"Hey, Ziel!!"

Hearing a voice from above, Ziel looked up.

There stood a man with purple hair.

"Have you found the head!?"

"No, not yet! Make it more dramatic!"

"More!? You... you're quite demanding, aren't you?"

In front of the grand cathedral's main gate, Ziel and Klaha had finally arrived.

"Thanks, Klaha. You saved me."

"N-no problem..."

Meteor showers were intensifying. The Holy Knights and adventurers were now focused on ensuring that the fallen magical birds from the sky wouldn’t destroy the city with their corpses.

Ziel, placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath, spoke to Klaha.

"It’s fine now. Go inside and wait. ...The place where Lililia is will be the safest."

"You're building me up quite a lot."

"Huh."

Just then, a face suddenly peeked out from the main gate.

It was Lililia, the Saintess.

"How was it? I think it probably worked fine, but did my healing magic reach far enough?"

"Yeah. As far as I can tell, there were no problems."

"Oh, that’s good. ...Ziel, your face has changed."

"You might not know this, but generally, this is called 'wearing glasses.'"

Lililia lightly patted Ziel's back, saying, "Well, they suit you." Despite a mix of feelings surfacing about the person in front of him that wearing glasses had made clearer, Ziel responded with a bright smile, "Thanks!"

"By the way, one more piece of good news."

"What is it?"

"Eunice and I went all out with the re-sealing, and we’re completely drained of magic. We’re at our limit. If we do anything unnecessary, we might not fully subdue Insto, and we won’t be able to deploy a wide-range healing field if something happens again."

"How is that good news?"

"I’m saying you’re free to go one-on-one."

Ziel fell silent. Klaha, standing beside him, panicked.

"Zi-Ziel! I’ll help you! And we can call on the Holy Knights—"

Lililia cut her off, saying, "No, no. He’s happy about this. Right, Ziel?"

"...Sorry, but."

"Our prideful master swordsman."

Ziel grimaced awkwardly.

"...I can’t help it. Overconfidence leads to death, but a swordsman who can’t be fixated on victory or defeat won’t achieve greatness."

"Did your master teach you that?"

"No, I just came up with it."

Lililia looked at him with a teasing half-smile. Ziel turned his face away to escape her gaze.

"Uh... so, in the end..." Klaha asked, clearly bewildered.

Lililia answered her, "Don’t worry. It’s fine. He’s fired up for a rematch without interference."

"No, it’s not about interference or anything like that..."

"Oh, is that it?"

At her words, Ziel's expression turned cold.

"—It’s him, isn’t it."

The air crackled with sword energy. Simply resting his hand on the crude hilt of his sword caused the atmosphere to tremble with raw killing intent.

Ziel took a step forward.

His gaze, his direction, fixed ahead of the main gate of the cathedral, down the straight road where a shadow emerged from the twilight, walking steadily toward them.

"Godach."

"Godach... sir..."

The leader of the S-rank party Next Apex, a veteran adventurer whose strength and fame were beyond question.

The wielder of the cursed sword Vanish, and likely the mastermind behind this incident.

The man approached the cathedral.

Ziel took another step forward.

"Why..." Klaha murmured in disbelief.

"What do you think, Lililia?"

"...Yeah. I think it’s Extradimensional Armament."

"Are you sure?"

"It’s shaped differently from the one in the Apocrypha. But there’s no way it’s not that... I can tell by its presence. Good luck, Ziel."

Ziel recalled what Lililia had told him beforehand about the Extradimensional Armaments, thirteen legendary weapons once wielded by the Ruin King himself.

"Listen!!" Ziel shouted.

"Abbyss has already been re-sealed by the Saintess and the Archmage! Even if you destroy the cathedral, the Ruin King’s revival is impossible!!"

The term "Ruin King" sent a wave of murmurs through the crowd. Ziel paid it no mind, watching Godach step forward in silence.

"Just as Lililia said. You’ve been taken over..."

"R-run..."

The voice wasn’t from a refugee, Ziel, Lililia, or Klaha.

"You... can’t win... against Vanish..."

It was Godach’s voice.

"—You’re still conscious, huh."

"As expected of an S-rank adventurer."

"W-wait...!" Klaha cried in desperation. "What’s going on!?"

Ziel silently closed the distance, leaving Lililia to explain.

"Do you know about the Extradimensional Armaments?"

"The weapons used by the Ruin King. But why does Godach have one...?"

"I think he fell into a trap."

None could tear their eyes from Godach or the cursed sword in his hand, not even Lililia.

"A trap?"

"...The Ruin King’s seal had weakened over time. Magical beasts escaped, and so did weapons imbued with the Ruin King’s malice."

The sword Vanish distorted the air around it with its sinister power.

As Ziel and Godach closed the gap, Lililia continued, "Godach must have unknowingly picked up the cursed sword during his travels. Since then, the Ruin King’s malice has controlled his mind."

"——"

Klaha was speechless. Godach’s own words confirmed Lililia’s explanation.

"No human... no human can handle this sword..."

"—So that’s why you called me."

Ziel spoke calmly.

"Because you knew you couldn’t defeat it. Because you believed this would lead to the Ruin King’s re-sealing. So you called me."

"You can’t... but...!"

"With your last fragments of will and reason, you raised your party to S-rank... paving the way for this moment."

"Run... away!"

Those were Godach’s final coherent words before the cursed sword Vanish consumed his right side. Flesh and blood were overtaken by grotesque, writhing corruption, turning his arm into a massive, life-draining blade.

"Godach..." Klaha called out, her voice unable to reach him.

Only one swordsman stepped forward, undeterred.

"I may still be inexperienced, but—even so."

The young man gazed directly at the demon before him. Resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, he quietly drew it without a sound.

"I will prove with this blade that the path you chose was the right one."

The sword was unsheathed.

"Ziel, the swordsman.

Extradimensional Armament Vanish—I will bury you here once more."

Sword energy erupted.

The battle began.