At that flawless reaction, I frowned. The first thought that crossed my mind was Is Aikawa Hitaki, the Thief of Water’s Essence, truly asleep?
Small tricks were countered, and major spells were stopped at their inception. That judgment and those tactics were too perfect, as if she knew the answers from the start. I’d assumed she was asleep, merely reacting to my magic by firing counter-spells, but that wasn’t the case.
The gaze leaking from those slightly opened eyes seemed to shine brightly, determined not to miss a single opening. Far from facing a sleeping opponent, it felt like I was up against some brilliant, sharp-witted military strategist.
Having been hardened by countless battlefields, I understood something. Deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the Thief of Water’s Essence was fundamentally misunderstood.
Earlier, Apostle Sith had said that it had been decided from that start that no one could win. Like Kanami, Hitaki was an Outworlder, and the condition for summoning them was a child with a stronger heart than anyone else in this world. But didn’t that stray too far from the conditions for an Essence Thief? Was Aikawa Hitaki truly the same kind of Essence thief as me? Could she be something else entirely?
Yet, even as I wrestled with this doubt, the enemy’s frigid cold spread relentlessly throughout the capital. The tremors in my body and magic power intensified, gradually eroding the precision of martial arts and spells.
Meanwhile, the enemy’s magic grew stronger. It was no laughing matter. Watching me fall into disadvantage, Apostle Sith let out a high-pitched laugh. “As expected of my Hitaki! Yes, the inevitable outcome! There’s no way the old can defeat the new! It’s a law of the world that no one can defeat Aikawa Hitaki! Your levels of existence are different! Ha ha! Come on, Hitaki! You can end this battle now! Freeze that dusty old legend in ice!”
I reached my limit. I stopped considering the damage to those around me. I tried to build a spell with all my might, determined to shatter everything—including Sith’s so-called world order—with my Wind of Freedom.
“Lord of—”
“Stop. Freeze Nibelheim.”
But it was halted by the cold. It wasn’t canceled, but the spell’s construction slowed to a crawl. With no other choice, I gathered magic power in my right fist, attempting to forcibly destroy my enemy along with the capital city itself.
“Shatter!”
“Stop. Freeze Nibelheim.”
But the magic power gathered in my right fist was insufficient, and I raised my arm far too sluggishly. Though it was a full-power punch intended to destroy the nation, the result was only about the strength of a high-level Wind spell. It blew away a dozen or so houses in the surrounding town, lightly cracked the road, and barely made the fist pressure collide with the sky barrier. Realizing the situation’s gravity from her spell, which was less than a hundredth of her true strength, I judged there was no time to rest and that I would have to continue unleashing full-power wind attacks.
“Stop. Stop, stop, stop. Everything, stop. Freeze Nibelheim.” The cold air released by Hitaki intensified by another level. This increase in the chill made it clear she had been holding back before. Without a doubt, she was altering her fighting style after observing my expressions and reactions.
“Gah, ugh... My limbs!” Just as I had been conserving my strength, so too had the enemy. My body froze from the core in an instant, my fingertips going numb and stiffening. I could feel the strength draining from my fist as I tried to unleash another blast.
“Well, well, well! My dear former Sovereign Queen Lorde! This is the real Sovereign Queen Lorde’s true power! That’s right! If not for that one mistake, Hitaki would be the strongest in the world! My Hitaki is the strongest being in human history! She is the perfect girl! Aha ha ha ha!” Sith had changed locations after the previous all-out attack. She wasn’t behind the fountain anymore but on the roof of a distant house, continuing her maniacal laughter.
I was stunned by the sluggishness of my own lips and throat as I tried to retort. The bitter cold that made Sith proud clung to my entire body, making it difficult to utter so much as a sound. My teeth chattered relentlessly, refusing to form words.
“Ice Arrow.” As if to deliver the final blow to my trembling form, an icy arrow shot forth from Hitaki.
At the very last moment, I parried it away with my bayonet. A mere basic Ice magic spell felt terrifyingly fast and heavy. The freezing world of midwinter amplified the arrow’s power, but more than that, I had been weakened. And the person who’d successfully weakened me was the girl herself—through both a judicious selection of spells suited to the situation and a masterful tactical execution.
