Everyone saw that scene.
A brief exchange. The giant figure struck by the Black Dragon and wiped out in an instant.
"That giant figure..."
To the residents of Orario, the giant figure was just some vaguely formidable strongman, but from the perspective of someone who had fought it directly, the sensation it gave off was different from the very start.
"It's stronger."
Much stronger than the Black Dragon I had fought. If my instincts were right, the giant figure might have been pushed back, but it shouldn't have been crushed that one-sidedly...
"Kkdeuk."
It was something I had vaguely expected. Ais was still young, and the bond was incomplete. I had also fully anticipated that the power of the vow might not disappear completely.
But still. The strength that went far beyond anything I had imagined made my anxiety flare.
The worst possible thought crossed my mind. A vision of them meeting a futile death like this.
"Vesta..."
"...Ais. When did you get here?"
"Just now."
I hadn't even noticed her approach. I'd been too focused on the screen.
Because I knew better than anyone how strong the Black Dragon was.
Looking around, I spotted several familiar faces. Meteria, Cranel, Grandpa, Hera, Aphrodite, Loki, and other members of Loki Familia.
"This really is the best seat in the house, huh~"
The place I was in was Lord Ouranos's residence. Had this many people ever gathered here before?
"How did you get in here...?"
"I let them in."
"Lord Ouranos?"
Lord Ouranos, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
"Anyone who might affect the vow or the bond has to be handled with care."
Hearing that, the faces gathered here suddenly seemed different.
Come to think of it, they were all connected to me or Ais... Hm?
"...Why did Lady Aphrodite come?"
"You've been treating me too badly ever since last time, you know?!"
No, but that was true.
Everyone else had some direct or indirect connection, but she was the only one here who seemed completely out of place...
"If not this Aphrodite, then who deserves special treatment? Remember this well. I'm such a precious being that I deserve praise just for breathing."
"She found out somehow and, on the way here, threw herself down and started making a fuss about coming along. I was going to kill her, but it would've wasted time, so I just brought her."
"Who are you calling a fussing brat, you rotten hag?!"
"You filthy rag?!"
...I covered Ais's ears and cut off that vulgar conversation. Were those two close or not?
"Sis..."
Looking to the side, I saw Meteria staring at the screen with a worried expression.
Of course she would be worried about her one and only blood relative.
"Hey, Vesta."
"Yes."
"Sis will be okay, right?"
I couldn't answer right away.
Because I knew exactly how heavy a careless "She'll be fine" could weigh on those left behind.
"Yes."
That was why I had to say it.
"She will definitely be fine."
No matter how heavy it was. Because if faith disappeared, then everything would truly be over.
To push through the fierce wind. To keep fighting even while dragging a body that felt ready to break apart.
To return to the place they had to go back to. To reunite with the person precious to them.
Then what those left behind could do was only believe they would meet again and pray for their safety.
Even if they felt pathetic and shook with helplessness, they had to do that.
Because if they didn't believe, it would truly be the end.
"Believe in her. Your sister isn't weak, is she?"
"...Yes. My sister is the strongest."
I looked back at the screen. In the brief moment I had looked away, the battle situation had changed so drastically it could only be called upheaval.
The minimum number of healers had been sent to the giant figure that had been blown away, and the rest had begun facing the Black Dragon as planned.
The vanguard was centered around Zard, with people who could safely be called specialists in close combat. A luxurious force, all of them at least Level 7.
But the fact that even the ironclad backs of those people looked so unstable only showed how terrible their opponent was.
"Hold on!"
"Don't fall! You have to hold out until the chant is finished!"
"Aaaagh!!"
Screams and shouts filled the air. Just like before.
What was different from then was that this was more desperate. More horrific.
Far stronger adventurers. Far better equipment. Far more people.
Even with conditions that were several times better than back then, the battlefield was far more dreadful than before.
At the Black Dragon's slightest movement, equipment shattered and people were sent flying. That indifferent motion, not even a real counterattack, brought about disaster.
If there weren't a solid healer line, more than half would already be dead. And that would soon become reality.
If the Black Dragon's wingbeats started again, that is.
"Don't let that thing fly!"
They seemed to be thinking the same thing, because more than anything else they feared the Black Dragon's wingbeats.
If that black wind blew again from there, that would be the moment of annihilation.
"It's still okay..."
The Black Dragon still had no intention of fighting.
It was only watching the antics of annoying insects.
With that foul-tempered lizard's personality, it wouldn't bother fighting seriously until it had taken a proper wound.
On the other hand, that also meant the real battle would begin the moment it was injured... though I wasn't even sure they could reach that point in the first place.
At this rate, there was a real possibility the subjugation force would be wiped out before they could even go all out, despite that indifferent response.
If there was nothing... nothing to change the flow. Then, like this—
"Sis..."
Meteria's face was still full of worry and concern. Even to a beginner like Meteria, the battle situation was close to the worst possible.
The front line collapsing like a sandcastle on the beach. The rear line with no time to chant.
Even in such an obviously hopeless situation, everyone kept fighting to the end. So she shouldn't give up believing in them either.
But.
"Ugh..."
With a roaring crash that seemed to split the air, the Black Dragon's tail came crashing down toward the rear line.
Meteria's face went pale. The place where the tail struck was where Arphia had been.
"Ah!"
Fortunately, thanks to the Empress twisting space just in time, the rear line avoided total annihilation. I was worried by the sight of the Empress coughing up blood, but at least she wasn't dead.
Right, as long as they didn't die, then surely...
"Huh?"
