Execution by Witch Hunter

In the shopping streets of Alsamira, the shadows of night deepened, and blowing

through the gaps of buildings was a wind cold enough to chill anyone to their core.

"This is bad. It's gotten so late."

While dragging along a travel cart, Alice wound her way through the silent main roads

with long strides. She had crossed the sprawling desert and the suburbs lined with

luxury homes in a taxi. A few moments ago, she had arrived at the shopping street.

…Rin looked up the hotel where Sisbell was staying.

…But I guess it's dinnertime? Or she might already be sleeping by now.

She had been hoping to invite her sister out to dinner. But because they had found

those eerie tracks crossing the desert, the bus had unsurprisingly been delayed.

They were footprints, traces of something much larger than a human lurking in the

desert.

Whatever had passed through must have been much larger than any human. Based on

the traces of machine oil, Alice had deduced the culprit was likely one of the

mechanized soldiers from the Empire. That was why she had been quick to run toward

them.

"I thought the Empire had sent it over, intending to invade this country… but that

doesn't feel right."

The outskirts of town and the streets were quiet. If even a single machinated soldier

had stepped foot in those places, the guards would have been making a scene.

"…Lady Alice?"

"What?"

She heard a voice from right in front of her. It was almost as though her eyes hadn't

even registered the senior who had walked up. Her head had been occupied with

thoughts about the nature of the footprints and hypothetical conversations with her

sister.

"I knew it! It is you, Lady Alice!"

It was the older gentleman wearing a perfect suit. It was the keeper Shuvalts. He had

been Sisbell's attendant since her youth—the one and only servant who had known

what was on Sisbell's mind since she began sequestering herself in her room.

"Shuvalts. What a coincidence…"

She was suddenly flustered on the inside.

If this man was in the shopping district, that meant that Sisbell had to be somewhere

nearby. Oh no! I'm not prepared! I never imagined I would accidentally bump into them

so soon.

"Uh, is Sisbell—?"

"Have you seen Lady Sisbell?!"

"…Excuse me?"

What did that mean?

Had her sister been separated from her keeper?

"I haven't been able to get into contact with her. She told me she had several matters

she needed to attend to alone."

"What?"

I need details. Now. Under the streetlamps, Alice took a step toward the older man—

Fwoosht , a bluish light zipped through the empty sky.

"Huh?!"

It came from the outskirts of town, far from the shopping district. It was where Alice

had been.

…It's far away, even farther than the vacation homes in the residential areas… Could that

be coming from above the oil drilling facility?

The light melted into the black of night instantly, but if she could see it on the ground

from this distance, it must have been blinding.

Alice thought it looked similar to the telltale light of astral energy.

"Lady Alice, what's wrong?"

The older man looked at Alice, seemingly not noticing the light behind him. She was

sure there were no other people who had witnessed it from the streets or the hotel

windows.

"It can't be. But it can't be anyone besides the Imperial Army!"

The footprints in the desert came back to her mind. She doubted that the Imperial Army

would openly attack this country, but Alice currently knew the Empire had plenty of

motives.

There was a purebred witch here—Sisbell. The Imperial Army would have no

reservations when it came to the daughter of the Sovereignty's queen.

…But why would they know Sisbell's location?… Very few know that she's away.

That included Alice, the queen, and their oldest sister, Elletear.

The Zoa and Hydra Houses had their own intelligence networks, which meant they

might have had some intel. But that should have been all.

Had someone sold Sisbell out to the Empire?

"You need to think about that later, Alice," she said to herself. "There's a chance that

there are Imperial soldiers sneaking around. If that light was part of a battle…"

"Lady Alice?"

"Shuvalts, I'll leave my things with you. Please wait for orders here until you hear back

from Sisbell!"

She abandoned the cart and ran into the night, heading toward the outskirts—to the

oil drilling facility that bordered the desert.

"The Imperial Army chose the wrong person to cross."

She cut through the freezing wind. She didn't care that they were estranged. Sisbell

was weak. Her sister couldn't protect herself all alone.

In that case… she had an obligation to protect her younger sister.

"I won't forgive anyone who puts a hand on Sisbell!"

Astral power research was the one field of study forbidden within the Empire, but

there was an exception: the single accumulation of intellect called "Omen."

It was an astral power research institute that had been established through a vote by

the Eight Great Apostles. One of the things that had come out of that institute was the

Object. The Witch Hunter. The executioner and soldier.

And it was in front of her very eyes.

"…Wh-what is this, Iska?" Sisbell looked up in fear. "Why is it chasing after me? You

weren't the one… who suggested that they send this weapon after all this time, were

you?"

"I don't have that kind of authority. I stopped being a Saint Disciple a year ago."

"…"

Sisbell must have understood that. Iska had lost his position as a Saint Disciple. That

had been his punishment after breaking her out of prison.

"In that case…" The princess bit her lip. "Why are you doing this now? Didn't you say

that you wouldn't be my ally?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"Then why are you here and—?"

"It was the same a year ago."

"What?"

"It was the same a year ago. I'm an Imperial soldier, and you're a Sovereign mage. I

can't be your ally, but I helped you out anyway. I haven't changed since then."

"…"

"I have my reasons, too… I have a whole mountain of things I haven't told you about."

Iska carried the pair of astral swords—one white and the other black—that he had

inherited from his master in the past and turned to face the "mobile weapon."

"Restraint target 'Purebred 9LC.'"

This weapon could distinguish only between "enemies" and "non-enemies." Anyone

who interfered with it restraining a witch was considered the former. That was

because an Imperial soldier saving a witch was unthinkable. It had been programmed

to think that way.

"We're going to destroy this thing. My friends are stopping that masked guy from

chasing after you."

The ones who had destroyed the Object were Sovereign astral mages. Things could get

messy if Lord Mask made his appearance if Iska was trying to deceive headquarters.

"…You're going to help me?"

"Short answer, yes. At least, we're not planning on handing you off to the Object or

Lord Mask."

"Nh!"

The petite princess turned her face down. She still had a lot more growing to do

compared to her sister Alice.

