Chapter 43 - 043: Second Round

"All hands, move away!!"

When Crusch's order cracked across the field of battle, the Iron Fangs

clinging to the White Whale leaped off its body as one. Ludwig makes Earth barrier with his magic to protect Kise and Wilhelm and secure their retreat way.

All the ligers landed agilely, and the White Whale, now freed of them, made a large turn,

believing it was finally time to counterattack—but it was mistaken in that judgment.

"So you've exposed your flank—!"

Crusch's second attack struck far overhead, her diagonal slash running

along the White Whale's side at an angle, and that stroke of her sword was

the prelude to yet a third attack—this time, from the magic squad, which had

not attacked until that moment, devoting themselves solely to concentrating

on chanting.

"—Al Goa!!"

From the compounded chants from multiple squad members came a red hot aurora. In that world, with both a sun and a moon floating in the sky, a

new, the second sun was born, low in the sky and clad in incandescent flames.

"Uoooo!"

Velocity gave way to acceleration, and acceleration, to high speed. The

fireball headed for the White Whale's side, then slammed it right in the belly.

Through its accumulated wounds, the fire burned inside its body and the

White Whale screamed while its internal organs boiled.

Mercenaries hurriedly evacuated so as not to be caught up in the

fragments of flame scattering over the plains. But that's just their imaginations because Ludwig skilfully blocks every fragment of flame that falls on their way with his magic.

That overwhelming, even one-sided, circumstance meant nothing less

than that the surprise attack had borne fruit. At that rate, might not the demon beast be subjugated without it being able to do a thing?

"Feels like that hit it pretty hard! Maybe it'll all go like this?!"

At a distance beyond the flames' reach, Subaru watched the White Whale

from the back of the land dragon, shaking a closed fist.

Until that point, they'd completely overwhelmed the White Whale, surely

inflicting no small amount of damage. With the failure of the Great

Expedition fourteen years prior as precedent, he'd been on his guard, but this

put him into an easy-win mood.

Subaru heard about the expedition fourteen years ago from Felix and he knew how much terrifying this beast if a great expedition like that is can't stop it. But with how the frontline controlling the white whale before, he sure they will have an easy victory.

However, with regret, Rem shook her head at Subaru's optimistic

viewpoint, glaring up at the flame-engulfed demon beast.

"No—were that the case, the surprise attack would have caused it to crash

to the ground."

Her words made Subaru's eyes go wide. He turned his eyes to the White

Whale, wondering what she meant.

Even then, half of the demon beast's body was being burned by the great

magic, with no sense that the flames, spreading over its body hair, were dying

out. The magic crystal cannons' direct attacks had inflicted many wounds,

and the sight of blood trickling from them was downright painful.

But—

"The altitude…ain't dropping."

Except for the first wound inflict by Kise, there is just shallow wound all over its body even after this much time is consumed.

Rem and Subaru participate in this expedition because Rem informs Crusch about her bad feeling and Crusch permit them to participate when Kise and Ludwig said if they can join as long as they didn't go to the frontline.

"But come to think of this, who is the other two people over there? I never see them at Crusch house"

"They contract spirits of Arthur-sama, the female is Kise and the male is Ludwig"

"What? that bastard spirit?!" Subaru asks with a rage clearly display

"You can't call him like that, Subaru. I heard what happened in the throne room from Felix-sama and also Reinhard-sama who visit you last time, no matter what you said it was your fault, and if Arthur-sama didn't step in there will be another person who punishes you and of course, you can't as fine as like when Arthur-sama who punished you"

"You mock entire royal guard in the throne room, even Rem can't find a reason to defend you. Subaru, what you do in the throne room is not helping Emilia-sama but make an entire royal guard as her enemy"

Subaru can't find a reason to denied Rem word, he can just clench his teeth and swallow his anger.

At the battlefield, the fight is more heat than before, even if the wound inflicted by Kise is unhealable and blood still flowing through from the wound the white whale still very far from defeat.

