In the World of Midgar 119 — The Vampire Capital Mjolnir (8)

꒰ঌ The Vampire Capital Mjolnir 8

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The silver arrow with the potential to destroy Midgar itself raced towards the ground. While watching it happen, Ruby prepared her next move so it could be executed at a moment's notice. It was true that she didn't care whether or not the arrow destroyed Midgar, but at the same time, Ruby was also sure that it wouldn't happen. After all, Lucifen had Lifthrasir, which could cut through magic.

If it were in the hands of someone normal, they wouldn't be able to cut through the arrow; it was too big. However, Lucifen was anything but normal — she was Ouzelia Lucifen. That was why Ruby was sure her spell would be cut to ribbons. Even so, she figured that cutting through such a large spell would at least give her an opening. If Lucifen knew this, she would still have no choice but to stop Ruby's spell. After all, the spell would destroy Midgar if she didn't. That moment would be Ruby's chance. Sure, Lucifen would probably only need but a moment to cut through the silver arrow, but that moment would become a chance extending several minutes for the Rose Princess, who had surpassed the limits of speed.

I can win. I can win as long as I aim for the moment where even Lucifen will be off-guard and attack with all my might!

However, Ruby's expectations were wrecked in the next moment. Unbelievably, the final trump card that she'd poured all her magic into was stopped right before it touched the ground. Lucifen stopped it with one hand, completely ruining any momentum it had.

"Wha—?! With one hand…?!"

"You can have this back."

Lucifen threw the arrow back, and Ruby dodged. The arrow, which had missed its target, exited the stratosphere and flew into space. It pierced through a distant planet, which was a little bigger than Midgar, completely pulverizing its core and causing it to explode.

Ruby was taken by surprise, and the roles of attacker and defender shifted, but in a way, she had been the one who'd originally shifted the roles in the first place. There was a single instant when Ruby froze. It was an unavoidable, unguarded moment created from her subconscious. She was defenseless. She wasn't frozen for even a tenth of a second in real time, but it was more than long enough for Lucifen to easily be able to finish her opponent.

However, Lucifen didn't attack. She went out of her way to ignore the opportunity. Was Lucifen taking it easy on her? Or was Lucifen just showing off how much leeway she had? Had she just let her guard down? No… It was none of those.

In order to show her respect, Lucifen was committed to beating Ruby utterly and completely, which meant not making use of unguarded moments to surprise the enemy. Lucifen was going to fight her head-on and beat her down with pure power. That was why she had let that moment go. When it came to Ruby, Lucifen wanted no part in any boring victory gained by taking advantage of surprise.

Lucifen's expression twisted belligerently, her scarlet eyes shining like fire.

"Ruby, We shall show you transmutation using mana. Be happy… This next skill is still in its testing stages. We haven't shown it to anyone else yet."

Alchemy usually occurred using physical materials as a medium, and it was considered impossible to use magic itself as a material. To be more specific, alchemy using magic as a material was technically feasible, but it would quickly dissolve back into mana, so there was no point in it. This was considered common sense by all alchemists, and it was known to all who walked the path of alchemy.

But Lucifen now knew that wasn't true. Alchemy using mana as a material was possible, and examples of its success were littered all around the world. "Transmute: Howl of a Thousand Wolves!" Lucifen shouted.

The mana around her gathered and solidified, shaping itself into wolves. Then the pack of thousand wolves all rushed at Ruby.

Magic in the form of wolves? That's about right. Magic is defined as the solidification of mana, so this is undoubtedly magic. The fact that it took the form of wolves isn't especially surprising either. Birds and beasts often feature in magic spells. There are even several spells that imitate the human form. For example, the water spell Apsaras falls into that category.

But why is it like this? For some reason these things have their own wills and make decisions on their own while they attack. It's very different from the magic we use. This is way closer to the grimmfolk than traditional magic.

What Ruby still had to do hadn't changed, though. It's the same whether it's magic or grimmfolk. I just have to get rid of all of them!

"Don't think you'll be able to get me with just this!"

