"[Triform Moonlight, Cruciform Journey — Gather, Gather — Azure Torch: Shadows Fall Even Upon the Present World of Salvation]"
Impossible, she thought.
But that thought held her for only an instant. She immediately released her own wraiths to halt the chanting.
"[Rotted Ember Bones, Abyssal Stars — Pardon, Pardon — Dark Lineage: Even the Prison of Endless Hell Yearns for the Sky]"
But it was intercepted by Katia's wraiths.
In a bitter irony, this was where the difference in their magical natures proved its worth.
Katia's summoned wraiths — built entirely for defense — couldn't endure them completely against her own destruction-oriented wraiths, but they could resist. In other words, they were at their absolute best precisely when time was the most critical resource, as it was now.
"[Celebrating the Cycle of Rebirth, Weaving the Transmigration of Worlds — She Is the Moon Goddess, Turned Hunter — Yet Should She Become the Avatar of Ruin]"
Unable to break through, the chanting continued to weave itself onward.
And there — Yurugen spotted it. Hovering above Katia's right hand as the incantation went on: a jade dial.
So that's how it is. She understood, to a degree.
She knew of it from the records — it was the same technique Sarah had once employed at the academy.
It borrowed the power of the Primal Inscription to analyze one's own magic, deepening understanding and supplying the information and knowledge needed for Magic Inscription Liberation.
But even factoring that in — it should still be impossible. She was certain of it.
This wasn't escapism.
It was rooted in firm conviction.
After all, Yurugen herself wielded the same type of magic, and she had studied this particular spell as thoroughly as was possible. And yet.
— This magic, since the first wielder who had held the very origin of magic —
Not a single one
Magic Inscription Liberation —
was something no one
had ever achieved.
.
For other magic, records at least exist.
In some cases, the content of liberation is also passed down, which can serve as a guide for later generations performing liberation. In fact, thanks to that, several people have managed to leave their names in the kingdom.
Even with the royal family's magic, at least one or two people have achieved liberation.
The only exception was Rose's "
Seamless Great Eagle,
" but even that was overturned by Rose's appearance.
Above all... Rose herself had said so.
Once, when she was in the Royal Capital,
the topic of
Magic Inscription Liberation came up, and she spoke with a solemn expression.
She spoke about the difficulty of liberation. In her estimation,
"
Meteor Throne
" could probably be achieved before long.
"
Seamless Great Eagle...
"...the Seamless Great Eagle is difficult, but I feel like someday it could be done."
And then... lastly, pointing at Yurugen.
"Probably, among all the bloodline magic I know of...
the one whose liberation
is the hardest
is your magic.
.
Honestly, even if I had it, I can't say whether I'd be able to pull it off."
She said.
From Rose's own words and the records compiled thus far, one conjecture held.
Probably... this magic, compared to other bloodline magic...
In terms of Magic Inscription Liberation
difficulty alone, it was at an incomparably higher level.
The reason was unclear. But it was certain that this was at a level that could first and foremost be called impossible.
And so Yurugen, who had never possessed all that much talent for magic to begin with, gave up on that path and devoted himself to honing his abilities as a civil official.
──And yet.
"[O living ones are beautiful, even the dead are beautiful — proclaim such a world]"
As if to mock his very understanding of things.
His own daughter — only fifteen years old, less than a decade since gaining magic, whose body should not have even finished developing enough to properly wield magic.
Alongside a genuine surge of magic power that was no mere pretense, she wove her chant, and then.
"[Celebrate peace upon the eve of the end, for no dawn shall come to this place again. The age of salvation lies—
Behind—
Reality]"
Together with the final activation phrase, one he knew all too well.
She proclaimed its name.
"'
Netherworld of Salvation
'──
Magic Inscription Liberation
"
The instant he heard those words reach his ears—
Yurugen's consciousness plunged into darkness.
◆
When he came to—
Yurugen found himself in an unfamiliar place.
"Wh... where am I...?"
Bewilderment of a kind he could not identify.
Still reeling from a level of confusion he hadn't experienced in decades, he scanned his surroundings to get a handle on the situation.
It was a strange space.
It seemed both bright and dark at once. The temperature was neither warm nor cold. He wasn't even sure if there was air here at all. Logically, if he was alive, he should be able to breathe... and yet, for some reason,
That I was
breathing—
I had no sensation
of it at all.
.
And above all, this feeling that enveloped my entire body.
A feeling so profoundly reassuring, yet simultaneously carrying some faint, primal trace of dread.
As if something vast, something primordial, were watching over me—what in the world was this sensation?
Everything, all of it, was an unknowable space.
From behind Yurugen, who struggled to grasp understanding even amid the confusion… a soft *tock* echoed.
He turned instinctively—
—And his mind completely seized, shutting down under the greatest shock of his life.
Long hair of gentle purple.
Amethyst eyes that seemed to pull you in, paired with soft, kind features.
A beautiful woman stood there, draped in a faint haze, looking exactly as if his daughter Katia had simply grown into adulthood.
Of course. There was no mistaking her. Because she was…
"…S…hita?"
The wife he had never expected to see again—the wife he had believed would never appear before him once more.
Gazing at her in stunned disbelief… Shita let a gentle smile bloom across her face.
"It's been a while… or rather, is that how it would feel from your perspective?"
After she spoke, with the same voice he could never forget, in unmistakable tones.
"Well, I'm sure there are many things you'd like to hear and ask about… but first, as a greeting, allow me to say what must be said."
She spread her hands wide — as though introducing herself, and this place as well.
With a slightly mischievous smile — she declared.
"── Welcome to the '"
"Netherworld"
"of"
"Salvation'"
"."
A detailed explanation is planned for next time. Please do read it!