Side: Ryu Lion
Where had it all gone wrong?
We had wiped out the Rudra Familia that had been hiding in the Dungeon, leaving only their captain, Tamer Jura. Two or three members had been injured during the subjugation of the Rudra Familia, but they were wounds that would heal quickly with nothing more than low-grade potions. Or rather, they had been.
"D-Do you think I'm the only one going down?! That it'll be just us?! No, no! Every last one of you is going to die here, is what I'm saying!"
Perhaps it had been the Rudra Familia captain's final desperate struggle. Flame Rocks exploded from every direction, and the Dungeon floor collapsed in an attempt to bury us alive. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but those who had already been wounded seemed unable to cope with the sudden situation and landed badly, leaving them unable to walk properly. Of course, they were injuries that my magic and potions could heal quickly.
But not long afterward, we heard something... a scream beyond description.
A scream and the stirring of labor echoed out, as though the world—no, the Dungeon itself—were giving birth.
And then... the nightmare began. That thing was born from the Dungeon wall and burst forth, scattering crimson gazes in every direction. It was a gigantic lizard-like monster that seemed to be made entirely of bone, standing three meters tall with a tail that looked at least four meters long.
We had only a moment to be wary of the unfamiliar monster before it suddenly vanished... and a rupturing sound followed by a shriek that seemed to tear our ears apart came from behind us.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Help me, don't eat m—!"
Crunch! Crack!
The members resting in the rear due to their injuries died in an instant.
Mayu, Iska, Noing... Noing died so quickly that she did not even get to scream. Everyone was shocked, but there was no time to grieve. We hastily formed a defensive formation once more.
"Jeanne, Asta! Take the vanguard!"
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
"Assume the enemy is at least Floor Boss-class and engage accordingly! Put everything into retreating!"
Jeanne d'Arc—usually called Jeanne—who had recently converted to our Familia, and Asta, the dwarf tank who had fought alongside us all this time, took the front.
"Jeanne, give us a shield!"
"Yes! [My God Is Here—Luminus Eternelle]!"
A faint golden glow settled over us, and a thin barrier formed.
"Lanya, Celty! Prepare bombardment from the rear! Gather as much Mind as you can and end this in one blow!"
"Right!"
"Leave it to me!"
That enormous bone lizard was doing nothing for now, but judging by the speed at which it had slaughtered the members in the rear... it was at least as fast as a flash from the lower floors...!
"Kaguya, Ryu, Neze, Laila—you're with me. That thing's mobility surpasses any monster we've faced before, so stay as close as possible and don't give it room to move!"
Nod. ×4
"Here we go!"
What followed... was an overwhelming slaughter.
It began with Neze. As though it had been waiting for us to charge, the bone lizard moved the instant we rushed in. It raised one arm and struck Neze at a speed none of us could react to. Jeanne's barrier rippled over Neze's barely raised arm, blocking the attack once before disappearing, but the impact did not vanish with it. Neze was sent flying by the unexpectedly powerful blow, and before we could even pursue her, the bone lizard had moved to where she was flying and brought its claws down again before she reached the ground. Just like that, Neze was split into three pieces above the waist by those sharp claws, dying without even leaving a final word.
"Come on, try dodging this too!"
Next was Asta... Kaguya tried to strike the creature's backward-bending joint with her prized blade to reduce its mobility, but failed, only managing to cut off a small part of its tail. With support from Laila's small bombs, Asta tried to withdraw.
Just as she attempted to take the attack aimed at us in her place, the monster struck Jeanne's barrier with its tail and cut Asta apart with both hands. The shield she had always proudly carried, saying she had saved every valis she could to buy it, could not protect her. It fell apart into fragments, and so did she, from below her chest.
"....!!!!!!"
Crunch!
Before she could even scream in pain, it had already bitten off her head...
Next... next... next...
One by one, they began to die.
Taking advantage of the opening Asta had created with her life, we managed to destroy one of its claws. But that was all.
I charged through the spray of blood erupting from her corpse and, coordinating with the captain, struck the base of its claw with all our strength.
Crack!
With the sound of bone breaking, the claw fell away from the root and immediately crumbled into dust. But there was no time to care about that.
Since we were pressed against the side of one of its arms, it apparently found it inconvenient to swing the claw on the other side. Its tail swept toward us from behind in an instant! Jeanne's barrier had been exhausted blocking the attack while we destroyed its claw. We desperately raised our weapons to block it, but the tail struck us directly, sending the captain and me flying backward even faster than we had charged in.
"Ghk!"
"Aah!"
Cracks spread across the captain's armor in an instant, armor that had remained unharmed even through Evilus's fierce assaults. And I, without even such armor, could not deflect the impact at all and was simply hurled away.
Lanya and Celty took the opportunity when its claw broke and its tail swung to fire a magical barrage, but... the instant a strange purple light flashed, the magic was reflected back at them. Screaming, they were engulfed in the very magic they had fired. And Laila, who stood in the path along which the magic returned... had it grazed her? Her eyes...!?