"…Iska," she said in her youthful voice. "You're so unfair. You're always leading me on…

and it makes me want to depend on you…"

"That is a separate conversation."

The mechanized soldier began to rev. After a beat, Iska launched off the ground. The

Object waved the reinforced ceramic long sword from its steel arm that protruded

from its back.

"Nene, let's go with the usual plan."

"Leave it to me!"

He ran straight at the Object from the front on his own.

…It's gone into auto-elimination mode… and is treating me as an enemy already.

He was the witch's ally. In other words, he was the Empire's enemy.

A blade of wind roared through the space.

The machinated soldier had adapted to the deep night by its jet-black exterior, and

even the arm that gripped its sword was gray. It was difficult to see the blade, but Iska

took his best aim and brought down his black astral sword.

"Ha!"

"—"

They were the only pair of astral swords in the world.

His opponent was wielding a ceramic long sword that had been reinforced with

refined crystal through techniques developed in the Empire. Both blades could cut

through steel, crossing each other.

And then they bounced off each other.

"…Gah?"

The ear-piercing grating of metals echoed, and Iska felt himself flying through the air.

On impact, he was sent toward the fence that surrounded the oil drilling equipment.

"Whoa, Iska?!"

"Iska!"

Nene and Sisbell shouted.

Like a cat, he flipped through the air and barely managed to land on his two feet as he

approached the fence from behind.

…It's like a tiger against a mouse… I knew that going into this, but it's not a match for a

human.

The mass of steel must have neared a weight of eleven tons, driven by kinetic energy.

If he could only use physical strength, he would be unilaterally outdone.

"I hate that I can't tell what it's thinking…"

It didn't have a moment of buildup before it moved like a human. And because its steel

arm was attached to its back, its movements were incredibly difficult to capture. It was

fundamentally different from a human swordsman.

"I'll try again—"

He put the white sword away in its sheath. If his opponent wasn't an astral mage, this

wasn't the time to use the white blade. He let his free left hand join his right hand and

supported the black blade with a two-handed grip.

"This is it."

He avoided the reinforced ceramic long sword and circled around to the side of the

Object. Before its gigantic revolving form could follow him, Iska aimed for its steel legs

and brought down his sword.

CRUNCH.

The astral blade had been stopped… by the other hand that came from the Object's

back—by the wall created by the riot shield.

"…This isn't any normal shield."

The shield had been created as a countermeasure against witches and sorcerers, made

with the goal of defending against fire, water, and lightning types of astral power. On

the other hand, it lacked strength. All it could do was just about stop a bullet from a

handgun.

"One cut, huh."

He had left a light dent with his sword on the thick shield. How many times would it

take until the shield broke?

"Iska! Wh-what's giving you so much trouble?!" Sisbell was shouting from where she

was withdrawn near the fence. "You call yourself a Saint Disciple? Don't you have… a

stronger skill? Like a secret trick! An ace up your sleeve! Something! Anything?!"

"A secret what?"

"S-something!"

"Nope."

"Excuse me?!"

"I specialize in anti–astral mage stuff."

That was because he had been trained that way under the instruction of the strongest

swordsman in the Empire. If he was facing an astral mage, he would have been able to

even keep up with one of the Founder's descendants.

On the other hand, when it came to hand-to-hand combat, he was perfectly mediocre,

if Iska was to fight other Saint Disciples. Getting to the top was almost unattainable

for him. That was his destiny because Iska was a swordsman. He had astral swords

that specialized in fighting astral attacks.

"Wh-what?! You only specialize in astral mages…?"

"You heard me."

…Even if I haven't fought in front of Sisbell before… hasn't she at least heard about me

from Alice?

When he thought about it, Kissing had also not known about Iska's swords. He had

thought that the royal family connected by the Founder's blood would have all shared

the knowledge of his swords' secrets.

"To be honest, I'm not really compatible with this kind of opponent. I can't fight large

things."

"…Th-then what are we going to do?!" Sisbell shrieked.

"Nene!" Iska jumped away from the ceramic long sword that came down on him. "How

many more seconds?"

"I think I'm ready to go. I've finished transmitting our coordinates!" yelled back the

girl with the ponytail. "I did it really fast, but I think that the trajectory is correct!"

She raised her palm directly into the air, holding up a mechanism in the shape of a ring

on her pinkie finger. Did the witch notice it was flashing?

"Satellite 'the Star of Tetrabiblos.' A piercing shot!"

When Nene yelled out her instructions, there was a huge explosion, and the Object's

riot shield was blown to smithereens. There had been a shell dropping down from a

high altitude, released from high in the sky above the clouds. It had hit the shield with

accurate aim.

"What?… Huh?… Wh-what was that just now?!" Sisbell's eyes opened wide.

What in the world had happened? They were right in the middle of the desert. Where

hadtheshellcomeflyingfrom?Shehadn'tseenatanknearbywithammunition.

It had all been made possible with the satellite weapon, the Star of Tetrabiblos. The

Department of Suppression Weapons Development had launched it into the sky in the

past and left it in Nene's care.

It was like a pet that was attached by the hip to its owner. This satellite weapon moved

through the sky, adjusting its location according to Nene's position.

"The one in charge of our unit's firepower isn't me… It's Nene."

"And again!" Nene cried.

Another shot broke the ceramic long sword into pieces, making its way through the

armor. She had wanted a piercing shot. The shells were hard and heavy. When they

could accelerate during a free fall from high up in the air, they had been able to break

the Object's sword and shield.

"We've got one left, Iska!"

"Got it."

With the next shot, they would break through the Object's armor, and Iska would

destroy the exposed machinery that drove it.

Psht. He heard air whooshing out of something.

The imposing sound echoed, and the armor covering the Object burst open.

"We did it! We broke through the armor! Okay, Iska, hurry and get the machine—"

prompted Sisbell.

"…"

"Iska?"

"That's not what happened," Nene answered. "I haven't ordered the third one. That

wasn't my ammunition just now."

"Wh-what does that mean…?"

"Rejecting… armor detachment."

It was as though the Object were shedding its skin. One and then two of the outermost

layers on the gigantic machine peeled off and dropped to the ground.

