"L-Lord Funikura!"
Nyx reached out for Funikura as she covered her still aching hand.
[If I'm not holding him, I can't use magic either.]
"Aah!"
Just when her fingertips were about to reach the staff, a big blow at her back pushed her away from it.
"If we remove that guy from the equation, it looks like there's only a skank left."
*Clink!* With a villain-like smile, Elina shook her iron claws.
"I can fight without my spear. A pity you can't say the same!"
Elina stretched out her claws triumphantly.
Prepared to receive a wound, Nyx reached out for Funikura again.
"Kuh!"
At the same time, both an acute pain and a warm energy assailed her boy.
The acute pain was Elina's iron claws; the warm energy, Funikura, a proof that it had returned to her hand.
"Let's go, Lord Funikura!"
Raising the wriggling staff, she pictured a flame bird on her fingertips.
That was the preparation to release again the "Phoenix Moon Seal" that had wrapped Elina in flames at the start of the match.
"T-This will be the end! P-Prepare yourself!"
Towards the triumphing Elina, Nyx released the fireball she had pictured.
***
"Naive. So very naive."
[Her firing a spell was predictable. It's not difficult to avoid a direct hit.]
Elina dodged the phoenix, as it flew scattering sparks, and whispered at Nyx with a thin smile.
"So you're being used by your staff? Ah right, judging from the way you fell into disarray just now, it must mean the staff is your master. What a pity, despite having such a sexy figure, you can't get a human partner."
"It-It's not like that!"
Nyx hurriedly held down her chest.
"Oh my? That red dress did mislead me, but your body... Fufufu, excuse me."
"W-What the heck do you mean?"
Nyx asked, her face bright red.
[Gotcha.]
Just with that, she'd be able to drive a wedge into her opponent's mind.
"Should I tell you?"
Elina stood in front of Nyx, an arrogant attitude as if she had the upper hand oozing from her.
"Though you might be okay now, your body will surely sag down. I guarantee it."
"D-Don't guarantee t-these kinds of things!"
The magician's eyes became watery, as she searched for the right time to get away from Elina.
"You depend on magic and don't exercise your body. It's a safe bet gravity will catch up to you."
Elina added to make doubly sure. What would sag? What would lose to gravity? By audaciously using vague words, Elina was able to inflict a wound on Nyx' heart.
Her Cursing Words were that fearsome.
"U-Uwaaaaaaah!!"
Having now become desperate, Nyx took out the staff and rushed forth, closing the distance.
It'd be a deadly charge. However, Nyx was a witch after all, she had none of the sharpness the beautiful fighters Elina had faced so far possessed.
"You're third-rate."
Elina moved her left hand a bit down, and reached for the spear she had dropped a while back.
"A-As if I'll let you pick it up!"
Nyx fired her flame bullets between Elina and her spear.
"Hyaah!"
Though she pulled her hand back and avoided the bullets, the shock waves they generated pushed the spear farther away.
However, Elina wouldn't give up. As she tried to run off toward the spear, Nyx threw a kick at her feet.
The blonde jumped quickly, dodging her by the tip of the toe. Had it not been for her outstanding martial arts training, she'd be down by now.
"Oh my, you have surprisingly long legs. I never expected that."
Elina muttered so in a tone as if she had time to spare, and giving a sidelong glance to her opponent, she returned to her original action of retrieving the spear.
"Like I'll let you!"
In a flash, Nyx' leg bent like a whip and approached Elina.
"So slow!"
Making full use of her athletic abilities, Elina jumped into the air, past the consecutive kicks.
"Like I thought, magic aside, you're third rate. Deal with it!"
Twisting her body to ace her landing, Elina ridiculed her opponent as the latter lost her balance and awkwardly fell on her side.
***
"T-Third rate..."
Nyx bit her lips in frustration. Those as poor as her could never afford to learn martial arts as a hobby like the nobles.
They spent their days working to earn their living expenses. In order to obtain the food for each day, from morning till night...
