Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 18 - Chapter 9

 CHAPTER 9

FLOWER LANGUAGE FOR YOU

Sorry, Ahnya.

Sorry, Chloe.

Sorry, Runoa.

Sorry, Lyu.

…I’m sorry, Mia.

“…”

Sitting on her stone throne, her eyes tightly shut, Freya’s brow furrowed. She put one hand to her forehead, her displeasure showing on her face as the spiral of names and voices echoed and intertwined in her head.

Dreaming again?

Her male and female guards alike looked on in concern, but responding to them would just have been bothersome. The dead Syr—or rather Hörn—was dreaming. Because of Vana Seiðr, Freya and Hörn’s senses were linked. Hörn was in a state of suspended animation while her magic was active, and so Freya would occasionally perceive the dreams she was seeing, like now.

Her vision was dark, but the girl’s apologies echoed in her ears.

On Hörn’s side, depending on the goddess’s emotions, a backwash of feelings could occur, but the opposite couldn’t happen on Freya’s side. Freya didn’t experience Hörn’s thoughts or feelings. She only received signals. And in this moment, those signals were an unbearably unpleasant static.

If she was experiencing the goddess’s emotions and apologizing like that in her own dream, then she was like Freya’s mirror. The remnant traces of the daughter who Freya should have already put down were salvaged and running wild.

What a truly terrible mirror…

If even the dreams Hörn saw in the abyss of her sleep were just a bundle of her own memories and emotions, then there was nothing Freya could learn from glimpsing those dreams. Her vision was dark and closed off, so it was clear the girl was still sleeping. And the feeling of a droplet on her cheeks meant there were tears in her eyes?

She couldn’t focus on the war game whose trend was already settled, and so she held her head, as if holding back a headache—when it came.

“!”

Freya quickly stood up. It was a sudden move, utterly bereft of any regal bearing.

Her guards were shocked as she opened her silver eyes.

“…L-Lady Freya…?”

“What—?”

“Tell Hedin to end this at once.”

The goddess’s voice cut them off. As they froze, she fixed them with a sharp gaze.

“Tell him to settle this war game at once.”

““Y-yes, Milady!””

The goddess’s bark, which was so rarely heard, made her guards gasp and tremble.

They raced out of the house of the gods to find the commander.

Alone in the temple, the goddess sat back down upon her throne and for the first time allowed her irritation to show on her face.

“Settle things at once?” Hedin spun around.

“Y-yes, sir. That was Lady Freya’s order, sir.”

“The coalition is on its last legs…why so suddenly?!”

Hedin looked carefully at the faces of the two guards who had come bearing their patron goddess’s message.

It was plain to see how flustered they were having witnessed Freya’s sudden change in demeanor themselves. Meaning this command was unmistakably the goddess’s divine will. Something had happened in her that caused a change of heart so great that she had to give a divine order.

Hedin’s eyes silently narrowed behind his glasses.

“…Understood. I will give the order to the army myself. Rask and Remilia, you pass the order directly to that stupid cat and the rest of the first-tier adventurers. If I order a sudden change of direction, those fools will grow suspicious and refuse to listen.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Quickly preparing individual orders for the first-tier adventurers, he entrusted them to the two guards.

The familia members who had rushed from Freya’s side didn’t balk and sprint away again, this time running out to the main battlefield where the coalition was even still resisting. Watching them quietly as they left, Hedin raised his head.

“All forces, shift to the attack! Move the headquarters forward! At once! It is the goddess’s command!”

“Press the attack’?”

Allen, who had just run through another blacksmith with his high-speed spearmanship, raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

The female familia member who ran up out of breath as the smith’s Crozzo magic sword clattered across the pavement nodded.

“Y-yes, sir…the whole army is to advance!”

“We were supposed to crush the enemy’s forces completely here. What is that fly doing changing the plan now?”

“It is Lady Freya’s direction, sir, not Hedin! She wishes to settle the contest swiftly!”

Allen reacted as expected, but she immediately shot back with the instruction she had been given. Allen’s expression had been dangerous, but when he heard that, his eyebrows arched.

“What…? Is that true?”

“Yes, sir. Rask and I heard it ourselves. Lady Freya’s…strongly worded…order.”

Ironically, Allen stared at her face just like Hedin had earlier.

Rask and Remilia had been chosen together as guards for the house of the gods. If they were saying it, then it was undeniably Freya’s will. Also, the fact that they had been sent away from the main camp where the goddess was waiting at all was irregular. If it were Hedin’s orders—and ones that he didn’t like—Allen would surely have rejected them, but if it was what Freya wished, then that was a different story.

Suppressing the desire to vent his annoyance, the cat quickly looked around with his sharp eyes.

The fighting was already effectively decided. If the contest was already settled, then no matter what happened, the coalition had no chance of victory. In which case, there wouldn’t be any problem in moving the hands of the clock along and settling things faster as the goddess wished.

The city’s fastest first-tier adventurer furrowed his brow and accepted the decision of headquarters.

“…I’ll go through the enemy’s right wing like he wants. Gather up anyone whose hands aren’t full and have them meet me there!”

“Yes, sir!”

While she disappeared into the distance, Allen ended his extermination of the enemy’s magic sword squads.

Because of his elusive, wide-ranging attacks, Hephaistos Familia’s blacksmiths and the adventurers who had Crozzo magic swords had almost all been wiped out. There were no longer enough magic swords to be a threat. Crushing the magic longsword that had fallen from the blacksmith’s hand moments earlier, Allen turned toward the coalition’s right wing.

“…Hagh, haaaagh! Guoooooooo!”

“Out of the way, fat ass.”

Dormul, covered in blood, had both of his hands on the ground as he stood up in front of Allen.

He had been blown back by the crash of the einherjar’s charge and trampled, and then blown all the way back to here by Hedin’s artillery barrage, but he raised his weapon to at least hold back the first-tier adventurer aiming to deal the coalition a finishing blow.

“You! Shall! Not! Pass!!!! Uooooooooooooo!”

His cracked armor fell from his body, and blood spurted from all over him as he swung his battle hammer down at Allen.

But Allen didn’t bat an eye as he evaded not just the hammer but every drop of splattering blood. He passed silently by Dormul, shredding his weapon and his tempered dwarven body alike.

“Gaaaaah?!”

He didn’t even look back as the dwarf slumped to the ground.

Ordered to drive forward, the chariot didn’t have any interest in a mere adventurer.

“On me, snails.”

Acknowledging the force that had gathered, the chariot began a merciless charge.

“Ah……Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! Freya Familia’s assault has started! Freya Familia!!!”

For the first time that day, Ibly offered some color commentary.

The only time he had truly gotten hyped was at the very, very beginning, during the open fusillade of magic sword blasts. Ever since then, he had been silent as Freya Familia’s domination continued from start to finish. It was a ghastly battle that needed no analysis or commentary, and he had been unable to do anything but watch in silence with the rest of the crowd.

But now he finally had a reason to shout.

In other words, Freya Familia had ridden forward to bring this match to a close.

“Vana Freya’s force is passing through the coalition’s right wing and pushing east! Their target is, of course, the completely empty coalition base: the eastern ruins!!!”

A stir spread among the residents of Orario at the loud commentary and the big change in the battle.

Having received Freya’s order through Hedin, the einherjar gathered on the north end of the main battleground.

With Allen at the head, they were advancing at a speed even a normal person could tell was unreasonable, tearing through the north end of the island.

“Ugh…?!”

Lilly saw the enemy shadows pass right through her field of vision but could do nothing.

Because the massive mausoleum stood in the center of the western half of the island, they were passing through the broken right wing to go around it.

The fact that she had sent Haruhime and the reserves who were cloaked by invisibility to the left wing, where Aisha’s forces were still holding on, had come back to bite her. Allen, or rather Hedin, had a detailed grasp of the formation she had created and broke through the dangerously weak right wing in one fell stroke.

Lilly didn’t have any more cards to play or any more forces to move. She could do nothing but watch the advance from where she stood atop the mausoleum while Allen’s forces ignored her, the enemy commander, to settle the competition once and for all.

In the blink of an eye, like a whirlwind passing through, the assault force led by the chariot easily cleared the center line and spread out in the eastern ruins.

“The enemy’s force…?! Lady Hestia, ruuuuuuun!”

What that meant was that their deities were going to be taken out.

Lilly’s shout went out to the oculi that had been provided to various deities.

Their eyes widened in shock.

“Wait, waiiiiiit! We surrender!”

“We are Lady Freya’s allies! We just got sucked into this by our kids! Do you understand?!”

“Shut up.”

““Gyaaaaaaaaaaah””

The first down were Magni and Modi. The two male gods stepped out of the shabby ruins they had been hiding in and raised both their hands in surrender, but Allen’s one flash—the wind from his sprint—knocked them to the ground. His silver spear tore just the flowers on their chests, sending red and orange petals flying.

“Magni and Modi! Both familias are out!”

Ibly in Orario made the call as the first gods fell to Freya Familia’s assault.

By the rules of the war game, followers were also knocked out if their patron god’s flower was lost. Modi and Magni’s familias had been eliminated, so Luvis’s elves and Dormul’s dwarves, lost their right to fight and were required to swiftly leave the island. But the speed of deities dropping out was faster than their followers could leave.

“Scatter! There are lots of ruins around here!”

“Roger!”

“Sighting!”

“Ugyaaaa?!”

At Allen’s order, the einherjar immediately headed off in different directions and quickly began capturing coalition deities. Allen and the other beast people with excellent senses precisely sniffed out the deities’ hiding places. The momentum of their drive didn’t slow as they stormed through the ruins in a flash. The residents of the city could see the battlefield from multiple angles thanks to the divine mirrors, but even with that, they couldn’t keep up with speed of the advance.

“Guaaaaaaa?!”

“Ogma Familia drops out!”

Ibly could just barely keep up with an upper-class adventurer’s visual acuity, and his commentary was just a list of deities and familias who had dropped out.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Serket Familia is out!”

“…So it was hopeless.”

“Souma Familia, too!”

The deities’ flowers scattered.

Inside ruins, behind pillars, inside jars. Discovering a god hiding in a bizarre place, a goddess’s chest being mercilessly cut as she tried to run away. The few adventurers left behind as guards couldn’t put up a fight. The murmured “Apologies, Lilliluka Erde” to a former follower disappeared in the scramble.

“Captain Shakti, Freya Familia is too fast! We can’t recover all of the coalition adventurers!”

“Just do the best you can! Pull the badly wounded out without getting involved in the fighting!”

With so many deities dropping out, the retrieval of the followers was slow going.

The number of adventurers standing on two legs—still conscious and fighting—was countable at this point, with the vast majority unconscious on the ground. Ganesha Familia was waiting along the edges of the island as judges. When they confirmed a deity had dropped out, they carried off adventurers who couldn’t leave on their own, to the best of their abilities. Among those carried away were the unconscious Luvis and Mord, and Dormul as well.

“Hestia! Get away from here!”

“G-get away…where?!”

“The east is fallen! Head toward the front lines!”

With Freya Familia’s clutches reaching the eastern ruins, the deities’ reactions were broadly speaking two different choices. Either continue hiding, or gamble it all on a game of tag. Hephaistos, who was hiding together with Hestia, chose the former. Sending the queen across the middle was called a king’s raid in a far-eastern board game.

“Run full speed! Until you reach where the children are on the western side! Even if you have to go alone!”

“Wh-what about you, Hephaistos?!”

“I’ll go another direction! If we don’t split up, we’re both done for!”

“Gh…?!”

“You and I both have Level 5 children! At least one of us has to make it out of this! If we both get knocked out, there really won’t be any chance of winning left!”

Hephaistos became a tyrant, not allowing Hestia any debate.

She could sense it. From Lilly’s reaction through the crystal earlier, she knew that Tsubaki had already fallen, and her other followers were already on the verge of complete annihilation. So she intended to become a decoy for Hestia’s sake.

It was a situation where even deities could do little more than throw in the towel, but even so, she refused to allow the odds of victory to fall to zero.

“Go while Takemikazuchi does what he can! Quickly!”

“Ghhh…Sorry!”

Pushed along by Hephaistos’s forceful rebuke, Hestia rushed out of the ruins where they were hiding.

“Haaaaaaaah!”

“Guah?!”

“S-swarm him! Everyone surround him!”

There were few who could resist Freya Familia’s advance.

Or more precisely, there was just one lone god. Using the flower on his chest as a lure, the god of martial prowess skillfully grabbed an einherjar’s arm and performed a one-armed throw. The einherjar’s status allowed him to achieve great speed, and now that his momentum had been turned against him, he crashed into the ground with a tremendous slam before passing out. The commanding beast person roared an order as the einherjar leaped as one at Takemikazuchi, who burst into a full-bodied sweat.

“Uooooooooooooooo?!”

“Gh?!”

The commander reached out their arm with a bellow and stole the purple chrysanthemum from the war god’s chest, rendering his struggle meaningless.

“…Sorry, Hestia, Hephaistos…”

Beads of sweat fell to the ground as Takemikazuchi furrowed his brow and looked up at the sky.

The beast person who had stolen the flower collapsed, having exhausted the last of their strength. Around them were twenty-one other einherjar who had collapsed in the same way. And a little frther away, the rest of his familia, except for Ouka and Chigusa, had passed out as well.

The retaliation by the war god’s hand had given Freya Familia its greatest losses of the day so far—he had wiped out an entire unit.

“Hathor! Leave this place to us and run!”

“So long as you live, the Goddess Alliance survives! Heed not our sacrifice!”

“Roger, will do.”

On the eastern edge of the island, there was a movement in the former military fortress occupied by the Goddess Alliance members.

As the terrifying einherjar approached, the goddesses—taking advantage of the fact that they couldn’t be handled violently—formed a wall of flesh while Hathor quickly scooted away from their fortress.

But that was the limit of the coalition’s resistance.

“Takemikazuchi Familia, is out!”

Their advance was too fast.

“Dellingr Familia, is out!”

There was no end to the list of familias who had fallen, unable to resist.

“Ratri Familia…is out…!”

Ibly’s tone gradually lost momentum, cooling along with his face.

“Hephaistos Familia…is…is out…!”

And with Allen’s spear emotionlessly tearing through her flower, the smithing god closed her eye to dull the regret.

The vast majority of the coalition had been forced off the field, sending the viewers in Orario’s and the remaining coalition members’ morale plummeting to rock bottom.

The coalition’s remaining strength was four familias. Of the forty-seven familias at the start, forty-two had been knocked out. Allen’s charge had cruelly run through the eastern ruins, reaching all the way to the eastern edge of the island.

“B-big brother…Lady Hestia…!”

The orphanage in Daedalus street.

The human boy Lai choked up.

“Mr. Bell…d-don’t give…ugh…!”

“Ruu…don’t cry…!”

The half-elf Ruu started to sob as he tried to cheer Bell on, while the beast person Fiona broke into tears, too. Maria, the children’s mother, was at a loss for words, too, as she watched, unable to do anything but hug them tight.

Their reaction was honest. More honest than most adults. Unconcerned for appearances, their faces were a testament to the hopelessness the coalition faced.

—It was over.

Everyone had given up. There wasn’t a single person who doubted that Freya Familia hadn’t only won, but had won in a landslide. It was the predestined result. That’s how it goes, thought the adventurers who stayed behind in the city as their shoulders fell. It couldn’t have gone any other way, the deities murmured desolately. Resignation dominated the battlefield and the city.

But amid that, there was one person who felt something other than resignation…

Ahhhhh, just as expected…

Lilly.

The commander who understood the battle state better than anyone still kept her composure.

This was expected from the start…It would be stranger not to end up like this considering the difference in strength…so not yet…it’s not time to go to pieces yet…!

The battle lines were already shattered, her pieces were almost all gone, and checkmate was near.

As a commander, faced with a board more worthy of criticism than any other, she still managed to be calm as beads of sweat poured down her forehead.

She had lost her cool completely seeing Bell utterly trampled earlier. Tears had welled in her eyes, and she had almost started weeping. But ironically, hearing the silly cries of the deities through the oculi had made a blue vein swell on her forehead. And hearing Hestia’s full-force sprint and shout, she snapped and hit her own forehead in rage.

The taste of blood in her mouth was like a drug, dulling her emotions.

“Guuuuuu…ahhhhhh…!”

But more than anything, she could see that boy still fighting inside the crystal…

“AaaAAAAaaaaaa…!!!”

He tried to pretend he was just imagining the sound of all the sinews in his body were creaking as he put his hands on the ground.

Flesh and blood were flying; his bones were crying out at the agony. My heart felt like it would give out.

I can’t. I can’t win. It’s impossible. Just run away. No more.

His body and spirit wailed—but he steeled himself, forcing his fingers to grip the Hestia Knife.

Make it stop…no more…

How long has it been since he last complained like that?

Since meeting Winne and the Xenos, since the day he lost to Asterios, Bell had stopped those feeble complaints. He hadn’t complained when he fell into the deep levels. And not when he was trapped inside the goddess of beauty’s gilded cage.

No matter how hopeless it was, even if thoughts of resignation popped up in the back of his mind, Bell would act tough, as if he would never give up, even if it meant lying to himself. With a childish defiance, he would hold on in the end. He wouldn’t allow himself to complain.

The day he met the Xenos, something inside Bell Cranell had broken.

An irregularity had occurred in his head, his heart, or maybe his soul.

But even unconsciously, he understood that that irregularity was a prerequisite, a condition required to be a hero.

And the warrior in front of him had returned Bell Cranell to normal.

His strength, the weight of his single blow, reverted Bell back to his pathetic rookie period, when he was still traumatized by a minotaur.

Monster.

He was a monster.

The undisputed strongest.

A power stronger than anyone transformed even a potential hero candidate into a mere child.

Strong…scary…I can’t win…!

How many times have I been blown away? How many times have I been tortured? I don’t know. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to think about whose blood made the crimson spring over there.

This baptism is worse than what I experienced in all those days fighting in Folkvangr as the world whispered in my ear that I was Freya Familia’s Bell Cranell.

The pain, the suffering, the hell—t’s all on a different level.

Even if he had climbed to a height that would make most blanch, he still couldn’t reach the lightning splitting the skies. And even if he did, he would just be burned and destroyed. And the warrior looking down at him was that thunder’s proxy. Bell, who could do nothing but manipulate weak flame and electricity, was fated to be swallowed up by it.

Rabbit Foot Bell Cranell couldn’t defeat Warlord Ottar.

…But even so…!

His hands trembled.

His knees wouldn’t listen to him, wobbling like a newborn deer’s. But even so, coughing up blood, flashes of light going off in his eyes, he pulled his body off the ground.

On the other side of the mirrors, Eina, Aiz, Tiona, Finn, Rai, Fiona, Ruu, the adventurers and residents in Orario, and Hermes and the other deities’ eyes all widened—as he dug his nails into the cracked stone, clutched his knife, and stood up.

“That’s right. Stand.”

Ottar alone betrayed no change in expression.

He didn’t cheer it, either.

Mere acknowledgment.

The boaz warrior approved only those brave warriors who fought.

“If I don’t…defeat you…I can’t go to Lady Freya…?”

“That is right.”

He was barely conscious, and his head was fuzzy.

“I can’t…meet Ms. Syr…?”

“That is correct.”

Drenched in blood, battered like a corpse.

“I can’t save…her…?”

“I won’t allow it.”

Then it was simple.

There was only one thing Bell had to do.

“Then…I’ll do it…”

Snuffing out the self that sensed his own end in this eternal baptism, shaving away at his terror, overcoming his despair, he reclaimed the reason driving him to have to fight.

Bell Cranell, the truest fool, remembered just who it was he had been making cry ever since that day.

“I will…defeat you…!”

His voice was unwavering, and the strength returned to his eyes.

His thoughts were still broken.

The lights in his eyes flashed and flickered as his consciousness faded in and out.

But he had the will to fight. He had the resolve to keep going in his soul.

If he could sense his own impending doom, then he simply had to keep becoming stronger than he was a second ago.

He would overcome this greatest baptism and go to her.

“That’s right. Come.”

The warrior didn’t smile.

The goddess’s strongest servant merely readied his sword.

“Rage.”

As the rabbit bared its fangs, coughed up blood, and raised a battle cry, the ferocious boar met it head-on.

“Mr. Bell…!”

Lilly saw his blood spatter as he was knocked aside through the oculus in her hands.

Even though he was drowning in fear, Bell still stood back up. Even though he had been killed by despair once already, he still stood tall against the strongest.

If she didn’t struggle against the strongest army, too, then it would be a lie. As his supporter, if she wasn’t going to support him, then why was she even there!

So don’t give up! Even if everyone else gives up, I won’t!

She stood in a location where she could look out over the battlefield, her hazel eyes restlessly moving around, staying abreast of the seemingly hopeless state of the battle.

One! …One! One! One! One! One! Just one! If we could just take down a single first-tier adventurer, the tide could start to turn!

It could dam the torrent leading to sure defeat and create a lake of opportunity for a comeback. She fully understood just how far away that one person was, how much of a wild, fantastical, hypothetical day dream it was without anyone telling her.

I can see the shape of it already! The preparation is already laid out! The one to target is already set! We just need one more piece…if I can just find one more move…!

But even so, Lilly continued searching. Even as every part of her brain heated up, even as a faint red seeped into her vision, she kept searching. Standing alone atop the mausoleum, she engaged in the commander’s lonely battle. Welf and the smiths were defeated, Bell was battered. Her instincts and emotions had long since slipped into panic, but her logic alone clung to a steel mask, holding her ground.

Lilly didn’t stop trying to find answers.

In such dire straits, she alone tried to remain calm.

Remember, remember! In this situation, I have to use Mr. Hedin!

That was what none other than Braver had taught her.

“If you are to take command of this battle, then you will have to give up all hope from the very start.”

It was five days before the war game.

Lilly had been undergoing training day and night without rest when Finn said that.

“Give up…?”

“Yes. What tactics can you use right now? What cards do you have?”

“…Mr. Welf’s mass production of magic swords, Ms. Haruhime’s level boost, Ms. Mikoto’s gravity magic, and Mr. Bell’s skill…also Lilly’s magic could potentially be useful for scouting or causing confusion, maybe…”

“I see. That isn’t anywhere near enough.”

Hearing Finn say that without even a trace of regret—even though she had even trusted him enough to reveal their strongest card, Haruhime—Lilly couldn’t help staring at him.

“…When you put it so bluntly, it is a little hurtful.”

“It’s the truth. And right now, you can’t afford to avert your eyes from the reality lounging right there in front of you. Or from all of the unfairness and absurdities—like an unbridgeable difference in strength.”

“!”

Sitting at the table, Finn hadn’t taught her some sure-win strategy. It was something far more important: the mindset of a commander.

“Lilliluka Erde, if you are going to be in command, then you have to be more clearheaded than anyone else, no matter the situation. More so even than back line mages. Far more so.”

“…And be ruthless, too?”

“At times. But that isn’t what you want, is it?”

Lilly felt like he was reading her mind as she awkwardly nodded.

Knowing that she wanted to be able to stand at Bell’s side, for just a moment, Finn curled his lips into a smile.

“I would use anything. Inspiration, natural phenomena, even sacrificing my comrades.”

“…!”

“Since you don’t think sacrifices are acceptable, you will have to use even more than me. You aren’t ever out of cards. Pick up a stone off the ground and turn it into a weapon. Keep thinking and fumbling for a chance to win. I won’t be there on the day. You will have to search for the answer with your own two eyes. Amid all the despair, search for the sliver of light smaller than the eye of a needle. Or else the coalition will not win. Your judgment and your orders have to lead them to victory.”

With that declaration, Finn gave Lilly her challenge.

“Lilliluka Erde, let me ask you a different question. Who do you think your enemy is?”

“…The assembled force of Freya Familia.”

“You aren’t wrong, but you aren’t really right, either.”

Having given her so many strategies and tactics, Braver took one more step deeper.

“Right now, the person you should be watching is the commander opposing you.”

“!”

Lilly’s eyes widened, and a visible shock crossed through them.

“So then…”

“Yes, your enemy is Hedin Selrand. Freya Familia’s grand marshal and a ruthless strategist.”

Finn’s guidance was to limit the enemy she was watching. He was telling her that, in extremis, all of the other first-tier adventurers and any other problematic enemies could be left to her allies but that she should focus on Hedin.

“If I were to face Hedin as a commander, I would lose four times out of ten.”

“…?!”

“What puts me just barely over the edge is the ache in my finger.”

Finn shrugged and then got to his point.

It was incredibly simple, but also far more difficult for Lilly than crossing through the deep levels.

“To guide the coalition to victory, you have no choice but to use Hedin.”

“U-use him…? Not beat him in a contest of wits?!”

“That would be impossible. He has far more experience in command. His insights and the way his mind works are on a completely different level. A prum who has been a commander for all of a few months is not going to defeat a long-lived, sage elf.”

Finn was absolute in his statement.

“Use Hedin’s strategy, his tactics, and his thoughts. Calculate his goals, not to try to lay a trap for him but to steer things in the same direction. Just like how resisting a force greater than your body can handle will only destroy you.”

And as Lilly looked at him in a daze, Finn smiled.

“There is no such thing as a perfect plan. There is no guaranteed strategy or invincible formation. Everything is incomplete. Grasp those holes, the true motives that Hedin will be carefully concealing.”

Mr. Finn told me the answer from the start…!

Half in remembrance, it was only now that she really understood what Finn was telling her.

There was no perfect plan. That was right. Even now, with deities falling one after the other, with checkmate closing in, even on this board Lilly could see a single way out.

There was no guaranteed strategy. No invincible formation. What there was, was simply the commander’s true motive pointing toward whatever goal they envisioned.

So right now, that—

Search, search, search! The smallest details of the battlefield, the remaining fighting strength, anything! Find any clue pointing to what Mr. Hedin’s goal is!

Experiencing the flow of time at a heavily compressed rate, Lilly could taste blood in the back of her nose, but even so, she added more fuel to the fire.

Pick up on his aim, his thoughts! And use them! If I can disrupt them, make him misplay a card…!

As her hazel eyes scanned the battlefield, reaching where Hedin had set up his base.

For just a one moment, time froze for her.

That’s…

It was minor. A truly minor detail.

An intent that only Lilly, who was standing across the board from him, could have noticed.

“Mr. Hedin is close to his back lines…?

The cries of gods and goddesses blended with the shouts of adventurers still putting up resistance. The deities’ ends. The sound of an impending conclusion.

The shining sun had long ago started its descent, but twilight was still distant. Tilting his chin toward the clear, blue skies, Hegni slowly looked back down.

“Allen will decide this match…”

Focusing his ears toward the eastern end of the island, the dark elf stood surrounded by adventurers he had hewn and sliced. Ouka, Chigusa, Bors, and the residents of Rivira. It was an execution ground. Every last one of them had been slashed, and all of their armor broken. The fallen people were almost all people whose patron deity had dropped out, so even if they could somehow stand back up, they wouldn’t be allowed to fight any further.

Glancing for a moment at those whose eyelids didn’t even flutter, Hegni’s gleaming purple gaze faced forward.

“And yet, you still refuse to yield?”

There were only two other people standing in the execution ground where so many silent adventurers lay piled up.

“D-Daph…!”

“Hah…hah…! Cassandra, healing!”

Daphne wore a bloody dress as she shouted at the tearful Cassandra standing behind her.

Even while demanding support, she didn’t take her eyes off the lord of war holding his pitch-black sword. It was a miracle her fingers were still attached, but she still gripped her shortsword and raised it, demonstrating her will to resist.

Cassandra, who had been constantly protected by Daphne and everyone else, whose eyes long ago filled with tears, cast her recovery spell with a trembling voice.

“Soul Light!”

A magic glow like sunlight shrouded Daphne, but it couldn’t fully close her wounds.

It was a secondary effect of Hegni’s curse weapon. The black longsword’s blade, known for its murderousness, obstructed healing, slowing the process.

“I ask again. Will you still resist?”

“First-tier…adventurers…ask the strangest things…I haven’t fallen yet, right…?!”

Twenty-two. That was the number of times Hegni had already slashed Daphne. Even though she had leveled up, Daphne was still just a second-tier adventurer. That she had endured so many attacks from a first-tier adventurer whose slash should have been a one-shot and was still standing went well past admiration and into the realm of the incomprehensible. Ouka and the others had fallen to the ground in one, or at most two slashes.

Part of it was of course that Hegni was merciful, holding back enough to make sure that she wouldn’t die. But the biggest reason was Daphne’s endurance. Hegni’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward forcefully.

“Gh?!”

Unable to block the inescapable slash with her sword, she guarded with her left arm. And that was where the mysterious phenomenon started. Her arm, which should have been severed by Victim Abyss, instead deflected the blade. There wasn’t a metallic clang, but a dull sound like a giant tree being hit by a blade. The attack’s force hadn’t been dispersed, though, so Daphne rolled across the ground pathetically, her breathing ragged as her left arm hung limply. But even so, she stood back up. The surface of her arm had transformed into what looked almost like gnarled tree bark.

“Your ability that’s stopping my slashes…is that a spell?”

“…A skill. I happened to develop it because of Lord Apollo chasing after me…Though I think of it…more like a curse…”

She tried to manage a wry smile, but she couldn’t quite pull it off.

This was Daphne’s rare skill, Laurel Wreath. The effect increased her endurance when she was exhausted or on the verge of death. The skill’s area of effect was discretionary, and every time she used it, her skin mutated. A tree-skin texture with a green, glowing leaf pattern—just like how her left arm had transformed. Like the spirit who transformed into a laurel tree to protect its body, Daphne was enduring Hegni’s slashes using the power of her rare skill.

“If I activate it…my skin will be rough for a while…so I really didn’t want to use it…!”

“A woman’s concerns are much like the mysteries of the moon to me.”

Even as she continued impudently, beneath her battle clothes, most of her skin had transformed into bark. Her body had started creaking unpleasantly, and the bark texture was reaching up her neck, and even to her left cheek. Her tortured body was having trouble controlling Laurel Wreath.

“Daph! Please stop! If you use it anymore…!”

Ignoring Cassandra’s tearful plea, Hegni looked down at his sword.

“At this rate, you really will become a speechless, human tree. Why do you entrust your body to this hellish ritual and continue to endure my slashes?”

It wasn’t as if Laurel Wreath could completely block Hegni’s slashes.

In the last attack, a part of the bark covering her left arm had been cut away. There was an amber-and-red nectar that seemed awfully like blood now dripping from the open wound. It was the same for the diagonal slashes on her legs, the horizontal cut on her shoulder, and the big gash running across her torso. Even with the blessing of the laurel tree, Daphne was not invincible. And it wasn’t hard to see that she would suffer a terrible pain the moment she deactivated her skill.

Daphne’s eyes were twisted painfully as she curled her lips slightly, as if he was asking a stupid question.

“Simple…buying a little more time…keeping a first-tier adventurer pinned down…! So Lilliluka and everyone else…can win this war!”

That was the reason she, and Ouka, and everyone else had stood their ground and been cut down. Having heard her answer, Hegni closed his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes flared with anger.

“I see. Then this is the end. I shan’t entertain your shallow schemes any further!”

Contempt for one unworthy of being called a warrior, who abandoned chasing her own victory. But also an earnest respect for her dedication, offering up her own life for the sake of her comrades.

With both those thoughts in his hands, Hegni appeared right in front of Daphne and brought his blade down.

“Daph?!”

Cassandra’s cry filled the air. Daphne’s eyes widened in shock. The blessing of the laurel tree was broken as a fountain of blood sprayed into the air. Cassandra ran over and caught her friend as she stumbled backward, falling to the ground. Shuddering at the warmth of the nectar-like blood that spilled on her arms, she lay Daphne down on the ground.

“Cass…andra…heal…ing…!”

“Don’t talk, Daph! I’ll—”

“Don’t move.”

Cassandra started to intone her spell, but a cold blade was pressing against her neck. Dumbfounded, she looked up and saw the dark elf standing there, the merciless lord of war’s face looking down at her.

“If you use your magic, I will take that as a sign of resistance and continue to cut her.”

“Gh…?!”

“If you want to save your friend’s life, then throw down your weapon and surrender. Only then will I allow your healing.”

It was an ultimatum. The final mercy of a dark elven knight who could slay Cassandra in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. Cassandra gulped and turned pale…as battered, rotting fingers grabbed her arm.

“Ignore…him…hurry…heal me…!”

“D-Daphne…”

Daphne was almost delirious. She was barely hanging on to consciousness. But cruelly, Hegni refused to wait.

“You have three seconds. Three, two, one—”

And Cassandra—

“I’m sorry…”

Apologizing to Daphne and to Bell and everyone else, she threw down the rod in her hands.

“I surrender…! I won’t fight…! So please…!”

Hugging the body of her friend, who was more badly wounded than anyone, she closed her eyes as the tears came.

Hegni silently withdrew his sword.

“Idiot…!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Daph…!”

Scolding her friend’s choice, Daphne slumped down, as if she had finally run out of strength.

Cassandra kept apologizing through the tears as she exerted all of her Mind and activated her healing magic.

“There are no more enemies in this area…It took an unexpectedly long time, though.”

As if losing interest in a battlefield where none other than he remained standing, Hegni turned his back. While Cassandra was healing Daphne, she watched his back, the tears still filling her eyes.

This is the end for us…for the right wing…! And with Daph down…Lilly can’t turn this around all alone!

The coalition’s right wing, the northern end of the battlefield in the western ruins, had gone completely silent. As far as Cassandra could see, the only coalition forces left were Aisha’s left wing, which had managed to link up with the survivors in the center. But that was nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind. The Gulliver brothers would crush them soon enough, shattering what faint hope remained.

The enemy base and the Andhrímnir are undamaged! All of the einherjar who charged through to the east are still there, too! Even if Mr. Bell is still alive…we’re out of options! There’s nothing we can do!

Having given up her right to fight so she could save her friend, Cassandra wept again.

I’m sorry for not fighting to the end. Her apology felt painfully hollow.

Would the last deity’s flower scatter first?

Or would the last follower fall first?

Either way, this war game would end with Freya Familia’s victory.

I’m useless.

What dreams, what prophecies.

The dream of twilight and the end that I saw last night was right. I couldn’t change fate…

“—Huh?”

Just then.

The wind blew.

A simple wind rustled through Cassandra’s long hair as she held Daphne close.

It was the breeze that had been blowing through the ruins off the lake for most of the day.

A simple, unremarkable part of the weather that didn’t merit a second thought.

The adventurers and the einherjar wouldn’t even notice.

That was why only Cassandra recognized it as a prophetic turning point.

“The wind…the wind…the wind is…here?”

She remembered. The oracle that she had told Bell and the others. The hope racing through the twilight of destruction she had seen in her ghastly dream.

“The wind…is blowing…”

Guided by it, Cassandra looked up.

The blue sky.

A dazzling sunlight.

And far, far up in the air, a bird-like shadow had spread its wings.

And slowly, the wind descended—

“The wind blew…”

There was a soft tap as the wind touched down on the battlefield.

“ ”

Hegni turned around.

The dark elf immediately noticed the greatest threat had just appeared. The lord of war was on guard as he immediately drew his dark blade again.

“Who are you?!”

As he was leaving the battlefield where the coalition’s right wing had stood, he had spun, his black cloak whipping as he turned to face this newcomer.

They wore a long emerald cape. The hood was pulled up, hiding their face, but the long ears peeking out marked them as an elf.

The eyes gleaming from the shadow of the hood were sky blue.

“Identify yourself!”

The wind didn’t identify itself.

“I will be joining the fight now. Have you made your preparations, comrade?”

The wind just drew her deep green wooden sword and asserted her desire to fight.

“Preparations? For what?!”

There was but one answer by the wind.

“To be cut down by me.”

“Bite your tongue!”

A clash.

Both of them moved like the wind, and as Cassandra watched in shock, the dark green wooden sword and the pitch-black longsword slammed into each other.

“““Ghhhh?!”””

In the blink of an eye, blades clashed with a thundering boom, drawing the shocked attention of the last survivors of Lilly’s coalition, Hedin’s einherjar, and Heith’s Andhrímnir.

What began was a furious sword duel. The emerald cape and black mantle danced wildly like a gale, leaving green and black arcs. Crash and offset, flash and reverberation. The wooden blade imbued with a bluish magic power and the cursed black steel crossed countless times, creating beautiful, sinister sparks.

“ZeeeAAH!”

“!!!”

Hegni’s slash tricked his opponent’s eyes, knocking back their hood.

What spilled out was beautiful, golden hair.

Natural blond hair tied back in a single ponytail that extended to the nape of her neck, Lyu let loose a loud shot as she countered.

“Haaaaaaah!!!”

“Guh?!”

Her emerald wooden sword pushed back the black curse blade, slicing a part of his mantle in the process.

The perfectly balanced back-and-forth of attack and defense continued. The adventurers and einherjar were speechless at the duel of elves that had suddenly started—meanwhile, on the city side, a shout rang out.

“Wh-who is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!”

Ibly’s obnoxiously loud voice was the impetus for a tidal wave of commotion that swallowed up Orario. Everyone from the discouraged residents to the ruffians leaned forward, drawn in by the beautiful elven figure on the mirrors.

In particular, the deities were causing a pandemonium, with joyous and sorrowful shouts.

“Whoa, hey, what, what, what?!”

“A helper for the coalition?!”

“The masked adventurer…what Leon!”

“Skip the routine!” “She’s not even tryin’ to hide it!”

“Hey, wasn’t Gale Wind supposed to be dead already!”

“The Guild’s spreading fake news!”

“And she’s really going at it with our Dáinsleif!”

On Babel’s thirtieth floor, the goddesses cheering for the coalition leaped to their feet, and the gods who backed Freya clutched their heads.

The elf rushing around at high speed didn’t have a mask on her face. She didn’t hide her identity and stood on the battlefield as a lone elf clad in gale winds.

The funereal silence from moments ago turned into an explosion of confusion and shock. Then came the smiles of all-knowing gods who could feel the uproar approaching.

—She is keeping up with my sword?!

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the person most shocked by this development was Hegni himself.

Blue eyes and a sharp blade.

He remembered. There was no way he could forget.

One of Freya’s favorites—Gale Wind, the elf from The Benevolent Mistress!

She was different from the time they had crossed blades during the Goddess Festival, when he had overpowered her to the point where she couldn’t do anything to him.

Yes, she was keeping up. She was competing with Hegni in speed, in strength. And she wasn’t clad in that mysterious golden light that increased abilities, either. This was her true, full-fledged status.

Hegni’s eyes twitched in shock as his face twisted and he unleashed a slash.

Pushing Lyu back out of range, he roared—

“You’re Level Six!”

The einherjar froze, unable to believe their ears as his question echoed across the battlefield.

“You leveled up twice?!”

Again, back in Babel.

“It’s possible! It’s definitely possible!”

Just as excited as the deities around him, Hermes laughed loudly.

“Lyu has fought! Ever since the day she ended the dark ages by herself! She’s fought this whole time! Even far from Astrea’s side! A history and series of great feats no less impressive than Aiz and the rest of the first-tier adventurers!”

—The annihilation of the Evils’ main forces that she had accomplished by herself.

—Defeating the Black Goliath on the eighteenth floor.

—The war game against Apollo Familia.

—All of the battles surrounding the Xenos incident.

—The bold push when she and Bell fell into the deep levels.

—And overcoming her destined enemy, Juggernaut.

She had made it through all of those deadly encounters, and those were just the ones Hermes knew about. They were all great feats even the gods had to acknowledge, trials that the goddesses so loved.

And more than anything, Gale Wind had already been at the pinnacle of Level 4 when she had gone missing five years earlier. At the time, it had been whispered that she was on the verge of leveling up. Considering how quickly Aiz had made it from Level 4 to Level 6, five years wasn’t an impossible amount of time for Lyu to achieve her great feats. For the first time since the start of the age of the gods, a consecutive level up had occurred. A feat that even the record holder hadn’t achieved.

