445 Only One Tiara
The older Tiara also looked like she realised this and turned to look at us with a solemn expression.
"Ha… Haha… This is ironic isn't it?" She chuckled mirthlessly. "You should have just let me transform into a demon after all…"
I frowned at her, "No, no… This can't be the solution to this…"
I know that this older version of Tiara was not actually our Tiara. But even so, I see her as a future version of Tiara so asking me to kill her is…
A hand touched my arm and I turned to see Katsuki standing beside me, "Mistress, you don't have to be the one that does it."
I shook my head, "No, no… Wait, just… Let me try something first!"
My initial idea was to use [Laser] to break the chains after all! I didn't even get a chance to try that out yet!
The King turned to the side where the portal that had appeared earlier was still slowly getting bigger. It was almost at a size that a child could crawl through.
"Aster… I don't mean to rush you but whatever you want to try… Do it fast…"
I focused on charging my [Laser], pooling all of my mana into that one spell as fast as I could.
It took a minute and I did not manage to put in as much mana as I wanted to, but the portal suddenly started expanding even faster so I decided to just cast what I had at that moment.
The beam of light shot out from my palm and hit the surface of the final chain that was wrapped around Tiara's right wrist, the ethereal looking metal rattling in response to the impact.
I held the magic until the very end and… As you might have expected… The chain still remained without a scratch…
Katsuki turned to the older Tiara but the King stepped in front of her, "Forgive me, Katsuki… But at least leave her to me…"
My Inugami maid frowned and gestured at the portal and the King nodded to show that she understood.
The King then turned towards the older Tiara with her sword raised, "Forgive me for this, Tiara of this dimension."
The older Tiara glanced at me for a moment before turning to the King with her sword raised, "Haha… Did you think I would just let you kill me like that? I see why the others were trying to kill your version of me now… You came to my dimension and made a mess of it, I'm not going to take this lying down, you know? Even if you may be my father in another dimension."
"Are you willing to do this despite knowing that you'll be aiding the demons in destroying our world?"
She showed a sad smile, "Kukuku… I apologise, but I would like to point out the fact that I have nothing else to lose right now."
"So be it… But for my own daughter, I will have to kill you."
The King leapt towards her with her sword raised while the older Tiara lowered herself into a defensive stance.
I bit my lip as I watched the two of their blades clashing together in a shower of sparks, neither of them giving ground as they struck against the other with their blade.
Sparks flew with each clash of the blade as they danced around each other in a deadly clash of steel, moving around the hall dodging and striking with practised grace.
"Tch… The King talked so much and yet she's still holding back," Odeta griped, looking at the fight with clear disappointment.
True enough, even despite how King Justinia said she would kill this dimension's Tiara for the sake of her own daughter, she has yet to use any Valour Skills yet.
I glanced towards the portal and it was still slowly getting bigger by the second. At this point I could see sights of the capital through the portal from here and I even recognised the Market District too.
Assuming portals like this were being created all around the dimension, there's definitely hordes of demons just waiting for the portal to grow big enough before they rushed through them.
Is there really no way but to kill this dimension's Tiara to stop this?
Call me stupid if you want but the idea that she had been living here all alone and fighting against the demons without any other purpose…
As though reading my mind, Katsuki tugged at my sleeve, "Mistress… As I said, you can just think of this dimension as an illusion. Nothing is real here. In fact, if you were to go to another dimension like this in the future and see another version of me, please don't hesitate to kill that version of me if you have to."
"Ugh… I… I don't like that… But I'll keep that in mind…"
"Perhaps Mistress might have trouble doing that straight away… If Mistress prefers, we could have a few serious spars when we return home. That way, Mistress would at least be prepared if you were to meet a version of me that has no qualms about killing you."
"Is… Is this kind of thing that common?"
"In actual fact, no, Mistress. But I would not be able to forgive myself if I failed to account for such a possibility. Not to worry, Mistress, if such a thing is abhorrent to you, I will simply work to make sure that I will be there to get rid of those versions of me if such an occasion were to arise."
She's basically telling me that she won't hesitate to kill other versions of herself if she needs to… I don't know how I should feel about that.
Odeta let out a bark of laughter beside her, "Wahahaha! It would be great to see another version of myself! Then I can prove that I am the stronger one!!"
Ah, of course that's what Odeta would think…
But seriously, you just said this is rare but you're acting like you'll definitely meet alternate versions of yourselves in the future…
Putting the possibility of meeting alternate versions of us aside, there's a more pressing matter in front of us that required our attention at the moment.
While the King was still occupied with the older Tiara, I went towards our Tiara and tried to see if there was another way to break out of her chain.
"If I may be so bold to suggest, Mistress. We can always just chop off the Princess's arm and let the Royal healer heal her arm later on," Katsuki pointed out.
…
Katsuki… Could you give a suggestion that doesn't involve bodily harm on the princess? You're doing me a heckin big concern right now… What are they teaching you back at home?
I went up to the princess and tried to shake her awake again but of course that didn't do anything.
Seeing that this was not working, I tried to use a little bit of Electromancy to jolt her awake. But aside from her body flinching for a brief moment, she showed no signs of waking up.
Maybe… These chains were also made using demonic mana? And maybe I can drain them of the mana like how I did with the older Tiara?
I reached out my senses to probe the chains but… Unfortunately it did not seem to be the case.
I even directed my sense towards the princess herself to see if there was some kind of demonic mana that was affecting her that I could drain away to cure her of whatever afflicted her. That turned out to be a bust as well since I detected nothing out of the ordinary either.
Just as I was thinking if smashing the mirror would be the solution, this dimension's Tiara flew through the air and crashed into the mirror's surface before dropping onto the ground.
Her sword was shattered and various cuts were present all over her body, though none of them were life threatening.
The King leapt to stand in front of the downed princess, her sword raised above her head.
The older Tiara smirked, "Ha… Haha… You are… Definitely not… My father, alright… The Father I know… Would have already killed me at the start…"
The King frowned, "And I know you are not my daughter… My real daughter is hanging over there right now and to free her, I need you to perish."
"Hahaha… Well… What are you waiting for? Even… Even though I look like this… I was still a princess, you know? I… I have been taught how I need to be… Prepared to sacrifice myself… To save the people… Though your dimension might not be mine… I have no one else to save in this dimension anymore… So do… Do with me what you will…"
The King raised her sword a little higher, "I will not apologise for needing to do what I need to do to save my daughter… But I will thank you for your sacrifice."
"Ha… To first have my life be saved by a stranger… Only for another version of my father to take it away… The Gods truly have a sick sense of humour…"
The King brought her sword down and I had to avert my eyes from the sight, only to hear the sound of the sword clanging against something metallic.
I turned back and the King had struck the mirror instead of the princess, her blade stopping just to the right of her head.
"... Coward…" The older Tiara muttered disapprovingly, looking up at the King who was clearly in conflict with herself.
Seems like despite everything, even she can't bring herself to kill another version of her own daughter.
Before anyone else could say anything though, the older Tiara grabbed the King's sword and repositioned the tip of the blade to her throat.
Without a moment's hesitation, she pulled and stabbed the sword through her own throat, her face one of calm acceptance.
A few seconds of silence passed before her hands dropped lifelessly to her sides and the final chain on the princess shattered.
