399 396. Winter.txt (2/2)

They constantly use a magic called 'Dragon Wind' as if they were breathing, and they fly through the air. That Snow's 'Dragon Wind' clashed with Seldora's 'Dragon Wind' and was canceled out.

Unable to cope with that first experience, Snow fell down the central stairwell.

I was in her arms, and I thought about giving her some advice on how to defuse the situation. But before I can, Seldora, who falls with me, speaks to me.

'Move to the first floor, the replica of the tiara. That's where 'all (...)' is gathered (・・・・・・・).

Serdra turned her attention downstairs.

Realizing the significance of this, I grabbed onto Snow and wove a wind spell for the landing.

I fell from the fifteenth floor, and the view changed with each floor.

At the moment of that fourteenth change, Seldora and I activate it at the same time.

''-- 《Wind》!

Impulse!

I bent the end of my fall with the wind before I fell past the ground floor and into the basement.

In addition, I eased the impact of the fall, and Snow and I landed on the blood shallow end of the first floor as we rolled.

Serdra kicked the empty air with her unattributed vibrating magic. I don't know the principle, but it kills the momentum of the fall and puts both of our limbs on the ground.

The stage shifts.

The first floor of Hoosier's Castle was supposed to be the bottom of the cauldron of hell that awaited Fafner, The One Who Steals the Reason of Blood - but what jumped into view was not red all over, but white.

The white 'thread' of the example was rippling in large amounts, as if painting the shallow waters of blood. Furthermore, a huge vortex that seemed to be swallowed by the central atrium occurred throughout the entire floor of the first floor.

'Ugh. ......'

The strange, unrealistic scene made me feel dizzy on my feet.

This ground floor is too dense with things that should not be seen.

I divert my consciousness as much as possible from the 'threads' swirling around my feet and check the world as it should be.

The battle on the first floor had already ended.

The debris that made me understand the course of the fierce battle was scattered about as much as it was in Snow's case. In the midst of the wreckage, Fafner collapsed on his back in the blood shallows, with both Dia and Maria standing close by. The Reaper remains in possession of Maria-chan.

From the looks of it, it seems that Dia continues to apply magical pressure from above with her sacred magic 《Zion》, taking away Fafner's freedom.

Looking more closely at the surroundings, the magic by the soldiers outside has created multiple holes in the walls of the castle.

On the other side of the wall, the soldiers were getting more and more colorful. After all, the blood erosion that was now threatening the Great Sacred City had completely stopped and was returning to Fafner's body like a receding tide. Some of us were ahead of the curve in the situation where Fuzzyaz's victory was at hand, and some of us were screaming for victory.

But when they saw us falling, a slight shudder began to run through the soldiers.

Naturally, there was also an upset in Deere and the others who were fighting on the first floor. Seeing the intruders who fell from above, Maria swelled the flames of alarm.

'Rustyala-san and Snow-san ......?　And the dragon man (Dragon Newt) from earlier: ......!

Deer, who had been holding down Fafner, also begins to prepare for a new magic.

'That guy or ......!　Are you still trying to interrupt me ......?

Even with the reinforcements, me and Snow, their gazes were still focused on Seldra. It's a reaction that I can see that I met him once.

The person in question, Seldora, let go of the hand he had prodded to the ground and slowly stood up.

And the first thing he looked at was not us or Fafner, but the darkness in the corner of the first floor.

'-- Fafner, it looks like you're losing again.

From behind it, Hitaki appeared with a cold voice.

Perhaps she had moved with one of the dimensional magic Kanami used. The distorted magic that could be found to do so leaked out of her.

Snow, who had landed next to me, immediately blocked me to protect me from Hitaki.

Maria and Dea, who didn't understand the situation, wondered and were surprised at her appearance.

'Your sister is ...... up and about?'

I thought the noir guy was guarding it in the suburbs?

But the one thing that surprised me more than anyone else on this ground floor was--

''Hi, Yangtaki ......?　Why are you in a coma now ...... or how long have you been up there?　----!　Lagné!　What did you do with Ragne!

It was Fafner, who was being held down by Dia.

Even though he couldn't move, he turned his eyes to the side and shouted frantically at Hitaki.

'I'm not going to mess with that girl. She was a really nasty girl, but she seems to have ...... decided to destroy herself on her own.

'Suicide ......?　d*mn it, I'm coming to get you--

Fafner seemed to fully admit defeat, but he regained his will to fight at the danger of Ragne and tried to escape Dia's restraints.

'...... haha. You're not in a situation where you can go. As usual, you are deliberately refusing to look at reality.

'Shut up, Yotaki ......!　I'll save Ragne!　If I don't save Ragne, who will save him--!

Absolutely you can't save it. 1,000 years ago, you should have realized that you cannot save the world. You can't save the world, or even the one person you love.

'Dude, shut up. ......!　Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up ......!　Still, I'm ...... and I--!

Fafner's voice grew in denial, but in contrast, his body was losing strength. Dia was a little flustered by his rage, but when she saw him, she breathed a 'breeze'.

The gap between Fafner and Dia, Hitaki-chan poked at the gap between them.

''-- Magic 《Default》''

With the magic of shifting position (...), he pulled the bound Fafner's body closer to him.

The speed of the magic construction, the good timing, and the density of the magic used were all perfect.

Following that, Hitaki prodded her knees and reached for Fafner's forehead, which she had taken away.

Immediately, an uncommonly cold air began to fill the first floor.

'You need to rest now ....... ''The winter world will take everything from the lost.'' --magic 《Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)》

It was a familiar 'chanting' and magic name.

