Telling her that we would tackle this challenge together . And lastly, to check if sheâs anxious .
But thereâs no trace of fear on her face as she looked back at me .
Thus I promptly tried to use ăa.n.a.lyzeă on those blood-red monsters .
[Roxy, I leave the monsters to you . ]
[Yes . ]
The arrangement was similar to when we fought the giant scorpion . Unfortunately, both Snow and Shinn belonged to Area E .
Itâd be too heavy of a load for Roxy .
Next, I called out to Eris, who was standing back to back to me .
[Can you keep Shinn busy?]
[Of course I can! That means Fate will take on Snow, right?]
[Yeah, I need to snap Snow out of it . ]
[Iâm looking forward to it . Until then, Iâll try buying as much time as possible . ]
Giving me a wink as she said so, Eris laughed .
[Then, what if you get beaten instead?]
[Eeee! Iâm not that weak though~]
Replying to me with a sweet voice as she spun the black bayonet around, Eris proceeded to shoot at Shinnâs offshoots . The blood red liquid that stretched out like tentacles bursted one after another .
Looking at this, her training seemed to have shown some results .
[Donât get careless . ]
[No using the magic eyes as well?]
[Considering the risk, Iâd rather you donât use it . ]
[Ahaha, maybe I shouldnât have told you the risk . ]
[Perhaps . ]
With that, all three of us started moving at the same time .
Me vs Snow . Eris vs Shinn . While Roxy would act as our support .
Thereâs no other options .
[Snoooooow!]
I swung my black sword, which Snow blocked with her bare arms .
There seemed to be some sort of barrier encasing her body, one that the black sword couldnât break through .
It reminded me of that barrier the giant scorpion employed .
Snow didnât respond to my call as well .
ăFate! Itâs like back when we fought her in the desert . ă
[That⊠. I thought so . ]
ăRight . No other choice . That time too, we managed to pull her out of her rampage by knocking her out . ă
[This time Iâm not so sure sheâll remain the same when she wakes up again, whatâs with Libraâs influence and all . ]
ăThatâs beside the point . First of all you need to do what you have to do . ă
When fighting the giant scorpion back then, we were able to calm Snow down with Dadâs help⊠.
But this time I had to do it alone .
ăThat barrier is in the way . Letâs go with the scythe form . ă
Changing the black sword into the scythe form, I waited for the right time when Snow was charging at me again .
Now!
I attempted to cut through the barrierâŠ
[Wha!?]
Snow suddenly stopped her advance, opting to avoid me instead .
She should be in the midst of rampage and unable to think properly . So why?
ăPerhaps she instinctively sensed danger . ă
[What the⊠. . thatâs troublesome . ]
She avoided my attack out of her instinct and reflexes . Moreover, she was able to read my movement accurately, making me miss all the time .
ăSheâs not an enemy to be trifled with . Are you still intending to fight her half-heartedly?ă
[Even so, I donât want to hurt Snow . ]
I could hear Greed sighed in defeat . But then he laughed heartily .
ăWell said . Then, give it a try . Show me how youâll do itïŒă
[Yeah, Iâll do it . ]
I held the black scythe firmly .
And then closed my eyes .
If I keep relying on my eyes, good chance that I wonât be able to hit her at all .
Therefore, I need to predict Snowâs movement by sensing the flow of her magic power . Aaron taught me how, and Iâve been practicing this for quite a while now .
Just like Eris who secretly trained on her own, Iâd also been doing my best .
Actually itâs only recently I managed to hit anything during the training⊠but for the sake of Roxy who willingly became my practice partner, I will demonstrate it to my best here .
Also⊠. I still remember what I said to Dad back when we met in the desert . And Greed who witnessed the whole thing certainly knew me well .
ăYou⊠. . you are still bothered by what you said to your dad back then, arenât you?ă
[I said it to Dad, that I will take responsibility for Snow . ]
ăI thought youâve grown up a little . But youâre still a boy after all . ă
I really couldnât refute that .
No matter what happened between us, heâs after all⊠. still my Dad .
Even if he stole the philosopherâs stone, and even kidnapped RaineâŠ
Even if he was a Zodiac Knight just like LibraâŠ
But what actually happened between him and Snow, to the point that he was willing to kill her�
I leaped from one building to another, trying to chase after Snow who had glided away .
[Snow!]
Sheâs way too fast⊠but I was able to keep up by predicting her movement path via sensing her magic power .
I would not miss my attack this time .
Steel your heart, keep your calm . Aaron also taught me that .
When I swung the black scythe, it was aimed at where I predicted Snow would move to .
Opening my eyes again, there was Snow . Her barrier was undone by the scythe .
[Yosh . ]
ăNot half badïŒă
However, the real fight had only just begun .
At last I reached a spot where I could reach Snow .
Reverting back to the black sword form, Gread spoke to me as I returned him to the sheath .
ăAre you sure you can make do without this me?ă
[Yeah, âcause bare fist is the best way to convey feelings . ]
ăThatâs Aaronâs favorite line . ă
[Thatâs right!]
