――God, Buddha, Odo Lagna. I vow never to drink alcohol in my life.

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"It's an all-out war. Feel free to lose miserably."

The moment Petra declared this in the mountains where Al had disappeared, the tension swelled and burst. In an instant, the remnants of Al's group, who had heightened their vigilance at Petra and her group's appearance—'Divine Dragon' Volcanica, 'Gluttony' Roy Alphard, and Heinkel—began to move simultaneously. However, their actions were completely uncoordinated and scattered.

――――

Seeing them spring into action, Petra executed her first strategy—no, the first strategy was the flash lemonade that used Rem's presence to capture Al's attention, so this was the second tactic. The plan was to cause Al's formidable group, each a formidable foe, to disband into a disorganized rabble.

"First, isolate Al-san and then shock the remaining members. Then—"

'On your marks, get set, go! Everyone starts doing their own thing!'

In front of Petra and the imaginary Subaru's voices, the 'Dragon', the Sin Archbishop, and Heinkel all acted according to their individual judgments. The initial strategy was to disperse their choices as much as possible by deploying all available forces. Of course, this strategy carried a significant risk of being wiped out by the 'Divine Dragon', but—

"Probably, the way Al-san made the 'Divine Dragon' an ally is the same as mine."

Petra speculated about the betrayal of the renowned 'Divine Dragon' Volcanica. She had heard from Emilia about Volcanica's condition at the top of the Watchtower and understood that the 'Dragon' had grown senile over the long years. Petra knew better than anyone how to forcibly fill the blank spaces in one's consciousness with 'something' through personal experience.

Just as Petra had housed Natsuki Subaru as part of her consciousness with the 'Book of the Dead', Volcanica might have also housed a cooperative entity with Al. This entity likely shared a strong purpose with Al and decided to turn the world into their enemy together. Petra bet on this—on Al and Volcanica's shared vow of 'no killing'.

――ッッ！

The first to act was the 'Divine Dragon', moving swiftly despite its massive body. The mighty jaws of the 'Dragon' opened, and the breath released was not a destructive light that returned everything to nothingness, but a mist of pure water created using the Dragon's vast mana. This engulfed Petra and the mixed royal selection army 'Aldebusters', drenching them all.

For a moment, confusion arose as they couldn't understand the 'Divine Dragon's' aim, but that doubt was quickly resolved.

――――

The sound of the air creaking struck their eardrums, hindering their reflexive defensive movements. Looking closely, a thin layer of frost formed on their wet bodies, and Petra and her group's bodies were instantly frozen—

"Ul Goa."

In an instant, the forest, which had begun to turn white, was covered by a bright red flame. This forcefully suppressed the freezing effect of the dense mist targeted by the 'Divine Dragon', melting the ice immediately, and drying their wet bodies in an instant. The one who did this was standing at the center of the group, raising a finger, and with a single chant, thwarted the 'Divine Dragon's' aim—a magician of unparalleled skill in the kingdom, though with the worst personality—Roswaal L. Mathers.

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Needless to say, the higher the level of magic, the more delicate control it requires. Using a magic of the Ur level, which is not something just anyone can wield, to respond instantly, release everyone from freezing, dry their clothes, and avoid burns, is truly a divine feat. Even the ancient 'Divine Dragon' Volcanica was astonished by Roswaal L. Mathers, who accomplished this in one breath. There—

"What you should focus on is here. Concentrate."

The quiet and polite voice carried an unimaginable impact. Clind, who leaped up with a light step, delivered a powerful kick to the side of the motionless 'Dragon' with his long leg. The force of the kick was as cannon-like as Garfiel's, causing the 'Dragon' to lose its balance, touch the ground, and raise a cloud of dust.

The initial move of the 'Divine Dragon' was directly suppressed by the combination of Roswaal and Clind. Meanwhile, breaking through the dust cloud was the 'Gluttony' Sin Archbishop baring his fangs—

"Haha! Lining up such delicious-looking heads, this is already love, isn't it?"

Roy Alphard, drooling as he jumped into the battle line, unlike the 'Divine Dragon' who tried to stop all the Aldebusters, clearly targeted one person and pounced in a single bound. Despite the wild motivation of hunger, Roy approached his prey with an unusually refined agility. The target of 'Gluttony's' wicked tongue was the pink-haired maid standing among the group—

"—Ram."

