She had figured out that Ermes was pretending to be defeated. She understood he was doing it so as not to interfere with her one-on-one duel with Aster.
But... that meant he should have been able to jump in and lend a hand at any moment. Yet even in this desperate, life-or-death situation, he showed no sign of moving.
He was simply watching her.
She felt that his gaze spoke his feelings more eloquently than any words ever could.
It was as if he was telling her, "You can do this. You've still got this."
"—You're right."
...She thought to herself, how incredibly naive of her.
But if it was him—someone who had struggled against that contradiction more than anyone, who embodied its very negation—who had conveyed those words to her without speaking...
Then being able to think "me too" — that had to be something wonderful.
(...Get a hold of yourself.)
She exhaled.
She reassembled her heart, which had been thrown into disarray by Aster's sudden power-up.
If he wasn't stepping in to help, then a path to victory still had to exist somewhere.
He had his own grudge against this opponent, too. And yet he had entrusted the role of defeating Aster to her.
She wanted to live up to that trust.
Rekindling the flame of her resolve once more, Katia fixed her gaze on Aster yet again.
Almost immediately, she understood.
(His Highness—
...still hasn't defeated me.
)
This should have been impossible.
Magic Inscription Liberation
His magic, having undergone Magic Inscription Liberation, was on an entirely different level. Under normal circumstances, her resistance would have meant nothing—she should have been incinerated without a trace.
But reality wasn't playing out that way.
He was probably playing around to some degree, but even so, she was taking hits and her mobility was deteriorating. She should have been caught long ago.
Yet she had continued to narrowly evade his attacks up to this point—
(His Highness's movements are getting worse too.)
When she observed with that suspicion in mind, it was clear. His movements had visibly slowed compared to right after activating Magic Inscription Liberation. Even the glow of the great sword manifested in his right hand seemed somewhat diminished.
There was only one conclusion to draw from that.
Aster's body couldn't withstand Magic Inscription Liberation.
It had been too soon after all. The cost of that forced awakening was steadily devouring his body.
And if she now understood that fact, then Katia had only one thing to do.
(Endure—!)
Simply hold on.
Keep weathering that ferocious onslaught until his body reached its limit.
With that resolve burning within her, Katia deployed her phantom soldiers once more.
"…I'm sorry. I think I'm going to put even more of a burden on you all."
—That's fine.
—We hate that prince! We don't wanna lose!
"But I love Lady Katia — I want to be her strength!"
"I'm gonna do my very best!"
Receiving that most reassuring of replies, Katia's doubts were swept away.
"You — still resisting?!"
Perhaps beginning to feel irritation build, Aster raised his voice and came slashing in at even greater speed.
But there was no longer any fear.
First, read his movements. Never let her advantageous position crumble — send the phantom soldiers charging to buy fractions of a second, and simply repeat that over and over.
Improve her own magic within this battle, too. Use her magic power more efficiently, regenerate the phantom soldiers faster and more precisely.
Don't expect some sudden awakening like Aster's. Simply repeat steady, painstaking progress, and close the gap of a thousand miles with nothing but the accumulation of one step at a time.
All of it was what he had done. Trial and refinement. Learning and evolution.
She wanted to go to where he was. She wanted to stand at his side.
If that was the case, then how could she not manage something like this!
"—!?"
Aster, too, seemed to finally notice that his movements were growing slower and slower.
With even greater panic than before, he unleashed even greater magical output and began swinging his sword around wildly and indiscriminately.
"Still stubborn, are you?! Just give up already — you can't beat me no matter what!"
"As if I'll give up! I'll prove it — that even without enough power, even without being born with it, I can do this! That it's okay to want it!!"
Yes, she needed more.
More — her feelings. She had to burn her feelings hotter and turn them into fuel for her own magic.
She wanted to embody that ideal she had once admired.
For the boy who saved me. For the girl who believed in me.
I want to answer the family who supported me, the people who looked up to me.
I want to become a splendid noble — and on top of that, I want to be happy myself.
Even these feelings that might seem contradictory — I'll swallow them all whole. I want to prove who I am.
"That's why — I can't afford to lose!!"
I resist. I endure.
I channel nothing but magic power, pouring every last feeling toward the underworld, begging it for cooperation, drawing more and more of the souls willing to help me.
The boundary between the living world and the netherworld grows hazy. The burden sparks thoughts — fire erupts across my mind, and the edges of my vision bleed white, creeping inward.
And then, in a world gone utterly blank —
I heard a voice.
— It's all right. You can do it, Katia.
Because you are my —
" — Ah."
My consciousness returns to the living world.
…Whether that was real, I don't know. Perhaps my feelings had reached somewhere in the depths of the underworld. Or perhaps that, too, was just wishful thinking — nothing more than an auditory hallucination.
But one thing I heard was beyond any doubt.
It was the voice I had wanted to hear most of all.
" — M… other…"
She had been watching over me.
There had been someone here, all along, who believed in me.
She decided to believe it. A single tear traced its way down her cheek.
Aster, reading her momentary freeze as an opening, surged forward in a single, devastating slash—but.
"Wh—at…!?"
He was blocked.
His swordsmanship, for the first time since this battle began, had been stopped.
When he looked, Katia was surrounded by twice as many souls as before.
They had joined their strength together, woven into one, and halted Aster's strike completely.
"Damn it!"
Seizing the moment his attack was stalled, the other phantom soldiers rushed in. Aster, sensing the danger of his position, retreated of his own accord for the first time.
Katia wiped her tears and fixed him with a steady gaze.
With a face that was vivid and beautiful—free of hesitation, brimming with resolve.
"What—right do you have to look so smug?!"
That expression goaded Aster into a fresh fury of attacks. He cut down soul after soul, burning them away, while Katia dodged and evaded. The layout was the same as before, but…
"Im…possible…"
Little by little, Aster's advantage was melting away.
He could no longer burn through the phantom soldiers with a single strike, and he was growing unable to dodge their attacks as well.
On top of the mounting burden on his body causing his movements to deteriorate at an accelerating rate—Katia's speed at replenishing the phantom soldiers had not changed since the battle began.
If one factored in her declining accuracy from fatigue, it was arguably faster. This was the unmistakable result of Katia's growth, forged through the crucible of this very battle.
Aster's movements grew ever more sluggish. Katia added even more phantom soldiers, expanding her advantage further.
And so, at last.
...There were several reasons, no doubt.
Aster...
Magic Inscription Liberation...
...used it for the first time, and he was unskilled and it was incomplete. The tactics Aster had chosen were far too crude. And above all, Katia's Bloodline Magic specialized in the durability of phantom soldiers with their high defensive power — a natural counter.
But regardless of all those factors, right now—
"...This is my victory, Your Highness."
"Wh... y... is..."
Aster's Magic Inscription Liberation wore off, and he collapsed — wings, halo, and greatsword all gone.
Katia stood over him, phantom soldiers surrounding them both, looking down.
She had defeated an opponent using Magic Inscription Liberation — without using it herself.
This scene spoke of the outcome more eloquently than any words.
Aster vs. Katia — settled.