God exists.
Not as some imaginary being, nor as the conceptual embodiment of humanity's collective faith — but as a being that truly possesses will and power, somewhere in this world.
This was no blind faith. Orthesia had arrived at this conviction through solid analysis and grounded reasoning.
After all, there were far too many phenomena that could not be explained otherwise.
The existence of so-called "magic" — a baffling anomaly that seemed to mock the laws of physics entirely, standing conspicuously outside the entire framework of the physical system — was one such phenomenon.
And more than anything — the fact that humans could somehow wield it, when you really thought about it calmly, was fundamentally strange. There was no doubt that someone had originally granted magic to humanity.
So, surely —
To probe magic in its entirety, as the perfect irregularity it was, and to venture ever deeper into its abyss — that, she believed, was the most effective way to draw closer to the "God" she sought.
For that reason, Orthesia had decided to delve deep into the study of magic.
And so — she had decided to seek out "God."
Without clinging to that, she couldn't have kept going.
A lone figure charging into the enemy's ranks, using the barest sliver of her own magic's arcane depths in a surprise assault to blast the opposing forces apart in every direction.
After completing that feat — and finishing the bare minimum of work Liliana had asked of her —
Rose made her way, at an unhurried pace, toward the place where she could fulfill her original purpose.
"— Yo, Orthesia."
Where Rose's gaze landed after she touched down.
Standing there was a woman who exuded a powerful air of decadence.
Someone Rose knew well... someone she had once known well.
...Once, she had been close with her, too.
Of the few friends she could call genuine, this was one who had been most straightforward — someone Rose had exchanged more words with than anyone, aside from Yurugen and Sheeta.
Yet, this was what she had become.
The circumstances that led here, the chain of events that made it inevitable — Rose understood all of it.
And having understood it all, she had decided she would show absolutely no mercy.
And so, Rose...
"...You came after all, Roselia."
She spoke toward Ortesia, who spread her arms as if to welcome her, an empty smile on her lips.
"At last the moment has come — without anyone to stand in the way, I can—"
"'Bring the god you once were back to life' — I have no interest in hearing that sort of drivel."
What she desired most of all.
And what she least wanted to have denied — Rose struck it down first.
"And at the same time, the incoherent demand of 'if that won't work, then at least judge me' — that's off the table too."
"!"
"I'm just a human being. Sure, I'm well aware I'm completely off the rails — being able to use three Bloodline Magics makes no sense to me either, and through some quirk of karma I've ended up immortal. But listen—"
In contrast to Ortesia's vacant gaze, Rose returned one burning with firm conviction and yearning.
"Even so, I'm human. There are far more things I can't do than things I can, and yet, for the sake of what I crave, I keep choosing — of my own free will — to expand what I can do and fight on. I'm the same as you — the same as the you that once was. That's why—"
Rose raised her magic power and made her declaration.
"What begins now is nothing more than a fight between friends — or, at this point, a quarrel between sisters. With that understanding, get ready, Ortesia.
...Is the 'god' in your head the kind of being you can talk into changing her mind?"
"R-Ro...selia...!"
To that final provocation — added with a fearless smile — Ortesia answered in kind, surging her magic power.
And so it was — fittingly, just as Laila, Ortesia's daughter, had once said.
A quarrel between sisters, each trying to force her own wishes upon the other — had begun.