As everyone knew, fanatics for the most part never received the protection of a Falna.
The reason they'd posed such a massive threat to the Order Alliance until now came entirely from that reckless, all-consuming faith of theirs, along with their suicide-bomber tactics of taking the enemy down with them.
Now that the advantage of the ambush was gone, on top of the blizzard's "deep processing," the casualty count among Evilus's "frontline cannon fodder" began climbing at a rate you could watch with your own eyes.
"Sssht...!"
The crimson spear ripped through the air, and even though Kaguya had thrown everything into dodging on pure instinct in that split second between life and death, the unmatched sharpness of the spearpoint still grazed across her back without mercy. A vicious, gaping wound ran diagonally from her left shoulder to her right hip, flesh split open, blood soaking through her clothes in an instant.
"Ngh... ugh...!"
Kaguya bit down hard on her lower lip, almost drawing blood. The searing pain twisted her exquisite features into a grimace, and a stifled, trembling whimper finally escaped from between her clenched teeth.
"Kaguya!"
Alise, Ryuu, Lyra and the others, locked in a brawl with several Evilus members, went pale at the sight of Kaguya taking such a grave wound. They swiftly forced back the enemies in front of them and pulled back at once, shielding Kaguya tightly behind them. The party's healer, Maryuu Reage, who held the title of Half-Day Saint, was already kneeling on one knee, starting her chant without hesitation.
"Rea Vindemia!"
The emerald-green glow of magic descended on cue, gently settling over the savage wound on Kaguya's back.
But then...
Maryuu discovered to her horror that the healing light, brimming with abundant life force, slid over the wound like clear water running across a stone slab, leaving not the faintest trace of healing behind!
"Wha... what's going on? My healing magic isn't working?!"
"No effect? How is that possible!"
Ryuu's expression shifted, and without waiting for Maryuu to respond, she'd already begun weaving her own healing magic.
"Noah Heal!"
The light full of life force flared again, enveloping Kaguya.
Two and a half seconds later.
The light dispersed, and Ryuu's face turned utterly grim.
The wound on Kaguya's back remained as vicious as ever. If anything, that ominous dark-red aura clinging to it seemed to grow even more pronounced.
"Let me see!"
Alise carefully tore away the clothing around Kaguya's wound, and the gash running diagonally across her back, with the dark-red energy coiled around it writhing faintly like something alive, came into view in an instant.
Her heart sank, and she forced the word out through gritted teeth:
"It's... a curse!"
"This is an Incurable Curse. Neither a high-grade Potion nor an Elixir can take effect against this kind of curse. To heal a cursed wound, you have to find a specialist to lift the curse first!"
At that moment, Leon's figure flickered in like a phantom, slotting himself precisely between the ambusher and the girls. With his back to everyone, his voice came calm but clear, as if he were reciting some cold piece of knowledge.
"Leon?"
"Incurable Curse?"
Leon's eyes narrowed slightly, and he glanced toward the enemy across from him who was grinning as he toyed with the crimson spear. He nodded, his expression solemn:
"That's right, a curse designed specifically to block healing and regeneration. I've only ever seen it described in tomes recording the secrets of magic and curses. This is the first time I've laid eyes on the real thing."
The words had barely left his mouth when a pleased, low chuckle rose from among the enemies across the way.
"Heh heh, the Shadow of Sorcery... you really do know quite a lot. With knowledge this deep, you hardly seem like someone who came up farming, do you? How strange... are you really with the Demeter Familia?"
Leon raised a hand to wrap himself in Frost Armor, and gave the man a smile that could honestly be called friendly:
"Never heard the saying that knowledge is power?"
"Then again, looking at you... you're probably just a pure brute. You don't understand the beauty of knowledge, and I don't hold that against you."
"Clang!"
A broad-bladed greatsword was slammed savagely into the ground, the veins on the bald, burly man's forehead bulging like they'd burst:
"You bastard...!"
"Idiot! He throws out a couple of taunts and you fly off the handle. No wonder everyone says you've got no brains, Gran!"
The man wearing goggles shoved the bald brute aside, hoisted the crimson spear onto his shoulder, and split into a deranged grin:
"Tsk tsk, the Yamato Rindou. Took my Incurable Curse, did you? How's the experience? Come on, tell me. Mm... you know how it is, as the product developer I need some customer feedback so I can fine-tune the curse going forward."
The moment those words came out, Ryuu, the Gale, went ice-cold in the face, cursing in disgust:
"You piece of garbage...!"
"Easy, Ryuu!"
Alise's hand pressed steadily down on the elf girl's faintly trembling shoulder, her voice so calm it carried not a ripple:
"One-on-one, the way we are right now... we're still no match."
She lifted her gaze, sweeping it over the enemies gathered before them like flame:
"The Hazer... Lv. 4."
