In the outside world, Commander Zousi Ayler lifted his head, his face devoid of expression, his mouth slightly open, while one hand seemed to reach for something.
Just as death was about to claim him, abandoning his attempt to touch the sphere of light, the sharp rhythm of footsteps echoed from behind where Zousi lay as two women came running.
"Commander, what exactly happened?" Queen asked anxiously. Her gaze immediately fell upon the severe burns on her commander's back, making something rise rapidly into her throat.
Lyliya took two steps back, her lips trembling as she said, "Captain, I can't heal wounds like that."
Despite being a medical expert, Lyliya gave up the moment she saw the torn fabric on his back, exposing Zousi Ayler's ribs jutting grotesquely through the flesh.
The blood around the wound had already clotted, making it obvious that the pain would slowly kill him. Yet with the calmness and expertise of someone accustomed to such situations, Queen took three steps forward, knelt slowly, then removed the white glove from her right hand.
"Captain?" Lyliya called out uneasily.
Queen hesitated before touching the wound. Zousi's eyes had lost their color as he gave up trying to move and smiled bitterly.
"Commander..." Queen murmured softly.
'Who attacked the commander?'
A realization flashed through her mind as she turned around and noticed the lingering traces of Kusen's supernatural ability, its marks still clearly visible.
Certain that Kusen had successfully dragged the enemy into the interrogation world, Queen let out a long sigh as she pulled something from the hidden pocket of her uniform.
It was Airsline, ordinary water infused with a Level 4 Life spell, reconstruction, and a potion.
Pour.
Zousi clenched his jaw as he fought the urge to scream. The wound was almost impossible to heal, yet Queen did something that should never have been revealed to others.
She drew her sword from its sheath, shattered the exposed rib, swiftly poured the remaining pale white liquid over the wound, then sheathed the sword once more.
Zousi was finally able to breathe calmly. The wound slowly closed, although the pain still throbbed deep inside his head. He was unable to stand, his face as pale as paper as he took out his pale blue crystal sphere.
'Damn it, who exactly is that man? Is he a member of that sect, and... this is bad!'
He wanted to shout, but the words caught in his throat, leaving him only able to watch as a familiar man approached.
Sensing someone's presence through spirituality, Queen drew her sword, turned calmly, and slashed at the enemy charging toward her.
He did not die. She merely cut through empty air as the air itself curled into a faint smirk at her.
Queen Seon Arzen's eyes widened as she quickly scanned her surroundings, her attention finally settling on Lyliya, who had crossed her arms.
"Take the commander away from this street. Hide!" she ordered flatly.
Without a single response, Lyliya immediately rushed to obey. Carefully stepping past Queen, she supported Commander Zousi Ayler's body with her frail frame.
"Don't lose, Captain. I won't forgive you if you die here," Lyliya shouted before staggering toward the roadside, suppressing a groan.
Queen remained silent, offering no reply. A few seconds later, she smiled as the figure that had attacked her revealed himself once more.
She stared at the bespectacled man. His coat was so caked with dust that it looked as though it had never been washed, nor ever taken off. With an expression as sharp as a freshly honed blade, he twirled his index finger, lowered his head, brought his hand to the left side of his chest, then straightened again.
"Allow me to introduce myself..."
Before he could finish, Queen calmly interrupted, "Who are you? Where is the black-haired man with those few white strands?"
'It'll be disastrous if he escaped that interrogation.'
Queen swallowed with difficulty, her hand trembling as she raised her sword and pointed it forward.
The bespectacled man was none other than Karl Vairanz. After hearing the question, he remained silent for a moment, then two seconds later answered with a smile, "He's trapped inside his own interrogation ability."
Karl calmly flicked the side of his coat, causing it to ripple gently as something struck Queen Seon Arzen's mind in an instant.
Queen took one step back. Her heartbeat slowed, and her knees lost the strength to keep her standing.
"...What... what did you do to him...?!" Queen shouted.
She charged toward Karl at tremendous speed. For a brief instant, her sword shimmered faintly beneath the sunlight as its tip aimed straight for his neck.
Karl's body scattered like dust carried away by the wind as he shattered Queen Seon Arzen's perception with a perfect illusion, yet even that was not enough because Karl had lost his sight.
"Damn," Karl hissed, pressing his glasses as though it made no difference in this battle.
He had nearly died after being dragged into the interrogation world created by Kusen's Scatter ability.