…Why is it taking off its own armor?… I've never seen anything move this fast in automatic

mode before , Iska thought.

Nene hadn't, either. She tried determining what had happened to the machine before

her eyes and gulped.

"Suspend primary energy supply. Converting to secondary source."

The Witch Hunter started to transform after its sword and shield had been destroyed,

abandoning the armor that protected it.

"Wh-what is this machine?! Iska?!"

"…This is my first time seeing an Object like this."

It was like a bipedal mechanical beast. After peeling off its armor, all that was left was

a wide-open hollow like a beast's maw. Iska saw an eerie blue spark coming to life

inside it.

"What is that…?"

The glow was released from the entire machine, gathered at the center of the gigantic

mouth. The oil drilling facilities in the night lit everything up as though it was midday.

"What is this…? Iska, there's something wrong with that light. It's too strong!" Nene

yelled. She narrowed her eyes against the blinding light. "This isn't electricity. It's not

fuel. What…? What could be the source of this power…?"

"It's the light from astral energy !" Sisbell exclaimed.

Shiver.

Iska ran as fast as he could to Nene.

"Get down, Nene!"

When he grabbed on to the girl with the ponytail, he threw himself down onto the

hard ground.

"Life-form integra—cannon for planetary disassembly."

It was "something" that had been turned into a flash. The belt of light made a highpitched sound, blowing through the space that Iska and Nene had been standing in

and heading to the oil drilling equipment behind them.

It burned through the fence and cut through a gigantic steel crane like butter, melting

it in half. It burned through the empty air.

The flame that burned through the heavens, scorching the drilling area.

When the hellfire and sparks blazed, it turned into a disastrous scene, as though the

blaze at the prison spire in Alcatroz were being revived.

…Was that just one shot?… That single flash made a mass of steel melt and already

started fires.

This was no laughing matter. If this were brought out onto the battlefield, the Imperial

soldiers and everything else would get caught up in the blast, ally or not, and result in

total destruction.

"Iska."

Nene's face was pale, illuminated by the embers. She was pointing at the Object,

slender now that it had shed its outer armor.

"There has definitely got to be something in the machinery in there."

"…Yeah."

He gripped his astral swords. He didn't know whether the cold sweat on his forehead

came from the blaze itself.

"Object! Your light…" Then he yelled, "What are you hiding inside you?"

In the oil drilling facility, near its entrance, two Imperial soldiers were lit by the

illumination of the streetlamps as they ran past the front of the prefabricated

warehouses.

"Jh-Jhin, this is bad! They're coming after us!"

"Boss, hurry up and get over here!"

The petite captain looked desperate as she ran over the asphalt road, and the silverhaired sniper sprinted by her side.

They dove behind the warehouses.

The bright lights of the oil drilling machinery didn't reach that far. If they kept

themselves hidden, even wild beasts wouldn't have been able to find them.

"L-looks like they haven't found us…"

"Don't stick your face out. We still don't know what kind of astral powers they can

weaponize."

If they had scouting or searching abilities, then they could have even sensed the body

heat where they were hidden. At the moment, all they could do was pray that their

opponents couldn't do that.

"The Empire is only aware of a handful of astral powers, and even if two people are

fire types, they can use them in an infinite number of ways. There's no such thing as

too much caution."

"…Y-yeah," Mismis answered hesitantly, intently looking at Jhin's right arm in the

darkness. She was staring at his torn battle uniform. The fabric at his right elbow had

been ripped, and there was some faint red welt on his exposed arm.

"Um, uh, sorry… I didn't notice…"

"There's nothing we can do about it. I would have still gotten hit if I was in your

position. Besides, it was my fault. Iska warned me."

Be careful of the masked man.

He could interfere with space and time, which was an incredibly rare ability. He

seemed to be able to move as though he were leaping through space, going around to

the back of his targets—without making a sound.

"What was that again about 'tying things up neatly right here'? That fraud." He spoke

calmly.

The masked man had tried to stab Mismis in the back. Right as the man had teleported

behind her and tried to kill her, Jhin barely managed to fire his gun and fend him off.

"The Imperial assassin's unit was freaked out, too. This guy's not a sorcerer—he's an

assassin."

Jhin had doubted his eyes when he saw Iska's wounded back after the battle over the

vortex.

To think Iska had been taken from the back. That was the former Saint Disciple they

were talking about.

He wondered how many masters would be able to do that if he searched through the

entire Empire. His doubt was finally undone now.

"…I—I wonder if he's a purebred?"

"Most likely. I don't think the world would last long if tons of people like him were

around."

He tore the cloth around his cut and exposed more of his wound.

He held his arm and applied pressure on it until he started to bleed. He was making

preparations in case the knife had been tainted with poison, trying to take drastic

measures by squeezing out the poison along with his blood.

"But we haven't got any problems. Iska and Nene will destroy the Object. We'll pretend

they did it and evacuate."

Their opponents were five mages, including a purebred.

They only had two people. Trying to fight would come with huge risks. The two of

them hadn't come to fight. They were still in the middle of their extended vacation. If

they could just buy some time, that was enough.

Though, to be honest, Jhin wanted to catch them off guard…

"Boss, have you seen that blond girl Iska was talking to before?"

"Oh! I guess that bothered you, too. I haven't seen her before, either."

She had been facing Iska. Before they could get close enough to listen to the

conversation, the blond girl had turned her back on Iska and started running.

"It looked to me like the Object went flying after her."

"Th-then is she a witch?!"

"Plus, the masked guy said something like, We're taking our kindred and going home.

In other words, he was after the blond chick."

He leaned out of the warehouse slightly. After checking several times that he couldn't

see anyone on the road, Jhin sighed.

"But this is what gets me. I wonder if she's a big deal?"

"Huh? Wh-who?"

"I know she's a witch, but she's just a little girl. And there are five full-grown adults

trying to take her home, including that purebred masked guy."

"Oh?! I—I see!"

"She must be important. They don't seem like they're 'taking her home.' With the force

they're using, it looks like they're 'dragging her back.' I think…"

"Looks like you've teased out the details with a little game of detective."

