“Armiel.”

“…There you go again.”

“Wow, at this point, isn’t it about time to give up? You’ve been calling me that for ten years already.”

“Ten years for a human is not the same as ten years for an elf. To me, it’s merely a fleeting moment.”

“Calling the time we spent together ‘merely’ is a bit harsh, you know. That’s kind of hurtful.”

“…Not that it’s so definitive.”

Cardi sighed.

Though he had never lost a verbal fight to anyone, he found himself hopelessly outmatched by her. Whenever she squinted at him, looking all pouty, Cardi would immediately lower his tail.

“Gleria.”

“What?”

“Let me ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you call me Armiel? Is there some special reason? Is it really necessary to call me that?”

“Of course there’s a reason. A very special one at that.”

“…What on earth is it?”

Gleria chuckled while covering her mouth.

Then she delivered her usual response.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“…So when is ‘later’?”

“Who knows?”

She grinned mischievously.

“After enough time has passed that you won’t feel like it’s trivial?”

“…Are you saying you’d tell me in a few hundred years or something?”

“Depends on how you act.”

2.

『Follow the instructions.』

『I will send you to the center.』

Cardi van Armiel.

The voice of the one who declared himself the Grand Magus captured the attention of the hunting party. Cardi, van, Armiel. The name made of three words conveyed different information to the hunters.

Resti Elenoa focused on the word ‘Armiel.’ The first Master of the Ashen Tower that the Elder had often mentioned. She knew well about the mage named Armiel, who had returned to the Ashen Tower lately and had taken control of one of its branches.

Lac noticed the name ‘Cardi.’ A figure he had seen in his memories. The founding head, Grace, had said she built the Holy Site with Cardi’s help. And that she testified he was a companion of Ganikalt.

Then, Belnoa and Chloe.

“…Cardi old man?”

“Old man?”

Though it was a young man’s voice, the familiar tone made them doubt their ears. They focused on the name and the truth it unveiled.

I suspected something was being hidden…

As the two were in shock, Cardi’s sardonic chuckle lingered in their ears.

『We’ll talk about this later.』

A short exhale.

Then Cardi shouted.

『Open your eyes wide. What stands before you is a remnant of the Demon Lord. It is a being standing opposite of the stars.』

Cardi warned.

『Steady your breathing.』

『The moment your breath wavers, the moment you are struck by fear, it all ends. Tighten your grip on your mind. Hold on tight and don’t let go. A fight with the Demon Lord is also a battle of will.』

An incomprehensible being that twists destiny merely by existing, driving those who behold it to madness. That could be a shadow of a warped deity… Cardi asserted.

『What you face is by no means a perfect god. Do not tremble in fear. It is already a fallen deity, a being that has shed blood and been scattered countless times among humanity.』

To the first hero, Ganikalt van Galatrick.

To the strongest hero, Kyle Toven.

To the Ashen Mage, Raniel van Trias.

『What’s more, it’s merely a fragment. It does not even represent its true form. It is a piece of the past, having fallen from greatness.』

『Look closely.』

『Doesn’t it seem like the figure of a coward just puffing itself up? Don’t be intimidated by such a thing. The essence you must see lies further away.』

So.

『Calm your breath. Open your eyes wide. Hold onto your mind.』

Cardi shouted.

『One step forward.』

Thud.

『Form ranks. First, block the incoming wave.』

Belnoa stepped forward.

Competing against him, Lac took a step ahead.

Spin.

Lac twirled his wrist.

In his hand appeared the platinum Holy Sword. The first Holy Sword used by Ganikalt van Galatrick.

“It’s been a while since we stood on the same battlefield, Belnoa.”

Snicker, Belnoa chuckled.

With a snap, Belnoa unleashed his fingers. From his fingers, covered in black carapace, swirled a black storm. The storm handled by the Dragon Sorcerer, Belial van Dragonik.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Just go with the flow.

Saying that, the moment Belnoa planted his feet, Lac also chuckled and grounded himself. Standing not behind but right beside him, the two dashed towards the wave.

『Chloe. And Natida.』

The hero and the saint.

Calling out the two, Cardi quickly continued.

『Here, you cannot draw down starlight. This means you cannot use the blessings you have in the usual way.』

Chloe frowned.

The starlight did not come. She could not draw upon it in the usual manner. In the moment the stars do not respond, the hero plummets to being merely human.

『So.』

However, Chloe’s expression didn’t change much.

In a situation where the stars would not respond, where starlight turns away, Raniel had taught Chloe. She had warned her multiple times not to rely on the stars.

『Think of it as drawing up the starlight accumulated within you, not borrowing it from the stars. Lighting the stars ultimately relies on each individual’s will. Do not trust the stars.』

Thus, at this moment, Chloe promptly understood Cardi’s advice. Instead of drawing mana with the aid of the stars as usual… Chloe scraped the channel within her body to draw up the mana.

『Trust what you have built up.』

『Trust in the power accumulated within your body.』

Tick, ti-ti-ti-tick!

Mana, imbued with soft starlight, bounced up over her staff. It wasn’t just Chloe who drew up the starlight. She witnessed a brilliant white flash erupt beside her.

The saint, Natida.

She was handling the white divine power with ease. When Chloe sent a questioning glance, Natida gently answered.

“I only trust myself.”

She clapped her palms together.

With a clap, the completed blessing enveloped everyone on the battlefield. Chanting the blessing, Natida, with the white blessing wrapped around him, dashed alongside Lac and Belnoa, while Chloe chanted her spell.

『You.』

As everyone found and performed their roles, Cardi gazed at one person. That was Resti Elenoa, quietly extending her arms, eyes closed.

『…She seems to know what to do without being taught.』

What she needed to do.

