The gods would soon appear beyond Teiven’s Barrier.
The Zodiacs and the strong ones who learned of this, especially those capable of flight magic, headed for Teiven first.
At the very front were Ospreet and Elodie. The overwhelming speed of the two of them pushed them farther and farther ahead of those following behind.
"Elodie."
As they flew, Ospreet spoke to Elodie.
"You said you can combine four elements, didn’t you?"
Elodie was briefly startled at that. Soon she shook her head and answered.
"Ah, no. That was only something I felt by intuition, I’ve never actually done it."
"For a mage, intuition is important."
Ospreet smiled gently.
But then he added,
"But Elodie, be careful."
"About what?"
"Four-element combination goes beyond the realm of grand magic."
Four-element combination was different in nature from grand magic.
Grand magic was the ultimate of magic. Those who could pull it off were extremely rare, but they did exist, and Ospreet himself was one of that small number.
However, not even Ospreet himself performed it with complete understanding. Magic was, in the end, intuition. And the closer something was to the realm of grand magic, the farther it was from human understanding.
The way he temporarily vanished from the world, or the way Frondier set up his Workshop in reality.
They were all things that had actually happened. Yet even the people involved did not fully understand them.
But four-element combination was different.
No one had yet succeeded at four-element combination, but the theory itself was perfect.
It had already been proven possible; the only thing left was who would be the first to do it. Yet no one had pulled it off.
That was why Ospreet said,
"Elodie. Four-element combination is a spell a mage might be able to use only once in their entire life, if at all."
"Only once?"
"Yes. According to the theory we have so far, unlike the element combinations below it, four-element combination requires one more factor."
"One more factor?"
Elodie’s ears pricked up at that.
Information about four-element combination. Something that could raise its success rate. Of course she could not help but listen closely.
But what came out was unexpected.
"Coincidence."
"......Sorry? Coincidence?"
"Yes. The more elements are combined, the more unstable they become. You already know that. You must have felt it when you did two-element, three-element combinations. Just how greatly the fissures in an element widen as it’s joined together."
Elodie nodded.
Element combinations could not be maintained as they were in the first place. They forcibly held together two things that did not originally mix. But from the standpoint of a battle mage, that was not the important problem. As long as the magic could be made possible, that was enough.
She had no intention of creating a new element itself. Magic was not a substance but a phenomenon. The better you understood that, the faster you came to grasp element combinations.
"The reason you can do three-element combinations is exactly that. You’re more skilled at ‘high-speed casting’ than anyone."
"......That’s right."
Even being able to do just a three-element combination basically counted as graduation at Constel. When Elodie had thought she might be able to do a four-element combination and gone to see Constel’s headmaster—back then the headmaster was being handled as Jane—it was because she knew that if she succeeded, there was no way she could stay at Constel.
"Up until now, when you’ve done three-element combinations, you’ve succeeded in constructing the magic before the unstable element falls apart. Your casting was faster than that."
Of course, on top of that, three-element combinations were a level of difficulty in theory and control that left all others behind, but in the end, the point was that. Whether you could complete all of that extreme difficulty within the brief duration in which the three-element combination was maintained. Elodie could do that. Her specialty was ‘high-speed casting’ faster than anyone.
"But you can’t do that with four elements. No matter what you do, the time for that element combination to be maintained is shorter than the spell formula. No matter how much faster your high-speed casting becomes, there’s a fundamental gap you can’t surpass."
"......I understand. Then what did you mean by ‘coincidence’?"
At that, Ospreet smiled faintly. Lowering his voice as if sharing a secret, he said,
"To tell you the truth. I’ve tried four-element combination as well. I failed, however."
"......You did too, of course."
"And that’s when I found out. The maintenance time of a four-element combination is different every time. But that wasn’t because of my control. Everything—ambient mana, the density and flow of the air—was changing that time."
Hearing that, Elodie looked at Ospreet.
"......In other words, four-element combination is influenced even by regions I can’t interfere with? So it needs ‘coincidence’?"
"Exactly. Of course, even if all those conditions lined up, with my casting time it was still out of the question."
After countless repetitions, Ospreet had discovered that the maintenance time of a four-element combination was different each time, and that the range of that variance was larger than he’d thought.
But not even within the longest maintenance time he had managed to create, had he completed the casting inside it.
However, if it were Elodie.
If Elodie had been there, within the longest maintenance time he had produced in all his attempts—
"Elodie. What’s your analogy? What do you picture when you manifest magic?"
"......‘The universe.’ I draw an image of stars spinning and moving on their own, forming a single shape and continuing on."
At Elodie’s words, Ospreet’s eyes widened for a moment.
He asked again,
"Then after you finish your magic, does that universe stop?"
"No. The stars keep turning. The satellites orbit the planets, and the planets orbit the stars. They never stop."
At that, Ospreet closed his mouth.
At his sudden silence, Elodie looked at Ospreet with a suspicious face.
"Why? Is my analogy strange somehow?"
"No, not at all."
Ospreet shook his head.
"If it’s you, you might really succeed at four-element magic."
Perhaps taking those words as a mere formal compliment, Elodie puffed out her cheeks.
"If it’s a magic that needs a coincidence which might come once in my lifetime, I can’t even practice it. How am I supposed to succeed at something like that."
"Four-element combination isn’t something you produce through practice."
Ospreet spoke.
