In the time it took to draw and release a single breath, dozens of exchanges occurred, and in the blink of an eye, life and death performed a dangerous tightrope walk on the battlefield.

In the midst of this ultra-high-speed chaotic battle that ordinary people couldn’t even perceive, Adelaide was trembling.

So strong…!

Hilda had once said Adelaide lacked experience.

In terms of the “quantity” of experience, Hilda’s point was clearly true.

However, in terms of the “quality” of experience, there were few who could surpass Adelaide even if one searched the entire continent.

This was partly because the battlefields she had crossed were so perilous, but also largely due to being able to experience battles with legendary figures through the Game Book.

Gale Elilaz, the mentee of the Witch of the North, said that the strength of the recreated generals and angels might be somewhat inferior to the originals, but even those inferior recreations were an insurmountable wall for Adelaide.

Their strength was so overwhelming that she even doubted if such beings really existed.

And now, the Lion Duke before Adelaide’s eyes was completely uprooting such doubts.

When he swung his sword, buildings were cut; when he stepped, the ground caved in; when he emitted his aura, all things cowered in fear.

Strength, agility, toughness, flexibility, endurance.

Possessing all the ideal physical conditions a warrior should have, he was like an incarnation of the battlefield born solely for combat.

Adelaide sensed it.

The belt containing a giant’s strength, and the two-handed sword that once belonged to the Lion Duke himself.

If she lacked even one of these, she wouldn’t have dared to cross swords with him at all.

Adelaide’s strength had already risen to a level where it would be faster to count from the top in the mortal world, but her opponent was a strong one who transcended even that.

Therefore, Adelaide found it difficult to restrain her respect and admiration for her teacher fighting beside her.

Objectively speaking, the Tin Knight’s abilities were inferior to the Lion Duke’s.

But he was overwhelming that spec difference with technique and tactics alone.

He always read the Lion Duke’s intended actions first and preempted him, constantly creating situations where it was difficult for the Lion Duke to fully exert his power, and dismantled the Lion Duke’s techniques with a truly transcendent level of mana control.

Despite it being a battle where even a single mistake could lead to a fatal wound, his concentration not only didn’t weaken but seemed to be sharpening even more keenly along with the momentum of the battle.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says let’s raise the tempo more!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if you can keep up!]

Even in this situation, far from tensing up and shrinking back, his attitude seemed to be cheerfully enjoying the battle.

Some might call that insincere.

Some might point out that it was frivolous and tell him to be more serious.

But not Adelaide.

He didn’t despair in the face of any difficulty, and he didn’t lose his cheerfulness no matter what trial came.

That fact alone gave her great trust in him.

“Yes!”

Revenge was like suppressed frustration; venting it might feel refreshing, but it couldn’t become a new driving force after it was over.

But responding to his expectations, though arduous and difficult, seemed to fill her with new motivation the more she accomplished.

She wanted to catch up to her teacher.

And someday, she wanted to run side by side with the one she always admired but could only trailed behind.

Since trust became boldness, she could advance even half a step further without fearing the attacks swung by the Lion Duke.

Since motivation became vitality, she could move her body that was crying out its limits to swing her sword faster and more nimbly.

Her eyes, shining like jewels, burned fiercely as if to take each and every movement of the Lion Duke as a model, and in fact, her movements were becoming increasingly sharp.

────!

As if responding to such Adelaide, the Lion Duke’s sword growled low.

As if saddened by the appearance of its fallen former master, as if pleading with Adelaide to stop him so he wouldn’t suffer anymore, the sword itself seemed to be appealing to her.

The indestructible sword that wouldn’t break in any situation perfectly protected Adelaide even in the face of its former master’s tremendous fierce attacks, and the more she rampaged, the freer the Tin Knight’s movements became.

At this rate, it might really be possible to defeat the Lion Duke with just the power of the Tin Knight’s party.

《──■■■■!!》

However, even wounded and despairing, a hero was still a hero.

