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Ejected from the innermost area by Lueria, Caroline found herself on an expansive hillside that looked exactly like the labyrinth’s entrance.
This particular labyrinth consisted of only a single floor, with no subsequent levels from the second floor onward. In exchange for its lack of depth, its surface area was incomparable to any other. Furthermore, its heart—the innermost area—was hidden so expertly against the landscape that finding it was an exercise in near-futility.
Because of this, the hole Lueria had opened from the inside looked like a tear in the fabric of space when viewed from the outside.
"……Big Sis Luella."
Caroline performed a clean breakfall and sprang to her feet. Her voice, addressed to the sister who had followed her out of the rift, was thick with hesitation.
"The Doctor has ordered your death, so I must kill you. However, doing so is such a bother," Lueria said. Her voice was as inorganic as her hollow gaze, delivering a proposal that sounded more like a command. "I will tell the Doctor that I finished the job. Just disappear. If you live out your life in obscurity where he can never find you again, that will suffice."
For the old Caroline, the words of Ozwell and her elder siblings had been law. She had never defied them, always responding with a placid smile regardless of the request.
"……I refuse."
But for the Caroline of the present, those words were no longer absolute. Lueria’s eyes widened slightly at the rejection, a flash of surprise crossing her face.
"I came here to settle things with the Doctor once and for all! Besides, I know you’re trying to do something to Sophie—I can't just run away and leave her! Big Sis, I'm serious. If you get in my way, I’ll fight you, even if you are my sister."
A fierce resolve burned in Caroline’s eyes. Lueria narrowed her gaze for a heartbeat, then immediately reverted to her usual bored expression as she readied her sword.
"……I see. Then come. I'll carve you to pieces until you draw your last breath."
"You won't get the chance. I’m not that weak girl who did nothing but tremble before you anymore! I’ll show you how much I’ve grown!"
With a shared cry, the two closed the distance.
Caroline’s weapons were a pair of daggers with thirty-centimeter blades. In contrast, Lueria wielded a longsword nearly as tall as herself. In combat, that difference in reach translated directly into a massive advantage.
Lueria unleashed a flurry of attacks from well outside Caroline’s range. Caroline was forced entirely onto the defensive, unable to find an opening to counter. Lueria’s heavy slashes were more than Caroline could fully deflect, and eventually, the tip of the longsword bit into her shoulder.
"Guh!"
Caroline immediately leapt back, putting distance between them to escape Lueria’s reach. She touched her shoulder, and after confirming the wound had already sealed shut, she racked her brain for a way to break through Lueria’s guard.
"Surely you understand now," Lueria said, her voice cold and detached. "I have the superior weapon, and I am the only one receiving buffs. You have no hope of winning."
Unless there was a staggering gap in raw skill, the one receiving support magic held the advantage. Given that Lueria also held the advantage in reach, Caroline was in an overwhelmingly lopsided fight, just as her sister claimed.
"I won't know that... until I try!!"
With a shout, Caroline dropped into a low crouch and lunged forward. Lueria didn't panic; she drew Caroline in, waiting until the girl stepped into her kill zone before delivering a horizontal sweep.
Caroline slammed her dagger against the oncoming blade. Using her own charging momentum combined with the force of Lueria’s strike, she traced an arc along the trajectory of the longsword, spinning around to take Lueria’s flank.
"—!?"
While Lueria froze in surprise, Caroline stepped in further, finally bringing her sister within her own reach. But just as Caroline was about to swing her dagger, Lueria let go of her sword.
Lueria stepped into the gap and thrust her elbow forward. Before Caroline's dagger could connect, Lueria’s elbow slammed into her chest.
"Gah!"
Lueria didn't miss the moment Caroline’s movement faltered. Reclaiming her sword, she swung it with lethal intent. Caroline managed to react just in time, blocking with both daggers. However, she lacked the leverage to parry the blow this time and was sent tumbling backward.
Again and again, Caroline attempted to close the distance. Each time, she was thwarted. Not a single one of her attacks had reached its mark. To any bystander, Lueria was dominating the fight.
Yet, it was Lueria who felt herself being pushed to the brink mentally. As they separated once more after a failed approach, Lueria looked at her sister.
"Caroline…… You, could it be……"
"……No. Not like this. The sensation of the buffs I always get from Log is more……"
Caroline was muttering to herself, her concentration surging toward an invisible peak. The atmosphere surrounding her became so sharp that it felt dangerous even to stand near her.
"…………"
Lueria stared at her with inorganic eyes, but they were trembling.
Caroline kicked off the ground again, blurring as she closed in. Her speed was incomparable to the start of the fight. Lueria was barely able to track her, even with her buffs and her naturally high kinetic vision.
It was proof that Caroline was on the verge of overcoming the buff disparity through sheer willpower and technique. Lueria’s sword swings were parried, but she followed up with a relentless second and third strike to keep Caroline pinned down.
Feeling Caroline’s explosive growth rate firsthand, Lueria made her decision.
"! Caroline! Focus!"
"!?"
Lueria’s voice rang out mid-swing.
"What you’re beginning to grasp is the essence of the Six Basic Types! If you intend to stand against the Doctor and the Cult, then master it here and now! ……If you can't, you'll die!"
