From the darkness, another gargoyle, dressed in a differently shaped armor, jumped towards him. He dodged the enemy's attack in a dash and jumped back.
He was looking at the enemy’s foot position.
It was time, for the intensive training he had with Agnes to start repaying, Saito thought.
“Follow the feet…”
After dodging several times, he understood the pattern of the enemy's attack.
Then, when the enemy lifted it's sword and was about to bring it down, Saito thrust decisively.
The shoulder of the gargoyle was torn and the sword fell to the ground.
“Ah, I hit it!”
Saito’s hands shook with excitement as he cut another gargoyle down.
However, though he was pleased about the hits… more enemies popped up one after another.
“Damn…”
He remembered Agnes’s words:
“Avoid situations where you have to fight more than one on one.”
He thought about escaping, but heard Louise chanting from the back.
She said she entrusted her life to Saito.
She entrusted her life not to Gandálfr, but to Saito Hiraga.
Even if cost him his life, he wouldn’t let her down.
Taking a breath, he mustered his courage.
The enemies approached.
Towards him.
Derflinger, who had kept silent till now, opened his mouth.
“Partner, I ask you. Just now, you cut down two enemies at the same time. Don’t you understand? You are a simple mortal; you can’t attack two gargoyles at the same time.”
“Aye.”
“Have confidence. You are strong. Just listen to my instructions now. Follow them, all right? If you do so, you can surely win.”
“Yeah.”
Derflinger's confident voice calmed Saito down.
“Center.”
A gargoyle with a spear attacked him.
“To the right.”
Following Derflinger’s instructions, Saito dodged to the right.
Pon – the spear hit the place where Saito stood just a moment ago. Taking the chance, Saito cut it down.
“On the right. Squat down. Cut away the feet.”
He squatted down.
The gargoyle's sword sliced through the place where Saito’s head was a few moments ago. Still squatting, he swung his sword and cut down the dolls legs, leaving it lying on the ground.
“On the right. Round up.”
Saito rounded up to the standing position and hit the gargoyle’s groin with his sword.
“Turn around, cut.”
He turned around. Though the spear was aimed right to his face, he was not afraid anymore.
At the same time, he turned around the sword with a wide swing, cutting the gargoyle from the back into half.
The remaining one lifted up its sword.
”Block!”
Seeing an opening, Saito pierced.
“Idiot! Don’t pierce!”
Though Derflinger shouted, Saito already pierced the gargoyle, pinning it with the sword to a tree
“Seventh!”
Saito shouted happily in excitement.
“Hey, pull out!”
“Haven’t I told you?! Never pierce against many opponents!”
A new one appeared there, Saito fell into panic.
“W-what do I do?!”
“It’s too late! The end! Good-bye!”
“T-that!”
Though Saito tried to pull out the stuck sword using his leg, it didn't came out.
The new doll jumped up at Saito.
At that moment, there was a gun shot. The doll collapsed right before Saito’s face.
“What was that?”
Then he saw Agnes standing there, holding a pistol.
“Agnes-san!”
Then Agnes threw away the pistol, and pulled out another one from under her belt and aimed at him. Another shot, and the gargoyle next to him fell.
With much effort, Saito finally was able to pull out Derflinger.
Having already used her both pistols, Agnes pulled out her sword.
“Come on.” She faced Saito raising her jaw.
Reassured by her presence, Saito felt his courage rising again.
However, another gargoyle appeared from the other side and approached the still-chanting Louise.
Even though he instantly ran, it didn’t look like he was going to make it there on time.
If he were a Gandálfr, he could make it on time! It was the first time he regretted not being it… *Blonk!* something knocked against the gargoyle’s head.
A frying-pan.
Slowly, the gargoyle crumbled to the ground.
Behind Louise, dressed in nightclothes and trembling, stood Siesta. Apparently she threw a frying-pan at the gargoyle that was approaching Louise.
“Siesta!”
“Ah, I hit it…”
Then, noticing Saito, Siesta’s face started to glow with joy.
“I couldn't fall asleep, and when I looked out of the window… I saw this girl running without protection with a different expression on her face, so I followed! And then Saito-san! Waah waah! Waaah!”
Seeing Siesta sobbing, taken by emotions, Saito tightened his grip on Derflinger again.
He didn’t show any surprise upon seeing Siesta in such a distant place.
Saito leaped towards the place where Agnes had her sword crossed with three gargoyles.
Due to the training… Agnes' and the gargoyles' movements seemed slow somehow.
Though it wasn’t on the same level as with Gandálfr's power of course, it was enough.
It didn’t take much time for Saito and the others to knock down the three remaining gargoyles.
Within the darkness, Sheffield was perplexed.
Those three were mere humans.
Yet… the two fencers cut Sheffield’s gargoyles one after another.
Though the woman seemed to be a skillful warrior… it was the boy that surprised Sheffield the most.
His movements seemed to grow in pace whenever he hit a gargoyle.
As if he stopped thinking about his movements, and was just smoothly swinging his sword.
“Hmmm… this must be Gandálfr’s inheritance. On the same level as I. Tough one.”
Sheffield, like a predator watching her prey and with a smile on her lips, followed the fight.
After a moment, her expression changed.
Sheffield, with the face of a girl in love, shouted,
“Joseph-sama!”
Then her face clouded.
“But why? If I would take it really seriously, I could take them down at once!”
After a few words said in her mind, she smiled again.
“I see. You enjoy the game? Indeed… Void against Void. After all, this is what makes me and Joseph-sama similar… I’ll simply collect rings and treasures for now. Then, in the end, I will measure that user's power. Because you can’t make her into a game partner if you do not closely measure it…”
Louise released the ancient spell.
A wave of Void rippled through the place.
She gathered it with all of her will powers' limit… and released it.
The long spell ended, the cantrip was completed.
'Dispel Magic'.
All gargoyles were wrapped up by this magic… which like ‘even smaller grains’ canceled the effect of the spell that made the dolls move.
All the former gargoyles… changed back to Alviss.
Then, as if put under the Silence spell, the forest immediately became quiet once again.
Epilogue
“My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being, and make him my familiar.”
In the living room of Tiffania's house, Contract Servant was completed.
Though they searched in the forest… the woman in a black robe, who introduced herself as Sheffield, was gone. Only a large number of Alviss' were lying around.