CHAPTER 314: CONCERNING DRAGONS 5

 

～Drake’s Perspective～

「……Heeh? Okay, that’s kinda fire.」

Livia touched a finger to her own lips like a little devil who had just thought up a prank.

Then the water’s surface trembled faintly.

This time, I could sense it.

The flow of power. The flow of magic.

「Shinku-neesan!」

「Yes, I know.」

We spoke at the same time.

That alone was enough to communicate what we meant.

—She’s coming.

By the time that thought crossed my mind, the water’s surface had warped greatly, and Livia’s figure had vanished like mist.

She’s fast! What the hell is with that magic construction speed…?!

But this time, my eyes caught it.

In that single instant when the water rippled, Livia had activated at least two spells at the same time.

One was the creation of an elaborate clone through water magic. It was somewhat similar to Nelfie-neesan’s clones, but that was not all.

The other spell… could be called invisibility. She blended her own body into the scenery behind her and the surface of the water, making it look as though Livia had moved at super speed.

The reason it had felt as if she had suddenly appeared opposite the direction her voice came from was probably because she was creating and erasing clones at extreme speed, deceiving us as to where she had appeared. On top of that, she used her words to rub our emotions the wrong way and narrow our field of vision, hiding even the position of her real body. That was likely the trick behind her sudden attack from behind.

I sensed it faintly—a tiny, almost imperceptible discrepancy.

I matched my body to it.

「Aha.」

A presence behind me.

It was a clone, but if I did not dodge the attack itself, I would suffer a fatal wound.

I twisted my body as I was, and a blade of water grazed shallowly across my cheek.

「Ooh? You’re starting to get pretty good. But you still can’t keep up at all.」

From the side.

Faster than a blink, Livia appeared in my blind spot as if she had teleported.

「I can see you this time!」

I reflexively swung the Red Ogre’s Iron Club, but along with the sensation of my strike slipping through empty air, Livia’s figure turned into water.

「Too baaad. Wrong one.」

She took advantage of the opening at the end of my swing, and the real attack came flying in.

It was a killing blow delivered at a timing where I could neither defend nor dodge. If it hit, it would be fatal.

—It’s fine.

「That, too, was exactly as expected.」

Shinku-neesan slid in between us and knocked the attack upward with Dorenkoi in its great-shield form. Immediately afterward, she transformed it into a massive axe in an instant and swung it through.

「You’re not bad at all.」

Even that huge opening had been dodged.

But just now, she had not ‘let it flow past’ her.

She had ‘dodged’ it.

That difference was enormous.

She had likely been unable to deal with it at leisure, leaving evasion as her only option.

「Drake, there is no need to rush. The fight begins here.」

「Got it.」

I steadied my breathing and watched the flow.

It was different from the beginning.

I would not force an attack. I would wait.

If I could match myself to my opponent’s movements, a path would definitely open.

「……Ugh, gross. Why are you suddenly so calm?」

Livia grimaced.

「I’ll take that as a compliment.」

「Huh? It wasn’t one. ……Tch. Are you looking down on me?」

Her eyes narrowed along with a click of her tongue.

The next moment, the air changed.

「……Well, then.」

The water’s surface surged violently.

「Guess I’ll show you just a tiny bit of my real power.」

In the next instant, everything in my field of vision blurred, and the entire space began to sway in a distorted way.

Where was the ground, and where was the ceiling…?

It was an abnormal perception where I could no longer even tell up from down.

「Kyaha! Have lots of fun, okay! —【Azure Sea: Playtime】」

「 Ah!?」

An enormous amount of Livia’s magic swelled explosively.

I had finally thought I could sense the flow of magic, but Livia had immediately devised a countermeasure.

It was an incredibly crude tactic.

However, against us as we were now, it was also the most effective one.

To compare it to something, it was like focusing all your attention on a voice that was only faintly audible, only for someone to suddenly blast a deafening noise right beside your ear.

Because of that, the grasp of the situation I had only just begun to achieve was wiped clean again.

「Come on, come on. You’re too slow to decide.」

From directly above.

No, from directly below?

I could not tell.

I tensed my entire body and braced for the impact, but my body was sent flying like a ball.

「Guh…!」

「Drake!」

Shinku-neesan’s voice came from far away.

But even her position was vague.

「Come on, come on. What’s wrong?」

Her provocative voice echoed from all over.

「I thought you could ‘see’ me?」

An obvious taunt.

But—

Calm down, me!

This was probably a technique that controlled space.

Right now, I could not trust my eyes or ears.

I had to sense the flow of magic.

The most basic of basics, something I had repeated tens of thousands of times.

No matter what situation I was in, I must never allow the magic flowing inside me to fall into disorder, and I must sense the flow of the magic moving outside me.

—She’s coming.

Behind me…

No. That was a bluff.

From the ‘side’.

I matched the timing and shifted only half my body aside. With the sound of air being sliced, a blade of water passed a few millimeters from my ear.

「……Huh? You dodged that? Seriously?」

For the first time, Livia’s voice sounded blank with disbelief.

「Hey. Could you see that one too?」

「No, I couldn’t see it.」

As I answered, I slowly breathed out the breath I had unconsciously been holding.

「I just sensed it.」

「……Uwaaah, gross. You sound like the muscle-brained gorilla.」

Her words were as harsh as ever, but there was a slight change in her tone.

Just a tiny bit of interest had mixed into it.

「Well, whatever. I’ll kill you with the next one anyway.」

Contrasting with the little devilish smile that spread across her face, an intense bloodlust surged forth.

Our attacks had still not landed cleanly even once.

……And yet, a gut feeling welled up from inside my heart, telling me, If we’re going to attack, it has to be now.

「Shinku-neesan! I want you to match me with that!」

「Honestly, you leave me no choice. ……However, I had also been thinking it was about time we made her understand. So, just as Livia-san wishes—」

Shinku-neesan stabbed Dorenkoi in its massive-axe form into the ground, then released all the magic she had been hiding within her in a single explosive burst.

「Let us dote on her properly. —【Eight Trigrams Dusk】」