Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 16 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

SHOWDOWN WITH THE VARDA-VAOS

The fortieth floor of Hotel Elnath, the highest point accessible by the building’s regular elevators, was occupied by a club lounge.

No sooner did Sylvia and the others step out from the elevator than they headed down the corridor, lightly brushing aside the lounge staff offering up reverent greetings.

At the end of the passageway was a door, needlessly extravagant, that opened with a heavy rumbling when Sylvia held out her school crest. Beyond it was a waiting room fitted with a tasteful sofa, and at the wall farther back was another elevator.

This one connected the fortieth floor of the building to the forty-second at the top. The forty-first floor was dedicated to administrative and management offices, so this elevator only served to connect their current floor with the domed aerial garden at the building’s zenith.

“U-um… I know we’re already here, but is it really okay for me to go inside…?” This question came from Minato Wakamiya, her gaze wandering restlessly as she hid behind Sylvia’s back. “I mean, isn’t this basically Asterisk’s holy sanctuary? I thought only student council presidents could go inside… Supposedly not even foundation executives are allowed…”

“Oh-ho, it isn’t such a big deal. It’s only a garden. The Rikka Garden Summit is just a symbol of student autonomy, that’s all,” Claudia said with a chuckle.

That was certainly true, but it wasn’t the whole story. As Claudia and Sylvia understood all too well, the Rikka Garden Summit was ultimately a tool for the foundations to avoid criticism. It allowed them to argue that student affairs were ultimately decided by the representatives of the students themselves. Of course, there were some projects submitted to the Rikka Garden Summit by students, but the vast majority came directly from the foundations via the student council presidents under their control, who, with very few exceptions—namely Xinglou—were obligated to follow the instructions of their parent organization.

“I didn’t think you would actually come join us, no questions asked,” Claudia said, still half-astonished. “Thank you.”

“Of course I came! I already owe you so much!” Minato exclaimed, clenching her fist in front of her chest.

She apparently hadn’t been able to get a ticket to the championship match, and so she had been intending to watch it privately with her old teammates.

“It’s like they say, pity doesn’t do anyone any good. You’ve got to help people out when you can.”

It was true that Sylvia had gone out of her way to help Minato’s friend Chloe in the past, but that was more for her own sake—or strictly speaking, for Queenvale’s.

There was something to be said for helping others out of a sense of altruism without expecting anything in return, but considering the circumstances, she was genuinely grateful that Minato had decided to join them.

“There’s something I need to ask you before we go any farther. Once we’re inside, there won’t be any turning back. We’ll be forced to fight an incredibly dangerous adversary. Are you really okay with that?” Claudia asked, her expression serious.

“Um… I don’t really know what’s going on, but this is all to help people, right?” Minato responded, turning to Sylvia.

“Yep, that’s right,” Sylvia answered. “I’ve got to do this to save someone I care about and to protect others dear to me.”

“Then I’m totally fine with it! I’ll come along, wherever you need me!” Minato said with a carefree smile.

“…Thank you, Minato.”

She had an honest heart, the kind that never wavered.

The courage to keep on pursuing her dreams without giving up, even after enduring forty-nine consecutive losses in official ranked matches.

Sylvia was beyond grateful.

“I understand,” Claudia said. “In that case, I can let you cover my back with peace of mind… Now, it’s time. We should go.”

Indeed, the championship match was just about to get underway.

The three exchanged measured glances, then stepped into the elevator.

At that very instant, an eerie sense of aversion rose up inside Minato’s chest, along with a strong urge to turn around.

“…! U-um, Sylvia…! Is this…?!”

“I…see… So this is the field the Varda-Vaos uses to keep people away…!”

But so long as their wills were resolute, it wasn’t intolerable.

Sylvia reached out to the air-window and shut the elevator doors. After a short ascent, they opened once more.

What lay before the group was a familiar sight to the two student council presidents:

Waterways stretched in all directions, while well-maintained garden beds were in full bloom. In the center of it all was a small hill, atop which stood a small arbor, fitted with a hexagonal table modeled after an asterisk. If they had come to attend one of the regular sessions of the Rikka Garden Summit, no doubt Claudia and Sylvia would have gone to take their usual seats.

But their objective this time wasn’t a tabletop game of conspiracy and intrigue, but real battle.

“…We know you’re here, Varda-Vaos. Why don’t you show yourself?” Sylvia called out quietly, her voice nevertheless filled with open hostility.

At that moment, the air ahead of them warped, and the Varda-Vaos—the Orga Lux in control of Ursula Svend’s body—emerged.

“Huh?! Wh-where did she come from…?!”

“She must have been using another field, like the one meant to keep outsiders from entering. A barrier to interfere with our thoughts so we couldn’t see her.”

Minato, who had never before witnessed the Varda-Vaos’s abilities firsthand, stared back wide-eyed. Sylvia had briefly explained what they would be going up against, but it was only natural that she was taken aback once she encountered it for real.

Of the three of them, only Sylvia had directly confronted this enemy before.

In that respect, it was a little odd that Claudia seemed completely unperturbed.

“I would not have expected anyone to enter this place. And your timing… I see. Yes, you must have realized that we cannot issue Orphelia instructions now. Which means you must be moving against Madiath and Dirk, too, I assume?”

At that, the Varda-Vaos pulled back the hood of the robe shrouding her face, revealing a head of dusky blue hair.

She seemed to have surmised their intentions.

“Sylvia Lyyneheym and the user of the Pan-Dora…Claudia Enfield, I believe your name was? And…hmm, a new face… No, wait. Those vibrations… The Járngreipr? Which would make you Minato Wakamiya.” All this the Varda-Vaos muttered to herself while looking them over one by one.

“D-do you know me…?” Minato, who probably hadn’t expected to be addressed by name, stared back in surprise.

“Ah, I see,” Claudia observed. “So you recognize humans not as individuals, but as users of certain Orga Luxes.”

“I can remember your names if necessary, but I find it a little difficult to distinguish between you humans. You are easier to recall when associated with my brethren,” the Varda-Vaos responded without any observable artifice. “Now, perhaps I need not ask, but why are you here?”

“To bring an end to your plans, naturally,” Sylvia answered as she activated her sword-type Lux, giving it a swing to test its condition.

The Fólkvangr had been rendered unusable during her match against Orphelia, but this spare Lux was a priceless treasure, carefully tuned especially for her.

Claudia likewise pulled out her Pan-Dora, while Minato activated her Járngreipr.

“To stop our plans…? I am afraid that will not be possible.”