The voice came from above them, but when Jhin and Mismis looked up, all they could

see was faint light from the stars.

"A snake in the grass. I think it best you don't stick your head into this if you don't want

to get hurt."

It was coming from the roof of the warehouse. With the light behind him, the masked

man was staring right down at them.

"We'll shut you up."

"Jump!" Jhin pushed the captain's back as he leaped out from the shadow of the

warehouse.

Sparks flared up. Before they could blink, the warehouse was enveloped in flames. It

seemed to have caught fire using astral magic.

"Are you out of your minds…?!" Mismis hollered with disheveled blue hair. "This isn't

a battlefield! This is an establishment in either the Empire or the Sovereignty…!"

"Don't worry about it."

The masked man jumped down from the burning warehouse, leaping from a height of

three stories. But the only impact from his pliable fall was taken by the tips of his

shoes.

"You will be the ones wanted for destroying personal property. We were the ones who

stopped you when you went on a rampage. You won't even need to stand witness."

The losers would shoulder all blame for the crimes. He had flipped their attempt to

put the blame of the Object's destruction onto the Sovereignty.

"You have nothing to worry about. Just relax."

White fog began to gather. They doubted it was a naturally occurring phenomenon in

the desert. The mist approached Jhin and Mismis with unusual speed, as though it

were trying to engulf them.

"Again? Boss, over here!"

Jhin launched off the ground, clucking his tongue and jumping away from the fog. This

mist had been created through astral power. But that itself couldn't hurt them. The

dangerouspartwasthatitcouldblindpeoplefromotherastralattacks.

…Splish. They heard the sound of dripping water from immediately behind them.

"Jhin, it's coming from behind us !"

"I know."

The green liquid was stealthily slithering toward his shoes. The liquid was filled with

bumpy bubbles. Some kind of paralyzing poison. If their ankles were submerged in it,

they would be rendered immobilized. If it got onto his arms, he wouldn't be able to

hold his gun.

"This is getting annoying." Jhin clucked his tongue.

The sniper's normal abilities were considerably restrained in the melee.

After reading the terrain and the direction of the wind… and in just a few seconds, he

could even see the movements of the enemy, right down to the trajectory of their fired

shots. With inhuman focus, he would hone his senses and shoot at the most important

actors in the enemy group. The front guard would support him. If Iska had been there,

he would have taken all the fire from the five mages and made an "opening" for Jhin to

shoot Lord Mask.

The sniper didn't have a solid grip on time or space.

"I can be a decoy…," Mismis offered.

"Not a chance. You can't just do stuff like you did in the prison spire. Think about how

you can fight with the hand you've been dealt."

He held his sniper rifle and rolled along the ground. He didn't even have time to look

through the scope. He attempted a split-second feat to aim at Lord Mask.

"Oh? You seem to be an acrobat, sniper."

"Don't move. I don't like wasting bullets."

"As you wish."

The masked man's form wavered and disappeared. After a moment, Jhin heard the

sound of a quiet footstep immediately behind him.

"You need not worry. I'll end things before you even need to fire your precious bullets."

"You're right." He wrenched his body around as fast as he could.

…This is the third time. I knew the sorcerer would definitely aim for my back.

He stopped the knife that the masked man had brought up. The moment that Jhin saw

the knife's blade glitter in the night at the edge of his vision, it disappeared from in

front of him.

"You thought I could only teleport myself?"

The knife had gone from the man's right hand to his left, transporting through space.

Jhin's right hand had been trying to grab the knife, but it cut through the empty air.

Instead, he was stabbed deeply by the blade.

"Jhin?!" Mismis yelled.

"Looks like you can't carry your sniper gun anymore."

"I don't need it."

He brought up his left hand. The silver-haired sniper was carrying an automatic pistol

hidden in the palm of his hand. Though it didn't have dependable firepower, at this

distance, he wasn't scared of missing.

"No!"

"I told you. You're pretty clever, but you're prone to thinking in circles."

Jhin would have predicted the man would go around to his back. Even if he brought a

knife down on the sniper, Jhin would have dodged a fatal wound. In that case, he would

have aimed for the sniper's right arm, which carried his gun. If he could no longer use

his weapon, he was nothing to fear.

Jhin had perfectly predicted Lord Mask's ideas in a split second.

"You knew what I was after—"

"Of course."

He couldn't teleport fast enough.

The gun fired.

The gunpowder exploded out of Jhin's gun. It hit. He had no way of protecting himself.

Even Lord Mask had readied himself in that moment.

But the bullet stopped.

Metal scraped against something. Something on the other side of the black suit that

Lord Mask wore, under the fabric, had stopped the bullet.

"…What?!"

"How unfortunate for you, Imperial soldier. Well, I was surprised by your cleverness."

A hole had opened in the chest of his black clothes.

Peeking out from the hole was a tiny, broken device that had stopped the bullet. It was

the recording device that had documented Iska and Sisbell's conversation.

In exchange for losing his proof that would condemn Sisbell, the masked sorcerer had

won.

"The planet has smiled favorably upon me!" He punched away Jhin's handgun.

"Stop!"

"Too late."

As the masked man calmly walked away, he kicked Mismis to the ground as she tried

to run to them. He was staggering slightly from the impact of getting shot in the chest.

"I wouldn't want to catch fire after finding out you have a grenade or something else

hidden away. I will be making my escape."

"…What… did you say?" Jhin wiped at his split lip with his hand. "What was that about

catching fire?"

"We've found it. Before we could think of checking on your hiding place in the

warehouse, we searched the grounds. And then we found this."

A gigantic barrel rolled down the road. Its top had been forcibly removed, and the

liquid was covering the ground. The black liquid released an intense stench. It was…

"Gasoline?!"

"This is an oil drilling facility. Of course there would be refined oil around."

In total, there had to be at least sixty gallons of it.

The gasoline wasn't just pooling into a puddle. It had become as large as a small lake.

And it seemed to be surrounding Jhin and Mismis.

