfectly and took one hit each, was about the size of it.

25 fixed damage.

For a two-person combination magic, it was an outrageous skill surpassing Shaina's Brilliant Light Riot. Strong.

This had been held to a minimum so it was still fine, but Kanan's Elemental Shield was down to 0… We'd taken fairly significant damage.

If we'd had a turn-defense-type skill, it wouldn't have been a big deal… but no use wishing for what we didn't have.

It was turn 3 for us too. The situation was about to move at last.

"Stardust Rain!"

Seeing it was effective, the two moved to unleash the same attack again.

… I couldn't let them carelessly unleash that attack just now.

How to get through from here without damage?

… I just had to defeat them first.

"Sanka! We're going all out! Kanan too!"

"Yes. Realm's Blessing!"

"Yes. Dragon Art - Wind Dragon Battle Aura!"

Whoosh!

In one stroke, everyone's attack power and speed doubled. Vivia's was 2.6x, Miria's was 3.2x.

"Vivia, Miria!"

"Come on, let's go, Vivia!"

"Yeah! Miria-chan!"

"""Demon General Awakening!"""

Dogogogogogo…! HP 5x, all stats 2x. In other words, attack power and speed were now 5.2x and 6.4x.

"Demon-Blood Frenzy…" Element effect 4x fixed + piercing granted.

"Demon-Blood Release…" Granted an arbitrary effect to attacks = Penetration granted.

… Preparations were complete.

"Eh… wait…"

"Hawawa…"

Himuro-san and Hizaki-san panicked.

"Both of you, behind me! Divine Shield!"

Vyletta reinforced Divine Shield.

"""Demon Art - Vermilion Strike!"""

Doggoooooooooo!

"Gh… aaaaah!"

The all-target attack concentrated and poured down on Vyletta.

Penetration damage was reduced to 1/10, but 6x firepower × 4x fixed. Furthermore, considering it was ultimate damage to begin with, it leaped up to around 480 damage.

"Aaaaaah…!"

Vyletta's HP was blown away, but… she gritted her teeth and held on.

"Hurry, Kanna!"

"A-uh, yeah!"

"""Starlight Rain!"""

In retaliation, a rain of light poured down.

Whoa, taking this head-on would be bad. Even the immense HP of Miria and Vivia would be melted away.

But the two of them had immense HP, and there was no longer any need to hold out for many turns, so…

"Kanan! Protect Miria and Vivia!"

"Yes, Otherworld Gate!"

Boldly spending Otherworld Gate, she slid into the thin spots of the rain via teleport, then teleported again, reading the gaps in the rain to dodge!

Teleport Miria away, teleport to Vivia and fly off again.

Then grab Miria and fly up, teleport to Vivia and fly again. Repeating teleport over and over in a frenzy, we somehow cut the damage down.

"… This raindrop attack is powerful… but with HP at 5x now, it's no big deal!"

"Yeah, that's right, Miria-chan!"

Miria and Vivia each took about 300 points of damage, but they managed to defend through it.

And while doing so, further…

"""Demon Art - Vermilion Strike!"""

A continuous attack via speed re-action. Even more super-firepower was hammered into Vyletta, who'd gritted her teeth and held at 1 remaining HP.

But…!

"Haaaaaa!"

Yes, she gritted her teeth again! A trait that lets her grit her teeth multiple times? Was this the power of an Empress Knight?

Plain, but a pain.

But…

"""Demon Art - Vermilion Strike!"""

Doggooon!

Yet another strike.

"… Guuuu…!"

Vyletta was… still standing. Seriously!? A trait that grits its teeth three times? Or could she grit her teeth any number of times in a turn…?

"Oho, impressive. Both sides exchanging fierce combination magic."

"As a defender, Vyletta is amazing. Three grits is no small feat.

In terms of raw fighting strength, the two Demon Generals do seem to have the edge, but battles aren't decided by that alone.

It's down to the wire. Let's enjoy it."

"… What do we do, Nami-chan?"

"Gh… Stardust Rain is effective, but the speed and power to take those two out in one strike just isn't there…

Vyletta really is at her limit now.

I'll change the pattern!"

"Yeah!"

"Here I go. Demon Art - Icicle Disaster!"

Through Himuro-san's skill, three giant ice masses appeared.

"Demon Art - Agni Maya!"

Hizaki-san was wreathed in flames. Brimming with magic power, she transformed into a figure like a goddess of fire.

… Then she gathered that aura into her right hand and unleashed it, fusing it with Himuro-san's ice masses.

"Combination Magic - Star Crusade!"

The ice masses transformed into orbs of light… then multiplied to four, and after that, like beasts with wills of their own, they came charging in.

What a varied range of attacks.

Garumon have only four actions, so once you exhaust them early, you tend to fall into one-pattern repetition afterward.

But these two, through combination magic, wielded a truly diverse array of techniques.

Unfamiliar techniques are harder to counter effectively, so they tend to be more potent. They were leveraging that property to the fullest.

A troublesome, formidable enemy.

That said, the way these things flew…

Absolute guaranteed-hit type, maybe?

"Absolute guaranteed-hit is troublesome, but with Sanka around it's manageable.

Sanka!"

"Yes, Abyss Gate!"

The two beasts flying in from the right got swallowed by Abyss Gate and vanished.

The beasts flying in from the left…

"Otherworld Gate!"

Dodged via Kanan's teleport.

Even when dodged they kept chasing, but…

"There, good work. Otherworld Gate!"

She vanished in midair. Beyond where she'd been was another Abyss Gate.

Shupo…!

Splendidly, every attack was erased into the depths of Abyss Gate.

"… Wha."

