NOVEL NEXT Chapter 316: Moon Oracle
Sakurai-kun, who was pierced by the black sword, slowly collapses.
“NOOO! Ryosuke-san! Someone…!” (Noel)
The scream of Queen Noel echoed in the ceremony venue.
On the other hand, Furiae-san didn’t change her expression at all -a smile still plastered on her face.
My body moved before I could think deeply about it.
“[Mind Accel]…[Spirit Arm].” (Makoto)
I activate the spell that can be casted at the fastest speed and throw that at Demon Lord Cain.
“Water Magic: [Endless Blades]!” (Makoto)
Ice blades cover the sky.
Those pour down onto the black knight man in an instant.
He looks like Cain, but because of the full armor, I can’t tell his face.
If that really is Cain…
The jet black full armor covering his body is the sacred treasure of Noah-sama.
Its divine protection is: “Nullify all attacks”.
It doesn’t allow any magic or physical attack to pass.
If it is not Cain but someone else…
The guy that stabbed Sakurai-kun can just be minced apart.
Fortunately…or should I say unfortunately, even when hit by more than thousands of ice blades, his armor wasn’t scratched one bit.
Leaving aside whether the inside is Cain or not, there’s no doubt that armor is Noah-sama’s.
But even if I can’t wound him, he can’t block the impact of it.
“Kuh!”
The black knight man was sent flying from his spot.
“Queen Noel! Cast Resurrection magic on Sakurai-kun!” (Makoto)
I ran to the stage where Sakurai-kun collapsed.
Queen Noel returned to her senses and hurriedly casted magic on Sakurai-kun.
Why is no one aside from Queen Noel making a ruckus?
What are the Sun Knights and the Templars doing?
When I looked around, all the people in the venue were staring at nothing with blissful expressions as if they were having a good dream.
(…Charm.) (Makoto)
An unbelievably powerful Charm.
Even if it is not on the level of Noah-sama, the only ones who can move properly here are me and…
“Makoto-sama!”
A white robed mage suddenly appeared in mid-air.
“Momo! We are saving Sakurai-kun.” (Makoto)
“…I am sorry! To think something like this would happen!” (Momo)
The Great Sage-sama warped her face in vexation.
But I am happy to have one more ally with me.
I simply directed a small smile at her and spoke to someone else.
“Dia, please gather everyone.” (Makoto)
“I have, Our King.” (Dia)
Dia responded in that fashion and, behind her, there were several tens of Undines.
Almost all of the Great Water Spirits in this planet are gathered here.
If Spirits that control nature gather in one place, of course the surroundings will be affected by it.
The clear sky was hidden in the blink of an eye, and dense rain clouds covered it.
At the same time as this happens, a downpour rains down on the ceremony venue.
I was hoping here that the Charm magic would be undone with this rain, but the people in the venue were still standing spaced out.
“Protect Lucy, Sa-san, and everyone of the Water Country.” (Makoto)
“XXXXXXX (Understood).”
I ask this from one of the Undines.
The reality is that Undines can’t use small scale spells, so they are not suited as bodyguards, but we are lacking hands right now.
I noticed something bad here.
Sakurai-kun losing the light of the sun here when he is terribly wounded is bad.
Sakurai-kun can recover on his own if there’s sunlight after all.
I control the rain clouds and make it so that rain doesn’t fall around the stage where Queen Noel and Sakurai-kun are, and adjust it so that the sunlight isn’t obstructed.
In this obscured rainy place, that location being the only place being illuminated is like a spotlight.
“Oh my, that’s impressive. You have polished your skills even more, Apostle of the Old Goddess.” (Furiae)
Furiae-san didn’t say ‘My Knight’, but something I am not used to hearing.
No, that’s not Furiae-san… That’s not it. Right now that’s not what I should be thinking about.
Queen Noel was taking out the black sword from Sakurai-kun while using Resurrection magic.
Her face is a mess from the tears, but I would say she is actually doing well considering the situation.
“Momo, I leave the two to you! I will defeat the ones around.” (Makoto)
My opponents are the revived Beast King and the Giant King.
But they weren’t attacking us and were standing there doing nothing.
“Yes!” (Momo)
The Great Sage-sama said and appeared close to Sakurai-kun and Queen Noel with Teleport.
“We are running, Noel!” (Momo)
“Great Sage-sama, bring Ryosuke-san away instead!” (Noel)
“I am taking you both! We are getting out of he—” (Momo)
—“Wait, my familiar…”
“Wa…?!”
A hoarse voice resonates.
It is like the voice of an elderly man. That person that spoke to Momo was…
“Immortal King, Bifrons…” (Makoto)
The Demon Lord that we fought 1,000 years ago and finished in the present.
“Kuh, my body…” (Momo)
“Momo!” (Makoto)
“I am…okay. Don’t worry about me.” (Momo)
Momo went on her knees in pain.
“Why is he here…?” (Makoto)
No, in the first place, it shouldn’t be possible for him to have come back.
I definitely ended him with my sacred treasure.
