Before I could even catch my breath, I closed the distance to Sis. With that momentum, I reached out with my free hand to grab her.
Sis retreated, but smoothly dodged my grasp as if accustomed to it.
Though it was a fleeting exchange, it was undeniably abnormal. If the being before me had the same status as Dia, there’s no way she could have avoided that grab. My speed and skill were overwhelmingly superior.
But this much was within my predictions.
Without surprise, I swung the sword in my right hand. My aim was to wound her leg and restrain her.
Sis lightly parried that slash.
A light sound, like striking a hollow cylinder, echoed as my sword was deflected.
What blocked it wasn’t magic or a sword.
It was a glowing white arm—
I was astonished by the strength of that white arm.
This “Aris Family’s Treasure Sword Rowen” can easily cleave through the crystals of the labyrinth’s depths. That slash was deflected. And I felt a sense of dread towards Sis, who had extended her arm without the slightest hesitation after that strike.
Sis grinned and created distance between us. From her retreat direction, I quickly realized she intended to escape through the room’s window.
“—Flame Arrow!”
However, her escape route was far too obvious.
Maria, who had anticipated Sis’s movement, had placed magic in her escape path.
This was no ordinary magic.
It was a basic fire bullet spell. But with Maria’s high magic power, that fire bullet had turned into a molten mass. The size of the spell was so immense that it could instantly vaporize even a large monster.
It was a magic that felt merciless, as if it didn’t care about the months of recovery needed, as long as one didn’t die.
Sis, whose movements were read, couldn’t avoid it and was hit directly. However, I saw her wings on her back move just before impact.
As she enveloped herself with those wings of light, she must have employed some form of defense.
The vicious fire bullet engulfed Sis, burning down the mansion wall along with her.
And then, swallowed by the flames, Sis was flung outside the mansion.
My and Maria’s conviction that she wasn’t defeated by this was strong, and we pursued her. We passed through the gaping hole in the mansion wall and emerged into the garden.
The garden had been turned into a grassland by Aid’s magic. The fire spread to the grass, and the garden began to burn. According to the information from “Dimension,” the mansion behind us was also catching fire.
Sis, who had been hit by the fire bullet, was engulfed in flames. However, by flapping her wings of light vigorously, she easily shook off all the flames.
The form that was revealed had not a single burn.
But I knew that. Without giving her a moment to breathe, Maria and I attacked from both sides.
“—Magic, Ice Sword!”
“—Flame Flamberge!”
A pincer attack with an icy blade and a blazing blade.
“—Divine Circle!”
Sis countered with magic.
Two circles of light floated in the air, blocking our blades.
It felt like striking a mountain. My full-powered blades were repelled, and Maria and I were pushed backward.
I had exposed an opening—but my positioning was good. Due to the pincer situation, Sis couldn’t safely turn her back and remained stationary.
It was clear she was hesitant to receive our relentless assault from behind.
Understanding this, we slowly closed the distance to Sis.
Seeing our cautious approach, Sis made a displeased face.
“Such good teamwork. I thought you two were on worse terms.”
She had mistakenly assumed Maria and I had a bad relationship. But that wasn’t the case.
With me in the front and Maria in the back, our destructive power as a pair was top-class within the party.
Next, Sis examined her own body.
With great dissatisfaction.
“But the bigger problem here is me. My Curse Technique ‘Concentrated Convergence’ is strangely dispersed, making it hard to move… Why is all my Strength focused like this? I’m not the type of character who fights with weapons.”
Then, she snapped her fingers with a light sound.
“—No choice. I’ll reallocate.”
That expression reminded me of my original world.
More accurately, of “games” from my original world.
Sis’s body glowed, and she repeatedly drew in and expelled magic.
By reflex, I used “Gaze.”
—Name: Diablo Sis, HP 142/142, MP 1489/1672, Class: Apostle
Level: 20
Strength 0.21, Stamina 0.41, Dexterity 0.24, Speed 0.44, Intelligence 1.00, Magic Power 112.67, Aptitude 5.00—
True to her word, the reallocated stats were right there.
Her physical abilities had dropped to a level where I worried if she could even live a normal life. However, in exchange for sacrificing everything else, her magic power, which was already specialized, had become even more focused.
