"Long time no see. —You shitty— big sister-in-law."
"
Rose spoke in a cold tone, facing off against Pope Ortesia.
...Indeed, Ortesia was one of the current king's queens. For Rose—the former third princess, and therefore the current king's younger sister—Ortesia was technically her sister-in-law. The form of address wasn't wrong... but.
There was something more to Rose's tone. Something that hinted at a deeper entanglement.
"Roselia...!"
Whatever Ortesia thought of that name, her eyes lit up even brighter—and grew more manic still—as she locked gazes with Rose.
—The instant she confirmed that.
Rose's gaze went cold, as if she'd realized something. And immediately after—
"—Ah, sorry. Wrong person."
This time, her face was one of perfect, utter disappointment as she said it.
Ortesia's face froze.
"R-Roselia...? Why would you say that? I'm—"
"You've got the wrong person too, for starters. I'm the 'Sky Witch,' Rose.
...And the Ortesia I knew was stupidly devout, always dreaming of ideals. But even so—she wasn't chasing after some convenient phantom. She truly believed in 'God' as the object of her faith, and she had a spine of iron. At least, that's how I remember her."
Rose hurled those words at the Ortesia standing before her.
"—I don't have the faintest clue who you are. Forcing your ideals onto someone who isn't you, conveniently turning them into a god. Not the slightest idea."
She spoke as though casting her aside.
Ortesia received those words with trembling shoulders... yet still, she opened her eyes wide.
"Why... why. No, no, Roselia. You've simply lost sight of your true self because of how the kingdom treats you. That's why I've come to claim you at last — I'll save you, I understand you better than anyone, so—!"
"Oh? Understand me, you say?"
Rose reacted to those hollow words with what seemed like amusement — her expression laced with an unmistakable tinge of disappointment as she smiled—
—and then, for some reason, she pulled Ermes over to her side.
"...Eh?"
"Hey, Ortesia. This cute little boy here is my very first disciple."
"—What?"
At the sudden turn of events, Ermes looked up at Rose, his expression subdued.
Ortesia let out a dull, bewildered voice, as if she couldn't process what she was hearing.
"Wh-what... what is that? I met that boy a few days ago, but he doesn't look anything like you at all... and besides, your disciple? Don't say such ridiculous things — you are the one and only, absolute existence. There's no way some other being could teach you anything—"
"Blah blah, you're annoying. Anyway... if you've already met him, this is simple. You looked at El and couldn't see a single thing linking him to being my disciple."
"I—of course I couldn't see that! The only one I see is you — what does that even—!"
At Ortesia's fury.
Rose smiled thinly—
"——
Sheeta
saw right through it
at a single glance.
"
She delivers a single line — one only she would know — that strikes at the fatal weakness in Ortesia.
"Word is, you look alike. Ah, but since she's already dead, she won't be lying or anything, right? That Katia over there can use magic similar to spirit-channeling, and I heard it through that connection. I'm sure of it."
"N-No way. That's a lie — that woman would never—"
"You just pretend not to see what's inconvenient, don't you? I won't forgive that. It's the same as those people who refused to see the true nature of the thing you hated most. So I'll say it flat out—"
Ortesia, flustered, shaking her head as if refusing to admit it.
Against this adversary bound by such a tangled history, Rose drives the final nail in.
"Whether back then or right now — you never understood me. Not as much as Sheeta did."
As if struck by the greatest shock imaginable, Ortesia's body trembled, and she looked away.
After a few moments like that — she murmured softly.
"………I see."
She whispered, lifting her gaze, and fixed Rose with a hollow stare.
"—You're not Roselia, are you."
"I've been telling you that."
"My Roselia still won't come back to me, will she. Then — then—!"
From there, all at once, fury surged. She raised her magic power and began to chant—
"Not happening."
Before she could finish.
A rain of light unleashed by Rose struck Ortesia. She hastily raised a magical tool as a guard, but the chant was unconditionally canceled. And without a moment's gap, Rose's assault continued to hammer down.
"Your magic is troublesome. Sorry, but I won't let you activate it. You're my one remaining 'unfinished business' in the Royal Capital — it's my duty to settle this with you personally.
I'll take you on — and the rest of you too, all at once."
At the same time, she fixed her calm gaze on Yurugen and Laplace, who had risen to their feet.
Once again... the Witch's onslaught had begun.
◆
"Da...mn... it...!"
Facing the battle situation that had reversed in one fell swoop.
