If they defeated Gale and reached the Normal Ending, Dorothea and her companions would have to take on the burden of being the guardian in her place.

Yet, if they lost to Gale and reached the Bad Ending, that would be an unacceptable outcome in its own right.

“What kind of unreasonable rule is this?”

“I don’t think the book’s will would want to hear such words from you all, who are like the embodiment of the word ‘unreasonable’ itself. So why don’t you just play along a bit?”

Despite Gale’s sarcasm, Dorothea remained confident.

“Amusement has meaning when both parties agree to enjoy it. How can you expect fair play after kidnapping people who entered the library? Did you crumple your conscience along with the paper?”

“Well, I can’t defend that part.”

While affirming this, Gale didn’t back down.

Dorothea’s eyes narrowed.

“You really want to do this?”

“Well, it’s a rare opportunity, isn’t it? It’s not often we get a stage where we can fight without worrying about the eyes of others or outside interference.”

Tap!

As Gale struck the ground with the cane in her hand, a cheerful sound rang out.

In contrast to Dorothea’s wooden staff, which was long and heavy like the typical image of a mage’s staff, Gale’s metal cane was shorter and more concise in form.

With the hat on her head and clothing that looked like a modified tailcoat, she almost looked like a stage magician.

“May I have one song, Dorothea?”

“Tch.”

Although Dorothea frowned, she couldn’t firmly refuse.

This was because the Tin Knight and the White Knight, who had somehow stepped forward beside Dorothea and Gale, were facing off against each other.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ burns with fighting spirit before the tag-team match!]

Seeing his clearly excited appearance, Dorothea scratched her head with a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll play along, but in return, help me with something later.”

“Cooperation? Sure.”

“…I shouldn’t have to say this, but why don’t you check the content? What if I ask for the sacred treasure on your feet, regardless of who wins or loses?”

“Witches are faithful to contracts. You don’t seem like someone who would make such a vicious extortion. Well, if that’s not the case, I’ll humbly accept that my judgment was wrong.”

“Your head is still a flower garden, I see.”

While sighing, Dorothea gripped her staff more firmly.

Then, without looking back, she said, “Adel, Sophia. Don’t intervene in this one. If anyone tries to interfere strangely from the surroundings, stop them.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Understood.”

Adelaide and Sophia stepped back.

The soldiers and animals held their breath in the audience seats.

The king and queen’s eyes widened on their thrones.

The entity that prepared this stage, and the stage itself, trembled slightly.

And then.

The Tin Knight and the White Knight leaped forward.

The White Knight struck first.

This was natural in a way, as the length of the spear the White Knight thrust was almost twice that of the sword the Tin Knight wielded.

A straight and fast strike that tore through the air.

The Tin Knight raised his shield to receive the attack, but when the shield and spear tip made contact, a loud roar echoed.

Clang!

“…!”

Adelaide, who was watching the duel from a step back, widened her eyes.

Usually, according to the Tin Knight’s tactics, he would deflect such a thrust attack with his shield and then dive into the enemy’s embrace, but this time, the Tin Knight’s body was pushed back even if just one step.

It wasn’t that the deflection didn’t work properly.

The power of the thrust was so overwhelming that it pushed the Tin Knight back even after being deflected.

As if that was just the beginning, the White Knight’s continuous attacks rained down on the Tin Knight.

Boom!

It was an offensive lacking in neither power nor speed.

The trajectory of the spear was honest without any particular technique or deception, but because of that, each hit was incredibly heavy and precise without waste.

With each exchange, the Tin Knight’s body was pushed back, and the aftereffects of deflection alone were enough to create large scars on the ground.

But in other words, that was all there was to it.

Even faced with an opponent stronger and faster than himself, not a single small wound appeared on the Tin Knight’s body.

The technique of manipulating mana. The combination from one exchange to the next. The psychological warfare of restricting and guiding the opponent’s moves.

While the White Knight’s hardware was undoubtedly superior to the Tin Knight’s, the Tin Knight’s experience and skill didn’t easily give up the advantage to his opponent.

No, far from it, he started to gradually increase the weight on his side of the scale.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he thinks he’s figured out the pattern!]

Clang!

The step that had been pushed back one step was reduced to half a step.

The next was in place, and the one after that actually moved forward.

And not just one step, but enough to dive inside the White Knight’s range in one breath.

Slash!

A large sword wound appeared on the chest of the White Knight, but it never wavered.

Rather, as if it had expected this much, it calmly widened the distance and swung its spear again.

The two weapons imbued with mana clashed.

***

The sacred treasures of the kingdom that Dorothea’s party had collected so far totaled four.

The Key of Opium that could open any lock.

The Chalice of Tuberose that allowed one to see what normally couldn’t be observed.

The Belt of Amaryllis that enhanced the wearer’s overall physical abilities.

The Gloves of Haider that allowed the storage of all kinds of objects.

And among these, the one that most dramatically boosted Dorothea’s combat power was undoubtedly the last one.

As Dorothea swung her hand, dozens of animal corpses fell from the air.

Most of the fresh corpses, which had barely begun to decompose, were wolves, but among them were also large birds and bears.

When the dark necromantic mana touched these corpses that had been secured bit by bit during their journey, they rose as if given new life.

Perhaps because they weren’t just bones left or bodies roughly constructed with magic, they looked so robust that one might believe they had been fully resurrected, except for a slight sense of incongruity.

– Grrrr!

The dozens of undead faithfully followed their master’s will and charged towards their enemy.

But never took a single step.

On one side were beasts enhanced by necromancy, on the other was a small, delicate girl.

The result seemed obvious.

