Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready.

Author: Cireng

Chapter 197 – The Grand Gathering of Interracial Harmony – Total Chaos (4)

BOOM!

The giant wearing a gas mask brought down his enormous hand. Dirt and stones exploded in every direction. The ground shook for a moment.

[Valterium Imperial Army – Giant Blank Soldier (Level 5)]

[Like the Human Blank Soldiers, this giant has erased its own mind. Beware its overwhelming physical strength. Like ordinary giants, its weak points are the nape of the neck, abdomen, and spine.]

A Level 5 giant charged recklessly, swinging its massive arms wildly.

“Pendrick! Transform back into your true form and focus on its stomach!”

“…Got it!”

Following the order from his father, Astrimia, Pendrick hurried forward, returning to his true form, a gigantic golden wolf.

“Grrrrrr!”

A huge forepaw slammed into the giant’s abdomen.

“……!”

The enormous giant staggered from a single blow.

It was thanks to the strength of the Catastrophic Upheaval Monster descended from Targon, combined with the blessing bestowed long ago by Artein.

[Blessing – Oath of Protection]

[When the designated protected individual is nearby, physical abilities increase dramatically.]

Pendrick’s designated person to protect was naturally his master, Astrimia.

Simply fighting beside her made his already tremendous strength and speed become even greater.

Boom! Boom!

The giant wasn’t an easy opponent either. It refused to be driven back.

Blocking the monster’s relentless assault with its entire body, the giant grabbed Pendrick and slammed him to the ground.

It followed with a crushing punch to the wolf’s head, but this time, thanks to the blessing bestowed by the present-day Artein, the golden wolf remained completely unharmed.

[Blessing – Vow of Protection]

[When the designated protected individual is nearby, the body’s defensive ability increases dramatically.]

“……!”

“Grrrrr!”

While the two gigantic beings continued their brutal wrestling match, another fierce battle raged elsewhere.

“I have no choice. From this moment on… summary execution will commence.”

The human mage waved his wand.

Bzzzzzz.

A powerful sound wave spread from its tip, sending sharp headaches into everyone’s minds.

An extraordinary mental spell.

[Valterium Imperial Army – Mage Officer Lucas (Level 6)]

[A mage of the Mind Dominator class. Among those of the same level, he ranks among the strongest. Exercise extreme caution!]

Mage… Mind Dominator. A class capable of manipulating minds, brainwashing enemies, extracting information, or reducing people to fools.

He had even resisted the effects of Chaos Disturbance Field using mental Mysteries.

Granted, had the unique domain not spread across the entire capital, he wouldn’t have been able to stop it.

Even so, he was undeniably formidable.

“How dare you attack Sir Karr…!”

Marlin rushed forward, swinging Joyful Rosalia. But the blade merely passed through the mage’s body.

“…A-Astrimia.”

Brightfeather, having activated Gléléré of Frost, spoke with a frown.

“We have to rescue Sis quickly. O-Otherwise….”

“……”

Astrimia looked toward the Wood Elf assassin lying collapsed near the mage.

The assassin’s body twitched sporadically.

According to Eyes That Perceive the Truth, she’d been struck by a powerful mental Mystery.

“She was always the most vulnerable to mental attacks… even back in the snowy mountains during the Southern Continent Expedition…. Right.”

Had that truly been Rosalia, it would’ve been a grave crisis. Fortunately, the mind inside that body belonged to Karr.

That Half-Elf had never once inspired concern… whether caught in an enemy’s schemes, struck by fatal attacks, or standing on the brink of death.

The only worrying part was that Karr’s memories were no longer complete.

‘…If it were the Sir Karr with all his memories… he’d probably be enjoying this.’

But now, he wasn’t the deranged cultist anymore. He was merely a quiet, composed assassin.

Just to be safe, they needed to rescue him quickly.

Whooom!

Perrin’s Power Shot flew through the air.

Yet once again, the attack passed harmlessly through the mage’s body.

“I warned you. Do not regret your decision.”

Lucas, the Valterium Imperial mage, gracefully swept his wand through the air.

Immediately, the sky above the forest filled with countless blue spheres.

