At the same time as the colossus got closer and closer to its defeat, the rest of the maids fought against the overwhelming numbers of undead that the Grand Monster known as Bone Legion had brought forth with its power.

Undead whose numbers it bolstered even further by killing all the beasts and monsters that were supposed to be its allies.

Thus, the only living enemies that remained in the battlefield were those strong enough, like the High-Ranking Lesser Dragon Lords, or Commanders for short, and some Awakened Lizardmen.

Sadly for them, it was not their fate to remain like that, for they were being hunted down by Luca’s team, to which they fell one by one.

"Reveal yourselves, you cowardly inferior beings!!"

So roared a Commander as he looked around for a sign of those maids in the middle of such hectic battlefield, all while he and his companion kept fighting off the undead who sought to add him to their ranks.

"Urgh!!”

It was then that a bloody crossbow bolt pierced his companion’s neck and made her let out such pained voice.

“It...hurts!!”

But that was not all, for a mere instant later all her veins turned visible and she felt as if her entire body was being eaten alive from the inside, causing her to fall on the ground and cry out like that as purplish tears trickled down her face.

Still, she tried to resist.

Still, she tried not to give those inferior beings the satisfaction of hearing more of her pained voice and as such, she covered her mouth with enough strength that her claws pierced her cheeks.

“Where...?"

Seeing that, the Commander once again looked around, but this time he poured everything he had into his senses, hoping that by doing so it would locate those who had killed his companion.

Yes, killed, for he knew that she was as good as dead.

After all, their healers had already been exterminated and the liches who could have casted [Delay Death] on her were ignoring their orders since the Grand Monster appeared.

And finally, he could see that his companion’s draconic healing abilities and resistances were simply not working against the poison, as she was getting worse by the second.

"Here..."

"Wha—?!

That was when he suddenly heard a voice close behind him, so close that the word its owner uttered could have been whispered right into the Commander’s ear.

He immediately turned around, swinging his massive axe with enough strength to cut in half whoever was behind him, only to find nothing but his faint shadow...

“No one…?”

"[Shadow Assault]."

"...!"

...and the one who leapt from inside of it the very moment his surprise became an opening.

He was not fast enough to counter or even react before that someone’s blessed daggers pierced his heart and ended his life.

"Let's keep...moving...clean up..."

That someone was Luca, who disappeared once again into the darkness after she said that.

And having dealt with their own targets, her teammates were right behind her.

Their current task? Finish off all those enemies that remained living.

______________________________________

Meanwhile, in another part of that battlefield, weapons clashed with colored bones and rotten flesh, with weapons cursed and taken from the corpses of their victims or made of their own bones, with armors set on fire and cloaks drenched in darkness.

Of course, magic was involved in such ferocious battle too, for spells flew from every direction possible, coming from both the bone staves of the unrestful ones or the feminine hands and blessed staves of those fighting them.

It was truly a rain of many spells.

Of fireballs that exploded on impact, darkness that sought to blind and silence, ice blasts that turned enemies into icy pieces, lightning that jumped from enemy to enemy, balls of curses that would drown their targets in indescribable suffering, and more.

So much more.

Even then, only one thing posed a problem to the Maid-Knights and that was the pullulating numbers of the undead.

Because while their blessed weapons were effective against them, that meant nothing if the ones they felled were replaced by two more. Even worse, that was only for the ‘weak’ undead, for the most powerful of them would instead reassemble themselves and continue their attack as if nothing had happened, all while showing no trace of the damage that had felled them before.

Yet, that was not the worst, for rather than simply reassembling themselves, some undead combined with others amid such process, which led to them turning into a much, much more powerful undead.

So, they would come from underground, from the sky, and from every single side one could lay eyes on.

There was simply no escaping such sea of undead.

And deep into said sea, the Bone Legion towered over them all, summoning more and more undead and releasing powerful attacks at those who sought to confront it directly.

It was a threat that no ordinary army could hope to deal with.

