--I got it!　
　To Sakura, it was a certainty.
　The dagger Sakura had been given as the Lord's gift was a special class (unique) equipment with ripples of thorns spreading. The dagger that cuts through even a rock like butter has high offensive capabilities. In addition, the slightest scratch would result in death from a deadly poison. Even a scratch would be fatal. Even the slightest touch of the blade, taken by surprise, would confirm Sakura's victory.
　That's why it was necessary to be cautious and careful, and release the blow at the best time. The moment when Nacht conversed with Rinoa, distracted by her equipment and wary of her was the perfect opportunity.
　As soon as he swung his blade away without noticing Sakura's sudden appearance from her concealed state (hiding), Nacht's death was a definite future.
　There is no color of emotion in Sakura's eyes.
　Just killing the enemy as the Lord commands, that was all.
　But - at the very moment when the tip of the sword was about to touch. Sakura almost doubted her own eyes.
　Because even after being placed in this absolute desperate situation, the girl in front of her was laughing, lifting the corners of her mouth and laughing.


　The first uncomfortable feeling I felt was my fingertips.
　A pain shot through that hand holding the Dagger of Thorns.
　Next, a tremendous sense of loss hit me.
　And then, he would realize that he was the one to take a life.
　I was on the side of taking a life, but before I knew it, I was on the side of being taken.

Nah...　

　It was probably simultaneous.
　The moment Sakura was sure of her victory and the moment the darkness clothed by Nacht recognized her prey - as a result, the ferocious fangs of the primordial deep darkness (Darkness) were biting off Sakura's impotent arms.
　The beautiful arm flew in the air as the shards of the mechanical device hidden in her beautiful skin flew off.
　The cherry blossom, which quickly ducked away, could be said to have suffered only minor damage, barely a single right hand.
　The flowing darkness bit off the cherry blossom fragments and swallowed them, hiding its beastly fangs and reverting to its form as a robe again.　

''Sakura--!　What the ... d*mn it!　How dare you take my cherry blossoms--how dare you!
　Rinoa, who revealed her fury, rushed out like a bullet and closed in on Nacht.

''Don't!　Miss!
　Sakura still didn't understand what had been done to her.
　This Nacht, this person, was too unobtainable.
　The surprise attack had definitely succeeded. Nevertheless, he couldn't even touch it. Those eyes seemed as if they were being looked down upon by a pompous confidence, as if to say that was the extent of it.
　It was too reckless to launch an assault from the front. Sakura knew Rinoa's swordsmanship skills, but she couldn't shake the fear that ran down her spine and screamed at Rinoa.

　


　-- Nacht, on the other hand, saw Rinoa and Sakura this time in her eyes.

''Dragon Magic -- Thunder Dragon Falling from Heaven (Fallen Lightning).''

　A dragon of lightning waved from the thundercloud.
　As if to counter the roaring crushing sound, Rinoa let out a yell.

''Ooohhhhhhhh--Binding, Magic Arts--Splitting Thorny Sword (Thorn Blade)!
　As the blue sword blade, tinged with magical power, split into seven pieces, a sword flash ran through the dragon's eyes that Nacht had released, slicing and tying it up.
　Swordsmanship and magic clashed with a distorted sound reverberating through the air.
　The blue light scattered around them as the thunderclap dispersed, and the magic power hidden in the sword dissipated and shone through.
　It's difficult to even open your eyes, such a violent intersection must have happened in just a few seconds.

''Ha--ha, ha--''
　Rinoa was barely able to stand up as she stabbed her sword into the ground as the fierce light subsided.
　Her clothes were burned in places, but it was probably Rinoa's palms that had received more damage than that.
　The flesh was burned and appeared to be bright red and clear.
　Just holding the sword would have caused intense pain to run through it.
　Its body was trembling in small increments. In the game era, it was suffering from a conditional paralysis (bat status).
　In the game era, it would be standard practice to ignore some damage and rush in to attack, but in reality, pain exists. Nacht thought that this was another thing to learn.

