Campione 09

by Return of the Goddess

  Guinevere smiled.

  The child-like beautiful face was infused with the Witch Queen's solemn aloofness.

  "As befits one who serves a god-slayer. Far surpassing normal humans. If that is the case, Guinevere will use the final move. Sir Knight, come heed Guinevere's summons!"

  The shouts of the lovely voice reached high into the sky.

  Immediately, the sunny sky turned black with clouds and lightning descended.

  Or rather, a man and horse descended from the sky, clad in lightning. A white divine horse together with a knight in white armor. This was not a divine beast but a [Heretic God]!

  The white rider and horse descended next to Guinevere, hovering calmly in midair.

  "Guinevere needs to take care of these people, Sir Knight. May I ask that you go forth to Athena and Kusanagi-sama's side?"

  "Hmm. It will be tough to handle."

  From the white knight's helmet came a very manly and beautiful voice. Even though his actual face could not be seen, one inevitably felt that he must be either a cool or an awe-inspiring man.

  "Most unfortunate. Hence, Sir Knight, please take this."

  A short pewter staff suddenly appeared in Guinevere's hand.

  Its tip was done in silverwork to resemble a twin-headed snake. The white knight casually received the snake staff without paying particular attention.

  "Hmm. All shall be done in accordance to your will."

  "May victory smile upon you, Lancelot du Lac!"

  Nodding at the farewell, the white god was enveloped in lightning.

  He flew straight in that manner, towards the beach where Athena and Godou were located.

  Ena was unable to take a single step, but even in peak condition she would not have been able to intercept him.

  True lightning flying across the sky was most likely impossible for Ena's arrows to strike down.

  "Knight of the Lake, Sir Lancelot... There have been rumors that he secretly protects Guinevere-sama, but clearly it is no longer anything secret..."

  On the other hand, Erica stood in surprise beside Ena.

  Thus, Guinevere turned around and smiled with child-like innocence towards the ground.

  "Hoho. You seem to be on amicable terms with Princess Alice. Yes, in order not to repeat the same mistake as when I lost to His Highness the Black Prince, I now made Sir Knight manifest as a heretic god."

  For the Witch Queen to be able to recruit a war god of steel, even Ena the optimist was extremely shocked.

  "I could have asked Sir Knight to eliminate you all in an instant, but making such a rude request to the unparalleled war god is not permitted. So let Guinevere personally send you to your graves!"

  As Guinevere yelled out, her body released intense magical power.

  'Divine essence of the water. I beseech you to hurry forth to Guinevere and once again respond to the prayers of the Witch Queen, reveal your sacred form!"

  Divine essence once again surged, causing the sea to rise. But this time it was not the Kraken.

  Appearing forth was a white-colored water dragon.

  A ferocious head like a carnivorous dinosaur and a long slender body like a gigantic serpent. From its back grew bat-like wings. Its two front legs resembled a lizard's. A strange looking chimera —

  Raising its head and torso up from the sea, the sea dragon roared.

  Oooooooooooooooooooooh!! The roaring sound created wind.

  Violent gusts of wind blew across the surrounding sea and the surface of the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway. It was so strong that Erica and Ena felt like they were about to be blown away.

  "Come! Attack together with Guinevere and devour these children with your jaws!"

  The Witch Queen disappeared, her slender body absorbed into the water dragon's chest. Divine Ancestor Guinevere was assimilated into the several-dozen-meter-long white dragon.

  "Could it be possible, she released the seal of the dragons and snakes!?"

  "Don't think so... That's still a divine beast!"

  As the female knight wondered with a paled expression, Ena replied softly.

  Erica proceeded to gaze sharply at the water dragon's massive body, and murmured to herself:

  "Really... In that case, perhaps this could finally be used."

  Erica's words. As expected. Ena nodded at her correct suspicions.

  Back when Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was rampaging out of control at Chidorigafuchi, and also in the battle against the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Erica had received Verethragna's protection, allowing her to face off against Ena and the Great Sage.

  But now she no longer had that protection. She must fight her way out of this situation with her own power.

  "—Finally be used is not good enough. The crisis must be overcome no matter what, Erica."

  A sudden voice called out.

  It was a voice not heard for a day, that of the awe-inspiring female knight. Ena immediately glanced in its direction.

  She must have entered from the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway, near the Kisarazu junction entrance. They had finally arrived.

  "In order to obtain that mystical ritual, you took that lazy break that the school acquiesced to. If you do not show the results properly, all your unruliness would become meaningless!"

  "Well said, Lily."

  Erica chuckled at Liliana Kranjcar's statement.

  The petrified female knight most likely revived slightly more than ten minutes earlier, asked about the situation and rushed here immediately. She must have deemed it more urgent to support Ena first instead of her lord.

  "Hoping to be entrusted with the duty of aiding Godou, Lily was smiling so happily back then. In any case, you must have been fulfilling your desires while I was away."

  "Ugh, stop talking nonsense!"

