Volume 4, Chapter 38 – Liberation, and Then—

Once the dazzling light unleashed by Kirinagi subsided, Shizuku-san was there, clutching her face.

Ah, that murky black aura is gone!

Seeing this, Chris-san managed to push herself up despite her staggering state and rushed toward Shizuku-san.

With a swift strike of her hand, she knocked the broken sword out of Shizuku-san’s grip and immediately drove a perfect body blow into her.

“Gah… hah…”

Shizuku-san let out a pained groan.

Chris-san then pivoted behind her and delivered a sharp chop to the back of Shizuku-san’s head, knocking her unconscious.

“Haa… haa… haa… Fiene-sama, your judgment was excellent.”

To think she could seize the opportunity and get the job done even while in such a battered state!

Chris-san really is dependable.

“The same goes for you, Chris-san.”

I praised Chris-san while casting Healing Magic on her.

“Ho ho ho. Quite impressive. To think you actually brought that detestable blade. It seems you truly are a genuine Saint.”

Despite everything, Suikyou still seemed completely composed.

“However, the future remains unchanged; you will still be sacrificed by the very girl you tried to save.”

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“What are you talking about? Shizuku-san is already unconscious. All that’s left is for you to be defeated.”

“Ho ho ho, is that truly so?”

Suikyou spoke with a mocking, truly malicious smile.

“Shizuku, my command. Wake up and restrain these wretches.”

In the next instant, Shizuku-san snapped her eyes open and leaped up. Reacting instantly, Chris-san managed to pin her down.

There was no light in Shizuku-san’s eyes, nor any expression. Or rather, she looked slightly pained from being held down by Chris-san.

“Ho ho ho, good reaction. But now… Shizuku, my command. Throw off that woman’s restraint.”

The next moment, Chris-san’s body was blasted several meters into the air and tumbled across the ground.

“”Eh?””

And Shizuku-san was unable to stand.

Looking closely, her arm was bent in a place where arms should not bend.

And her back…

“No way…”

“Ho ho ho, it seems she has been broken.”

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I see. She was forced to execute the command, and in doing so, her body exceeded its limits.

“How… could you…”

I glared at Suikyou, but she continued to laugh as if nothing had happened.

It was as if she delighted in seeing us suffer.

“Well, she is but a sacrifice after all. It matters not if her arm is broken or her spine is snapped. For that matter, it wouldn’t even matter if she were dead. Ho ho ho ho.”

While enduring Suikyou’s grating laughter, I suppressed my rage and thought of a way to turn the situation around.

“Ho ho ho, yes, I wonder what will happen if I give a command in this state? Where will she break next? Perhaps she’ll drop dead while walking? Ho ho ho ho ho ho.”

Command?

That’s right. Every time Suikyou ordered Shizuku-san to do something, she said, “Command.”

Command? I’m sure, somewhere…

Suddenly, I caught sight of Lu-chan out of the corner of my eye.

“This is a command. Follow me silently.”

“…Yes, Master.”

The memory of that dark basement in Illumi City flooded back.

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“Lu-chan, please pull back Shizuku-san’s clothes and expose her stomach!”

“Eh? Ah, yes!”

Lu-chan hurriedly pulled open the front of Shizuku-san’s clothes, revealing that hideous Curse Mark engraved there.

I rushed over, placed my hand on the mark, and shouted:

“Dispel Curse!”

A faint light enveloped Shizuku-san’s body.

“Ah… ah…”

Shizuku-san’s expression flickered with slight pain, then gradually softened. The Enslavement Curse Mark that had bound her vanished completely.

Following that, I cast Healing Magic to treat her broken spine and arm, the likely torn muscles, and the wounds all over her body.

The injuries were healed, but the ears and tail did not disappear.

“Onee-sama!”

Lu-chan clung to me.

“Fiene-sama, as expected of you.”

Chris-san offered her praise while positioning herself to shield me from Suikyou.

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“I-Impossible!? You dispelled the Enslavement Curse Mark? Could it be that you possess power on the same level as that detestable Great Saint!? Are you… the reincarnation of that woman!?”

The composure vanished from Suikyou’s face; she was so shaken that even her manner of speaking had changed.

“I am not the Great Saint-sama. I am a completely different person. Oh, and as for being a Saint, I’m just a ‘fake’ Saint who ended up in this role by chance.”

“What? You little brat!”

“Oh? You’ve lost even the composure to keep up that way of speaking? Am I really that scary?”

I taunted Suikyou, treating it as a bit of payback for earlier. Suikyou glared at me with an intense gaze, and then her expression went completely blank.

“Ho, very well. If you think you can defeat me simply by stopping my doll, you are gravely mistaken.”

As she spoke, a black aura enveloped her body. Then, Suikyou’s form began to gradually transform.

Her stature grew larger, and her entire body became covered in blue scales.

A scaled tail sprouted from her rear, and her face shifted into the shape of a snake—no, a dragon.

Her pupils became vertical slits, her ears turned into fin-like shapes, and a pair of horns grew from her head.

Yes, Suikyou had transformed into a Dragonkin.

“Now, Saint Fiene Argentata. I shall make you regret mocking me.”

Suikyou glared at me and declared her intent.