……I wanted power.
Enough power to meet expectations. Enough power to crush the unreasonable. I wanted it. Just wanted it so desperately.
So I tried my best. I did things I didn't want to do. I endured through the pain.
All of it — every last bit — was for my mother—
"……mo……ther……"
And yet, why.
Why — even as those very words left her lips — Second Princess Laila was being strangled by that very same mother.
Her lungs couldn't draw air. Her thoughts grew hazier by the second, and what flooded in to fill the void was confusion, regret, and — a despair with nowhere to go.
(…why…?)
She looked at her mother's face. A beautiful visage that still faintly mirrored her own features. And in those distinctly dim eyes… there was no longer a single trace of herself reflected back.
*"If you won't raise that child, then you're worthless too!"*
…Her mother's true feelings. How she had always been treated. She had just heard it all with perfect, undeniable clarity.
(…that…?)
Tortured by despair, she tried to tell herself it must be some mistake — but there was nothing, anywhere, to deny it.
Unable to understand, unable to know what to do, consciousness fading further into the chaos — and that was when—
"…Big sister…?"
A voice she should not have been able to hear… came through.
Ortesia seemed startled as well, and the pressure around Laila's neck loosened slightly. Barely able to move her neck again, Laila summoned every last ounce of her strength to turn her head… and widened her eyes.
"…Why are you… here…"
The figure standing there was unmistakably her — her well-known younger sister.
Liliana Yosef von Yustia stood frozen with a confused expression, still catching her breath.
"Um, when I realized Big Sis was gone, I thought I had to come find you… I couldn't pinpoint your location through magic power sensing, but there was this incredible surge of magic power — right, and for some reason I understood the magic power coming from that magical tool over there, and my feet just started moving on their own, and before I knew it I was here… and then!"
Whether to call it dutiful or simply confusion taking the lead, Liliana instinctively attempted to answer Laila's question.
She herself was unaware of it, as if
unconsciously
she had been
drawn
here
by
some
force—
that was what her words sounded like… but she must have finally realized this was not the time to dwell on that.
"This is no time for that…! Wh-what are you doing, Ortesia?! Why would you do this to your own daughter — anyway, first, please let go of her!"
She confronted Ortesia, who was gripping Laila by the scruff of her neck and holding her aloft, fueled entirely by anger and desperation.
……And Ortesia, upon hearing those words—
"…………"
—let go.
She loosened her grip, and Laila was finally freed.
"Ghk!? Cough — hagh… M-Mother…!"
Collapsing to the ground and coughing violently, Laila called out to her mother in bewilderment.
Because... Orthesia's behavior just now. At first glance, it appeared as though she had meekly obeyed Liliana's words and released her grip.
But that, of course, was impossible. There was no way Orthesia would simply listen to what she had to say.
Which meant—she hadn't let go because Liliana told her to, but for an entirely different reason. And that reason was almost certainly nothing more than a shift in who she deemed an "object to be eliminated"...
"...How irritating."
Just as she had feared.
In a voice that chilled to the bone, Orthesia glared at Liliana and spoke.
"I don't know how you figured it out, but... yes. I've always—always found you irritating. ...With that child's eye color, that child's hair color, a face that infuriatingly resembles that child's──"
──don't you dare butt in. Your talent for magic is the one thing that doesn't even come close to matching hers!!"
"Mm—!"
*BOOM.*
As her emotions surged, magic power of an entirely different magnitude erupted from Orthesia's entire body, and Liliana instinctively shielded her face against the pressure.
"How foolish, waltzing right into a place where enemies are the only things to be found. Our contract with those ones didn't say anything about doing anything to you in particular. So that means──
──right here, right now. There's nothing stopping me from crushing you, is there?"
"──!"
Without a doubt, she was being confronted with killing intent.
Liliana tensed. And understandably so—she had only come chasing after Laila, so she couldn't possibly have known what kind of situation awaited her. Being suddenly targeted with murderous intent by an incomprehensibly powerful person like this was something she could never have anticipated.
