Miss Hebe Is Charging Through the Lostbelts! [5]

So Morgan the Enchantress was the great foe waiting for her in this Lostbelt.

Defeat her, and the Lostbelt would be cleared.

The thought of finally finishing this run made joy well up in Hebe’s chest, and the corners of her mouth lifted before she could stop them.

Her smile was one thing. Her actions were another.

“No. I was never on your side.” Hebe’s voice was almost perfectly flat. “I was only worried you’d go down the path of destroying Albion. Nothing more.”

“And after all this—”

“You misunderstand. I’m not concerned about you.” Wanting only to get to the fight as quickly as possible, Hebe cut her off at once. “What I mean is, if you choose to destroy Albion, then both Arthur’s Great Deed and mine will be ruined.”

Then I’d be stuck with the bad ending.

I could still choose to become Morgan’s accomplice… but I did watch Albion being built, more or less. I’m at least a little attached to it.

If I put it that way, Morgan will probably attack immediately, Hebe thought.

The night seemed to deepen all at once.

Morgan’s face, which had not held even a trace of a smile to begin with, sank into the boundless dark.

She leaned back slightly, but what rose before her eyes was the past: the three of them sitting together by a campfire during the pilgrimage, dreaming aloud about the future. Back then, Arthur had said she wanted to build a country where commoners could stand with their backs straight, and Morgan had said that no matter what the two of them chose to do, she would support them forever.

And what had that girl with the deep green eyes said then?

Ah. Right.

She had sat across the campfire, wearing a warm smile, and said softly, “Everything will be all right. Everything will be set in order.”

Morgan raised a hand, her slender fingertips pressing together.

The crown above the Enchantress’s head, symbol of destruction, strife, and the kingship of the isle, transformed into a dim sun-disc.

[First Mark]: FAIRY EYES.

[Second Mark]: THIRSTING CHARISMA.

[Third Mark]: PROTECTION OF THE LAKE.

[Fourth Mark]: BEYOND THE FURTHEST END.

The clouds overhead began to churn, then turned limpid, then dimmed again with startling speed, like a slab of gray crystal. They hung there smooth and waveless, growing heavier and heavier.

A lake had risen into the sky.

Not far from the Enchantress, the sage casually tossed aside her sword.

Illusory pansies bloomed beneath Hebe’s feet, and in the blink of an eye the battlefield became a sea of flowers.

The court mage’s robe streamed back, baring the girl’s pale arm.

That slender hand curled, then one finger extended, pointing straight at Morgan’s eyes.

[First Mark]: ILLUSION ARTS.

[Second Mark]: DREAMLIKE CHARISMA.

[Third Mark]: HERO CREATION.

What met the sage’s finger was a black lance burning with baleful black flame.

It was the last sight Edward and Alistair were still capable of understanding.

…

Rain suddenly began to fall from the sky. It froze into ice before it touched the ground, and the moment it struck armor, weapons, and flesh, it began to burn—quietly and with terrifying speed.

Then the rain stopped.

The sea of flowers on the ground gave off a rich fragrance. Distance itself could no longer be distinguished. Many of those already sunk deep in sleep vanished into thin air, while the rest gradually faded, like pencil marks being erased.

Dark blue lakewater suddenly welled up from beneath the earth and drowned the flowers.

All at once, the surroundings seemed to lose their reality. Up and down inverted. The earth swelled upward at terrifying speed. The light in the sky grew dim and hazy. A gale full of falling snow came roaring in from afar, and in an instant half a meter of snow had piled up on the ground.

When the snow was just about to rise past the waists of the two kings, dark violet flames began burning again in eerie silence, melting the snow into a clear lake.

The dark violet fire kept burning, but its color abruptly changed. It had already sunk docilely into the water, only to surge back out and pounce on Edward.

Whump.

A muffled sound.

The armor worn by the Red Dragon Duke had originally been made of evenly sized metal plates linked together, giving it excellent protection against both sword-strokes and spear-thrusts.

The flames—once dark violet, now blue-violet—swiftly burned the armor into a single solid mass, making it larger, more imposing, and heavier than before. Every joint and seam was filled with metal until not the slightest gap remained.

Even an ordinary human body contained various metals; a [Daylight]-rank being contained even more. The noble once known as the Red Dragon Duke was transmuted into liquid metal, then swiftly and placidly fused into the armor.

A moment later, the flames died just as quickly. The huge, imposing suit of armor toppled backward, and only three holes of differing sizes remained where the face should have been.

The still lakewater swallowed the armor, while several iron-gray flower buds forced their way up through the shallows.

Alistair only stared blankly at the sight. His skin rapidly split open, every strand of his golden hair standing on end, while a dry rustling sound came from inside his body.

He bent over with difficulty, yet his chest kept thrusting forward against his will, as though something inside him were pushing with all its strength.

And yet the lakewater rising to his calves remained utterly still, as if unaffected.

Alistair’s muscles, skin, and clothes fused together completely, until there was no longer any telling what was outside and what was within. Tufts of soft white fur sprouted from his eye sockets, ears, and nostrils, swaying like grass in the wind.

The white fur grew thicker and denser. The flesh and fur atop his head pressed tightly together into layers like rose petals.

Those petal-layers piled up and piled up, until at last, with a soft pop, they bloomed.

A cold, emotionless voice drifted down from high above and fell beside Alistair’s ear.

“[THE NOW UNREACHABLE UTOPIA].”

…

The clouds were gone. The sky over London had never been so clear.

The sun rose earlier than usual.

The wilderness that had once been a battlefield was now a lake bordered by a sea of flowers. The lake lay quiet, a captivating blue-green, while deep violet pansies bloomed along the shore, looking from afar like a sheet of fire.

Hebe sat among the flowers. There was not a single wound on her body, but her face was pale, utterly drained of color.

Silently, she rose to her feet. Clear water dripped from her fingers, pattering down like autumn rain.

Before long, a shallow pool had formed where she stood.

Ripples twisted across the water’s surface, forming words only Hebe could see.

[The two kings died sudden deaths, the Enchantress was bloodied, and the great army was reduced to ash and smoke. Albion has triumphed once again. With the failure of this plan, Morgan no longer has any possibility of mounting a comeback…]

[However, the fuel sustaining King Arthur’s life is also nearing exhaustion. When her kingship reaches its end alongside her lifespan, the immense weight of her Great Deeds will reverse and become a catastrophic disaster.]

[No one wins. Is this the ending you wanted?]

Hebe merely raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

At once, the words formed from water-ripples were forcibly rewritten, and new lines appeared.

[Arthur’s Great Deed is Albion. Morgan’s Great Deed can only be completed by destroying Albion. Merlin’s Great Deed is to aid Arthur in reaching the ideal blueprint envisioned by all.]

[The rebellion Morgan raised has once again brought Albion to the brink of destruction, bringing her Great Deed closer to completion than ever before.]

[Yet in the contest of Great Deeds, you narrowly prevailed over Morgan, allowing Albion’s fire to endure a while longer. Her Great Deed recedes, while you climb upward—higher than before.]

…

[Hebe Stanton / Merlin Ambrosius]

[Final Great Deed]:
Avalon, The Everdistant Utopia (Accomplished)

[Current Lostbelt Progress: 97%]

Hebe’s body swayed slightly. Then she turned and began walking toward London.

T/N: TIME TOOOOOOOOOOO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONTINUE??? OR GAME OVER??

This is a fan translation of 赫柏小姐正在杀出异闻带！ by 青散人 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!