Chapter 94

"Hold it, you're making too much of a mess..."

Gion looked at the house with a large hole in it and let out a sigh.

The residents inside showed no signs of waking up, let alone being injured.

"To avoid causing a commotion, I put the people around here under hypnosis... but once the night is over, there's going to be a big fuss anyway."

The reason no one in the area was stirring despite the noise was that Gion had cast a deep sleep spell on them with magic.

If he hadn't done this, there would likely have been more victims by now due to the commotion.

"Come on, I need to retrieve Lamina quickly."

Gion confirmed Lamina's figure in the distance and ran across the rooftops.

He glanced in the direction where Setsu was, but since it seemed she had already finished, he ignored it.

◆◆◆

"Hahaha... I lost, didn't I?"

Mira, also known as Mirage, was severely injured.

Although she hadn't eaten everything to prepare for any eventuality, the deep wound in her abdomen would soon be fatal.

"Are you not going to show your true form?"

"Yeah, sure..."

A sound like a mirror shattering came from Mira's body, and she transformed back into the Mirage I had been fighting.

The sword was no longer drawn, and the mirror was no longer floating.

"I never thought I, the one closest to the 'Seven Holy Swords,' would be defeated."

"Can you even copy someone's personality and tone?"

"Of course. I have no reason to blush in front of you."

I thought this thing might have feelings like us, but it seems I was wrong.

The Holy Swords... we can't understand each other.

Fundamentally, they see us humans as nothing but targets for extermination.

It can't be helped.

They are commanded by a god, after all.

"Hehehe..."

"What? Is there something funny?"

Mirage laughed, blood streaming from her mouth.

Her laughter seemed to be one of triumph.

"No, I just thought you bought me enough time... thanks to you, it's complete."

"!"

In front of her, where the sky should have been, something was floating above the city.

Upon closer inspection, it was the image of the city itself.

In other words...

"A giant... mirror...!?"

"Hahaha! It's finally complete!"

The mirror floating in the sky... reflecting the city...

The city...? What if a mirror that copied its mass was dropped from above?

"Are you serious...!?"

"This was no easy task to prepare a mirror of this scale. But with this, the people in this city will come to an end... along with you all!"

"!"

This is bad.

If something like that were to fall, even a glutton couldn't eat it all.

"Are you going to drop a whole city?! No way!"

The scale is too different.

I was completely caught off guard.

What is this thing planning?

"How many days do you think it took to create this... I can't die without taking as many people as possible with me."

"Just die quietly!"

What should I do?

This is definitely a bad ending.

Should I use divine power again... but even if I do, I can't destroy a whole city.

"Is this... the end?"

I'm going to die too.

I can't hold on much longer.

"Hey, what's with that stupid face? It's not funny at all."

"...You."

Just before I lost consciousness, I was stopped by a familiar voice.

Standing behind me was Straw, who had been hiding until now.

His expression was as usual, completely unaffected by this desperate situation.

"You sure caused a lot of trouble, Mirror."

"De... Destroya... sir."

When Straw glared at Mirage, she trembled in fear.

It's easy to forget, but this thing is a god too.

...Far above me.

A feeling of frustration welled up inside me, and I clenched my fist.

"What do you think you're doing by showing up now! This city is finished! It's starting!"

"!"

From the giant mirror, the houses, roads, and ground of the city appeared.

With their mass, the "city" slowly began to fall.

"Damn it! If it comes to this, I'll use all my strength to—"

"Stop, fool. There's no need for that."

"?"

Straw had his hand raised to the sky.

"Anything that appears from Mirage's mirror will disappear if the connection to it is severed. So, this will solve it immediately."

He lightly waved his hand, and something in the air made a "crack" sound.

In the next moment, Mirage's face was filled with despair.

"No... my... mirror..."

"I broke the connection between you and the mirror. Your will can no longer reach it."

The city that had emerged halfway from the mirror began to disappear.

Without a single fragment, the mirror eventually vanished, and the starry sky above became visible.

"To make you let go of what you created, you need to be completely separated from the mirror. So, if I destroy the root of your power... lo and behold, the ability is canceled."

"No..."

"You didn't know you had such a weakness, did you?"

Straw approached the stunned Mirage.

"Of course. I set this weakness so that I could always stop you Holy Swords without Clarisil noticing."

"Set...?"

"...What do you mean?"

"It's simple. These Holy Swords were created by Clarisil and me."

The Holy Swords were created by Straw...?

Wait, I didn't hear that.

"Hey! If you knew that, you should have told me about the weakness when I fought Felibus and now! I wouldn't have struggled so much if I knew!"

"...You're still a strange one. Normally, people would say, 'So you were Clarisil's ally too!'"

"That doesn't matter to me! If you're on their side now, I can't forgive you, but if you're against them, it's fine. Answer my question!"

To me, the past isn't something to worry about.

If you're on our side now, there's no need to say anything. I just want an explanation for not telling me about the weakness earlier.

If you made me struggle for no good reason, I'll give you a proper punishment.

"Hmph... Well, only I can exploit those weaknesses... so there was no point in telling you."

"Really?"

"R-really!"

Hmm... Even if I approach with the intention of messing with his head, if he insists it's true, I might as well believe him.

"Anyway! I can easily neutralize the Holy Swords! When you fought Felibus, I thought you could win, so I didn't interfere."

"..."

Well, that's true.

At that time, I managed to use divine power for a moment, and I've been training based on that feeling.

Without it, I might not have been able to fight Mirage at all.

I won't thank him for it, though.

"...Destructive God, why do you interfere with us. Weren't you once... a friend of Lady Clarisil?"

"A friend... I was. That's why I must stop her rampage. I'll punch her and bring her back to her senses."

Straw's eyes were serious.

There was a strong will in them, a belief in his friend.

For once, Straw looks cool.

"...It's a pity... Lady Clarisil... has not... lost her mind... She is... filled with anger..."

"..."

"I am... sorry... I failed... to fulfill... my mission... Lady... Clarisil..."

Light fell from Mirage's eyes.

Then her whole body began to glow, and when the light subsided, what remained was a beautiful broken sword.

"Dead... How do you feel about defeating the Holy Sword closest to the 'Seven Holy Swords'?"

"...I don't feel like I won."

"Of course not."

I lost in the end.

If it weren't for Straw, I would be a flattened corpse right now.

I lost. I was defeated.

"Damn it..."

I might have never felt this much regret and the desire for power before.

I clenched my fist so hard that blood seeped through.