──Just what was it that was supporting their spirit?
Just how long have they been fighting?
The alchemist found it almost comical how stubbornly they resisted.
“If we can’t beat him, let’s try sealing him instead.”
After a few exchanges, the princess intentionally said that out loud, and upon seeing everyone nod, they began unleashing all sorts of binding spells and techniques.
From handcuffs, to leg shackles, to magical chains, to barriers… They tried all sorts of spells, as though to say that surely one of those was bound to work.
But the alchemist just countered everything with a magical shockwave that unraveled all of their spells and dismantled all of their tools.
“Take this!”
But as though all of those were meant merely to distract him, Kite managed to get up close to the alchemist, and he tried to physically restrain him. Unfortunately, the alchemist just slipped away by turning into a gel-like substance.
“So that’s how you responded… Well, for the meantime, we’ll have you move to your next body.”
As the alchemist tried to return to his child form, a bolt of lightning roared thunderously, but it did not try to pierce through the alchemist and instead engulfed his entire body to destroy it.
“…Your power and control are commendable for your age,” the alchemist said.
Perhaps, the alchemist relied on the shattered floor as his material, but a stone doll just appeared at a different location.
It did not have the ability to transform into a child, but it had a face on it and seemed to be nodding with a frown.
Then came the princess’ silent command, and with a swing of her hands for the signal, the maids simultaneously threw all sorts of blades at the alchemist, ranging from knives to swords, to axes, to spears, and for a moment, the stone doll was turned into a hedgehog as he groaned out in pain.
“Nu! I told you it won’t work, and yet you keep on──!?”
Then the snap of a finger resounded, and the weapons that penetrated him all exploded simultaneously.
The air within the closed space shook as dust particles dispersed all around, but not one of them moved.
Then as though to shatter that moment of silence, a dull-colored full armor shot through the dust.
With a stature akin to that of a wall, the pressure that accompanied it was nothing short of overwhelming, yet on top of that, it moved like a gale.
It also wielded an axe that was just as big and was surely capable of crushing everything were it to descend.
Yet the princess just shrugged her shoulders and smiled fearlessly as the axe stopped right in front of her eyes.
It was forced to stop.
“Tsk, it’s just one thing after another… I can’t believe you turned your maid uniforms into magic bags! How dishonest!”
The voice that echoed from within the empty armor sounded just like that of the alchemist’s childlike yet not quite childlike voice.
When the alchemist realized from where all those shackles coiled around its body and limbs were extending from, he couldn’t help but curse.
The maids, who had scattered to every direction, now kept him on a leash.
Struggle as he might to move, the most he could do was to produce creaking sounds from his entire body, unable to make even the slightest movement with how tightly the chains coiled around him and how strong the maids were.
The princess chuckled.
“Call it efficiency, thank you. Besides, didn’t you know. A woman’s clothing is always full of secrets.”
“Whatever. What was that just now? How could normal weapons suddenly flare up into a magical explosion!?”
Apparently, it wasn’t just the lich lord they once fought. Even this scholar in front of them couldn’t help himself in the face of such academic curiosity.
The union of the Magic Raiment Battle Law and the imagination of a boy from another world had given birth to the concept of remotely exploding mana, something so mysterious that it befuddled even a magic alchemist capable of transferring his soul.
“Who knows? Since you’re a magic alchemist, please use that brain of yours that’s so smart to figure out the answer.”
“Oryaaa!!”
The princess laughed, as though to say that she had no obligation to tell him the answer.
At the same time, Kite came slashing with all of his strength.
With his great sword fully swung, and with the maids releasing the chains, the armored doll was sent flying towards the opposite wall.
“With my
It was an unusually long chant for a spell that did not use multiple elements.
In the next moment, swords constructed purely from silver light lined up before them.
“Go.”
At the princess’ behest, the flying swords shot out and deeply pierced into the armor embedded into the wall, only for them to instantly shatter like glass.
“…I tried using holy magic for once since I wasn’t known for it, but as expected, you were ready for that too.”
“But from how composed you’re acting, it appears even that wasn’t your trump card.”
An exhausted sigh leaked from the armor, then the helmet, now riddled with holes from the holy swords, fell off, and from within emerged a gelatinous substance that writhed and transformed into the form of a young boy.
“Indeed, among the myriad elements, only Holy is able to harm the soul. In a sense, it’s your weakness, so it only makes sense that you’d prepare a countermeasure for it. However, the fact that you always wear a barrier meant specifically to block Holy… That’s rather cautious of you.”
It sounded as though the princess was praising the alchemist, but her words were filled with irony; hence, to the alchemist, those words sounded no different from an accusation of cowardice.
She was probably trying to provoke him, but there was no reason for him to bite.
There was little point in using holy magic against someone learned enough to transfer his soul.
Not only was the special trait of the holy element common knowledge, an alchemist of his caliber would not possibly leave such an obvious weak point unguarded; hence, it could be said that what the princess did was really meant to probe him.
That being said, she was still the princess of a powerful magic kingdom, and seeing all of her magic fail was sure to be a blow to her pride.
That’s why she made those sarcastic remarks.
“The holy element uses so much mana, and yet you actually used it to probe me? …Just what are you scheming, Lilisha Earthgant?”
The alchemist asked as he sat upon the now empty armor.
That spell just now was an imitation of a spell that the church kept secret, that which utilized the power of reason.
Of the myriad elemental magics, those that utilized the holy element was the hardest of them all, and the mana consumption that much greater.
In fact, it was so difficult that most magicians believed it was impossible to use it with Chantless Casting, yet it was that very spell that she casually used just to probe him. Understandably, the alchemist couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“There’s no special reason behind it.”
“…Well, I didn’t think you’d answer honestly anyway.”
It was unsettling how nonchalant the princess was.
The alchemist believed he’d cornered them, but they didn’t act like it at all.
It was one thing if they simply didn’t understand, but they did understand and yet showed no signs of despair. If so, then he must have missed an opponent that he needed to be wary of.
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