Far from readying for combat, the Varda-Vaos, on the other hand, continued to speak with little concern.

“I do not know where or how you acquired this information, but our plan is already in motion. Orphelia is merely the final part.”

At that moment, a violent explosion erupted in the distance, causing the entire building to sway dangerously.

“Was that…?!”

“Looks like it’s started.”

Outside the glass walls of the dome, explosions erupted one after another throughout the city of Asterisk, sending flames roiling high into the sky.

No, that wasn’t entirely right.

Strictly speaking, they seemed to be concentrated around the city’s outer edge.

“What have you done?!”

“The Valiants we deployed have merely begun their operations. Their main task is to destroy the transportation system and related facilities. So as long as no one interferes, there should be minimal human casualties…for now.”

“…You’re trying to stop anyone from escaping Asterisk.” Claudia glared back, likely having inferred their enemies’ reasoning.

Now that she looked carefully, Sylvia could see that most of the damage was around the port block and the airship departure and landing areas.

“You’re a swift thinker. Precisely. Some individuals with unique abilities may be able to fly or swim across the lake…but they will be rare exceptions. Most of the humans remaining in Asterisk will be sacrificed to Orphelia.”

“I won’t let you do that!” Sylvia cried, rushing forward and lashing out at the Varda-Vaos.

“I told you. Stopping us will not be possible.” The Varda-Vaos immediately caught the oncoming blow with a huge black battle-ax that materialized in her right hand.

“Ugh…!”

Sylvia had poured her energy into that blow, but her foe hadn’t even flinched—rather, she had swept her aside as if she was no more than a fly.

Ursula was her former teacher, and objectively speaking she was indeed exceptionally talented. But Sylvia had grown considerably since they last met and hadn’t expected to face such a huge gulf in ability. This, then, could only be the raw power of the Varda-Vaos itself as an Orga Lux.

“Your main ability is mental interference, right? Is that what you’re doing?”

She had heard about the power from Ayato, but to think it could be this potent…

“Of course. We are the remnants of God. In our true form, this would be nothing.”

“God…? You’ve got a big head on you there, huh?” Sylvia murmured, on high alert as she kept pace with her foe.

Then—

“I know how you feel, but you shouldn’t run off ahead.”

“I’ll help!”

Claudia and Minato stepped forward to secure her flanks.

“Three against one…? I do not intend to lose, but just in case…” As the Varda-Vaos raised her left hand, the air distorted once more, with several autonomous puppets appearing in the room.

In number, they totaled—

“Around twenty, I’d say,” Claudia called.

“Wh-wh-whoa…!” Minato shouted.

She had expected some Valiants, but not this many.

“The three of you are certainly strong—but only according to the standards of this world. From my perspective, you are little more than infants hailing from a primitive plane of existence.” The Varda-Vaos’s emotionless eyes gleamed, the urm-manadite at her chest letting out an obsidian light.

“M-my head…!” No sooner had that light reached her than Minato fell to her knees, clutching her skull.

“Ugh…!” Claudia similarly backed away, her face contorting in agony.

The black light emitted by the Varda-Vaos directly interfered with its target’s psyche, allowing the Orga Lux to falsify memories, control one’s consciousness, or even destroy one’s mind itself.

“Have you forgotten, Sylvia Lyyneheym? You were once reduced to crawling in the face of my power.”

“I…don’t need…to hear that from you…!” she gasped, grabbing Minato by the nape of her neck and pulling her away.

The pain in Minato’s skull alleviated once she had established enough distance. But the Varda-Vaos’s black light currently covered a range of around ten meters, and it was only growing more powerful. The Valiants, moreover, had established a defensive perimeter around their master.

“Perhaps you came in small numbers hoping to avoid detection…? You should have at least brought the wielder of the Ser Veresta. Though if I wanted, I could contain even one of your Four Colored Runeswords.”

The Varda-Vaos’s boast was plainspoken, but it was probably true. Sylvia doubted that this one-of-a-kind Orga Lux, with its own ego and the power to usurp its user’s body, would see any meaning in elevating itself or denigrating others. As far as the Varda-Vaos was concerned, what she had just said was mere fact.

Still…

“Hah! Ha-ha-ha…!” Sylvia’s brow furrowed in response to the pounding inside her head, but even so, she let out a dauntless laugh.

“…Is something amusing?” the Varda-Vaos asked, her voice carrying a hint of suspicion, though her countenance remained unchanged.

“No, it’s just… I’m the Sigrdrífa, and well, it sounds like you’ve got a pretty low opinion of me…!” Sylvia responded in challenge. “Sure…us Stregas might be no match for an Orga Lux… But you know… There was once a Strega strong enough to upend all of Asterisk…! Even you have to know that…! I mean, she was Madiath Mesa’s—Lamina Mortis’s—own tag partner…!”

“…What…?”

Sylvia herself had only recently learned about her, when Helga had provided her with data on the Festa as they searched for clues on the Golden Bough Alliance.

She was referring to the Strega Akari Yachigusa, who alongside Madiath Mesa had once triumphed in the Phoenix.

But while she had won the Festa, it was Madiath who had confronted their opponents in every match, so there was little record of her achievements in battle. Yet while they had fought together in the Festa only once, her abilities as a Strega were plain to see.

In short, her overall strength was so shocking that even though she had never before entered the rankings, those who witnessed her performance in the Festa granted her an unofficial title— the Witch of Magnificent Ice, Fimbulvetr.

“And you know what my ability is, right…? The power to evoke all kinds of phenomena through music…?”

“…No…!”

Sylvia took a deep breath and burst into song, her voice bombastic and sonorous.

“Come ye, O three winters, freeze ye the forest of all that dwells betwixt heaven and earth.”

At that moment, the movement of mana around her began to slow.

Fimbulvetr’s extraordinary ability was the power to completely halt the flow of mana within its effective area, negating not only the powers of Dantes and Stregas, but also all Luxes and Orga Luxes that relied on the conversion of mana to function. Naturally, without an energy source, those devices would simply stop functioning.

Though Sylvia’s ability was remarkably versatile, the amount of prana it required depended on the difficulty of the task at hand. If she tried to imitate Fimbulvetr’s powers in full, she would exhaust her prana reserves in a matter of seconds. Not only that, since the effects of her songs grew in potency the longer she sang, the field would likewise cease expanding when she stopped. In short, the area would be too narrow, the duration too short.

“O winter of wind summon ye time; O winter of the sword call ye action; O winter of the wolf invite ye slumber.”

