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「Hmph, the rat fell for its trap——」

Abel also took a glance outside and seemed to grasp the picture.

Multiple Flygears had already begun to emerge from within the Ironblood Chain Brigade’s Aerial Battleship that appeared while scattering artillery fire.

As much as Inglis could see, their equipment was on par with that of the Holy Knights’ in conjunction with Special Envoy Theodore’s Private Battleship. It was a level equivalent to a country’s Chivalric Order. They were far beyond the scope of a mere guerrilla organization. Moreover, their deployment was swift, indicating that their personnel was familiar with the operation of the Aerial Battleship.

The Aerial Battleship that Abel rode in and the Imperial Guard Order that guarded the area also deployed their Flygear troops to counter-attack. Thus the scene in the sky suddenly became chaotic.

「Excuse me! Don’t tell me, is our match going to be canceled because they showed up……?」
「It won’t! That’s nothing but a rat, whereas you’re an unknown factor! Still, I have a lot of things to do, so make this quick! Come at me with your everything!」
「Thank you very much! As you asked, I’ll give you my everything!」

Inglis reactivated her Ether Armor. Then she lowered himself a little more, preparing to spring into action at any time. Her gaze was fixed on Abel.

She would go at him straight ahead, charging directly at him, plain and simple. That should do. Nothing elaborate or contrived, but still, using full power.

Just how would Abel receive that attack… Inglis was looking forward to it.

「Here I come!」

Kabooom!

The moment Inglis kicked the ground, the floor beneath her feet exploded, and the stone pavings scattered. Abel’s eyes could see it, he saw it clearly yet he couldn’t believe it. The sight of Inglis vanishing from his vision, that was all he could see.

「……! She’s go——!? No…….!」

The wind pressure on his skin, the shadow that flickered in his peripheral, and the instinctive sense of danger his warrior’s intuition alarmed him of.

The very moment Abel bent his body backward, Inglis’ kicking foot was passing paper-thin away from the tip of his nose.

「Ooh!!! You avoided it, amazing……!」

Sensing that he could show some fight, Inglis’ eyes lit up. Once she activated Ether Shell and attacked with all her might, even Cystia the Hyrule Menace couldn’t move a single step away. And yet, Abel was able to evade that one attack.

Inglis was no longer the Inglis from back then, too, as she had grown from all the training she put atop of some more training after she enrolled at the Knight Academy.
Even so, she was evaded. As expected of a high-ranked Highlander combatant.

「Kghh——!? Impossible……!」

Abel, somehow, managed to avoid that first blow, but it was mostly all due to hunch. That hunch just happened to be correct, was all.

He even had prepared to counterattack, but he couldn’t even do it. Inglis was just too fast for him to react to.

It didn’t matter how beautiful her face was or how daringly glamorous the leg she swung by. She was a threat, after all. Abel couldn’t measure her at all.

「If so……!」

Abel kicked the ground strongly and took a huge leap backwards.

As he did so, he sharply focused his concentration and activated his sorcery. The same light that was on his fingertips and sword-hand now became a spherical wall that encased him.

It would be easy for Inglis to catch Abel’s movement and deliver an attack. But that was okay. That was what he aimed. That was why he covered his whole body in the wall of light.

The sorcery Abel specialized in was the ‘Annihilation’ sorcery, which erased the existence of all sorts of things.

It was a magical phenomenon that could not be caused by ordinary strain of mana, but was made possible by refined mana. He could easily slice through a human body just by gently striking it with this power. Or, more precisely, the sections it touched vanished, so it appeared to have been dissected.

This wall of light had the effect of annihilating attacks of any attribute. If you tried to slash it with a sword, its sword blade would vanish, and if you tried to hit it with your fist, your fist itself would be gone. Only if his opponent was within Abel’s expectations, that was.

Inglis was an existence well outside of Abel’s common sense. He didn’t even know what the hell was that pale light that enveloped her body. To Abel’s senses, he couldn’t feel any stretch of power at all from it.

