The outskirts of Campbell Street, at the boundary of the Otherworld Barrier…
“Tch…”
Darwin, who had heard about the anomaly and rushed to the scene, was placing his hands on the barrier and deploying various spells to attempt to break through it and enter the other world.
It looked like the barrier was almost on the verge of opening, but it was still going to take some time.
“…What a fool I am.”
Growing frustrated, Darwin infused more mana into his attempt.
“No need to rush, Darwin. These are the students you put through that harsh training day after day. Chaos Beasts should be no problem for them.”
Standing by as support, Crawford tried to encourage Darwin.
“Hmph. But those new students are in there, too. They’re still nothing but foolish, dull little chicks. And judging from the situation, a high-ranking member of the Faith Faction is definitely at work here. We don’t know the reason why, but based on Gordon’s memories, we were able to ascertain that the Faction member is targeting Shino Whytenight. So I have no doubt she is under attack by the Faith Faction right now. And we may already be too late… I can’t believe I let this happen.”
“There was no way for you to know. Against an organization like the Faith Faction that swears by absolute secrecy, you’re bound to end up fighting one step behind… And besides…maybe they’ll be able to get by in there better than we expect.”
“What do you mean?”
Darwin furrowed his brow at Crawford’s comment.
“Rix Frestat is in the same group that requested permission to go off school grounds, with Shino Whytenight. There’s a high chance he’s with her.”
“What does that regular human fool who can’t even open his Sphere have to do with anything?”
“That may be true, but…my theory is that Rix’s Sphere was already open in the first place.”
“…What do you mean?” Darwin asked while he continued to work at opening the barrier.
“I mean exactly what I said. Only that means his Sphere never expanded into the outside and is perfectly contained within himself… It’s closed off inside his body and completely self-contained. There are precedents, right? There have been people in history, occasionally, with unique Spheres like that.”
“…You mean the Ego.”
Crawford nodded. “If that’s true, then so what? If the Sphere can’t be extended into the outside, the person can’t use magic. Then ultimately, an Ego is just a regular human. They cannot become mages.”
“That’s true. But unlike mages who open their senses toward the outside world, an Ego, who is perfectly self-contained in their own small world, may awaken to their own unknowable techniques. If a mage is omnipotent within the bounds of their own Sphere, an Ego specializes in omnipotence over their own body. Accordingly, they have no need for magic formulas, nor the laws nor reason of the universe, and need only manifest their inner world and mental image in order to awaken their own techniques. There were people like that in history, right? Someone who was just a regular human, not even a mage…who despite all expectations was able to defeat the strongest and most evil mage in history, the Dusk Demon, with no more than a single swing of his sword…”
“…The Dawn Swordsman.”
“Yeah.”
Again, Crawford nodded briefly. “Rix won against Gordon… He won against someone who he should have never been able to defeat with a sword. He cut down someone whose defenses should have been absolutely impenetrable by a sword. It may be wishful thinking…but we may be able to put just a little more faith in him.”
“Hmph. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Just then, Darwin finally succeeded in breaking through a section of the barrier.
At last, they had a way inside.
“Let’s go,” Darwin urged. “We’ll clean up the Chaos Beasts, then rescue the townspeople and students. Then we take care of the Faith Faction. We’ll make them pay for overstepping the boundaries of the human realm. We’ve no need for something so trifling as wishful thinking.”
“All right, all right, I got it. Ah, what a pain…”
And so Darwin and Crawford stepped foot inside the barrier.
One fruit, red and ripe.
Two fruits, round and sweet.
Three fruits, small in size.
In the woods we loved, the Forest of Endyard,
The fox cub cries.
“…What…? What am I looking at…? I…?!”
Anna was dumbfounded by the scene unfolding before her.
It was all too unbelievable.
The higher being Anna had summoned, the Fair-Faced Angel…was fighting.
The Fair-Faced Angel, which Anna had summoned using her own Sphere as a conduit, was another Anna herself.
They were inextricably linked—essentially, the angel was another of Anna’s external personae. As such, Anna could will the Fair-Faced Angel to move however she wished, as if she were moving her own arms and legs, and wield the angel’s immense power with ease.
She shared her five senses with the Fair-Faced Angel.
So it was a matter of course that the angel was fighting, just as Anna willed it to.
But the issue was that it had truly become a battle.
“…”
With Rix’s astonishing speed, he brought his broken sword slashing down at the Fair-Faced Angel.
And the Fair-Faced Angel freely wielded its six spears without so much as touching them.
They swung down from above like lightning bolts, twirled in a whirlwind from side to side, and thrust up from underfoot toward the heavens in a tremendous barrage of blinding blows.