Himuro-san had misjudged. She'd have been better off just repeating Stardust Rain normally. Well, it was understandable.

… Because her attack options were so varied, the decisions were agonizing. This one might be more effective, and so on.

Himuro-san looked cool and composed, but she wasn't exactly the calm, collected, sharp-judgment type.

… Was Eclair leaving that be, knowing it?

"I don't know if she can still grit her teeth, but I'll attack them separately."

"Yeah! Miria-chan!"

Miria's judgment was sharper. As long as there was no issue, there was no room for me to butt in.

"Demon Art - Flame Demon Barrage!"

"Aah…!"

Vyletta's three-grit limit had finally been reached, it seemed. This brought her down.

When she went down, the Unseen Armor that had been hidden behind the shield was exposed to all eyes.

"Kanan, drape some cloth over her."

"Got it."

Drape…

Even mid-battle, I couldn't leave her be.

"… Acting so high and mighty!"

Himuro-san got angry, but I really did have it in hand now…

"Demon Art - Flame Demon Barrage!"

"Demon Sword Riot!"

Awakened Miria and Vivia could unleash these two or more times each. They had speed re-action too…

For Himuro-san and Hizaki-san, who'd lost Vyletta as their guard, there seemed to be no means of defense.

"Aaaah…! No way… t-this… me… defeated…"

"Hawuu… Naoto-cchi, you're strong… I guess we lose."

"… Hey, Kanna, why are you grinning like that? We're about to lose, you know!?"

"Eh, but… after this, we get to become Naoto-cchi's comrades and train together with him, right?

So I'm looking forward to it… Aren't you looking forward to it too, Nami-chan?"

"You… You're hopeless…! It's because you have that mindset that you can't win the winnable!"

"Aww, sorry. But Nami-chan, you'd already started getting ready to head over to Naoto-cchi's place too…"

"Th-that was, purely as a Garumon, as a warrior, it was something like a burial garment!

I had no intention of losing, but I fought with that kind of resolve, that's all…!"

"… But still, going to Naoto-cchi's place is something to look forward to, right? Let's keep getting along from here on."

"… Honestly, you. Yes, you and I will have a long, long relationship from now on."

The two laughed together. And then…

Dokaaan!

"That settles it! Nami Himuro and Kanna Hizaki, famous for their fighting as a duo, but against the duo of Miria and Vivia, they couldn't make it work… is what we'll say, I suppose?"

"Fufu, indeed. Naoto often makes up for inferior abilities with brilliant tactics, but… this time the gap in raw strength was simply large. They proved that a Demon General is a being one step short of a Demon God.

Miria and Vivia were both incredibly strong.

… And cute too. With such wonderful comrades joining, he's grown stronger still."

So Silvana praised them.

Now then, a splendid, sweeping victory.

It felt like there'd be no particular problem continuing the battle as is… but Kanan's Shield was gone, and a good chunk of the teleports had been used up.

If we fought normally, I didn't think Miria and Vivia could go all the way to beating Eclair.

Even if it might seem like I was getting cocky, just like in the Yamagata fight, I kind of wanted to swap members and then beat them to a pulp…

… Ah, screw it!

"Right. Good work, Kanan, Sanka, Miria, Vivia. You did great.

Let's make a member change with this."

"Oh? It's certainly as planned, but… we can still fight just fine, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. But, let Yumi have her moment of glory too."

"Fufu, understood. That's right. If we're to defeat Eclair, it's better to defeat her with each of our own strengths, mine and Yumi's.

I'll leave the rest to you, Yumi!"

"Ehehe, Goshujin-sama, praise me later～."

"Fufufu, well? We were strong, weren't we! You'll reward us plenty afterward."

Both Miria and Vivia withdrew in high spirits.

"… Good work."

"Yes. Do your best."

Sanka too, chu, gave me a kiss… Somehow a little more grown-up than the usual Kanan, and it made my heart skip.

All right, fully fired up, I absolutely will not lose!

"Let's go, Yumi, Yuria, Suzanne!"

And so, our side too brought out the 2nd party.

"Eclair-sama… here, I'll defeat you!"

"The last one of those who treated Naoto as a slave in Japan… huh.

That fires me up."

"If I'm a piece needed for Onii-sama's path of supremacy, then I'll claim victory."

This side was fully fired up.

"Gau… There's still plenty of fight left, and they pull back? They're mocking us!

Presea will defeat you! Absolutely won't lose!"

Presea seemed fully fired up too.

… But what about Eclair? Or Sario?

Were they fired up, resolved to not lose to me no matter what?

Was it my imagination that they seemed somehow distracted?

"… Eclair-sama."

Sario was, as ever, anxiously attentive toward Eclair.

To him, was everything Eclair as his master, and did he desire nothing beyond that?

"Yes, I'm fine."

Step…

Eclair Feradria quietly stood on the stage.

"… Naoto."

She called out to me quietly.

"The first match was splendid. I'll acknowledge that you're qualified to stand before me."

So Eclair declared. But…

"… Are you all right, Eclair? You seem a bit out of it."

I couldn't help worrying about whether she was really focused.

"… Gh."

Eclair let a touch of agitation show on her face.

"There's… no need to worry. I was just… thinking a little, about the words you said before the battle.

Having tasted the joys of this world as a Master, next… I'd like to taste this world's charms as a Garumon…

That such a weak, feeble heart exists within me… I will not deny it.

But, I am Queen Eclair Feradria! Such a feeble heart, I'll wash it all away and erase it together with this victory!"

Crackle… crackle crackle crackle…

Spitting out violet lightning…

The Thunder Empress, Eclair Feradria, stood on the battlefield.

At last… the final decisive battle!