Chapter 370

Chapter 370

【Kyahaaaah! Kahak!】
The Archduke roared.
I could see the pain in his body language.
The darkness touched by the golden flames was consumed, leaving no ashes behind.
The flash subsided.
A familiar outline appeared.
Black and purple hair.
A bold gaze and an upright back.
Braum’s eyes narrowed.
“Erzebet? Is that you—?”
“——I’m not even sure.”
Ophelia muttered.
It was a different vibe than Erzebet.
Somehow, it looks much more mature.
The very texture of the mana on his shoulders had changed.
The hole in my stomach had long since disappeared.
“Tower Lord, are you okay?!”
That’s when Aire appeared through the ceiling.
Zion’s plea for help had apparently been heard.
Her translucent body took on the form of a giant wolf, her true form.
“Oh my God—!”
Aire’s fur bristled as she looked around.
A sticky darkness enveloped the library.
The Grand Duke’s body, which had absorbed hundreds of forbidden books and even Bazura, was boiling and expanding like oil.
“You’re here, Ayre.”
“Rah, Top Master, you look different—what the hell is going on?!”
“I’ll explain it to you later, slowly, but first I need you to get those two outside.”
“Ah, yes!”
Erzebet’s gaze lingered on her friends.
Ayre did just that.
Flying like the wind, she picked up Braum and Ophelia with her mouth and placed them on her back.
Erzebet chewed her lip at the sight of their injuries.
“——Sorry, I was too late.”
“I’m still okay, Erzebet. Let me help you.”
“No, you can take care of Mr. Braum. I’ll take care of the Archduke on my own.”
“Such a—.”
Ophelia froze, about to say something.
Erzebet’s eyes blazed with intense determination.
Hotter than ever before.
I couldn’t get in the way of someone who had that kind of determination.
“—Okay, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t die. Erzebet.”
Ophelia, determined to trust her friend, turned her back.
She began to focus on treating Braum, who was grimacing like he was about to die.
Erzebet said.
“Ayre. Who’s left in the tower?”
“Oh. I just checked that. We got every single one of them out.”
“Thank you, but I have one more favor to ask: In my capacity as librarian, please remove all the books from the library to the shelter.”
“Me, all of them?!”
Ayre’s eyes widened.
As the sole librarian of the Dawn Tower, she had the authority and ability to move all the books.
They had moved books many times before, but moving all of them at once was a spell that hadn’t been performed since the Tower was built.
Of course, I didn’t refute it.
“Okay, immediately.”
“I trust you.”
The owner is like the captain of a ship.
The captain’s orders were absolute.
Frowning, Aire disappeared back into the ceiling.
The Archduke’s tentacles tried to grab her, but were blocked by a wall of flame that rose from the floor.
【Old clothes!】
“It’s no use.”
The shadow was unable to penetrate the barrier of fire this time, and it vanished.
Now all that was left in the library was Erzebet and the Shadow Archduke.
Enraged, the Archduke went on a mad rampage and attacked her.
[Guoooooooooo!
Darkness swept in.
The thorns of shadows coming from all directions, left, right, and center, reminded me of a black tidal wave.
Thousands of pupils were exposed, scattered with a reddish glow.
But Erzebet didn’t move from her spot.
“This is definitely good magic.”
I didn’t have to.
Nine searing fireballs were spinning around her at high speed.
The trajectories were all different.
None of the lethal attacks were able to break through the ring of flames.
The magic inspired by celestial movements was something Erzebeth and Leland had created together a while ago.
[That’s our Eri, you’re a fast learner].
Leland’s laughter echoed in my head.
I was tempted to argue about who gets to call it Eri, but I couldn’t afford to.
Erzebet, who stood facing the Archduke, opened her mouth.
“Archduke. Are you there?”
[Kiyaaah!
The echoing roar returned.
It didn’t feel rational at all.
But Erzebet knew that deep in that darkness remained the Archduke’s self.
“You know, Archduke. I hate unfunny jokes, almost as much as I hate absurdity, and what’s happening to you right now is absurd and unfunny.”
That was a pretty terrible joke, too.
A hero dedicated to saving the world loses most of his powers and turns into an irrational monster.
After turning into a monster, he tries to harm the people he loves.
—I must die at their hands.
“That’s enough. If Balzac leaves, and then the Grand Duke, then Ophelia is really on her own, and as a friend, as a commissioner, I can’t allow that to happen.”
Erzebet snapped her fingers.
The orbiting fireballs exploded, widening their orbit.
The darkness around them shrank and dissipated, leaving a wide-open space.
The mage’s heart, having caught a glimpse of Truth’s Epsilon, resonated with Lelant’s, circulating a tremendous amount of mana.
The master of the Dawn Tower growled.
“I, I’m going to save you.”
[Koooooooo!
The darkness that had been cowering rushed in.
Erzebet extends her right hand.
An invisible force wrapped around the archduke and grabbed him.
Shadows were plucked out of the walls and floor, clinging everywhere.
