TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 7 Part 2
by nellstewart“Kuzel-san, are you okay?”
Finne called out to her in concern, and Kuzel slowly turned around and smiled.
“No problem. In fact, we’re doing well.”
“Well, let’s go!”
Tendo and the others get pumped and ready their weapons.
But Eleonora was the first to attack.
Tendo didn’t even blink, and before he knew it, her sword was right in front of Tendo’s eyes.
“What!?”
Tendo dodged the attack at the last moment.
Kuzel immediately went behind Eleonora and slashed at her.
“You’re wide open behind me!”
“Hehe. You’re too late.”
Just as it seemed that Kuzel’s attack would hit, Eleonora disappeared.
“Where–there?”
Kuzel turned around and swung her sword, but Eleonora was not there, and was smiling from a distance.
“Too bad–oops.”
As Eleonora leaned her body, Tendo’s blow cut through the air.
“That was a close call.”
That’s what she said, but Eleonora, who had the skill to grasp space and could manipulate the time around her, could see what was happening inside the barrier as if it were right in front of her.
Of course she knew. It’s only natural.
That’s all there was to it.
The fierce battle continued from there, but with Eleonora at her full strength, Tendo’s Limit Break and Kuzel’s skills were both reaching their limits.
They’re not the only ones approaching their limits; Finne, Iris, and Charlotte were too.
All their magic and techniques were disappearing before they could reach Eleonora.
They couldn’t see a future in which they could win.
“—It looks like you’re reaching your limit. Let’s end this here.”
Magic power was poured into the raised magic sword.
Tendo and the others had no way of blocking that overwhelming magic power.
However, Tendo whipped his battered body to his feet and readied his holy sword.
“I’ll do something about that attack, so Finne and the rest, please run away. Otherwise Haruto will get angry at me.”
“But no matter how you look at it, it’s too much to do alone!”
“That’s right! Even if you’re a hero, you can’t withstand that attack!”
“If we all join forces, we’re sure we can do something about it.”
“Just like Kuzel said, if we all work together, I’m sure we can manage.”
Finne, Iris, Kuzel, and Charlotte all said this and readied their own weapons.
Eleonora had been smiling, thinking that it was finally over, but seeing Tendo and the others not giving up, all emotion drained from her face.
“You’re a hero, as expected. But it’s all for nothing. You’ll die here miserably.”
The blow that was swung down tore through the heavens, approaching Tendo and the others – and was crushed.
“–What!?”
Eleonora cried out in surprise that her best blow had been defeated.
“That would be troubling.”
“Exactly. I can’t let them die.”
Two men were standing between Eleonora and Tendo and the others.
Zero in butler uniform and Glatnis in traditional Japanese clothing.
“Everyone seems to be safe.”
“Hey, Zero. I can faintly sense the presence of the Evil God coming from her.”
“That’s right. Did you sense that hateful presence too, Glatnis?””
“I wish he’d just been sealed away. He could have just died peacefully,”
“The opponent was Chronos, the god of time and space. He’s a god known for his tenacity.”
“Indeed. Maybe He thought He couldn’t win then, so He ran away.”
While having such a conversation, he had a relaxed expression on his face
Eleonora’s intimidation, which had been released due to her master, Chronos, being mocked, was virtually meaningless to the two of them.
“Hmm. So those are the apostles?”
“It looks like it.”
Zero put his white gloves back on, and Glatnis snapped his fingers.
“…I don’t know who you are or where you’re from. Are you one of those nearly-dead comrades over there?”
Eleonora narrowed her eyes and glares at Zero and Glatnis, clearly showing her wariness.
But Zero didn’t care about that and told Finne and the others to back off.
“But–”
“No, Finne. Haruto has entrusted us with dealing with the apostles, so please leave this to us. Besides, it seems the hero is at his limit.””
Tendo glanced at him, and he apologized, “I’m sorry.”
“Zero. Can you defeat the apostles?”
“Charlotte. I will tell you that is a foolish question.”
Zero continued.
“In fact, do you think there’s any chance I’d lose against someone of that caliber?”
Zero turned around and unleashed a dense magic force on Eleonora as an intimidation.
Even Finne and the others, who weren’t being intimidated, got goosebumps.
However, Zero, the cause of this, spoke calmly.
“Then Apostle, I’ll play with you. Come at me anytime.”
“Don’t underestimate me!”
Eleonora pointed one hand and unleashed a spell.
“—Disintegration Sphere!”
Countless black spheres were fired towards Zero.
As expected, this number was unavoidable.
Just as Eleonora, Finne, and the others thought this, the spheres swarmed towards Zero– and when the smoke cleared, Zero was standing there unharmed.
“Is that all? A bit disappointing.”
“What?! You’re unharmed?”
“Is that crazy? This isn’t worth dodging. No. Maybe I was too strong. So is this the end of the attack?”
“H-How about this!”
With that, Eleonora rushed off, magic sword in hand.
“—Accelerate!”
Eleonora accelerated in an instant and circled around Zero’s side, slashing at him.
However, a high-pitched clang rang out.
“Hmm. You accelerated yourself? That’s no skill.”
“–Kah?”
Just after Eleonora’s eyes widened at the fact that she was stopped with a single finger, she was hit in the stomach and sent tumbling to the ground.
Even Eleonora was perplexed by Zero’s strength, which was greater than she had imagined.
When it came to someone this powerful, even if she was an apostle, she would have a hard time defeating him.
“”Ugh, that’s troublesome. There’s no other way…”
Immediately afterwards, Eleonora’s magic powers rose explosively again.
“Hmm. It seems you still have some power left.”
