I Was Reincarnated As The Older Brother Of A Villainess Destined to Die, So I Want To Change The Future By Raising My Younger Sister With My Own Hands. I Am The Strongest In The World, But My Little Sister Must Be The Cutest In The World - Volume 4 Chapter 10.3
The girl cried out in a voice tinged with fear. Simultaneously, three magic circles appeared behind her and collapsed in an instant.
I wanted to interfere, but killing her would be counterproductive. I had no choice but to let her actions proceed.
Suppressing a sigh, I bowed in submission.
“I apologize, Lord Zex. I couldn’t buy enough time.”
“It’s fine. Once we realized that only a decoy remained, our hopes of tracking her were already dwindling.”
Lord Zex’s voice came from nowhere, and in the next moment, he manifested by tearing through the fabric of space. His left eye shimmered with white radiance, exuding a divine presence.
The girl, upon seeing Lord Zex’s appearance, trembled and pointed at him, quivering.
“Y-You… Did you trace the passcode connecting me and your master in reverse?”
Yes, just as the girl said, Lord Zex had been conducting reverse detection all along. The girl before us was not the “Witch of the West” we had been pursuing; she was an artificial life form, a homunculus created by the real witch. The creation of artificial life itself was a taboo, but we’ll leave that aside for now.
The truth was that our mission had been formulated with the understanding that the witch had already fled.
The said witch seemed to have sensed our approach and entrusted the destruction of her base’s documents to the girl before fleeing. We had sensed this, which was why we made confiscating the remaining documents in the base our primary objective.
However, there was one additional sub-objective: to pinpoint the witch’s location.
The witch had been greedy. In an attempt to ascertain who was chasing her, she had established an information-sharing passcode with the homunculus. Lord Zex didn’t miss this opportunity. He had me stall for time while he conducted reverse detection on the passcode while remaining hidden.
The outcome was a failure due to my mistake, and I deeply apologize.
“S-Surprise!”
Suddenly, Lord Zex gently patted my head. A mixture of astonishment and joy filled my heart.
Lord Zex spoke, reassuring me, “Don’t worry so much. The opponent’s protection was just exceptional. You fulfilled your role perfectly. If anything, I might be the one who fell short.”
“No, that couldn’t be, Lord Zex!”
There was no way Lord Zex could be considered inadequate. He was always the one we revered.
In response, Lord Zex smiled softly. His warm smile sent a powerful thrill through my heart.
“To squabble in front of an enemy, how foolish!”
I sensed a surge of magical energy from the girl who had been running low on magic moments ago.
As I turned around and the girl finished casting an advanced fire magic spell called “Blaze Lance” simultaneously, Lord Zex muttered, “Perhaps because she’s a homunculus, she can convert her life force into magic power.”
His analysis was likely correct. After all, the girl who cast the spell disintegrated like sand.
It was an act of respect as a servant to give her life for her master. However, I couldn’t help but say it was a futile effort this time because the released enormous flame spear disintegrated into nothingness after just a few seconds. It was enveloped in a white radiance and disappeared without a trace.
There was no other way to put it; the opponent was formidable. In Lord Zex’s current state, conventional magic should have been ineffective.
“Now then, it seems we’ve finished collecting the documents. Let’s gather everyone and head back.”
“Yes.”
Lord Zex casually turned on his heel as if nothing had happened.
I followed suit.
While we hadn’t captured the witch herself, I hoped that the confiscated documents would prove useful. The swift resolution of the incident would contribute to Lord Zex’s peace, which I cherished deeply.