'Coming soon?'
What on earth is coming?
Rosha, spreading her senses widely in all directions, expected Lysithea to quickly shake off the butler's hand.
But she didn't.
No, she couldn't.
"The voice..."
"You can hear it too, young miss?"
Lysithea nodded hurriedly with a fearful look.
At her behavior of constantly looking around, Cassis's eyes, who had been observing the situation outside while sticking to the vault door, narrowed.
It was at that moment.
Whoosh-
Suddenly, everything around darkened and began to fill with a deep indigo color.
It was incomprehensible, given that it was broad daylight and the antique exhibition room had all its curtains tied back to let in sunlight.
Of course, there was no time to ponder.
'An eerie wind sound...'
Indeed, something was approaching.
Sensing this, Cassis broke the silence and shouted with an anxious face:
"Lysithea! What are you doing!"
It was markedly different from the Lysithea he had seen over the past 3 years.
Just as he couldn't understand what voice she was hearing or why she was acting like this.
[How insolent, to raise your voice in my domain.]
A clear voice as if speaking right next to their ears.
It was a low and rough, yet strangely androgynous voice.
However, what was felt even before that was the sensation of being bound as if skewered by a harpoon.
Should this be considered an aura?
Or an intangible energy?
A powerful dominance was felt enveloping all living beings in the vicinity.
Unlike commonly used sword energy or magic, it was a fundamental force that kneaded space itself.
Even though they hadn't even confirmed the appearance of the opponent yet, it seemed impossible to escape.
At that moment, a door to Froy's mansion appeared at Rosha's feet.
"..."
Currently, Rosha had her presence erased while wearing the invisibility cloak.
As long as she didn't move her steps from her spot, all traces of her, including her appearance, breathing sounds, body odor, and internal body movements, would disappear.
'...At least that's fortunate.'
Covering Rosha with the invisibility cloak as soon as he felt the situation turning strange was the best decision he had made in the past few months.
Rosha was an absolutely necessary existence in all aspects.
If she just pulled the doorknob with her foot, at least she could safely escape alive.
That was enough for now.
But at that moment.
[You're doing something interesting.]
Along with the voice heard again, the door Froy had created disappeared as if erased by an eraser.
And nearby, the indigo energy gathered and began to mold into some form.
"...!"
It was a woman wearing thin silver armor like scales all over her body.
She was nearly 2 meters tall, and in her hand, she held a strangely shaped metal spear about an arm's length long.
Her features weren't clearly visible due to the helmet that came down to her nose.
She continued speaking melodiously, half singing:
[There must have been over ten sacred relics in here, but I couldn't open it due to some security on the door. And I couldn't recklessly use my 'power' here either.]
[But... I didn't expect there to be thieves who took the sacred relics first while I was distracted.]
The lips visible under the helmet twisted elegantly.
A leisurely attitude to the point of boredom was felt from her slow walking as if taking a stroll.
'If only... I had a little more time...'
Rosha, who had tried moving her fingers once or twice, widened her eyes and drew in mana.
Due to the pressure coming from space itself, it wasn't like usual, but still, when she concentrated her mind, she could move to some extent.
However.
[Where did the sacred relics that were here go?]
"..."
[You don't seem to want to talk. Can't be helped.]
The opponent, who seemed to dislike wasting time, immediately got to the point and reached out to Froy.
A faint reddish energy swirled at her fingertips.
'No!'
She thought the opponent would use the spear in her hand, but the expectation was off.
A strange and dangerous power.
It seemed to be related to the condition of the butler holding Lysithea.
However, somehow... it felt strangely clumsy for something used by a being emitting such overwhelming pressure.
Moreover, she even showed a displeased look, slightly frowning at the corners of her mouth.
"That's not originally your power."
Froy, who had narrowly avoided the opponent's fingertips, said while catching his breath.
Just as he was about to praise the movement that pushed away space to avoid, the opponent's lips twitched, seemingly displeased by the arrogant speech and behavior.
That was the beginning.
Swish!
The reddish energy gathered in her hand spread out in all directions. Everyone present knew that it wouldn't be good if touched by that smoke.
But they couldn't just be helpless like this.
Twitch.
Froy, who moved his finger, immediately distorted a specific space.
At the same time, Rosha, who had been gathering magical power until now, deployed the 7th stage domain.
'There's not enough time to call forth a complete domain, but... if not now, then when?'
'Domain', which can be called the symbol of the 7th stage in the realm of magic.
The domain, which is no different from one's own small world, brings into reality the world constructed by the magician's imagination.
Think about it.
A world of gravity and acceleration overwhelmingly favorable to one side.
With enough magical power, a magician who had reached the 7th stage could create advantageous conditions that deviated from real-world physics at any time.
However, now...
'Just once. I only have one chance.'
The opponent's spatial dominance was so solid that even moving magical power wasn't easy.
In this environment, rather than calling forth a perfect domain, it was better to save strength and wait for an opportunity.
Whoosh!
The opponent, noticing the presence of Rosha wearing the invisibility cloak, swung her spear without warning.
But she didn't dodge.
Clang!
Because she believed Froy would respond.
"Why, not dealing with me first."
Froy, who had blocked the opponent's attack while standing in the same place as before, retorted quietly.
It was a moment when the true value of a space-type ability user who could cover all aspects from close range to long range was demonstrated.
[Ha. Fine, I'll do that.]
The opponent, who exhaled softly, moved immediately.
Because our movements weren't smooth, the battle flowed in an extremely favorable direction for the opponent.
However, it didn't come to a conclusion easily.
It was thanks to Froy's mind games.
'...How strange.'
The spaces he pushed away and distorted effortlessly interacted with each other, binding the enemy's movements.
Sometimes it came back as a slash that seemed to split the head.
Even in a situation where one mistake could lead to death, he never made a wrong choice.
[Tch.]
The opponent, confirming that her best attack had come to nothing, stopped in place. Then she suddenly turned her upper body and aimed at Rosha.
Swish swish swish swish!
The reddish energy she had used at the very beginning rushed fiercely towards her.
It was too far for Froy to respond, unfortunately.
Of course, the opponent wouldn't have known.
That Froy hadn't come not because he couldn't, but because he deliberately chose not to.
'Now!'
Rosha, who had been waiting for an opportunity for a long time, poured a lot of mana into the sacred relic she was holding - the 'Cursed Dagger'.
Crack!
She broke the second dagger among the five bound together and contained its effect directly in her domain.
The power contained in the dagger was the curse of 'Reflection'.
'The God of Intrigue' expresses bewilderment at the destruction of the sacred relic he created.
The bewilderment of a god she was meeting for the first time wasn't that important in this situation.
The curse of 'Reflection' absorbed all the reddish energy and headed towards the opponent.
The opponent's pupils shook roughly at the threatening curse that flew at a terrifying speed along her narrow domain created in a straight line.
And then.
Whoosh!
Unknown power burst out along with the indigo energy, and the curse scattered like feathers.
"...You survived this?"
It was a move she had been counting on!
Rosha's brow furrowed in disappointment as she nervously took off the invisibility cloak.
It was at that moment.
[You... those eyes!]
The opponent, who seemed to recognize Rosha's eyes, stopped abruptly as if about to pounce on her immediately.
At the same time, an unexpected message rang out.
'The Guide God' says he just remembered, and tells you that the opponent you're dealing with now is an incarnation of the God of War.
...So what?