"Sister, have you noticed?"
"Yeah. These beasts offer almost no resistance. She's clearly holding back... or perhaps her power is being restricted for some reason."
"Either way, targeting the caster directly is the fastest solution."
Saying this, Dil-chan gripped her spear with both hands and dropped into a low stance. I touched her shoulder to mark her with a spell-formula while simultaneously casting wind magic beneath her feet. A swirling vortex of wind launched Dil-chan forward like a cannonball! To ensure her charge wasn't interrupted, I rained down magical bombardments from the rear to clear out the horde of beasts!
We had to settle this before whatever Belle was plotting took effect. To do that, we needed to defeat Belle herself as quickly as possible.
However, even if I fired my full-power magic, Belle would likely just block it with a defensive barrier. In that case, we needed the power of Dil-chan's magic spear to shatter her spell formula instead.
Her blinding speed left Belle no time to construct new beasts, forcing her—just as we anticipated—to deploy a defensive barrier. The moment the magic spear touched the multi-layered magical barrier, the firm defense shattered instantly as its formula collapsed into nothingness.
And then, the spear was about to pierce Belle—or so it should have.
"I won't let you hurt my little sister."
It happened in a fraction of a second. Vika appeared between Dil-chan and Belle out of nowhere, blocking the spear blow dead in its tracks.
She stopped a charge at that speed...!? No, instead of being shocked right now...!
"Dil-chan!"
Just before Vika's sword could slash Dil-chan, I activated the formula I had pre-applied to her, forcibly teleporting Dil-chan back to my side.
Honestly, my plan was to teleport Dil-chan back if her spear thrust was somehow blocked and then bombard Belle's position... but I never expected Vika, who was actively fighting Alice-san, to rush over and block it. Against an opponent like Vika, my bombardment wouldn't have made it in time, and Dil-chan almost got cut down.
Alice-san landed nearby with a heavy sigh.
"Sorry, she slipped past me. But seriously... just like Issei, her sister complex is totally out of control. She rushed over to protect her at insane speed."
Looking at Alice-san, her clothes were torn in multiple places, with blood seeping from several wounds. Considering Vika was in a similar state, their battle seemed to be evenly matched.
I said to Alice-san, "Don't worry about it. We were having trouble breaking through anyway."
"Well... with this many swarming around, I can see why..."
Alice-san looked utterly fed up as she surveyed the swarm of beasts, which had grown far too numerous to count.
Every time I witnessed Belle's seemingly bottomless creative power, it reminded me just how dangerous she truly was.
As both sides regrouped to probe for the next move, Vika turned to Belle.
"Belle, are you ready around now?"
"...Mm, I can do it now."
"Alright then, I'll leave it to you~♪"
Nodding at Vika's words, Belle took a step forward. An ominous aura radiated from her hands, causing a cold sweat to break out on my skin just looking at it.
"What are you planning to do...?!"
Vika answered my question with a smile. "Fufu. The power given to Belle by Father is the 'Painter.' The ability to create anything she draws. Well, she can also analyze targets she touches. But you see, those analyzed powers are stored inside Belle as individual 'paintings'—just like my Armory. Put like that, do you understand?"
Vika's Armory accumulated weapons she had created in the past, allowing her to wield even divine-tier artifacts within her domain. If Belle's power worked the same way as Vika's...
"Don't tell me...?!"
A terrible thought crossed my mind. If that was true, this would turn into the absolute worst-case scenario...!
I deployed dozens—hundreds—of magic circles all at once. I was going to use that spell!
"Everyone, brace for full-power defense! Meteor Fall Line!"
Aimed with my dragon-shaped magic staff, I cast the same meteor fall spell I used back in Agreas! Looking up at the sky, a massive, blazing mass was descending right above Vika and Belle! Against this grand magic, which had crushed even Belle's demon god...!
The scorching mass struck the earth, causing a massive tremor. The shockwave and accompanying blast wave from the meteor's impact ravaged the entire surrounding area. I deployed a reinforced barrier to protect our allies from the shock, but...
When the shaking finally subsided, all that remained was black smoke billowing into the sky and a scorched wasteland. Everything outside the reach of my barrier had been horribly devastated by the impact.
Alice-san said, utterly stunned, "Look, Miu-chan... you went a little too far."
"Ugh... but still..."
"No, I get it. I had a bad feeling too. But... well, no use crying over spilled milk. Besides, it looks like the enemy is still completely fine."
Although the smoke obscured our vision, the fact that their bounded field hadn't dissolved meant we hadn't dealt significant damage. I thought that even if they blocked Meteor Fall Line, the sheer force would crush them through their defenses...
Before long, the smoke cleared, revealing Belle and Vika once more.
The two of them standing before us were unharmed—except for their clothes.
"My my... and this was my favorite outfit, too..."
With her clothes torn open in various places, Vika looked significantly more provocative. If Big Brother were here right now, his eyes would undoubtedly be glued to her.
"...So covered in soot."
Perhaps because Vika had shielded her, Belle's clothes weren't nearly as torn... but seeing a young-looking girl wearing soot-stained, tattered clothes gave off a distinctly illegal vibe.
Vika pulled out a handkerchief and wiped Belle's face.
"You really don't know how to hold back, do you~ Were you trying to strip us naked? What a naughty girl~♪"
"I'm not! Besides, how could I possibly hold back against you guys?!"
"So you're not denying the 'naughty girl' part?"
"Th-That's..."
Alice-san chimed in with a rather awkward assessment. "W-Well, despite how she looks, Miu-chan actually has a pretty strong sex drive... strictly reserved for Issei, though."
I'm sorry for being a naughty girl! But Alice-san, I think you're pretty naughty too when it comes to Big Brother! You've been using the 'Rest Area' surprisingly often!
Vika spoke to Belle. "Now that we've blocked the meteor, Belle, let me hand it over to you."
"Mm."
The surging power within Belle was finally released—.
An aura matching the scale of Vika's Armory spread rapidly, staining the entire area pitch black. It resembled a dark sea. The black sea billowed, and something slowly rose from beneath its surface.
There were hundreds, thousands, even more...
Looking at what had appeared, Alice-san muttered, "Paintings...?"
Yes—they were framed paintings.
—The Crimson Dragon Emperor.
—The Crimson-Haired Princess of Destruction.
—The Swordsman Standing Between Holy and Demonic.
—The Angel Controlling the Weather.
—The Sniper Striking from Far Beyond.
—The Strongest Swordsman.
Paintings of various familiar faces had been summoned into this space—.
"...Festival of the Magical Painter. Belle is going... all out."
With her sleepy expression unchanged, the pure white girl issued her declaration.
[Miu's POV end]
~ Author's Afterword Mini-Story ~
Assem: "I, Assem, shall purge this world, Hero-kun!"
Issei: "That's just pure ego!"
Ignis: "I, Big Sister Ignis, just want to squeeze Gabriel-chan's boobs, Issei!"
Issei: "That's just pure erotics! Stop it! If Gabriel falls, I'm going to get chewed out by so many people!"
Xenovia: "I, Xenovia Quarta, wouldn't mind being bullied by Issei! You know... being tied up with ropes from behind..."
Issei: "That's just pure masochism! I mean, I share some of the blame, but did you seriously awaken to that?!"
Ignis: "In that case, let's put animal ears and a tail on Xenovia-chan and make her bark like a dog! Throw in some aphrodisiacs and a wooden horse too~"
Issei: "That's way too niche!"
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