Volume 4—Chapter 126: Aegis
At Waterloo, near the Lion’s Mound, two figures quietly observed the aftermath unfolding in the distance.
The battle was slowly dying down.
No more monsters emerged from the dimensional crack anymore. Only a few scattered creatures still roamed the battlefield, hunted down one by one by the Espers.
Standing atop the grassy rise beside the mound were two people who had watched the entire catastrophe from the sidelines.
The overseer of the Esper Association, Miyazaki Takeru.
And beside him, the overseer of Violetta, the Underground Esper organisation.
Iris Ronella.
Cold wind swept across the battlefield as smoke drifted through the darkening sky.
“Seems like it’s over,” Iris said while watching the distant flashes of battle gradually disappear.
Takeru kept his eyes on the horizon.
“The opening ceremony, that is,” he replied calmly.
Iris let out a small laugh.
“What a terrible way to describe a disaster.”
Neither of them looked particularly shaken by what had happened.
“Should we join the fight over there?” Iris asked. “Nidhogg is still around.”
Takeru closed his eyes briefly.
The wind brushed past his coat before he finally answered.
“Let’s not.”
“Really?” Iris tilted her head slightly. “Even though your daughter is in danger?”
“She can handle it herself,” Takeru replied without hesitation.
Iris clicked her tongue.
“You really are a horrible father, you know that?”
“Unfortunately, being a good father won’t help us whatsoever.”
“Tch… sure…”
Silence settled between them for a few moments.
Below the mound, military vehicles moved across the battlefield while recovery teams began securing the area.
The world had changed tonight.
There was no hiding it anymore.
After what happened worldwide, secrecy would become impossible.
At last, Iris spoke again.
“Let’s just set up the new era…”
Takeru slowly opened his eyes.
“An era where Espers are no longer hidden from the public…” Iris continued quietly. “Huh… I’m looking forward to it.”
Iris then heard footsteps approaching from behind.
“Seems like it’s time for me to leave…” Iris said lightly.
Before another word could be spoken, her figure dissolved into the air.
She simply disappeared without a trace, as though she had never been standing there to begin with.
A few seconds later, a man’s voice called out from behind Takeru.
“Overseer… you’re here?!”
Takeru glanced back and saw the approaching figure.
“Michael… what are you doing here?” Takeru asked calmly.
The man approaching them was Michael Henrickson, the president of the Esper Association. The public face of the organisation. The figurehead stood at the front while the real authority remained hidden behind the scenes. That is who the overseer is… Miyazaki Takeru.
“I could say the same, Overseer,” Michael replied.
Takeru looked back toward the battlefield below.
“I’m just here to observe,” he said. “Besides, with your performance earlier… I’m disappointed, you know.”
Michael gave an awkward smile at that.
“So does that mean you took care of that girl in my stead? That’s why you’re here?”
Takeru only gave him a sidelong glance.
Then, after a brief pause:
“You could say so…”
Michael let out a tired sigh.
The battle earlier still replayed in his mind. That witch-like girl totally humiliated him.
“Just how on earth did you manage to defeat that kind of monster?” Michael muttered.
“Hahaha…” Takeru quietly laughed to himself. “I myself want to know the answer to that.”
“Pardon?” Michael asked.
“Nothing.”
Takeru turned toward him again.
“Say, Michael… how well do you do in front of a camera?”
Michael blinked.
“Overseer, why are you asking that?”
“As president of the Association,” Takeru said calmly, “you might have to do a press conference after everything settles down.”
Michael’s expression froze slightly.
Meanwhile… on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean.
Nidhogg roared across the sky.
The sound alone shook the sea around the island, sending massive waves crashing against the shoreline. Dark clouds spiralled above the dragon’s enormous body while fragments of miasma drifted through the air like black smoke.
On the ground below, powerful Espers gathered.
One of them was Miyazaki Irana.
“Why me?…” Irana muttered while staring at the dragon above. “Why target me?”
The air around her rapidly dropped in temperature.
A moment later, enormous walls of ice erupted from the ground and spread across the island at terrifying speed. Towering frozen structures rose one after another until a gigantic ice castle enveloped almost the entire battlefield.
The sea itself began freezing near the shore.
“Oi oi oi… how am I supposed to manifest my fire in this icy mess?” complained a red-haired girl nearby.
Ariana.
Irana did not even glance at her.
“Not my problem.”
Then the frozen ground trembled again.
From beneath the ice, enormous tree branches burst upward and soared high into the sky. Thick roots spread across the battlefield, intertwining with the ice castle before extending far beyond it.