At this time, Dia was about to use a new magic to get back the Fafner that was taken from her. However, the magic she had once seen in the final match of the ”Dancing Tournament” stopped her from moving.

Just as Kanami had once blocked the movement of 'The One Who Steals the Reason of the Earth', Dia must have decided that 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Water' was trying to block everything in 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Blood'.

However, only I and the parties involved knew that was wrong.

It's true that the magic name is 《Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)》, the same as Kanami. However, Hitaki's ”Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)” is tangled with something that Kanami didn't have.

-- 'threads'.

Not only the cold air, but the white 'threads' that had been stretching the floor were gathering in the Fafner, ignoring the walls and invading the flesh inside. Then, as he lay on his back, he looked at the empty space and began to shake his head.

'----!　Well, it's an illusion: ......!　This is not the real voice of everyone: ......!

Yes, it's an auditory hallucination. But the voice of your audible soul is also an auditory hallucination. ...... The key here is that my visions are much more consistent.

'Ahhhh ......, oh no ......, no!　No. ......!　I haven't been forgiven yet: ......!

Yotaki-chan continues to speak to the moaning Fafner.

''--Fafner, there was nothing foul in your life, neither the [stolen reason] nor the 'blood power'. There was no 'curse' on you, there was no need for you to feel guilty or pretend to be crazy. So, let's take a break now. That's what you're allowed to do.

Without thinking, he invites her to surrender to the 'thread'.

Fafner fights it to the end and continues to shake his head, but gradually becomes more and more docile.

'Ah, ah, ....... Ha, ha, ha, ha ......

Then he laughed, crying as he continued to look at the empty space.

Hitaki removes his hand from Fafner and takes a step back. In tandem, Fafner wobbles to his feet, leaving his head down, dropping a large amount of tears on the ground.

'Yeah, I knew it. ...... If you can save the world, it's Yotaki. It's at least ...... that it all depends on Yotaki. --Chapter 5, verse 11: 'If you don't respect every soul, you can't rest your own soul either.' So it was written in the scripture from the beginning: ......

He mumbled and made a gesture of rolling up the book with both hands, this time with nothing in his hand.

I thought that the sanity that was even just uncertain was now completely lost. Above all, it could be seen from the movement of blood around him that the oath he had sworn just before had been lost.

The blood that had been protecting the castle was rapidly receding and settling into Fafner's body.

Under the influence of the large hole drilled into the first floor, the sound of collapse began to sound in the castle.

It was nothing more than the fact that the knight Fafner had stopped protecting the Lord Ragne at the top.

Depriving Fafner of the Lord he was supposed to protect, Hitaki-chan muttered the same magic once more.

''You don't have to fight anymore, and you don't even have to kill him. You don't have to do that, I can save everything. ...... --Magic 《Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)》

The cold air that had been concentrated in Fafner spread out in all directions.

Not just the ground floor, but the entire Fouzeyards Castle.

Not only the Fouzeyards Castle, but also the entire Great Holy City outside.

The magic 《Winter's Other World (Wintry Dimension)》 envelops the entire continent.

Some of the soldiers outside were freezing and even kneeling down.

I could also hear the buzz of joyfulness gradually reversing.

Seeing the situation, Maria and Dia seemed to be convinced that Kanami's sister, The One Who Steals the Reason of Water, was not on their side.

Next to the two of them, who were in an advancing position with a grim look on their faces, Snow rushed over to them.

''Maria, Dia!　Together we'll protect Rastiara!　They're after me!

Following that, Ryner's voice can be heard from the nearby stairs.

'--Rastiara, you stay back!　They want you!

I was running down from the fifteenth floor on Sera's back.

Then, she stood in front of me and pushed me to the very back of the party.

--The power structure on the first floor of Fuzzy Yards Castle is now neatly divided into two.

The first three are 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Water', 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Nothingness' and 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Blood'.

The six people facing it are Dia, Maria, Reaper, Snow, Sera, and Ryner.

My friends will now fight to protect me from dying with all their might.

I can read the flow of what's to come with the skill ”Reading”. But at the same time, I can also read the inevitable defeat of my friends.

The main reason for my defeat is that I, now being protected, am not willing to continue to be silently protected.

-- in other words, technically speaking, there are three divisions now.

In preparation for that three-way battle, I leaned my attention to my feet.

The blood shallows beneath the white whirlpool of Hoozeyards Castle - the 'magic stone line' (line) carved into the floor further down emits a faint light. My blood is the key (access key) to activate it, pumping up the magic formula and magic power from the earth.

To put it simply, one country and I are now connected to each other.

As Serdra said, 'everything' is gathered here.

It's not just 'the one that steals the reason' that's gathered together.

It's not just Hitaki's 'threads' that are converging.

Everything that Tiara-sama has been preparing for the past thousand years is also gathering here now, and I can feel it from the soles of my feet.

Tiara-sama's 'prophecy' can be heard through the skill 'reading'.

”We (...) 'Demon Stone Man (Jewelculus)' were born, this great holy city of Fuzzyards was founded, the thousand-year history of the continent (Revan) is 'all', for this time--

I'm so glad that my friends are trying to protect me.

I am sincerely glad.

However, from now on, 'we' will force my friends who are protecting me to escape.

”If only one of them can escape, if Master wanders into the 'Winter's Other World', I'll be sure to come back--

Because one day I will need the help of my friends.

I have faith in that 'prophecy' and I have faithfully

”Star magic...

The endpoint of the ”Stealers of Reason” will be read out.