The Female Knight Who Was Secretly Pretty Happy To Gain A Much Younger Little Sister Was Way Too Cute (2)

“…Damn.”

Why was it that unpleasant possibilities had such a habit of becoming reality? As the necromancer Nevan, who had taken over Lilia’s body, laughed loudly throughout the arena, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

“Hehe, a technique for taking over the body of a living person—it’s still in the experimental stage, so there are some things I can’t control properly yet… but I can do more than enough like this.”

Nevan moved her arms and legs around to check how well the body had adjusted to her, but her left eye remained half-open and rolled upward—in other words, she had not yet gained complete control over the body.

If that was the case, there should still be a chance to save Lilia.

“…Looks like we’ll have no choice but to fight. Haru, do you have your sword?”

“It’s in the commander’s room right now… but I doubt I can go get it under these circumstances.”

“Then use this. It’s a spare weapon, but it should be sturdy enough to withstand magic sword techniques.”

With that, Karen-san handed me a slender longsword hanging from her waist. Since it had been made to Karen-san’s specifications, it felt slightly heavier than normal—but as expected of equipment used by a captain, its quality was impeccable.

“Henri, what do you make of her condition?”

“Who knows. But if what she’s doing was constructed as proper ‘magic’ according to some coherent theory…”

Henri-san looked toward me.

“—Then my magic might be able to do something about it.”

“…That’s only a hypothesis. And even if you manage to undo it, whether the original owner’s body will return to normal is another matter entirely.”

Which meant we would be taking a major risk as well.

In the worst-case scenario, Lilia could lose her life—that meant even in combat, we would have to proceed carefully…

“NEVAAAAAAN!! GET OUT OF LILIA-SAMA’S BODY!!”

Before I could stop her, an enraged Ena charged straight toward Nevan. She had clearly lost herself completely to anger.

“Oh my, how frightening~ I couldn’t possibly fight such a savage person myself~… Come! My new toys!”

“!? Those girls…!”

As if they had been hiding somewhere nearby, several girls—the other female warriors—suddenly rushed out and blocked Ena’s path as she closed in on Nevan.

“This body is wonderful~ Things I couldn’t do with my old body are easy if I just pour in a little extra magic~… And best of all, even after spending this much magic, I don’t age at all!! As expected of the body of a girl who hasn’t even hit her growth spurt yet!!♪”

She must have poured an enormous amount of magic into the girls, because even Ena, who had charged in without holding back, was helplessly thrown back by their wall.

“Ahahaha!! Now dance, dance, dance!! Slaughter every last one of those foolish Royal Capital people who dared defy me!”

“…Uuugh…”

Even more magic flowed from Lilia’s axe, which was embedded with what looked like precious stones and gemstones, into the girls.

Once she brought even a living person under her control, she could apparently treat them just like dead soldiers—that alone showed how enormous the latent power sleeping within Lilia truly was.

“…Haru, Henri and I will handle those being controlled by Nevan. You somehow get close to Nevan and separate Lilia’s soul from Nevan’s, which are probably fused together.”

It was an unreasonable demand, but there was no other way to save her.

Refusing had never been an option.

“…I’ll help too.”

“Zena, are you sure?”

“This happened because I failed to finish things properly in the first place. I’ll make a path to Nevan… no matter what.”

Zena drew two short blades from her sleeves and stood beside me. I wanted to avoid facing Nevan one-on-one if possible, especially when she was recklessly pouring Lilia’s life force into her magic, so I was grateful for the offer.

“Commander, obviously I’m coming too. I won’t be satisfied until I deal with Nevan myself.”

“…No. Zena and I will go.”

“!? What? Why?”

“We can’t leave Noka alone, can we? We’re dealing with a troublesome necromancer who can forcibly control even the living. There may be more enemies hidden nearby, so I need you to accept this.”

I shifted my gaze toward Noka, who was watching the battle anxiously. If she were taken hostage too, our situation would only grow worse.

“…Fine. But you absolutely can’t fail… Promise me.”

Ena somehow accepted my reasoning and stepped back.

Two people to break through the wall, two to confront Nevan after that, and two remaining in the rear—with that, our preparations were more or less complete.

“That eyepatch Madeleine made to control your power—perhaps in a situation like this, we’d have been better off without it.”

“…If you want to complain, complain to that demon herself. It’s her fault she designed it so I can never take it off again.”