It was a being whose near-forgotten legend was written in blood and suffering.

And to fight it was not to court death but something worse, much, much worse.

Yet, there they were.

Steadfast and unwavering.

Maid-Knights.

Erica, Roxxy and Lucy.

They stood before such menace to life itself and not only did they push forward while destroying the powerful undead who guarded it, but they kept unleashing attack after attack upon the Bone Legion.

Attacks that came in quick succession.

Attacks that fit perfectly with each other.

Attacks that showed just how polished their teamwork was.

"...[SAVAGE WAVE]!"

"[BLAZING REND]!!"

"...[LIGHTNING SMITE]!"

Indeed, for as Erica summoned a great wave that carried more than enough force to break the Bone Legion’s legs, let alone the walls of any city, Roxxy jumped at their massive enemy’s head and unleashed a powerful skill with her double-handed blessed hammer on it, powerful enough to send the Bone Legion crashing into the ground and leaving it wide open to receive Lucy’s mighty lightning in full.

A lightning whose damage was enhanced by the presence of water.

"KIKIKIKROOOOOOO—!!"

And that caused the Bone Legion to release a deafening wail as its massive form came undone and all the bones that composed its body fell all over the place.

It looked and sounded as if they had struck down a simple bone statue rather than a Grand Monster.

Still, some would certainly be impressed and relieved since it looked like such threat had been dealt with.

But the Maid-Knights were not celebrating such victory. On the contrary they were still on their guard as they reconvened with one another.

"That was not enough."

So said Erica with a serious expression on her face as she looked at the many bones on the ground and found them to be already slowly moving towards the bulk of bones left by the Bone Legion.

"I really thought that maximizing Lucy's damage could give us some results, but that wasn’t it. I’m sorry."

Arriving to Erica’s side was Roxxy, who said that while never taking her eyes off the mountain of bones in front of them.

"Ahahaha, what’s up with those long faces girls? It was worth trying! Besides, we’re only supposed to stall it so I can say that we’re doing a great job!"

Meanwhile, Lucy appeared behind them in a flash, gave them a big hug, poked their cheeks, and said that with her usual spunky attitude.

"Indeed, but not being able to truly damage it is surprising to say the least."

Offering no response to her cheeks being poked by Lucy and looking like she was pouting while she spoke due to that, Erica let out such words as she and the other two saw how all the bones started reassembling and rearranging the Bone Legion's body.

"KIKIKIKROOOOOOORG!!"

And as it rose once again, roaring at those who felled it, the Bone Legion showed itself in a different form from the one it previously had.

Its four beastly-looking legs had turned into eight legs that had different shapes besides those beastly ones.

Some seemed to be monstrous, some draconic and the last pair were disturbingly…humanoid.

The same could be said of its head, for it combined draconic, humanoid, and monstrous aspects.

Lastly, it had various bone tails that moved like whips, which it used to immediately and mercilessly attack the Maid-Knights without pause nor quarter, for they even followed them as they tried to avoid them.

"HA!"

*THUNK*

Or at least that only applied for those who did not need to counterattack or defend themselves from them, something that Roxxy needed to do as she was not as agile as her comrades. Although, it looked more like she was waiting for the tails to get close enough so that she could nail them on the ground with her hammer.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

On the other hand, Erica simply parried those attacks as they came, while Lucy outran them.

"KIKIKIKIYOOOOOORGH"

Seeing that its attacks had no effect, the Bone Legion roared once again, created barbed bone pillars that burst out from the ground all over its surrounding area, and began shooting sharpened bones from its mouth as projectiles.

Both were meant to instantly impale its three attackers, but the Maid-Knights proved to be much harder to kill yet again, as they used their strengths to overcome such terrifying attacks.

In Lucy’s case, it did not matter if those projectiles were meant to kill even those who were said to be the fastest in Arte, for they were as easy to evade as anything else by just raising her speed.

"Here we go again!"

Something that she did as she said that, never losing her spunkiness.