"The Berserker... Lv. 4."
"And the rest of you, Rudra Familia..."
As Alise named them off one by one, the members of Evilus's two factions exchanged glances and smiled, their faces full of an eager, restless cruelty.
"Heh, you sure know your stuff pretty cl..."
"...Frost Nova!"
Leon raised his hand without any warning.
The freezing white mist exploded outward in an instant, swallowing all sight!
Almost at the same moment the cold burst out, he gave them no room whatsoever to breathe, the second incantation already off his lips:
"Blizzard!"
Winter's roar descended once more, turning that whole area into a frozen hell!
And in the raging tide of ice crystals, a third crimson magic circle had already blazed to life at his fingertips, his chant so fast it left only afterimages:
"Scorch... Fireball... Fireball... Fireball...!!!"
Magic poured out like an unreasoning flood of destruction, one wave barely subsiding before the next surged up, drowning everything where the enemies stood with no gap in between.
"I'll f your ing Shadow of Sorcery...!!!"
Through the howl of ice and fire came the enemy's furious, garbled, distorted roar:
"That's not playing fair!"
Leon smiled contemptuously:
"This is the power of knowledge."
Before the words had even finished, the ice-blue magic circle beneath his feet flashed, and ten identical figures split off from his sides, all of them charging in unison into the ice mist that hadn't yet dispersed!
This smooth, unbroken chain of Instant Cast magic left Alise and the others gaping, scalps prickling, almost forgetting to breathe!
Maryuu and the other party members who were Mages especially could feel, deep in their bones, the near-terrifying mastery of magic it represented.
"So strong!"
"Hss... his magic really is all Instant Cast!"
"A combo like that... who could possibly stand up to it?"
"It really was the right call, choosing someone who came out of Altena, the great nation of magic!"
"That casting speed is monstrous!"
"So cool... I wonder if this Kaguya would mind her sweetheart taking on one more wife?"
"..."
At that moment, Kaguya gripped Ryuu's arm with all her strength, forcing back the tearing agony in her back to push a faint voice out through her teeth:
"Be... careful..."
Before she could finish, her body went limp and she lost consciousness entirely.
"Kaguya...!"
Just then the white mist tore open, and the real Leon came rushing out. Without a word, he scooped an arm under the bend of Kaguya's knees and settled her soft body sideways against his chest, then turned his head and spoke quickly to Alise and the others:
"Leave her to me. Our healer, Miss Irisviel, has magic that can lift the curse, as it happens."
With that, not waiting for their reply, he didn't forget to pick up the wooden geta Kaguya had dropped on the ground, and with the unconscious Kaguya in his arms he shot off toward the direction of Iri and the others' battlefield.
Just as Alise and the rest had their nerves stretched taut, worried for Kaguya...
Several scorching fireballs suddenly ripped through the ice mist that still hadn't cleared, slamming into the bluestone slabs at everyone's feet and blasting out several horrifying, charred craters in an instant!
Before they could fully react, a few bedraggled figures came stumbling out of the mist one after another!
"Hss... you goddamn Shadow of Sorcery! I'm gonna kill you!"
The Hazer was filthy and disheveled, gasping for breath in great heaves, a few strands of his hair burned away and shards of frozen ice still clinging to his clothes. To end up this wretched after just a single exchange... he stared in the direction Leon had vanished, eyes bloodshot, panting like an ox:
"Aaaaaagh...!"
"Die!!"
On the other side, the Berserker Gran swung his door-sized greatsword with a wild bellow, launching a downpour of slashes at "Leon No. 2"!
But with practiced footwork, Leon dodged every one of those brutish attacks lightly and with room to spare.
While he evaded, he precisely controlled the distance between them, with enough margin to even mount a counterattack.
"Frost Armor!"
Cold light coated his body, and then his fingertip lifted...
"Fireball..."
Gran hurriedly threw his greatsword across in front of himself, barely deflecting the fireballs that came one after another, his face flushed red as he roared in fury:
"Damn it...! Quit dodging if you've got the guts!"
Leon said nothing, only leveled his index finger through the air at Gran's bald head still hung with bits of ice:
"...Scorch."
"?"
"So hot...?!"
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaah...!"
Flames erupted suddenly from the top of his head, and Gran let out a shriek tangled with pain and rage:
"I am absolutely... going to butcher youuuu!!!"
Leon No. 2, as if wearing ice skates, slid backward in a smooth arc across the snow the blizzard had laid down, both hands hammering out continuous fire at Gran all the while!
After lobbing another head-sized bursting fireball at Gran, Leon's mouth quirked:
"Stubby little legs. Catch up to me first, then we'll talk."
Sure enough, an old trick never gets old.
"Kiting tactics." Cliché, sure, but you couldn't argue with how well it worked.