บท 23: Chapter 23: Final Battle
[3rd POV]
"One hundred and twenty-five meters to the target."
Cortana said in the suit, reminding her of the remaining distance from the person who needed help.
Hermione didn't take long to notice a young girl standing on the roof of a five-story building holding a child.
The Grimm's claws were making her face very pale, and she kept squeezing the child in her arms to try to hold the child in her arms.
Ursa crawled up in front of the building.
Hermione had known for a while that she would be easy to attack without armor and that not even her magic could protect her.
Magic could be used in many situations, but she hadn't learned how to fight monsters three times her size whose claws could cut through concrete and break trees in half.
Of course, the Troll in the first year was more disgusting and bigger, but these creatures were scarier.
They looked like monsters that wanted to tear humans apart.
Hermione had a hard time imagining a world where people constantly live in fear of dying from Grimm or the same vampires that lived in Shinoa's world.
One thing is to read books about it and another thing is that such a world really exists and that she found herself in it.
What would she do without Tony's help?
She would have hidden behind the backs of the hunters, and that thought made her feel uncomfortable.
After all, the hunters were not much older than her, and one was exactly her age!
Hermione calmly pointed her repulsors at the Grimm and fired a few shots even with the gloomy thoughts coming into her head.
The Grimm were torn apart by each shot. At first, she felt sick, but now she was used to it.
"Miss."
The voice from the armor made the girl with the child startle, and she looked at Hermione with fear in her eyes.
This girl herself had a small horn on the left side of her forehead, so she was probably a faunus.
"It's not safe here. Let me escort you to the evacuation zone."
"Y-yes, thank you."
Hermione took a deep breath and held the child closer as she nodded to show that she knew help had arrived.
...
The Nakiri family's pride fueled everyone around her from the moment of her birth.
Erina was raised believing she was better than others and would become the best chef, and even her grandfather repeatedly showered her with compliments for her skills.
When she discovered her "God's Tongue," the tastes in her life suddenly turned upside down.
She vividly remembers meeting her idol, the one who "opened" her eyes to the path of culinary arts, Jōichirō Saiba.
She was very sensitive to food, and the best chefs in the world cooked for her, but it was his cooking that opened her eyes.
After six months, Erina's father started "educating" her, but it was better to say that he was harshly educating Erina as she used to be.
He didn't hesitate to use physical teaching methods because of disobedience or an incorrect method.
He made her taste different dishes and mercilessly rejected those that didn't meet the standard.
When her grandfather found out about it, he kicked her father out of the family, but it was too late, and the damage had already been done.
For some reason, Erina could only make friends with people who were "servants." She now knows that she was trying to make friends that way out of pride.
Hisako Arato could be considered her friend.
When Erina got the Dimensional Group Chat her entire perspective on life began to change.
She saw surprises in Hermione's and Rias's worlds, but she also saw horrors, and now she found herself in one of them.
Erina tried many times to deceive herself, but she always knew she was scared.
She was scared of those scary black monsters from horror movies and seeing people die, and she was scared that Group Chat would leave her because she was too weak.
She was the only "normal" one among them and didn't have any supernatural abilities. She was afraid that if she didn't take on tasks with everyone else, she might lose this wonderful feeling—friendship.
When they didn't have to bow down to her without knowing who she was! They didn't care... and she was grateful for that.
"Thank you so much, thank you."
The woman in her thirties said with tears in her eyes that she had been escorted to the evacuation zone.
At first, Cortana controlled the armor because Erina was too afraid of what was happening.
She was just a fifteen-year-old girl from a rich and privileged family.
Where would she see such horrors?
"You're welcome."
Erina quietly said this to the genuinely grateful woman she saved.
This all seemed like a dream, but she had already confirmed that it was all real.
Slowly but surely, she realized that this was not a light novel. It was a dark reality that didn't forgive mistakes.
She would not have come here without this armor and Cortana if Tony-kun hadn't said those words.
...
[Anthony's POV]
A fiery vortex appeared over the Cross Continental Transmit System which was the main communication system invented in Remnant.
There are four towers in each kingdom.
The whole system will stop working if one tower goes offline making long-distance communication unavailable.
"Based on the cameras, there are not many of them, and they're running from all corners towards the academy as if someone ordered them to."
Cortana said.
"Hmm, Salem needs the Maidens' powers."
I said thoughtfully and flew towards the top of the tower, where the fiery vortex was visible.
I had already taken Jaunce to the evacuation point, and nothing should have happened to him.
I flew back to Pyrrha and found her kneeling in front of Cinder exhausted.
"... power that never belonged to you. But one thing I know for sure is that I'm using it in a way you could never dream of.
"Do you... believe in fate?"
Pyrrha asked while staring her in the eyes. She knew she would die and wouldn't last long against Cinder, but she still went to fight.
She followed her ideals to the end and tried to help.
Cinder stood in front of her and formed a bow in her hands, drew the string, and aimed it at her chest.
The released arrow sounded in her head like a tolling bell, and she watched as her death approached her and she couldn't do anything...
"What the..."
Cinder whispered as a stone wall appeared between the arrow and Pyrrha taking the blow and exploding.
"Heroes always come at the last moment, don't they?"
I said I was flying in through the window.
"Tony?"
Pyrrha's eyes widened, and she wanted to shout something but coughed and winced in pain.
"No... go away, she's extremely powerful..."
"Pyrrha, you're too good of a person."
I said what I honestly thought.
