The situation was nothing short of disastrous.
Atou, the Sludge, was the hero Takuto had always employed in "Eternal Nations."
She had been the one closest to him, witnessing his strategies, observing his life from the nearest vantage point.
Thus, she understood Takuto's personality with nauseating thoroughness, which was precisely why she knew they were cornered despite holding the superior forces.
...Takuto's moments of composure generally fell into two categories.
One was when he underestimated his opponent. When he eased up, or perhaps decided to enjoy himself, letting a bit of playfulness show.
That was manageable. One could even take advantage of it, perhaps driving a blade into his heart once more.
The other was...
When everything was already decided.
When the balance of power in the game was completely settled, and the outcome of the battle was certain.
When no matter how events unfolded, only one ending remained, he would once again show this same leisurely amusement.
It was exactly the current situation.
Yet even under such circumstances, there was someone who refused to lose her fighting spirit.
"Hmph! You're only acting all cool because you can't do anything else, right? That last attack was your final card, wasn't it? Too bad you couldn't kill Erakino~♪"
It was Erakino.
Perhaps because she now knew her dear friend Soarina was safe, she had immediately reverted to her usual tone, her words forming blades to attack Takuto Ira.
Heaping insults upon an opponent who looked and felt exactly like Soarina would undoubtedly cause considerable agitation, but for Erakino now, there was the real thing beside her.
As if to shield her, Soarina stood ready against the enemy, and Erakino felt a surge of courage from an unknown source.
"..."
"Tch, the silent treatment—oh, right! You said you wanted to get Atou back, didn't you? Is that true?"
"Yes. I want to get Atou back. She is a very important existence to me, you see."
At first, Takuto Ira maintained his silence, observing Erakino with keen interest, but at the sound of Atou's name, he finally reacted as if remembering something.
"Gyahahahaha! I knew it! I knew that was it! Too bad! Thanks to Erakino's Slurping ability, Atou is now completely our ally!"
Erakino's words elicited a sharp reaction from Takuto Ira.
Until now, no matter what was said—his expression had remained as unmoved as a lump of darkness cast into a void. Now, he finally made a gesture suggesting he was pondering something.
Seeing this as agitation, Erakino's torrent of insults grew even more forceful.
"Let me explain what that means, okay? System-wise, Atou is part of our faction now! It's not a temporary allegiance change from brainwashing—it's a complete transfer! Soooo..."
Indeed, Erakino's "Slurping" was not merely an ability that brainwashed an opponent. It possessed the power to fundamentally alter their very allegiance.
As a character created by the Game Master through countless iterations, she had been granted the ability to add adversaries to her own camp after much trial and error.
Normally, even a GM could not seize management authority over another character through such power. It would represent a major deviation from the discretion afforded to a GM within a TRPG.
However, by embodying that power as a character's own ability, it could be judged as an ability activation between characters.
It could even be utilized against an opposing faction from another game.
This was the surefire method the GM had devised in this world by exploiting a loophole in the rules.
Once enacted, it was a compulsion of the TRPG system that could never be overturned.
In other words, the existence known as Atou of the Filth had already been taken from Mynoghra's grasp and had gone beyond return. Recovery by conventional means was impossible.
That was an undeniable fact.
"So! No matter how hard you try, it's impossible!!"
Simultaneously with Erakino's words, countless slashes were unleashed.
"...Execute with Splendid Burial."
Takuto Ira intercepted that assault, which was destroying obstacles across a wide area as it bore down, with a single swing of the staff Soarina possessed, retrieved from who-knows-where.
The collision of slash and flame erupted into a vortex of immense energy that scoured the surrounding area clean.
The church's fragile outer wall, hit by that, blew apart—enlarging the battlefield into an even more wretched shape.
"AHAHAHA! You're putting up quite the fight! You can't do a thing without borrowing someone else's power, can you!"
=GM:Message===
Exercising GM privilege.
Reviving the Senior Holy Knight, Fjord.
―――
"But it was all completely, utterly meaningless!"
=GM:Message===
Exercising GM privilege.
The Senior Holy Knight, Fjord, has grasped the entire situation.
