—When I opened my eyes, I had no idea who I was.

"――――"

I didn't know where I was, when it was, who I was, or what was happening. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. I couldn't move my hands or feet. My feet weren't touching the ground. I couldn't even breathe properly, feeling incredibly restricted—and yet, I could only sense the "voices."

"――――"

Even though my sight, smell, touch, taste, and above all, hearing were blocked, I could hear the "voices." Countless, innumerable "voices" were showered upon me without any means to stop them, as if I were a helpless infant thrown into the cradle of hell.

"――――"

A storm of "voices" continued to pour down indiscriminately and chaotically. Just like a defenseless baby caught in the rain, I was on the verge of drowning in the "voices." I even considered letting myself drown like this—,

"――Young master! Young master, are you alright? I'm coming to save you now!"

—. ————. A loud "voice" was heard. Among the countless, innumerable "voices," there was one that I distinctly felt was directed at me. I couldn't do anything. But I understood. —The strong "voice" directed at me.

So—,

"—Otto, grit your teeth."

Hearing that "voice," a sensation of floating came over me, and an incredibly intense sound—other than the "voices"—shook my eardrums. As my tightly closed eyes regained the ability to accept light, I was finally able to face the "voice" directed at me and its owners.

"'Sorry for being late. It's all because I'm weak.'"

"'What are you saying, Garf! If you and everyone hadn't come, the young master would still be hanging there... Oh, young master, young master! Can you recognize me!?'

There stood a blond boy and a massive earth dragon with pale blue scales. The "voice" I felt and the voice I heard overlapped, but there was no mistake. The earth dragon nestled beside me as I sat on the ground, and the boy gripped my shoulder firmly.

"'You probably don't understand anything right now, do you? But it's okay. We'll get everything back. With everyone's help, we'll make up for what I can't do alone...!'

"――――"

"'So, Otto, you should stay here...'

He probably wanted to tell me to stay calm. It seemed the boy in front of me knew about my empty state and was trying to do something about it. He probably knew why I was empty too. I wanted to know, to ask him. That impulse was certainly there.

But—,

"'Is there anything I can do?'"

I couldn't tell if the 'voice' that escaped my mouth was a proper voice. However, I could see that both the boy and the earth dragon widened their eyes, so I assumed it got through to them.

Honestly, I don't understand anything. I don't understand, but there's one thing I can say. —I am grateful for being rescued from that cradle of hell.

More than anything—,

"'—When people come at you with such genuine voices, you feel like responding, don't you?'"

"'Ah, that's... true.'"

The boy and the earth dragon, who had widened their eyes at my words, synchronized their breaths and 'voices' and said.

"'That's just like the young master.'"
"'That's just like Otto, isn't it?'"

At that 'voice,' I couldn't help but laugh, thinking of myself before I became empty.

—If there's someone who made me this way, "they've done it."

△▼△▼△▼△

"—Take that!!"

A high-pitched silver bell-like voice delivered a kick with power contrasting its lightness.

Rem watched the result of her perfect strike while gripping the handle of her morning star.

Using the ice footholds created by magic for both practice and distraction, she drew the opponent's attention upwards, focusing on supporting Emilia.

Of course, if she could have decided the match with the iron ball of love that Subaru had honed for her, she would have liked to, but she couldn't be too greedy. Even in the Empire, Subaru had taken proper steps with Rem. If Subaru had been impatient and pushed himself on Rem—,

"At that time, I might have broken not just his fingers, but his arms and legs too."

Now that her memory has returned, just thinking about being so rough with Subaru makes her faint, but considering Rem's mindset back then, she thinks she might have done it.

That's why procedures and steps are important in everything. It's like cooking. Even though she's reasonably good at cooking, Rem has a bad habit of skipping steps in things other than cooking.

And speaking of bad habits, there's one more—,

"—Don't jump to conclusions!"

Rushing to a conclusion and loosening her grip is due to a lack of imagination.

It was Priscilla who taught her that stopping one's thoughts is evil, guiding the memory-less Rem on how to set her heart. —Even though she's gone, her teachings live on. As long as those teachings keep Rem alive, she will always be.

So—,

"—No way!?"

Even when Emilia raised her voice in astonishment, Rem's thoughts didn't stop.