Laplace cursed under his breath as he struggled to his feet yet again after being slammed into the wall for the umpteenth time.
It made no sense.
His magic was supposed to shine the more powerful the opponent's magic was, yet nothing worked. Her spells were far too refined — there wasn't even a gap to deploy "Rejection." And his boasted defensive power was almost useless against her overwhelming firepower.
Even with the three of them, they couldn't lay a glove on her.
Yurugen was overwhelmed in a straight contest of firepower. Ortesia wasn't even allowed to activate her Bloodline Magic under the ceaseless barrage. Laplace fared no better — he was barely holding on.
Magic Inscription Liberation
and had no opportunity to use it again.
It was hopeless.
Of course, they had their own path to victory. But making it work would take time... and in the current situation, they couldn't even buy that much. It was as plain as day that they would be overrun before long.
(Why the hell—!)
He tried to figure out how things had gone this wrong.
They were supposed to be winning.
The plan had been to use those around them to take down the single greatest threat to the organization. And then, leveraging the fact that they had hidden their positions so well, to wipe out anyone who could pose a threat in individual combat — all in one stroke.
It should have worked. The archbishops had all been eliminated, and the remaining forces couldn't touch them. Everything was supposed to have gone exactly according to plan.
—And yet, that one Witch had turned it all upside down.
"Damn it, gah..."
Deflected and bounced back, frustration steadily mounted within Laplace.
...He had never been a patient person to begin with, given his origins.
On top of the rough, mixed feelings of disappointment he already harbored—that the boy he'd been keeping an eye on despite them being enemies had turned out to be more pathetic than expected—there was now the rage at having every last calculation completely overturned by the unexpected participation of an irregular who should never have been there.
In a situation where everything he'd painstakingly built was on the verge of being thrown into chaos, the passion he'd been shoving behind his carefree mask came spilling out.
(Ah, how annoying, what a hassle, what a pain)
He had always been a rough, wild man at heart.
There was no way he could sit calmly and think rationally—act all *well-mannered*—in a situation where everything he'd accumulated was about to be destroyed.
...Then.
"—Just, why not."
What came after, the situation analysis, none of it mattered anymore.
If he could turn this situation around—using anything and everything at his disposal—then why not just tear it all apart without a thought for the consequences?
His body moved on impulse, unleashing everything he'd held in reserve.
Without a single thing of sufficient caliber to stop him, he was becoming nothing more than a being consumed by the singular impulse to destroy—
"—Laplace."
Right at that moment.
The voice of Chrono, standing behind him, cut through.
"...Boss."
"I know you're the type who can't hold back. I've been helped by that side of you more than once, so I understand how you feel, and honestly, part of me doesn't want to stop you either.
...But still. As your 'Boss,' I'm telling you—calm down, Laplace."
A quiet voice—the only voice that could reach him—held him back, if only for a moment.
Having confirmed that... Chrono wove his words.
"—Back then, you were the one who
saved
me. You were supposed to be a much cooler man."
Those words.
Reached his heart.
Vividly conjuring the scene of their beginning—an event from twenty years past.
...Laplace's blue eyes. The light of reason returned to them.
"...Yeah. That's right."
In a stark reversal, Laplace spoke in a quiet voice.
"Because you can't seize anything just by being a troublemaker... I decided I'd become this way, after all."
He lets the tension drain from his shoulders.
His expression showed that the composure he'd lost since clashing with Ermes had returned—
Once more, he analyzes the situation.
He'd learned from the battles so far.
That the Sky Witch's magic—the Meteor Throne—was impossible to counter directly.
The magic's perfection was simply too great. If they clashed head-on with their current strength, defeat was inevitable.
So, what should he do?
Simple—
Head-on.
All he had to do was avoid fighting.
.
And besides... wasn't "that sort of thing" supposed to be his specialty?
A complete reversal of thinking.
If he couldn't break the opponent's magic — then he just needed to break the conditions that made the magic possible.
That was the idea.
"...'
Evil God's Bonfire Veil
'"
Laplace cast a spell. The most trusted, all-purpose magic he had honed since childhood — he activated it.
And on top of that, he invoked the magic's inherent ability: "Rejection."
...Naturally, that alone couldn't break the '
Meteor Throne
' The gap in their power was far too great. With Laplace's current abilities, rejecting that rain of light was simply impossible. Magic was not so merciful that a mere change in resolve could overturn a real difference in power.
But.