Magic Power over 100.00.
And her skills would be added to that.
At this point, nothing would be surprising.
That’s right.
For example, even magic similar to the myths Rustiara had told me might be possible.
After all, she was the person herself.
“Well, it’s been a while since I fought seriously. But compared to the past, my Ally’s ‘Conversion Result’ is low. Haha, I’m a little happy about that. I’ve never been able to beat my Ally in terms of ‘Magic Conversion’!”
Along with a faint glow, visible white magic power erupted from her body like mist. The density of that overwhelming magic power was not inferior to that of a Guardian.
No, in terms of quality alone, this white magic power surpassed it. This unadulterated magic power was too refined.
To express it, it was magic power without any hesitation or lingering desire.
Without even testing it, I knew I couldn’t win in a magic battle.
Before she could continuously use magic from afar, I kicked off the ground to close the distance.
“Maria! I need more support! Just like before is fine!!”
“Are you sure? The whole area will burn!”
“It’s an emergency, so it can’t be helped! You said you weren’t using the mansion, so it should be fine!”
“Then I won’t hold back! —Flame Arrow!”
Along with fire magic, I dived into Sis’s embrace.
Then, I amplified “Dimension” to look for an opening.
First, I need to immobilize Sis. The method to retrieve Dia can be figured out later after she’s restrained.
“—Divine Shield.”
However, I couldn’t find an opening.
My sword was deflected by wings of light, and the fire magic was blocked by a shield of light.
When you consider the arms of light waiting beyond that, it was impregnable.
Still, I continued to swing my sword. There was no room for holding back anymore; I was unleashing Rowen’s swordsmanship to its fullest.
The sword flashes were too fast to follow.
Wings and swords collided repeatedly, flickering in and out of existence.
Perhaps there was no swordsman on this earth who could block this sword. Yet, it still wasn’t enough.
Wings of light that enveloped her body. Infinitely elastic arms of light. And a large number of defensive barriers made of divine magic.
With this, no matter how fast my sword was, it was meaningless. There was simply no physical gap.
Even though I was attacking weak points in her defense with “Dimension,” there seemed to be no way to break through.
“Damn it!”
I cursed and considered a solution with “Parallel Thinking.”
There were still plenty of options. If I continued to choose the optimal means from them, it should eventually create a hole in this impregnable defense.
“Fierce, aren’t we, Ally? Is Dia-chan that important to you?”
Sis asked, looking at my fierce assault with a cool expression while constructing magic.
“Of course!”
“…Hoh. …Really?”
“…What are you trying to say!”
I was irritated by her composed demeanor.
I prepared to weave new magic, intending to break through this impregnable defense immediately.
“Then, why didn’t you cherish Dia-chan more?”
“—!”
However, Sis’s words, like cold water, made my magic construction halt for a moment.
They were words I couldn’t ignore.
“If my Ally had cherished Diablo-chan more, my Advent would have been much later, you know? Even I can’t descend without a mental opening.”
Sis stated plainly.
I was shaken by her words.
There were too many things I could recall about my own actions that made them difficult to dismiss.
“The reason for the opening is simple. You so easily discarded ‘Christ,’ whom Dia cherished so much. If you had truly cherished ‘Dia,’ you would have at least kept the name ‘Christ’.”
Sis concisely pointed out my mistake.
Sis’s usually cheerful expression was furrowed for the first time. And she looked down on me. She blamed me for prioritizing “Kanami” over “Christ.”
While everyone else might have accepted it, Dia had not. And Sis was blaming me for continuing to burden her even after realizing that.
“I won’t give her back just because you ask now. Because I understand Dia-chan the best. I will cherish her far more than you, my Ally, who never even tried to understand her.”
My hesitation dulled my sword.
Seizing that opening, Sis intensified her magic construction.
“Farewell, ‘Christ.’ —Magic, Symposion Feather.”
I couldn’t tell which words they were.
But no matter which of them it was, I couldn’t stop the magic.
Wings of light flapped, scattering numerous white feathers.
The dazzling feathers that filled my vision blinded me. And in the next moment, all the feathers exploded.
The feathers burst like fireworks. The impact of each one was tremendous, and I lost my balance.
Sis zipped past me at high speed.
