Chapter 79
It was quite common for Abyssals to ask questions like that. Despite being monsters, they apparently had concepts of their own; each possessed a firm, twisted conviction and strange trigger points that any magical girl with a little experience would know about.
"A sinner? If you're going to ask that, you should first tell me what crime you're accusing me of. On Earth, if you want to hold a trial..."
And at that moment.
-Whoosh!
"Whoa!!"
A gigantic sword, large enough for two or three ordinary people to fit inside with room to spare, came for my neck at a speed completely unsuited to its size.
He asked me a strange question, then swung his sword without even waiting for an answer?
There were Abyssals like that, but for an S-rank Abyssal, this was an especially underhanded way to fight...
-Rumble!!!
"..."
The black sword aura released by the sword I dodged cleaved straight through the building beside me.
"...Isn't trying to ambush me with that much power a little too underhanded?"
<Judgment comes later. Execution comes first.>
"Even the most lawless country doesn't reverse its procedures that completely..."
-Whoosh!
<Do not question Her Majesty's perfect rule, maiden.>
-Gulp.
'...You bastard.'
He had been relentlessly targeting my neck from the start.
The neck was certainly a vital point where being cleanly severed meant certain death, but considering this Abyssal's attack power, being hit anywhere else would be fatal too. A blow to the abdomen would separate my upper and lower halves, while a blow to an arm or leg would mean saying goodbye to that limb.
I couldn't believe he was unaware of that when he was intelligent enough to hold a proper conversation. Perhaps... that was this Abyssal's characteristic: a tendency to relentlessly target the neck.
<For the innocent, beheading; for the guilty, the guillotine. Do you question this perfect and merciful grace?>
"...Is that why your head got chopped off?"
<By Her grace, I was reborn. How arrogant is the head? It stands at the highest point of the body and does nothing but receive the sweet fruits brought by the arms and legs. Only after lowering my head did I understand the true laws of the world.>
Why was I continuing to listen to this Abyssal's nonsense? Obviously, I was buying time.
If I engaged this thing alone at full strength before the other magical girls arrived, my chances of winning were below five percent. Pride aside, it was better to keep the conversation going and stall for as long as it remained willing to talk.
If I could find a weakness in the process, even better...
-Whoosh!
-Kwaaang!!!
"Ngh!"
<Maiden. As a knight, I am not the sort of rogue who would challenge a delicate girl to an honorable one-on-one duel.>
"Then what the hell are you doing now..."
<This is not a duel, but an execution. Once the execution is over, I shall pass judgment according to the solemn laws of my kingdom, acting in place of Her Majesty, who is not present here.>
He was losing either way, but he sure talked well.
<Worry not, maiden. I made my name by uncovering every wrongful accusation and ensuring that those who were not sinners received a verdict of innocence.>
-Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The sight of a five-meter-tall, human-shaped Abyssal gripping its sword with both hands and raising it behind its back was enough to make even someone who had endured every kind of hardship swallow nervously.
"...Fine. If you want to execute me that badly, you need to prove that you're qualified, don't you?"
I had no intention of shamelessly proving myself innocent.
I was a murderer, a con artist who had deceived the world, and an inept bad person who had failed to save even himself through his own evil deeds.
I killed a hero for the sake of my own life, and the damage Earth suffered as a result was tremendous. Even after inflicting such immense damage on Earth, I had failed to save my own life.
Wasn't that laughable? I had done every bad thing imaginable, yet I wasn't even happy myself.
At this rate, even the title of villain was too good for me. I was simply a bad person.
-Vroooom.
But that did not mean I intended to let this thing kill me.
I still had a reason not to die.
There was a reason I had endured eight years in this miserable life.
<Excellent, maiden. Though I never told you, you have exercised your right to demand proof that I am qualified to execute you. Then I shall respect your right as well. I am Redgrave, the builder of the heart's garden for Her Majesty the Queen. I am the gardener who will cut off your neck and decorate that garden with your heart.>
"Thanks for telling me even though I didn't ask...!"
-Vrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!
The staff, shining brilliantly and vibrating as though it could explode at any moment, held seventy percent of my current magical power.
This was the only usable move I had in this situation.
-Dash!
"I have no name to reveal to you!"
<I shall affirm that as well. The gravestone I erect will have no need for a name.>
Neither of us waited to see who would strike first. We poured power into our respective weapons and charged at each other.
Was I insane? I had repeatedly said that clashing head-on with an S-rank Abyssal was suicide, so why was I doing exactly that myself? If you asked whether hearing a knightly line like that had gone to my head and made me willing to risk my life like an idiot...
[Emerald!!!!! Now!!!!!]
[I know!!! I already read it!!!]
-Kiiiing!
[Emerald Phantasm(Emerald Phantasm)-Javelin(Javelin)]
<Huh.>
-Kwak!
I answered with the emerald castle that had risen in the distance and the spear of emerald it fired from within.
The spear was a chillingly sharp shade of green, and somehow, its tip drove into the weakest-looking gap in the knight's sturdy armor.
-Chara-ra-ra-ra-ra!!!
