Chapter 337: Chapter 337: 15 year old Inglis and the Prisma Battle (15)

Inglis felt it was a little regrettable, but there was nothing she could do about it.

The Prisma had evolved to the point where its wide-area attack could even turn non-Highlanders into Magic Stone Beasts. Inglis had never known any other fully evolved Prisma, but this one was probably the most powerful of them all.

She had never seen or heard of anything that could turn humans of Midland into Magic Stone Beasts in any literature or folklore that she knew. In other words, that was an unknown ability. If more such beings existed, the surface world would be devoid of human life in a heartbeat.

Inglis couldn’t possibly keep it alive. It was too dangerous. Even after receiving Dragon Roar and the dragonscale sword from Vufailbane, Inglis was driven into a situation where a slight mistake would result in her death.

And, most importantly, this was what Rafinha wished. In order to fulfill her innocent desire to save Raphael’s life, Inglis couldn’t let the Prisma live.

This was her parental love… or rather the selfless love of a grandparent that sought to fulfill the wishes of their granddaughter at any cost, even at the expense of their own happiness.

「The Prisma has fallen! It’s dead!!」

「Without a Hyrule Menace’s aid?!」

「A-, Amazing! What an epic battle!」

「N-, no wonder His Majesty the King had given the royal decree!」

「All right, let’s pump it up! Once we defeat all the remaining Magic Stone Beast, it’s our triumph!」

「「「OOOHHHHHHH!」」」

Amidst the earth-shattering cheers and yells…

「GLIS~~!! You did it! I knew you would! THANK YOU~~!!」

Inglis could hear Rafinha’s voice calling out her name. She had a bright smile on her face. Her expression was free from anxiety and nervousness, radiating with pure joy. It was truly adorable, and all of Inglis’ fatigue seemed to melt away at that sight. Riding next to her was Yua, her face was expressionless and vacant.

All in all, Inglis had no complaints as the battle had been superb, and now Rafinha was happy. She turned to Rafinha and waved to her with a smile.

「Danger is still lurking, so be careful…!」

Inglis spoke those words to caution Rafinha, but she soon realized that they were also a warning to herself.

She felt some odd sounds and vibrations from behind her.

「?!」

She pivoted on her heel and faced the direction of the Prisma. The lower half of the creature was radiating a brilliant glow, contorting and producing an unusual noise.

「……! It’s still alive?!」

The bizarre occurrence wasn’t just confined to the Prisma’s fallen lower body. Inglis noticed some blue objects darting across her field of vision.

「Are those—?!」

There were fragments of ice scattered across the battlefield, each containing a humanoid Magic Stone Beast trapped within.

Many of them flew towards the Prisma and collided with it before melting and being absorbed. The body of the Prisma then wriggled and changed shape, turning into a rainbow-colored mass that was unrecognizable to Inglis.

「It’s absorbing Magic Stone Beasts to revive itself…?!」

Inglis realized that she had to quickly disintegrate the remaining mass of the Prisma before it could recover or launch another attack.

Inglis wasn’t sure why there were so many humanoid Magic Stone Beasts imprisoned in ice, but she knew the reason behind their existence. She was the first to try it, back in Nova Town when Cyrene had turned into a Magic Stone Beast. It was likely that someone who knew about it had suggested the same method to others, resulting in the ice-encased beasts on the battlefield.

But…

「KYAAAaaaahhh~~~!!」

「Fnnnnghhhhh……」

Inglis lifted her gaze and saw the Star Princess unit, with Rafinha and Yua aboard, being pulled towards the Prisma with screams coming from their direction.

「Rani! Senior Yua!」

Why was only the Star Princess unit being drawn to the Prisma, while no other flygears were behaving in the same way?

Inglis discovered the reason for the Star Princess unit’s strange behavior when she noticed something in Yua’s hand.

A lump of ice… and in it, a small Magic Stone Beast. She knew that only Black Mask from the Ironblood Chain Brigade could create such ice prisons. This led Inglis to suspect that Black Mask might be present on the battlefield.

Either way, Yua held onto the ice block containing the small Magic Stone Beast tightly, refusing to let go. As a result, the entire Star Princess unit was pulled towards the giant beast.

Inglis couldn’t let it happen.

「HAah!」

Inglis sprang towards the Star Princess unit and forcefully brought it down to the ground. She clung to the earth to prevent the flygear from being dragged any further towards the Prisma.

「Glis! Thank you! You’re a lifesaver!」

「Yeah!」

「My thanks, Boobie Girl. I thought I’d have my chest torn away!」

It had been some time since she was addressed by that name. Yua had an uncanny ability to push her buttons, as always.

「Hahaha… Wait, Senior, is that…?! Is that what’s being dragged towards the Prisma?」

Inglis looked at the block of ice in Yua’s hands.

「—it’s Beansprout. I won’t cast him away even if you tell me to.」

For once, Yua looked serious. No, it might really be the first time she looked serious.

Inglis also put her hand on the block of ice.

「I won’t! I’ll help!」

Rafinha also offered her hand.

「Me too! Hmph!」

「You two… surprisingly good people?」

Yua looks surprised.

「I don’t think that should be a surprise!」

「I’m surprised you’re surprised!」

「I mean, one is the scary devil who easily loses her temper, and the other is the freak who easily resorts to violence…」

Yua looked at Rafinha and Inglis alternatively.

「「That’s outrageous!」」

Both protested in unison.

「…Then, please hold onto Beansprout for a minute.」

Yua handed over the block of ice to them before standing up to face the Prisma.

「Senior…?!」

「What are you doing—?!」

「…Beat him. Time for my rebellious phase.」

Inglis couldn’t understand the latter half of what she meant, but… Yua was glaring daggers at the writhing Prisma.

She formed finger guns with both hands and combined them. Once her big finger gun was ready, she lowered her waist.

Before Inglis knew it, a pair of ears and a tail, similar to Ripple’s, had appeared on Yua’s person. They shimmered in a pale, prismatic brilliance as they swayed.

And then, from Yua’s finger gun… A bullet of light appeared, swelling up the moment it manifested.

「Wh—whoa! Senior Yua…! You’re just like Glis!!」

「By all means, please fight me with it!」

「Don’t be silly, just hold onto Beansprout and wait!!」

Inglis was serious, though… At any rate, this light that Yua created was nothing ordinary.

The scale of it, the power behind it… it was equal, if not greater, than the Ether Strike that Inglis unleashed!

On a scale of ten, with ten being the maximum power of all of Inglis’ Ether, the Ether Strike technique would not be able to achieve all ten marks at once. It would, at most, score two if not three. For Inglis to produce an attack that would result in full ten marks, she would inevitably need to rely on a weapon… in her current case, the dragonscale sword.

There was a way to artificially increase the destructive power of Ether Strike by combining it with another battle technique, like her Ether Breaker, but… In terms of standalone techniques that Inglis had, Ether Strike was the most powerful.

And yet, here she witnessed a power that exceeded her most powerful technique, she couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.

「Super Amazing Bang!」

Well, putting aside its insipid name, the giant bullet of light unleashed by Yua thundered towards the Prisma, carving a deep trench in the ground. It collided head-on with the target, resulting in a dazzling explosion of light that engulfed the vicinity.