Given the limits of her abilities, Sylvia focused not on freezing the mana around her but on slowing its movements to a crawl.

“No…!”

For the first time, the Varda-Vaos’s expression was one of dismay.

Sylvia’s plan was working.

The black light on the verge of consuming the aerial garden drew back at the edges, the conversion of mana unable to keep up. This wasn’t the kind of problem that could be resolved by increasing one’s power output.

“Dull, rust, grow ye stagnant, and silence all life, O winters three!”

At last, the movement of mana around them had been reduced to around one-tenth its usual level.

“Sylvia, leave the Valiants to us,” Claudia declared.

“Go, Sylvia!” Minato yelled.

With that, her two companions headed off in separate directions and made for the Valiants surrounding the Varda-Vaos. The autonomous puppets were unusually lethargic as they moved to intercept—little surprise seeing as they were powered by manadite. There was bound to be a drop in energy under these circumstances.

Claudia’s Pan-Dora and Minato’s Járngreipr would likewise be largely inoperable, but given their respective skill levels, they ought to be able to prevail against the Valiants even outnumbered.

With the Valiants under control, the only one left was—

“…Stop, Sylvia Lyyneheym!”

In stark contrast to her previous attitude, the Varda-Vaos lunged toward Sylvia in a sideward swipe, her eyes blazing.

Nonetheless, the battle-ax in her right hand had now shrunk to less than half its original size, and although the blow was a hard one, it no longer overwhelmed her immediately. It seemed the Varda-Vaos’s own power output had similarly fallen.

“You’re showing some pretty human emotions there…!” Sylvia, having finished her song, quipped as she pushed forward.

The Varda-Vaos clicked her tongue and fell back. “Inadvertently, yes. Surrounded by human emotions for so long, I suppose it was inevitable.”

“Oh? So you’re letting people influence you?”

Sylvia stepped to one side, feinted, then lashed out with an attack directed to the right side of her foe’s body—which the Varda-Vaos promptly caught with a new jet-black ax emanating from her left hand. Her opponent was now wielding two weapons, but as she couldn’t draw on a large amount of power, that required diverting resources from elsewhere.

“Adaptation, not influence. And as I said, inadvertent!”

Sylvia stood her ground as she parried fresh blows from every possible angle.

Her foe was faster than she remembered, but her overall technique remained familiar.

She parried the ax barreling toward her right side with her sword, then stepped in toward the blow aimed at her left, closing in and using her elbow to hold back the Varda-Vaos’s arm. The blade of black light grazed against her shoulder, but she paid that no mind as she slammed her knee into the Varda-Vaos’s gut with all her might.

“Gah…!”

Having thrown her foe backward, Sylvia launched into a fresh pursuit, but the Varda-Vaos adjusted her fighting posture and threw both axes forward to keep her opponent in check. Of course, Sylvia could easily repel those weapons, and with her foe now unarmed, she had just been handed an easy opportunity to—

“…!”

As she waited for the right timing, she was suddenly hit by two counterblows—sharp jabs from the sides of her foe’s hands. The strikes dug into her cheeks and side, but thankfully, the wounds weren’t too deep.

Once more, she fell back to establish some distance between herself and the Varda-Vaos.

“Right, right. Ursula had a first-class physique… It wasn’t like I’d forgotten, but it didn’t occur to me that you’d use it for yourself.”

“Good grief…” The Varda-Vaos manifested a fresh black ax in her hands, albeit at an unusually slow speed. “It’s like fighting without being able to breathe. You’re a shrewd one, I’ll give you that.”

“If you had bothered to watch my quarterfinal fight with Orphelia, you’d have seen I’m pretty good at countering people’s abilities. Especially when it comes to enemies who’ve already beaten me once before.”

Slowing down the movement of the surrounding mana looked to be even more effective than she had hoped.

However, the song’s effect wouldn’t last much longer.

Of course, she could try singing it again, but there would inevitably be a lag, and something told her the Varda-Vaos wouldn’t hesitate to capitalize on that.

“Hmm… And this from someone who failed abysmally at stopping Orphelia?”

“Ha, can’t say that doesn’t sting…!”

Her only choice here was to follow through quickly and decide this bout while she still had the advantage.

And so, holding her sword down low, she closed the gap with her opponent and slashed upward with all her strength.

“Tch…!”

The Varda-Vaos crossed her two axes to block the attack, but Sylvia instead launched a sharp thrust to her abdomen where she had lowered her guard. Her foe at once brought her right hand back to block it with only moments to spare, and Sylvia followed with an uninterrupted and exquisitely precise chain of strikes.

Overall, Sylvia’s close-combat abilities were clearly the superior of the two. At this rate, she should be able to push through.

“…You attack with determination…!” the Varda-Vaos growled, now on the defensive. “But I wonder… Does this human body not belong to someone precious to you?”

“Huh…?”

The moment that she heard those words, Sylvia felt something snap inside her.

“Uggggghhhhh!”

The Varda-Vaos managed to block Sylvia’s full-powered swipe, but the impact sent her flying backward before rolling across the floor into a flower bed.

“You’re going to try taking her hostage now?” Sylvia, suppressing her rage, slowly closed the distance between them. “Don’t you dare insult me. Do you think my resolve is that weak, after all this time? I won’t hesitate again. I’ll even cut off one or two of your limbs if I have to. Fortunately, there are some good healers in this city, so we’ll be able to reconnect them if necessary.”

The Varda-Vaos rose unsteadily to her feet, readying her axes.

“If Ursula ends up hating or resenting me, I can live with that. I’ll do my best to apologize and make amends, but I’m fine if she doesn’t forgive me. I just want her back. That’s all.”

“…I see. I suppose I still don’t understand you humans!” With that, the Varda-Vaos suddenly launched an attack.

Sylvia easily dodged the strike, slipping through her foe’s guard and cutting at her legs.

“…!”

As the Varda-Vaos fell to the ground without so much as a grunt, Sylvia plunged her blade of light toward her.

Even if the Orga Lux itself was undamaged, it relied on the human body it had usurped to move, so escape would prove impossible if it couldn’t physically move that body’s legs. What’s more, the Varda-Vaos still had only limited access to her own abilities.

Now, at long last—

“…You’ve let down your guard, haven’t you?”

“…?!”

At that moment, the Varda-Vaos’s urm-manadite began to glow with jet-black light.

The light, much weaker than before, was still enough to cause a strong headache—but at the same time, it offered Sylvia the smallest of openings.