Loki Familia watching from their home, including Aiz, stared in wonder.

“She always faltered and hesitated, but even so, all this time, she has sacrificed herself for the justice that she once believed in, saving Bell and so many other children time and again! Consecutive level-ups shouldn’t be impossible!”

All the more so because she kept fighting under the restriction of being only Level 4.

The trials that would have been easier had she become a first-tier adventurer were instead all the more cruel and severe. So long as she continued to rack up more amazing feats—so long as she kept gathering the highest-quality excelia—it only made sense that an unknown to turn the mortal realm on its head might be born.

And all of it was because she reached the answer represented by her justice: hope

“You made it in time, Lyu…Astrea!”

Hermes had a satisfied smile seeing the long-awaited reinforcement he had helped before the war game finally arrive.

“I lost miserably, unable to do anything against you or against Warlord.” Beneath her familiar emerald cape, she wore shorts and long boots the color of a great tree and pure white battle gear on top. “So I couldn’t afford to remain the same.”

She had left Orario alone, on a journey to see Astrea. To update her status that had been frozen in time. To get stronger.

With Hermes and Asfi’s information and help, she had reached Zolingam, the city of swordsmiths. The greatest sword-making city in the world, where the goddess of justice had gone five years earlier, waiting, believing that she would someday be able to help Lyu.

Thanks to that, the new weapon in Lyu’s hand was both a coincidence and a natural outcome. Alvs Lumina, her wooden sword that had been destroyed in the battle with Juggernaut, was processed and reborn into the stardust sword, Alvs Iustitia. The fairy’s new blade, crowned with Astrea’s other name, the star maiden of justice.

“This time, I will claim victory…Dáinsleif.”

Her quiet resolve summoned a gale. Before Hegni could fully recover from the shock, Lyu went on the attack. Her golden ponytail danced as she unleashed a series of attacks. Much like Hegni’s longsword, whose reach could extend, her wooden sword was flooded with her magic power, imbued with her Mind Load skill, wielding a destructive power that was shocking for an elf.

In pure numbers, Hegni’s strength should have been higher, but each and every one of his slashes was knocked away, sending a tremor into his dark hands each time.

“—Surround that elf, einherjar!”

“!!!”

Just then, an order flew from amid the healers in the back line.

Heith.

Quickly judging Lyu to be a troublesome element and taking things into her own hands, she ordered the einherjar forward.

“Heith! You would interfere in our duel?!”

“Unfortunately, I have no concern for your pride, Hegni! Nothing is more important than Lady Freya’s glory and victory! Am I wrong?!”

“Gh…!”

“It is our duty to remove every minor uncertainty to offer Bell up to her!”

After gaining some distance from Lyu, Hegni had immediately roared at the healer, but when the goddess he worshipped was brought up, he could only gnash his teeth.

Despite being just a healer, Heith was skilled. Stepping in to take command in Hedin’s stead, she was thorough in snuffing any possible source of a counterattack. The coalition’s right wing and center had long since been shattered, so the einherjar on the main battlefield swarmed to focus on the Level 6 Lyu.

It eased the pressure on Aisha’s band, but in exchange, over forty second-tier adventurers surrounded Lyu.

“…”

Lyu calmly looked around at the cage of warriors. She was standing in the middle of their circle, targeted by arrows, staves, swords, and spears.

“…This is the grave of a knight not even allowed a duel. You may curse this moment and place, and our fate.”

Once the signal was given, the wall of weapons would clip the fairy’s wings.

Seeing the result that would soon come, Hegni regretfully lowered his blade.

“That’s…! Ms. Lyu!”

“We will not allow you even the embers with which to set off a flare.”

That was the sheer difference in the current balance of power.

On the one side, Lilly could do nothing but watch because she had no pieces left to move, while on the other, Heith coldly watched the fairy’s imminent execution while the strongest army stood undamaged. The remnants of her clothes that had been burned by Mord were tied around her bare chest to give her a modicum of modesty.

Holding her arm out, she gave the order.

“End this, ein—!”

Or more precisely, she was about to give the order.

But before she could finish, Lyu whispered.

“I’m using it, Lady Astrea.”

Yes.

There was a voice that rang only in her long ears, like a star falling from the sky. It was the goddess’s smile. The blessing of the stars.

Holding the stardust sword Alvs Iustitia in both hands, she raised it to the heavens like a knight—like a battle maiden of the stars. Closing her eyes, she spoke the name of her new power.

“Astrea Record.”

The next instant, a glimmer of starlight appeared.

“What?!”

“A magic circle?!”

No.

What bloomed at her feet wasn’t the bore of a mage’s proud cannon, it was innumerable hieroglyphs of light. The characters that governed the sword and wings of the stars, the same hieroglyphs as the status engraved on her back.

“Duty shall be fulfilled, and the scales shall be balanced.”

Her lips intoned a scripture-like verse of justice.

“Casting…?!”

“It’s magic! Don’t let her finish!”

The einherjar’s eyes widened, and then they swiftly leaped into action. Arrows and the blasts of magic swords were unleashed from all sides—but they were all blocked by the starlight gleam.

“What?!”

The einherjar, Hegni, and Heith were all dumbstruck.

The field of light that extended a five-meder radius around Lyu blocked the rain of arrows and blasts of magic. The countless glowing hieroglyphs floating in the air like bits of stardust shrouded Lyu, forming a wall to protect her.

“A barrier?! No, a sanctuary?!”

There was no other way to describe it.

While Hegni’s eyes widened, the elf’s chant accelerated.

“Bastion of order, crown of the honest, evil-crushing torch.”

Faced with a sanctuary that could defeat all attacks and with a psalm of the stars echoing in their ears, the einherjar impatiently charged. They attacked directly with swords, spears, and axes, trying to cut and push through the hieroglyphs of light, but it was meaningless. Not only could slashes and thrusts not pierce the barrier, they were actually pushed back.

“In the goddess’s name, charging through space, bind the star traces to this land.”

“Gh…Ooooooooh!”

Finally, Hegni became a black arrow. Casting aside the resignation and pity he had felt moments ago, he swung his black blade to tear through the star’s protection. There was a massive spark, and for the first time, the sanctuary shuddered. Hegni’s eyes flared, and he roared as the light’s sparkle tried to push him back.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”

There was a shrill crack, like glass shattering, and he was through. The star’s protection failed against the full strength of a Level 6, and Hegni closed the distance, swinging his sword at Lyu standing in the middle.

“—Justice returns!”

But Lyu was faster. She finished her spell. Her eyes flew open. As her sky-blue eyes were revealed, Hegni saw it. The fragments of stars that should have shattered.

The gleaming hieroglyph crystals. They gathered around Lyu before being absorbed into her. The vow of the stars had been completed. With the answer she had reached in her heart, Lyu called her name.

“Agris Arvensis!”

Crimson flame.

“Gh?!”

The stardust sword was wreathed in a bright red gleam as it sent Hegni flying. Thrown back by the attack, both his legs and his left hand tore through the ground as he skidded to a stop. Einherjar, adventurers, and deities were speechless seeing that red gleam.

“Flame enchantment…?! Impossible!”

With Hegni’s shout, the dam burst. A shock that passed over those who didn’t know, stirring up chaos among only those who knew that spell.

Beyond the island.

Watching far from the battlefield, when Shakti saw the scene, she murmured in a daze.

“…Alize?”

But before tears could leap to her eyes, Hegni’s voice thundered through the air.

“That is Scarlet Harnell’s—Alize Lovell’s magic!!!”

The name of a disciple of justice who had fallen five years ago. That magic and the girl who fought evil using it were a crimson flower seared into a great many people’s memories.

Hegni knew it, too. He remembered the gleam of Astrea Familia that swept through that dark age. And Scarlet Harnell’s beautiful, blazing figure, the most brilliant of them all. Hegni Ragnar had secretly respected that girl’s flame, which shone with an inner light he could never possess, and he would never forget it.

“How can you use her magic?! Answer me, Gale Wind!”

Clad in a noble flame, Lyu answered Hegni’s anger simply.

“I completed my journey.”

It was a long road. The elf who had lost every last one of her comrades, had been consumed by the flames of revenge, was once burned to ash, but lived on in stagnation until she at long last reached the end of her journey. Overcoming the darkness of the Dungeon, guided by a boy’s pure bell, she found the path that led to the shore of light. Lyu Leon had reached the answer to her justice: hope.

“And meeting Lady Astrea once again, I inherited their wills. Nothing more.”

In finding her goddess again, it had appeared, manifesting in her.

A new magic inscribed on her back. The flame imbued in her hands, feet, and sword swelled, as if in response to her newfound justice.

“I will say it one more time. I will hit you with all of us—and this time I will win!”

She launched herself off the ground. Her shoes were wreathed in flame as they tore through the stone. The next instant, an explosive flower blossomed, and Lyu became a flaming missile.

“Gh?!”

Faster than the second-tier adventurers’ eyes could track, she appeared before a stunned einherjar and struck.

“Gaaaaaah?!”

Crimson flame exploded. The warrior fell in a single blow.

Her enchanted sword had knocked out a Level 4 human before he had a chance to react.

“Tammuz?!”

“How?!”

“In one attack?!”

Her blazing trail didn’t stop there.

The flame enchantment on her feet was a lubricant and an accelerant. Manifesting Scarlet Harnell’s famed explosive acceleration, she bit deep into the flustered fighters of Freya Familia.

One slash, two, then three. A speed and sword that resembled the wind, accompanied by explosive blasts. It looked impossibly absurd, and yet it crushed five einherjar in an instant. With the pure strength and firepower that characterized flame elemental magic, whether it acted as a sword or a shield, she blasted her enemies away, equipment and all.

“Uuooooooooooooooooooh!”

The einherjar, losing six comrades in the blink of an eye, roared a challenge. They were enraged seeing Lyu break through the encirclement only to charge straight at them instead of trying to get away. They answered with the swing of a greatsword, the loosing of an arrow, the thrust of a spear—but it was all pointless.

The crimson fairy’s flight tore through attack and defense alike.

“Fuuu!”

The wind’s crack and the fire’s roar formed a chain.

The einherjar were all scattered by Lyu, unable to do a thing. They were shot down one after the other as the mortal and divine spectators stared in wonder. If there was one fatal mistake that could be pointed to, then their inability to immediately work together had done them in.

If Hedin had been close by to assume direct command or if it were Loki Familia who prioritized cooperation and teamwork, then no matter how quickly the losses mounted, they would have been able to respond. But these were einherjar. Because their individual strength had been forged and tempered so much in the familia’s crucible of combat, even if they could charge at the same time as their allies, they couldn’t independently coordinate at a high enough level that might obstruct her movements or corner her.

And the current Lyu would never lose, not so long as she could continue her series of one-on-one fights.

Hegni was sure of it.

Because he could see her.

“ ”

The crimson girl’s face behind Lyu as she charged forward at high speed. He could see Scarlet Harnell smiling as she fought alongside Gale Wind. The fairy wasn’t alone. The emerald wind and crimson flame danced together. They raged, as if they had always been together.

“Is that…Alize’s magic?!”

Another bombshell landed in Babel.

There was no deity who didn’t know Astrea Familia, which had been annihilated five years ago. Seeing Lyu use that powerful flame enchantment, deities leaped to their feet and shouted.

“She’s using someone else’s magic!”

“Can it be…summoning?!”

“Like Thousand Elf?!”

The gods and goddesses excitedly theory-crafted based on the one and only confirmed example of a follower with the broken ability to use another person’s magic.

“No, that isn’t summoning.”

But Hermes shot their theory down.

“That is inheritance.”

He said it with utter confidence as he smiled, as if seeing something brilliant and dazzling.

Their justice had returned. Like the countless gleaming lights in the night sky. The spirit and will of Astrea Familia that had once scattered and turned into stardust lived on inside Lyu.

Astrea Record.

That was the new magic Lyu manifested when she ascended to Level 6. A miracle for Lyu Leon alone that allowed her to inherit the magic of all ten of the followers who shared the same falna and had Astrea’s ichor inscribed on their backs. A wild irregularity that exemplified the potential hidden in the mortal realm, an unknown up her sleeve. And a vow of the sword and wings of justice that she had been bequeathed. With a grin and the greatest excitement he had felt thus far today, Hermes also gave her a blessing in the form of applause.

“…Astrea Familia…”

“It’s Astrea Familia…”

Below the tower, in Central Park.

When he saw the flames of justice reflected in the divine mirror overhead, a tear fell from a traveling merchant’s eye. A couple who had been saved by the followers of justice during an age of darkness hugged their beloved daughter and wept. They were the fruits of justice. The proof that what those noble girls had done in the name of protecting the weak hadn’t been forgotten. They didn’t know why she was standing on that battlefield. But there was one thing they could do.

The crowd’s tears transformed into a roaring wave of cheers.

“Distant forest sky. Infinite stars inlaid upon the eternal night sky.”

And—

“Heed this foolish one’s voice, and once more grant the starfire’s divine protection. Grant the light of compassion to the one who forsook you.”

And though she had inherited the justice of her comrades, Lyu’s original magic hadn’t weakened.

“Concurrent casting…?!”

“S-stop herrrrrrr!”

The einherjar abandon any semblance of calm and swarmed Lyu as her voice and magic power resonated. But they couldn’t catch her. Not only that, those who tried to approach her carelessly were struck down by explosions instead.

“Tch?!”

Hegni had been standing still in shock, but finally, in a frenzy, he slashed at Lyu.

Unlike the rest of the einherjar, he was a first-tier adventurer, and even Lyu couldn’t easily evade him.

“Come, wandering wind, fellow traveler. Cross the skies and sprint through the wilderness, swifter than anything.”

But parrying one slash, and then a second, she still proceeded with her cast.

High-speed casting while in high-speed combat. Hegni’s expression twisted bitterly both at her skill, as great as any magic swordsmen, and her ability to not falter even under his attacks.

This fellow elf was more accustomed to singing than anyone.

And a magic circle even…!

There was an emerald-green pattern resembling a forest that had spread at her feet.

It was a circle that raised the force of magic, the proof of an advanced mage.

Before she had gone missing five years earlier, Gale Wind hadn’t had a mage’s propensity.

Realizing she had even manifested a new ability, he also understood that the barrage she was about to unleash would send the battle into chaos.

Hegni should have been able to cut down an opponent who was splitting her attention between him and a cast, even if she was Level 6. But the crimson flower stopped him.

Just when he was one step away from breaking her stance, the flame enchanting her sword exploded, messing up his range and knocking him off balance instead.

The shock as he realized he couldn’t stop her struck everyone watching from the outside, too.

She’s too fast?!

Heith was astounded by the elf moving faster than her eyes could follow.

Strong…

As her opera resounded, Hedin acknowledged his fellow elf who was capable of standing beside them.

What is that?!

Lilly’s eyes spun at the insane scene of the einherjar being overwhelmed.

“Imbue the light of stardust and strike down my enemy.”

And the Level 6 fairy let loose.

“Luminous Wind!”

The mass of giant balls of light and green wind swallowed up the main battlefield.

“Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Leaping up, she unleashed a massive, wide-range spell from overhead.

Each gleaming piece of stardust had a tremendous destructive power, and every single einherjar caught by the attack was blown away, crushed, or swallowed up in a flash of light and wind.

The blast had been aimed not just at the front line but also at the back lines, where Heith and the Andhrímnir were not spared by the destructive swirl.

““““What?!””””

“That magic…!”

“Lady Lyu?!”

The Gulliver brothers were stunned by the torrent of light and wind kicked up from the direction of the coalition’s right wing, which should have been destroyed already. Aisha’s and Mikoto’s eyes shot open as well.

“…Lyu…”

Inside the goddess’s house, when she saw the chain of flashes and explosions far in the distance, even Freya, who had been unaware of the details of the battle, knew that the Gale Wind had appeared. As her bodyguards finally frantically returned, she hid what she was feeling in her heart as her silver eyes narrowed.

The tremor reached Bell where he was being pummeled by Ottar.

The sound of the explosion reached Allen’s ears while he was hunting down more deities.

The shock wave even jolted Hestia as she frantically fled her pursuers.

The intervention of a single elf had shaken the whole ruins.

“You’ve done it now…!”

The only one who managed to escape the brutal storm of light was Hegni.

He had used his own super-short cast magic to cancel out the missiles of light and, unlike everyone else, had managed to evade the danger. He quickly looked around the surroundings.

The damage his allies had suffered was horrendous. The einherjar gathered in the north of the main battlefield were practically all knocked out of the fight, and several of Heith’s Andhrímnir healers had been taken out by the blast as well, forcing them to focus on their own recovery and not maintain the battle lines.

The spell had marked the battlefield with a huge amount of debris. The blast was still echoing in his ears, and he had even lost sight of Hedin’s position in the back.

Undamaged, save for his torn and battered cloak, Hegni preserved his dignity as a first-tier adventurer, but his brow furrowed as he grasped the enemy’s true aim.

That wasn’t a concentrated fire aimed at me, that was spread as far as possible! To scatter everyone else, to remove all obstacles!

Meaning that right now they were the only two people standing on this battlefield.

Meaning the conditions for their duel were set.

“—Let’s fight.”

“Ghhh!!!”

Breaking through the massive cloud of debris, accompanied by the crimson flame, Lyu approached from overhead.

Swinging his head up, his eyes flaring, Hegni had a face like that of a true tyrant as he met the star blade.

“Don’t you look down on me!”

The black curse blade and crimson star sword met again.

A battlefield still shrouded by a curtain of debris.

There was no interruption, no intervention. The graveyard of knights that refused to allow a true duel had already disappeared.

And so the white and dark elves committed their body and spirit into defeating the enemy before them.

“HaaaAAAAA!”

“…!”

“Slow! Weak! Pathetic!”

Hegni hammered all of his pride in his own sword at the impertinent elf trying to defeat him. Trading slashes with Lyu’s flaming sword, he unleashed a twisting cut that broke his opponent’s immediately raised gauntlet. Sparks flew, but even so, Hegni didn’t take a direct hit from the explosive slash. The enchant that had such absurd firepower was a threat. But he already had a grasp on the flames’ area of effect and how hard they hit when he traded blows with her while she was concurrent casting.

He saw clearly that Lyu’s fighting style had a hole in it.

“Clad yourself in your friend’s flame all you like, but my warrior-slaying blade will not be extinguished!”

Anyone who tried to make such a massive firepower explode at extreme close range would always be exposed to the danger of being pushed to self-destruction. Lyu couldn’t control the output of the flames nearly as precisely as Scarlet Harnell had.

Which meant Hegni should move forward. If he stepped in with the resolve to endure the scorching inferno, he would find a path that the other einherjar couldn’t travel. There was a gap there that only Hegni, who boasted the first or second highest melee strength of all of Freya Familia, could pass through.

“Rip and tear, Victim Abyss!”

“Gh?!”

On top of that, his curse sword Victim Abyss’s power was still active. Beyond the tip of his longsword, the extended slash range passed through the crimson petal, landing a shallow cut to Lyu’s shoulders as she narrowly dodged backward. The invisible blade couldn’t be blocked by the bursting flame.

The title vanguard killer wasn’t for show. Combined with Hegni’s extreme skill with a sword, it transformed into a dance of slashes that was impossible to see through.

“Don’t get full of yourself after just two level-ups! You are still below me, girl!”

Despite having accomplished the never-before-seen feat of two level-ups, Hegni’s opponent was still in full control of her body. She wasn’t letting her massively boosted status dictate how she moved or fought. He didn’t know what she had been doing before coming there, but that was worthy of praise.

But even so, Hegni’s combat ability and experience couldn’t be overcome with just that alone. A first-tier adventurer of Freya Familia and a first-tier adventurer of any other familia were different.

Their polished and honed techniques and tricks, their resolve that overcame the fear of death, and their loyalty to their goddess made them into warriors worthy of being called supermen. That was what it meant to overcome the baptism, to win out in the familia’s internal war, to rise to the summit of the einherjar.

Even if Alize and the followers of justice lent Lyu their strength, there was no way that Hegni would lose after summoning the strongest version of himself with Dáinsleif.

—That was how it should have been.

“…Gh?”

He boldly advanced, pressing the attack. Forcing wounds to the enemy’s forehead and arm.

But Hegni was being pushed back.

“Fuuu!”

Lyu’s slash kept catching his black blade.

The petals of rampaging flame.

Gradually, with certainty, they were threatening him.

What…?!

The enemy’s movements were speeding up…no. Hegni’s reactions were slowing down.

His body was losing its ability to keep up with the movements he envisioned.

“—This is a war game.”

Her sky-blue eyes saw it.

As Hegni wavered at the change in his body, Lyu stepped in herself and said it.

“Comrade, how many adventurers did that sword cut before you fought me?”

The moment those words hit his ear, a tremendous shock ran the full length of his body.

It can’t…?!

His fingers holding the curse sword trembled. The cloud of dust was gradually fading. The curtain was rising. Hegni endured Lyu’s furious attack while his eyes ran around the surroundings. Not to the fallen einherjar. Not to Heith and the other healers dealing with the wounded.

To the tactician Daphne covered in wounds, still sleeping in Cassandra’s arms.

Her!

Her plan is…!

“Curse weapons demand a price in exchange for the great strength they grant.”

“Gh?!”

“In most cases, it is a lowered status, or a stamina cost!”

As Lyu correctly asserted, Hegni’s Victim Abyss was a curse weapon. In exchange for the murderous ability to extend its slash range, it absorbed its user’s stamina. And just like the wounds made by its blade, that damage was a curse that couldn’t be immediately and fully healed by potions or magic.

Hegni had subconsciously been using his curse weapon too much. Against the coalition, an opponent like no other: an army of upper-class adventurers.

Against the rabble that had so recklessly challenged him!

“The people who fought you before me have whittled away at your strength!”

Lyu’s proclamation landed with a painful blow, and this time Hegni blinked.

—Get cut down.

Given that order, Ouka, Chigusa, Bors, the residents of Rivira, and Daphne herself had all drawn one attack or more out of Hegni’s sword. The adventurers who disguised themselves as prey to be hunted had lured Hegni into using up his stock of attacks.

“Daph…!”

Sitting on the ground, watching their furious fight, Cassandra wept as she hugged Daphne’s battered body. Her tyrannical order had been all for this. Not to stall for time by keeping him there but to shave away at his strength, entrusting the rest to their allies. For that, they had allowed themselves to experience the hell of his slashes for as long as they could bear it.

Impossible…?!

Ordinarily, Hegni would never have done something so foolish as overuse his curse weapon. But starting from the furious battle with Tsubaki, he had fought the coalition’s strongest fighters more than anyone else in Freya Familia, and subconsciously, he had gone astray.

The menacing Crozzo magic swords, the light that pushed a Level 5 blacksmith to Level 6, and then Daphne and her party that didn’t know when to give up. Because he had experienced the coalition’s strength firsthand—and realized that if he made a mistake, he could be wounded—Hegni had grown aggressive without realizing it, rushing to annihilate all threats.

It was connected.

It was all connected.

Lilly had grasped the strategy, Daphne had implemented it, and Tsubaki and the others had fought until the very end—it all led to this moment.

“If this were a pure duel, then the result would still be unclear.”

There was a high-speed slash that knocked the sword from his weakened grip, and it seemed like time froze.

“But this time, we will win!”

Thud.

She shouted as the tip of her sword pressed against Hegni’s chest. The crimson flame enchanting her right arm and her sword flared to full bloom. Lyu unleashed a massive burst of magic as she shouted its name.

“Alveria!”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

The crimson explosion at the closest range possible sent Hegni’s body flying. Burned, broken, and at the mercy of gravity, he slammed into a broken ruin. Smoke rose from all of his limbs. His battle clothes had been scorched away. His unconscious eyes were covered by his disheveled hair.

A silence fell over the battlefield. A first-tier adventurer had been defeated. A Level 6 had fallen. The impossible had happened—a crack had formed in the bastion of the strongest.

Everyone stood quiet, unmoving.

But that only lasted for a moment.

“Dooooooooooooooooooown!!! Dáinsleif is dooooooooooooooooooooooown!!!”

Over the mountains, Orario erupted.

“Down! Down?! Wh—wai—what?! A Level 6 is doooown! What?! Hooooooooooooow! That’s amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!”

Ibly shouted in total confusion.

His throat grew hoarse, but he leaned out over his seat and continued to shout, and seeing him do that, the rest of the city joined in. And the adventurers. And even the deities roared.

“ !!!”

The city shook. The ground quaked. That roar lit a fire in everyone who heard it. People in the surrounding countries leaped to their feet, wondering if an explosion had gone off in the city at the center of the world.

“They did it! They did it!!!”

Tiona shouted and shook Aiz’s shoulders even as the girl’s eyes were still glued to the mirror.

“They punched through Dáinsleif!”

Beside her, Tione leaped to her feet, in thrall to her excitement.

“One of Freya Familia’s core members…!”

Riveria’s and Gareth’s eyes were both opened wide at the incredible feat that had just been achieved.

“—That’s enough.”

And Finn.

Braver smiled at the girl whose strategy had led to such a minuscule possibility.

““““Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!””””

Meanwhile, inside Babel at the center of the town, the deities were at a loss for words.

The gods and goddesses, those cheering Freya and those not, they all leaped to their feet, hugged the closest deity to them while staring in shock at the trembling mirror.

A tremor shook the entire city.

The shooting star of justice landed in the middle of what looked like a game that was all but over and turned all of Orario into a raging inferno that couldn’t be extinguished.

“Yesssssssssssssss!”

And amid all of it, Lilly allowed herself a little celebration.

Having achieved the absolute minimum requirement for victory that Finn had set for her—defeating a first-tier adventurer—the prum girl forgot the current situation in her excitement.

Not einherjar. Not Andhrímnir. A first-tier adventurer. Both tactically and strategically, that was an absolute requirement.

This was the one person she had wanted. Lilly had focused on Hegni Ragnar. The formation where Tsubaki and the smiths and then Daphne’s party had fought so hard became the setup to a massive payoff. And the final push had come from Lyu.

It wasn’t just a lucky punch. It was the hope that they had all dragged out with everyone’s effort even while being crushed by despair.

“The flow is changing…! With this, the flow will change!”

It was just one victory.

But for the coalition, it was larger than anything, and for Freya Familia it was a more painful loss than any other. The loss not of a mere pawn, but an irreplaceable major piece, was sure to cause a disturbance.

In contrast to the city, the main battlefield fell silent as the Gulliver brothers and the other einherjar fighting against the left wing of the alliance stood in shock.

“Hegni…lost? …No way…?”

Morale wavered, and even if Hedin had been there himself, the shock couldn’t have been stopped.

Outside the survivors in the southeast of the main battlefield, the einherjar had been almost completely wiped out by Lyu’s barrage. Panic started to spread, even to the main base, where the goddess sat in wait.

“H-Heith?!”

“H-Hegni! What should we—?!”

The Andhrímnir were the same. The dedicated formation of healers and herbalists made up only of women cried out in confusion.

“—Silence!”

““!!!””

Heith’s rebuke quickly quelled the panic.

“We are the Andhrímnir! Those who satiate and heal the einherjar! Without end! No matter how often the warriors fall, we treat their wounds, smack them awake, and send them back out!”

The furious witch who worshipped the goddess silenced the panic that threatened to consume her charges.

“I will heal Hegni! He will rise at once! Rona! You and the others tend to the Einherjar! Our victory is unshakeable! There is no need to lose your presence of mind!”

““Y-yes, ma’am!”””

With Heith’s scolding, the healers managed to regain their calm.

Using magic and items, the healers and herbalists worked together, hastily reading their treatments.

The coalition…and Gale Wind!!! You’ve really done it now! But even so, all that you did was down Hegni! Even if it hurts morale, it does nothing to change the state of the greater battle! We still overwhelmingly hold the advantage!

Internally swallowing a bitter pill, Heith pulled herself together.

They had finished healing their fellow healers who had been caught up in Lyu’s barrage. Now the full force of the Andhrímnir could reestablish the line. They had supported the struggles in Folkvangr for years now, so they could handle that much.

And that was also a massive thorn in Lilly’s side. Their failure to finish off Heith and the healers at the start was redounding painfully now, as the sparks of unrest were being quelled before they could turn into a blaze.

“I won’t allow the flow to change! You will never find any hope!”

With loyalty to the goddess in her heart, she rushed to where Hegni had fallen.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

A thunderous explosion struck the Andhrímnir.

Heith was caught up in it, too.

“—Waaah?! …Huh?”

They had been bombarded.

A rain of magic was falling all around them, searing their flesh.

The Andhrímnir and Heith were being targeted with pinpoint accuracy.

That in and of itself was fine.

It wasn’t ideal, but coming under attack was expected. The problem was the angle of the bombardment.

It was coming from behind them.

And it was a hail of lightning that was pelting them.

……What?

There should have been no enemies behind them, and it was supposedly a direction they didn’t need to worry about.

Heith slowly, awkwardly turned to look toward her familia’s main base.

Standing there was a single white elf.

Of course he would be there. The marshal, holding his rhomphaia out with one hand.

Hedin Selrand.

He had placed Heith and her healers not too far and not too close, just inside the range where he could utilize the full strength of his magic—and he was sniping them.

……………………………Huh?

Heith’s mind went blank.

As she struggled for what might have been all eternity to comprehend what was happening, Hedin said only one thing.

“Struggle for eternity, indestructible soldiers of lightning.”

A merciless declaration of destruction.

“Caurus Hildr.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! Wait, what?! Eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

Ibly’s shriek was unending.

He almost dropped his magic-stone microphone in shock while verbalizing what everyone in the city was thinking.

“Wait, wait, wait, what?! Seriously, what?! I can’t keep up, what is going on, seriously, please, wait for me!”

Seeing the furious curtain of lightning pouring down on the Andhrímnir, the city exploded yet again. They had erupted like never before when Dáinsleif was taken out, but the incomprehensible attack by Hildsleif that almost immediately followed broke their brains’ ability to process events.

No one could tell what was going on.

The first thing the masses suspected was that the divine mirrors had malfunctioned even though the deities roared that there was no way something like that could happen.

The adventurers understood what they were seeing was reality and were consumed by total confusion.

“Friendly fire?! Is this a blunder by Hildsleif?! Did he mistake friend and foe?! But he’s still firing off shots…aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh, I don’t knooooooooooooooow! Help me out here, Lord Ganesha! What’s going on!”

“That’s Ganeshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

“What do we do about this?!”

They couldn’t get things under control. The commentators were less than useless. They were just hapless noisemakers at the mercy of the events unfolding on the battlefield.

Everyone in Orario watched dumbstruck, even the deities, and the exact same thought crossed their minds.

They just couldn’t believe it.

Because there was no way that could happen with Freya Familia, who demonstrated such absolute fealty to their goddess.

“…He betrayed them…?”

Someone in the crowd in Central Park said it.

That one word gained momentum, transforming into a tidal wave.

“Hildsleif switched sides?!”

“R-rebellion?!”

“No way!”

“Don’t be crazy!”

“There’s no way! This is Hedin Selrand we’re talking about!”

The most anguished cries came from his fellow elves.

He was cruel and stern, but he was a white elf more loyal than anyone. Many people couldn’t believe he was a turncoat even with the truth staring them in the face.

“It’s like Apollo Familia?!”

The masses had a powerful sense of déjà vu.

—No.

Lilly could say for sure this was different.

Though she doubted her eyes after seeing such an unbelievable scene, she could still firmly say that something else happened that time. The apparent betrayal during the war game with Apollo Familia was what the people in Orario and many of the coalition adventurers were probably thinking of.

But they were wrong. Completely wrong.

That was a strategy carried out by Lilly using her magic. The prum Louann hadn’t actually betrayed Apollo Familia at all.

So this wasn’t the same.

This was true madness.

“Is what Mr. Bell said really…?”

Lilly was dumbstruck as her thoughts flew back to what had happened a few hours earlier.

Before the war game had begun.

“Hey, Lilly…could you hear me out?”

After she had fired up the coalition, what the white-haired boy had seemingly made up his mind to tell her.

“I have a feeling Master…Mr. Hedin…will help us…”

Not just Lilly, Hestia and everyone else there was taken aback by what he had said.

“When the world was twisted, when I was cornered…while Master was battering me, it felt like he was also helping me.”

“So he was battering you…”

“Well, yeah…uh-um, anyway! It was like he was talking to the real me, not Freya Familia’s Bell Cranell…!”

—Whether you would be a heretic or not is irrelevant.

—Move forward. Standing still is what is unforgivable.

Those were the words he had spoken when Bell had been on the verge of losing sight of himself. And during the twilight in Folkvangr, with the bright setting sun at his back, he had shown Bell what seemed like the smallest of smiles.

In Bell’s vague explanation, Hedin had carried out an unrelenting baptism, but it had felt like he was trying to guide a hapless pupil.

“Master seemed somehow different compared to Mr. Van or Mr. Allen and the others…but it’s not like he will be our ally, either, though…that’s probably impossible…”

Looking down at that, Bell struggled for the words to explain himself, before finally looking up.

“…Maybe, even before my date with Ms. Syr…Master was only acting for her sake…That’s what I think now.”

“So he might lend us his strength…to use us…”

Bell sounded like a pupil who couldn’t fully comprehend his master, but even so, he still believed in him.

It wasn’t a possibility that could be fully counted on, so as the commander of the entire operation, Lilly couldn’t afford to just have faith. That was why she had answered, “The possibility of something like that happening seems to be impossibly low.” And Bell accepted that, just asking her to keep it in mind.

“His hunch really…turned out to be…”

Snapping back to the scene in front of her, Lilly stared in amazement.

A fresh hail of lightning was falling on the Andhrímnir. Even far away from her perch on the mausoleum, she could see it. And that scene was proof that the possibility Bell had sensed was coming to fruition.

She didn’t know what Hedin intended. His true intent was still shrouded in doubt. But cutting away all but the strict reality in front of her, the first-tier adventurer Hedin Selrand had—

“—Switched sides?!”

“AAAaaaaaaAAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!”

Heith let loose a voice somewhere between a roar and a shriek.

The cascading lightning continued to fall. Healers and herbalists blown away by the raining bolts slumped to the ground one after the other, while Heith alone shuddered as every emotion erupted inside her.

“What! What are you doing! What are you thinking, Hedin!!!”

Performing high-speed healing on her charred and scorched body, then batting one of the bolts of lightning aside with her rod, she glared straight at the elf in the distance.

“Shooting us, your allies! Have you lost your mind?!”

As if expressing her rage, her long red hair billowed free from its bindings.

After summoning seventy-eight magic soldiers, Hedin answered calmly.

“I am of sound mind. I would never misfire.”

“Gh…?!”

“By my own judgment, I decided to annihilate you.”

As if to support his statement, the magic circle at his feet swelled with more magic power. The coral-red eyes behind his glasses betrayed no trace of madness. With the thoughtful and intelligent gaze the Heith knew so well, Hedin had performed his brutal act with full understanding.

This time, another hundred white bolts of lightning appeared in the air, targeting her, as her fists trembled.

“You would betray Lady Freya?! You?! Her loyal retainer?! Even if the whole world turned against her, I thought you and the captain at least would always protect her!”

“Do not measure me by your selfish standards, fool. You make me sick,” Hedin replied in annoyance. “And I have not the slightest intention of doing Lady Freya any harm.”

“What?!”

And then he put it even more simply, so that Heith in her fury could understand it.

“I will sin for the sake of my devotion. That is all I am saying. Just like Hörn.”

“ ”

That was the name of Heith’s fellow healer.

She didn’t know how Hörn felt. But to Heith, she was a clumsy girl who annoyed her at times, who she looked after at times, who she sympathized with at times. One of the few people she had counted as a friend. And she had been a traitor.

“…You too…even you!!!”

She experienced the same feeling of betrayal she felt when she found out Hörn had betrayed the goddess. A traitor like Hörn. When she confirmed that, Heith cast aside all doubt and embraced a raging inferno of wrath.

“Have you no shame, apostate! Lady Freya’s will is absolute! How can you speak of devotion while turning your back on it?!”

“Talking with zealots like you is tiresome. And a waste of time. Go to sleep.”

The barrage of lightning began anew.

Even though Heith was the only one still left standing, the awful lightning strikes continued to fall.

“As if!”

Struck by successive blows, her body was scorched and blasted, at times her limbs were barely hanging on, but the golden crest on her skin quickly undid all of the damage.

“Ars Gullveig! Even if you are a first-tier adventurer, you can’t finish me off! I am Heith Velvet—the witch Lady Freya bestowed with gold!”

A golden glow emanated from her as she continued healing with a bottomless regeneration. The auto-heal that even Crozzo’s magic swords couldn’t break. Despite being a Level 4’s magic, it still endured Hedin’s Caurus Hildr. It was truly an absurd ability.

“So long as I am here, the einherjar and Andhrímnir will not fall! I will protect Lady Freya!”

Heith raged as the anger went to her head. Bathed in countless lightning strikes, her body shuddered, but she stepped forward, attempting to advance.

“Silence, pig.”

“Wh—”

Hedin spoke, as if it was a waste of his time.

“Can’t finish you off? Fool. Your magic isn’t eternal. It’s finite.”

As if it was bothersome even to explain.

He continued speaking while maintaining his barrage.

“Mind is required to make use of magic. That is something everyone knows.”

Heith’s Mind capacity was a clear cut above other healers and mages of the same level as her.

The amount of healing she could sustain over time was one of the coalition’s greatest concerns.

However…

“Between my Mind and yours, who do you think has the greater capacity?”

“ ”

Hedin Selrand.

The magic swordsman who even Riveria Ljos Alf acknowledged had the highest total Mind of anyone in the city.

When that realization hit Heith, it quenched her fiery rage. and she froze.

“It goes without saying who will run out of strength first.”

The barrage accelerated.

A furious torrent of lightning that surpassed even Heith’s healing levels.

She healed, regenerated, recovered, and continued to be struck and scorched by lightning. Heith’s magic creaked and groaned. Her advance halted, and finally her knees struck the ground. Buffeted by an unceasing barrage, she saw it—the scornful sneer on the elf’s handsome face.

“Your gold is inferior to that incomplete goddess—to Hörn.”

Her eyes widened, and she screamed as he revealed the jealousy that she had felt toward Hörn.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Lightning.

Destruction.

When the merciless artillery barrage finally stopped, what lay on the ground was a golden wreckage that turned out to be not so eternal after all.

“Hedin Selrand…!”

Lyu was visibly stunned.

It had been almost instantaneous.

Right after she had defeated Hegni, he immediately unleashed his magic and annihilated the Andhrímnir.

She went still for a few moments at the impossible situation.

“Gale Wind! Go to the northwest!”

After putting Heith down, Hedin fired off a command.

“That stupid rabbit…Rabbit Foot is fighting Ottar in an amphitheater there!”

“!”

“Facing that one alone is hopeless! Go do something!”

Her fellow elf unhesitatingly gave Lyu an order. After a brief instant’s shock, Lyu shot back.

“You expect me to listen to a member of Freya Familia! To believe you’ve switched sides?”

“I cleared away all the healers that were such a threat to you. Do you need any further proof?”

As he said that, a bolt of lightning floating above his shoulder—magic he had had on standby—activated.

The target was Lyu’s position…because a battered beast person had been sneaking up on her. He slumped to the ground with a groan. It was an einherjar who had used his allies as shields to somehow survive her Luminous Wind.

Lyu’s eyes widened at the efficient shot that had protected her.

“…I find it difficult to accept this. You could rightly say I am agitated.”

“From my view, you are just as irregular yourself. As a result, I had to move up the timetable for my plan.”

Hedin leaped closer, still keeping a certain distance as he stood across from her.

Despite their words, the two white elves calmly revealed their thoughts.

“But there was value and meaning in moving sooner.”

“…”

“I’ll use you. So make use of me, too.”

“…Answer me one question. Why?”

Hedin’s answer was unchanged.

“Obviously, for my master’s sake.”

Their eyes locked.

Their matching blond hair swayed in the sandy breeze.