Below, Emilia, who had kicked from directly beneath Al and the others' blind spot, her ice-booted kick should have pierced Al with enough force to break his spine.

However, Al had blocked it. —By covering himself with a box of rocks.

"That's what Lord Rom was talking about—"

Rem judged it to be the effect of 'Time Reversal.'
As an immediate defensive decision, the magic that enveloped her entire body was more than adequate. Using magic requires both the image of the result and the construction of the spell. If either is lacking, the magic won't work, and the more complex the task, the longer it takes to form the image of the result.
Al's magic was overly fixated on the image of a surprise attack from a blind spot.

"――――"

Even though she understood the principle in her head, Rem bit the inside of her cheek at the unfairness of the technique.
From the start, it was proven that Al's authority could even evade Reinhard. Continuing to attack at this rate, she feared everything would be deflected, and negative thoughts began to spiral――,

"――Rem!!"

That negative spiral was shattered by Emilia's call.
Through the rock box that appeared in midair, Rem and Emilia's gazes met. Unlike Rem, who was almost overwhelmed by the threat of the authority, the light in Emilia's violet eyes was strong. It gave her courage.

"――――"

Strength returned to her eyes, and the activation of her horn through demonization filled Rem's entire body with vitality.
Falling through the sky, thirty seconds had already passed since the battle began――the reason she could measure it accurately was due to the marks carved into the massive rock wall visible far behind.
The Agzad Canyon, a massive earth rift in the Kararagi City-State, has a height difference of five thousand meters from the ground to the deepest part of the canyon, and the fall time is approximately one hundred seconds. The marks carved into the rock wall were at ten-second intervals, and they were currently passing the third mark――seventy seconds left until they hit the ground.

"Not yet――!!"
"――It's from here!!"

Emilia and Rem's voices overlapped, and with the courage they received and the power that surged up, they resumed their attack.
Rem arched her body greatly, and Emilia twisted her body to create ice hammers in both hands. In an instant, a morning star with the force of a cannonball and an ice hammer wrapped in a fierce crosswind were simultaneously unleashed, smashing into the rock box containing Al and the others with a roar, scattering rock fragments everywhere. Amidst the flying debris, the enemies split into upper and lower groups and fiercely attacked Rem and Emilia.
Al headed towards Emilia, while a red-haired shinobi――,

"――No, you too"

"Yes, I'm Yae, Al-sama's all-purpose helpful maid."

"That's a title for Subaru-kun's Rem!"

The red-haired maid, not a shinobi, who introduced herself as Yae, was interrupted by Rem, who pulled back the iron ball with her right hand while striking the approaching Yae with her left powerful arm.
However, Yae unnaturally controlled her movement in midair and dodged.
Looking closely, she had connected herself and Al with a thread thrown behind her, using its exquisite tension and slack to control her movements. A glimmer thrown from her other hand wrapped around Rem's neck.

"――Hyuma"

Feeling the impending threat on her skin, Rem instinctively guarded her vital points with an ice collar. The moment the thread caught on the collar, she pulled her head out to avoid being beheaded. — With a quick decision that saved her life, Rem aimed at Yae's back, who had slightly raised her eyebrows, with an iron ball.

However, Yae dodged the iron ball coming from behind with the precision as if she had eyes on her back, and stuck out her tongue at Rem's surprise as she caught the iron ball that returned to her hand.

"It's reflected in your eyes, isn't it?"

Almost losing her cool at the provocation, Rem received a mental scolding from the imaginary Katya in her mind. "Fool, you're playing right into their hands!" she imagined Katya shouting like a cat, and nodded back, acknowledging the enemy's skill in using the reflection in her eyes.

"Then, please take a good look!"

Saying this, she wrapped the iron ball of the morning star in ice, wrapped it again and again, doubling and redoubling its mass until it became a ten-meter block of ice, and swung it down.

"Did I provoke you a bit too much!?"

Yae, her voice cracking as the ice block approached with a roar, swung her hands vigorously, carving, carving, carving the morning ice block star, dividing, dividing, dividing its mass to kill it.

Finally, when only the bare iron ball remained, stripped of ice, she received it in front of her chest, dispersing the impact with the threads stretched in a mesh, and it was forcefully bounced downward.

Where it was falling—

"This time! Unlike in the royal capital! I won't let you escape!"

"Normally! If you did that! It would be my win and run!"

