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My ancestor was the one called the "Witch"—the figure who fought alongside the fairy-tale hero, the "King of Unique Abilities", against the evil god.
But history has been twisted, buried under fabricated lies, and now no one knows the truth.
I was born with an exceptional affinity for mana—the hallmark of the "Witch"—and the unique ability [Time Regression]. I am a throwback to her.
After that defeat, "Amuntsāsu" had been forced to swallow bitter frustration. To them, Oliver—who was born as a throwback to a pseudo-"Hero"—and I were nothing less than hope itself.
In our childhood, Oliver and I bore the full weight of that hope.
And it nearly crushed us.
Who am I? Is my only reason for existing to be the "Witch"?
I think Oliver felt the same.
It was in that moment that Orun looked at us with those straightforward eyes and said:
—"I'll shout 'No!' as loud as I can, over and over! Shion is Shion, and Oliver is Oliver. There's no reason you have to obey what the adults say!"
—"If those extremists keep saying ridiculous things to you two, then I'll become your king!"
—"I heard that a king has a duty to protect his vassals and people. So I'll be your king and protect you both! That's why you two should walk straight down the path you've chosen for yourselves. No matter what choices you make, I'll respect them!"
At that point, Orun probably already knew he was a throwback to the "King of Unique Abilities".
That's why, even as a child, words like "become your king" came out of him.
Looking back now, what Orun said then was nothing more than a child's fantasy.
In a way, it was irresponsible.
Even so, those words became something incredibly significant to Oliver and me.
Because of what Orun said, I was able to become myself—Shion.
And at the same time, I realized something.
Just as I had been bound by the "Witch", Orun was bound by the "King of Unique Abilities" in the same way.
So now it's my turn.
I want to catch up to Orun, reach the place where he stands, step into the world he sees, and tell him: "Orun is Orun. You don't need to be bound by something like that."
To do that, I had to become stronger.
Otherwise, my words would never reach him.
I will never leave Orun alone.
I will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him and walk beside him in that place.
Even if it means turning the entire world against me.
That is the origin—the reason I resolved to fight.
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"If our king Orun were here right now, he absolutely wouldn't run. Even against [Mana Devourer], he'd overcome it. So I won't run either. If I fled here, I'd be admitting I don't have the right..."
『...The right?』
"Yes. The right to walk beside Orun. —I don't want to follow after him. I want to walk side by side with him! That's why I have to overcome a situation like this!"
『...Heh. You really are that guy's descendant.』
Hearing the words I spoke to steel myself, Titania let out a powerless laugh, as if to say "good grief."
"Silver-hair, what have you been muttering about? Did dying scare you so much you went crazy?"
"No, I was just remembering my origin. Sorry to keep you waiting. If you think you can kill me—go ahead and try."
"You're on!"
When I taunted Due provocatively, she charged forward with a crazed, twisted expression.
From her elbow to her fingertips, her arm turned into a fluid, liquid-like substance—I'll just call it "mana-water" from now on for convenience—and gradually reshaped into sharp blades.
She came straight at me without any feint, so I conjured an ice wall in her path to block her advance.
As expected, though, the ice wall failed to serve as a barrier. Before Due even touched it, a large hole melted through as if exposed to extreme heat.
She passed through the opening leisurely and continued closing the distance.
I have some experience in close combat, but I'm nowhere near Fuuka's level as a martial arts master.
My fighting style is fundamentally built around magic.
So I circulated ki through my body to keep Due from closing within a certain range.
Her [Mana Devourer] and physical abilities are impressive, but she clearly has zero combat experience.
There's no trace of tactics in her movements.
The best way to describe it is that she's moving purely on instinct.
Due shouted "Don't run, Silver-hair!" but I ignored her, firing multiple mid-range attack spells while focusing purely on gathering information.
As part of that, I asked Titania a question through telepathy.
『Titania. Just to confirm—[Mana Devourer] functions both as a barrier to block fairies who sided with the evil god and as a system to circulate mana within the sanctuary, correct?』
『Yes, that's correct. Though since all existing fairies in this dimension are under my control, the barrier function is practically meaningless.』
『Then the mana that disappears here—is it circulating within this place?』
『I can't see the mana flow here, so I don't know. But I understand what you're getting at. It's worth testing. It would also disrupt whatever's happening on the first floor. Either way, it won't be wasted.』
『Mm. Then when I see a big opening, I'll make my move. Prepare the transfer.』
『Understood.』
Even as I continued attacking with magic during our telepathic exchange, the spells vanished—mana and all—before reaching Due, leaving us in a stalemate.
"Moo! Stop darting around—it's annoying!"
Frustrated at being unable to close the gap, Due stomped her feet in irritation.
Then, muttering "Papa told me to kill Silver-hair...!" in a chilling tone, the blade extending from her arm lost shape and reverted to a normal arm.
