The explosion would have been fatal, if not for the gauntlet.
Lupinus shielded Pakira and Bid.
Hoss and Garad were safe too.
"...Still, though... Gwene?"
The horn of the sword that had clearly slashed through Pakira's constraint Relic, Mausoleum's Unlight.
That horn had now transformed into the naked body of a woman, pure white. Only her upper half had emerged.
That gleaming white sword... right, it was the Sword Goddess's daughter.
And one of the three swords we were originally supposed to defeat. The very last one.
With Giesa turning out to be an ally and Laada and other uncertain factors in the mix, I'd completely forgotten.
"...I see. So she used it as a vessel."
The Sword Goddess's daughter's ability had two parts: an owner and a vessel.
The owner was the daughter herself — she'd have the vessel wield a sword and control it.
The vessel involved slipping her own soul into a target body and taking it over.
I didn't know how she'd managed it, but she must have used either the "Flawed One" or the giant spider as her vessel.
Now that the two had fused into the Queen, she'd used that as her vessel.
What a pain.
"...M-my... Relic..."
"You cut it, huh. Could that be the Sword Goddess's daughter?"
"I'd heard of her. That is indeed her."
"Hm. The Sword Goddess's daughter... a divine sword, you say..."
Pakira couldn't hide her shock.
She probably never expected it would get cut.
"The Sword Goddess's daughter... same type as Raada?"
"To slash through a Relic — that's just insane."
Galad and Hoss took their stances.
They were looking a bit roughed up, but burning with fighting spirit.
"Oh, Nabel!?"
Come to think of it, I didn't see her anywhere.
I started to panic.
"I-I'm here. I'm right here."
Thank goodness...
Nabel emerged from a patch of grass.
"That blast knocked me over."
"I'm glad you're safe."
I let out a breath of relief. Everyone was safe.
"Aaah, aaah, aaah! This is so frustrating! I'm so annoyed!"
Guene, her upper body bare, flicked her mottled black-and-white hair and brandished her sword carelessly.
The flying slash carved into the ground. It was obvious she was agitated.
"She's in a real bad mood, huh."
What's wrong?
"Your stomach's acting up again, is it?"
Guene swung her sword wildly.
Flying slashes cut down tree after tree.
It was nature destruction, but since it was a dungeon, everything would grow back soon enough.
"Why—why—why won't anything go right?! I'm supposed to be free, and yet there's nothing I can do! And the other girls—immature as they are, they act all high and mighty. Girls with nothing but momentum. Girls with no drive. Girls who just go with the flow. And to make it worse, one who serves a human! There's even one manipulating demon abominations from the shadows! Every last one of them lacks self-awareness! We are daughters of the Sword Goddess! We are goddesses, fragments of the divine!!"
Guene grumbled. She shouted at the top of her lungs. But even so, hearing all that... well, yeah.
"That's none of our business!"
"That's right!"
Galad and Hoss slashed at Guene.
Yeah, fair point. None of our business.
But their swords were stopped by an invisible wall.
When the blades and halberd struck it, ripples spread across its surface like water.
"What?!"
"What's that, then?!"
"Ahahahahahahaha! It's a Dimensional Distortion Wall. You think petty physical attacks work on a god?"
"Dimensional... what now?"
"No idea what's going on here."
"I can understand the barrier part, though."
"A shield, perhaps?"
[Dimensional Distortion Wall]— That's a Relic, right.
From my past life memories, I understood what this Relic meant.
Without it, the whole thing made no sense. Distort dimensions to create a wall.
With that, any physical attack could be stopped cold.
To destroy it, you'd need access to dimensions— dimensions... Dimension.
Oh, so that's how it works.
This Relic doesn't belong to Guene.
It belongs to the dungeon anomaly—the giant spider.
So that's why it was given this restriction Relic for the subjugation.
If that's the case, it can be destroyed.
I stepped forward. And that's when it happened.
Four octopus tentacles burst from the ground.
They reached toward Guene, tentacles extending to attack—but were repelled.
Even tentacles from a Different Sea knife don't work?
"Ahahahahahaha! How foolish. Even the Different Sea is helpless!"
"Wh-what the—!? Why are there octopus tentacles!?"
Bid's face went pale. Come to think of it, she had a thing about those.
Come to think of it, she didn't know about the Different Sea knives.
"What's this? A newcomer?"
"It looked like an octopus."
"They looked like they were on our side, though."
"We were being blocked, huh."
Come to think of it, Torquetam, Nabel, and Garad were all first-timers too.
Pretty much. The only one I knew was Hoss.
"But you've got a divine envoy, have you? I won't let you fall like the others!"
Showing off that much with someone else's Relic.
Guene swung her sword toward us.
Flying slashes hurtled our way.
Bid and Pakira were shielded by Lupinus.
From behind the shield, Bid aimed a spectacular headshot with "Kimqui."
But it was blocked by the [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
"Futile. Futile. Foolish rabbits."
"This is getting so annoying!"
"They get to attack all they want, but we can't do a thing?!"
"What should we do?"
"No good. [Tortoiseshell Formation] gets deflected too."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Futile! No one can break the wall of a god!"
Guene cackled, completely carried away.
Well then, time to break it, I guess. Whereabouts was the [Dimensional Distortion Wall] deployed, anyway?
Thanks to everyone's attacks, I could start to faintly make it out.
I touched the [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
Ripples spread from my fingertips like the surface of water. A strange sensation.
A wall that distorts dimensions.
According to my past life's memories, dimensions are apparently spaces separate from this world.
They say there are eleven of them — sometimes called other-spaces, sometimes called space-time.
Apparently they're closely related to other worlds, but I don't really understand the details.
I get the feeling they're connected to the Different Seas as well, but my past life's memories aren't omnipotent.
There are more things I don't know than things I do.
