Chapter 218

“Don’t be mad, I should’ve told you beforehand about the marching plans… my fault.”

“It’s not exactly your fault, Royal Sister… I just feel kind of… useless, like I didn’t contribute anything, so I…”

“Hahaha! I knew it! You’ve always been such an understanding child since you were little!”

“So it is all Royal Sister’s fault after all!”

Belith’s little canine teeth looked pretty fierce—

—but she wouldn’t really bite Sheffy, right?

Because just a pat on the head, and Belith wouldn’t be angry anymore, hah.

Sheffy’s hand was the best remedy for healing Belith—any dissatisfaction or mood would be soothed by this somewhat clumsy head-pat. If things got too serious, then they’d probably need to find a quiet spot, and let that hand work its magic in… a different position.

But it hadn’t gotten that far yet… after all, they were still in the middle of a war. Belith was just feeling a little down because all she could think about was helping, only to realize that Royal Sister didn’t seem to need her help at all.

“Don’t overthink it, Belith. You’ll get your chance to shine soon. There are things I simply can’t do.”

“Royal Sister, you mean…”

“I’ll tell you later. For now—do you see the firelight over there?”

“Yeah, that’s where the Third Corps is stationed.”

“When will they arrive, approximately?”

“Judging by their marching speed, in about five minutes, they’ll become aware of the Second Corps’ presence. Are we going to begin the annihilation battle immediately?”

“Look up at the sky.”

“The sky?”

“Not this side—that side.”

“…”

Royal Sister, you were the one who pointed in the wrong direction… don’t act like I got it wrong after you corrected yourself!

Belith narrowed her eyes. Her deep violet pupils, those beautiful twin orbs, reflected the vast night sky as she looked above the Third Corps’ position.

To an ordinary person, they’d only see a faint aurora in the sky—one of the Northern Territories’ “specialties.”

But with five wings, if Belith was guided to look in a specific direction, she could sense the subtle disturbance in the nature of the magical elements in the sky.

“That’s not an aurora…”

“Exactly. Bleh! This snow tastes terrible!” Sheffy had curiously tasted a pinch of snow, only to freeze her teeth. Her eyes widened as she quickly spat it out, then turned her head and immediately resumed her serious tone. “It’s just disguised to look like an aurora. That’s a highly precise mind-affecting magic—probably the one that implanted some kind of ‘rebellion’ ideology into the Third Corps.”

“In other words… the Third Corps doesn’t even realize they’re rebelling?”

“That’s likely the case. But that’s not the main issue.”

“Right… the real issue is—who cast the spell.”

“As expected of my little sister~ born clever.”

“Hmph, that’s not it. It’s because I’m your little sister that I’m clever.”

“You sure have a sharp tongue…”

“Then why don’t you kiss it soft, Royal Sister?”

“Alright, back to business first.”

“You’ll kiss it later?”

“Sure.”

In any case, the most critical issue here was—who cast that magic?

Mind-affecting mages were rare. As far as Belith knew, even the best of them could only influence the thoughts of a few dozen people at a time. Achieving a complete “change in ideology” was next to impossible.

But here’s the thing.

The Third Corps had over fifty thousand troops.

“Can you dispel the magic, Royal Sister?”

“I can do it, but I’m not really good at this kind of thing… if I mess it up and forcefully try to realign their thoughts, I might end up destroying their brains altogether. That’d be a real mess.”

“…Yeah, I can imagine. Never mind, I won’t comment on that… I’m used to it. Then how about we go straight for a decapitation strike? Take out the enemy leader? I can launch a sneak attack.”

“Won’t do much good. The mind magic wasn’t cast by him. Hmph, hmph, I’ve got a plan to draw out the mastermind. Belith!”

“Yes, understood.”

Eh… can’t family talk without using words like “understood”?

But if Belith was willing to say it, Royal Sister wouldn’t stop her.

Some understandings didn’t require words.

Sheffy didn’t bother explaining the strategy. Belith simply took Sheffy’s hand, borrowing her supply of magic. Through mental telepathy, she issued commands with the authority of the Second Demon Princess.

“All units, be advised: the Third Corps is under the influence of mind-affecting magic. All who are proficient in 【Restraint Magic】, 【Lightning Flow Magic】, 【Water Prison Magic】, or any other magic capable of limiting enemy movement—prepare to cast immediately once they enter visual range! For now, focus on restricting them as much as possible!”

“Everyone stay safe, okay~ Keep distance between your spells, no friendly fire.”

The second line was added by Sheffy.

Upon hearing her voice, the previously dark army began to light up with glimmers of magical radiance, gathering into a sea of magical stars.

Even those who couldn’t use binding magic weren’t idle.

They tossed aside their blades, cracking their knuckles—

—and pulled out frozen fish from their cloaks.

Those things couldn’t kill, but they could knock someone out cold.

With that, the entire army was ready to engage, morale soaring!

“Royal Sister.”

