Rem believed she had taken Priscilla's warning seriously.
When things underwent enormous changes, they did not spare a thought for each insignificant human. They cared nothing for the people and things caught up in them, surging in like raging waves.
Rem's own experiences had taught her that. After awakening without her memories, she had found herself in an unfamiliar place, held in the arms of an unbearably foul-smelling stranger. That had marked the beginning of these days, which could hardly be called long.
She had fled that boy, met him again, been captured by the imperial army, been rescued amid thick smoke and tongues of flame, and then been swept into life in this city.
"Full of upheavals" could have been a phrase coined for everything she had experienced so far.
But that understanding had been far too naive. Only now did Rem truly realize it.
"-Rem! Are you all right!?"
The front door stood wide open as a slender woman rushed inside, shouting. Hearing the familiar voice, Rem turned while hurrying across the entrance hall, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Miss Kuna! Miss Holly!"
"Thank goodness you're all right~! The whole town's in chaos right now~!"
As Rem answered, two sets of footsteps, one light and one heavy, approached at a run. They belonged to Kuna and Holly, the pair of Shudrak People stationed in the city. Reuniting with familiar faces, Rem narrowed her eyes in slight relief.
"I'm glad you're both safe, too. Are you hurt?"
"We're perfectly fine~. For now, anyway. But..."
"...Everyone's exhausted~."
Lowering their voices, the two surveyed the hall Rem had been rushing around. Numerous residents injured in the attack on the city lay beside the three of them. The scene resembled a field hospital, with inexperienced volunteers hurrying around treating patients.
Bandages and stitches could handle minor injuries, but life-threatening wounds-
"Because I have to answer their need..."
The blood on Rem's hands as she gripped her crutch was not her own. It belonged to the injured, blood that she could never finish wiping away, that would not come off, until it finally hardened into crusts.
The flying dragons had begun their attack, plunging the city into chaos. To creatures that ruled the skies, the helpless people made excellent prey.
The mansion had thus become both a refuge for evacuees and a hospital, leaving Rem no time to rest.
Naturally, faced with such a disastrous scene, Priscilla must have been seething with anger.
But-
"I took possession of this mansion in the first place to ensure that our vital healer's lodgings were impregnable.
"I also ordered Dikkle to send the wounded here."
"I-is that so...!?"
"What is it? Did you imagine I truly seized a house merely because I fancied its bath?
"To be precise, both the bath and the mansion's spaciousness were my objectives."
That conversation had taken place earlier, after which the mansion had become what it was now. Priscilla had planned everything from the beginning and informed the relevant people.
"But I don't understand why she didn't tell me, the crucial person involved...!"
Feeling that the other woman probably would not give her much of an answer, Rem had not pressed the matter.
More importantly, she had no time to indulge Priscilla's childishness and playfulness. Patients who required her personal attention were being carried in one after another, without pause.
"Right, did you two come to make sure I was safe?"
"The chieftain... Ah! She isn't anymore~! The former chieftain, Mizelda, sent us~!"
"More deaths mean lower morale. Having fewer people who can fight would be a problem, so we're responsible for protecting you and keeping the flying dragons away. Also..."
Narrowing her slender eyes, Kuna surveyed the mansion's interior.
"Where's that princess you're looking after? Don't tell me she's resting in her room at a time like this?"
"If she is, she's a real sleepyhead~. Even if I went to sleep on a full stomach, all this noise would wake me up~."
Their standards differed subtly, but Rem shook her head in answer to their insistent questions.
Certainly, Priscilla was headstrong and intensely self-centered, so it was understandable that the pair worried about her whims.
"Surprisingly enough, Miss Priscilla is dependable."
Yes, it happened just after Rem offered that assessment of the absent Priscilla.
"-!!"
Something plunged headfirst toward the mansion's front garden with a rushing sound like fierce wind whipping between buildings.
The enormous body of a flying dragon that had failed to land from above churned up the turf and raised an astonishing cloud of dust.
