“Whaaaaaa!?”
Watching the vine hell swirling in the air before her, Histori instinctively covered her head with both hands and then skillfully hid behind Amir.
‘My goodness, this momentum looked more than ten times more exaggerated than the Dwarf Jump Slash used by President of the Grand Forging Society, Baron. If I had to find a reference to compare, this scene was almost as imposing as when the Demon King had appeared.’
‘And back then, the Demon King had relied on his desperate efforts—first helping Amir with her nail polish, then washing her face—and managed to stall her for nearly two hours before he could conjure up a sky full of magic arrays.’
‘But the delicate-looking Elf Queen Fuleiyasi here just cast this massive offensive magic array with barely a word, starting at zero frame.’
‘I guess that’s to be expected from the elves’ home base, backed by the legendary Elven Sacred Tree with its endless magic power. And this is a Plant Forbidden Spell personally released by the Elven King. The casting efficiency and visual effects are absolutely top-tier.’
However, even that overwhelmingly imposing, immortal and undying Demon King—when facing Amir—couldn’t even scratch her skin before she stabbed him through with her pitch-black greatsword, leaving him dead like a stray dog on the roadside.
As for the plant magic Fuleiyasi released…
…Well, when Histori saw it, she helplessly closed her eyes.
Not out of fear, but because she couldn’t bear to watch what was about to happen.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Just as Histori had imagined, those raging vines—powerful enough to overturn the entire palace—still hadn’t made a single sound near Amir even after a dozen seconds.
Had Amir blocked them?
Cut them?
Or just slashed them into pieces?
Histori curiously opened her eyes again and looked straight ahead.
—There, that mass of sharp vines was still completely intact.
Not only that, they were even creeping closer to Histori’s body inch by inch.
As for that black-haired Hero who should have been protecting her as usual, she had somehow vanished from beside her.
‘Hey!? Amir, you idiot! I closed my eyes and hid behind you, and you just leave me alone in Fuleiyasi’s attack range!?’
‘I finally trusted you once, and you let me down so completely! Damn it!’
Just as Histori panickedly raised her hand to summon her Blood Blade and start fighting back on her own, the vines in front of her suddenly slowed as if sinking into mud.
Their branches withered and yellowed at a visible rate, and even the thorns began to fall off like snowflakes before they could touch her clothes.
Within a few seconds, they lay flattened on the ground, lifeless dead twigs.
“See, Your Majesty? You don’t have enough magic left to sustain this level of attack.”
As the vines that had blocked her view all fell away, Amir’s figure reappeared in Histori’s sight.
While Histori had been closing her eyes, Amir had already flashed over to Fuleiyasi’s side and spoke to her in a relaxed, casual tone.
“…!?”
Before the visibly flustered Fuleiyasi could even try to raise her staff and redirect the plants’ attack, Amir pulled out the pitch-black greatsword from her back and used the flat of the blade to send Fuleiyasi’s staff flying over ten meters away.
“Besides, your plant magic is all show and no substance—weak and powerless. That force just now couldn’t even crush an ordinary magic beast, could it? I wonder how much magic you’ve been spending on that so-called Holy Grail.”
At those words, Fuleiyasi’s expression stiffened.
She waved her hand toward her staff, then pointed at Amir in the air.
A small, sharp vine, wrapped in a faint stream of water, shot rapidly toward Amir’s legs.
“Lady Fuleiyasi, since you don’t even have the strength to grip your scepter anymore, then…”
Amir gently shook her head, slung the greatsword back onto her back, and cracked her knuckles.
“…please stop wasting my time here.”
BOOM——!!!
A wave of intangible air, compressed purely by Amir’s physical strength, collided with that thin, unimpressive vine.
There was no suspense.
Against Amir’s fist wind, the vines turned into fragile tofu strips, easily blasted into flying debris.
“Wh—?!”
Fuleiyasi’s pupils contracted sharply at the sight.
“First making your opponent let down their guard, and hiding your real killing move in the details—that’s certainly an unexpected tactic. And using it with your status makes it even easier to pull off.”
Amir gave a slight smirk, then stepped forward and appeared directly behind Fuleiyasi.
“…Too bad, when the gap in strength reaches a certain point, hiding feints and finishing blows becomes meaningless. Instead of this situation, you would have been better off using a serious attack from the very beginning.”
“…”
Before the gritting Fuleiyasi could muster her remaining magic, a black sword light flashed past her chest.
Crack.
That crisp breaking sound echoed sharply through the pure white palace.
The jade scepter inlaid with green gemstones—the symbol of the elves’ supreme royal authority—was cleanly sliced in half by Amir’s merciless black greatsword.
At the same time, the gem rolled with a clatter across the floor of the elven palace, letting out a clear, mournful sound.
“…”
In the end, Amir’s blade stopped steadily just a few centimeters from the Elf Queen’s neck.
One strike.
Just one strike.
Before this battle had truly begun, it was already over.
That said, this was actually the most proper fight Histori had ever seen Amir fight.
Not only did the opponent’s first attack have overwhelming momentum, but she could even counterattack later.
“…Sigh.”
Feeling the cold blade against her neck, Fuleiyasi neither resisted nor struggled.
After a flicker of complicated emotion passed through her pale green eyes, she silently closed them.
“As expected, my power is no match for the Hero.”
The Elf Queen seemed to shed the heavy burden of her reign.
Like an ordinary loser, she let out a powerless sigh, released her hands, and let the broken half of the jade scepter fall to the ground.
Then, she raised her hands toward Amir, adopting a pose of surrender—
“Sir Amir, the Life Cup is yours.”