A pale blue glow soothed the town's wounds. The battle in the square was finally winding down. After everyone cut off the Viola's supply lines, the female-shaped monster's tentacles grew fewer and fewer; its grotesque, squid-like body now looked like someone had chopped it clean in half.
Gareth's axe dripped with blood.
"Only this body of mine is still worth anything. Never thought I'd see the day I had to compete in endurance with a monster."
All on his own, he had held back the giant creature's tentacle onslaught, pinning it hard to the center of the square.
The townsfolk couldn't help muttering, "...So who's the real monster here?"
"Thanks to you all blocking the Viola—and it looks like it wasn't fully formed yet—otherwise even I wouldn't have lasted," Gareth said with a laugh.
With the town's monsters mostly cleared out, the female-shaped creature seemed to realize how the battle was going. Its howls lost all strength. Then, drawn by a massive surge of magic power, it suddenly turned.
A burst of jade-green light exploded ahead of it.
Riveria held her wand level before her chest and began her final chant.
"O harbinger of the end, pure white snow. As twilight nears, let the tempest rise."
The female form shuddered beneath the weight of the vast magic gathering before it. It let out a crazed shriek and hurled its remaining tentacles in a desperate, self-destructive flail, breaking past Gareth's line.
"Sealed light, frozen earth."
Riveria's emerald hair whipped in the magical wind as countless motes of light spiraled through the sky.
The female form smashed through the blue-white pillars and ignored everyone in its way, charging straight for the chanting Mage. Its face twisted in frenzy, a deranged grin stretching across it. That expression seemed to say: I can still make it. I can still stop that Magic.
Just as the yellow-green body was about to reach her, the gathered magic surged.
"...?"
Riveria dashed forward, wand in hand, catching the creature completely off guard. Even while carrying a fully formed sphere of magic, she was far faster than the monster. As the city's strongest Mage, Riveria's concurrent chanting was already a peak most Mages could never reach.
"Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf!"
Her cool, dignified voice washed across the square, ending the chant.
With her Magic complete, Riveria turned gracefully and raised her wand once more.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
Three blizzards shot forth. In moments, the female form's massive body froze into a sculpture of pure ice.
Gareth lifted his great axe and followed the creature's torso upward. In the frozen woman-shaped monster's last expression—fear or disbelief, it was impossible to tell—the bloodied axe came crashing down. The island-shaking scream vanished.
"Looks like things over there are wrapped up," Finn remarked.
He drove his spear forward, each thrust whipping up cutting gusts of cold air. The red-haired woman struggled to cope, constantly calling up Viola to use as shields.
Finn understood her plan. She was buying time.
With Ais and the boy's lives hanging in the balance, the longer she stalled, the easier it would be for the suddenly appearing Viola to overwhelm them.
Every time Finn tried to close in, the red-haired woman stamped the ground with brutal strength, blasting him back with raw impact. Dust kicked up around them as the fight edged toward a deadlock...
Finn naturally wouldn't let her get what she wanted.
"Magic Spear—"
!
The moment he uttered the first syllable, the red-haired woman sensed the surge of killing intent aimed straight at her. If earlier he'd planned to capture her alive for information, now the Pallum before her was holding nothing back, fully intent on killing her.
She immediately leapt back, bolting off the cliff without a glance, plunging straight into the lake below.
Cold wind kicked up dust as Finn cut off his chant.
"She ran..."
He cast one glance at the shadow sinking in the opposite direction, then dismissed her entirely. Turning around, he walked toward the blood-stained area to check on Lefiya and the others.
What he saw made his lips lift unconsciously.
...
When Bell woke up, the Viola in the distance was slowly approaching.
"Lefiya-san, are you hurt too?"
"I'm fine..."
Lefiya suddenly realized he was referring to the blood at the corner of her mouth. She froze for a heartbeat, pressed her lips together, then added with a flushed face,
"I... I'm really fine... Don't—don't say that. The Viola is almost here..."
As if fleeing the topic, she quickly turned away and shifted the focus back to the monster.
Bell looked toward the yellow-green silhouette above the treetops and asked quietly, "Do you want to save Ais-san?"
"Of course I do!"
Lefiya could swear her desire to help Ais was in no way weaker than his.
"For her sake, can you throw away your shame?" Bell asked again.
"...?!"
Lefiya didn't understand the connection. After hesitating, she nodded. "I... I can."
"Then let's do Concurrent Chanting."
Bell finally voiced his intention.
"...Are you trying to laugh at me at a time like this?!"
Lefiya puffed her cheeks. He should have known back on the 17th floor that she didn't have the technique for Concurrent Chanting.
"I can be your legs," Bell said.
"...Huh??"
Before she could process his words, he stepped toward her decisively.
