Kuro no Maou

“........”

As Sariel looked over him, she started to rack her brains a bit.

Her first worry was what she should do with Kurono. The second was that she had once again ruined her regenerated right hand.

The latter could be solved as it would heal with the passage of time, but she couldn’t come up with what she should do with Kurono instantly.

In the first place, no matter how much Kurono tried to kill her, Sariel was not going to kill him. Sariel was fine if he would just live happily somewhere far away.

There might be experimental bodies that might curse Kurono because he was the only one who had gotten free.

But Sariel found some sort of salvation in Kurono who had attained freedom that none other experimental body including herself could attain.

She wanted him to live the share of every experiment that had died as well.

That is why she let him run when she met him in the 3rd laboratory and was also going to let him go this time as well.

A ‘normal’ life away from fighting. He had definitely achieved half of it at least. But,

“You have got something to protect as well right?”

The fairy girl that Kurono let go of before attacking, he met her in this world and she became precious enough for him, to put his own life on the line to protect her.

Sariel met countless men on the battlefield that fought to protect something, and, she did not let even a single one of them return back alive.

Kurono’s figure was completely overlapping with those brave heroes that came to fight only to face a tragic death.

“Still, I don’t want you to die.”

In a way, this was only to fulfil her own ego. She started thinking of a way to get him out of here.

“......”

As the commander of the Crusaders, she couldn’t just let someone who attacked her to go freely intentionally.

Kurono’s true identity was a modified [Foreigner], not a general or a noble of Daedalus, even lower importance than a normal civilian, so they won’t follow him to the ends of the earth to kill him at least.

But, if the Crusaders caught him, then he’ll be definitely executed for trying to assassinate the supreme commander.

So, she can’t call the army here.

But she can’t leave it as it is either.

If he woke up now, it’ll be good if he just ran away, but there’s a chance that he might start attacking again as well. In the first place, there’s a high chance that the guards patrolling would find him first.

In every case, the result isn’t very appealing.

Then, maybe she could make someone carry Kurono to a far away town.

But, Sariel didn’t have anyone to whom she could entrust such a personal task. And even if she is the supreme commander, she can’t give such a weird order either.

“......What should I do?”

After becoming an Apostle,she had done nothing but destroy the enemies so this was the first time she was thinking a bit in a human-like way.

Fortunately, she already informed the subordinates that she was going out for a bit so at least she had time to think.

Originally, she had come here because she had sensed the barrier breaking. The barrier was not the type to inform of intruders so nobody else had come here other than Sariel.

Sariel was standing there looking at Kurono and had not even remembered to erase her spear.

As she was thinking inside her head, she suddenly looked towards the forest.

(“Something is.....coming”)

At first, she only sensed it as an indescribable atmosphere but it soon turned into a clear ‘abnormality’.

Inside the dark forest, a green light could be seen.

That light was approaching this place and was getting stronger and bigger.

And, at the same time she saw the light, she realized that the trees in the forest were losing their colour.

As the light came closer and closer, the trees in visibility that had thick trunks instantly started to wither and the fresh leaves started to dry up and fall away.

“This is........Life Drain.”

Sariel confirmed, the light in the forest was stealing the life force of the trees in the forest and collecting it. Life force is an energy included in magical energy required to sustain life.

Magicians would never use life force unless they were using suicide magic – Apoptosis. And a magic that could steal the life force of others was a taboo among taboos, an extremely dangerous thing.

Sariel felt that it was fortunate that normal soldiers were not here.

If a drain of this level was activated, people with no training in using magic, and those that have low resistance would all have been in fatal danger right now.

Facing the green light, Sariel realized that even though she could not see it, life force was being drained like a storm right now.

All the trees in the forest had become dried, and it had become a forest of death where not a shred of life force could be sensed.

And, the reason of this abnormality, the emerald light finally came in front of Sariel.

“Get away from Kurono.”

It was a girl with a presence somewhat similar to Sariel.

Literally shining platinum blonde long hair and white skin.

Eyes that were same colour as the emerald green sphere of light surrounding her.

Wearing a frilly black one piece dress, on her back were 2 pair of rainbow coloured wings.

It truly matched the image of the fairy princess that had appeared once in a book Sariel had read a long time ago.