The silver streak moved left and right, ending one wolf after the other. Having been ripped apart and unable to maintain their form anymore, the wolves dissipated back to formless mana and returned to Lucifen. When all the wolves had been killed, the mana that they had been made of congealed together to form a single huge, gigantic wolf. It was no less than three hundred meters tall, a ruler of wolves that outsized even Fiona. It fixed Ruby with a stare as it bared its fangs.

"Transmute: God Eater — Fenrir." Lucifen smiled unsettlingly as the titanic wolf that seemed like it could even devour a god opened its mouth.

Then, it howled.

The wolf's howled could hardly be put into words. The sound itself became destructive energy and swallowed Ruby whole. The invisible and unavoidable shockwave was directional, and it continued to destroy the surface layer of Midgar as it traveled far off into the distance.

Ruby, who'd taken a direct hit from the attack, was badly wounded. Her entire body had been torn apart in an instant, and she was bleeding insanely heavily. The only reason why she hadn't lost any limbs despite this was because she was Ruby. Anyone else wouldn't even have had any bones left.

"Gah! Hagh… Hhh…"

Ruby had finally reached the end of her rope, and she fell to a knee. The beating of her heart was loud in her ears, her fingers were trembling, her vision was blurring, and she couldn't focus on anything. Ruby herself could tell.

Ah, I'm at my limit. At best, I can manage one more attack.

Ruby only had enough left in her for one last, all-out attack. After realizing that, she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Ah, this is the same. This is the same as back then.

The fight one thousand years ago had gone just like this. Ruby had been cornered to the point where she could only have managed one more attack, and she had been about to bet it all on a one-hit wonder. Back then, the battle had suffered some dumb interference, but this time, things were different.

Ruby focused all her remaining power into her right arm and fixed her enemy with a level gaze. "Let's go, Ouzel… It all ends with this last attack."

Ruby made sure to use the same lines she had one thousand years ago, and Lucifen, realizing that, replied in kind. "Yeah, you're right. Come, Ruby." Even her beckoning motion was the same, and to Ruby, that was both hateful and unbearably lovely.

Okay, the stage you've waited for all this time is right in front of you, Ruby. The continuation of that day is happening right now.

Ruby's face twisted into an expression of joy, and her silver eyes burned.

"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!"

This is the end, no matter the outcome!

Ruby, who was using even her life force as fuel, was truly a shooting star. Her actions were something that Lucifen had never seen the likes of in her several hundred years of life. She was the fastest she'd ever been, and shined the brightest as well, as she charged Lucifen head-on.

On the other side, Lucifen also charged straight in. She chose to employ no tricks and faced Ruby head-on, so in order to intercept the blow, Lucifen raised her right arm. Both of their arms crossed, and blood sprayed.

The one who was bleeding was… Lucifen.

Ruby's all-out attack had ripped open Lucifen's shoulder and scored a large wound. The wound wasn't exactly deep, but unfortunately, it wasn't shallow either. While the bleeding was showy, the wound itself hadn't reached bone, so Lucifen would be able to heal it quickly.

On the other hand, Lucifen's sword had gone right through Ruby's heart. The blade itself had become a stopper, so there wasn't much blood on the outside yet, but it was obvious the wound was fatal. This meant that, yes… The battle was over. Ruby hadn't been able to claim victory over Lucifen.

For a while, she was absentminded, but eventually Ruby realized her defeat and smiled self-deprecatingly. "So it didn't… reach…"

How vexing. Ruby felt this from the bottom of her heart. She was the first goal and rival I'd ever made in my life. But in the end, I was never able to surpass her, not even once. Right up until the end, I've only ever been chasing Ouzel's back.

Her arm slumped as the strength left her body.

There was a moment of silence before Lucifen said, "Are you satisfied, Ruby?"

Ruby could already no longer see, but somehow Lucifen's hateful voice came through to her clearly.

"Oh, whatever. Losing at the end is the worst. I don't want to give all this up yet."

She's asking if I'm satisfied now? Does she even want to show off how calm and composed she is? But Ouzel is just like that. There'd be no end to it if I got mad at every little thing.

"Ah… But… I feel like I've gotten a load off my chest. This isn't bad."

"Didn't you just say this was the worst?"

"Shut it."

Losing strength in her legs and unable to brace anymore, Ruby fell. Lucifen caught her. No longer having the strength to shake her off,

Ruby allowed herself to stay in Lucifen's arms.