"Laila!"
"Gaaaaaah?!"
"Get a hold of yourself, Laila!"
"Don't... worry about me... fight, idiot...!"
"Damn it!"
"[My... God is... here...—Luminus Eternelle...!]"
Perhaps because the fierce battle kept going, Jeanne was gradually running low on Mind. The strength was beginning to drain from her voice as she chanted... At this rate...!
Unable to contain my rage over the members who had died so far, I fixed my eyes on the monster and leaped at it with all my strength.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
I charged at it again to cut it down, but... it vanished?!
"Look up, you idiot!"
"What?!"
When I looked up, it was clinging upside down to the ceiling, dozens of meters above us. And the moment our eyes met, it leaped down behind me with a series of jumps propelled by the terrible mobility of its backward-bending joints, then swung its tail and claws.
With my back exposed, I desperately twisted my body away from the killing blow rushing toward me. Its claws would shatter any armor, no matter what it was made of.
Then I would take the claws with Jeanne's barrier, block the tail, and use the impact to create distance...!
But perhaps it had learned. At that moment, it changed the timing of its tail and claws, making the tail hit first before bringing the claws down again...!
Having anticipated taking the attack and retreating from the start, she had no more room to withdraw.
"—What an idiot."
The one who saved her at that desperate moment was Kaguya, the vice-captain who was always bickering and fighting with her.
But the price was her left arm. It was fortunate, if it could be called that, that her right arm had not been severed—but for a swordswoman, losing one arm was a devastating handicap.
"Kaguya...!"
"You're hurting my ears, so shut up. Honestly, to think this idiot is my rival."
Cold sweat streaming from the pain, Kaguya hoisted her onto her back and retreated before the creature could charge again. But the bone lizard came at them once more. Just as even their barely preserved lives were about to be taken again, Laila—who had lost both eyes—charged at it.
"Laila!"
"...You have to survive."
KABOOOM!!!
Her hands had been the most dexterous among us. When it swung at her with the side that had lost its claw, she detonated a custom bomb she had been holding behind her back, completely destroying one of its arms.
[■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]
A monstrous roar, clearly carrying a trace of [pain] unlike anything before, burst from its mouth. While it was incapacitated by the pain, we retreated to where Jeanne and Captain Elise were holding out.
"Haaaaah... [My God Is Here—Luminus Eternelle!]"
Unlike before, Jeanne poured every ounce of strength into her magic. Rather than each of us receiving a barrier, a huge golden dome formed around all of us.
"Hah... hah... Are... we the only ones left...?"
"..."
"Hah... hah..."
"What... do we do now...?"
It was overwhelming. We were a first-class adventurer party that had even gone on expeditions to the deep floors, but before that thing... we were nothing. We were merely toyed with like mice before a cat. All of us were simply being slaughtered, utterly helplessly.
Of our twelve members, eight had died. One had fought desperately after losing an arm, but all we had to show for it was one of the creature's arms. And it still seemed to have strength to spare, continuing to race around and pound against the barrier with its remaining arm and tail.
"...Everyone."
Jeanne spoke. This barrier was a magic deployed with her spear as its foundation. And... if it kept attacking like this, her barrier would not last thirty minutes. Her spear would exhaust its durability and the barrier would collapse.
At her words, shadows fell deeply across the faces of the other three. Could we... truly survive here?
Just as I was beginning to succumb to that thought, Elise and Jeanne spoke at the same time.
"Girls..."
"Every..."
Their words overlapped and interrupted each other, but neither seemed displeased. Rather... they exchanged looks of understanding? What did that mean?
"I will say it, Captain."
"...You're going to use that after all?"
"We have no choice."
They continued speaking as they faced each other. After finishing the bleeding control on Kaguya's left arm, I looked at them.
"...I have never told any of you this, but I possess one more magic besides my barrier magic. No matter what kind of defense that thing has, it can kill it without fail..."
"What...?!"
Despite the pain lingering throughout my body, I rose and grabbed Jeanne by the collar.
"What? What the hell?! If you had something like that, why have you been doing nothing this whole time?! Lanya, Noing, Neze, Asta, Celty, Iska, Mayu, Laila—they were all dying, and Kaguya's left arm was cut off! What the hell were you doing while all that was happening?!"
"...I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I could not make up my mind to use this magic sooner..."
"Y-You...!"
I clenched Jeanne's collar and raised my other hand to strike her, but the captain, who had approached without my noticing, caught my arm and stopped me.
"...Why!"
"Think carefully, Ryu. How long do you think it took for that thing to attack us and bring us to this state?"
"That's...?!"
"At most three minutes. Even if we stretch it, about five. Do you think that, during that time, while fighting intensely, constantly putting barriers on us, and standing in the vanguard to deflect its attacks with that spear, she had time to chant a spell capable of killing it?"
"And if it's such an incredible magic, then the price must be equally great..."
"..."
