The Girl Who Races Across the Sky

With one final push from Finn, she launched straight toward the Sky Whale, rocketing upward in a beeline.

The target was far above in the distant sky, but at this speed, she would reach it without question.

All she had to do was stick the landing on that massive creature's back.

They'd hastily consulted as a group, and since she was the lightest yet still capable of dealing damage, the role had fallen to her. Whether she could actually pull it off, though, left her a little anxious.

She shoved that anxiety aside and focused on attacking with everything she had to deal with this monster, without thinking about what came next.

Below her were Master and the rest of their group. Chancellor Anatia and Queen Tianis too. And Yupe-san.

Most importantly, all the people who had gathered to listen to their performance were down there.

Not someone else. She would be the one to protect them.

If that whale was an apostle of the Sun God, then she had the power of an apostle too.

She gripped the Sealed Sword Grungaus tight.

This blade had carried her through so much.

This time would be no different.

The stronger the wielder, the greater the sword's power.

When the Ash King or Kiyo, the undead who claimed to be the Ash King's companion, had wielded Grungaus, the power had been truly staggering.

Even now, going all out, she couldn't match that. But she was far better at handling it than she used to be.

If she timed it with Evalin-san's magic, they could overwhelm that regeneration.

She'd felt the sensation of cutting through wind while moving fast before, but this was incomparably more intense.

Maybe it was because the wind grew stronger the higher she climbed.

She was nearly at Evalin-san's altitude now.

Evalin was firing magic at the Sky Whale when she noticed the approach and turned around.

She looked surprised.

Nothing usually fazed that woman, but having someone arrive from the ground apparently warranted an exception.

"Don't worry about me, just keep casting!"

She screamed it as they passed each other.

She'd wondered if her voice would carry in these conditions, but though Evalin's figure shrank in the distance, she could make out a nod. She turned forward again.

She plunged into the clouds just short of the Sky Whale.

"It's cold…"

The clouds were far colder than she'd imagined.

Her whole body was getting soaked.

The dress clung to her skin, a little unpleasant.

She was usually in much more practical clothes, so she'd have to watch out for the difference if things got dicey.

She drew on the power of the Creator King's Apostle in preparation for her attack.

At the same time, her right eye grew hot.

The Fire Elemental dwelling inside her seemed to be releasing its power.

In an instant, warmth flooded her body and the cold vanished.

She was about to break through the clouds.

The whale's massive body cast a shadow visible even from inside the cloud layer as a dark silhouette, so she had to be very close.

The moment she burst free of the clouds, what filled her vision were black spheres the size of her palm.

They were the same things the Sky Whale had been scattering on the ground below.

They had been exploding on contact with the barrier.

She reflexively deflected one with her sword.

The black sphere detonated a short distance away.

A direct hit would have been dangerous.

But it didn't end there.

They rained down as if to block her path.

Without wings, all she could do in midair was twist her body.

As long as they didn't hit her, they seemed harmless, and she managed to dodge several.

The ones she absolutely couldn't avoid, she batted away with the sword.

More than the damage, the real danger was losing her momentum.

If she carelessly triggered an explosion at a bad angle, she'd never reach the whale.

Fortunately, her small frame worked in her favor.

She was able to slip through most of the falling black spheres, keeping deflections to a minimum.

If it had been Alexia-san or Elza-san, it would have been a different story.

Their chests and hips were much bigger than hers.

They definitely would have gotten clipped.

… That irritated her a little.

She'd take this anger out on the Sky Whale.

She'd just decided.

She passed by the whale's eye.

It was an eerie, deep red.

She couldn't quite tell where it was looking, but she knew instinctively that befriending this thing was out of the question.

She rose even higher than the Sky Whale.

Her momentum gave out, and she landed squarely on its back.

Everyone had worked together to get her this far.

The Sky Whale's only attack she'd seen was those black spheres.

She could only hope there was nothing else.

The whale's back was spongy and unsteady. If she lost focus, her footing would give way.

To time her attack with Evalin-san's magic, she began channeling magical power into Grungaus.

She wanted to put maximum force into her first strike.

Right now, three elementals resided within her: water, fire, and earth.

If she drew on all three elements at once, it should cut through even this colossal body.

But the strain was proportionally immense, and her current limit was three such attacks.

That was already a big improvement, but according to Elza-san, her vessel still hadn't caught up to the elementals' power.

She could feel Evalin-san's magic approaching.

She repositioned to avoid being hit and focused, waiting for the moment.

The instant the magic struck the Sky Whale, the whale's body lurched violently as the spell tore through its massive frame.

Flesh surged upward, beginning to regenerate, and before it could, she brought her sword down.

First, the magically charged blade touched the whale's back.

The strike, infused with the elementals' power, sliced open its back, the force bowing the whale's whole body.

But the real blow was still to come.

The Sealed Sword Grungaus drained every drop of ambient magical power and activated its effect.

Invisible blades materialized, shredding the Sky Whale's entire body.

The fin on the right side had already been whittled down by Evalin-san's magic, and with Grungaus's strike, she succeeded in severing it completely.

At the same moment, the whale's mouth gaped open and a crushing sound boomed outward.

The sheer volume made the very air vibrate, and she instinctively clapped her hands over her ears.

To her, it sounded like a scream.

The enormous fin plummeted, and the instant it hit the barrier, it burst into flames and disintegrated.

It was definitely working!