1

There was no hope. Yuliana looked in vain for a way to reach her friend, trying the suddenly appeared wall with her hands. There were no cracks or openings on that clean surface, no weaknesses to be found. Besides the locked door in the far back end of the room, the only other way out was through the windows, which opened to a dive of about one hundred and fifty feet, cold pavement awaiting below. The sun had set long ago, making way for the small, pale moons peeking through the tattered clouds. To summon Aiwesh, Yuliana would have to offer her own spirit for fuel—but there was no way his majesty would let her go through with the ritual.

Even if she could somehow call the Divine spirit, there were three other Lords on the other side of the wall...There was no guarantee that the situation could be overturned. No, it being night time, Aiwesh’s Authority was sealed, bringing her at a massive disadvantage. In the worst case, even that noble spirit, who had gifted Yuliana her freedom, would be defeated and banished. It was hopeless. Meanwhile, Izumi was left to face opponents far beyond the caliber of any mortal, alone.

It was completely hopeless.

With no other choice, the princess turned back to the Emperor.

“Tell them to stop!” she desperately pleaded. “Why are you doing this!?”

“You’ve stopped thinking, your highness,” the man answered with infuriating calmness. “I understand you’re panicking, but ‘why’ should be obvious at this point. Do I even need to spell it?”

Gesturing towards the table and the contract on it, he continued,

“If you pledge your allegiance by signing the gias, I will dismiss the Lords. Refuse, and your friend will perish. The situation is quite generic in its simplicity.”

Yuliana bit her lip.

Her lifelong political commitment—for the life of someone close to her. The same choice she had faced two days ago. By this point, there was no need to go over what it represented.

Indeed, if any difference had appeared in these past days, it was in her own mentality.

There could be no question that Yuliana loved her country and her people. She even loved the father who had showed little love for her in return. Were it still her from two months ago, she wouldn’t have even considered the Emperor’s demands, regardless of the terms. And yet—since leaving home, she had found other people whose deaths were just as unbearable for her as those of her family. If not even more so.

Oathbound or not, Yuliana was only one woman. It was unlikely that her contribution for or against would bring about a dramatic change in the course of history. Yet, if her pledge could rescue someone from certain death now, it was surely more valuable than the destiny of those others in the unseen future. How could she be expected to save a nation, if she couldn’t even save someone right in front of her?

All she had to do to save a life was give her word. So why even hesitate? Yuliana strode to the table with quick steps and picked up the fountain pen next to the gias scroll. But again, her hand stopped there. No matter how she tried to reason it for herself, it didn’t feel right.

All of this—it keeps happening because of me. Because of me, people close to me are hunted and threatened. Is determining which of my loved ones will die and when the best I can do? If I yield here today, what will I have to surrender tomorrow? Where will it end? Can there even be an end to this? Is this really my destiny, as one of royal blood, to only list my sacrifices?

Yuliana glanced at the Emperor. At his lifeless, lightless eyes.

The eyes of a man, who has given up his morality, his ideals, his dreams, his values, even his human heart, for the sake of the mission. Would she end up with that same, resigned look on her face, if she followed his will?

“No one needs to die,” he told her, weight behind his words.

“No,” Yuliana replied. Unsure of why. She hadn’t intended to say anything. But somewhere within her, her own heart was urging her to move. “I see now. Someone does need to die. Or it will never end.”

The princess suddenly threw away the pen and seized the table. It was short, only about waist-high, but with a heavy marble cover. Still, exerting her strength, Yuliana was able to pick up the whole table and ran at the window with it.

“Wait! What are you doing!?” the Emperor exclaimed, astonished.

Without stopping or slowing down, the princess drove the table through the window. A deafening crash rang out. Countless shards of glass glittered in moonlight as they fell. A gaping hole was left in the Cathedral wall, through which chilling night wind blew in.

Holding onto the window frame, Yuliana leaned her upper body out and looked down. From so high up, the pavement felt gut-wrenchingly distant, the few pedestrians on the streets akin to grains. Over one hundred and fifty feet—a distance over which one could barely throw a spear. Certainly, if she were to fall from here, her end would not be beautiful. As if to give a foretaste of that fate, the table she had thrown hit the pavement and became pulverized with a loud bang.

“Have you gone mad!?” the Emperor shouted at her. “Get away from there! You’ll die if you fall!”

Yuliana looked back at him and shook her head. She suddenly felt oddly sober and calm. Resolute.

“You will never threaten those I love again, because of me.”

All she had to do was let go. She looked at her pale hand, the slim fingers gripping the wooden window frame. It was quite old and not designed to support the weight of a person. Even if her courage failed, destiny would settle the rest. And her earthly journey would come to an end.

Forgive me, my Lord. Forgive me, master. I’m sorry...Izumi.

——“NO!”

The Emperor’s sudden shout interrupted her resolve.

The sovereign’s prior composure was gone. His face pale as a sheet, he stared at the princess in the clutches of helpless terror. Then, quickly turning around, he leaped a step and caught the gias scroll left lying on the floor. Swiping it up, he faced Yuliana again, as if to make sure she was watching, and quickly, without hesitation—tore the contract to tiny shreds.

“What…?” Astonished, Yuliana watched him destroy the all-important document, the tiny scraps of which he now hurriedly wiped from his hands, as if they were something filthy. She couldn’t understand. If she didn’t agree to play along with his plot, then wasn’t death what he had planned for her from the beginning? Surely he had no more use for her alive.

“Why…?”

The Emperor gave her no answer. Downcast he stood, unable to meet the princess’s eyes, like someone who has gambled everything, and lost it all.

2

Izumi looked at the hero Bramms, whose large hands rested on the edge of his gigantic shield. The fight had suddenly become two-on-one, with the lone earthling versus a Divine spirit and a famous champion for a sidekick. While Izumi herself was armed only with the freshly learned, strange magic, and a paper knife.

However, the opposing front didn’t seem united.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lord Yubilea inquired Bramms in an angry tone, more insulted than pleased by the apparent reinforcements. “Did you really think I need you to butt in? Know your place, mortal!”

“Pardon me, but I couldn’t bear to follow this from the sidelines any longer,” Bramms responded with a dry cough. “Even though I count myself among his majesty’s loyal subjects, I find that the things that have transpired tonight violate heavily against my conscience.”

