Part 4[แก้ไข]
---Ancient Vampire Citadel, Elliptical Orbit Throne Room.
Kasukabe Yō couldn’t figure out the meaning.
She had read the Geass Roll from top to bottom repeatedly before turning to fix her eyes on Leticia.
“……what’s up with this?”
“It’s just as what is written on it. Twelve minutes from now, the Veil of Little Garden will be released and the Sun rays will pour down. With that, the huge Dragon will disappear due to the Sun’s rays and return to the sun’s elliptical path.”
Just like the night that it appeared from the starry skies, the huge dragon will also return to the Sea of Stars.
However, if the veil were to be released, it would mean that the Sun’s rays would shine straight into the City of Little Garden---
“……what will happen to Leticia?”
Silence echoed as Leticia closed her eyes before breaking it with a regretful tone to tell the truth:
“---most probably die. I’m the medium for the Dragon. As you can all see, the ceiling of the throne is made of crystal and I would definitely get a direct dose of Sunlight.”
“……but didn’t you say that it’s only to render you powerless……”
“It’s a lie.”
Leticia gave her honest reply with an emotionless look.
Yō couldn’t control herself anymore and she reached out, wanting to grab Leticia by the collar but her hands easily passed through.
“This…This is……”
“Haven’t I already said it? My body is the Dragon’s medium. The ‘me’ who sits upon the throne is only a bait to lure invaders. In other words, I’m just an apparition of sorts. Originally, if one were to touch ‘me’, my shadow would manifest to defeat the opponent……but it seems that it was already defeated by Izayoi.”
Leticia gave a bitter laugh as she looked towards Izayoi.
Izayoi only narrowed his eyes while turning his head aside. Not replying to her words.
Yō bent her head before the throne while her hands couldn’t stop trembling. Using her strength to squeeze out her words that were filled with suppressed emotions:
“……So this game had all along been set……for Leticia to die regardless of the clearing condition chosen?”
“Yes. Without an equivalent risk, how can there be such violent and evil punishments listed in the Game. To forsake the victory of the Host, to forsake being saved and released…lastly to forsake life itself and disappear without a trace.”
“Uu….!”
“Guys, I’m sorry to have used this method to force you to accomplish this painful task. But please understand that I didn’t want to experience….killing my comrades again.”
Leticia shook her radiant golden hair while smiling in a way that seemed as though a burden had been removed from her shoulders. Everyone in the room seemed to be unable to find anything else to say. The thunderclouds outside the Citadel could be seen swirling like a whirlpool that added to the pressurizing presence of the huge Dragon. If Leticia had been honest from the start, the time for the Game being cleared would have been delayed. And that would have meant placing more burden on Asuka and Sala who had to continue waging the battle on the ground surface.
Every minute and second of indecisiveness would have extorted its price from [Underwood] and the [Draco Greif] Alliance and probably lead to their annihilation.
“……!”
Come to think about it, Leticia had been very dedicated to the Community to the point of being unusual.
With her Divinity taken away, Authority taken away and even to be sold like an item on auctions.
To rush to the aid of her Community, she would even pay such a tremendous price. Perhaps somewhere deep in Leticia’s heart, she had already developed a compulsive habit to atone for the sins of having killed her comrades.
“……!”
Taking the brand a Demon Lord, one would be destined to walk the road to ruin.
Hence it was normal to have such an ending. And it was one that didn’t have any grounds to be disputed or discussed about.
Even so---Kasuakbe Yō lifted her face, unwilling to give up.
“……I understand Leticia now.” Dragging her battered body, Yō shuffled away while looking at the throne.
Feeling a little guilty, Leticia lowered her gaze but in the next moment, a fierce determination burned in Yō’s eyes.
“To put it simply, I will just have to pierce through the huge dragon’s heart before the Veil is released right?”
“……Ai?”
Leticia looked up abruptly, doubting her own hearing.
However, Yō continued to look at Leticia with her determined eyes---
“Leticia’s not wrong. We had needed to clear the condition as fast as possible earlier for that would be for the best to Asuka and all the others engaged in battle on the ground…… And now that your aim has been achieved, what comes next will be my responsibility alone.”
Dragging her badly burnt leg, Yō faced her back towards the throne.
The coloration on Leticia’s face immediately paled as she frantically pleaded to the others in the throne room:
“Some…SOMEONE STOP HER! THAT CHILD IS SERIOUS! She’s serious… She plans on fighting the huge Dragon!”
The apparition of Leticia though bounded by chains was so frantic that she seemed to be struggling to get out of her seat. But needless to say, Izayoi did not make a move to stop Yō and neither did Jack or Garol.
Izayoi gave a shrug of his shoulders before moving over to lend a shoulder to Yō with a smile creeping across his lips.
“Well, since Leticia also said it, I will just ask to confirm it once more---Are you really serious about it?”
“Nn.”
“Is that so? Then let me join you.”
“Izayoi! Even…Even you’re starting to sprout nonsense?!”
“Well, it’s all her fault for saying that she wants to defeat a huge dragon……Haiz, seeing how lifeless she was earlier, I can’t possibly stand by and see Kasukabe die alone just for our depressed and self-depreciating maid right?”
Izayoi shook his head helplessly and his eyes continued to be mirthless.
This guy is serious. Realizing that point, Leticia drew a sharp breath and shouted at the top of her lungs:
“THAT’S SO STUPID……I’VE BEEN WRONG ABOUT YOU , IZAYOI. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE A CLEVER MAN WHOM I COULD ENTRUST THE COMMUNITY TO! BUT YOU ACTUALLY SAID SUCH IRRESPONSIBLE WORDS!”
“Nn, yeah. I’m not only allowing my comrade to continue to their deaths but I will also follow in her footsteps. It’s clearly a show of irresponsibility……but those that did not even intend to take the responsibility in the first place, can only be called cowardly and despicable.”
Izayoi’s angry gaze seemed to pierce Leticia.
For in fact, those words were beating around the bush to fire an insult at Leticia of ‘You are a cowardly and despicable person’. And Leticia who understood the words between the lines was stumped for words.
“Kasukabe’s right. You did nothing wrong. And Kasukabe did nothing wrong as well…… But, I will choose to help the latter. Compared to a self-sacrificial saint, I would feel a hundred times much happier to save a brave soul who is reckless and unable to comprehend things as well as you.”
Izayoi tightened his grip on Yō’s shoulder that was filled with cuts and bruises. These were the wounds that told of Yō’s determination in the gamble of her battle.
But the person whom it should concern the most, whom it was for……the Hime who was imprisoned did not notice that sincerity, the feelings of others and had trampled over it with a rejection.
Izayoi couldn’t forgive her for this slow-uptake on another’s feelings.
“As long as it’s not completely a tragedy yet, I shall use my two hands to twist it into a comedy---So, prepare yourself to awaken to the truth for we will defeat the huge dragon---and the task of saving you shall be executed perfectly to the end!”
“Am I right?” Izayoi asked Yō with a smile.
And Yō gave the brightest smile in reply.
Part 5[แก้ไข]