*CRA-CRACK!!* My ears were suddenly met with the sound of multiple barriers shattering.
The bold loires standing between us and the sphere broke down my barrier, and several of them quickly swarmed through the hole punctured in my defense.
[Lapris]: “Iris! Put ’em up already!!”
Lapris was shouting in my ear, but Litzreich waved away her worries.
[Litzreich]: “They won’t reach you anyway.”
Litzreich rushed towards the swarming knight statues who were standing in the way of her and the sphere.
The nearest statue wildly swung its sword down to greet her, and Litzreich met the greeting head on with her fist.
The sound of shattering metal caused my eardrums to shake, and I had to stop myself from throwing my hands over my ears. It wasn’t the bold loire’s sword that had broken. It was its sword and both of its arms. Litzreich’s punch had caused the bold loire’s arms to shatter followed by the rest of its body a second later.
Litzreich didn’t lose any of her momentum, continuing to rush forward while crushing every enemy that came within an arm’s reach of her. A trail of rubble was being left in her wake.
Crushing her tenth statue after she leapt into its chest, Litzreich had opened a massive hole into the enemy lines and had finally made her way to the sphere once again.
However at the same time, the sphere had regained, (would you say consciousness? ), consciousness and once again began floating up into the air.
*GAGONG!! Litzreich slammed her fist into the sphere forcing it back into the ground once again. This time however, her fist did not crack.
[Litzreich]: “Did you think you could embarrass me in front of Iris……and get away with it?”
At the point where the light met the darkness, Litzreich’s fist looked like it was shining like a clear blue sky. No wait, it really is glowing. With a clear, sapphire light hanging over her like a veil, Litzreich wore a ferocious smile I had never seen from her.
[Litzreich]: “Here’s my remuneration, now take it!!”
Firmly stomping her foot on the ground, Litzreich put her entire body into the swing as she once again slammed her fist into the top of the sphere.
[Iris]: “………”
I didn’t have the time or words to accurately describe what came after Litzreich’s full power hit, so I stood there stunned and simply watched.
[Lapris]: “It’s like…….a starry sky”
The always noisy Lapris had the same look on her face I did, but she was actually able to find something to say, and I blankly nodded my head in agreement.
The moment Litzreich’s shining fist clashed with the sphere’s shell, a bright blue light had spilled out. There was an overwhelming brilliance to it, and inside were a number of white lights scattered throughout. So while Lapris’s ‘starry sky’ descriptor might not be entirely accurate, it was the most accurate comparison I could think of to describe the phenomenon unfolding in front of us.
[Litzreich]: “…….seriously? I didn’t think anything could be this hard.”
The sphere had cracked like an egg. There was a dent where Litzreich’s fist had bashed into it, and cracks spread out radially from that point all the way down its side.
However cracks had formed in Litzreich’s fist as well.
[Litzreich]: “Even though I gave it all I had……I’m losing confidence here.”
When Litzreich pulled away her fist, the sphere began kicking up a noise as it started to crumble.
As if on cue, the surrounding bold loires’ movements ceased.
[Lapris]: “Woah!? Those statues stopped moving!?”
[Ashel]: “So that sphere really was controlling all these bold loire remotely.”
Ashel was carefully examining our surroundings without dropping her guard. I would like to do the same, but right now I’m worried about Litzreich and that reticent sphere.
I asked Unicorn to re-establish our defensive barrier before rushing over to her.
Although it wasn’t her own fist that had broken, there was nothing I could do but worry when I saw the pained look on her face.
[Litzreich]: “Oh, Iris……. Sorry. I showed you something really uncool there.”
From what I could tell, it didn’t seem like that damage to her magic shell was super extensive. And yet, Litzreich kept morosely staring down at the sphere’s remains.
[Iris]: “Don’t be silly. That was amazingly cool. You saved us.”
Litzreich tore her gaze away from the sphere and looked towards me surprised.
[Litzreich]: “Y-You really think so?”
[Iris]: “Hm? Yeah. There’s no way I could’ve done something like that. And you looked beautiful doing it too.”
[Litzreich]: “…….Haha, beautiful? Is that so……. Mm, I see, I see.”
The corners of Litzreich’s mouth slowly yet steadily curved upwards as she kept murmuring something to herself.
[Litzreich]: “I guess it’s okay then!! It really was worth using up my spare. If my cool self is finally getting your heart racing, I will allow you to formally finalize our companionship with the intent of one day exchanging vows.”
[Iris]: “Eh, um……”
[Lapris]: “Nobody said anything about doing any of that. Have your delusions spread to the point you’re hearing things now?”
[Ashel]: “Rinrin-sama. I have confirmed that all bold loires have ceased functioning.”
[Litzreich]: “Hmm, great. I’d really like to take this thing back with us so I can study it, but for safety’s sake, we should destroy it completely here.”
The cracks in the sphere’s shell had become widespread at this point. If Litzreich were to hit it with the same force she had done earlier, it would almost certainly shatter.
Litzreich lifted her non-cracked arm into the air and got ready to deliver the final blow.
[Rose]: “Please wait!!”
[Litzreich]: “Hm?”
Litzreich was pulled to a stop by Rose-san’s voice. A second later, she appeared from within the forest of motionless knight statues with two gnomes tumbling after…….no, I suppose this was how they ran. It was the two gnome sisters.
(Thank goodness she’s okay.)
I released a heavy sigh of relief when I saw that the younger gnome sister was already on her feet. The two sister gnomes ran past us though, and when they were standing in front of the crumbling sphere, they raised their stone slabs into the air.
≪Help!≫
≪Please!≫
[Iris]: “Eh……help?”
[Litzreich]: “We’re already helping you. Isn’t that why beat this thing into the ground?”
≪(。>д<。)≫
≪(。>﹏<。)≫
[Carol]: “Rose found out a couple things talking to the older sister while she healed the younger one.”
Carol came up from behind Rose-san and pointed towards the cracked sphere.
[Carol]: “Their older sister is inside that thing.”