After a moment, Lyu decided to trust her fellow elf’s eyes.

“I will go to Bell. What will you do?”

“My thunder is more efficient for destruction than your wind. I will follow after taking care of some cleanup. Go.”

Turning away from her, Hedin deployed another magic circle.

He didn’t even look at Lyu as he put the determination in his heart into words.

“It is I who embarked on this foolish path. I am the sinner who disgraced the goddess.”

I won’t yield that position to anyone else.

With that last, unspoken declaration, Hedin began the bombardment of Freya Familia’s headquarters.

“Gaaaaah?!”

“H-Hedin! What are—?!”

“Uwaaaaaah?!”

The einherjar on standby were devastated by a storm of lightning.

Even though he had moved the headquarters forward while leaving Freya in the house of the gods at the westernmost point of the island, he let go of all hesitation. The members of Freya Familia that had been held back in reserve were swept away before they could realize what was happening.

The stone pavement exploded, and a storm of lightning filled the area.

“L-Lady Freya?!”

“Hedin is attacking the headquarters!”

News of the disaster quickly reached Freya.

Hearing the report of her guards who came rushing in, there was a look of amazement on her face.

“Gh…? Hedin…?”

This was a development even Freya hadn’t predicted.

Even she never doubted Hedin’s loyalty. Because before the war game, even with the eyes of a deity, she could detect no lie in his pledge of loyalty.

“I will not beg your forgiveness, Lady Freya.”

Imagining the look that was likely on her face in that moment, Hedin murmured to himself.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, hiding the foolish emotion he felt, he looked out over the battlefield more nobly than anyone.

“This is my ego. In exchange for being branded a traitor, I will see this through to the end.”

With Hedin’s resolve, the bombardment intensified.

It was a lighting blast that made friend and foe alike stare in surprise.

Freya Familia’s headquarters and its left wing.

The entire main battlefield was in firing range for him, and his mopping up made a giant mess of the battle.

““““What are you doing, Hedin?!””””

Dodging or swatting aside all of the magic bolts fired at them, the Gulliver brothers erupted.

“Guaaaaaaaa…?!”

More einherjar fell, helpless to do anything against the menace falling from the skies.

It was an ultra-dense fusillade that struck only Freya Familia, and in the face of its terrible destructive power, even Level 3 adventurers were knocked out entirely from a single shot. And there were no more Andhrímnir to revive them. Without the blessing of resurrection, they were just simple adventurers.

The ultimate formation that had so tormented the coalition melted away before their eyes.

As the screams and shouts reached his ears on the wind, Hedin monologued.

“I did say this was the strongest formation.”

—When they are within earshot, I can command the warriors as freely as I move my arms and legs.

—This method is the most efficient. This formation is the strongest.

He had said all of that himself.

An absolute brain controlling the individually powerful einherjar like arms and legs. That did indeed possess a destructive ability greater than Loki Familia, who excelled at strength in cooperation.

However—

“But if I were to fall, or to change sides, that would make this the weakest formation.”

From another angle, Freya Familia’s current deployment was too dependent on Hedin. More than Loki Familia depended on Finn, even. So if there were some disruption to the head of the formation, it would collapse in the blink of an eye.

They had already completely lost the chain of command. The einherjar were overly optimized for fighting and ran around aimlessly while the elf who could precisely see the board was able to unleash an accurate and mercilessly fusillade.

“There is nothing strange at all about this. It is the natural consequence of my decision.”

Who possessed the greatest magic firepower in this war game?

Hedin.

Who had the greatest range on this battlefield?

Hedin.

And who understood the deployments of each side and grasped the current state of the battle better than anyone?

Hedin.

Hedin Selrand’s betrayal was the one and only event that could sink this battle into unrecoverable chaos.

“I have preserved my Mind. Don’t worry, I’ll eradicate every last one of you.”

The defeat of a first-tier adventurer would break the spirits of any army.

So what happened after the betrayal of a first-tier adventurer?

The answer was simple.

Despair.

“It’s shifting!”

Finn’s eyes opened wide.

“It’s shifting?!”

Hermes was dumbfounded.

“It’s shiftiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!”

And Ibly let go with a loud shout.

“The balance! Freya Familia’s overwhelmingly superior position! A single savage elf has upended the balance of power!!!”

His stupendous bombardment that had poured down across the main battlefield. Orario shook again after witnessing the destruction Caurus Hildr left in its wake.

Even complete amateurs could tell that Freya Familia had been dealt a painful blow.

This was a situation that Finn hadn’t imagined and Hermes hadn’t foreseen. That was only natural. Even Hedin’s patron goddess Freya hadn’t suspected this.

But regardless, the tide was turning.

“You can’t say the remaining forces are even! The first-tier adventurers, even minus the black and white knights, are still unscathed! But the einherjar and Andhrímnir being taken down means that Lady Freya has her back against the wall now…!”

Hermes leaned forward toward the mirror as cheers and boos filled the thirtieth floor of Babel.

Most of the coalition’s deities had dropped out. Only four remained: Hestia Familia, Miach Familia, Hathor Familia, and Plutus Familia. The number of followers who could still fight had dropped below thirty. It was already just a coalition in name only, hovering on the precipice of complete destruction.

But Freya Familia’s einherjar, excepting those at the house of the gods serving as Freya’s guards and the squadron in the east led by Allen, were almost completely wiped out, and the familia members following the Gulliver brothers were even now running for their lives from the barrage.

Strictly speaking, if the coalition could keep Ottar and the other first-tier adventurers in place while scraping together a force strong enough to assault the house of the gods, they could pressure the queen whose defenses had grown terribly thin.

“This is different! They have a clear path to victory now!”

Meanwhile in Loki Familia’s home, Finn shared his thoughts with the familia.

“It’s huge that Ottar and Allen are so far away…!”

He was excitedly standing on the sofa.

Freya Familia’s number one and number two. If they worked together, they would be able to put the coalition down, even with Hedin switching sides. That was just a testament to how much power and speed the city’s strongest and the city’s fastest could bring to bear.

But Allen was currently on the far eastern edge of the island on Hedin’s orders.

The lines of communication couldn’t be stretched any further. And Ottar was fighting in the ruins to the northwest, far enough away that even Allen couldn’t cover the distance in an instant.

“He gained a lot of time and distance sending Allen after the coalition deities! …He adapted Lilliluka Erde’s original failed strategy!”

That theft made Finn groan as he looked down at the game board from a distance.

And Lilly, whose strategy had been hijacked, just wanted to scream at Hedin.

“What is this cherry-picking all the good parts for yourself…!!!”

Lilly was furious atop the mausoleum.

Her anger was understandable. After all, he had easily coopted the strategy that she had feverishly crafted while enduring pressure that she swore would be the death of her. There was a sense of defeat and inferiority seeing him easily accomplish what had been impossible for her.

“What nobility? What honor? He’s just a savage, evil elf!”

She stomped and flailed her arms, screaming with tears in her eyes.

“—Is probably what your spewing, but don’t misunderstand.”

Hedin spoke, accurately predicting that she would be having a tantrum.

“This is all your achievement. Your deployment was excellent. Be proud. It was adequate enough for me to recycle it.”

Because the positioning, commands, and tactics were all skillfully done, Hedin was able to adopt her strategy for himself. Or more precisely, because it was skillful, he judged it worthy of coopting. It was because she was there that the battle had gone in this direction.

“Arrrrrrggggghhh! Ms. Haruhime, Ms. Aisha! Fall back with the Berbera! Forget the enemy! Just completely ignore them! You’ll get used as cover from the barrage!”

“Y-yes, Miss Lilly!”

“I know! I’m not getting mixed up in this insane magic!”

What made that clear was the fact that Lilly had given that order through the oculus before Hedin had announced his betrayal.

The einherjar couldn’t even try to use the coalition adventurers as shields. Aisha’s group had pulled back from the left wing at some point, linking up with Haruhime’s reserve, aiming to gather in front of the mausoleum, at the point where Tsubaki’s completely destroyed division had been.

A location where they wouldn’t get in the way of Hedin’s shots.

“Efficient. But that is as it should be.”

Lilly had promptly anticipated the situation and prepared for the possibility that Hedin would switch sides. Precisely because none other than Hedin had arranged it.

He had set out all the signs in advance.

He had moved Freya Familia’s headquarters up farther than necessary, approaching the Andhrímnir, as if signaling the possibility of his betrayal in a way that only a commander in the field could possibly notice.

Not because he had confidence in a commander he had never even met before.

But because he trusted the shadow of Finn lurking behind her.

“If he was giving you hints, then you should be able to see it.”

Hedin had even used the information he learned at Wishe, that Finn intended to teach Lilly.

They hadn’t arranged it in advance. It was solely Hedin’s decision. His plan couldn’t work unless he succeeded in deceiving both his allies and his enemies, so of course he wouldn’t share it there. Allen and the others had sharp noses. If he had made contact with Lilly, they would surely have seen through it no matter how much subterfuge was involved.

Because of that, on the other side of the mirror, the prum hero smiled, guessing everything.

Lilliluka Erde…you probably noticed the possibility of my betrayal based on the fact that I was holding a good portion of my Mind in reserve.

Other than the opening barrage that had stunned Daphne and Lilly, Hedin intentionally refrained from any area-wide bombardments. He left the following rampage to Hegni and the others, preserving his Mind for this moment.

Lilly might have been scared the magical barrage could resume at any moment, but on realizing that it wasn’t coming, she would surely have felt something was off. Putting all those pieces together, she would guess what he was really targeting.

Even though he couldn’t be sure, he expected her to be prepared to use him, even as she fought against such an immense force—and though Hedin had no way of knowing, it was the possibility that Bell had voiced earlier that was the final factor in her decision.

“You pass. I acknowledge it. You are capable, prum. Far more so than that stupid rabbit.”

After giving her his greatest praise, which would have made Bell cry if he heard it, Hedin adjusted his glasses.

It wasn’t just Lilly, either.

Though he accepted the insolence of it, he had also made use of his master’s sudden change of intent. Thanks to that, he had been able to distance Allen from the main battlefield. If it was Hedin’s order, it would have invited argument, or in the worst-case suspicions of his betrayal.

Hedin hadn’t let any of the opportunities that had appeared slip by, including Gale Wind’s sudden reinforcement. Sifting through the enormous range of possibilities, he had managed to materialize this current situation.

“The majority of the coalition was sacrificed all for this moment. And even with that, the balance of power is still disadvantageous.”

It had been a major gamble.

Like a king embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime gamble, Hedin had been forced to push all-in.

That was just how powerful Freya Familia was.

“But there still remain some usable pieces.”

There were still cards left at hand with which to fight.

So they still had a chance of victory.

“To fulfill my wish—and to have her realize her wish, I shall lend my strength. Work like your life depends on it, adventurers.”

““““Hedin, you bastard!!!””””

The Gullivers were furious.

Of all people, it was the retainer whose loyalty they never questioned, even if they did detest him. Their rage knew no bounds.

“That piece-of-shit four-eyes!”

“How mad does he have to go before he’s satisfied!”

“Purge him!”

“Murder him!”

The lightning continued to rain down. And worst of all, the Andhrímnir who were the familia’s lifeline had been wiped out. The balance had shifted. There was no scale great enough to measure the sin Hedin had committed. The four brothers let loose a shout that terrified friend and foe alike and, ignoring the coalition entirely, they started to charge at the loathsome white elf.

But—

“Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

A steel fist unleashed a thunderous blast.

“Gaaaaaah?!”

The powerful blow slammed into the ground, blowing away all the einherjar fleeing the hail of lightning in a panic.

The shock emanating from behind them forced the Gulliver brothers to turn around.

““““What now?!””””

Spinning around in annoyance, they were greeted by several figures.

“Who, us? Allies of justice of course! We’ll be jumping on Lyu’s bandwagon, mew!”

“As if there’s an ally of justice like you, black cat.”

The shadow of a cat person spinning a knife appeared in the cloud of dust. And a human figure stood up, pulling their fist out of the cratered ground.

The breeze flowing through the massive caldera blew the cloud away, revealing the group that had appeared on the battlefield.

“We’re here for some payback, mini-mes!”

Runoa Faust drove her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

“Meooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!”

Chloe and the rest of the cat people yowled to echo that declaration of war.

“That’s…! Lady Runoa, Lady Chloe?!”

“They’re…the tavern girls?!”

Haruhime, who was still invisible, and Aisha were both taken aback.

““““The Benevolent Mistress!””””

There was venom in the Gulliver brothers’ cry.

The workers at The Benevolent Mistress were not wearing their usual green uniforms but an array of battle clothes and armor. Runoa wore short clothes that bared her stomach and a scarf, Chloe a short, hooded cape. They and the rest of the girls were wielding weapons that no civilians would hold and brimming with determination to fight.

“More reinforcements after Ms. Lyu…?”

Lilly also noticed the girls from The Benevolent Mistress appearing at the southeast end of the main battlefield. Runoa and Chloe, who were Level 4, went without saying, but the others also gave off the air of upper-level adventurers.

Orario’s strongest tavern had joined the fray.

“Whoa, enemies and allies are sleeping everywhere meow. This is why we were in such a rush.”

“We’re seriously late. All ’cause of a certain stupid cat.”

Chloe casually swished her tail as she looked around while Runoa’s lips broke into a smile.

And then a single cat person walked out from behind the group.

“—I’m back meow, Freya Familia.”

A golden shoulder guard that reflected the sunlight and a spear with a gold design.

The few remaining einherjar murmured at that familiar sight.

“Vana Alfi…”

“Ahnya Fromel!”

The stunned voices focused on Ahnya.

And the chaos also reached the eastern edge of the island far in the distance.

“Allen! The lightning flashes that have been going off! That was Hedin attacking our—!”

“That miserable fly…! What the hell is he thinking?!”

Allen and the einherjar hunting down the deities noticed the disturbance at their main base. Hearing the report of the scout that had run to the center line and then hurried back to report, Allen was furious, but his expression changed again when he heard the next part.

“A-also…reinforcements from The Benevolent Mistress have been confirmed! Including Vana Alfi—”

“—What?!”

The scout was speechless after giving that report because of the mask of fury that appeared on Allen’s face. As the other einherjar gulped, Allen clenched his silver spear, as if to snap it, and glared to the west.

“That dumbass!”

The hellish gazes of the einherjar skewered Ahnya. And her brother who was somewhere on the island would find out soon enough, and he’d scorn her, too.

Surrounded by her personal trauma—Ahnya kept her eyes up and forward, refusing to flinch.

“Abandoned cat! Still clinging on!”

“Didn’t Allen and Lady Freya—no Lady Syr—already break your spirit?!”

When the city had been twisted by Freya’s charm.

Her own flesh and blood had poured salt on her wounds, and the goddess had given her the most cruel revelation.

In fact, she had crumpled. She had holed up in her room and wasted away ever since then.

Answering Dvalinn and Alfrik’s insult and observation, Ahnya nodded honestly.

“My spirit did break, meow. No, it was totally shredded and messed up…I didn’t understand anything anymeowre,” she answered in a lonely voice.

Runoa and Chloe and the others held their tongues.

“But I won’t waver anymore.”

But the next moment, she looked forward with determined eyes.

Past the Gulliver brothers.

To the western end of the island, toward the house of the gods, where the girl was.

“I came to help Syr, meow!”

Ahnya howled her resolve across the battlefield.

Going back in time.

“Why are you here, you useless goddess?”

“What’s it matter, this is a bar, ain’t it?”

Before the start of the war game.

The CLOSED sign was hanging on the door to The Benevolent Mistress, but a lone goddess was drowning her woes in alcohol, her cheek resting on the bar. It was Loki, of course.

Other than her, there was only one other person in the tavern: the owner, Mia.

Because she refused to serve the goddess any more alcohol, Loki had even brought her own.

“Hey, Mama Mia…not gonna join the war game?” Loki rambled drunkenly, looking up from the counter.

But even so, Mia was unwavering.

“Go home. Nothing will change no matter how many times you come here.”

As Mia implied, Loki had been coming to the tavern for days now.

Or more precisely, every day since before the rules of the war game were set, trying to persuade Mia to take part.

“I can’t join, but the Guild can’t say jack about me hanging around anywhere outside the battlefield. I don’t like letting that shrimp take the cake, but just this once, I decided to do what I can to make sure Freya loses.”

“Got nothing to do with me.”

“Bete and them are all pissy, too. Finn’s even giving out all the advice he can.”

Loki just kept talking, and Mia, who had heard it all several times before, now just looked at her in disgust. She was polishing a glass, as if fed up with having to deal with this drunk customer.

“Hey, Mama Mia. We’ve got a bet going for the war game this time, too. You know what the numbers are?”

“How would I?”

“One hundred to zero. No one will take the bet. Every last deity bet on that bimbo.”

“…”

“That’s not even a gamble anymore, so the bookie just gave up. That’s how rigged this war game is. ’Cause of that Guild idiot, this is just gonna be a public execution.”

Loki didn’t try to hide her annoyance.

She just grumbled more complaints into her cup like “What three great quests, stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“But…there is a way to make it ninety-nine to one.”

Loki’s joking demeanor suddenly disappeared, and she raised her head.

“If you joined the coalition.”

“…”

“Freya Familia’s former captain Mia Grand. The Level 6…Demi Ymir. If you switched sides, then just maybe…is what everyone’s thinkin’.”

That was before Ottar was captain.

She had half-retired from Freya Familia during the dark ages, but she had made it through that terrible baptism, all while sniffing her nose at it all. She knew all of Freya’s children well, and still had the goddess’s blessing on her back, so if she joined the coalition, she would immediately boost their chances and could even be the ace up their sleeve.

But Mia kept her silence.

This time was different from when the city had been trapped in Freya’s world. With Freya, who had been willing to abandon everything for Bell, Loki could accept that Mia hadn’t been able to take too big a step out of line—as demonstrated by Hestia’s, Hermes’s, and Asfi’s struggles to break free.

But it was different now. Freya couldn’t use her charm. There was no reason for Mia to be so passive.

“You gave his back a nudge, but you won’t lend him your strength?”

Mia polished the glass.

And polished it.

It wasn’t like her.

Getting frustrated with the goddess’s all-seeing eyes and the pointlessness of it all, she sighed.

“…I made a deal with that goddess.”

“A deal?”

“I swore that if she ever happened to meet her Odr, I wouldn’t get in the way.”

Mia skipped the details, but she was referring to an old story. When a still small dwarf had met a goddess in a field of flowers.

“And that boy is her Odr…That bimbo’s fated partner?”

“That’s how it is.”

“How stupid…You’re gonna keep that deal? You? Mia Grand?”

Mia didn’t particularly blame Loki’s reaction.

She had resisted and rebelled before because she didn’t like how the goddess of beauty was going about things this time. She had felt something from Bell when he kept trying to fight while still being driven into the corner from every angle, so she gave him a little push.

But in the back of her mind, she also thought that if she hadn’t done anything at that time, the goddess would have gotten her hands on her Odr. As terrible and twisted as it might have been, she would have achieved part of her wish.

“What do you think that goddess was doing the first time I met her?”

“…? What, pull that high-handed ‘Become my follower’ crap or something?”

“She was crying. On the ground in a field of flowers, hands covering her face.”

“!!!”

Loki’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t believe her ears. Mia’s gaze drifted into the distance.

“My start with her wasn’t the goddess, it was the girl…I knew her true nature was on that side.”

That girl weeping all alone in a field of flowers at twilight was still burned into her eyes. At the time, Freya hadn’t made her deal with Hörn, and of course she didn’t have the girl’s face then, either. But in Mia’s eyes, the goddess crying in the field of flowers had just looked like a lonely girl.

“Chloe and Runoa and Ahnya…I snapped when she messed with my stupid girls. That was why I pushed that kiddo’s back.”

“…”

“But your bimbo is just another one of my stupid girls.”

“…”

“If even I betray her this time, if I give her a real good smack…that idiot might really break this time…That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Mia set the glass she was polishing aside and weakly shook her head. The doubt and hesitation that only she knew, as the one who had spent more time with the girl than all of her other followers. Looking at the fist that had once clocked a goddess but that she couldn’t swing again, she closed her eyes.

Loki fell silent and looked at her.

“I understand you can’t abandon Freya or Syr.”

“…”

“But you know, Mia. I’ve known that bimbo even longer than you.” Bringing up their time in the heavens, Loki flashed a wicked grin. “She is a nasty queen who reeeally hates to lose. Being real here, I think she can’t control herself anymore and is just desperately flailing around. I’d bet on it.”

“…What are you getting at?”

“If Freya was looking for a way out, would you help stop her?”

Mia refused to bend her will, avoiding getting caught up in a deity’s smooth-talking.

“Unless that stupid girl herself asks me to help, I won’t go.”

That moment. Loki grinned like a jester who had trapped her prey.

“You said it.”

“…What?”

“I’ll take you up on that promise.”

The goddess stood up.

“You’re coming with me, Mia.”

Lots of familias’ homes had been empty since the day before the war game.

It went without saying that it was because they had moved to the Orza ruins. Hestia Familia and all the others had put in requests to the Guild and Ganesha Familia to have their homes guarded in the meanwhile. Some had asked friendly familias not participating to watch their homes, and a few had left behind a few members.

Freya Familia was one of the latter.

There was no one willing to openly ally with them after what they had done to the city, not even the Guild. And even in this situation, Freya didn’t want to borrow anyone’s strength. Because of that, there were around twenty upper- and lower-class adventurers in the giant home.

Freya Familia’s accumulated wealth was immeasurable. With its defenses completely weakened, Folkvangr was like a mountain of treasure ripe for the taking. But even so, there was no one fool enough to try to break in.

The majority of the Labyrinth City, and above all the deities in charge of familias, didn’t doubt that Freya would win the war game. Anyone who tried to rob their treasure would assuredly be obliterated upon the einherjar’s triumphant return.

Because of that, there was no one so reckless as to break into their home, let alone to invade it.

No one besides them.

“Leeeeeet…meeeeew…go…!”

Ahnya’s loud voice rang out.

She was squirming and trying to break free while a lone werewolf carried her over his shoulder.

“Let mew go, Vanargand! This is kidnapping, no, catnapping! Copying big brother’s voice to abduct meow! You fiend!”

“Who’d copy that shitty asshole! Shut your mouth, you stupid cat!”

After Runoa and the others left, the person who had appeared in Ahnya’s room was Bete.

A crass attitude, crass actions, and crass tone of voice. He and her brother shared those common traits. Ahnya had looked up in shock thinking her brother had come to see her, and then she had been forcibly carried off by none other than Vanargand.

“Take a nap!”

“Guaaah?!”

A member of Freya Familia had come running, drawn by their shouting, but Bete silenced him with a kick. Even with one arm locked up carrying Ahnya over his shoulder, the lowest-level guards couldn’t stop the assault of a Level 6.

“B-breaking into Folkvangr…?!”

Ahnya was pale as a ghost. Even an ex-familia member like her couldn’t help shuddering at such a reckless action as invading Freya Familia’s home. Or rather, precisely because she was an ex-familia member, the blood completely drained from her face.

“You’re more evil and awful than big brother meow…”

“Quit comparing me to that asshole over everything little thing! It’s not like I want to do this crap, either!”

Bete shouted in annoyance as Ahnya withered on his shoulder.

“That stupid goddess…I won’t forget this!”

He had rampaged wildly at not being able to join the war game, been silenced by Gareth’s fists, and vented on everything around him when a few days ago his goddess had snuck up and whispered in his ear.

“There’s a way we can make Freya and them really cry. You in?”

Even if he had been really pissed off then, he still wondered what the hell he had been thinking. Even though he knew he would end up getting used like this!

“Where are you going?! I’ve never been this deep inside the home, meow!”

The palatial estate had fallen silent. The only sound that could be heard was Bete’s footsteps as he ran down the wide, long, white corridor, making it clear that most of the guards had already all been dealt with.

“How should I know! I’m just following the smell!”

“…Smell…?”

Bete sniffed as he ran up a long staircase, reaching the fifth floor of the estate.

Before Ahnya’s doubt could be resolved, he arrived at a big room on the western side of the building.

A white room with a chapel-like, atmosphere.

The ceiling was tall, and there was nothing inside other than a bed in the center of the room. And a girl with blue-gray hair lying atop it.

“Ah…”

Ahnya was speechless as she was set down on the ground.

The big space brought to mind a soul lost between the mortal realm and the heavens, and the girl sleeping like the dead, unmoving.

Finally, she reflexively tried to run over.

“Sy—mgh?!”

“Not so loud.”

She was stopped by Bete’s outstretched hand.

Loki had already told him about the connection between Hörn and Freya. SO he knew the identity of the girl lying there. Loki had given him something of the girl’s, and he had followed its smell all the way here.

Glaring at Ahnya, his eyes told her not to make a noise as he covered her mouth. She just barely managed to nod.

“…This is…Syr, right? Syr…wasn’t just Lady Freya?”

“…She’s like a mirror. What she’s saying is the same as that bar girl’s true feelings.”

Bete didn’t like bothering with complex explanations, so he just covered the basic point.

With Vana Seiðr active, Hörn’s senses were connected with Freya’s. So even if the war game had already started, he still kept his voice down to avoid Freya realizing what was happening.

Ahnya looked down in disbelief at Syr’s twin—or rather Syr herself. The bed almost looked like a coffin. As if the girl had slipped into her eternal slumber. Her heart ached, and she almost slumped to the ground.

Ahnya understood why the rough werewolf had brought her there.

He was telling her to listen. To learn what was true and what was real. What the girl who had pushed Ahnya to destruction really wanted.

But Ahnya couldn’t do it.

She was still terrified. Of Freya laughing at her again. Of Syr betraying her. If the same cruel, unchanging reality awaited her, Ahnya wouldn’t be able to stand back up again.

Covering her mouth with her hands to keep herself from sobbing, Ahnya somehow managed to bring her spasming lungs back under control as she stood in front of the bed. Standing there trembling, unable to ask anything—

“Sorry…Ahnya.”

“ ”

Time stopped when those words slipped from her lips.

“Ahnya was abducted by Vanargand?! Are you sure, Roshi?!”

“Y-yeah! Mei saw it…!”

“What’s going on! Why now!”

The corridor outside was growing noisy.

Chloe and Runoa and the rest of the workers at the tavern appeared, having chased after Ahnya. Reaching the big room, they started to say something, but time froze for them as well when they saw what was there.

“Sorry…Chloe…Sorry…Runoa.”

In a holy white room that brooked no lies, they heard it.

“Sorry…Lyu.”

Their eyes widened, and they stopped breathing.

“I’m so sorry…Mia.”

Mia, who had just come rushing in with Loki, was stunned.

“…Sy…r…”

Ahnya’s eyes wouldn’t listen to her anymore.

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she couldn’t untangle her tongue.

“Stop me…”

And as if sharing her feelings.

A tear welled from Syr’s closed eyes.

“…Save me…”

Ahnya’s tear fell on the girl’s cheek. Her hand trembled as she touched the girl’s cheek, wiping away both of their tears.

Bete didn’t stop her. Even though she knew it would be transmitted to the goddess, Loki didn’t stop her, either.

The others watched, speechless as Ahnya slowly turned around. Facing away from Syr, she walked forward, eyes down, until she stopped in front of Mia and everyone else.

“Chloe, Runoa…everyone…Mama…”

Several teardrops fell at her feet. The translucent tears splashed against the marble floor and shimmered in the light.

“I…am scared of my brother…I’m even more scared of Lady Freya, meow…”

Her voice was trembling. The cat’s tears didn’t stop. Runoa was teary, Chloe hid her eyes behind her hair, and Mia watched as Ahnya looked up.

“But…Syr asked…She asked to be saved…”

Tears fell from both of her eyes. Her face a mess, the cat that had been abandoned still mewled.

“I’m an idiot. I don’t know anything…What’s a lie, what’s true…! But still!”

The tearful mewling turned into a powerful resolve.

“I want to save my family!”

In that room where no lie could be told, her plea lingered in their ears. Runoa, Chloe, the other waitresses, none of them said a word. They didn’t have to.

“…So, what will it be, Mia?”

And finally, the goddess’s question. The dwarf who had watched Ahnya’s tears closely, closed her eyes. As if being overwhelmed by Ahnya’s resolve. As if accepting Syr’s plea.

Quietly clenching her fist, her eyes opened forcefully.

“—I’m going.”

And back to the present.

“Can you hear me, Syr? It’s fine even if you can’t because I’ll shout loud enough that it doesn’t matter, meow!”

Holding her spear in her right, she put her left hand to her chest and shouted toward the house of the gods.

“I’m coming to save you now! Even if Lady Freya says not to, I swear I’m coming!”

The tears were gone from her eyes. She had already made her decision. The cat had parted with her doubt and let out a roar.

“Until we hear you!” She turned her golden spear against the Bringar and Einherjar standing in their way. “We’ll beat alllll of them! We’ll fight and win! To stop you, Syr!”

The answer of those warriors was, of course—

““““We won’t let you!!!””””

The prum brothers and the few remaining einherjar bellowed.

As the strongest army charged with weapons drawn, Runoa cracked her knuckles, Chloe licked her lips, and Ahnya spun her spear overhead like a fan.

The Benevolent Mistress raged.

“Meow! Don’t get in our waaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”

The two sides clashed. Fertility and brave warriors.

It was like Ragnarök was beginning.

Though they were both aspects over which the goddess ruled, they both sought a battle to the death over her.

The golden spear swept enemies off their feet. Fists that knew only destruction shattered armor. A nasty knife created blossoms of warriors’ blood.

Enduring the four brothers’ fierce assault, they thundered their determination across the battlefield.

“Wait for us, Syyyyyyyyyyyr!”

—Thud!

The goddess’s slender arm slammed down against the armrest.

“…How far must you go before you are satisfied?”

The stone throne easily broke her skin, causing blood to slowly well. But Freya didn’t pay that any heed as her eyes flared in rage.

It was the first time.

The first time that Freya had struck something.

The ground quaked, and the heavens cowered as the goddess’s anger was laid bare. All sound disappeared from the house of the gods. Her panicking bodyguards watched as Freya raged.

“How much must you get in my way until you are satisfied, Syr?!”

Was it directed at Hörn, who had once called herself Syr?

Or was it a curse aimed at her other self that she had already buried?

She wasn’t asking to be saved at all. What they had heard was all just the result of Hörn’s emotions and that dream blending together. Asking to be saved, the gall. That was the goddess’s assertion.

Her vehement declaration.

She would never ask to be saved. It was impossible. She would never accept it.

Freya was indignant her emotions had slipped all bounds and control.

“Hörn, Hedin, and you…! What is it?! Why do you go so far for Syr?!”

In place of the lightning that had stopped for a time, Ahnya’s shout echoed outside the temple.

This was what Freya had been apprehensive of. Though it had been used by Hedin in his betrayal, her intent in hastening the complete destruction of the coalition was absolutely correct. A countermeasure taken out of concern for this awful situation—the joker card that was The Benevolent Mistress joining the fight.

It was all because Hörn—or rather, Syr—had misrepresented Freya. That was the source of the apology that had echoed in her head via their shared senses. At first, Freya had mistook it as part of the dream. That Syr, who was even through this still sleeping, was just talking in her dream.

But she was wrong. It was a message for Ahnya and them when they came to see her. Probably at Loki’s provocation. Her oldest, insuperable bond among the deities, Loki was the only one who had an accurate understanding of the connection between Freya and Syr. She had done it as payback, just to see how she would react.

And right now, just as she had feared, the state of the battle had now become something where the result was up in the air.

They had come.

Ahnya and them.

And her.

“Ngh…Mia!”

“Bell!”

At the same time they had appeared on the battlefield, Lyu reached the amphitheater.

“Ms…Lyu…?”

“So you’ve come, Gale Wind.”

The boy was on his knee, barely more than a bright red lump of flesh. The boaz was standing calmly.

Lyu’s eyes flared when she saw the two polar opposites, and she swiftly transformed into the wind.

Ottar didn’t try to stop her as she cradled Bell, carrying him to a distant place to heal him.

“So…rry…”

“Don’t talk. Just stay still.”

“You…came…”

“Of course I did. If anything, I am sorry for being late.”

She held his shoulders, apologizing for letting him suffer like this as she filled with regret.

She continued using Noa Heal over and over, but his body wasn’t recovering at all.

The amphitheater looked like it had been cratered by artillery, and there were several crushed vials and bottles scattered all around. Even though Bell had clearly used all of his potions and even the elixir that Nahza had completed and was still terribly wounded. Lyu furrowed her brow as she wrapped Bell in healing light and looked forward.

Warlord Ottar. An opponent who was just too strong.

Even now that she was Level 6, Lyu couldn’t envision them defeating him.

The heart-chilling strongest warrior stared back at her.

Then—

“I’m butting in.”

It almost felt like a giant’s footstep shook the ground—a single dwarf appeared.

“…! Mama Mia!”

“…Mia…”

Lyu was shocked, and Ottar’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the second uninvited guest.

Mia was the same as always. She wasn’t wearing armor or even battle gear, just her usual outfit and the white apron she wore while running the tavern. The only difference was a shovel.

It was a massive steel shovel, so large it almost looked like an ax. She was holding it lightly in one hand, letting it rest on her shoulder. Mia Grand was standing on the battlefield for the first time in a long, long time, wielding only a single shovel.

“You don’t look surprised, boar boyo.”

“I suspected that you would come, too.”

Lyu and Bell couldn’t believe their ears hearing her call a Level 7 boyo.

“Still…you chose here instead of Lady Freya?”

“Don’t be stupid. If I went there, you’d just come flying over anyway.”

Mia was right. If anyone drew near the goddess, he would have swiftly concluded his baptism of Bell and moved to block the way. He was the final hurdle that Bell and the coalition—that Lyu and Mia and the rest of The Benevolent Mistress—would have to clear.

“Lyu! Hurry up and heal the kiddo and then help me out! Let’s get this boar out of the way! You’ve got somethin’ to tell Syr, too, don’tcha!”

“…!”

“And I need to give that stupid girl a good smack!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Mia’s big, booming voice lit something warm in Lyu’s heart, something different from battle spirit or resolve.

“And kid! How long are you gonna keep lying there! Did you already forget what I told you!”

“Ghhhh!!!”

“The last one standin’ is top of the pack!”

It was the same for Bell.

As he sat down in the elf’s arms, his eyes opened wide, and he felt something burning deep in his heart.

“…Y-yes…!”

Seeing Bell borrow Lyu’s hand and manage to rise to one knee, Mia smiled.

“Come, Mia.”

The giant black sword split the air.

Unlike when he had been facing Bell, Ottar assumed a stance, preparing for battle.

“Don’t go gettin’ cocky!”

Shattering the stone beneath her feet, the dwarf rushed the boaz.

“““Mama Miaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”””

Orario roiled at a feverish pitch yet again as Demi Ymir joined the fight.

The reaction took one of two extremes. The relatively younger adventurers and those residents who had only recently moved to Orario were confused, but those few who knew her true identity cheered themselves hoarse. The deities even now making Babel quake aside, the cheers outside split between those who knew Orario during the early stages of its dark age, and those who didn’t.

But there was one thing they all shared.

The dwarf who was even now fighting with Warlord was unbelievably strong, and the cat people who had rushed in as reinforcements were also surprisingly powerful.

It was impossible to know now.

The adventurers and residents of the city were losing it because finally, the competition was no longer a foregone conclusion. Adventurers watching the mirror from a tavern wildly shouting “Kill ’em!” while people looking up at the mirror on Main Street put their hands together in prayer. The bookie started making rounds among the deities, trying to open bets again, but Freya’s fans tied them down, and no one could take their eyes off the mirror for even a moment.

Voices rose in shouts too violent to be called cheering all around the city.

“C-Captain Shakti?! Is this really okay?!”

But there were some who couldn’t allow themselves to be carried away in the moment.

Ganesha Familia.

Deployed all around the giant caldera lake, the security detail who were watching the ruins had been plunged in chaos.

Just as they were doing their best to recover the adventurers who had been trampled by Freya Familia and those whose familias had dropped out, this reinforcement mess had started. Lyu had appeared from high above in the air, which they had had no way of stopping, but the humiliating part was that their perimeter around the lake had been broken as well.

At the southern end of the east-west dividing line of the island, the one bridge onto the island, The Benevolent Mistress’s staff had forced their way through, a blot on the pride of the city watch.

But it had been Demi Ymir of all people leading that charge, so even Ganesha Familia could be forgiven for being batted aside.

“Even if we avert our eyes to Demi Ymir and Vana Alfi, since they are Goddess Freya’s followers…none of the others are members of any of the coalition familias, right? This is a rule infraction, isn’t it, Captain?”

Outside the island, in front of the bridge, multiple Level 5 first-tier adventurers were still lying on the ground, eyes spinning as the young familia member Modaka pointed at the island.

Shakti, who had been watching from a different location and only just rushed over, had a deeply conflicted look on her face.

“Quit complaining, Morsaga! Now Freya and them can finally be put in their place! Just look the other way!”

“You know we are supposed to be judges, right, Ms. Ilta?! And my name is Modaka!”

Ignoring their argument, Shakti considered the current rules.

Only those followers whose deities were on the island were allowed to participate. From that alone, Lyu’s participation was a clear infraction.

There were more than a few familia members like Ilta who couldn’t forgive Freya Familia and were willing to overlook it. But they were the city watch, the guardians of order.

If she were to say her personal opinion, Shakti wanted to support Lyu, who had fought together with her during the dark age, but Ganesha Familia also had to fulfill its duty. Even if that meant being berated for being hardheaded and inflexible.

“…Modasha is right. Leon’s participation goes against the rules set out at Denatus. The patron deities of all followers fighting must be somewhere inside the island. In view of the infraction, the coalition must be penalized—”

Shakti grimaced, prepared to make the hard decision, even though she knew that in this situation, a penalty would mean the immediate defeat of the coalition.

“So if the children’s parents are on the island, then it’s all fine. Isn’t that right, Shakti?”

Before she could say it, though, a beautiful goddess’s voice rang out from behind them.

“—! You’re…”

Shakti spun around at that.

Before she even had time to wonder at what sounded like a familiar voice, she reflexively shouted her name.

“—Lady Astrea!”

Long walnut-colored hair flowing down her back, she was wearing a pure, unblemished white gown. Her eyes were even clearer that Lyu’s sky blue, a deep indigo like the starry sky. It was unmistakably her—the goddess of justice, Astrea. Seeing her there, Shakti was dumbstruck.

“Why are you…?”

“Lyu found her answer and came to see me. So I am supporting her. That’s all.”

The goddess of justice, who had left Orario five years ago at Lyu’s request after she decided to seek revenge, smiled at an old acquaintance with an honest gleam in her eyes.

Behind her were several girls who seemed to be her new followers.

And behind them.

“Thank you for guiding us, Asfi. With your help, it looks like we just made it in time.”

“Not at all, Lady Astrea. I was just keeping my promise with Leon.”

Asfi could be picked out immediately due to her iconic aqua-blue hair.

She had been watching the war game with Hermes in Babel, but she left to go meet them. Lyu and Astrea and her new followers had been on their way back from Zolingam so far away from Orario.

Everything had been planned beforehand.

When the rules and date of the war game were set, she had sent word to Zolingam, and in the event that they were not going to make it back in time, Lyu would light up the paired magic item Asfi had given her before she left Orario as a signal, so that Asfi could meet them.

They had at least made it to within sight range of the city, so Asfi carried only Lyu, taking her into the air over the Orza ruins and dropping her, and then she quickly returned and guided the rest of the re-formed Astrea Familia to the caldera.

“We’re here, too, Shakti.”

“Chloe and them took forever to come, so I wondered what would happen.”

“Lady Demeter…and God Njǫrðr…”

Another god and goddess appeared along with Astrea.

Demeter, who led Orario’s biggest agricultural producer, and Njǫrðr, who ran Meren’s fishing industry.

“The Benevolent Mistress’s girls have all converted already.”