“Who are you?”(sariel)

But that girl with the unparalleled beauty, twisted her beautiful expression in rage, and released bloodlust that could be seen with naked eyes.

“I said—–“

In response to Sariel’s question, the girl,

“—Get away from him!!”

Attacked with an immense beam of magical energy.

(“A chantless [Flashing white arrows – Fortius Sagita]—–no, a type of [Extra magic] or [Original Magic]”)

As Sariel thought that, she took evasive manoeuvres but as the name suggested, the speed of those beam was at light speed.

Unable to completely dodge, the beam burned away the hem of Sariel’s priest vestment.

*Dodonn!!*

The beam that passed Sariel, struck the barrier and without almost any resistance, pierced through it and hit the castle walls.

The wall that got destroyed with a loud boom raised a cloud of dust reached even till where Kurono was lying.

“Kurono!!”

Sariel heard the voice of the girl beyond the cloud of dust.

As soon as the cloud of dust disappeared, Sariel saw the girl lifting Kurono in her arms.

“Kurono—“

The expression on the girl right now as she called Kurono’s name while crying was so ephemeral and sweet that it made the expression she showed to Sariel feel like a lie.

The girl hugged Kurono’s body as she brought him to a sitting like state.

Sariel couldn’t hear what the girl was whispering but she should have realized that Kurono was only unconscious.

The girl, then, easily picked up Kurono in her arms even though she was half his size.

“Are you the girl that Kurono let go of earlier?”(Sariel)

“Don’t call his name so lightly!”

Once again a killing gaze pierced through Sariel.

Even the emotionless and detached Sariel understood that the girl was angry, and she understood the reason behind the anger as well.

Just how Kurono had protected her, she was also protecting him. And if someone so precious to her got hurt, she would either get sad or angry obviously.

“If you’re going to take him with you, then I won’t chase you.”(Sariel)

“I see.”

Just saying that, she turned away from Sariel while embracing Kurono.

“Now then, please go die.”

The wings on the girl’s back flickered.

As Sariel sensed the fluctuations in magical energy, the next moment, 10-odd balls of light shot out from her rainbow wings.

It’s not a beam so they were not at light speed, but they were still many times faster than Kurono’s bullets. Sariel, realizing the high speed, moved her body to dodge them, at that moment, she saw the trajectory of the balls of light get slightly changed.

(“Automatic-tracking ability.”)

Even when she kicked the ground to fly in the air, the balls of light clearly captured her motion and bent instantly at a right angle and corrected their trajectory.

(“Very high level, no choice but to shoot them down.”)

Sariel who landed on ground gripped the spear handle with her blood stained right hand.

It was already at a much lower condition than normal and furthermore, it was even damaged fatally by Kurono’s poison.

Although she didn’t want to use this since she wanted to avoid putting stress on her right wrist, but the only way to intercept those light balls was to use both her hands.

“Fast—“

Releasing a small voice, she stuck out her white spear with speed even higher than the approaching light balls that were in front of her.

The instant the spear pierced through the balls of light.

The compressed light magical energy released pure destructive energy.

A blinding flash and a shockwave strong enough to rip off limbs attacked Sariel, but without swaying even a single bit, she kept on destroying the balls of light.

“nn...”

When she pierced through the last ball, the spear in her hand was also smashed to pieces and disappeared.

As the storm of flashes and destruction finally settled down, the grass lawn that she was supposed to be standing on had been gouged out and bare earth could be seen.

The only place where grass remained was where the sole of her feet were standing on.

“........ran away.”

As she looked, the figure of the girl was nowhere to be seen.

She was seriously trying to kill Sariel, but she must have prioritized Kurono’s safety and left this place.

The moment she thought that, a chill ran down her spine similar to when she had faced the Dragon King.

“!?!”

Above her, a magic circle drawn with white lines of diameter 10m, suddenly appeared.

Letters of the Ancients or age of gods were drawn along with an unknown figure in the centre of the circle, but Sariel currently did not have the leisure to calmly analyze it.

“—–Light wing God shield – Aralux Aegis”

Sariel used her strongest defensive spell and wings of light spread out and covered her whole body.

At the same time, a mass of light with the same diameter as the magic circle came down from above.

A seven-coloured torrent of light, having the same strength as that of a Dragon’s Breath, swallowed Sariel.