Emilia and Al clashed, exchanging words and weapons. Around them, weapons made of ice and stone floated freely, and they continued to swing and clash the weapons at hand without distinguishing between their own and others'.

"Yah! Terya! Ei! Uya! Torya! Teiteiteiteitei!"

Contrary to her cute battle cries, Emilia's attacks were relentless, giving no time to breathe. However, Al also parried the raining swords, spears, and axes with an axe, a spear, and a sword, continuing to fend them off.

Against Emilia, who attacked with acrobatic movements, Al matched the weapons to the shortest distance and defended. Presumably, this was also the result of 'time regression.' He would get hit once, return to before he was hit, and place the weapon where he was struck. — Repeating this process.

"— Lord Al!"

In this back-and-forth struggle, Yae, who had been shot down by Rem, caught up. Caught off guard, a temporary two-on-one situation was created, and Rem also tried to accelerate her falling speed by using the foothold—no,

"Lady Emilia!"

In a split-second decision, instead of catching up herself, Rem adjusted the angle of the iron ball she had swung down.

The iron ball, which had scattered the impact on Yae and was still falling at the same speed, seemed to be imbued with Subaru's polished spirit, and leapt towards Emilia, who was in a pinch. Before Al and Yae's simultaneous attack could reach her, Emilia grabbed the chain.

"Ugh, yaaaah!!"

Using the foothold she had just created, not to kick off but to brace herself, Emilia grabbed the chain and reeled herself in—pulling herself up between Al and Yae, who were about to join forces, splitting the two groups into upper and lower.

"Thank you! They're really tough!"

"You're welcome! I feel the same!"

Holding hands with Emilia, who had risen to the same level, Rem marveled at the enemy's strength. Originally, Rem and the others were supposed to handle only Al, but Yae joining them made things much more complicated. Not only did it force them to split their forces, but her skills were exceptional. Moreover, her abilities, when combined with Al's, were not just additive but multiplicative.

"Yes, just like me and that person..."

"Huh? Were you talking about Subaru just now?"

"I'm sorry, let's save that for after this!"

Responding to Emilia, who widened her eyes, Rem passed another mark on the rock wall—confirming that they would reach the underground in sixty seconds, she bit down hard. The idea she had just before was correct. Yae was formidable, and even more so with Al. To deal with that—,

"We'll split them. Lady Emilia!"

"Yes! Let's do it together!"

Still holding hands, Emilia with her free hand and Rem with her weapon-wielding hand aimed at the two below,

"Al—"
"—Hyuma!!"

Two types of Hyuma mixed together, and with a sound of the atmosphere creaking, ice appeared in mid-air—of course, merely throwing stones would only repeat past failures. So, to avoid that, they focused not on how to produce the ice, but on where it would appear.

"—"
"Tch."

Blocked by the spreading ice, the tongue click from inside the helmet was inaudible. But just by looking at the result, it was certain that a tongue click had occurred.

The ice mass created by Rem and Emilia—a thin, flat ice sheet—wedged itself between Al and Yae, who were positioned above and below, preventing their reunion. The ice sheet maintained its strength while expanding to a thirty-meter diameter disk, making it extremely difficult to dive and reunite while falling. Furthermore, its flat construction did not allow for cutting the thread.

"Al—"

"—Yae, hold on for a while."

Facing each other across the ice sheet, Al below the ice instructed Yae above it. Receiving this, Rem could easily understand Yae's state of mind.

Just as Rem was fighting this battle for Subaru, Yae was also—,

"When someone important expects something from you, it motivates you."

"That's not it."

Responding curtly to Rem's understanding, Yae folded her knees and spun around, becoming barefoot.

The ice sheet, due to its size, faced significant air resistance, drastically slowing its descent. Yae landed on this ice, and Rem and Emilia also descended, flanking her front and back.

Barefoot Yae, she wore ten rings on her white toes—

"—Once again, magic is quite troublesome, isn't it? I'm grateful for the teachings of the village elder."

"Thank you for the compliment. Our instructor was a remarkable person."

"I feel the same. I was taught to do things freely."

"That's the same educational philosophy I had in the village, so Lady Emilia must be a natural genius too."