“…!”

“They’re all our followers now. So if we take part, too, it shouldn’t be a problem as far as the rules are concerned, right?”

Shakti was taken aback.

Runoa and Chloe had begged their deities the day before the war game, and the girls from The Benevolent Mistress had finished their conversions already. So if the two of them set foot on the island, it wouldn’t be a rule infraction.

“I heard from Lyu. I never would have dreamed Freya and that girl were connected like that. But…she told me she would fight, even if it meant overcoming Freya’s will. To question the one who saved her when she should have died after losing Alize…”

Astrea didn’t hide the emotion she was feeling as her gaze grew distant.

But she also voiced her own determination, like a parent watching her own child grow up.

“Right now her justice involves stopping her friend. So I wish to shine starlight on her path, so that she can safely spread her wings…We will join the coalition.”

“Lady Astrea…”

“May we cross that bridge, Shakti?” Astrea’s walnut hair swayed as she smiled.

Shakti looked between the goddess and her followers.

They wore their familia’s emblem—the sword and wings of justice arranged like a scale. The symbol of justice that had been Shakti’s model and whose spirit she still carried.

As the deities and the familia members watched, Shakti closed her eyes.

And finally, she stepped aside, clearing the way for them.

“Please. You have the right to cross this bridge.”

“…Thank you, Shakti.”

Modaka couldn’t believe it while Ilta and the others grew excited.

Without their captain’s orders, the familia members provided a flower to each of the deities. Forming a path for them to walk past, Ganesha Familia and Asfi and Shakti watched as Astrea Familia, Demeter, and Njǫrðr entered the island.

“It’s been a while, Astrea. Sorry for the late greeting. Have you been well?”

“Yes, Demeter. I’m glad to see you and Njǫrðr looking healthy.”

“I would have liked to have a little reunion party…but this isn’t the time.”

The three deities who had known one another since before the dark age smiled in tandem, setting foot in the ruins on the other end of the bridge. The moment they stood on the island, the sounds of battle resounding through the air grew even more intense.

It was the sound of a life-and-death struggle, not something for adventurers from outside Orario to intervene in.

“Sorry for making you come all the way from Zolingam with me, Cecille, everyone.”

“Not at all! We are your followers, Lady Astrea, and we will protect you no matter what! And also, this is an important thing for our predecessor.”

The girls who had become her followers after she left Orario five years ago smiled cheerfully.

Astrea giggled as she looked ahead again.

To the western ruins where battle cries were even then still ringing out.

“We have the right to watch, but not to fight. So let’s watch from here.”

The goddess’s indigo eyes grew focused.

“We forgot to ban any outside familias!!!”

“I’m sorry, Lady Freya!”

Seeing Astrea, Demeter, and Njǫrðr, the male gods cheering for Freya cried out.

The fans who had thought it was impossible that any reinforcements would come to fight Freya Familia—who had even thought that if there were any, it would be more interesting if they did—were a day late and a valis short in their regret. As long as there was a loophole in the rules, the omniscient, impotent gods couldn’t blame Shakti’s judgment allowing them to join mid–war game.

The pandemonium happening on the thirtieth floor of Babel was unending, but a single goddess made her way through the noise.

“Now it’s finally a real fight.”

With an old man’s grunt, Loki sat down in an empty seat.

Diagonally behind her was Bete, who she had dragged there with her.

Ignoring him as he complained about watching with a bunch of annoying gods, she crossed her legs and looked up at the giant mirror hanging overhead.

Another god sat down in the seat next to her.

“Hey, trickster. Sending Mia in? What magic did you use to pull that off?”

“You’re one to talk, pretty boy. You pulled out all the stops to throw Astrea into the mix, didn’t you?” Loki snorted as Hermes waved his hand.

They were both supporting the coalition from the shadows.

Even understanding that the odds of the coalition winning were hopelessly bad, for their own reasons—to protect Bell, out of annoyance with Freya—they had continued working in the shadows, preparing countermeasures, all the way to the end.

It wasn’t just them, either. Finn and many others who couldn’t fight had provided support. And thanks to all of that, the coalition had managed to row themselves all the way to the watershed.

“Got any more tricks up your sleeve?”

“Nope. This is the real deal now. No more funny business.”

They had used up all the arrows in their quiver.

Would the coalition grasp victory, fall in defeat, or arrive at some other result? The ones to decide that were the adventurers—and the deities—standing on the battlefield.

“I really don’t like siding with that Jyaga titty monster, but…right now she’s better than Freya. A whole hell of a lot better. So.” The vermillion-haired goddess stared at the scene projected on the mirror. “I set the table for you shrimp…now win.”

“Whoaaaaa…?! It sounds like something incredible happened while I wasn’t paying attention…!”

Unaware of Loki’s stare, Hestia muttered her hapless thoughts aloud like the epitome of incompetence.

As far as she could tell, there had been thunder, and a bunch of cats had gone on a rampage, and the stench of guaranteed defeat seemed to have cleared away some.

She had run for a while to not let Hephaistos and everyone’s sacrifice go to waste. The self-proclaimed hide-and-seek master had managed to escape from Allen and the einherjar’s clutches. Or more accurately, Hephaistos and Takemikazuchi had earned her enough time to slip out of range of their keen senses.

“The item Miach gave me…! It threw off the beast people tracking me!”

And also, the item Miach and Nahza had prepared.

Noticing that many of the pursuers were beast people who tended to rely on their noses, Hestia had put it on her head. That she had used it after parting from Hephaistos, while so many deities were dropping out all at once, had also helped. The beast people chasing after her were confused when her scent disappeared, but they just changed to another target.

Not realizing she was hiding her face but not her chest—that her large bosom was peeking out from the shadows of the ruins—she stealthily looked around as the massive game of hide-and-seek wound its way down.

“…The enemy is…going back to the west?”

From deep inside a ruin, she saw a massive cloud of dust and heard a furious gallop that wasn’t horse hooves.

Learning of the danger to their main base, to Freya, Allen and the einherjar called a halt to their hunt.

Hestia breathed a sigh of relief seeing the einherjar cutting through the ruins at high speed on their way back west.

“But what do I do now…? Keep hiding here? Or keep moving? It feels kind of like reinforcements came from the south, so maybe it’s safe over there…?”

She had some knowledge about what had happened so far, but Hestia didn’t have the feel for the flow of battle, and so she was unsure what her next move should be. She would have liked to ask Lilly’s opinion, but most likely she was probably desperately firing off commands with bloodshot eyes. And if she activated the oculus, the prum’s loud shot might echo all around, revealing where she was.

There aren’t many deities left other than me, either.

She was at wit’s end in a situation where she couldn’t rely on anyone else.

“Hestia!”

“Ngh?!—Phew, Miach! Thank goodness. So you were safe, too!”

She almost sprained her back at hearing her name all of a sudden, but when she spun around and saw her friend running over, she called back cheerfully.

“Yes, you too! I was saved by Nahza’s item.”

If Hestia had fled using an item, then it made sense that Miach had made good use of that same item. Seeing they both still had their flowers on their chests, they congratulated each other on making it out alive.

“Miach, what do we do now? It seems like Freya’s children went back west, so we should sneak off some other direct—”

“West!”

“Eh?”

“Let’s go west, Hestia!”

“What?!”

Hestia was taken aback when Miach unflinchingly suggested the one choice she had removed.

“Hide-and-seek has no more meaning in this battle! If Nahza and Bell and the others are defeated, we will just be hunted down!”

“…!”

“I saw the fighting from a hill! The battle in the west involves the full remaining force of both sides! It has to be won! And if there is one thing that we powerless deities can do—”

“—it’s update our kids’ statuses?”

Realizing Miach’s idea, she finished his thought.

“Considering the excelia they’ve gained in this war game, I’m sure Bell’s and their abilities have gone up at least a bit. Am I wrong?”

“No. Of course, we have to avoid being knocked out of the game, too, but…”

If they were to drop out, their followers would lose the right to continue fighting.

Miach’s face tensed at the accompanying risk of having their flowers stolen, but—

“No, let’s go. We can’t just sneak around in safety.”

“Hestia…”

“Let’s do what we can for Bell and Nahza and the others! We’ll become the goddesses of victory, Miach!”

“Yeah! Though I’m a god!”

Smiling at each other, they started running.

To the main battlefield in the west, where their followers had gathered.

For the first time, many adventurers discovered that the strikes of weapons that were far too powerful, far too heavy, could eclipse even thunder itself when strung together in succession.

“Whoa…”

The repeated clashes between the black greatsword and the steel shovel were just that.

Watching from where he had fallen in the spectator seats, the half-prum Van watched in awe as the destructive crashes seemed like explosions.

He had just woken up, and the furious battle left him speechless.

“Urrrrrrrrryaaaaaaa!”

“Nrgh!”

Bell and Lyu were just as speechless.

And even as they froze like statues, Mia renewed the assault. The attack from high above was met straight on by Ottar’s black greatsword. He himself was unwounded, but the stage itself couldn’t endure it. His thick legs broke the stone pavement, sinking as the amphitheater creaked. Swinging the sword aside, Mia was knocked back, and her massive body landed, shattering a marble column lying across the ground. There was an instant of stillness as the dust rose, but she immediately charged at Ottar again.

Destruction and annihilation collided. An absurd shock wave consumed their surroundings. The first thing destroyed by the fierce battle wasn’t either combatant, but their surroundings.

“Tch!”

As if lashing out because she couldn’t break his greatsword’s defenses, Mia resorted to her fist instead of the shovel. An uppercut with her free hand. Ottar defended it with one arm and leaped backward. In the brief lull, the already half-wrecked amphitheater breathed a sigh of relief, and one of the pillars on the outer edge fell.

“You’ve gotten a little better while I’ve been away.”

“I see…”

Ottar rested his sword on his shoulder without sentiment. What crossed the warrior’s face was acceptance of the natural result, and also the disappointment associated.

“Mia, you’ve gotten weaker.”

“…!”

“You’ve stagnated, and I’ve advanced. It is probably only that. But even so…right now I am higher, and you are lower.”

Level 7 and Level 6.

Even in simple comparison, it was clear that Ottar was superior. If anything, Mia was the strange one for challenging him while ignoring that absolute difference in level.

But even accounting for that, Ottar was saying that she had gotten weaker. As if betraying his lingering attachment to the wall that had once stood before him, as if he had wanted there to be someone stronger than him.

“Before you left Folkvangr, I never once won. I wanted to win against you…but I don’t need it any more. It’s enough.”

He was unusually talkative as he gave up that regret he had clung to. Meanwhile Mia’s reaction, was incredibly easy to understand.

Anger.

“Don’t get cocky with me, boy!!!”

The stage groaned as the second act of their battle opened.

Bell and Lyu gasped at the battle between the monsters who unmistakably reigned at the summit of the city.

“I thought Ms. Mia was amazing…but I never thought she was this strong…!”

“But even so…Warlord is too overwhelming!”

Even as they were amazed by her true strength, they both sensed how this battle would go. Mia couldn’t crack Ottar’s defense. She couldn’t blow a hole through his overwhelming array of techniques and tricks. It was a question whether he would go on offense first or whether Mia would exhaust herself first, but either way, Warlord’s invincibility remained so long as his absolute defense remained.

The two fledgling first-tier adventurers had achieved enough insight to see that much.

“Ms. Lyu, let’s go! I can move now!”

“—No. Not yet.”

Bell started to dash off from his kneeling stance, but Lyu held him back while she sat on her own knees. A green light like sunlight through the trees was still emanating from her left hand on his right shoulder and her right hand around his left, continuing to heal his battered body.

“If you don’t wait until you are fully healed, it will be over if he so much as grazes you. You would just be getting in Mama Mia’s way.”

“Gh…!”

“Restrain yourself, Bell. It will be done soon.”

Lyu’s Noa Heal recovered stamina while also closing wounds, but it didn’t have the instant effect of a potion or elixir. Because it had a strong effect, it had the downside of being slow to reach full recovery. And the terrible damage dealt by the Level 7 pushed full recovery all the further away.

Bell couldn’t argue. He had experienced firsthand with his body just how absolute the difference in strength between him and Ottar was before they had come.

He prayerfully watched as Mia clashed with that terrifying strength.

“…Bell, before we go to fight, I want to ask you something.”

As he focused intently on the fighting, he heard Lyu’s voice whispering in his ear.

For the first time, he noticed how close they were. Before he had been practically dead on his feet, so he hadn’t noticed, but there was no distance at all between them. For a moment, he remembered what had happened in the deep levels, but neither he nor Lyu had the capacity for something like embarrassment in the face of such a furious battle. Their senses were numbed.

Lyu was holding him close, like a knight protecting a wounded princess—as if holding back a rabbit that might leap away at any moment—even as her eyes were fixed on Mia and Ottar.

“What do you intend to do to Syr?”

“…Do…?”

“I intended to bring her back and slap her.”

“Eep.”

Bell trembled, forgetting the situation for a moment after she said such a violent thing. Lyu herself had never thought to do something like that to her savior before. But she couldn’t forgive the goddess, forgive her for that outrageous, high-handed behavior.

“I expect Ahnya and the others feel the same as I do. So I will drag her back before all of us…and ask her what she really thinks of us.”

“…!”

“So what of you? After this battle…what will you do to Syr?”

Hestia and all the other deities, and every adventurer on the island, they were fighting to win. But Bell and Lyu and girls from The Benevolent Mistress, they were different. Their eyes were only on her. That was why, before Lyu asked her what she really thought, she was asking what Bell was thinking.

“Ms. Hörn…Ms. Syr herself told me.”

Bell inhaled slightly before quietly answering.

“That she didn’t want to be driven mad by love…that she wanted to be saved.”

“!”

“So I will save her. And I’m sure…I will hurt her, too.”

As he said it, he grit his teeth, as if tearing open his own wound.

“Because it’s my fault that she was driven to this.”

He already knew it. That he was the impetus at the start of it all for her. Syr, Freya, and Bell. Their egos were bloodied.

“It’s my fault that she is suffering even now.”

If she hadn’t been suffering because of him, he would never have insisted on this egotistical path. If Syr had fallen in love with someone else, or if she just started hating him, Bell might have felt nauseous, and maybe a little bit relieved, but he would never have butted into it.

Let’s go back to being friends.

The reason they hadn’t been able to part on those terms was because of Freya’s obstinacy and because Bell had already stood her up.

“So I will keep helping her, even though we are just hurting each other…until she can smile like she did before.”

It wasn’t Bell’s fault. With the push of Welf’s advice, and with significant anguish, he had chosen his aspiration. Freya was the one in the wrong.

So Bell, in attempting to carry her sins, was kind.

“…Bell…you are disgraceful.”

Lyu rebuked him, as if censuring his kindness.

“You are a horrible hypocrite.”

Her face was right in front of him, close enough that their lips might touch. Her blue eyes staring sharply into his. Bell looked down guiltily for a moment—and then he smiled. “Yes, I’m a hypocrite.” He looked back at Lyu with a smile that was battered and exhausted. “So if nothing else, I am going to hang on to this hypocrisy.”

After all the time they had talked in that moonlit room, he already had his answer. The die had long since been cast. All that remained for the two of them was to hit each other with their egos, hurting each other, crying tears of blood. Neither of them could turn back anymore.

So—

“Even if it means hurting her again…I will stop her.”

His red eyes looked into Lyu’s sky-blue eyes.

Their gazes intertwined, and their feelings clashed and blended.

And finally—

…Lyu quietly smiled.

“…The healing is finished. Let’s go.”

The green light faded. His wounds were completely healed. Lyu stood up first and lent him a hand as he got to his feet with a wobble. Standing beside each other, they watched the boaz and dwarf crash in front of them. If they went there, the battle would just continue. They couldn’t do anything but continue their life-and-death struggle until it was settled. Until they reached her…

“Bell, there is something I have to tell you first.”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Yes…wait, what?”

Just as he was about to step out, he pitched forward with a jolt. Managing to avoid tripping to the ground, he quickly spun around.

“I love you…as a man.”

Lyu was standing there, smiling like a maiden. Not blushing, just tranquil. Bell, who knew it wasn’t his imagination or some misunderstanding, gradually reddened and looked pathetic.

“Now it’s fair. Now I can slap Syr.”

Her eyes sparkled slightly, almost like a mischievous child, and she ran forward. Left in her tracks, Bell was stunned, like a soldier left holding a massive bomb right before the decisive final battle. Confusion and agitation mixed, but he quickly shook his head.

—Just focus on the battle in front of me.

—Right now, just think about her.

Telling himself that, he shifted gears, and his expression changed to that of an adventurer facing a final battle. He would be a hypocrite who stuck to his hypocrisy.

Leaning forward, he ran, chasing after Lyu, throwing himself into the furious battle.

““Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!””

From the direction of the amphitheater, there was a thunderous crack, like lightning in the distance. Even as the intensity of the performance increased, the einherjar were unfazed, performing their own accompaniment.

“That dumbass…!”

A gale to terrify even the winds themselves was born.

Allen was brimming with rage as he ran across the battlefield faster than anyone. The loathing fire in his heart at the adventurers who continued to struggle threatening his goddess, at the fly who had turned traitor, and at his little sister who had appeared on this battlefield of all places became fuel for his dash.

“H-hurry up! Double time!”

“Don’t fall behind Allen!”

Behind him, the beast people einherjar were desperately trying to keep up even as he grew smaller in the distance. The fastest elite could see the main battlefield where the Gullivers were clashing with the girls from The Benevolent Mistress.

“—Chloe, Runoa! Brother’s coming, meow!”

Ahnya was the first to sense the arrival of the squadron being led by that chariot. Raising her sharp ears, sensing it like a wild cat, she looked to the east.

“It’s fine, so—Hurry up and get ready!”

“Goaaa?!”

“We have our hands full with just them, meow!”

“Kaha?!”

Runoa roared while shattering a dwarf’s ribs with her iron fist while Chloe, sweating, made an elf vomit blood due to the poison on her knife.

“Ms. Aisha! At this rate, you can pincer them!”

“You don’t have to tell me…!”

“B-behind—gh?!”

The coalition joined in with a back attack.

Linking up with all of the reserves, Aisha gathered what remained of the left wing re-formed at the eastern side of the main battlefield. The girls from the tavern had crossed the bridge onto the island and come up from the south, and were holding the Gulliver brothers’ squad in place. Exposed to a pincer attack from the front and back, Freya Familia were forced to endure the onslaught.

“Hey, eastern girl! Give these to your friends, meow!”

“Hah? These are…earrings? What are these, Lady Chloe?”

“Magic items that Lyu and them asked Perseus to make before! We brought everything we had! We’ll find a way to manage this place ourselves, so hurry up and give them to everyone you can!”

“I—I don’t really understand…but if you insist, Lady Runoa!”

Finally, the last einherjar left standing on the battlefield—the last upper-class adventurer other than the core of the familia—fell. Between Hedin’s bombardment and The Benevolent Mistress’s numbers, they had hunted down that formidable force of Level 3s and Level 4s. All that remained were Bringar.

But—

““““Die!!!””””

““““Nyaaaa?!””””

The four brothers’ attacks laid low four different cat people at once. Seeing their coworkers finished in one blow, Runoa and Chloe both had a bitter look on their face.

They couldn’t bring them down. The Gullivers were all that remained, but the elf’s barrage and the full force of the tavern still couldn’t solve them.

Sand-colored armor, helmets spattered in blood, and their four weapons. Devil spawn was too gentle a description. Each one was like storm compressed down into a prum’s body. Executing an impossible level of coordination, they were devastating at the force of girls from the tavern.

“Uwaaaaa?!”

“Leisha?!”

And the Berbera as well.

The Amazons who immediately tried to counterattack were cut down in one stroke. The coalition’s force was down to just the reserve squad, the guards protecting the invisible Haruhime—Aisha, Mikoto, and Nahza. Even though they had cornered the enemy, they had their backs up against the wall, too.

With the Bringar being the only enemy left, the powerful artillery support stopped being of any use, which was a painful loss. As much as they quarreled, Hedin and the Gullivers knew each other’s moves well. The four brothers understood the nature of Caurus Hildr and thus used both the waitresses and coalition fighters as shields to intercept the shots. And even with Hedin’s concentrated precision fire, hitting a first-tier adventurer from several hundred meders away was exceedingly difficult.

“…So that’s how it is.”

Far removed from them, in the north of the main battlefield, Hedin’s eyes narrowed. As if sensing that it would no longer be effective, he switched from direct targeting to harassment strikes. He aimed the lightning up into the sky in a parabolic arc, shooting at them from overhead.

Of course, they wouldn’t be hit by that sort of indirect bombardment. In exchange for not hitting Aisha and the others who were being used as shields, he was only throwing up a dense cloud of smoke and setting off a series of thunderclaps.

Lilly’s face twisted as she concluded that she could no longer rely on Hedin’s artillery barrage.

The absolute strength of first-tier adventurers was standing in their way.

“It would have been really bad without this golden light, meow…!”

“I can’t see her but is this that girl’s work…! If I let my guard down, I might get taken for a ride by my status!”

The reason they had managed to endure the four brothers’ furious assault and escape instant defeat was only thanks to the power of level boost.

Following Lilly’s timely orders, Haruhime had buffed Aisha, Runoa, and the rest, effectively pushing them into the realm of Level 5s. In numbers at least, they were at the same level as the Gullivers. By sticking to hit-and-away tactics to avoid getting drawn into the opponents’ coordinated kill zones, they had managed to somehow force a stalemate.

But it still wasn’t an even match.

The chariot had already crossed the center of the island and was closing in fast.

If Vana Freya links up with those brothers, it’s over…!

As she looked out at the scene in front of her, Lilly’s heart raced.

It was a searing back-and-forth taking place almost right under her nose. If Allen and his unit joined in, too, the position would collapse. Looking up, she saw them in the distance, a trail of dust in the air behind them.

We need to defeat Bringar immediately! If we don’t, we’ll miss our chance!

Lilly filtered out everything else, focusing only on Alfrik and his brothers.

Their fierce attacks, their movements, their coordination, everything.

Habits, weaknesses, tricks, anything.

She analyzed them thoroughly, combining it with everything that Finn had given her, too.

Her thoughts accelerated as she focused to the limit, trying to find a revelation.

And the conclusion she reached was—

—There’s no opening!

That was the cruel reality. There was no gap to exploit in their renowned infinite coordination. The four of them supported and complemented one another, not exposing any gap at all.

Berling took down a waitress who bravely attacked him, Alfrik deflected one of Nahza’s carefully aimed shots, while Dvalinn and Grer knocked back Aisha and Runoa’s pincer attack.

It wasn’t just boasting when people said as long as all four of them were together, they could win against any first-tier adventurer.

As long as they’re together, there won’t be any openings!

Despair washed over Lilly. And mercilessly, their time limit was ticking down.

“I’ll run you all down.”

The chariot skewering them with a furious glare was now clearly visible.

Allen accelerated to blow through the coalition and the girls from The Benevolent Mistress, and even the Gullivers, too.

“Gray skies, lost home, darkness falls, ruins’ rain.”

Just then, a voice rang out.

“ ”

When he heard it, Allen’s mind froze for several seconds.

“Headless eyes, questioning statue. What are you, what are you? You are a kitten, a lost little wheel. I am servant to tears and sobs,”

The cloud of dust cleared. A single cat person appeared from inside it. An abandoned cat who had stabbed her spear into the ground, put both hands on her chest, and closed her eyes as she spun her voice.

“Where is my home? There is no answer. Ask the birds. There is no reply. That is why I cry. Singing to the back of my only family.”

The thunderclaps faded.

The Gulliver brothers were now able to hear the cast that had almost been finished. Dumbstruck, they stopped attacking for a moment.

“Ms. Ahnya’s…magic…?! Is that…was Mr. Hedin’s attack just to make cover for her?!”

Watching from above, Lilly was the only one who understood what was happening.

Hedin’s harassment, the barrage of indirect fire that only kicked up clouds of sand and set off explosions, was just to hide Ahnya while she focused on her casting. Allen, the Gullivers, and of course Hedin all knew Ahnya’s cast. And it was a magic that put Allen and the prums on edge. They couldn’t stop it now.

Lilly was captivated seeing Ahnya singing there, so different from her usual self, looking almost holy.

“Hurry up and put on the ear plugs!!!”

“Meow! The tone-deaf apocalypse is comingggg!”

“Eh? What?”

Meanwhile, Runoa’s and Chloe’s faces warped as they plugged their ears, setting off confusion among Mikoto and the rest of the coalition fighters.

The next moment.

“Please don’t abandon me—Remisto Felis”

She announced the magic’s name.

And then—

“MEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!!!”

An awful, mysterious sound wave enveloped the battlefield.

“GiiiiiiieeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeee?!”

Lilly, who of course hadn’t gotten one of the magic items from Mikoto, experienced the full force of the ear-splitting catastrophe. She held her ears and fell over backward. Her eyes spun from taking the full brunt of the ultrasonic weapon, and she was writhing in agony on the ground.

Allen, who immediately covered his ears, and the einherjar behind him as well all suffered from the sound. Alfrik, Dvalinn, Berling, and Grer all took the blow without any chance to protect themselves.

Even Hestia and Miach leaped at the sound.

It had been an ultra-wide range attack with an incomparable area of effect.

Hedin had firmly plugged his ears with his index fingers, but the masses watching in Orario through the mirrors were blown back by the loud screech.

The magic began to show its effect. Lilly noticed the change immediately as she managed to push her upper body up with trembling arms.

“Gh…? I can’t…?”

A loss of strength that wasn’t simple fatigue. It was also different from shouldering a heavy burden. It was as if her body had grown smaller. Looking closer, she saw a faint, red magic glow around her whole body.

“Wait, this…is it an anti-status effect?”

Her hazel eyes widened as she reached the answer.

“It weakens statuses?!”

As Lilly guessed, Ahnya’s magic Remisto Felis was anti-status magic. The exact opposite of Haruhime’s level boost, it was a debuff that dramatically lowered abilities. Those who experienced the ear-splitting destruction of Ahnya’s voice—everyone inside the magic’s area of effect—enemy or ally alike, was given a status-down, and it couldn’t be blocked without a specialized magic item.

Experiencing the full effect of that magic with her own body, Lilly quickly looked up. Below her, the beast people einherjar, Bringar, and even Vana Freya were all shrouded in a telltale red glow.

“What did you—?!”

Allen raged as it continued echoing in his ears, tormenting him.

“Keh, gah…meow, they’re all a lot weaker…!”

Ahnya rubbed her sore throat after she finished.

In exchange for being a powerful debuff, it could only be used once in combat—she had to wait more than twelve hours before using it again. It wasn’t quite a full level lower, but Remisto Felis was incredibly powerful among debuffs. In addition to massively lowering abilities, it also disrupted the effects of skills and magic. Knowing that the latter was even more dangerous than the former, Allen glared at Ahnya like she was his mortal enemy.

“Brother…I’m scared of you, meow. Even after I was abandoned, I still wanted to go back to my family, so I was always scared of making you mad, meow.”

But Ahnya didn’t cower at his sharp glare. She had joined Freya Familia and had always been watching his reactions to not be abandoned, but now she was looking at him head-on.

“I still really want to go back to being family, meow. But! I have another family, too! Lyu, and Chloe and Runoa! Mama Mia and everyone else who saved me!”

As dumb as she was, she didn’t know why she had saved her.

On that rain day, when Allen and none other than Freya herself had abandoned her, Syr was the one who saved her. They had given her a home called The Benevolent Mistress. Maybe it was all just a goddess’s capricious whim like she had said. Maybe doting on Ahnya only to break her again was just an ugly form of entertainment for the goddess.

—Save me.

But Ahnya had heard Syr’s heart. She knew that something was tormenting Syr.

“So I’m going to Syr, meow!”

She was a fool. A lonely, abandoned kitten. But because she knew how awful it was to be all alone, she wanted family. Family was more important than anything to her. So if it was to save her family, she would even fight her brother.

“I’ll beat you, brother, if that’s what it takes! For now, I will be your enemy!”

“You idiot!”

Allen erupted angrily at her declaration of war. Ignoring the anti-status debuff he had just taken, he sprinted, aiming to skewer his sister with his silver spear. Ahnya readied her own golden spear and raced forward to meet him. The curtain raised on the two cats’ first ever sibling squabble.

“We’re coming, too, meow!”

“Come on, hope you victims of Ahnya’s recital are ready for a fight!”

Seeing their chance, Runoa and Chloe took off the accessories they had passed around and went on the attack.

Its name was Silence Lyra. It was an accessory originally designed to block the songs of sirens and mermaids that Perseus had modified—because of a powerful enemy that used sound attacks during the dark age. Lyu had had a pair among the mementos of her former comrades, and having experienced Ahnya’s catastrophic recital and almost been wiped out before, Ruona, Chloe, and everyone working at the tavern had put in a request with Asfi for mass production.

““““Youuu!!!””””

Having escaped that powerful debuff, they leaped at once on the brothers who were still wobbly.

“Th-this is…!”

Ahnya’s magic signaled a sudden change in the battle.

Buffed by level boost, their attacks forced the Gulliver brothers onto the defensive for the first time. The beast people einherjar couldn’t do anything as Ahnya and Allen were fully engaged in their own high-speed combat, so they frantically moved to support the Bringar.

They’ve been weakened by the anti-status, too! There are only a few Berbera and waitresses left, but even so…!

The situation was even. At the very least, as long as Ahnya with her pseudo–Level 5 strength could hold Allen back, there was some leeway to work with against the Bringar.

“So if we could just do something about their coordination…!”

Watching from atop the mausoleum, Lilly directed all of her remaining strength to her head. They couldn’t let even one second go to waste. She quickly wrung out a plan that was both possible and had the highest chance of success. Having sacrificed so many of her comrades throughout the war game, she would bet her own life in those few seconds.

And so—

“Ms. Aisha, Ms. Mikoto, Ms. Nahza! Here’s the plan!”

Healing herself with Nahza’s item, she sent orders out to the last of the main battle force she had left. They all understood one another’s strengths, so there was no need for detailed explanations. The transmission was simple and quick.

“Wh…?! W-wait a moment, Lady Lilly! For this plan, you’re…?!”

“Lilly has already sacrificed countless adventurers and deities! Lilly will put her life on the line, too!”

“Gh…!”

Mikoto objected, but Nahza, who had listened quietly, spoke up.

“…All right, I’m in.”

“Lady Nahza?!”

“I’m all out…I’ve got no more arrows.”

“!”

“I can’t put up any real fight anymore…so I’ll be a decoy, too.”

Nahza smiled. Despite her being a back line support, her battle clothes and armor were covered in scratches.

“Mikoto…use me well. Let’s sock it to some first-tier adventurers.”

“…Yes!”

Seeing their resolve, Mikoto could say nothing more. Watching them nod in silence, Aisha grinned.

“I’ll tell the girls from the bar. Don’t screw this up, shrimp!”

“Okay!”

There was a light from the Amazon’s oculus as the final piece came through.

“The effects of the level boost will run out soon! The next time Ms. Haruhime casts her magic is the signal to start!”

“—Noga! Go after the enemy’s reserve!”

Alfrik shouted without concern for appearances.

“There’s a mage or sorcerer using some cheat spell! Finish them off!”

“Gh…! Yes, sir!”

The werewolf immediately obeyed the first-tier adventurer’s order.

The remnant einherjar followed, too, charging into the Berbera who had taken up positions in front of the mausoleum. Aisha and the others tried to stop them, but the four prums’ coordination prevented it.

Alfrik’s decision was on point. Even pushed into a corner, his intelligence and instinct proved him an excellent first-tier adventurer. But at the same time, it also meant that the Gulliver brothers, who had previously been focusing on taking out the enemies as quickly as possible, had now set foot into the tactical dimension.

That was the ultimate proof of a first-tier adventurer being pushed to the limit.

“Fire!”

“Uwah?!”

Just as they were about to clash with the reserves, the einherjar opened up with a blast from magic swords. The Amazons used their bodies to shield the girl they were protecting, but the wind shrouded in flames and lightning reached all the way to Haruhime in the middle of the formation.

“Haruhimeee! Are you okay…?! Wait, you’re visible!”

“…! Fels’s mantle…”

Lena frantically ran over as Haruhime stood there in panic. The goliath cloth she had equipped protected her body, but the reverse veil she was wearing over it had been blown away, crumbling to scraps. She wouldn’t be able to go invisible again.

“Lena, what happened?!”

“Samira! Haruhime can’t go invisible! She can’t use her magic like this!”

The Berbera at the front were falling to the einherjar while the commander of the reserves, the gray-haired Amazon Samira rushed over.

“The fighting is being broadcast in the city, right?! Haruhime’s secret will get out!”

“Gh…!”

“What do we do? Run away like Aisha said to?! But there isn’t anyone left other than us…! Lady Hathor is still in the game at least…”

Samira couldn’t immediately give an order as Lena lost momentum. Haruhime’s level boost was something they had to keep secret no matter what. A broken ability that delighted even Ishtar, and if it came to light, people who wanted to seize that power for themselves would come out of the woodwork. Haruhime would never have a day’s rest again.

Aisha had been firm about it before the war game. If her level boost was going to be discovered, then they should spirit her away without using it.

But if we run with Haruhime now, Aisha and the others will…!

Lena was right. Hathor’s followers, including Samira and the remaining Berbera, were the only ones left.

All but a handful of deities were left after Allen’s god hunt, and several of the Amazons in the reserves had had to drop out, too. But more than anything, without Haruhime’s level boost, the balance between the two sides would be broken.

Aisha’s orders or holding the line. Samira was drenched in sweat and unsure what to choose—

“I’m going to start…!”

Not waiting for them, Haruhime stood up.

“The magic has already run out…I have to cast the next level boost…!”

“Whoa, wait, you can’t, Haruhime! Aisha will get mad at us, and it will be bad for you, too, if it gets out!”

Haruhime’s face was coated in sweat. It was a warning sign of Mind Down. She had already gone through the huge number of magic potions she had stocked up on before the start. The dual needs of Kokonoe and level boost were terrible for Mind usage, and she had been using them nigh constantly to support the adventurers on the front lines.

Without Haruhime, Lilly’s plan would never have reached this state. She was the secret MVP of this war game.

“Even so…I will sing…!”

Unable to fight, unable to take command. Because she couldn’t do anything, she pushed herself to constantly sing. The ex–Ishtar Familia Amazons sucked in their breath.

“Haruhime…you…”

Samira stared at the renart girl.

“…Lena’s right, if your level boost is revealed, there’s no going back. There might be another huge commotion like with the killing stone…No, there definitely will be.” Forgetting about the battle, she asked, “And there might be something even more horrible than with Lady Ishtar…are you really okay with that?!”

“It doesn’t matter!”

“!!!”

“It doesn’t matter, Lady Samira! Lady Lena! My safety is irrelevant!” Haruhime shouted back, already decided. “What value do I have if I am only protected?! How can a despicable woman who abandons the man she loves and takes no heed of her comrades dare to walk in the warm sunlight?!”

“Haruhime…”

“Master Bell will be stolen away! Lady Hestia and the others will mourn their loss! No! I refuse to accept that! The Haruhime who could only be protected and rescued is already dead!”

The girl that they knew wasn’t there.

“I am not a symbol of destruction anymore! I am not just a prostitute who can do nothing but cry! I am Hestia Familia’s Haruhime!”

The girl who once grieved destruction was no more. In her place stood a lone sorcerer.

“…Haruhime. I hated you.”

As Lena stood froze, Samira spoke.

It was the truth.

Unlike Aisha, who couldn’t resist Ishtar’s charm, or Lena and the others, who were being threatened, Samira had actively taken part in the ritual to create the killing stone.

She didn’t care at all about a weak girl who could do nothing but cry. She didn’t mind using the life of a girl who she couldn’t stand to enjoy a fight with Freya Familia.

But now—

“But the way you are now…it’s good.”

“Lady Samira…”

The girl’s green eyes widened as Samira smiled.

Standing in front of the kind of strong woman she liked, she slammed her fist into her palm.

“All right, sing all you like, Haruhime! We’ll protect you!”

“Eh, Samira?! Are you sure?!”

“It’s fine! If any nasty guys come after her, we can just protect her!”

“Don’t say ‘just’! Doesn’t that mean we’re gonna have to guard her for the rest of her life?!”

Samira turned around and charged over to the Berbera being overwhelmed by the einherjar. Lena grumbled but chased after her, leaving in shock when the gray-haired Amazon turned her head back.

“Do it, Haruhime!”

Haruhime smiled and nodded.

“Kokonoe.”

A different sort of magic power started gathering.

For the first time, her sorcery was being performed in the light of day.

“Beloved snow. Beloved crimson. Beloved white light.”

The golden light reflected in countless mirrors watching the battle drew the gaze of the masses. The adventurers in the city and the deities in Babel were all drawn to the renart who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Please let me be beside you—this love I have found at the end of two thousand nights.”

Poetry and music, a stirring, brilliant performance. Her unfaltering verses drew the gaze even of those on the battlefield.

“My name is Magic Fox, former destroyer. My name is Ancient Song, former dreamer. For you who beat your wings like a bird, I shall allow the nine spirits to dwell within me.”

The einherjar found their target.

They realized she was the devil fox capable of killing them. They loosed bloodcurdling howls, ready to do whatever it took to bring her down.

“Echo song of gold, sacred poem of Tamamo. White face, golden fur, king of nine tails.”

The Berbera roared. They fought like walking storms to prevent the enemy from laying a hand on the girl who had once been their sister. And if that poor little sister of theirs could howl with all her might, then they had no choice but to raise an even greater battle cry.

“Oh, tails of the auspicious beast, consume all, grant all wishes”

Samira punched. More than anyone, she raged, punching the enemies, kicking, shattering, destroying her own limbs in the process, but even so, continuing to fight. Together with Lena, she drew a line in the sand and refused to let any einherjar past.

“Grow.”

Chained casting.

Finishing the special enchantment, she switched to the verse that Samira and the others had heard countless times now.

“That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes. Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion. Grow.”

She picked up speed.

Intoning the lines she had recited so many times as fast as she could, Haruhime raced to the end.

“Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above. Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you.”

The einherjar were using all their remaining strength while screaming that they had to stop her.

The Berbera threw themselves into the fighting, shouting that they would not let the enemy come near. Those who had already fallen stirred once more, grabbing einherjar legs and dragging them down to the ground.

They couldn’t advance. They were not allowed to.

They couldn’t reach her. They were not allowed to.

At last, a howling beast person thrust with wild abandon.

Struck by the spear of a warrior far stronger than her, her shoulder skewered, Samira smiled. She smiled even as she coughed up blood. And grabbing on to Noga’s chest, she hit him with a full-strength headbutt.

The headbutt crashed through his helmet and into his forehead. Falling together with the white-eyed beastman, she murmured.

“Go.”

“Grow.”

Haruhime answered her.

The image of her sisters protecting her seared into her eyes, igniting her tears as she sang.

“Uchide no Kozuchi—Dance!”

The highest tier of miracle had been activated.

Ahnya, Chloe, Runoa, Mikoto, Nahza, and Aisha.

Using all six tails that she was now able to control after her level-up, she applied the strongest buff to their side. Adventurers with keen instincts and omniscient deities perceived the trick of the massive buff that the coalition had been receiving since the start of the battle. There was no going back. Hearing Haruhime’s resolve through the oculus mounted on one of her hands, Lilly shouted.

“It’s time!”

That was the only order. Sending up the signal along with the glittering gold light, she threw her opening pitch. A black ball thrown by Lilly, falling to where Runoa and the others were fighting the Gullivers.

Landing between the adventurers, it hit the stone pavement and exploded forcefully.

“Smoke?!”

“A smoke bomb!”

It was a magic item.

Fels’s high quality black mist that had even held off Loki Familia when they were saving the Xenos. The mysterious black smoke writhed like a living creature, entangling their limbs, made them lose sight not just of their enemies, but even of one another.

“Insolent!”

“Trying to disrupt our coordination?”