Once it succeeded in piercing the enemy, the spear changed shape and began expanding from that point, like a tree putting down roots.
It was an attack that would inevitably take some of the momentum out of even an S-rank Abyssal preparing to clash with me, no matter how powerful it was.
"I never said I'd fight you alone!!"
Nor was I crazy enough to plan on smashing my staff head-on into something far too large to be called a sword.
Disarming an opponent is one of the most basic tactics in combat. I twisted the staff I had swung as though I meant to clash head-on, using Stellar Shift from the spot to bend it at an angle that defied the laws of physics.
The angle changed by ninety degrees. In other words, I attacked from the side instead of the front.
I deceived the light aimed at me, deceived the opponent perceiving me, and deceived the world about me.
It was one of my few original techniques, something even the original Alice could not use, and my ultimate move, imbued with my identity that magic was the power to deceive the world.
[StellarShift]
[Meteor Strike]
-Kwoooaang!!!!!!!
S-rank Abyssal or not, I was confident this thing had never experienced a technique like this before.
It was the finishing move that had made even Leviathan shed tears and rage when I drove it straight into its face. Even this thing, if I hit it from the side with that much power and openly intended to disarm it...
-Sppiiin!
-Thud!
-Rumble-rumble-rumble!!
<...I've been had.>
"Do you think that was cowardly?"
<Of course not. I was the one who said I would not give you an honorable duel. If I called you cowardly now, I would only be sullying this name with my own hands.>
I had properly taken the sword. I had deliberately sent it flying into a building that was on the verge of collapsing, induced its collapse, and buried the sword beneath it. Even an S-rank Abyssal would have to break through Emerald's and my interference to retrieve it. Even if we couldn't stop it completely, we could deal enough damage in the meantime.
-Crack.
"Well, of course. While you're keeping us occupied, your companions are already wreaking havoc elsewhere."
<Companions?>
The situation around us was being conveyed by Tokkaengi, and I could sense it even without receiving a specific report.
The frightening thing about S-rank Abyssals was that whenever one appeared, at least two A-rank Abyssals accompanied it. The record was five.
That was counting only the A-rank Abyssals. There were so many lower-ranked ones that they were impossible to count. I was stuck marking this thing, but in the emerald castle rising in the distance, spears and cannonballs made of gemstones were continuously shooting out across the city. It wasn't that Emerald hadn't ambushed this Abyssal while I stalled it with conversation.
She hadn't failed to do so; she simply couldn't. Emerald was already reaching into other areas that had descended into chaos. If she provoked this Abyssal and drew its attention, everything would become hopelessly tangled.
<Is that so? You must be referring to the beasts of the field. I suppose from your perspective, they and we appear to be the same sort of existence. Just as lowly contractees and noncontractees, unlike unusual contractees such as yourself, all appear to me to be targets for beheading.>
"...Shut up."
<Hmm. I do not know which part you found insulting. Each dimension has its own culture, after all. You are a contractee worthy of respect, so I shall give you the opportunity to point out which part of our conversation you found offensive. I shall remember your criticism in the future.>
"Ha. What bullshit."
Lowly contractees and noncontractees. Those were not words a monster that invaded other dimensions had any right to say.
Especially the former. Those people were weak, yet they risked their own lives to save others weaker than themselves.
And what? He would remember my criticism?
"You're already assuming there will be a next dimension."
<Oh?>
-Vroooom!
"There won't be a next dimension for you. No—there won't, you monster bastard."
No matter how powerful this thing was as an S-rank Abyssal, Earth had already defeated more than five S-rank Abyssals.
<Your manner of speaking has changed several times now. Is that the etiquette of this dimension?>
"There is no such thing."
<I see. I understand, contractee. Since you have changed your attitude, I shall introduce myself again.>
...Ha. Had I provoked it for no reason? Should I have stalled for as long as possible?
No. We had already exchanged enough words. No matter how well an Abyssal could converse, it was still an Abyssal. Even if it seemed capable of communication, we were ultimately destined to kill each other. There was nothing to gain by forcing the conversation to continue.
-Pssshhhh...
<I am Redgrave, Her Majesty's twenty-sixth knight and the gardener of her heart. I shall designate you as an enemy rather than an execution target and face you with all my strength.>
I had suspected something was wrong ever since it threw its sword earlier.
Even if it was humanoid, it was still an S-rank Abyssal. The fact that it had allowed its weapon to be taken so easily was difficult to believe, especially considering the other S-rank Abyssals I had faced.
And now, I had my answer.
-Clank! Clank!
-Whoooooom...
"...Ha."
Red mist swirled around the knight and took the form of a blood-red cloak. Then a sword made of blood mist, rippling like a beating heart, appeared in its hand.
There was no way that one could be disarmed.
<With my true sword, not an execution weapon, I shall carve out your heart and use it to decorate Her Majesty's garden.>
"...Aia, Kariel, Rabiz. Any of you, could you hurry up and get here?"
My role was now clear.
I had to draw its attention with the same life-risking stalling tactics I had used to exhaustion during the last S-rank Abyssal raid, the battle against Leviathan, until the other S-rank magical girls arrived.