  Wearing her blue and black cape, Liliana objected with a shout as her face began to twitch.

  Having summoned the magic sword Il Maestro in its naginata-like form, she was clearly entering this battle with caution.

  "Actually I originally planned to go along and read that book. But then I was thinking I could not take time off to leave Kusanagi Godou's side, it could not be helped...!"

  "Ena-san! Did you overuse divine possession!? Y-You need immediate treatment...!"

  Ignoring the knight's anxiety, another member of the reinforcements had spoken.

  It was Mariya Yuri dressed in her miko outfit. Due to the divine beast's rampage, the road was full of debris, and Yuri slowly and painfully made her way near.

  Kneeling down and gently caressing Ena's back, she nodded to Erica.

  "It is fine, Erica-san. Your new power — as long as it can be controlled well, it should be a trump card that stands on equal ground with divine possession."

  "Thank you, Yuri. Your encouragement is truly inspiring."

  Erica displayed a glamorous smile towards the Hime-Miko who most likely received an oracle through spirit vision.

  "Well, the most important issue is 'control' as mentioned, but there is no choice but to proceed onwards at this juncture. Everyone, let the sight of Erica Blandelli's mighty style be branded upon your eyes! I shall defeat Divine Ancestor Guinevere here and now!"

  Sonorously delivering her declaration, the red knight approached the deadly and ferocious water dragon.

  Part 6

  Erica and Lily had learned the spell words of David from the grimoire, "Book in Praise of David's Great Works."

  However, that was not all they had learned.

  The spell words of smiting. Ultimate battle magic crowned with David's great name, and said to bestow the user with the [Sacred Privilege of Extermination] on the level of divine beasts and spirits —

  Back when they sneaked a peek at the original edition grimoire guarded by Saint Raffaello, Salvatore Doni's master, Erica and Liliana had tried as much as they could to memorize this portion of the mystic arts. However, the descriptions were extremely voluminous. Despite their great intellect, the two girls' memories were limited.
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  Erica had tried her best to memorize the portion of [Jericho's Extermination] while Liliana had committed [Midian's Extermination] to memory. Other than that, there was still all sorts of other knowledge.

  —Conversely, for the two girls to be able to identify all the magical key points in such short time, was testament to their genius intellect and disposition to magic...

  In any case, by their good fortune, two mystical techniques had been acquired.

  Erica studied them whenever she had a chance. Same for Liliana.

  Several years later, the two had mastered the spell words of David. Secret techniques that could even cause damage to gods. However, actual combat experience later taught them it was virtually impossible to defeat a god with these techniques without substantially miraculous circumstances.

  Furthermore, Erica and Liliana were still unable to use the spell words of smiting.

  Learning this secret rite required paladino-level mastery of martial arts and magic.

  The only known users were Saint Raffaello, Erica's uncle Paolo Blandelli, and Black Prince Alec's trusted subordinate Sir Iceman. Knights who were equivalent to living legends.

  Even though Erica and Liliana were prodigies, these were not techniques that could be easily used by knights in training.

  However, in the battle against the Great Sage Equaling Heaven —

  Bestowed with Verethragna's protection, the two girls had successfully used incomplete spell words of smiting.

  Precisely because of that, they reached a revelation. This spell was still inadequate for taking on gods head on. On the other hand, it was an effective counter to their servants, the divine beasts.

  Kusanagi Godou's battles in the future will only get even more harsh and intense.

  In order to be able to assist meaningfully, they needed to master the spell words of smiting as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the two knights would be left in the dust by their rivals if they did not do so.

  "Even though it's a slightly unpleasant topic, let's exchange opinions without reservation."

  Three weeks ago, Erica had proposed to Liliana.

  Inviting her childhood friend and rival to a cafe on Hongou street, Erica chatted with Liliana over coffee.

  "Even though we've trained as much as Ena-san, her theophany is far too extraordinary. In the context of Europe, using that technique would put her amongst the ranks of the paladino... Unique existences like Esteemed Uncle and Saint Raffaello."

  "Yes. I have no wish to admit it, but that is indeed the truth."

  Liliana was nodding with a frown.

  In European magic, divine possession was classed as theophany. However, no known user had been born in the past three hundred years. That was the kind of outstanding and rare talent shown by Ena's complete mastery of this mystic technique.

  Neither the red nor the blue knights wanted to admit defeat.

  But they were not the foolish type that disparaged others for such reasons.

  "It's not too conspicuous, but Mariya Yuri's potential is also quite amazing."

  "Yes. That child possesses spirit powers of the same nature as Princess Alice."

  This was confirmed during the time when she received Verethragna's protection.

  At the time, Yuri was in command of spirit vision and psychic sensing powers that even surpassed the White Miko-Hime.

  "I don't think she can reach the Princess' level in the future, but it is truly remarkable how Yuri resembled the legendary peerless miko. By the way, the young master of Hong Kong's Lu family also seems to be hanging around Godou recently."