Nyx's head was almost crushed by chagrin and sadness. To scold her for that, Funikura wrung her neck.
"Guhah!"
Nearly suffocating, the gasp that escaped her lips brought Nyx back to consciousness.
[That's right. This isn't over yet.]
"T-Thank you very much. Lord Funikura, you truly opened my eyes."
While still writhing due to Funikura's tentacles crawling around her body, Nyx clenched her fist.
A lump of hot flame arose, aiming at one point. The point Elina landed at with a smile of self-sufficiency, as she reached for the spear.
***
[Did the Cursing Words work?]
Nyx had sat down, biting her lips.
[I can probably finish this easily. Once the battle is over, I'll have her take responsibility for burning down the village. I have the duty to protect the Earldom, after all.]
"Whatever your reasons were, your actions were those of a villain, Nyx."
With the spear now in her hand, Elina looked back.
And that's when she saw.
A bright red flame in the shape of a bird.
"W-Why..."
Elina realized her defeat as she was enveloped in the flames that burnt her body.
***
"My name is the Mistress of Flames Nyx, s-she who wields fire magic..."
An ecstatic expression in her face, Nyx looked down on the fallen Elina, who didn't move anymore.
"I ain't a villain. M-Make sure you remember!"
Thrusting her thumb downwards, she spoke sharply.
"Winner, Mistress of Flames Nyx."
The referee's image seemed to react to her voice, and settled on the winner of the preliminary.
And then, it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared in the first place.
"I won... against Elina Vance, Captain of the Royal Guard..."
Grabbing the crystal ball that returned to her hand, Nyx gave a sigh of relief.
"But..."
Elina's body wouldn't budge an inch.
"Huh... Can't be..."
[Did she die? No matter how much of a grudge I have against this nemesis of mine, it'll leave a bad aftertaste if I kill her.]
Since she aspired to justice, there would be no meaning to it if she didn't keep her alive and make her mend her ways.
The moment she reached out to check if Elina was alive or not, Funikura's tentacles clung to her body.
"A... au..."
As she held the crystal ball, a dark shadow ran across Nyx' face.
Funikura still wasn't done fighting. Yet, the battle was over.
"You mustn't, Lord Funikura... The fight just ended..."
*Squeeze*, Funikura used its tentacles to strangle her thin neck.
"Afu... fuguh..."
Her consciousness was vanishing.
The power Funikura granted her was mighty. Enough to make her, originally a mere citizen, into a renowned wizard, the Master of Flame.
However, Nyx had lost many things in return. She had to submit to Funikura's orders even when they went against her will.
"I understand. Lord Funikura..."
A single tear fell from Nyx' eyes. In order to obey Funikura, she held up her hand toward the fallen Elina.
"Your noble blood... will act as kindling to the fire..."
***
[This is bad!]
The preliminary battle was over, and while Elina hadn't even tried to stand up, Nyx was now holding her staff and bringing a flame forth.
Irma understood that the fight hadn't ended yet, and started running at once, knives in hand.
The point she was aiming at, was the red eye of the staff Nyx was holding.
"A-An intruder?!"
The magician noticed her approach, and turned her blazing fingertip towards her.
The moment she saw the mass of flame being condensed into her fingertip, Irma immediately moved away from the line of fire.
Seeing Nyx' previous battle with Elina was more than enough for Irma to figure how the Master of Flame fought.
[Her magic is powerful, but it's useless if it doesn't hit.]
The bullet flame grazed past Irma's side. And, Nyx couldn't cast magic continuously. That would give Irma time enough to carry on her rescue.
"Tsk! W-What a quick gal!"
Marveling at Irma's fluid movements, Nyx still heaved a sigh of relief deep inside her heart.
[If she escapes along with Elina, this will end with no need for murder.]
Irma remained silent, and threw the knife in her hand.
*Stab!*
As she intended, the knife pierced Funikura's pupil.
"N-Nooooooooooh!"
