Lady Ars!

　Loki raised his voice as he confirmed that Ars was injured.
　The reason why blood was flowing from Ars's shoulder was because the claw had ripped through his shoulder when he had blown the demon away.
　It's not so much that it was trapped, but rather that the claw that entered from the back side was forcefully pulled, so the wound is unexpectedly deep.

　But he didn't seem to pay attention to Loki's words. If Ars switched his thoughts in a battle with a demon, the thread would not be cut until the demon was completely destroyed.
　Of course, it wasn't unheard of, but what was low on the priority list would be put on the back burner.

　Even if that was the most alarming thing for Loki, it was none of Ars' business.

　He took one step toward the demon, and then another.
　The demon, breathing raggedly enough to clear his throat, looked at Ars. Is it called a cornered rat?
　But I'm terribly worn out to be biting a trapped rat cat.
　That's probably why the instinctive fear unleashed a monotonous attack.
　He swung his crushed right arm down with a large swing at Ars, who was close to him.
　The arm, which was simple but full of power, was as powerful as a blunt instrument. Just like that. Ars, who was watching from the preliminary motion, only saw the demon's eyes.

　And--.

"Hey!　Gaaaaaah!

　Just before it is swung down, the demon's arm is detached from the base.
　Ars's arm speaks of what was done to the knife that was swung directly above him.
　The opposite hand then tries to be swung into the side cleave, but it, too, is compressed from the elbow by Ars at the moment the arm moves, and hangs there without force with a cracking sound.

　He swung the knife at an angle as it was raised against the demon that had been rooted out of the threat.

　Green blood spurted out, and he slyly sat down as he wobbled and leaned against the wall.
　So it was the end. There was a reason he didn't slaughter it in an instant.

　It was Loki who approached first.

''Arus-sama, you're hurt...''
Oh, yeah, no big deal.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with us.
　It's not a good idea.

　Alice is standing next to the demon that was Gudma lying down, and Tesfia is watching its back with her mouth closed.

　The demon's eyes gradually changed to those of a human.
　Dripping from her mouth was that of a green one, but Gudma must have regained consciousness, even if only temporarily.

''Huh ... I guess it didn't work.''

　The words were spun breathlessly in regret.
　Ars projected the rest in his vision as he looked down, saying that it was only a matter of time before the rest was lost.

''But my research will not be interrupted. I've fulfilled my promise to that man, in a manner of speaking.''

　Gudma, who shows no remorse when she giggles and strengthens, looks unrepentant. Yes, Ars's objective is to erase Gudma and the research materials.
　That one has been accomplished, the rest........

'You've come.'

　Immediately after Ars announced, a woman landed from the hole the demon had opened.
　Her black hair, which was disheveled after she landed, settled neatly back into place.

''Is it over already?''
Feri, you got it?
It was just as I expected. It was an experiment with different colored eyes.
...

　He was probably embedding material data in his eyes as well.
　Ars thought that as long as he had his backers, he would always have insurance to bring back the results.
　It was a guess, but the cost of the research was too huge for him to bear personally. There are countries that are in doubt, the ones that need mages the most.
　The country that is in danger because it has only a few mages among the seven countries [Balmes] lacks a single mage, and because it lacks a single mage, it is whispered that it has no defense capability and is rumored to be in danger of being dismissed as head of state. Other than that, [Hydrangee] had only one fifth-ranked mage and the number of double-digit mages was less than 10 percent compared to other countries.
　What we know is that the shortest distance is from the east in both countries. If that's the case, the route that doesn't go through Alpha's transition gate is predictable.

''I see.......So you've seen it all coming.

　A snarled voice uttered a word of resignation. The light in Gudma's eyes faded.
　Maybe he couldn't see anymore.

　It was enough for Ars to take the words. There were no more words to tell Gudma. It would be best to leave the rest to them.

I'm going to go out there and clean up the place.
I'll join you.

　Ars controlled Loki with his hand as he came up beside him.

'Alice,'
....!
The rest is up to you. You're not going to die in any case, but you can take your hand before you do.

　That's why I let him live. Of course I didn't expect the human part to return.

'Alice....'
'This won't matter unless Alice decides for herself. That's what you're here for.
But...

　Tesfia couldn't see Alice's face. She knew it, but she was being forced to make a terrible choice.
　How could she not be worried?

'It's okay, it's okay.'

　Alice turned back to Tesfia with a smirk on her face.
　The look on her face that said she had too many thoughts to collect her thoughts made her best friend's mouth shut.

'Loki, follow the two of you.
Okay, okay.

　Loki agrees with the difficulty of saying it, understanding the need to do so, even though he is unsure of it.

'Feri is out with me,'
Yes!

　This broken face was directed at Ars, but there were some who didn't take it that way.

''Why are you a senior!

　Loki, who was coiled up, spoke up briskly. It's probably a reflex to maintain pride.

　I'm not going to be able to say that it's a good idea.

''I told you that if you were dealing with a human, Feri would be better suited.

　The same thing twice, it was impossible for Loki not to understand such obvious things.
　Still mortified and puffed up cheeks, Loki turned to Felinella.

'I hope I'm not dragging Arus-sama's feet with that kind of crap.
Nah...

　Felinella is embarrassed with her chest.
　It's true that he's definitely a cut above the rest when it comes to this one.

''Don't worry, I'm confident in my speed even with this.
Let's get the hell out of here.

　Ars put an end to the atmosphere of arguing that seemed to go on forever at this point.
　They weren't very tense, he thought.　　

