"Im… impossible… h-how… but, you had others with you over there—"
Lady, who had been threatening Lucia, spoke in a trembling voice.
The Phantoms surrounding Lucia scattered like spiderlings. The bear and shark that had been fighting each other also broke apart and fled together.
Saya deliberately let the fleeing Phantoms go.
The important one was Lady. The Phantom with special abilities.
Intelligent Phantoms were troublesome, so she had to finish her off here for certain.
She was out of breath. This might be the first time she'd ever felt this exhausted.
And all of it was because the Visitors hadn't come. She'd ordered them to search for Lady—where had they gone… but it didn't matter.
Her condition was terrible, yet her physical state was at its peak. A strange power welled up from her entire body.
This was unprecedented, but combined with the fact that the Phantoms in this Treasure Hall could actually perceive Visitors, maybe Saya's abilities and this Treasure Hall were particularly compatible.
Was that what Klein had meant by "optimal"?
"Don't underestimate me."
She spat out the words and roughly dropped the unconscious counterfeit version of herself onto the floor.
"…!"
Lady's expression twisted.
After Lucia and Lady had disappeared, Saya had tried to pursue them, but was obstructed—the counterfeit version of herself had been surrounded by power-type Phantoms, just like the ones that had been hanging all those severed necks around earlier.
They were a nuisance. Setting the Phantoms aside, the counterfeit herself undoubtedly possessed abilities extremely close to her own. She probably could have used Sarasa as well. In that case, it was unclear which side the Visitors would have backed—but it didn't matter.
She clenched her fist and closed the distance to Lady. The strange black light that clung to her fist—that light that had been enhancing Saya's attacks ever since she entered this Treasure Hall was, to Saya herself, an unknown quantity.
But what mattered was that this light dealt critical damage to this Treasure Hall's Phantoms.
Didn't matter. If it was usable, she'd use it.
Saya had to keep Lucia alive and get out of this Treasure Hall no matter what.
Lady dramatically increased her distance, evading Saya's attack. Saya grabbed Lucia's arm—she was pale, clearly drained—and sheltered her behind her back.
"I have—something to protect!!"
That was all. That was the only reason Saya had won.
The counterfeit herself almost certainly had nothing to protect.
The Phantoms that had aided the counterfeit were far inferior. A little intimidation and they'd fled.
The only one who'd required caution was the counterfeit herself—to think those reinforcements could defeat Saya was an insult to her.
She'd defeat Lady and find the exit.
As for the missing persons, she could work on that with Klein, who surely knew something about this Treasure Hall.
After that, she'd just tour the imperial capital with Lucia and the others, and that would be that.
"…Ggh… even if you defeat me, the exit—"
Then she'd just have to beat her thoroughly enough to make an exit appear.
If her words could reach the other party, she was confident she could do just that.
Lady, realizing her intimidation no longer worked on Saya, began to panic.
It was then that the Shadow Humans Saya had dispatched finally gathered.
Scattered fragments of shadow reassembled, returning to human form.
Where had they been searching all this time? Showing up only now—but this settled it for good.
Noticing the Shadow Humans converging, Lady paled and spoke in a trembling voice.
"I—I understand! I'll let you out. I'm sick of this."
No. You did something terrible to my friend.
Lady began gathering power, intending to expel Saya and the others from the Treasure Hall.
But at this distance, Saya was faster. She picked up her baton, kicked off the ground, and closed the distance to Lady.
Lady was afraid of Saya. Her movements had grown sluggish.
Copying the technique Tino had used in their mock battle, Saya kicked off the ground midway through to accelerate. Lady couldn't keep up with Saya at peak condition at all.
—She'd kill her!
She was certain of it just before bringing the baton down.
And in the instant the baton was about to split open the tearful Lady— A powerful impact struck Saya from behind.
"!?"
A dull pain spread across her back. Strength drained from her arm, and she heard the baton clattering to the floor, faint and distant.
Lucia's scream. Lady, the enemy who should have been fighting her, staring wide-eyed in shock.
And Saya realized the identity of the one who had attacked her.
The one who had pierced her from behind—was a Shadow Human. Its arm, transformed into a sharp blade-like shape, was visibly protruding from Saya's chest.
—Why?
Questions flooded her mind, but her consciousness quickly faded.
She'd been completely caught off guard. A fatal wound.