Now that the barrier was gone, I could use my bare hands against Snow .
While being wary of her chops and kicks, I tried to find an openingâŠ
Once, her heavy kick struck my head . My vision blurred, feeling like I almost fainted as the attack sent ripples throughout my body .
ăFate! You really sure you donât need this Me?ă
[I said it already, didnât I?]
Greedâs call kept me awake, so I resumed my pursuit .
Yosh, here goes .
After some struggling I managed to hold both of Snowâs hands down as well as taking her back to the ground . The problem was we landed in the midst of those blood red monsters .
[What a good place to landâŠ]
The monsters instantly went to attack me⊠. and at the same time, Snow too .
They shouldnât be able to hurt us due to their inferior stats . But then, after seeing their fangs and claws, I was quickly reminded of something .
The monsters called the nightwalker . Turned crazy and controlled by Shinnâs blood, unable to die, and only driven by the desire to increase their number by infecting other living beings through bites .
What didnât make sense was that these creatureâs bite could go through Area E protection . According to Greed, itâs because of Shinnâs power .
Theyâre now opening their maw wide, trying to get a bite on me and Snow .
[Kuh . ]
I had to release my restraining hold on Snow to draw my black sword .
While I was thinking so, the red monsters were already upon us .
Thereâs no time to hesitate .
Hopefully I made it in timeâŠ
[Fai!]
While I still hesitated, that voice calling out to me brought me back to reality .
The sacred light of the ăGrand Crossă shone forth from the ground beneath me, preventing the monsters from reaching me .
[Roxy! This isâŠ]
I couldnât hide my surprise . Thatâs because the holy light burned away the blood red monsters very easily .
These monsters were at least very strong under Area E . And yet, Roxy decimated them in but a moment .
[I also do not know why . Maybe the attack is their counter?]
[In that case, please help Eris . ]
[Yes . ]
Roxy herself didnât know why she could⊠. But it may prove to be useful in the fight against Shinn . In this regard, she might even surpa.s.s the limitation of the status .
While I felt happy that Roxy could contribute more now, I once again confronted Snow .
[I wonât let you off . ]
[⊠. . Guhhhhh . ]
Itâs a bit of a struggle, but I managed to keep her pinned on the ground .
[Stop rampaging . Snap out of it, Snow!]
She didnât seem to listen to me, but even if I knew that, I kept calling her name .
As we struggled against each other, Snow lashed out and managed to bite into my neck .
[OowwâŠughâŠ]
At that moment, ăMind Readingă suddenly activated .
Iâve often been in direct contact with Snow since she joined our little group, but the skill never activated before . I began to suspect that, just like Myne, she had something that prevents mind reading from working on her .
So the fact that the skill successfully activated surprised me .
Snowâs hazy memories flew into my mind .
Among those, only one scene was reflected very clearly .
In that memory, Snow looked more mature than she is now . Her body was ragged and tattered with wounds .
Sheâs obviously heavily wounded; copious amounts of blood seeped to the ground with each step she took .
She was walking alone in the middle of a dense forest .
She finally reached her limit, collapsing near a cliffside .
The scene blurred for a while⊠Before being replaced by her opening her eyes to the sight of a boy .
ïŒThatâs⊠. . no way⊠. . ïŒ
Thatâs impossible . I actually met Snow when I was still a child!?
This gotta be wrong! Otherwise, how come I had no recollection of meeting her?
If I met someone with such a grievous wound, I shouldâve remembered very clearly .
And yetâŠas I recalled, I remember nothing about meeting Snow . Is this perhaps the memory that Libra mentioned before?
However, is there any benefit for Libra to fabricate such a memory?
Then was it truly Snowâs memory?
Whilst thinking so, the scene continued to play in my head .
[Are you alright?]
The boy asked Snow, but she didnât reply . Well, I guess itâs only natural .
She was too injured to utter a word .
The boy finally realized whatâs going on, and started to look as if he was panicking . That gestures⊠Was it truly me after all?
Snow tried to move away by wringing out the last of her strength, but the boy didnât let her .
[Youâre injured, so you shouldnât move too much . I have these herbs I gathered for my dad, but I think you need it more urgently than him . ]
[⊠. . ]
Snow remained silent . But the boy wasnât fazed by that .
He only knew that Snow wasnât doing well from her expressions .
[Sorry . Iâm not really good at this just yet . Dad always gets hurt, so I at least want to get better at treating wounds . ]
The boy covered his mouth with his hand upon looking at the wounds under Snowâs clothes . But with a determined face, he proceeded with the treatment silently .
Rinsing the wound with water from the bottle he brought, apply the herbs, then cover it with the cloth he tore from his own shirt .
[Un, this should do . Iâm sorry, elder sister . I can only do this much . ]
The mind reading stopped working at that point .
The reason being Snow now powerlessly slumped in my arms . Even when I tapped on her cheek, she made no response .
ăShe seemed to have fainted . What a troublesome girl . Whatâs wrong, Fate?ă
[âŠâŠno, itâs nothing]
I wasnât sure yet whether that memory was true or not .