“The Hel are you blabbering about?” Yubilea lashed back at him. “Nobody asked for your opinion, you dumb mutt! I’m telling you to back off!”

“What a troublesome thing you are,” Bramms sighed, not intimidated even in the presence of a Lord. “What I’m saying is, in plain words, that I want you to dismantle this vile trap at once, and leave here.”

—“Eh?”

—“What?”

Both Izumi and Yubilea looked stunned by the man’s words.

“I should be his majesty’s shield, first and foremost,” Bramms explained in a slightly offended tone. “The fact that he thought to rely on nonhuman powers only goes to show that his assessment of my abilities is that poor. I cannot stand by while my honor is being slighted. I and I alone should be this woman’s opponent tonight.”

“Just play your part, monkey boy, and stop complicating things!” the red spirit flared.

“Should you refuse,” Bramms ignored the Divine’s protests and continued, “then you leave me with no other choice but to take this woman’s side in the battle against you. I already surmised that it is only after I drive you demons away that I may have the duel that is rightfully mine.”

—“That is treason you speak of, human.”

Lord Gwanlyn’s shape emerged through a nearby wall. Apparently, she had heard the conversation and came to back up her sibling. But even the appearance of another grand spirit didn’t stop the hero.

“If his majesty discards my honor by favoring blasphemous forces over his own servants,” he said, “then I am merely returning the favor by denying said forces.”

“Don't try to think, musclebrain!” Yubilea cried. “It doesn’t suit you!”

“All this changes is that you will die here together with the woman,” Gwanlyn told the man. “Reconsider.”

“I wonder about that,” Bramms retorted.

“What...?”

“I have my doubts regarding the certainty of death you offer me, that is all. Lord Cinithlea cannot fight effectively while Waramoti has her Authority. Not to mention that her type is ill-suited for combat. That makes our situation, in reality, two-on-two. Except, my Lord Gwanlyn, you cannot use your power directly against those of a race that are not subservient to your creator. There is no natural enmity between us that you could exploit either. Were you to even try, the following penalty would surely mean your demise in your already weakened state. All you may do is indirect interference—while against my shield, your skills with shaping stone are quite meaningless. This only leaves Lord Yubilea as our real opponent. And, as capable as she may be, with both myself and this lady as her opponents, I am confident we can hold her at bay for as long as is necessary. Which might not be a terribly pleasant experience for her, overall. So how shall it be? Of course, if you disagree with what I’ve said, then I don’t mind taking all of you on—by myself, if necessary.”

“……..”

“…...”

“…Shit.” Yubilea suddenly swore.

It seemed Bramms was not very stupid, after all.

Frowning, Izumi looked at the eccentric characters around her. How was the situation going to develop from here? Whatever should happen, she couldn’t afford to waste more time waiting for the resolution, while Yuliana needed her help. As grateful as she was for the breather, she didn’t intend to stay behind to fight any one of them, but kept looking for a chance to slip away.

Then, the pale spirit finally broke the stalemate.

“...We are retreating,” Gwanlyn muttered and turned to leave.

“Are you kidding me!?” Yubilea shrieked. “The Emperor’s orders aside, I can’t let these apes get away with what they’ve done to me! After how much they’ve ridiculed and humiliated me, I can’t rest until I tear them all to pieces!”

“Stop it,” Gwanlyn scolded the fiery Divine. “Our time is already up. Become any more involved in the mortals’ affairs and you won’t escape with your soul intact. And if you’re not there in the next cycle...I’ll be troubled.”

“Hm.”

Yubilea ceased arguing, looking bitter. The bright flames veiling her slender limbs faded and she turned to follow after her kindred.

“Not like there’ll be a ‘next’ for any of us,” she spitefully spat.

Giving Izumi one last bitter glare, the Divine Lord disappeared in a quick flash, her companion following shortly behind.

3

Cautious like a cat, Yuliana pulled herself away from the broken window. What was going on? After all the trouble the Emperor had seen to arrange this elaborate setup, to force Yuliana to sign the gias, even involving Divines and paying human lives for it, he whimsically threw it all away at the drop of a hat. Why was he suddenly so concerned with the princess’s well-being? What went through his mind? What was an act and what was his true self, she couldn’t even begin to guess anymore.

The Emperor himself offered her no answers. As if the man had turned to stone, he stood amid the shreds of the contract, old and lost, and so he remained, until all of a sudden the blue-haired woman from before appeared standing next to him.

“Cinithlea…?” the Emperor stirred from his depression and looked at the woman.

“It appears that our bluff tonight has been called,” the grand spirit said with a soft smile, not looking particularly remorseful over the fact. “Come now, mortals. Securing you a path out of here shall be my last service to you.”

“Just leave me be,” the man replied. “It’s over. Does it matter how I face my end? Better sooner rather than later.”

“I believe it does matter,” Cinithlea answered him. “I may have lived for many eons, but is was only recently that I learned this invaluable lesson. Nothing is infinite, not even cosmos itself. For all things, there exists a definite end. That idea, formerly strange to us, sent even us Divines to wallow in misery and disgrace. Why then live at all, if we are destined to lose all we hold dear one day, even the sole purpose for which we were born, never to know genuine fulfillment? Was what little beauty we achieved sufficient to justify the days we existed, and all our mistakes? But, perhaps it was our impression of beauty that was mistaken all along? If there is no way to overturn fate, then surely it is in our final moments that our life’s true meaning will be made known. Not in the tallied sum of our actions, not in the satisfaction we felt, but in the manner of our passing. Perhaps what we thought of as the purpose of all was, in fact, only ever preparation for that single moment, where we may display the growth we went through on our journey? With what manner of heart do we embrace judgment as it is passed onto us—surely that last stand is what will define us all alike, were we mortal or divine.”

“...So the timing of that moment isn’t something we should choose for ourselves?”

“One should not choose demise as his purpose; it is the purpose he stands for and believes in that shall choose its time and method for him. After all, it is not for death that we live, so much as it may only be the fact that live we did.”

“Memento vivere then? Live your life for the sake of living it...is that it?”

“In your heart, do you feel you are already finished, human?”