"There's no time. I know you're resolved. Excuse me."
Under her bewildered gaze, Bell lowered himself, slipped his right hand between her legs, and in one motion lifted her onto his shoulder.
".....?! W-wa—wait... wait... wait...!"
The sudden movement stole her voice. Her entire view tilted sideways; Ais leaning against the wall now looked, from her perspective, as though she were lying flat on the ground.
"Lefiya-san, I'll carry you through the forest on the right. Chant your Magic while I run."
Bell rose to his feet, memorizing every feature of the forest terrain.
Once she heard the explanation, Lefiya realized this truly did count as Concurrent Chanting. And since the magic power from her chant would draw the monsters to her, there was no need to worry about Ais-san's safety.
As a plan, it was perfect.
But—
"You... couldn't you just carry me on your back?!"
Lefiya's face had never been this red. Even Ais-san praising her had never made her burn like this.
"This is how Grandfather taught me to carry the wounded. It's the quickest way to move. And if you were on my back, how would you deal with the Viola chasing us?" Bell answered honestly.
"Uuuh......"
His reasoning was too solid; she had no angle to argue back.
"They're here! Chant your Magic!"
Bell tightened his hold on her and sprinted toward the rock wall on the left.
"W-wait—give me a moment to prepare myself, you idiot!"
If she'd only been embarrassed before, once they started moving, Lefiya felt as if she'd tumbled straight into an abyss of shame. She could clearly feel his shoulder pressed against her chest and between her legs.
"S–slow down, idiot!"
"Tell that to the Viola, magic idiot!"
Using the trees as cover, Bell dashed through the forest, forced to be more aggressive than usual in this life-or-death moment.
"Uuu..."
The monsters' figures were now fully visible.
Lefiya felt the pressure against her body again, the unexpected hardness making her squirm.
"Idiot, idiot—I don't care anymore!"
Casting her embarrassment aside, Lefiya kept her body steady and began chanting her Magic.
"I wish upon the name of Wishe."
"Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren. Answer my call and come to the plains."
Lefiya had never cast Magic in a position like this. If her kin saw her now, they would laugh without holding back.
"Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the circle and dance around."
Her voice trembled slightly, but every syllable of the chant was perfectly precise.
All the Viola in the forest were drawn by the vast magic pouring out of her, rushing toward the two of them at terrifying speed.
"Come, ring of fairies."
"Please—give me strength."
Lefiya watched the monsters barrel toward them, her vision swaying with the boy's frantic sprint.
Don't be afraid.
I'm a magic idiot, I'm a magic idiot.
She repeated the words in her heart, as if convincing herself.
"Elf's Ring!"
The moment the spell name left her lips, the deep golden magic light shifted into an emerald glow. Riveria's Magic immediately intertwined with hers.
"Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight."
Lefiya refused to give in. All she needed to do was chant her Magic. Meanwhile, the boy was giving everything he had, avoiding obstacles and planning their escape path at the same time.
Bell Cranel was the one pushing himself the hardest.
There was no way she could give up now.
As for shame—after what she'd just done, who cared about that anymore?
"Closing light, the freezing land."
Alongside Lefiya's soft, rounded tone, Riveria's elegant, refined voice overlapped with hers.
The boy had saved the one she admired. Again and again.
Back in the plaza, she had already realized that in both Status and Magic, the boy was far weaker than she was.
Yet he never backed down.
Bell Cranel always looked straight ahead.
That was why he could notice the smallest shifts.
That was why, at the crucial moment, he could charge forward without hesitation.
"Blizzard, the three severe winters—my name is Alf!"
The Viola were already upon them, tentacles smashing thick trees like twigs.
Lefiya's chanting was precise to an astonishing degree.
Someone as clever as him surely knew his own weakness. He understood everything, yet still faced Orario's scorn with a smile.
Facing a boy like that—how could she drag him down?
He trusted her enough to give her the most important role.
As a rival, as someone who fought alongside him, she absolutely couldn't let him fall.
So Lefiya kept singing—pouring her resolve into the spell's final words.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
Three blizzards crashed down.
Pure white frost swallowed the monsters and the surrounding trees whole.
"It... it worked..."
Lefiya stared at the blue-white frozen earth, relief washing over her.
"Lefiya-san, the next wave's coming!" Bell called out.
"Fine—bring them all on, you idiots!"
...
The ice sculptures reflected a crystal-blue glow. By the time Finn arrived, the entire forest had turned into a frozen wasteland.
"It's finally... over..."
Lefiya slid down from the boy's shoulder, shyly straightening her disheveled clothes.
After cutting down the remaining Viola with his spear, Finn gave his praise.
"Lefiya, Bell Cranel, well done."
"..."
"..."
Seeing the captain's meaningful smile,
Lefiya felt like crying.