At the same moment Rose headed toward Ortesia.
"...Impressive."
A location relatively close to the outskirts of the Royal Capital.
In other words—a location far removed from the fierce battle raging in the Royal Capital, Yurugen's calm voice echoed.
The unidentified, non-negotiable repulsive force from Rose's magic that had struck him while he stood in the heart of the Royal Capital.
Its power was extraordinary. Being sent flying with absolutely no way to resist—that was proof enough of that.
Had he done nothing, the momentum alone would have driven him into the ground and reduced him to nothing. The fact that he could tell she had held back not at all, not even a shred, simply because they were old friends—it was a strike of unhesitating killing intent.
That said, Yurugen was still a Duke-level mage. Blocking the aftershocks of a spell was one thing, but the spell itself was another matter. By cloaking himself in vengeful spirits, he neutralized the impact and landed without so much as a scratch.
As he brushed away the rubble clinging to him, he assessed his current location.
"That sent me quite a ways."
Even so, returning to where he'd been in one shot was surely impossible.
The "
Netherworld of Salvation
" currently assaulting the Royal Capital might continue without interruption, but that was no guarantee for what lay ahead. Taking all the various risks into account, he needed to make his way back to the center of the Royal Capital as quickly as possible.
"...Well, then."
That meant—
"—They wouldn't be generous enough to allow that, would they?"
In other words, the enemy would rush to prevent that from happening above all else.
After all, if he had been sent flying to this exact location—pinpointed here—then it would be more unnatural to assume they hadn't already prepared to intercept him.
With that conviction, Yurugen faced the assassin who had come for him.
He went to greet the young lady of the duchy—Katia von Trackia.
"Just one person? That's unexpected."
"Yes—more to the point, I'm the only combatant available. The other Bloodline Magic users are all busy dealing with the undead spirits assaulting the Royal Capital."
Surprisingly, she was willing to talk.
In this place, they looked almost unnaturally like father and daughter.
"…It's a strange thing, isn't it?"
Yurugen felt no particular urge to refuse, and let the conversation continue.
"Come to think of it, you never once rebelled against me growing up. Could it be because your defiance was always directed outward—at this country's very system?"
"That's right. …To add, Father, you were simply too excellent for a daughter to rebel against. You were always so perfect that I never even felt the inclination."
"The fact that you understood that and chose not to rebel—that's proof of your extraordinary nature."
A slightly stiff yet warm conversation, the very image of an ideal ducal family's father and daughter.
And yet—Katia, extending from the thread of their small talk, raised her magic power.
"That's why—this must be what they call a daughter's first period of rebellion."
She activated her Bloodline Magic and summoned a Spiritual Entity.
…Something entirely unlike her own—a beautiful, pure spirit, one might say a pristine spirit.
"That's right, Katia. …I told you, if you didn't want to see anything worse, I advised you to run. But if you broke through that and came here anyway—"
Along with that, he summoned his own.
Evil spirits, far too black, far too dark, far too grotesque.
…The power of the Sixth Genesis Magic he had received from Chrono—he had used all of it to summon vengeful spirits across the entire Royal Capital.
The condition for summoning vengeful spirits was a place where many people gathered. This location, close to the outskirts and virtually deserted, didn't meet that requirement—in short, here he was effectively cut off from the blessings of the Sixth Genesis Magic. Rose must have factored all of that in before teleporting him here.
—But that posed no problem.
Even without the assistance of Genesis Magic, he could still perform a summoning at full power using his own magic power. If that was the case... especially against this girl, he could suppress her without a single issue.
Having confirmed that, he shifted his tone and focus.
"If that is the case, then you are nothing more than that.
You are my enemy, Katia von Trackia."
Along with his declaration that he would no longer treat her as his daughter, he drove the vengeful spirits into a frenzy.
She was hit head-on with pressure so overwhelming that even Yurugen himself felt his body shudder... but Katia—
"...I suppose this is where I should declare myself your enemy as well, but—"
Without flinching, without flying into a rage—she simply smiled.
"That won't be happening,
Father.
I have always been—from this moment until the very end—your daughter.
I will fight with that resolve... and without any intent to kill, I will make you see reason."
"—"
"That is... what you'd call a family quarrel, isn't it?"
Matching those words, Katia unleashed the spiritual entities that served her at full power.
...The most beautiful and fierce of all he had ever seen.
The expression on Katia's face as she made that declaration was something even Yurugen had never witnessed before.
It was so serene, so still—and yet within it lay an unwavering, powerful resolve.
…so much like someone he had once seen in the distant past.
Surely, in this manner, from that day until now—she had grown this much in less than a week.
Yurugen realized this.
"………Ah."
He recognized the threat before him anew—*how formidable.*
And so, one side stood as an enemy blocking his objectives, and the other as a daughter determined to stop her father's tyranny.
The most ferocious parent-child battle this kingdom had ever seen, each fighting to see their will realized, had begun.
Next time: Rose and the Orthesia faction. Stay tuned!