Erica moved first.
"Fly! Boots of Hermes!"
Stepping onto a crimson acceleration magic circle, Erica shot forward in a sudden burst. As she charged ahead, the golden-haired knight began chanting her Words of Power.
"O lion of steel, and Lionheart King, my ancestor - hear the oath of the knight Erica Blandelli!"
"I am the successor of the Fierce Horn Flute, the descendant of the Black Knight. My heart shall never yield, and my sword shall never break."
"Lionheart King, grant me a blade of peerless sharpness!"
"The time for the duel has come! Reinhardt!"
A magic circle etched with crimson roses appeared, and from the mouth of a roaring silver lion, Erica drew forth the Lion King's magic sword.
"Haaah!"
The valiant blonde knight swung out a massive crimson blade of magical light, sending it straight at the locust swarm.
Liliana was not about to be outdone. At almost the same moment Erica sprang forward, Liliana rushed from another angle only half a step slower than Erica.
"Wings of Artemis - cross the night, and grant me the right to soar along the path of heaven!"
If Erica was merely so fast it seemed as though she were flying, accelerating physically again and again through the air, then Liliana truly was flying.
Transformed into a blue-green human-shaped bird gliding upon the wind, Liliana's craftsman-forged magic sword also erupted with powerful magical force.
"My wings, become steel as the blade of illusion! Maestro, grant me strength!"
"Haaaah!"
A blue blade-wave no weaker than Erica's crimson slash shot in from another direction toward Melqart's locust swarm.
The crimson blade and blue blade collided in midair, and the energy that had been compressed into blade-shapes instantly exploded outward.
Boom!
A circular shockwave burst forth, sweeping away all the surrounding locusts at once.
"My, as expected of Liliana, who grew up with me. You always manage to pull off perfect coordination with me."
Erica shot Liliana a satisfied smile.
"Hmph. Erica, I still don't like you, but in battle, I will never hold us back."
Liliana answered in a distinctly unamused tone.
After Erica's explanation the night before, Liliana's opinion of her had actually improved quite a bit.
But with Karen's help, Liliana had come to fully understand Erica's less-than-pure intentions, and the fondness she had just gained dropped again by quite a bit.
Of course, even after that drop, Liliana still viewed Erica far more favorably than she had before.
After all, if Karen had not pushed things along, Liliana never would have taken the initiative herself. As for Erica scheming against her, under Liliana's original way of thinking, Erica would have had no reason to scheme against her in the first place.
"Good. That's exactly how you should be. That's the Liliana I remember."
"Stick to the plan we decided on. Liliana, I'm leaving my rear guard to you!"
With that, Erica charged straight at Melqart's true body.
As she raced forward, Erica dragged the Lion King's magic sword across her palm. Bright red blood instantly welled from her pale hand.
"All evildoers, tremble before my power!"
"Now I shall gain the might of ten mountains, the force of a hundred rivers, and the strength of a thousand camels!"
"What I raise is the fierce mark of the Camel!"
Using the Camel incarnation at the cost of injuring herself, Erica's already powerful, shapely legs became even stronger.
Because she was constantly using the Boots of Hermes to create lightness and footholds beneath her steps, the enhancement to her legs drove her speed even higher.
...
Facing the swiftly approaching Erica, Melqart first glanced at Akuto. After confirming that Akuto truly had no intention of interfering, Melqart subconsciously let out a slight breath of relief, only to immediately feel a sharp sense of humiliation.
He felt relieved because at least he had not fallen into the worst possible situation of being ganged up on by all three of them.
But he felt humiliated because Akuto's actions made it obvious that he did not consider Melqart worthy of his personal attention.
Fortunately, while Melqart's appearance was imposing and savage, he was not the sort of brute in myth who relied on force alone. In truth, his identity as a dragon slayer and as a Phoenician king was closely tied to his wisdom as well.
Though he was irritated that his enemy had sent only subordinates against him, so long as he could claim the final victory, he did not mind letting them enjoy their arrogance for a while. For now, what mattered more was stalling for time through defensive means.
"Pursue! Exile! O hunters!"
"Become my fangs, my twin weapons, and strike!"
"Let them witness the fury of Baal!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Melqart hurled out two great clubs. The instant they left his hands, they had already locked onto Erica, flying straight toward the centerline of her body.
Yet Erica acted as if she had not seen the clubs at all. She continued charging at Melqart at the same speed and in the same posture, without the slightest change.
Behind Erica, the silver-haired knight reacted instantly.
"All enemies shall fear me - fear me, the embodiment of victory!"
"Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Gather for me, and protect me from the hands of the unjust!"
Boom!
Golden divine lightning fell from the sky and struck Baal's two weapons, slowing them for an instant.
Seizing that opening, Erica slipped between the two weapons at the perfect angle, letting them scrape past her as she lunged at the now unarmed Melqart.
"Eli! Eli! Lema sabachthani!"
"My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me!"
The golden-haired girl cried out in a clear, resonant voice, drawing on the divine power within her.
"My God, I call by day, and You do not answer. By night, and still You remain silent. Yet You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel!"
"All my bones are laid bare, my heart has melted like wax, and my body has fallen into the dust of death. Dogs surround me, and I am tormented by evildoers!"
"O You who can become my strength, grant me aid. Grant it quickly! Deliver my soul from the sword, save me from the lion's fangs, save me from the horns of the wild bull!"
"Let me proclaim the Lord's name unto you. At the center of the world I shall praise Him, devote myself to Him, and offer all to Him!"
"Haaaah!"
Using the Words of Golgotha, Erica infused her magic sword with a terrifying curse.
The Words of Golgotha were the hymn of calamity, the final desperate chant Jesus Christ cried out at the execution ground of Golgotha before dying in exhaustion.
It was a Word of Power filled with hatred and despair, enough to casually curse to death everyone gathered nearby, and now that power was being poured into Erica's sword.
Ordinarily, the Words of Golgotha were already a killing move capable of wounding a god. And with Akuto nearby, Words of Power from the Biblical divine system would be tremendously strengthened.
So if Erica's strike truly landed, it would not kill Melqart outright, but it would absolutely tilt the scales of victory sharply in Erica's favor.
...
On Liliana's side...
After Erica avoided Melqart's two clubs, Liliana drew a golden sword of Words of Power.
"By my Words of Power, let the justice of this world be made manifest!"
"This spell is mighty and eloquent, the sword of wisdom that calls forth victory!"
Ong...
With Liliana at its center, golden ground studded with Golden Swords spread outward without end, quickly covering the nearby coast and sea.
"Melqart, also called Melqartos, is a god born in the ancient Middle East. His true name is Baal!"
"He was originally the god of primitive nomadic shepherd peoples, who lived by herding and by what they could claim as food - the Sky! In ancient times, people regarded the gods as the boundless heavens themselves. The nomadic peoples of Central Asia, such as the Mongols, likewise deified the Sky. But Baal, that is, Melqart, was a god born in the Middle East, the lands of the east. He is not merely a sky god. That is his greatest defining feature. He is the god of the rainy season!"
"In the Middle East, where the dry season and rainy season are sharply divided, only in the rainy season do storms arrive. The earth is battered by violent gales and tornadoes, and heavy rain crashes down while lightning descends from the sky. Yet the rain brought by the storm is also a blessing. Without the life-giving grace of that water, plants, beasts, and human beings alike could not survive!"
"Though your storms bring death to many things, they also bestow the blessing of life!"
"You are the storm-and-sky god worshipped by nomadic peoples!"
"The nomads who worshipped Melqart later came into contact with settled agricultural peoples who worshipped gods of the sea and the earth."
"The nomads sought to dominate those people utterly by force. The farmers who lived in villages and towns, those who worshipped sea and earth, revered as the sea god the sacred beast that symbolized the earth god - the Dragon!"
"The nomadic people conquered the peoples of sea and earth, and the god Melqart conquered the Dragon!"
"Therefore, Baal, that is, Melqart, you are a dragon slayer!"
"As the enemy of the settled peoples, you appeared as a savage, masculine figure, and you slew the Dragon!"
"A violent wild man, yet one who rules in the form of a king, fierce as a raging storm. That is the essence of Baal, that is, Melqart!"
Liliana had forged the Golden Sword as quickly as she possibly could, but Erica's side of the battle was changing too fast.
By the time Liliana completed the Golden Sword, Erica had already clashed with Melqart.
Faced with Erica's Lion King's magic sword infused with the Words of Golgotha, Melqart felt an immense sense of danger.
Fortunately, he had never intended to let Erica close the distance in the first place.
"Wind, rain, thunder - by my true name, Baal Hadad, I, Melqart, call you forth! O storm, answer the summons of the cloud-rider and come swiftly!"
Boom!
In the next instant, Melqart's powerful body dispersed into storm winds, and hundreds of lightning bolts shot out in every direction, covering the full three hundred sixty degrees around him.
"I walked right into it?!"
Erica's eyes sharpened. Even with Liliana's support, not only had she failed to hit Melqart, she had fallen straight into his trap instead.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]