―――
"You even managed to kill that Knight Captain over there, but look, here he is! Everything you did was worthless and meaningless! Understand that you're incompetent, you shut-in!"
Fjord, who had fallen to the ground, sprang up with vigor and immediately created distance from Takuto Ira, showing no openings.
For a moment, he compared the two Soarinas, but quickly turned on his heel and withdrew from the battlefield.
As a Holy Knight, he wouldn't choose to flee before evil—most likely, feeling he was outmatched, he had gone to summon the other Holy Knights.
The situation was changing moment by moment, shifting further into Takuto Ira's disadvantage.
In truth, every gain he had achieved with this campaign had been rendered null and void.
He had prepared so meticulously, had so carefully set his pieces to seize Fjord — and yet all of it could be overturned by a single act of the Game Master's discretion.
Even the members of his knightly order who were not present here — it would be possible to restore them as well.
With the event interference now lifted, the Game Master would surely revive them before long.
No matter how much effort he poured in, no matter how many schemes he devised...
Before the Game Master, who held dominion over everything, he was powerless.
"That's quite the thing to say. I'm hurt. ...You really shouldn't throw around such vulgarities, Erakino. That sort of thing will fall on your master's shoulders."
Yet Erakino hurled every insult he could muster, and Soarina — no, Takuto Ira — answered with what could only be described as genuine delight.
To be showered with curses, to endure every vile word, to be drowned in accusations of incompetence and every manner of slander, and still beam as though those very words made her shine — what could possibly be going through her mind?
The revulsion he felt at something so incomprehensible only drove Erakino further into irritation.
"I said it's disgusting!!"
Erakino dropped into his stance, preparing to press the attack further.
Clad in Soarina's form, he once again attempted to bring the Funerary Arts to bear in a counterattack, just as before —
"Die! This time I'll kill you for certain! I don't know what you were trying to pull, but there's no way someone like you can stand against the power of a master!"
— GM: Message ═══
Exercising Game Master authority.
The Funerary Saint Soarina and all affiliated units are hereby temporarily restrained.
───
"Aa—!"
"Oh..."
This time, resistance was not permitted.
By the GM's order, Soarina's movements were bound.
Naturally, Soarina—being Erakino's companion—was also stopped, but this measure was purely a restraint, so no harm would come to either.
While both parties reacted, Soarina—Takuto Ira—still did not lose his composure.
"This is troublesome. Could you wait a moment?"
"Hah!? As if I'd listen—"
All that remained was to launch one more attack.
If the opponent was mimicking Soarina, then there was no way Erakino's current attack could be taken unharmed and leave them unscathed.
Even if, by some means, they endured it, the restraint imposed by the GM's authority still held that one in place.
Again and again and again.
Until not a single shred remained, until they were utterly ground down and erased completely—that was all that was needed.
But...
"Ah. Then, how about I say this..."
Takuto Ira chuckled softly, amused by something.
And then...
"Player, Takuto Ira, declares a temporary suspension of the session to the system."
An unexpected and brilliant move was unleashed.
=SystemMessage===
A session suspension has been declared by a player.
I will freeze all participants' full privileges until the issue is resolved.
Astonishment enveloped everyone.
Even Atou and Fenne, who had been using Erakino as a shield while carefully observing the situation's progression and the opponent's every move, could not keep up with their reactions to this development, their faces twisting at their own failure.
But that lasted only a heartbeat.
Quickly regaining their composure, they immediately assessed each other's situation.
First, noting that their ally Soarina's restraints had been removed, they confirmed that an abnormal situation had occurred.
Next, they turned their attention to Takuto Ira's movements, but—
"He's gone!?"
"Where—where has the King of Ruin gone!?"
The space where he had been standing moments ago was utterly empty, as though no one had ever been there at all.
"What!? Did he—did he actually run away!?"
Erakino shouted.
As the Game Master's confusion bled through to them, she too concentrated her awareness in a desperate attempt to grasp the situation.
And just as she was about to conclude that the opponent had chosen to retreat due to a disadvantage—
"No! He's coming!!"
Atou's warning echoed through the ruined church—
As if responding to her words, countless tentacles pierced through the ceiling and rained down upon them.