Not just around the castle.
But across the entire island.
Standing atop one of the giant branches was a mature woman with brown hair streaked with green.
Elizabeth.
“Fellow Espers!” Elizabeth called out loudly. “Climb the tree and engage the dragon from above!”
Her voice spread clearly across the battlefield despite the storm overhead.
“Well… there’s your answer,” Irana said flatly. “Climb the tree, you hothead.”
Ariana clicked her tongue.
Beside her, another girl with long black ponytail hair silently slit her own wrist with a small blade.
Blood flowed out immediately.
Instead of falling, however, the blood floated into the air and circled around her body like crimson serpents.
“Keh… Yukari…” Ariana grimaced. “Every time I see you do that, it gives me goosebumps.”
“Enough chatting,” Yukari replied calmly. “Let’s climb the tree.”
Without waiting for another response, Yukari immediately leapt onto one of the massive branches and began moving upward.
“Tch… you go first,” Ariana muttered.
Soon, Espers across the battlefield began climbing the enormous tree in waves, using the branches as pathways toward the sky where Nidhogg loomed above them.
Only a few remained on the ground.
Mostly those with long-range abilities or support powers.
Near Irana, however, two people remained.
One was Ariana.
And the other was Syena, who stood quietly beside them while staring up at the dragon in the sky.
“What the hell are both of you doing here? You’re getting in my way, you know?” Irana snapped.
At the same time, dozens of gigantic ice spears shot into the sky behind her and slammed into Nidhogg’s body.
The dragon roared violently.
“Shut up and just do what you gotta do,” Ariana shot back angrily.
Then she immediately turned toward Syena again, her expression tense.
“Hey, you. Where’s your teleporting friend? We can’t have Syena here!!”
“Viola?” Irana frowned slightly while raising another wall of ice toward the sky. “I don’t know. Besides, can you stop affecting my concentration?”
“Tch… then what do we do with Syena? She can’t stay here!”
Irana understood that much herself.
The battlefield was far too dangerous for someone like Syena to remain exposed in the middle of it.
But she genuinely had no idea where Viola currently was.
Then suddenly, Irana got an idea.
She stomped her foot against the frozen ground.
Immediately, four massive ice walls rose around Syena from all directions, enclosing her completely before the entire structure sank underground.
Seeing that, Ariana instantly panicked.
“What did you do?!” she shouted furiously.
“Keeping the princess safe, of course,” Irana replied casually. “Can’t find Viola right now anyway.”
“You better keep her safe!!”
Ariana glared at her one last time before jumping onto the giant tree branches and disappearing upward toward the battle above.
“Finally, some peace,” Irana muttered.
Then she raised both hands again.
An enormous mass of ice formed high above the island before launching straight toward Nidhogg like a frozen meteor.
“Eat that, you damn dragon!”
But her attack was far from the only one targeting the creature.
Across the battlefield, countless abilities surged toward the sky. Fire, lightning, blood constructs, wind blades, and beams of light all rained upon the dragon from different directions.
“Um… Irana…”
A voice suddenly spoke nearby.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m here too, you know?”
Irana blinked and turned her head.
A girl with black twin-tail hair stood only a few meters away.
“Kotori?” Irana frowned. “Huh… somehow your presence is so little.”
Kotori made an awkward face.
“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a compliment or an insult.”
“Aren’t you an Esper?” Irana asked. “Why aren’t you fighting?”
“Esper?… Oh… yeah. I am?”
Irana narrowed her eyes.
“What was that suspicious response?”
Before Kotori could answer, a portal suddenly tore open beside Irana.
A gigantic claw burst out from it.
“Damn it…”
Irana was too focused on attacking the dragon above to properly react. She immediately tried to evade, but the claw was simply too massive.
The shadow alone swallowed her completely.
“Aegis!!”
Kotori suddenly shouted.
A magic shield instantly manifested around Irana just as the claw crashed down.
BOOM.
The impact shook the island.
Then Kotori raised her hand again.
“Keraunos!!”
A bolt of lightning exploded downward from the sky and struck the dragon claw directly.
The claw twitched violently before retreating back into the portal.
A second later, the portal itself collapsed.
Irana stared at the scene in shock.
“…Magic?” she muttered in confusion.
Kotori looked relieved.
“Are you okay, Irana?”
But the moment she finished speaking, sharp ice crystals suddenly surrounded her from every direction, all aimed directly at her throat.
The temperature around them instantly dropped.
“Who are you?!” Irana demanded angrily.
Author's Note
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