The crisscrossing icicles whipped up a white mist and Elsa's black coat was lost in the low-temperature storm. Subaru thought the sharp-tipped icicles would easily cut through Elsa's body, the tips of the clear bullets stained red with blood. There were twenty of them. If any of them hit their mark it should be a lethal. However…
"Did we get her?!" said Rom.
"Now why did you have go and to say that?!" Subaru yelled back. Even though Rom had been quiet all this time, he had said the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment.
"It pays to be prepared… I don't like wearing it because it is heavy, but it looks like I was right to wear it this time." Cutting through the white smoke, Elsa leapt out, with her black hair dancing behind her.
She had her kukri held high in her hand, and in her light steps it appeared she had no injuries. Other than the fact that she had thrown off her black coat and was now only wearing her black skintight outfit, she looked no different from before.
"You're not going to tell me that because that coat is so heavy that just by shedding it you're suddenly a lot faster, are you?!"
"That would be interesting, but the truth is simple. That coat has a formula woven into it that can ward off magic a single time. It looks like it saved my life." Elsa politely answered Subaru's question before kneeling down andstriking upward with the tip of her knife. The target was Emilia, and the strike was aimed to drive the knife into her ċhėst.
"I'd like it if you didn't underestimate spirit mages. We're pretty frightening if you make enemies of us." Emilia clapped her hands together in front of her ċhėst, forming a multilayered ice shield that was easily pierced by Elsa's blade, but it took the knife and stopped her attack. Elsa immediately leapt back to retreat as a few smaller icicles were hurtled her way, and before she can take a breath a flail make it way to her place force her to retreat even further.
"Emilia-sama, this place is too small and it make me unable to help you, this place just make her have more advantage "
"I know Rem, but we can't take it outside "
"Emilia-sama, you can't be-"
"Enough Rem, we're still in a battle"
Even if Emilia and Rem talking, Elsa still can't stop her movement because it was due to Puck, who was standing on Emilia's shoulder by her silver hair, sweeping his arms this way and that like a battle commander.
"One manages defense and the other attack… there's also Rem who prevent Elsa to deal fatal attacks " said Subaru, impressed.
"That's the tricky thing about spirit mages. One'll attack, and the other defends, and that little maid over there quite good at supporting.Depending on the situation, one might use simple magic, buying for time, as the other prepares a special attack… That's why we on the battlefield say, 'When you meet a spirit mage, lay down your weapons and wallet and run,'" muttered Rom, still gripping his club.
Subaru nodded. It didn't look as though the pairing between a spirit mage and their spirit could be easily beat.
"By the way, old man, what is it you're planning on doing?"
"I'm looking for an opening so I can help out that half elf girl. Of the two, she seems the one more willing to listen to us."
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! No! You'll only get in their way! If you go out there the only thing that's going to happen is you're going to lose your right arm and have your throat slit. Stay right where you are!"
"Don't say that! The way you put it makes it sound like I've already been cut down!"
As Subaru had seen Rom get cut down twice already, his words had a sense of truth in their tone. As if Rom was feeling what had happened to him in those different dimensions, he put his hands on his arm and neck.
While Subaru was able to talk Rom out of it, the truth was that the fight between Elsa, Rem and Emilia was so intense, it didn't look like there was anywhere anyone could cut in.
Countless ice shards had been created and were flying all over the room and countless objects is smash became rubbish because of Rem's morningstar.
However, in the midst of all of that, the way Elsa was handling it could only be described as superhuman.
She would spin around, duck down so low it looked as though she were crawling on the ground, and at times she would step on the walls to evade attacks as though she were completely ignoring gravity. If even with all of that she didn't seem able to dodge an attack, she would use her blade to cut through the ice crystals and shatter them. She had paired with what her opponent could do in number with an overwhelming degree of skill.
"She really looks used to fighting, despite her being a woman," muttered Puck, impressed with Elsa's godlike skills and fighting sense.
"Well, it's been a very long time since someone called me a girl."
"From my perspective, most people I deal with are like babies to me. But even so, you're so strong I almost feel like I should pity you."
"To be complimented by a spirit such as yourself, I must say I'm honored."
As Elsa gladly took Puck's praise, she fended off another shard of ice with her knife. Almost a hundred pieces of ice must have been thrown at her, but other than that very first attack, it didn't seem as though a single one of them had made their mark.
"I think if they keep this up, Elsa will tire out before they do…but I'm still anxious," said Subaru.
"That woman in black's movements really are incredible, but I don't think they can lose if they continue to hold the advantage in numbers…but it's not like that spirit will be able to keep itself here forever. As soon as that spirit's out, the balance of power will shift, that half elf girl and oni girl will lose for sure " replied Rom.