With those words, Lueria’s attacks became even more ferocious. While Caroline wondered why her sister would suddenly offer advice, she focused every fiber of her being on the new sensation she was grasping while defending against the onslaught.
As her concentration reached its zenith, her movements grew sharper by the second. Finally, Caroline caught a strike from Lueria’s longsword—one she previously couldn't stop with two blades—using only a single dagger.
It was the proof. She had mastered, however imperfectly, the art of enhancing her physical abilities without the aid of support magic: Ki Manipulation.
She swung her free dagger at Lueria. Seeing this, Lueria pulled a red gemstone from her storage magic tool and threw it between them. The gem exploded.
Lueria had shielded herself with a magic barrier beforehand. Caroline evaded the brunt of the blast with reflexes heightened by Ki Activation, and the minor burns she suffered were instantly mended by her "Self-Healing."
"To think you actually mastered it. ……Perhaps everything we’ve done wasn’t entirely meaningless after all."
The expression on Lueria’s face was a complex tapestry of sorrow and joy that defied simple description.
"—I won’t hold back anymore. If you truly want a conclusion with the Doctor and a future with your comrades, then prove you can surpass me, Caroline!"
The words were no longer bored or hollow; they were laden with genuine emotion for her sister.
"……Yeah. I’ll surpass you."
An overwhelming presence radiated from Caroline, as if her focus were physically encroaching on the world around her. Lueria sharpened her senses, tracking Caroline’s every twitch. Even so, Caroline’s movements exceeded her predictions, and she momentarily lost sight of her sister as she closed in.
Still, Lueria’s instincts as a swordsman told her when Caroline had entered her range. She swung her longsword toward the empty air, and Caroline appeared exactly where the blade was headed.
I have you, Lueria thought—and then Caroline vanished again.
A shadow fell over her. Lueria looked up to see Caroline high above her in the sky.
"……【Reflective Wall】!"
The spell Caroline invoked was the original magic Orun—her Master—had given her as a coming-of-age gift. A translucent green wall materialized in mid-air behind her. Caroline kicked off it, hurtling back toward Lueria.
Lueria, trapped by the common sense that a person cannot maneuver in the air, couldn't react in time. She managed a desperate swing, but it lacked power. Such a weak strike couldn't stop Caroline, whose physical abilities were peaking through Ki Manipulation. Caroline brushed the blade aside with her dagger and tackled Lueria to the ground.
Caroline straddled her sister, pinning her down and pointing the tip of her reverse-gripped dagger at Lueria’s throat.
"It’s my win, Big Sis Luella."
"……I never actually thought I’d lose," Lueria whispered, looking up with distant eyes. Her face showed resignation, but also a hint of relief. "You’ve grown so strong, Caroline. Go on. Kill me."
She spoke with a gentle voice, as if welcoming the end. Caroline’s eyes widened and filled with tears until they finally spilled over. Her trembling hand steadied as she put her weight behind the strike—and plunged the dagger into the ground right next to Lueria’s head.
"Don't you dare give up on living so easily!" Caroline screamed, her voice breaking with a sob.
"……Caroline……?"
"You’re always so selfish, Big Sis! You decide everything without ever thinking about how I feel! After fighting you properly for the first time, I think I finally understand. You and Big Brother Fred... you were protecting me all along, weren't you?"
There is a saying that swordsmen can understand one another simply by clashing blades. Through their battle, Caroline had finally touched Lueria’s heart.
"……You’re overthinking it," Lueria said weakly. "Fred and I hated you. We were the ones who told the Doctor to dispose of you, and he did exactly as we asked."
"That’s a lie! Your sword was warm from the very first strike! Your eyes and your voice were cold, but your blade was always looking out for me!"
"I was cutting you. I even drew blood…… though the wound is already gone."
"Then what was that advice!? You gave it to me because you were thinking about my future! If you really hated me, you would have just let me die without saying a word!"
Caroline refused to listen to the lies.
"Fighting you made me remember... I remembered how much I loved you both."
"—!"
"Even though we were born on the same day, you both loved me because you were the 'big sister' and the 'big brother.' I remember it now. After they took us to the Cult, everyone was just trying to survive. We just... we just lost our way. That’s all it was!"
"……Even so," Lueria began, tears streaming down her face as she finally confessed her guilt. "The fact that we resented you for having 'Self-Healing' and being the favorite doesn't change. We suggested your disposal. Saying we were mentally unstable back then is just an excuse. You’re only here because of luck—Fred and I basically killed you."
Lueria’s voice trembled as she spoke.
"But I regretted it instantly. I despaired in a world where you were gone. Then I saw you were alive. I saw you had friends who truly cared for you. That was when I decided: I would use this life for your sake. And now you’re strong. Strong enough to take me down. So... this is enough."
"If you want to use your life for me, then live! Fight the Doctor with me! All I want is to be a family with you and Big Brother again! I don't want to lose the people I love anymore……!"
Caroline poured out her heart, resting her forehead against her sister’s chest and sobbing as she gripped Lueria’s clothes.
"Caroline……"
Lueria reached up and touched the head of the girl crying on her chest, stroking her hair with a slow, deep affection. She stayed that way, holding her sister, until the crying finally stopped.