Akatsuki Translations

Some time earlier, on the rooftop of Uuga’s command tower…

“J-Jain!!!”

For a moment after the firing of the White King Formation, Echelle, too exhausted to move due to the need to replenish her magical power, finally took in the situation. She let out a scream as she saw Jain tearing through the core of the enormous tree-like dragon, shredding it to pieces. Just as she was about to cheer in triumph, it happened.

“L-Lynne!! Jain’s in trouble!!” Echelle cried.

“Wait!! I still can’t move yet!!” Lynne replied sharply, frustration etched into her face.

Echelle had instinctively called out to her for help, but Lynne already understood the gravity of the situation. Her expression was tense. Despite being the most powerful force on the battlefield, Lynne wasn’t all-powerful. She had just unleashed a devastating attack moments ago and couldn’t recover her magic so quickly. Together with the mages of the White Serpent, she was struggling to replenish the magical energy that enveloped the entire tower, but it would take time.

『GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!』

Meanwhile, Uuga was still being assaulted by hordes of monsters. Dealing with that alone was already taxing enough. From their position at the command tower, there simply wasn’t enough strength left to send immediate aid to Jain.

“W-What should we do…?! Kalkara! Kalkara!!” Echelle shouted into her communication tool.

No response. The lines were chaotic, and no reliable information was coming through. Still, she could sense one thing clearly: the situation was worsening by the second.

And she knew… if Jain were to die, things would get even worse. The main fighting force of Uuga was the 【White Serpent】. If their leader, Jain, were to fall, the battlefront would surely collapse.

But there was no one who could save him. No one… and nothing she could do. Nothing—

―― That girl harbors the potential to become a great calamity.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in her mind. The words of 【Greylei the Heavenly Demon】.

He had said it about her—that she would eventually become a terrible monster. An uncontrollable disaster. But didn’t that imply that she held that much power within her?

Echelle stopped, silencing her chaotic thoughts, and stared down at the ‘Black Book’ she held in her hands.

It was a forbidden tome, filled with accounts of evil spirits and the catastrophes they had unleashed. It had been written by a heretic who had not only chronicled the tragedies but also sought to harness the power of those very spirits. Everything about it—the place it had been kept, its contents, its author—was a shining example of a forbidden book in every possible way. Kalkara had skimmed through it as a precaution before letting Echelle have it.

Kalkara had been slightly taken aback. While it certainly detailed dark schemes, it also offered a remarkably sound understanding of how to commune with spirits and wield their power with the proper mindset.

―― It might actually be more reasonable than the teachings of most priests.

―― More reasonable than Kalkara’s?

―― Far better at explaining things than I am.

In a short period of time, Echelle had learned combat techniques from the ‘Black Book’. She was now more confident in her ability to harness the blessings of the mirror spirit than ever before. While she had held back in front of Kalkara, she knew she could do much, much more.

But she was afraid.

It wasn’t confusion. She wasn’t arrogant or narrow-minded due to desperation. It was a pure, undeniable fact: there was no one else who could turn the tide of this battle but her.

Yet there was no more time to hesitate. Jain would die soon.

“…Lynne, please. Hurry with the White King’s Formation,” Echelle pleaded, her voice shaky with urgency.

“I understand… Echelle? Echelle!?!”

Lynne had no time to stop her. Before she could react, Echelle leaped into the massive mirror she had created. Rather than reflecting her, the mirror ‘swallowed’ her whole, vanishing completely.

                                                 ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

　　　　　　　 ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

　　　　　　　　　　◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

Just moments before Jain was about to be finished by the dragon’s evil eye.

No one noticed the mirror that suddenly appeared between the dragon’s eye and Jain, nor could anyone have imagined that Echelle would crawl out from within it.

“【Miralphyne!!! 】” Echelle shouted the name of the mirror spirit as she tumbled out of the mirror. A ring of mirrors instantly formed around the scorched and battered Jain, as well as herself. The spirit’s mirrors, which reflected all forms of power, turned the blast from the dragon’s eye right back at its origin.

『Z… Z… Z…』

The massive eyeball was engulfed in flames, its surface bubbling and swelling like a blister before bursting. The huge eye, many times larger than Echelle, began to crack and crumble.

Echelle’s heart swelled with relief—she thought she had done it. The dragon’s eye had destroyed itself.

But then…

『Z…』

If it were that easy to kill a dragon, Jain wouldn’t have struggled so much.

“W-What?!”

Echelle’s eyes widened in disbelief. The shattered remains of the dragon’s eye were starting to reassemble. The pieces were pulling themselves back together, rising from the ground to restore their original form. It was regenerating.

“That’s not fair!! What the hell is that?!” Echelle shouted in frustration, her protest sounding more like the angry outburst of a child. Of course, the dragon’s eye paid no heed to her complaints. Worse still, black roots had appeared all around her and Jain, creeping in from every direction. From these roots, more eyes were forming.