The five mages standing in front of them were keeping their distance from the

gasoline. That meant one thing.

"They say in the past that our great Revered Founder turned the Imperial capital into

a sea of flames. I think a little reprisal wouldn't be so bad."

The masked man raised both his hands.

"Think of this as the flame of our revenge!"

This was bad. The silver-haired sniper gnashed his molars.

"Boss, run! You'll get caught in the flames!"

"…"

"Boss?"

"…No!"

The blue-haired captain grabbed Jhin from behind, refusing to leave his side.

"I can't run away on my own."

"Gh."

The poison was making Jhin's legs cramp. Lord Mask had stabbed him with a knife

blade coated with astral poison that had brought about this terrible paralysis. It

concentrated in his arm, then circulated to the rest of his body.

Astral poison would disappear within a few hours, but they didn't have a few seconds

until they would be surrounded by fire. Mismis had gathered that.

"It's fine. Let's run."

"Liar! No, Jhin, I—"

"Love is so beautiful… But that won't save your subordinate, Miss Incompetent Little

Captain."

With the moon behind him, Lord Mask snapped his fingers at the fire mage waiting

behind him.

"Light it up."

Nothing happened.

"...What's going on?" Lord Mask turned around to the guards behind him with

frustration. He turned to one of the four guards in particular.

"Did you not hear my order?"

"I… I am sorry…!"

It was the voice of a young girl, though it was impossible to guess the ages of any of

the helmeted guards.

"…I can't produce any fire!"

"What?"

The witch wearing a hide pilot suit pulled off her glove and threw it away. There was

a bright-red astral crest on the back of her hand. As though trying to appeal to Lord

Mask, it glowed with power.

She was using her abilities, but no flame appeared.

"Then you—"

"I-it's the same for me…!" another sorcerer answered.

They couldn't use their astral abilities. Even though their astral crests glowed, they

could barely manage to create a passing breeze.

"…Wait. What is this wind? " The purebred from the House of Zoa raised his face.

He had just picked up on it. The wind wasn't cold. If they were in the desert, it should

have been cold enough to chill him to the bone.

But then what about this wind?

It was warm, almost like a spring breeze.

"This isn't from the desert… It can't be!"

All five pairs of the astral mages' eyes gathered to one spot… to the Imperial members

there… to the Imperial soldier who was an enemy of the Nebulis Sovereignty… to the

captain… and to her left shoulder.

"What is that astral crest?!"

A brilliant emerald light had appeared from Mismis's left shoulder, wrapping around

her like a flowing current and spreading through the air. It had produced this wind.

The planet… had not smiled upon Lord Mask, who had used the vortex as an execution

device.

It had chosen the woman whose body had been offered to the vortex.

"I see."

A cold smile seeped out from under his mask.

"I never would have guessed you would have ended up like this after coming back from

the vortex alive. What is with this wind? I suppose it is a subspecies of wind types."

It wasn't just any normal breeze. It must have been more than a simple gale. This didn't

explain why the fire types were ineffective.

"Imperial Captain, do you even know about your astral powers?"

"—" The captain just gritted her teeth and elected not to answer.

She didn't even know what was happening herself. If anything, she hadn't understood

why Lord Mask and the others had stopped their attack.

"Still in the process of awakening , huh." He tapped on the edge of his mask. "How

curious. You have passed through the vortex's trial. Well, Imperial Captain, though I

am not satisfied, it seems that the planet has chosen you."

"…"

"And your astral powers are incredibly interesting. What would you think of becoming

my—?"

There was a gunshot.

Jhin had fired one bullet—which pierced the purebred's mask.

"Shut up."

Mismis was holding on to him as tightly as she could from behind.

"Don't you dare defile my boss with your dirty words," the silver-haired sniper spat

out.

…Crack.

With a dry noise, the metal mask broke in half from the forehead and fell to the ground.

Right before his bare face could be exposed, the masked man used one of his hands to

cover it up.

"I see." His words were even colder than they had ever been before.

The glint of his eyes was more brilliant than the twinkle of the stars from between the

gaps of his fingers.

"…It seems the time is ripe, guards. We have dillydallied too long," he said to the four

guards behind him.

"Remember this," he said to the two Imperial soldiers in front of him. "This was an

enjoyable little soiree. As a token of my thanks, I would like to extend an invitation to

visit my lab sometime. It is an astounding room. It is completely tucked away and

entirely soundproof. Your voices will never make it outside, even if you cry bloody

murder."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"Please let Sisbell know: She has no allies anywhere. She can never come back to her

homeland."

"…Sisbell?" Jhin muttered.

The purebred didn't respond, leaving the oil drilling facility along with his subordinates.

"Did they… leave…?"

"Let's follow after Iska."

"W-wait, Jhin. We need to stop you from bleeding first!" Captain Mismis pointed at his

right arm, which still dripped with blood. "Hurry and take off your jacket. We gotta

stop it."

"It'll heal with a little spit."

"No, it won't! What're you saying? This is an order—"

A flame burned through the sky, surging out from the back of the grounds.

It was enormous in size.

"Huh? Wh-what was that…?"

"Is the masked man still up to no good? Wait, it came from the opposite direction… In

the direction of the Object."

"Then what happened to Iska and Nene?!"

"Boss, please stop the bleeding for me. Since we need to go ASAP, just do the bare

minimum."

He picked up his sniper rifle with his left hand, which could barely move. He was angry

with his legs, which were cramping from the poison.

"We're going after them, too."

Crackle, crackle. Flames rolled into the air, breaking like waves and spawning thousands

of embers.

"…This is an oil drilling plant."

Sisbell shivered when she gazed up at the wall of fire.

"If the oil ignites from the flame, there's no saving us…"

"And it's not an issue just for us. If this place combusts, it'll be big enough to blow away

the residential district on the outskirts." Iska readied himself as he swept away with

his sword the embers that fell on his head.

The resort would be turned into ash overnight.

…Who in the Empire did this? Was it headquarters or the Eight Great Apostles?

…Who let someone use this atrocious weapon?

The Object… was part of a series of "Witch Hunters." This was a machine that was

entirely separate and unknown to even the Empire's soldiers.

