[Roxy, I leave the monsters to you.]
[Yes.]
[Can you keep Shinn busy?]
[Of course I can! That means Fate will take on Snow, right?]
[Yeah, I need to snap Snow out of it.]
[I’m looking forward to it. Until then, I’ll try buying as much time as possible.]
Giving me a wink as she said so, Eris laughed.
[Then, what if you get beaten instead?]
[Eeee! I’m not that weak though~]
Replying to me with a sweet voice as she spun the black bayonet around, Eris proceeded to shoot at Shinn’s offshoots. The blood red liquid that stretched out like tentacles bursted one after another.
Looking at this, her training seemed to have shown some results.
[Don’t get careless.]
[No using the magic eyes as well?]
[Considering the risk, I’d rather you don’t use it.]
[Ahaha, maybe I shouldn’t have told you the risk.]
[Perhaps.]
[Snoooooow!]
Snow didn’t respond to my call as well.
『Fate! It’s like back when we fought her in the desert.』
[That….I thought so.]
『Right. No other choice. That time too, we managed to pull her out of her rampage by knocking her out.』
[This time I’m not so sure she’ll remain the same when she wakes up again, what’s with Libra’s influence and all.]
『That’s beside the point. First of all you need to do what you have to do.』
『That barrier is in the way. Let’s go with the scythe form.』
I attempted to cut through the barrier…
[Wha!?]
『Perhaps she instinctively sensed danger.』
[What the…..that’s troublesome.]
She avoided my attack out of her instinct and reflexes. Moreover, she was able to read my movement accurately, making me miss all the time.
『She’s not an enemy to be trifled with. Are you still intending to fight her half-heartedly?』
[Even so, I don’t want to hurt Snow.]
I could hear Greed sighed in defeat. But then he laughed heartily.
『Well said. Then, give it a try. Show me how you’ll do it！』
[Yeah, I’ll do it.]
『You…..you are still bothered by what you said to your dad back then, aren’t you?』
[I said it to Dad, that I will take responsibility for Snow.]
『I thought you’ve grown up a little. But you’re still a boy after all.』
I leaped from one building to another, trying to chase after Snow who had glided away.
[Snow!]
[Yosh.]
『Not half bad！』
『Are you sure you can make do without this me?』
[Yeah, ‘cause bare fist is the best way to convey feelings.]
『That’s Aaron’s favorite line.』
[That’s right!]
Once, her heavy kick struck my head. My vision blurred, feeling like I almost fainted as the attack sent ripples throughout my body.
『Fate! You really sure you don’t need this Me?』
[I said it already, didn’t I?]
After some struggling I managed to hold both of Snow’s hands down as well as taking her back to the ground. The problem was we landed in the midst of those blood red monsters.
[What a good place to land…]
What didn’t make sense was that these creature’s bite could go through Area E protection. According to Greed, it’s because of Shinn’s power.
They’re now opening their maw wide, trying to get a bite on me and Snow.
[Kuh.]
[Fai!]
[Roxy! This is…]
[I also do not know why. Maybe the attack is their counter?]
[In that case, please help Eris.]
[Yes.]
[I won’t let you off.]
[…..Guhhhhh.]
It’s a bit of a struggle, but I managed to keep her pinned on the ground.
[Stop rampaging. Snap out of it, Snow!]
She didn’t seem to listen to me, but even if I knew that, I kept calling her name.
As we struggled against each other, Snow lashed out and managed to bite into my neck.
[Ooww…ugh…]
（That’s…..no way…..）
If I met someone with such a grievous wound, I should’ve remembered very clearly.
And yet…as I recalled, I remember nothing about meeting Snow. Is this perhaps the memory that Libra mentioned before?
Whilst thinking so, the scene continued to play in my head.
[Are you alright?]
The boy finally realized what’s going on, and started to look as if he was panicking. That gestures… Was it truly me after all?
Snow tried to move away by wringing out the last of her strength, but the boy didn’t let her.
[You’re injured, so you shouldn’t move too much. I have these herbs I gathered for my dad, but I think you need it more urgently than him.]
[…..]
[Sorry. I’m not really good at this just yet. Dad always gets hurt, so I at least want to get better at treating wounds.]
[Un, this should do. I’m sorry, elder sister. I can only do this much.]
『She seemed to have fainted. What a troublesome girl. What’s wrong, Fate?』
[……no, it’s nothing]
[In any case, this isn’t Snow’s fault. The real cause is…]
『That guy, Libra. That man has always been like that. Never to dirty his own hands whenever he could.』
[When this is over, promise me that you’ll tell me everything about the past, okay?]
『Fine. But for now, focus on the fight. Look, Eris is having trouble there.』
[Roxy, please look after Snow.]
[Alright.]
She must’ve been worried about Snow. Just as I called for her, I saw her decimating numerous blood-red monsters with the holy light from her attack to open the path towards us.
[Is it working?]
[I guess? Somehow, it felt like she wasn’t actually trying to kill me.]
[Of course. Snow-chan would not go that far.]
Her optimism mysteriously convinced me the same. Unlike me, Roxy believed from the start that we would be able to reach out to Snow.
Patting the head of the still unconscious Snow, I got up and drew out my sword.
[From here on out, things will get more serious. Roxy should take Snow outside.
[…..understood]
I thought so as I looked at Roxy’s back as she left.
『Again with the selfish thought.』
[You got it wrong, I was thinking about Aaron.]
『You just don’t want her to get involved with the mortal sin skill, do you?』
Aaron was a gentle and caring person. I’m always grateful at the fact that he’s willing to help and trust me. But that aside, I also felt bothered by how significant the mortal sin skill had affected his life.
『Let me tell you this again.』
[What is it?]
『She would never give up. You should already know that better than anyone else.』
I know. I’m scared exactly because I know that.
『Now then, let’s go, Fate！』
[You’re slow~. If you come a little bit later, I would’ve been in grave danger.]
[My bad… It took longer than I thought it would be. But where does the confidence you showed me earlier go to?]
[I think it’s obvious to see.]
[Here I thought Eris would be able to make do after all that trainings you mentioned.]
[There is no way I could do that without relying on my magic eyes.]
[Then I guess it’s my fault. Joke aside, I think it’s meaningless we can’t find Shinn’s main body.]
[Exactly!]
Eris nodded after shooting one of the Shinns in between the eyebrows.
[These fellows are connected to Shinn who is somewhere in the underground. They’re just puppets. There’s really no point in killing them.]
[Somewhere in the underground you said…? Can you trace his magic power to find his location?]
[I can’t. Especially not in this situation. Do you think those creatures will stand still and let me be?]
Perhaps right now, he has changed shape and is controlling the offshoots and monsters from a safe place.
[He’s hogging all the huge advantages as much as possible, isn’t he?]
[Ahahaha, I guess he’s scared of us.]
[Nn? What do you mean by that?]
[I mean he’s scared of you. To be exact, the holder of Gluttony skill. Shinn had challenged the previous holder over and over again. This is probably what he came up with to not be defeated again.]
Eris explained all that with a combination of giddiness and pride.
[So I wonder what will Fate do now?]
[Isn’t that obvious? I’ll just have to do it like the previous holder did then.]
[How reliable. In that case, I need to do my best too.]
[Oii]
Eris’ eyes visible glow faintly. The tell tale sign of her activating the magic eyes.
[No worries, this one only burdens me ever so slightly. But…]
[I get it. This fight shouldn’t drag on longer than necessary.]
[That’s right! I’ll be counting on you to keep me safe.]