The pitch-black fog was almost sticky, clinging to their bodies, shutting out all sensory information. It blocked sight and even scent. Sound was the only sense still fully functioning. The brothers who prized their telepathic connection were, for once, alone.

“—Futsu no Mitama!”

The next instant, a powerful gravity weighed on them. The tremendous pressure flowing from above pushed their bodies to the ground.

““““Ghhhhhh?!””””

Mikoto’s magic, enhanced by the level boost. The full-strength knockout blow of a pseudo–Level 3 was enough to slow down the massively debuffed Level 5s.

The magical black smoke was compressed by the deluge of gravity as well, creating a mysterious situation that made their connection even more difficult to maintain for the brothers. The damage was gradually building up, but they could still escape. A cage of this level wasn’t enough to bring down the Bringar.

The problem was choosing which direction to escape in. In all likelihood, the enemy was waiting outside the cage of gravity and darkness to attack them when they popped out. If they leaped out in different directions, it was sure to lead to them being defeated in detail. All four of them had to escape together. Just as the seed of impatience started to take root, with a tremendous gravity slowly eating away at their endurance…

“Two o’clock! No enemies to the northeast!”

—Berling’s voice!

The third brother was the best of them all at detecting threats. Hearing his callout, Alfrik, Dvalinn, and Grer immediately responded. The first-tier adventurers, who had maintained a firm grasp of where they were standing before being trapped in a cage of darkness, made their escape with fearsome leg strength and an unshakeable internal compass.

Breaking free from the gravity well’s grasp, first Dvalinn, then Grer, then Alfrik, and finally Berling leaped from the cage.

“They came out! Get them!”

Adventurers immediately leaped at them.

Obeying Aisha’s command, Runoa and Chloe joined, attacking from three sides.

It was only natural. The enemy could hear Berling, too. Even if the enemy wasn’t lying in wait in that direction, they would immediately react, so there was no time to carefully confirm the situation.

But that was trivial to the Bringar. A mere trifle.

As long as they could see one another, each of them knew without a doubt that their brothers would do something. And they would know what they should do, too. The instantaneous consolidation of information was the essence of their limitless coordination.

Alfrik attacking the Amazon’s podao with his spear.

Dvalinn shattering the cat’s knife with his battle hammer.

Berling slashing the human and her fists with his battle ax.

Leaving Grer free to unleash a spinning slash with his greatsword to mow all three of them down.

Sharing that foresight with each other in an instant, Bringar put it into action.

“Haaaa!”

“Futile!”

Alfrik’s spear knocked away Aisha’s podao.

“Nyaaa!”

“Futile!”

Dvalinn’s hammer shattered the cat’s knife, sending shards flying.

“Raaaaaaaah!”

“Futile, we said!”

And Runoa, who was trying to punch Grer, was cut down by Berling’s ax.

That was the end.

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

“Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Gah?!—Eh?”

Runoa’s iron fist landed straight in Grer’s side as he was starting to wind up for his attack.

Time stopped. A fatal static appeared in their minds. Their limitless coordination had been disrupted.

“What are you doing, Berling?!”

Alfrik roared at the back of the formation behind him as he swung around.

In an instant, he saw it. Berling was moving in entirely the wrong direction. He saw his younger brother, his sand-colored helmet and armor, empty-handed.

His mind went blank.

“—,—Gh, —Ghhh?!”

The black mist was wriggling.

And then he saw it, inside the darkness.

Berling had been trapped in the middle of the gravity field, tied to the ground so tightly that he couldn’t even raise his voice.

““ ””

Alfrik’s shock and that fragment of information were shared with Dvalinn and Grer, too.

It was intentional. They had intentionally let Alfrik, Dvalinn, and Grer escape the cage. The pitch-black barrier of gravity hadn’t been aimed at all four of them from the start—it was targeting just one of them. A prison to hold only one.

A magic box to switch the original for a fake!

Feeling the world around him slow to a crawl, Alfrik shouted.

“—What are you?!”

He immediately swung his spear. The being who had taken his brother’s shape held up their left arm to protect their head from the attack. The resulting damage was enough to dispel the magic, and as the particles of grayish light fell away, what appeared was a prum girl.

Lilliluka Erde?!

The transformation magic, Cinder Ella. The child’s play granted to Lilly alone. But she used that child’s play to turn things around.

—Impossible—

Alfrik was speechless as Lilly’s bloodshot eyes lost focus. Her feet floated off the ground and flew to the side as her light body was batted away at furious speed. Her flesh tore, and the bones in her left arm easily shattered, igniting a searing pain in her head—but she didn’t cry.

Don’t cry—!!!

She swallowed the pathetic scream she had partially let out, the tears she had cried when her arm had been broken by Alfrik before, and instead reached out to grab her chance at victory.

I’m the commander!!!

She had sacrificed adventurers and used deities as bait. So the last thing she used was herself. She offered up her powerless body without complaint. She cast away all doubt and tears. It was only right to use herself as one more card they could play. The commander who had engraved Braver’s teachings in her heart let out a roar for victory.

As long as the four of them are together, there is no hope…

The answer she had reached before. It was the ultimate and hopeless conclusion to the four warriors’ coordination.

—But if even one of them is missing, there will be an opening!

But there was an even simpler answer beyond that hopeless conclusion.

If they just removed one of the four, their infinite coordination would become finite.

Their world was over. The high-speed thoughts that they alone shared, the accelerated perceptions came to an end.

Lilly’s right hand was already reaching into her pouch, holding it. Sensing they were in a dangerous position, Alfrik, Dvalinn, and Grer were already regrouping.

But Lilly’s hand was faster. The three brothers tried to gather up, ignoring Aisha and the others, when something was thrown in their midst—a single bottle. It was a present from Asfi.

Burst oil.

“““Gah?!”””

They were sent flying in three different directions. The bloom of fire and energy sent the prum warriors to the east, south, and north. Lilly rolled across the ground as the Bringar were completely separated.

It was the ultimate opportunity and the perfect chance for a counterattack.

“You have any idea how much you’ve done to me all these years?”

“Ghh?!”

East.

A woman appeared in front of Grer as he used his sword to stand back up. Short beige hair rustled in the breeze. The knuckles on her gloves were soaked in blood.

This was the avenger who had kept challenging and losing to Bringar until today.

Runoa’s eyes flared as she glared at her hated enemy.

“Time to pay it all back, with interest!”

“D-don’t look down on meeeee!”

Runoa came head-on, and Grer charged to meet her.

He swung his sword to cut her down just like he had during the Goddess Festival.

Then Runoa suddenly stopped.

“ ”

Not failing to notice that Grer was on edge and rushing to settle things after being separated from his brothers, she slipped to the side, letting his swing pass her by harmlessly. The fist-fighter unleashed a quality feint followed by a hail of punches that contained everything she had been holding on to for so long.

“Doooaaa!”

A body blow with her right. Coming up from below, scraping the ground, it smashed into Grer’s stomach. Grer’s body bent at the impact point as a rush of punches followed.

“Without your stupid coordination, you aren’t shit!”

A storm of punches.

Straight, hook, uppercut, elbow, backfist. She tore into Grer’s body from all angles, destroying the greatsword that slipped from his hands, smashing his helmet, shattering even his armor. She didn’t let his body land back on the ground as she kept him floating in the air with an explosive combo.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

—Back when Orario was still shrouded in chaos, there had been a bounty hunter.

Hailing from outside the city, she had made a name for herself using only her fists, taking down many upper-class adventurers. She had been invincible, until she met the Bringar.

She was obsessed with head-on fights, and her gauntlets were stained a reddish black from the blood of her targets. Because of that, she came to be known by the alias Black Fist. She didn’t use any magic or anything of the sort. She just defeated her enemies with the pure strength of her punches—a thoroughbred infighter.

“Rot in helllllllll!”

Her finisher was a punch swung downward into Grer’s chest, slamming him down to the ground and exploding the stone pavement beneath him.

“Gahaaaah?!”

Buried in the cratered ground, the prum coughed up blood. His helmet and visor were gone as his eyes glazed over and his head slumped to the ground.

“Yeaaaah! You see that?”

She traced the wounds from where she had been cut by his sword, and cracked her knuckles.

The girl who was quicker to start a fight than anyone grinned victoriously.

“Grer?!”

West.

Seeing his brother laid low by the immediate assault, Dvalinn shouted.

“Should you really be worrying about your brother right meow?”

“Gh?!”

There was a cat’s meow from behind him.

Chloe had a scornful sneer on her face as she leaped at him.

“That’s more like it!”

A sandy wind from the burst oil blast kicked up a gust of sand. A surprise attack burst out from behind, but Dvalinn managed to react. Swinging his massive hammer, he shattered the rash cat. Chloe’s entire body literally shattered to pieces.

“?!”

“Felis Kurus.”

Dvalinn was stunned by the splintering cat’s body for just an instant before he heard the name of the spell whispered in his ear. The super-short cast spell had already been completed

Illusion magic?!

The cat disappeared in a glimmer as the real surprise attack closed in on Dvalinn.

“UuuuwwooooooAAAAAA!”

But Dvalinn even managed to react to that, attacking Chloe, who was lunging at him from overhead.

He shattered her.

“Tooooo bad. There can be three illusions.”

“—Gah?!”

The real Chloe calmly stepped out from where the first illusion had leaped out of the dust.

Dvalinn had lost ruined his posture attacking the second illusion, and she tore into his back while he was off balance. The weapon she used to cut him was a dagger with an eerie purplish-black color, unlike the knife that had been shattered before.

“This one’s called Violator, meow. It’s my special toy that’s absorbed aaaaall sorts of poisons and venoms from monsters in the Dungeon.”

The prum just managed to hang on and was about to insult the cat boasting about her demonic weapon. He was about to yell, As if that would work on me.

“—Gahhh?”

But the words refused to come. A spray of crimson spilled from his lips.

“You wanted to say how poison wouldn’t work on a proud first-tier adventurer’s super-trained body, didn’t you? Toooooo bad, soooooo sad.”

But Chloe just purred in satisfaction. A top-class cruel, spiteful, sadistic, evil smirk on her face.

“Even your antipoison abilities are no good thanks to Ahnya’s magic.”

“ ”

Dvalinn froze as he learned the details about Ahnya’s magic that he had fatally not known before. A terrible amount of hideous, black blood started welling up in the prum’s mouth while a Cheshire grin appeared on the cat’s lips.

“And meow that you’re like that…even I can beat you up.”

“Giii, aaaaAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH?!”

The poison dagger danced. Slashes aimed perfectly at the gaps in his armor tore into his arms and legs. Every blow laid into him with even more poison, making blood flow from every opening on his body, until he finally collapsed.

“Gaha…gugh…gaaaaaah…?! Ugh?!”

And as he lay on the cracked stone pavement, the cat’s heel landed on his cheek.

“How does it feel?”

“Gaaaah…?!”

“How do you feel being walked all over by an enemy you thought was nothing?”

—There was an assassin who had been active during the same time as Black Fist.

A woman who was always careful to hide her identity, never approaching a fight straight on, using every trick in the book, who contributed greatly to the city’s wet work industry.

A dancing poison blade and a cat’s tail. If you heard her purr, you were already dead. Her alias was Black Cat, the exact opposite of Black Fist, who loved head-on fights. Chloe put her hand to her hot cheek and shuddered in exhilaration as she ground her heel into the first-tier adventurer’s face.

In a word, she was evil.

“Because right now, I feel great.”

“Uooooooooooh!”

“Ghhh?!”

After gathering all of his strength inside the barrier, Berling finally broke free from Mikoto’s Futsu no Mitama, which had been focused on the tiniest area possible.

As the cage of gravity shattered, magic power exploded, and the black mist started dispersing.

Berling was stunned to see his brothers scattered in all directions.

I have to go to them—

“Shadow moves. Darkness falls. Mine armless self is decay embodied.”

“!”

But just then, as he was preparing to relieve his brothers, a different cast stopped him.

The chienthrope…that sharpshooter!

Nahza had only taken shots with her bow up to this point, only to reveal an unknown magic at the last moment. Berling’s unease flared as he swiftly changed angles, expecting another trick coming.

“Evil bugs, infested flesh, disgraced spirit. Silver tormented by writhing wings’ flutter.”

“You traaaaash!”

The distance was closed in an instant. He swung the battle ax he would never allow himself to let go of down straight at Nahza. The cast was complete, but his attack would be faster than her magic.

I won’t let you do anything else!

As if anticipating Berling’s decisive slash, Nahza had held out her right arm.

“Gh?!”

Even though his abilities were lowered, it was still the attack from a first-tier adventurer that would send her whole arm flying. But instead, his attack was ground to a halt by an incredibly solid resistance.

“Wha—a silver arm?!”

The gleam of metal through her torn sleeve and glove. A man-made arm.

Airgetlám.

Berling hadn’t bothered to research the unimportant trash among his enemies, so this discovery caught him totally by surprise. It was half-severed, but the airgetlám’s multiple joints ensnared his ax like a silver snake.

“It’s fine, you can have it.”

Evading the one attack at the cost of her prosthetic arm, she squinted at the scattering fragments.

It’s worth the price.

The chienthrope offered up the prosthetic without any regrets, even though the massive loans that had been taken out for it were far from being paid back. It was all so she could activate her one and only magic.

“Darbh Daol!”

Vibrant black particles spewed out of her broken silver arm, almost looking like a horrifying swarm of insects. Activated at such a short range, there was no time to evade, and the wave of black swallowed the prum’s body. There was no damage. Instead, he experienced a terrible fatigue.

Another anti-status?!

Nahza’s magic had an anti-status effect just like Ahnya’s. She had manifested it when she lost her right arm, when both her body and spirit had been battered beyond belief. Ironically, it was an emblem of decay, sparked by the indebtedness that had so troubled her familia and even tormented Miach.

“All of youuuu?!”

Berling raged as his status dropped even more from the stacked debuffs.

Shaking of the airgetlám ensnared around his ax, this time, he swung to lay Nahza low.

But before he could.

“I am in your debt, Lady Nahza—”

“?!”

Overhead.

Mikoto flew through the air with her hand on her longsword resting in its sheath.

Nahza was a decoy to keep Berling from joining up with the other Gulliver brothers. To keep him from restoring their coordination, she had intentionally cast her spell in a loud voice, drawing his aggro.

Entrusted with the finishing blow, Mikoto responded with her full strength.

“Zekka!”

“Gaaaaaah?!”

The slash erupted, running through Berling.

The quick-draw taught directly by the war god dealt a critical blow to the first-tier adventurer whose status had been lowered to the limit. There was a thud as the prum collapsed. And also a thud as Nahza collapsed from losing her prosthetic and the aftereffect of her magic.

The last girl standing, after a moment’s regret, sheathed her sword.

“Grer, Dvalinn, Berling?!”

Finally, in the south.

Seeing all of his younger brothers defeated one by one, Alfrik was overcome by shock.

They planned this from the start…!

Somehow or another, Lilly had gotten a firm grasp on Bringar’s habits and idiosyncrasies, including the knowledge that Berling was particularly skilled at detection. And on top of that, she had observed them as much as possible during this war game. Anything less and they would have seen through her when she pretended to be their brother.

She even used that up-close experience during the Goddess Festival attack…to trick us?!

With her one and only weapon, Lilly had waited all this time for the moment when she could catch them.

Seeing her at the edge of his vision, limp and lying weakly on the ground, this time Alfrik really was speechless.

“Come, reckless conqueror.”

“Gh?!”

As he struggled to shake off the shock, he was attack by both a podao and concurrent casting. Aisha charged in with everything she had, not letting the opportunity that Lilly and the others had created go to waste.

His three younger brothers were already down. All that remained was Alfrik, standing all alone. The defeat in detail that Lilliluka Erde had aimed for had blown away their infinite coordination. The girl that Alfrik had acknowledged on the day of the Goddess Festival had defeated the Bringar.

“—My famished blade is Hippolyta.”

Aisha pushed her chant through to the end, her body covered in scratches from his spear’s tenacious resistance.

“Hell Kaios!!!”

“Ghhh?!”

A vertical slash swung down from high above. He immediately readied his spear horizontally to defend. There was a cross formed as he caught the sword with his spear’s haft. But that was the end of it.

A crimson wave erupted from her blade.

“DgggghaaaaaAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

A magic blade far bigger than his body hit him directly, sealing Alfrik’s fate. His spear split in half, and he slammed straight into the wall of the mausoleum.

“—We did it, shrimp!”

Aisha roared in victory as the last of the Bringar fell.

Runoa, Chloe, Mikoto, and Nahza cheered as well, and sitting on the ground, Haruhime flashed a sweaty smile, too.

“Thank you…everyone…!”

Lilly, who was barely holding on to consciousness from the pain of the compound fractures in her arm, managed to return to her senses at the sound of victory. Pulling her face up off the ground, she looked around, confirming the state of the battlefield.

The reserve squad was completely knocked out except for Haruhime. But the Berbera had managed to drag the einherjar down to hell with them. With the Gulliver brothers out of the battle, too, all that remained was Allen, who was still fighting with Ahnya.

“Gh…someone!”

There was just a single first-tier adventurer left. They could manage something themselves. They would manage something themselves.

So she squirmed, bringing her right arm and the oculus in her hand up to her mouth.

Her body was covered in blood and dust as she raised her voice as loud as she could, pleading to the whole army.

“Is there anyone who can still move?!”

“The enemy’s main battle force is almost wiped out! All that remains are Warlord and Vana Freya!”

Her voice resounded across the city ruins.

“Mr. Bell’s group is taking care of Warlord! We are holding down Vana Freya!”

She called on her allies using the oculi scattered all around the battlefield.

“Anyone who can still move, go west! Go toward Lady Freya to support Mr. Bell! This is our one and only chance! Take the goddess’s flower! Bring us victory! Please…anyone!!!”

Lilly’s voice fell on the broken weapons and unconscious adventurers.

There was no movement at all from any einherjar or any of the adventurers who hadn’t yet been recovered by Ganesha Familia. Not a single one moved. The long-ago-abandoned ruins were silent. The warriors who had spent their last energy in the face of their end couldn’t answer her plea.

“Someone…anyone…!”

“Lilly…!”

The only one who could hear the voice echoing from the crystal, Cassandra, wept.

She had given up her right to fight. She had surrendered to Hegni to save Daphne.

She cursed herself, regretting not fighting to the end like her friend had said, as she hugged Daphne’s still-unconscious body tight. The girl’s voice desperately reaching out toward victory echoed hollowly in the blue sky hanging over the ruins.

“………………………………………………………………Gh.”

His eyelids twitched. Kicking aside the desire to linger in the comforting darkness, he forcibly woke himself up. He didn’t have the strength to answer her voice. But he should be able to answer her plea.

So he moved his body. But it wouldn’t move how he wanted. He was half-dead, just like all of the other adventurers around him who had burned the last bit of their strength. It was amazing he even managed to open his eyes. His consciousness was fuzzy and faded in and out several times.

So he relied on items. With a slow, listless movement, he pulled the elixir the chienthrope had completed out of the pouch at his hip. But even so, it took all of his will just to turn his head to the side. Since he couldn’t do anything else, he poured it out on the stone his cheek was lying against.

Like someone starving for water lapping at mud, he slurped pathetically at the puddle of elixir.

Finally some energy returned to his limbs. He wasn’t close to fully healed, but he had some energy again. So he could move. Even if he couldn’t stand, he could crawl across the ground. Picking up the weapon that had fallen near his hand, he dragged himself miserably but surely in the direction of the goddess.

“…”

Hedin watched that scene in silence.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t lend a hand. Instead, he didn’t get in his way.

If someone with determination was moving forward, even if it meant going on hands and knees, then no matter how unsightly it might be, Hedin wouldn’t stop them. Because that was the proof of a person struggling to be useful.

For the same reason, he hadn’t intervened in Lilly and Aisha’s group’s furious battle. At first, he had butted in unnecessarily. But they were far more capable than he had expected. And with their own strength, they had laid the Gullivers low. All that remained was a single chariot.

So the location he needed to go was already settled.

As he was about to turn—

“He…din…!”

“…”

A dark elf whose body was battered called out.

Swallowed up by the flower of flames, the battle clothes on the right side of his upper body had been scorched away. His slender but well-trained abs and chest were bare. The look of a loser. His dark skin had been atrociously burned and charred.

Holding his wounds, wheezing in pain, Hegni glared at Hedin.

“What are you…doing…?! Why would you betray…Lady Freya…?!”

“…I already answered that question for Heith.”

“Me! Right now! I’m the one asking you!”

Using his entire battered body, Hegni shouted furiously.

His magic was already dispelled. These were not the words of the lord of war who dominated the battlefield. These were Hegni Ragnar’s own words that he was unleashing on the white elf, whose expression went blank.

“Don’t screw with me, Hedin…! It was Lady Freya who saved us both, wasn’t it! When we were fighting on that accursed island…!”

“…”

“She was the one who freed us from the shackles of being king, wasn’t she?!”

The elf in front of him slammed him with the memories of days past, of the scene the day they had sworn loyalty to the goddess.

When he opened his eyes and finally learned that Hedin had betrayed them, it was Hegni who had felt the greatest shock. The dark elf bared his anger as tears welled in his eyes. He swung his trembling fist.

“And yet youuuu!!!”

There was a dry sound.

A first-tier adventurer could easily have evaded it, but Hedin had allowed Hegni’s wounded fist to strike his cheek.

Because the dark elf had the same origin as him, because he alone had the right to lay his hands on him. That was his quiet statement as the glasses flew from his face and clattered to the ground.

“Even though we—If nobody else, we—We should never betray her!”

“Don’t push your luck, idiot.”

“—Ghfeh?!”

But even that was tolerated only once.

The stern elf punched him back, as if to say there was no right to a second punch.

Already barely hanging on, Hegni took the solid punch to the cheek and almost went groggy just from that.

“What are you blathering about after getting your ass so miserably kicked by a child of an elf. As if you could hope to match me as you are now.”

“Whoa, ghhh, argh?! S-stop! Please! You’re always like this, Hedin! Argh, ow, ow, ow, wait!”

To top it off, he swept Hegni’s feet out from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground, and then began to stomp on him over and over. The dark elf cried for the ultra-rationalist white elf to have mercy.

“Why did I commit my sin? Because it was necessary.”

“Gh…?”

“As she is now, it will be lost to Lady Freya. The wish that she will never again be able to attain.”

Hegni looked up, stunned at Hedin’s answer after he stopped kicking him.

“Because I concluded that Lady Freya cannot be saved without that stupid rabbit.”

“!!!”

“And so I trained it up until today. I continued tailoring it, so as not to be swallowed up inside her gilded cage. Whatever the result, there is no future to it. The goddess’s love cannot fulfill her wish.”

That was why Hedin had visited so much suffering onto Bell.

In the event that a stout wall was built around him, he could pretend to be the same sort of merciless warrior as Allen and the others on the surface, while training Bell’s spirit and body to the limit. Because he sensed that it would be necessary, regardless of whether the wall was broken down or not. Even if he hadn’t predicted a great familia war like this, in the future that Hedin Selrand envisioned, Bell Cranell would still have to reject the goddess’s love.

Kicking the boy down into hell, pushing him to the breaking point, overlooking his exchange with Mia after slipping the familia’s surveillance—all of it had been intentional.

He hadn’t needed to steel his heart to do it. Because he had that intention from the first moment he approached Bell.

The journey that had begun with the boy’s reconstruction in the lead-up to the Goddess Festival, all of it accumulated to the goddess. That was why Freya hadn’t suspected Hedin’s loyalty. Because his statement that the rebellion he was currently perpetrating was all for his master’s sake wasn’t a lie.

“Saved…? Wish…? What are you talking about, Hedin?!”

“Quit playing dumb, you fool.”

“Gh?!”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed it, too. You played at being a king just like me, so even if you can’t understand, you should be able to feel it.”

His coral-red eyes pierced Hegni.

“If it’s not that stupid rabbit, she won’t be set free. Because she chose him.”

“Gh…!”

“I don’t know whether she can really be saved. That fool has already hurt her several times. But even so…we cannot be the ones to do it. So we can do nothing but allow it.”

There was almost a resignation in Hedin’s cold voice as Hegni steadied himself with wobbly arms and stood up.

“What is that…what are you saying, Hedin?!”

“The truth.”

“Don’t screw with me! We just have to protect her! Just like we’ve always done! We can just support her, be her hands and feet —!”

“—Accept the truth already!”

“!”

Hedin grabbed Hegni’s ragged chest and pulled him close.

“You understand it, too! Even if we protect the goddess, we can’t ever save her!” Hegni’s eyes widened all the way as Hedin continued shouting. “Quit dressing it up in pretty words and just say what you really think! You just don’t want to let anyone else have your beloved goddess!”

“Gh…?! Wh-what…”

“Of course I understand it! I feel the same!”

Hedin’s violent tone and his true feelings robbed Hegni of all escape.

“Why him?! Why not me?! I wanted to be the one who was special to her!”

It happened the first time he had seen Syr and Bell together. When he saw one of her smiles, Hedin had been shaken to his core. It was a childlike, joyous, irreplaceable smile, as if she had forgotten being a goddess.

Along with that shock, he also understood that that smile was the true her. And he was immediately jealous. Of none other than Bell Cranell.

Why that brat? Why him?

But—he realized the reason.

Goddess Freya had given Hedin and all of them love.

A love that no mortal could ever match, a love like the sea, wide and deep, enveloping all those who wished for it.

But “ ”…

That could only be directed at one person.

Because she was the goddess of love.

Because she presided over love, she didn’t know what it meant to “ ,” and so she was a clumsy, pitiful girl.

“But we can’t! We who worship the goddess! Who were saved by her! Who desire her! We can’t set her free!”

Yearning for the goddess, they fought for love and to be loved. That pushed her away from the truth. It pushed her away from her wish. The more she tried to be a goddess, the more Freya’s wish wouldn’t be fulfilled. She wouldn’t be able to even notice her true wish.

“What devotion! What retainer would I be if I didn’t consider my master’s wish!! What is love if I can’t even protect her smile!” Hegni’s hand trembled as if it was spasming. The gaze right before his eyes hammered him with an unvarnished resolve. “Hegni, lend me your strength! If you will allow yourself to be deceived by my nonsense, then help me!”

“Gh…!”

“To save the woman I wanted to save—to free her from the goddess’s yoke!”

Without his glasses, every trace of his logical mask was gone. Struck by his rival’s raw emotions, Hegni slumped. The strength drained from his arms and they dangled limply.

“…I’ll let you trick me, Hedin.”

And then, Hegni smiled.

“Because I’m an idiot. I don’t know what’s right or what’s wrong. Because I was a fruitless king who only ever drifted with the flow of things.

—There had been two pitiful kings.

On a desolate island divided between white and dark elves killing one another, they had been raised up to the head of their peoples and killed at the demands of their loyal followers.

Scared of others, the dark king had been unable to go against his comrades, and even as he cursed his own weak will, he fulfilled the duty he had been given. The white king, who despised incompetence was a slave to his pride, and unable to abandon his duty because of that pride, he was a puppet to his small world.

Both of them trapped by the symbolic meaning of the word “king,” they had thought that at least if they could slay the opposing king, there would have been some meaning to their existence. The black sought the white king, and the white sought the black king. That was their only wish.

“Sorry I destroyed your countries. They were just too unsightly.”

However, the goddess had saved them.

Destroying that island of miserable fairies, the goddess had set both kings free. No matter how much anyone else might criticize what she had done or curse her as a witch, those two elves alone worshipped her. Because to free them from the shackles of being king, for just their sake, she had become a witch.

Having lost their need to be king, Hegni and Hedin kneeled before the goddess and swore their devotion. On that day, both kings died—and the white and black knights were born.

“I’m just trash, always leaving my fate to others. But…!”

Putting his right hand on Hedin’s hand, which was grabbing his chest, he clenched it and shouted.

“But even so, I didn’t know Miss Syr could…that she could smile like that!”

He shared his resolve, remembering, just like Hedin, how she had smiled like an innocent young girl in front of that boy.

“If she can smile like that, then I want her to always be smiling! So I’ll fall for your nonsense!”

Looking back, the white elf’s lips curled as the dark elf shouted as if it was a competition. It was a real smile, one he hardly ever showed. The sort only Hegni would recognize.

“You go south. Do something about Allen. He’s too much for them alone.”

“Got it…What will you do, Hedin?”

“That’s obvious.”

He pulled an elixir from his cloak and put it to his lips and then picked his glasses up from the ground. As they turned away from each other, Hedin looked to the northwest.

“I’ll remove the greatest obstacle.”

The eastern end of the main battlefield.

“Chloe, help Ahnya! Hurry!”

“I know, meow!”

Runoa’s and Chloe’s voices rang out over a field where einherjar, Berbera, and the Gulliver brothers lay fallen. The only enemy left was Vana Freya. Ahnya was still holding out, but she was gradually being pushed back. As much as his abilities might be lowered, it was practically a miracle that she had managed to hold out even that long.

Just as they started to run toward Ahnya—a spearhead came flying through the air.

“Whoa!”

“What meow?!”

They leaped back as the pitch exploded into the spot where they had been just one second earlier.

The remnants of a long spear whose haft had been broken in half stuck out of the ground. It had been thrown by a lone prum.

“I won’t…let you…”

Alfrik had stood up, his body such a bloody mess they couldn’t understand how he was able to move.

Aisha’s Hell Kaios had broken his spear and sliced through his armor, leaving a deep, vertical gash in the right side of his chest, staining his battle clothes crimson. Part of his helmet was missing, revealing his left eye; he winced as fresh blood dribbled over it. With his small body, he looked like a battered tin soldier toy.

But even so, the last brother of the Bringar was standing.

“You…! Are you not dead yet?! You have an immortal body or something?!”

Aisha was caught between shock and annoyance as Ruona and Chloe leaped into action.

“Don’t get in our way! Just take a nap!”

“Hmph, missed the memo? Then I’ll perform your last rites!”

Even if he was barely standing, they couldn’t risk turning their backs on a first-tier adventurer. Runoa charged in, fists flying, and Chloe followed up with a cliché villain line.

Empty-handed, Alfrik reached his hands out to his younger brother’s weapons which were sticking out of the ground like tombstones. He drew Grer’s greatsword with his right hand, Dvalinn’s battle ax with his left, like a thunderclap.

““Gh?!””

Runoa’s eyes widened at an attack sure to kill her, and all traces of composure disappeared from Chloe’s expression. There was a sudden, loud crash as they defended themselves with gauntlets and knife, getting knocked back by the blow.

“Both of them?!”

“Youuuu!”

Even as Nahza was shouting, Aisha had already charged in. Mikoto drew her blade, Shunsan. Runoa and Chloe immediately leaped to their feet and started running, an entirely different look in their eyes. All trace of carelessness was gone as they swarmed the prum to make him taste defeat again.

“I won’t let you…”

But he refused to fall.

“I won’t let you…!”

Not only that, he swept away the two humans with his greatsword while pushing back the Amazon and cat person with the battle ax.

“—I won’t let you go!!!”

Even if his back was cut, even if his shoulder was stabbed, the prum wouldn’t fall.

“So long as we are here, we will never let you reach Lady Freya!”

Howling what sounded almost like a vow, Alfrik transformed into a blood-drenched asura. His eyes were hollow. It wasn’t even clear if he was fully conscious. He seemed almost a revenant. But after being pushed to the very limit, he revealed a hidden reserve of strength that left them all speechless.

Bringar’s tenacity…

Collapsed on the ground, Lilly watched that monstrous scene unfold. The shades of his fallen brothers—of Dvalinn, Berling, and Grer—at Alfrik’s back. With him wielding their weapons, they continued to fight. They were still the Bringar.

Her face paled as she saw the first-tier adventurer, steeped in anti-status, having lost his infinite coordination, still forming a wall that stood in their way.

“Gh…enough already, meow!”

“We have to get to Syr!”

Losing their patience with the prum who still kept fighting, Chloe and Ruona both shouted.

The next instant, Alfrik’s rage exploded, as if set off by that name.

“Shut up! What Syr! What girl! She is Lady Freya!!!”

His eyes flared, his face twisted in wrath, overwhelming the two girls.

“She is a goddess, now and forever! She will never stoop to being a mere girl!”

“Th-that’s not for you to decide! Syr was always with us!”

“Even if it was a goddess’s whims, that was what Syr herself wanted! You’re just spouting your own selfish wish!”

Runoa and Chloe slammed their arguments back into him along with a fist and knife, but his will remained unshaken.

“Even if that’s true! As the girl, she can be hurt, can’t she?!”

““!””

“At this very moment, she’s sad, isn’t she!!!”

Runoa and Chloe were speechless at what came out of Alfrik’s mouth, at the words of a faithful retainer who had guessed his master’s feelings.

“If she is a goddess, then she cannot be hurt! No matter the brutality, no matter the cruelty! Because she is the absolute monarch! The goddess won’t cry!”

Aisha, Mikoto, and Nahza froze, too, dumbstruck.

“But if she becomes a girl, she can be easily hurt! That’s what it means to be a woman! That’s what the mortal realm is! If she isn’t a goddess, she could be easily broken!”

Alfrik had lost his armor and the defenses of rationality as he vented the feelings deep in his heart.

“Bell! He will surely hurt her! And you! You all will deceive her and bring her sadness in the end! So, we! We want her to remain the goddess!”

That was Alfrik and his three brothers’ bare, honest feeling.

The roiling swell of emotion shattered the stopper on his heart.

The boundary between present and past faded as his eyes filled with regret.

“We disgraced her…!”

Each of his brothers shed a tear on the ground all around him.

“Because of us, she was defiled!”

—There were four prums.

The brothers born in an industrial town were highly skilled craftsmen.

It was a common tale. A greedy manager exploiting ignorant but talented workers. Those unselfish brothers were being used by the dwarf who was their intermediary for work, knowing almost nothing of the world outside the cave where they were closed away. They didn’t even notice they were being exploited, that the reward for their work wasn’t even close to fair. Then a goddess appeared before them.

“I would like a necklace made by you. Could you please do that for me?”

Free of avarice and self-interest, they were satisfied with the opportunity to honor the goddess’s request, and so they promised to make the greatest necklace and present it to her four days later.

But four days later, the goddess didn’t appear. Instead, the dwarf came, telling them that they were free.

The brothers were confused and asked what was going on. The dwarf had a vulgar grin as he answered. In exchange for freeing them, he had slept with the goddess for four nights.

It was nothing special. The goddess had wanted to free them from their vicious exploitation, so she had negotiated with the dwarf, who demanded the goddess herself. She hadn’t used the charm she so loathed to forcibly steal them away. Because if she didn’t pay a fitting price for the brothers, she would be no different from the exploitative dwarf. She understood that their souls had that much value.

Learning that, the brothers butchered the dwarf. Dragging him into the cave, possessed by pure rage, they pummeled him with hammers and other tools. Dyed red with the dwarf’s spattered blood, they wailed and begged forgiveness from the goddess who appeared later.

“Spending a night with a boring man is a cheap price to pay to get my hands on you.” The goddess looked almost sad, but then she smiled. “Because what I really wanted…was you.”

The goddess’s love was fair and equal to all four, and it didn’t begrudge them for what she endured for their sake.

And that grace granted became a sin that the four brothers would bear for all of their lives.

Even though the goddess said there was no need to be bothered by it, they would curse themselves forever. They swore to eradicate all who would wrong the goddess, who would defile her, who would hurt her. Whether she desired it or not. Even if it meant being punished by the goddess, the Gulliver brothers would always protect her body and heart.

That was how they showed their devotion to the goddess, and how they intended to earn their atonement.

“Allow her to be defiled?! To be hurt?!”

Pure obsession. The other side of the coin to an unwavering loyalty. That was the impetus that drove Alfrik and his brothers. They had always hated themselves. But even more than that, they had always prayed for the goddess’s safety.

A bloody tear dripped from Alfrik’s left eye as he roared.

“There’s no need for her to get hurt pretending to be some mortal girl!”

It was the shout of a man who knew regret. The lamentation of a man who had begged for repentance.

It was a feeling toward Freya that didn’t pale in comparison to what they felt toward Syr.

They couldn’t put him down.

Ruona and Chloe couldn’t defeat the prum standing in their way.

Blocked by the four prums, the adventurers were forced to confront Bringar’s tenacity and their vow.

“What are you doing, you idiot?!”

“Meow!”

A battle between two cats without any reinforcements or interference.

Their spears crashed and clanged. The silver spear continued accelerating, making the gold spear groan dangerously.

“I told you not to get in the way! So what the fuck are you doing here?!”

“Ugh…I…?!”

“Do you not understand words?! How much do you have to piss me off before you’re satisfied?!”

He showered Ahnya with a barrage of insults and abuse as they fought.

Annoyance and anger merged as his spear rampaged. Thanks to that, Ahnya was managing to survive.

If Allen was even a little bit calm, he would have been able to finish Ahnya in the blink of an eye, even while debuffed. That was just how much of a blind rage her brother was in.

Ahnya grit her teeth and put her words into her spear.

“I already told you…Brother! I want to save Syr! Just like when I was small…and you always saved me!”

“Ghhhhhh!!!”

Allen’s eyes flared.

The next attack was one that Ahnya couldn’t defend.

“Don’t make me remember that aggravating stain on my past!”

His deadly attack bore down on her, as if he wanted to blot out all memories of that past.

Just as her face twisted bitterly at the attack that would pierce her right shoulder no matter what she tried to do—

“I’ll be interrupting.”

““!””

A pitch-black shade broke between them, deflecting the silver spear with a black slash. There was a bright flash of sparks, and then the dark elf leaped back, holding Ahnya’s body.

“Hegni…?! What are you doing?!”

“Yeah, you would be mad…sorry, Allen.”

Hegni had appeared so gallantly, but he was practically in tears and already apologizing the moment Allen erupted.

Ahnya’s eyes darted in confusion even as the dark elf still held her.

“Sir…Hegni…? Why did you…?”

Back when she was still with the familia, Ahnya had only sought to remain with her brother, so she had just the bare minimum interactions with anyone else in the familia. At the time, Hegni was already one of the candidates for promotion to the core of the familia, someone she had absolutely no connection with at all.

Hegni winced as his wounds ached and slowly lowered Ahnya.

“I’m the same as you.”

“Eh…?”

“Me too…I want to save Miss Syr.”

Brother and sister alike looked stunned, but Allen’s eyes quickly filled with a raging fire.

“Hegni, you bastard!”

“Sorry, Allen. Sorry for being trash. Sorry for being tricked by Hedin!”

Meeting Allen’s glare, Hegni apologized without arguing.

“But I also thought her smile was precious! So I want her to be able to smile like that!”

The elf was a ball of negativity, but even so, he shouted back.

“So sorry! I’m…going to help your sister and Bell. I’ll bet it all on them, just like Hedin. To set her free!”

Declaring that in his own words, without activating Dáinsleif, was Hegni’s demonstration of his resolve. The shred of etiquette for an elf who was sinning and disgracing himself.

Allen’s anger had long slipped his reins, and betrayal had pushed him to his boiling point.

“Have you lost your minds! That fly, and you too! What Syr! What girl! It’s all just make believe!”

“Ngh…No it isn’t! Big brother, Syr is…!”

“Shut your damn mouth! I didn’t put up with this stupid farce all this time to worship the likes of you idiots! If it was going to end up like this, I should have just locked her up in a cage!”

Allen had always been tasked with guarding Syr. And he never hid his annoyance with it. He hadn’t hesitated to call the goddess’s role-playing a farce in as many words plenty of times before.

“That idiot and I were saved by the goddess!”

“Allen…”

“The goddess is my master! Not some girl!”

—There were two cats.

A sister who depended on her older brother. And a brother who was annoyed by his little sister and hated her very existence. The two of them were all alone when the goddess appeared in a world empty and deserted by all save them.

The goddess had granted them salvation and days filled with struggle. The brother threw himself into that vortex of combat of his own accord. The sister shuddered in fear but desperately chased after him. In the end, the sister was abandoned and wept over her brother being taken from her.