“Hmph…!”
Erzebet clenched her fists.
The Archduke’s body detached from the ground and soared into the air.
The pulsating black mass was made up of darkness, with not a speck of light to be found.
Bam!!!
The mass crashed into the ceiling and spread out like dough.
[Kraaaaak?!!]
It was a wild, vicious telekinesis.
Erzebet didn’t stop there.
She moved her left hand and a huge magic circle appeared on the floor.
The golden, searing sigils covered most of the library floor.
Just as the Archduke was about to extend his tentacles in a fit of rage.
“Haaaaaaah!!”
Erzebet raised her left arm.
The glow of the magic circle has been added.
A torrent of golden flames tore through the geometric patterns.
The Archduke is engulfed in flames.
【Kiao-oh-ok—!】
The Archduke screamed.
His body burned in the fire with the power of the sun.
He struggled to free himself, but Erzebet’s telekinesis wouldn’t let him go.
By the time the blazing flames had consumed half the darkness.
Kaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
The ceiling exploded as the growing crack gave way.
“Fly!”
Erzebeth exclaimed.
The red-tailed, soaring Archduke crashed into the floor of the first-floor lobby.
Tiles made from special minerals have been smashed to pieces.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
After smashing through the ceiling again, the Archduke continued on to the second and third floors. And then the fourth floor.
The speed didn’t slow down as we made our way through the library’s five combined floors.
Luckily, the books had all been moved elsewhere by Ayre.
[Gee…ohhhh!
The duke continued to soar.
Every time I broke a floor, a new landscape would open up.
Reaching the top in a flash, he smashed his way through the tower lord’s chambers and out the crown of the Dawn Demon Tower.
The stagnant light of the flames spilled out everywhere.
“Hey, what’s that!”
“Fire of the Tower Lord!”
The wizards gathered below were stunned.
The sun was behind the door, so it was much more visible.
The fire was not extinguished despite a vertical penetration of the Dawn Tower.
The light was so brilliant it could have been morning.
The sight of the Grand Duke soaring into the night sky was like a planetary torch.
Erzebet was following right behind him.
“Sister…!”
Watching, Sion’s mouth dropped open.
The Archduke and Erzebet had reached the stratosphere by now.
Beneath my feet, in the distance, land, clouds, and ocean mingled.
The Dawn Spire was no longer visible.
I looked up and saw the gentle edge of the star.
“Ha…ha…!”
Erzebet wiped her nose with her sleeve.
It’s something I would never do normally, but I didn’t have time to think about that right now.
I’m almost out of mana from Leland.
[Very hot, lady…whoa, I didn’t know you were going to take that].
Leland was breathing heavily.
I felt like I had signed a contract with an absurd wizard.
Catching her breath, Erzebeth turned to face the Archduke.
When he finally stopped climbing, he had lost most of his body.
【Ma…Lawyer.】
The boy’s upper body, exposed above the lump, was proof of that.
The darkness that had grown was nearly gone.
Only the Archduke’s dying body and Bazura remained in the center, spewing blood and shadow.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…you’re not making any sense, Archduke.”
【Kill…me…it’s…already, too late】.
“Oh really, then what’s the point of all my hard work? If you can’t talk, you can’t hate.”
Erzebet frowned.
It was both sad and infuriating to hear that from someone who was already a corpse.
“Just stay put. Nobody’s going to die.”
[That, what….]
Instead of answering, Erzebet began to chant some sort of incantation.
The closed bazura exploded open.
The Archduke’s eyes widened.
[This is…].
A sing-songy chant ensued.
This time, I didn’t get cut off in the middle.
The light went out of the boy’s eyes as Bazura’s gills closed.
“Instead, I’m not going to take any of your clients next time.”
The bazura is tossed aside.
Erzebet extended her index finger toward the boy.
The light of dawn burst from the edges of a distant star.
****
“…….ah.”
“Uh, sis, are you awake?!”
Erzebet opened her eyes.
It was like a fog had settled over my head.
Slowly, he turned his head and saw Sion looking down at him.
“…Zion.”
“Aaaaahhhh! Sis!”
Before Erzebet could say anything.
Sion pulled her into a hug.
The black eyes were already puffy.
“I…what happened?”
“He blacked out and crashed right after killing Archduke Shadow, and Aire and I flew over and picked him up.”
“Oh…I think I might remember….
The white beds and interior made me think it was an affiliated hospital of the Dawn Tower.
Erzebet wiped her forehead.
The fog was slowly lifting.
She ripped out Bazura and ignited the remaining darkness of the Archduke.
I was confident that I hadn’t left any stone unturned.
However….
“Where’s the Grand, Grand Duke! Did he get out safely?”
“Bam!”
Erzebet bounced up to her feet.
Sion screamed in anger.
As she patted her chest, she was about to explain something when the door to the hospital room opened.
“You’re safe. Thanks.”
“Wahaha, the greatest pagoda master of all time is alive!”