However—

“I only needed a moment. At this distance, in this position, even the briefest window of opportunity is enough for me to do this…”

The next second, the Varda-Vaos’s own body—that oversized mechanical necklace, disproportionately large around Ursula’s neck—wriggled as if it was alive, extending a tentacle-like cord to entangle Sylvia.

Then, as the urm-manadite in its center glowed ominously, her consciousness was abruptly cut off.

Just as Minato dispatched her eighth Valiant, she felt the flow of mana in the air around her returning to normal.

“Uh-oh…”

Peering deeper into the garden, she spotted the woman with dusky blue hair lying sprawled on the ground while Sylvia loomed over her.

That probably meant Sylvia had won. From Minato’s vantage point, Sylvia had dominated her opponent from start to finish. She truly was Queenvale’s one and only Sigrdrífa.

“Hey, Sylvia,” she called out—only to freeze when she took in her face.

Her expression was the coldest and most inorganic Minato had ever seen.

“Huh…?”

A horrifying sense of foreboding took root in her brain.

“Enfield! I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to take care of the rest of them!”

With that, she blasted away two more Valiants, leaving the rest to Claudia as she bolted across the garden.

“W-Wakamiya…?! Wait, please…!” Claudia called out behind her, urging restraint.

But Minato’s body was by now practically moving of its own accord.

“Sylvia!”

“…”

Yet as Minato approached, Sylvia remained completely silent.

Around her chest hung the necklace previously worn by the woman now lying prone on the ground.

Minato had promised to help after agreeing not to delve too deep into the present situation, but she had been informed of the true nature of their opponent—a mind-controlling Orga Lux with the ability to usurp its user’s body.

It couldn’t be…

“This is an unexpected discovery.”

That murmur was clearly spoken with Sylvia’s beautiful voice.

But something was different.

Minato couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was definitely different.

“I only took over this human to make my escape, but with this level of compatibility… And to think, a Strega, too…”

Sylvia, flexing her right hand several times, retrieved the sword-type Lux that had fallen to the ground. “Excellent timing. Minato Wakamiya, why don’t you keep me company while I acclimate to this new vessel?”

“…!”

Sylvia’s sword flashed through the air, a dazzling strike careening toward her.

Minato repelled the blow with her Járngreipr, then leaped backward to establish some distance as she glowered at Sylvia—or rather, at the Orga Lux.

“You aren’t… You aren’t really Sylvia, are you…?!”

“Indeed. I am Varda-Vaos. As leader of my abandoned brethren, I shall prepare this world for what is to come.”

With those words, the Varda-Vaos launched into a flurry of ferocious attacks. Two attacks in quick succession from above, before her sword arced gracefully to the left in a sideswipe, then to the right in a reverse diagonal cut from waist to shoulder—all with the intent of taking Minato’s life.

She’s too close…! I need to fall back…!

Minato had never before fought directly against Sylvia—but she was well aware just how fierce Queenvale’s number one was in battle.

Minato, at the time still young and immature, had first met Sylvia more than two years ago, and the other girl had quickly become a close friend and benefactor. If not for Sylvia’s intervention, Minato doubted she would have ever developed the relationships she had now.

But, of course, she too had grown considerably stronger. She had pulled through her rigorous training with Xinglou at the Liangshan and now wielded a powerful weapon of her own, the Járngreipr. She may have dropped out of the Lindvolus, but she had made it all the way to fighting Ayato Amagiri himself.

“So I’m not about to just give up…!”

Minato eluded a swing directed straight for her neck and then, twisting around her foe, delivered a powerful backhand chop to her chest.

Genkuu style—Spiral Rend.

“Umph.”

Her fist, carrying immense force thanks to the Járngreipr equipped to it, blasted the Varda-Vaos backward. Her foe, however, successfully guarded herself against damage. It should have been a considerable blow, but the Varda-Vaos’s expression remained undeterred.

“Ah, yes, the Járngreipr’s ability is mass conversion. You’ve mastered it well. Not bad at all.”

“I’m not looking for praise…!”

Minato closed the distance once more by approaching from her flank, spinning around as she unleashed another punch.

Genkuu style—Spiral Rend.

However, the Varda-Vaos easily dodged the blow by tilting her body half to one side. Minato followed through with a backward kick and an elbow strike, but she was unable to make contact.

As though anticipating her attacks, the Varda-Vaos had dodged them all.

“…I thought as much,” the Orga Lux murmured, easily countering Minato’s palm strike.

“Ugh…!”

Her left arm was sliced open, and she fell back grimacing in pain.

The wound was a deep one. It was bleeding heavily, and she could barely move her arm.

“Minato Wakamiya. Have you been aiming only for my own body?”

“…!”

The Varda-Vaos had hit the mark.

Even if the Orga Lux had hijacked it, that body belonged to Sylvia. She couldn’t risk harming her, too.

“Don’t feel ashamed. From what I’ve learned, what you are experiencing is a natural state for humans. Rather, it was this Sylvia Lyyneheym, with her utter lack of hesitation, who was the anomaly.”

If Minato wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of satisfaction in the Varda-Vaos’s voice.

“Yes. That is fine. You humans are simply like that. Acting only in accordance with your thoughts, in obeisance to your desires. Yes, it’s only normal for your kind.”

“Shut up! We’re not dolls for you to play with!” Minato cried back.

The Varda-Vaos, however, appeared not to have heard her. “Now then, what shall I try next…?”

She took a deep breath, then—

“Let’s tear down our walls! Let’s surpass ourselves! No begrudging our wounds, run, run!”

An easily recognizable song began to spill from her lips.

That was Sylvia’s go-to song for boosting her physical abilities.

Minato watched as mana began to swirl violently around her foe.

“You’ve even taken her singing powers…?!”

Taken aback by what she was seeing, she let go of her wound and readied another punch.

If the Orga Lux could even use Sylvia’s abilities, then—

Still singing, the Varda-Vaos took off at a run—her speed much faster than it had been a moment before.

Then, lashing out with divine speed, she aimed straight for Minato’s heart.

“Ugh…!”

It was only thanks to the weight of the Járngreipr that she managed to block it. But how was she to continue fighting one-handed?

And the Varda-Vaos wasn’t finished.

“If thoughts alone can’t reach you, if wishes alone aren’t enough, then I’ll go beyond my limits. I’ll keep pushing on!”

“Don’t you… Don’t you sing that song!”

Minato repelled the Varda-Vaos’s blade with her Járngreipr and lashed out with a sideward kick to knock her opponent’s legs out from under her.

