"Are you sure about this?"
After parting ways with the robed woman, I met back up with the 《Hero》. Once I explained our next move, he looked at me with a worried expression.
"It’s fine. I spent years in a party with a monstrous genius and a handful of… let’s just say, very strong personalities. My job was to support them so they could fight at their absolute peak. Backing you up on your own is nothing compared to that."
I gave my answer while the faces of my former companions flashed through my mind.
"…I see. Fair enough. Still, I never imagined the day would come when I’d receive support from the Enchanter who led 《Golden Dawn》 all the way to the 94th Floor."
"You knew about me?"
"In a way. You weren’t exactly a celebrity to the general public, but Ozwell and his subordinates were quite concerned with you. That’s why I remembered your name. Honestly, I’d like to fight you one more time—without all these complications hanging over us."
"Give me a break. Once was more than enough. Besides, I don’t think 'the you' from here on out is going to have that kind of leisure."
"Hahaha… True enough. This is likely the last time I’ll ever be allowed to act of my own free will. So, Orun—make this the greatest fight of my life."
"I hear you. Go wild, 《Hero (Felix)》!"
Our conversation finished, Felix kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
The robed woman had asked two things of me.
The first was to draw the aggression of the dragon swarm. While I still had enough stamina to fight, there was no guarantee her plan would work perfectly. If we were going to gamble, it was far better to have Felix—whose strength had been fully restored by her ability—take point.
The most efficient way to achieve maximum results with minimum waste was for me to step into my role as an Enchanter and support him.
During our earlier clash, he had provided his own buffs. It wasn't just a necessity because he lacked allies; his movements were so practiced that it was clear this was his standard combat style. Self-buffing with support magic can yield high performance if one masters the technique.
However, because a portion of one’s mental resources must always be dedicated to maintaining those spells, it is effectively impossible to exert 100 percent of one's raw ability. To truly break the limit, you need an Enchanter who can operate on the same wavelength.
Well, once you can master Ki, you’re eventually released from those constraints anyway, I thought.
It’s been half a year since I’ve worked as a dedicated Enchanter.
I felt a brief pang of nostalgia as I constructed the spell formulas.
"【Status Up: Quadruple】!"
I activated the stacking technique I had developed for Log—one that worked on others besides myself—at a quadruple power level.
The duration for a buff on Felix would be roughly one hundred seconds. While he wasn't on Oliver’s level, his magic resistance was still incredibly high.
Back when I was with the Hero Party, my fatal flaw was the weakness of my buffs, which eventually led to my exile. Now, I had overcome that weakness—though, since these buffs still had a limited number of applications, I couldn't claim to have conquered the flaw entirely.
"Hahaha! This is incredible!" Felix roared, his voice filled with excitement as he tore through a dragon, shattering it into black mist.
"I’m glad it meets your standards," I muttered, my hands already moving to construct the next set of formulas.
Having analyzed his personality and combat habits during our fight, I could predict his next moves and provide the optimal support before he even needed it.
When the scales he targeted were particularly thick, or when he launched wide-range shockwaves, I applied 【Impact】. When he unleashed volleys of magic, I triggered 【Raise Repeat】. For attacks coming from his blind spots, I snapped a 【Reflective Wall】 into existence. I cycled through a dozen different spells, tailoring the environment to ensure Felix could fight without a single moment of hesitation.
Driven by Felix’s monstrous rampage, the vast majority of the dragons focused their hate entirely on him. A few stragglers tried to flee the area, but they were quickly intercepted and reduced to mist by either my attack magic or the robed woman’s.
As the dragons tightened their formation around Felix, the density of the swarm reached its peak. In tandem, the throbbing in my head grew more intense.
"Haa… haa… Shion! Is it time yet?"
"Ah! Yes, we’re ready! Thank you both! Now, get to high altitude!"
The second thing the robed woman had asked for: herd the dragons into a single point. As long as they were bunched up...
"I’ll wipe them out with one spell!"
At her signal, I activated 【Space Leap】, teleporting myself and Felix into the sky.
Standing on a mana foothold, I looked down and felt an immense pressure as mana began to coalesce around the robed woman. The dragons, having lost sight of Felix, were drawn to her like moths to a flame.
This flow of mana… it’s almost like when Luna uses Seirei Magic.
Just as a sense of déjà vu washed over me, a silver radiance—mana so dense it had become visible to the naked eye—began to leak from her right eye. A geometric pattern, entirely different from a standard magic circle, manifested within her iris.
The woman tapped the ferrule of her staff against the ground.
Instantly, the earth within a meter of her froze solid, as if a sudden, deep frost had fallen. Then, the ice surged outward in a massive fan shape, transforming the battlefield into a frozen, silvery wasteland in the blink of an eye.
"……"
"Orun, the finishing touch!" Felix’s voice snapped me out of my daze.
"Right. Ready when you are. I’ll match your lead."
"Then let's do it!"
Felix activated his ability. A massive repulsive force exploded between our position in the sky and the dragon swarm below. Felix used his own power to negate the upward force on us, meaning we remained unaffected.
Conversely, the downward force slammed into the dragons with nothing to offset it. I added to the pressure with my own 【Gravity Manipulation】, dragging the swarm down toward the frozen earth.
"…We’ve set the stage this far. Don't you dare miss, Shion," I whispered, watching her.
The dense mana surrounding her finally crystallized into a spell.
"Seirei Magic—【Frost Storm Boreas】!!"
