A blast of wind spread out, as if blowing apart thick, swirling clouds from within, dyeing the capital’s sky a vivid crimson ahead of the approaching dusk.
While the explosion’s light was enough to scorch the eyes of those who looked up, it could be called an extremely minor event when compared to the catastrophe that could have blown the capital itself away.
This was proof that the cooperative efforts of the members of the «Volachia Imperial Rescue from Destruction Squad,» gathered in the capital, had succeeded in avoiding the layered traps of ruin set by the «Great Calamity.»
Not everyone understood the full picture of the «Great Calamity’s» traps.
They had each simply maximized their potential and removed the causes of ruin within their reach. The relay of lives for this purpose was now being played out beyond the boundary between the living and the dead, and the power map of the Imperial Capital
Nevertheless, one fact remained unshakable. No matter what happened, only
And the «
«—Whoaaaah!?»
With a thunderous roar, an explosion blew away the clouds in the distant sky, and Subaru, his vision seized by the light, trembled violently in his throat at the rapid succession of dramatic changes.
The scream, indistinguishable from a shriek or a cheer, was a straightforward reaction to the events before him.
After deflecting the flames of doom fired from the Crystal Palace with
It was chaos enough to confuse anyone, but the dead dragon paid no heed to the light in the sky, extending each of its heads toward its poor prey, whose concentration had been disrupted.
«————!»
The evil dragon had three heads, and the prey—Subaru, Beatrice, and Roswaal—numbered exactly three. Each of the dragon’s three heads, with a single gaping maw large enough for any one of them, closed in as if competing.
The sharp fangs of the undead dragon were about to tear apart Subaru and the others’ lives— «Sever in a single stroke—!»
«You won’t get it.»
Two shadows, one from the left and one from the right, surged up from below the evil dragon, striking with a blow each. Two of the three heads—the left and right ones—were hacked through, ripped away, and sent flying.
The ones who did it were a wolf-man clad in jet-black fur and a blue thunder that shot noisily from the ground to the sky— «
«Hahahaha! What a coincidence to meet you here, Boss! I figured the key players would be present since this is the final stage, but your little show just now was brilliant! It made me feel like I couldn’t be outdone, so I rushed up here, but hunting a dragon isn’t quite the grand stage, is it?»
Through Subaru’s widened vision, Cecilus—the adult version he was seeing for the first time—had flashed his sword mid-leap. Combining the fact that what had been mere speculation about his ‘infantilization’ was true, and that it had been lifted ahead of schedule, «Did Olbart undo it for you?»
«No, no, I undid it myself! That’s my specialty, so let’s put that aside. Quite the pairing over there, isn’t it? That’s Halibel, right?»
Answering nonchalantly, Cecilus tilted his chin toward Halibel.
He, who had helped Subaru, Beatrice, and the crystal cannon make it in time, had immediately taken to the sky himself to join the effort to stop the evil dragon.
At Cecilus’s gaze, he gave a wry smile, saying, «Well, from my perspective, I’m just filling in for whatever work you would have done.»
«Oh my, that’s a bold claim—stepping in for me! Though, of course, only a player of相应 caliber could fill those shoes, so I think Halibel is on the right track. Whoa there—»
On the surface, it was a relaxed exchange, but they were in the middle of a death struggle in midair.
Having two of its heads blown off, yet still retaining the central one, the evil dragon beat its wings and retreated in an instant from the two transcendent beings who had suddenly interjected.
It was probably an instinctive judgment, but it was the right one. In reality, while both Cecilus and Halibel had jumped into the air, they couldn’t freely fly around the sky.
However— «—That’s a domain I can cover for them, you see.»
Roswaal, holding Subaru and Beatrice under his arms, spoke those words just as particles of dust in the atmosphere gathered instantaneously, creating an impromptu foothold.
That foothold provided Cecilus and Halibel with a space to build momentum for their leaps.
«Even with one head left, a dragon is still a dragon.»
«We can’t have the main event interrupted. Let’s just take it down quickly!»
How many could speak so lightly when facing one of those «Dragons,» undoubtedly the most powerful creatures on the ground?
Moreover, the two immediately proved with their strength that their words were no idle boast.
—Blue and black streaks of light raced across the sky, instantly closing the distance to the evil dragon that was trying to create a favorable gap.
In a flash, the wolf-man, split into three bodies midair, pierced its «death points,» and both of the evil dragon’s wings were torn clean off. However, no warrior would grant such a pathetic death by falling to a dragon.
A flash of lightning, a sword strike that realized a dream, sliced vertically through the evil dragon’s black scales, and its life was cleaved in two.
It was the most anticlimactic scene of legendary-scale dragon slaying in this world.
«…What incredible people.»