The outstretched hand prepared for a meal by touching something invisible. As Roy called her name and grinned, his gaze intersected with Ram's frozen expression. In the next moment, the Sin Archbishop ostentatiously licked the palm that had touched her. The power of 'Gluttony' activated, and a new tragedy was about to sprout—but it didn't.

"Ugh."

Roy, wide-eyed and feeling nauseous from the recoil of the failed 'Devour,' covered his mouth. In front of the slowed Roy, Ram elegantly spun around,

"Fool."

Ram's knee, which had sprung up, struck the Sin Archbishop's jaw with a vivid impact.

"Damn, damn, damn! To come this far...!"

While the 'Divine Dragon' and 'Gluttony' each chose the option of attack with different targets, the choice of the last one, Heinkel, was different. Unlike the cold breath of the 'Dragon' or the 'Gluttony's' 'Malice,' Heinkel, with his drawn sword, guarded the front and leaped backward instead of forward. He likely intended to distance himself and hope that someone else would change the battle's course. However—

"It won't go so conveniently, Master."
"Master, I've actually wanted to do this for a long time."

There, the twin sisters who had been lurking in the trees since the 'Compression' descended. Flam and Grassis—the twins serving the Astrea Family—delivered a kick from front and back, sandwiching the back and torso of the man who was ironically the head of the family they served.

"Guh..."

The kick of the sisters, who had mastered the 'Flow Method,' produced an explosive sound unimaginable from the small girls. With a shock that seemed to squeeze out his internal organs, Heinkel rolled his eyes and let out a deathly groan. The three simultaneous clashes that occurred almost at the same time were as planned in terms of initial superiority. And then, in addition—

'—Game change.'

The imaginary snap of Natsuki Subaru's fingers, audible only to Petra, resounded loudly. This signaled a change in the battle situation.

—Further 'Compression' division continued to tear apart Al's group.

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—Petra Leyte recognized the terror of Al's group more intensely than the results themselves.

Since the betrayal at the Pleiades Watchtower, Al has allied with the 'Divine Dragon' Volcanica, evaded Reinhard and Felt's camp, and successfully orchestrated the jailbreak of the 'Gluttony' Sin Archbishop in the royal capital. In these developments, the roles played by Al's accomplices are significant, but the greatest threat remains Al himself.

Al's extraordinary power of fate—his ability to draw in desired outcomes—was revealed, and Petra found herself thoroughly convinced. This understanding, of course, stems from the truth about Natsuki Subaru that she learned by reading the 'Book of the Dead'.

'Al also has the Leap ability... if that's the case, I understand just how dangerous that is. Unlike me, who lacks combat prowess, Al can fight on his own, making him a straightforward superior version of me.'

"...But Subaru is very reliable when he's with Beatrice. And when it comes to tricks or cunning, he doesn't lose to Otto."

'But the original me is captured with Beatrice, and tricks or cunning aren't skills that strong people boast about...'

Imaginary Subaru seemed lacking in confidence, but even setting aside feelings of love or bias, Petra didn't think Subaru was inferior to Al, much less a lesser version. Regarding this, Old Man Rom, who suspected Al's authority might be time-leaping, had shared intriguing insights.

—The theory was that Al's time leap might only allow for short-term do-overs.

"If he truly had the same power as Subaru, he could have avoided confronting Lady Felt and Old Man Rom in the first place."

'But we shouldn't be overconfident. It's entirely possible that the restart point was simply in a situation where he couldn't avoid Felt and the others. I couldn't completely stop Petelgeuse from attacking Emilia and the others either.'

"I think you almost completely stopped him—"

Petra stopped herself, considering 'Subaru's' feelings. If 'Subaru' had perfectly contained the 'Sloth' Sin Archbishop who attacked the Roswaal mansion and Arlam village, the subsequent tragedies of Rem and Crusch wouldn't have occurred. Petra believes Subaru did everything he could, but he thinks otherwise. This is sadly linked to Natsuki Subaru's low self-esteem, which Petra finds incredibly frustrating—

"Let's set that aside for now... It's not just Al, who's unbelievable, but also the 'Divine Dragon', the ninja maid, the Sin Archbishop, and Heinkel that we're up against."

