Blue Flame and Sanctuary

The current Evris was genuinely strong.

Even when I tried to throw him off with speed, he tracked my every move as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

I tested it several times, but flanking was useless against him.

In a head-on exchange of blows, the difference in reach, even more than the weapon difference, put me at a clear disadvantage.

The difference in our builds was frustrating.

I should have been far stronger than before after constantly fighting monsters, but that blue flame had boosted Evris beyond even that.

Still, his attacks were one-dimensional.

Every trace of the swordsmanship he should have learned as a knight was gone, as if he'd forgotten it entirely. He simply swung with brute force.

His blade moved fast enough that my eyes couldn't track the tip, so I read his preparatory movements to predict and evade, deflecting what I could.

A single mistake could be fatal.

The tension sharpened my focus even further.

But this stalemate would get me nowhere. Sooner or later, I'd slip up.

I drew on the Apostle's power. Ending this quickly would be difficult, so I kept the output restrained.

"Ngh! Rrrghhh!"

"Acting like that, are you even still human!?"

Evris staggered back a step from my strike.

The impact numbed my hands, but I gripped tighter and held on.

With the Apostle's power, I was the stronger one.

"Heh, heheh."

"What's so funny?"

I held my stance. Evris laughed.

It was a malicious grin. The same kind I'd seen when we first met.

"Hmmm. Behold!"

Evris seized his sword with his blue-flame-wreathed right hand.

The right arm, its surface already beginning to char from the sustained burning, regenerated the moment it gripped the blade.

But the skin was an unnatural white, so unlike Evris's that it was deeply unsettling.

"Haaah!"

Evris thrust his sword with a fierce cry.

But the distance was too great. The blade stabbed nothing but air.

In that instant, my right eye saw a blue flame launch from the sword.

My left eye saw nothing.

I dodged on instinct, and the tree behind me incinerated in a flash.

This was…

For a moment I stood dumbstruck, unable to process what had happened.

That lapse left me open, and I was a beat too slow to notice Evris firing again.

I couldn't dodge in time.

I tried to deflect it with my sword, but the blue flame passed right through.

The fire's going to hit me!?

In that moment, I braced for death.

But the Water Elemental materialized above my head and expelled a torrent of water, extinguishing the flame.

"Thank you!"

The Water Elemental trembled in response to my words.

Saved again.

I had to stop Evris here. Something in my gut told me so.

This blue flame did not belong in this world. I felt it in the core of my being.

"A spirit!? Why would one stand with an Apostle!?"

I released the Apostle's power further and charged.

Evris hurled flame after flame, but as long as I could see them, I could dodge.

What I couldn't dodge, the Water Elemental covered for me.

"Rrrrghhh! You, girl! Stay away from me!"

I poured magic into my sword.

I gripped with both hands and closed the gap.

The hollow stare that had been gazing at nothing now fixed squarely on me.

His eyes were stained with fear.

"Got you!"

I was within striking range.

My target: the right arm, same as before. Cut it off, and Evris would revert to normal.

And it would hurt him far more than just killing him.

The Sealed Sword Grungaus blazed with my magic.

I brought the sword down in a diagonal slash. Evris's sword couldn't intercept in time.

Experience told me this would connect. I was certain of it.

The blade met the right arm.

The sensation was like cutting into hard rubber.

My sword bit in slightly, and that was it.

As I thought, that was no human arm.

I unleashed the Sealed Sword Grungaus's power.

"Gyahh!?"

The Sealed Sword's ability converted my magic into a force that cut through anything.

It took most of my remaining magic to generate enough power.

Then, with a follow-up strike, the rubber-like right arm went spinning through the air.

"My god's right arm!"

Evris reflexively reached out with his left hand and caught the severed limb.

The blue flame scorched his left hand, but he paid it no mind and cradled the arm like a priceless treasure.

"My right arm, twice! What sacrilege, you wretched girl!"

"You started this. I still see the moment you tried to take Master's head in my dreams. I will never forgive you."

Strangely, the severed arm's cross-section wasn't bleeding.

The blue flame clung only to the detached arm. The stump had gone dark.

"Ngh, grr…"

The flame on the severed arm was fading too. Before long, it would go out entirely.

"What is going on here!?"

In the distance, Temple Knights and the duke's soldiers were running toward us.

The fight was decided.

I kept my eyes on Evris and sheathed my sword.

"Once everyone sees that arm, there'll be no talking your way out of this."

"…"

Now, how to explain all this?

As I was mulling it over, Evris lowered his head.

Had he given up?

It was a shame I couldn't finish him off myself, but seeing him face justice under the law wasn't a bad outcome either.

"Useless. Or… a final act of defiance?"

Evris muttered that and looked up.

…? Had Evris's eyes been blue?

No. They hadn't been like this before.

"The vessel is insufficient, but there's some bond, at least. Let me play a little."

Evris stood and pressed the severed arm against the stump.

The dying blue flame migrated to the cut, and as it faded, the arm reattached.

"What… is that?"

An unbelievable sight.

Not even monsters regenerated like this.

This was no longer human.

"Given the remaining ember, one strike at most."

Evris raised his sword high, and blue flame engulfed his entire body.

It looked exactly like what had happened with the red-hooded attackers.

The Water Elemental sent me a warning.

If this wasn't stopped, the entire area would be blown away.

I fed my remaining magic to the Water Elemental, but I was already running low.

There was no way to block this…

"Azu-chan!"

Elza-san came running toward me.

When she reached me, she pulled my head to her chest and pressed her forehead against mine.

"I'll project a sanctuary through the Water Elemental. Azu-chan, focus on the Water Elemental."

"Y-yes!"

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my connection with the Water Elemental.

Normally I could only feel a faint link, but now it came through much more strongly.

"That's it. Just like that. — By the name of the Creator King, I declare this place a sanctuary and seal the wicked flame."

After chanting several verses, Elza-san cast catalyst stones and holy water in a wide arc.

"An inviolable altar. A sanctuary here. Basilica."

A barrier formed, enclosing Evris within it.

The next instant, blue flame erupted from every inch of his body.