Mistress Of The Evil Forest-Case 246: Last Dance.

''...A proposal, you say?''

Claire looks up weakly at Buezrith, her emerald-like eyes retaining their luster despite her injuries. The opponent, perhaps taking it as an acceptance for negotiation, softens her expression, ''Yes. Should you go along with my plan, your life will be spared.''

''...''

A breeze brushed by the two, fluttering Claire's messy bangs. For a moment, her face becomes unreadable.

''...!''

And when Buezrith belatedly realizes the incongruity, her heart sinks. The instinctive reaction comes within half a moment as she springs back to create distance. Nerves taut, Buezrith's blood-red eyes dart around to find the threats.

Somewhere, somehow, something has infiltrated the realm she has created. But how?

Before she can come to terms with that fact, a drop of snow falls before her eyes. The heroine, standing some steps away, now has a victorious smile on her face.

''...I don't care what you are scheming.'' She says, her voice both fragile and steady. ''Just know that I will never side with you.''

''Heroine...''

A sudden rage takes over. At the girl who is struggling to stay upright, leaning onto her sword, Buezrith conjures a bullet of magic and fires ahead without hesitation.

At that moment, the earth itself rises to catch the spell, stopping the attack in one swoop. A woman with a perpetually tired look soon lands on top of the mount, sighing.

A piercing wail rings amidst the sounds of insect wings flapping. As the blizzard intensifies, one can spot a majestic orca swimming in the sky, accompanied by schools of whales and sharks.

And from the bushes, a lone figure emerges. With long, black hair and a detached, almost ethereal pair of eyes, Kyomu steps into the battlefield with his sword drawn.

''Guardians of the forest...'' Buezrith grumbles. ''Good job breaking in, but—''

Before Buezrith can finish her words, her vision snaps wildly. Coming with that sudden shift is intense pain at her waist, as if it has been broken—no, it has. Something like a whip has snapped at her with such power that her body is sent flying away.

As the bones and flesh regenerate, she peers back in astonishment. There, a tall, slender man in a vest calmly stands, his face without features cracking.

The squad soon gathers around the injured heroine, and Buezrith finds herself unsure if she can pierce that defense. Is it overconfidence or complacency? She should have subdued that girl swiftly.

Yet... it isn't over.

Buezrith slowly rises to her feet, the broken limbs quickly snapping back to their original shapes. With a light tap of her feet, the barrier is completely disintegrated. Immediately after, a wave of mana is sent out, resonating across the forest.

While it does little to the hordes that are flowing toward the system's core, around a dozen figures soon arrive at the tattered battleground—all wearing nun habits.

''Claire!''

A little after the clones' arrival, Chloe, Luxia, and Amelia also join the heroine's side. With Chloe around, Claire's wound is quickly healed, allowing her to once again enter the battle.

Once again, the holy sword burns a divine light, and following her lead, the two sides clash.

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Facing the barrage of dark magic, Claire pushes forward unfazed. Together with her teammates, she soon cleaves a way through the clones' formation and gets to the original Buezrith relatively unharmed.

Gleams of souls burning can be spotted amidst the intensifying blizzard as each member takes on the women in nun habits. In the sky, Nova and her subordinates spread evenly to maintain a barrier against the stray insects, while the orca herself closely monitors the battles below, ready to fire magic if needed.

Right away, the fragile balance between the two forces is broken by Kyomu, who has scored his first kill after thrusting a blank soul fragment into a clone's chest. From then on, the tide starts to change dramatically.

One by one, the women wielding dark magic are shot down, overwhelmed by the natives of Zircon.

Kyomu, with his sword arts of nihility, easily cuts through the enemies' magic. His blade slits through the air at obvious yet hard-to-respond angles, simple but efficient. The swordsman stands alone, facing three opponents at once.

Sikare leisurely sits on the shoulder of her golem, watching her army overwhelm the clones. Though her magic cannot dispel the dark spells like Kyomu's nihility can, the Witch of Calamity makes it up with sheer size and numbers. The moment a golem is destroyed, another rises from the earth instantly, leaving no gaps, no room to breathe.

Slenderman breezes through the snow, seemingly leaving them untouched, as his tentacles whip in the air violently, smashing the few unfortunate clones' defense and crushing their bodies repeatedly. A touch of ink in the pure white world, his speed unmatched.

Luxia and Amelia, meanwhile, fiercely face their opponents head-on, their magic quaking in the snowstorm. Behind them are Chloe and Smiley, who stay at a distance for support.

Together, they are pushing for a definite win.

Taking this scene into her mind, Buezrith feels her blood boil. She remembers back to the words that her other self has said—that she would eventually be defeated in this 'script.'

She gazes at the heroine's sparkling emerald-green eyes, a chill running down her spine.

'No... I can't let it end like this!'

With everything she has, Buezrith lunges at Claire, who appears alone with her sword raised. Sharp claws of dark magic fit onto her hands, extending like blades, and a desperate, murderous glint falls into her crimson eyes.

''Kuh...!''

But this time, the heroine stands firm, receiving Buezrith's attack with composure.

''I don't care what you say or what you want,'' Claire says firmly. ''But I—we want a peaceful world where civilization can continue to progress.''

''...''

At that moment, something seems to click in Buezrith's mind. She bites down on her lips, bites until it bleeds, and flashes a wry smile, ''...I see.''

The brief moment of respite between the two soon ends as Buezrith yanks herself away, positioning for another burst of power. Claire remains solid on the spot, her eyes determined, ''Come at me.''

''Fine, then, heroine. Let's have a last dance together!''

Amidst the freezing white battlefield, flashes of light collide with trails of darkness. Buezrith rains attacks onto Claire relentlessly, like a beast on berserk, forcing the girl into a defensive stance in mere seconds.

Yet unlike their initial clash, Claire now holds herself relatively well thanks to Chloe's support.

'Focus, focus!'

Constantly steadying herself internally, the heroine spends her time patiently studying her opponent. The calm, the cynical looks of Aurora in battle—she wants to replicate that.

Cranking her body to its fullest, to let the light shine the brightest, Claire leaves herself to her best judgment and closes in for a crash. Her blade pierces the falling drops of snow, scarping with Buezrith's claws. Two hands tightly gripping the hilt, shoulders flexed, the heroine takes a decisive yet firm stance and slashes at the opponent's opening.

Relying on experience, Buezrith quickly guards herself with utmost precision, narrowly avoiding being hit.

For a moment, beyond the sparks of their weapons grinding against one another, they meet gazes. From that moment onward, their battle shows no signs of slowing down.

Buezrith unleashes her magic violently at Claire, while Claire stays rock solid, allowing no weaknesses. Strike after strike, blow after blow, it is the heroine who eventually edges out on stamina.

Facing a sort of desperation, Claire understands that the most effective counterplay is to remain calm.

'Aurora must think like this if she were me right now.'

Until the end, that belief is what keeps her going. Until Buezrith slowly falters from fatigue, even as Claire accumulates injuries of her own, she never gives up.

''Ugh...!''

Until... Claire manages to land a cut on the other woman. The blade, one tinted with pure light, burns Buezrith's flesh from top to bottom, causing severe pain.

''Hah... hah...''

Buezrith stands wobbly, her eyes lost, blood gushing out from the open wound, staining the habit.

Having gained an advantage, Claire keeps pressing, ignoring her own pain. The opponent stubbornly tries to fight back, but with her injury worsening, it soon appears that she has no way out.

In the end, it is Claire who has her sword pointed at Buezrith's neck. Her last word as her eyes fall onto the heroine's face—

''...Beautiful.''