Yae shrugged with a wry smile, glancing alternately at Rem and the others surrounding her, then prefaced her words with "Well, you see," and continued,

"The fact that I'm here means your plan has failed... Lord Vol will be here soon, so why not skip the futile exchanges and surrender?"

"No, that's not possible. I was indeed shocked to see you here, but..."

"Rem and the others aren't playing around either. Besides, if you're counting on the 'Divine Dragon,' it's not here. Our master is dealing with it."

"...You're talking about the 'Divine Dragon,' right? Isn't that too optimistic?"

"Then, are you not counting on Al?"

Emilia's question seemed to pierce straight through Yae, who tilted her head. "Hmm," Yae held her breath, then exhaled, twisting her white fingers and bracing herself.

Rem pulled a metal ball to her hand, and Emilia gripped two beautiful ice swords in hers. A glance below the ice showed the distance between them and Al, who was falling without wind resistance, widening rapidly.

And Al had bought time for Yae.

"Lady Emilia, Al is..."

"Yes, I know. We have to hurry."

The brief exchange was enough for communication, and Rem felt an out-of-place sentiment.

To think she could be so in sync with Emilia was unimaginable before. —Such a thought.

Ignoring Rem's inner thoughts, the three on the ice quietly heightened their fighting spirit—,

"—'Crimson Sakura' Yae Tenzen"

"—'Witch of Ice' Emilia"
"—'Hero's Attendant' Rem"

After announcing their titles, Rem and Emilia simultaneously launched off the ice towards Yae.

From Yae's crouched hands, twenty threads danced out, and while striking them down with chains and magic, Rem challenged the 'Crimson Sakura' blocking her path to reach Al below the ice.

"Hyaaa!!"

Rem charged with a shout, not out of bravado or bluff, but with complete faith.

Ram and the others were handling the 'Gluttony' opponents, and Roswaal and the others were fulfilling their roles against the greatest threat, the 'Divine Dragon.'

For that reason, she had to defeat Yae before her and reach Al. Passing another marker, fifty seconds remained to reach the depths of Agzad Canyon—,

—Al watched the beautiful and fierce clash on the ice as he fell below it,

"I don't think you'll lose... but don't forget, Alter. There's something you have to do."

The words muttered only within his mouth never reached the ice above.

△▼△▼△▼△

――Aldebaran, who betrayed the sun, and his accomplices.

The battle against the malevolent followers who could potentially trigger the collapse of the world, including the fight against 'Gluttony' in the mountains and the battle with Aldebaran in Agzad Canyon, has moved to the next stage. Naturally, this also applies to the third battle, which was expected to be the most arduous.

Due to the authority of the newly born 'Witch of Melancholy' in this world, the battlefield has shifted to a rocky area where there is no need to consider the surrounding damage. Here, the usurper who manipulates the mighty dragon shell of the 'Divine Dragon' Volcanica, known as the guardian of the kingdom, faces off against the rightful dragonkin. The battle between these two, both possessing immense power, has further desolated the rocky wilderness, which was already devoid of anything but rocks and sand. This was precisely the devastation anticipated in the battle against the 'Divine Dragon.' However――,

"――Ugh."

His vision blurred, consciousness hazy, and the ringing in his ears had surpassed noise to become silence. His limbs, devoid of strength, left him uncertain if the two pairs were properly connected to his torso. Each shallow breath sent a lightning-like pain from the top of his head to his toes, likely evidence of broken bones damaging his insides. With that realization, he understood he was lying face down on the hard rocky ground.

"――!"

Once he grasped his own condition, other things became clear as well. The violent shaking of the ground, the sensation of the sky bursting, and the faint change in the smell of the air were signs of a drastic environmental change, indicating that not much time had passed since he collapsed on the ground. A minute? Thirty seconds?

"Five seconds, sir. Reporting."

The answer to his question was conveyed accurately, yet he lacked the strength to move his lips into a wry smile. The other party likely didn't expect a response—no, it was a situation where a response couldn't be expected. The shaking of the ground, the bursting of the sky, and the drastic change in the air—all these quick-witted actions were due to the opponent and their opponent. The battle between the 'Dragon' and the dragonkin was violently and forcefully altering the world like a natural disaster. Beside that battle, he lay not just half-dead, but more like ninety percent dead and ten percent alive.

"――――"

He could no longer hear voices properly.
――The life of Roswaal L. Mathers was like a candle flickering in the wind.