The Emperor glanced at the princess.

“No...” he finally said. “My heart tells me that I have not done enough yet.”

“Then, we shall leave here together, to face our final destination. You as well, Chalice of White.” The spirit extended her hand to Yuliana. “It is not with warm feelings that I aid the host of my nemesis, but such is the role given to me by providence. Come, child, and let us be off. For I know not how much longer I can guarantee your safety in this place.”

The princess hesitated.

“Izumi...What happened to Izumi?” she asked, trembling. “Did you kill her?”

Cinithlea answered with a slight shake of her head.

“Her life is in the hands of the Grand Shield now.”

4

The two spirits had vanished and silence returned. Only a few scattered flames were left here and there on the floor, to give light to the unnaturally isolated room, and prove that what happened was not only a dream. Now that the main threat was gone, Izumi immediately turned to leave through the opening Bramms had created, to go look for Yuliana. Perhaps she could find a way around the blocked room through downstairs? But she had barely taken a step, when a flash of metal beside her captured her attention.

“Fu—!”

The greatshield of Bramms suddenly bashed at her. That previously inert wall came for her with the velocity of a truck, catching the woman by surprise. Fortunately, the Rune of Displacement remained active and Izumi saw it coming. Nimbly jumping up, she received the impact with her feet and was propelled more or less safely across the room in a wide arc.

“You...” Regaining her footing, Izumi glared at the man responsible for the sneak attack.

Normally, it would be unthinkable that such a gargantuan tool could ever be employed in a “sneaky” fashion, but that was hardly the most absurd part of it.

By the heavy contact, Izumi could tell—her earlier analysis of the object had been mistaken. It wasn’t simple wood coated with a layer of metal; that shield was in its entirety shaped of a single, solid block of orichalcum, and nothing else. As such, it should have been impossibly heavy for anyone to hold. Yet, the man named Bramms handled his gigantic armament with the lightness of a mere buckler—and with only one arm.

Sure enough, either the weapon was not entirely what it seemed.

Or else, the man’s frame itself was far beyond human limits.

The idea that he could have fought the Divines, even by himself, didn’t seem like empty boasting anymore. But, in the spirits’ absence, the would-be allies had gone back to being enemies.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Bramms told Izumi. “I never expected you to fall by such a casual move, and rightfully so, I see. And you being in such a hurry to forget about me may have hurt my pride just a little. Consider us even now, after that no less treacherous attack by which you overwhelmed me the other day.”

“For a poster boy, you can sure hold a grudge,” Izumi replied. “No matter how you make it sound like fair play, I’d be flat as a pancake now, if I hadn’t expected something underhanded from the get-go.”

“Speaking of fair play, you never showed magical ability on our first encounter,” he retorted. “Were you hiding the true extent of your skill at the time, or was that power something you only obtained afterwards? Does that mean there is an adept magician backing you at the capital? I took you only for a stray sword at first, but were you an assassin of the Circle all along? If so, you did a marvelous job at deceiving us. Shivgried and Raleigh both fell by your hand, didn’t they? The Marquess as well? The good will I showed you at our first meeting has come to cost human lives, and I’m not about to forgive you for that.”

“Your good will? You guard a dictator who plays with people like they’re bootleg muppets and will do anything from murder down to get his way. So how about you stop with the moral high ground act?”

Bramms shifted uncomfortably.

“...It is true that I have some misgivings about the state our nation is in. But mindless killing is not the answer to our problems. Can’t be. If we go down that path, we’d be no better than the evil we’re trying to defeat. It is by standing near the Throne that I can best help the common people. If I see his majesty do something I can’t agree with, then I will work to change his mind and come up with alternatives. That should be our way. So long as people live, they have the option to change, whether they be a layman or a tyrant. You take that away by killing them. That’s all there is to it.”

“What are you, Captain America!?” Izumi remarked. “Does that mean you’re not going to kill me?”

“You’re an outlaw with heavy, repeated charges against you,” Bramms answered, “but if you surrender quietly and promise to co-operate in unraveling the conspiracy against his majesty, I will ensure that no harm comes to you.”

“Let me think about that for a moment—no.”

Izumi actually did give it a thought, but reached the conclusion that there was no real choice before her sentence was complete. In response, the shield hero gave a heavy sigh.

“You know, you’re unexpectedly childish for your age...”

“What?” Izumi gasped. “DON’T BRING UP MY AGE! Oh my God! That’s it, I’m going to beat you up until you cry uncle!”

Brandishing her tiny dagger, Izumi readied herself for battle once more.

“That’s right,” Bramms said, gripping the corner of his shield. “To be honest, I hoped it would come to this. It took four days of work for the blacksmiths to weld my shield back together, after you cleaved it. For all this time, one thought has nagged me without rest. I need to know—which one of us would prevail in a fight with no holds barred!”

“So you were totally dreaming about killing me the whole time!? Some ‘hero’ you are!”

The time for action had come once again.

It was not a fight she wanted, but since there was no way around it either, Izumi put her mind to it. Having witnessed the champion’s power and quick moves before, Izumi judged that seizing the initiative in this battle was vital. She would make use of her superior mobility and take down the enemy before he could turn it into a contest of endurance.

Quickly reaching this conclusion, Izumi determined to seize the first move. Bending her knees, she lowered her posture and prepared to attack. Such had been her intention.

But in there, her plans fell flat.

Before Izumi could move a finger, she was already under attack herself.

In one quick leap, as if gliding over the floor, Bramms crossed the distance between them and swung down his shield. Yes, the enormous orihalcum disc that should have taken five men to raise from the ground—he lifted it up and dragged it back down sideways in an impossibly quick arc, as if it were a mere frisbee.

Izumi had to give up on the offensive and evade.

The greatshield’s rim brushed past her and dug into the marble floor, like a bolt of lightning. The whole room shook under the weight of the blow, a token of unspeakable forces, but the absurdity continued. By all means, the metal plate should have been left pinned in the stone, impossible to remove—but without a moment’s delay, Bramms tore it off and struck again with a wide sideways swing.

Izumi ducked, the deadly mass slicing over her head. She straightened herself to exploit the resulting opening, only to discover there was no opening. The man spun around his heels with the swiftness of a cyclone, and an identical horizontal swing followed immediately after the first. No, if possible, even faster and stronger.