Then Meteria's eyes trembled as she realized something. Thinking she must have been mistaken, she looked again, but the screen still reflected the same merciless reality.
"Sis...?"
She wasn't there.
Arphia's figure was nowhere among those transferred by the Empress.
Had she seen wrong? Surely that had to be it.
"V-Vesta. I can't see Sis, so—"
Had you seen her, Vesta?
She couldn't finish the sentence.
The expression on Vesta's face was even paler than her own.
In other words, that meant...
"...Vesta?"
"Ah..."
"Y-you're lying, right?"
Meteria's face turned dark and ashen.
No way. That couldn't be.
Arphia was dead?
Like this, so absurdly?
She had vaguely imagined that such a day might come someday.
Death was inseparable from being an adventurer.
There had definitely been moments when she imagined that Arphia might one day die like that too.
But she had never really thought that day would come. Her strong and kind older sister, Arphia, couldn't die. Somewhere deep down, she had believed that without even realizing it.
But now she couldn't imagine that anymore. The reality before her had crushed the imagination to pieces.
Just as the cruel truth in front of her was about to plunge Meteria into darkness,
"Don't worry."
Hera's indifferent voice steadied her slipping mind.
"Hera..."
"Arphia isn't weak. Everyone out there is someone who could be called a hero without shame."
"That Zard brat can't seem to use his strength properly. Is it because he hasn't had enough meat?"
As if affirming Hera's words, Zeus's calm voice followed.
There was no worry for their followers in that voice.
All that was there was overwhelming pride and interest.
They both believed deep down that their children couldn't possibly be limited to this much, even if their reactions differed.
"You sadistic bastards... This is why I can't stand those Olympus types."
"Hey. Don't lump us together. Not everyone from Olympus is like that, you know?"
Leaving behind the two gods grimacing at that almost violent faith, Hera kept watching the screen with the same indifferent eyes.
"...Looks like the tuning is finally done."
"Tuning...?"
With those words, something tore through the thick fog and charged at the Black Dragon.
Speed beyond speed. Something beyond the speed of sound eventually struck the Black Dragon head-on.
But no matter how fast it was, it shouldn't have been able to pierce the Black Dragon's scales—
-■■■■■■■■?!
"What?!"
It pierced them. The scales that had seemed absolutely unbreakable.
That sharply honed something managed to break through the Black Dragon's scales, even if only by a single layer, and land at least one effective blow.
"What..."
I stared at the screen, unable to close my mouth at the sight.
It was an attack I had never seen before. Was there someone in the subjugation force who could do that? But I didn't think I'd seen anyone like that last time...
No, wait. Tuning?
"Don't tell me..."
"That's right."
Though her voice was calm, there was no mistaking the heat in Lady Hera's tone.
It was ecstasy. The kind of heat that always drove the gods wild.
It was the unknown of the mortal world.
The mortal world's possibility.
"Arphia has ascended."
Whoosh— the wind rose, and the thick dust began to clear.
"I see. So this is how it's used."
There stood the queen, looking relaxed and not a speck of dust on her.
"The experiment is over."
True to the nickname Silence, she was creating a new presence on the battlefield with a quiet, still atmosphere.
Level 8.
The realm beyond Level 7, long called the domain of the impossible.
Arphia had stepped into the same realm I had once faced the Black Dragon in.
"I've finished adapting."
"You rotten bastard. Took you long enough."
Spitting out blood along with the curse, the Empress grinned.
"All right, everybody. From here on out, keep your heads on straight."
Wuuung— space rippled.
"Because the counterattack starts now."
-■■■■■■■■!
-UOOOOOOOOOO!!
The roar of the apocalypse echoed out.
Overlapping it, humanity's roar thundered back.
The real battle begins.
A struggle that will never end until one side stops moving.
No one has stopped yet.
"...Haa."
Calming my pounding heart, I stared at the screen.
I'd thought things were hopeless, but somehow they had managed to get through the crisis.
"If something like that was possible, you could've told me in advance."
"Hmph. Why are you taking it out on me because you didn't believe?"
At her prickly response, I clicked my tongue and looked back at the screen.
Sure enough, with Arphia's awakening, humanity's momentum had risen to something like the right track.
But that momentum wouldn't last long. Now that the Black Dragon had been wounded, it would no longer hold back at all.
From here on out, the battle truly began. From here on out, the danger began.
Still... maybe...
Maybe there was a future where they would win like this. A small hope bloomed in one corner of my heart.
I still didn't know whether that hope could be carried forward. But the fact that it had bloomed at all was what mattered.
If so, then...
"Haha... That scared me, but it looks like Arphia is safe."
Plop—
At those words, Meteria finally seemed to feel it for real, and her strength gave out as she sank to the floor.
"Careful there—"
As I said that and reached out, I froze.
That sound just now. Wasn't it a little strange?
A bad feeling crept over me. And bad feelings are usually right.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt it, because everyone's eyes turned to one place.
Different shapes. Different colors of eyes.
The only thing the same was the emotion inside them.
Drip, drip. Some unknown liquid began leaking out beneath Meteria.
'Ah, damn it, no way.'
No, I actually thought I knew, but I didn't want to know.
I tried to cling to the hopeful idea that maybe she'd just wet herself from the shock of Arphia's crisis, but...
"Um... uh..."
Anyone could tell from that pale blue stain that this wasn't some trivial little incident.
"I suddenly relaxed, and my body loosened up too..."
"That... looks like your water broke..."
At Meteria's words, even the sound of the room seemed to vanish.
The real crisis had arrived.
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