The battle between Rose and Ortesia.
One was the infamous "Sky Witch" who had once caused an uproar throughout the kingdom.
The other was the leader of the Church — the nation's largest religious organization, cloaked in mystery.
The one truly worth paying attention to, however, was Ortesia.
No matter how many mysteries surrounded her — no matter how many unknowns she represented —
there was simply no way a mage of middling talent could rise to lead a religious organization in this country.
And true to form, she was a prodigy blessed with incomparably powerful Bloodline Magic and thoroughly honed foundational magical ability — a figure worthy of royalty,
no, one whose prowess exceeded even that.
Bearing all of that in mind —
— the battle was overwhelmingly one-sided in Rose's favor.
"Here."
"—!"
Rose raised her hand in a casual gesture.
In the next instant, a rain of light poured forth — something utterly unimaginable from her nonchalant demeanor.
It left no room to escape, suppressing Ortesia on the spot and piercing clean through her extraordinary endurance to deal damage with ease.
Ortesia's Bloodline Magic — Thunderclap Reversal — fired off in retaliation, a devastating lightning spell, was evaded far too easily.
It wasn't merely that Rose was swift — it went beyond that. She simply never let herself within range of any spell to begin with.
Naturally. The other Bloodline Magic Rose possessed, which made this entire situation possible, was the Seamless Great Eagle.
With its simple yet devastating effect — flight — it mercilessly nullified virtually every attack that came her way.
That layout drove home once again the sheer terror of the Sky Witch.
Armed with two types of Bloodline Magic, she crushed her opponent with the blindingly simple advantage of bombarding them with high-firepower, long-range attacks from beyond their reach — the true essence of the witch who ruled the sky.
And Rose, having utterly overwhelmed Ortesia with her strength while wearing an expressionless face,
quietly opened her mouth.
"So. When are you going to get serious?"
Hearing that, Ortesia laughed.
"Oh my, I thought I already was?"
"Don't be an idiot, talking nonsense. Sure, this has been your serious effort — but only within the scope of what I knew before I left the Royal Capital. So there's no way this is all you've got."
I have evidence to back that up.
Beyond the indescribable pressure I had sensed when facing Ortesia before, there was also what Laplace had said at the time — that Ortesia was a trump card designed specifically to counter Rose. Knowing Laplace's character as well as I did, even from such a short time together, the likelihood of that being a bluff was slim.
If that was the case, then it had to exist.
Something in Ortesia that justified calling it a "trump card" against Rose.
"So get it out already. ...Don't worry — no matter what it is, I won't pull some cheap trick of crushing it before you show it. I'll size it up, take the full force of it head-on, and then obliterate it completely."
With that, Rose made her declaration.
If someone called it letting her guard down, she wouldn't argue. If someone called it arrogance, she wouldn't deny it.
Even so, Rose had decided this was how she would do it.
What Ortesia had harbored toward her, what Ortesia had gained — or perhaps what had been forced upon her — since Rose left the country.
She would witness it all with her own eyes, take it all in herself — and only then settle things. That was how she would make good on the unfinished business she had left behind in the Royal Capital.
For herself, and by her own hand. That was the decision she had made.
Listening to Rose's declaration, Ortesia's smile deepened once more.
"……Yes, you're right. You never change, do you? Always saying the same thing."
For Ortesia, this too was confirmation of everything she had said and done until now.
It was to confirm whether Rose was still the person she had believed her to be.
Even if she was wrong and ended up killed as she was now — she had thought that would be fine.
But if Rose still retained a fragment of the "goddess" she had believed in, and would wait with that same mercy—
Then it was time for Ortesia to show everything she had gained here.
With that conviction, Ortesia opened her mouth.
"……Hey, Roselia. Would you believe something like this?"
"What?"
"—
that Bloodline Magic
has a will,
is what I'm saying."
Rose's eyes went wide.
That was… coincidentally, a way of thinking about magic that nearly matched Rose's own beliefs.
"After you disappeared, I kept thinking too. About Bloodline Magic — the thing you had been so obsessively researching during your time in the Royal Capital. I delved deeper into the magic within myself, thinking more deeply, feeling more deeply."
The face of Ortesia as she continued speaking was, without doubt, the image of a remarkable woman pursuing her ideals with both passion and reason — just as Rose had once seen.
"And so, I realized something. Bloodline Magic truly does have a will — something that created that magic long ago left behind some kind of feeling within it, and when you understand that feeling and use magic according to it, you can draw out its power most effectively. In other words—"
And from there.
"—you cannot use Bloodline Magic unless you hold the same feeling that was poured into it."
"And like that,"
"even my heart"
"was bound"
"by Bloodline Magic,"
"I realized."
"
Her voice shifts completely.
She reveals the face of a person driven mad, consumed by the madness the gods forced upon them.
"Don't you think that's wrong? Don't you think it's cruel?"
"—"
"If I were to think something, to feel something—how could I be certain it wasn't something twisted by Bloodline Magic? If I followed its lead, maybe Bloodline Magic had guided me into following it. And even if I rebelled against it, it would be the same. The moment Bloodline Magic came into existence, our hearts were already being warped."
From there, as if letting everything she had been holding back pour out—
"—I thought, 'What the hell.'"
Ortesia declares, her voice heavy.
"My feelings are mine, no matter what anyone says. If I couldn't prove that, I could never have moved forward. So I thought about what I needed to do about it—thought and thought and thought and thought—and then, I had an idea."
After finishing that declaration, Ortesia slowly raises one hand.
"—I thought, I just have to do this."
She takes a breath.
And sings.