So for Liliana, this situation was, without question, a moment that should have left her trembling in terror. A moment where all she could think about was running, or protecting herself──
──and yet.
"...Onee...sama..."
Why are you.
More worried about me than yourself.
Turning those worried eyes toward me. On me.
Her thoughts tangled into a mess. The thing she'd been relying on was gone, the fragile hope she'd believed in was fading. She no longer knew what was right, what was wrong──
"Oh──yes, that's right."
As if delivering the final blow, Ortesia turned around with a smile──a smile so beautiful it was almost unnatural.
"That hateful Liliana──just killing her wouldn't be satisfying enough, would it? Liliana seemed awfully attached to this child... Yes, that's it."
From her bosom, she pulled out a magical tool resembling a crossbow, approached Lyra, and pressed it into her hands.
And declared.
"Lyra. You are going to kill Liliana."
"..."
Lyra was stunned. But Ortesia paid no mind to her reaction whatsoever, as though it were beneath her notice.
"It's fine──I know all of Liliana's combat data. All that little brat can do is area enhancement magic and a bit of magical trickery to deflect attacks."
In other words──she was completely powerless against magical tool attacks.
Ortesia continued.
"That magical tool boasts the highest anti-personnel destructive power among those held in secret by the Church. Even you can kill someone with ease──just by pulling the string."
"Why... me...?"
"Hm? Well──Liliana is the enemy, isn't she?"
She said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
The most obvious thing in the world──and yet those words still reached Lyra's ears.
"Yes. But regardless, the succession war is going to become a complete mess after this anyway, so it's not like it matters who's friend or foe anymore. When you think about it, your reasons for actively killing Liliana are pretty thin.
Hmm... Then let's do this."
And so.
To Lyra, who wavered, Ortesia leaned her face close.
"──
If you
kill Liliana
right here
,
I'll
be sure to
get along
nicely
with you
"
──As though pouring poison, she declared it.
"Ngh, ah..."
"I already knew, you know—that you wanted me to acknowledge you. ...I suppose it wouldn't be right to just casually discard someone who tried their best for my sake. I've reflected on that."
To be seen by her mother. To be acknowledged, to be spoken to.
...The very thing Lyra had sincerely wished for. At this precise moment, Ortesia whispered it to her.
"You see, I'm feeling rather good right now. Now that I've finally been freed from those tiresome, infuriating duties, I can pour all my energy into searching for that child.
Yes... as long as you continue to be of use to me as you always have, I'll keep you at my side, just as before. You are my daughter, after all. ──And fortunately, you look nothing like that child, so I won't have to feel irritated whenever I look at you."
...Ah, so that was it.
This was, without question, the very scene she had dreamed of.
──And that was precisely why her body was trembling so violently. It had to be from joy.
"...Ugh, ah"
"? Why are you hesitating so much? There's not a single thing bad about this for you. After all──"
Even so, Lyra's body refused to move, and Ortesia drove the final nail in with these words:
"You already... hate Liliana, don't you?"
"...Y-Yes."
"Of course I know. A mother always does. You can't stand anyone who possesses power beyond your own ── anyone other than me. The only reason you haven't treated Liliana with open hostility until now is because she was overwhelmingly weaker than you. Now that she's grown stronger, Liliana is nothing but an obstacle to you. You wouldn't hesitate for a second to dispose of her."
...Why.
Why did this woman ── at this very moment, of all moments ── choose to say something like this, when she understood her so completely, so utterly beyond remedy?
"So come on, now."
With a firm push, Ortesia forced the magical tool into Lyra's hand.
"Kill her. Kill that detested half-sister of yours. That Liliana, who ── for who-knows-what misguided reason ── clung to you. Kill her with your own two hands.
I'm sure... you'll get to see the most wonderfully, desolately hollow expression of despair you've ever seen?"
That final whisper, breathed right against her ear.
Lyra raised her face and, with trembling hands, pointed the magical tool ── toward Liliana.
"..."
