A little earlier.
The trading city of Heizen. My uncle's hideout… the rooftop.
Something resembling a heavy launch platform had been set up there.
At its center stood a massive black spear.
Dozens of black square plates, layered one on top of another.
At first glance it didn't even look like a spear — it was a freshly completed spear.
"Well now, Miss Mineha. Are you all mentally prepared?"
"…Hey, there are a bunch of things I want to ask about."
"My my, like what?"
I asked, my discomfort growing as I watched the witch grin with obvious amusement.
"Is this really… safe?"
"Mm-hmm. Absolutely, definitely safe."
The witch said this with a beaming smile.
Mineha swallowed the word "con artist" that had risen to her lips.
"…………"
Mineha was inside the spear.
She was at the center of the massive black spear.
It was shaped so that you straddled it, gripping two control levers.
There was a monitor in front, and nothing else.
The control stick could only move forward and up, down, left, and right. There were no brakes.
"But still, your father really was a genius, you know."
"He was just a colossal idiot!"
Mineha shot back.
As they examined and maintained the keepsake spear together with the witch, her opinion of him reversed.
Her biological father, Sema, had died before she was born. She had never seen him or even met him.
And so, in a sense, she had harbored the sweet illusion of a good father.
It was only natural to feel that way about a father she never knew.
Sema was not a bad person.
But whether he was a good one — well, that was another matter entirely.
Mineha said with a sigh in her voice.
"How did you even know about my Relic before I was born?"
"Well, well, there are various ways of going about that, you know."
This massive, bizarre black spear.
It turned out to be a spear designed exclusively for Mineha's Relic, Spiral.
A groundbreaking spear that used Relic Spiral as its power source.
"...You didn't put Spiral inside me, did you?"
She knew about Relic Plates. That was how she'd figured it out.
The witch gave a small shake of her head.
"No, no... that's not something Sema would do, you know."
"If that were the case, he'd be the lowest piece of trash there is."
"Hmm, hmm. That was ten years ago, wasn't it. That was a curse — of that much, I'm certain."
Ten years ago.
Ruriha had been afflicted by a curse that put both mother and child in mortal danger.
"You know, back then Master brought an elixir that broke the curse. But Ruma's curse couldn't be broken with an elixir. What's the difference?"
At Mineha's question, the witch put on a contemplative look before answering.
Three tails swayed.
"Hmm, hmm. It simply came down to quality. Ruriha's curse was normally so weak it wouldn't have threatened anyone's life. But Ruriha was pregnant, Sema was dead, and her body and mind were both completely depleted — so even a minor curse became a mortal danger."
"I see... Hey, this spear is just for me, right?"
"Mhm, mhm. This... the 'Spiral Doon' is the one and only spear Sema ever crafted, made for his unborn daughter Mineha."
It had been left unfinished, but she completed it.
The consecutive all-nighters had been brutal. Mostly for the witch.
"...Right. Witch. I'm ready."
Mineha lowered her gaze. The hatch sealed shut.
The pale blue spear — the Demon Star Manifest Spear, driven in at an angle — began to glow.
Red, blue, and white light blazed to life around Mineha, who straddled it.
The curved monitor ahead displayed the world outside.
"There we go. It's set to fly straight to the target, so all you have to do is hold on."
"I'm not entirely sure what 'high-reactivity zone in the Haizen Great Forest' means, though..."
"Well, well — just think of it as wherever the power of the soul is strongest. Wof is definitely—
—and everyone's there, you know."
"...I'm worried."
The more the witch smiled, the more anxious Mineha became.
"Mm-hm. It'll absolutely be fine, you know. I'll start the countdown, you know."
"Three, two, one — nice and slow, okay?"
"Well then, three-two-one, start!"
"Wait, you—! Aaaahhhhh!"
"Bye-bye. Have a nice trip, you know."
The Spiral Dawn became a black meteor, trailing a pale spiral of light.
Its speed was like light itself.
"Well, well — I wonder if everything will go smoothly, you know."
The witch murmured as she watched it go.
She had completely forgotten.
It hadn't even crossed her mind.
A red crystal was missing.
Not only that — there was one extra red-green crystal.
But putting that aside, there was Mineha.
She had appeared out of nowhere and shattered the Dimensional Distortion Wall.
That large black thing... no doubt about it. It was the spear that served as a memento of Mineha's father.
And what was lodged diagonally into the ground was the Demon Star Manifestation Spear.
That was where the spiral pattern had been, if I recalled correctly.
Even so, for something that had been so beaten-up... it looked brand new.
And parts of it were glowing with red, blue, and white lights.
It was already a weapon on the same level as Riv's.
Come to think of it, Mineha's outfit was the same way.
It looked almost identical to Riv's sci-fi suit.
It was a black suit that clung tight to her skin, with gold trim etched into various places.
The chest was open and there were slits at the waist, too.
It draped Mineha's gravure-model body in all the sexiness it could muster.
Combined with her gently flowing honey-colored hair, she practically sparkled.
Different colors, but they looked really alike.
"Hmm... pilot... technical... suit... right?"
I thought they looked similar, and sure enough — they were the same type.
"The witch forced it on me from inside the spear."
"Now that's quite the outfit."
"Your face is all red and your tail's wagging, Nabell."
"W-Wait, no—!"
"Both of you, Mineha's only ten years old."
"Huh?"
"R-Right."
Can't see it, huh. Not at all.
"Never mind that — what's with that spear?"
"It broke through that barrier Relic."
"Hmm... it's... interfering with... dimensions..."
So it really was interfering with dimensions.
The giant spider wasn't moving.