Genkuu style—Sickle Ring.

While she didn’t manage to make contact, her foe, perhaps not having expected her previous move, fell back.

“That song belongs to Sylvia!”

Minato knew even without being explicitly told just how important that song was to Sylvia. Anyone who had heard it would be able to understand that.

Though it had the same words, and though it was being sung in the same voice, the Varda-Vaos’s version was somehow different—the encouragement, the cheer, the warmth that normally imbued the melody was hollow and empty.

“What? A song is a song. There’s no difference so long as you have the proper technique and tune… Like this.”

With that, the Orga Lux interrupted her ability-boosting melody to shift into another.

“Rejoice, rejoice at our heroes’ triumphant return, for the silver gleaming gates of war now stand before us!”

I know this one…!

It was a brave, soul-inspiring battle cry.

The mana began to swirl around them, more shadowy figures than the eye could count appearing behind the Varda-Vaos’s back—faceless women with wings outstretched and swords raised.

It was the song that Sylvia had used against Orphelia in the deciding match of the last Lindvolus, summoning up a legion of Valkyries modeled after herself. Minato remembered watching the live broadcast with her eyes glued to the air-window.

“The heavens my guide, my sword my prayer, my wishes my blade as I sing this grand song aloud!”

At that moment, more than a dozen Valkyrie maidens attacked Minato all at once.

“That’s enough…!”

With her Járngreipr, she repelled the blades of light careening toward her from all directions, knocking down the Valkyries, kicking them away, and getting the better of them—but still she was hopelessly outnumbered. The blows she failed to defend against viciously struck her arms and legs.

“Hah…! Hah…! U-ugh…!”

The song’s effect eventually wore off and the warrior maidens vanished, leaving Minato with lacerations all over her body.

She was barely able to stand. It was only thanks to her experiences fighting against numerous opponents in the Gryps that she hadn’t sustained a fatal injury.

“Hmm. Perhaps that will do to verify this Strega’s abilities. In that case…”

Casting her sword-type Lux to one side, the Varda-Vaos unleashed a torrent of jet-black light straight for Minato.

“Ugh…! Aaaaahhhhh!”

Her skull pounding like something was rampaging inside her head, she collapsed to the floor.

“Good. My power is at its fullest. Wonderful. I’ve never had a body like this before,” the Varda-Vaos murmured with satisfaction.

Then, no longer interested in drawing out their fight, she gave the black ax in her hand one final swing.

Just before it could cleave through Minato’s neck—

“Mwah?”

A blade of light carved through the air and struck out at the Varda-Vaos.

The Orga Lux repelled it effortlessly, but with her attention diverted, the glow of black light faded slightly.

“Geez… This is why I told you to wait.”

Minato felt her body being whisked through the air. Before she knew it, Claudia was clutching her in her arms.

“…Claudia Enfield?”

The Orga Lux appeared on guard as she braced herself with her ax, but Claudia swiftly darted out of range of the black light. Then, the radiant blade that the Varda-Vaos had repelled—one-half of Claudia’s Pan-Dora—spun through the air before falling safely back into its user’s hand.

The whole thing had proceeded as though Claudia had foreseen every moment.

“Thanks to you heading off on your own, it took a little while to clean up the Valiants. I actually meant to finish them off sooner, you know?”

Glancing around, it looked like the Valiants had indeed been destroyed.

“Are you okay? There’s still a task that only you can carry out, Miss Wakamiya, so please, keep to the sidelines for now,” Claudia said as though admonishing a child, before letting Minato fall to the ground with a thud.

“Something only I can do…? N-no, you don’t mean to fight her alone? We should at least fight together…!”

Minato, who had just a few minutes ago rushed into battle despite Claudia’s protestations, had no right to object. Even so, with the Varda-Vaos now in control of Sylvia’s abilities, their foe was an extraordinary threat. While she wasn’t sure how useful she would be in the fight, Minato could at least act as a decoy if push came to shove.

“Don’t be silly. Look at you. You needn’t worry. I’ll handle her by myself,” Claudia reassured Minato easily, as she tried to push herself up from the floor.

“Huh…?”

“You might not know this, but I’m actually pretty strong.” Claudia beamed as Minato stared up at her.

Of course, Minato was well aware that Claudia was one of the most powerful students at Seidoukan Academy—she was the student council president, and the school’s second highest-ranked fighter with the alias Parca Morta. On top of that, she wielded the Pan-Dora, an incredibly powerful Orga Lux with the ability to predict the future, and she had led her team to victory in the previous Gryps tournament. She was one of the strongest individuals not just at Seidoukan, but in Asterisk as a whole.

All the same, from what Minato could see, not even she was skilled enough to take on the Varda-Vaos in Sylvia’s body by herself.

“Minato Wakamiya is right, Claudia Enfield,” the Varda-Vaos declared plainly. “You are strong, but still not as strong as Sylvia Lyyneheym. I have her powers at my disposal, along with my own. There is no way you can defeat me alone. Even using the Pan-Dora’s clairvoyance.”

She presented this information as indisputable fact.

“Oh-ho. Why, thank you for the advice. By the way, may I ask you a question?” Claudia responded while keeping her distance.

“…What?”

“About your goals, the Golden Bough Alliance’s. You intend to take the lives of everyone here in Asterisk using Erenshkigal’s abilities. We already know that.”

“…?!”

Minato’s eyes bulged as she froze in terror at the sheer ridiculousness of Claudia’s claim.

She had known that something was going on…but to think that the situation was one of life or death…

“But that must only be a means to an end, I assume? What we don’t know is your purpose beyond that,” Claudia continued.

The Varda-Vaos fell silent for a moment before slowly responding. “Very well. Even knowing, it will be too late for you to do anything about it… For anyone to do anything about it.” She paused there, glancing up at the sky—the cloud-covered firmament beyond the glass ceiling. “Do you know what mana is? What we are…? I didn’t think so. We are the abandoned.”

“…The abandoned?”

“Yes. Of the world you humans call the other side, a universe filled with mana, a plane of existence where gods exist. Mana is, so to speak, the breath of the gods. You humans are constantly drawing in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide, no? In the same way, mana is produced through our mere existence.”

The Varda-Vaos’s voice sounded almost nostalgic.

“Mana is an incredibly useful element, as I’m sure even you humans realize, given how much you use it. But it has its limits. Living things cannot sustain themselves in places where its concentration is too high. Unlike the barren, death-ridden universe on this side, ours is overflowing with mana.”

