#351
Why now…?
Enemy attack.
Just as my words hit the air, the internal temperature of the bathroom suddenly dropped chillingly.
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. Did you just say enemy attack?”
“Ha-wa-wa-wa-wa…”
Aris asked with a serious expression.
Evangeline, flustered, covered her mouth with her hands.
Seeing the two girls, I nodded.
“Yes. I just sensed hostile magical energy aimed at the lodge. Also, Aris, wasn’t it strange from the beginning? Getting stranded on a well-maintained ski resort’s night course? It didn’t make any sense at all.”
“Indeed, getting stranded on a ski course is quite impossible. I thought it was just my oversight, but now that I think about it, it was definitely suspicious…”
Aris finally nodded after I pointed out the flaw.
“Ha-wa-wa-wa. That’s right! Besides, this doesn’t even seem like it’s near the ski resort…”
Clenching her fists, Evangeline spoke.
“I’ll trust Mr. Kim Deok-Sung’s words. After all, I’m your senior.”
Tch.
Aris placed her hand on her chest, which was wrapped in her underwear.
She smiled lightly.
Well, it seems like they really believe me thoroughly, huh?!
“But what about the wet underwear…?”
Evangeline said with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
All the ski jackets were dry, but the underwear was damp.
And where would I even find a dryer to completely dry it right now?
There’s no way I’d fight Diego Morales completely naked.
Should I just take off the underwear and wear the clothes over my bare skin?
Just when I was thinking that.
“I’ll take care of that.”
Pachut-chut.
As a silver spherical lightning sparkled at the tip of Aris’s finger.
“Lightning Form!”
Pachut-chut-chut-chut-chut!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah! Haah! Huh!”
With the name of her skill, the silver sphere of lightning Aris created struck directly at Evangeline.
As the silver lightning coursed through her body, the heat dried her damp underwear and body in an instant.
“Huuh… Haaah… President Saionji… That was truly an amazing skill… Haaaah…”
“Ugh… Haaah…”
Thud.
Evangelin, with her face and whole body flushed red, lets out a strange scream as she crosses her trembling arms to cover her ample chest.
Her slender eyelashes flutter.
Why in the world is she acting like that?
“It’s a conceptual lightning that adjusts the current and voltage to only burn off moisture without harming the body. With this, we can dry not just your underwear, but even your wet body in an instant.”
Aris explains with just the right mix of scientific terms, sounding like a light novel.
Being a humanities major, I can’t tell if the science she’s talking about is right or wrong, but in a light novel world, scientific terms are more like library props that lend themselves to names and motifs for flashy explosions and steam blasts.
Anyway, if she dried it with her superpower, I guess that makes sense.
Wait, she said it dried instantly.
“Aris, if that’s the case, then I didn’t need to dry my ski jacket in front of the fireplace earlier, right…?”
“Ahem. At that time, I wasn’t in good condition, so it was impossible to fine-tune the conceptual lightning. If I had, it could have accidentally burned all your clothes, so I chose not to use it. Now, I’m in a better condition thanks to a warm bath, which makes it possible.”
Before I can finish my sentence, Aris cuts me off, her face red as she quickly rattles off her excuses like a rapid-fire rap.
It seems unlikely no matter how I look at it.
When Aris catches my skeptical gaze, she averts her eyes.
Her silver pupils tremble.
“Ah, anyway, if I say so, then it’s true! Mr. Kim Deok-Sung! Do you not believe me?!”
She puffs her chest up in protest, placing her hand over it.
It’s not that I don’t believe her, but given the current situation, I can hardly be picky.
It’s more efficient to just let it slide.
Thinking this, I nod.
“Alright then. I believe you, Aris.”
“…Ugh…”
Aris’s face turns even redder upon hearing my reply.
Her cheeks quiver.
“Ah, I understand. Thank you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. For believing in me.”
Aris bows her head deeply.
As expected of someone who can’t lie well, it’s obvious on her face.
She was like this in the original too.
But there’s no reason to nitpick now, and above all, it’s cute, so it doesn’t matter.
Just as I was about to say something.
“Haha, hawa wa wa… That’s right… Hoohoo. President Saionji, could you shoot another round of conceptual lightning at the girl? That electrifying sensation is just too overwhelming…”
Evangelin, trembling beside us, suddenly grabs Aris’s arm and says.
What’s with her now?
“That’s not allowed, Miss Stewart. You only get one chance. Now, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, are you ready?”
Pachutsutsutsuch!
A spherical lightning reappears on Aris’s hand.
Is this really okay?
Looking at Evangelin, I feel a bit scared.
Just as I was thinking that.
“Conceptual lightning!”
With Aris shouting the name of her skill, the silver spherical lightning wraps around my body.
Pachutsutsutsutsuch!
Tzutzutzutzutzutzutu!
Silver sparks dance over my body.
With a tingling sensation of static, the dampness on my skin dries up in an instant.
The experience of drying faster than a dryer is rare indeed.
I was worried I might end up like Evangelin, but that was a non-issue.
It turns out Evangelin was the odd one here.
A warm bath and my dry body feel just lovely.
“Alright, our next target is Miss Trixie.”
Aris’s gaze turns towards Beatrice.