She was strong. Undoubtedly, the Thief of Water’s Essence was strong. Even though I was restricted as a Guardian of the Fiftieth Floor, weakened by the resolution of my lingering attachments, my opponent should have faced similar limitations. Yet, I was overwhelmed. Hitaki was so strong that I was certain that history would have been completely altered a thousand years ago had Apostle Sith not mistakenly transformed her into a monster midway.
“Ugh... Uuugh...”
I fully understood why Apostle Sith had declared Hitaki the true Sovereign Queen Lorde. If strength was the proof of the role, then it was now abundantly clear. She was a legendary queen who stood on the shoulders of a legendary Apostle, repelling all interlopers. She was not a fake born from childish play. Standing atop the icicle in the center of Viaysia’s royal capital now—she was the real thing.
There was no way a fake could ever defeat the real thing. No matter how much confidence I had in my strength, I was powerless before overwhelming might. Powerless. After all, I was just a child... A powerless child. I’d already admitted that within the labyrinth. Unable to bear the weight of being the Sovereign Queen Lorde, I’d accepted that I was just a girl. There was no way such a weak child like me could defeat such a powerful enemy. Because I couldn’t win, here I was, my knees pressed to the ground, my hands braced, about to collapse...
“Nooo!” Just as I was about to collapse, I denied it instinctively and shook my head. Somehow, both my hands were already pressed against the ground.
My body had been resting on a bed of snow, and I had been on the verge of falling asleep. Even though I could still fight, I had nearly given up before the battle had even begun. It was this strange realization that made me process the true power of the midwinter magic, Freeze Nibelheim. The cold was stealing warmth down to the very core of my heart. This frozen space didn’t just freeze invisible magic—somehow, it was affecting people’s innermost feelings too.
I immediately tried to reignite the fighting spirit that had begun to fade.
“Gah! Mmmph!”
It didn’t matter if she was some legendary queen or whatever! The only ones here were two humans—Titee and Hitaki—and neither of us had changed! There was no reason a fake couldn’t beat the real thing! Even if the opponent had overwhelming power, the way I fought could turn the tide!
I told myself this, trying to reignite my fighting spirit.
“Ah... Ah...”
A chill like a mockery of my decision descended on me. The cold painfully clinging to my skin gradually faded, replaced by a sense of warmth. I realized my sense of touch had frozen. My body had stopped moving, beyond mere trembling. Now, only the core of my brain felt cold. My thinking wasn’t impaired; I’d just lost all heat, and my mind kept drifting to the most negative thoughts. Even knowing this was the enemy’s magic, the sense of utter defeat kept growing. I thought if this continued, everything would freeze and stop. But even the function of feeling danger had long since stopped, and I couldn’t muster the will to resist it.
Cold. Yeah, cold. Just cold. I just wanted to sleep. Thinking was too much effort, so I wanted to sleep without thinking. Sleep, think of nothing, rest forever somewhere warm...
“It’s about time.”
Just as my eyelids were about to close, a voice reached me. It was the voice of my friend, Nosfy. I turned my eyes, just before they closed, in the direction of the voice. Nosfy stood near Apostle Sith, having just cast off her invisibility. Perhaps she had been watching the battle all along.
Nosfy spoke to Apostle Sith while looking at me. “In this contest between two Sovereign Queen Lordes, Hitaki will emerge victorious. Without question, Hitaki is truly worthy of being called the queen who governs the world. I acknowledge it.”
“Of course. Heh, honestly, it hardly even needed a contest,” Apostle Sith quickly responded.
However, hearing that unhesitating response, Nosfy cast her a pitying glance. “As always, you look down on everything, seeing others only as stepping stones. Even after dying once, your personality hasn’t changed, has it?”
It was a spiteful remark unbecoming of her. Or at least, the Nosfy of my former life would never have said such a thing to an Apostle.
“I wouldn’t call it looking down. I’m just proud of reality. Or are you saying that girl could defeat my Hitaki? Such a miracle is impossible.”
“Yes. It would be difficult for Lorde alone. However, I believe it’s not impossible if they combine their strength.” Turning her gaze toward me and Snow behind me, Nosfy had declared there was still a chance to win. Though it was a conversation with Apostle Sith, it also sounded like words of encouragement to the two of us, telling us we could do it.