Chapter 367

【Disgusting smell…where am I…?
An eerie voice echoed in the darkness.
The eyes that had ripped out of the Archduke’s chest were dazed and looking around.
Erzebet and the others froze.
By now, the Archduke’s body was completely engulfed in shadow.
“Haa—haa—!”
Only his rapid breathing echoed in the silence.
No one moved or opened their mouths.
My instincts were screaming.
That’s dangerous.
They’re not to be messed with.
The golden flames were about to make contact with the Archduke.
[Light…unpleasant].
The rolling pupil stops.
His pupils narrowed like a cat’s, and a reddish glow erupted.
The shadow of a clawed figure rose from the floor, blocking the Archduke’s path.
Kaaaaaah!
A wave of flame shot from his palm and scattered in all directions.
“No way!”
Erzebet was stunned.
The durability ignored commonality.
The grip of darkness did not dissipate immediately, even in the fire of the sun’s power.
The flames, torn into hundreds of branches, spontaneously poured toward the bookshelves.
[Gaaaaaaaah! Help!]
[Ta, Topju! Do something!]
The immovable, vague-looking bindings screamed.
Erzebet threw her arms up in the air in a panic.
Hundreds of streaks of fire turned upward in unison.
Boom!
Boom!
The flames exploded as they collided with the ceiling.
“Get in, Top Master, are you okay?!”
Sion exclaimed, barely regaining his senses.
Erzebet didn’t answer, except to draw in a ragged breath.
A light spring rain drenched the library.
“Whoa—whoa—whoa.”
Her gaze remained fixed on the Archduke.
The Shadow’s grip was gone, but the Archduke remained strong.
Ophelia bit her lower lip.
“This is a big deal. The thing I was most concerned about—.”
His face was stiff and his former easygoing demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
The blood for magic was gathering at his feet.
Taking a deep breath, Erzebet asked her a question.
“Miss Ophelia. The Archduke–whoa, what the hell is going on?”
“The wound has festered and burst open, and there’s nothing I can do about it now—nothing.”
“What do you mean there’s no way? You can’t be—”
I had a bad feeling about it.
Erzebet interrupted.
The Archduke’s body bubbled, and two shadowy grips shot toward them.
[Give me the blood…].
The Archduke growled.
Dozens of red eyes were embedded in a palm so huge it blocked my entire view.
Erzebet’s face floated above the black irises.
“Ugh—!”
“I knew it! Tsk!”
At about the same time, Braum made the leap.
The response was immediate, as if it was expected.
Standing in the way of the two women, he swung his shield.
Boom!
With a dull thud, his grip snapped free.
The hand on the floor melted like a snowman, forming a dark puddle.
“Mr. Braum!”
“Hahaha! You’re a hoot! Let’s talk!”
Braum burst into a hearty laugh.
A yellowish glow, reminiscent of the earth, enveloped his shield and his body.
It was like I was wearing a suit of rock armor.
Braum’s Auror, which exploded his defense.
【——!】
Suddenly, the Archduke’s body flared up again.
Three new arms sprouted from the pool of shadows.
Braum didn’t even get a moment’s respite before going back into battle.
Ophelia, grateful in her eyes, continued.
“Thank you, Braum. Just to clarify–that’s not the Archduke.”
“What, what?”
“For saving a life that should have died a long time ago. The power you’ve spent the last twenty years trying to heal hasn’t gone away, it’s been building up in the wound Abel inflicted, somehow suppressed by my blood magic until now…but I think the shock of that explosion just unleashed it all at once.”
“What—! Why did he look like that when he just regained his powers?”
“It can’t flow, it’s rotted away in the wound, and your mind can’t control the sudden increase in power now. It’s been completely consumed by the tainted power, and now there’s nothing left but runaway.”
A monster writhing in pain, rampaging to regain its former power.
That was the current Shadow Archduke.
There was no reason in the shadows that burned with malice, no reason in the bloodthirsty eyes.
“So there’s no way to fix it now–switch to another body?”
“——Yes.”
Ophelia nodded.
His crimson eyes were wet with sadness.
Unlike a moment ago, there were no false reversals.
“You can’t be—!”
Erzebet clenched her fists.
Blood flowed from where her nails dug in.
It was a miserable end for the one who ruled the night world.
“How could such a tragedy—.
But I couldn’t afford to dwell on the heartbreak.
In fact, it may be they, not the Shadow Archduke, who need to be pitied right now.
The flooding was making me sick.
Braum was fending off five grabs at once.
“Wahahahaha! I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll last long. How could I not!”
Its majestic appearance was like a beacon on a stormy night.
On the shield, the wounds that weren’t there before were noticeably stretched.
Braum laughed as he defended against the archduke’s attack.
But it wasn’t something I did for pleasure, it was something I did to reassure others and myself.
Erzebeth shook her head, a look of determination on her face.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
The decision was made.
The two women locked eyes with the Shadow Archduke and began to chant.
The song-like chanting was heard clearly over the din of battle.
The nearby mana swirled and gathered in a large swirl.
“Hey, I’ll help too!”
Even Sion, who was frozen to the spot, mustered up the courage to approach.
Double-paned windows became triple-paned and echoed.
No one said it out loud, but they had already made a tacit agreement.
In a salute, in a blow.
As painlessly as possible.
Erzebeth finally finished her incantation, and rambled on.
“Tornado, Flame Booster. Prominence Stream.”
“Tornado! Firestorm!”