“Ah! No! 【Barrier! 】”

Echelle screamed, summoning a new round of mirrors. The mirrors appeared all around them, forming a shield to protect both herself and Jain. These mirrors were capable of reflecting any attack—far stronger than any ordinary barrier.

“Fu… Fu…”

Naturally, the toll on Echelle was immense. This was precisely why, when she had initially suggested using her power to protect the tower, both Kalkara and Lynne had instantly rejected the idea. Sweat poured down her face as she struggled to maintain the barrier.

“…Idiot… why… why the hell did’ya come out here,” a rasping voice muttered from behind her.

It was Jain, his face twisted in pain and disbelief. His point was valid—Echelle was the queen of Uuga, and for her to leave the command tower was reckless and dangerous.

But despite knowing that, Echelle couldn’t help but feel like she had a right to complain, too.

“It goes both ways!! If you die, we’re in serious trouble too!!” Echelle shouted back, her voice shaking with desperation.

“If you die, it’s… really… over,” Jain muttered, his voice weak.

“I’ve already duplicated the control seal and entrusted it to Gradol!” she retorted.

“That’s… not the issue, ya… idiot… damn it…” Jain’s voice trailed off as he lost consciousness, slumping over.

Echelle hurriedly applied a potent healing potion to his charred face and bloodied legs. “This should keep him alive,” she thought, though she knew she couldn’t let her guard down yet.

“Quickly… use the teleport mirror… to escape…” Jain’s words still echoed in her head as her own vision began to blur.

“Am I exhausted from keeping the mirror shield up for too long?” she wondered. Kalkara had warned her time and time again not to overuse powers beyond her limits.

But then she realized—this wasn’t just fatigue.

This… this is drowsiness!

“Hah!?”

Suddenly, she noticed black roots slithering through the gaps in the mirror shield, where new eyes were forming. The shield wasn’t completely airtight, and those roots were forcing their way in, prying open the smallest spaces.

“No!!” Echelle grunted as she poured more strength into sealing the gaps. The pressure caused the black roots to snap, falling to the ground in chunks. Even so, the severed roots and eyes continued to writhe, morphing into new shapes, ready to attack again.

“【Rifle!! 】”

With a pointed finger, Echelle concentrated her power. Shards of mirrors shot out from her fingertips, piercing through the emerging creatures.

『Z… Z…』

Though this wasn’t the most efficient way to use the mirror spirit’s power, it was quick and effective—perhaps due to her experience handling magical rifles. She fired the shards repeatedly, pinning the eyes down until they were completely immobilized.

“Why… why are these things so persistent?!” Echelle cried in frustration.

Despite sealing the mirror, the roots kept trying to force their way back in. She could feel it—the situation was worsening. She couldn’t focus enough to activate the 【teleportation mirror】. As things stood, she was completely trapped.

“Jain! Jain! Please!! Wake up and use the teleport scroll!!” Echelle screamed, her voice breaking with desperation. She was sure Jain had a teleportation scroll with him. She had to believe that.

But Jain didn’t stir. He didn’t move an inch. The terrifying thought crossed her mind—was he dead? The fear gripped her, but there was no way to check. She couldn’t move, not even a little.

“Nngh… ngh…”

Tears began to well up in Echelle’s eyes. She was already starting to regret acting on her own. But even as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her, she forced herself to keep pouring power into the mirrors, knowing she couldn’t let her strength falter. She had to find a way to break free from this nightmare, but she had no idea how.

Her lack of experience in critical moments was becoming painfully clear. She hadn’t yet learned how to react in a crisis like this.

The sound of explosions echoed repeatedly from outside. Although the mirror reflected all impacts, nullifying any damage, it couldn’t silence the deafening blasts. The overwhelming malice and hostility aimed at killing Echelle and Jain tore away at Echelle’s resolve, gnawing at her heart.

“H-h-help… Kalkara… Kalkara… Ur…!” Echelle whimpered.

［What? Did you call for me?］

Suddenly, Echelle raised her head. Ur was there.

A small boy with ash-gray hair and a sharp, mischievous look in his eyes. He smiled at Echelle and extended his hand.

［Come on, let’s get out of here quickly.］

“…Ah… ah…”

Tears welled up in Echelle’s eyes as she reached for his hand, overwhelmed by a sense of relief.

No—’forced’ into a sense of relief.

『Z…』

The fragments of the dragon’s roots, which Echelle had fought so desperately to destroy, were still alive.

Even though the mirror shards had pierced and shredded its body, leaving it in tatters, the dragon’s eye—half intact—swiveled to fix its gaze on Echelle. It was the eye of ‘illusion’, a cursed eye that showed its target what they most desired, warping their mind and manipulating them. Echelle’s sanity had already been torn apart.

Ur couldn’t be here—he was still fighting in Proudia. Deep down, she knew that. But her mind was clouded, making it impossible to think clearly.

The mirror she had sealed began to part, opening to welcome in the figure she thought was Ur.

『Z…』

The dragon’s eye appeared, its gaze distorting into a cruel sneer as it flashed with malice, mocking Echelle’s helpless, entranced state.