It twisted violently, performing an ugly dance, but that was hardly surprising. Its head had been smashed, and these were its final reflexes before death.
Then, casting a sidelong glance at the fallen dragon's dance, a figure descended from the sky and landed on the lawn.
A beauty with a pure red sword in hand and the skirts of a scarlet dress fluttering around her-Priscilla.
"To think you would send me into the vanguard. This debt will not be easily repaid, Rem."
"You have my deepest gratitude. I will wash your hair with heartfelt thanks."
"You have some nerve, thinking that will settle the debt. Granted. I admire that."
They spoke through the open doorway. Priscilla nodded, accepting Rem's answer. Earlier, Rem had asked Priscilla to deal with the flying dragons approaching the mansion.
Even Kuna and Holly could not conceal their surprise at the display of her extraordinary strength. For some reason, Rem felt their reactions were a little exaggerated.
Still, there was something unsettling about Priscilla's battle with the flying dragons. The cause was the beautiful red sword in her hand.
"Miss Priscilla, the Yang Sword's condition..."
"As you can see, the sun is dim. For now, this can scarcely be called a sword. It is a blunt blade. However-"
As she explained the Yang Sword's poor condition, Priscilla turned around. At that very moment, a flying dragon beat its wings and opened its enormous jaws, ready to bite into her back.
Without mercy, Priscilla thrust the dulled Yang Sword into the dragon's mouth. Its teeth shattered, and the tip pierced its throat, killing it outright.
"In my hands, even a blunt blade has no trouble slaying winged dragons."
She swung the sword, flinging the dead flying dragon into a corner of the garden. Only after effortlessly disposing of the threat did she notice the pair beside Rem.
"The Shudraq. You must be here to protect Rem."
"Miss Priscilla, these two came to help the injured..."
"Do not obscure the truth with superficial words. What use are wounded people on a battlefield? Who here has the greatest value? If it is not me, then it is you."
"-!"
Her answer rebuffed, Rem was left speechless. But as though affirming Priscilla's cold assessment, Kuna nodded in reply.
"That's right~. Protecting Rem is our job. And Rem's job is..."
"To keep as many people from dying as possible~!"
Holly cheerfully helped finish Kuna's sentence. Their words and Priscilla's gaze made Rem reflect deeply on herself.
Undervaluing herself and wallowing in self-pity had ended yesterday.-She would no longer indulge herself. That was what Rem wanted.
"I'll fight my own battle. Miss Kuna, Miss Holly, sorry for the trouble!"
"Yeah!"
"Leave it to us~!"
Hearing Rem's determined answer, they nodded with reassuring smiles. Her spirits lifted by them, Rem turned to Priscilla.
"You're still here."
"It seems there are rather many situations that cannot be sustained without me. Now that your guardians have arrived, I should make my move. The others are insufficient to handle the enemy's main force."
"The enemy's main force is..."
"-One of the Nine Divine Generals, naturally."
Priscilla answered with one eye closed, and Rem swallowed.
The Nine Divine Generals were a crucial factor in determining the course of the empire's battles.
Subaru, Abel, and the others had gone to Chaosflame to win over even one more of them.
In that case, one of the Nine Divine Generals attacking this city meant-
"Naturally, this must be another who has sided with the opposition. Vincent's situation appears to be deteriorating further. What a remarkably shaky foundation he built."
"I won't comment on that, since I don't understand Mr. Vincent's work. But if he keeps living that way, things are bound to be difficult for the people around him..."
Although Rem had many thoughts about Subaru, she did not consider Vincent's attitude praiseworthy either.
Standing at the summit of a nation, he surely had many people around him, but she did not believe all of them could understand his intelligence or tolerate his arrogance. Indeed, some had rebelled against him. But-
"To do something this horrible just for that reason...!"
There was no justification! Having witnessed the injured and bleeding up close, Rem was indignant. Yet the words she forced out seemed to remind Priscilla of something, and she chuckled. Rem found that reaction puzzling, while Priscilla turned her back as though pretending she had never laughed.