Her androgynous and beautiful profile twisted in sorrow.
As if chasing that face, I turned around.
But by then, Sis had already spread her wings and soared into the sky.
My sword could no longer reach that height.
All that remained on the ground were the white feathers fluttering down.
“—What?! C-Damn it…!”
I let my guard down.
Taking Sis’s words to heart, I created an opening. A blunder.
Certainly, Dia might have put up with a lot.
But—none of us in our party hadn’t.
There was no way to satisfy everyone. Therefore, we all compromised a little, searching for a way that made everyone a little bit happy. Dia was also working towards that.
That Sis had turned Dia’s efforts to nothing. She had unilaterally exposed Dia’s hidden dissatisfaction.
I couldn’t forgive her. And I couldn’t let her escape like this.
“I’m sorry, Maria! It was my carelessness! …I need to chase Dia quickly!”
I stored my sword in my “Inventory” and started to run in the direction Sis had flown. Sis would soon be out of “Dimension’s” range.
“P-Please wait! Calm down, Kanami-san! Are you going to leave Rustiara behind?”
Maria stopped me as I was about to run.
My blood had rushed to my head, and I had forgotten about Rustiara, who was still inside the burning mansion.
Immediately, I began calculating the time.
Fortunately, I knew Sis’s destination, so there was time to retrieve Rustiara.
“Maria, where is Rustiara! It’s fine if she’s still asleep. Immediately put her into “Connection” and move her to the ship!”
I turned back towards the mansion and called out instructions for our next course of action.
However, it was denied by a weak voice.
“…P-Please stop that.”
Rustiara emerged from the hole in the mansion wall that Maria had created.
However, her steps were unsteady.
“Rustiara! You were awake!?”
“With all this commotion, I had to wake up. It seems Dia is in trouble.”
Saying that, Rustiara looked up at the sky where Dia had flown away. It seemed she had witnessed the end of the battle.
“There’s no time to explain in detail, we’re departing immediately! So, Rustiara, please rest on the ship!”
As I approached Rustiara, I began to construct “Connection.”
“Wait. I’m coming too.”
However, Rustiara also approached me in the same way and interrupted my “Connection” by grabbing my shoulder.
“…No, your legs are unsteady. Rustiara should rest on the ship first.”
Looking at her status, Rustiara’s HP hadn’t decreased.
However, she was clearly losing stamina. Like me, her mental strength had been eroded by Aid’s magic.
Honestly, I wanted her to rest by Sera’s side, who could use divine magic.
“I’m fine. Please, just let me fight a little longer. I don’t want to regret anything anymore, so—!”
Rustiara desperately pleaded.
—Don’t want to regret anything anymore?
Was she thinking about leaving me behind at the Christmas festival?
If so, I could understand this desperation.
After much deliberation, I granted her permission to accompany us.
“…Alright. If you insist, you can come along.”
I nodded reluctantly.
There was no time for persuasion. If it came down to it, I could forcibly put her into “Connection.”
Rustiara, whose opinion had been heard, nodded back happily.
“Then, let’s go right away. The sooner the better.”
We tried to depart without any further delay.
However, further restraint was applied.
“—Kanami-san, are you really going after her?”
Maria confirmed, looking directly at me.
I felt slightly irritated, thinking about how obvious it was.
The warning from “Sensation” was still ringing in my head.
It was clear that I had to go rescue Dia.
And Maria, sensing my emotions, repeated her question.
“From my perspective, both you and Rustiara are weakened. You’re still going after Dia? Knowing that Palinkron Legacy and the Guardian are waiting ahead, and still—”
“—I’m going.”
Without letting her finish, I nodded.
Rustiara beside me also nodded.
Seeing this, Maria lowered her gaze slightly.
Then, she composed herself.
“Understood. In that case, I will assist you to the very end.”
Her face seemed determined.
Perhaps she was rallying herself before a fight against a formidable enemy.
Unlike Rustiara, she followed me with a strong stride.
After confirming the party’s resolve, I expanded “Dimension” while unfolding the letter I had received from Shiya.
I was aware that my magic construction lacked余裕.
However, I couldn’t just let her go.
Letting that Sis escape like this was, above all else, something my emotions wouldn’t allow.
