Final Battle ②

Ariel's Perspective

"Queen has initiated combat."

Activate the Longview ability, surveying the battlefield.

Even if weak, this level of skill imposes no significant burden to use.

"Shall I summon another Queen here?"

"No. For now, observe. Summon at an appropriate moment."

"Are you certain?"

"Somewhat, I suppose."

Summoning skill imposes greater strain than Longview.

Once used, rest is required afterward.

Main subordinates—Queens, Puppets, etc.—have already been summoned. But given the current state of combat, emergency summoning of subordinates is likely possible only once.

Timing must be judged with care.

"Convenient, this summoning."

"Sophia can recall Melazofis and, incidentally, Wald too."

Melazofis and, by extension, Wald.

Both are regarded as Sophia's subordinates, so they can be summoned at any time.

Unlike me, Sophia isn't weakened—thus, her restrictions are nearly nonexistent.

MP is still consumed, though.

"Having a summoned subordinate summon another subordinate... that feels like an exploit."

"True enough."

Most of the Talatekt forces currently fighting on the ground were newly summoned by the Queen.

A summoned subordinate can summon another subordinate, who in turn may have their own subordinates—each capable of summoning their own.

Thus, the gathered horde.

I only need to summon the Queen—yet I can still summon the entire horde.

Of course, summoning consumes MP. I would need to sacrifice the Queen’s MP to do so.

And likely, if I summon the Queen here, it would be more effective to have her fight directly rather than have her summon additional units—using her MP to command her own combat presence is more efficient.

The Queen alone is a greater combat asset than summoning an undifferentiated horde.

“Then again, in terms of unfair advantage, vampires are far more unbalanced than I am.”

Vampires can replenish their subordinates infinitely.

They can transform any being—ally or enemy—into a vampire upon draining their blood.

The first Demon King, Fodooi, used this method to mass-produce vampires, nearly driving humanity to extinction.

In terms of sheer numerical superiority, vampires are exponentially more terrifying.

You could do it too, Sophia-chan, if you wanted to?

No. My familiar, Melazofis, is more than enough.

……Wald-kun, casually forgotten.

Well, Sophia-chan probably doesn’t want to treat Melazofis and the rest of the insignificant ones as equals.

I understand the sentiment.

If one doesn’t care about means, producing vampires would be more effective. But forcing that choice feels off somehow.

Hmm. Still, the Queen’s opponent is the previous Wind and Thunder duo, isn’t it?

Checking the battlefield with the Long Sight, the Queen was engaged with two ancient dragons.

The Wind Dragon and Thunder Dragon duo previously repelled by Lars-kun.

The wounds inflicted by Lars-kun appear to have fully healed.

The Wind Dragon is at its peak outdoors, in the open sky, so confronting the Queen here makes sense.

The Thunder Dragon charges forward without restraint—so is this strategy to exhaust it completely at the outset, then use it up here?

To bring it into the depths of the Elro Great Labyrinth would risk it running out of power mid-way.

These two, their demeanor is foolish—though the Thunder Dragon truly is foolish, their power is genuine.

……The ancient dragons are indeed formidable.

The Queen’s defeat is merely a matter of time.

Even the Queen, formidable as she is, struggles against two ancient dragons.

Moreover, the Queen is currently weakened compared to her prime.

All thanks to Shiro!

Because of Shiro’s parallel consciousness infiltrating and eroding her.

She might have prevailed against one ancient dragon in single combat, but two is beyond her.

It’s unavoidable.

Unavoidable, yet…

Where are the other ancient dragons?

What stands out is the absence of any sign of the other ancient dragons.

Breaking through the Queen would be faster if the ancient dragons acted in unison.

Yet only the Wind and Thunder duo are engaged. The others remain hidden.

"Could they already be inside the Elro Great Labyrinth?"

"Not impossible, but no reports have surfaced."

Servitors are already positioned throughout the Elro Great Labyrinth.

Even if an intruder bypasses through teleportation or an unexpected passage, they should trigger a detection net somewhere.

So far, no such trigger has occurred.

Even if an enemy possesses teleportation, it only works at locations the caster has previously visited.

To my knowledge, the ancient dragons have not set foot in this region—except for the earth dragon, Gakia, who guards the lowest level.

Nor has humanity ever set foot here.

Humans do not venture even to the lower levels, let alone the middle tier.

If invasion occurs through transfer, it would reach the upper tier.

And the upper tier is guarded by powerful reinforcements left behind by Shiro.

If someone capable of repelling those children has breached the barrier, failing to notice is implausible.

"But... something feels off."

They're scheming. This is it.

This is a common harbinger of impending disaster.

As if confirming that intuition, a mental message arrives from a subordinate.

"What's wrong? Huh? Water?"

Receiving the mental transmission, the thought conveyed was water.

While puzzling over the meaning, the transmission abruptly cut off.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, but something has definitely happened."

The subordinate who sent the message was stationed in the upper tier of the Elro Great Labyrinth.

Activating the Ten-Thousand-Mile Eye, directed toward that location.

To determine what has occurred.

“Ah”

And I, foolishly, let out a voice.

“What the hell are you doing, you bastard!?”

Before me stretched a scene beyond imagination.

A vast amount of water surged toward the upper tier of the Elro Great Labyrinth.

“Siege by water? Are you insane!?”

It was seawater cascading from the ocean, pouring over the Elro Great Labyrinth.