It was still a vast garden, but it looked slightly different from the orderly gardens I knew. The ceiling was completely covered in leaves, blocking out all light from the sky. A multitude of trees grew haphazardly, creating an oddly gloomy and oppressive atmosphere devoid of any sense of openness. It felt like a neglected garden without a gardener.
And upon that ground, covered without a single gap by plants and flowers, stood a tall, thin man. His waist-length white hair fell carelessly over his white robes. His attire and the glasses perched on his eyes gave him the air of a scholar. Yet, gauntlets encased his arms, and the battle-ready magic pulsing from him refuted that impression. The surrounding plants he likely controlled all writhed as if seeking an opponent to fight.
Now, I would truly face the Quadragesimal Guardian, Ide, the Thief of Wood’s Essence.
Before any words were spoken, Ide waved a hand. One of the ancient trees behind him bent, swinging a branch. The movement was sharp and swift; judging by the branch’s thickness, it possessed enough force to shatter a human bone or two upon impact.
After displaying this masterful manipulation of the trees, Ide spoke in a low voice. No longer through plants, but in his own voice. “Thus, I shall fight. When dueling Kanami the Founder, I cannot even hope for victory without relying on the power of the trees. Do you wish to call me base and cowardly?” He seemed slightly ashamed of having specified the dueling spot and then forcibly dragging me all the way to the castle courtyard.
But I shook my head in response. “No, not at all. If that’s your strength, use it however you like.”
If we could settle this with a fair duel, I had no complaints. I didn’t think the current Ide was cowardly in the slightest either. If I had any thoughts, they were solely directed at the other Guardian.
Nosfy, who had been brought along with me, was writhing in laughter in a corner of the garden. “Ahh, I want to punch Master Kanami from the side! But I will hold back! I am a Guardian capable of restraint, after all!”
“So, you plan to include Nosfy in this too?” Before fighting, I confirmed how to handle the other Guardian.
She herself answered that question immediately. “No, no, Master Kanami. Of course, I will not fight. This is a duel, after all. Interfering would be rude. So please, do not attack me. Look at this. It is a white flag, a white flag.” She raised the brightness of the light flag to its limit, transforming it into a pure-white banner, then waved it.
Ignoring that utterly unbelievable declaration of surrender, I turned my gaze to Ide. This opponent also wore an expression similar to mine.
“That is the contract we have. I swear this duel will be one-on-one. Should Lady Nosfy attempt to intervene, I will assist in her removal.” His stance on Nosfy aligned with mine.
“As per our contract, I shall not interfere. This time, I came only to experiment with a spell for Master Kanami, not to fight. From what I can see, I have completely blocked your magic, so I am satisfied. I am eager to take these experimental results back and proceed with my next bout of research.”
Nosfy gazed at her own body inscribed with characters and the surrounding plants as she spoke. Presumably, it was because of those inscribed spell formulas that I couldn’t see parts of her through Dimension. Judging by her state, I wondered if similar markings existed elsewhere and attempted to deploy Dimension to grasp the castle’s structure. However, the magic I tried to spread dissipated midway. As if it had encountered counter magic.
“Wh—?! My spell vanished!”
“Yes, Master Kanami. I inscribed it not only on this body but also on trees at key points throughout the castle. You might call them Spellwood—trees that reject your Dimension magic. Similar to the Spellcloth that sustained Alty’s body. With this, any magic you attempt to cast over a wide area while inside this castle will be canceled.”
Not being able to grasp the castle’s structure was one thing. But not knowing how Titee and the others were faring outside, fighting, was agonizing. One of my strengths has been completely crushed, and I gritted my teeth.
“Ah ha! Ah ha ha! How about that! Hee hee hee, just a moment ago, you were absolutely certain everything was going your way, were you not?! You were convinced, were you not?! You were using that magic, were you not?! That magic that draws ideal futures! But it’s no good! Hee hee, how does it feel when your certainty of victory is overturned?! I want to comfort my beloved Master Kanami, so I really, really want to know! I want to comfort you with all my might, so tell me, tell me! Hee hee hee!” Nosfy, her face beaming, tried to peek up at my face as I lowered my gaze.
Her actions, which felt like deliberately rubbing salt in the wound, made boiling oil surge up from the pit of my stomach—and immediately, I slammed the lid shut on that pit. I had to calm down. I couldn’t let my heart be disturbed. This was Nosfy’s way of fighting. Not every word she said came from her true heart. The girl named Nosfy was simply giving her all against me, her far-stronger enemy. It was nothing to get particularly angry about.
Even while I was concentrating, Nosfy kept goading me without pause. “I wanted so badly to see the pain on your face, I could not even sleep! Ever since arriving, I have been waiting while inscribing magical patterns on the castle’s trees! How about it?! Your Dimension magic doesn’t work at all, does it?! Please, feel free to praise me, Master Kanami!”
