Eternally Regressing in Another World

Chapter 41: Square 35: Fierce Battle Amid Flame

Charging in with everything I had went just as smoothly as last time. But that’s as far as my plan reached. From here on, it came down to luck, and however far Elizabeth could carry things.

”Run, now, while you still can!”

I shouted toward the family, still frozen inside the room. Yu and her family, not fully grasping the situation, bolted out through the back door.

”Sis, they got away, that fine with you?”

”Doesn’t matter. Best prey just showed up, might as well enjoy it, ufufu.”

Nest laughed, sounding thoroughly amused, holding her sinister curved blade.

”One of the Blue Rose’s top officers, Nest Darrich, correct?”

”Oh my, fully exposed already.”

Nest pulled back her hood. At first her face had struck me as beautiful. Now, all I felt looking at it was fear and rage.

”Found within an hour of entering town, that’s surprising.”

”You take care of that small fry over there.”

”Leave it to me.”

I turned toward the huge, blank faced man. His destructive power was off the charts, but he always paused for a beat before taking any action. If I could time that gap right, I might even help Elizabeth instead of just distracting him.

”What’s this, you’re my opponent~?”

He looked down on me, swinging his weapon up with obvious boredom. Right into that wide open gap, I flung an oil bottle from my bag.

”What’s that? Poison? Too bad. Poison doesn’t work on me.”

The huge man smashed the bottle apart with his cleaver, without a second thought.

”Good to know.”

Saying that, I threw my lit Zippo lighter after it. It happened in an instant. His oil soaked clothes caught fire and spread rapidly, flames engulfing his whole body. He dropped the cleaver and thrashed wildly, letting out a beast like howl.

”GAAAAAAAAH!!! IT BURNS!!!!!”

”Hey, big guy, there’s water that way.”

I pointed toward the water pipe, shattered from the carriage’s crash. But Nest stood positioned directly in front of it.

”NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! NGYAAAAAAAAH!!!”

The man could no longer see who stood in front of him at all. Turned into a mass of flame, he barreled unintentionally straight toward Nest.

”You’re in my way.”

In an instant, the man’s head flew off and rolled across the floor. Even so, the momentum of his charge didn’t die, and Nest kicked the corpse’s stomach as its legs plunged into the fire.

”Ow!”

Nest let out a rare, unhesitant yelp, and the mass of flesh, bigger than me, went flying out the window. Alright, that should’ve bought plenty of an opening, Elizabeth!

”That was better than I expected!”

Slipping through the shimmering heat haze of the raging fire, Elizabeth positioned herself right beside Nest. She thrust the tip of her parasol upward from a low stance.

”Still, ...a little too soft~”

Nest dodged the thrust by a hair’s width and reached for Elizabeth’s throat.

”Ah... ffh!!”

Elizabeth caught the hand reaching for her neck at the last moment and redirected it. Leaping sideways out of danger, she immediately swung back. A vertical strike, delivered with her full weight behind it.

”Oh my, how rough.”

Recovering easily from her broken stance, Nest blocked the attack and pulled back with a swirl of her gray robe. In that opening, I picked up the now heated Zippo lighter, wrapping it in a handkerchief. I pulled out the hairspray from my bag and aimed it at Nest.

”Cover me, please.”

”Don’t expect too much.”

The earlier fire was spreading from floor to wall. The heat and Nest’s oppressive presence brought out an unpleasant sweat. I wanted to be cautious, but taking too long meant getting taken down by smoke before the fire even reached us.

”Phew, it’s hot.”

Saying that, Nest started pulling off her gray robe. ...The instant I thought that, she flung the robe forward instead.

”A blindfold!”

I’d already anticipated this move once she’d created distance. As a countermeasure, I shot a burst of flame forward.

”Ugh... ngh...”

Startled by the flames, Nest’s movement froze for an instant. She’d clearly been winding up an attack toward me.

”Your side’s wide open.”

Nest twisted her body to dodge Elizabeth’s horizontal swing. In that opening, I threw the phone from my pocket.

”Ufufu, stalling with more little tricks?”

Nest was clearly wary of me now. That alone showed just how effective the flamethrower had been.

”Shut up, I’ll burn that pretty face of yours off!”

”That’s a rather rude thing to say to a lady.”

Nest dodged the flamethrower with a backflip. But Elizabeth was waiting right where she landed.

”Now!!”

”Leave it to me!”

Elizabeth thrust her parasol forward swiftly, but Nest slipped the strike aside with movement smooth as silk in the wind. Dodging and slashing upward in the same motion, Nest’s blade came in. Elizabeth rolled sideways, dodging by a hair. Predicting where she’d land, Nest kicked a piece of debris at her feet. A hard shard of metal aimed at her face, immediately blocked by opening the parasol. Closing the parasol right away to regain her field of view, Elizabeth closed the gap by darting side to side, disorienting Nest as she approached.

”Ahaha, want to test speed with me?”

