Outside the palace, Vera stared in surprise at the dead soldier that had crashed through the window and gone still.
She tightened her grip on the gun in her hand, scanning her surroundings to figure out what on earth was happening.
A few strands of black hair clung to her glistening skin. As she steadied her breathing, her gaze swept over the crew members who were also armed with guns.
"What's going on? Did Laiel and the others do this?"
Outside the window, allied forces stood in confusion before the dead soldiers that had similarly stopped moving. Then a Valkyrie burst into the room.
"Everyone, please proceed with evacuation. No—there's no time, get outside immediately."
Vera tucked her gun away.
"What happened?"
The Valkyrie looked toward the interior of the palace.
"Things were going according to plan, but a few things have gone off schedule. Our masters are handling the situation, but we will be retreating."
"What about Laiel and the others?!"
The Valkyrie paused for a moment.
"They are alive. However, this is an order. Besides, having you nearby might become a hindrance."
Rather than answering Vera's question directly, she ushered everyone out to evacuate——.
Large Porters, loaded with people, were launching one after another.
Damian was aboard one of them, looking up through the ceiling toward the palace. Grandpa Rataata sat beside him.
Alongside the large Porter, Golems controlled by Damian followed along. From the rattling cargo bed of the large Porter, Damian gazed at the palace.
"This doesn't feel right. It's way too quiet."
Grandpa Rataata agreed with the uneasy feeling Damian had described. The old man seemed to sense something as well.
"If the dead soldiers suddenly stopped moving, you told me to evacuate. Something must've gone wrong here."
Baldoa had climbed onto the cargo bed as well.
"To evacuate and abandon Lady Rael? Never!"
Clinging to Baldoa's waist was Alette. She gripped Baldoa tightly, refusing to let go.
"Wait! It'll be okay, I'm sure!"
"To abandon our master on such a mere assumption is something I cannot—"
Just then, the three Automatons near Damian detected the anomaly. A light was visible from the direction of the palace. They moved to stand before Damian and his group, forming a shield.
Damian lowered his stance.
"Something's coming."
Immediately after, a white light blasted through the palace ceiling. The light then expanded, spreading throughout the Royal Capital… across all of Central.
The mobile fortress that had charged the palace was also blown away. It was thrown into the air and then simply swallowed by the light.
"This is…"
Grandpa Rataata was also watching the light when Damian's first Automaton spoke.
"We are crossing the walls."
The large Porters flew out through the ruined section of the city wall. The white light stopped there, as if the wall segment partitioned it.
Damian used the giant Automaton to shield against the debris blown their way by the explosion.
The shockwave lifted the large Porters slightly into the air.
After the eruption of light came a cloud of dust. Strong winds and sand.
As they subsided and visibility gradually returned, the scene that spread before them was Central, completely reduced to a mountain of rubble. The wall was lost, and only a portion of the palace remained standing.
Damian gazed at something floating above that ruined palace.
It felt like I'd been swallowed by white light, but once the shock subsided, I looked ahead.
In front of me, the Valkyries should have deployed their Binders to absorb the impact—yet all that remained were a pair of ankles, and pink braided cords that drifted toward us on the wind. Some of them were scorched, but Monica, standing right before me, picked them up and carefully tucked them into her apron.
Looking around, visibility had improved considerably. The ceiling had been blown away, the walls were gone—and the city of Central had been cleanly vaporized, leaving a vast space paved with rubble.
Above it all, the overcast sky had split open directly over the palace, and through the light pouring down from that gap, I could see Septem floating in midair—Agrissa.
She was larger than the first time I'd seen her. Both her arms and legs appeared to be fully encased in hardened, crimson-black skin. The horn-like protrusions growing from her back had multiplied further and swelled to enormous size.
Hovering in the sky, Agrissa gazed down at us.
"I miscalibrated. As expected of Novem. For the sole purpose of watching over people, she stuffed memories—and records—into a human body. Thanks to that, I've nearly recovered my full form. Well, it's ugly, so I'll eventually take on a human shape."
Her eyes turned toward me.
"Because in this form, I can't hold you."
She said that with a smile. With a single blow, she had leveled one of the continent's greatest cities. Monica turned to me.
"The evacuation of our allies is already complete. Everyone made it out safely, but…"
I nearly laughed.
"There's nowhere to run from something like this."
Agrissa had called that last strike "holding back." My resolve wavering before that attack, I gripped the handle of my katana tighter.
"…Even so, I have to stop her here."
When I glared up at Agrissa, she was delighted.
"You'd still stand your ground after seeing a difference in power like that? No wonder Novem took a liking to you. And I love people like that myself. The thing is, if I fight you, I'll end up killing you… so I'll leave that to these ones instead."
Looking around, everyone had risen to their feet just like me, weapons in hand. The surviving Valkyries clutched weapons in both hands as well.
But Agrissa didn't seem inclined to face us herself.
"A couple of you might die, I suppose… but well, if you die, that's just how it goes. They're my favorites—show me you can take them down."
Aggrisa remained in her colossal form, standing proud in midair as she snapped the fingers of her left hand. All around—and across all of Central—magic circles materialized, and from within them emerged skeletal warriors clad in armor: Undead.