At Beatrice’s murmur upon witnessing the same thing, Subaru agreed from the bottom of his heart.
He knew theoretically of the «strongest collaboration on the ground,» but it was an overwhelming sense of invincibility that surpassed his simple imagination. In truth, it felt like they couldn’t lose, just as it felt when Reinhard was on their side.
Now that Cecilus was grown, especially alongside Halibel, that feeling only intensified— «—Not yet, Brother!!»
Into Subaru’s inner relaxation, a voice cut in like a slap to the face.
Looking, it was Era, the Second Apex who no longer resembled her original form, standing in a place where the ground had turned into gurgling, boiling magma—the familiar man in the helmet, Al.
Al, one of those who had gone missing in the capital, was crying out from the ground with a desperate voice.
It was— «The stars’ rotation hasn’t changed yet! The ‘Witch’ still has something up her sleeve!!»
△▼△▼△▼△ In response to the rapidly unfolding situation, Vincent felt his thoughts heating up and accelerating.
Even if hailed as the «Wise Emperor,» Vincent had never considered himself particularly clever compared to others. If he had to single out one thing he was more conscious of than others, it was the depth and breadth with which he considered things, and the difference in the time it took to arrive at an answer.
And that difference in time came down to a slight difference in how one used time—whether one could act even while everyone else was distracted by the brilliance overhead.
«———»
Barroy Temegrif, the corpse person, ascended into the sky carrying the magic core—the true body of Mogro Hagane—the heart of the Crystal Palace, which had been set ablaze by the «Witch’s» scheme and was on the verge of collapse.
As a result, this avoided a sympathetic detonation of the Crystal Palace, saving the capital, and by extension, the Empire, from destruction.
Of course, knowing Barroy, what he truly wanted to protect was likely not the Empire nor the capital, but someone closer to him whom he felt affection for.
In any case, the fruit of the deceased Barroy’s heroic act was the capital’s safety and the sight of the evening sky with its swirling clouds blown away— «—but is this really the end?»
Tears streamed down Midium’s cheeks as she held the unconscious Madeline nearby. Keeping that at the edge of his vision, Vincent pushed forward with ruthless thoughts.
Midium had stopped Vincent, who had been willing to throw away his life, using his status as the future Empress as a shield. A strong, composed emperor would have offered her comforting words or a supportive presence.
But Vincent was neither. Therefore, he could do nothing for Midium. Because he could do nothing for her, Vincent’s head worked coldly.
«The ‘Great Calamity’ has not rested its hand, continuing to play ruinous moves one after another. Moreover, each of those schemes had a two-layered security with no gaps.»
The «Secret of the Immortal King,» which had revived the dead, drew its power from the «Stone Mass»
The earlier bombardment by the crystal cannon—its target was unclear from Vincent’s position. However, afterward, a parting gift had been left behind: heat introduced to the elevated magic core, turning it into a bomb to blow the capital away.
It would be naive to think that simply repelling the immediate threat was enough to get by.
If the «Great Calamity» had prepared its next move— «———»
Suddenly, a certain possibility flashed through Vincent’s mind.
It was less a deep strategy and more an idea bordering on accusation or paranoia. However, having thought of it, he had to verify the possibility. Vincent was aware that what he could conceive, given enough time, anyone could conceive.
If so, this was it.
«
«Whoa, Your Excellency, I’m missing both hands here, you know? Could you spare a little more sympathy for my poor, helpless life of care from here on—»
«—Did you see Priscilla Bariel within the castle? I don’t care whether she’s alive or dead.»
«———»
«Answer me! We cannot afford to waste time!»
«—The one with red eyes and a flashy dress, the young lady you mentioned? Haven’t seen her. I’ve been killing those troublesome sorcerers and the folks whose souls were tampered with, though.»
With one white eyebrow raised in response to Vincent’s intensity, Olbart gave his answer.
Originally, the role assigned to Olbart for infiltrating the Crystal Palace was a thorough search of the castle—the broad purpose of which was the destruction of the «Secret of the Immortal King’s» ritual.
Due to interference, it was difficult to say that goal had been fully achieved—but— «Empty-handed? I’m missing both hands and still got nothing to show for it. Am I gonna be fired from being a ‘General’ or something?»
«Your fate will be decided later. However, if you couldn’t find her with your eyes—»
«Abel-chi?»
With a pale, bloodless face, yet still trying to maintain his usual goofy demeanor, the strange old man Olbart spoke. Midium, lowering her gaze from the sky at the exchange between him and Vincent, raised a question in a voice tinged with lingering awe from Barroy’s resolution.
As Midium looked on with her blue eyes, still carrying the aftermath of Barroy’s final stand, Vincent spoke through gritted teeth, firmly planting his foot on the rubble-strewn floor.