Perhaps sensing that if this continued as a war of attrition, defeat would be certain, the Lion Duke’s movements changed drastically.

More brutish, more crude, more violent.

Boom!

Wild strikes that seemed to aim to crush not a specific individual, but the surrounding environment itself.

The wounds appearing on the Lion Duke’s body doubled amidst the larger openings, but the consumption of the Tin Knight and Adelaide also intensified.

Adelaide’s side was especially problematic.

While her mind was endlessly growing rather than being worn down in the extreme battle, her body, which had once reached the brink of death in the successive battles and fierce fight with Hilda, was already crying out its limits.

At that moment.

“—Jump back!!”

At Dorothea’s voice from behind, the Tin Knight and Adelaide acted before questioning.

Whoosh!

The Lion Duke tried to charge towards the two, who suddenly distanced themselves, but a huge mass of water fell on his head.

Mere water.

But if that water’s mass reached tens of tons, and it was “ejected” from above at high pressure while full of mana, it was already something no different from a kind of bombing.

Boom!

As if a giant bucket of water had been poured onto a sandy beach from above, the very terrain where the Lion Duke stood was hollowed out downwards.

The overflowing water mixed with the raindrops originally falling from the sky and swept across the battlefield.

But the attack didn’t end there.

Bone-chilling cold spread from the sky, and mana containing extreme coldness was ejected like a beam into the puddle where the Lion Duke was.

The water that had been filling the ground as if there had been a flood now all froze solid, turning into something like a huge ice rink.

With the Lion Duke contained underneath.

“Wow…”

Adelaide blankly opened her mouth. White breath leaked out due to the suddenly lowered temperature.

Above was the figure of Algind Goodwitch looking down with noble eyes.

It was an inhuman offensive in a different sense from the divinity shown by the Lion Duke.

The scale of each attack was so large that it conversely felt unreal.

If Dorothea and Sophia hadn’t quickly deployed a new barrier, even the Tin Knight and Adelaide would have been caught in the attack, but seeing this power made that seem like a trivial matter.

“Hey! Aren’t you adjusting the attack range? Are you saying we should have a go at each other!?”

…Of course, while Adelaide felt that way, the witch, who was her companion, didn’t seem to think so.

To Dorothea, who had mounted a wolf-shaped undead summoned on the spot as if to escape the cold rushing from below, Algind answered indifferently, “I understand what you want to say, but anything less than this power wouldn’t even register against that. Water and cold should be better than fireballs.”

“Always so good at destroying things…!”

Just listening to the conversation, it seemed like they were chatting during battle, but even while doing so, the bodies of the two witches were moving incessantly.

Dorothea reorganized the barrier on the Tin Knight’s shield and regathered the malice and curses that had been blown away by Algind’s attack, while Algind was gradually increasing the number of colorful magic circle-like things around her head.

It looked like loading cannons one after another just before firing.

Both witches knew. That this much wouldn’t be the end.

“Miss Adel, take this.”

The small bottle Sophia handed over.

After drinking the witch’s special potion contained in it and being bathed in holy power, her body, which had been pushed to its limits, recovered a little.

A moment of silence.

Contrary to expectations that he would immediately launch a counterattack, the frozen Lion Duke didn’t move.

Just as Adelaide thoughtlessly wondered if it was over.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts, “Did we do it?!”]

A message only the Tin Knight’s party could hear.

Opposite to the line that seemed to confirm victory, as he rushed forward again, Dorothea and Adelaide simultaneously raised question marks over their heads, and only Sophia reacted as if she had realized something with an, “Ah.”

Right after that.

Rumble!

As if lifted up from below with enormous force, the very ground of the surrounding area was completely overturned.

Building debris tangled together creating chaos, and people lost their balance.

As if aiming for that fatal opening, the Lion Duke, who had broken out of the ice, imbued his sword with violet lightning, but before it could be swung, the Tin Knight had already reached right in front of the Lion Duke.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts that flags can be useful depending on how they are used!]