I’d been surprised when we’d fought in the Dungeon a little while ago, but now I understood perfectly. Nosfy was the same type of person as Palinchron. She deeply understood her own lack of strength and compensated for the power gap with preparation and words. I didn’t reply, just took a deep breath.
“Hmph, ignoring me? I spent day after day thinking only of you, Master Kanami. How cruel!” Leaving Nosfy pretending to sob, I turned back to Ide. Immediately, Nosfy launched a verbal attack from another direction. “Ugh, you really are mean. Then, how about this? Ah, I am so bored, so bored, I feel like going after Lorde and Snow over there. It seems they are about to duel, after all. If I cannot interfere with this duel, then I will just have to interfere with theirs!”
“You...” That precise provocation disrupted my breathing, and I couldn’t help but curse under my breath.
“Did you perhaps think I would be glued to you forever? No, that could not be. Please be more aware of just how much of a foul player you are. I am not ready to fight you yet. In a situation like this, practically begging to be overturned, I absolutely will not lay a finger on you!”
Nosfy turned away with a huff. Then, she burst into laughter so forceful it felt like she might stop breathing any second.
“Good!” she forced out in between her bouts of laughter. “Fun! So much fun!!!”
I immediately ignored Nosfy and directed Dimension at Ide. What I needed to focus on now was my duel with him. Anyway, that cowardly girl wouldn’t attack me unless she was absolutely sure she could win. While she mocked me, I tested how far Dimension’s effects reached. From what I could see, it covered the entire room without issue. However, the effects of Dimension didn’t reach the areas around certain trees. Those must be the trees Nosfy had desperately inscribed with her spell formula.
Naturally, Dimension also bounced off Ide’s body. The light wooden armor and gauntlets he wore were densely covered with those same spells. It was highly likely that not only the Dimension spell but other Dimension magic too couldn’t penetrate that armor.
As I meticulously confirmed all this, Nosfy abruptly stopped laughing. “You are calm, Master Kanami. You will not lunge at me like before, I see. What a pity. There was one more experiment I wanted to try, but that will have to wait until next time.” Recognizing that every word spoken thus far had been a trap and provocation, she took a step back, creating a little distance before forming a Connection. “Perhaps it is because our fighting styles are so similar that you have seen through my thoughts. No, I still do not wish to fight you. Honestly, I wish to leave this danger zone as quickly as possible. Until I’m outside your magic sphere, my life is not guaranteed.”
We were alike. I believed those words alone were truthful. I didn’t want to admit it, but there was a part of me that empathized with her, as if we were connected by blood. This girl only engaged in battles she could absolutely win. Just like I once did, she sought only the most rational, one-hundred-percent certain victories. She likely believed fighting here would just be a replay of the battle on floor sixty-six. Therefore, this time, she intended to entrust everything to Guardian Ide.
“Then, Chancellor, I leave the rest to you. Please, let this be a duel without regrets. Unlike Sith, I wish for the happiness of everyone except Master Kanami.”
“Yes, needless to say, I shall leave no regrets.”
I watch her depart. Even if Nosfy began interfering with my allies outside, I intended to trust Titee’s power and prioritize breaking through to Ide according to plan.
“Then, until we meet again, Master Kanami.” With those final words, Nosfy vanished from the central courtyard through her Connection.
With the outsider of the duel gone, only Ide and I remained. Finally, the time had come to fulfill the promise made in Dahrill.
“The unnecessary noise is gone. And since I’ve made this castle the dueling ground, no one else will interfere.” Ide looked relieved, gazing at the spot where Nosfy had departed. Perhaps he had been even warier of her than I had.
“Ah, it seems so... Shall we proceed immediately?” I readied Lorwen, Treasured Blade of the Arrace Clan, and focused solely on the enemy before me.
“Yes, let’s do this...with something precious at stake.” Ide nodded and stared straight back at me. That expression was so much like Titee’s had been back in the Dungeon. It was the face of a child, twisted with suffocation, on the verge of tears.
“I will defeat you, Kanami the Founder. I will show you victory. If I don’t win here, I won’t know why I was born. If I can’t prove it to the Sovereign Queen Lorde I respect, I’ll cease to be myself. So let’s fight.”
“Ide, you...”
“My apologies; that was unnecessary. Unlike Lady Nosfy, I have no intention of fighting with words. Let us begin immediately.”
Perhaps because I had overcome my battle with Titee, I felt I could understand fragments of Ide’s current feelings. However, I couldn’t go easy on him. He wasn’t my only enemy now. I needed to defeat him as quickly as possible and get out.