Avalon's Dungeon

　For a while, the lightning played with Alexis's body insistently.

　When his voice fades away and there is no more resistance, it seems that Alexis' body is finally released, and he begins to lie down, submitting to gravity.

「Alexis-sama... Alexis-sama!!」

　Fransisca called Alexis' name over and over as she sat there stunned.

「You... bastard!!」

　Unusually for Fatima, she turns her angry eyes toward the king and starts chanting a spell.

　"Fatima-chan!" Sara shouted.

「Calm down! If there is no guardian, we must give priority to cast "Protection"!」

「Shut up, shut up, shut up!!」

　This was the first time Fatima had ever shouted so emotionally.

　Ironically, the king deployed the same "Protection" they had been dealing with and turned his mocking eyes toward them.

「Prince, prince...」

　Dorothea is bursting into tears.

　Valencia still faints, and Sara thinks it's not a good idea.

（I can't believe how disorganized this party is without Alex-kun...）

　No, Sara would be lying if she said she was not upset.

　Even now, her chest is tightening. All she feels is frustration. If allowed, she should run over to him right now and examine him. She's the only one who can do it.

（But in this situation... if we could return...）

　But it will take some time for Fransisca to deploy the pendant's magic.

　Since Fatima has lost herself, she is the only one who can protect the remaining members... and since that is the case, the current relatively scattered lineup is not good. Very bad.

「Everyone! We have to stay together!」

　It takes a lot of magic to deploy "Protection" widely. It's also fragile. So, it's better to keep it in a small place.

　Sara thinks so and calls out to everyone, but there is no way the wise king will miss that chance.

　He spreads his magic widely and casts a spell so that their "Protection" will be attacked.

　If he does this, they will have to extend the "Protection" no matter what they do.

「Ngh—ggh...!」

　Sara squeezed out her magic power, which had reached its bottom, and managed to defend herself against it by putting up a "Protection."

　As if mocking their lack of time, the king glides through the air, releasing magic.

　The king catches Alexis at his feet, who does not move, and he casts his spell again.

　He knows. No one can escape without Alexis. He knows that he will not be exposed to attack unnecessarily if he keeps Alexis at his side, unprovoked.

　Sure enough, Fatima stops attacking and just stares at the king. She is afraid that Alexis might be involved in this.

（It is useless...）

　Sara hated herself for being the only calm one in this situation.

　However, she understands it even if she doesn't want to. She is a doctor.

　Even with the Guardian's armor, it has little power to prevent magic. Alexis has been hit by the magic that was released to kill Fransisca in a state of desperation.

　He is—already, his life is not saved.

　Because she knows this, there is a chilling feeling in Sara's abyss.

（No, it's bad...! If someone doesn't say it, no one can attack... but...!）

　Sara is surprised to know that a human emotion in her makes her hesitate to attack.

　As everyone stands still, the king once again unleashes a wide range of magic.

　The party remained scattered. The magic barrier must be spread far and wide.

「Protection!!」

　Sara deployed the wall of "Protection" knowing that she would run out of magic power. But when she sees how thin the walls are, she is mortified. It was not possible to defend against the fierce shock wave that had just been unleashed.

　At that moment, a wall was built on top of the wall. It was Fatima's magic.

「Fatima-chan...!」

　Sara's heart was relieved to see that Fatima was calmer than she had expected, but it was only for a short time.

　Even if she could prevent the current attack, she wondered where the king could generate such a large amount of magic power.

　Sara's magic power runs out first, then Fatima, but soon the barrier created by Fatima will reach its limit.

　Still, with his silver staff, the king released his fourth shockwave.

　It pierced through the magical barrier Fatima had put up and blew away the four bodies except for Alexis and Valencia.

「Kyaaaah!?」

「Nnn—ah!」

「Ugh...!」

「Aaaa...—!」

　Each of their bodies hit the wall or the floor with such force that they involuntarily stopped breathing and coughed.

　The king is clever enough to recognize those who are either immobile or unresisting and dares to leave them alone. He is probably trying to avoid wasting his magical power. Because they can be slaughtered at any time without hurried action.

　As for Valencia, he seems to have chosen to let her faint rather than to shock her awake.

「Huff, huff...」

　Sara kneels down and breathes heavily.

　Ironically, she is the lightest of all the members who were blown away, so the damage is not too severe.

　Sara, Fransisca, Fatima, and Dorothea are now much closer to him because they were blown in one direction by the shock wave.

　However, this should make it much easier for them to put up a magic barrier...

（But, no. My magic is already—even Fatima-chan...!）

　Sara looks at the king, who has turned into a dizzying figure, wondering what to do.

　The king raised his branch-like hand, clutching the silver staff, and condensed the light of his magic there again. As expected, a vortex of unfathomable magic power, from where it is boiling, is gathering.

（Impossible...impossible! Even the king in his lifetime couldn't have done such powerful magic, so much magic, so much magic...!）

　At that moment, the king swings his staff away with a gleam in his sunken eyes. This time he intends to release directional magic.

　It is no accident that he has gathered the members in one direction with a shockwave. It was a deliberate move, like a hunter hunting down his prey, in order to kill them all in a single, swift, and certain blow.

　In this case, the king was definitely the predator, and they were the prey, just waiting to be hunted.

　The king concentrated the magic power at the tip of his staff to the limit, and then he swung it down.

　At the same moment, the magic became swirling, a thick flash of light that ran in a straight line, melting the stone from the wall to the ceiling, drawing a line, and piercing through it.

「—Hmm, huh?」

　Sara was on her knees and let out a strange voice.

　Fransisca, who got up next, opened her eyes and shouted.

「Alexis-sama...!!!」

　Yes, it was definitely Alexis.

　Alexis, who they had thought was dead, suddenly woke up and pierced the king's heart with the spear sword he had been holding in his hand.

　With a guttural sound of a ghastly scrape, the pale, shining tip pierced through the king's chest and back, and the impact sent him spinning backward, looking up to the heavens, while a flash of light from the tip of his staff also pierced the ceiling.

「Ga, ga...」

　A noise-like voice came out of the king's mouth.

　Why? His eyes, which looked as if they were upset, were fixed on Alexis as he moved busily.

　Alexis stares at the king's purple eyes from a close distance with his spear-sword in his hand.

　A black mist begins to rise from the king. The king slowly vanishes from the scene.

「-Kuh, phew.......」

　Alexis sat down as if he had lost all his strength.

「W-What's going on...!?」

　Sara jumped up to her feet and tried to run to him, but she fell to her knees immediately. She had taken more damage than she had imagined.

　Instead, Fransisca and Fatima got up and ran toward Alexis.

　"Alexis-sama! (Alex!!)," they each called Alexis in their own way and hugged him from right to left.

「Ah... T-Thank God.」

　Dorothea sat down and cried.

「Yeah, that's good...」

　Sara nodded her head, but she was still confused.

　Am I wrong? But... Her relief at his rescue and her surprise at being betrayed by her own experience is mixed up in her mind.

　Still, she regained her composure and, this time, stood up, walked over to Alexis, and spoke to him, who was still in their embrace.

「...You're alive, aren't you?」

　Alexis nodded at Sara's words.

「Yes. I'm alive...I think.」

　Alexis looked at his left arm in a daze, which was "unclothed" except for the armor.