"A great flock of flying dragons cannot be explained by 'flying dragon manipulation.' It must be a general newly promoted during my absence. According to Serena, the imperial noble who formed the Sunlight Alliance with Priscilla, that would be the Flying Dragon General."
"I remember they were 'Nine'... Is that person somewhere in the city, too?"
"-The city hall. Unless the enemy is a fool, that is where they will attack. After all, if they can take to the air, they can reach it in a straight line. There is no reason to deliberately spare the command post."
Everything she heard was perfectly reasonable, but Rem needed time to understand it.
"I-if the city hall's going to be attacked, isn't that terrible, Miss Priscilla!?"
"Fool. Bloated though he may be, Dikkle is still an imperial general. He will have some way to compensate for his insufficient forces. Even without the ability to fight, he is not foolish enough to do nothing but await death."
"That's a relief... Ah. S-speaking of people who can't fight, there's Mr. Schult!"
Rem was deeply worried about the little boy who had left the mansion just before the flying dragons attacked.
Hardworking but clumsy, Schult was someone even weaker who needed Rem's help. She hoped he was with a dependable adult, but feared he was not.
"Miss Priscilla! Please hurry and find him! Don't dawdle!"
"Surely it is your duty to at least pray for my safety. However, there is no need to worry. Schult will not die so easily."
"Huh...?"
As Rem hurried to send her out, Priscilla answered with perfect ease. Unable to understand what she meant, Rem frowned. Naturally, Kuna and Holly looked equally baffled, worrying over the same young boy.
Why would Schult, whose weapons were his cuteness and earnest efforts, be safe? Faced with that question, Priscilla's blood-red beauty blossomed into a smile, and she continued:
"-Because that child won my favor with his cuteness and courage."
At the heavy, dull impact, Flop felt his soul shatter under his own helplessness. Stopped in his tracks by the pain of a small stone, unable even to reach out, he could only watch as the little boy was struck down by violence-and Flop demanded that he not avert his eyes.
Looking away would mean fleeing the responsibility that belonged to his powerless self. He should at least have done something. Since he could not even manage that, he had to at least burn this into his eyes.
Because he possessed that small measure of resolve, Flop did not look away-
"...What is going on with you?"
Madelyn, who had swung her wing blade to cleave her prey in two, spoke in astonishment.
She had certainly intended to finish off both Heinkel, whom she despised, and Schult, who was trying to protect him. Nor had she stopped her swing midway. But-
"Ugh, uuuugh...!"
Schult covered Heinkel with his body, groaning through clenched teeth.
Madelyn's attack had certainly struck the back of Schult's head, and Flop had heard the dull impact himself. Yet the boy's body had neither been sliced open nor crushed.
"-?"
Finding it inexplicable, Madelyn tilted her head, looking back and forth between her weapon and Schult's head.
Then, still bewildered, she slashed at Schult with the wing blade again. Once, twice, three times, four times, over and over-
"C-could you stop that!? That must hurt!"
"This is too strange! This dragon intends to kill him, so why won't he die?"
"Well... Maybe your desire not to kill anyone makes you ease up before the weapon hits... Gah!"
"Do not mock this dragon!"
Enraged by the incomprehensible phenomenon, Madelyn kicked up a larger stone and forced Flop into silence.
The hard object struck his chest, knocking him backward, and his vision flickered. But that did nothing to quell Madelyn's anger. Because-
"I-it hurts, it hurts...!"
No matter how many times she struck him, Schult only cried out in pain and did not die. Gritting her teeth in anger at this abnormality, Madelyn grabbed his pink hair and hauled him up.
Then-
"What exactly are you hiding...!"
"Uuugh~~!"
Yanked up by brute force, Schult screamed in pain. But Madelyn, glaring at him in fury, reacted even more strongly. Her golden eyes widened in astonishment, and her lips trembled.
