The Mana Eater hesitated at its master's instructions, but at his further urging, it bared its fangs and obeyed.
The sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bone echoed across the hills.
In an instant, Jelququ's right arm was devoured. As the beast’s jaws moved toward his left, that limb too was torn away in a bloody flash.
"Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah! It hurts! It’s a pain that invites despair! Ha-ha! They’re being eaten! My arms! They’re being devoured along with this agonizing pain!"
It was a strange sight.
Jelququ was completely spent, the color continuing to drain from his face as he grew more haggard by the second. And yet, the Mana Eater's frame was swelling, growing larger by the moment.
(What is this? What’s happening?)
But soon, Jelququ’s mad, intense expression gave way to a fearless, mocking grin. At the same time, the Mana Eater's rapid growth finally ceased.
"Ah... I thought so...! Curse this loathsome seal...!"
The Elven Seal placed upon him had even corroded the bones of his arms. However, even the loss of both limbs had failed to fully break it. Or rather, while a portion of the seal had been shattered, it was only a fraction of the whole.
Jelququ realized this immediately. Naturally, Ren had reached the same conclusion. He thought Jelququ's desperate gambit had ended in failure, but...
"This is the end—I have nothing left to lose!"
A thick tree root burst from the ground at Jelququ's feet. It snaked up to his chest and, with a sickening thud, skewered his heart in an instant.
Jelququ was now a man simply waiting for death. From deep within his chest, the sound of something bursting rang out.
(If he goes that far...)
He was clearly trying to forcibly break the seal by destroying his own body, but death should have claimed him first. If he died, the Mana Eater would vanish, and the victory would be Ren's.
"Arrggghhhhhhhhhhh!"
Despite the fatal wound, a faint green light emanated from the howling elf’s chest.
"Heh... hehe...! Even after using such an expensive potion... is this all it does...! Heh-heh... it hurts... it hurts so much!"
Using the roots as makeshift hands, Jelququ had poured the potion directly into his open wounds. He claimed it was expensive, but it was clearly only providing the briefest extension of life.
It was truly his final, life-risking gamble.
The time he had left was negligible. He was merely forcing himself to endure a few more moments of existence to kill Ren and Licia. For that purpose alone, Jelququ had descended into a madness beyond Ren's imagination, enduring pain that threatened to incinerate his very mind.
"Huff... hah...!"
The giant Mana Eater began to chew on the corpse of its fallen kin nearby. This time, its growth did not stop until it had transformed into a massive monstrosity over ten times its original size.
Its giant frame was corded with thick muscle and pulsating veins. It grew an extra pair of limbs and another set of wings. The razor-sharp fangs visible in its maw were longer than the entire length of the horse Ren had ridden.
It was a dragon in all but name. It looked exactly like the powerful dragons Ren had seen depicted in The Legend of the Seven Heroes.
"Shiii... shulululu..."
The Mana Eater let out a breath laden with hellfire and looked down at Ren. Assuming a posture like an arching cat, it left its master's side and began its approach.
"While... I'm still... alive...!"
A voice thick with malice and joy escaped Jelququ's mouth. Even as he was impaled and held upright by the very roots he had summoned, he was fueled by an immense well of negative emotion.
"Kill... them..."
Then, it vanished.
The Mana Eater blinked out of Ren’s field of vision entirely. In the next instant, a sudden gust of wind heralded an approach from his flank.
"!?"
The moment he turned to face it, a crushing impact slammed into his body. His ribs groaned and creaked with a sickening sound as he was sent flying, gouging a furrow into the earth as he skidded across the hill.
Before he could even process the unprecedented agony, a black shadow loomed over him.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Fangs glinted in the moonlight. He narrowly rolled away from the bite, only for a powerful limb to strike him squarely in the side. Ren was handled like a ragdoll. As he endured the sensation of his bones shattering, a thought occurred to him.
(He broke the seal by doing that!?)
He didn't know the specifics of an Elven Seal, but Jelququ had said it had reached his bones. Merely losing skin or flesh wouldn't have been enough. That was why he had sacrificed his arms to the Mana Eater to try and force the seal open.
And when even that failed, he had pierced his own heart, throwing away his life to finally shatter the binding. Or at least, to weaken it enough to unleash this power.
The fact remained that he was only clinging to life through the power of an expensive potion. His life was a guttering candle in a gale.
"Shulululuuuuuuuu!"
The Mana Eater closed the distance faster than the night wind.
(Damn... this isn't the Jelququ I know...!)
The Jelququ Ren remembered from the game was only his sealed form. The version in the game never did anything this reckless; he was usually defeated by the Academy Principal just as he was about to attempt something drastic.
His current strength was temporary, lasting only until his heart stopped beating, but it was more than enough to kill them both.
(This thing is B-rank... no, maybe even higher...!)
Ren braced himself and raised his Iron Magic Sword just as the Mana Eater’s massive limb swept toward him. A physical force he had no hope of resisting slammed into the blade.
"Gehoah—!?"
Once again, he was sent tumbling. His battered body rolled across the dirt until he came to a stop right back where he had started—protecting Licia.
She lay there, her breath coming in shallow, painful gasps.
"Licia...-sama..."
Ren crawled toward her. He wanted to save her, even if it cost him everything. He tried to force himself upright.
"Stand... up...!"
But his legs failed him. Between the cumulative exhaustion and the devastating blows from the unsealed Mana Eater, his body had reached its absolute limit. If he could have just bought a little more time, Jelququ might have succumbed to his wounds first, but even a few seconds felt impossible now.
"Ku-ha, ha-ha... it's over...!"
Jelququ declared his victory in a raspy, fading voice. The massive Mana Eater coiled its muscles and leaped into the air, its jaws wide as it plummeted toward the two children.
