After leaving Lieselotte and the others, Virum and Cunaria are on their way to Meldina's room.

Concerned about Meldina's safety, Virum, who is in a hurry but not failing to be vigilant about his surroundings, notices that something is wrong in the castle.

(Strange. Despite the sound of so many explosions, there's no indication that they are moving to respond. No, on the contrary, I can't feel any signs of people themselves...?)

Virum and Cunaria were running and moving from the place where they heard the sound of the explosion just now, but for some reason, none of them could be seen.

However, it seems that Coonaria is too concerned about Meldina to wonder about the fact that no one is visible.

Having arrived at one of the guest rooms given to Coonaria and Meldina, Vilm kicks open the door without pause.

What they saw as they entered the room as if they were collapsing into an avalanche was Meldina, who was about to be swallowed by a black crystal-like object in the shape of a coffin, and Miselio, who was desperately trying to rescue it.

''━━''

'Mel! Big time.

"Kuna! Don't touch it!

The one who reflexively blackmailed Meldina, who approached her to help her, was Miselio, who had a pained expression on his face as he pointed his hands at the black crystal.

Cunaria stopped moving by making her body tense up with a bicuri.

''Miselio, what should I do?''

"If you pour your magic into this black... It's slowing down the erosion! That's why...

All right. Get some rest.

Approaching calmly and a little too quickly, Virum held his right hand in front of the black crystal without listening to the last of Miselio's explanation.

Virum's enormous amount of magic power, which could be described as enormous, flowed into the black crystal with great force.

"Mischief... Mischief...

With a creaking sound, a large crack enters the black crystal, but it doesn't seem to have reached the point of cracking.

(I see. Looks like Miselio's view was correct. But it's even stronger than I thought. More, all at once!)

Phew!

"Pacquiao.

The moment the amount of magic power that is poured in with the spirit is increased all at once, the black crystal shatters as if it were to pop off.

Meldina, who has lost her support and falls to the floor, is hurriedly held by Cunaria.

''Whoa! Doh! Mel, are you okay?

'Yes, it's okay. I used up most of my magic power to slow down the erosion of that black crystal. Coona, Vil, thank you for saving me... and Mio, too.

I... 'Yeah!'

Cunaria and Miselio's faces break out in relief at Meldina's words of thanks.

Miserio in particular has a big smile on his face.

''I'll give Meldina and Miserio the amount of magic power we consumed. Coonaria, please be vigilant of the surroundings.

Yes, sir!

Slowly, Cunaria laid Meldina down on the bed and settled in front of the door of the room.

Wyrm sat down on the bed and placed his right hand on Meldina's forehead, and with Miselio on his left hand, he began to gently send magic power to match the two of them.

'Meldina, Miserio, just let it be. Tell me what happened, as far as you can tell.

Apparently there was no physical damage to Meldina and Miserio, so a relieved Virum decided to hear from them.

''Honestly, I'm not sure. I was getting ready to go to Heishela's place when I heard something explode from above, and when I rushed to go see it, that black crystal caught my foot. It kept going up and up, and my body was freezing up, so I tried to break it and used my magic, but it didn't work...

''It's just that when I used my magic, the black crystal's movement slowed down, so I was pouring my magic power into it, thinking that it might be a possibility. It's a good thing that you were able to make it just in time. I was on the verge of running out of my magic power...''

Neither Meldina nor Miserio seemed to have seen the surgeon, and no information about the ringleader of the commotion was received.

(Was it a bad idea to let Lieselotte go when it comes to this? As I recall, you said it was the King's Chamber.)

After finishing the supply of magic power to Meldina and Miselio while thinking about it, Vilm spoke again to the two men who were stretched out in similar outfits.

'Meldina, Miserio. Go to High Sierra. If the sealing technique is that powerful, I don't think its effect can reach the place where Heishela is. We need to circle around the kingdom and look for any suspicious characters. In the unlikely event that High Shelah is trapped by the Black Crystal, get as far away from the kingdom as possible. If they're that far away, Meldina and the others are the opposite of dangerous.

Okay.

"Maka mekashi nasai!

Virum nodded at their replies, and then turned to Cunaria.

''Coonaria will go with me. The enemy is likely to be more than one, and there is also the possibility that Zeldia, Rumelia and the others are being held captive. Help me.

'Yes, sir! Master's back is safe with me!

Cunaria clasped her hands together and made a small gut pose in front of her large chest to get her spirits up.

Once again split into two groups, Virum and the others began to run towards their respective destinations.










* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *










The time went back a bit, and when Virum and the others arrived at Meldina's room, Lieselotte and the others, who had reached the King's Room, opened the door with great vigor and rushed into the room.

What jumped into her view was the figure of King Zeldia, trapped in a black crystal body in the shape of a coffin, just as it was in Meldina.

''Your Majesty! You are safe...

Lieselotte was the first to go to Zeldia, but she was immensely disappointed when she saw the several black crystals around her.

The queen, the first prince, Lloyd, Bazelard and other loyal overlords...and Lumeria.

Except for the First and Second Princes, who have already married into other countries, the other royalty and overlords have been taken prisoner.

The captives are uniformly lifeless, the light is gone from their eyes, and they are powerless and drooping.

They showed no response to Lieselotte's voice calling out to them to shout.

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, those words went through Lieselotte's head.

It's not a theory, not even a hunch.

A thing that could only be described as something vague ran through Lieselotte's body and instinctively obeyed it, sending her flying to the floor as fast as she could.

At the same time, an arrow of lightning pierced the place she had just been.

If it had been a few moments later, Lieselotte's body would have been pierced by the lightning arrow (that).

You've avoided it? As expected of a knight commander, I'd say.

When Lieselotte turned her attention to the direction from which the lightning arrows flew, she saw Bailudo, who was poised with one hand outstretched, with an admiring expression on his face.

''Bailudo, sir? What are you doing all of a sudden...

Goodness. Are you so dumb that you don't understand the situation? We need to work on our brains more than just our bodies.

Seeing Lieselotte, who was upset by the sudden situation and unable to swallow the situation, Bailudo cowered his shoulders while uttering sarcasm in a dumbfounded manner, a change from his earlier expression.

''As you can see, we've captured all the royalty and overlords of this country. And by the way, the people inside the castle. The only people left are you and those abominations. The plan was to lure them here and then deal with them together with you, but it doesn't work out so well.

You! No, you know what you're doing!

Lieselotte's anger was great as she raised her voice against Bailudo who let out a sigh.

It would be natural to be told that the act of betraying one's own country, disrespecting royalty and overlords, and harming Vilm and others who are building friendships not only with themselves, but with their subordinates as well.

It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what's going on in your life.

'Of course, I understand. But it is only a matter of time before the country falls to the folly of believing the nonsense of a defective abomination and forming a friendship with it. That's just a little faster. Besides....

Bailudo smiles uncomfortably as he hugs his trembling body, as if he can't contain his joy.

He vigorously spreads his hands out and shouts out, as if making an exaggerated speech.

''Beautiful, mighty, powerful spirit beasts! That was too good to be an abomination! That's not the kind of flawed person I want to be with! She deserves this me!

From Bailudo's heartfelt, happy and forceful speech, I can sense an unusual obsession with the spirit beast (Hinori).

''Nonsense! I'm sure you saw the exchange on that day. The Spirit Beast Master is the reason why he went so far as to sign a contract with Lord Virum! No matter what you do, the Spiritual Beast will never be able to help you!

Kuhu... Could it really be true?

What?

Lieselotte, who was convinced of the depth of the bond between Virum and the spirit beast (Hinori), denied Bailudo's plan because of it, but the words came back from the man himself, who didn't seem to feel the slightest bit of anxiety.

''You think I would do this without a plan? I've decided to make up my mind because I'm confident that I have a good enough chance of winning and that's why I've decided to do it. At the latest, by this evening, that spirit beast will have signed a contract with me and will be subordinate.

No....

At least, Lieselotte couldn't think of a way for humans to counter the spirit beasts.

The same would be true of King Zeldia and his overlords who made the decision to form friendships with Wyrm.

However, Bailudo (this man), the kingdom's leading spirit mage, may have a means of opposing spirit beasts that he never thought of, or perhaps something that can overwhelm him, judging by the way he talks.

(If that's the case, we have no choice but to put one on before Virum-dono comes here!)

Since he's already confronted, he doesn't recklessly slash at her, but he looks at Bailudo with his shield in front and his long sword behind him.

'Defeat me before that abomination comes here... good decision. Whether you can beat me or not, though.

'I could play with you for a bit, but for the sake of this scheme, I can't do anything that might injure me or kill me in case I'm injured. Julius, deal with him instead of me.

Ha!

Lieselotte was surprised to see someone other than herself and Bailudo in the room, and moved her gaze in the direction of the voice.

There, from where he had appeared, stood a man dressed in robes and with a hood pulled over his eyes.