''Huh!　Miss!
　With the thunderclouds clearing and Rinoa being able to stay in her five bodies, Sakura tried to run up to Rinoa, but Nacht wouldn't let her.
　As soon as Nacht finished using his dragon magic (Dragon Magic), he was already preparing to activate another magic.
　It could be said that Rinoa was brilliant for breaking Nacht's magic from the front, but from Nacht's point of view, it was only one magic. At the very least, if he didn't have the ability to erase or evade it in an instant, it was equivalent to giving him the grace to create new magic.

　Don't give the magic profession the time of day.

　This is an ironclad rule that hasn't changed since the days of the game.
　Cherry Blossom was not worried about the Lord, but rather the right thing to do was to attack Nacht while the Lord was receiving magic.
　Most of all, dragon magic is flashy.
　Seeing the Lord about to be devoured by the lightning dragon, it would be reckless to tell him not to worry.

''After all, there was no need for the Jewel of the Seventh World (Seventh Sphere)--''
　With a murmur, he unleashed his magic at Rinoa and Sakura.

''Ice Shooting Magic (Icicle Magic)--The Prison of Extinct Ice (Freezing Jail).
　It was a land of ice that manifested itself.
　The rough earth had been transformed into a land of ice and snow. The hall near the entrance of the forest had changed its appearance twice today alone.
　His exhaled breath turned white.
　The microscopic crystals falling from the sky were so beautiful that even Nacht looked at them with his eyes wide open.

''d*mn it!''

Miss!

　But Nacht's magic is not only beautiful.
　The ice continent is represented by a square room. There were many of them, and they took in two sinners. It's not just a matter of time before you'll find yourself in the middle of the corridor, as you'll be facing each other. A cherry tree tied to the ice was in the front prison, and Rinoa was tied to the front of the prison, facing each other.

　The Prison of Extinction Ice (Freezing Jail) is a magic that engulfs a wide area and instead of having a low offensive ability, it's a magic that gives you an anomaly that makes you unable to move. But of course, it often doesn't work against high-ranking enemies (monsters). The original purpose of this magic is to make those monster summoned wall miscellaneous enemies unable to move. If Sakura hadn't lost one arm and a weapon, and if Rinoa was in perfect condition, there was a chance that it wouldn't have worked.

　Seeing that the two of them were unable to fight, Nacht slowly looked at Sakura.

''I see, as expected, I can't search for signs if the other party is inorganic--''
　There were two reasons why Nacht couldn't see through Sakura's concealment (Hyde).
　One is the equipment he wears - the Clothing of Illusionary Camouflage (Robe of Mirage Hyde), a Legendary level (Legendary) equipment, which is limited to those whose profession (job) is an assassin. It is not a high level of ability, but it has a high cloaking effect that hides you from danger detection and detection. Once you wear it and hide, even Nahat's dragon's eye will not be able to see it.

　However, if that's all it is, it's difficult to fool Nacht's soul-searching.
　For Nacht is capable of finding the soul of every living person.
　If she were a person, Nacht would definitely not have been about to be caught by surprise.
　This time, she was safe thanks to the automatic interception of the Primordial Deep Darkness (Darkness), but if her level was the same as Nacht's, or if the weapon in her hand was also of the Ancient Class (Ancient), she would have received a fatal wound.
　But that doesn't mean that Nacht couldn't afford it.
　Sakura's agility was too slow for Nacht.

　The level of the magic doll is fixed at fifty. At least it should have been fixed in the game era.
　It was natural, given the considerable difference in basic ability values when the levels were nearly a hundred apart, but Nacht could have chosen to evade if he had a tenth of a second to do so.

"Hmm, there's a definite heat, though it's quite tenuous - I've certainly grasped the soul of the magic doll as well. I'll be more careful next time--
　With that said, Nacht was inwardly quite remorseful.
　He was wary of Rinoa, even from the discrepancy with the report of two people, but because he could understand the quality and strength of Rinoa's equipment in general, he had been proud and let his guard down.
　As far as I saw in the dragon's eye, Rinoa was ordinary, but her level was fifty to sixty, and attacking and killing such an opponent was a weak bully no matter what you think. A low-level player kill in the game era would make him a wanted man in the blink of an eye, and he would receive retribution. From such common sense, Nacht might have somewhat neglected his serious desire to fight. If this was the case, it even seemed that a fight in a cave at some point would be better.

