Gregorius did not respond, simply glancing at Mira, the Valkyrie sisters, and the fight that continued a long distance away.
The spirit chimera had not been defeated yet. But Mira was superior to him when it came to armed combat, and they were on completely different worlds as spellcasters. On top of that, she had seven Valkyries who had spent their long lives training in close combat. With all that in mind, as painful as it was to admit it, Gregorius knew he had no chances.
And the incomplete spirit chimera could not beat the dragon either.
(So there's still so much out there…)
Gregorius reflected on his time so far, the days he spent as part of Chimera Clauzen. And the immense power he obtained at the end of them. It was ironic in a way. Believing that power could change the world, they kept amassing it through the years, and now a single girl made it all crumble away.
His eyes on the blade pressed against his throat, he raised his hands out of resignation. He also took a deep breath, and his robe caught on fire before exploding. It was not a big explosion, but the blast was strong enough to make Alfina recoil, creating a small opening.
Suicide. That was the first thought anyone would get seeing the black smoke wafting where he stood. But there was an obscured figure that left that smoke. It was a quadruped golem with Gregorius riding it, running at high speed away from that place.
He was heading to an entrance located on the opposite side from where the spirit chimera was. Gregorius admitted his defeat, and decided to attempt an escape. But he had not fully given up, he was still planning something, a cunning light in his eyes which only grew stronger as he left.
It was a rather well made golem, as it was faster than even a well-trained horse. But one of the Valkyrie Sisters, Eletina, the one with the most prowess with a bow, shot an arrow of light at him. The arrow drew a streak of light, hitting the golem with precision and destroying it with a single hit.
「Dammit, that's so unfair!」
Gregorius was sent flying forwards, rolling on the ground until he lost the momentum from the golem. After standing up, he turned to look at the remains of the golem. No matter the amount of damage, if its core was still intact, he could repair it with mana and depart again.
But Eletina's arrow, which had been shot from more than two hundred meters away, had pierced the golem's core which was only a handful of centimeters big. The caster could always locate the core in any spot of the golem when creating it too, so it was quite a feat to identify and shoot it so quickly from such a distance. Eletina was clearly a master of the bow.
He could only smile despite himself realizing what happened. He turned to the spirit chimera, a considerable distance away.
'Offer your wings and-'
After a deep breath, he attempted to scream something, but his mouth was quickly covered and he could not finish.
「I'm sorry, but this is the end.」
He noticed it was Mira's hand that stopped him. He had traps set up with voice commands. Having seen that once, Mira would not allow it to happen again. A moment later, thunder resounded.
Sage Art – Earth: Lightning Grasp
The skill was merciless, and Gregorius fainted after receiving it, falling silently on the ground.
「I wonder what he was trying to do.」
Christina, the youngest sister, muttered as she used Mira's Arresting Cloth to restrain Gregorius. She was curious to know what Gregorius' final shout would have accomplished.
「Move your hands, not your mouth.」
But Alfina sternly shot her question down, which made Christina pout with dissatisfaction. Mira chuckled seeing the two interact like that.
「I think he said something about offering wings. If I had to guess, he wanted the spirit chimera to spend its wings as spirit bombs. That was also why he ran away from the chimera, so would be safe from the blast.」
Christina's mutter had been unrelated to fighting, just an idle comment. Something like that would have never happened in the game, but it showed they were fully sentient now. That simply renewed the feeling of reality in the world for Mira.
「Ohh gotcha. That makes sense!」
「Christina! Speak to our Master with more respect!」
Satisfied with the answer, Christina replied with a cheerful smile, which met a reprimand form Alfina. Apparently the youngest sister had grown up with a more brazen attitude, which made Mira smile even more.
「Master, I beg you to overlook my sister's bad manners.」
Mira felt a friendly bond with them, but regardless of that, Alfina still thought of Mira as something akin to her king. Her loyalty was just as firm, even now when everything was real.
「I don't mind, I don't mind. Something like that matters not, considering how hard you always work for me.」
「Ahh, Master. I appreciate your kind words.」
Hearing Mira's response, Alfina bowed deeply to her with an air of reverence. Looking around, she noticed the other sisters were happily kneeling as well. Only Christina was slightly different, smirking at the eldest sister Alfina for a moment. As if poking fun at her, and saying no one would get mad even if she did that. It was a needlessly childish act of impudence.