"What do you mean? If the opponent really strong there is no way the spirit will leave it owner alone right?" Said Subaru
"It's not like the spirit didn't want to accompany its owner but spirit need mana to maintenance it physical body, and now it also need mana to attack the enemy. I not to know how long the spirit can continue to battle but i know it won't long before the spirit will disappear"
Subaru feel very shock with this new information, it's like the old man said, if the spirit that introduces itself as Puck is out then he might as well consider it as a game over.
"Just when things were starting to get fun… It pains me to see that something else is distracting you from paying attention to me," muttered Elsa as she twisted her body to dodge an icicle attack, confirming Subaru's fears.
"As a popular male, it really is tough on me. I can never put the girls to sleep. However, you know if you stay up too late it's bad for your skin," replied Puck in a light tone, but he didn't deny what she was saying.
Just as Subaru was beginning to worry that Puck had reached his limit, Elsa's movements suddenly stopped. In response, Puck winked his black eyes at her.
"Don't you think it's about time we draw the curtain on this performance? When we keep repeating the same act it begins to get boring."
"My foot…"
As soon as Elsa tried to take a step, she fell forward, catching herself with her hands on the ground. Elsa's right foot had been frozen to the floor.
"You didn't really think I was scattering all of these things around for no reason, did you?"
"…I guess this means you've got me."
"Just blame it on the gap in our ages. You have plenty of reason to congratulate yourself for getting this far. Now, good night."
Throwing its ċhėst out, Puck's body, still standing on Emilia's shoulder, started to oscillate at a high frequency. Puck was posed as if he was about to release his ultimate move, with both paws out in front, focusing more magic than ever before, and Subaru watched as that magic was shot off like an arrow. The magic did not take the shape of ice, but was simply a load of destructive energy.
Along the path of the bluish white light everything froze, and in one fell swoop the loot cellar was filled with white. The energy passed through Elsa and broke into the door that formed the entrance to the cellar, blowing it off its hinges, and residual freezing energy from the attack even reached outside.
As the brilliant light from the attack passed, everything was frozen, from the counter to the stolen items, to even the ground they lay on.
Of course, if directly hit, even a human being would quickly turn into an ice statue, but…
"It can't be…" said Puck.
"Of course it can. Ah, that was wonderful. I really thought I was going to die there."
…this was all ȧssuming the attack would hit.
"…With you being a girl, I can't say I approve."
While Puck's attack was dodged, Puck didn't seem any angrier than what his words conveyed. He simply wasn't happy with what Elsa had done.
Subaru saw blood dripping, and a bit of steam was rising from the frozen ground. The blood was coming from Elsa's right foot. She was standing bȧrėfoot just out of the line of fire from Puck's attack, and bleeding profusely from her right foot, and it wasn't hard to see why. After all, she had sliced off the sole of her foot.
"I was afraid I might lop the whole foot off, seeing as how I hurried. That was a close one."
"Even if you only cut that much, it must hurt a lot," said Puck.
"Well yes, you're right. But it's wonderful. It makes me feel alive, and in addition to that…"
In response to Puck's worried sounding words, Elsa nodded with a look of ecstasy in her eyes, and without hesitation pushed her bleeding foot against a piece of ice. A sound that sounded like air shattering came ėrȯtɨċally from Elsa's throat, and then immediately afterward she took her knife to the ice around her foot. With that, she had managed to stop the bleeding with the ice.
"It's a little hard to move, but this should be enough," said Elsa with a laugh, clicking her ice shoe against the ground, looking as though she was having fun. Subaru had no words to say in response to how Elsa's addiction to fighting left her without any hesitation when it came to maiming herself, but right now it was her opponent, Emilia, who was in trouble.
"Puck, do you think you can keep going?" whispered Emilia.
"I'm sorry, but I'm really tired. I think I really underestimated her. At this rate I'm going to disappear from having run out of mana," Puck replied, for the first time without the confidence that had filled his voice before.
As the cat stood on Emilia shoulder, its figure began to shine, and looked as though it would fade at any moment. They were out of time.
"i and Rem will find a way to handle the rest on my own, so go ahead and rest. Thankyou."
"I hope that brat is here, how he can be your knight if he not protect you when you're in danger"
"I didn't want to bother him, well at least for now. Right, remember he is in the midst of getting stronger so maybe if i can hold out much longer he will come and more powerful than before "
"I hope so. If something happens, I'll obey my contract. If need be, call me out, even if you have to use your od," said Puck with a warning, as his body disappeared in a wisp of mist.