“Fufufu, I reconstructed the Immortal King’s body with necromancy… But I couldn’t communicate with his soul. I wanted to properly revive him, but…it looks like it is working on the Great Sage-san. She was an inexperienced mage-chan, but she is currently the number one mage of the continent. Of course I have taken countermeasures.”
The Moon Queen…the woman that is wearing the face of Furiae-san says this.
Her expressions, mannerisms, way of speaking; they are all different from what I remember.
Moreover, those words speaking of 1,000 years ago made her identity clear.
“You are…” (Momo)
“…the Calamity Witch.” (Makoto)
I take over the words of Momo.
“It has been a while, Apostle of the Old Goddess. I am the one who called herself the Queen of the past Moon Country, Nevia… I am currently borrowing the body of this girl.” (Nevia)
“…What happened with Princess? Could it be…” (Makoto)
I couldn’t voice out the words that followed and held my dagger tightly.
I felt as if my vision grew red from the anger.
The words she told me when I made the Guardian Knight pact with the Moon Oracle…
—No matter the time or place, as long as life still holds you, be my sword…
I vowed to her.
And yet…I couldn’t protect her.
As if reacting to my emotions, the mana around the Undines reacts.
The air trembled and the clouds in the sky swirled heavily.
As if foretelling a natural calamity.
“S-She is okay! I simply possessed the body of the present Moon Oracle. I have not injured her soul or body at all. The Furiae-chan that you are protecting as a Guardian Knight is still alive!” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch made a complete turn from her calm demeanor of before and she made a flustered face.
“She is alive…?” (Makoto)
“Of course! Her consciousness is still in slumber, but you will be able to talk with her later too, you know.” (Nevia)
I don’t undo my guard.
But I could feel my anger subsiding.
I check the state of Queen Noel and Sakurai-kun at the corner of my eye.
The wound has healed with the resurrection spell.
His chest is going up and down, so it seems like he is breathing, but he isn’t waking up.
The Calamity Witch should have noticed this, but…she isn’t doing anything.
“Fufu, that’s right, that’s right. I have no intention to fight you.” (Nevia)
“…”
I can’t read her objective.
What is she thinking?
What is she scheming?
At that moment, I felt a strange presence.
I hurriedly looked around the ceremony venue.
The participants are still standing all spaced out.
But there’s others aside from the humans, elves, and beastkin mixed in that group.
From their outward appearance, they look like demons, but there’s no life in their eyes.
However, they all had abnormal miasma clad around their body.
That pressure was on the same level…as the Immortal King who is close to the Great Sage-sama.
In other words, these guys are all Demon Lords?
“The ones here and there are all Demon Lords of olden times who have been revived with necromancy. That said, their strength is far from that of when they were alive. They may not be at their best, but with numbers, they should pose a decent threat in itself, right?” (Nevia)
“The necromancy of Princess…” (Makoto)
Furiae-san has been using necromancy to control the dead and protect herself before.
She stopped using it when she became a comrade of ours though.
According to herself: “Only dark natured people use necromancy!”
That’s why I have barely seen it myself.
“The Moon Oracle of this era…Furiae-chan, is impressive. She can use destiny magic and necromancy, and when it comes to Charm, I can’t even reach her toes…and yet, she wasn’t using them effectively at all. What a waste.” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch laughs with the face of Furiae-san.
The past Demon Lords were slowly gathering around the Calamity Witch as if protecting her.
Sakurai-kun is down, and Queen Noel is trembling with a pale white face.
The Great Sage-sama is on her knees and can’t move.
(…What do I do?) (Makoto)
Even if I use Spirit Magic to blow them away, there’s way too much of a mix between enemies and allies here.
“You don’t need to make such a scary face, Apostle-sama. I have no intention of fighting you.” (Nevia)
“…”
She has been saying weird stuff for a while now.
At the time when I was trying to measure her intention from those words…
“Oi oi, Nevia-dono, you crossed time and revived the past Demon Lords in order to win here, right? Why is there any need to be reserved at this point in time? Isn’t it okay to just torture this Spirit User here to death?” (Barbatos)
The one who landed by the side of the Calamity Witch was the Devil King.
His face was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.
I exchanged glances with the Great Water Spirits so that we can shoot magic at any time.
“You mustn’t, Barbatos-san.” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch stops him softly.
But the Devil King continues speaking.
“Also, the Spirit User has the half-vampire child on her knees there, and other comrades as well, right? We can just take them as hostages. Like this…” (Barbatos)
The moment the Devil King was about to get close to Momo who can’t move…
— “Stop, Devil King.”
The Calamity Witch dropped the tone of her voice and gave a clear order.
The Devil King stops cold.
“Tch… I can’t go against the user of the necromancy. But, why? Why do you fear the Spirit User so much?” (Barbatos)
The Devil King makes a face as if he isn’t into the idea.
“Angering the Spirit User is the epitome of foolishness. You may not know, but at the time when his comrade was killed, he even slaughtered the son of the God King Jupiter.” (Nevia)
“Ha! There’s no way something like that is poss—” (Barbatos)
The Devil King laughed, but then his expression tightened as if he were thinking.