But right before our eyes, a fully armored knight wielding a greatsword appeared—Lyle, the First Generation's grandfather, and the very ancestor from whom I drew my name.
"Puppets? And summoning magic on top of that?"
Aggrisa raised a hand to her lips.
"I have no intention of creating Monsters like Novem does. Those only look that way because it stokes fear more effectively. But to put it simply… every single one of these is an undead soldier. It's different from the time with Ceres. I can summon an inexhaustible supply of them. There are far more dead in this world than there are living, after all!"
I was stunned by the claim that they were all undead soldiers. All around—filling the grounds surrounding the palace—skeletal soldiers jostled against one another, raising their weapons high.
"You managed to gather over six hundred thousand troops for me? Then I've prepared ten times that number. Six million. I'll use them to sweep away the garbage around us to start. I could blow it all away myself, of course, but this way is more enjoyable—things take longer that way."
Aggrisa was laughing, clearly having the time of her life. I looked up at her in the sky.
"Are you just playing around?!"
Aggrisa smiled softly.
"I am, yes. Sorry about that. You're all far too fragile for me to take seriously. But it wouldn't be any fun if you were all wiped out immediately. Hmm—I'll keep one-tenth alive and adjust the population of the continent—no, the entire world. I'm looking forward to seeing how long it takes to reach that one-tenth mark."
I gripped the hilt of my katana and was about to step forward when Aggrisa spoke, pressing a fingertip to her lip.
"I appreciate you looking up at me, but if you do that, your ancestor is going to come charging in to kill you."
I suddenly shifted my awareness downward. The full-plate armored knight with the greatsword was barreling straight at me. I tried to block with my katana, but Monica shoved me aside and slammed her hammer into the blow.
"…Useless…less."
I was shocked enough that the undead soldier could speak, but even more so—this was the voice of the Walt family ancestor I'd seen in those memories, the hero who had defeated Aggrisa.
"This one!"
Monica let go of her hammer. The greatsword had cleaved right through it.
From high above, Aggrisa spoke.
"No Mana Tools. No Jewels either. A warrior from an era when none of that was common. It goes without saying that they forged themselves—and honed their Skills to the absolute limit, refining their technique to perfection. This one is strong, you know. After all, they're the one who killed me!"
I was certain Aggrisa wouldn't attack, so I lunged at the ancestor. Aria was circling around, thrusting her spear.
"...No...da."
With those fragmented words, the ancestor swung the greatsword in a full rotation. It knocked my katana aside and deflected Aria's spear as well.
Eva released an arrow, and the ancestor caught it in her left hand.
"What?!"
Hearing Eva's cry, Eliza leaped forward.
"Then I'll freeze you with magic!"
An ice arrow hurtled toward the ancestor, and Aggrisa laughed from high above.
"The me of the past was gifted in magic. This is someone who defeated that version of me. Magic isn't going to cut it."
She was right.
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
With a battle cry, the ancestor must have pushed her physical enhancement to the absolute limit, sweeping Eliza's ice away with her blade. The wind pressure was immense, and it almost looked like steam was rising from her armor.
"Damn!"
When Gracia tried to conjure flames, the ancestor sensed it and closed the distance between them in an instant.
"Too slow. —Shuffle!"
I swapped Gracia's position with Ludmilla, and Ludmilla clashed blades with the ancestor. Against Ludmilla's shape-shifting blade, the ancestor deflected it with nothing but sheer, stubborn swordplay. Ludmilla tried to pull back.
"W-What the hell is this?!"
I'd been using Ludmilla to maneuver for position, placing her within our firing line whenever we tried to provide support. She was a seasoned fighter.
High above, Aggrisa grinned.
"These ones show up every so often. She's a natural-born warrior with razor-sharp instincts. Strong in her base state. And she honed that strength specifically to defeat me. Gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?"
I drew a silver gun and pulled the trigger toward Ludmilla. The blue magic bullet flew past Ludmilla, aiming to strike the Ancestor directly.
"...Impressive."
With that, I moved away from Ludmilla and this time targeted Miranda, who was near Shannon. A shuffle switched Shannon's position with Aria's, so Miranda and Aria faced the Ancestor head-on.
"Like this!"
Miranda manifested threads from both hands and restrained the Ancestor. Aria lunged with her spear.
"Hmph!"
The Ancestor, wrapped in threads, forcefully threw Miranda toward Aria using pure strength. The two were blown away, and as the threads vanished, I charged at the Ancestor.
The Ancestor blocked my strike with a greatsword, saw my face, and...
"...Heavy."
With that, he kicked me in the stomach. In the instant I was blown away, I didn't even register what had happened. The katana, forged from rare metal, was destroyed, and I went flying.
High above, Agrissa spoke.
"Manipulating numerous Skills is a talent in itself. But... a warrior who has honed and perfected a single Skill is a kind of art, isn't he? Very strong, right? Since they barely exist in today's world, it's refreshing, isn't it?"
Just as Agrissa said, this type was rare in the current age. Warriors who fought using only what they themselves possessed, without any reinforcement from Mana Tools.