Flop, his eyes swimming with tears of pain, also saw what had prompted Madelyn's reaction. Schult's appearance had changed drastically as his head was forcibly lifted. Namely-
"-Schu-Schu's eyes are burning."
Utaka-ta, who saw the same thing, put it bluntly, but described it well. The words made little sense at first, yet there was no other way to describe it.
Even Flop thought that was precisely what he was seeing. Schult's beautiful red eyes, both of them, were filled with flickering flames.
"Huh, huh, huh...?"
The boy himself, however, seemed completely unaware, blinking without understanding the reactions around him. But that reaction soon vanished. His face was reflected in the blade pressed against him. Seeing it, he immediately-
"Wh-what is this!? H-hot! Ah! It isn't hot!"
Touching his face and trying to pat out the fire, he declared that he could not feel the flames. It seemed his face had not suddenly caught fire, but the cause of the phenomenon was unknown. Still, the confusion Flop and the others felt was fundamentally different from Madelyn's.
She had an idea about the boy's blazing eyes. Thus-
"Could you be that foxkin's subordinate!?"
"Fox..."
"Kin?"
"-?"
Madelyn spoke irritably, while the other three blinked in confusion. But they had no chance to dwell on the sudden loss of composure in her voice, because her next move, born of shock and confusion, held everyone's gaze even more firmly.
-Madelyn kicked off the ground, leaping high above the street.
"-"
It happened so abruptly and quickly that Flop thought she had vanished. But the ground beneath her feet caved in, and the building she used as a foothold to accelerate upward collapsed as well. Having leaped high into the sky, Madelyn swung her wing blade with both hands.
"You would obstruct this dragon again...! Disappear, you obstacle-!!"
With a shrill cry of rejection, the wing blade hurtled toward the ground. It worked on the same principle as the flying dragons throwing stones, but the force behind it was worlds apart. Naturally, the attack's target was Schult, who had angered Madelyn.
Thoughts flashed through Flop's mind. Though he did not understand how, Schult had acquired a tough body. But he still cried out in pain when struck, meaning his body had not become invincible. Besides, however tough his body might be, if a child was crying in pain-
"Medium will scold me if I leave him!"
Suppressing the pain in his chest, Flop rushed toward Schult. He did not know how much protection his body could offer against this attack, but it would be enough if he could lessen its force even slightly and save Schult. With no room to think that far, he exposed his body to the wing blade's threat-
"-Thanks for your efforts."
For some reason, the voice was perfectly clear despite not being particularly loud. Then the fierce light born of two colliding forces seared his retinas.
"-"
It was the light produced when a crimson sword struck the flying wingblade spinning down at high speed from directly overhead. Red light burst soundlessly, and Flop had the illusion that a powerful wind was blowing over him. Once the light subsided, the next thing he heard was the dull thud of flesh striking flesh.
"-Urgh!"
Looking up, he saw something glide diagonally through the air with a pained groan and crash into a building.
It took Flop quite some time to realize that the thing that had brought the tall building crashing grandly down was Madelyn. And the one responsible landed gracefully before the breathless onlookers, a beautiful woman in red-
"Miss Princess!"
"Lady Priscilla!!"
"Pupu!"
"You understand well. At times like these, when you ought to shout, you should cry out your praise for me."
As she spoke, Priscilla leisurely dusted off her skirt. With flocks of flying dragons attacking the city and even one of the Nine Divine Generals taking action, her unchanged attitude and behavior offered an irreplaceable sense of reassurance.
In fact, she had sent Madelyn flying with a single blow, saving Flop and the others from mortal danger.
"Still, I never expected to be delayed somewhere like this. I initially assumed the target would naturally be city hall."
"Yes, we were just debating that ourselves. Whether to return to the mansion where you and the madam were, Miss Princess, or head to city hall where Mr. Fluffy Head is..."
"Not that. I mean the target of the general attacking the city."
Priscilla interrupted Flop, gesturing with her chin toward where Madelyn had fallen. Flop was briefly bewildered by her words, but immediately decided that the matter was unimportant at the moment and spoke.