'That's quite a lineup. A 'Dragon', a ninja, a Sin Archbishop, and Reinhard's father—being Reinhard's father, he won't be easy to deal with.'

"No comment on Heinkel."

Petra pressed her finger to her lips in a cross to refuse to comment on 'Subaru's' difficult expression. She had briefly interacted with Heinkel in the Vollachia Empire, but his demeanor was deliberately off-putting, leaving almost no connection with Petra. Only Garfiel had somewhat engaged with him, but knowing the current state of Heinkel would surely depress Garfiel. Imagining a dejected Garfiel stirred Petra's anger towards Heinkel. The Emilia camp is united in anger against anyone who harms their own.

"I need to calm down... Garf-san's feelings are something only Garf-san can resolve, and we need to pave the way for that."

"Even if we say 'pave the way,' where do we even start...?"

"Yeah, that's true. It's confusing, isn't it? But—"

Seeing Natsuki Subaru looking at a loss, Petra smiled mischievously and turned around. Drawn by Petra's movement, Natsuki Subaru also looked in that direction. There, he saw everyone who had been there for him, even as he stumbled, fell, and failed repeatedly, yet still managed to show results.

"——"

"Certainly, I think Al and the others are very formidable, and if we did things normally, we wouldn't stand a chance against them. —But, we're not exactly normal either, you know?"

Winking with one eye, Petra made one of the cutest faces in her personal history, smiled at the imaginary Subaru's profile, and said that. And so, with her extraordinary and reliable companions, they devised a plan—

—triggered by Otto Suwen's signal, they commenced the battle.

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—God, Buddha, Odo Lagna. I swear I will never write a letter in my life.

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—The authority brought by the 'Melancholy' Witch Factor, 'Compression,' is by no means omnipotent.

The phenomena caused by 'Compression' are merely the compression of feasible events—such as shortening the travel time to a reachable area. This means that 'Compression' cannot realize events that are impossible, even with time.

Therefore, even in dividing Aldebaran's group, after initially throwing Aldebaran out of the battlefield, further dividing the remaining group was not an easy task. If the opponent is wary of 'Compression,' the difficulty of applying the authority increases dramatically. Especially if the opponent is the 'Divine Dragon' or a Sin Archbishop, just taking them out is a Herculean task. 'Compression' has the weakness of its applicable range narrowing drastically unless it is activated on a consenting or unwary opponent.

The Royal Selection Mixed Army 'Aldebusters' overcame this weakness with a series of ingenious strategies.

They unsettled Heinkel with their numbers, took advantage of Volcanica's adherence to 'non-lethality,' and turned away 'Gluttony' Roy Alphard, who was engrossed in a feast. None of these were strategies they were sure would succeed until executed. —However, there is no strategy in this world with a hundred percent certainty. What exists is the effort to get as close to a hundred percent as possible and the belief that one has done their utmost. The spirit of those who can water the seed of possibility is—

"Ah, how delightful. Astonishing."

Nodding, Clind landed on the ground and faced the 'Divine Dragon' Volcanica. Volcanica, supporting its unsteady body with one hand, met Clind's gaze head-on. In the narrowed golden eyes of the 'Dragon,' a clear sprout of will could be felt. As Petra had speculated, another consciousness resided within the 'Divine Dragon's' dragon shell.

"——"

The attack from Clind had little effect on Volcanica, as expected. It might have succeeded in surprising him, but it was far from a decisive blow. However, the initial ambush achieved its purpose. In the battlefield facing the 'Divine Dragon's' dragon shell, only two from the Aldebusters stood against the usurper—Clind and Roswaal L. Mathers.

"...It's the same method used to blow away the Origin."

The 'Divine Dragon' muttered in a low, heavy voice as he lifted his body with a hand on the ground. The 'Dragon' looked around with his golden eyes and noticed that they had been moved from the mountains to a distant plain. This was evidence of successful separation from a troublesome opponent through 'Compression.' However—

"Clind, was it? I thought it might be the case... but it seems you're indeed the owner of the 'Melancholy' Witch Factor."