"ShiftiDitilitFidtilitifliffit"

A light glowed in the open hole from its thrust-out chest.

"It's that thing from before…!"

"No way?! But any normal weapon wouldn't be able to move after releasing that

amount of energy!"

As the top-rate engineer, Nene made her observation and thrust out her finger. She

pointed at the Object that was currently condensing light.

"Life-form integra."

"Piercing shot!"

The armor-covered soldier kneeled.

The shell that Nene had shot from her satellite weapon had gouged a gigantic

depression into its back. The flashing light had diffused.

"I did it! I barely stopped it!"

"Great timing, Nene."

It would probably need time until it could collect energy again. There was a possibility

that Iska would be able to destroy the Object with his astral swords now that it had

peeled off its firm outer shell.

"Release full functionality."

Iska stepped forward.

It ejected twelve satellite terminals.

It peeled off its armor—but not the incredibly thick outer crust. It released the thin

inner layer of armor that clanged on the ground like silver petals.

The twelve silver pieces seemed to flutter in the wind as they started to scatter around

the Object.

They looked exactly like satellites. They were like small celestial bodies revolving

around a gigantic planet.

"I-it changed form again?!" Sisbell shrieked.

"Iska, stop. Those are all sensors! If you get close, it'll hit you!"

"…What's going on, Nene?"

The girl in the ponytail once again extended her finger with the ring. She had no

ammunition left. There was one thing left in the satellite weapon that could work.

"Grenade!"

A torrent of high-power explosives rained down.

These bullets, which created localized explosions, had enough destructive power to

stop the Object after it had abandoned both layers of its armor.

"Life-form integra."

Twelve flashes went through the night sky. All the satellites scattered in the air glowed

at the same time and burned through the falling grenades with perfect aim, causing

them to evaporate into the shadows of the night.

"Did it just… shoot them down?!"

"…I knew it," Nene interjected in frustration.

They had been destroyed in the shadows of night as the high-speed grenades had

come down from over their heads.

"Iska, make sure you don't get close to it! We don't know the range of those sensors

yet. If you get caught up in them, you'll get burned by the lasers!"

"This is a pretty nasty weapon…"

The twelve flashes could be emitted at light speed. Even Iska wouldn't be able to dodge

arrows of light.

"Nene, is there anything you can do? Do you have anything that could stop it?!"

"…If Jhin was here…," Nene said as she stared down the Object that gradually was

approaching them.

"My 'star' can only drop bombs from above, but Jhin might be able to find a blind spot

and snipe it."

He could locate a pin-size object that would go past all the gaps among the twelve

satellites that flew through the air. The shot would require near-miraculous timing

and divine talent, a transcendental technique that was arduous even to a top-rate

sniper.

But Jhin could probably do it.

"Nene—"

"I know. Just hold out here, Iska. I'll go check on the captain and Jhin!"

The girl's ponytail whipped behind her. Before he could blink, she had melted into the

night and, in that time, the heavy weapon approached the fence before their eyes.

Iska and Sisbell no longer had anywhere to run.

"Shifting energy. Direct source to core."

Right then, the light glowed in the middle of the Object's body.

"Fifteen seconds until invocation of life-form integra."

"It still has energy?!"

This was abnormal. It could not only release the light from each of its twelve parts but

appeared to be able to release that monumental heat ray from its main body.

…If it releases it again… this'll probably be the end, regardless of whether we get hit with

it or dodge!

If the laser reached the oil, it would cause a huge chain reaction. The only thing they

could do was stop the Object once and for all within fifteen seconds. But because of

the satellites that revolved around its body, it was like it had an impregnable defense.

"Damn…"

And what were the chances of Jhin arriving within fifteen seconds? Close to none. Zero.

Even if he got there in time, he wouldn't be able to do the job in fifteen seconds. In that

case, what could he do?

"Run away, Iska!" shouted the descendant of the Founder Sisbell Lou Nebulis IX.

The sweet blond witch looked ready to do or die trying.

"…You can't die here. I've prepared myself for this."

"Sisbell?!"

"First, we need to bear through this. I will not quit here."

She could see the past. Just earlier, she had told Iska about her secret power. But how

would that be useful? He really couldn't see Sisbell's power being necessary at this

instant, but—

"Illumination, revive the splendor of this planet!" she sang.

Light flowed out of the witch's chest. The astral power had responded to its master's

request, exhibiting its true value in that moment.

"Cosmos memory. For all the children who were once forgotten."

It passed through eternity and summoned the planet's past condition and sounds.

There was a gigantic sandstorm, a gale that swallowed up the Object. The wind raged,

whipping around sand and gravel, and even surrounded the twelve satellites with grit.

"A sandstorm?!"

"It's an image. It is the legendary sandstorm that occurred one hundred and fifty years

ago."

"…This is an image?!"

There was no wind, but the sand looked like it had to be real, flying around and

obstructing their vision. Even the sounds of the wind had been re-created.

It didn't look like a fake sandstorm.

Even Iska hadn't realized it wasn't real until he was told.

"The true nature of Illumination is that it can 'summon natural phenomena.' It can recreate these spaces and sounds, which I've just been calling a 'video' for short."

…If she hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known… I feel like I'm being hypnotized or am

hallucinating.

It would have made enemies and allies dissolve into chaos had it been used on the

battlefield. The Object was no exception. Since the twelve satellites had lost their

vision, their sensors had been completely obstructed.

"This is my single measure of self-defense. I haven't even shown this large-scale

reproduction to the queen. Please keep it a secret." Sisbell grinned; then her mouth

tensed. "We have five seconds left! You won't be targeted by the sensors! Quickly now!"

"Okay!" He dove into the sandstorm. Grains of sand filled his vision, and the roar made

his eardrums almost burst.

Inside the great gale of sand, he would find the Object guarded by the satellites.

It had ejected all its armor. The mechanized soldier had become thin and delicate, as

though it had the body of a human. In the middle of it, the glowing astral energy

blinked as Iska aimed at it—

"I'm going for it."

He jumped off the ground.