Zion followed suit.
The first to manifest were the wind spells of Erzebeth and Zion.
Quack, quack, quack, quack!
Two whirlwinds surged up from either side of the Shadow Archduke.
[Mm?
The Archduke shed a tear of embarrassment.
The wind was so strong it could uproot a tree.
His whirlwind body tried to levitate, but the Archduke held on, planting both hands on the ground.
Huge power.
But it’s a decision he would never have made if he had realized Erzebet’s plan.
Erzebeth exclaimed.
“Zion!”
“Yes, Master!”
Zion replied.
It was once a two-tiered technology.
Mate!
They clapped their hands at the same time.
The whirlwind that had been playing separately on the left and right merged into one with the archduke as the center point.
The whirlwind, doubled in strength, engulfed him.
[Foolishness.
“Whew, that’s a break!”
The Archduke growled.
His disheveled body fluttered like a flag.
The onslaught on Braum had subsided.
The shadowy grip transformed into a spear and attacked the two women.
[That’s annoying…!
But the next spell had already been cast.
A massive magic circle formed at the Archduke’s feet.
Each set of geometric symbols was imprinted with the most powerful magic Erzebet had ever developed.
She chewed her lip as she stared at the Archduke.
“I’m sorry, Archduke.”
Kaaaaaaaaaah!!!
An explosion of flames engulfed the Shadow Archduke.
The brilliant golden color almost hurt my eyes.
It was a fire imbued with the power of the sun and the auror of Erzebet to amplify its power.
[khhhhhhhhh?!!]
An agonizing wail tore through the darkness.
The Archduke’s body was contracting and expanding in a torrent of flame.
Zion’s fire stream then exploded in the same spot.
It was a far cry from Erzebet’s promise stream, but it wasn’t ineffective.
Two tears of horror shot up in a whirlwind.
“…….I’ll remember you. Josef.”
The last one was Ophelia.
She recognized the Grand Duke’s name, and sealed the deal in thin air.
Blood began to gurgle and pour from the Archduke’s shaking body.
The blood that escaped from his body did not return, but instead burned and disappeared.
Promote permanent destruction.
His shrinking body was turning into a mummy.
[KEEEEEEEEEE!!!]
“What?”
The Archduke’s body puffed up in a sickening way.
A strand of shadow tore through the flames and struck the bookshelf.
One of the forbidden books on the shelf, to be exact.
The struck golden book screamed.
[Gag! Get off me!]
The request was not granted.
The tentacled shadow opened its mouth and swallowed the book whole.
The Archduke’s body, burning in the fire, grew ever so slightly larger.
A body that was about to be destroyed.
“Wait, no!”
Erzebet’s face went white.
And that was before she did anything.
Dozens of shadowy tentacles shot out of the flames.
“What the hell is this…!”
Sion was stunned.
None of the tentacles reaching out in all directions were aimed at people.
The screams of the forbidden books echoed in succession.
[Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing!]
[Topzoo! Topzoo!!]
The Forbidden Books were swallowed by the shadows, unable to offer any resistance.
With each book he absorbed, the Grand Duke’s body became more and more circular.
The magic duration ended with a bang.
The vortex has stopped.
In the rapidly dying flames, a massive, amorphous darkness emerged.
[Gooooooo!!!].
The darkness roared.
The eerie voice had the power to disorient.
It’s hard to take in the sheer magnitude of what’s already there, amplified by orders of magnitude.
There was no longer any form of the Archduke left.
“Ahhh…ahhh…!”
The darkness stretched its tentacles throughout the library like a giant mollusk.
With each tentacle that reached out, the voices of the Forbidden Books were fading away.
This is what despair looks like when it takes shape.
Erzebet, who had been silent, spoke up.
“——Zion. Run away.”
“Yes, Naeh?”
“Come on.
Evacuate everyone in the tower and call for Aire. I know he’s probably gone quite a ways, given his nature, but I need you to find him. You can do it, right?”
Erzebet’s gaze lingered on the darkness.
A new magic spell was quickly flowing from his lips.
As if in response, flames erupted from all corners of the library, attacking the Archduke, but the darkness that consumed the forbidden texts only grew.
“Well, you can’t do that, how can I be the only one—! Let me fight with you!”
“That’s what you say after seeing that? You’re not even close to being as good as Ms. Ophelia or Mr. Braum.”
“But…huh.”
Sion gulped, about to say something.
Before she knew it, Erzebeth had spun around and grabbed her by the shoulders.
Erzebet shouted, her face bright red.
“Why are you being so upset and stubborn, won’t you listen to her?!”
“Ride, Master…?”
“Go on, if you’re taken away from me, I’ll have nothing to live for! It’s a big sister’s job to protect her little brother, just as it’s a nobleman’s duty to protect the weak!”
With those words, Erzebet pushed Sion away.
It was the first time I’d ever used half a word.
Nor do they call themselves ungodly.
Sion, wobbling, regained his balance.
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she nodded quickly.
“I, I…okay……. I’ll go.”
“That’s what good kids do, don’t look back.”
Erzebet smiled.
It was a soft laugh, as if I had just yelled at him.
Sion shouted as he turned and ran.
“Don’t die, sis!”
No answer came back.
Sion was escorted out of the library by the other three.
The confrontation is back.
Ophelia asked.
“Was she an Akalusian, too?”
“No way, there’s no such thing in Acalucia, they’ve inherited the frivolity of Grancia.”
“But they seemed to get along so well.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”