"—. Where did you get that information? Question."

"I learned it from an all-knowing acquaintance. Although, it was mixed in with some nonsense, so I didn't remember it until just now."

The 'Divine Dragon' shrugged in a very human-like gesture, and Clind pondered over the mention of 'Melancholy' and being identified as the owner of the Witch Factor. If the usurper could extract knowledge from the dragon shell, it wouldn't be surprising for him to know this. However, if that were the case, the actions so far seemed somewhat inconsistent. If one were to make sense of it, it would mean the usurper couldn't fully handle the dragon shell but had been informed about Clind's circumstances by someone else—

"When you two understand each other like that, it makes me feel quite left out."

"Master..."

"You're a person capable of meticulous work, but if you go too far, you might be considered neurotic. How the opponent obtained their knowledge isn't the issue. The fact is, the strategy is in place."

"Strategy, huh?"

As Roswaal admonished Clind, the usurper spread the wings on his back wide. This alone stirred up a gust of wind, causing Clind and the others' hair to be blown about.

"I'm not one to talk, but separating me from Roy, the old man, and my allies might have been a mistake, don't you think?"

"Oh? That's an interesting opinion. May I hear more?"

"You know it. Having more people in range makes it more likely I'll have to hold back. With this body and overflowing power, it's not easy to go easy."

"I see, that's understandable. If the goal is to prevent you from performing at your best, then that's exactly what should be done... but—"

"—Unfortunately, that condition applies to us as well. Equal footing."

"What?"

The usurper of the dragon shell, who implied not to prepare an environment where he could go all out, narrowed his eyes at Clind's words and then widened them in surprise. Surrounding the 'Divine Dragon' were colorful lights floating without gaps.

At first glance, they seemed like a gathering of faint and brilliant micro-spirits materializing in mana pools, but anyone with some knowledge of magic could sense that each faint light was a massive clump of mana—a terrifyingly powerful blink of grand magic. Needless to say, the source was none other than the strongest magician in history—

"Please don't praise me like that, will you? For someone who knows the teacher to rate me so highly, it's a terribly painful mistake for me."

Roswaal, as if reading my inner thoughts, spoke. If he were to unleash his full potential, allies around him would only get in the way. And that is—

"—The same goes for me. Affirmative."

As he spoke, Clind removed the monocle from his left eye with his raised hand. In that instant, the air faintly vibrated, and what was faint gradually expanded, slowly creating a cracking sound in the space, causing the ground to start rumbling.

It wasn't a special monocle. What was needed was a shift in consciousness, a step towards returning to the self he had sealed away in the past. By not taking that step, Clind had continued to force himself to remain a bystander.

Pointed out by a girl with a shining soul, Clind felt ashamed of his own melancholy and gloom. Having received the final push, he could no longer continue to stand still. Therefore—

'...Hey, hey.'

With a creaking sound of bones, two black horns protruded from Clind's head, crowned with blue hair. They were neither the horns of the Oni tribe nor those possessed by magical beasts. There was only one race in this world that bore such black horns.

A race that had dwindled to the point of being thought extinct—Dragonkin. A new race that chose to shed their dragon shells and take human form, following the powerful 'Dragon'. Clind was also one of these Dragonkin, a being with special significance to the world. Because—

'Finally, I've figured out the source of this strange sensation. —You, in this body.'

"Any more words would be boorish. Unnecessary."

The usurper attempted to continue speaking, but Clind directly interrupted. No one else had more right than Clind to silence the usurper. No one was more fitting than the original owner of the dragon shell that the usurper had stolen.

"—Apprentice of the 'Witch', Roswaal L. Mathers."

'—'Divine Dragon' Volcanica.'

Roswaal, floating a grand spell, declared his name as he stood firm on the ground. In response, the usurper shamelessly claimed the same title. Following that custom, how long had it been since Clind placed himself on the stage? Thinking this, Clind too, enveloped in purple lightning, declared his name.

"—Dragonkin of the 'Divine Dragon', Clind."

In that moment, the two connected to the 'Divine Dragon' began to move, and the deployed magic demonstrated its power. Triggered by the cataclysmic impact and destruction, the battle of those who knew four hundred years began.