''Well, now that we've calmed down, let's hear the story.
　When Nacht told him that, Rinoa, who was bound hand and foot and unable to move, moved her face, the only face she could move, and muttered while biting down on her humiliation and glaring at Nacht.

''Kudos, kill........''
　It was like a cartoonish line.
　Nacht shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Oh dear.

'As for me, I'd like to hear more about your equipment and the mage dolls there - why do you guys have Real World Online equipment?'　
　Nacht said with a stronger tone.
　The trait (unique) equipment that you could get from the Ice and Snow Continent quest, the Crystal Tree Thorns series, was mostly warrior-type equipment that Nacht hadn't touched at all, but it was indeed the same equipment that Nacht had, the Real World Online equipment. On the contrary, as for Sakura, she is a magical doll that can only be obtained by one person in the event, the Artificial Doll Rebellion. The name, too, looks like it was named by the Japanese.
　Nacht is already convinced of this, but I still wanted to hear from someone who knows the situation.

'I have nothing to say to you--kill--'
　He didn't seem to have any intention of losing his stubborn, stubborn attitude.
　Rinoa's eyes seemed to be trapped in hatred.
　It was as if she couldn't even see Nacht, who was right in front of her, as if she couldn't even see him.

''I see.......then I'll kill you--''
　Rinoa closed her eyes as if she was ready.
　The exclamation that Sakura made at the sight of the Lord's danger continued to reverberate off the thick walls of ice.
　But Nacht moved away from Rinoa with a knot, knot, knot echoing on the ice floor.
　When Rinoa, curious, opened her eyes, Nacht was standing by the cherry tree.

'However, let's cut off the head of the doll over here first, shall we?

Wha--
　Nacht brought his sharp claws close to Sakura's neck, which was restrained like a decapitated table.

'Wait!　Wait!　What!　It's not about the cherry blossoms!
　The girl was disconcerted and desperately shouting, a change from earlier.

'Does it matter?　What are you talking about?　How can you say that the one that challenged me to a fight and tried to put a blade to my neck is irrelevant?
　He says to Rinoa in a strong, denouncing voice.
　Rinoa had drops in her eyes and was desperately searching for words, holding back large tears.

''No!　I'm the one who told the cherry blossoms to do this!　She can't disobey my orders!　So the onus is on me!　Kill me!
　But Nacht opened his mouth, with his sharp claws peeking out.

'It's not you who decides that. I am the winner. I am the victor. Losing a battle means losing something important. You risked that risk and still wanted to make it come true, and it's because you had a wish that you started the fight, right?　Isn't it because of that resolve that you caused the fight?
　It was a familiar feeling for Nacht.
　In PVP, where the fight is a total loss, the fight continues until one of them is eliminated (deleted). They would challenge powerful enemies in search of unknown experiences and equipment, and sometimes they would die without being able to escape. I've lost items in guild rivalry battles, and I've lost items.
　Fighting for something must be accompanied by a willingness to sacrifice many things.
　Nacht spoke to this meaning with the life of the squire she would cherish most.

'So ... no ... no ... no, not cherry blossoms - just cherry blossoms - eh ... please, anything. I'll tell you, I'll do anything you want, so just help Sakura--

Miss...
　The color of the cherry blossom's soul seemed to have darkened a bit.
　Nacht told Rinoa more sternly than at any other time.

War is an act of forcing that sorrow on someone else. You must understand that the pain you are feeling in your heart right now is an act of forcing others to do the same. You are in your situation. You have an axe to grind. Maybe you have an antipathy to the current discrimination against demons. I don't know your situation, and I won't deny all your choices, but I can still tell you one thing--

　--What's the most important thing to you?

　You can think long and hard about that again.

　Nacht released his magical restraints.
　The ice and snow disappeared, and the icy land vanished as if it had never existed.
　The residue of ice crystals that glistened in the sunlight fell like powdery snow.