At that moment, the Object turned around. Even in this terrible sandstorm, the twelve

sensors still had been able to quickly detect him on his fast approach.

"Life-form integra."

The light twinkled.

The high-density laser pierced through the shadow approaching the Object.

But it wasn't Iska's silhouette.

It pierced through the gigantic image of a predator running next to him.

"???"

"It's a basilisk. This desert used to be home to them, but that wasn't included as one

of your inputs, Object."

The witch had revealed her trick. Sisbell hadn't just reproduced the sandstorm. She

had created a projection of the beast known as the king of the desert.

The sandstorm had been meant to hide Iska's form.

The basilisk had been made to be Iska's decoy. She had produced them both.

"Knowledge is power. You should go study up on the history of this place."

There was a flash.

Iska had destroyed the Object's center with perfect aim, using his astral sword.

"—" The mechanized soldier fell down faceup. When its back hit the hard ground, the

light in the gigantic hole in its chest was extinguished.

Then it stopped moving.

"W-we beat it…"

"Somehow. But it was a lot stronger than I thought it'd be."

But they couldn't just beat it. Now they had to use some sort of trick to make it look as

though the Sovereign mages had destroyed the Object. There were the traces of Iska's

blade attacks in the soldier's chest. There was a gigantic hole from the shells that Nene

had shot at its back. They needed to hide those marks.

"And we need to check what's inside it."

He looked down at the soldier that did not so much as twitch.

"You saw it, too, right? That light from inside it."

"…It looked like astral energy."

"That's what I thought. It wasn't from electricity."

Should they examine the combustion engine? It wouldn't be long before Nene would

be back with Jhin and Captain Mismis. With her, they would be able to—

"Movement impossible. Ejecting core of ■■■■■."

They heard an automated sound. Iska felt a chill down his spine when he could detect

something coming from inside the incapacitated soldier.

What was this uncanny feeling?!

"Wh-what is that light…? It's a flame!" Sisbell rasped.

From the gaps between the machine and its wires, they could see bright-blue flames

lapping up like steam. The astral energy that had once disappeared was burning again.

…And it was surging even stronger than before.

…I don't know what's happening… I can't take my time trying to figure out what this

thing is!

They were in danger. His body alerted him, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Get away!"

"Y-yes!"

They started to run at the same time.

But, after taking just a few steps, the girl fell onto her knees. With her lifestyle in the

palace, her legs had reached their limits after she had scampered down the rough paths.

"W-wait, Iska!"

"…Sisbell?!" He turned around when the girl screamed.

All of it was too late by then. The light seeping out from the soldier had reached its

critical limit.

"Help me—"

Something flared.

The explosion expanded as though it were engulfing the entire area.

"What do you think you're doing to my sister?"

"Freeze."

That had given way to a wall of ice. It was one of the most mesmerizing barriers in the

world. It towered over Iska and Sisbell like a castle wall. It held back the surging flames

and made the heat wave disappear before they could blink.

"…Alice?!"

"I found you, Sisbell."

It was Aliceliese Lou Nebulis IX.

With her older sister exposed to the desert wind, Sisbell opened her eyes wide.

"Wh-why are you here?"

"Because I had something I needed to discuss with you. But we can save that for later…

Iska, what's going on here?"

Out of breath, Alice turned around. She faced the Imperial swordsman who held his

sword in his hand.

The Ice Calamity Witch Alice knew Iska had fought to capture a purebred himself as

the Successor of the Black Steel.

In other words, was Iska the Imperial soldier targeting her sister?

"It wasn't you."

Alice stared down Iska and scowled.

Sisbell's enemy wasn't Iska. Sisbell herself was nestled up against his back as though

she was hiding.

"Catch me up. I want to know what just happened."

"Can't you tell?"

Beyond the extinguished flame and smoke was a dull object crawling on the ground.

It was indigo with a glowing humanoid silhouette. That was the Object's core.

The core's entire body was radiating light similar to astral energy.

"Does that thing look like our ally?" Iska asked.

"…I'm glad it's so obvious. Anyway, I think our top priority is battling that ghost."

Alice nodded calmly and turned to the glowing form.

A ghost.

That certainly was a fitting comparison for the humanoid silhouette, which glowed

dimly. But what was the nature of its glow, which reminded them of astral energy?

"We just need to beat it quickly, don't we? In that case, I'll—"

"Shifting energy."

The glowing humanoid thrust out the palm of its hand at Alice.

"Preparing to invoke life-form integra."

"Oh no! Aliceliese, run!" shouted Sisbell.

"Huh?" Alice blinked. "What are you talking about, Sisbell? I can easily clean up this

guy—"

"Alice!" Iska yelled at the princess of the enemy nation. She wouldn't make it in time.

Even if Alice tried running now, her speed wouldn't allow her to escape from the

laser's aim.

"Your flower! Make it bloom!"

"Wh-what are you talking about, Iska? That's one of my secrets. I can't so easily…"

"Hurry!"

Her "ice flower" was a secret. She had reservations about exhibiting it outside the

battlefield. However, her trust in her rival trumped her hesitation.

—This is Iska. There definitely has to be a reason for this request.

"Life-form integra."

"Bloom!"

With faint reverberations of a clear shling , she had created the most spellbinding

shield in the world. This was the true nature of the ice flower that dwelled in Aliceliese

Lou Nebulis IX. It manifested itself as a beautiful flower.

The shield stopped the laser that had even managed to melt a gigantic crane and sent

the light flying to the side.

"…Amazing! Of course my sister would be."

"—"

"Aliceliese?" Sisbell gulped back her saliva and watched.

The lips of Alice herself were pale as ice. Had she been even slightly late when creating

the flower, her entire body would have been blasted away by the light. There wouldn't

have been a method of protecting herself other than invoking the ice flower like Iska

had told her. She had narrowly survived.

"…I was off my guard." Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "I was off my game because this

wasn't the battlefield."

Alice's expression shifted to one of the Ice Calamity Witch, the purebred feared by the

Empire.

"Sisbell, stay back. This opponent is dangerous, so I'm going to end things in one hit."

