Liebe was definitely hanging around the position where the ancient magic stone Black Hole was detected.
When Qualia found him again, he was surrounded by the Clearance knights that were sent ahead.
But Liebe showed no fear. He charged at the black armor as if he had no regard for his life.
“More, more… I want to take as many with me as I can. I’m not stopping until I take Ina out of that cage.”
Said Liebe, before disappearing from everyone’s sight.
“Guh!?”
“Uu…”
Stealth.
He was imperceivable. It was simple, but the knights of Clearance had no way to deal with it, and were damaged by the claws and fangs that pierced their armor, without dealing any damage in return.
Even though they used their predictive abilities and reflexes to avoid fatal injuries, they were on the back foot.
“Request that you cease hostile activity, Liebe. Type GUN.”
Qualia created a photon weapon, and began by trying to talk down Liebe. Liebe showed himself for just a second, and glared at Qualia with hatred.
“You’re the liar from before… Lying cruelly, about Ina being alive…”
“You are wrong. That is not a lie.”
“All humans lie. The Fair Skies church was like that too… They fanned our hopes with the torture of lies… Unforgivable.”
After howling in a way that made the ground shake, Liebe made himself invisible and charged at Qualia, easily breaking through the knights surrounding him.
Qualia squinted a little, and pointed the photon weapon’s barrel at three o’clock.
All he saw was a bunch of knights. A hill road.
The knights of Clearance, and their postures.
The spot where Liebe disappeared.
Liebe’s Stealth that Qualia learned before.
Everything was turned into ones and zeroes in Qualia’s brain, and he predicted Liebe’s path.
“Calculating optimal solution.”
He fired only one beam, but there was no one in its path. The knights of Clearance, Kernel, Ace, and even Qualia himself could not see Liebe.
But just as the optimal solution he calculated said, Liebe was there
He dodged away from the trajectory of the beam, but it bent at a right angle, and pierced his skull.
“…Ah, I have to go. No matter how many times I die, I…”
“That’s…”
Everyone present saw Liebe look up with a hole in his head, and the dark matter that appeared behind him.
It was like a hopeless night, like an endless darkness.
“Ina, I’m coming, don’t cry…”
It fluttered like an aurora, and swallowed Liebe’s body as it disintegrated into particles.
In the end, Liebe’s body disappeared, and so did the dark matter.
At the same time, the signal of the ancient magic stone on the radar system was also gone.
Qualia analyzed the result that was the same as before.
“Detecting irregular stoppage of vital activities. Analyzing situation. It is assumed that Liebe has not been eliminated.”
“That assumption is most likely correct.”
Kernel agreed with a groan, and spoke to the leader of Clearance next to him.
“Deploy all of Clearance in the upper area. This is going to be a long battle.”
“Understood. I will inform everyone. Position everyone in groups of four with at least one knight or mage capable of area of effect attacks. The rest act as escorts, and while you look for Liebe, evacuate civilians! And don’t forget to send out a smoke signal when you find him!”
“Prioritize taking back the ancient magic stone Black Hole, my dears.”
Clearance decided that fighting Liebe at close range was to their disadvantage, so they switched to area of effect attacks, and quick coordinated attacks. None of the knights showed fear, and within five seconds, they were divided into groups of four, and spread to various points.
“Qualia, I request your cooperation, like you would say. You can stay with us, where we can coordinate every group. Presently, you are the one who is most effective against Liebe.”
“Understood… Detecting smoke.”
Immediately after, there was smoke rising to the sky, in the same place where the radar pointed.
Qualia and Ace rushed there without hesitation.
“To the right.”
“Orah!”
When they got there, they saw the knights fighting back against Liebe. They were coordinating their attacks with area of effect attacks serving as the linchpin, and it appeared Liebe was taking damage. Each knight was quite strong.
But they were not fully adapted to the threat of Stealth, and the knights of Clearance also showed fresh wounds.
Liebe showed himself for just a moment, which Ace did not miss. The magic stone in her chest began to shine with a green color.
“Gaia. Reverse. Deepest output of the Gaia magic stone. Activating Domain Tree.”
A tree popped out from under Liebe. He was using Stealth, and Ace was unable to see him, but… She had worked out an optimal solution in her own way.
The many branches of the Domain Tree bent and went all over.
It was an even tougher area of effect attack, that appeared out of the ground. A boisterous dance of a tree full of afterimages.
A single beast person’s agility could not dodge it, as the frenzied dance continued to bloom.
One branch reached the speed of sound, and eventually knocked down Liebe.
“Gafuh…”
Liebe was smacked hard against a wall, and suffice to say, his body did not retain its shape. It was clearly an instant death.
“Liebe neutralized.”
“Not bad, Ace.”
It was an overwhelming destruction that made even Kernel purr.
“…But it’s probably not over. We need a fundamental plan, fast. He disappears too quickly for us to snatch the ancient magic stone.”
“Ina, this time…”
As Kernel said, the dark matter absorbed Liebe’s flesh again.
Qualia looked at Kernel, and hypothesized that he knew something.
“Kernel, request explanation. What is that dark matter? Can Liebe be classified as a beast person?”
“…It’s my first time seeing it too. I honestly could only picture something like this existing as an urban legend.”
Prefaced Kernel, and he continued by explaining while seemingly having a confused understanding of it.
“Basically, Liebe could be categorized as a ghost.”
A ghost. A spirit.
A being of the occult, that was unthinkable in the age of artificial intelligence.
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