Perhaps the warriors who had once challenged Agrissa were such people as well.
Monica approached me.
"Chicken, the army of dead soldiers outside has begun moving. They're launching an attack on the allied forces."
Ludmilla, Gracia, and Eliza were attacking the Ancestor together, the three of them. These three, who seemed specialized for combat, were being handled with ease.
Meanwhile, Clara was performing emergency repairs on Porter. Both shoulders seemed to have been damaged by the impact. The Valkyries were helping as well.
"A tenfold difference in troop strength is impossible to overcome."
As I held my stomach, Aria, Miranda, and Shannon rushed over to me. I looked up at the sky and saw Novem, limp against Agrissa's chest.
"Lyle, what are you going to do? You still have a trump card, right?"
When Miranda mentioned my trump card — the First Generation's ultimate Skill, Full Burst — Aria's expression grew serious.
"Taking out the enemies in front of us and Agrissa up in the sky all at once is going to be tough. And Novem is still captured, too."
Aria was gazing up at the sky as well. Eva was providing support to the three who were fighting.
I could feel the pain in my stomach gradually subsiding. Miranda had been prioritizing healing me over treating her own injuries.
Shannon spoke up.
"There's no way we can handle that, no matter what. The gap in power is too enormous. All the mana around us is being drawn to her, and it just keeps flowing..."
Shannon looked like she was on the verge of tears. She understood even better than the rest of us just how dangerous Agrissa was.
I rose to my feet from my kneeling position.
"Even so, we have no choice but to fight. I'm not going to let Agrissa turn us into part of her collection after coming this far. Besides, I still... have something I need to tell Novem."
Gazing up at the sky, I clenched the Jewel that had reverted from a gun back to its necklace form.
Monika relayed information from the outside to me.
"Battle has commenced with the legion of dead soldiers. May and Marina are holding the line, so our forces are buying time, but some of the enemy have broken through elsewhere. In this situation, all I can say is that our formation is collapsing."
The allied army was crumbling before the sheer mass of enemies.
I had prepared as much as I could, but I never expected the goddess who had regained her power to be this troublesome. I had wanted to settle things before it came to this. As the alliance leader, I had wanted to win before everything fell apart. And personally, I had wanted to defeat Ceres and bring it all to an end.
And on a personal note —.
"Yeah, this means I have no choice but to use my trump card."
When I said that with a smile, those around me shot me worried looks. I hadn't wanted to use it for personal reasons. Once I did, the Jewel would become nothing more than a simple stone. And everything I had built up until now would vanish.
On top of that —.
"I really don't want to... Why does my Skill have to be so troublesome for the one using it? At first, it didn't even produce the Skill's effect, but it just kept devouring my mana like crazy."
Experience—a constant-type Skill that granted a massive influx of experience points, but initially, it was a useless thing that only activated halfway, draining my mana like crazy.
“The Connection requires a kiss to use beforehand… and it’s a deep one, at that.”
As my embarrassment grew, Miranda smiled.
“Lyle, thanks to you, I’ve gotten better at kissing, haven’t I?”
Why is my Skill so terrible? Does it hate me or something?
“…The last Skill would cost too many lives.”
Monica looked at me then.
“That’s something I’d like to confirm in advance. If you’re saying someone needs to sacrifice their life here, then Monica will forcibly choose the path where that lily-livered coward survives.”
Aria got angry at Monica.
“You! Think about Lyle’s feelings for once! You’re telling him to live as Agrissa’s puppet?”
Monica said,
“Even so, if he endures it, a chance might come eventually, right? If I let that coward die, I couldn’t forgive myself. I wouldn’t be able to face my fallen sisters—”
I spoke to everyone present.
“No, it’s not my life. It’s, well, in a sense like dying, but what I’d lose isn’t my life.”
Shannon looked my way, covering her mouth.
“Memories, or something!”
“…I wish it were that simple. Honestly, maybe it would be better if I just lost my memories.”
Everyone was looking at me, their gazes urging me to hurry up and explain. Even Ludmilla and the others, who could hear our conversation, seemed to want me to get on with it. They looked like they were struggling just to hold my ancestors back…
I stood up, clutching the Jewel tight.
“What I’d lose is… my… damn it, I really didn’t want to use it!”
Why didn't I want to use it? There were two major reasons for that.
The first was that my final Skill forcibly triggers growth exactly once. There's no bodily pain beforehand. However, the penalty attached was the condition that I wouldn't grow anymore after that.
Honestly, the latter part didn't really matter. The real problem was the fact that using it would cause growth in the first place.
"Ugh, fine! Everyone, don't you dare laugh! Got it? I mean it! If you laugh, I'll hold it against you forever!"
I said that and gripped the Jewel tight. There was another reason I really didn't want to use it, but I figured I had no choice but to use it here.
When I raised the Jewel, a pale light swirled around me and whipped up a gust of wind. Agrissa squinted against it, but this didn't take long to activate.
"Ludmilla, Gracia, Eliza... Eva, don't interfere either. Fall back."
Enveloped in light, I called out the name of my final Skill.
Final Skill—
"—Seventh, activate!"
A gentle wind howled fiercely through the surroundings.