Racing Heat

The first thing Azu felt after watching Alexia pass out was heat.

At first her right eye burned hot, then the sensation spread into her head.

It didn't take long to transform into searing pain.

"—!!"

A voiceless scream rang out.

She fell from the vines and couldn't even break her fall, slamming hard into the ground. But the pain in her right eye and the burning sensation overwhelmed everything else.

The heat rampaging inside her head was unlike any pain she had ever experienced.

All she could do was desperately press both hands over her right eye and curl up on the ground.

"Azu-chan, I know it hurts. Just hang on a little longer until it settles in."

Before she knew it, Elza had come to her side and sat down, placing Azu's head in her lap and performing a healing miracle.

It made things feel just slightly better.

Her head felt like it was being compressed to the point of splitting.

"Uuugh…"

The healing miracle could cure even serious injuries, but for Azu right now, it was a drop in the bucket.

Of course it was.

The source of the pain was still inside Azu's right eye.

Any normal person's body would have burst from the inside.

The magical energies of the Water Elemental and Fire Elemental were clashing, forcibly expanding Azu's capacity as a vessel.

The only reason she could endure it at all was because she had inherited power from the Apostle Justitia.

The pain made Azu's body convulse violently before going still.

Elza continued treating her through it all.

The Ent slowly approached the two of them.

She raised the index finger of her right hand, and it transformed into a sharp, pointed vine.

That vine stabbed through Elza's left shoulder.

But Elza paid it no mind and didn't stop her treatment.

The Ent withdrew the vine and licked the dripping blood.

"Unbelievable. You barely have any strength left, do you? And you still won't give up even in that state."

"Of course not, Ent. If I give up, who will stop that Sun God? Barbatos can't act because he's suppressing the Monster Pit, and the other gods have already departed from this world."

"True. Even Oscar isn't actually in this tower anymore."

"I know. But just seeing his form through the tower was enough…"

Blood flowed from Elza's left shoulder and pooled on the floor.

The blood loss was considerable, yet she still prioritized Azu.

"I don't know what Oscar was thinking when he sent this tower down. But let me be clear: if you can't defeat me, I won't let you see Oscar. That's the constraint he forcibly built this whole thing around. I have to admit, I didn't know what to do when an army came marching up."

"Yes… After it was narrowed down to just us, the guidance was obvious."

Whether from blood loss or exhaustion, Elza's breathing was gradually growing rougher.

"You're hardly human anymore. No divine authority left either, huh… So that successor child is literally your last hope?"

"It's all coincidence, though. This girl meeting Justitia, being together like this."

The Ent opened her mouth to say something more, but before she could, Azu woke up.

However, her eyes weren't focused. She still hadn't regained her senses.

Even so, she stood.

She swayed, looking like she might collapse at any moment, yet her right eye alone gleamed brilliant red.

Like blazing fire.

She raised her sword high toward the heavens.

Every last bit of magical energy from the surroundings gathered into Azu.

The blade of the Sealed Sword Grungaus turned red with heat, and mirages began to shimmer around it.

"So she contained the magical power of two spirits within herself. Indeed, she has potential as a candidate."

The Ent summoned a sword but didn't bother raising her guard, simply waiting for Azu to finish her preparations.

Azu swung the sword down where she stood.

Every ounce of magical power became a shockwave, released as a slash.

At the same moment, Azu's consciousness slipped away again and she collapsed.

She was about to land face-first on the floor, but Elza caught her.

The Ent received that slash head-on with her sword.

The Sealed Sword Grungaus's effect hadn't activated in this strike.

It was pure magical power and force.

The massive vine walls were no longer any obstacle.

Unable to fully block it, the Ent's feet slid backward.

The moment a crack appeared in her sword, it shattered completely, and Azu's slash collided with the Ent.

The force didn't stop there. It slammed her against the wall and punched a hole through the thick tower wall.

The Ent wasn't thrown outside, but she lay fallen with a large wound in her chest.

There was no sign of her getting up.

After a while, white flowers bloomed on the ceiling.

They scattered immediately, and in the blink of an eye, the flowers filled the floor.

When the flowers touched Yohane, Alexia, and the others marked by red blemishes, the marks faded and their pained expressions visibly eased.

"That hurts. It really hurts."

The Ent rose.

The wound remained, but she used vines to reinforce her torn dress.

She ran her fingers through her disheveled hair, smoothing it back into place.

"I'm not a combat-type Apostle, you know. Really, they work me too hard. And my carefully cultivated rose garden is a mess now."

"My condolences. Though you seemed to be going fairly all-out."

"It's been a while since I got to play with humans. If you're in that much pain, you don't have to talk. I'll take you to Oscar properly. The others need treatment, so just you should be fine meeting him, right?"

The Ent waited for an answer, but seeing that Elza had lost consciousness, she sighed.

Then she surveyed the aftermath of the battle and scratched her cheek with a nail.

"Maybe I overdid it a bit."