Looks like this is it for me. I have lingering attachments, but I have no regrets. This fight is something I wanted, along with everything that comes after. With this fight, my wish has finally come true. While I'm not satisfied with the conclusion, I finally feel like I lived.

So… Yeah, this isn't terrible. It was only for a little while, but time has finally started to move forward for me. So even if this lasts only for a little bit… it'll be much more fulfilling than those one thousand years where everything had stopped.

"Ouzel… Did you know that this would happen?"

"Yeah. Didn't We tell you that We would be back?"

"Hmph… You fool… You made me wait too long." Even while verbally abusing Lucifen, Ruby never stopped smiling.

Underneath her eyelids, Ruby saw the forms of the people she had once somewhat approved of — she saw Erza, Jenny, Blake, and Celica, all people who'd left before her, as they'd once been.

Thinking back, those days weren't bad either. Those days where I stood with Ouzel and fought to conquer the world even while swearing a rematch… They were about the only people who would treat me, the feared Rose Princess, as a friend and an equal.

That was exactly why I couldn't forgive their betrayal, though. I couldn't help but be furious seeing how you all let yourselves fall. I don't regret not helping them. They deserved what they got. I won't apologize or reflect on my actions either. But… Yeah… Maybe it'd be all right to forgive them by now.

Ruby didn't hate them so much that the thought didn't pop up in her head.

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

"Hold me tighter… I'm starting to lose feeling."

Lucifen was quiet for a moment. "Okay, sure…"

Erza and the others left ahead of me, and now it's my turn. That's all there is to it. There's some kind of liquid in my mouth. It's probably just blood, though. I can't even taste it at this point. Ruby forced herself to swallow, and as she finally felt her consciousness slipping away, she was very aware that she was reaching the end.

"Ouzel, do you really think that you can change the world? This is the Goddess's playground… We're no different from the monsters in the arena. The Goddess just watches us struggle from on high. How're you even going to fight against someone like that?"

"We've gathered our hands. Everything's been going well so far. That Goddess is definitely making her own moves, but… Well, it shouldn't be a problem, since we're blessed with such good followers," Lucifen said as she thought of her subordinates.

They'll surely do well. Because she had such strong belief and trust, she allowed herself to be the plaything and jester of the Goddess and continued to dance to her tune. Though Lucifen had been shocked awake for the moment, she knew she'd go back to sleep soon. She would wander around like a sleepwalker, eyes closed, to get the Goddess to let her guard down.

"She is especially good… Sigyn will surely do great work."

"I don't recognize that name… Weren't there only thirteen people in your Twelve Zodiac's Guardians because of the twins?"

"There's a hidden thirteenth Guardian. She started working under our orders one thousand years ago… No, she came to us even before that. The reason We're here like this is entirely due to the fact that she's gotten ahead of the Goddess."

"So everything's going as planned, huh? That's annoying," Ruby muttered unhappily, but unlike what her words suggested, she felt relieved.

As I thought. The person I chose to be my rival really is terrifyingly amazing. She's an abominable woman who's even trying to outmatch the Goddess and make her dance in the palm of her hand.

But that was exactly why Ruby thought, Ah, it'll be fine… She won't lose to the Goddess. It makes me mad, but I just can't imagine her losing. That's good. Don't lose to anyone. Just be you… Be the absolute pillar of strength that I longed for. As long as you are, I'll be happy in the afterlife.

"More than that, you proved it during our fight, didn't you? You proved that the Goddess's plot isn't perfect, that people can overcome it. You were the one who showed it to us."

"Hmph…"

Ruby received Lucifen's praise coldly, but she wasn't unhappy about it. If anyone else had said it, she might have gotten angry, wondering why the hell this person was acting all high and mighty, but it was none other than her rival who had said it.

It's not a bad souvenir for the afterlife. A small amount of the pride she felt leaked into Ruby's words.

"Ouzel."

"Hmm?"

"Don't lose. If you're brought down by someone else after defeating me, I'll punch you flying, even if I have to come back from the afterlife to do it."

"You got it. Don't worry. We won't lose."

Lucifen's confident reply seemed to satisfy Ruby, and Lucifen could tell. After that, the two spent a few seconds in silence before Ruby opened her mouth once again.