“Yes. It’s annoying, but I’ll take you on seriously.”
Eleonora pointed her magic sword at Zero and activated a spell.
“Know despair – Gravity Prison.”
At that moment, gravity pressed down on the entire area inside the barrier.
Finne and the others were unable to withstand the force and collapsed on the spot.
Zero and Glatnis didn’t seem particularly bothered, but gravity was really affecting them, and spiderweb-like cracks ran around their feet, soon forming a small crater.
However, Zero spoke to Glatnis as usual.
“A gravitational field?”
“It seems so. But isn’t this a little too weak even with the protection?”
“Yes, it’s disappointing. Glatnis, can you take her on? I’ll evacuate Finne and the others to a safe place.”
“I understand. These are my master’s wives. I don’t want to say I couldn’t protect them.”
“Then I’ll leave her to you.”
With that, Zero picked up Finne and the others and left the place in an instant.
The only one left was Glatnis, who was trapped in the gravitational field.
“Then I’ll take you on. I was bored. You’ll entertain me a little, right?”
While being held down by the tremendous gravity, the pressure released caused Eleonora to take a step back.
That was how overwhelming the presence was.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me an apostle like you are scared?”
“Huh… you’re still talking tough even at this late stage.”
“Hmm. You don’t think I can’t move with gravity this strong, do you?”
After saying that, Glatnis slowly started to walk towards Eleonora.
“What? How can you move with gravity hundreds of times stronger?!”
“What are you surprised about? Zero just left this place a while ago. He doesn’t even notice this.”
Eleonora was taken aback by his words.
The butler was certainly able to move normally, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the enemy before her was the same.
Ignoring Eleonora’s grim expression, Glatnis spoke lightly.
“Well, then, I’ll be the one to attack first.”
Glatnis readied his fist and swung it.
In an instant, an overwhelming force of violence attacked Eleonora.
“–Kyaaa?!”
Eleonora was blown away by the wind pressure alone, but she quickly regained her balance and stood up.
“Why am I, an apostle, in this kind of situation…”
“It seems you don’t know who you’re up against.”
“Eh…?”
“You’re up against me, the primordial beast. It’s impossible for you to win.”
“The primordial beast? You can’t be… Behemoth…!?”
“That’s right. I’ll give you a reward.”
Glatnis approached with incredible force.
Eleonora tried to take evasive action, but the moment she blinked, Glatnis, who had been right in front of her, had disappeared.
“Where are you–”
“Looking away from the enemy in battle… you don’t know anything.”
A blow from Glatnis from the side sent Eleonora flying horizontally, bouncing like a ping-pong ball.
Eleonora quickly rose to her feet and cast spells one after the other, but Glatnis broke them all with a single fist.
“Let’s finish this quickly. It’s almost time for naptime.”
Glatnis slowly approached, and in Eleonora’s eyes, he was the Grim Reaper.
–She couldn’t win.
Realizing this, Eleonora tried to activate a teleportation spell, but at that moment, a voice called out from behind.
“Where are you trying to escape to?”
“Hii…”
Eleonora let out a frightened voice and slowly turned around, to see Zero standing there gracefully.
Zero calmly asked Glatnis.
“Glatnis. What did you do?”
“I was just playing around.”
“Is that so?”
At that moment, Eleonora spoke up.
“W-Who exactly are you?”
“Me? I’m Gran Kalamiras, The Smelting Black Dragon. My current name is Zero. And I’m Lord Haruto’s faithful butler. Do you understand?”
No matter how many apostles there were, there’s no way they could win against a monster that was feared as the world’s disaster.
To Eleonora, it was a death sentence.
“–Please let me go!”
As soon as Eleonora realized she couldn’t win, she started begging for her life.
Seeing this, Glatnis spoke in amazement.
“What will you do, Zero?”
“I see. I have no use for her. Shall I dispose of her?”
“Then I’ll do it for you.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Then, apostle, you can repent of your actions in the underworld —Gate of the Underworld.”
The ground rumbled and split, and countless hands emerged from it, grabbing Eleonora and dragging her to the depths of the earth.
“Someone, help me…”
The earth closed in, leaving behind only traces of battle.
And so, the [Time Heaven] Eleonora was easily defeated by Zero and Glatnis.
◇◇◇
The news that the Apostles had been defeated by Haruto, Fran, and Zero spread across the battlefield in an instant.
At the main camp of the Allied Forces, Oskar allowed himself a moment of relief upon receiving the report.
“So now it’s just the Evil God, and the remaining monsters, demons, and fallen angels.”
“Your Majesty. What are your orders?”
The one who addressed Oskar was Reid, a member of the Empire’s strongest order of knights—the Seven Royal Guard.
“With both the S-Rank adventurers and the full Seven Royal Guard deployed, they won’t have any trouble against foot soldiers… The problem is the Evil God. All we can do now is pray that Haruto wins.”
“But he’s fighting a god. Can he really win?”
“We can’t afford to let ourselves be shaken. If we show weakness, morale will plummet.”
“My apologies.”
Oskar smiled faintly at Reid, who bowed his head in apology.
“Reid, shall we head to the battlefield soon?”
“What are you saying? My duty is to protect Your Majesty.”
“Is that so? Then why are you trembling? A warrior’s shiver, perhaps?”
“This is…”
“Fwahaha! It’s fine. You want to fight, don’t you? That’s perfectly normal for a warrior. If I were allowed to, I’d be out there on the frontlines myself.”
“That’s absolutely out of the question.”
“I know, I know.”
Even as Reid chastised him, Oskar kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield, where the fighting still had yet to end.