“You two……!”
Erzebet raised an eyebrow.
Ophelia and Braum walked in, smiling.
In Ophelia’s smiling hands, she clutched a familiar book.
Stopping in front of Erzebet, she opened the last page of the Bazura.
【You’re safe. Erzebet.】
“Archduke…!”
I heard a familiar voice.
Erzebet gulped.
The last chapter was a really badly drawn portrait.
Judging by the fangs protruding from his mouth, he wanted to represent a vampire or something.
Archduke Shadow, to be precise.
Erzebeth, who had been staring at the painting, lifted her shoulders.
“Phew.”
That’s it.
“Pfft…pfft…did Ophelia draw that?”
“Hmm. Looks familiar, doesn’t it?”
[I told him to stop].
Despite the warning, Ophelia puffed out her chest.
To me, it looked like a decent piece of work.
The Archduke growled, unable to overcome his shame.
【You are inviting disaster. This is what I look like now, but wait ten years. I will regain my original body…]
“Your Highness.”
[Mm?
“I’m glad to be alive.”
Erzebet laughed.
The Archduke’s snarl ceased.
The ears of the paper folded and unfolded very slightly.
[……Thanks].
“Now live healthy. Woohoo, you’re lucky you made it.”
Erzebet breathed a sigh of relief.
You will not die of a festering wound.
With Ophelia’s nursing care, he would be able to regain his position in no time.
At the last moment, she plucked the Grand Duke’s soul and sealed it in Bazura.
It was a reversal of the plan to seal the runaway flesh.
Sion clapped his hands.
“Oh, all the forbidden books are fine.
It was swallowed by the bajura, so I was able to get it out quickly.
Once the library is repaired, Ayre will put it back in place.”
“That’s great, no one got hurt, right?”
“Yeah. No one–but I, uh, I just have one question.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“That woman. Who the hell is she?”
Axe-eyed, Sion pointed to a corner of the hospital room.
A woman with white hair floated in the air, her legs crossed.
He looked like Adeshan, but he wasn’t Adeshan.
The main body, the White Book, lay on Erzebet’s bedside table.
“You look so much like him, I was surprised, and I heard that you’re taller than him and that you’ve even kissed him… You’re lying, you can’t be.”
“Haha…what a useless thing to say—.”
Erzebet sighed.
His ears, poking out through his hair, flared red.
It’s worse because he wasn’t completely wrong.
At times like this, it’s best to let it go.
“Say hello, Zion. I’m Leland of Wisdom.”
“Les, Leland, that wasn’t a lie?!”
“That’s what I told you, sweetheart.”
Leland chuckled.
Apparently, they had already had a conversation when I passed out.
Sion clutched his head.
“Well, did you really kiss him?! No…that’s not…that’s not…!”
“What’s the big deal about a kiss, do you want me to give you one too?”
“Kyaaaaahhh! Stay away from me!”
Zion gritted his teeth.
He bared his teeth and clung to Erzebet like a startled cat.
“Sis, I don’t know what you’ve done to her, but I think you should cut ties with her, because I’m sure she’ll turn on you later and try to devour you, just like Bazura!”
“Oh, I’m sorry you see me like that. You really like Eri, don’t you?”
“Shh, shut up, and who are you to call me Eri, because I’m the only one in the Dawn Tower who can call you by that name!”
“…….Ah, my head hurts.”
Erzebeth pressed her temples together.
Even the marketplace in Marvath seemed quieter than this.
I was exhausted, and my head was spinning.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do. The steeple needs to be repaired—the books need to be moved back–.
Especially when I think of all the work I have ahead of me.
She was just about to pull herself up.
Ophelia pulled a letter from her bosom.
“That’s right, I forgot to tell you, Adeshan sent you a letter.”
“What, what?! Why are you talking about that now?”
“You’ve had a lot going on, you’re probably tired right now, can I get it later?”
“What are you talking about, give it to me now!”
Erzebet snatched up the letter.
It was as aggressive a gesture as robbing a lady.
With extreme caution, I tore open the envelope to reveal a handwritten letter from Adeshan.
Her eyes filled with water.
“Alas…you’re busy with your own military affairs, but you’re so kind to write to me…after all, I only have my sister—!”
“What does it say?”
“My Erin is class president, and she’s also the longest player, after all, I named her!”
“…it was just a hello letter, I misunderstood because of your dramatic reaction.”
Ophelia smirked.
Judging by the reaction, I thought Adeshan had unified the continent or something.
Erzebet decided to write back right away.
“Umm…so…”
When she receives the letter from Ayre, she falls silent.
I didn’t know where to start.
Old friends you haven’t seen in a while?
Shadow Archduke’s Favor and Runaway?
Becoming a tower lord and destroying the Dawn Tower yourself?
That or a contract with Leland?
“Oh, yeah.”
Too little distance was too much.
She hesitated for a moment, then wrote the first sentence.
– Dear Adeshan.
[Sister. We’re all getting along].