CH 102

“How weak… Too weak”

“Haa…haa…”

Elka supported her weight by stabbing her sword into the ground.

Breathing heavily, sweat ran on her forehead.

“Not even one of your attacks is working against me while I haven’t exercised my abilities. If you receive my attacks, it’ll be over in one hit. I’m letting you dodge them now, but how long will you hold out I wonder?”

“Kuh…Aah”

Elka grasped her sword tightly from her excessive regret.

Even in this situation where danger to her life was drawing near, she could not completely concentrate.

Whatever she tried, Setsu’s figure floated inside her head.

( …If I die like this, will I be able to go to Master Setsu’s side, I wonder)

Her thoughts fell in a dark direction.

Even if Elka were to be defeated here, her other allies would be able to take down this sacred sword, who took on the appearance of a boy.

Even if Elka were to die, the final results would not change.

“I was unable to… defeat my enemy, right?”

Finally, Elka gave up on thinking.

She chose to die here and release anything and everything.

When she let go of all her strength, the figures of Yuuhi clad in black flames floated in Elka’s mind.

(What I thought in my last moments is my apprentice’s completely changed appearance… this isn’t like me)

She tried to laugh at herself on her own, and opened her mouth――That moment.

“――――No that’s wrong”

In whispers, Elka so muttered.

“Yuuhi is right”

Elka pulled out her sword from the ground.

She brushed off the dirt off the sword by swinging it left and right, and then raised her face.

“I… didn’t accept the fact that Master Setsu had died”

Tears ran along her face.

She did not want to accept it, she did not want to admit it.

Setsu is alive, that was what she wanted to think.

“Nothing but monologues since a while ago, you’re getting creepy~. What happened?”

“ … You’re all irresistibly detestable”

Cold air began to drift about at Elka’s feet.

“Yuuhi fully accepted Master Setsu’s death. That’s why she has been that angry”

The atmospheric temperature dropped in her surroundings.

Frost began to descend on the soil and tree leaves.

“It was a simple thing once I have completely accepted it”

In Elka’s eyes burned a light that had not dwelled in there until now.

That would be, her intent to kill.

A cold, then hot emotion.

“Detestable… The god of creation is, and you are, detestable”

“… Hey, you’ve got good eyes now haven’t you”

Elka’s heart was completely wrapped around in the hatred she had suppressed.

She wants to kill the boy in front of her eyes, Leviathan.

She wants to kill the ringleader of all, god of creation Creasyl, with her hands.

Her feelings of hatred which lost its destination before she was aware of, discovered where they had to go.

“――I’ll kill you”

“Just try!”

Elka kicked the ground.

Leviathan moved to ready his sword.　

“Too late”

“Huh-!?”

Elka caught and held the arm that was holding Leviathan’s sword.

And then Elka violently thrust her own sword onto Leviathan’s thigh.

“What are you doing――――”

“Stop crying”

“Gi-”

Elka twisted her sword.

Naturally, blood began to overflow from Leviathan’s thigh.

She appears to have struck the bones as well, from the fact she felt something hard from her sword.

Unimaginable pain assailed Leviathan.

Leviathan, who raised soundless screams from that, was completely petrified in that place.

“Hah-!”

Elka pulled on Leviathan’s arm.

Elka drove a jumping knee kick to Leviathan’s face as he fell over.

The force of the pull and kick combined, and sounds of bones breaking came from Leviathan’s face.

“Gyahi-… Y- you”

“I won’t let you go”

Leviathan’s body was once again pulled.

Elka never released his hand.

“Hah!”

Releasing her hand from the sword thrust in Leviathan’s thigh, Elka drove a fist in his face.

Sounds came of flesh being smashed.

“Not yet… Not yeet!”

“Don’t make fun of――”

Ice covered Elca’s fist.

That raised her destructive power.

Her hand that held Leviathan’s arm were both covered in ice.

In order to never let him escape.

“AaaaaaAAaaaAah!”

Elka raised a warcry.

And simultaneously, surging waves of fists was driven into Leviathan.

◆◆◆

“There!”

Glain cut down the sacred sword in front of him with one stroke.

“Phew, we’re almost done with this I guess”

“Good job”

Those many sacred swords were cleanly swept away by Glain.

There were at least no sacred swords in his visible range.

“So what’s left is to wait for everyone to solve the barrier for us, isn’t it”

“ …Elka, I wonder if she’s alright”

“…”

Glain was made short on his words from Tia’s impulsive question

However, that too was an instant.

He immediately showed a smile and opened his mouth. 

“Elka would be fine, you see. After all, the strongest among us is Elka”

“――Now that you mention, that’s how it’s been”

Tia muttered as if she had recalled.

Before, she had often conducted sham battles with Elka.

The scores of that was,

“Had 169 fights, 0 wins, 152 losses and 17 draws for me”

“It’s somewhat the same for me too. Ah, come to think of it, do you remember?”

Glain, while mentioning that, shed cold sweat.

Seeing that, Tia guessed what he wanted to say.

“Tia, she had that impression when she was with Mr Setsu, but originally she was――”

“――a damned total S”

◆◆◆　

“Come on, please make more sound”

(This, this girl…!)

The storm of fists did not stop.

Leviathan’s body was fairly sturdy from a sacred sword’s standpoint.

Him still keeping his consciousness and enduring it was proof of that.

However, although one might say he did not bear any fatal wounds, damage was accumulating.

His arm was sealed and, due to being struck without a pause, he could only raise his body.

He still had his right arm, but he overused it in his guarding and so it had already become tattered.

In this inescapable situation, all Leviathan could do was merely enduring it.

The timing for Elka’s hand to stop from fatigue and finishing her attack.

He could do nothing but bet on that timing.

Naturally, Elka understood that.

Receiving a severe counterattack if she were to stop her attacking hand was obvious.

Therefore she continued pushing out her fist.

The damage would seem to be scarce, but they were not ineffective.

However, this would not lead her to defeating him.

She would not win at this rate.

(That… doesn’t matter to me though)

――already, had Elka’s objective been changed inside her.

What Elka seeked now, was to warp the facial expressions of the god of creation and the sacred swords, including Leviathan, through pain.

Currently, the face of Leviathan, who continued to be hit without being able to do anything, was warped awfully.

Seeing that expression, a pleasant feeling rose through Elka’s spines. 

(This feeling, I had forgotten about it for a long time)

Her expression slackened and slackened.

Elka became conscious of the fact her face came to look like a child who discovered an unbreakable toy.

Except, now she wanted to break the demon in boy’s appearance――

“Would you――cut it ouut!”

“Gh!”

That time when it seemed like he would be completely sealed, Leviathan roared.

Elka reflexively dissolved the ice and pulled the sword that was pierced in his thigh.

The next instant, dark red flames wrapped up Leviathan.

“Aaah, hot! Hot! That’s why I hate it! Using this power that is!”

“…”

The dark red flames swirled around Leviathan.

If Elka did not escape like that, then she too would be swallowed by that flame.

(No wait… that flame is burning the person who invoked it himself?)

A pained leviathan’s voice was heard.

A flame that could make even the sturdy Leviathan raise a scream.

If Elka had received it, then she may likely be reduced to ashes in an instant.

“ <Envy Flare(Purgatory emotions)>, I won’t forgive you anymore”