Pawahara Seijo no Osananajimi to Zetsuen Shitara, Nanimokamo ga Umaku Iku Yō ni Natte Saikyō no Bōken-sha ni Natta ~ Tsuideni Yasashikute Kawaii Yome mo Takusan Dekita ~ (WN)

[Dark High Elf]

“Kh, this’s kinda tough…” Shiva-san, putting up a barrier, also made a pained expression even as she was desperately trying to smile.

“Is he… sucking everyone’s life force?” I muttered.

“Seems like it.
And although we’re barely managing to resist it, our power’s still sucked bit by bit.”

True, I felt like my strength was slowly leaving me.

At this rate, we’d end up unable to move, too.

We had to activate《Superior Arms》as soon as possible before that happened.

As I was getting impatient, the woman I’d saved, having gone to the side of the injured elves, opened her mouth with an unbelieving look on her face, “No way, to think Canaan, that abomination, can use ‘Mana Absorb’ which only a high elf has access to… Goddesses of Genesis, what on earth is this nightmare…”

“I’m sorry for interrupting you, but if possible, can you give us an explanation about what that ‘Mana Absorb’ is and quick…? I can’t hold on for much longer… gh.”

Shatter! Shiva-san’s shield magic broke at the end of her words.
That seemed to cause the woman to regain her wits, “I-I’m sorry…” then she began to explain, “Other than the heretic dark elf, there another kind of us elves, that is ‘high elf’, also known as ‘the goddess’s favorite’.
Unlike a dark elf, being a high elf is not something you’re born as.
It is more like a state that you can attain after the end of a long training, and in the history of us elves, only one high elf has ever been confirmed to ever exist, and that is our founder, Efermil-sama.”

“I see.
And now a dark elf, a heretic, used a magic that only your respected ancestor supposes to be able to use.
That doesn’t sound good.”

The woman nodded powerlessly to Zana’s words, “Yes, it’s as you say… we also only heard about it from stories, so no one has ever witnessed it firsthand, but it’s said that ‘Mana Absorb’ is a magic that allows you to borrow power from the living things around you little by little, and it’s supposed to be nothing like, like this act of blindly exploiting life itself…”

I see.

Most likely, the Sacred Treasure had removed the magic’s limiter and caused it to absorb more energy than it was supposed to be from everyone.

“I guess this may be his ‘Fantasy Form’.
Well, considering he’s been blackdollified by the Sacred Treasure, you can certainly say that he is ‘the goddess’s favorite’ in a sense,” said Zana.

“Right.
Maybe we can call him a high dark elf… no, a ‘dark high elf’ is probably a better fit in this case.
Either way, he’s a troublesome opponent, that’s for sure.”

“Indeed.
So, shall we unite our power?” Nodding, Zana extended her left hand towards me, showing the palm.

“Yeah.
Let’s go, Zana,” I extended my right hand and held her hand in respond, then we tightly interlocked our fingers.

At that moment, the light surrounding us became even stronger, and the flame coming from the Phoenix Seal engraved on Zana’s lower abdomen grew bigger and enveloped her whole body.

――Blaze!

It eventually went along our connected hands to me and turned into a strong bow, opening up a new possibility for Vermillion Bird Form.

““Saintess-Armed—Vermillion Bird Form Superior Arms!!””

BANG! Our transformation dispelled the curse of the Mana Absorb, and Canaan roared at us.

“Ugouaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Then a change occurred to his body, which had gotten bloated after taking in all that power.

Gyururi, his body shrank back, returning to its original size.

“Grr…”

But as expected, he still hadn’t regained his will, and it appeared that his overflowing power had been condensed inside him.

Evidence of this was that Canaan had wing-shaped metal appendages on his back, and though his upper body was bare, his vital points were covered in some things that looked like armor.

This was probably a battle form of sorts, just like Vermillion Bird Form.

I didn’t know if Efermil, the ancestor of the elves, had something like it, but one thing for sure, Canaan had evolved from being a dark elf to a higher level of existence.

But that was no cause for concern.
We were going to beat him, anyway.

“Let’s go, Zana! Let’s show him our power!”

“Yeah, roger that!”

Buzz buzz! Nocking a light arrow that shone brightly, we entered the final battle with Canaan.