She never should have come.
It wasn't a matter of being cold-hearted or anything like that... It was simply that he had convinced himself the Royal Capital no longer had any place on the path she walked.
"...Master...?"
And so, Ermes called out to Rose—their reunion after so long—with a look of astonishment on his face. Rose turned toward the sound of his voice, pivoting to face him.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been unusual for her to come bounding over with an all-out display of affection...
"..."
Yet, surprisingly, while the love for Ermes was still there in Rose's eyes... she merely gazed at him with a strangely solemn, worried look.
Not only was this simply not that kind of situation... but Rose had understood. Even without knowing the specifics, she could see it in the changes her beloved disciple had undergone over the years, and in the magic of the man she had just blown away and its very nature—
—what had taken place inside Ermes's heart.
"...El, let me say this first."
And so, Rose murmured. The first thing a master ought to say to her disciple.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"!"
"Honestly, I had noticed the 'thing' about you. Knowing that, I chose not to bring it up because I thought it was still too soon for where you were.
...The one at fault is me, for never teaching you properly. You haven't done anything wrong."
"Wha..."
"Right now, your thoughts are probably all tangled up and you can't make heads or tails of anything. That's something you need to sit down with later and work through to find your own answer. So for now, just rest."
With those words, Rose turned her body forward.
"—Leave the rest to me."
She delivered those words—utterly reliable, unwavering.
Then, still facing forward, she called out to the girl at Ermes's side who was supporting him.
"Hey—you, the cute silver-haired girl over there."
"Wh—! Y-Yes!?"
"You're on El's side, right? Sorry, but keep protecting him just like that. I really don't have... the luxury of worrying about anyone else right now."
Those words.
They were not born of inadequacy, but of something deeper—of her furious rage toward the being who had caused this situation.
Everyone present understood that. They understood it the moment her extraordinary magic power surged forth alongside those words.
"—Now then."
With that staggering magic power and the crushing pressure that accompanied it, Rose finally turned her focus forward.
"First of all... what do you think you're doing? Yurugen."
She cast a gaze—by no means a gentle one—at the very first person she needed to address.
"..."
"What exactly is going on here? ...Didn't you swear you'd never use your Bloodline Magic in front of anyone ever again?"
"............"
"And you chose to use it right in front of the children. You stood on *that side*. And judging from the residual magic... don't tell me you actually laid a hand on Katia.
—Hey, Yurugen. I haven't heard a single word from you."
Yurugen said nothing. Rose spoke flatly.
Quietly, yet fiercely—a torrent of magic power rose between the two of them.
"You know full well I don't have patience to spare in moments like this, don't you?"
Therefore, for old times' sake, I'll give you one chance to make your case. You betrayed something that should never have been betrayed, and you struck through my reverse scale with everything you had——
a reason
that I
can forgive,
give it to me. Right now."
No one knew what had happened between these two in the past.
But——that the current situation was, as the words suggested, ruthlessly pressing Rose's reverse scale was clear enough from her appearance, which was reaching critical on every front.
Having fully grasped that——Yurugen
smiled faintly, quietly, and opened his mouth.
"...What you saw is all there is."
Beyond that,
nothing more was needed.
"I understand.——I'll kill you."
Rose released her magic power, her demeanor one of having steeled herself completely.
"W-wait, Trakea!"
"Laplace. I know what you want to say, but... this is beyond even my expectations.
In the first place, there's no one who can restrain her actions.——Right now, surviving this situation takes priority. Work with me."
Laplace surely had plenty he wanted to say as well, but he likely understood that handling this emergency as Yurugen suggested had to come first. He took his stance.
Seeing that, Yurugen went on.
"Don't worry. Rose is without question the strongest in the kingdom, but she's not invincible. Especially her Bloodline Magic—inside a Dungeon, it can't display its full—"
"—Can't display its full power? Hey Yurugen, that's..."
However, as if cutting him off, Rose spoke in a voice devoid of warmth.
"...
Since when
are you
talking about
me
?"
At the same time. Yurugen's fierce assault with his'
Netherworld of Salvation
', and Laplace's'
Evil God's Bonfire Curtain
'—
Magic Inscription Liberation
had already been undone in the earlier exchange, but still, an overwhelmingly powerful and troublesome interference bore down.
A coordinated attack from two mages who could each comfortably corner Ermes and the others on their own. Yet Rose did not let her expression of cold stillness waver.
Once more, she declared that inscription.
"'
Meteor Throne
'——[
New Moon Sky
]"
Rose's weakness: all Bloodline Magic is built for Dungeons—or more precisely, it is poorly suited for combat in enclosed spaces.
The reasons vary depending on the magic, but... here, we will focus solely on '
Meteor Throne
'.
The reason this magic is unsuited for Dungeon combat is simple and clear: it can only be launched from the sky. Due to this constraint—born from its incomparable power—the places where it can demonstrate its full capability are extremely limited.
——However.
She is the Sky Witch precisely because she refuses to let 'it can't be helped' be the final word.
She understood the constraint: it can only be launched from the sky. Since that restriction is the very reason '
Meteor Throne
' is so powerful, tampering with it would go against the magic's core concept—making it all but impossible.
If so, then flip the thinking entirely.
After all—
What
does this magic
define as
'
sky
'
...it
recognizing
—
is it?
?
Is it simply altitude? If so, by what method, how does it recognize that altitude? What is the standard for altitude? What is being measured, and where is the recognition entrusted? By magic standards or by the caster's standards?