Blink.

She opened her closed eyes.

The Ashen Witch, Resti Elenoa, who carries on the lineage of ash. She waved her outstretched fingers. The Magol Dragon curling behind her, the ashes summoned by her, came to a sudden halt.

Overcome.

What soared following the wave of her finger was her unique spell as the Ashen Witch. The effects of this spell were straightforward but effective.

Numbness, no pain, the control of emotion and instinct.

Maximizing sensory and physical capabilities beyond their limits.

Erasing all elements that make living beings flinch and forcefully breaking open the limits imposed upon them. Naturally, the servants affected by this spell would crumble the moment the effect wore off…

Yet its effectiveness would certainly be palpable.

Rumble.

In a moment of resonance.

As the resonation subsided, the eyes of the servants bustling behind Resti changed color. The deep azure light became red. As if gripped by madness. Crack, crack they began to swell violently.

“Bite down.”

Resti pointed at the shadow.

Aimed at the rushing grasp.

“Every single one.”

The Magol Dragon opened its mouth.

Crack, crack! The roar that escaped from its opened mouth was a tremendous sound. A monstrous scream.

———————!

The one to announce the start was the Magol Dragon.

Screaming, the Magol Dragon plunged into the ground. Kaga-kagak, the earth trembled. Racing across the trembling earth were the servants trailing behind the Magol Dragon.

Kaga-kagakak!

With a roar that shook the earth and sky, the servants simultaneously dashed toward the wave of shadows. They no longer feared the shadows. Lacking the basic elements a living being would feel, they recognized the shadows solely as enemies.

Things to be bitten, stomped on, and shattered.

Since their master wished it so.

*

Cardi borrowed the gazes of others to overlook the battlefield. The sight of the battlefield he glanced down upon was utterly staggering, even for Cardi.

…This is dreadful.

He observed Resti’s maddened minions sweeping through the battlefield. The shadows swallowed anything they touched and crushed them, but even that has its limits. The speed at which the shadows crushed the servants paled in comparison to how fast Resti’s forces advanced.

———————!

The wave of servants crying out.

With no fear, feeling no pain, the army charging towards the enemy. The tide of top-tier beasts created by a superhuman summoner was nothing short of a nightmare. Indeed, it was the army of a witch.

“…What the heck did Raniel teach that girl?”

Cardi moaned.

In the past, Raniel would explain Resti as a child he taught to hunt down apostates. By all rights, she should have been the child tasked with what Raniel now carried out.

Indeed, it was as stated.

But remarkable was not just Resti.

Cardi shifted his gaze while issuing commands.

Where his gaze landed were two individuals stepping up to advance on the frontline, using Resti’s servants as a foothold.

‘Belnoa and Lac van Grace.’

Charging towards the black hands, they scraped the ground time and again. They bled, spat blood, and at times, became bloodied and thrown aside. Yet, as if it were nothing, they jumped back up and charged toward the hands.

Swinging their swords, unleashing storms.

As if such injuries were not new to them, as if they were accustomed to pain, they never faltered. Little by little, they started to overwhelm the black grasping hands.

“Lac!”

The moment Belnoa swung his arm, a storm raged. The black hands shot up towards the sky, and the boulders, the corpses of Resti’s servants lying on the ground, all rose into the air. Kicking off the floating debris, Belnoa charged forward.

Lac, faster than that, raced with his sword drawn.

While stepping over bits and pieces, he accelerated, a blizzard swirling around him. Body enhancement using Balance. Drawing the swirling storm with him, Lac swung his sword. Belnoa swung his arm.

Kaga-kagakak!

The storm cleared a path. The long-reaching sword strike pulverized the visible hands. The rushing servants caught the falling ones and pushed aside what was on the side.

“Flare.”

Chloe’s voice echoed.

Ki-yiiiiiing!

Before the path vacated by Lac and Belnoa could fill up, the massive flames surged and devoured the grasping hands. Amidst the towering flames, Resti, who had been assisting Chloe, opened her eyes slightly.

Watcher, one who reads the essence of the stars.

He reached toward the residual mana of the remaining starlight and the remnants of the circuit. The fragmented circuit. The scattered remnants. In Resti’s eyes, they appeared as divided circuits. And manipulating the divided circuits was… also a specialty of the superhuman mage who had taught her.

Split.

Resti inscribed the incantation onto the divided circuits.

Hundreds of fragments flickered simultaneously.

Chain Explosion.

With a resounding boom, all the residual mana left by Flare erupted. Watching the eruption swallow the black hands, Cardi chuckled.

“Continue.”

Chuckling, Cardi issued the order.

Watching the children fighting in his stead, having been reduced to inaction himself, he began recounting the sights he had once witnessed to the children. He advised them, hoping they could reach their intended destination.

Indeed, Cardi was starting to understand why Raniel had brought these children this far.

They all possessed sharp edges.

They were filling in what they lacked through their companions. Since humans are imperfect alone, they seek to move forward with assistance. In that sight, Cardi saw.

The heroes of the past he had envisioned.

Heroes moving forward together with companions, just like his past self.

“Seriously.”

Cardi forced a bitter smile.

“Looks like the education was spot on.”

Watching the children who seemed to instantly grasp advice and commands as if they had been trained with this battlefield in mind made Cardi tongue-tied.

…Now, he had given enough advice.

There should be no need for further commands.

Cardi exhaled sharply then spoke.

“That should be enough.”

To the one whose eyes he had borrowed.

“Go on. You seem to be itching to join in.”

『…Yes, understood.』

Blink, the hazy vision began to fade.

Just before the connection of sight was cut, Cardi saw it.

Thump.

The moonlight arrow being nocked onto the bowstring.