“Mmhmm, let’s go pay a visit to the Third Corps Commander, shall we? No reason the officers shouldn’t fight when their army does, yeah…?”

——Swoosh!

The edge of the sky seemed to brighten.

It wasn’t yet time for dawn.

At the same time, from below the cliff’s edge, there came the cries of soldiers—

“Commander!!”

Sheffy turned her head slightly, glancing toward the sky.

There, a massive fire-type spell illuminating the night sky surged toward the snowy summit where she stood.

The surrounding snow began melting rapidly under the intense heat, and it felt as though when that meteor-like fireball came crashing down, all would be reduced to ashes.

“Oh dear… we haven’t even moved yet, and it looks like the enemy commander is more impatient than us?”

“Heh… bold of them. Do they even know who they’re attacking? Royal Sister, leave it to me.”

“No need, no need. Look—see? The sky isn’t just a single layer.”

——Clang!

The fireball came to a sudden and bizarre halt in midair.

It was as if it had hit some kind of invisible wall, unable to advance a single inch farther.

Even though that fireball, several kilometers in diameter, still attempted to fall, it hung there for a long time—until it finally lost momentum.

In the blink of an eye, it was struck by some kind of rebound force, breaking apart into sparks like fireworks, scattering across the sky.

【Sky Barrier】

One of the highest-grade defensive magics.

After all, aerial bombardment with sky-fired spells was the Third Corps’ specialty—Sheffy had no intention of letting the Second Corps suffer from that tactic.

Belith’s eyes had already gone cold as ice.

At first, she had still considered whether to give the rebel leader a chance—to be escorted back to Campeno for trial.

But now… it seemed unnecessary.

He should be executed on the spot.

And yet, in her eyes at that moment, something flickered—like the rising glow of fireflies.

No heat from a fireball, nor the chill of the polar frost.

“Royal Sister, are you… Ah, well, he brought this on himself, no one else to blame.”

“Let’s see if he’s lucky~ He sent us a little welcome gift, we can’t just leave it unreturned, right?”

“True enough.”

A pure-black orb of highly concentrated magic had already formed between Sheffy’s palms.

Just like tossing a pebble into a kettle when she was a child, Sheffy mimed a throwing motion—but her aim wasn’t at the Third Corps. Instead, it arced toward the mountain slope behind them.

The 【Visual Magic】 that could extend one’s line of sight manifested in Sheffy’s violet-glowing eyes.

That weightless black sphere was quickly hurled high into the air.

“Heave-ho…! Wishing him the best of luck!”

——【Extreme Dark Nova】.

This time, the sky really did light up.

—

48. Probing

“I wonder how Sheffy’s doing over there… Ahh, what if she’s freezing? She didn’t take a scarf when she left…”

“Xiarette, I don’t want to hear you talk about Sheffy anymore. You know in the past hour alone, you’ve gone through every possible disaster that could happen to her—starving, freezing, burning herself, tripping on flat ground and getting injured. You’re not her mom, so why worry so much?”

“But the scarf…”

“Forget the scarf, will you? She knows how to keep herself warm and has emergency rations. I guarantee she’s not starving. Though tripping on flat ground… that one’s not impossible.”

At the border fortress of 【Riedekidu】.

Before the break of dawn, the small rescue party for Ailellek had arrived at this desolate, snow-covered city rarely visited by people.

Traveling all night was already a pain.

And yet Timani had to endure Xiarette constantly going on about her precious Sheffy!

Was it really necessary? If that silver-haired dumpling could somehow starve herself, Timani would chop off her own tail and give it to her!

Starve? Don’t even joke. If Sheffy saw all this snow, she’d probably try tasting it—you believe that?

“Uuu… Wait… wait for me… I think I’m gonna throw up again…!”

“Princess Livra, are you alright?! Uh… by the way, did Sheffy bring a hair tie when she left?”

“I feel like I’m not being cared about at all here?! Ugh… hurk…!”

Livra stumbled after them, pale-faced, retching frequently but unable to vomit, dizzy and nauseous.

Only the gods knew what she had just been through…

Lady Xiarette could use 【Levitation Spell】 in combination with 【Super Acceleration】 to fly, and Miss Timani had wings and could take off directly into the sky.

But poor little Livra? How was she supposed to fly?

She could only be dragged through the sky by the two—each holding one of her tiny arms and carrying her through the air!

Even now, Livra’s eyes seemed to be flashing back to those endless snowy peaks. She had actually believed that the tallest of them would be her final resting place.

“Ugh… so high, so cold… I really thought I was gonna die… Lucky it was only trouble breathing. I’m never flying again…”

“Hmph. Pathetic human.”

“Ah yes yes yes… Miss Timani, you’re absolutely right… I now fully embrace my own weakness…”

Xiarette had actually tried to convince Livra to just wait in the carriage instead of tagging along—she wouldn’t be of any use… cough, wouldn’t play any critical role.

But that was just Livra’s nature.

Sure, she was afraid of death—but as long as it wouldn’t kill her, she had to go on life’s big adventure!

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