CH 104.2

Chapter 104.2: The Crystal Garden

I unleashed black flame from my entire body.

Now, no matter how fast he moved, his attack wouldn’t be able to reach me from the wall of black flame stretching between us.

「Black flame? Sure enough, it’s troublesome magic.  But, it’s not like it can stop me. Come, Queen of Snow, Elusa, and the Snow Maidens!」

Extremely cold air started blowing in all directions at Alphos’ war cry. When the cold air stopped blowing, a beautiful woman clad in a huge white dress stood behind Alphos. Floating around her were many other little cute girls in white dresses.

They were the high-rank spirit of snow《Snow Queen》and the mid-rank spirit of snow《Snow Maidens》.

I was honestly astonished by Alphos’ magical power which enabled him to summon not only a mighty high-rank snow spirit, but mid-rank snow spirits as well.

「THE HECK!! AND YOU SAY THIS IS ONE-ON-ONE?!」

Otherwise, was it really allowed to use spirit power in a one-on-one duel in this world?

「My bad. But, I mean, aren’t you the same as Runfeld? Using the black flame power which you received from the Demon King Modes. So, I’m at least allowed to do this much.」

Alphos said so with a smile on his face.

Surely, Runfeld got his black flame from Modes. At the time it was a huge event since Runfeld was the only one granted with the power of the black flame.

But in my case, I don’t ever remember receiving the black flame from Modes. I just somehow managed to use it after coming to this world.

But then, Alphos probably didn’t even realize that.

The Snow Queen sang a beautiful song, while the Snow Maidens danced around her, accompanying her tune.

I felt the temperature in the vicinity rapidly dropping.

「Sorry, but I have resistance against the cold. This kind of temperature is nothing for me.」

The moment I finished my remark, Alphos waved his left hand’s index finger.

「They’re not here to attack you. NOW, BEHOLD!! MY MOST MAGNIFICENT MAGIC!!」

Alphos swung his sword like the conductor of an opera.

The Snow Queen’s singing voice became even louder than before while the Snow Maidens dancing became even more passionate and powerful. They suddenly left the Snow Queen’s surroundings and started dancing everywhere

Huge snow crystals appeared in the places where the Snow Maidens passed.

It was an extremely beautiful spectacle but that wasn’t what I was paying attention to.

""

It was the extreme cold in this place.

Numerous icicles rose from the ground, the ground beneath my feet froze.

The landscape had transformed in mere seconds.

After the cold winds had settled down, our battlefield had completely transformed into a field of ice, blocked by glittering icicles.

Shining ice flowers were blooming in this ice field, an aurora curtain hanging down on top of the field.

The Snow Maidens were scattering huge snow crystals that shone like stars on the field.

「W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!!」

I couldn’t hide my shock upon seeing the scenery that had been completely transformed in mere seconds.

「Beautiful right, my Crystal Garden? It’s an ice type phantom space created by the Snow Queen and Snow Maidens. The effects of your black flame will be suppressed to a minimum in this space.」

Alphos spread his arms.

Surely, it was an extremely beautiful space.

The ice flowers and icicle trees were shining brilliantly in his garden.

The scene of Snow Maidens chanting and dancing below the flickering aurora on top of the garden gave an even more fantastical feeling to the place.

I ended up being in awe of such a wonderful spectacle.

Maybe this place was some sort of magic barrier made by the combination of mid-rank and high-rank spirits.

The range of the barrier made by Alphos was really vast, it spread to almost all of our surroundings, even his flying ship.

「I see, a countermeasure against my black flame eh…」

I looked around at the beautiful, sparkling garden.

「It’s different from my original plan, this magic is a magic that I devised to defeat the Demon King. It wasn’t supposed to be used in this battle, but I guess I have no choice… Or rather, this is an inescapable development after I failed to defeat you in the previous aerial battle. Fufufu, you should feel honored since you forced me to use the magic that I specially devised for the Demon King. 」

Alphos let out a self-deprecated smile as he spoke.

The Demon King, Modes, could use the same black flame as me.

It seems this large-scale magic was devised to counter black flame; to seal Modes’ ultimate power.

「To defeat the Demon King?」

I couldn’t just ignore those remarks. After All,  I’m the Dark Knight whose job is to protect the Demon King.

This was the first time I heard of Alphos, the God of Song and Art, wanting to defeat the Demon King.

But, now that he said those words, I, the Dark Knight, had no choice but to defeat him.

「Yes, that way, there will be no need for someone like the Hero of Light. Rena can just rely on me to beat the Demon King.」

Wow, what confidence.

Not that I could allow it after all.

「And yet, never once did she rely on me. I, as her big brother, can’t help but be sad.」

Alphos shook his head with a sad look on his face.

「But, Rena will definitely change her opinion if I defeat you. Once I do so, Rena will realize that I’m the most reliable person for her.」

After saying so, Alphos came straight toward me.

「What the?!!!!」

His speed was even faster than before.

I raised my sword to catch his slash in a hurry.

""

My stance broke due to the sheer force behind his attack.

Alphos’ attack didn’t stop with the first strike, he followed his first strike with another one.

He left a rainbow trail behind him; the trail produced shadow clones of himself.

When I turned around, Alphos had already come toward me again.

I stood still, waiting for Alphos’ arrival.

But, one of Alphos’ shadow clones, who was clad in a brilliant, aurora-like shining armor, had almost reached my neck.

「GUH!!!」

I deflected the attack with my sword and used the force to spin my body in order to prevent my stance from crumbling since the attack of the clones came from all directions.

Both his speed and strength were far more powerful than before.

Maybe it was the effect of this barrier.

「SHE DOESN’T NEED THE LIKES OF THE HERO OF LIGHT-KUN OR YOU, DARK KNIGHT-KUN! NO ONE SHALL TOUCH RENA, THE HEAVENLY BEAUTY! HONESTLY SPEAKING, I’M REALLY PISSED OFF KNOWING THAT A FILTHY THING LIKE YOU HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY HER!! ALL SHE NEEDS IS ME, HER ONII-CHAN!」[TL: In case you misunderstood, Alphos is a siscon.]

Alphos’ attacks were coming at a high speed.

I was forced to one-sidedly defend against such fast attacks. To make matters worse, he was attacking while shouting such lines.

「YOU CAN’T DEFEAT ME IF YOU JUST KEEP DEFENDING YOURSELF LIKE A TURTLE!! OR IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT?!!」

Alphos could move freely in this garden while leaving behind a rainbow trail in his wake.

It was almost impossible to catch his movement with the naked eyes.

「WHY?!!!」

I somehow managed to unleash a thrust toward the incoming Alphos.

「WHY?!!」

He shouted again with an even louder voice than before.

Alphos jumped up to dodge my thrust and then landed lightly on my sword blade. I looked up at him, who was now standing on my sword

He folded his arms as he looked down at me.