And then— «—Priscilla is not being held in the Crystal Palace. I cannot deduce the reason, but… the enemy’s purpose—or at least part of it—is to force her to witness the Empire’s destruction.»
△▼△▼▼△▼△ —Aldebaran had called out to
Having witnessed the chain of events leading up to this point, the captive Priscilla Bariel had arrived at an accurate inference regarding her situation.
«From the beginning, it was puzzling. If your aim was me, then while
Reflected in the numerous floating water mirrors was not only the battle for the capital, but also the struggle unfolding in the «Fortress City,» and elsewhere throughout the Empire where people were suffering attacks from the corpse people.
It was undeniable proof that the threat of the «Great Calamity» was spreading across the entire Empire.
Showing her these scenes, attempting to stain her heart with despair—whether it was possible or not—that aim was transparent.
However— «The Empire’s destruction brought about by the death of the ‘Stone Mass’ will not serve your ultimate goal. After all, taking my life here is not your wish. Therefore—»
«Therefore?»
«—What binds me is not the Crystal Palace’s underground prison.»
Sphinx continued to devise schemes that did not shun the Empire’s destruction, convinced that said destruction would never reach Priscilla.
Destroying the Empire while keeping Priscilla alive—the method to fulfill this condition was simple and clear.
«———»
Even after gaining this conviction and looking around, Priscilla found no discrepancy between the underground prison in her vision and her memories.
During Prisca’s time, she had visited the castle’s underground prison only once out of curiosity, but this underground prison, identical down to the smallest detail from Priscilla’s memories, was likely the entire space itself that had been shifted.
The space of the underground prison itself had been moved to a location unrelated to the Volachia Empire’s destruction—something like a different dimension—leaving Priscilla as a spectator of the capital now turned battlefield.
As proof, the tremors of the fierce battle occurring in the capital at that very moment had ceased reaching the prison.
«Still, to place me in the position of spectator, of all things. You know the rudiments of courtesy, at least when it comes to disrespecting me, I suppose.»
«To forbid clumsy interference. That seemed an effective measure for you. It’s a… key precaution.»
«I dislike words like ‘clumsy’ and ‘precaution,’ but I’ll overlook it this time, given your stance of resistance.»
Responding thus to Sphinx’s reply, Priscilla considered.
From the «Witch’s» perspective, the goal was likely not Priscilla taking some action herself, but rather nipping in the bud the possibility of someone coming to rescue her.
That in itself was correct. Imprisonment in an alternate dimension with no known entrance. With this, the chances of Priscilla being rescued from outside were almost entirely extinguished.
However— «Such inconveniences apply to you equally, don’t they?»
«—. What do you mean?»
«A simple question. Why don’t you simply create unlimited copies of yourself and, with those countless versions of you, rain down countless stars, scorching and utterly destroying the Empire’s earth?»
«———»
«If you are confident that you won’t involve me in the falling stars, that would be the quickest way to achieve your aim. The reason you don’t do so is perfectly obvious… one can only conclude that while you wish to, you cannot.»
To the silent Sphinx, Priscilla eloquently explained her theory.
Having once been burned by the flames of the «Solar Sword,» Sphinx had altered the state of her soul to fulfill her purpose of creation, transforming the vessel of her soul into that of the «Witch of Greed.» At that point, one of the two purposes of Sphinx, who had triggered the «Great Calamity,» was already fulfilled.
All that remained was to destroy the Volachia Empire to plunge Priscilla into despair. To do that, she only needed to create unlimited copies of Sphinx and rain a meteor shower upon the earth.
But Sphinx did not do so.
«Though it vexes me to say, seeing you mimic Ramia and multiply, my intuition tells me this: no matter how many vessels you create, the foundational soul they share is the same. In other words, the wellspring of mana held by the soul known as Sphinx is unified.»
That was the existential flaw Sphinx, resurrected as the «Witch of Greed,» carried.
Though she was a corpse person, abused by the «Secret of the Immortal King’s» ritual, able to revive countless times and create numerous copies of herself, as long as the foundational soul was the same, she could not possess more mana than it contained.
Sphinx had already engaged in repeated fierce battles with those seeking to reclaim the capital and had cast the grand magic of raining stars multiple times. No matter how excellent a sorceress the «Witch of Greed» was, it was only natural that the power she could wield had limits.
«Therefore, you must limit the number of copies you create. Furthermore, pinning one of those copies here with me cannot be for the sake of serving as my conversation partner? If you weren’t directly present here, this space could not be maintained, could it?»
Ever since declaring herself the enemy’s leader and appearing before Priscilla, Sphinx had never once left Priscilla alone in the underground prison. This could be interpreted as not missing any change in Priscilla’s expression or heart amidst the ever-shifting situation, but there was also a more pressing reason.
