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In the distant frontline, Machina Guardian ran wild after taking a lot of damage from Christina, almost as if its limits had been all removed. On top of that, the leg the Ashen Knights had cut off released many Mechanical Protectors.

Mira quickly began giving new orders, the sisters jumping into action while Isenfald tried to restrain the main body.

(She’s only safe because Master helped her…)

Alfina moved together with Isenfald, but she was looking at the wall in the distance, and Christina who stood next to Mira.

Evacuation Guidance was a Summoner Skill to rescue a summon. Thanks to that, Christina had survived, and Alfina knew that. And because she knew that, her gaze turned even more stern.

(It’s so embarrassing that Master had to help her after her blunder. I’ll have to train her even more so she never makes that mistake again.)

A sword breaking was an unforeseeable accident, but because of that sudden nature, it was important to remain calm and react quickly.

But Christina had just stared at her sword in a daze, then acted confused when the enemy counterattacked. Alfina had seen all of it.

Thankfully she was there as Mira’s summon, so even if Ancient Ray hit Christina, she would only be forced back, without any major repercussions. She would just wake up in the last place she had been.

But it would have been a certain death in any other situation, so Alfina could not overlook it.

(Maybe I’ll teach her how to use her shield as a weapon.)

Even as she fought alongside Isenfald, Alfina was thinking of how to properly train Christina once the fight was over and they returned to Valhalla, so she would know how to deal with such a situation in the future.

「I’m back!」

Just as the Sisters finished off the Protectors, Christina made her energetic return to the frontlines. Full of confidence, she joined the Ashen Knights and her Sisters, ready to continue fighting. It was rare for her to be so motivated to fight.

「Christina. What were you thinking? Dozing off in the middle of a fight and troubling Master with rescuing you? You should feel ashamed of yourself.」

As soon as she was there, Alfina proceeded to scold her. In response, Christina shouted 「I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful from now on!」, sounding as honest as she could. Even her body language showed she would try to be better.

But that was simply how good Christina had gotten at feigning remorse. It was the product of her desire to stop Alfina’s reprimands, none of it being actually sincere, and just a lot of practice to act and sound honest.

「You always say that… But alright. You can’t fight without a sword, so use this in the meantime.」

Alfina knew that Christina was just acting, but they were still in the middle of a fight. Deciding she would continue lecturing her later, she gave Christina her sword.

「Wait, where did you get that sword..?!」

Alfina looked shocked by that, knowing of the Holy Sword Sanctia.

「Christina. Why are you holding Master’s Holy Sword?!」

Alfina knew of Sanctia as the special Holy Sword Mira could summon.

So far only the Dark Knights and Ashen Knights had been allowed to wield it, but she knew that the longer it was used, the sharper and stronger it would become.

The Holy Sword Sanctia had the potential of growing. And Alfina’s dream was to be allowed to wield Sanctia once the sword reached its full potential.

Yet for some reason it was in Christina’s hand now, even though both still had a lot left to grow. For the first time since they felt Danbulf’s presence vanish from the world three decades before, Alfina’s face was overtaken with shock.

「Umm, Master said to use it since my sword broke…」

Christina felt her back shuddering seeing Alfina’s shocked face, but did her best to explain. Their master had given it to her, which was a big honor for her too. But Christina tried to portray it as something that just happened in the moment, like it was not a big deal, trying to defuse the situation.

Receiving a weapon from their master was a big honor for Valkyries, but in this situation it was something that happened because Christina’s sword broke, treated like a simple replacement.

Christina had been able to use the old sword handed down through her sisters until now, so this felt like a special situation. Not to mention that it was a sword that not even the eldest Alfina had been allowed to wield.

But even then she tried to pretend it was not a big deal, just a fluke. All so she would not be forced to undergo even more training for having achieved Alfina’s lifelong dream first, before Alfina felt anywhere close to it.

(Alfina would definitely do that. She’ll definitely tell me to train harder so I can be strong enough to actually have a reason to wield this sword!)

Christina was in the best mood of her life holding that sword, but her mind was still working in high gear to find the ideal responses to Alfina so she would not think of this as a special situation.

「I see. Then just be careful now. I won’t allow you to put on a shameful display while holding Master’s Holy Sword.」
「Yes, duly noted!」

That concluded their conversation and both returned to the fight, which had been mostly led by Isenfald and the other Sisters while they talked.

(I really hope that was enough…)

Christina usually did not stand out too much during fights, and was allowed to do her own thing. Alfina was obsessed with keeping her master as the highest authority who she always had to please. So it made sense if she paid a little bit of attention to what Christina did. But this time her personal desire to wield the Holy Sword was so strong that it was making her overreact.

But that also showed just how important that sword was.

Christina watched Machina Guardian going berserk in front of them, then looked down at her blade. Then she grinned.

「I’ll end this!」

Christina quickly went a distance back, away from the battlefield, where she held the Holy Sword ready. She had the special ability of taking breaks during fights, but it was different this time.

She was wielding the sword not even her sisters had gotten to touch. Now she used her ability to sneak away to calmly channel mana into her blade.

After some time of that, the Holy Sword began to emit a blinding light while the blade began to grow into an enormous sword that was three meters long.

「Huh..?」

Everyone gasped noticing the Holy Sword emitting a sacred light. But the one who was truly shocked was Christina herself, who also had become the center of attention.

(Huh, what did I just do? Why did it change shape like this!)

The sword Mira had given her had transformed. Christina looked at it with bewilderment, wondering if she had done something wrong.

(…It actually looks really cool.)

Christina once again started to feel like the hero of a story.

『Christina, dodge!』

The voice she feared the most, Alfina’s, rang loudly in her mind.

Either she listened to the warning, or her instincts kicked in, but the instant she heard that voice, she jumped away from that spot. As soon as she left, a powerful light beam destroyed the spot where she had been standing.