“Kh...!” Izumi threw herself backward onto the floor to evade again. She rolled around to get some distance—but Bramms allowed her none. Turning around for the third time while stepping on, he changed the angle of the shield, now throwing a rising uppercut at the woman. Izumi twisted her upper body left, the shield soaring past her right shoulder and thigh. The mere air that the great weapon forced out of its way felt like a sledgehammer as it brushed against her skin, tearing at her skirt.

What, what, what!? What’s going on!? Is he Hercules or what!?

Izumi’s movements were continuously accelerated by Sifl, to four times her normal movement speed. Yet Bramms could not only keep up with her, he was definitely controlling the flow of the fight. The relentless avalanche of precise, murderous attacks forced her to keep evading and remain on the defensive, with no way to strike back.

The man’s strength and speed were clearly beyond those of an average person. The gap between what should have been possible for a human being and the reality of it was impossibly wide. But how? Izumi couldn’t understand.

Was it some strange magic at work? Or was the strength of the humans of this world, if cultivated to the extreme, simply that much greater than that of the people of Earth?

That can’t be! If humans could truly get that strong simply by training, wouldn’t they rule the world by now? Instead, they’re considered the weakest of the races. Does that mean there’s again some trick to his strength...?

Izumi tried to analyze her opponent and uncover the source of his anomalous power, but—needless to even say—it was easier said than done in the heat of the moment

It was a fight very unlike those with Yubilea or Waramoti, who had the safety of invulnerability and so didn’t take their enemy very seriously. Neither did Bramms exhibit the playfulness of a predator toying with his victim. He simply gave his all in the fight for his life, holding nothing back. He bet on his strengths, covered for his weaknesses, and his vicious attacks showed no hint of mercy. Like a true sportsman, he only played to win, and each of his moves carried the intent to kill.

If only Izumi had her sword, things might have been different…

“Gram!”

Using the Rune of Power to add strength to her legs, Izumi extended the reach of her jump and pulled further back. Bramms wasn’t about to give her the room to recover, but quickly chased after her. As soon as her feet reached the floor again, Izumi cast the dagger from her hand, aiming at his throat. Like a dart, the steel spike shot across the air, her magically enhanced strength behind it—but became deflected by the vast shield, for once used for its original purpose.

“Haaaa—!”

Letting our a roar, Bramms sped up his charge and held the shield before him, like a battering ram, in an apparent attempt to crush Izumi against Gwanlyn’s marble wall.

Izumi jumped up and back, kicked off the wall to increase her altitude and vaulted over the charging enemy. With the momentum of a juggernaut, Bramms tore straight through two feet of stone.

Halting after his missed attack, unfazed, the warrior swiftly turned and cut back with the edge of the shield. His diagonal swing was aimed not at Izumi—but at the wall he had just pierced. The orichalcum shield ate into the marble with unsettling hunger, and the force of the strike carried on, cracking the wall all the way to the upper corner. Loosened in this uneven manner, a quarter of the wall broke off from the ceiling and started to tilt inward.

Towards where Izumi was standing.

“Are you kidding me—!?”

The whole wall about to fall on her, Izumi dashed left to get out of the way. Her magically enhanced speed allowed her to reach the safe zone with a slight margin, but that hardly put her out of harm’s way. The crumbling wall collided with the opposite side of the tightly divided room. The interior failed to endure the added weight but gave away, then crashing again onto the next wall behind it and split into smaller fragments, resulting in a domino effect of monumental forces.

The whole cathedral wavered under the shifting tons of stone. As expected, the floor couldn’t bear the quake it was never designed for either, but cracked next.

Accompanied by a loud bang, the central floor of the hall cracked and collapsed. Not in an orderly manner, bit by bit, but all at once, creating an immense cavity, where the other walls were pulled, and parts of the ceiling along with them. Caught under the titanic marble rain, Izumi barely escaped death by jumping off the falling plate and catching hold onto the broken edge of the floor near the windows.

As the masses of falling stone hit the levels below, an even more cataclysmic quake shook the building, nearly making Izumi’s hold slip. She looked down to see the floor plates and blocks of wall larger than cars hit the room roughly forty feet below, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. As the cathedral kept shaking, the lighter marble plates on the windows started to crumble and fall off as well. There was soon more chunks of stone, raining down all around Izumi, with shards of glass mixed in. She could only hope and pray that none would hit her while she hung helpless, suspended in mid-air.

“What’s wrong with that guy!?” she bemoaned, climbing up with frantic effort, after the worst had passed. “This is totally an overkill! Learn some restraint, will you…!?”

How to even begin to fight against such an absurd foe, now unarmed?

The arc’s runes were mainly supportive in nature, and even if she knew any particularly destructive ones, it was doubtful that Bramms was going to sit obediently still and let her write them onto his body.

What else could she do? Throw rocks at him?

No, looking at the cataclysmic devastation he had caused, any thought of fighting back was ridiculous. Searching the devastation below with her eyes, Izumi could find no corpses among all the rubble. Both Yuliana and the Emperor were gone, together with the Divines. In other words, continuing this absurd fight was altogether without meaning.

But simply leaving proved quiet difficult.

Barely had Izumi pulled herself up to the narrow strip of floor left intact, when the remaining portion of the nearby wall was blown in. The wide, cruel-looking face engraved on the ancient shield emerged through the chunks of powdered stone, speeding straight at her with a relentless bloodthirst.

Izumi froze, her senses bombarding her brain with warning messages.

In addition to the charging warrior, there was the secondary threat posed by the countless chunks of marble his violent strike had broken off of the wall and scattered. A lot of them were large enough to cause serious injuries on the soft human body, but that wasn’t all. Even a smaller cut could prove dangerous to Izumi, whose natural healing faculties were stunted by the sap of the forbidden tree.

Gram alone couldn’t protect her.

Even with Sifl, she couldn’t evade such a wide area barrage.

There was only one way——

As Izumi was busy weathering the initial hail of debris, Bramms closed in, held out his shield and blew the woman away with a brutal, backhanded bash. The strike definitely connected, he felt the impact against the shield, the meager weight of her body against it. In a blink of an eye, the assassin’s frail figure was struck away, cast through the shattered windows and out of the building.

