<Goddess Vysis POV>

(I’ve finally…… calmed down a little……)

I run through the labyrinth.

My current location———- still within the royal castle.

(Those trash…… should have already infiltrated the castle interior……)

Would those wretches be moving separately?

(……No.)

There’s no strong point in dispersal.

Those who regrouped would surely remain clumped together.

Even if they spread out and one group happened to find me……

They couldn’t possibly be so foolish as to believe that alone would suffice to defeat me.

No…… their nature is foolish, but their will to cling to life, petty cunning———– that, they possess.

Since they pretend to be wise, I must assume at least a measure of such petty craftiness.

Yes, even if they are the kind of humans who are shame itself incarnate……

There do exist humans whose localized low cunning alone happens to function strangely well.

I pull my thoughts back on track.

……To begin with.

They forced quite a number of people into this labyrinth.

If their goal could have been achieved by a small elite force prioritizing life, then that many would never have been needed in the first place.

[Lives to be thrown away, serving only as shields of flesh before scattering to nothing.]

That naive brat was present before they charged in, so such a plan would never be adopted.

It does not match with how their side has acted until now either……

If that’s the case……

(Then there must be some scheme, some meaning in preparing that many……)

———But if so, then extreme dispersal of their forces is unlikely.

This is not the sort of battle where “once I’m found, it’s over”.

Nor should they have any means of perceiving my movements.

(……Personally, if they did scatter recklessly and let me pick them off one by one, it would be easier for me.)

That was, after all, one of the purposes behind manifesting the Genesis Labyrinth.

I click my tongue.

Since Wormungandr’s annihilation, I’ve obtained no information on them.

The last glimpse I had was the vision through that useless one’s “Eye” as it perished……

It’s regrettable how only the Divine Servants could be given the ability to transmit their sight.

(If only the ordinary Sacraments could be given the ability to share their vision as well……)

But that wish could not be fulfilled.

For just an instant, I regret my own past choices.

The Forbidden Witch———- Anarveil.

Had I been able to draw that one to my side……

Had I made that witch cooperate, allowed her to research familiars……

Then perhaps vision sharing with the Sacraments would have become possible.

Gritting my teeth, I grind them together.

(Still…… that d*mned fly……)

Through the Eyes of Ars and Wormungandr, I saw his stance, his bearing.

……As though he had been reborn into a true warrior of worth.

I loathe it.

Utterly galling.

[The way that Touka Mimori spat his insults at me right before being discarded…… was that Mimori’s true nature revealing itself……?]

How————- utterly repulsive.

Thinking on it now, I can only feel that my decision to discard him was completely correct.

If such evil had been mingled among us, even the subjugation of the Great Demon Emperor might never have been achieved.

[………………………]

The castle, now turned into a labyrinth, is deathly quiet.

Most of the active Sacraments, I had already sent out into the outer labyrinth beyond the royal castle.

[Hmmm…… to think they would dare sully this sacred silence with the selfish buzzing of their wings, what a sin……]

(And yet……)

I came out here with every intention of tearing them all apart limb from limb……

But unexpectedly……

I have encountered no one.

Could it be…… that we passed each other by?

In the first place———– was stepping out this far even the correct choice?

Suddenly, the place I now stand in feels terribly unstable.

————No. That’s an illusion.

Remaining in the throne room would have been far more dangerous, without a doubt.

This unease is nothing more than “uneasiness” born of going in circles.

[Fufufu…… so this too is the result of the labyrinth of thought huh————]

I stop my steps abruptly.

……Without realizing it, I had walked all the way here.

I advance with caution.

Though assimilated by the labyrinth, the place remains familiar.

Even if eroded, the original shape of the space persists.

Ahead, I see stairs.

I am on the second floor.

At the end of the corridor, elaborate railings run along the edge to prevent falling.

From those railings, one can overlook the first floor below.

This is an open hall, connecting first and second floors with a wide atrium.

I move to where I can see the first floor.

Below, a long carpet is laid across the floor.

At the base of the stairs before me, upon the right-hand wall of the hall———-

There hangs a massive painting of me.

The painting, it seems, was spared from the labyrinth’s erosion.