The basic Mystery of Pure Mana Magic… Magic Bullet.

Its strengthened form… Magic Bullet Rain.

Rumble…

Magic bullets poured down like a torrential storm.

Brightfeather immediately erected an icy barrier using Gléléré of Frost.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

The sound of countless impacts hammered against the ice.

Because his mastery remained low, the barrier’s durability was poor, and it quickly began shattering.

“…Laife.”

Astrimia whispered quietly.

The moment the ice wall completely broke, she immediately dashed out… locking eyes with the mage. Nothing happened.

‘Just as I thought!’

[That damned mage had been distorting everyone’s perception through mental Mysteries, disguising his true location!]

Even Eyes That Perceive the Truth had failed to notice the trick.

But once the deception had been seen through, it could no longer conceal the truth.

[↗ Here!]

Astrimia pointed with her index and middle fingers toward the location indicated by Truthy.

CRACKLE!!

Black lightning gathered around her fingertips… then fired forth as a straight beam.

[Flash Kwaa-Kwang.]

A simple Sixth-Tier Mystery of the Defiled Sky. Nothing more than a beam of lightning, followed by branching bolts.

Its simplicity was exactly what made it powerful.

Crackle!

Black lightning pierced through the trees as it shot forward.

“…Tch!”

Lucas leapt sideways, his perception-distorting Mystery breaking apart.

At that exact moment, Astrimia met his gaze.

Sin: Lust activated.

“……”

The mage’s attention focused entirely upon her. Love blossomed within his heart… only to be immediately suppressed by his feelings for Pendrick.

“Excuse me.”

She lazily curled a finger toward him.

The reluctant captain, forced into the role, casually beckoned.

“Instead of hiding like a coward… why don’t you come play with me?”

“…A mere Half-Elf. You’ve forgotten your place.”

Completely captivated by Sin: Lust, the mage unleashed spell after spell toward Astrimia.

“I’ll help!”

“Sparkling Golden Captain! I’ll provide covering fire!”

While Marlin and Perrin supported the captain against the mage, Brightfeather hurriedly dragged the fallen assassin farther back.

“Sis…!”

“……”

Karr still only twitched occasionally, showing no sign of regaining consciousness.

“W-What do I do… Iquiril?”

“Kururuk.”

Aiquiril noticed that her master wasn’t behaving normally.

Nevertheless, she immediately offered advice.

“O-Okay…!”

Using the connection established through Gléléré of Frost,

Brightfeather borrowed AKarr’s Mystery… The Mystery he chose was: [Life · Reverse · Cycle.] .

Whooooosh.

Though still only First Tier, pitifully weak, its true value lay in restoring vitality to the body, which in turn slightly restored the inseparable mind.

“Please wake up…!”

Brightfeather shook Karr’s shoulders.

“ Kuruk!”

Suddenly, Iquiril raised her tail, stopping him.

“Why…?”

“Kururuk.”

The spirit squirrel pointed toward Karr’s face.

Following the tiny paw, Brightfeather finally widened his eyes.

“…He’s… smiling?”

Despite supposedly reliving a horrifying memory, Karr wore a faint smile.

***

I was dancing.

Flutter.

Within a space filled with colorful butterflies… beautiful enough that I’d have wanted to show them to a certain teammate who adored flashy things… the two of us held a private ballroom dance.

A dreamlike spectacle.

An atmosphere intoxicating enough to dull the mind.

“You really don’t have much talent for dancing.”

The Half-Elf cultist, still holding me closely with one arm around my waist as she led the dance, spoke lightly.

“Well… according to your setting… You were never allowed to learn anything besides assassination since childhood.”

“……”

Rather than answering, I quietly observed the face close to mine.

Brilliant golden eyes. Beautiful, well-defined features.

An appearance far too familiar.

“…So. You were my little sister.”

This one was Astrimia.

A Half-Elf… half insane, yet not an evil cultist.

Although her appearance remained exactly the same, I somehow couldn’t recall the face of the captain I knew.

Her expressions were similar. Yet the atmosphere surrounding her felt completely different.