Wilhelm running on the White Whale's back with a sword, he stabbed the White Whale's backside, ripping the White

Whale's body lengthwise as he ran. As Wilhelm ran from tail to back, the

delayed spurting of whale blood made it look like he was being chased by

geysers.

That moment, Wilhelm's works were truly those of an angry god.

The expeditionary force lifted their faces, with morale exploding higher at

the Sword Devil's abnormal skill with the blade. The firing of the magic

crystal cannons and the vigor of the mercenaries and cavalry unit's organized

attacks grew greater still.

Unable to withstand the agony, the White Whale writhed in midair,

completely unable to respond to the expeditionary force's attack.

As if in some sort of competition, Kise running at the bottom of the white whale with the help of Ludwig who creates a path for her to running. She held up her scythe and make a slash from a different direction with Wilhelm who ran on top of its body.

Kise descent to the ground because she has a feeling the white whale will do something. Wilhelm who is the last retreat dig out the white whale eyes from its socket, when the eyes fall to the ground Wilhelm stab it with his sword and raise it to the sky, mocking the white whale make the expeditionary force cheers loudly.

But in the midst of euphoria, there is someone who feels something amiss

"Ludwig! Barrier!"

Kise shout on top of her lungs, and Ludwig who hear it deploy a width earth barrier that covers a large area and shelters the troops, just a moment after the barriers complete the white whale let out a loud sound like screaming that not just very noising it also makes someone have a symptom like suffering mana poisoning, the sound attack followed by a blast of shockwaves and mist that coming out from the beast body.

Thanks to Ludwig earth barrier they didn't swallow by the mist but when the barriers are vanished what great them not a white whale full of the wound but three white whales swimming in the sky made the mental of the expeditionary force plummeted to the bottom.

"Don't panic! There is just one white whale! The other two is just it split body! This is one of its ability!"

Crusch uses her ability to drive away from the white whale that coming to their direction with her invisible sword.

When they heard her voice they come to their sense, and when they think about it there is no way no one knows if there is more than one white whale in the world on top of that life together in a group.

'White Whale is a single beast, no matter what happens you must remember it. When it's life is in danger, the white whale will split itself into three. The mass and mana quantity on it body will also split into three, there is no way to identify which one is the real one but there will be a high chance it will heal itself when the other two is attacking your troops'

Remembering what Arthur said before, Crusch open a note she wrote when Arthur come to her place whit Emilia and compare it with the current situation.

"Everything is like what he said, three bodies with one in the highest place look like is the real one. We can content the other two but the problem is the last one" the white whale is out of her attack range

"What happens over there?!"

When one people shout it many will follow it, but what they pointed is not the white whale but a pillar of light that rise high to the sky.

"That was from the mansion direction!"

"That's the lightning pillar like when the wolgram attacked the village!"

Subaru remembers this sight, but the current one is bigger than the last one he sees at the forest before.

"Out of the way!!!"

Kise and Ludwig is the one who shouts with all of their voice, because of their stellar performance the troops didn't doubt their command and disengaged the white whale.

A blinding light on the faraway place is rolling out like a tsunami, and when they blinded by the light the thundering sound reverberates and a shockwave is coming from then mansion direction blowing away the mist released by the white whale before.

The white whale that swimming at the highest altitudes is screaming in pain.

Large lightning arc appears from within of the white whale body, and bursts out from its body.

The white whale might have a very high resistance to magic attack, that's because that white hair scatters the mana, dulling the force of magic attack from outside.

But the lightning appears inside the white whale body and burst to outside so there is nothing that minimizes the damage of the lightning.

Paralyzed by the lightning white whale falls from the sky and crash to the ground, without having a chance to soar again to the sky earth pillars raising from the bottom of its body and skewered it.

Ludwig, control his magic and makes another pillar around the White whale body and make it can't escape.

"Ludwig help me stall the other two, leave this one to that old man"

"Oh, master command?"

"Yes, he wants that old man who finished the beasts"

"Okay then"

Ludwig and Kise head to another battle and leaving the traped white whale for Wilhelm get his long-awaited revenge.