Simply put, the answer was that it was necessary to do so.
«———»
To Priscilla’s pointed observation, Sphinx remained silent.
While not responding could be seen as a strategy to neither give nor withhold information, in Priscilla’s eyes, it was a second-rate display of nerve. Sphinx likely knew this.
At times, silence could confirm suspicions more eloquently than words.
—If Priscilla’s deduction was correct, then Sphinx had exhausted almost all the power her soul could contain.
Otherwise, despite the limitations, she should have been able to influence the identical selves she had scattered across the capital and the Empire, attacking without rest.
Strategically, there was no reason not to do so.
In other words, the «Witch’s» scheme, led by the «Great Calamity,» had finally reached its limit— «—That isn’t the case, is it?»
With one eye closed, Priscilla denied her own inference.
The emotion contained within it might have made any other listener present doubt their ears. Because Priscilla’s question did not stem from the superiority of seeing through the opponent’s scheme, nor from suspicion born of mistrust.
What was there was a certain kind of expectation.
That the opponent would overcome even this dead end, this hopeless situation.
And receiving that question from Priscilla, Sphinx’s eyes widened slightly. They widened, and above that, the «Witch» twisted her lips into a smile.
—It was the moment the fuse was lit for the final showdown between Priscilla and Sphinx.
△▼△▼▼△▼△ The Sphinxes, revived from the same soul, were each independent, their consciousnesses not shared.
Therefore, of the seven «Witch of Greed» Sphinxes manifested in total, only the one facing Priscilla knew that she had seen through their intentions.
However, that did not affect the plans of the seven Sphinxes.
This was because, from the very beginning, they had formulated a strategy based on the premise that Priscilla would see through and accurately predict their intentions.
Only the Sphinx facing Priscilla had gone through the verification, but the deductions she had linked together were almost entirely correct, and Sphinx could only marvel at her extraordinary insight.
As she said, the multiple Sphinxes shared mana via the foundational soul, and the more copies she increased, the less mana each individual Sphinx could wield.
The reality was that after several days of relentless battle, only a questionable amount of mana remained to cast a great magic like the star-falling Al Shario.
Of course, great magic was not the only measure of a sorcerer’s skill.
Sphinx, having inherited the knowledge of the «Witch of Greed,» had numerous options for utilizing minor tricks where the mana expended did not match the result.
However, it was also a fact that there were extraordinary transcendent beings waiting to disrupt even those minor tricks.
Especially the presence of the wolf-man who brought a death curse, and the swordmaster who could slay stars, could not be ignored.
Therefore, five of the seven Sphinxes—the one participating in the great battle of the «Fortress City»
The direct assassination of Arakiya, who had merged with the «Stone Mass,» had failed.
The attack to obliterate that Arakiya using an extreme bombardment from the crystal cannon had also failed.
The scheme to ignite the magic core immediately after firing the crystal cannon, causing a meltdown and critical mass to annihilate the capital, had also failed.
Using all those failed schemes as groundwork, the Sphinxes scattered at five locations within the Imperial Capital Lupugana activated the magic circles they had laid—interfering with the crystal stones of the Crystal Palace, the true objective.
«—Multiple magic circles activated. Executing the final stratagem. It is a… key operation.»
This was a fundamentally different plan from the one that attempted to use the Crystal Palace’s crystal stones as a catalyst to blow up the capital via the magic core’s meltdown. Even in its meltdown state, the Crystal Palace, a «
However, with that core lost and the explosion crisis averted, the Crystal Palace was currently defenseless.
With Mogro Hagane’s existence gone, the dominion over the crystal stones composing the Crystal Palace was now vacant.
What resided there was a mass of colorless mana accumulated over an immense span of time, a tantalizing offering for the «Witch» whose mana was about to run dry.
Positioned at the inverted five-pointed star locations, which did not overlap with the five vertices of the star-shaped fortress symbolizing the Imperial Capital Lupugana, five Sphinxes deployed a massive magic circle.
This was to interfere with the Crystal Palace’s crystal stones, now without Mogro Hagane’s control, and seize the vast majority of their immense mana.
And Natsuki Subaru, who had shattered so many schemes thus far, and Vincent Volachia, could not be defeated by the «Witch’s» scheme—one that did not directly involve the Volachia Empire’s destruction.
This was true for the «Blue Lightning»
Only one person— «—The magic circle… is incomplete?»
Of the five Sphinxes supposed to activate the magic circle—the one furthest north did not join the activation, and the «Watches» felt a sense of discrepancy at the启动 of the incomplete ritual.
Ironic though it was, the cause was the clash between the «Witch of Greed» and the «Witch of Envy»—both of whom were inheritors of the «Witches»—and at this moment, no one realized it.