Amid a blur of afterimages moving at incredible speed, Nest lunged into one of them. Where Nest’s blade came down, Elizabeth caught the curved sword sideways with her parasol. From that high speed exchange, both sides shifted into a brute force clash. Gradually locking into a struggle, blade against blade. In that standoff, Nest spoke up.

”Nice attacks. Though something a little easier to move in might suit you better.”

”Ohhohohoho! That’s none of your concern.”

Elizabeth kept up her composure, but the jewelry she wore was heating up from the surrounding flames. Sweat poured across her entire body, and even from a distance, she looked close to dehydration.

”Get back!!”

At my signal, Elizabeth leapt backward. At that exact moment, I threw the device I’d been holding. It was the explosive crystal I’d bought at the general store, tied together with lighter fluid using my phone’s charging cable.

”Too slow~”

Nest moved to dodge with plenty of composure.

”Got you now, didn’t I?”

Right there, that exact spot. Perfect timing, thanks for that. Behind Nest, the timer on the phone I’d dropped earlier hit zero.

”RADIO CALISTHENICS, PART ONE!!!”

A cheerful, wildly out of place backing track. Nest turned around with an obviously wide open motion. But of course, this sound was a decoy too. The explosive crystal struck Nest’s body and burst like a grenade, spraying oil everywhere. The fire in the room caught, engulfing her entirely.

”Damn it!! Guh, aaargh!!”

Wrapping around her was fire with no magic behind it at all, completely immune to any magic barrier. Seemed like even Nest was helpless against fire that wasn’t magical in nature. Her skin darkened rapidly, burning a deep reddish black.

”Aaaargh, guhh, gaaah!!”

Nest swung her blade, trying to run toward the water. But her strikes, wracked with agonizing pain, were far too sloppy. No matter how many times she swung, she couldn’t even graze Elizabeth, who blocked her path.

”...Allow me to put you out of your misery.”

Maybe that was Elizabeth’s own version of mercy. She raised the parasol high with both hands and swung it down hard onto Nest’s head. But Nest, her scorched skull caving in, forced herself to cling desperately onto the parasol!

”Tch! Let go of that!”

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

A sound that shouldn’t have been possible to make, not even really a voice anymore, a horrifying noise. Nothing short of a monster’s roar. Nest yanked hard on the parasol, throwing Elizabeth off balance. In that instant, her wrist got caught in Nest’s grip. The Elizabeth of any normal moment might have shaken free. But battered by the heat and smoke, she’d clearly hit the limit of her stamina. Elizabeth’s body was flung around like a ragdoll, slammed against the floor several times before being hurled through the air. Carried by the force of the throw, her body crashed violently through the window and out into the open air.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!”

Nest’s howl echoed through the burning room. The scorching space seared my throat, making it hard to even breathe. Staying low to avoid inhaling smoke, sleeve pressed to my face, I made eye contact with the burning Nest.

”...Bad, bad, bad, bad!!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Nest charged at me with her burning body. Thrashing wildly as she came, she looked like some vengeful spirit trying to drag me down with her. Nothing is scarier than a suicidal, all in attack. And worse, I’d already used every tool I had. What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO!!?

”GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!”

Burns that would’ve killed any normal person outright. Nest, as she was now, wouldn’t even flinch at a normal attack. Something that might actually work... There really was only one option left!

”Damn it!! All or nothing!!”

I raised my hand toward the charging Nest’s forehead and shouted with everything I had!

”DICE!!!”

The impact of her burning forehead colliding. But it was Nest who went flying backward. On the burning floor, Nest fell silent, breathing her last. A square hole had opened in her forehead. The die, rolled off to the side, showed a five.

”...Did I do it?”

The strength drained from my legs. Partly the tension, but maybe I’d inhaled too much smoke too. I picked up my bag from the floor and hurried out through the broken window.

”Are you alright!?”

Elizabeth came running over, her footing unsteady.

”Yeah, I’m alive. Thought I was gonna die there for a second.”

Looking at each other, we both laughed. Clothes scorched in places, hair singed. Burns scattered across our bodies, both of us thoroughly beaten and battered.

”What about you? You looked ready to die a second ago.”

”No issue at all.”

Elizabeth pointed toward a well visible nearby.

”Rehydrated perfectly right there. Fully recovered, I’d say!”

Does dehydration really bounce back that fast? Thinking that as I got to my feet, something occurred to me.

”Wait, where’s Tender?”

”Gone to fetch the carriage, I’d imagine. Not the slightest doubt in my victory, was there. Well, rightly so! Ohhohohoho!”

Right, Tender had done the exact same thing back in the previous timeline too. Elizabeth, laughing loudly, tossed her parasol straight up. The moment she caught it, the broken parasol had repaired itself perfectly.

”Was that magic?”

”Yes, though I won’t tell you exactly what kind.”

With Elizabeth striking a confident pose behind me, the sound of a carriage approached. We jumped aboard, and with the sound of guards rushing toward the scene behind us, we left the battlefield behind.