The Prisma clasped his hand tight, trying to crush Ripple’s body with all his might.
「——UWAAAAAHHhhhh!?」
Ripple’s bones were creaking from the herculean strength that came with that enormous body, letting a shriek escape from her mouth.
「Miss Ripple!?」
Miliera once again worked her way through the light shower.
「M-, Miliera, you need to focus on the barrier! I’m fine!」
The last thing they wanted to happen was to let Prisma go out of the barrier.
「B-, but you’re!」
「I’m fine! Hyrule Menaces aren’t that fragile!」
The endurance of a Hyrule Menace’s body was different from that of an ordinary person. Even if she was injured in a way that would normally mean a fatal wound, her body would heal and regenerate as time passed.
Rather than a human being turned into an Artifact, Hyrule Menaces were more like an Artifact given human form.
Therefore, the commonsense of how a human body worked didn’t apply to Ripple.
Not even she knew how much more attacks she could receive before she lost her life.
Even if every bone in her body were broken, she would probably heal over time. She had experienced and grown accustomed to bodily pain in her long history of fighting as a Hyrule Menace.
Not to mention, she knew there were things more hurtful than physical pain.
That’s why, I won’t lose heart just from this!
「DAMN YOOUUU!!」
BAMMM!!!
Light leaked out from within the hand which the Prisma was grabbing Ripple with. While indeed Ripple was being crushed by the giant hand, she didn’t let go of her guns and was gathering power.
It took time to prepare, but she could unleash one strong blow with it. She was building up strength whilst withstanding the pressure.
And that, exploded within the beast’s hand. That would mean that Ripple would also suffer from her own attack, but she relied on the tenacity of a Hyrule Menace on that front.
GUOOOOOO!
Perhaps surprised by the attack, Prisma’s hand was loosened.
「A father seriously trying to squash his daughter, you sure did something terrible!」
She slipped by during that window of time and leaped backward to get away. However, the moment she landed, a severe pang of pain attacked her legs.
「……!?」
Unable to land well, she tumbled and fell over.
「Miss Ripple!」
「Uuh……The legs on my bones gone weird, huh…this isn’t good……」
This made it impossible for her to move around quickly. It was exactly then, Leone and the others who had retreated to the subspace came back.
When Silva saw the injured Ripple, all color was drained from him as he rushed over.
「Lady Ripple, your legs! Are you alright!?」
He stuck out a hand, thinking to get Ripple to stand up, but——
「……! Oi, watch out! Incoming!」
Leon’s warning was sharp. Prisma once again dashed forward to capture Ripple.
「Kgh! It’s targeting the injured Lady Ripple, how unforgivable!」
Silva intended to block the monster’s way, but…
「NO!! Silva, get away!」
Ripple pushed him away and jumped towards the attack by herself.
If Silva were to receive the same attack as Ripple, he wouldn’t survive. As a candidate of a Holy Knight, a bearer of the Special Grade Rune, Silva was of course strong, but he was still a flesh and blood human.
In terms of durability, he couldn’t be compared to a Hyrule Menace like her.
「Hgk! UUuuuuuggh……!」
The Prisma once again grabbed her and squeezed her tight. This time, Ripple didn’t scream and just kept enduring. As long as this afforded her to buy time for others to find a way out of this, so much the better.
「B̲A̲S̲T̲A̲R̲D̲D̲!! Let go of Lady Ripple!」
Silva shot a flaming bullet from his Artifact at the fist that was trying to squeeze Ripple. However, as if to mock Silva’s impatience, the Prisma knocked the bullet away with his other hand.
「Kgh……!」
Voices began to rise behind him.
「Oi, Miliera! What now!? Even if it’s imperfect, that thing’s still a god damn Prisma!」
「R-, right! Let’s put off subjugating it for once and somehow lead it away to the outskirts! If we pull it away from the human settlements, there’s a chance it’ll go somewhere else!」
「Got that! By the by, where’s Inglis!? If that girl’s here, maybe she can do something!」
「We put her in the castle to protect His Majesty! I think she’ll come here once things cooled down there!」
「I see! All the more reason to adopt a strategy to buy time!」
Hearing that, Silva objected to Principal Miliera and Leon.
「Wait a minute! There will be tremendous damage to the city path if we do that! We should have Lady Ripple weaponize and settle it here once and for all! Or rather, why are you dawdling here!? We have to save Lady Ripple ASAP!」
「Hyrule Menaces ain’t that fragile! She’s still holding fine!」
「But that doesn’t mean we can let such a delicate and beautiful person to!」
BAMMMM!!
Once again, Ripple’s power-packed shot exploded in the clutch of the Prisma’s hand. Ripple’s body flew out of his loosened grip.
Unable to take a stance to land this time, Ripple fell flat to the ground.
「Lady Ripple!」
Silva immediately ran over to help her up.
「I-, I’m good, I’m good…」
Ripple said bitterly, coughing up blood from her mouth soon after.
「!? Lady Ripple, blood is……!?」
「Aah. I guess some of my ribs broke inwards……But, I’m fine. Us Hyrule Menaces are though, you see……」
「But that’s——P-, please don’t be any more reckless than this!」
「No! We’re going to lead it out of the city, right? I have to be the decoy!」
Seeing Ripple staggered on her own feet, Leon stepped forward, passing by her.
「Get some rest! I’ll be the decoy!」
「P-, please do! After I rested a little, let me…」
Ripple fell to the ground again, on her knees this time. Silva grabbed her by the shoulder.
「Lady Ripple! I beg of you! Become a weapon and lend me your power! Leading it outside of the capital is just absurd! The only way to reverse this situation is with the help of your true power, Lady Ripple!」
「We can’t! We can’t do that! There are still other things we can do!」
Ripple shook her head in immediate response.
「But still! I don’t want to see you get hurt so badly, Lady Ripple! Ever since you saved my life when I was a child, I’ve been training to fight alongside you one day! I have become stronger like how you said I should! Isn’t now the time for that!?」
「……Silva, to think that little boy has grown up so well, it’s unbelievable how fast time flies……I guess I’m getting old, aren’t I?」
「Then please lend me your power to fight against your father! I want to thank you for saving my life, by protecting you from being used by the Highlanders!」
「Silva……But, you see, I…Uwah!?」
From inside Ripple’s body, a light that shone as brightly as the sun emanated.
This was a sign of the start of the weaponization of a Hyrule Menace.
「N-, no way!? I didn’t even try to do it, but why!?」
The weaponization of a Hyrule Menace was only possible to happen if the will of the Hyrule Menace and the will of their Holy Knight were aligned. In other words, no matter how much Silva wanted to do it, if Ripple didn’t give her consent, the weaponization wouldn’t happen. And yet, the process had begun, as though she was dragged along by Silva’s will.
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