Beyond the dome, the sound of explosions continued intermittently. Even now, a disaster was beginning to unfold.

Nonetheless, Minato found herself absorbed by the Varda-Vaos’s words.

“The stronger the god’s powers, the more mana it produces. And the most powerful entity on the other side is our chief god, residing in our sun. Our chief god has lain dormant for ages, but he continues to produce enormous quantities of mana. And so, the closer a planet is to the sun, the higher the concentration of mana. Our Mercury is no longer an environment suitable to life.”

“There was life on Mercury…?” Claudia asked in astonishment.

“I told you. The universe on the other side is abundant in mana. Each celestial body is inhabited by its own god, whose power is immense within their own planetary sphere. Those gods seek and protect the creatures that believe in them. Well, they do occasionally punish their subjects on a whim, but in general, they take the side of the life-forms within their domain. So all the planets on the other side are inhabited by human life. Or should I say, were inhabited. Now even our Venus is in danger.”

For the first time, the Varda-Vaos’s expression clouded over.

“…The god of our Earth has taken certain countermeasures to protect the humans of their own planet: disposing of excess mana when it becomes too much to bear. They send it to a different world in a different universe—that is, here. Your world is a dumping ground for our surplus mana.”

“What…? So if mana keeps growing in abundance here, you’re saying everyone will die…?” Minato murmured under her breath.

“That’s right. It may take millions, perhaps even tens of millions of years, but yes… No matter how immeasurable a god’s powers, it isn’t easy to break through the walls of the universe. But we found a way—by transferring huge quantities of meteorites. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

“The Invertia?” Claudia whispered softly.

The Varda-Vaos nodded coolly. “The hole was bored by the Invertia. Even now, mana continues to flow from the other side to this one. And we, urm-manadite, are the crystallization of that mana. We are remnants of the gods themselves, so if our purity level is high enough, we can exercise our own free will. In the past, there were others like me—my brethren who could act alone without the help of any human—but not anymore. That is why I must lead. Why I must open the way.”

“…Open the way to what?” Claudia asked quietly.

With a sniff, the Varda-Vaos spread her hands. “To make this world more suitable for us to live and operate in. We cannot return to the other side. Even if we could, we don’t belong there anymore. We were abandoned. So our only option is to reshape this world. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“What are you saying…?!” Minato whispered.

Wasn’t that practically an invasion?

“Don’t misunderstand me. Our hope is for coexistence. With you—with Genestella.”

“Considering what you’re proposing, that’s hard to believe…”

“It’s true. There are almost no other urm-manadite crystals that can operate independently as I can. Most of my brethren cannot function without the aid of a human and an exterior mechanism. They need users.”

Claudia pondered this for a moment, her expression serious. “When you say coexistence, you’re only talking about Genestella, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. Regular humans—old humans—are unnecessary. Harmful, even. They and their integrated enterprise foundations will never accept us.”

“I see. I understand your goal, I think… Your purpose.”

“Oh? Then pray tell,” the Varda-Vaos prodded.

Claudia looked her squarely in the eye before answering, “You’re trying to sow discord between ordinary people and Genestella. You’re trying to bring about a conflict so huge that there will be no turning back.”

“What…?!”

Minato was left stunned by this suggestion. It surpassed even her wildest imagination.

“The characterization is wrong, but in general terms, yes,” the Varda-Vaos agreed. “I hope to usher in a world ruled by Genestella.”

“The characterization is wrong?” Claudia repeated.

“From our point of view, we will be liberating Genestella like yourself from the oppression of ordinary humans.”

As condescending as that declaration was, the Varda-Vaos seemed to honestly believe it.

“We have no need of your help, but I’m sure that means nothing to you. I understand now, why this child never showed me so much as a glimpse of this in any of my nightmares. As an Orga Lux, she wants that world you’re striving to create. You didn’t want to get in the way now, did you?” she asked, fixing her own Orga Lux with a bitter, reproachful smile before shrugging her shoulders.

“Orga Luxes are unlikely to betray users with whom they have a high compatibility rating, but I take it that yours has been silently assisting us? You’re even more conniving than I thought, Pan-Dora,” the Varda-Vaos said, seeming impressed.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I knew your plan was to use Erenshkigal to destroy Asterisk… But why did the Golden Bough Alliance decide to have it coincide with the final match of the Lindvolus? …Because you needed a new symbol, that’s why. So you forced Ayato to enter the tournament to keep the excitement at a fever pitch.”

“That was Madiath and Dirk’s idea, not mine. I would have preferred to put the plan in motion sooner without concern for the Festa. But I understood well enough that this would be the most effective course of action, so I won’t complain now.”

Symbol? Most effective course of action? Minato had no idea what they were talking about.

She must have let her confusion show, because Claudia broke into a soft chuckle. “This year’s Lindvolus is attracting unprecedented attention. People have come from all over the world to see the Genestella competing in the tournament. That’s only natural, when you consider that the second grand slam and the first Lindvolus trifecta in all of history are at stake. And the more excited people get, the more others who normally wouldn’t be interested in the Festa will start paying attention. But yes, let’s put the question of what’s actually going to happen aside for a moment and consider the most likely outcome. Erenshkigal could win and secure her third consecutive Lindvolus. The audience will shower her in adulation. Then, once the award ceremony comes around, she’ll use her powers to slaughter everyone in Asterisk, and that gruesome scene will be broadcast to the world in real time… I assume you already control the broadcasters, then?”

The Varda-Vaos nodded as though that was to be expected. “Of course. The autonomous puppets can continue broadcasting even without the aid of humans.”

“Now, Miss Wakamiya,” Claudia asked. “What do you think would happen next?”

“Huh…?”

Though shaken at being addressed all of a sudden, Minato fell to thinking.

“Um… Well, Erenshkigal can’t get away with it, can she? So I guess…”

“Yes. Exactly. Those cheers of adulation will give way to cries of hatred and horror… But Erenshkigal won’t be alive anymore as a focus for their animosity, and they’ll be looking for blood. With no one else to blame, they’ll direct their fury at Genestella as a whole.”

“Huh? But isn’t that…a bit of a leap?”

Of course, if something like that was to happen, people would turn against the Genestella. But Minato couldn’t believe they would resort to such violent extremes.

“If it happened anywhere else, it might be okay. But this is Asterisk, a gilded cage designed expressly to contain us Genestella. A stage for us to fight among ourselves for the enjoyment of others. Asterisk symbolizes how the lives of Genestella are controlled by ordinary people—but if it’s destroyed, the sense of safety that it’s supposed to guarantee will be stripped away. And that will trigger an immediate change in the attitude of the general public.”

