[V6C12] Here I Go! (Sister Version)

The roar of the white dragon echoed through the night sky, accompanied by the dancing pale blue snowlights.

Entangled in Raul’s rose vines, the dragon desperately spread his wings, attempting to take flight. However, they refused to let him escape.

Neither Melissa nor Raul could use flight magic. Once the dragon got away, there would be no way to rescue Cyril.

(Hurry up, Little One…!)

In between roars, the creature seemed to be gritting his teeth in excruciating pain.

Melissa hastily infused mana into the rose vines, reinforcing them. She could not allow the vines to be torn, or Monica would lose her lifeline.

The thorny vines stung at the white dragon through the gaps in his scales, staining his beautiful body with sporadic patches of red.

Unlike other dragons, which would be practically impervious to such damage, the white dragon was a fragile species. He began struggling in agony, scattering blood-stained scales onto the snowy ground.

“Release Thule!”

“Give back my friend!”

Veronica and Raul shouted incompatible demands while engaging in another clash of ice blades and rose vines. The blades tore through the vines, which Raul promptly regenerated back.

The ice spirit had already lost her left arm, and her remaining limbs were riddled with holes. Mana spilled from her wounds instead of blood, dripping out in the form of luminescent sparkles.

Still, Veronica’s chilling animosity did not dull in the slightest. Despite her doll-like lack of emotion, the aura emanating from her entire body exuded an intimidating pressure, befitting a greater spirit.

That said, her desperate attempts to sever Raul’s vines had left her oblivious to Monica. She had yet to notice Monica’s entry into the white dragon’s mouth.

“Don’t notice, don’t notice…” Melissa whispered to herself. Contrary to her wishes, however, Veronica suddenly lifted her face and began staring at the dragon.

“…Thule?”

The spirit’s eyes were fixated on a single vine extending from the white dragon’s mouth. She had caught on.

Veronica raised her hand, creating an ice axe out at her fingertips, which promptly swung down onto the vine that served as Monica’s lifeline.

Raul invoked a brief chant and waved his right hand.

“I won’t let you!”

One of the vines entangling the white dragon extended to grab the axe as well.

That very same instant, Melissa noticed the vine shaking. This was the signal from Monica.

Melissa poured every bit of her remaining mana into pulling the vine.

Although she wasn’t actually physically grabbing and pulling on the vine, Melissa made sure to plant her legs firmly on the ground. It was all about feeling.

Her lipstick had come off long ago, but she still twisted her lips into a ferocious smile. Like a fisherman who had hooked a big catch, the Fourth Thorn Witch shouted with all her heart.

“Here I go!”

＊　＊　＊

Cloaked in wind magic, Cyril and Monica soared upward with great momentum.

Monica’s flying was incredibly unsteady, but the vine in her hand guided the two towards the outside.

Without the lifeline, escape would likely have been impossible. Monica’s flight magic was rudimentary at best. Since she lacked the ability to fine-tune her trajectory, it was essentially nothing more than a really high jump.

Each time she swayed to the side, the vine forcibly redirected her upwards.

Meanwhile, Cyril was holding onto Monica securely. Monica’s right arm had gone limp, and her left arm was trembling. She was reaching her limit.

Eventually, they passed through the dragon’s narrow throat, but it was pitch black on the other side. The white dragon had clamped his mouth shut.

“…I’m sorry.”

Monica muttered a quiet apology and invoked a wind spell. She forcefully pried open the dragon’s mouth by blasting it with a compressed mass of air.

This revealed the night sky before them, filled with the dancing pale blue snowlights.

The two flew outside, covered in the dragon’s saliva, thus exposing them to the chilly night breeze.

It was then that Cyril noticed it. Monica was no longer moving.

“——Monica?”

No response.

Right as they reached the outside air, the wind magic enveloping Cyril and Monica disappeared, and the two began to fall. The flight magic had been cut off.

The white dragon’s mouth was at a height equivalent to the second or third floor of a building. Crashing into the ground from this height would result in great injury.

(I need to hurry…!)

Cyril rapidly chanted, creating an ice ramp right below himself.

The two hit the ice slope at the last second, sliding safely to the ground. Raul rushed over in a panic.

“Cyril! Thank goodness, are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, but Monica is…!”

Monica simply sat on the ground, leaning against Cyril. All she could do was take shallow breaths with a bloodless face. Her half-open eyes were vacant and unfocused.