_________________________________________

Meanwhile, in the middle of the battlefield, another team of Maid-Knights did everything they could to destroy as much undead as possible, for they were in charge of taking as much pressure off the shoulders of another team and another thing.

"[Hermit Flow: Second Form]!"

That team was led by Bertia, who used one of her martial skills to move through a big group of undead as she kicked, punched, and used her tonfas to strike at them in one swift motion, causing them to fall in pieces one after the other and not rise again.

Even those that were in the vicinity also found themselves destroyed as she kept moving around and attacking more undead.

"How is that path going, Kara?!"

"Less asking more bone breaking, Bertia! She'll do it! [Bladerang]!"

And she was not alone, for she was being covered by Patricia, who, after exclaiming that, threw her great sword at the undead that were in Bertia’s blind spot. Said blessed great sword then started quickly spinning in the air like a saw, destroying every undead in its path before returning to Patricia’s hand, rather than just slamming against the nearest undead and staying there.

"Earth move to my will, push back those who try to get close, and carve a path through those who stand against us!! [Earth Wave]!!"

Having finished weaving her mana and chanting, Kara proceeded to do the other task they had been charged with and casted her spell by planting her blessed twin swords into the ground, causing said ground to swell and create a wave that went in a straight line from two sides, her front and her back.

Said wave stopped at nothing as it parted the sea of undead by crushing and sending flying all who were in its way, only stopping when both of its sides reached their desired destinations.

For the front side, it was right at the feet of a certain team of Maid-Knights.

Meanwhile, the back side’s destination was right at the feet of the Bone Legion.

And with that a path that went straight through the battlefield had been opened.

"There! It's your turn now, Mika!! Everyone!"

So exclaimed Kara through the communication skill.

____________________________________

The moment Mika's and Sophie's team regrouped was the moment Mika came up with a plan to deal with the Bone Legion.

Said plan was the one they were following now as they ran through the path created by Bertia’s team.

"Keh! You sure about that Mika?! Is this thing really that 'Rainbow Sword'?!"

And as they did, Sophie asked that in disbelief and a tinge of cynicism.

"It must be! [Mana Bolt]!”

“Kikik—!”

*FWOM*

“It fits most of the old legends' descriptions!"

After Mika saw the power Sophie’s family heirloom displayed when it was unsheathed, gave it a good look, and crossed referenced it with everything she knew on the subject, Mika’s suspicions could not help but turn into a logical conclusion.

Of course, undead would still try to stop their advance in the middle of their conversation just as they would to any living being. Of course, they would still get destroyed by the Maid-Knights as soon as they tried, just like the undead who was blasted away by Mika’s [Mana Bolt].

"KIKIKIKIKIKIK!! KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIK!!!!"

*CLANG*

A few instants after that, a large composite undead tried to crush them beneath its multiple fists but found its attack blocked by two large shields.

"You are not stopping us!! Hoou!!!"

One belonged to Maevis, who immediately pushed back the composite undead’s arms with her brute strength, which created an opening for her incoming comrade to use.

"[Shield Slam]!!"

And used it she did, for Louise slammed the large composite undead with everything she had and sent it flying to the other side of the battlefield.

"That would also explain why the undead are so focused on you! [Caster's Trance]!! [Radiant Fire Blast]!!!"

Continuing their conversation, Mika said that as she destroyed all the undead that had started to block their path and those on the vicinity.

"No, it doesn't!! [Hidden Slash]!!"

Meanwhile, Sophie shot back with such words while she took care of some undead that were coming out of the ground by kicking them and cutting them down with her old sword.

“The legends say that the rainbow sword was the blessed weapon of the Leader of the Knights of the Ever Burning Will! And she used it to slay the Emissary of the Evil God that created the first undead! The Emissary of Death and Unrest! That sword has been the sworn enemy for all undead ever since! They hate it with all of their being! Literally!!"