“Eeek! Lightning?! Bu-but I’m a Saintess of the Scarlet Flame; if I touch lightning, I’ll just…”
“Conceived Lightning!”
Despite Beatrice’s terrified rambling, Aris mercilessly unleashed the lightning.
Sparks crackled!
A silver spark flew by, and Beatrice trembled and collapsed in a heap.
It wasn’t until Aris herself got drenched in conceived lightning that the drying operations were finally complete.
“Now we just need to put on our clothes and switch to combat mode.”
“Let’s do that, senpai.”
Nodding at Aris’s words, I stepped out of the bathroom with Aris, Beatrice, and Evangelin, wearing the clothes and ski parka sprawled out in front of the fireplace.
Then, I drew Durandal and immediately activated combat mode.
[Durandal Online]
Flash.
With a black flash, full-arm gloves equip on my body.
Thump, thump.
The black stone on my chest resonates with the Magic Core, drawing out magical energy.
The rising mana flows through the mana circuits, supplying the full-arm gloves and the legendary weapon.
A vortex whirls around my chest, and the sealed Black Prince awakens from a long slumber, speaking into my mind.
[Oh, partner. Long time no see. You sensed it too, didn’t you?]
“Yeah.”
Just as the Black Prince said.
Now, even anyone could feel the thick, malevolent mana taking over the cabin.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Just then, as Aris, Evangelin, and Beatrice finished switching to combat mode.
[The World Where Souls Frolic]
【Hell of Niflheim】
Words of incantation inscribe themselves in the swirling snowy world.
Alongside that, the cabin is swept away by a massive mana shockwave, shattering into pieces.
Sparks crackled!
As the mental projection incantation unfolds, the scenery of the world transforms.
The blizzard suddenly fades, replaced by a sky filled with an enigmatic mix of black, white, and gray clouds.
Below, waters flood up to my ankles.
The surface reflects the chaotic sky’s image.
Shadows begin to emerge beneath the surface, rapidly filling the entire world.
Under the dark clouds, a small boat floats above a place where only a faint sun shines.
An old man appears on it.
“…It’s been so long.”
Clad in white priestly robes, leaning on a staff, the old man radiates formidable gray mana as he smiles benevolently.
Flash.
The faint sunlight brilliantly illuminates him.
The old man, resembling a deity ruling the afterlife, turns his gaze this way.
“Saintess. Your loyal servant Diego Morales has come to serve you.”
“Your faithful servant, Diego Morales, has come to attend to you.”
Diego Morales.
The guy has finally made his entrance.
*
At that moment, Diego Morales was facing off against Kim Deok-Sung and company inside the magical barrier.
“······.”
The figure in the robe, Undertaker, began to stride toward Dokta Shinahel, who was maintaining the barrier.
Pitter-patter.
Footprints were left in the white snow.
Undertaker gritted her teeth.
Her role in this operation was to spring into action when Diego Morales pretended to be overwhelmed in battle, jump into the barrier, turn the tide of the fight, and help Diego completely take care of Kim Deok-Sung and his group as the wild card.
Meanwhile, Dokta Shinahel was tasked with blocking external support through the barrier, isolating Kim Deok-Sung’s group from the outside world.
But Dokta Shinahel couldn’t move while maintaining his world-class barrier.
Because of that drawback, his current location was a makeshift workshop that nobody could find—a secret hideout.
Of course, Undertaker, being on the same team, knew exactly where it was.
“······Open Sesame.”
As Undertaker shouted on the white snow, the magical formation reacted to her voice and illuminated.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
With a thunderous noise, the ground opened up to reveal Dokta Shinahel’s makeshift workshop, filled with all sorts of magical traps and defense mechanisms.
Undertaker entered the underground workshop without any interference.
Bam.
The door to the workshop slammed shut.
Inside the workshop.
There he was, on a massive magical barrier drawn on the floor, glowing green.
A dangerous EX-rank villain wearing a doctor’s mask with a bird-like beak.
Dokta Shinahel.
Seeing him maintain the barrier, Undertaker swallowed hard.
“Oh? It’s Undertaker. Not time for deployment yet, huh?”
Dokta Shinahel asked nonchalantly.
Undertaker gritted her teeth at the sight of him.
Just recently, during Christmas, she had finally learned the truth from ten years ago.
Messiah had deceived her, and Diego Morales was the very enemy of the brother she had been searching for.
Therefore, each moment she participated in today’s operation was agony for her.
But playing poker face was what Undertaker was best at.
So she hid her emotions and desire for revenge, keeping the company of them and waiting.
Only for this moment.
As she observed Dokta Shinahel chatting calmly, Undertaker’s hand trembled slightly.
Voom.
Her avatar weapon, the Orb of Necronomicon, began collecting ivory-colored mana and scattering it.
As powerful mana focused on the orb, Dokta Shinahel’s eyes behind the mask flickered for a moment.
“Now… it’s all over. Die. Enemy. Teddy-chan!!”
With Undertaker’s shout, a massive teddy bear emerged from her shadow and lunged toward Dokta Shinahel with its enormous paws.
Kaboom!
The makeshift workshop shook with a thunderous roar.
The moment the battle was about to begin in earnest.