As Cyril and Raul almost fell into a panic, a woman’s hand reached from the side and forcibly shoved something into Monica’s mouth.

“Typical mana deficiency symptoms,” said the red-haired woman with freckles, as she pulled off the white cloth wrapped around Monica’s right arm. Apparently, that cloth was originally a jacket.

Just as Cyril had expected, Monica’s arm was in awful condition. She was bleeding all over, and her wrist had turned a reddish-black color due to being forcibly pulled by the vines wrapped around it.

As Cyril grimaced at the sight, Monica looked up at the red-haired woman and stammered with her pale lips.

“Onee-san… t-this…”

“I gave you a mana-infused candy. It only gives you enough mana to alleviate mana deficiency, so you better not use any more magic.”

“O-Okay…”

Monica nodded as she sucked on the candy, and the red-haired woman began peeling off the rose vine tied around her arm.

With skillful movements, the woman removed all the thorns one by one. It was then that Cyril realized he didn’t know her identity.

“Excuse me…”

The woman turned to Cyril with a bright smile.

“I am Raul’s sister, Melissa Roseberg. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Cyril didn’t know why Raul’s sister was accompanying them, but it seemed she had played a role in saving him.

“…Lady Melissa, please take care of Monica.”

After entrusting Monica to Melissa, Cyril stood up and faced the white dragon.

The dragon was still groaning in agony, entangled in Raul’s roses. Almost all of his body was dyed red at this point.

A woman clung to the blood-soaked dragon’s feet, screaming in anguish.

“Thule! Thule…!”

She was an unfamiliar-looking woman with light blonde hair and lavender-colored eyes.

However, Cyril immediately recognized that she was the ice spirit who abducted him.

Sensing the thin thread of magic from the bracelet on his left wrist connecting them, Cyril understood that the spirit had not only kidnapped him, but also formed a contract with him——likely in order to obtain free movement through human settlements.

…And also, that she was the one who tried to feed him to the white dragon.

How could he not be furious at this? Cyril ground his teeth together as the anger bubbled up inside him.

The ice spirit noticed Cyril standing up. She tore into her hair and glared at him with a spiteful scowl.

“…Humans. You have harmed Thule.”

The spirit’s voice was backed by a freezing cold rage that would send shivers down anyone’s spine. In response, Cyril shouted back in a booming voice.

“I’ll throw those words right back at you! How dare you harm my junior, spirit!”

“Just shut up and get eaten by Thule!”

“Where do you find a human who willingly gets eaten?! If you take a human form, at least acquire some human common sense!”

Seeing how much louder Cyril was than the spirit, Raul cast the young man a respectful gaze.

“Wow, Cyril. You’ve finally started lecturing spirits.”

“…It’s the usual Cyril-sama,” whispered Monica in a weak tone, still leaning on Melissa.

However, Cyril Ashley was so furious with the spirit in front of him that he paid no attention to the exchange happening behind him.

Cyril raised his left arm and lifted the bracelet that had been forced on him.

“Furthermore, you forced me into a contract… Even if made inappropriately, that makes you my contracted spirit! Thus, obeying me is the proper course of action!”

The spirit scoffed at Cyril’s words.

To a spirit with a lifespan far longer than any human, Cyril seemed insignificant. He was merely another fragile creature.

She had formed the contract unilaterally, with no regard for Cyril’s will. The spirit considered him as nothing more than a convenient puppet.

“Frail human. What can you do? As a false contract holder, you don’t even know my true name.”

In the human-spirit contract, the spirit offers its true name to the human it lends power to.

By incorporating that name into a spell, the contractor can control the spirit. Nevertheless, Cyril was not informed of this spirit’s name, since the contract was made unilaterally.

However, the spirit stone embedded in the bracelet bore the spirit’s name in the spirit language.

There were very few people in the modern era who could read the spirit language. The spirit was likely confident that Cyril couldn’t comprehend it.

“…I am Cyril Ashley, a descendant of the Lineage of Knowledge!”

Cyril was not omnipotent, nor was he a genius.

But since the day he was taken in by House Highown, Cyril had been studying tirelessly, reading the vast store of books in the mansion.

Even if he would never compare to Claudia, he wanted to assert himself as the proud heir to the Lineage of Knowledge.

Thus, Cyril could read it. The true name of the spirit engraved on the bracelet was…

“Obey me, Ice Spirit Ashelpikeh!”

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