"We'll settle the rest later — now's our chance. This time, we finish it."
"Right!"
"Let's do this!"
At Galad's command, Nabel and Hoss answered in kind.
The three of them charged in a straight line toward the giant spider.
Small spiders poured out from around the giant spider in swarms.
Small was relative — they were spiders about our size.
A spider lunged at Nabel from his blind spot.
But it was shot clean through the forehead.
"Leave the backup to me, ss!"
"Alright... here we go... Guene-o... Knight Kid..."
"C'mon, that's good enough, Guess."
It's Guene, but I like that name.
After Riv, Guene followed with "Thousand Faces."
What's the deal with that unusual trio?
They might not be as flashy as the others, but they're still one of a kind.
"So that's the dungeon anomaly?"
"That's right."
"Huh."
"By the way, that spear."
"...It's called 'Spiral Thorn.'"
With that, Mineha took hold of the Spiral Thorn.
It was slightly shorter than Mineha's height, though still about as tall as me.
"Spiral."
"So it's made for me, then. Blue Star, deploy."
When she called out the skill, a portion of the Spiral Thorn separated.
A small triangle spun around, radiating a pale blue light.
I knew those "stars."
They were part of the Demon Star Manifest Spear — I'd controlled them with the Relic skills Remote Control and Spiral.
The power of those stars, dancing through the sky while spinning, was overwhelming.
That time, there were nine stars. But here — there were clearly more than nine.
There were twelve.
Mineha clicked her tongue.
"Winning is a given, but those spiders are going to be a nuisance."
Were they desperate? The giant spider was mass-producing its spider kin.
It was somewhat reducing the intensity of Garado's group's assault.
It was especially focused on Nabel, who was struggling.
His 'Spider-Cutter' was a weakness for the giant spider.
It probably didn't want him getting close and wanted to eliminate him.
"Grmph. If only I could use my Relic."
Pakira wrinkled her face.
Her cat ears and short-and-long tails drooped pathetically — she really did look frustrated.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Because of the opponent's Relic, I can't use any Relic right now except for a few."
As for me, I could only use... the Ring of Fortune and Knife Magic.
Both Banish and Vibrashion were unusable.
"Which means I'm completely useless."
"I can only use Battle Cry."
"As for me, I'm hopeless when it comes to combat."
"That's a pain. What's Battle Cry?"
Lupinus explained.
"It's usable, isn't it? Let's go ahead and use it to gather them up, and then I'll blow them all away at once."
"You can do that?"
"I can. With this 'Spiral Dawn,' I can."
Confidence radiating off her in waves.
Lupinus gave a decisive "Very well" nod, her expression hardening with resolve.
She placed her shield on her back, spread her feet slightly, clenched both fists, and pressed her elbows against her sides.
The pose looked remarkably like the cheerleaders from my past life, right before they'd shout.
She closed her eyes and drew in a long, deep breath.
Lupinus's elf ears twitched as if catching the wind.
Her eyes snapped open.
— "[Battle Cry], here I go! UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The piercing shriek, launched with every ounce of her fighting spirit, made all the spiders react at once.
Even the giant spider flinched, and a massive wave of spiders surged toward Lupinus.
The ones that had been doggedly attacking Nabel broke off and headed her way too.
Mineha stepped in front of Lupinus, raising Spiral Dawn.
Twelve [Blue Stars] materialized at the tip of Spiral Dawn, forming a perfect ring.
As they began spinning at high speed, the ring genuinely blazed with pale blue light.
Mineha gripped Spiral Dawn with both hands and leveled it forward.
The Blue Stars moved in sync, and the pale blue ring began tracing a spiral.
What was she planning?
"...Spiral Dawn, Mode: [Judgment]."
Sections of Spiral Dawn split open, revealing thrusters beneath.
The Phantom Star Emergent Lance, still embedded at an angle, began spinning at blistering speed and erupted into a streak of pale blue light.
A strange sound echoed through the air — *gyuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*.
Mineha lunged forward in her posed stance. No — she jumped and rose into the air.
The tip of the spiraling Blue Star made contact with Spiral Dawn... a drill.
It was a drill. A massive, pale-blue drill.
"Lupinus. That was a truly lovely voice."
"Th-thank you very much."
"Then I shall pass judgment upon you sinners. The sentence is death. Spiral Dawn, Mode: Judgment Pile———!"
"Huh?"
With a heavy *clunk*, the central portion of Spiral Dawn slammed violently backward.
"**BANKAAAAAAA**!!"
No way. The central portion was catapulted forward at incredible speed, and Mineha was nowhere in sight.
In the next instant, a thunderous roar that shook the forest and a tremendous shockwave crashed over me.
Wha—!?
I couldn't help but mutter.
"...That's... rather terrifying..."
All of those countless spiders were gone.
Not only that — the trees had been snapped in half, the earth gouged open, and a perfectly circular scar of destruction had been carved into the landscape.
The trail of devastation stretched far, far into the distance. There was no way it had just cut straight through the Heizen Great Forest.
...That couldn't be right.
If it had, just how much destructive power was that?
It just makes me laugh.
"Are you all right, Lupinus?"
"Yes, I'm managing somehow. You're not hurt, are you, Pakira?"
"Only because you shielded me in the nick of time. Still, though—"
Pakira looked at the trail of destruction and continued, dumbfounded.
"I do think there ought to be some limit to these things."
"I do believe you're right."
Both of them smiled wryly.
That was when I noticed.
"Say, where is Wof?"
"Hmm? Wof?"
Pakira pricked up her ears and scanned the surroundings.
That's strange.
Wof was nowhere to be seen.