Rose analyzed these questions with the unique perspective of someone who understood that magic was a gift of wisdom — theoretically, thoroughly, experimentally, and with absolute rigor.
Once the logic was clear, everything else was simple.
She just had to create a domain magic that fulfilled the "conditions" by which magic determined something to be the sky.
Fortunately, this was something even Rose, who was bound by Bloodline Magic, could do.
Because... her other Bloodline Magic, the
Seamless Great Eagle
.
Since she possessed a magic with the effect of "flying through the sky" — a magic also related to the same "sky" — she could handle it by extracting elements from that magic and applying them.
On top of that, using the
Primal Inscription
, she created and completed a magic to support her own.
The inscription — Sky Misidentification Technique:
Sakuten
.
A magic that expands the definition of "sky" as recognized by magic to locations other than the actual sky.
The effect born from combining that magic with
the Meteor Throne—
—is this:
"Drop dead."
From any
location
—
you can bring down
a rain of
light.
As if embodying that, countless beams of light are fired all at once from the space in front of Rose's raised hand.
They clash head-on with the swarm of vengeful spirits unleashed by Yurugen — spirits boasting extraordinary offensive power — but...
"Guh—!!"
Rose is stronger.
In terms of magical offensive performance, certainly... but even in fundamental magical ability, the gap is as vast as heaven and earth.
In the blink of an eye, the swarm of vengeful spirits is pushed back. Seeing this, Laplace deploys a black barrier, temporarily blocking the rain of light before activating Rejection, trying to send it haywire and disrupt control, but—
"Oops."
Was it observation or intuition?
Sensing the presence of Rejection, Rose swiftly cancels her attack, and instead fires the next beam of light at Laplace, who had left an opening through the activation of her magic.
"Oh, c'mon──!?"
A wave of attacks so relentless that Rejection couldn't keep up. No feints, no stratagem—just sheer volume pushing everything back.
That was only natural. After mastering
Sakuten,
Rose could, in short, unleash incomparably powerful strikes from anywhere at will.
It bore a striking resemblance to Laplace's
Akushin no Kagarimaku—
the
Magic Inscription Liberation—
...but there was one crucial difference—the point where they diverged absolutely.
Rose hadn't even needed to invoke
Magic Inscription Liberation—
she had reached this level through the normal effects of magic alone.
That was the stance she took as a mage, not a researcher.
No clever tricks were necessary. No ingenuity required.
It didn't matter who her opponent was or what she faced. She poured every ounce of her honed discipline into a single, absolute strike, slamming down an overwhelming 'self' to crush everything before her.
An absolute individual.
That was the way of the Sky Witch.
She had heard that was how it was—but still.
(Even so, this is way beyond what I expected──!)
Laplace cursed inwardly as he desperately blocked the incoming attacks.
Naturally — having designated Rose as a top-priority threat, he had gathered extensive intelligence on her, drawing not only from historical records but also from Yurugen himself.
But... even so.
The "Dungeon" was supposed to be one of Rose's weaknesses — without question.
The information from Yurugen — the weakness that should have still held just a few months ago — had been remedied. The technique known as
Sakuten
had most likely been developed after that point.
What that meant was...
"I told you. Which version of me do you think you're dealing with?"
This monster was — still in the midst of evolving.
...And yet. That didn't mean he could simply withdraw.
If they kept trading blows at range, nothing would be resolved. Having reached that judgment, Laplace stepped forward alongside Yurugen to close the distance and attempt melee —
"— No."
Even that had been within the witch's palm.
The two, who had been about to rush in, were forcibly stopped in their tracks.
Because.
...In their desperation, they had forgotten something crucial.
"Can rain down light from anywhere." That was the true meaning of what those words entailed.
Up, down, left, right — from every direction.
As if to leave not a single avenue of escape — light closed in around the two of them.
"See, I'm a teacher, you know. The teacher of the greatest mage who's gonna change this country — change the whole world."
Checkmate.
After easily forcing the two of them into a situation where no amount of struggling would change the outcome, Rose spoke quietly.
"That greatest of students looks up to me. She respects my magic — respects me as a mage — and sees me as the goal she's aiming for.
So there's no way I'm going to let her catch up to me that easily."
That was the very reason she had evolved this far.
Having spoken of the source of her strength, she mercilessly unleashed a barrage of light beams upon the two within.
But.
"...Tch."
Rose clicked her tongue. ...At how little resistance her attack had met.
She knew the reason. Beyond Yurugen and Laplace, further in — someone who had been sitting things out until now, handling Lucius and Albert as they rose to their feet.
"Playing it cool, are we? So you're the leader of this bunch?"
She turned a wary gaze toward Chrono von Feiblad, who had neutralized her magic while simultaneously dealing with others.
It was at the very moment she shifted her focus, thinking the next opponent would be this one—
"— Roselia!"
One of the main reasons she had come here.
Arriving out of breath, she made her appearance.
"...Yo."
Rose fixed her gaze upon the woman who, upon seeing her, had let out a voice filled with joy and an almost manic expression. In stark contrast, Rose's eyes were cold.
"Long time no see. — Shit
"Sister-in-law."
"
She declared this to Pope Ortesia.
The situation still didn't seem like one that could be handled head-on, even with her power. Yet she filled her words with the resolve to simply crush her regardless.
Past grudges and present threats. Before all of it, Rose once more found herself face to face with everything.
Next time, some of the mysteries surrounding the previous generation and the Boss may finally be revealed. Stay tuned!