And the brother who abandoned his sister—

“I obeyed the goddess because she promised to give me strength! What I wanted from her was to always remain the absolute goddess who made me strong!”

“!”

“Not being a goddess anymore? Fuck off. You think I’ll allow it? I won’t accept some damn girl!”

Allen leaped, incapable of forgiving those before his eyes who wanted to degrade the goddess into a mere girl, unleashing his fury on Hegni and Ahnya, who readied themselves.

“The haughty, cruel goddess! A goddess more powerful than anyone! That’s who stole my heart!”

—There was a lone boy.

He was a foundling.

His oldest memory was a bitter cold that burned his skin and a merciless, cruel dark night.

Before he knew it, all alone at such a young age, he attempted to end his own life in a solitary back alley.

“Are you all alone?”

That was when the goddess appeared.

A halo of silver light swept away the violent darkness. The little boy barely had any self-awareness, but in that moment, consciousness took root along with that silver light.

“What’s your name?” she asked, but he couldn’t answer.

She smiled. “All right, then I’ll give you a name.” But he couldn’t nod.

To the boy who hadn’t even been self-aware, let alone know his origin, the goddess who held him in her arms was the world.

She was everything to him.

“You will be Ottar.”

And from that day, he was Ottar—

“Rrrrrryyaaaaaaaaah!”

He slammed his black greatsword into the dwarf’s steel.

“Haaaaaah!”

“Firebolt!”

He batted aside the fairy’s star blade and the rabbit’s flame lightning with one arm. They unleashed a continuing stream of attacks, but Ottar intercepted and repulsed each and every one.

He didn’t have any words to give. He knew nothing but fighting. To Ottar, there was no line between the past that was his origin and the present that spread before him.

—Why do you fight?

No one had ever asked him that, and he had never asked it of himself. There was no room to doubt. It was simple. He could do nothing else.

Brusque and unsophisticated as he was, there was nothing he could do to please the one who had given him everything. So strength. He couldn’t repay the goddess except with strength. Ottar couldn’t prove himself except by fighting. Because he couldn’t separate good and evil, or even right and wrong, without fighting.

And so—

“Nrgh!”

“““Ngh?!”””

Ottar tested.

Ottar questioned.

Ottar checked.

For the sake of the goddess who was everything to him, he asked what they could do. He refused to allow lip service such as claims of rescue to pass. His plummeting greatsword split the stone and the ground beneath, blowing Mia, Lyu, and Bell backward. With his attack, he interrogated three souls that the goddess had loved at first sight.

And if you cannot defeat me, then—

Then you will die here.

Those who cannot overcome this body have no right to save the goddess.

Let alone save the girl.

“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!”

Something that could satisfy Ottar. It couldn’t be a pipe dream, not some fantasy or sophistry. It was strength. If they couldn’t demonstrate that, then the goddess’s victory would never waver.

The strongest warriors remaining on the battlefield roared their will and vows. Not one of them was mistaken. Every one of them followed their faith, maintaining their feelings to the goddess, clinging to their egos. The goddess of beauty’s followers rampaged, to save her, protect her, tie her down, repay her.

“Supporter! Your goddess of victory has come! Here to power up all of—whoooooooooooooa?! You’re crazy beaten-up! You look like a half-drowned rat?!”

Shut up.

The goddess’s voice was loud and annoying from start to finish as she ran over, causing a vein to bulge in Lilly’s forehead even as she lay collapsed on the ground.

“A-are you still alive, Supporter?! Wh-what about healing?! Are you out of items?!”

“Items are wasted on Lilly…Lilly can’t fight, so Ms. Mikoto and the others are more important…!”

As she finally sat up with Hestia’s help, a cold sweat appeared on her brow.

Hestia gasped seeing her shattered left arm and all the other wounds on her body. She started to say something, but when the commander’s gaze met her eyes, she swallowed those words.

After at least doing the basic first aid she could, she pounded her bountiful bosom.

“Like I said before I came rushing over to give you a powerup! So hurry up and let me see your back! I’ll update yours and Mikoto’s stat—”

“We don’t need it! Why did you come here?!”

“—Whoa?! Are you denying all the hard work it took to get over here?!”

Hestia’s eyes widened at that spittle-flecked immediate rejection.

Even though, out of the corner of her damp eyes, she could see Miach cradling Nahza as she hugged him back. Why was she getting this reaction? While Miach was updating his follower’s status under cover so as not to expose her through the mirrors, Hestia Familia’s band of little girls were shouting at one another.

“Lady Lilly! Lady Hestia!”

Haruhime, who also couldn’t fight directly, rushed over on unsteady feet. Seeing her approaching, Lilly put away the oculus she had been about to take out since it wasn’t necessary anymore.

“Lady Hestia, Ms. Haruhime! Go to Mr. Bell!” She endured the pain, explaining as the two of them looked stunned. “We will take care of things here ourselves somehow! You go to Mr. Bell in the northwest! In the very end, if we don’t do something about Warlord, we will never win this war game!”

She wouldn’t say they had enough fighting strength left here. They couldn’t let their guard down against Alfrik, who was still holding on, and Vana Freya. But it was looking more and more like a stalemate at least with the unexpected help from Dáinsleif. That was most likely at Hedin’s prompting.

He and Lilly were seeing the same scene. If Ottar remained, everything would be for naught. Even if they somehow took down Allen and Alfrik and tried to approach Freya, Ottar would surely sweep away Bell and everyone else fighting there to stop them. As long as the summit of Orario was defending the throne, the coalition couldn’t win. So they needed to pour as much of their limited resources as they could into the Warlord fight.

“Ms. Haruhime, can you still use Kokonoe?! On three, no, four people?!”

“—!!! …I can. I will!”

“Then cast Level Boost on Ms. Lyu and everyone there! Lady Hestia, update Mr. Bell’s status!”

“…Supporter…from the start…you…?”

“That’s what Lilly has been saying, yes?! If you are going to raise anyone’s base strength, then it makes the most sense to do it for Mr. Bell! Leave us and go!”

She alluded to his Liaris Freese in a way that wouldn’t be noticed by anyone watching from the city. Enhancing the Level 5 Bell would obviously have more strategic impact than slightly improving the Level 2s Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime, whose combined abilities probably hadn’t grown by more than 100 total points.

Hearing Lilly explain it even as she struggled to breathe, even as she continued bleeding, Hestia finally made up her mind.

“…Let’s go, Haruhime!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Enduring the grief, she turned her back on Lilly, who was still badly wounded, and Mikoto and the others who were still fighting. Leaving command in this battle to Lilly and Miach, they started sprinting toward the amphitheater on the northwestern edge of the island.

“Hah, hah, haaaaah…?! Dammit…I’ve been running all day!”

But they were slow. They were hardly making any progress.

Even just making it from the eastern end of the ruins to the main battlefield near the western edge of the island was already a rough journey for a goddess with physical abilities below those of an average person. Even accounting for her slow pace, serious fatigue was starting to become apparent.

And also—

“……Agh”

“Haruhime?!”

Haruhime’s legs suddenly gave out.

Hestia frantically stopped as Haruhime braced herself with both hands on the ground and turned back. Haruhime’s green eyes were open wide, and her whole body heaved with each breath. She was sweating an unnatural amount, her skin glistening all over, the sweat dripping to the ground and forming a stain.

“Haruhime, your body is…!”

She was showing clear signs of Mind Down.

Her firm answer to Lilly’s command had been false bravado—no, it was a resolve to grind her own body down to nothing for the sake of her comrades. Haruhime didn’t have enough strength left to use Kokonoe. It was dubious whether she could even reach them on her own two legs.

Putting her hand on Haruhime’s back, unable to do anything else, Hestia struggled in mental anguish.

“…No…no! Haruhime can still stand!”

“H-Haruhime…wh-whoa?!”

“I can run while carrying you, Lady Hestia!”

Haruhime forced herself to her feet while somehow managing to lift Hestia off the ground. Her golden hair glistened, and beads of sweat flew as she started running on sheer willpower.

“H-Haruhime, are you okay?! A-am I not too heavy?!”

“I am…Level 2 now! I can carry a pair of breasts fine!”

“Who are you calling the manifestation of breasts!!! Heyyyyyyy?!”

The goddess’s breasts bounced and swayed, blocking Haruhime’s view, even as she complained. And Haruhime continued running despite her mind barely still hanging on—her mental state was so shot that she had equated Hestia with breasts out loud.

Racing to the northwest, she believed that she needed to push through her own limits, just like Mikoto and Samira and the others had before.

“Doryah!”

The dwarf’s full-strength swing was met by a slash of the greatsword.

“Fuuu!!!”

The human’s twin-bladed combination of attacks were all deflected, nullified by the back of a single hand.

“Luminous Wind!”

And the elf’s barrage unleashed with those two as decoys, all seventy-two orbs of light.

“Weak.”

Even they were knocked down by a barrier of slashes, and the final one was snatched out of the air by his right hand and crushed.

“““Ghhhhh?!”””

He defended. And defended. And continued defending. It wasn’t a furious torrent of attacks, but of defense. A defense that even Mia, Bell, and Lyu’s combined assault couldn’t pierce. A defense made manifest utilizing his black greatsword and his sturdy limbs. Even as he hammered them with shock after shock, Ottar’s face was unchanged, nullifying each and every possible attack.

The ultimate defense.

Ottar’s attacks that could crush everything tended to be what people focused on, but his true worth was in defense. An unwavering stance like a great tree, techniques that could deal with any attack with ludicrous precision, and eyes that saw through enemy tactics as if he knew the future. Adding his incredibly extreme endurance ability, and he could endure attacks like a divine shield.

He didn’t need buffs from magic or skills. All he used was simple time spent. His body, which he had never stopped forging. The crystallization of the techniques and tactics that he had never ceased polishing.

The world that Warlord had reached.

We can’t break through…?!

There isn’t even a single dead angle!

As proof, Ottar hadn’t even really moved from the center of the amphitheater.

Bell and Lyu, who had both been sunk in a single attack during the Goddess Festival, sensed it. That up to this point, Ottar hadn’t even really fought them.

This rotten brat…! How much did he keep training himself after that!

Mia, the only one who had the right to actually fight with Warlord, guessed it.

The truth of just how much more time Ottar had spent training and how much more intense it had become after she had retired.

Even as he attended to Freya as her retainer, he had never once slackened his diligent efforts. After Syr left early in the morning for her role-playing, he devoted everything to his own training.

Ottar didn’t descend into Folkvangr anymore. Because there were none who could challenge him. Because even Allen and the others who were forbidden to fight were not a threat.

He had long ago ceased to descend into the Dungeon on a regular basis. Because he knew his body was already at the limit. He was at the point where mere exploration barely increased his abilities if it even raised them at all.

Ottar was the strongest. There was no one left in Orario who could further strengthen him. And so Ottar had immersed himself, sinking deeper and deeper into himself.

Swinging his sword alone, imagining powerful enemies past, spending all his time building techniques and mastering tactics. Until the day permission was given by his master to embark on a trial staking his life, he built himself up simply as a warrior.

That was the difference between him and the Sword Princess, the monster slayer who simply slaughtered monsters in the Dungeon.

“We…couldn’t get through it.”

“Yeah…! Even with both of us fighting!”

Tione glared at the mirror inside Twilight Manor, while Tiona nodded furiously.

Ottar and Loki Familia had fought several times. And they hadn’t ever been able to crack Warlord’s defense. Aiz had only been able to escape his follow-up attack when he was blocking her way with the help of Tiona and Tione.

Sitting on the sofa, the golden-haired, golden-eyed girl clenched her fists in her lap, trembling at the severity of what these challengers were trying to achieve with just the three of them.

“He’s already there.”

“…Finn.”

“Yeah, Gareth, Riveria. I know.”

Gareth murmured, Riveria’s eyes narrowed, and Finn nodded.

Ottar is already on the verge of Level 8…

Braver’s eyes saw through the cruel, despair-inducing truth.

Ottar was a Level 7 who was on the cusp of reaching Level 8.

He had his hand on the summit that the strongest, Zeus and Hera, had stood on.

Braver acknowledged it. And the deities could definitively say it. There was no one who could stand with Warlord. He was the summit of all adventurers.

“Ghhhhhhhh?!”

Because of that, they were doomed to struggle against impossibly bad odds.

Mia’s attacks were deflected, and the damage she took from his counterattacks quickly added up. The only reason they were somehow managing to make a fight of it was thanks to Mia.

She was the overwhelming vanguard who could go toe-to-toe with Ottar and trade blows, but if she fell, then they would immediately lose. Lyu’s and Bell’s fighting styles were focused on agility. They specialized in high speed maneuvers, so they couldn’t match Ottar blow for blow when he was specialized in pure strength and defense. No matter how good their hit-and-away tactics, no matter how much they tried to disrupt his flow, if none of their attacks made it through his defense, they had no hope of winning.

Lyu and Bell sprinted, drenched in sweat as they supported Mia, not allowing her to fall. The adventurers desperately struggled, with the sturdy dwarf as a base, trying to latch onto something.

And as if acknowledging their hard fighting, the boaz warrior began to cast.

“Silver moon’s mercy and the golden plains.”

Lyu was the first to be stunned when that unrefined voice rang in her ears.

“Concurrent casting?!”

To be more accurate, it was a bit different. Ottar didn’t have the knowledge of casting that Hedin or Hegni or other first-tier elves had. He didn’t have the ability like Lyu to combine attack, movement, evasion, and casting all at once in real combat.

Just like Mikoto during the battle with Apollo Familia, he limited himself to a single action other than the casting. For a short cast, where less time was required, even a non-mage like Ottar could manage to brute-force that much. Unlike Mikoto, though, the one additional action he chose wasn’t movement, but defense.

Planting his left foot, which was his fixed pivot, he combined his absolute defense with casting.

“That magic is…?!”

Hildis Vini.

It was a simple enhancement magic, and the ultimate attack that could even cancel out Bell’s full charged attack.

He shuddered, and the dwarf’s face warped. The elf filled with impatience, and they all three charged from different angles.

“Don’t either of you dare let up!”

They didn’t stop.

Like a barrier that surpassed all reason, he deflected back all slashes, slams, and lightning flames.

“I offer this body to the lord of battle.”

Ottar didn’t hold back.

He would never make the foolish mistake of preserving his one-and-only magic as a trump card or ultimate attack out of vain pride. But because he was able to bend most every enemy to his will using raw strength alone, he didn’t resort to his magic that was so terribly fuel-inefficient.

But that meant he would use it when the time came.

Forget attacking…we can’t even stop his casting!

If Ottar was using his magic, that meant it was an opponent who couldn’t be brought down by just his monstrous strength and his absolute defense.

So just having made Warlord use his magic was honor enough.

Bell could be proud. He had made Ottar use his magic twice.

And the boy could also despair. Because it was unmistakably a death sentence.

“Kh?!”

Mia had no choice but to go.

Even knowing that the bait of his almost finished cast was purposefully dangled in front of her, if she didn’t stop the cast, the bomb would erupt. Even knowing that she was playing into his hand, she had no choice but to commit to what was almost a suicidal charge.

“—Weak.”

Ottar pointed out the truth in the face of Mia’s full-strength blow aiming to destroy him, defense and all.

The Warlord’s defense was synonymous with offense. As he unleashed his greatsword, it crashed into her shovel, and instead of locking against it, he swung powerfully.

“Gahhh!”

“Ms. Mia?!”

“Mama Mia!”

The slash pushed back her shovel and carved a gash diagonally across her body. As her blood spurted, Ottar mercilessly let loose with a kick. Mia stumbled, somehow managing to block it as Ottar gripped the hilt of his greatsword with one hand, readying it at his right shoulder.

His steel deltoid and trapezius bulged. The next instant, he unleashed a thrust like a cannon blast.

“Ghhhhhh!”

Bell leaped, moving fast enough to make it look like time flowed backward. He activated his skill, just a brief, half-second charge. Light gathered around his right foot, and he kicked off the ground with explosive force, moving between Mia and Ottar.

As the greatsword thrust forward with a growl, Bell raised his Hestia Knife. His left hand held the hilt, the right the flat of the blade. With both hands supporting it, he precisely blocked the thrust with the flat of the blade.

The divine blade didn’t shatter. But there was a cry instead.

“UgGaaaaaa?!”

The knife was pushed back by the sword’s thrust, slamming into Bell’s stomach, making him cough up an absurd amount of blood.

“Ghh!”

He became padding, but even so, the tremendous force sent him and Mia, who had caught it behind his body, both flying backward.

“Charge bearing the goddess’s will.”

Of course there was a merciless follow-up.

The final verse. Ottar would crush his enemies with the magic he had intended from the start.

“Hildis Vini.”

A gleam.

A golden fur covered the black greatsword, just like he remembered.

Ottar unleashed his golden slash at the two of them where they had crashed into the amphitheater’s north wall.

“If you die, then that is all you were ever going to amount to.”

Hildis Vini was a simple enhancement spell.

It wasn’t even an enchantment, so it should not have been a method that allowed his attack to reach an enemy who was out of range of his blade. But what happened when a simple enhancement raised the force of his already monstrous strength?

The answer was that the slashes he unleashed killed even space itself.

““ ””

A golden slash that surpassed Aisha’s Hell Kaios. A slash that severed the air. Blood-drenched, Bell’s and Mia’s vision took on a golden glow like twilight.

“Khhhhhhhhhh?!”

Lyu came flying in.

With a speed befitting the name Gale Wind, she made her escape at full-speed carrying Bell and Mia.

Just one instant after they slipped away, there was a thunderclap.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!”

A tidal force of sound and energy crashed over them.

Battered by that, they skidded and rolled across the ground.

Unable to move, Van shouted wordlessly as he endured the tremors of the amphitheater.

The sound quickly faded. The aftereffects subsided. It was a simple destructive slash that didn’t bring about the secondary destruction of a high-tier magic. But everything that had been in its path was completely blown away.

“Wh…?”

Bell raised his head, Mia and Lyu pushed themselves up, and they were dumbstruck.

The wall, the columns, the high spectator seats, an entire section of the north side had been erased.

The slash continued out into the ruins, piercing all the way to the outer edge, reaching past the island. They could see all the way to—and through—the beautiful emerald-green lake.

“…I can’t manage it so well as Leon.”

The murmur that slipped from the warrior’s lips disappeared in the sound of waves.

The lake surface split by the arc of his slash burbled as it sank back into place.

Bell and the others shuddered. Van, who had fallen on the southern end of the spectator seats, was ashen. The people in the city who saw it through the mirrors all froze. The entire world halted at the sight of that destruction that obliterated everything in its path.

“Again.”

And the golden fur hadn’t disappeared.

“““?!”””

A second attack was coming.

He swung his sword, still clad in golden light, mercilessly down. An extra-large slash, as if rerunning what had just happened.

—It’s over.

Bell, Lyu, even Mia felt their impending doom.

“Strike forever, indestructible lord of lightning.”

What stopped that end was a brilliant, ringing spell.

“Valiant Hildr!”

An enormous bolt of lightning shot down. Not a barrage, but a single, concentrated blast.

The massive bolt big enough to consume even a floor boss rushed from the east, crashing straight into the side of the slash. There were sparks before their eyes, and the next instant, the golden light’s path nudged from northeast to northwest. The buildings and ruins to the northwest were obliterated.

Meanwhile, having narrowly escaped death, they spun to look in the direction of the spell.

“How much Mind do I have to spend just to shift the angle, you lump of irrationality?”

A white elf calmly descended from the eastern spectator seats where he had unleashed his cannon blast.

Hedin Selrand. Rhomphaia in one hand, he adjusted his glasses with the other hand in annoyance.

“…Master? Why?! Wait, does that mean…really?”

“Don’t show me that unpleasant face, stupid rabbit. Figure it out from the fact that I saved you, fool.”

Because he had been constantly enduring Ottar’s baptism, Bell didn’t know about Hedin’s change of sides. For a second, he couldn’t believe his eyes, but he remembered the feeling that he had told Lilly before the battle, and shock filled his eyes.

He grimaced as Hedin looked at him like he was looking at human waste…but then the joy came, and he broke into a clumsy smile. He recognized clearly that this wasn’t the Hedin Selrand who had tormented Freya Familia’s Bell Cranell, this was the master who had done so much to remodel him before the Goddess Festival.

Considering the situation, it wouldn’t have been that strange that the boy might even have a tear in his eye, but Hedin snorted in disgust at the smile anyway.

“What a pathetic display, even with you here, Mia.”

“…Quit yappin’. I’ve got a bit of gap in my résumé.”

“Then fill it at once. If you’re going to casually sleep it off, we will all be crushed.”

Hurling venom equally at Mia, too, Hedin finished his descent and tossed two small vials.

Those were his last items. Mia used part of the high potion to close the wound on her torso, and then poured the remaining half of the high potion and the high magic potion over Bell’s and Lyu’s heads. They were both surprised, but as if recognizing there was no point in complaining, they didn’t say anything, wobbling to their feet after recovering.

“Hedin…”

“You don’t need any explanation, Ottar.”

“No.”

Even though his attack had been diverted and Hedin, Freya Familia’s marshal, had switched sides, Ottar didn’t show any reaction.

Resting his greatsword, the golden aura now faded, on his shoulder, he met the elf’s gaze.

“Answer me one question.”

“What?”

“How much did you know?”

With Bell and the others standing up behind him, Hedin faced Ottar and calmly spoke. “I took measures to break in this stupid rabbit. That was why I instigated Hegni and the others to make him suffer and push him to the brink of death. It was so he could be at least a little bit useful.”

Bell forgot all his earlier happiness and froze like a stone statue.

“But you alone rejected my directions.”

When the cracks started to form in Freya’s twisted world, after he had intentionally intensified the baptism. Hedin had argued that they should push Bell to the limit immediately, that the entire first-tier adventurers should join the baptism.

—You too, Ottar. Crush that rabbit with your sword.

—There is no need for me to join as well. I leave it to you, Hedin.

But Ottar had declined.

“Did you predict then I would revolt, that it would end up like this?”

Hedin had been continually acting beneath the surface. Even Freya hadn’t noticed it.

But the warrior before his eyes had distanced himself, as if sensing it.

Ottar’s expression was unchanged as he answered.

“…I am not so wise as you. I couldn’t have known what might come.”

His rust-colored eyes looked at Hedin and Bell standing diagonally behind the elf.

“But at that moment, I saw an image…An image of the two of you standing before me. Just like now.”

Hedin’s face twisted.

“Don’t foil my stratagems on a mere hunch, war fanatic.”

He scoffed in growing annoyance at the boaz’s warrior instinct.

Glaring at the person who was the exact opposite of him, he finally swelled with the determination to fight.

“Are you done talking?”

“Yes. Now I will swiftly destroy you. Or else that noisy cat will come chasing, too.”

Kneading his mind, calling an end to the questions, Hedin shifted to a battle stance.

Bell frantically called a halt to it.

“M-Master? You’re going to fight together with us?!”

“What other option is there in this situation, you trash. Stop talking.”

“…We couldn’t do anything to him. Do you have some plan for dealing with him?”

“Why do you not? What are you doing fighting a true monster head-on? Make a plan. Use every trick you can. Would you face a monster rex in a head-on match?”

Rudely insulting Bell, who slumped, he continued to heap scorn at Lyu for her question.

Not even glancing at them, he made it clear that this was equivalent to fighting a monster rex.

“Mia, I’ll handle the rear guard. Take them and try again.”

“…We can’t pull off the kind of teamwork that your directions will need.”

“I’m not expecting anything of the sort.”

His wise eyes looked only at the warrior standing calmly before them as he made his order.

“Ten seconds is enough. Buy me that much time.”

The next instant, he unleashed his magic power, signaling the start of the battle.

“Struggle for eternity, indestructible soldiers of lightning.”

His voice was the signal for the three of them to leap into action. Lyu concurrent casting as she did.

And for the first time, Ottar switched from a defensive stance to an offensive stance.

A straight charge.

“Whoa?!”

“Kh?!”

“Don’t look down on me!”

As if to say there was no reason for him to just wait for Hedin’s artillery barrage.

Bell and Lyu were easily knocked aside by the charge, but Mia resisted.

As if proving with her body that she was a dwarf, she caught the boaz’s tackle head-on, her feet sinking into the battered cobblestones. Her shovel and his sword clanged together, struggling evenly for a second. But in that second, the fairy was already on the move.

Using Mia as a shield, Hedin began running.

“…!”

He ran in a circle around the outer edge of the stage, sometimes leaping. What appeared in the wake of his quick movement was countless missiles.

Arrowheads of lightning crackled into existence, but they didn’t immediately launch themselves at Ottar. They were instead set, hanging in the air to the east, northeast, and north. For the first time since he had started fighting, Ottar’s eyes widened slightly. Immediately recognizing Hedin’s aim, he pushed Mia forcibly away and moved to crush Hedin.

“Firebolt!”

“Agaris Alvesince!”

But two flames stopped him.

Bell’s lightning flame quick shot and Lyu reapplying the blazing flower petals.

The former was just harassment not calculated to stop Ottar, while the latter was a forceful attack making use of its extreme firepower.

Fired off in succession without even proper aim, the lighting flames created a flare and explosions to block Ottar’s view while the explosive slice closed in from the side, forcing him to meet the attack. It couldn’t break his absolute defense, but it forced him to stop his charge. Ignoring Bell’s consecutive shots, he batted Lyu aside, but in that moment, Mia recovered and attacked again.

While they persistently latched onto him, the lightning was set in the northwest, west, and southwest.

And.

“That was ten seconds, as requested. I will reward your hard work.”

With the final rounds set in the southeast, Hedin stopped.

“This is…!”

“Lightning encirclement!”

Bell and Lyu looked around in shock. All around the stage, there were dozens of lightning rounds floating in the air. A series of depth charges set using the magic’s standby phase.

With his Level 6 status and his supreme magic control, he had maintained the lightning rounds already set while moving around the circle, laying out even more. Even though she had reached Level 6 herself, Lyu couldn’t begin to do that sort of feat.

The dome of magic shots resembled a dreadful starry sky. The total number of the lightning arrows set was 978.

Ottar’s eyes narrowed as he looked all around at the arrows, every last one aimed at him.

“Run wild, vanguard. I’ll align the rest.”

Understanding the substance of his instructions on an instinctive level, they rampaged, just as ordered.

“Haaaaaaah!”

Bell took the lead, slicing from the side with his knife.

Ottar prepared his absolute defense, ready to completely shut him down. So far, it was exactly the same as before. But that was where the differences started.

“Þrír.”

Lightning arrows set to the east fired in time with Bell’s approach.

“?!”

It drew surprise from Ottar.

Three bolts launched from directly behind Ottar, at a completely different angle from Bell’s charge. His upper body and arms were originally preparing to meet the boy’s attack, but he was forced to quickly change stances, allowing the Hestia Knife’s blade to flash. There was a metallic crash. The backhand-grip upward slash was blocked by the gauntlet on the boaz’s immediately raised left arm.

But…

He blocked it! But I still got through!

Bell’s own eyes widened as he shuddered at the first proper feedback he had gotten from an attack all day. In good hit-and-away style, he immediately retreated to avoid taking Ottar’s counter attack. And taking his place was Lyu, flying in from the exact opposite direction as him, swiftly, sharply, low to the ground so Ottar couldn’t see her, swinging her flaming sword upward. Ottar reacted to that deft slash with inhuman speed, but—

“Sjau.”

Another small barrage at his back, this time from the southwest.

As if refusing to let the same trick work again, blood vessels bulged in his arm as he swiftly unleashed two slashes with his black greatsword, knocking aside Lyu and the lightning both, but—then came Mia.

“Uraaaaaaaaaa!”

“Nrgh?!”

She made her move in the momentary pause after his attacks ended. Closing in at that brief opening, she swung her shovel, sending the boaz’s massive body backward.

“It landed?!”

“Amazing!”

The deities watching from start to finish in the mirror on the thirtieth floor of Babel roiled.

Seeing Warlord finally pushed out of the center of the stage, everyone, regardless of who they were rooting for, got excited.

“That’s sick! Timin’ what’s supposed to be a sure-kill magic right with the vanguards’ attacks!”

“And he’s even controlling the force and number to not damage Bell and them with it, too!”

Loki and Hermes praised the adroit performance.

Their all-seeing, all-knowing eyes immediately saw through the stratagem that Hedin had devised.

“One-sided coordination! You can’t expect perfect understanding from a ragtag party! It takes everything just to make things work! And he’s making up for all of that with just his head and supporting them in the process!”

Synchronized attacks with the frontliners. That was Hedin’s plan.

Accurately predicting Bell, Lyu, and Mia’s movements from the rear, he deftly manipulated the lightning arrows deployed all around the stage, timing them perfectly with their attacks.

He wasn’t foolish enough to try to unleash them all at once, hoping that would somehow be enough. Even if he was wounded a bit, Ottar’s complete defense could endure a full barrage from all angles. And so, synchronized attacks. By timing his shots with a skilled vanguard’s assaults, he could force Ottar to make more decisions with his defense. Even if it didn’t cause any damage.

Shifting timings, disrupted concentration, a discord in attack and defense, all of those accumulated impediments would bring about a collapse of the complete defense. It was an extension of a forced choice. A series of them repeated on end. He was forcibly broadcasting static noise into the gap between Ottar’s tactics and everyone else’s.

“Each one of those shots has the force to knock out a second-tier adventurer. Then there’s Mia’s and everyone else’s attacks as well. Warlord has to account for all of it!”

“Hedin turned that defensive focus against him. Even though he’s got a pretty, girly face, he’s a pure sadist! Course this is all ’cause their movements are good, too…but not bad, rubbin’ a little dirt on Ottar of all people! Ain’t that right, Bete?!”

“Tch…with that rear guard, anyone could at least get him a little dirty.”

While Hermes and Loki got excited, Bete frowned angrily.

He didn’t want to acknowledge Bell even if it killed him, but that just meant praising Hedin, making him more and more pissed.

“Ottar, this is a formation I theorized to roast you. I shelved it because I couldn’t manage the front- and back-line movements alone, but it’s just right for recycling now.”

Hedin calmly held his position at the east of the stage, manipulating the lightning.

It has been said many times before, but the members of Freya Familia famously didn’t get along well.

The first-tier adventurers were no exception to the fierce internal conflict between fellow familia members. This was a deployment that Hedin had expressly developed several years ago to defeat Ottar, and now its time to be used had finally arrived.

“Gh?!”

His counter-Ottar tactic was proving highly effective. The synchronized attacks made it such that each and every lightning bolt effectively had a will of its own. It was as if an army of lightning soldiers were performing wave tactics at the order of their king, and even Ottar couldn’t afford to ignore the bite of their blades.

And Hedin was cunning.

At times, he held back his soldiers, which were deployed in every direction, including overhead. But at other times, he boldly sent in masses of them. There were moments where it seemed as if each was aimed precisely at the dead angle of Ottar’s back, but then someone would come in blatantly visible from the right and left to camouflage the true shot that landed a clean hit. Sometimes, he used Bell’s and their attacks as decoys, while at others, he used even thirty rounds as a feint, carefully calculating their angles, timings, and orders, so that even if he failed to break Ottar’s defense, it forced him to continuously think, increasing the mental load. And as a bonus, if Ottar defended using his sword or gauntlets, it would still cause an electric shock, slowly but surely building up minor damage.

Manipulating his magic from the back lines and synchronizing it with the vanguard, Hedin was just like a conductor. But instead of a conductor’s baton, he swung his rhomphaia, the first-tier weapon Dizaria.

A long-hafted weapon made of a branch of sacred tree, just like Lyu’s Alvs Iustitia, it could also be used as a staff that increased elven magic power. The magic stone at the top of the staff gleamed, making the lighting soldiers roar.

“Lyu, kiddo! On me!”

Gradually, the three of them adapted to the lightning support, and now they didn’t just trade places but even began attacking at almost the same time. And the moment Ottar’s perfect defense faltered, they began.

“Soraaaa!”

Mia charged from the front.

In perfect alignment, Hedin barked.

“Tólf! Legio!”

Sending in all of the bolts in the north, he made it rain on Ottar’s back.

“Gh!”

Pincered from the front and back, Ottar stubbornly refused to choose evasion.

Recognizing that casting aside his absolute defense was what Hedin wanted, and also that he was steadily being cornered as if by hunting dogs, Warlord twisted his upper body, creating a storm.

It was ferocious spinning slash.

Using the full reach of the greatsword almost as long as he was tall, he batted away Mia, the lightning, and all who tried to approach him.

Mia barely managed to use her shovel as a shield and retreat, but there was a smirk on her lips. She and the massive amount of lightning were decoys.

“—Charging through space, bind the star traces to this land!”

A flowing concurrent cast. Lyu had dispelled the flaming petals, charging in while reaching into her Astrea Record. Just after Ottar had used his whole body to attack.

He had even spun around, so there was of course an opening. Ottar’s eyes widened as the racing gale slipped in, trying to get inside his range—but even so, he managed to react.

“Nrgggggggh!”

Ignoring all inertia and reaction, his joints and muscles creaking, he unleashed a slash. A transcendent reaction speed. A strength that surpassed even giants. Lyu’s sky-blue eyes reflected the black guillotine about to swing down right at her—

“Nowwww!”

“?!”

A matching black scarf flew.

Bell undid the Goliath Scarf he was wearing and threw it in. It was a snakelike, writhing, indirect attack. The cloth wrapped around Ottar’s sword, binding it, sealing the guillotine’s slice.

A Level 5 and Level 7. Ordinarily, he would never win that tug-of-war. But with his spinning slash and the target being off balance, for just one brief moment, the boaz’s stance wobbled.

And that brief moment was enough.

“Justice returns!”

Finishing her cast and her approach, Lyu activated the magic. She crouched, her star sword at her hip in a quick draw stance. Her left hand was in the approximate place where a sheath would be if she had one, blending magic and technique together seamlessly.

“—Kaguya, lend me your strength!”

She unleashed the Far-Eastern secret technique that her bitter rival and comrade Kaguya Gojouno had used.

“Gokou!”

The sword flashed like it had been drawn in an instant, giving birth to five slashes.

“Gh?!”

The five separate attacks moved as one, coming from all angles. A downward slash from overhead, upward slashes from left and right, from the back a diagonal slash down from the shoulder, and from the front a horizontal slash. The five flashes were like five different slashes unleashed from all angles and directions, closing in on Ottar.

“Ghhhhh?!”

Gojouno Kaguya’s Gokou. It was a magic that merely created a magic slash in the positions she set, but she had combined it with her draw to turn it into an unblockable, inescapable sure-kill attack.

Even caught off guard, he would absolutely defend. He could even withstand Alize’s Alveria. Because she knew that, Lyu had chosen this Gokou attack. As expected, the strongest managed to block the horizontal slash from the front with his gauntlet, but he was caught by the remaining four lights.

The magic blades destroyed his chest piece, his gauntlets, his headpiece, the few bits of armor that Warlord wore. Blood erupted from the warrior as crimson particles of magic danced like a petal storm.

“This is—!”

Bell immediately pulled the Goliath Scarf, raising the greatsword.

As Ottar stiffened, the hilt was dragged out of his hand. The giant sword flew through the air. He lost his armor and his weapon. It was a decisive decrease in his defense.

Hedin’s eyes flared sharply as he bellowed.

“Fire, stupid rabbit!”

“Ghhh!”

As he let go of his muffler, a furious flame rose in his right fist, while his lightning-wielding master unleashed all of his magic.

“Firebooooolt!”

“Caurus Hildr!”

Powerful lightning flames and the full remaining volley of the lightning bolts set in a dome all around the stage. A storm of magic poured into Ottar.

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

The flame and lightning landed just as Lyu backed off.

In addition to the more than five hundred remaining lightning rounds volleying all at once, Bell poured firepower into the Firebolts he was wildly shooting off. Sealing the boaz in the center of a vortex of fire and lightning, not allowing him to escape. The lightning continued to thunder down, and the boy shouted, still firing his magic.

They fired everything, carving away at the entirety of Ottar, to settle it then and there.

The black greatsword fell to the ground, sticking out of the ground like a grave marker as Hedin and Bell refused to let up.

“Strike forever, indestructible lord of lightning—Valiant Hildr!”

The moment he reached the end of his arrows, Hedin immediately prepared another cast, summoning the great general. A final lightning strike to end everything. The extra-large cannon blast erupted in the center of the amphitheater.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!”

A terrific shock wave and blast wind forced Lyu and Mia back.

Electricity crackled, and a massive number of sparks flew. Bell was breathing raggedly as he finally lowered his left arm, but he immediately readied his knife.

It was a storm of artillery capable of obliterating even a first-tier adventurer. But the enemy was far beyond that. They smothered all trace of negligence and conceit.

Hedin held his Dizaria at the ready, too, as they all four looked into the gradually clearing smoke.

“…!”

On the other side, there was a massive shadow standing at the center of the firing ground.

Ottar was alive. He was standing on two legs, his massive trunk-like arms crossed like a shield. His steel body was scorched and bleeding. It was plain to see he had taken heavy damage. Just like them.

He’s hurt…

He’s barely standing…

We can do this…!

The light of hope shone in Bell’s mind.

He was sure of it, that they could defeat Ottar now. But just as he took a step forward.

His eyes met the bestial, twisted, fang-like pupils that appeared as Ottar looked up from behind his crossed arms.

“ ”

His heart, his instincts, were caught in an oppressive grip.

The light of hope transformed into the loudest alarm bell ringing in his head. Lyu and Mia gulped, too, while Hedin’s expression twisted and, giving up all pretenses, he screamed.

“Finish—!”

But a discordant sound interrupted him.

“UUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

That shout thundered to the heavens.

It was a beast’s roar.

The clamor was enough to make Bell and the others recoil instinctively, and some spectators watching through mirrors fell backward as well. Stunned adventurers tumbled out of their chairs. Even deities’ eyes peeled back in shock.

The feral boar’s challenge might as well have been a monster’s howl. It evoked a primal fear, physically and mentally fixing them in place. And he had performed it despite having a human body.

That meant one thing.

The warrior had adopted the mind of a beast. That howl robbed even first-tier adventurers like Bell of their freedom to move for several moments. And during that opening, the beastly eyes that had been looking to the heavens now lasered forward, glaring at their prey.

As their hearts and bodies screamed, the true rampage began.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

A headlong rush.

An explosive dash that shattered the cobblestones he stepped on, followed by a violent closing.

Not allowing evasion, attack, or resistance, he caught an elf with his massive, weapon-like shoulder.

“—Gaaaaaaa?!”

Hedin was sent flying with an unrefined shout.

Bell and the others stood frozen, unable to react as he charged into the wall of the amphitheater.

Stone fragments scattered, and his consciousness fluttered, and his breathing stopped for a moment. It had been a monstrous, unthinking tackle, completely devoid of strategy or tactics.

Hit by a force that surpassed his magic barrage, Hedin coughed up blood only to see a palm.

“Nuuuuuraaaaa!”

“Giiii?!”

A palm heel strike slammed straight into his face.

The wild boar’s fingers covered his vision and his whole face. The glasses he had been wearing were of course shattered, the glass and metal frame pressed into his flesh, shredding his fair face. But that was a trivial, laughably small thing.

Next, the five fingers gripping his head started to close on his skull, making Hedin’s brain and vision swim. His point of view shifted dizzyingly. Up and down flipped. As his body twisted, his intelligent mind came to the pointless conclusion that he had been thrown at an absurd speed.

And the next instant, the ground exploded like a bomb had gone off.

“Guh, aa…”

“Master?!”

“Kh?!”

As he was thrown from the edge of the amphitheater to the center, a cloud of dust erupted around Hedin, setting time back in motion again.

Realizing what was happening, the adventurers swiftly began moving. Standing firm before the monster moving on pure instinct to attack its prey, Bell, Lyu, and Mia readied themselves to defend their rear.