And just as Mika had said, regardless of how all of them kept running and running towards the Bone Legion, their advance was still slow due to all the undead who were intent on breaking through their formation and exterminating Sophie, or in getting her separated from the group.

""""GRHOOORUUGH!! RMARUUNN!! [BURNNNN]!""""

"Water dwell within my shield and protect us!! [Aquamarine Barrier]!!"

"Earth reside in my shield and aid us!! [Osmeric Barrier]!!"

There were also Red Liches who would appear and try to burn Sophie’s soul with their cursed spells, only for Maevis and Louise to cast their own spells with which magical barriers emanated from their respective shields.

Maevis' barrier was blue.

Louise’s was brown.

Thus, such cursed purple flames clashed with their barriers and for a moment they seemed to be more powerful than them, but in the end the barriers held up without a problem.

Because they ended up being more powerful than the flames.

"Darkness, sharpen yourself and unleash your piercing might upon my enemies! [Dark Blades]!!"

And this time they left the counterattacking to Josie, who called forth four blades made of darkness and hurled them towards the still attacking Red Liches, breaking through their barriers instantly and piercing their bodies.

The Red Liches turned to dust moments later, but of course that was not the end of it, for Black Skull Berserkers appeared just as that happened and were charging at them with the clear intention of reducing the Maid-Knights to nothing but grinded meat.

Still, they were met with the same kind of resistance.

"""KIKIKIKIKIKYOYUUUU!!"""

"Merciless ice. Keep them still. [Entrapping Ice]."

A resistance that did not come from a Maid-Knight but from Lyra, who slammed her right foot at the Black Skull Berserkers after she finished her chant, causing ice to burst out from where her foot landed and instantly move towards the feet of those undead, freezing them and keeping them in place.

Of course, Lyra had not gone through the pact with the High Dragon Lord that fluffs her tail, so she was not able to hold them in place for more than a few instants.

"[BONE BREAKER RUSH]!!"

"[WIND BREAKING KICK]!!"

But those few instants were all that Evangeline and Gail needed to end them. The former used her warhammer to crush them one after the other, while the latter used her own legs to create a vacuum blade to cut through many of them at once, not unlike the one used by Kris but in a smaller scale.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—"

It was then that the life of the Colossus ended in one last resounding cry, announcing its defeat to everyone, all as Mika’s team got closer to their objective.

*CROCK* *CROCK* *CROCK*

Something that the Bone Legion could already feel through all its being and as such, it tried to end them by making barbed bone pillars suddenly appear beneath their feet and shoot countless bone spikes at them.

And it did so just before it received the next wave of attacks coming from Erica, Roxxy and Lucy.

“[Caster’s Trance]! [Dark Displacement]!”

"[Ripping Whirlwind]!!"

*FWOOOOOSH*

But neither Josie nor Mika were going to let that happen, as the first one quickly called forth a solid dark fog that latched onto everyone, including her, and moved them out of the pillar’s way, giving the second one the space she needed to unleash a whirlwind strong enough to reduce those pillars to bits before they shot said spikes.

And as them, none of the Maid-Knights would let their comrades fall.

Something that was clear to Sophie as she gave a quick glance to her surroundings and saw how everyone was fighting, all as she gripped her family’s heirloom so hard that her hand was shaking.

‘Subleader’s team will distract and stall the Bone Legion. Meanwhile, Bertia’s team will create a path towards it while taking care of as much undead as possible. Lastly, we will use that path to quickly bring Sophie to it and let her unleash her weapon’s full power on it.’

Indeed, they were all trying their hardest to make that plan work.

A plan that was burned into Sophie’s mind, for they were all counting on her.

They trusted her.

And she was not going to let all that go to waste.

'Rainbow Sword or not, we are destroying that thing!'

So thought Sophie as Mika's whirlwind dissipated and they resumed their advance.

*KIKIKIKIKKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKI*

But they did not go too far before a massive group of undead appeared before them, and they emanated an aura stronger than all the others they had confronted.

"There are so many..."