"Miss Princess, thank you for saving us. I'm taking Mr. Butler and Miss Utaka-ta to safety. Could you tell us where we should go? We also need to bring Mr. Redhead along."
"Oh, you have a good grasp of the division of responsibilities. Then go to the mansion. It should be safer than city hall, where the attacks are concentrated. Also-"
At that point, Priscilla looked away from Flop and glanced at Heinkel, who lay on the ground.
"You may leave that one behind. If he is of no use, then this is where he stops."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Mr. Redhead can help us fight once he wakes up, and more importantly, your precious Mr. Butler was willing to endure painful memories to protect him."
"-"
At Flop's words, Priscilla turned her gaze back to Schult. Saved by his mistress in the nick of time, his eyes brimmed with tears of gratitude.
Since his eyes were still burning, they were full of both fire and water, quite a lively sight. Yet rather than tearfully complain about the strange phenomenon happening to him, Schult grabbed Heinkel's leg.
"I-I'll take Lord Heinkel back...! Lady Priscilla, you should-"
"I have something I must do. You understand that, surely."
"Yes. Something great that only Lady Priscilla can accomplish...!"
What effect would the steadfast Schult's trust have on Priscilla? Her expression unchanged, Priscilla merely nodded quietly in acceptance of his words, then looked toward the alley.
"Avoid the main streets and take the small roads beside the tall buildings. Schult, you remember the way, yes?"
"Yes! As instructed, I've taken walks every day!"
"Commendable. Go."
After briefly acknowledging Schult's efforts, Priscilla turned her back on them. Her attitude clearly indicated that the conversation was over. Flop also thought it unwise to linger.
"Mr. Butler, please lead the way. I'll carry Mr. Redhead. And Miss Utaka-ta, please watch for danger along the way. You're used to scouting when you hunt, right? I'm counting on you!"
"U-understood! I'll do my best to lead the way!"
"...Uu understands too."
Utaka-ta, who had hesitated for a moment about fleeing, nodded once given a task. With that, their roles were assigned. All that remained was-
"Miss Princess! Thank you again!"
"There is no need for thanks. Merely praise me."
Still facing away from them, Priscilla responded to his thanks. Her decisive attitude brought a wry smile to Flop's face, and he lifted Heinkel.
His tall, well-trained frame was extremely heavy, but Flop had trained in case he ever needed to carry Medium while fleeing, and that training now proved useful.
Even after hoisting him over both shoulders like luggage, Flop was still able to move.
"We mustn't forget this."
Schult picked up the sword Heinkel had dropped, gripping it firmly in his small hands. Then the three exchanged glances and nodded before rushing into the alley toward the mansion. Before they were truly far away-
"Lady Priscilla! This fire must be your doing too... Thank you!"
Opening his burning eyes wide, Schult called his thanks to Priscilla.
After Schult and the others had departed in a noisy flurry.
"Schult, and that one called Flop... To encounter useful people in such dire straits, that fellow has quite a tenacious streak of ill luck."
Priscilla murmured on the deserted street. She was not commenting on Schult, whose eyes were aflame, nor on Flop, who compensated for his powerlessness with improvisation, nor on Utaka-ta, whose courage exceeded her abilities, but on the last of them. To survive a situation in which he should unquestionably have died-what could that be called but ill luck? However-
"It would be strange to call someone blessed with good luck when he failed to die when he should have."
Her words held no pity, yet something akin to pity imbued them. They melted into the blood-scented wind of the battlefield, disappearing unheard.
The next instant-
"-"
With a clink, the jeweled hair ornament adorning her orange hair shattered.
It was not that some fragile part of the jewel-set ornament had broken. The entire accessory itself cracked, then shattered all at once.
The long hair it had held in place came loose, spilling down her back in waves. Then-
"-You won't die either?"
With the sound of rubble being forcefully kicked aside, a figure appeared in the street.
Her whole body was covered in dirt and dust, but she was still full of life-the sight of that figure with two black horns on her head made Priscilla narrow her almond-shaped eyes.