But it seemed the escape would succeed. The power Lady had been gathering was released, and her vision filled with light.
Lady probably hadn't expected the Shadow Humans to attack Saya either. Since Lady hadn't been lying, Lucia should be able to escape along with her.
She was glad she could send her home alive.
And then Saya's consciousness snapped cleanly away.
§ § § What had happened?
Lady was completely bewildered by the succession of unexpected events.
In the space where Saya and Lucia had vanished, the grotesque Shadow creature licked the blood from its arm. She couldn't understand.
This wasn't part of Lady's plan at all. This abomination was supposed to be Saya's ally.
The creature's arm coiled around Lady's frozen neck. A terrifying speed that left no room to escape.
Her neck was squeezed to the point of nearly breaking. Unbelievable.
Inside this Treasure Hall, Lady possessed a near-immortal nature. But that strike, just like Saya's attacks, was definitively interfering with her.
Through the point of contact—her strangled neck—the creature's thoughts传导 to her.
Saya was no longer needed.
Here, with the power of this Treasure Hall, they could operate without relying on Saya's power.
"You're not… on our side?"
"Summon us—from the edge of the world."
The creature opened its mouth. A hoarse voice. It had probably learned language from Lady.
She understood… she could feel them. These were—frightening creatures.
Far more dangerous than Lady and the others, who existed to inspire fear in humans. Lady needed humans to exist, but these creatures did not.
What they needed was a being who could perceive them. Perception was what allowed creatures from another dimension to adapt to this world.
And the only ones capable of that were Saya and her bloodline.
That was why they had obeyed Saya's commands and cooperated—while constantly, patiently searching for a way to take root in this dimension. Because once Saya died, they had no way of knowing when they could enter this world again.
But at the same time, the reason only one member of Saya's clan remained was also these creatures' doing.
One was enough. One who could perceive them, one who could interfere with them—that was all they needed.
They stole lifespans and culled the population to keep it at one. Their sudden betrayal after being cooperative until now was devastating. After all, without their abilities, Saya and her clan were just ordinary humans.
Admittedly, if it was this Treasure Hall, it might grant them freedom. Their natures were similar, and it had even managed to create beings with the same abilities as Saya.
And if they could freely use the "Sarasa" that had elevated Saya to Level 8, then no one would ever be able to clear this Treasure Hall again.
"What will you do?" the creature asked Lady. They were dangerous, but there were no alternatives.
If they ran wild, the current [Box Garden of the Star God] wouldn't be able to handle them.
"…Fine. Let's form an alliance. But remember one thing—I don't tolerate betrayal."
"……"
The creature released Lady and dissolved into the darkness, vanishing.
Interesting. If she used that creature well, she could gather fear more efficiently.
Though, for the time being, it was best to keep a low profile.
They underestimated Saya too much. Her chest had been pierced, but if she was lucky, Saya could still be alive.
When choosing those who could perceive them, the creatures should have left a weaker target alive.
That girl was their natural enemy. For Lady, Saya was far more terrifying than even a violently shapeshifting abomination.
A battered Monster Diggy appeared from somewhere and asked: "Wh—what will you do?"
"We'll keep quiet for a while. Limit the disappearances to the bare minimum."
Even if the creatures cooperated fully, she never wanted to let that horrifying对手 into the Treasure Hall again. It would hurt to render the rumors she'd spread meaningless, but once she confirmed Saya's death, she could spread new ones.
That said, she couldn't keep the connection between the Treasure Hall and the outside world cut off forever.
If she didn't draw Mana Material from the Ley Lines, the Treasure Hall would only grow weaker.
"That's it—the one using the telephone. No one's taken the bait yet, right?"
Lady and the others used rumors to lure people into the Treasure Hall, but some rumors involved things that couldn't be tested in this era, whether physically or technologically.
Rumors surrounding the telephone were one such category.
That answering a call in the middle of the night brings a curse, or dialing at a certain hour connects you to demons—that sort of thing. But the problem was, this civilization barely had telephones at all.
Important communications used a Treasure Weapon called a Resonance Stone, but that was excluded from these rumors. People couldn't test what didn't exist for them.
The Phantoms born from telephone-related apparitions that occasionally manifested had already been destroyed by the dozen. She sympathized, but the era was simply against them.
"Let's keep quiet until things cool down."
Lady sighed and decided to go explain the new policy to the companions who had fled when Saya appeared.