I had considered having one of them support us if the battle turned against us, but from their conversation, it sounded as though Henri-san in particular had restrictions placed on the use of her 【Mystic Eye】, so asking her for casual assistance would probably be difficult.

Still, both of them independently calling Madeleine-san a demon really said something about how much trouble she had gone through.

“Karen-san, what about enhancement magic—”

“I’ll ask Henri if I need it. You focus only on the enemy in front of you—now, let’s go!”

Karen-san’s words signaled the beginning of the real battle.

The first to move were Karen-san and Henri-san, entering the enemy formation with a slight distance between front and back.

“Henri, stop them for just a moment!”

“You really do work people hard… I’ll do it because it’s for the boy, though.”

Henri-san released some of the magical power suppressed within her Mystic Eye and swept out an arm. Instantly, transparent ice wrapped around the girls’ arms and legs. If she only needed to stop them for a moment, this was probably more efficient than using the Mystic Eye itself.

The girls immediately broke free in their own ways, but that tiny instant was more than enough for Karen-san.

“—Too slow!”

A strike swung with the flat of her greatsword caught one of them. Ordinarily that would have put her out of the fight, but that meant nothing to the girls while they were being controlled.

That was where Henri-san, positioned behind Karen-san, came in.

“Double Bind—”

Powerful restraints locked around both arms and both legs of the enemy lying on her back. It was an enhanced version of Bind developed for capturing large magical beasts, so no matter how much the girls had been strengthened, they could not forcibly break it with human strength.

“That’s one. Now, next!”

“Tch, you Royal Capital bastards and your irritating tricks—!”

Ignoring the limits of her vessel, Nevan poured in even more magic and sent the girls at Karen-san in a group.

She had probably assumed that overwhelming Karen-san with numbers would work—but Karen-san, a captain of the Royal Capital, was far too formidable for that kind of simple numerical advantage to matter.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!”

With a roar, Karen-san slammed her sword into the ground, and the impact alone sent several people around her flying. Karen-san had no enhancement magic on her whatsoever, which meant she had accomplished it entirely through her own fighting spirit.

“—Haru, I’m leaving the rest to you!”

“Yes!! Zena, we’re going too!”

“—Mm!”

Taking advantage of the chaos on the front line, Zena and I slipped smoothly through the enemy encirclement.

“You should’ve just surrendered quietly… You’re all so damn annoying!!”

As expected, Nevan had kept more forces hidden and sent dead soldiers toward us. There were three of them—and just like the girls, they had been enhanced.

“Enchant, Level One—”

I immediately began channeling my magic into the sword to intercept them, but—

“Wait. I’ll handle this.”

“…Zena, can you?”

“It’s fine. Commander, conserve your magic.”

With that, Zena stepped one pace in front of me. I thought taking on three opponents would be difficult for someone who was not particularly suited for direct combat, but—

Just as I raised my sword to support her if necessary—

“…Shadow Leap—”

Zena, who had been standing directly in front of me, vanished in an instant.

“!? Where the hell did that little brat—”

Nevan’s eyes widened at the sudden disappearance, but what happened next left her even more stunned.

“—Shadows are my domain. Down here, where there are so many shadows, I won’t lose.”

The instant Zena appeared behind the dead soldiers, their bodies were effortlessly cut apart into pieces. Since they were already dead, Zena showed absolutely no mercy.

She must have undergone extensive elite training in the Royal Capital for this assignment, so perhaps this level of ability was only natural.

“Tch, every last one of you is a damn monster…!”

“…I don’t want to hear that from you.”

Karen-san and Henri-san were steadily restraining the girls. Zena, having revealed her true abilities, disposed of the hidden attackers.

Only Nevan remained.

Now all that was left was for me, entrusted with everything, to destroy the enemy’s plan—

“This is the second time I’ve fought you like this. Though I suppose the current you wouldn’t know that.”

I aimed the tip of Karen-san’s sword toward Nevan’s forehead, and in response to my magic, the pale blue glow surrounding it intensified.

“Tch… Don’t get cocky just because you beat a few dolls, you little brat!!”

Nevan drew the magic back into herself from the restrained girls and the dead soldiers that had already been defeated, and her sinister fighting spirit began dominating the entire area.

“I should’ve handled this myself from the start… I’m gradually getting used to this body too—I’ll torture every last one of you and kill you all together!!”

“If you think you can—!”

This was the “real battle” Karen-san had spoken of.

The first time, I had won by exploiting an opening when Lilia had grown careless after becoming intoxicated with her own strength—

But what would the outcome be the second time?