Maybe in this place just three people who understood what Puck and Emilia talking is. Subaru bit his lip, but he wasn't the one most disappointed by Puck's departure.
"Aw… You're going away? That's terribly unfortunate," said Elsa, the one who had been fighting with Puck with her life on the line. She sounded truly disappointed.
She readied her kukri again and with the high-pitched click of her icy shoe,began to head toward Emilia.
A number of icicles materialized around Emilia in response, but there were far fewer than when Puck was with her. Rem also readied her flail but from the start nothing much she can do because of a limited space she had in loot cellar to begin with.
Even though Elsa had her movement limited now, the match appeared even.
"It looks like we can't just sit around and watch this anymore, can we?" said Rom, gripping his club and getting ready to move.
"I don't know who's going to win this anymore, so if we just wait around we're going to miss our chance. You understand, right, Felt?" continued Rom.
"I know, I know. Whether we help or run, we're going to have to make a move soon," said Felt, talking for the first time since Elsa threatened her.
Felt moved beside Rom and then turned to Subaru.
"About what you said before… Thanks. It made me feel better."
"Huh?"
"Only a little bit! Plus, don't call me a little kid. I'm fifteen years old. You're not much older than me, right?"
"…Actually, I'll be eighteen this year. I'll be able to get a license to drive a car, and I can get married, too."
"You can't be that old! Your face looks younger than mine! And your actions is very childish Age a little, why don't you? At least on your face!"
Well, Subaru had lived his years lazily in the peaceful country of Japan, aiming to live every day as ordinarily as possible, so it couldn't be helped.
Subaru felt as though his lack of determination was being mocked, and so he looked down at the ground, feeling useless.
The weakest one here was Subaru, and it was enough that he was completely lacking in the ability to fight, but also…
"My legs just can't stop shaking… I guess this is what happens when you lack resolve."
Forget about being qualified to fight, Subaru was physically unable. Even with Emilia magic, felt speed, and Rem and Old man Rom raw power.Elsa's abnormality trumped all of those abilities.
"It looks like they starting to get pushed back," said Rom, and that was enough to completely describe what was happening.
Emilia hadn't stopped shooting projectiles at Elsa, but Elsa just slapped them away with her blade, rendering them useless. In response to Elsa's dance of slicing attacks, Emilia would block the attacks with her ice shield, and freeze the ground in front of her feet to slide away, bȧrėly dodging Elsa's continuing attacks. After Emilia gained some distance, she would continue her barrage, but you could not deny that her position was inferior to Elsa's.
Rem also can't help much because if she just careless a little and make a mistake she will getting killed by Elsa because defense is not her strongest point.
To change the current situation, some kind of support was absolutely necessary.
"All right, I'm going!"
Apparently Rom had thought the same as Subaru, and after letting out a yell, Rom joined the fight.
As Rom swung his club, it brought a gust of air along with it, and as Elsa ducked her hair was caught up a little in the blast.
"Oh, how rude of you to interrupt our dance," said Elsa.
"If you want to dance that much then I'll make you dance a fine dance, so give it your best shot!"
As Rom swung his thorny pointed club at Elsa, he changed his line of attack. He thrust the club toward Elsa's throat, but Rom froze at the result.
"What the hell is this?!"
"I'm only able to do this because you're so strong," said Elsa from above as she stood on the tip of Rom's club.
that kind of technique could only be accomplished with a godlike sense of balance. Before that balance could be broken, Elsa swung her blade horizontally at Rom. The strike was level with Rom's forehead. If it landed, the top of his head would be sent flying.
"You think I'd let you?!"
Shing! went the sound of Elsa's sword as it collided with a knife thrown by Felt. The collision had altered the path of Elsa's sword, but the side of it still collided full force into the side of Rom's head. A dull sound rang out as Rom toppled over to the side.
"What a naughty little girl," said Elsa as she landed lightly back on the ground and turned just her eyes toward Felt.
"…"
Felt's small knife had saved Rom's life. She probably had aimed for Elsa's arm, but in the rush of the moment her aim was a little off. However, without that slight miss, Rom might not have been saved.
"You don't have the determination or power to fight. You should have just cowered in the corner like a good little girl."
The high-pitched click of Elsa's step rang out as she instantly closed the distance between herself and Felt. Rom was unconscious, Emilia , who had been trying to keep her distance, was now too far away.
And Rem now in front of Emilia act as her shield so she is also out of question, Felt herself had frozen like a frog being stared down by a snake, and…
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" …so the only one who was able to tackle her to safety was the coward who had been shivering beside her moments before.