With that, the fight had to be over.

Regardless of her magically enhanced speed, so long as he could get one solid hit in, she wasn’t going to endure it. No human possibly could. Moreover, the fall awaiting outside was decidedly fatal.

The conclusion was somewhat anti-climactic. Bramms felt no joy over this quick victory, on the contrary, but at least he had proved that his fighting strength was superior to that of the assassin beyond any reasonable doubt.

Doubt? Had there ever been any? No human of the Empire could contest this hero’s might. Except maybe for that man, the one favored by the Divines. Nevertheless, the Emperor had been foolish to ever assume otherwise...

“Hm...?”

Approaching the broken window to check the corpse, the hero of the shield let out an involuntary sound of surprise.

It turned out he had concluded the battle too soon.

Outside the cathedral building stood a row of bulky buttresses with airy arcs to support the main building. Their purpose was more aesthetic than practical, but it seemed the assassin had landed on one of those structures, and so avoided the deadly fall.

That fact alone shouldn’t have changed anything. After taking a hit from the shield and being thrown into the stone-made buttress, any ordinary human should have been left no less lifeless and broken than had she dropped from the rooftop.

And yet—the enemy was not only alive, she was still standing.

Standing, seemingly unharmed, and conscious.

What’s more, her appearance had undergone a dramatic change. The woman’s formerly pale skin now looked nearly black in the moonlight, her light brown hair as well fluttering pale ashen gray in the cool night breeze.

Staring at that inhuman visage, Bramms narrowed his gaze in disgust.

“So you were only ever a monster wearing the guise of a maid?” he remarked. “There’s no end to your tricks, is there? It seems I made a mistake in treating you the same as myself—daemon!”

“I’m nothing of the sort, and you should definitely love yourself more,” Izumi replied, brushing marble dust off her clothes while balancing on the narrow buttress. “And speaking of tricks, if you want to be fair and square with me, then why don’t you tell me where that ridiculous power comes from? The last I checked, people couldn’t smash through solid walls without turning green first. And you would still call yourself ‘human’?”

“There is no trickery in what is plain enough to see,” Bramms answered, leaning on his shield.

“Cut the crap, Bruce.” Izumi frowned. “It’s some kind of a magic item, isn’t it? The shield. My theory is that the one holding it feels none of its weight, while everyone else can still experience its mass normally. That’s the only plausible way to explain why you’d be able to lift such a stupidly heavy thing, and why it still hits so darn hard. Was I right?”

“You’re close,” the man replied. “But it’s actually the opposite of that.”

“The opposite?”

“The shield doesn’t make itself easier for the owner to wield. It makes its owner able to wield it. That’s all.”

“Ehh…?”

Had Izumi’s form not been hardened by Tauhirn, she would have no doubt felt a chill run down her spine.

Not a spell to change the equipment’s physical characteristics for the wielder’s convenience—but magic to elevate man into godhood, simply so that he may hold it.

What an absurd story.

And yet, she had seen more than enough proof of it. That ancient relic had bestowed Bramms the physical abilities that completely disregarded his natural boundaries as a human being. And the subsequent years of field experience had shaped his proficiency with the miraculous armament to the utmost limit. Here, the union between a man and an object had evolved to the level well worth being labeled as genuine “mastery”.

In that case, the countermeasure was simple—break the man’s contact with the shield to negate the enchantment. After that, Bramms of the Grand Shield would be nothing more than a man once again.

But…By what Izumi had seen up until now, it was clear that making Bramms let go of his trump card was anything but an easy task.

“I don’t know who you really are,” he said, “but the Empire doesn’t need dangerous elements like you. Prepare yourself!”

Bending his knees, the man jumped. Pulled by the shield’s mass and momentum, he extended his leap and, using the armament to cover his fall, dropped down onto the buttress where Izumi presently stood.

Watching the human cannonball descend, with no way to stop or counter it, Izumi had no choice but to get out of the way. With both Sifl and Gram active, she could make the jump to the next buttress, with a gap of roughly sixteen feet in between—barely. Her abilities were both improved by the runes as well as hindered by them. With no time to practice and get a good feel of their appended effects, estimating exactly how much strength she had to put into each move was guesswork. Additionally, Tauhirn had increased her mass more than she had thought, and her leap nearly ended up too short. If her reinforced fingers hadn’t sank a bit into the stone arc, she wouldn’t have been able to hold on.

“Crap, this could be bad…!”

On the other hand, the scale and geometry of the battleground didn’t appear to bother Bramms. Crashing into the stone-made bridge as if it were made of sugar, his shield pulverized stone, knocking off the protruding pinnacle completely. Regaining his bearings, he gathered strength and jumped again—or more like, threw his shield and let it drag him across the air—in pursuit of the woman.

In a hurry, Izumi pulled herself up on the arc and rolled out of the way, right as the magic shield sank into the side of the buttress, where she had been. Agile like a trapeze artist, Bramms flung himself high in the air with one arm, cartwheeling over the edge of the shield. Landing firmly back on his feet, he casually tore the disc off the stone and chased after retreating Izumi.

She wasn’t going to get away.

Therefore, Izumi could only master her panic, turn around, and meet the offensive head on. With Iron Hide to protect her, Izumi’s fighting chances were slightly improved. Slightly. Ducking to avoid the first horizontal blow, she parried the following straight thrust. Carefully, she let the shield rim slide along the back of her arm, with an angle as shallow as possible, diverting its course. If the kinetic force could penetrate Tauhirn, the way it had with Waramoti and his Divine protection, her bones underneath the coating would fracture at the slightest miscalculation.

However, Gram complemented Tauhirn to an impeccable degree, reinforcing her muscles under the steely layer. Although just brushing past the shield nearly threw her off-balance, her limb withstood the contact without pain or injury.

Taking a deep, sliding step forward, Izumi was right in front of the warrior.

By basic physics, the closer she could get, the harder it would become for Bramms to fight back with the impractically large weapon. In theory, that is. Again, Izumi discovered her imagination had been unreasonably optimistic. Bramms drew the shield back into his hands, gripping the rim. Izumi discovered she had been left trapped between his arms, body, and the shield. He quickly pulled the shield towards his chest, to crush her neck.