But their wall was utterly shattered.

“““ gh?!”””

A clumsy swing that hit like a sledgehammer pulverized Mia. A single finger not even straightened into a blade slashed Lyu. And a diagonal clawing of fingers tore through Bell’s battle gear and bit into his flesh.

The dwarf suddenly sharing a hug with the ground vomited blood. Blood spattered from the elf who had evaded and was only barely touched. And the human was adorned with a dress of blood from the five hideous claw marks carved into his chest.

An instinctual rampage, devoid of any techniques or skill or tactics. The cruel force acknowledged no evasion and no defense.

Absolute offense. The reversal of his ultimate defense, he transformed his body into claws that existed only to destroy his enemies. This was no longer a battle between adventurers, but a hunt or be hunted scene, and the spectators watching through the mirrors blanched at the sudden change.

“That’s…”

Amid went pale.

“It can’t…”

Asfi’s lips quivered.

“Transformation…!”

Finn’s eyes went wide.

“Warlord’s true ace in the hole!”

“Even if he’s stronger now that he’s feral, there should be a limit, right?! This is crazy!”

Watching the same scene in Babel, Hermes and Loki both raised their voices.

Transformation was a phenomenon confirmed only among a limited number of races of beast people. It was the embodiment of fighting on instinct. As Loki said, by unleashing the bestial strength within their bodies, they could increase their physical abilities. Werewolves were the classic example. Wolf beast people would transform when exposed to the full moon, gaining a level of strength that inspired the adage that “no race is a match for a werewolf during the full moon.”

“…Unlike us, that hulk can choose when and where to transform…” Bete spat in disgust.

The moment beast people received Falna, their transformation became tied to their skills. Some requirement needed to be met to transform, or else it would carry some risk.

But most likely, the trigger for Ottar’s skill was arbitrary. Unlike werewolves who could only transform under the full moon, he could become a beast during the day, or even in the Dungeon.

Knowing Warlord’s fighting style, Bete had no doubt of that much.

“And you can’t compare the effect here to any old nobody. That boar’s transformation isn’t some enhancement…He’s a goddamn monster.”

As he was acknowledging Ottar’s transformation wasn’t any weaker than his own, the tattoo on his left cheek twisted.

The beast in the mirror was clearly distinct from the warrior who had been fighting before. It almost resembled the scene brought on by Haruhime’s Level Boost. While most of the residents in the city were falling into a panic, adventurers in the tavern murmured, turning deathly pale.

“So then right now Warlord is…”

“……Level 8…?”

No one acknowledged it.

Because if they did, there would be no more point in continuing to watch.

“Ghhhhh, aaaaaaaahhh…!!! Strike forever…indestructible lord! Of lightning…!”

Ignoring the other three being torn and battered, Hedin raised his trembling body and held out an arm. All trace of composure disappeared from his bloody face as he readied his highest output magic.

“Valiant Hil—”

But he was too slow.

Sensing the lightning gathering on instinct alone like a wild beast, the boaz raised his boulder-like fist up to the sky.

Unable to even stand fully, Bell, Lyu, Mia, and Hedin saw only despair.

The bulging mass of muscles that was his arm became a twisted fang, and the next instant, he pointed it toward the ground.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

He swung down.

The ultimate fist to blow everything away.

“ gaaah!”

Did that sound come from Hedin or Bell?

The center of the amphitheater erupted.

Cracks spiderwebbed out as the foundation shook, and the ground itself groaned under the weight of the boar’s strike. A shock wave raced outward, swallowing up all of the adventurers, buffeting them and tossing them aside before burying them in rubble. The stage’s outer wall crumbled, completely losing its form. The cliff connecting to the lake even collapsed, changing the shape of the island. The biggest quake of the day shook the Orza city ruins.

There were no more paving stones left as the boar pulled his fist out of the pile of rock fragments. As the cloud of dust and debris cleared, the only one still standing was a lone beast. The adventurers lay unmoving on the ground as the cloudless sky looked down at them in pity.

The fleeting sunlight started to take on the color of twilight.

The sun began to set, and the ground groaned.

The entire city ruins creaked from the tremendous tremor, bouncing Plutus and Hathor into the air from their hiding spots. But even so, the remaining followers still had to keep fighting. They had to defeat the opponents standing before them.

“Cut the crap!”

“Gh…! I…won’t! I won’t lose to you, brother!”

The golden spear tenaciously matched the sweeping slash of the silver spear.

Allen lost all ability to hide his irritation with Ahnya, who refused to waver or give ground, no matter how much she was injured or how much he berated her.

He had grown tired of her unsightly, stubborn resistance, and a murderousness welled up as he lashed out, fully intending to send her to the ground. Then—

“Don’t ignore me, Allen.”

“Ngh! Hegniii!”

That black blade blocked Allen again. Even though he hadn’t been affected by Ahnya’s debuff, the dark elf’s wounds were not fully healed. But his attacks were still enough to stir up Allen’s emotions even further.

“I told you not to get in my way! Get lost, fly!”

“I will get in your way. I want to defeat you, even. And besides…why don’t you quit just yelling and jump over me like always?”

Due to the effects of his curse weapon, Hegni’s endurance couldn’t fully recover, so they both lacked the burst of power necessary for a decisive blow. But even though he couldn’t hide his fatigue, oddly, Hegni smiled.

Not the sort of smile directed at a friend. Not even one directed at family.

Even though, unlike Hedin, he wasn’t skilled at plots, Hegni flashed a clumsy smirk.

“Are you tired, Allen? No, that’s not it.” He was trying to throw him off balance using a certain kernel of information. “For a while now, your spear has been a little off whenever you point it at your little sister, hasn’t it?”

“!”

“…Eh?”

Those words had their biggest effect not on Allen, but on Ahnya. Even as her brother’s eyes widened, she froze midmovement.

“…Quit talking stupid shit!”

Allen’s momentary surprise was immediately overwritten by rage, and he leaped at Hedin, to make sure he never opened his mouth again.

As the spear approached, Hegni’s smile remained.

“By the power of the demon blade, bring eternal destruction.”

And he finished the super-short cast he had begun whispering to himself.

Astonishment rocked Allen.

The collar of the tattered black cloak had perfectly covered the dark elf’s mouth. And because he was unable to see his lips moving, the cat’s reaction was fatally delayed.

“Burn Dáin!”

“Gah?!”

Just as his spear was about to land, Allen was struck by an explosive flame at super-close range. The magic’s range was extremely short, but in exchange, it packed enough punch to completely blow away any enemies that fell within its area of effect.

Allen’s light body was sent flying. The chariot immediately threw himself into the air to escape, avoiding any damage as he coughed up black smoke.

“See, a hit cat always yowls,” Hegni calmly pointed out. “The normal you would never have fallen for such an obvious taunt.”

The current situation, Allen’s mistake, was the nudge that made Ahnya think just maybe…

“Big brother…is that really…?”

“Don’t show me that stupid face! Why the hell would it be true?!”

Every time she heard her brother’s fiery shout, her body shuddered, and her tail cowered. Ahnya started to feel overwhelmed by Allen’s rage, unquelled from the fiery anger she remembered, but even so, she squeezed her hand and put it to her chest.

With significant hesitation, struggling to begin, she finally spoke.

“…Before I came here…Vanargand said something.”

“…What are you talking about…?!”

Her brother’s eyes were a mixture of wrath and suspicion, but as she met his gaze, her mind slipped back to a few hours earlier. When Bete had dragged her out of her room and was carrying her through Folkvangr.

“Let go! I was abandoned by Syr and big brother! They don’t care about meow at all!”

She was emotionally unstable and desperate. Ahnya had been venting and complaining wildly. And as if he had finally had it up to here with her, something slipped from the gray-haired werewolf’s mouth.

“That piece of shit…is a lot like me. Even if I don’t want to admit it.”

“Eh?”

“If he didn’t need you, he would have just killed you straight up. You’re an eyesore and an earsore, too.”

“Uh, ugh…”

She was taken aback by his sudden outburst when—

“But if you’re still around…then that says it all.”

Ahnya’s eyes widened.

The werewolf who had just been running with his eyes pointed forward quietly muttered, “I’m losin’ my edge.” And didn’t answer Ahnya again.

“Do you hate me, big brother?”

“You’re damn straight I do!”

“Did you abandon me…because you hate me?”

“What are you talking about now! Do you not understand anything?!”

“Then why didn’t you kill me?”

“!”

Ahnya, who was by no means the smartest cat in the litter, her eyes quivering, a naive look on her face, managed to put her question into words.

“You always say you’ll kill me, or you’ll murder me…so why didn’t you?”

“Gh…!”

“Why…?”

Allen’s angry shout never reached his mouth because he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. Hegni had watched in silence as the siblings came to a standstill, but finally, he broke in.

“…That’s right, Allen.” Hegni announced the kernel of truth that he had discovered before. “If you loved her, you couldn’t abandon her.”

“ ”

“You had no choice but to hate her.”

For an instant, a single cat’s heart was stripped bare. The two cats stared at each other, eyes open wide. Allen’s lip trembled. His usual torrent of abuse wouldn’t come. Every sort of emotion crossed his face, and it could no longer be called just a mask of pure rage as he took a step toward the dark elf talking nonsense.

“Allen…sorry, but…” Before he could erupt, before he could leap forward, Hegni averted his eyes and said the truth. “You said you wanted to grow stronger at Lady Freya’s side…but you’ve gotten weaker.”

“!”

Allen was speechless.

The dark elf was a first-tier adventurer just like him. He was a person who possessed strength comparable to Allen’s.

“Hedin said the same thing…Do you remember? When you were made the new second-in-command? When Hedin stepped aside, yielding that position to you.”

It had happened several years ago.

That was back when Ahnya was still in Folkvangr.

When Hedin had been recommended to become second-in-command, he had refused, pushing it on Allen.

“Hedin understood that you were stronger than him then…That was why he yielded it to you. His pride wouldn’t allow him to stand at the top if he was weaker.”

“…!”

“But…after your sister left, you got weaker. Without the one person you needed to protect…you got weaker, Allen.”

Not in terms of status. Not in terms of level. In those senses, Allen far outstripped his past self. What Hegni was talking about was something much more fundamental—his spirit, his drive, his will.

Compared to before he abandoned his sister, Allen was decisively different now.

“That is why Hedin called you a coward. That’s why he was angry, saying he shouldn’t have yielded the position to you.”

Allen was dumbfounded by the truth that even he hadn’t known, no, that he couldn’t possibly have noticed. Ahnya was staggered by the dark elf’s confession.

Hegni looked down. He had stayed silent at the goddess’s request—she had asked him not to say anything until Allen realized it himself.

“…Don’t screw with me…Don’t…don’t you…!”

“Don’t bother, Allen…You can’t deny it anymore.”

Hegni was deeply apologetic, struggling with his own guilt, but out of the little bit of good will he felt for the cat, he dealt the finishing blow.

“We who can only speak through combat cannot allow that to be denied…!”

This time, Allen froze.

Even if he bellowed angrily or cursed, that was proof that Allen himself couldn’t deny it. Einherjar would never compromise on strength. They wouldn’t resort to deceit when it came to strength. And the brave warrior who lined up shoulder to shoulder with him had shared his honest assessment of his strength.

“Brother…”

Even Ahnya understood it. She hadn’t barely evaded any fatal blows in this battle. Allen had let her evade them.

Before Hegni had intervened, the attack he unleashed to knock her out of the fighting had been aimed at her right shoulder. It was an attack that was wholly unlike Allen. Aimed at her golden armor, its ability to kill or wound was significantly lower.

The reason their sibling battle had lasted as long as it had was because he was holding back.

“I was utter garbage. A terrible king. I never had any family at all, but…” The dark elf’s assessment put himself at the lowest depths, but even as he deprecated himself, he looked up. Nervously, but with a gaze that was like the windswept sea, he said it. “Allen, the way you two are now…is wrong.”

The wind blew. The sound of weapons crashing stopped as a humid wind swept between the three of them. A stillness removed from battle, rustling their hair, shifting black hair over a cat’s eyes.

—There was a single cat.

The love he felt for his family was a piece of the hatred he always carried.

When he was small and weak. When they were buried in a world of ruins. His one and only little sister. He didn’t know how many times he had thought of raising his hand against her. How many times he had pushed her away, had thought of abandoning her.

But he had continued to protect that kitten, that crybaby, that irredeemable idiot, that hopelessly bad singer, that little sister who had annoyed him so many times.

Because his sister had always kept singing her awful song, showing even if they were lost, he wasn’t alone.

Because it made him smile, even though he would turn away so she couldn’t see.

“I will fight to make up for her share, too, so please discard that idiot.”

In time, the cat was saved, underwent the baptism, and finally faced a fork in the road.

Seeing the little sister who had almost died with him, the cat cursed his own weakness. He decided that he needed to become even stronger, and at the same time, he resolved to cast aside his love.

“Please remove her from my world, from battlefields where the weak will never survive.”

The cat understood. To repay the goddess who had saved them, he would throw himself into combat, and so long as he did, his stupid, dimwitted little sister who always followed him would undoubtedly end up dying someday. He was sure of it. The dark age wouldn’t suffer weakness or naivete. And even if that chaotic time drew to an end, his sister would not find happiness at his side. Not when he was always fighting.

“I will sever my connection with that idiot, too. I only need you. I swear it. So—”

Even as he was attracted to the goddess’s divinity, the relationship he desired with her was complicity. He wanted to cast aside his little sister, so that she could take his sister to the tavern, to give her another family and another home.

The cat swore his loyalty.

He offered his everything to protect his little sister. He made himself into a chariot. No matter how much it might hurt his sister, he decided to remain the goddess’s chariot by himself, to distance his little sister from a brother who brought only death and misfortune.

The one he loved most had never changed. It was the same person now as it was long ago. Allen Fromel didn’t have any way of praying for his little sister’s happiness except to turn his most beloved into his most hated.

“…”

Allen looked up.

The sky was a beautiful blue that almost brought tears to the eye. In the western sky, there was a darker red gradually spreading.

“Big brother…you always…”

Tears fell from Ahnya’s eyes as she finally understood his true intent. Her heart wouldn’t listen to her as she realized the family that she thought she had lost was still there.

“Big brother…! I want to be a family with you again, meow! Together with Syr and everyone—”

That was why she leaned forward. And that was why Allen held out his left arm, pushing his palm at her.

“That’s enough.”

“!”

“Stop talking.”

It wasn’t an angry growl. It was a quiet, earnest plea. The voice of a brother who cared about his sister.

“I can’t lose the goddess.”

“Gh…! What do you mean, brother?!”

Ahnya tearfully pled as his resolve wavered.

“My serving her makes me strong. My contract with her is to make me strong. My battle won’t end until I kill the dragon who destroyed our home.”

“!!!”

“As long as that dragon exists, your happiness can be obliterated again. And…when I’m running toward the end of everything, you will definitely chase after me.”

Ahnya and Hegni were both shocked to hear Allen’s true goal.

He looked at his sister with eyes now devoid of anger and hatred.

Ahnya’s golden right shoulder. His silver left shoulder. Their paired gold and silver spears. They were like mirror images. The left and right wheels of the goddess’s chariot. Theirs was an unbreakable bond. No matter how much he wanted to end it, the gold-and-silver curse would drag Ahnya into battle, too.

“To protect you—I have to kill you.”

His wishes for the goddess had increased by one.

Her charm, her absolute authority…The same way Syr had made her walled garden, Allen wanted her to make his stupid and hopeless little sister forget him.

He cut away his hopeless self that had avoided considering that option until this day.

Once everything was over, if he could, he would bury his ego, the selfish wish that still wanted to hear her awful singing again.

Now that the chariot’s wheel knew everything, the chariot would run down the person he most loved.

He wouldn’t allow the goddess to be torn down.

“Golden wheel, silver collar.”

And so, Allen began singing the chariot’s song.

“Casting?!”

“Magic?! Brother?!”

Hegni was stunned, and Ahnya was shaken. She didn’t know that her brother had any magic. But it wasn’t because he only developed it after they parted. Allen had just been careful never to recite it in front of her.

“Hated love, illusory corpse, thy destiny is here. Be gone, gold wheel, before the rut kills you.”

The disgraceful spell that reflected the depths of his heart, what rage and hatred couldn’t hide. The truth of what he felt toward his sister.

“Kh…! Stopppppppp!”

“Ghh!”

Hegni charged with a shout, and Ahnya cast aside her doubts and launched herself into the air.

At this rate, she would lose Syr. And Allen. Sensing that as the fearsome magic power swelled, she overcame the contradiction of hurting her brother in order not to lose him.

“Whip of honor, lips of favor, thy payment is here. Spin, silver wheel, until thy head falls.”

But Hegni’s sword missed, and Ahnya’s spear hit nothing.

Casting and moving at the same time. That was all he did. He took a massive leap backward, and then he did it again and again. That was enough for Allen to fly tens of meders backward.

He didn’t need to attack. He didn’t need defense. He could just keep running away in this ridiculous fashion until his spell was done. Because once the song was over, there wouldn’t be anything left on the battlefield save the chariot’s tracks.

“Run bearing the goddess’s will—until death and distant heavens when you can hear the wheel’s song again.”

The last lines had come.

All of their attacks hitting nothing but air as the spell finished, Ahnya’s and Hegni’s faces froze in a chill.

The next instant, the fastest chariot activated.

“Glarinese Fromel!”

As he started running, his body was swathed in a bluish, silver gleam.

“Khhh, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

The light that couldn’t be stopped by magic or blades had been unleashed. First, it sent Hegni flying into the air.

This spell granted superspeed. And it was getting faster. The more he ran, the more he accelerated. He was like a spinning wheel…Like a chariot dashing across the battlefield, the goddess’s chariot ran with wild abandon, going wherever it pleased.

“Big brotherrrrrr?!”

Even Ahnya was knocked aside and wounded. But that wasn’t enough to stop his acceleration.

At the same time that Hegni slammed into the ground, the chariot moved to another battlefield.

“What?!”

“That’s?!”

“Unyaaa?! Run!”

The flash raced through where Aisha and the others were fighting Alfrik.

Even Allen couldn’t control the speed perfectly, leaving a swerving track like a giant, gleaming dragon as he passed in the blink of an eye. The chariot’s flash didn’t allow a chance for evasion or escape as it mercilessly swallowed up adventurers.

Aisha slammed into the mausoleum, her podao breaking. Mikoto and Nahza flew up into the air like Hegni had. Runoa and Chloe were thrown to the sides with the force of a river breaking free of its dam.

“Allen, you—?!”

Even Alfrik was not spared, battered by the track of light along with his unconscious brothers.

Glarinese Fromel.

Allen’s one and only magic massively buffed his agility and granted improved strength relative to his speed. In other words, the more he accelerated, the more his destructive power increased. There was no upper limit. Theoretically, Allen could increase the force of his charge as much as he could accelerate.

Clad in an armor of light, Allen could run down and trample anything with that spell.

A chariot’s rampage that could even run down a monster rex.

“Ghhhh?!”

“Uwaaaaaaaa?!”

Just the aftermath of the chariot rushing past was enough to destroy Miach’s flower and send Lilly flying, too.

The oculus slipped from her hands and cracked on impact.

His charge crushed all obstacles in its path without even being able to see them.

All that remained after Allen rushed past was a single track that erased ruins and rubble in its wake.

The first signs of sunset were starting to appear in the west. It was still blue overhead, but that would soon give way to twilight. It was a sign of the end. The shifting color of the sky signaled the end of battle to the warriors who had fought in Folkvangr.

Ottar picked up the black greatsword at his feet and glanced slowly to the west, toward the hill where the house of the gods stood.

“…………”

“Gh…agh…”

Ottar was the only one still standing in the now destroyed amphitheater.

The dwarf buried in rubble and the elf only barely shuddered.

So then that’s the end.

Just as the boaz had that thought.

“…Gah…aa…ghh…!”

There was one who stood up, with a beastly groan.

Long blond hair covered in dirt. A makeup of blood and wounds, a face devoid of all beauty. But his coral-red eyes alone hadn’t yet let go of the light that he was barely clinging to.

“Hedin…”

Ottar didn’t reveal any emotion, just looking at his fellow einherjar.

Just barely managing to stand, the elf wobbled several times, almost falling before stopping himself and looking up, glaring at the boaz.

“Is this what you wanted to achieve?”

It was almost like a challenge.

Hedin’s lips curled, barely forming what was evidently meant to be a smile.

“Who knows…how does…it……look to you?”

“At the very least, it does not seem like you.”

His pupils were still warped. He was still in his transformed state, but the intelligence remained in his voice, even if it was as curt as ever.

“You who prize efficiency so much could have managed things better. You should have been able to win this battle.”

“Hah…! Victory…!”

Hedin snorted as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

“This stupid…game…! It was over the moment I decided to betray you…! I could just take her flower myself…!”

That was the reality.

At the moment he destroyed the main base, Hedin could have just rushed into the house of the gods and stolen the flower from Freya. That would have brought an abrupt end to the battle being called the great familia war.

“But…that would be…pointless…! Utterly meaningless!”

“…”

“That isn’t what I wanted to do!” An intensity started taking root in his words, his spirit kicking down all physical limits. “I was freed from the duty of being king by her hand! So then, I…! I had to pull her down from her royal throne!” Ottar listened to his confession in silence. “I had to free her from the yoke of the goddess!”

Though he could surmise the goddess’s feelings, he couldn’t understand them the way that Hörn could. But even so, he understood what it meant to be king. In his heart, he noticed the goddess’s unhappiness.

Seeing the smile that the girl had, he understood what her true wish was.

His shout couldn’t reach the goddess sitting on her throne. But his will stretched to those who hadn’t yet been able to stand.

“Do any of you know?! The goddess’s face as she was tormented by love even as she searched for it!”

In her room. The mask of a goddess tempted by love as she stared at the hair ornament modeled on a spirit. The dwarf’s fingers clawed at the rubble.

“Do any of you understand?! Her regret and anguish, even after she has cast aside everything other than ‘love’!”

The conversation in front of the boy. The girl’s sentiment as she was pulled by bonds of bounty, even though she wanted only the boy’s heart. The elf’s hand stretched, grabbing her wooden sword.

“Have you noticed?! That her cheeks are even now wet with tears!!!”

That was the final blast. The boy’s fist trembled like a flame.

“If you have, then how can you allow yourself to lose?! If you lose this battle, those tears will never stop! With a lonely victory, she will have love, and she will remain forever the goddess!”

His voice thundered, pummeling their hearts.

Pushing their legs to stand again.

“So she must be sullied! To perform the noble goddess’s last rites!”

“…Even if Lady Freya will not forgive that deed?”

“What retainer would I be if I failed to do everything in my power for my master out of mere self-preservation! What follower would I be who lacked the resolve to be hated when I do what must be done!”

And he said:

“This is my devotion that I offer up to her!!!”

That which made Hedin who he was.

A fool who turned his blade on the goddess, even if it meant bearing the brand of traitor.

All for her sake.

“So—”

As if inspired by his selfish, conceited, sublime sin, the elf stood up. The dwarf pulled herself up from the ground. Then the three of them stared at the wall blocking their way.

“Get lost.”

“Be gone.”

“Get outta the way.”

Hedin’s conviction, Lyu’s will, and Mia’s fighting spirit bore into Ottar.

“…I will defeat you…!” And finally, the boy stood. “And go to Ms. Syr…!”

Ottar’s eyes narrowed.

He took in those who stood against him. These were the ones who still fought. These were the souls that had so charmed the goddess.

“Despite receiving the goddess’s love, you reject it and resist…”

He looked at not just the boy, but all of them who were beloved by the goddess.

“—Very well. Come.”

And reading his greatsword, he glared down at them with his bestial eyes.

“This is the end.”

It was the final clash. There was no hope of victory. No path to success.

But those who still resisted, still sought to grab the light of victory, who refused to surrender, those were true adventurers.

So it is only natural that those who rose would be blessed with light.

“Uchide no Kozuchi—Dance!”

Fox tails compressed into orbs of light descended from above, enveloping Hedin, Lyu, and Mia. Their stunned eyes immediately discovered the intruder.

“Bellllll! Elfffff!”

“Goddess?!”

Hestia was covered in sweat as she ran out from a crevice in the shattered outer wall. Behind her, standing atop the rubble of the southwestern side, stood Haruhime, using her magic. Following Lilly’s order, they had struggled and struggled, and finally, they had reached the amphitheater.

“Bell, show me your back!”

“Eh…?!”

“One last status update! To turn all the excelia you’ve gotten into strength!” Hestia hugged onto Bell and shouted as he looked stunned. “I heard! You’re going to beat him, right! That Warlord!”

“!”

“You’re going, right?! To Freya—to that girl!”

Bell’s eyes widened, and then he nodded forcefully.

Looking back, he saw Lyu and Mia glance at him and smile.

“We’ll be waiting, Bell.”

“We’ll start rampaging first!”

Hedin didn’t even glance back.

But—

“Finish up quick and come, stupid rabbit.”

“…Yes, sir!”

Trusting them, Bell kneeled down.

He had lost his armor, and his battle clothes were shredded. His back was covered with open wounds. Seeing that, Hestia blanched for a moment but quickly set a drop of ichor on his back, moving to update his status.

Leaving him behind, the adventurers and beast turned the broken theater into Folkvangr yet again.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

The first attack was Ottar’s.

All three of them scattered as the greatsword swung down from high overhead.

I can react to his attacks, now! But…

This light is a crazy wild horse! Let my guard down, and my status will take control!

But there is no path to victory if I don’t control it!

Lyu at least had experienced it once during the Xenos incident, but Mia and Hedin were experiencing level boost for the first time. They were stunned and a little shaken by the tremendous output of suddenly ascending to Level 7. All that remained was to grab the reins with all of their mental fortitude.

The three of them attacked Warlord with their own tactics.

“Duty shall be fulfilled, and scales shall be balanced.”

What Lyu chose was a midair battle.

Flying out without fear above the wingless boaz, she disrupted his field of view.

Lyu wanted air superiority. She wanted to try a pincer attack using the ground. Like a fairy with glittering wings, she drew Ottar’s attention overhead, unleashing her star sword boldly from above.

Ottar disliked the sharp, meteoric slash.

He easily defended and avoided the blow, slashing his own sword back in annoyance, but Lyu used her Futaba to slide over the enemy’s attack. There was a shower of sparks, and a terrible shock rocked her body, but with her pseudo–Level 7 status, she completely nullified the attack.

“Where are you looking, idjit!”

And Mia of course took the opposite, ground-based approach. Not allowing Ottar to press the attack against the elf, she unleashed a furious attack up close and personal with her shovel.

Ottar defeated that attack as well. He attempted to crush Mia head-on, but he was stopped by the immediately intervention of the star sword from overhead.

Drawing the enemy’s attention both up and down, they strained his reaction time, preventing his rampage. Understanding Lyu’s intent, Mia performed the role of the powerful vanguard, trading blows with the beast’s monstrous strength.

While their combination troubled the transformed Level 7, the song of justice rushed by in the blink of an eye.

“Justice returns! —Rea Vindemia.”

What Lyu activated was the area of effect healing that was the specialty of Astrea Familia’s one and only healer, Maryu.

Her own Noa Heal could only target one person, and while it had a powerful effect, it was slow. So instead, she relied on the power of the girl who had always healed her friends. The purple starlight stretched even to Bell, who was getting his status updated, healing everyone a little.

“Mighty kind of ya, Lyu!”

The pain eased, and Mia grew more lively as she hammered home another heavy attack.

Meanwhile, directly behind her, Hedin was carefully and precisely observing the board.

“But even if our wounds are healed, our Mind is running low! We can’t afford a protracted battle.

He performed the role of an overwhelming support class.

There was no more meaning in devoting himself to staying in the rear. If they didn’t combine their strength now, then even with their boosted strength, they would still be overwhelmed by the transformed boar. Striking with his rhomphaia so skillfully that it put most frontliners to shame, Hedin joined the assault on Ottar. He also boldly made use of his magic, not being picky with his range, aggressively filling the openings left by Lyu and Mia. His original role was a magic swordsman, and he showed his worth as party support. Having lost his glasses, he no longer had the face of a sage magic caster, but a wild and savage warrior, cutting into Ottar alongside Mia and Lyu.

“Nuuurggghh!”

Ottar chose to respond not with absolute defense, but absolute offense—he desired to trade blows. Entrusting his body to his bestial manifestation, even as he retained his warrior’s intelligence, he put himself in the middle of a fight to the death.

He didn’t allow himself foolish thoughts of enjoying the hunt. Igniting his battle instincts, he faced down the adventurers who raised the battle cry of the weak.

The first-tier adventurers used their wisdom and techniques, and a moment’s insight to endure that absolute offense which neither evaded nor defended. If a single attack would be fatal, then they simply needed to never allow him to attack. They peppered him with magic, peeling away his absolute armor. Using attacks from three different angles to disrupt his aim and range, making his attacks hit nothing but air.

Turning a single defeat into a solid foundation, they were wiser now. They had adapted. They were stronger.

The broken ability of level boost was a powerful wind in their sails, allowing the furious battle to become an almost even affair.

“…Amazing…”

Bell murmured as he watched.

The boy who had just reached Level 5 was captivated by the figure of those adventurers so far above him.

“Don’t lose your head! You’ll be joining them soon!”

“Goddess…”

“You’re going to stand shoulder to shoulder with those amazing adventurers, too! So—”

Hestia was engraving the hieroglyphs into his back as he kneeled in front of her.

Sweat beaded on her brow as she hurried, working precisely and without hesitation. The black figures danced, recording the prologue of the story that was about to unfold.

Bell Cranell

Level 5

Strength: I41-> G222 Defense: I39-> F340 Dexterity: I49-> G245 Agility: I77->F311 Magic: I4-> I98

Luck: F Immunity: G Escape: G Rapid Attacks: I

An increase of over 999 across the board. These were breathtaking results for just a single battle.

But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Even with that sort of growth, he couldn’t reach that despair-inducing summit, couldn’t reach the strongest.

“Don’t lose, Bell!”

But even so, the goddess shouted, making her heart and his tremble.

“Win, Bell!”

“Yes!”

Bell shot to his feet. The Hestia Knife in his clenched fist reacted to his growth and ignited with a powerful gleam as well.

“Master Bell…may you find victory.”

And the blond fox smiled and offered up the final tail that she had reserved for him. Uchide no Kozuchi provided a dramatic increase in status by granting a level-up that lasted only twenty minutes.

Even if Haruhime passed out, the golden miracle wouldn’t fade. And so, the girl who had exhausted every bit of her strength let herself slowly drop, searing the image of his back shrouded in golden light into her memories. Then, at long last, she slipped into unconsciousness while praying for his victory.

“I’m going!”

As his goddess held the fox girl close while she watched him go, the boy dashed off.

Though he couldn’t hear it, the cheers of everyone in the city were at his back as he threw himself into the battle once more.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

The curtain rose on the true finale.

With the addition of the final person with the right to fight, Folkvangr raised its final roar. Across the mountains, those left in Orario turned their remaining strength into cheers as the adventurer challenged the summit.

A heroic battle had begun.

Erupting flame and lightning, white and black slashes. The star sword sang the song of justice as blazing petals crackled, and stardust riding a green wind poured down. At the same time, countless lightning soldiers charged with every barked command, and the dwarf warrior surged forward to strike the black greatsword. Under the direction of the lord of lightning, the four coordinated, meshing together strength and speed to attack from all directions.

And despite all that, the wild boar facing them didn’t waver.

No matter how the rabbit bore its fangs, no matter how the fairies’ songs echoed, no matter how the earth woman exerted her iron strength, Warlord remained standing at the summit. Swinging his greatsword as if looking down at the ground below, he turned his steel body into a shield, hammering home the meaning of the strongest as a pool of blood formed below.

“One Level 6…! And three Level 7s!!!”

Asfi’s voice had none of her usual calm as she watched the mirror rapt.

This level of destructive power and combat strength was overpowered enough to easily crush anything found in the deep floors of the labyrinth. Ordinarily, there would be nothing that could stand before such force.

“But even so…!”

“He just won’t faaaaaaaalll!!!”

Eina was watching in the Guild headquarters, and Ibly in the courtyard.

The addition of a pseudo–Level 6. The final push of the white rabbit who was agility made manifest.

And yet, they still couldn’t crack Warlord’s fortress.

“Arrrrrrrrrrgh! How are we supposed to beat that!”

“How the hell should I know?!”

Tione snapped back, as if telling her grumbling sister to shut up.

“There’s an opening!”

“Ottar’s beast form isn’t invincible!”

As they watched the finale unfold, Gareth and Riveria shouted.

“Hedin should understand! Keep attacking!”

The mask of the leader slipped as Finn sought the answer that lay beyond their dauntless push.

“Surpass him…”

Aiz clenched her hands to her shivering chest.

“And win!”

That was all she prayed for as she watched the boy covered in wounds through the mirror.

“Don’t lose!”

The elf girl shouted, her short hair fluttering.

The human, the dwarf, the Amazons, all raised their voices in a massive, swelling battle cry.

They cheered until their voices grew hoarse, raising their clenched fists.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

And the boar king’s roar drowned out all of their wishes. The voice of the supreme warrior who would allow no faint hope. The masses grew quiet, losing their voices.

There were none who cheered him. Even if there were, their voices were weak and quiet. But even on that solitary battlefield, for just a brief moment, Warlord flashed a smile.

“…!”

Hearing that rumbling roar, for the first time Freya stood up from her throne.

Unable to use a mirror or oculus, she had no way of quickly grasping the details of the battlefield. But when she heard that beast’s roar echoing, she knew that her follower had maintained his transformation.

“…Stop it, Ottar.”

One of Ottar’s skills, Vana Arganture.

As Bete guessed, it was an active trigger skill connected to his beast transformation. It granted a strength almost as great as a level-up, affecting his base abilities and his skills. However, it had downsides. A massive amount of stamina and Mind had to be paid every time he activated it. And to maintain his transformation, his body experienced an exhaustion that ate away at his strength so much that even his auto-heal skill couldn’t fully make up for it. That was the difference between Ottar and werewolves who could transform without risk so long as the full moon requirement was met.

“Stop this at once, Ottar!”

If he continued to fight like this, he would run out of strength at some point. Before that happened, he needed to find an opportunity to reset his position. Even though she knew her voice couldn’t reach, she looked toward the northwest through the columns and the wall that had collapsed in ages past.

“Haaah, Haaaaagh…! UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Ottar continued to fight while apologizing humbly to the goddess in his heart. Even though he knew that her divine will was concerned for him, just this once, he couldn’t obey. The warrior couldn’t turn his back on these adventurers who were striving to defeat him, and so he continued to howl with that bestial look in his eyes.

“Ghhhhh?!”

Bell and everyone shuddered at the menacing presence that somehow continued to grow even now.

The warrior before their eyes was injured, just like them. The grave wounds he had suffered before his transformation remained, and he couldn’t continue to fight them without injury now that their levels were boosted. His steel body was surely reaching its limit.

But even so, he didn’t fall.

Like a nightmare, he continued to unleash attacks that swept everything aside.

The boy was in awe of this display of strength. But even so, he pushed himself on, declaring that he refused to lose now. He unleashed a full-strength blow of his own.

That attack could slay even a giant, but the beast easily deflected it, as if swinging a conductor’s baton.

A monster.

The man before him was a true warrior.

A man who survived the age of Zeus and Hera, who had known the muddy taste of humiliation more than anyone, and who was now trying to destroy them with the strength he had gained from never giving up.

If his fingers so much as brushed Bell, they could easily tear through his neck.

He was the loser who had fought his way to victory. Even as his attackers exhausted every last bit of their strength, they couldn’t defeat him. Even after surpassing their limits, they couldn’t win.

When Bell raised a battle cry, it was met by a deafening roar. Staring at the beast’s face that was flecked with foam and bloody spittle, the boy experienced the most intense terror he had ever felt in his short life.

—But even so!

He had exhausted all of his techniques. It was clear that tricks wouldn’t work from the start. He was inferior in every category. In a situation where every last requirement for defeat had been arranged, the only weapon Bell had left was sheer force of will.

Ms. Syr!

The girl who was supposed to be dead. The girl who had always helped and supported him. The girl who he had hurt. He had decided to save her.

So he transformed that hideous ego into an unquenchable fighting spirit, into a do-or-die attack. Hakugen flashed, igniting with a lightning flame. His whole body burned with resolve and determination, like he was physically expelling all his fear and anxiety.

“I swore I would save her!!!”

The Hestia Knife unleashed an indigo slash, striking Ottar through his black greatsword.

“…!!!”

Hedin watched on as he struggled to breathe. He was covered in a horribly unpleasant, unending sheen of sweat. The first Mind Down he had experienced in decades was about to crash upon him. He had used magic more than anyone, starting from his annihilation of Heith and the Andhrímnir all the way until this very moment, and he had finally run dry.

Just as he realized that he wouldn’t be of any use very soon, he saw it.

The cloyingly green, unbearably foolish boy who continued fighting despite the odds.

Hedin didn’t have the eyes of a goddess, and so he couldn’t understand the color of a soul, or any so-called gleam. But he understood that the source of that pure white cry was surely translucent.

“It makes me sick…To corrupt even me…!”

Even though he was weaker than all of them, the boy’s will to keep fighting Warlord was firmer than anyone’s. Lyu and Mia followed him. Seeing his battered back drew the adventurers to him.

The scene was truly heroic, like watching a single ship setting forth into the vast open seas.

That fool…won’t choose to be her companion.

No, he couldn’t make that choice.

If he could, things never would have ended up becoming so complicated.

But because he hadn’t chosen it, he was the one and only person who could make her “ ” for sure.

It was revolting beyond compare. But even so. That stupid boy, just like Hedin had anticipated, should be capable of becoming the hero who saved her.

“Very well…I’ll acknowledge it.”

Hedin smiled.

It was a small smile that not the masses, the adventurers, and the deities—not one of them noticed.

“—! Dodge, Hedin!”

He reacted to Mia’s shout.

A beast was closing in on him.

Even as Hedin was reaching his limits, Ottar burst through the front lines to crush Hedin once and for all.

“Hgh—Strike forever, indestructible lord of lightning!”

But that was within expectations.

Hedin had already anticipated that Ottar wouldn’t let him escape after he could no longer put up a fight, and so he slung together a quick, super-short cast.

“Valiant Hildr!”

A lightning cannon launched from melee range.

He had purposefully dangled himself as bait for the final ploy, forcing Ottar to eat a full-strength, inescapable lightning shock.

“A direct hit!”

“Yea—ghhh?!”

Bell stared to cheer at Lyu’s observation, but then his smile cracked.

“ ”

Time froze for Hedin, too.

Bathed in the torrent of lightning, the boar carried on and charged through.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Bursting through the electric blast, Ottar struck with a tremendous diagonal slash.

With ungodly speed, Hedin held Dizaria horizontally, but both he and his rhomphaia were cut.

“Gahhaaaaa!”

It was a fatal wound.

A diagonal gash opened up. Mia had managed to endure this blow, but Hedin didn’t.

A hot spurt of blood that didn’t feel like his own flew into the air as Hedin fell to the ground. What his eyes saw was the beast preparing to finish him off once and for all.

“—Masterrrr!!!”

Bell became a streak of light.

Accelerating at full speed, he reached his hand out in the dumbest sort of plan to save someone who had already dropped out of the fight.

The first thing to touch Hedin’s shoulder wasn’t the swinging blade, but the boy’s fingers.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~gh?!”

The blade that failed to catch the elf split the ground wide open.

An ear-rattling shock wave blew Hedin away and knocked Bell aside as well.

“Bell?!”

“Hedin!”

“Bell!!!”

Lyu’s, Mia’s, and Hestia’s voice disappeared in the cloud of debris.

Rolling across the destroyed arena’s floor, Bell lost track of everything, not just Hedin. Holding his head as his ears still rang, he stood up.

“Gah…Master! Masterrr!”