But itâs not the time and place to feel upset . I decided to put aside the matter regarding my meeting with Snow in the past .
[In any case, this isnât Snowâs fault . The real cause isâŠ]
ăThat guy, Libra . That man has always been like that . Never to dirty his own hands whenever he could . ă
[When this is over, promise me that youâll tell me everything about the past, okay?]
ăFine . But for now, focus on the fight . Look, Eris is having trouble there . ă
Following Greedâs warning, I turned to look at how Eris and Shinnâs fighting was going .
Certainly, Eris was under pressure .
After all, sheâs fighting against numerous Shinns on her own .
[Roxy, please look after Snow . ]
[Alright . ]
She mustâve been worried about Snow . Just as I called for her, I saw her decimating numerous blood-red monsters with the holy light from her attack to open the path towards us .
[Is it working?]
[I guess? Somehow, it felt like she wasnât actually trying to kill me . ]
[Of course . Snow-chan would not go that far . ]
Her optimism mysteriously convinced me the same . Unlike me, Roxy believed from the start that we would be able to reach out to Snow .
Patting the head of the still unconscious Snow, I got up and drew out my sword .
[From here on out, things will get more serious . Roxy should take Snow outside .
[⊠. . understood]
She looked somewhat disappointed .
When people belonging to Area E fight, itâll be too dangerous for Roxy to stay around .
She believed that sheâd eventually break through to that realm by forging a bond with me . But itâs not that simple .
After all, I was the one who deliberately put our relationship on hold .
I thought so as I looked at Roxyâs back as she left .
ăAgain with the selfish thought . ă
[You got it wrong, I was thinking about Aaron . ]
ăYou just donât want her to get involved with the mortal sin skill, do you?ă
Aaron was a gentle and caring person . Iâm always grateful at the fact that heâs willing to help and trust me . But that aside, I also felt bothered by how significant the mortal sin skill had affected his life .
If only he didnât bond with me, his life wouldâve been more peaceful perhaps .
Imagining such a possibilityâŠ
Made me unwilling to let Roxy cross that line . Thatâs what I thought .
ăLet me tell you this again . ă
[What is it?]
ăShe would never give up . You should already know that better than anyone else . ă
I know . Iâm scared exactly because I know that .
ăNow then, letâs go, FateïŒă
With Greedâs strong urging as the signal, I joined Eris in battling Shinn .
Firstly, I cut down Shinnâs body that was about to strike at Eris .
Even when I split his body in two, I knew heâs far from being defeated . Because I didnât hear any announcement about stat increase .
[Youâre slow~ . If you come a little bit later, I wouldâve been in grave danger . ]
[My bad⊠It took longer than I thought it would be . But where does the confidence you showed me earlier go to?]
[I think itâs obvious to see . ]
No matter where I looked, there would be a Shinn there . Not to mention the blood-red monsters .
Itâs like fighting against an army alone .
Putting our backs close to each other, we struck down the incoming Shinns one by one .
[Here I thought Eris would be able to make do after all that trainings you mentioned . ]
[There is no way I could do that without relying on my magic eyes . ]
[Then I guess itâs my fault . Joke aside, I think itâs meaningless we canât find Shinnâs main body . ]
[Exactly!]
Eris nodded after shooting one of the Shinns in between the eyebrows .
[These fellows are connected to Shinn who is somewhere in the underground . Theyâre just puppets . Thereâs really no point in killing them . ]
I was kinda amazed at her lack of tension as she said all that . I guess itâs true that our emotions gradually turn dull after living for a very long time .
Now that I think about it⊠Myne also had something similar . In her case, itâs her sense of taste .
[Somewhere in the underground you said� Can you trace his magic power to find his location?]
[I canât . Especially not in this situation . Do you think those creatures will stand still and let me be?]
Originally, Shinn was slumbering thanks to his fragmented body being scattered all over the continent . Philosopherâs stone was what humans at large called some of these fragments .
Because it took the form of a mineral instead of a living being .
Perhaps right now, he has changed shape and is controlling the offshoots and monsters from a safe place .
[Heâs hogging all the huge advantages as much as possible, isnât he?]
[Ahahaha, I guess heâs scared of us . ]
[Nn? What do you mean by that?]
[I mean heâs scared of you . To be exact, the holder of Gluttony skill . Shinn had challenged the previous holder over and over again . This is probably what he came up with to not be defeated again . ]
Eris explained all that with a combination of giddiness and pride .
[So I wonder what will Fate do now?]
[Isnât that obvious? Iâll just have to do it like the previous holder did then . ]
[How reliable . In that case, I need to do my best too . ]
[Oii]
Erisâ eyes visible glow faintly . The tell tale sign of her activating the magic eyes .
[No worries, this one only burdens me ever so slightly . ButâŠ]
[I get it . This fight shouldnât drag on longer than necessary . ]
[Thatâs right! Iâll be counting on you to keep me safe . ]
Eris began to run north .
Apparently sheâs unable to fight while focusing on using the magic eyes .
So I just have to swing my sword to pave a safe path for her .