And yet, the very next instant —
— Rose's rain of light dissipated all at once.
"—!?"
For the first time, Rose's composure cracked.
She didn't waver from her real combat experience. She immediately continued the offensive with Enhanced universal magic while analyzing the cause—and quickly arrived at the answer.
"—I see. Not bad."
She said it with a smile that held equal parts bitterness and admiration for her enemy.
"—You rejected
Primordial Heaven
—didn't you?!"
As for
Meteor Throne—
it was far too perfected and airtight for any rejection to take effect.
—but before that. This incomparably powerful magic could only function within the Dungeon because of one prerequisite:
The Sky Misidentification Technique: Primordial Heaven.
That technique—
Rose had only recently succeeded in developing it—in other words, since it was still too rough to be called complete, there was still room to interpose a rejection.
Even when faced with an unknown technique, she didn't waver. If she didn't lose herself to impatience and kept analyzing and deciphering calmly... she would surely find an opening to exploit.
Do not forget.
Laplace as well—while somewhat rough around the edges mentally, he was an executive of the "organization" that had long operated in the shadows deep within the kingdom, and the Boss's right hand.
He was no half-baked "mage."
Through his efforts like that, he succeeded in striking back at Rose.
—However.
"Naive."
Still, the "Sky Witch" was not so naive as to crumble from a single strike.
She adjusted her tactics immediately. "
Meteor Throne
" — not only that, but the
Shakuten
" technique was also restructured. She reinforced her defenses so they couldn't be so easily repelled as before, then resumed her relentless assault without leaving any opening.
……However.
Even though she could no longer be brought down, the fact that they had forced her to concern herself with yet another matter was meaningful in itself.
"
Shakuten
" 's defense required her to allocate even more awareness and resources, which slightly eased the momentum of her assault.
They did not let that slip go unnoticed. Frantically trying to pry open even the slightest gap, they fought back and forth — just barely closer to a stalemate than before.
Of course, even with that, the gap in power was still vast. Before long, the battle once again tilted in Rose's favor — but even so, the time they had bought was worth its weight in gold.
Because.
"……You did well."
The time they had earned — enough to give their leader
Chrono von Faybrad the opening he needed to finally act.
"It's finally ready. ……I'm sorry for being a Boss with so many restrictions, but it's fine now.
Leave the rest — to me."
With a composed expression, Chrono took one step forward.
Surrounded by his subordinates, he spread his arms wide and raised his magic power.
He drew in a breath.
And sang.
"──[□□□□ □□□□□ □□□□□ □□□□]"
!?
"That... is──!"
"...no..."
Ermes, and then Katia.
And then Rose's eyes went wide.
The chant.
The sound reached their ears as speech, but the resonance carried not the slightest trace of meaning.
They couldn't tell what was being said.
──
Not understanding
what it meant
,
there was
far too much familiarity
.
Because this chant was the only one the three of them knew.
Once, when Rose had visited the Traukia household. She'd shown it just once, during a master-versus-disciple duel, leaving a tremendous impact on all who witnessed it.
Rose's third Bloodline Magic...
"...Hey, don't tell me—you—"
Rose stood frozen, eyes wide.
She spoke in a hard, pressing tone.
"'Boss' of the 'Organization.' The leader of a group that's apparently been around for decades.
...And with that face of yours."
Finally, her voice turned sharp as a blade.
"You're—
one of the same kind,
aren't you?"
In return came Chrono's smile.
"I'll follow Yurugen's example on that one. Let me just say — what you see is all there is."
His expression remained unchanged — calm, impossible to read.
He continued, flatly.
"'Sky Witch.' You truly are the remarkable magician your reputation promises.
Since you're the one across from me — as you can see, I have no choice but to meet you with everything we have. ...And should that come to pass—"
He paused, then hardened his tone.
"If we were to go all out here — if you and I were to give this our absolute all—
How many bystanders would end up as collateral?"
"Tch."
Rose clicked her tongue.
She understood what Chrono was trying to say — and beyond that, she also grasped what he would propose next, based on all of it.
Just as Rose had predicted.
Chrono, now confident that he had seized the initiative, made his proposal.
"So... how about we both agree to back down here?"
The battle in the Hidden Sanctuary, which had swung back and forth time and again —
At last, a temporary resolution to the fight that no one had anticipated was coming into view.
The Church arc is finally nearing its end.
We'll keep building the momentum toward the second-half battle of Chapter Three — stay tuned for the next installment!