  Erica recalled the eccentric but promising young star.

  Although he could be considered the same generation, Lu Yinghua still resembled a child who had not grown up. But sooner or later, he would become a young man powerful enough to surpass Erica and Liliana.

  Most probably, his god-slayer master will also teach him many secret techniques.

  Purely in terms of martial arts, it was highly likely that his progress will leave them in the dust.

  "I sought you, Lily, to discuss our common understanding of the increase in troublesome rivals. Don't you think it's about time we get promoted to the rank of paladino?"

  The red and blue knights both secretly harbored this common goal.

  The two had contacted friends in Europe to aid in collecting intelligence.

  Four years ago, Salvatore Doni was apparently entrusted with keeping the "Book in Praise of David's Great Works." After tracking it down, they deduced that the current curator was Andrea Rivera. After investigating the scheduled movements of Doni and his attendant, they discussed how to come up with a plausible excuse to read the book —

  It stood to reason that the two of them would go read the grimoire together.

  However, they believed Kusanagi Godou needed supervision. Were they to avert their gaze for a moment, he could very likely get into another fight with a god, or get intimate with a new girl.

  Hence they concluded they had to avoid situations where Godou was neither supervised nor guarded.

  In the end, they decided Erica would go to Italy while Liliana stayed behind.

  The two made a promise to bring back a copy of the grimoire's essential passages. Of course, this was a promise that one could easily go back on.

  Nevertheless, Liliana still let Erica go instead of her —

  As much as the silver-haired long time friend did not wish to admit, the two of them had developed a trusting relationship over the decade-plus they had known each other. No matter what, the two were childhood friends bound by ill fate.

  Permission to read was obtained from Salvatore one week ago.

  After copying the grimoire, Erica returned to her family home in Milan to receive instruction from her uncle, a current user of the spell words of smiting.

  She studied intensely as she received guidance from the great predecessor.

  Special training that only lasted a week. But this was no crash course. In the past four years, Erica had continually trained in the mystic ritual secretly. Now that she had a chance to study the grimoire in detail, combined with the guidance of an excellent teacher, Erica's mastery was instantly bolstered. That said, this was a mystic ritual of the highest difficulty.

  Erica's spell words of smiting were still incomplete when she received news that Athena had returned.

  This prompted her to find a way to persuade her uncle who had forbidden her to leave without mastering the technique. This was the extent of Erica's recent exploits in Japan and Italy.

  "What a guy who loves making trouble for others —!

  Erica complained as a smile surfaced on her face.

  This time the enemy was Athena. And a Divine Ancestor as well.

  But were things any different, he would not be the youth that Erica Blandelli loved. Because he was the born warrior, always accompanied by strife at all times.

  Erica ran alone as quickly as the wind across the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway.

  Her intent was to draw the enemy away from Ena who was exhausted, Yuri who could not fight, as well as Liliana.

  The water dragon, which had assimilated Guinevere, flew after Erica.

  Low altitude flying. It was at the height and distance such that a swipe from its front claws could tear Erica apart. However, the dragon did not make its first attack in that manner.

  The white water dragon opened its gaping jaws and exhaled. This was no ordinary breath.

  Freezing wind carrying innumerable shards of ice. Any creature devoured by this wind would be cruelly sliced apart and instantly frozen into ice.

  Deadly magical wind indeed. The breath of a terrifying dragon.

  A direct hit would be critical. Erica stopped running and began to chant spell words.

  This was no ordinary magic but the spell words of smiting, of course.

  "And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the
armed men went before them!"[36]

  Erica's body shone with sacred red light.

  This light protected Erica, blocking the breath of ice. However, it still felt exceptionally cold. Even though it managed to defend against the shards of ice, the icy cold air still penetrated and invaded the sacred light.

  Erica's body was about to be frozen.

  The chilly air not only made the bones tremble, it was cold enough to freeze the bones. In spite of that, Erica gritted her teeth and continued to chant.

  "They compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city —"[37]

  Moreover, the water dragon's front limb was descending.

  Four claws were on the paw, each as long and sharp as a sword.

  Erica took Cuore di Leone which had been restored to its broad-bladed form together with her shield and blocked the sharp claws. Her breathing quickened as her concentration was almost disrupted.

  Performing close quarter combat at the same time as using the spell words of smiting proved to be extremely difficult after all.

  "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."[38]

  But Erica did not stop chanting.

  Had there not been any disturbance, she would be able to use the spell words of smiting all at once—

  But if it was a spell that could not be completed without exposing herself defenseless, then it would be worthless in actual combat. Hence, Erica brandished her sword and shield desperately.

  "Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."[39]

  The spell words obtained from the book of David —

  Erica's chant was complete.

  Erica defended against the water dragon's breath and claws, the occasional swipes from the long tail, the jaws densely lined with sharp teeth, and charging impacts.

  Then there was magical power. In order to unleash smiting, all of Erica's magical power had to be put forth.