Moreover, casting a perfect illusion while its activation had briefly been stalled in the real world, only to successfully affect its target the moment Kusen dragged him into that realm, had nearly pulled half of Karl's spirituality into that world, leaving him utterly exhausted.
Facing a Receivers whose ability Karl knew nothing about left him with no choice but to deceive them using only the basic powers of a Sorcerer.
He was truly at a disadvantage in this battle.
Using his spirituality as a decoy while hiding his real body from his opponent's sight, Karl searched for an opening to attack.
More importantly, he couldn't approach Lyliya, who was trying to stabilize Zousi Ayler's condition, and he knew Deputy Commander Kusen would return within minutes.
Without giving his opponent time to think, Queen relentlessly assaulted Karl with her masterful swordsmanship. It was no ordinary sword, and although the wind it generated seemed modest, the destructive force behind each strike was overwhelming.
Even so, Karl managed to evade the blade while sharpening the surrounding dust into weapons.
'Ah, this situation is becoming incredibly troublesome.'
Karl began counting silently in his mind.
The sword swept past the left side of his face, releasing both scorching and freezing gusts of wind that blistered and froze his skin at the same time.
He leaped backward, then climbed onto the rubble of the surrounding buildings that covered roughly fifteen meters of the street.
The assault continued as Queen Seon Arzen rushed at her opponent at full speed while manipulating the surrounding dust.
Karl, whose poor eyesight already limited his vision, was rendered almost blind as a dust storm engulfed everything around him.
'So the woman's cunning too.'
Muttering inwardly, he thought carefully, searching for a way out of this disadvantageous situation.
Looking for every possible escape, he paused briefly before flicking his coat twice.
But because the dust was under Queen Seon Arzen's control, she arrived in an instant like a beam of light, spinning together with her sword.
Karl, unable to see the attack, was blasted away as something obstructing the flow through his blood vessels ruptured.
Time seemed to slow as Karl coughed up blood. His breathing became ragged, and he felt his heartbeat weakening.
As if that weren't enough, Queen Seon Arzen appeared behind him and drove her sword through Karl's heart from behind.
His body trembling, trapped within the dust storm that cocooned him, Karl forced a smile as he touched the tip of the sword.
Shing!
The sword pierced even deeper, forcing his arm straight downward as fresh blood dripped from his fingertips.
"..."
Shing!
Queen thrust until the blade nearly reached its guard before wrenching it back with tremendous force.
A sharp, piercing scream struck Queen's mind in an instant.
"Captain Queen...?"
Queen immediately searched for the source of the voice amid the raging dust storm.
Then the dust storm vanished completely as Queen Seon Arzen found herself staring at two familiar figures before her.
"You two... Huh." Queen felt something thick coating her hand as she clenched it. "What is this...?"
A horrifying realization struck her as she discovered that her own chest had been pierced by her own sword, while the bespectacled man stood behind her doing the exact same thing.
"Captain..." Zousi Ayler's shout echoed through her mind as her vision of the world faded away.
The sword remained embedded as her body collapsed while Zousi Ayler charged at the bespectacled man.
Karl grimaced as he turned the surrounding dust into a shield, but instead it slammed into his body like scorching liquid, destroying him from the inside.
Even the Sorcerer ability that normally healed his wounds the moment he was injured proved useless as the dust clung to his body one particle at a time.
He launched a surprise attack as a sword the length of an arm, with a blade measuring twenty-two centimeters, shot toward Zousi Ayler, who had appeared to his left.
Using Scatter, Zousi successfully stopped it by grabbing Karl's arm, pressing it down with a sharp snort and causing the sword to disappear.
Karl groaned and leaped backward, flicking his right hand. Then, seeing Zousi advancing toward him with dust swirling around him, Karl drew his cards and hurled them at him.
Far from where they were fighting, Lyliya found herself in a difficult situation as she poured Airsline over the wound.
Even receiving the order to pull the sword out nearly made Lyliya forget how to breathe.
After waiting several seconds for the liquid to take effect, the muscles in Queen's previously tense face gradually relaxed.
"Phew..."
Lyliya wiped the sweat from her forehead as she helped her captain rise from where she had collapsed face-down.
"...Captain, are you alright?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Queen looked at her with blurred eyes.
"Don't worry about me," Queen said flatly, even though Lyliya had just saved her life.
Meanwhile, Zousi Ayler caught one of the cards, which physically existed as a tangible object, used it, and sent it back toward Karl.
This was already the second time Karl had seen that technique, and once again he managed to evade it by scattering his body like dust carried away by a storm.