"You still try to help others, but you also have to think about yourself. Maybe you've always supported others, but let me support you now... even though we're not very familiar."
"What a disgusting hero..."
Cinder's eyes flared with fire...
"Do you think the Maiden's power will help you?"
Cinder's eyes widen even further.
"You know, you're the type of person I can understand. In this terrible world, you were left by everyone and were barely living when the "terrible" Grimm queen picked you up and gave you hope. You were raised as a weapon, and you understand that, don't you?"
"But I possess a power that no one could even dream of."
Cinder clenched her fists, and a fiery vortex rushed towards me heating the floor and melting metal.
The attack was stopped when a stone "shield" rose from the ground.
"Weak."
I said it mockingly while stopping the whole attack.
However, I had to strengthen the earth magically.
The next second, I moved toward Cinder and dodged her next fire attack to land right in front of her. I then gave her a simple punch in the stomach that sent her flying into the wall.
"You... I haven't seen you before."
Cinder whispered while easily dodging the hit but becoming much more wary of me.
"Where did such a strong Hunter suddenly come from?"
"After I beat you and then your little group, I'll tell you... maybe. Pyrrha, leave."
I looked at the Pyrrha.
"No... together we stand a better chance."
Pyrrha said it with determination.
"You'll only get in the way. You're powerless right now, so think about yourself."
I said this and darted in front of Pyrrha to catch the fiery arrow fired by the enraged Cinder.
Then, a dazzling white light from the academy distracted her from the fire bursting around her even from her eyes.
"What..."
This momentarily stunned Cinder.
"You're all so irritating."
"I agree. Pyrrha, go back to your friends."
I said finally and rushed towards Cinder.
She blocked my first punch, but the fiery arrow flew out through the tower wall leaving behind a cloud of dust and other materials that made up the wall.
I hit her harder this time, but she still looked fine and angrier.
"Ahh. Burn to ashes!"
In an instant, a concentrated beam of fire appeared next to me, but a magical seal emerged, and I used alchemy to convert the magical fire into water.
This very strong pressure water rushed at Cinder and soaked her from head to toe.
I wouldn't have taken such a risky action in a really dangerous situation because it would have taken too much work and effort to pull off.
"That suits you better."
I complimented her... but judging by her look, she didn't like it.
Cinder could fly with her Maiden's power, and she flew straight at me while I was hovering in the sky with the repulsors on my legs.
We began to battle in the air, and each of my blows consumed part of her aura and made her even angrier.
At one point, she conjured two fiery blades and attempted to stab me.
But I covered myself in earth armor and grew an extra set of stone arms using nearby buildings.
I grabbed the swords with these stone arms while punching her in the jaw with my other hand, sending her flying up like a rocket.
"Ra-a-a!"
The enormous Grimm Wyvern that had arrived screamed and tried to bite me.
"Don't get in the way."
I waved him off and struck while not holding back my physical strength.
The big Grimm did a few somersaults in the air and then crashed into a building in Vale because of this.
Then stone spikes started to sprout from the building and throw the Wyvern back into the air.
I delivered another blot, but this time with Senjutsu and directly on its bony head.
There was a snow-white energy around my hands, and the impact could be heard all over the city while Wyvern's head cracked open like a ripe melon.
"You're next."
I pointed my finger at Cinder as she had seen me kill the huge Grimm, a threat that even a dozen teams of Hunters might have trouble killing.
This is the power of the Primordial Human and the one who could fight dragons.
"Who are you⁈"
Cinder exclaimed, with fear flickering in her voice.
"I'm the one who came to stop you and your boss."
I confessed.
"..."
Cinder fell silent and created a huge, fiery bow, releasing an arrow at me. It pierced the sound barrier and headed towards me.
"Cortana."
I said quietly, and a bright light appeared on my chest, showing where the arc reactor was located.
Then a concentrated arc reactor energy burst out in a brilliant white beam.
It didn't completely absorb the arrow, but it was enough to change the trajectory, and the energy hit Cinder, throwing her back a hundred meters.
We were flying pretty close to some nearby buildings at the time, and the heat melted the windows.
"I think if you practiced with this power for some time, you could give me a more worthy battle."
I said this while landing next to her and grabbing her by the neck, then slamming her face into the stone wall that appeared nearby.
The Cinder's groan was clearly loud, but I didn't stop there. I kicked her in the stomach to sending her airborne.
While she was in the air, she tried to fly away from me, but I made a magical seal in the air that made unstable elements rain down from it.
They touch Cinder and start to react and explode.
It didn't hurt her, but it made her lose focus which made her lose control of her flight for a moment.
In the next moment, a large stone hand grabbed her and forcefully slammed her back to the ground.
"Your aura is remarkably strong because of the Maiden's power."
I remarked while standing next to her.
Based on Albedo's memories, these kinds of hits would easily kill a normal person even one with Vision.
"A-aah!"
Cinder screamed and burst into flames again throwing herself a meter into the air.
I just took a step back as the flames tore a hole in the building with her hot shooting fingers.
Luckily, most of the people who lived in this area had already left.
"Impressive."
I admitted it but still created a stone cocoon around her where she promptly lost consciousness.
This fight showed me the level I was currently at.
She could have turned the whole district, and maybe even a few more into a hellish flame with this boiling magical force if she knew how to use the Maiden's power better.
Cinder wasted a lot of energy in vain due to her inexperience.
Nevertheless, I can't say that the fight went smoothly for me even though I pretended to have everything under control.
...
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