Standing proud at the center of Arlman was an enormous cathedral, its sheer size alone put any castle to shame. And the frozen body of the Prisma was enshrined within the cathedral.
Strictly speaking, even though they managed to defeat the strongest Magic Stone Beast Prisma, they couldn’t move it anywhere else or process it in any manner. Thus instead, the people built the cathedral around the carcass and stationed forces to guard it, along with establishing a town in the vicinity for the soldiers’ lodgings. Apparently, that was how the town came to be. Obviously, the cathedral’s security was as tight as can be, and one could only enter under special circumstances.
Rafinha was the daughter of Marquis Wilford and the little sister of the Capital’s overachiever Holy Knight Raphael, she was amongst the people who had permission to enter. Inglis was allowed to come with, as her entourage.
「Uwaah… So that’s Prisma. It looks so strong…!」
Both Rahal and Cyrene were huge when they had been transformed, but the creature in front of them was a couple of times, no, ten times larger than that. It was a giant bird with beautiful prism-colored glittery wings. The cathedral itself was pretty enormous, but once the two stepped inside, they could see a huge shaft in the middle of it and the upper half of Prisma protruding out of said shaft. The enormous figure that was seen on the surface was just the tip of the iceberg, quite literally.
There were visible injuries on the creature’s wings, feet, and various other parts. But, questionably, Inglis could feel some kind of mysterious surges of energy swirling within the ice prison. By chance, perhaps this creature hadn’t been completely vanquished yet, but she couldn’t be certain since she had never seen a living Prisma.
「Geez, Glis. Don’t stare at it with your eyes glittering. You’ll be seen as a weird kid, you know?」
Fundamentally, the people allowed to enter the cathedral were those of higher standings, such as the High-Grade Knights, high ranking nobles, and administrative officials. The purpose was to instill the fear of Prisma to those people so they could brace themselves for the threat of Magic Stone Beasts. Therefore, people who witnessed this figure would usually look at it with fearful faces. That was how it was supposed to be. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥
However, Inglis was peering up at it with her glittering eyes as though she was admiring pretty dresses or accessories. As far as reactions went, hers was definitely out of the norm. She might even alert the Knights who were on patrol.
The aforementioned creature was apparently instinctually terrified of Prisma, she was hiding inside Inglis’ cleavage with only her eyes peeking out. 2
「I’m telling you no, Glis…! This is the most important ward, don’t say anything weird or we’ll get arrested…!」 「But, but, you see. Even though it’s indeed frozen, I feel some kind of power surging out, you know? Maybe it’s not dead yet. That’s why I think it’s better if we let it out and deal with it completely. I wonder if they’ll let me do it.」 「Geez, Glis, I’m telling you…!」 「Hey, you two!」
A Knight, part of the Cathedral’s security, called out to them.
「Hieek!? Ahahaha… it’s nothing! This girl has some loose screws, you see. Look, she’s cute, right? But she’s just a liiittle bit weird, you see? But, it’s okay, I’ll make sure to keep my eyes on her!」
The male knight shook his head when Rafinha forced a smile, trying to pull wool over his eyes.
「No, I don’t even know what you’re talking about— wait, not that! Currently, there are Magic Stone Beasts all over the town! It’s very dangerous, so please don’t go out of the cathedral until the commotion is settled. The security here is tight, so it’s safer in here…」 「Magic Stone Beasts? Just right when I was starting to get antsy!」
Inglis broke into a grin and started to run towards the exit. What a perfect timing, she was thirsty for action after seeing Prisma. Normal Magic Stone Beasts couldn’t possibly match a Prisma, but she’d have them to quench her thirst for battle.
The Knight that went to notify them tried to stop Inglis, but of course, his warning fell on deaf ears.
「Aaah, geez, Glis! It’s rare to see you this frantic… But, I’ll come along!」
Some lives could be saved if the two of them jumped into the fray. There’s also the fact that Rafinha’s sense of justice wouldn’t let her stay still in a safe place.
「We’re sorry, we’ll jump in! Thank you for the notice!」
After giving a simple bow, Rafinha went after Inglis.
The scene that laid before Inglis as she stepped outside was an infestation of a large number of Magic Stone Beasts all over the town. There were a lot of beasts that seemed to originate from birds, flying over the sky and perching on roofs here and there.
However, the number of Knights that went to subjugate them wasn’t low either. The town was originally a station to watch over the carcass of a Prisma, after all. They had more than enough forces to deploy.
Now, where should I start? Inglis scanned the perimeter as she ran around.
That plaza on the far right!There are at least ten bird-type beasts flocking around over there.That would be the nearest place with the highest number of beasts.
A squad of Knights made a row of human barricades, inching closer towards the Magic Stone Beasts.
Inglis ran up towards the knights from their back and leaped over their heads. She then lunged into the flock of beasts all by herself.
「Uwah!? Wh-, what…!?」 「O-, oi, what are you doing!? It’s dangerous! Oi!」 「Don’t be reckless! Stop! Get back here…!」
The Knights were worried for Inglis’ safety, calling out to her from behind, almost screaming.
「Thank you. I’m fine.」
I should at least appreciate their worry. With that in mind, Inglis turned around and gave them a smile.
At that very moment, a humanoid silhouette jumped at her from the streets.
「You idiot! What the hell are you doing!?」 「Uwaah…!?」
The figure tackled Inglis, splendidly pinning her down. While she wasn’t enhanced by Ether skills at the moment, the person was skilled enough to follow her movements and caught her off guard. Who is it? They’re quite talented. Curious, Inglis directed her attention to the person.
It was a girl, around the same age as herself, with indigo blue hair.