Nyx screamed, seeing Irma's attack.
[To think she'd aim directly at Funikura!]
"H-How, how dare you!"
[If I lose my magic staff Funikura, I'll become just a helpless woman, as I used to be.]
Irma ignored her, and with Elina now in tow, ran away as fast as she could.
***
Without sparing a single glance towards the fleeing Irma, Nyx reached for the knife stuck in Funikura.
"Uh... kuuh..."
Feeling the pain its rampaging tentacles caused, the magician let out a groan.
"I'll... pull it out now."
After a painful exhalation, Nyx drew the knife out.
The waves transmitted from her staff changed her pain into anger, and the tentacles tightening her body began to wriggle impudently to torment her.
As she trembled before the horror of the feelers infringing upon her body, the girl entrusted her everything to Funikura.
Since she couldn't leave the staff and all the magic power it supplied her, she had to endure all it did to her.
Funikura granted magic power to Nyx, she supplied it with vitality. Such a bond was the relationship between the two.
***
A few days later...
Elina returned to her mansion in the Earl Vance's territory.
"I failed..."
As her body sank in the bath with selected herbal extracts, Elina regretted her carelessness.
Against a magician opponent, one had to fight taking the proper measures.
Because of her burns' treatment, she now had to spend her days soaked in medicine baths.
[I hope the burns heal quickly, I have to resume my mission…]
Though she was hastening her recovery, that wasn't helping her actual confinement much.
Fortunately, her not disliking baths made the experience tolerable, but even so, she was starting to be fed up with the smell of grassy herbs.
"After that, what happened to Nyx?"
She tried asking Irma, who was beside the bathtub, preparing a new change of clothes.
It was only her who was there at the time.
"She walked away in silence."
"Hmm..."
"Nyx's strength laid in her staff. She wasn't strong herself."
"Still, a loss is a loss."
Pouting as if sulking, Elina buried her face in the bathtub.
"I prepared new clothes. If you have new orders, please call."
Irma bowed, and left the room.
[She's lying.]
Elina hadn't been able to move, but she hadn't fainted.
She knew that Irma had thrown a knife, restraining Nyx, and had rescued her.
[Why would she lie to me...?]
The skill to drive a carriage, the agility to dodge Nyx' magic, the dexterity to throw a knife while running and still managing a perfect hit; just any one of those would be difficult to learn at Irma's age.
"I wonder if this was Father's suggestion."
If so, wherever she went, she couldn't escape her father's grasp. Elina felt like she could sympathize a little with her older sister running away, seeking freedom.
Irma's Diary, Part 4
The combat capabilities of Elina, Captain of the Royal Guard, can be summed up in one word: dreadful.
In particular, her jumping ability and sense of balance, taking advantage of the physical ability she was blessed with, makes her capable of aerial combat the likes of which you can't see anywhere.
In fact, she broke through the garrison of the Queen's Army's 10th Corps with these skills alone, a feat still sending ripples through the Earl's territory.
From all this, it is possible to infer that the secret technique of the so-called Master Swordswoman wasn't just a simple skill, but some sort of tactic.
I heard rumors that the daughter of the Earl Vance equaled a whole army by herself, but after seeing the real thing in action, now I couldn't be more sure.
However, it's also a fact that she tends to be overconfident in her strength.
After we returned, we encountered the "Master of Flame Nyx" and she met with an unexpected defeat.
If I hadn't helped her, Elina would probably have lost her life at the hands of Nyx, after the latter went berserk.
What's the secret of the Master Swordswoman? It wasn't a good idea to lose Elina while I don't have a clear answer.
Also, judging from Earl Vance's temper, if I'm working under Elina and I don't save her, he'd either fire me or dispose of me some other way. If that happened, I'd have no way of carrying out my original mission.
It is for the reasons explained above that I helped Elina, it wasn't because of some misguided attempts at friendship.
Now that we're back in the Earl Castle, I'm able to visit the cat garden that I sought after for so long. It's very pleasant.
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