A creaking sound.
The bowstring was being drawn back. If she released her grip, the magic arrow launched by its momentum would swiftly pierce between Liliana's brows, ending this small girl's life.
"...You'll die, Lilie."
"—!"
"If you don't want that... then run. Mother won't let you escape anyway, but couldn't you at least put up a fight? Come on."
Despite having the magical tool's sights trained squarely on her, Liliana showed no intention of moving. Without understanding why herself, Lyra murmured those words. Having heard every last one of them, Liliana drew a single breath.
"...I will become queen. Now... I want to do it of my own will."
"..."
"For that, I should struggle. ...But..."
But at the very beginning — when she truly couldn't yet decide for herself, that very first moment.
The feeling that first sparked her resolve to reclaim the throne—
"...I wanted to make up with them."
"—Eh?"
"With my brother. With my sister. The reason I found the courage to fight at the very start was because of that feeling.
So... thinking this probably disqualifies me as someone who aspires to the throne. But if it can't come true — if I can never laugh together with them again no matter what..."
Liliana — the youngest of the royal family — smiled with tears threatening to spill.
"I'd honestly... rather just be killed by my sister."
"—!"
Those words reached her ears, every last one.
Lyra clenched her back teeth once, and poured every last ounce of strength into the magical tool's string—
...She had wanted power.
Surely her family, the current generation of the royal house, had been flawed from the very start.
Her father had been saddled with the role of king—a burden far beyond what he was suited for—and had been so consumed by it that he had no energy left to spare for his children.
Her sister, caught in the fallout, had been married off to a foreign nation in order to maintain the balance of power. Her brother, crushed under the weight of being the first prince, had never once been at ease.
Her younger brother had been born with too much power, becoming a monster that no one could restrain. And her younger sister, born with too little, had been forced to live as though she did not exist.
She had wanted power.
If she had had power—
Perhaps she could have lightened her father's burden, even just a little.
Perhaps she could have given her sister a choice, or shouldered some of her brother's crushing weight.
Perhaps she could have stopped her younger brother before he warped beyond recognition. Perhaps she could have fought back against the way her sister was being treated so cruelly.
She had wanted power.
If she had had power, perhaps her mother would have looked her way more often... but that wasn't all.
If she herself had more power—
Then maybe—just maybe—she wouldn't have had to watch her family be torn apart any further.
"...Why...?"
A dry clatter echoed through the air.
At Lyra's feet rolled the crossbow-type magical tool. The magic arrow loaded into it dissolved harmlessly into the air without harming anyone.
"Why did you enter the succession dispute? Why couldn't you have just stayed quietly out of sight? It was going to end with us as enemies no matter what—I'd have to see you as an enemy or I wouldn't be able to keep going...!"
Her raised arm fell limply to her side. Through blurred vision, she glared at her younger sister.
"I tried so hard. I decided I had to handle everything myself. So why—why would you go looking for danger on your own? That's why... why!?"
She couldn't pull the trigger.
Even after deciding she'd do whatever it took to gain power, that was the one thing she couldn't do.
Because—
"Why, why does it have to be like this? I, I just—!"
Because she was just—
"—I just wanted to get my family back.
So why did it have to turn out like this? There's no way I could shoot you...!"
She had wished, for that reason alone, to give everything she had.
She was nothing more than a girl who had longed for a 'normal family.'
And then—
"How boring. How pointless."
The anguish of such a girl would never so much as reach this pope.
Ortesia, her expression frozen cold, quickly picked up a magical tool.
"Well then, you're done. Goodbye."
"—! Sister—!"
Without a moment's hesitation, she aimed it at her own daughter.
For Liliana, who had only just arrived, this was an unimaginable cruelty far beyond anything she could have anticipated. She reacted instinctively, reaching out her hand, but it was far too late. Before her eyes, Laila's life was about to be mercilessly taken—at the very last instant—
"————"
Ortesia's movements stopped dead.
"—!?"