“B-but still…! It wouldn’t warrant…that…!”

That alone shouldn’t be reason enough to spark an all-out conflict.

But before she could put those thoughts into words—

“You’re right,” the Varda-Vaos interrupted. “It isn’t enough. This is all just to create a new symbol. We will sacrifice Asterisk to create a symbol of hatred in the guise of Erenshkigal, Orphelia Landlufen. We have other efforts scheduled to be put into motion simultaneously.”

“Other efforts…?”

“In response to Orphelia’s show of defiance, other acts of terrorism by Genestella supremacists will soon take place all throughout the world. People will quickly discard their indifference and tolerance when their own relatives are placed in harm’s way.”

“You can’t…!”

That would shift the equation.

If the seeds of hatred toward Genestella were sown not only in Asterisk but all over the world, ordinary people and Genestella would be thrown into irreconcilable conflict.

“You’ve brainwashed those terrorists too then, I take it?”

“You could say that. Then again, perhaps not. Most of them were already dissatisfied with the reality that Genestella are forced to endure. I merely fanned the flames a little. It is possible to embed feelings of hatred in a subject, but it takes considerable time and effort. That approach isn’t suitable for large numbers of subjects.”

“Large numbers…? How many people have you brainwashed?”

“I can’t remember them all. Surely no less than ten thousand.”

“T-ten thousand…?!”

Minato couldn’t even imagine the destruction that would result if so many people were to engage in acts of terrorism all over the world at the same time.

“Every year, countless Genestella gather in this city from all over the world, and every year, just as many leave again for the outside. All I had to do was identify the most suitable individuals from among them. There are, of course, those who don’t wish to resort to force even under my influence, but there are also those who have already established their own terrorist cells. They will gladly increase their ranks by themselves, which is naturally an immense help to us.”

“But…if Genestella and ordinary people start fighting each other, wouldn’t the odds of us winning be miniscule?”

Right. The groups were simply too different in number. Individual Genestella might be superior in terms of combat power, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to overturn the entire global order.

“We have another plan to help with that. It is not necessary to kill all ordinary people in order for the Genestella to win. All that is required is to seize control of the true ruling class—the integrated enterprise foundations. Though at that point, the Golden Bough Alliance will no longer be involved.”

The Varda-Vaos paused there for a moment, letting out a deep breath.

“…The first attempt was the Jade Twilight Incident. That failed due to my inexperience. I still didn’t understand you humans, and Helga Lindwall’s abilities were overwhelming. My second attempt was to bring about a new Invertia. That seemed like the most effective way to set the world in order, but that too was foiled on account of Madiath’s foolish sentimentality. We were on the cusp of sending Ecknardt to the moon.”

“Huh…?”

Sending him to…the moon?

“And now we come to the third attempt. This time, I will see the plan to fruition. I will permit no one to stand in my way…!”

With those words, a jet-black light gushed out from the Varda-Vaos, along with an intimidating aura underscoring the depths of her determination.

“Now that we have talked at length, perhaps you realize the futility of attempting to further interfere with our plans? If so, then leave. If you hurry, you two alone may survive.”

“Oh? I doubt it,” Claudia said, dismissing the Varda-Vaos’s argument with a soft smile. “On the other hand, if we defeat you here, you’ll lose your hold over those terrorists’ minds at least, no?”

“Not necessarily. Quite a few affected by my powers will not be able to stop themselves even if released. Especially those who belong to larger organizations… Your first priority should be yourselves. Do you really think you can win?”

With those words, black light gathered around the Varda-Vaos’s right hand, and a huge, distorted battle-ax took form.

Her intimidating aura was now positively murderous.

Nonetheless, Claudia maintained her cool. “Yes, of course. After all, you’ve always feared my friend here, haven’t you?” she said, brandishing the twin blades in her hands.

“Feared? Me? Ha! What on earth are you saying…?”

“Then why take the trouble to tell us this long, meandering story of yours? It’s obvious. Yes, you were trying to buy time until the end of the championship match. But most of all, you’re trying to avoid fighting—against the Pan-Dora,” Claudia said with a faint, knowing smile.

“…! Damn you!” the Varda-Vaos cried. A huge mass of black radiance emanated from around her as she bore down on Claudia.

“Enfield!”

Claudia, however, still fixing her foe with a sweet smile, didn’t even try to avoid it.

“Huh…? What’s going on…?”

“Impossible…!”

Even though Claudia had been fully engulfed by that black light that had given Minato such an intense migraine not long ago, she remained unmoving, her smile unwavering.

Instead, she gently spoke the following words: “You’re an Orga Lux, and as such, a fundamentally rational being. If you could have defeated us with your powers, you wouldn’t have wasted your time engaging us in conversation. The reason you didn’t attempt to stop us is that you understand the true power of my friend here. Of course you do. Because both she and you are the work of Professor Ladislav Bartošik. You’re practically siblings, so to speak.”

Claudia’s laugh was like small chimes sounding in the wind—then, the Varda-Vaos lunged toward her, ferociously slamming her battle-ax down against her defenseless foe.

And yet—

“What…?!”

“Huuuuuh?!”

The next moment, Claudia had somehow appeared behind the Varda-Vaos—the twin swords of the Pan-Dora aiming right for her neck with a brilliant flash.

“Tch!”

The Varda-Vaos leaped away just quickly enough to dodge the blow. For the first time, her face was awash with indignation and rage as she glowered back at her attacker.

“Oh my,” Claudia remarked. “You are fast. I suppose a regular attack won’t suffice.”

“…Impossible. Impossible, impossible, impossible! You can’t have mastered the Pan-Dora’s true powers!”

Minato knew of a type of speed that operated on the level of another dimension. During her training at the Liangshan, Xinglou had moved faster than anything she had ever seen before—and while she had seemed completely invisible to the eye at first, little by little, she had gradually learned to discern her actions.

But even with her well-trained eyes, she hadn’t been able to catch any of Claudia’s movements just now.

Maybe she hadn’t been moving at all. Was it possible that she had shifted instantaneously, as Sylvia had done during her quarterfinal match in the Lindvolus…?

“What was it you said before? That there is no way we could defeat you, even using the Pan-Dora’s clairvoyance? You’re probably right. Even if I exhausted my entire stock of accumulated clairvoyance, I doubt it would be enough against you. But you’re too honest. You didn’t say using the Pan-Dora’s powers. Was that out of respect for your fellow Orga Lux? Or a sense of pride in her abilities? Either way…” Claudia paused there, before flashing the Varda-Vaos an altogether different kind of smile—a sneer. “You know you’re doomed.”