"Hey, Ouzel."

"Yeah?"

"Did I… manage to become your rival? Your archenemy?"

"A foolish question. You're the only one to ever chase after us, trying to truly defeat us so wholeheartedly. You could also be said to be the one who understands us the most."

"I see…"

Ruby didn't give any sort of impression to Lucifen's reply, but somehow, Lucifen could tell she was happy about it. Then, after a few more seconds, Ruby spoke again.

"Hey, Ouzel?"

"Yeah?"

"You still there?"

"We'll be here until the end. Don't worry."

It seemed like Ruby's consciousness was finally fading, and her body had lost its feeling. The time for parting was close… Ruby felt that keenly. But dying in my rival's arms like this isn't too bad.

"Hey, Ouzel."

"Yeah?"

There was a long pause as Ruby gathered the strength to speak. "Thank you…"

Those were the last words she spoke. After that, Ruby went quiet and stopped moving.

Lucifen gently laid Ruby down and removed the sword that was still stuck in her chest before making her body whole with healing heaven-arts. The Rose Princess had a peaceful expression on her face; it bore a soft smile that she rarely showed to anyone. After gently stroking Ruby's hair, Lucifen was besieged with a thought: just as Ruby had had Lucifen as her goal, Lucifen had once had Ruby as her goal as well.

Back when Lucifen was still young and green, the Rose Princess was already well-known as humanity's strongest. She ruled along with the Dragon King, the Grimm King, and the Fauna Queen as the world's four pillars of absolute strength. At that time, Lucifen was still weak, and she wanted to become just like Ruby, who she had yet to even see. Lucifen wanted to become strong like the Rose Princess, strong enough to not be afraid of or lose to anything. She wished to become strong enough to reject all the unfairness in the world.

Ruby had thought she one-sidedly saw Lucifen as a rival, but that wasn't strictly true. Lucifen had seen Ruby as a rival first and made the Rose Princess's strength her goal.

"We should be the one thanking you. If it weren't for you, We would never have gotten this strong," Lucifen said, pausing before continuing. "Thank you, Ruby… Rest well…"

Done with her parting words, Lucifen raised her head. There she saw ten vampires who were probably Ruby's followers, and each one of them was far from ordinary.

Their levels are… The weakest is level 500. They probably survived the fight one thousand years ago. Thinking back on it, Lucifen realized that Ruby had challenged her alone one thousand years ago and hadn't taken part in the battle against the Grimm King, which meant that all the great warriors in her camp were still alive. Still, they were no match for Lucifen as she was now. If she wanted to, she could massacre them all in a blink of an eye.

"You're Lady Ouzelia Lucifen, correct?"

"Correct. And you all are Ruby's subordinates?"

"Not subordinates. Tools. Every single one of us has willingly offered ourselves up to her."

"So she was well-loved."

Seeing Ruby and her peaceful expression, the vampires all held their breath as they gently picked up her body. Then, they bowed deeply to Lucifen.

"We are grateful to you, Black Emperor. You kept your promise to our master."

"You don't hold a grudge…?"

"This is something our master wished for. Whether it ended in victory or defeat, life or death… We simply prioritize our master's wishes."

While that was what they said, Lucifen suspected that they were still wrestling with complicated feelings internally. One of the vampires in the back was clenching their fist so hard they'd drawn blood, and another vampire was patting the first vampire's shoulder, comforting them.

"Our master was surely satisfied… That is… our greatest… happiness."

"Don't force yourselves…"

The second Lucifen said that, the vampire who had been bowing at the front suddenly raised their head like it had been bounced off of something and swung their fist. Before it managed to reach Lucifen, their arm was caught by another vampire and stopped. Then, the vampire came to with a gasp as their eyes widened, realizing they'd been about to act rudely. It had probably been something done reflexively out of anger.

He quickly bowed once again while still tightly clenching his fist. "That was rude. I'm sorry. Please forgive this transgression."

"We will excuse ourselves here. We must hold a state funeral for our master."

The vampires then turned their backs to Lucifen and flew off. They never turned back once, but Lucifen knew that their eyes were most likely filled with hate and grief. After all, the one who'd almost taken a swing at her earlier had been crying tears of blood.