Yet despite her confusion, she didn't let the opportunity slip. Lilliana hugged Rila tightly and moved out of the magical tool's line of fire.
Still clinging to the ground, she rolled, and the instant she came to a stop, she sprang to her feet and looked toward Ortesia——
"………No way."
But Ortesia didn't move from where she stood. She had looked away from them——no, it was more as though she had already lost all interest in them entirely.
She merely stood there, murmuring blankly, her gaze fixed on the direction they had come from.
——As if she had sensed something beyond it.
The moment that thought crossed Lilliana's mind.
"!!"
With a forceful stomp, she kicked off the ground in a single explosive motion.
Ortesia bolted in the direction she had just been staring at, launching herself forward with terrifying speed.
"………………Huh?"
In the blink of an eye, Ortesia vanished, and even the sound of her footsteps faded away.
And in the deepest reaches of the Hidden Sanctuary, now wrapped in an almost unbelievable silence……only Lilliana, confused and at a loss, and Rila cradled in her arms, remained.
◆
At that same moment.
"……Hey, wait. Nobody told me about that one."
Laplace must have sensed the enormous magic power bearing down on the area as well. With an expression of urgency unlike anything he'd shown before, he immediately activated his spell.
"What the hell is this?! The whole deal was that *that one* would never show up, Trachia——damn it!"
With not a split second to spare, he aimed the spell to take down Ermes and Niina in one go——
——Just as he'd predicted.
Just for an instant, it was too late.
A thunderous roar and a shockwave.
The walls near the dungeon entrance were torn apart in rapid succession, and a figure burst through with tremendous force. That figure immediately turned its gaze their way.
"——'
Meteor Throne
'——"
She raised her hand and gave voice to the chant that had become synonymous with that mage.
"——[
Primordial Sky
]"
The instant those words rang out, accompanied by a special supplementary chant unlike anything heard before—
From her hand——
A sweeping
rain of light
,
all at once
fired
out.
.
"Wha—!?"
Even Laplace couldn't cope with a magic so unreasonable that it completely overturned everything he'd heard.
He couldn't deploy the Black Wall in time—or rather,
Magic Inscription Liberation
had activated in time, but it was effortlessly destroyed in an instant.
The beam struck head-on. He was blown away at a laughable speed and slammed hard into the Dungeon wall on the opposite side.
And the one who had accomplished this—the strongest magician in the entire country—
"Hmm, as expected,
Sky Misidentification Technique
eats into my resources, so my fine control is still a bit sloppy. It came out more powerful than I meant to... but whatever. One look at the scene tells you all you need—by my standards, every last one of you is a confirmed major criminal."
She let her lavish red hair, vivid and unstained even in the dim Dungeon, sway behind her. In stark contrast, her intelligent blue eyes brimmed with irritation as she glared down at the men.
"Hey, you—gray-haired guy with the nasty look. You're not hurt, are you? I clearly saw you slip an extra barrier in at the last second. Don't try playing dead and pulling a sneak attack—
sly
little trick—get back up, or I'll hit you with another spell."
"...Damn it."
Pinned down by her gaze, his entire sequence of moves and intentions thoroughly seen through, Laplace rose to his feet while breaking into a cold sweat. Taking in the entire scene below once more,
"...So what exactly do you think you're doing? I came thinking it was a chance to settle old scores, and what do I find—you've been pummeling my adorable, precious top apprentice. As if I wasn't in a bad enough mood already—now I'm at rock bottom, you hear me?"
No joke—the entire outcome of this confrontation hinged on her mood.
She declared with overwhelming pressure that left no room for doubt.
"—So, that's how it is."
And so... despite having been living a semi-retired life, she had somehow made it here—the only magician who could single-handedly turn this entire situation around, and Ermes's master.
The "Sky Witch," Roselia Kirsch von Yustia.
From those shapely lips—she wove words steeped in hostility.
"I'm going to beat the living daylights out of a bunch of assholes to blow off some steam. No complaints, got it?"
Next time, the promise of a rampage. Stay tuned!