She pointed at the Object.

She wouldn't hold back, meeting it with her entire source of energy. The Object's

behavior in response to Alice's will to fight was out of their expectations.

"Remaining energy reaching lower limit."

"…?"

"Counting down from ten."

They heard an automated noise. As the Object floated over the asphalt road, Iska bit

his lip, looking up at it over his head.

…Nene was right… There's no way a single weapon could keep releasing this much energy.

The Object didn't have any power left. There was only one decision that the Eight Great

Apostles would have made for a weapon that had completed its purpose.

"It's going to self-destruct!"

"What?!"

"…What did you say?!"

Their faces froze. This was an oil drilling facility. They had no idea of the scale of the

explosion, but they did know it would definitely have enough power to blow away the

warehouses.

The blaze would go out in all directions. It wasn't an explosion that even Alice could

hold back instantaneously.

"Eight… Seven—"

Because of that, she needed to completely destroy it before the countdown ended. Iska

and Alice reached the same conclusion without needing to say a single word.

"Ice Calamity—Fan Dance of a Thousand Swords!"

Thousands of blue shots materialized, creating extremely low-temperature ice bullets

in the night sky. Lights twinkling like powder snow came down, covering the Object's

entire body.

They weren't any ordinary bullets. Alice's technique was nearly at absolute zero. The

chill was close to the point that molecular motion would cease. It had frozen and

stopped the air around the glowing body, but—

"Five… Four…"

The countdown continued.

"I hate to admit this, but we have no time… Iska! Over there!"

"I know." Iska was already running to the place where the witch had turned. "You mean

this fence , right?"

The fence had been frosted over with Alice's blue shots. He jumped on top of it and

used it as a way of leaping even higher into the air.

As a fence, it wouldn't have been firm enough for him to launch himself off, but with

Alice's ice, the fence was resilient enough to support him.

That wasn't a coincidence. It was all a part of the Ice Calamity Witch's calculation and

the Successor of the Black Steel had implicitly read her motives.

"Three… Two—"

"This is it."

The swordsman crossed through the air.

His astral blade was absorbed into the night and cut through the frozen Object.

It ruptured with particles of light.

There was no explosion.

As Iska landed, the night sky slowly returned back to its inky black color. They looked

up at that scene from the ground.

"…I just don't understand," Alice said, obviously peeved. "All I want is to settle things

with you instead of fighting together. Why do we always end up in situations that could

be misunderstood?"

They were in the independent state of Alsamira. Though it wasn't as if the state had

banned combat like the neutral cities, the two countries couldn't battle each other

directly.

If Iska and Alice were to use their full force to fight, they would cause serious damage

to the oil drilling plant. As a Sovereign princess, Alice wasn't after that.

"Well, it's fine… Besides, I don't see any other Imperial soldiers around here anyway."

She sighed. "Iska, I'd like you to tell me what's going on. What are you doing with this

girl in this place late at night?"

"Aliceliese." Sisbell had pulled on her sister's skirt from behind.

"You may wait, Sisbell. I'm talking with Iska right now—"

"Do you know who this Imperial soldier is?"

"Oh…"

Alice came back to her senses.

She barely stopped herself from saying, Uh-oh. But her face was an open book. She had

ended up acting as though she was close to Iska because she had been so caught up in

the state of affairs.

"I knew it." Sisbell's eyes narrowed with distrust.

"Why would you know this Imperial soldier when you are a Sovereign princess? You

know him well enough to call him by his name."

"…"

"This has bothered me for some time. What kind of relationship do you have with him?"

"…" Alice gulped and held her breath. "I don't know him at all. Who are you? Oh, I'm

sure you must be Sisbell's guard." She turned to Iska.

"Huh?! B-but…?!"

"Alice?!"

—Just get with the program! You'd be under suspicion for knowing a Sovereign princess!

Alice begged him desperately with her eyes as she turned her back on her sister.

This was a matter of life and death. If headquarters suspected Iska had contact with

Alice, they would imprison him again. If the royal family knew Alice had been in

contact with Iska, that would put her in a precarious position.

They needed to keep things private.

"Isn't that right?"

"…Oh yeah—totally! I had no idea who you were, either. Ha- ha… ha…"

"Could you please give up this act?" Sisbell's voice was stern. "Didn't you just call him

'Iska'?"

"I heard you call him by his name. Plus, look at the situation we're in. Of course I would

talk to this swordsman thinking he was your guard."

"…So you're going to feign ignorance."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sisbell's expression was cold, which the older sister pretended not to notice. Iska was

in front of them, watching.

"I see. So you do not know him, right?" Sisbell asked.

"That's right. I have not a single clue about his identity."

"Works for me."

"…Huh?"

"You hear that, Iska?" Princess Sisbell broke into a victorious smile. Before Alice could

figure out what it meant, she had made her way right in front of Iska. "I have confirmed

it through that battle, Iska. I have made no mistake in judgment."

She took Iska's hand. The Sovereign princess's eyes glistened.

"I will not give up until I make you my subordinate! I will absolutely make sure you

join me—I pledge on my name of Sisbell Lou Nebulis IX as the next queen."

"Stop right there!" Alice shouted.

She stood in front of Iska to block Sisbell and pulled her sister away from him by force.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what do you think you're saying, Sisbell?!"

"This has nothing to do with you, dear sister." Sisbell seemed triumphant. "Iska will

join my side."

"This is no joking matter. Iska is mine! He's my rival! Right?"

"…Uh, well, you're the one who asked me to feign ignorance, Alice."

Sandwiched between Alice and Sisbell, he had no idea how to respond.

"Iska?" called out Nene from the asphalt. Pairs of footsteps followed. That must have

been Jhin and Captain Mismis.

…This is bad!

…If they see this, everyone is going to be suspicious of me this time!

Iska turned his back on Alice and Sisbell, who were glaring at each other.

"Sorry, guys. My friends are calling, so I'm heading off."

"Huh?! Wait, Iska!"

"Iska, I'm not going to give up! Never!"

He ran away from that place as fast as he could, putting distance between the two

sisters.