“Ahem…” Sogou raised her hand. “What should we do if we find citizens of the capital who are trapped in the labyrinth?”
“That’s up to you,” I answered immediately. “But be careful—they might not all be on our side. Some of those damn nobles might be thinking that Vicius will save them if they stick with her…and there’s those Order of Vicius scumbag believers, too. Watch out for them.”
“…U-understood.” Sogou took a step back, as if swallowing what she’d been about to say.
It’s a bad move to demoralize Sogou at a time like this, but I can’t tell her this battle is about saving everyone… Sorry, Sogou. This is the best compromise I can manage.
“So about the order we go in there…”
Sogou Ayaka’s first.
Sogou and Banewolf had just exchanged a few words, but now another came to see her.
“Sogou-san… Make sure you come back safe,” said Suou Kayako, looking incredibly worried for her.
…I’ve never seen her make that face before.
“Ayaka-chan.”
“Class rep!”
“Sogou-san!”
The rest of the heroes who would be remaining behind went over to Sogou to talk with her.
…To be honest, I want to get inside that labyrinth as fast as possible, but this stuff is important to some people. She might need to get her head straight first.
“…”
I considered the possibility that Vicius could have assembled a hundred or more of her own men and had them all charge into the labyrinth the moment it formed so that nobody else could get in—but according to Lokiella, that wouldn’t work.
I recalled her explanation.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. There were divines in the past who thought of doing that, but it never worked. That labyrinth is alive, you see—it’s got a will of its own. When the labyrinth detects cheating like that, it rejects it and stops it from working. The labyrinth is a reflection of its caster… That’s because the spell is connected to the caster’s intent. It can easily tell if its caster is trying to cheat. There’s no hiding it. It’s a bit like…the labyrinth itself takes pride in the concept of what it is, I suppose? It can be a bit unclear what it considers cheating…but that’s just another thing that we divines find so interesting about labyrinths.”
…I think I get it. It might be a good strategy to try and poke holes in these “anti-cheating” rules to see what we can get away with.
“Too-ka.”
It was the Wildly Beautiful Emperor, who seemed to have been waiting for opportunity to speak with me.
“What can I do for you, Your Majesty?”
“I have decided that I will join you in the labyrinth.”
“…Are you sure, Your Majesty?”
He’s an emperor after all…
“Personally, I’d be very grateful if you would participate, Your Majesty… But haven’t Lady Yoyo and the other nobles of Mira urged you to remain?”
The Wildly Beautiful Emperor had requested to join us at first, but had faced strong backlash from the Mira camp. Yoyo Ord had even offered that she would take the emperor’s place, despite being in poor health. The current head of the Princeps Elector House of Ord had been taken off the list of labyrinth entrants, as she had caught a cold on the march to Alion and wasn’t feeling well. She’d been ready to push through her fatigue, however, if that would allow her to take the Wildly Beautiful Emperor’s place in the labyrinth.
Seems like the emperor is irreplaceable to the people of Mira. Don’t tell me he’s planning on entering in secret?
“I convinced her,” he said in reply.
“…And the Mirans here have accepted your decision?” I asked with half-doubting eyes. The Wildly Beautiful Emperor smiled back at me like a mischievous child.
“Heh heh… I believe they were shocked to see me being so selfish and forceful in my words. They had quite the looks on their faces.” The Wildly Beautiful Emperor looked bright and cheerful. “Even if I should die, Luheit will serve as a fine successor to the throne of Mira. And given his recent growth, I suspect that Kaize would serve just as well. There are two fine replacements for my position as emperor. I intended on stepping down once I have taken my revenge upon Vicius, either way.”
The emperor had already told me about his plan to resign.
“Your Majesty…”
“And what’s more, I am done with that,” he said.
“Hm?”
“Wherever I may be… I wish for people to speak with me as they would any other individual. This may be my last act in life, after all.”
“…Then how should I address you? No. Sorry… What do you want me to call you?”
“Heh, Zine will suffice. Ah, but…I wish for you to allow me my own formalities. I have been speaking in this manner since before I can remember, and it has become a part of me.”
I waited a moment.
“Are you okay, Zine?”
The Wildly Beautiful Emperor—Zine, that is, returned a thin smile and lowered his voice.
“I will enter close to Asagi in the order. I was the one who brought her to our side—and so I must be the one to see this through with her.”
Be careful—I suppose I don’t need to tell him that. Based on the way he worded that… It sounds like he already has suspicions of his own.
“So am I your first, then, Zine?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
I remembered what Kaize had told me about the emperor and his friends.
“Is Too-ka Mimori the first friend that Zine Mira has ever made?”
“…” A few moments passed, and then Zine smiled at me. “…Yes, I suppose—it appears so.”
It’s always when he smiles that the emperor looks his age.
“I’ll be back soon, then,” Sogou told the heroes who were remaining outside, picking up her backpack. “Once this battle is over, we can all go home—back to the old world. Together.”
“Sogou-san,” said Hijiri.
Sogou just nodded at her, a dependable expression on her face. She had a reassuring smile on her lips. I called to her as she made to walk toward the labyrinth entrance.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Of course. Leave it to me.” Sogou passed in front of me, stepping into the entrance of the labyrinth. In her backpack was the anti-Vicius magical device that Erika had given us. After some thought, I’d decided that she was the most likely of us to have the freedom to activate it on her own. I’d discussed the matter with Eve and Lokiella.
“Erika designed that thing to fit the entire city of Eno inside its effect radius, so it should cover the entire labyrinth,” Eve had explained.
“It sounds like we can take weapons and luggage into the labyrinth—but do you think that, if we activate that device outside of the labyrinth, it’ll still affect what’s on the inside?” I had asked Lokiella.
“It’s possible the effect might bounce off the outer membrane… You should activate it on the inside, just in case.”
If we’re going to activate it, the person who goes in first should do it—and so it should be given to someone who’s almost definitely going to be able to manage that. I’d considered myself, Seras, or Takao Hijiri as candidates to hold it, but we settled on Sogou in the end. Sogou can buy time if she’s immediately attacked by using her Silver Knights and floating weapons to protect herself. Having her enter first also makes it so those who go right after her will have a better chance of meeting up with her.
The teleportation chamber was filled with light—and when it faded, Sogou was gone.
It’s begun at last.
The final battle.
We had to enter one by one. If someone was already inside the teleportation chamber, the semi-transparent membrane wouldn’t allow the next person to enter. We decided to split our forces into an advance party, and a later party that would enter the labyrinth after some time had passed. The members of the advance party were mostly made up of those who could take on the disciples, while the later party was mostly composed of the representatives of the other nations who had volunteered for the mission.