'Alice, whatever choice you make, I'll respect it. No one knows what the outcome will be, there's no point in thinking about the future, you can do what you want.

　He himself couldn't help but wonder why Ars said that when he turned around.

''Yeah ... thanks.''

　There was a moment's pause to see what Alice thought as they met face to face.


　Ars took the mask from his pocket.

(For what it's worth, this helps too.)

　And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on.
　Ars's emotions were hidden.

　Then he takes Felinella out of the hole that the demon had opened and runs out with her.

'Feli, contact the commander and wash the areas that need relief.
Yes!

　Felinella runs as if gliding through wind magic. She's confident, and if it's simple speed, she's there. Although it might be difficult to move agilely in complex terrain.

　After a little while, Felinella announced her report. It was not something that came out of her mouth.

'Ars-san, may I have a moment?'
Hmm?　Yeah.

　I landed on the branch of a large tree and wondered.

Please stay put.
....!

　Facing him, he carefully shifted Ars's mask and put his hand across his head.
　Felinella's cheeks felt a flush of red on them.

　Their faces approached..........and their foreheads touched.

'Spatial Detection Transcription 《Airmap Link》'

　A terrain appeared in Ars's brain, followed by a fine distribution of blue and red dots.
　The red must be the reaction of the experimental body.

''It's amazing how it can do this.
Yes!

　He couldn't be more pleased.

'But I've never seen the commander do that before, have you?

　I believe I told you that Felli's magic was tapped into by Vizayst.

'Well I had to make you touch your forehead so...'

　Felinella, who has become a little pale, and Ars belatedly realizes that she is also a little pale.
　What a horrible thing to think of having to be face to face with an old man in his 50s.
　It will be traumatic on the day my cheeks are stained.

''That's ... not a good idea.
Of course.

　Felinella also refused, as she imagined the composition of her father and Ars overlapping their foreheads.

'Then let's go. We'll go east first.'

　It's a great deal more difficult than you might think just to keep up with Ars's speed, and it goes without saying that Felinella had to work harder than she expected.
　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get a good deal more than you think.

　It is common knowledge that the body language in battle is basically a combination of magic. I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about it.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this," was Felinella's thought as she followed his back.

　It's a good thing that the war situation is not good. The fact is that although the damage is controlled by Viziest's clever strategy, he is being pushed back.

　Until Ars and Felinella came to the rescue, Viziest had received the news and informed all his troops, and the contents were instructed to go to the defense.

(Shall we leave the rest to them?)

　Vizayst sat back deep in his chair at the base of operations.
　It would be left to others, but in terms of strength, the magicians he had gathered were not strong enough. If we were to engage in a white army battle with this, we would certainly be annihilated.
　It's a good thing that we've endured so far. The timing was good because I knew I had to go out myself soon.

　From then on, Ars continued to use his magic to relieve his exasperation.
　Of course, Ars was consuming the surplus magic power.......or rather, he was forced to do so.
　Originally, there was a limit to the magic power possessed by an individual. The magic power of Ars, who had hardly used magic, was almost full.
　Any more magic power than that should be leaking out. However, the amount of absorption from the different abilities used by Ars is added to the magic power as a different ability because it goes through a process called replacement. In other words, it will not leak out. Therefore, it was a situation where it had to be consumed.

　Even if it is called a different ability, its peculiarity would be that it has an ego. The source of activity is magic power, and if you let it absorb a large amount of it, the urge to use the power as an ego will become more intense, and it will leave the control of Ars on its own.
　Therefore, it must be allowed to dissipate in moderation so that it does not exceed the range of control.

　If Ars thinks he has turned an entire surface into a silver world, he will cover it with karma fire.

　It's a form of top-tier magic of the entire system was demonstrated. The scene that could be mistaken for a natural disaster took everyone's breath away. Even if they were watching some kind of show, it would be an impressive sight.
　In effect, Ferrinella hadn't done anything. That is to say, they weren't allowed to do it.

　Perhaps the reason Viziest didn't let the squad intervene was because he considered the possibility of this happening.


　The mages who were rescued could only cower in amazement at the magic that was being performed.

　Isn't there no point in wearing a mask?　Felinella thought, but she never mentioned it.



　♢ ♢ ♢


　When it was over, everyone would have thought it was too much.

"Too much.

　The voice of course belonged to someone Felinella knew well. It was emanating from the license Ars held in one hand.

'Excuse me, commander, I was just...'
There's no harm done, so there's no problem.

　I'm sure there are ten people out of ten who find it too bleak to call it a landscape.

　The guise of a top secret mission would no longer make sense. We can only hope that the Governor will do a good job on that.
　After all, the terrain has changed.

''Oh well. We're pulling out, you're coming back to headquarters.
Yes, sir.

　I don't feel like I'm being reprimanded and I don't mind, but it's not the kind of thing I can refuse to do because of my mood. It was impossible not to tell the story of how the strategy had been forced to change drastically.

　Felinella said she was going to head to the commander's office ahead of him and parted ways with Ars.
　He had people he had left behind at the experimental facility, so he had to head to the command.

　There shouldn't have been any kind of impatience, but Ars was strangely rushing as if he was being rushed.

　When he descended from the hole to the downstairs at once, the three of them were there, talking in a friendly manner.
　The pause was just a pause for Ars, who was bemused by the fact that he was expecting a bleak atmosphere, only to lose the opportunity and be stunned.