The witch probably knows more about this stuff than I do.
Somehow, the theory that the witch can do anything has become firmly established in my head.
Well, I mean, she does have a tendency to be capable of just about everything.
I pressed my palm flat against the [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
"Child. Touching it is pointless. Give up. You will all be defeated by this god."
"...[Dimension Crack]..."
Noise surged from my pressed palm across the entire [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
I felt as though something had been lost, and cracks spread across the [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
I see. So one hit isn't enough.
"What is this?"
"...[Dimension Crack]..."
Once again, noise surged across the entire [Dimensional Distortion Wall].
The cracks kept spreading, along with that gnawing sense of loss.
"You...!"
Looks like even Gwene was finally starting to feel the danger.
She swung her sword at me. A flying slash cut through the air, but I deflected it with the [Azure Sacred Gauntlet].
The reflected slash was blocked by the [Dimensional Distortion Wall], which was on the verge of shattering.
"So even a god's slash can't break through."
"Damn you!"
My cheap provocation made her face turn bright red.
Still, a question popped into my head.
"Why doesn't she move?"
Mr. Garado was probably wondering the same thing.
Sure enough, Gwene hadn't moved her massive body even a single step.
If she'd been able to run around and attack us with that huge frame, we'd have been at a serious disadvantage.
"She's not choosing to stand still—she can't move, can she?"
"Can't move... you think?"
"Cutting my Relic was a fine feat. But it seems what she cut with was also a Relic, aye. Perhaps the cost of doing so has left her unable to budge."
"But isn't that just a cooldown?"
"I've heard tales of it. Ancient Relics demanded a physical toll from their wielder. That girl is the Sword Goddess's daughter, is she not? It would not be strange for her to be using an ancient Relic."
The Goddess of Knives had said something similar, now that I thought about it.
Apparently, modern Relics no longer erode your soul—they use time as the cost instead.
"I see. Staying like that for a while, huh? Big target."
"You bastaaaard!"
Guene let out a roar of fury.
The flying slashes from earlier were also being fired at regular intervals.
Could it be that it couldn't move as much as I'd thought?
"But our attacks aren't doing anything, y'know."
"Wof'll figure something out. He's been doing something this whole time."
Could it be that only Guene and I could see the cracks?
Maybe only those with a dimensional Relic could see them.
"Yes. Everyone, it looks like we can break it on the next one. When we do, attack all at once."
"Right."
"Got it."
"I'll aim for the head again next time."
"I'll cut the spider's legs."
"I won't let you! I won't let you! You think I'll let youuuu?!"
Guene screamed in a frenzy.
From his other hand, he pulled a white, gleaming sword of the same length from within his own body.
"Two swords!?"
"Sever everything. [Twin Wing Rampage]!!!"
"[Dimension Crack]!"
The Dimension Distortion Wall collapsed spectacularly, and simultaneously, a barrage of flying slashes came hurtling in.
I activated [Blue Saint] to enter a slow state, then added [Generous].
"Phantasmagoria!"
Countless [Banish]es nearly erased every one of the flying slashes from [Twin Wing Rampage].
I immediately threw a magic knife.
Once it pierced the queen's body, I used [Knife Magic]'s changing to swap places.
*(Please. Stop!)*
"Huh?"
A voice suddenly echoed out.
*(Why, why do you fight? Why do you keep adding to the sadness… Stop)*
What. Who is that? A woman?
No. It doesn't matter who it is. I'll settle this in one go.
I used [Reivform] to become a pseudo-deified god.
Even so, this was my strongest form right now. One minute until my activity limit.
"Dagaar! Let's do this!"
"Na!"
When I drew Dagaar, it transformed into a strange triangular knife with a hollow center.
A slightly pointed triangle, like a spearhead. And it was split open in the middle, like a two-pronged fork.
At the center of that fork, a large teardrop-shaped jewel — the True Eye — gleamed brightly.
"You! That form, and that knife too!?"
He was saying something, but I ignored him and began enchanting with Banish Lore.
The white blade of vanishing extended straight from the center of the triangle.
The white blade that could cut through anything, even dimensions.
That was when I realized it for the first time — everyone was attacking Guene.
Hoss and Galad slashed and slashed, while Bid drove arrows into Guene's head.
Nabel was cutting off the legs one by one with the Tortoiseshell Cross.
We'd won. All I had to do now was swing Dagaar down, and it would be over.
*(Please. Stop. Why are you fighting? If we can understand each other's words, we should be able to talk things out... so why... why do you have to fight?)*
A voice. Someone was crying.
*(So please — don't give up — I'm sorry. Kingdom of Reality — !)*
And I stopped.
It was a mere instant, a heartbeat. I came to my senses right away, but I was struck speechless.
For some reason, I was on the ground.
"...Huh?"
And my activity limit had hit zero.
I should have still had plenty of leeway, but it was zero.
I'd reverted to my original form.
"That's impossible."
"Wof-san, it's dangerous, ge!"
I turned toward the voice, and a flying slash was closing in. Gauntlet, everything — there was no time.
Before any of that, my mind had gone completely blank trying to figure out how this had even happened.
"Hmm...
Heaven's...
Form...
Pleiades...
Maia Blade!"
A red slash neutralized the incoming strike.
"That just now..."
"Yo."
The one who appeared there with dazzling flair was Riv.
"Another weird one came out, huh?"
The one who muttered that — huh? What's going on?
It was the fully naked Gwene. A gleaming white sword in hand, staring me down.
Not just the upper body — it had proper legs too.
Hoss raised his halberd.
In the forest, looming before him, was a massive blue beast with an X-shaped wound on its right flank.
It whipped its forked tail and glared at him.
"Why is a 'Scarred One' here..."
Even though confused, Hoss once again faced off against the "Scarred One."