Why was the captain looking at her with such apologetic eyes? At her, who had not used the magic that could save everyone until now!
"Jeanne, I'm sorry. Don't forgive us for having no choice but to place this burden on you.... I'm sorry..."
"[Glory to the Lord of Heaven. The great heavens proclaim the King's works.]"
Without answering, she suddenly drew a sword she had never used before. Holding it upside down by the blade in a middle guard stance, she began chanting words we had never heard before.
Kaguya and I did not know what they were talking about and could only stare in shock, but when we saw the captain—who had never shed tears even once—crying without end, we realized something was wrong.
Leaving our confusion behind, she walked toward the outside.
"[Day speaks forth words, and night reveals knowledge.]"
Sparks gradually began to scatter around her as she walked slowly, perhaps due to the magic's effect. The captain only cried, while Kaguya tried to seize her with her remaining arm. Yet Jeanne walked out beyond the barrier with steps that seemed utterly unhindered, as though some tremendous strength carried her forward.
Why... were they trying so hard to stop her? Why was the captain crying? Was this not the woman who had not used that supposedly incredible magic, even as our comrades died? Why?
"[Though there is no speech nor explanation, and no voice is heard,]"
"[Warm light spreads across all the earth, reaching endlessly beyond.]"
"[It rises from the farthest end of heaven and reaches the farthest end of heaven.]"
"Why aren't you stopping her, you idiot?! What else could she possibly use in this situation!"
"What...?"
"What else could it be but taking the enemy down with her?!"
...?! No... no?! It couldn't be! No, we can't lose anyone else... What... what did I say?!
"[My heart burns within me; the more I remember, the more it blazes.]"
"[My end is here. My fate is here. Here lies the transience of my life.]"
"No, why? Why?!"
Jeanne stopped at the edge of the barrier and continued her chant. By now, I knew that pulling her back into the center of the barrier or stopping her chant would be meaningless once she had begun it, but Kaguya and I could only keep crying as we tried to pull her back. Now I understood what the sparks swirling around her were. They were part of the flames burning with her life as kindling.
"Please, please. I was wrong, Jeanne. If anyone lives, we should all live, and if someone has to die, it should be me for saying such cruel things to you. Please... stop... please... ngh..."
"Jeanne, Jeanne... Even if you don't make that choice, there has to be a way for us all to live! Please, stop! Jeanne!"
"[My life is as nothing, and I wander like a shadow.]"
"[My bow cannot reach, and not even my sword can save me.]"
"[As the one thing that remains, watch over where they go.]"
"Aah... noooooo!"
"[Lord, I entrust this body to You──]"
[------La Pucelle------]
"Wh... why..."
"Because someone... in the end, had to sacrifice themselves so the others could survive. Kaguya, you understand that, don't you? Here, I will fulfill my justice: saving all of you through my sacrifice."
"..."
Flames now rippled over her entire body. She gave us a smile so pure, so brilliantly bright, and spoke those words.
"You know, I was truly happy here. After losing all my comrades in [Death's Seven Days], I was merely waiting to rot away and die. But Captain Elise brought me into this Familia, and I was able to enjoy a different kind of happiness from before."
With a serene, lofty smile, she spoke to us.
"The time I spent protecting my [justice] alongside all of you and driving away the darkness of Orario was undoubtedly the second golden age of my life."
Ah... no... don't say any more than that...!
"And... now it is time to part. Come to think of it, I have never told anyone about my justice, have I?"
"My justice is... to raise my spear for those who believe in me, for those who come to rely on me."
"Now, it is time for me to go. Farewell, everyone. And Goddess... I am sorry that I could not keep my promise..."
With that, she stepped outside the barrier, scattering radiant flames.
"Isn't it time for those who must go to cross over, Mr. Lizard?"
"■■■■■■■■■■!"
Astonishingly, the bone lizard let out a fearful roar, as though its previous ferocity had been a lie, and began to retreat. But she had no intention of letting it escape. Where had so many flames been hidden within her body? A massive flower bloomed around her, a flower made of fire.
It was a gigantic flower that not only encompassed the monster, but reached beyond the barrier and all the way to us. But none of that mattered. I only cried and cried again. She was dying because of me...
"{By the way, Ryu? Please don't blame yourself for my using this magic. I am using it to protect the tomorrow where all of you live smiling, so if you truly feel sorry, then live lives so happy and full of laughter that those of us who went ahead become envious. Promise me, all right?}"
Suddenly, amid the scattering flames, I felt as though I heard her voice.
"Y-Yes... I promise. I swear upon the World Tree that, no matter what happens, I will live such a happy life that all of you will be so jealous you will come running back down to the surface...!"
"{Yes... that is... enough...}"
And by the time the immense petals of flame settled, her barrier had vanished as well... and all that remained there was her headgear, giving off a brilliant light despite being covered in black soot.
"A-Aaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaah!"
And so, those of us who survived... remained there for a long while... doing nothing but crying... and crying again...