1275: Hariti

「I will crush you with my own two hands!」

Despite her colossal size, Laranflura moved terrifyingly fast thanks to a combination of winged flight and mana release. Before we knew it, she was right above us.

That massive body blocked out the sun.

Her eyes were fixated on Amanda, who held her whip at the ready. However, Amanda seems to have exhausted her the majority of her strength earlier. She might not have enough energy to escape.

We had the Hero Zombies step up to protect her. At the forefront, Apollonius cloaked himself in flames and deflected blasts of mana with his halberd.

「Enough is enough! Raydoss needs to learn how to solve their problems internally!」

「Burn!」

Begareth shot out a series of flames from behind Apollonius, but they didn’t inflict a single scratch on Laranflura. Everything was repelled by a barrier.

In the meanwhile, we managed to descend to the ground via Teiwas’s teleportation. Staying in the air against a flying opponent would only make us sitting ducks.

We had Maleficent, Jean, and Persona hide themselves with a barrier, since they weren’t in good shape. Maleficent’s divine sword had already been deactivated, but he still had access to demonic powers. Now that he’s stopped rampaging, they should be able to hide for a while.

We showered Laranflura with a barrage as she descended towards us, though it barely did a thing. Her barrier was simply too tough!

The only ones that managed to get through were me and Sierra. Apparently, evil energy was the only thing capable of piercing through.

「Now die!」

Dammit, she’s still targeting Amanda!

Amanda’s movements were sluggish. She’s yet to recover her lost stamina.

「You call yourself a Guardian of Children?! Then why didn’t you save me too?!」

「…I’m sorry.」

Amanda lowered her eyes in response to Laranflura’s resentful cry. The guilt of being unable to save a child, even a stranger or an enemy, must be overwhelming to her.

This aspect of her personality was why the gods bestowed the Guardian of Children title on her in the first place.

Amanda froze on the spot. Don’t tell me you’re letting yourself get killed as some sort of act of atonement! She looked so apologetic that I couldn’t help but feel that way.

「DIE!!」

「I’m sorry… but I am no longer a Guardian of Children.」

「!」

Amanda swung her whip at Laranflura’s fist to alter its trajectory. She followed up with several additional strikes, causing Laranflura’s massive body to stray significantly off course.

「My title has been revoked.」

Even if Balfon was in control, Laranflura shared the same body as him. Killing Laranflura may have been the only way to put her to rest, but that didn’t change the fact that she attempted to kill a child. Thus resulting in the loss of her title.

「Amanda…」

「There’s no need to be sad, Fran-chan. I wasn’t particularly attached to that title in the first place. Besides, I got a new title to replace it: “Hariti”.」

Much to our surprise, she apparently obtained a title with the same name as her alias.

「I don’t need an appraisal to tell me what it does. This title grants me power when I fight to save children.」

Amanda’s whole body overflowed with a divine aura, accelerating the speed of her whip strikes.

「…Laranflura. I will defeat you.」

Despite attacking Laranflura, Amanda’s aura only grew stronger. Her new title wasn’t just for “protecting” children, but “saving” them. It activates as long as Amanda’s actions are intended to save a child.

「No! This can’t be happening! I am the invincible superhuman created by Balfon-sama! How can I lose to the likes of you!?」

Laranflura flew in at max speed, straight through Amanda’s whip storm. It seemed like a reckless charge, using her barrier to nullify the whip.

However, her giant form was backed by a huge amount of mass, making it an effective move. Then, Forrund took a stand in front of Laranflura.

There were nearly 20 magic swords floating in front of him.

「Sword Barrier.」

「Nrgh! Such fodder swords are nothing!」

Forrund simultaneously activated swords enchanted with various defensive skills like Barrier, Reflection, Hardening, Space-Time Isolation, etc. This allowed him to create a powerful shield in a single instant.

Laranflura was knocked off balance, and Urushi launched a body blow with his massive size. Although repelled by her barrier, it seems the impact of Urushi’s maximum size was too much to handle.

Meanwhile, Apollonius approached me.

「My liege, grant us permission to use our trump cards.」

His determined eyes stared right at me.

『Hmm, but…』

「Continuing to run around like this will tarnish the name of the Red Knights! Even if we are temporary existences, we cannot compromise on our pride!」

「Yeah! I’ve gotta give them payback even if it kills me!」

Apollonius shouted his desires and Begareth jumped in right behind him.

On the way here, the Hero Zombies had told me that they were not completely stable. In particular, activating their trump cards will greatly reduce the time they can remain manifested.

They might even disappear completely in extreme cases. However, everyone, including the not-so-assertive Zinga and Wilepho, was appealing to me.

Our opponent was already doomed to die if we held out long enough. Laranflura herself said she only had ten minutes or so. That’s exactly why the Hero Zombies wanted some payback. Laranflura was the detestable foe who slew the people they wanted to protect.

「Not like we’re gonna last forever either way, right?」

「Yeah. We’re half-baked existences without souls. Why not give it all here? I’m a Red Knight, too, after all.」

Violetta and Lucard jumped out without waiting for an answer.

『…Hero Zombies, go all out! Use everything at your disposal!』

「「「Roger that!!」」」

The first to act was Rob. He planted a red flag into the ground and shouted.

「Proud warriors, rampage to your heart’s content! Offer yourselves to carnage! Cardinal Flag!」

Rob was instantly depleted of mana, as the nearby Red Knights surged with red mana.

They had received a huge boost to stats, so much so that the recoil was possibly life-threatening. The first one to apply that power towards an attack was Begareth.

「Time to burn it all down! Even if it means scorching myself!」

「Hurry up and protect me with additional barriers, Holy Mother!」

A red flash appeared from the barrel of Begareth’s Carmine Flame. That must be his relic’s trump card, Divine Flame Excitation.

But for some reason, the output was much higher than the last time I saw it. Perhaps that is due to the amount of mana used, or the wielder’s talents.

What Begareth shouted was the truth. He literally poured his all into the weapon, without any thought as to if he would survive.

Laranflura attempted to intercept the blast with a barrier. It seems incorporating the Holy Mother turned her into a control device for the giant crystal.

The powerful barrier protecting Laranflura from the flames was clearly different from her usual one.

Crimson rays that seemed capable of burning space itself clashed with the barrier. However, not even the Carmine Flame’s divine-attribute trump card could break through.

Like I thought, the current Laranflura was a complete monster.

Laranflura smirked triumphantly, but she retracted that expression just as quickly.

「Pierce through, Dusk Rain!」

「Burst open, Blood Maiden!」

「Death in sight, Vermilion Eye!」

Red arrows imbued the same divine aura as the Carmine Flame came flying in from behind Laranflura. Meanwhile, she was pincered by two full powered relics from the sides as well. Teiwas’s teleportation combined with Wilepho’s spirit-powered flight allowed them to move so fast that Laranflura couldn’t react.

Divine-attribute attacks collided with the barrier from all directions, scattering a brilliant red light everywhere.

「「「Haaaaaaaah!」」」

「Impossible… My barrier! I should be invincible!」

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