The shield struck upwards like an uppercut, forcibly altering the trajectory of the Lion Duke’s slash, and the defense-ignoring special slash flew into empty space.

The Lion Duke, as if enraged by this, struck down at the Tin Knight with the hilt of his sword.

The Tin Knight’s body was thrown to the ground and various parts of his body were dented, but ignoring such injuries, the Tin Knight kicked up at the Lion Duke’s body with both feet.

The moment the Lion Duke’s body floated in the air, Algind’s wind blades tore at that body, and through the newly created wounds, Dorothea’s malice seeped in.

Adelaide also didn’t just watch but rushed forward and cut the Lion Duke’s body.

After that, it was a repetition of similar actions.

Cutting, hitting, scorching with magic, poisoning, healing occasionally, fighting, fighting, and fighting.

The Tin Knight’s arm was cut off once again and restored, Adelaide’s ribs were crushed, Dorothea who had been careless with defense after putting everything into the barrier on the Tin Knight’s shield was hit by debris tearing her skin, Sophia threw her own body to draw attention, Algind’s familiar the masked stranger became incapacitated, and even neat appearance of Algind herself became ragged.

Thud.

Finally, both of the Lion Duke’s knees touched the ground.

Neither the brilliant golden flame-like energy nor the violent violet lightning-like energy could be felt from his body anymore.

Black mud-like mana was barely maintaining his body, but even that energy seemed so weak it might disappear at any moment.

《…■■■… ■■■■■!》

Yet the Lion Duke didn’t give up.

By now, even what he himself wanted must be vague, but still, he struggled as if searching for that “something”.

Seeing that desperate and mournful appearance, Adelaide felt an inexplicable sadness.

Although she had no small amount of dissatisfaction and resentment towards the name Lennart, the target of those emotions was those living in the current era, not an ancestor from the distant past.

Above all, he was the admiration and idol of the father and brother Adelaide had loved.

Adelaide said.

“Miss Sophia. You saw something, didn’t you? Please tell me.”

Sophia calmly nodded, then passed her mana to the party.

They saw the life of a man called the Lion Duke.

The lamentation of a hero who had grasped power, wealth, and honor, but couldn’t grasp the hand of the one he loved most.

The despair of throwing himself to seize his last chance despite knowing that what laid ahead was a thorny path, only to have even that chance cruelly trampled.

In silence, Adelaide approached the Lion Duke.

Dorothea tried to stop her saying it was dangerous, but when the Tin Knight grasped her shoulder, she closed her mouth.

“—Geisel von Lennart. Progenitor of the Lion Duke’s bloodline. Your descendant, Adelaide von Lennart, pays her respects.”

Her body felt as heavy as lead and she felt like she might fall asleep at any moment due to extreme drowsiness, but suppressing all that, Adelaide continued speaking proudly.

After all, she believed that if her family, the knights and soldiers of Friedel were here, they would surely do so.

“I understand the hardships and despair you experienced. However, I will not apologize for standing in your way. Nor will I express sympathy for your suffering.”

The Lion Duke’s gaze turned to Adelaide.

Without averting her eyes from those eyes filled with all sorts of dark emotions, Adelaide declared, “But I promise this. When the day comes that I face Kalidahs again. I will surely convey your feelings.”

The Lion Duke’s eyes widened.

Was it because he was on the verge of disappearing? For a moment, reason returned to those eyes that had been dyed with madness.

Instead of opening his mouth to say something, he bowed his head deeply.

Deeply, very deeply.

Something like light that leaked from his body seeped into Adelaide and the sword she held.

And the next moment, his body crumbled like dust.

Everyone clearly confirmed that sight with their own eyes.

The Tin Knight’s party, Algind, and the remaining Lion Duke’s bloodline members who had barely survived with just their breath in various parts of the ruined main house.

The rain clouds that had covered the sky cleared, illuminating Adelaide’s figure.

Adelaide smiled with all her might at her companions, then collapsed.

The Tin Knight quickly caught her body.

It was the end of the banquet of madness.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken