Once the Titans start to rampage in the grounds of the Palace, it would be the end of their strategies.
While swiping away the cold sweat that came from their shaken courage, they continued to refocus their concentrations to form their battle formations in anticipation for the imminent engagement in battle.
And amongst them, only one person—Willa the Ignis Fatuus had a grasp of the current situation.
“Maxwell…!”
The urgency in her voice would never have led people to link it to the usual klutz, Willa.
And perhaps having heard her low mutter, the bonfire in the Palace rose higher with a flare that seemed to be in response to her call.
The fiery violent winds that scattered the jet-black pieces of paper seemed to have its own consciousness as it started to swirl and narrow into a funnel. And that was the form of Maxwell’s [Astral Gate].
The fiery vortex transformed into a huge twister that rampaged in the Palace. Finally, a figure appeared on the opposite side of the blaze and gave a snap of the fingers.
“Summon, Phrase Gate!”
The theatrical voice stole the heat from the blaze in an instant and encased it in ice.
The frozen flame storm was similar to the imitation of the fight between Willa and Asuka. The figure within the ice pillar gave another sinister laugh before snapping his fingers once more. Following the shattering of the ice pillar, the person made his appearance before them.
Donning a jacket of a red and blue striking contrast, he had landed before Willa with an expression of bliss.
“Hoho, you have finally called my name. Have you had a change of heart? Do you plan to accept me, my lovely bride?”
“You are noisy, stalker.”
Willa used her Azure flames to repel the right hand that was trying to touch her blue hair. However, Maxwell fearlessly broke through the Azure flames to touch her blue hair.
Even though he was a Demon who controlled the boundaries of heat, this type of Azure flames were flames that were able to burn through the walls of all creations— the Flames of Death; hence, Maxwell’s right hand was instantly burnt and charred.
Knowing first-hand about the firepower of the [Ignis Fatuus], Yō had held her breath at the Maxwell’s stunt that defied common sense.
(To actually put his hand into Willa’s flames with no hesitation……)
If it were any other, they would have their entire bodies burnt to crisp. Although Maxwell had successfully blocked the burns from traveling to his whole body, it should still be an intense pain that would have caused people to faint.
But Maxwell’s expression wasn’t pained in the slightest.
The feeling that could be seen from his dreamy eyes could only be said as that —the bliss of having touched the hair of his beloved.
“Ahh… Finally… I’ve finally obtained the power to make the contact. In order to obtain this power, I’ve traveled to the ends of time for this. I’ve always prayed for a long time to allow my infatuation to cross over the boundaries of worlds so as to get to your side—Willa! I’m finally here to fetch you!”
“Disgusting.”
The terse reply could be said to be a clear rejection but when it came to Maxwell, this would only be seen as her way of hiding her embarrassment. Maxwell did not display any sign of taking offense as he moved his face closer to try kiss the blue hair within his grasp.
Yō who had been stumped by the exchanges of the two before her had then returned to her senses and she recognized the danger in the situation.
“You, You Stalker!”
Whipping up a shimmering whirlwind, Yō made a straight charge towards Maxwell’s chest.
Although he had already been prepared for counter attacks from the enemies, Maxwell, who was infatuated by Willa, was still sent flying into the passageways of the Palace by a kick that sank deeply into the back of his waist.
Similarly, the stationed troops from [Salamandra], who were surprised audience not too long ago, had launched their pursuit and subsequent attacks.
“Now. Use this time! Let’s attack as one!”
Under the shouted command, the Lesser Dragons who wielded spears and the Salamander army started to fire their fiery bullets.
The fiery bullets that were around the size of fists were pelting in a shower towards Maxwell who had been kicked into the Palace; subsequently, the pillars and roof of the Palace were instantly reduced to rubble to fall atop Maxwell’s head.
Mandra who had rushed down from the top of the alarm bell tower had joined the troops on the ground as he shouted:
“Do not let up on the fire! Let’s finish him at one go!”
The stationed troops gave enthusiastic cries in response as they continued to raise their firepower.
However, Yō gave a loud shout as she suddenly recalled the contents in the [Geass Roll]:
“This is bad! The males must not act rashly!”
“What did you say?!”
Mandra who had given the command, asked in surprise.
The changes soon became apparent with many of the stationed troops, who were shooting their fiery bullets amidst their belligerent roars of enthusiasm, falling to their knees one after another as they started to sweat heavily.
“What’s happening to us…… strength is leaving us……”
“Tch! Even though it’s clearly a one in a million chance that had just been presented before us……”
The Lesser dragon stationed troops and the Salamanders started to fall sporadically in their fatigue. Recognizing that this is part of the curse in the Game rules, Yō and Mandra gritted their teeth while holding back their rising anxiety to read the [Geass Roll].
“This is a curse of fatigue…… Ugh, I wouldn’t have thought that it would set in this fast!”
Mandra bit his lip in his anxiety.
But it wasn’t time for them to expend their precious combat strength yet. The battle has just begun and the Titan Race were also launching their attack from the Outer walls. Mandra bitterly commanded the troops to retreat.
Having been showered with fiery bullets, clouds of smoke and dust erupted from the collapsed Palace passageway. Moreover from Maxwell’s position when it landed, it would seem that he did not avoid the collapse and should be buried in the rubble.
Everyone was breathlessly watching the pile of rubble as they focused their attention on any possible movements from Maxwell.
Seemingly like an attempt to break the tense atmosphere, Willa muttered softly:
“……As I thought, it’s still not enough. Totally ineffective.”
“What?” Mandra turned to look at Willa but her words were proven in the next moment.
A silhouette of a person wavered in the clouds of smoke. Seemingly unaffected and calm, Maxwell had made his way into the Practice Grounds while giving his jacket a casual flick as he took a look around him.
“Can’t be…… It was really useless?”
The stationed troops gave a desperate and hopeless sigh.
Maxwell patted the dust off his jacket as he made his displeased announcement:
“Arara, looks like there are really lots of obstructing objects that like to interrupt our exchange of affection……Hoho, I’ve always felt that the barbarian tribes were in excess, but seems like it is convenient enough to use them to kill off the spectators!”
The drunkenness of Maxwell’s infatuation receded from his eyes.
It was clear that this Demon had become serious.
Releasing a fiery storm from his right hand and churning up a blizzard on his left, the portal between [warmth] and [cold] was split open, and a huge horde of the Titans started to appear within the Palace grounds.
They who were disassembled into small particles before being transported over, were now being reconstructed by Maxwell’s power. Upon their complete materialization, the Titans gave a ferocious roar.
「UOOOOOOOOOooooooooo—!!!」
The huge battle axe fell in conjunction with the roar as the Titan swung it downwards.
Yō emitted a shimmering whirlwind in an attempt to shield the palace. But the large sized Fire Dragons of [Salamandra] were faster in reacting.
Using their scales that were harder than steel to block the battle axe, they released a stream of fire from their mouths to return the favor to the Titans.
「GEEEEYAAAAAAAaaaaaa!!!」
「UOOOOOOOOOooooooooo—!!!」
The fire dragons and the Titans collided with their strong spirits.
Having realized the inevitability of the stream of heat shot towards itself, the Titan pushed forth to deliver an uppercut to the lower jaw of the Fire Dragon. The hot ray that formed a straight line lit the night skies ablaze with a scarlet hue.
Seemingly in empathy, the other Fire Dragons had also picked up the howls of that Fire Dragon.
The Fire Dragons, who had battled with Yō earlier, and the old timers in the Practice grounds had also entered their stance in preparation for the imminent engagement.
“Human little girl! Although I hate to admit it, you are really strong! We can only hope for you guys to defeat the enemy’s main force!”
“We will be responsible for the opening of the path. Leave the Titans here to us!”
“Mhm. But please be careful. The Dragon-types should also be under the curse of fatigue.”
“Wahaha, so what if we are? Even if we’re under the curse of fatigue, we won’t be losing to some Titan bumpkins! You too little girl, don’t go messing it up!”
The Fire Dragons gave a hearty laugh as they flew to join the fray.
Mandra was also astride on the back of a Fire Dragon as he entrusted the battle to Yō and Willa.
“Whether we win this fight, will be up to you two. May the two of you return victorious in battle.”
“Mhm, we will show you our victory.”
After encouraging each other, Mandra and the Fire Dragon charged towards the Titans.