'What a troublesome ability, but...'
After thinking for a moment, Karl realized that Zousi Ayler had stopped attacking him. There was something unusual about him, even though his back had previously been badly burned by Karl's magic sphere.
It was enough to kill them, but because of his weakened physical condition, Karl found himself thinking twice about continuing this fight.
'I'd better just run. They've already made all sorts of assumptions about me anyway.'
Karl nodded, and that single gesture immediately heightened Zousi Ayler's vigilance.
'What's that man thinking?'
Unable to figure it out, Zousi Ayler remained on guard against a sudden attack from Karl.
He knew that Karl was at least on the same level as himself, especially after experiencing the devastating attack that had nearly destroyed his back.
A Receivers of Scatter, Second Tier, Commotion.
The power of Scatter was rather unique because it allowed its user to disperse almost anything through thought and hand movements.
The ability had both strengths and weaknesses because Zousi Ayler himself could not seize objects created through supernatural power.
He had realized this when he reached out toward Karl's sword. Since the weapon had been formed through spiritual manifestation, a Sorcerer's ability, Zousi Ayler found himself unable to take it away.
It was an ability that literally stole what belonged to the opponent.
Zousi Ayler came to this realization as he considered taking the sword, which was enveloped in a white spiritual aura flowing from Karl's body.
"Hey, what's your name?"
Even in the middle of battle, Zousi took the time to ask the identity of the man he was fighting. Or perhaps there was another motive behind the question?
Karl adjusted his thin-framed glasses, smiled politely, and replied, "A magician wandering in search of his true self."
Zousi nearly frowned.
'A wandering magician?'
Since no single faction held exclusive control over the Sorcerer ritual, and considering the connection between "magician" and the Sorcerer ability, Zousi nodded as though he understood something.
"Mr. Magician. I'm curious... if we joined forces, no, more accurately, if you fought seriously, who do you think would win this battle?"
Zousi extended his open palm behind him. In the distance, the sword lying on the shattered cobblestone road beside Queen Seon Arzen was swiftly drawn toward him before flying into his hand.
He gripped the sword, eagerly awaiting Karl's answer.
Karl answered with a smile, saying, "I can't say. I admit I'm no match for you in a direct fight."
"Is that so?"
Eager to prove it, or rather, determined to force Karl to fight seriously, Zousi raised his sword to face level, took his stance, and shot toward Karl at incredible speed.
With movements resembling those of a stage magician, Karl appeared and disappeared like a ghost, naturally remaining untouched by the physical blade. Describing that "sword" merely in physical terms would be inaccurate; the sword they wielded was an artifact from seven centuries ago, dating back to the height of the War of the Tailed Star Era.
Infused with a trace of supernatural power, the sword in Zousi Ayler's hand struck Karl with overwhelming force.
Shing!
The sword carved through the rocky ground, tearing apart fragments of stone and unleashing a violent gust of wind that expanded into a widening arc, carrying devastating destructive force.
Karl raised his arm to shield his face from the debris hurtling toward him. Exposed in midair, he found it difficult to evade.
In this desperate situation, Karl drew his cards and scattered them, intending to cut through the raging storm.
Before he could react further, Karl was met with the harsh reality as the powerful winds unleashed by the artifact sword hurled him across the rocky terrain.
Whoosh!
The unavoidable attack struck; Commander Zousi Ayler had unleashed the storm just as the morning clouds turned pitch black.
Karl's body skidded across the rounded stones before crashing into solidified lava rock, a cry of pain escaping his lips.
Crack!
His shoulder blade fractured, his injuries worsening as he was hurled into a building dozens of meters away from where Queen and Lyliya stood.
As the sky overhead grew darker, thunder roared across the horizon, and lightning struck toward Karl, intent on killing him.
Karl shook his head slightly, trying to stand as he clenched his jaw against the looming threat.
BOOM!
The inevitable explosion erupted, sending a shockwave of air and dust blasting outward, sweeping everything away.
Flames engulfed the impact site, consuming the house where Karl had landed moments earlier.
Zousi Ayler threw his sword downward. It embedded itself into the rocky ground as he descended from the air, dropping to one knee in exhaustion, breathing heavily.
'Did I do it?'
He glanced toward where his deputy, Kusen, had been. A pale blue light appeared, revealing the familiar figure standing there in a daze.
Even though his legs felt ready to give out beneath him, Zousi forced himself to stand and made his way over to wake him.a