“Ufufu! Ahahahaha! Ahahahaha—hahahahahahaha!! Goodness. Even for the Seven Grand Sorcerers, is this all you’ve got?”
A girl laughed.
She was laughing all alone on this battlefield, her smile like that of a child playing with a favorite toy.
Before her stood a mountain of corpses, piled high. Anyone else would have been overcome with revulsion at the sight of such a massive pool of blood. Yet she remained unperturbed, staring down the lone remaining sorcerer with a radiant, mocking grin.
“…To think you were this powerful.”
The man managed to force the words out.
The one leading the troops on this battlefield was one of the Seven Grand Sorcerers: the Azure Sorcerer. Although he was already in his forties, he remained undeniably one of the world's strongest sorcerers.
Specializing in combat even among his peers, he possessed the ability to face a hundred opponents single-handedly. There were even legends of him maintaining a front line alone against five hundred enemies without ever retreating. He was a man who commanded the envy and respect of all.
Undefeated in every engagement, the Azure Sorcerer led an ever-victorious unit.
However, looking at the current situation, those achievements were nothing but a fading memory.
The girl continued to laugh, as if she were genuinely enjoying the carnage. And while it was she who had orchestrated this tragedy, another woman stood waiting behind her.
This second woman did not lift a finger to help. Instead, she checked her bangs in a hand mirror and groomed her nails with a file, acting as if the battle were beneath her notice.
“Are you finished?”
“Just a little more, I think. I could torture him to death, but I thought I’d play a bit longer.”
“Haa… hurry it up. I came as backup, but Vier ended up doing everything.”
“Sorry, sorry! I’ll treat you to something next time! Come on, Zwei. Lighten up.”
“…Well, if that’s the case, I suppose it’s fine.”
The two present were members of the Seven Sages: Zwei and Vier. After twirling her orange hair, Zwei went back to meticulously filing her nails.
Vier, on the other hand, had her golden hair tied in high twin tails. To a casual observer, her smile would make her look like a cheerful young girl. But it was she, and no other, who had transformed this place into a hellscape.
She had no hesitation when it came to killing. She laughed as she reaped lives one after another. The Azure Sorcerer was far from indifferent to the slaughter, but he knew that if he allowed his emotions to rule him, his sorcery would fail.
He bit back his internal fury, his eyes boring into Vier.
“Ahahaha! Even if you look at me like that, you’re still going to lose. To start with, that other Seven Grand Sorcerer went down instantly. You’re a little bit stronger than him, but it’s only a matter of time, right?”
“——!!”
His rage was beyond words. There had been another of the Seven Grand Sorcerers in his unit—a contemporary and a long-time friend.
The Thunderclap Sorcerer. A master of lightning-system sorcery, he had been killed by Vier the moment the battle began. Without even understanding how he had died, the Thunderclap Sorcerer had been erased from this world.
That initial shock had caused the unit to fracture, leaving the Azure Sorcerer as the sole survivor.
“Go ahead. Use it—your Origin Magic. I can tell you’re looking for an opening, but you’re being far too obvious.”
“…You’ll regret those words.”
Origin Magic.
The spell that had become the Azure Sorcerer’s namesake: Azure Field. Within a specific domain, he exerted absolute control over deep blue Prima Materia. Any living being that entered the field would have their internal Prima Materia disrupted, leading to the immediate cessation of their life functions.
Regardless of how much Prima Materia a target possessed, the spell destroyed them from the inside out. It was classified as one of the most dangerous techniques in the world—Instant Death Magic.
“—Azure Field.”
Domain Expansion.
A blue hue stretched out as far as the eye could see, blanketing the world like a sudden, silent tsunami. No one had ever been able to defy him within this domain. Even if he was past his prime, the title of the Seven Grand Sorcerers was not for show.
He activated the sorcery against Vier and Zwei, intending to end them instantly and without mercy. He reached out to manipulate the Prima Materia inside their bodies, seeking to tear them apart from within, but…
“Haa… I guess this really is all it is. Even if you’re called the Seven Grand Sorcerers, you’re only at this level. According to our research, you lot are the weakest of the bunch. If this were the peak of the strongest, I would’ve cried.”
“Wh-What happened…? No, to begin with, what is wrong with your bodies…?”
The Magic Area was fully deployed.
There was no doubt that Azure Field had been activated, yet he could not manipulate their Prima Materia. It wasn't that his sorcery was being countered or neutralized.
It simply… did not work on them.
“Haa… it’s because you’re still relying on Code Theory and things like Prima Materia. Well, I don’t expect someone like you to grasp the Akasha anyway.”
“What… guh!!? Th-This is…”
Before he could react, an Ice Pillar tore through his chest from behind. He couldn't comprehend it. He hadn't perceived any sorcerous signs or warnings. A man who had reached the pinnacle of sorcery was sinking into the dirt without having landed a single blow.
As the pool of blood spread beneath him, he realized the truth. He didn't have much longer.
But he did not give up. With a final burst of defiance, he tried to force out one last spell to strike back, but another Ice Pillar pierced the hand he reached out.
“Gu, guwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
He screamed in agony, yet his will to resist remained unbroken.
His duty as one of the Seven Grand Sorcerers.
The weight of this battle.
The pride of a man who fought to protect his people.
However, all of it was reduced to nothing. Before a truly overwhelming power, titles and convictions were ruthlessly harvested.
“Hmm. You’ve got spirit. I’ll give you a little credit for that. But this is the end. Bye-bye, old man.”
A single thrust to the heart.
Vier picked up a discarded sword from the ground and plunged it into his chest.
“May there be… glory… for the Kingdom’s… future…”
Those were the final words of the Azure Sorcerer, Arthur Olstrain.
Vier looked down at the corpse, her jet-black eyes reflecting nothing. Her presence was entirely alien, far removed from that of any ordinary sorcerer.
Zwei walked up from behind her.
“Finished?”
“Yeah. It’s over.”
“Then let’s go home. Just as I thought, you could have handled this alone, Vier.”
“True. We were cautious since two of the Seven Grand Sorcerers were supposed to be here, but they weren't a big deal at all.”
The two turned on their heels.
They pointedly left the corpses where they lay, following orders from above.
This was a declaration of war.
It was a demonstration to the world that the Empire possessed strength that far surpassed the Seven Grand Sorcerers.
In a single stroke, the unit led by the Azure Sorcerer had been annihilated.
The loss of two of the Seven Grand Sorcerers shook the Kingdom Army to its foundations. The fact that a veteran, undefeated unit had been wiped out was a reality they struggled to accept.
The Far East Campaign had only just begun, yet the Kingdom’s military power had already been dealt a devastating blow.
And so, the collision between the Seven Sages and the Seven Grand Sorcerers intensified, spiraling toward a new level of violence.