“Why are you talking as though we’re strangers?”

Surrounded by butterflies, the Half-Elf… or rather, Butterfly Little Sister… put on an exaggeratedly gloomy expression.

“Big Sister… You’re hurting my feelings.”

“……”

I frowned. It was simply too ridiculous.

Watching my expression, Butterfly Little Sister continued grinning.

“Why do you keep smiling?”

“It’s irritating. Because… Lady Rosalia’s appearance… matches your personality rather well… now that you’ve lost the memories from when you were I■■.”

“…?”

“See? I told you I was right.”

Who was she talking to? Come to think of it, the Astrimia from the past… before losing her memories… had once left a message for her future self, using an ordinary citizen from District 6.

What this Half-Elf had just said felt strangely similar.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Still leading me through the dance, she tightened her grip slightly.

“Please focus on this intimate moment we’re sharing. You’re dancing with a Half-Elf as beautiful as me. How can you possibly be distracted?”

“Why am I even doing something this ridiculous?”

Right now, my companions were surely still fighting the Imperial mage, and here I was… Dancing.

If it had been up to me, I’d have cut off the arm around my waist, then severed the hand gripping my wrist.

“Aww… Come on. Just enjoy this moment.”

Butterfly Little Sister gave another mischievous wink.

“If you simply let this opportunity pass… I’m certain you’ll regret it later.”

“I doubt it.”

“Trust me. I’m a Half-Elf who never says anything meaningless. When have I ever given you useless advice?”

She hadn’t. Though she gave hundreds of utterly pointless jokes and ridiculous pranks every single day.

“For now… just entrust yourself to me… my lady.”

“Drop dead.”

“Ahahahaha!”

Whoosh.

Butterfly Little Sister lifted my hand, spinning me gracefully in a circle.

“You grumble… yet you still follow along so obediently. You pretend to dislike it… But secretly you’re happy, aren’t you?”

“…Enough already.”

Honestly, she was unbelievably shameless.

“You’re the one forcing me to dance.”

If I had to guess, this place lay deep within my heart.

A ballroom built upon the border of the unconscious… somewhere reason alone could never reach.

Why she was here, I had no idea.

But one thing was absolutely certain. This wasn’t what the Valterium Empire’s Mind Dominator had intended.

“So… you figured it out already.”

“Could it be… that the strange sense of unease I’ve been feeling ever since entering Final Stand… is because of you?”

“Gasp!”

An obviously exaggerated reaction. Apparently, I’d guessed wrong.

Still, getting angry would only amuse her, so I immediately changed the subject.

“Answer honestly.”

She suddenly bent me backward, our eyes meeting directly.

Without looking away, I continued.

“My little sister’s memory loss… that was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“……”

Butterfly Little Sister slowly straightened me upright. She remained silent for a moment.

Then… a broad grin spread across her face.

“Ding ding ding! Correct!”

Immediately afterward, she leaned in until our faces were close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“As your prize… shall I give you a kiss?”

“Get lost.”

“If that’s too embarrassing… how about one on the cheek?”

“……”

Absolutely not.

“As I told you before… it’s still too early… for you to be here.”

The two of us spun together several more times.

“But… since you’ve arrived here… whether by chance… or by fate… I’ll grant you a special opportunity. A chance for questions and answers.”

“Questions?”

“Yes. You may ask me anything.”

Flutter.

A swarm of butterflies gathered nearby, forming a number before my eyes.

[3]

“Exactly three. I’ll answer any question. From my own secret… private preferences… all the way to the weaknesses of the Great Monsters within the Nightmare Dungeon.”

“……”

Despite her frivolous attitude, Butterfly Little Sister possessed an unmistakable aura.

For some reason, I felt certain… without any evidence whatsoever… that she’d answer anything truthfully.

“Then I’ll ask immediately.”

Without hesitation, I asked the question I most wanted answered.

“Tell me exactly who you are.”

“…Hmm. Do you perhaps not know what a question is? Regardless… I’ll answer.”

Flutter.

A butterfly landed upon her fingertip.

Its wings were crimson, like fire.

“I… am you.”

“……”