The river had been frozen by a mage wearing a red robe etched with an inverted pentagram.
Crossing the frozen surface, soldiers of the Gaiselle Empire were trying to make it to this side of the bank.
"[Star Eater]"
Rest leaped from the bushes and immediately cast his magic.
A black star born in his palm. A Dark Star that devoured everything.
The moment that dark spot appeared, the surrounding light vanished in an instant, and a veil of darkness fell.
"Wha...?!"
"What is this?! It suddenly got dark...?!"
Caught off guard by the sudden darkness that spread around them, the Gaisellian soldiers on the ice cried out in panic.
They stopped, looking around in the pitch black.
"[Heavenly Radiance]"
Then, Rest unleashed his finishing blow.
The light absorbed by the Dark Star was gathered together and fired out as a solar laser.
"Sweep them away!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
A flash that tore through the darkness and raced forward.
Bathed in the sweeping light of the attack, the Gaisellian soldiers screamed.
Right after, the darkness cleared and the light returned.
The ice, struck by the beam of light, melted and collapsed. The river, which had been dammed up, surged back with tremendous force, swallowing the Gaisellian soldiers who had fallen into the water.
"Looks like it hit,"
Rest gave a wry smile.
The darkness had robbed Rest of his sight just the same.
His attack, fired off from only a rough aim, seemed to have successfully knocked the Gaisellian soldiers into the water.
"That should stop their advance. Now I just—!"
"Above!"
The 'Sky Demon' scout yelled.
Reacting to the shout, Rest looked up to see a figure flying with the sun at their back.
It was a red robe adorned with an inverted pentagram. They had crossed the river with some kind of magic and were now diving straight at Rest.
"Thunder Cannon!"
Rest cast the spell on instinct.
The lightning bolt shot toward the red robe, but a translucent barrier appeared. The bolt struck the wall, scattered, and vanished.
"Vanish."
"Tch...!"
Rest used magic to accelerate and leaped back from the spot.
Immediately after, countless projectiles pierced the space where Rest had just been.
The misses tore a number of holes in the ground, as if from a shotgun blast.
"This is...?!"
"It's water."
The "Sky Demon" spoke to Rest, who stood wide-eyed.
Now that he mentioned it, parts of the pierced ground were wet.
The true nature of the fired bullets was water droplets the size of a fingertip.
(It's not just this attack. The wall of water that blocked my lightning strike earlier was the same...!)
The semi-transparent wall that protected the red robe... that was a barrier of water.
Common sense dictated that electricity conducts through water, so how had she used water to block the lightning strike?
"Are you from the Gaiselle Empire..."
"Are you Japanese?"
Rest tried to question the red-robed figure who had landed on the ground, but he was cut off as a question was thrown at him first.
It was a woman's voice, high and clear.
The content of the question was one thing, but the language... the language was Japanese.
"...So you're Japanese too, huh. Are you an acquaintance of that sand-manipulating mage?"
"So you do know Shindō-kun. I heard he died in the line of duty in the north... did you kill him?"
The name Shindō didn't ring a bell, but from the context of the conversation, she was probably referring to the sand-using "curse caster" he had fought in the great northern forest.
It seemed the inverted pentagram symbol wasn't just for decoration after all.
"'Takfir Kahen'...!"
"I see... just as I thought."
Rest didn't answer the red-robed woman's question, but she seemed to have sensed something from the atmosphere anyway.
The red robe made the sign of the cross before her chest.
"May your soul rest in peace."
"......"
Seeing the red robe offering a prayer, Rest hesitated to attack.
Even though she was an enemy, the opponent was Japanese.
No, even if not, Rest felt that disturbing the act of mourning and praying for the dead was something a person should not do.
If he trampled on that, he would lose something important as a human.
"......"
"Then, let's begin."
The red robe, who had been silently praying for a while, lifted her face and looked at Rest from under her hood.
"Are you ready?"
"I'm sorry for taking your time... He was my ally, but honestly, we weren't on good terms."
Transparent spheres appeared around the red robe.
Water again. Several water spheres appeared and surrounded her.
"Here I come."
"!"
The surface of the water spheres burst, and water stretched like snakes, attacking Rest.
To counter the approaching water attacks, Rest also cast magic.
————————————————— Book volume 2 will be released on January 30th.
I've posted the cover illustration in the status note, so please take a look if you like.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support!