“Could it be…that’s true?” (Barbatos)
The Devil King asked me.
I could lie, but…I decided to be honest here.
“Now that you mention it, that did happen.” (Makoto)
When I answered, the Devil King’s face stiffened.
“Let’s not touch the Spirit User and his comrades.” (Barbatos)
“Great to see you understand now.” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch smiles.
She then spoke to me without breaking that smile of hers.
“And so, Apostle-sama, we will be treating your comrades with utmost care. Of course, we won’t hurt them…as long as you don’t attack us.” (Nevia)
“…”
The Calamity Witch smiles and gives out an unpleasant proposal.
This is the worst.
No allies.
A whole ton of hostages.
And they have sealed my chances of getting a preemptive strike.
But in due time, Sakurai-kun will…
“Don’t worry. We have no intention of killing your childhood friend, the Light Hero-san, either.” (Nevia)
I felt as if she read my mind.
“Eh?!”
The one who raised her voice in surprise was Queen Noel.
Of course she would.
It doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t kill the Light Hero who can end the Great Demon Lord.
“I have cast a curse on him. So I say, but it is just a ‘sleep’ curse. It is a harmless curse where he won’t be waking up for several days.” (Nevia)
“Why are you doing such a roundabout thing?” (Makoto)
“The Water Spirit King that defeated the Demigod Alexander…the spell Cocytus that was on the verge of turning the northern continent into a land of ice… Having that stuff be done to us would be unbearable.” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch answers my question plainly.
It would be one thing if it were events from 1,000 years ago, but she even knows stuff about the present in detail.
There aren’t many who know about the matter with Alexander.
“Why do you know that…? Is it the memories of Furiae-san?” (Makoto)
“That’s right. The memories of the Moon Oracle are shared to me as well.” (Nevia)
No wonder she could read my conduct pattern.
The one who came into my conversation with the Calamity Witch was the Devil King.
“But there’s nothing to do. I can’t kill the Spirit User or the Light Hero, can’t use hostages either… Then, can I kill the Sun Oracle?” (Barbatos)
“Wa?! What are you…” (Noel)
The body of Queen Noel trembles.
“Hmm.” (Nevia)
The Calamity Witch puts a finger on her mouth and does a thinking gesture.
“She is not the comrade or the lover of the Apostle-sama, and since she is an equal to Furiae-chan for being a Holy Maiden, my Charm doesn’t work on her, so it is hard to handle her, you see…” (Nevia)
She thought for only a few seconds.
“Go ahead. You can kill her, Barbatos-san.” (Nevia)
“Got it.” (Barbatos)
“Hiiih!” (Noel)
Queen Noel’s face stiffened in fear at the grin of the Devil King.
(It can’t be helped…) (Makoto)
I began charging my mana in order to release a specially big spirit spell.
I can’t hold back against a Demon Lord.
But there’s a whole lot of people in the ceremony venue.
But there’s no other choice…
Just when I had just accepted it…
“Wait! Don’t do as you please with my body!”
The tone of Furiae-san changed.
This way of speaking is…
“Princess!” (Makoto)
I reflexively shout out loud.
“…”
No response.
However, she looked sad.
With a face on the verge of tears, Furiae-san smiles.
“The Holy Maiden Furiae orders you: the ones who have been revived with my necromancy must not kill anyone. I put a curse that forbids you to kill.” (Furiae)
The Demon Lords all nodded at the same time at those words.
…They are a bit cute.
But that’s a relief.
“Good grief, Nevia-dono. You still haven’t gotten complete control of that body…”
I heard a voice mixed with a sigh from my back.
The Devil King, Barbatos.
He had gotten to my back at some point in time.
“Stop it! If you put a hand on My Knight…!” (Furiae)
The scream of Furiae-san resonates.
“I won’t kill him -kill him, that is.” (Barbatos)
With those words, an unbelievable pain attacked my neck.
I blacked out.
◇◇
I open my eyes.
My head is throbbing in pain.
(…Where am I?) (Makoto)
What was reflected in my eyes were a big chandelier and a high ceiling.
I am sleeping in a giant king size bed.
It seems to be a room with extravagant furniture, but I have no recollection of it.
(If I remember correctly…I was sneak attacked by the Devil King…) (Makoto)
I remember faintly that I lost consciousness.
(Lucy! Sa-san!) (Makoto)
At the time when I remembered about my comrades and was going to jump out of bed…
“Hnn…”
I heard a small seductive sigh.
Looks like I didn’t notice from all the agitation.
There’s someone else aside from me in this bed.
I hesitantly look at my side.
The first thing that came to my eyes was the long and glossy black hair.
Pure white skin that can be peeked from there.
Her sleeping side-profile is so perfect as if it had been sculpted.
“Suuh…suuuh…”
I could hear calm breathing.
“Uhm…” (Makoto)
What’s going on?
Confusion was bringing in more confusion.
I am using Clear Mind like crazy.
Even with that, it took me time to digest my current situation.
The one sleeping by my side was the Moon Country’s Queen, Furiae-san.