Lowering her posture, Izumi knelt to avoid the metal edge and punched at Bramms’s gut. With her magical reinforcements, her fists were no doubt as dangerous as any metal weapons—but Bramms remained alert. Interrupting his previous move, he slammed down with the flat side of the shield instead, flattening Izumi against the buttress, before she managed to put her full weight into the punch.

Dang! This is bad!

Had she been without the protection of magic, she would’ve been out of the fight already. Tottering on the verge of death, depending on sheer luck to pull through hurt Izumi’s pride as a fighter considerably, but at least she was alive. Her limbs were intact, she was conscious, and able to move. Either Bramms had not been able to put enough strength into the quick counter, or else Tauhirn’s protection was even better than she had dared to hope.

The fight continued uninterrupted.

Bramms lifted his shield up, flipping it around in his hands like a coin, to drop the edge down on the grounded enemy with added power. Simultaneously, Izumi rolled on her back and kicked up against the shield rim with both feet, knocking the man back before he could bring the weapon down. She bounced back up to chase after him, but was foiled once more. Skillfully absorbing the force, Bramms retreated a step and turned like a dancer, letting the massive disc fly around with himself as its axis. Instead of aiming at Izumi, he struck down sideways, at the stone arc they stood on.

“Wah!”

The central blocks were broken away by the blow, right before Izumi’s feet. The part she stood on became loosened as well, and she stumbled back as it disappeared from under her. It seemed the rest of the arc was going to follow the same way, having lost its vital capstone. Their footing turned too precarious, both combatants escaped at the same time, jumping onto the next arc.

With his greater mass, Bramms was there first, immediately sprinting along the narrow ridge towards the spot where Izumi would land. Cursing air resistance, Izumi gave up on trying to fight back here, and continued by leaping immediately for the next arc, right before her position was again destroyed by the orichalcum shield.

Izumi was starting to get the hang of controlling her jump distance, so repeating the motions felt natural, and she kept going. Like this, the two ended up crossing all the way to the corner of the enormous cathedral building, flying along those giant stone ladders, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

You’d need a darn bazooka to stop this monster!

Izumi was running out of ideas. All she could do was keep avoiding the enemy, like a boxer on the ropes, and it didn’t take an expert to tell that she would lose, if things remained this way.

Nevertheless, no openings presented themselves.

In a complex terrain such as this, Izumi should have had the advantage with her higher agility—and yet, the truth of the matter was the exact opposite. Bramms appeared to be right at home here in the heights, where Izumi struggled just to keep her balance. His stone-breaking attacks rained on her like an endless chain, giving her no room to even breathe, let alone turn the tables.

If only I had my sword—Izumi thought for the thousandth time. Although, she knew just as well that it was pointless to complain about things that nothing could be done about.

It’s impossible. I have to get down somehow and try to outrun him.

Resolving to make her escape instead of continuing this senseless struggle, Izumi started to look for a path down to the ground level. Perhaps she could climb along one of the buttress pillars, grabbing straight onto the stone, the way she had done before...Harboring such reckless plans, she reached the corner of the edifice and leaped for the last arc, Bramms close behind in pursuit.

But, unfortunately for Izumi, while she made her plans, her opponent did the same.

Izumi thought she had managed to pull a safe lead on her rival, but in reality, Bramms had given her distance on purpose. By the time she realized why, in midair, it was already too late.

Bramms threw the greatshield.

Predicting the spot where she would land, he jumped—and flung the disc with all his might, sending it spinning after her. Never would she have thought he would deliberately let go of the weapon his power and survival depended on and risk losing it, but he did.

The warrior's superhuman strength behind it, the shield passed the woman in a flash, and dug deep into the narrow stone bridge, right where she was going to fall. Her footing blocked like this, Izumi made a difficult landing, clumsily colliding with the corner of the shield and rolling around it, proceeding to bounce over the edge behind.

Barely catching the corner of the arc as she fell, the woman was left hanging one hundred and fifty feet above the street level, holding on by only four fingers and the bare minimum of supportive contact. She didn't dare to move a muscle, the slightest shifting of weight could have made her slip off. Iron Hide had proved a formidable protection—but like a gauntlet, it also removed the natural inertia and flexibility of the skin, which could have helped secure a better hold. But if she canceled the rune now, it would have only taken a light step on her fingers to send the woman plummeting to her death.

At last, Izumi had been cornered.

Bramms landed nearby. Seizing the shield, he yanked it off the stone and stood above the woman, indomitable and handsome like a Greek sculpture. The fierce fight defying the laws of physics and common sense hadn’t even brought one bead of sweat to his brow.

“This is as far as you go then?” Bramms said to Izumi. “Out of respect for your effort, I can deliver your last words to a person of your choosing, if you so want.”

“I suppose surrender and co-operation aren’t an option anymore?” Izumi asked.

“No,” he said. “As I said, you are shown to be too dangerous to be left alive. The fight could’ve gone either way. Fortunately, it seems you aren’t yet accustomed to your magic. It would be stupid of me to give you a second chance. Which is why...this is goodbye.”

Without further ado, Bramms lifted his shield once more, to send Izumi to certain death. In her eyes, that shield was no different from the hammer of God. A flyswatter. And she felt no stronger than a gnat.

There was no way out.

No conceivable way to stop that blow from descending.

No escape.

Izumi could barely hold onto the edge. If she tried to climb up, she was liable to only mess up. Not that there was such time either. She would get the greatshield in her face in the effort and drop like a rock. Her luck had finally run out.

A month in another world—what a pitifully short time, even if a lot had happened.

As hostile as this world was.

As hopeless as this world was.

As bleak and dangerous as this world was.

She would’ve wanted to see just a little bit more of it——

“…?”

Bramms suddenly felt something cold and tight around his ankle. Defying death by accident, Izumi had let go of her hold to reach up, and grabbed his leg instead.

Of course, there was not much meaning in the effort.