"To think you were a dragonkin. Wherever did they find such an antiquity?"
"Are you insulting dragons? Don't think you'll get away with that easily."
Provoked into baring her teeth, the girl-Madelyn-narrowed her pupils like a dragon's. Faced with the sinister aura radiating from that small body, Priscilla stroked her loosened hair.
"Does my survival displease you so?"
"I should have crushed that body long ago. If there are several people who won't die even with their hearts crushed, that's intolerable."
"-My heart crushed, was it?"
Hearing that, Priscilla sighed. Though Schult and the others had not seen it, both women had struck each other hard during their clash in the air.
Just as Priscilla's attack had sent Madelyn flying, Madelyn's counterattack had struck her hard in the chest. The reason Priscilla currently appeared unharmed was-
"It seems even objects cannot bear to see me disappear from this world."
"-The Soul Marriage Technique?"
The term Madelyn uttered without much thought made Priscilla's eyebrow twitch.
Still glaring at her, the girl pointed toward the houses along the street-no, farther beyond them, far to the southeast.
"Just like that fox-person. Do you know each other?"
"No. If there is something like this of mine, then the one over there is my 'imitation.' I am the 'original.'"
"-?"
"You do not understand?"
The unfamiliar words left Madelyn looking confused. Thus, to dispel her confusion, Priscilla put it more simply. Namely-
"If you find that opponent troublesome, then you cannot possibly defeat me."
"-! Are you looking down on dragons!?"
"Fool. Did you imagine you had a choice?-I stand above, and all else stands below."
At that smiling answer, Madelyn's anger passed its breaking point.
Her face flushed crimson, and the dragonkin roared, golden eyes blazing. The threat bore straight down upon her. Facing it head-on, Priscilla glanced at the sky.
The sky-no, she was searching for the hilt of the crimson sword that used the sky as its sheath.
"Has the sunlight ended? This may prove somewhat troublesome."
The impacts and destruction began in one corner of the walled city, but did not end there.
"-"
At first, the fierce battle that began on the city's southern side caused a chain of destruction among the tightly packed buildings, raising clouds of dust that illustrated the devastation wrought by flying dragons.
Yet it was not the flying dragon calamity that had reduced the south to ruins. Of course, the flying dragons' hunting technique of dropping huge rocks from the sky to ravage the ground was a disaster in its own right.
Whenever people fled in fear of the rain of stones, the flying dragons glided down to the ground and savagely tore them apart with sharp claws and fangs, biting them to pieces and mass-producing corpses in the streets.
Some resisted. Some drew their bows and shot flying dragons down. But the vast majority could only beg for rescue while suffering one-sided attacks. Such was the immense, intractable calamity the flying dragons brought.
But the fierce battle that even those flying dragons kept their distance from was destruction incarnate.
"Raaaahhhhhhhhh-!!"
Her small body leaped high with a roar, twisting as she hurled the mighty flying wingblade. Its curved blade sliced even more deftly through wind and air resistance, sweeping away everything in its path and cutting apart the city itself.
Its destructive power was incomparable to that of an ordinary flying wingblade. Those used by ordinary people were only about the size of a one-handed sword, but Madelyn's was as large as two greatswords joined together, and heavier than ten greatswords melted down and cast together. Ten holy swords, demon swords, and the like, possessing special powers, had once been born into this world.
Made from metal used to forge such divine weapons, this weapon was even more vicious than its appearance suggested, unleashing its power to the fullest.
Every throw devastated an area dozens of meters across, leveling buildings. In mere minutes, the enraged dragonkin's violence had reduced the southern part of the walled city to ruins.
This was already different from the calamity caused by the flying dragons and deserved to be called a new kind of disaster. For one city to suffer two upheavals of heaven and earth at once could only be called a nightmare. All the more so when one of those upheavals had been unleashed solely to eliminate one person.