“How dare you…!” the Varda-Vaos roared, almost inarticulate.

The sound seemed not to emerge from Sylvia’s throat, but from the Orga Lux itself at her chest.

Once more she lashed out with her huge jet-black ax, but a split second before the weapon could reach Claudia’s neck—

Again, she somehow vanished and reappeared, this time diagonally behind her foe.

“I want you to experience for yourself the same humiliation you’ve inflicted on everyone you’ve toyed with,” she said, the smile evaporating from her face. “Even if it only adds up to a millionth of their suffering,”

“Break causality—Pan-Dora.”

As she uttered those words, her eyes shone with the same color as the urm-manadite of the Orga Lux she clutched in her hands.

Her eyes took on a demonic cast.

“…?!”

As those twin blades danced toward her, the Varda-Vaos swiftly raised her ax to parry them.

She should have succeeded in doing so, and yet—

“H-how…?”

The next moment, the mechanical body of the Varda-Vaos, snipped clean from Sylvia’s neck, fell to the ground—while Sylvia herself, freed from the Orga Lux’s powers, collapsed into a nearby flower bed.

“It’s no use. You must have realized it, no? My friend’s true power—the Pan-Dora’s true power—is control over the laws of causality. It cannot be resisted by one such as you.” With a brilliant flourish of her twin blades, precise enough to brush dewdrops from blades of grass, Claudia cast her gaze at the fallen Orga Lux.

“Causality? Control…? Not precognition…?” Minato mouthed, unable to understand what she was hearing.

Claudia fixed her with a gentle smile. “Yes. The Pan-Dora can interfere with the laws of causality. Precognition is simply a by-product of that power. If we can disrupt the relationship between cause and effect, it doesn’t matter whether the Varda-Vaos uses its powers against us. The cause, her black light, would no longer lead to the effect, mental interference. Similarly, as you just saw, her attacks wouldn’t lead to injury on my part, while mine would be guaranteed to hit.”

“…”

Minato was left speechless, her mouth opening and closing in silence.

Wouldn’t that make Claudia invincible?

“You…!”

All of a sudden, a voice reverberated in her head.

“You…! Curse you…! Primitive animals…! I won’t be defeated…! I won’t accept it…! Never…!”

There could be no doubt about it.

Those resentful cries belonged to none other than the Varda-Vaos itself.

Was it still trying to escape? Even ripped apart, the Orga Lux’s exterior was crawling along the ground like some kind of surreal, mechanical bug.

“Goodness me… You need to learn to accept defeat,” Claudia said with a sigh as she lashed out once more with her twin blades.

“Gyaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!”

The Varda-Vaos, falling near Minato’s feet, let out a piercing scream.

“Now, Miss Wakamiya. This is a job only you can complete.”

“O-only me…?”

Come to think of it, Claudia had said something along those lines earlier.

“That thing shouldn’t exist in this world. I’m not saying all Orga Luxes are like that, but this one is simply not compatible with our way of life.”

Minato understood the truth of that statement, albeit only vaguely.

This Orga Lux—the Varda-Vaos—would continue to cause unrest through its very existence.

“And I’m…already at my limit,” Claudia murmured, before collapsing limply to the ground.

She managed to catch herself using her twin swords as supports, but her face was lifeless, and even her faint smile seemed pained.

“A-are you all right?!”

“Oh-ho, don’t worry, it isn’t going to be immediate. It’s just that the cost of manipulating the laws of causation is the future itself. In other words…my life span.”

“…!”

This time, Minato was left well and truly speechless.

“It’s okay. My life was abandoned long ago. If I can save the world in the time I have, that’s good enough, don’t you think?”

Still clinging to her two swords, Claudia slowly slid to rest on the floor, before catching Minato out of the corner of her eye.

“When manipulating causality, the further you diverge from what ought to have happened, the greater the price you have to pay. It wasn’t such a huge amount this time.”

If she was willing to go this far, then Minato too had no choice but to do whatever it took.

She had shed considerable blood, her gaze was clouding over, and she found it difficult to stand up—but even so, she mustered what power she had to lift herself to her feet.

“…I see. What do I have to do?”

“Urm-manadite isn’t easy to destroy. It isn’t impossible using irregular forces, as indeed Hilda Jane Rowlands did in the Lindvolus, but that would require prana on a level of someone like Erenshkigal. I suspect even Ayato and the Ser Veresta would have a challenging time of it… But you and the Járngreipr…”

So that was it.

The Járngreipr’s ability was the power to freely change its own weight. That said, in actual combat, there was a limit on what was practically possible.

She preferred to adjust its mass only at the moment of impact. After all, even the slightest mistake in timing could tear her arms off at the shoulder.

But that wouldn’t be an issue if her target was stationary.

Whether one ton or ten, she could increase it to whatever weight she wanted. In terms of destructive power, the Járngreipr was probably capable of standing up to any other Orga Lux.

She took a deep breath, psyched herself up, and placed her fist atop the Varda-Vaos.

But then, realizing something, she glanced across at Claudia.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already used my precognition to check. There are only corridors beneath you, and there’s no one in them all the way down to the first floor.”

“Thank you!”

In that case, she could give it everything she had without needing to second-guess herself.

“What are you…? No… Impossible?! Stop! Stop, stop, stop!”

A panicked voice reverberated in her skull, but to Minato it was no more than white noise.

She twisted her arms and clenched her fists.

“Yaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!”

“Stopppppppppppppppppp!”

Her fist spun as it came crashing down, hitting the urm-manadite with its overwhelming weight.

Genkuu style—Collapse Gouge.

“Aaaaaiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The Varda-Vaos’s bloodcurdling death cry echoed through her brain.

The impact easily tore through the floor, pushing the Varda-Vaos down to the building’s forty-first story. But even then, there was no end to their momentum as they passed though the fortieth, the thirty-ninth, and the thirty-eighth floors—when cracks began to course through the crystalline structure of the urm-manadite.

Before she knew it, Minato’s fists had penetrated through the entire building, all the way down to the entrance on the ground floor.

A shock like a violent earthquake shook the entire Hotel Elnath.

“Haah… Haah…!”

When she lifted her fists from the huge crater that had emerged beneath her, she found only the shattered remains of the urm-manadite.

“I-it’s over…,” she breathed heavily as she collapsed into a heap.