Necromancers specialized in debuffs through various poisons and curses, and quantity battles using undead.

Alchemists excelled at pure physical attacks using material transformation more than any other school.

Wizards could freely handle various elements and were unrivaled in wide-range destruction.

Then what about Enchantresses?

Some said they weren’t a school suitable for combat to begin with.

While unmatched in crafting magic tools, they had few means of directly attacking or destroying something, so unless they focused on support from the back, they fell behind in direct combat.

This assessment wasn’t entirely off the mark.

Indeed, most Enchantresses were novices in combat, or at best, limited to enhancing their familiars with various enchantments.

But some Enchantresses thought.

If we can only enhance or support, why not enhance ourselves?

Crunch!

The head of a wolf filled with fierce killing intent was crushed, muzzle and teeth included.

It wasn’t due to a massive heavy weapon, nor an attack spell.

It happened just from Gale swinging down the cane in her hand.

What followed was a one-sided display of violence.

Thud! Crunch! Crack! Splat!

Every time Gale took a step as if dancing, the surrounding undead fell like attendants.

The power of each strike was so brutal that the undead bodies felt like water balloons filled with blood.

Of course, Dorothea wasn’t just watching this idly.

Tink. Roll roll roll.

With a sound like clear jade beads, several green spheres rolled to Gale’s feet.

And the next moment, they exploded with intense mana.

Boom!

Mana, poison, and curses erupted from them.

The power of this magic, learned from Shylock and enhanced with Dorothea’s own excess mana, was threatening enough to instantly turn even the body of a vigorous 20-year-old into that of a terminal drug addict.

Common sense would say this was an attack that shouldn’t be used unless intending to kill the opponent outright.

Of course, Dorothea didn’t hesitate.

Holding back was something that could only be done when one had the luxury to, not when one’s opponent was labeled a monster—that would be the height of recklessness.

Sure enough, Gale’s appearance emerging from the explosive smoke was fine except for a little soot.

Numerous magic characters floated in the air as if possessing will, surrounding Gale’s body.

“Tch!”

Just as Dorothea clicked her tongue and was about to take out a new catalyst from the Gloves of Haider.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to deploy a barrier!]

“What?”

Dorothea didn’t immediately follow the Tin Knight’s advice.

In fact, this wasn’t so strange.

Originally, newbies who immediately executed instructions from veterans were rare.

It was the little lion who abnormally executed instructions almost without delay as soon as they resonated in her head.

Tap!

Right after Gale rolled on the ground with her shoe, her body flickered and disappeared, then appeared the next moment in the air above Dorothea.

A strike that could shatter even a boulder was swung down mercilessly.

“Wow!”

Gale exclaimed in surprise.

A golden rope that had stretched out from somewhere spread like a net and caught her cane.

Dorothea didn’t have the reflexes and instinctive movements like Adelaide.

But she did have the preparedness to make up for it.

“I thought you had abandoned it because it wasn’t helpful at first, but it seems you brought it properly!”

“Don’t talk during a fight!”

“I’m happy you’re answering despite saying that!”

“I don’t like you!!”

As Dorothea grabbed the rope and infused it with mana, the golden rope explosively multiplied and lunged at Gale.

Gale swung her cane to strike away the rope, but the hair, which was tough and had stretching properties, only undulated greatly without breaking.

This was the limitation of a cane that wasn’t a blade.

However, this only lasted for a moment.

『Cut』

『Flame』

『Continuous』

Various magic characters intertwined to create words with new meanings, and the next moment, Gale’s cane turned red hot.

Slash!

Like a heated knife cutting through butter, the golden rope that had been stubbornly resisting was cut in an instant.

Restoring it with mana wasn’t difficult, but it was meaningless in the face of that attack.

Therefore, instead of trying to restrain Gale again, Dorothea struck the ground with her staff.

Black mana spread like a wave, and the wolves that had clearly been defeated by Gale once before rose again, restoring their bodies.

Some even transformed into three-headed dogs—no, three-headed wolves, by merging several of them together.

Gale easily knocked down even these resurrected wolves, but in that time, Dorothea took out a new catalyst.

When she broke a jar with its mouth tightly sealed, a woman’s spirit that sent chills just by looking at it glared at Gale with rolling white eyes.

– KyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA△△□□□■■■■!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a scream that weakened both mind and body just by hearing it, one you’d fear to hear again in your dreams.

As if the sound itself had directionality, most of the vibration was aimed at Gale, but just from hearing the slightly spread aftereffects, the audience members fainted with blood flowing from their eyes, nose, and ears.

Even Gale seemed to find this attack quite fierce, as about a fifth of the characters wandering around her body turned black and fell off, and Gale herself staggered for a moment.

Gale tried to strike the woman with her cane, but this only cut through air.

While souls summoned by low-grade necromancy were immune to physical attacks but easily fell to knights’ sword energy or the magic of mages, this one was a special creation by Dorothea.

Every time the woman continued to scream, Gale’s character barrier was rapidly chipped away.

At that moment, Gale combined characters again.

『Sound』

『Sound』

『Sound』

Dorothea’s face turned pale.

Right after she reflexively covered both her ears.

Gale’s cane struck the ground right below the woman.

─────────!—!—!—!—!

Sound that exceeded a certain level was difficult to express in language.

At the roar that was close to a shockwave, the courtroom trembled and the soldiers fell backwards.

Faced with the sound that was not only loud but also contained conceptual power, the woman’s spirit summoned by Dorothea could no longer withstand it and disappeared.

Gale puffed out her chest with a triumphant face, and Dorothea prepared her next spell with fierce eyes.

***

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