As the spell took hold, a frigid, howling gale swept across the silver world. Caught in the wind, the dragons' hides began to glaze over, ice rapidly encasing their entire bodies.
There is a spell called 【Blizzard】 that mimics special-grade magic, but this far exceeded it in scale and intensity. While 【Blizzard】 is a "trash-clear" spell that only works on low-rank beasts with weak resistance, this was powerful enough to flash-freeze high-level dragons in seconds.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect superior version of the spell.
…And I had the feeling it did far more than just freeze things.
The agonized roars of the swarm were silenced one by one until only a mountain of frozen statues remained. The dragons had been frozen down to the cellular level; as their bodies attempted to dissolve into black mist, the ice held them in place, leaving behind eerie, dark-clouded sculptures.
Just as she had promised, she had annihilated the entire swarm with a single spell.
"I’d heard the rumors, but seeing it is something else. So this is the power of the 《White Demon》… the Silver Witch," Felix muttered, a trace of genuine fear in his voice.
I felt a similar chill. While this magic clearly had massive drawbacks—likely involving strict activation requirements and long casting times—if she could affect an entire "world" like this, she could easily level a city.
A roar shattered the silence, followed by the sound of cracking ice.
The Black Dragon had survived. It had been pinned to the ground by my ability and caught in the frost, but it was still fighting. It condensed ten of its purple mists into a single, massive orb of mana and launched it directly at us.
"Felix, handle the defense! I'm taking the dragon!"
"You got it!"
Felix gave a predatory grin, raised his sword high, and cleaved the mana projectile clean in two.
I ignored the explosion and fixed my eyes on the Black Dragon.
"—【Sixth Form: Mont Sechs】."
The magic sword in my right hand shifted, lengthening into the shape of a bow. I gripped the string with my left hand and pulled, manifesting the converged mana I usually used for 【Alteration】 from my storage tool. I shaped it into a single arrow.
As I took aim, I pushed the mana convergence of the arrow to its absolute limit, causing the very space around me to warp and distort.
Targeting the Black Dragon, I prepared to unleash the most powerful attack I was currently capable of.
"—【Reiten】."
The pitch-black arrow I fired tore through the air and pierced the Black Dragon. Just as it had with Heavenly Flash, a massive diffusion of mana occurred upon impact. However, this time, a gravity field manifested at the arrow's point of entry. Instead of dissipating, the black mana was held in place, forming a perfect sphere.
The sphere began to warp under the pressure of the gravity field, acting like a vacuum that sucked in the entire mountain of ice statues. Anything pulled into that sphere was subjected to a crushing torrent of mana and gravitational force, resulting in total annihilation.
Once the last of the statues had been consumed, the sphere shrank into a point and vanished.
In the space where it had been, nothing remained. The Black Dragon, the ice sculptures, and even the earth itself had been scooped out and erased from existence.
"…I feel like my magic’s impact was a bit overshadowed there," a voice grumbled.
Once the dust settled, Felix and I landed near the robed woman. She was wearing a pouting, dissatisfied expression.
"Don't be like that. I wouldn't have been able to use a move like that if you hadn't cleared the way first."
"Both of your attacks were so monstrous I can't even rank them. Just thinking about that being aimed at me gives me the shivers," Felix added, though his eyes were sparkling with combat-starved excitement.
Is this just how he is? I wondered, looking at him coldly. Is it really a good idea to let a battle-maniac like this become the next Emperor?
The robed woman seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, judging by the look she was giving him.
I took a moment to steady my breathing and then shifted my focus.
"The break's over. Felix, we move to the next phase immediately."
"I know. I'm ready when you are."
The "next phase" was Rugau. In the town, the territorial army and the Imperial Guard were currently slaughtering each other. We had to move fast to suppress the conflict.
That’s the plan, but… what is this lingering doubt? I feel like I’m overlooking something critical. No—even if I am, stopping the tragedy in Rugau has to be the top priority.
"What about you, robed woman?"
"You're really going to keep calling me that? Wait… are you actually letting me go? I assumed you’d try to arrest me."
She was a criminal. We had formed a temporary truce, but that didn't wash away her sins. Normally, I should have apprehended her and forced her to talk; she undoubtedly held key information I lacked.
But if I tried to take her now, she would fight back. I didn't have the strength left for a prolonged battle with her. More importantly, time was of the essence in Rugau. Every minute we spent here, the situation there grew worse.
"I don't think I have enough left in the tank to catch you if you run. I'm grateful for the help. As long as you don't interfere with us anymore, I won't move against you today. But don't forget—I haven't forgotten that you tried to kill my disciple."
"…I know. I don't expect to be forgiven. In that case, I’ll take my leave. I have my own things to take care of. Oh, and Orun?"
"…What?"
"Keep walking straight down the path you’ve chosen. No matter what choice you make, 'we' will respect it."
"……"
I couldn't hide my shock. Those words were almost identical to what Oliver had said to me. Why would she say the same thing he did?
"Goodbye, Orun. And 《Hero》—don't disappoint me with what you do next."
She spoke with a strangely mournful expression that made my chest ache again. Ignoring the sensation, I turned my eyes away from the retreating Shion and looked at Felix.
"To Rugau, Felix. To end the fight."
"Yeah. We stop the battle, and then I demand answers from my father—the Emperor!"
Plagued by a persistent sense of unease, I set off for Rugau with the Prince at my side.