To me, this place was also something of “a place of memories”.

Yes———- this was the place where I once crossed blades with that traitor, Hijiri Takao.

I furrowed my brows, gazing toward the floor below.

(……There is a presence.)

Still distant, but……

At the far end of the lower hall———— just beyond the entrance, something is there.

[……………………]

I remain still for a while, waiting.

But the presence, too, does not move.

From this position, I cannot confirm its figure.

(Have they sensed me as well, and now watch cautiously……?)

Or perhaps……

They have yet to notice my presence, and are simply waiting there.

(……Waiting for their comrades to catch up?)

Who is it……?

(The number is small…… three…… no, only two……?)

This swarm of those filthy flies……

Before storming the castle, they must have gathered quite a few together.

It is possible they lingered to wait for stragglers before entering.

At the very least, more than two should be here.

If so———– then the number I sense now is far too few.

Are they masking their presence, suppressing it to an extreme degree……?

(But to conceal it so well, against me of all beings……? Could such a feat even be possible……?)

And then, one certain figure rises upon the chopping block of my thoughts.

(Not Mimori——— Hijiri huh? That little insect, specialized in petty tricks…… with her annoyingly versatile bogus of a Skill, it wouldn’t be strange if she could manage such deception.)

Yes, that sort of small-minded trickery is exactly the sort of thing she could pull off.

Other than her…… the fact that I sense only two presences…..

Those sisters were always clinging to each other in a nauseating way (especially that idiot younger one).

It wouldn’t be strange if they had come this far together.

If the sisters are still unaware of the deaths of the other Divine Servants……

Then of course they might be wandering, searching for allies to protect themselves.

If those presences are theirs……

Then perhaps———— without ever reuniting with Mimori and the others, they’ve come this far.

They might be able to provide support at best……

But in their current state, they would surely judge themselves incapable of facing me.

That is why they remain there, waiting for reinforcements……

………………Let’s capture them.

It might not even be the Takao Sisters.

But since they’re enemies who reached this place ahead of the filthy flies under similar circumstances……

I can make use of them.

Use them as my shields of flesh.

(Against that naive trash, the effect would be maximized…… but whether it’s that sh*tty fly or that ugly elf, if I can force them to witness the wretched deaths of their allies, even a little, it will sour their spirits…… Yes, merely killing them won’t bring me satisfaction…… My heart, wounded and clouded by this unreasonable betrayal, cannot possibly be cleared by a simple victory……)

Even if the vermin were to heartlessly abandon these shields of flesh……

I could turn that into fuel for mockery, and still take pleasure in it.

In that instant———- I accelerate.

I leap.

Lightly, I rise into the air.

Then, pomf…… with the faintest sound……

I land upon the carpet without ever touching the stairs.

My stance is low, leaning slightly forward.

To my right, my own painted portrait looms, serving as a backdrop.

And my golden eyes pierce forward, to the left.

Toward the entrance leading into this space———— The doors there stand wide open.

Beyond them, the corridor is wrapped in a faint, shadowed dimness.

My gaze fixes on that single point.

Seras Ashrain.

Seras stood with her sword at the ready.

When she recognized me, her entire body began to shine.

The sword in her hand glowed as well.

Her current appearance was different from when she fought Wormungandr.

That rumored Spirit Regalia, it seems to have evolved———- it possessed something like a transformation mechanism huh.

[……………………]

The thin gloom gathered beyond the corridor where Seras stood.

The light cast by her Spirit Regalia momentarily illuminated that darkness.

Diagonally behind the High Elven Valkyrie……

He stood there.

Accompanied by a dark silence……

I rose slowly…… yet at the same time I sharpened my senses further, amplifying my alertness to the maximum.

[Fufu………………………………… so it’s you.]

▲

“If I come back alive————- be prepared.”

“If you come back alive? Fufufu, you must be joking———- that’s impossible. Howl and struggle all you want at the bottom of the strata.”

▼

Touka Mimori.

My eyes opened wide; I stared, silently…… fixing my hateful obstacle with a glare————

Splitting another version of myself from my own body, I formed a second self as a weapon.

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