Panicking like a lost child, he spun around, whipping in every direction, but before he found his target, the debris cleared.

Standing in the middle of it, he saw the boaz standing calmly.

Lyu and Mia were to the left and right, and beyond the boaz were Hestia and Haruhime.

They were saying something, but he couldn’t hear them.

He couldn’t ignore the beast’s eyes watching him, but he still tried to make sure Hedin was safe, looking around him, when—

“…Look forward…”

“ ”

He couldn’t hear anything, but those words alone, he could clearly make out.

“…Save…her…!”

His trembling hand touched Bell’s back, as if it no longer had even the strength to smack him.

With a frail voice on the verge of failing, he began to sing a verse.

“Sing forever…indestructible…saint.”

And then he spoke the name.

“Laurus Hildr!”

Shock.

Electricity.

Awakening.

“!!!”

He wasn’t being roasted by electricity. This was an enchantment—a blessing of lightning that enveloped Bell’s whole body.

Laurus Hildr, the saint’s lightning eulogy. Hedin’s third and final magic. A rare magic that, when activated, healed the target’s wounds as if touched by a saint, then applied a blessing of lightning. Its greatest distinguishing characteristic was that Hedin couldn’t use it on himself. He could only cast on those whom he acknowledged.

At the cost of all his Mind, he entrusted Bell with a power that made the boy’s eyes shoot open.

“Go…stupid pupil…”

“ !!”

He was incandescent.

The lightning protected his body as he shook off all the emotions filling his head and heart. He didn’t cry. He didn’t look back at his fallen master. He had been pushed forward by the palm that remained on his back to the very end.

The boy became a bolt of lightning.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

He charged.

The distance between him and Warlord in the center of his vision disappeared in an instant as he slashed with his twin lightning blades.

“Gh?!”

“Fuuu!”

Ottar immediately used his black greatsword as a shield against the storm of lightning slashes. Thunder erupted with a dazzling flash. It had happened at an abnormal speed. The sparks didn’t stop flying as Bell became an embodiment of lightning, displaying a speed that outstripped even Lyu with her pseudo–Level 7.

Rabbit Rush—Hildr.

The brilliant white and purple slashes were blotted out by the crackling arcs of lightning. It was a furious rush of continuous attacks. His hands blurred as he dealt forty-four consecutive slashes in a single second. And as Warlord defended against all of them, he suddenly realized he chose incorrectly in opting for his absolute defense.

“Guooooooo?!”

He was electrified.

Even though Ottar defended perfectly, the electric charge in those slashes passed through his sword and coursed through his body. No one in Freya Familia other than Freya herself knew Hedin’s final magic. In addition to that speed, its special traits were an absurd force and penetrating capability.

In Hedin’s own words, the requirement that he expend every bit of his Mind to activate it was the worst possible condition, but with his having paid that price, it boasted a power even greater than standard enchantments, granting its target a massive boon.

The lightning armor optimized for attack and speed didn’t pale even in comparison to Aiz’s Airiel.

And more than anything, every time its attacks fell upon a defense, damage still racked up, making it the best possible counter for Ottar’s absolute defense.

“E-every time Bell attacks, there’s a flash…I can’t see anything!”

Hestia stared, desperately trying to watch as she covered her face with her arm, but Mia and Lyu with their first-tier adventurer visual acuity were able to precisely see through it.

Each and every slash from the lightning-clad knives had the force of a bolt of Caurus Hildr behind them.

Even if Ottar tried to evade, Bell’s natural agility would block any escape with a scythe of lightning.

My movement speed, my attack speed! They’re rising! My reaction speed, too! I can see his every move so clearly!

Realizing that Laurus Hildr’s effect extended not just to ordinary movement speed but even to speed of perception, Bell experienced a new sort of omnipotence that wasn’t like a level boost.

His body was completely revived.

The lightning welled up as the saint’s blessing returned color and sound to the world. The scene he saw as sparks of lightning flickered all around him was brilliant and vivid. Bell continued accelerating as his mind surpassed the edge of the lightning. It even felt like he could feel Hedin’s presence.

He could go anywhere.

Defeat any enemy—and he had to.

Drawn by the rampaging lightning, Bell shouted.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

A torrent of lightning shot out. A heroic slash. His knives’ reach extended to the range of a shortsword with the lightning enchantment.

Seeing what looked like a lightning knight charging out of myth, the city’s voltage shot through the roof.

“Gooooo!”

Aiz shouted to the awakened Bell.

“Gooooo!”

Eina pleaded to the heroic boy running toward victory.

“““Big brotherrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!”””

Rai and the other orphans cheered as they saw the vision of a hero in the boy’s back as he continued to stand, continued to fight.

“UUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

But Ottar—

“Ghhh?!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Even with his whole body being seared by lightning, he pushed back the charge. Abandoning his absolute defense, paying no heed to damage, he demanded a bullfight.

Even though he could react to the sword and even though he could evade it, the pure, brute force of it still posed a danger to Bell’s body. Even pushed all the way to the brink, Ottar used all of his techniques and tricks, turning the tables on the boy who was far inferior as an adventurer. Now Bell was the one who found his back up against the wall.

The beast was using his eyes, brute strength, mental fortitude, and skill as an adventurer. Bell’s eyes started swimming as he suddenly started taking damage. His fully recovered body started being wounded in the blink of an eye. Even with dual miracles of level boost and Laurus Hildr, Warlord refused to fall.

Meanwhile, the golden light and flashes of lightning were beginning to weaken.

This was the decisive moment, and both sides staked everything on this clash.

““ AAAAA!!!””

The boy clad in his master’s lightning let out a roar, hungry for victory. The guardian who had always protected his goddess swore to maintain an impenetrable defense. Lightning blades met greatsword. Lightning flame met massive fist. The storm of destruction.

Bell raged.

Ottar raged even more.

In this precise moment, they were channeling their standing, their fate, and their very lives into fuel and using it to strike down their enemy.

All their spilled blood was immediately scorched by lightning as they crashed again and again.

—I know it. I know this feeling!

Minotaur.

And Asterios.

Everything that made Bell Cranell what he was today was currently inhabiting the warrior before him. That was where everything started. Even though he couldn’t explain it, Bell understood on an instinctive level. And when he realized that, he drew forth even more energy from the depths of his soul.

I can’t lose. I don’t want to lose. Not to him!

He remembered the determination he felt when he made a vow to become stronger on the city wall that fateful day. That determination meant that no matter how badly it hurt, no matter how hopeless it seemed, he had to overcome this warrior.

But—just this once, he couldn’t have a repeat of that battle with Asterios.

“Lyu!”

“I know!”

Mia and Lyu attacked at the same time. Their determination to defeat Warlord and claim victory was the same as Bell’s. This wasn’t his personal duel. He couldn’t make that mistake. This was a war to stop her. To save her. He had to remember his hypocritical vow and throw away all personal pride.

So. So. So.

Bell clenched his teeth and looked back at those rust-colored eyes.

I’m sorry for being weak. I’m sorry this isn’t a match with just me alone. I will defeat you with everyone—so I’m sorry. Putting all those apologies and his unshakeable resolve into his gaze, he met the warrior’s gaze.

And then even though it couldn’t have been possible, he could’ve sworn Ottar snorted “You’re fifteen years too early.”

“Outta the waaaaaaaaay!”

No matter how injured he was, Ottar wouldn’t fall. He wouldn’t yield the way. It was like running into a castle wall or an iron gate that refused to open for anything other than raw strength. This gate could not be moved by words or feelings. And beyond that barrier was a princess with blue-gray hair.

No, she wasn’t anyone so innocent as that. What waited beyond those walls was a witch. A disagreeable, free-spirited, selfish, fickle witch. A girl who had trapped Bell, trifled with Lyu, twisted the world around her—and a girl who couldn’t understand why she was crying.

So—

“!!!”

Concurrent charging.

Moving at super-high-speed using the power of lightning, Bell concentrated a pure white light on his right hand.

What rang out wasn’t a chime, but a grand bell. The limit was off. As Bell activated Argonaut, Ottar immediately understood. In their first clash, he had experienced the full force of the hero’s strike. And he realized that it was a move that was capable of killing him in his badly wounded state.

And so, the boar changed target, reversing course.

“Ghhh?!”

“Dammit!”

Lyu and Mia formed a wall in his path, enduring his heavy blows several times, but it wasn’t long before he crashed through. But they had managed to buy some time.

“Ms. Mia! Ms. Lyu! I’m going!”

““!””

Bell made up his mind as Ottar charged at him.

Lowering his hips, he readied the Hestia Knife. This would be a twenty-second charge. His eyes locked with Ottar who readied his sword in one hand, and the next instant, they both rushed forward.

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

The distance between them melted away.

The light gathered in Bell’s right hand; Ottar’s veins bulged as he clenched his sword.

And the instant their attack’s collided—

“Gh!”

Lyu’s shoulders twitched.

His right arm is drifting…!

She had mentioned it during the march through the lower levels. Bell had a bad habit that showed when he got impatient. And in a decisive moment like this, telegraphing his moves would be fatal. Ottar wouldn’t miss it.

A thrust from the right. The trajectory of the attack was plain to see. The boaz swung with all his strength to defeat Bell’s attack and cut him down in the process.

“Nrraaah!”

“Bell?!”

Ottar’s slash and Lyu’s cry overlapped. In that moment—

—He bit!

Bell had left his right arm high and switched attacks.

““?!””

Ottar and Lyu’s next reaction was the same—total disbelief.

What was clearly supposed to have been the windup for a thrust seamlessly became a sliding kick. The boaz’s horizontal slash caught only the Hestia Knife, which hadn’t quite escaped the blade’s path, which knocked it out of the boy’s right hand. But in that brief opening, Bell’s left leg raced toward Ottar’s right leg. The sliding kick clad in lightning landed cleanly on his defenseless knee.

“Fuu!”

“Urgh!”

A clean hit.

The combined power of level boost and Laurus Hildr broke Ottar’s stance.

That’s—

When he saw that scene, time stopped for Van, who was watching from the spectator seats in the south where he had fallen.

“…Bell. You have a habit of letting your right arm drift upward, don’t you?”

“Eh…? Ah, yes. Apparently, I have a tendency to do it when I get flustered…I-it’s still there, I guess?”

“The opposite. You focus too much on fixing it, so when you attack, your right arm telegraphs your movements. It’s not a problem if you’re just after a monster’s magic stone, but against a first-tier adventurer, it’s a fatal weakness.”

That memory was from weeks ago. It was a piece of advice Van had given the boy, when they had been comrades, inside the twisted world the goddess of beauty had created.

“Just leave it be. You can mix it into your attack and defense patterns as a feint.”

“It’s useful as a tactic for fighting against other people. You can’t use it too many times, but it’s impossible to win against a first-tier adventurer without using every last tool at your disposal.”

He had done it. Bell had used it.

He had purposefully used the habit as a lure, baiting Ottar’s attack. He had turned his fake comrade Van’s advice into growth, using it on the biggest stage possible.

“That bastard!”

Van thumped his right fist on the ground, with an aggravated look on his face. But at the same time, it almost looked like a smile. The half-prum’s trick had caught a first-tier adventurer off guard, landing a blow, creating a critical opening.

For the first time, the never unfaltering Warlord staggered, leaving a huge opening.

“Attaboy!”

Mia had been the only one who noticed Bell’s intent and was already running. Unable to ready his absolute defense, Ottar widened his eyes as she struck him with all her strength.

“Uuurrryyyaaaaaaaa!!!”

“Gaaaaa?!”

The steel shovel slammed into his right side. The boaz’s massive body left the ground, floating upward. He coughed up blood, his bestial eyes unfocused. At almost the same moment, the shovel that slammed into his forged body broke at the base. Mia immediately dropped it. Then she rained down a furious salvo of punches.

“Not yeeeeeeeet!!!”

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?!”

Her fists pummeled Ottar’s face, chest, shoulders, stomach.

The one and only person on the island who could hurt Ottar with bare fists began a one-sided onslaught.

“Cross the skies and sprint through the wilderness, swifter than anything. Imbue the light of stardust and strike down my enemy.”

Quickly getting over her shock, Lyu readied her own attack.

A deep green magic circle appeared as she poured all of her Mind into the spell. Knowing that there would never be a better opportunity, she called upon the greatest magical power she could summon and called forth the stardust.

“Luminous Wind!”

Timed perfectly with Mia’s retreat after sending Ottar flying, the massive orbs of light wrapped in green wind slammed into Ottar. Gale Wind didn’t miss a single shot as her barrage blasted the boaz into the spectator seats.

“Gh……ah…?!”

As the storm of magic particles faded, it was obvious what terrible condition Ottar was in.

And then—

GONG, GONG.

“ ”

It was Bell’s turn.

When the great bell tolled, he unleashed the white light that had gathered in his empty right hand. This was the power of a full sixty-second charge.

Ottar froze as the boy closed the distance and sent his right fist flying forward.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Vorpal Fang.

Ottar’s eyes sprang open as it slammed directly into his chest.

And—

“FIREBOLT!!!”

A massive explosion engulfed them.

“ ?!”

Flames and crackling lightning drove into Ottar’s chest and blew him away. The streak of white-hot fire swallowed up everything in its path, slamming into the western edge of the amphitheater and blasting a giant hole through the wall and the spectator seats.

The island shuddered. The ruins trembled. The twilight-colored sky sought a victor.

“Haaah, haaah…haaaaaaah…!”

Bell’s right arm hung limply as he heaved with every breath, staring in the direction where Ottar had disappeared. The agony in his right hand didn’t fade. His vision shook in time with his pulse, and his heart felt like it wanted to leap out of his chest.

If even that wasn’t enough…!

Bell didn’t have energy to fight anymore. Lyu was barely standing, too, and Mia was the most battered and bruised. Bell watched the rising smoke, hoping this would be the end of it. Hestia gulped and watched on while holding Haruhime, who was still unconscious.

They both waited with bated breath when they saw it…A shadow moved.

“ ”

The smoke parted to the sides as if in terror, revealing a steel-forged body that looked completely broken.

But even so, Warlord walked on both legs, returning to the center of the stage.

“……Ahhh……”

Bell’s spirit almost broke, but he grit his teeth. It was a miracle he even had the strength to bite down.

Lyu was drenched in a waterfall of sweat, and Mia’s brow was a mass of wrinkles as they endured this waking nightmare. Hestia went pale as what little strength she had seemed to slip away.

Witnessing the strongest warrior calmly walking forward silenced all of Orario.

“………Grh”

But—

Like a massive tree cut at the base, Ottar’s body tilted to one side, and with an impact that shook the ground, he fell to one knee.

Bell gasped.

Lyu, Mia, and Hestia all looked stunned.

Bleeding profusely and struggling for each breath, the boaz had no more strength to draw upon.

“Do…DOOOOOWWWWWWWNNNNNNN!!! Warlord has been put out of action!!!”

Ibly’s shout pierced the sky.

Thunderous cheers filled Orario, but in the ruins of the amphitheater, there was an unnatural silence.

It was Ottar.

Even after all this, he might still be able to fight. The challengers were on guard, holding their breaths, thinking the same thought as time slowly crawled forward.

“Ottar, this is our win, right?”

Mia’s gruff voice broke the silence.

Bell and Lyu both turned while Hestia watched nervously as Ottar raised his head.

His right eye was covered with blood, but his left eye was focused on the boy who stood perfectly still.

“…Can you free her?”

“Eh…?”

Their eyes met.

“Can you save her?”

Bell’s eyes widened.

“…I can!”

His answer was a single nod.

Looking at the badly battered boy’s face, Ottar slowly closed his eyes.

“Five minutes.”

“…?”

“I will wait five minutes.”

Everyone other than Mia looked shocked.

“When my body has recovered, I will stop you. In that time—show me your answer.”

But shock quickly gave way to understanding. Ottar wasn’t lying. Once he could move again, he would come for them. No one felt any need to ask if he needed a full five minutes just to recover.

They had proved their strength to Ottar. The castle protecting the witch had opened its gate.

“D-did you win?! You did, right?! My heart won’t last if I have to watch another fight like this!”

Not reading the mood at all, Hestia made her way over to the adventurers with Bell’s fallen knife in one hand and dragging Haruhime with the other. The fox girl groaned in her sleep as she was dragged across the ground. Lyu had also come over, as did Mia after she collected Hedin. They smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry, that boy will keep his word…More importantly, kiddo. Can you run?”

“Eh?”

“It’s a sorry excuse, but…we cannot really move anymore. Most likely, we wouldn’t reach Syr in time.”

Mia and Lyu were struggling just to stand. Bell suddenly realized what they were saying. Thanks to the healing from Hedin’s Laurus Hildr, he was the only one with any strength left. His right hand, which he’d used for the charge attack, was useless, but he could still rush to the house of the gods.

“Bell, go! Miach and the supporter have all wiped out.”

Checking the state of the battlefield with her oculus, Hestia blanched as she urged Bell to hurry.

“Gah…!”

“Vana Freya’s work…”

Bell looked startled while Lyu sensed a new danger.

Allen had the fastest feet in the city. If he caught up to them, that would be the end. If Bell fought him now, he would surely lose. He had to reach the goddess before Allen’s spear ran him through.

“Hurry, kiddo. We’ll protect this goddess. We won’t let her flower get stolen!”

“Please go, Bell.”

Mia and Lyu glanced at Ottar and Van. The former stayed silent while the latter was desperately trying to stand back up.

“…Understood!”

Nodding, Bell immediately finished his preparations. He removed his Goliath Scarf and all other armor that would slow him down. Finally, Hestia handed him his pitch-black knife.

“Sorry, Bell. For putting everything on you…But please!”

“I will!”

He looked at Hestia, Lyu, Mia, Ottar. At Haruhime, who was sleeping. At Hedin, who was still unconscious.

With the telltale glow of the level boost and crackles of lightning still emanating from his body, Bell set off at a run.

“…Ottar?”

On the eastern edge of the main battlefield, Allen looked up at the sky.

The ferocious beast’s roar that had shattered the sky was gone now.

Ordinarily he would never have doubted Ottar’s victory. But just before the silence had fallen, he had also picked up a sound he had heard once before: the tolling of a grand bell. And outside the island, on the outer edge of the lake, Ganesha Familia seemed almost excited.

“That bastard…did he screw up?!”

Exuding his usual rage, Allen turned toward the northwest. A trail of defeated adventurers and tavern girls lay in his wake.

The only remaining einherjar was Allen. He alone had fought not for the goddess, but for his little sister—even if it meant fighting his little sister, too.

That had been the decisive factor. That was what led to this result. Because he desired the goddess for the sake of his sister, his faith wasn’t corrupted, he didn’t have any doubt and he hadn’t faltered.

“…Bro…ther…”

Having kicked aside all obstacles, Allen looked back only once, at his sister, whose eyes wavered. He half closed his eyes and then steeled himself before racing away. Ahnya’s faint voice couldn’t reach him anymore.

The chariot would fulfill its duty.

Running.

“They beat Ottar!!!!!!!!!!!!! But…”

Tiona immediately raised her fists high in joy, but then her expression became serious.

“What’s the situation now? What about Argonaut’s allies?! How many enemies are left?!”

“The only one left who can move is Bell! The enemies are Vana Freya and…!”

“Just those inside the house of the gods…Goddess Freya’s four bodyguards.”

Unexpectedly, it was Aiz who answered Tiona’s question even as she continued staring at the mirror, while Riveria supplemented it.

There was a stir among all of Loki Familia who watched this gallant struggle—at this point, it was fair to call it a complete upset—

“There are five enemies left still…? Then Rabbit Foot is…”

“No, the guards are Level 4 at most. So long as that strange sorcery and Hedin’s lightning last, that youngster can force his way through. So long as Allen doesn’t catch up, that is,” Gareth explained calmly.

“…And if Allen does catch up?” Tiona asked.

Finn was the one who answered.

“If he’s caught, it’s over. And if he’s cornered…it’s almost guaranteed checkmate. The final stretch is a simple game of tag.”

In Babel—

“Oy, what’s this…what’s going on here?!”

“…R-run, Belllll!”

“Argh, what’d you say?!”

“Aren’t you one of Lady Freya’s royal guard?!”

“Lady Freya, ruuuun!”

The deities leaped to their feet at the unexpected turn of events.

Some never thought it would get this far. Some feigned calm while visibly fidgeting. Some flocked to a new bandwagon because they were enthralled by the delicious unknown. It was practically chaos as they kept changing what was displayed on the mirror, viewing the game from every angle to get a better idea what was going on.

Even for deities who were constantly aloof and self-assured, what they were watching went beyond a mere anomaly. This was something they had never seen before—Freya was being pushed to the brink.

“So? What are you doing, pretty boy?”

“…Loki, you know how children have a custom of praying to gods? If we gods prayed, who would it be to?”

“…Probably one of those stupid great gods…or just worship whoever you like, I guess.”

“Zeus is out. Not a chance. He’d just laugh his ass off. In that case…Astrea, Artemis, and maybe Athena …! Please let Bell escape…!”

“I suppose those are righteous goddesses, but it seems like you picked all the goody-goodies…”

Asfi would have found it more than distasteful if she saw how earnestly Hermes clasped his hands together in prayer, and Loki looked plenty exasperated herself, but…

“Tsk.”

Behind her, Bete vented his frustration as he stared at the mirror.

“…Too bad, Hermes.”

Glancing at her follower, Loki looked back at the mirror.

“Looks like we’re just gonna have to roll the dice on a torturous game of tag.”

The bird’s eye view of the island reflected in the mirror showed a chariot closing in on its target with impossible speed.

“Faster, faster, faster!”

Bell was sprinting southwest.

His target was the house of the gods sitting on the cliff at the far edge of the island. It was in view, but he wasn’t there yet. In his current state, it wouldn’t take even three minutes to reach there, but right now, that was three minutes too long.

He had already entered the temple grounds. A great many collapsed structures littered the area, but almost nothing blocked his line of sight. Bell was wrestling with his racing heart as he ran through the field of debris with a clear view in all directions.

It’s over if he finds me! But…!

Bell knew.

He had experienced it during the regular baptisms of Folkvangr inside of Freya’s twisted world. He had tasted the brutality. He knew the power of the fleetest feet. The chariot allowed none to escape and blew through every obstacle without a second thought.

Bell was scared to look around. Attempting stealth would be suicide. That cat person’s nose would find him in an instant. His only choice was move as fast as she could and pray.

However, just like the viewers in the city, Bell was soon gripped by despair.

“ ”

There was no need to search for him.

Ironically, Bell had become much more sensitive to gazes thanks to the goddess of beauty, and so he immediately sensed that man’s eyes boring a hole into him.

“ ”

His throat suddenly felt bone-dry. And yet he broke into a massive sweat. Giving in to the pressure, Bell looked.

“ Ah.”

The menace was approaching. He could almost hear wheels spinning furiously.

The fastest chariot was in hot pursuit—

“Found you.”

The boy’s legs were forced to shift into their highest gear.

“Run, Bellllllllll!!!!”

Those left in the amphitheater had climbed to the roof of a nearby ruin and saw what was happening. That was when Hestia screamed to the heavens.

“Run!!!”

“Faster!!!”

Aiz and Tiona shouted at the top of their lungs at the mirror.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”

The screeching race began.

Everyone in the ruins and the city could only watch. Even so, they exploded into shouts.

The hopes of two familias had been entrusted to exactly two people, and now their feet were pounding against the racetrack of a shattered brick road.

The cat’s supreme acceleration was quickly turning hope into despair as he rapidly gained on the rabbit.

“Stop! Stoppppp!!!”

“Run!!!”

“Do something! Rabbit Foot!!!”

Outside the island, at Dian Cecht Familia’s first-aid base, Mord, Gyle, Bors, and many other wounded had regained consciousness thanks to Amid and the other healer’s hard work. Now all their patients were screaming wildly at the divine mirror, and many promptly collapsed as the blood rushed to their heads.

But Bell had no way to know that shouts and screams filled the air as he ran.

He was putting every last bit of energy into his legs, to the extent he couldn’t process any external information.

So fast! He’s right behind me! And catching up!

Allen had originally been heading northwest, toward Ottar, but along the way, his enhanced, first-tier adventurer eyesight helped him catch Bell heading to the house of the gods, and so he wheeled around and changed course. The worst news for Bell was that Allen was now freed from Ahnya’s debuff since she had been knocked out.

A hunter who could be sensed but not seen exerted an enormous pressure on the runner, gradually driving them into a wall.

Bell pumped his arms as hard as he could. He was moving so fast that bits of the ground were coming loose with every step. But even then, he couldn’t escape the sound of the wheels. Those wheels were not whittling down the distance between them—they were mercilessly shredding what little remained.

I can sense it…He’s getting closer!

Bell Cranell’s greatest weapon was his speed.

This was the first time he had ever been chased by someone even faster than he was, and that gave birth to a new fear.

The eastern part of the main battlefield that Allen had cleared earlier.

“Be—! Ruuu—uu—n!”

The goddess’s distorted shout coming from the oculus roused Lilly.

“Mr. Bell…!”

Lying amid the stone rubble where no one remained standing, Lilly had avoided sustaining a mortal wound. Allen had grazed her, likely deciding that she wasn’t worth the effort. And even though she had woken up, Lilly couldn’t move at all She could only whisper into the oculus in her right hand.

It was beyond her to take notice of the cracked crystal or realize that it was almost impossible for her voice to reach anyone.

“Someone…help…Mr. Bell…!”

There was no response. She expected that, of course. She had already tried once much earlier. But even so, Lilly refused to give up and resort to silently hoping for Bell’s safety.

“The island’s…west…the temples…near the house of the gods…someone…!”

It was a truly pitiful scene. These were not the actions of a commander. Right now, Lilly was just a girl crying about a boy as she begged for help in a weak voice.

Her ruined left arm cried out in agony, and she was barely clinging to consciousness. Her arm, her shoulder, her stomach, her chest, her legs, and her back burned, and after a certain point, she didn’t even know what she was saying anymore. But even then, she continued to plea, putting voice to her prayers and the information she had, to her wishes and thoughts.

“Someone…anyone…!”

As if resonating with her powerless emotions, the hieroglyphs on her back glowed.

“This is the drama we’ve been waiting for! Even though we didn’t have to wait for it!!!”

Ibly’s sweaty bellows continued.

Forgetting his job, he simply shouted whatever came to mind first, while Ganesha grit his teeth and watched on nearby with a rapt expression.

“Laugh or cry, scream or shout, this is the end!!! Rabbit Foot and Vana Freya are in a dead heat!!! Wait, whooooooooooooooooooooa?! It’s coming already!!!”

The mic that had been exposed to Ibly’s rampaging emotions this whole time finally reached its limit and became scrap. But even so, the young man continued shouting. His screams joined the ones coming from the rest of the crowd.

Allen had obliterated Bell’s lead and was visibly getting closer and closer, making all of the boy’s supporters turn pale.

“ Nghhh!”

The wind made Bell’s white hair whip around as he challenged the fastest runner in the city.

The rubble lining the road roared in silent cheers as the setting sun set the ruins alight like so many waving flags. The twilight sky glowed red, watching raptly to see who would win this race.

The golden glow and flashes of lightning drove the boy onward as he continued his lonely race. The lights granted him a full boost. But the fox and saint’s contributions were still not enough to earn the goddess of victory’s approval. Even with both of those powerful buffs, he still couldn’t shake off the lone chariot.

If I charge my legs…no, I can’t! The recoil will hit the moment the acceleration stops, and then I’ll be run through from behind!

Tricks wouldn’t work here. There was nothing else to do but keep running.

Just like with Ottar.

Just like how even with so many broken buffs, he hadn’t been a match for the city’s strongest, and now he wasn’t going to be a match for the city’s fastest.

“You’re not getting away.”

“Ngh…?!”

Through the whistling wind, he could hear his pursuer’s voice behind him and slightly off to the side.

The rabbit kicked the ground with all its might.

The cat gave chase, refusing to lose any ground.

The light and tracks that could only be followed with the perspective of the mirror dashed through the ruins. They were almost like shooting stars. The gold glimmer of level boost tailed off behind him, while the bolt of Laurus Hildr blazed its own trail through the ruins. And that path traced by the tail and arc were trampled by the track of the chariot that just continued to accelerate.

I can’t shake him…!

It wasn’t just the eyes, not just the presence, even the sound of footsteps was drawing close from behind.

The chariot didn’t swing its arms like Bell. It calmly aimed for the moment the spear in its hand pierced Bell’s back.

His pulse was too fast. He was going to be crushed by the ferocious pressure.

But…not yet…

Even as he was pummeled by a massive impatience, Bell still hadn’t met the requirements for defeat.

There were two iron rules for runners: never look back and never give up. The former went without saying: it slowed you down. There was also an element of tactics, since turning to look back created an opening that encouraged the pursuer.

And the latter also went without saying. Giving up even for a moment meant defeat.

Because he understood that instinctively—or rather because he had nothing in his head other than the thought of saving her—he was able to maintain his speed even in this difficult position.

A third-rate runs with their legs. A second-rate runs with their arms. A first-rate runs with their heart. And adventurers run with their soul.

Bell burned with renewed resolve. He was willing to turn his body to ash if that’s what it took.

He could already see his goal. The situation was desperate, but she was almost within reach. All there was left to do was struggle for all he was worth.

Just like always. The ones who won were the ones who struggled until the very end.

Forget waiting around for the goddess of victory to smile. Victory was something to be won with your own two legs.

Let’s go—

He had the stamina.

He hadn’t run out of the breath.

His feet kept moving.

His heart, lungs, and legs were working in perfect unison.

All Bell had to do now was cross the finish line.

There was a click inside Bell as he kicked it up a gear. It felt like part of his back burned. And it sounded almost like he could hear Lilly’s voice. Whispering “Bell is here.”

And then the boy transformed into a being who did nothing but run.

“—It’s on!”

Bell and Allen shifted into their final burst of acceleration at the same time.

“It’s the final sprint!!!”

Ibly’s howl was the starting gong.

The finish line was the house of the gods.

The boy and the chariot raced along the rough road running through the ruins. There was no one to get in the way. No one had a death wish. Like stars shooting across the sky, becoming light as they burned away to nothing.

“Useless.”

Allen’s eyes narrowed as the gap closed until there was hardly any distance left.

Three steps.

He coolly made his calculations as the cold wind hit his body. Like the distance until his silver spear would reach the rabbit. And how close the chariot needed to be to trample the rabbit no matter how much it struggled.

Two steps.

The distance closed.

His back was almost within reach.

Moving just behind the boy, he used him as a wind break as he caught up.

One step.

Just as he was about to thrust his spear, proving he was the fastest—

“…?”

Allen felt something strange.

There was a minor miscalculation in the distance.

Had he read something wrong?

He quickly adjusted his calculations to close the last two steps.

“Grgh…?”

Allen felt something off.

The gap was growing.

Two steps became three, became four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten—

—It isn’t going down!

The gap that should not have existed was growing into an absolute distance!

Hey—

His silver spear trembled.

Wait—

A crack appeared in the wheels.

This isn’t a joke—

The twilight sky trembled.

“—The fuck?!”

As he realized Bell was pulling away from him, his eyes widened in shock.

“SO FAAASSST!!!”

The deities exploded in shouts at the beam of light racing through the ruins.

A flash of speed. A roaring sprint that tore through the wind. Red eyes looking straight ahead, leaving behind even their own gleam as he accelerated again.

In that moment, Bell’s top speed surpassed Allen’s speed limit. The city’s fastest was left in the dust by the fastest in the mortal realm.

“You have to be shitting me!”

The Record Holder—Rabbit Foot!

Allen’s eyes were bloodshot.

It didn’t make sense!

He couldn’t understand!

The moment he tried to escape, Bell’s speed jumped—!

“What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know! But!”

Loki and Hermes leaped to their feet.

“Gooo!!!”

Bete clenched his fist.

“GoGoGoGoGoGooooooooooo!”

Tiona broke free from Tione’s control and clung onto the mirror.

“Bell!”

Aiz shouted.

“Bell!!!”

Eina sobbed.

“Gooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Belllllll!!!”

Hestia sent her last strength to the boy.

With her feelings, Bell’s speed rose again, just to be sure.

“Motherfucker!!!”

Even with all the invective he could muster, Allen’s full speed couldn’t catch up.

Swinging his arms strongly, long strides, feet kicking up to his thighs. And a back moving into the distance.

Allen experienced a despair he had never felt before as the fastest in the city.

“A-Allen?!”

“And Bell?!”

Noticing the furious sounds of the sprinting, Freya’s bodyguards had rushed outside all at once.

As they came down the long stairs that led to the house of the gods, they were taken aback by the scene speeding toward them.

“Gh! Rask! Remilia! Spells now!”

Turning his despair into rage, the raging cat roared an order.

They were moments away from the house of the gods. He knew that the current Bell would easily blow through the guards, so he gave the order to use their magic.

“Golden wheel, silver collar!”

Cursing himself for having to give that stupid order, Allen threw away any semblance of pride.

Even if he lost the battle, to win the war, wading through a sea of humiliation, he started casting.

Glarinese Fromel—the fastest magic, which would allow him to ascend and become a true chariot. If he activated it, he could run even Bell down.

“Run bearing the goddess’s will!”

He was already less than fifty meders away from the house of the gods, but it would be enough.

Lowering his speed to cast, he still was prepared to burst through in one shot—

“Blasphemous burn.”

There was a massive explosion.

“Gah?!”

“Kyaaaaa!”

Allen and the guards who had immediately prepared their magic had all transformed into bombs.

Ignis Fatuus.

Smoke rose from Allen’s blasted body, and as he was tumbled down, he saw the source of the heat haze that seemed to completely avoid Bell’s path.

“I made it…L’il E…”

In the shadow of the broken-down temple, the young man put all of his weight against a pillar, but still standing, holding his hand out toward Allen.

Welf Crozzo.

“ ”

After he had been beaten by Allen, the red-haired blacksmith had heard the girl’s message from the oculus. Spared by Hedin, before the sky grew red with twilight, Welf had slowly and humiliatingly crawled there.

And the reason he had found his way to Bell’s path was Mind Call. That was the skill that Lilly had developed when she leveled up. It allowed telepathic communication with people who shared the same blessing.

“The island’s…west…the temples…near the house of the gods…someone…!”

In place of the broken oculus, Lilly’s feelings, her pleas, and the critical information had connected her, Welf, and Bell. With the location and knowing when Bell would come, Welf had made it just in time.

“Your feelings…made it through…”

The blacksmith knew how she felt long before she became a commander, and he had answered her. Against Freya Familia, the bond shared between those three had created this chance.

“Get lost, loser…Isn’t that what you said?”

Welf flashed a wicked grin as a sheen of sweat covered his face.

As he saw the gleam of the magic sword the boy drew from his waist, this time Allen’s rage threatened to incinerate his body from the inside as he screamed.

“You’re nobodyyyyyyy!”

Welf replied with a single slash.

“Kazukiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”

The ferocious flame blew away everyone who stood in the boy’s way.

He kept running through the fiery path his partner had created and past the collapsed einherjar.

Once he reached the long stairs, he raced up in one burst.

“!!!”

Freya stood frozen in front of her throne.

He was coming.

The boy was coming here.

The one whose love the goddess desired had appeared in the house of the gods to stop her love.

“—Ms. Syr.”

There was a thump when the boy climbed the stairs and appeared before the goddess.

Freya’s face twisted, and she heard the girl’s name on his lips.

There was no one left defending the queen. The warriors, the prums, the fairies, the chariot, the boar—they had all been silenced. With the help of his comrades, the boy had overcome every possible hardship.

After weathering more punishment than anyone, he had finally reached her.

“…”

“…”

Their eyes met, and a brief moment of silence fell.

The red light streamed through the temple’s collapsed ceiling. The twilight sky filled the gap in the wall. In the west, the lake glimmered ethereally, reflecting the setting sun.

A slightly chill wind was the only thing that made a sound as Bell quietly stepped forward. He approached Freya, whose shoulders trembled like a sweet, young maiden’s.

“Bell…”

Freya smiled.

As the goddess’s yoke spurred her, she tried to deny the situation. The authority of beauty seeped unconsciously from her divine eyes, attempting to charm him.

But he didn’t stop. Bell’s feet didn’t stop. The boy who couldn’t be charmed by the goddess’s beauty closed the distance between them, even though it disappearing would be the end of their love.

Freya’s smile cracked. Her shoulder shuddered again, and she looked down and a lock of hair fell.

“…Why…?”

A single word fell to the stone floor.

The distance shrank until there were not even ten steps between them, when Bell stopped for the first time.

“…Why?!”

Freya looked up.

“Why won’t you be mine, Bell?!”

Her long, silver hair was disheveled, like a child throwing a tantrum. She was hugging her entrancing body, which was wrapped in a white gown, pressing her vibrant, alabaster hand to her chest.

“I am Freya! Beauty, wealth, honor, power! I could give you everything! And yet! You reject my love?!”

Like an arrogant queen, the witch cursed the knight who refused to do as she desired.

Even though this wasn’t what she wanted to say, the goddess who couldn’t get anything clung to her name and authority, revealing her wretched shame and her horrid weakness.

She was baring her heart.

“Syr wasn’t enough! That’s why I chose Freya!”

It was impossible for Syr. So she had no choice but to go back to being Freya. Because she had nothing but love. Because that was the only answer she could find.

“So then what should I do?!”

Freya didn’t notice. That even though the boy’s expression was unchanged, his fists were clenched, and blood was slowly tickling from them.

The goddess of love couldn’t notice. That it was “ ” that was making her raise her voice now.

“Why…?!”

Her voice was trembling. Her eyes wavering.

Her silver eyes trembled with a blue-gray light.

“…Even I don’t understand anymore…”

And.

“I don’t understand myself most of all…!”

She picked up where she had once left off.

“Even if I confess my everything…it won’t free me from this pain! Even if I whisper my love to you, it doesn’t get any easier!”

Bell’s expression fell.

He had tried to hold out, but it cracked.

“I was always saying, in my heart, that you were the one person I didn’t want to love!”

She laid bare the contradiction she had always been hiding.

Because she didn’t want to admit that the love she had even sacrificed her friends to get was one that wasn’t wanted.

She couldn’t accept that she was still crying in the field of flowers deep in her soul.

Like a lost girl, she couldn’t help but arrive at that feeling.

“I love you, Bell…”

She clenched her hands to her chest and leaned forward.

“I love you. I want to be with you forever. Please choose me!”

Her silver and blue-gray eyes grew damp.

“It hurts! I want to be held! I don’t want to be worried about tomorrow anymore!”

Her eyes didn’t know why the tears were welling.

“I didn’t want to know this feeling, but I also want to know what lies beyond this feeling!”

The boy’s everything trembled as his ego tore at his body.

“I love you…Bell.”

The boy looked down.

Holding back the shout and the sympathy welling out like he had a gaping chest wound, instead the blood continued to trickle from his fist.

He quelled his trembling heart.

He pulled back the sound that had faded from his ears.

He said farewell to his eyes that could only see her.

The ashen gray that had blotted out the sky then was now so vivid and beautiful. And so ephemeral, as if their fates had long since been decided.

In a world just for them, Bell took a step forward.

“I…won’t be yours.”

He met her pain with his own.

“I can’t be your Odr!”

A tear trickled from her eye.

“I…!”

Pulling his legs from the ground, pushing forward, and bleeding every step along the way, Bell stood right in front of her. He answered the “ ” she had wanted to experience for so long with all of his hypocritical ego.

“…can’t do anything except end your love!”

To fall in love was what she wished for. That was the blank she wanted to fill in.

And to bring it all to a close, hurting her was the one and only way to save her.

“ Ah.”

The boy gripped his divine blade.

His arm swung upward bravely despite how heart-rending this moment was.

He could hear the sounds of petals rustling.

The blade didn’t touch her skin as it scattered the flower on her breast.

She looked up.

As the tears ran free, she saw it.

The lilac scattered in the red sky.

Her first love ended.