"-"
Priscilla stepped off the ground as though dancing, continually evading the wildly raging attacks. A dragonkin's physical abilities were not to be underestimated, but Madelyn's fighting style lacked all finesse. That was because she had never learned any martial arts. Probably because she regarded humans as inferior creatures.
"Though I have never studied martial arts either."
At most, what Priscilla remembered consisted of sword movements she had carefully watched others perform. Beyond that, she had a complete grasp of her own physical abilities and how to move.
If there was a reason she could wield the Yang Sword like a master, that was probably it. However, now that she could not draw the Yang Sword, every strike from Madelyn posed a threat.
The sunlight had ended, and the sun had dimmed. There were corresponding rules for wielding the Yang Sword. The sun did not shine forever; it needed to share the day with the moon and take time to replenish its strength. If there was a sun that shone constantly, it was Priscilla herself alone. Even so-
"The longer this takes, the deeper the wounds?"
Priscilla dealt cautiously with Madelyn's attacks. Naturally, her inability to use the Yang Sword as a trump card prevented a decisive outcome, but the dragonkin's immense vitality was also a concern.
Unless she could kill her opponent in one blow, a counterattack was highly likely to reach her. Their initial exchange of "pain" could not be repeated many times. If their duel dragged on like this, the damage to the walled city would continue to grow.
Just as Madelyn had directly destroyed the city's southern district, flying dragons would continue raining attacks from the sky elsewhere, adding to the casualties.
On top of that-
"Rooaaar-!"
Catching the returning flying wingblade, Madelyn planted both feet on the ground and heightened her fighting spirit. The dragon's mounting aura of dominance spread through the air, rousing the flying dragons soaring over the city. Humans would call this phenomenon a rise in morale, but the act of spurring a ferocious race's wild instincts produced an effect called "rampage."
If the flying dragons' vicious nature intensified and their means of attack increased, they would truly become impossible to handle. She wanted to move things forward before that happened. To that end-
"One more move is needed."
A crucial move to change the current situation.
"-"
"Next time, I'll hit you...!"
After evading an attack, Priscilla retreated a considerable distance, coming to stand amid the ruined city.
Glaring at her, Madelyn growled like a beast as she repeated her monotonous attacks. Yet she was also gradually adjusting her tactics through those continually missed strikes.
It would have been ideal if the enemy had no capacity to learn, but otherwise, she would grow during battle. Priscilla wanted to prevent her from growing any further.
Standing before her, Madelyn exhaled white breath, sending dragon blood circulating throughout her body. Her rising temperature caused steam to rise from the girl's body. Together with her white breath, it made her look as though she were shrouded in white smoke-
"-No."
It was too strange. Priscilla closed one eye and stared at Madelyn. It was an indisputable fact that the dragon blood was becoming more active as the battle dragged on. The budding emotions of Madelyn the dragonkin clearly caused the flying dragons to "rampage." But in the climate of the Vollachian Empire, how could her breath turn white? And more importantly-
"Snow should not be falling at all."
Priscilla spoke of the white flakes drifting slowly down at the edge of her vision.
Little by little, but steadily increasing in number, heavy snow fell from the sky over the walled city, which had already lost most of its ability to protect its people.
Calling it rare was not enough; it was an upheaval of heaven and earth. In Vollachia, there were no few people who had never seen snow.
For one city to be struck by two upheavals of heaven and earth at once could only be called a nightmare. But what if a third, new upheaval were added? Was this a nightmare, or-
"-That's enough."
As the cold substance falling from the sky gradually accumulated on the ground, a voice rang out. Like a silver bell, it was a voice so beautiful it pierced the heart.
Would the addition of a third upheaval of heaven and earth make this a nightmare?
Or could it become the crucial move that changed the situation?
"Even though I'm in a hurry, I can't just stand by and watch.
"-Because I'm ve~ry angry right now."
The footsteps of a silver-haired girl echoed through a place devastated by calamity as far as the eye could see. Searching for her missing knight, the "witch" who brought heavy snow arrived in the walled city.