Is this it?
Just as Ren tried to wring one last ounce of strength from his dying muscles, a whisper reached his ears.
"...Thank you."
It was Licia. Ren tried to reply, but no sound came. The effort of enduring the pain was too great for him to speak. But then, the agony suddenly receded. A Veil of White Light enveloped them both.
"Licia-sama...?"
Ren managed a strained whisper. Licia forced a weak, courageous smile and nodded.
"Thank you... for protecting me... for being so patient with someone as selfish as me... over and over again."
She was still smiling, though she looked terrible. Great beads of sweat stood out on her pale forehead, and her face was devoid of color. Yet, she was beautiful. Even now, her dignity remained unshaken.
"That's why—here."
Using every scrap of her remaining strength, she reached out and placed her hand over Ren’s. She channeled a warm, radiant power into him. It was Holy Magic meant for him alone, created by squeezing out the very last of her life force.
"...I'm giving this to you. A Saint can do things like this, too."
She gave him one last look.
"...At least you, Ren... please stay safe."
Her voice was an imitation of her usual energy, but as soon as the words left her lips, she slipped back into unconsciousness. The white veil immediately began to crack.
"......"
She was telling him to run. But Ren’s legs wouldn't move. He knew he was about to be killed, and the fear made his knees tremble, yet he could not bring himself to leave her side.
"How did it come to this?"
Ren let out a self-deprecating laugh. He had spent so much effort trying to avoid Licia, trying to change the destiny of The Legend of the Seven Heroes. He had been thrown into a plot he didn't recognize, and yet here he was, prepared to die for her.
The absurdity of it made a laugh well up in his throat.
"I'm sorry, Licia-sama."
Battered and broken, Ren stood up. This time, his legs didn't fail him.
"I have no intention of leaving you behind to save myself."
The Mana Eater wasn't the scary part. It was the thought of his own heart giving in, of turning his back on her and running—that was what truly terrified him. He felt a bit strange for thinking that way. When had he become such a hot-blooded protagonist?
With newfound resolve, Ren spoke to the empty air.
"I didn't come all this way just to lose."
He looked small and fragile as he leveled his Iron Magic Sword, but the gaze he fixed on the Mana Eater was as sharp as a razor. As soon as he committed to the fight, the veil surrounding them shattered into a thousand shards.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
The Mana Eater put all its weight and fury into a final, crushing blow. Beneath that descending mountain of muscle, Ren—wrapped in the fading radiance of Licia's magic—swung his blade upward.
"In a place like this...!"
The edge of his sword met the monster's strike. A force that should have crushed the very earth beneath him was held at bay. Ren stood his ground, protecting the girl behind him.
"There's no way I'm letting it end here!"
"!?"
With a roar, he repelled the attack. Using the final gift of Licia’s power, he produced a strength that defied logic, blowing back the massive limb and the Mana Eater itself.
But the price was heavy. Ren’s arms fell limp at his sides, the muscles refusing to fire. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.
"Move...! What was all that training for if I can't move now!?"
He screamed at his body, but it wouldn't obey. He slumped over, his hand—and the bracelet upon it—coming to rest against Licia’s chest.
(Damn... it...)
His eyelids were like lead. Even Jelququ’s distant, manic laughter was fading into a dull hum. Was there really nothing left? No, he could still buy a fraction of a second. Ren pulled Licia’s body closer, shielding her with his own, praying that Jelququ would die before the beast could strike again.
(I'm... sorry.)
Tears pricked his eyes at his own helplessness.
Then, it happened.
From Licia's chest—and from the bracelet pressed against her—a light erupted. It wasn't Holy Magic, but something strikingly similar. The dazzling white radiance left Ren stunned.
(What is... this?)
He looked at the bracelet through the glare. There, in the familiar list of his Magic Swords, was a name he didn't recognize.
— - ???? (Level 1: 1/1) —
Why now? And why was the name obscured? Questions flooded his mind, but he pushed them aside.
(I don't care.)
If this was a power that could save her, he didn't need to understand it. He reached out to the unknown sword with a mental command.
Come! Anything! If it can save her, I don't care what kind of power it is!
"Gaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The Mana Eater roared in fury at having been pushed back.
"This is the kill... my... final ecstasy...!"
Jelququ’s voice was a joyous shriek.
"If I can protect her, I don't care what happens to me!"
Suddenly, Ren and Licia were engulfed in a blinding flash of white and Golden Lightning. Ren knew instinctively that the summoning had succeeded. The light was too bright to see the blade’s form, but he could see the shadow of a longsword floating in the air.
Ren reached out and gripped the shadow.
As his fingers closed around the hilt, the light and lightning transformed into a white gale, forming a pillar of radiance that pierced the heavens.
Jelququ stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock. The giant Mana Eater recoiled, squinting against the brilliance.
Every monster corpse littering the hillside began to dissolve into particles of light. The giant Mana Eater was no exception. Starting from its jaws, its massive body crumbled into stardust, swallowed by the celestial pillar and carried toward the sky by a powerful wind.
"Heh... hehe... this... is imposs—"
In the end, even the dying Jelququ was consumed by the light, vanishing from the world before he could even comprehend his defeat.
The pillar of light eventually began to fade. Just before it vanished entirely, the remaining energy soaked into the bodies of Ren and Licia. It was a surge of pure vitality—a mysterious light that began to knit their wounds together.
"...At least, if only Licia-sama is safe..."
He didn't know how he had won. He didn't know what that sword was. It had already vanished, but Ren didn't care. His only concern was for the girl beside him.
As he felt his consciousness finally slipping away, Ren confirmed that Licia was breathing steadily. A small, peaceful smile touched his lips.
And then, with a quiet sigh, his eyes slipped shut.