"You don't seem like you're going to catch me anytime soon."
I kept my guard up while tossing out a light taunt.
"Acting all relaxed is only for now!"
Due raised her voice in response to my provocation, thrusting her right arm toward me and showing her palm.
(Is she about to do something?)
Her straightforward, no-bluff style makes her movements easy to read.
Her high center of gravity suggests she's given up on closing in and switched to mid-range attacks like mine.
I don't know exactly what she's planning, but the timing feels right.
As I kept my vigilance on the surroundings while watching her every move, the five fingers of her right hand transformed into mana-water.
Each one extended, reshaping into whip-like forms.
The sharply pointed tips moved to surround me, then lunged to pierce through.
Since the mana-water erases mana, getting too close would prevent me from using magic.
But because they're attacking from all directions—front, back, left, right—to evade them, I'd have no choice but to step into [Mana Devourer]'s range.
So that's it. She's not completely mindless after all.
Whether it's instinct or some rudimentary reasoning, I can't tell.
But to us, it's meaningless.
"Titania!"
Before my position entered [Mana Devourer]'s range, I signaled Titania.
『[Shift]!』
At my voice, Titania activated the magic, and the scenery changed in an instant.
From near the entrance of the dome-shaped third floor, I was transferred to the diagonally opposite side of the same level.
And there—embedded in the wall—was the dungeon core.
"[Super Explosion Explode]!"
The moment I transferred, I activated the spell and destroyed the dungeon core.
"When did you—!?"
Drawn by the explosion, Due turned toward me with a shocked cry.
What makes a labyrinth a labyrinth is the presence of the dungeon core.
Remove it, and naturally, it loses its function as a labyrinth.
Now this place is just an ordinary underground space.
Especially the first floor—with all its simultaneous environments—must have already collapsed.
It's easy to imagine the first floor has turned into a hellscape by now.
But that's only a side effect.
The real goal was to check whether Due's [Mana Devourer] had been neutralized.
If they had faithfully recreated [Mana Devourer], it should have been disabled.
But earlier, the man instructed Due to ravage the duchy.
That proves she can fight normally outside this place too.
With the dungeon core destroyed, the enormous mana it had contained began spreading throughout the dome.
The denser mana becomes, the more visible it gets.
Right now, the space was filled with mana dense enough to appear as thin smoke.
Yet as that smoke approached Due, it vanished into nothingness.
『It was a long shot, but as expected—this labyrinth and her [Mana Devourer] aren't linked.』
『Just confirming that is a harvest. Now the question is where that mana disappeared to.』
『Yeah. Without an ability, it's impossible to contain that much energy in one place. And the chance she's inherently an ability holder is practically zero.』
"...Gh... u, ugh..."
While Titania and I discussed Due's [Mana Devourer] through telepathy, Due suddenly clutched her chest and began writhing in pain.
Keeping my guard up, I watched closely—and sensed mana gathering around her mouth.
(Even though mana around her disappears as usual... why is it only collecting at her mouth...?)
After writhing for a moment, Due suddenly lifted her head, locked eyes with me, opened her mouth wide, and let out a deafening shout.
In response, the mana gathered at her mouth transformed into a pure mass of destruction and surged toward me with terrifying speed.
It was like the breath attack of a high-tier magical beast.
"Tch!"
I kicked off the ground instantly to evade the line of fire.
Due's breath gouged the floor, blasted a nearly three-meter-wide hole in the wall, and swallowed the spot where I'd just been standing in a vortex of destruction.
"Phew~ Feels better~!"
The one responsible for all that devastation wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and muttered casually.
『What insane power.』
『Yeah. Even a graze would be fatal. —But I see an opening now...』
I still don't understand exactly how her [Mana Devourer] works, but if she's a demon person, I can make an educated guess about the mana flow.
It'll put a huge strain on my body, but I've already accepted that.
"Silver-hair, you've got some nerve looking so relaxed."
"I've started to see things clearly. Sorry, but I don't have any way to save you. So at the very least—I'll make sure it doesn't hurt too much when I kill you."
"Kill me...? Ahaha! What are you talking about? Your attacks don't work on me! All you've done is run away—there's no way you can kill me! —And anyway, you're the one who's going to die! Silver-hair!"
As Due's words made me heighten my guard, I heard something wriggling from the wall behind me.
"—!?"
Trusting my bad premonition, I kicked off the ground to distance myself while turning.
But faster than I could move, mana-water thorns erupted from the wall and lunged toward me.
I know in my head that mana-water erases mana.
Still, habits honed through years of battle are etched into my body.
Faster than thought, I judged evasion impossible and instinctively conjured a mana barrier to block the thorns.
(This can't be dodged...!?)
The mana-water thorns erased the mana barrier into nothingness and pierced straight through my body.