All she had succeeded at was shift the place she hung on. Even with her runes, she didn’t have enough strength to harm him simply by squeezing his ankle, for as long as he was in contact with the shield. Neither did it stop him from striking her down. She should have understood as much. That blind, desperate struggle to survive, even at the cost of denying facts, only looked pathetic and unsightly to him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked in disgust. “You’ve lost! Accept it. Face your end with dignity and grace. Do not embarrass yourself any more than you already have! What would your ancestors think, were they to see you now?”

“...Don’t screw with me.”

“What?”

“Like hell I’ve lost!” Izumi shouted. “So what if it’s not beautiful? I don’t care who’s looking! Don’t my ancestors have anything better to do!? I’ve humiliated myself so many times by now I have no pride or dignity left! I have to live and I’ll drag myself through mud and dirt if I have to! And I’m not dead yet! I’m not giving up——Not while I have even one person out there who still needs me!”

Her hold tightened.

Bramms frowned. It was difficult to estimate exactly how durable the woman’s hardened form was. If the hit wasn’t strong enough to knock her out, it might not break her hold either. No, there was a chance that he could lose his footing and get pulled down along with her. But if he refrained from striking, he would give her the chance to climb back up.

The situation had become quite troublesome.

“Have you gone mad!?” the warrior shouted at Izumi in anger. “What good will it do for you to kill us both!? It won’t change your fate! Your struggle is for nothing! No one will reward you for mutual defeat! Neither of us will be left to celebrate victory! Instead of one meaningless death, there’ll be two! What consolation will that bring you, once you are gone?”

“Well, I won’t feel as lonely on the way down, I guess.”

Pulling her knees up, Izumi kicked off the side of the buttress, still clinging onto Bramms’s ankle, and dragged him over the edge with her. With the large shield in his hands, he failed to get a hold of anything to save himself.

In the next moment, both combatants were left in the mercy of gravity, the cold, harsh pavement below approaching at a staggering velocity. The air resistance tore at them, still powerless to halt their descent. The sense of weightlessness and all it represented was nauseating.

True enough, Izumi’s stunt hadn’t improved her situation one bit. Not even the runes could protect her from such a fall. Rather, in the worst case scenario, they would keep her alive, but with her body horribly broken, at the mercy of the Imperials. It was certainly not the kind of an ending she had wanted, but now that it was fast on the way, she realized she felt no fear.

In fact, her mind was left completely blank.

What should she do, what should she try, she couldn’t come up with anything. She couldn't think at all. Her remaining lifespan was on a rapidly dwindling countdown, and it simply couldn’t be helped.

However, her opponent had not yet resigned to his fate.

“I’m not joining you in death!” Bramms grunted, turning his shield behind his back and taking cover behind it. Besides improving its holder’s physical abilities, the greatshield also excelled in its original purpose—absorbing impacts. He wouldn’t escape unscathed, but, with luck, he would survive. And time would heal broken bones. As a hero, he had the best care in the Empire to look forward to.

Izumi watched him fall, like a chick taking cover in the broken shell of its egg.

“There’s some idea to that,” she noted.

Sticking her arms along her body to speed up her fall, the way she had seen skydivers do on TV, Izumi caught up with Bramms and grabbed him.

“What do you think you’re doing? Unhand me!” he yelled at her.

“I just thought two pillows are better than one.”

“Ha—!?”

Recalling the invaluable ways of breaking a fall, taught in the many martial arts courses out there, Izumi pulled her arms and legs together, her chin tightly against her chest, with both the greatshield and the muscular body of the warrior under her. Moreover, the runes remained active.

However, in the process, Bramms was left between Izumi’s reinforced body and the orihalcum shield, like a tomato between a hammer and an anvil.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA——!”

BOOM. The touchdown was less extravagant than one might imagine. No large craters or showy explosions. It was only about as impressionable as dropping a heavy, hard object on the pavement could be, regardless of height.

As expected, the shield withstood the collision impeccably, the meager mass on it unable to leave even a dent on its beautiful form. After all, there were not many materials in the world more durable than orichalcum.

The same couldn’t be said about its owner.

Despite the chestplate on him, Izumi felt the man’s body give in under her, in a way that couldn’t be called healthy. The light armor vest was crushed. His rib cage, lungs, and various other organs had to have received critical damage. An obscene burst of blood was instantaneously discharged from his nose and mouth, making it evident that parts critical to human life and functionality had been obliterated.

Izumi briefly blacked out because of the sudden stop, unconsciously dispelling the runic effects. Shaking her head, she soon stirred, and cautiously lifted herself to look around, dazed and dizzy. Disregarding the fatigue from the battle and a few bruises, found herself otherwise intact.

The warrior under her laid crushed and still, the red mist of his expelled blood raining down on the two.

“Was I that heavy? Sorry if it hurt, but better you than me—wah!”

Suddenly, large hands seized Izumi's neck.

Bramms abruptly revived and opened his eyes. His red-dyed face horribly distorted by wrath and agony, he exerted the last of his strength to take revenge on his enemy. How dreadful was the vitality lurking in that body, to keep him alive even after enduring such horrible damage? His grotesque tenacity left Izumi at a loss, gasping for air. Even near death, his fingers had enough power to snap her neck, and that pressure was rapidly increasing.

A chilling roar of rage erupted from the ruined hero’s throat, thick blood pouring through his teeth, as he put his everything into crushing his final foe.

“RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!”

The runes were inactive.

With not even enough air left to whisper, Izumi was powerless to defend herself. She had managed to cheat death to get this far, against all odds—only to have her life squeezed out of her by those vengeful hands. Her neckbones were creaking, starry mist clouding her vision.

“Gh...ha...hn…!”

What are you doing, me…!?After everything, I can’t let this be the end of me…!

Adrenaline surging through Izumi, the approach of death forced her clouded mind to work again. The survival instincts laying dormant in each and every one surfaced for one last attempt to defy the end, forcefully restoring her mental faculties.

Why had she given up on hope?

Bramms wasn’t holding his shield anymore.

At the moment, they were both only human. Only a man and a woman. With a clear, wide gap in strength, yes, but it was to overcome such natural differences that various techniques of self-defense had been invented.

“...Hn…!”

Izumi moved her hands and sought the thumbs digging into her jugular. Forcing her own fingers under those clumsy, root-like stumps, she twisted them outward and down, slowly forcing his hold apart. No matter who it is, ten fingers will be stronger than only two. After the first half an inch, she had opened her windpipe enough to get air in her lungs again, and with oxygen, her strength was rapidly restored.