After pausing briefly, Lucifen muttered, "Seriously… She's really loved, isn't she?" to herself as she picked up the twin swords that had fallen to the ground.

With that done, Lucifen walked off across the ruined landscape, aiming to reunite with Minako and the others. However, her footsteps seemed somehow heavy

***

"I never thought that she'd be able to rebuff the Goddess's temptation… I might have underestimated the Rose Princess a little."

Sensing that the fight between Lucifen and Ruby had come to an end, the blond girl who'd split up with Lucifen — Namikaze Minako — chuckled to herself. Honestly, the strength of Ruby's spirit was completely unexpected. I'll be honest; I did not see that coming.

By Minako's calculations, Lucifen would have had to fight Ruby, who, despite the Goddess's power-up, would have lost anyway. However, the actual outcome had been a complete surprise… Still, it didn't change the end result.

"That was a little unexpected, but it doesn't change anything… In fact, this may be better. Everything's going well. It's all according to plan," Minako muttered to herself.

Yes, everything's been decided from the start. There are no problems with the script that I've— no, that my master has written. Even Lucifen's awakening this time was nothing more than passing a checkpoint to reach my master's goal. This event was unexpected, but that's it. The scenario is still in the palm of her hand.

"Now then… It seems like we're finally at the second half of this scenario. It's about time for them to realize that I'm no ally… But, just a little longer. Let's keep deceiving them for just a little longer. Jeez, jesters have it hard, don't they?"

Minako's eyes narrowed, and her smile never wavered as she spoke. Everything will be as written in her plan. There are no deviations in this fake scenario.

***

Hello, Lucifen here. I was flying to Minako and the others to meet up with them, and thinking about what had just happened. Everything after the part where I had been beaten on by Ruby was blurry, but I was somehow sure that I'd defeated her.

But… What the hell was that? No, I mean, I understood what happened. I had most likely been backed into a corner by Ruby, and the real Lucifen had come to the forefront and beaten her. I knew that much.

What I didn't get was why it felt as if I'd done that. It wasn't as though I'd been looking on in third person as a stranger had controlled the body I inhabited nor was it as if I'd been completely sealed, and the real Lucifen had been fighting in the meantime. It was like… It definitely felt as if it'd been me; it felt like I'd done all that.

How should I word it…? If I were to compare this to something, it'd be like a drunk person feeling all high-and-mighty, doing things that they would never normally do. If that happened, you wouldn't say that person had dual personalities, would you? It might be a little hard to understand, but if I had to pick, that would be the best way to describe it.

Back then, I'd also described myself as if I were normally half asleep, and that had been correct… Like, I distinctly remembered feeling as though I'd truly woken up. My mind had been clear, and it'd felt as if I'd been freed of my shackles. I'd gotten that feeling many times before. The feeling had been especially strong during times I'd derived enjoyment from the fight itself, like when I'd fought Anko.

I was becoming someone else. Were we merging? Or was I being absorbed? Either way, I'd changed a lot compared to how I'd been when I'd first come to this world.

But some things have been weird from the beginning. Even though I'd been living in peaceful Japan, I'd easily killed other living beings while feeling no qualms about it. I wasn't sure how many times this'd made it, but I felt like I'd once again had my terrible powers of insight pointed out to me.

I'd thought I still had some time, but how wrong I'd turned out to be. I had no time at all… And it'd probably been like that from the beginning.

If things stayed as they were, I didn't know what would happen to me when Lucifen truly awakened. Would it be like what had just happened, and I'd feel something like merging? Or would I be completely taken over and disappear?

This most likely wasn't something that'd been planned by the Goddess. She thought that Lucifen was in the way, so there was no way she'd be happy about Lucifen awakening. Was this just a failure on the Goddess's part? Had this happened because she'd chosen me, and I turned out to be too weak a lid for Lucifen's strong will…? If that were the case, then the Goddess was a little too incompetent.

And what was the meaning of those words I'd said back during the fight with Ruby? "Everything is going as planned." I had definitely said that. Just what was going as planned, and what had I been thinking of when I'd said that? It was about me, but even I didn't know the answer.

I… Who in the world am I?

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