Rix dodged, repelled them with his sword, and knocked down every single one.
Then in an instant, he came within the Fair-Faced Angel’s reach…
…and slashed with extreme speed.
A light welled forth from the tip of his blade.
It had a golden glow, like the color of dusk.
His speed was inhuman.
The flash of light from Rix’s sword caught the angel’s right arm—and slashed it open.
“Khhhhuuuuugh?!”
Just as he did, the same place on Anna’s right arm that Rix had slashed on the angel was cut open and started spraying blood.
The Fair-Faced Angel, which had been summoned using faith magic, was an extension of her—a persona.
In short, it was another Anna.
Hence, there was damage feedback that reflected on the mage’s own body. Any damage the Fair-Faced Angel suffered would be inflicted on Anna, too.
“None of this matters! None of it!” Anna shouted.
The Fair-Faced Angel fiercely thrust its spears toward Rix.
Rix stepped forward, deflecting the spears with his sword and closing the gap between them.
A flash of his sword, with inhuman speed.
The light, bursting forth from the tip.
Slash!
It sliced at the angel’s chest—and blood gushed from Anna’s own chest as well.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh?!”
The Fair-Faced Angel, unable to bear it, swung its spears with reckless abandon.
Rix, with unparalleled accuracy, dodged the spears as he retreated.
Then, as if looking for an opening, Rix continued to move clockwise around the Fair-Faced Angel, at a speed that made it look like he was disappearing with each step he took—
“What…? What is this?!” Anna cried. “I don’t care about your pathetic little sword tricks or your absurd physical abilities! But how?! How…could a mere sword…land an attack on this higher form of existence…the Great Being, my angel?!”
Yes, that was the issue at hand.
Rix’s sword was just a regular blade.
The enchantment that Shino had cast on it had already faded long before.
And even if it hadn’t, an enchantment using Shino’s current magical abilities would have inflicted no more than a tickle on the angel.
On top of everything, Rix’s sword had been broken in half. It barely had any use even as a weapon.
Yet still…
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!”
The angel beat its wings and, with an explosive increase in speed, moved to attack Rix from behind.
The angel’s speed was no match for a human to handle.
The angel poised its six spears to take out Rix’s heart.
But in another instant, Rix disappeared from sight.
What replaced him—was the light of his sword.
Rix appeared once again behind the angel.
Swoosh!
He slashed deeply into the angel’s flank.
“Guh?! Agh?!”
Anna grasped at her own flank as it was dyed crimson.
“Why…? How is it possible?! A higher being’s magical defenses should be far beyond that of any physical enhancement spell or Sphere of a human mage… How can you bypass it so easily?!” she said, gasping in agony. “And…without using magic or mana… With a mere sword?! What is that light?! What exactly is iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit?!”
“…”
Rix did not answer.
He only silently, simply, like a single gust of wind, closed in again on the angel.
Light surged from the sword.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH?!”
Anna screamed as the angel continued to be mercilessly torn to shreds.
“R-Rix… He’s amazing…”
Randy watched in awe as Rix continued to overwhelm the angel with his attacks.
“Yeah…”
Annie looked on, too, dumbstruck, as Rix sliced the angel to pieces.
“So this is Rix’s true power…! I knew I had judged him well after all…!” said Serephina. “Magnificent! Indeed, he will be an asset in my pursuit of military rule!”
Serephina was convinced of this as she watched Rix slash the angel from all directions at high speed.
Nonetheless…
“…But truly…what is this power of his…? This light…?” she wondered, gazing at the light.
That light, housed in the tip of the sword Rix wielded. It was like staring at the golden glow of dusk, alone in an empty wilderness. A golden light that dazzled the eyes…yet somehow lacked luster.
That light…
“Something feels…so fleeting…,” Serephina managed. “What exactly…does this mean…? When I see that light…for some reason, I can’t stop my tears from flowing…”
“I know…,” said Annie. “Somehow…it feels like Rix is going to disappear…”
The two girls had tears in their eyes and were filled with uncertainty.
“…The Dawn Swordsman.”
Shino had suddenly whispered something.
“Shino?”
“The only human…who was able to defeat me, as the Dusk Demon,” Shino continued. “And he, too…the Dawn Swordsman…wielded that light at the tip of his sword. A light that can cut through any spell and break through any magical defense. A flash of his sword that momentarily surpasses the speed of light. In the face of that light, all the techniques of the faith magic I had mastered and all the Great Beings, all Seventy-Two Pillars of the Qlippoth, were powerless.”