Applying more power, Izumi forced Bramms’s large hands further open, and as soon as the gap was wide enough for her neck, she slipped away from his hold.

Freed, the woman leaped back up to her feet like frenzied cat.

Overtaken by a primal blend of rage and terror, she grabbed the edge of the greatshield, and pulled it from under the man, as if it were a mere rag. Briefly lifting the vast disc high above her head, she tore it back down, slamming it side down on the warrior's throat. The shield dived a third of its width into the pavement, decapitating the poor champion, concluding his mortal suffering in an instant.

For a moment, Izumi stood over the body of her opponent, rubbing her neck, coughing, catching her ragged breath, trying to convince herself that it was over.

It was finally over.

Somehow, she had survived one more battle.

Izumi looked around, disoriented, trying to recall where she was and what she was supposed to do next. Even this late at night, there were citizens still walking around. Those closest to the scene of murder shrieked in terror and fled at one glance upon the woman.

“AAAHH!”

“A DAEMON! A MONSTER—!”

Izumi touched her face, wet with the blood of her mauled foe. She looked behind and up, seeing the badly damaged exterior of the ancient cathedral. Even now, large pieces of stone kept breaking off and falling from the fractured building.

More loud yelling turned her head the other way again. Along the street, guards were fast approaching, alerted by the screams and the noise of combat. There were even knights on horseback, carrying large halberds, all headed her way.

“Seriously, give me a break, guys…!”

Of course, they would give her nothing of the sort. With no more time to gather her depleted strength and thoughts, Izumi dashed the other way, towards the dark waves of the river Thuleios, far beyond which Selenoreion slumbered.

5

The Emperor’s carriage reached the palace gates. The man climbed out, Yuliana following after him. They hadn’t spoken a word on the whole way back from the cathedral. Her hands trembled. She felt sick. What was going on? What had happened to Izumi? Why had the Divines appeared at the cathedral? So many questions and so little answers. Everything was so weird, she couldn’t stand it.

Before the open palace gates, a platoon of Imperial guards awaited them. In the middle of the yard, between the soldiers’ divided ranks, stood a tall elven woman in a black dress. Yuliana faintly recalled having seen her sometime before. That’s right, on the night of their arrival, that woman had stood by the throne, though the princess hadn’t seen this enigmatic figure even once since.

“Any news?” The Emperor paused before the elf and asked, his face downcast and his voice barely audible.

“Soldiers are in pursuit as we speak,” she answered him. “But it seems that the target fled into the river to elude them. Guards are sweeping the shores, but it will take time to arrange for boats and hounds. Searching the river in the dark will be difficult and time-consuming. It is unlikely they can pick up the trail before morning.”

“I see,” he remarked, showing little of neither anger nor disappointment at the news. “What of Bramms?”

The woman shook her head.

“Deceased. Nothing could be done.”

The Emperor closed his eyes with a pained, powerless face.

“...So, it was all according to plan then?”

“Not quite,” the unknown lady told him. “But within acceptable parameters, I suppose.”

“Then this is it for me,” his majesty said.

“I believe it is too soon to declare so.”

“Come now, milady. I know well enough what awaits me. No need to sugarcoat things at this point.”

“I’m sorry,” Yuliana interjected, stepping forward. “Could someone please tell me what is going on in this city? Because I’ve about had enough of being treated like someone’s toy in a pretentious power game!”

The Emperor gave her a horribly tired, blank look, as if not even recognizing her.

“Ah, it'll be all right, your highness,” he told her after a pause, as if comforting a child. “Don't be afraid. Carmelia will show you back to your quarters. You’ll be safe there. I shall see you again another time...if fate so allows.”

His voice was disconcertingly monotonous and without spirit. Not saying anything else, the Emperor went on through the gates, escorted by his knights. What a shame, Yuliana thought. Amid all those valiant protectors, he looked more like a prisoner than any real criminal the princess had ever known.

Meanwhile, the elven woman turned to the princess with a polite smile that only had a hint of sadness to it.

“Your highness, pardon my late introduction,” she said. “I am Carmelia, one of the Court Wizards of the Empire. I understand that the events of tonight have been shocking to you, but I assure that all will be made clear in due time. Not now, for I fear that openly stating certain facts could give you a misleading impression of the situation. I will have to ask that you bear with the ignorance for a while longer, until certain matters are resolved. There is no reason to be alarmed. I am confident that no danger is presently directed your way, and that everything will turn out for the best.”

“I see,” the princess said with slight reservation. “I am honored to finally meet you in person, Lady Carmelia. I have heard good things about you from our mutual friend, Colonel Marafel. Because of her words, I shall trust in yours, even when reason and experience beg to doubt the hope they offer.”

“My, I am fortunate to be rated so highly,” the sorceress’s smile slightly widened. “Wherever the good Colonel goes, my blessings shall go with her.”

“Thank you,” Yuliana replied. “I know master well enough to tell that she’ll get by somehow, with or without blessings. On the other hand, I happen to know certain other people who can’t seem to ever stay out of trouble, no matter how you tell them to be wiser. What would your grace say to such people, that would finally get through to their heads, if you found the chance?”

“How amusing,” Carmelia answered. “By chance, I have very recently come to know some such people myself. That specific sort of personality traits appear relatively common among you humans. I have not yet figured out how to sway them with words alone, but I do mean to keep a very close eye on their development, if that is of any consolation to your highness.”

“Though I cannot be sure of your meaning, I do find my worries mysteriously alleviated,” Yuliana nodded. “Thank you. Meeting your grace has been a pleasure.”

“I should say likewise,” Carmelia bowed her head. “And will look forward to our next meeting—which will not be very far off, unless I am quite mistaken.”

Giving a wordless farewell to the elven lady, Yuliana let herself be escorted away, back to her lonely tower residence. Her future looked almost unbearably uncertain and she still had very little answers. But after meeting the Court Wizard, the princess found that she could still bring herself to have a bit of hope. Faith, that things would start to turn for the better from here.

Although, in this innocent wish, she was slightly mistaken.