Said Sophie bewildered by the mind-numbing quantity of them all. Not only that, but the path was blocked completely, and her comrades were already fighting against them.

Again, no matter how many of them they destroyed with their magic and their blessed weapons, they just kept coming.

They were a legion in the most literal sense.

A nightmare.

One that seemingly had no end.

"""""...!!!""""

Then they sensed it. The presence of their Master. She had returned and was making herself known to them. But she was not going to aid them.

The emotion that they felt through the crest that connected them was not that of her abandoning them though, on the contrary, what they felt was absolute trust.

Trust that filled their hearts with even more resolve.

But it did not provide them a solution for their problem with the numbers of the undead.

That is, until another sworn enemy of the undead arrived.

"Finally, I get to help my best friend~~."

So murmured such enemy of the undead as she smiled devilishly for a moment.

She was the one who was leading the forces who were just arriving at the battlefield.

"*ahem* Oh, Goddess! Hear my prayers and lend me your power! Let me cleanse this land from those who twist the concept of death! Grant them rest! Bring them peace! [BLESSED TURN UNDEAD]!!"

With that, a massive magical circle appeared above the entire battlefield and bathed it in an azure blessed light.

The light of the Goddess, Nerinne.

““““““““““"KIKIKIKROOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUORG!!"”””””””””

And before such light, the Bone Legion and its army roared in pain as they burned in an azure fire that rejected their very existence.

The weakest of the undead were immediately turned to ashes, while those that were slightly stronger lasted a few seconds before also turning to ash.

On the other hand, the most powerful among them managed to avoid such fate but were now severely weakened.

"Oh brave women that have fought for us! I free you from your duties of holding back the tides of the unrestful ones! Focus on those among the living and that which threatens us all!! And we shall do our part!! Advaaaance!!"

And so, the voice of the one behind such massive spell resounded through the whole area. It was the voice of Ludovica Aldert, the Head of the Church.

“““““““"""OOOOOOUUUUU!!! LOVE BE UNTO YOU!!!"""”””””””””

Thus, the entire forces of the capital let out such war cry and charged at the severely weakened undead army.

Their numbers were not as big as the enemy's but that did not matter, they were going to defend their homes and help those who were fighting for them.

Seeing that, Mika and the rest did not lose any time and destroyed the now weakened undead that were blocking their path.

"[LIGHT BLAST]!!"

"...[ICE BLAST]!!"

"[DARK BLAST]!!"

Specifically, Mika, Lyra, and Josie, who unleashed their spells on them and cleared the way.

That meant one thing and one thing only.

Sophie's path was clear.

And her comrades knew it.

"You can do it, Sophie."

So declared Mika with a confidence born of trust.

"Show Master that her choice in not interfering was the right answer. That we can do this."

Said Josie with eyes full of expectations for Sophie.

"Go, Dog."

Lyra gave her the thumbs up and said that with a tone full of warmth.

"We have not shared much, but I trust you Sophie!"

Flashing a sincere smile Maevis said that.

"Mhm, beat it!"

Gail pointed at the Bone Legion in a cute manner right as such words left her lips.

But they were not the only ones to see her off…

""""""GO, SOPHIE!!!""""""

…for the rest shouted that through the communication skill, including Kris, Gabrielle and Erevain.

Hearing all of that, feeling all of that, Sophie’s eyes began to get teary as she started to move forward.

"Sophie, this is it. Go and become a Knight. Go and become…a legend."

And it was then that she heard the voice of the one who gave her the chance to be something more in her life, the voice of her Master, Auros Argento.

She could feel it, her Master trusted her completely and absolutely.

Not buts, no nothing.

"Yes!!"

Thus, Sophie gripped her heirloom, placed it near her heart, steeled her gaze, and nodded with force as she exclaimed that.

And so, she dashed off to confront the Bone Legion.

To be continued.... (cue kekkai sensen op “HELLO WORLD!” as the opening of the next chapter! Why? Well, you'll have to read it!!)

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