In the presence of such an opponent, the rule-of-thumb was to exert the maximum power to fight. At first, Abel concentrated his power on the end of his palm, aiming to receive Inglis’ attack and make one of her arms or legs disappear.

However, she was too fast for him to react in time in order to receive the attack in the first place. Expanding the area of the wall would only reduce the strength of each individual point, but sacrifices had to be made. Covering his entire body within the wall was the second best method.

Now come!! Voiced Abel in his heart.

「…………」

However, Inglis didn’t move. She only stared at Abel who was full of openings and missed the perfect opportunity to attack.

「……What the hell are you doing!? Are you making light of me? Can’t you see how vulnerable I am!?」
「The power of that sorcery of yours……I dare say it has an ‘Annihilation’ effect that erases everything that touches it. If I were to hit on it directly, my fist itself would be gone.」
「…………!?」

Abel shuddered. How did she know that!?

He, obviously, hadn’t explained it to Inglis. Did she actually see all the inner workings of Abel’s sorcery with just a little glance?! Could it be that she possessed a power that let her read people’s thoughts or something alike……!?

「Hmph! So what, you hesitated to attack because you’re afraid!? You’re surprisingly cowardly, huh!」
「Certainly not. That wasn’t why I didn’t make a move.」

Inglis silently shook her head.

「From what I am seeing, you’ve covered your whole body in it, so the power is distributed throughout. If you focused it on one point, it should prove to be more effective.」
「……So what if it does!」

Inglis’ point was absolutely correct. To think she would really see through everything with just a single glance. Whilst shivering inside, Abel replied.

「I have no intention striking down an opponent with half of their strength. Please, take a stance and focus it on one point! That’s where I will attack.」

You could only call a battle if you win it by taking on the full strength of your opponent. That was the way you could grow the most.

「Hahahahah! What are you, stupid!? If I followed what you said so willy-nilly, you’d just attack me in other places!」
「If I had that intention, I would have chased after you already.」
「…………」
「Can you please believe me? I will return your words back to you. You’re Highlander’s Archlord, yet you’re surprisingly cowardly, aren’t you?」
「……Hmph! Very well, I’ll do what you want!」

It was also an opportunity to assess Inglis’ character. Whether or not she was a person who would deceive others with her words. That would be another important piece of information to gather.

「UWOOoooohh!!!」

Abel braced his legs and positioned his hands straight outward in front of his chest, one in front of the other. In front of his overlapping palms, a wall the size of a hand mirror appeared. It was small, but it glowed fiercely and had a thick concentration of power.

「That’s great……! The sublimated mana is being concentrated in one point, it’s very powerful!」
「Now come! I’ll hope you aren’t so much of a dastard!」
「But of course! Here I come!」

The next moment, the sound of an explosion from Inglis kicking the ground erupted again. Her figure vanished from Abel’s sight.

「HAAaaatt!!」

Inglis rushed at Abel again at full speed. She twisted her body to its limit and kicked the wall of light.

It was true that the wall created by Abel’s sorcery was a terrifying phenomenon that could annihilate anything that touched it. However, what if Inglis destroyed the very composition of that sorcery itself with a blow fused with Ether!?

KER-CHAAANKKK!!!

Abel’s wall of light violently deformed, bent, and finally burst out.

「WHAT……!?」

His face twisted in surprise. The power of Inglis’ kick repelled Abel’s arms, and then…

KAABOOOOMM——-!

It slammed into Abel’s body and blew him away with the momentum of a bullet.

「GGOOOOAAAAAaaaaaaaahhhhh————!?」

His body slammed into the stone wall, created a huge hole through it, and flew far, far away. Just where did he land? He was so far away that Inglis could no longer follow him with her eyes.

「……Shoot. I’m supposed to arrest him, but now I don’t know where he’s gone to!」

Had she overdone it because Abel fanned her up?

「「「…………」」」

King Charleas, Redas, and the Knights under his command were all stunned and simply mortified.