He had not succeeded himself, but he spoke as though he knew this clearly.
"When the moment someday comes when you truly do it, you’ll realize it yourself."
***
Where Aster had to go was clear.
The Parthenon Temple.
Beneath it, Mistilteinn lay sleeping, and Aster had to obtain it.
Having Mistilteinn had been Aster’s wish since long ago.
But now things were a little different.
-Aster, go to the Parthenon Temple. Mistilteinn is there.
The one who had said that to Aster was Frondier.
Now it felt more like it was Frondier’s wish, not Aster’s.
That Aster be the one holding Mistilteinn.
‘I still don’t know what he’s looking ahead to.’
Frondier’s actions were hard for Aster to understand.
If it was such a good weapon, he could just take it himself. He knew the location that precisely.
Not in the past, when he’d lacked power, but now—when he’d come to the continent of Palind after hearing the news about Atjie—he could have taken it then. Even if at the time he had been too shaken by Atjie’s death, he could have brought it when he went to save Atjie.
Frondier was trying, somehow, to give Mistilteinn to Aster.
Now that he no longer had the divine power called Baldur, why was he so intent on forcing that spear into Aster’s hands?
"Well, I’ll find out when I get there."
Aster muttered. He still had that strange trust toward Frondier.
Aster had crossed the sea. That meant the place he was running now was beyond the Barrier, the land where the monsters outside lived.
ROOOOAR─
True to its name, all manners of savage monsters threw themselves at him, but by now, that was an act of not knowing their place.
Stab!
Squelch!
Aster ran, boring holes through everything that got in his way.
Surprisingly, this was far more comfortable than crossing the sea with Flash Cut.
‘It really is a good spear.’
Aster was gripping Enkesphalos firmly.
Ever since he’d come to understand Ecleksis, Enkesphalos could no longer shake his mind. And so now, Enkesphalos was not a dangerous spear, but a very usable weapon.
It seemed like he would be able to go this easily, but then—
"......!"
Aster stopped mid-run.
There was nothing visible in front of his eyes.
But his sharp senses had read something.
In fact, it was something anyone would be able to feel, not just Aster, located far off to his right.
‘......It’s a long way from here. But.......’
It was in the complete opposite direction from where Aster was heading. Even at Aster’s speed, it was a place he’d have to run for quite a while to reach. Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with Aster.
Right now Aster was in a race against time. He could not afford to let his attention be dragged elsewhere.
However, what Aster felt was not just one presence.
There was some huge clash,
And one of them carried a scent Aster had encountered before.
"......I should keep my promise."
***
Trees toppled like dominoes.
KWOONG! THUD!
"Hahahahaha!! A god’s running for his life! From me, no less! What an absolutely delightful feeling!"
Renzo shoved aside branches and clouds of dirt, making the surroundings even more choked by his own movements.
Renzo and Tyr’s battle. They had already long since left the cave.
The cave could not withstand the power of the two of them anyway, nor was it a space where they could fight freely.
"......."
Tyr stepped back, avoiding Renzo’s attacks with a stiff face.
Thud!
KWA-ANG!
Wherever he dodged, the ground opened up in house-sized holes, and trees were tossed aside as if weeds were being mowed down.
Renzo’s fists and kicks were now being hurled at Tyr from a distance so great it could no longer even be called ‘hand-to-hand combat.’
‘What in the world is that?’
Tyr could not understand Renzo’s attacks.
At first he’d thought it was just his imagination. When Renzo, with empty bare hands, grabbed at the air and hurled something, Tyr had absentmindedly dodged and assumed it was aura.
But now, Renzo was clearly attacking Tyr with something different from that.
‘It really does look like he’s grabbing the air itself. What kind of trick is that?’
It was not strange for a human to use wind. There were such spells, such tools, such weapons.
But grabbing air with bare, empty hands? That was something he could not accept.
"Hiyah!"
Whoooosh─!
This time it was a kick.
Renzo’s crude kick swinging through empty air. From that motion that looked like a complete whiff, something like a gigantic whip lashed down toward Tyr.
KWA-AAANG!
A range so huge there was no space to dodge. With nowhere to escape, Tyr thrust both arms out in front of him to block.
Screeech—
Driven back by the pressure, Tyr’s feet carved long lines into the ground.
Even that wounded his pride, and the pain rushing into his arms was no joke.
‘It’s not just wind. It’s dealing direct impact to my body.’
There was no way he would feel this level of pain from mere air pressure.
But it was not aura. Much less mana.
Only one thing was left.
‘......Ecleksis?’
But he could not accept that.
‘That lunatic battle freak is aware of his own soul?’
And for something to be called Ecleksis, it was dealing far too direct a damage.
Ecleksis was the power of the soul. As such, what attacked was the soul, not the flesh.
Power filled Tyr’s clenched jaw.
‘It really is Ares’s doing. He claimed he hadn’t given him his power, and mocked me with that ridiculous lie.’
His power swelled.
Divine power was also Ecleksis. Used as is to attack another, it attacked their soul, but divine power could also strengthen a chosen target. Just as Baldur had given power to Aster.
It was the same with Renzo. Ares was the one granting him power. Their entire conversation had been a bluff.
"In that case, I’ll kill the two of you at once!"
Tyr leaped toward Renzo. He switched from movements focused on defense.
"Oh......!"
Renzo, drunk on attacking, still hadn’t reset his posture from his long-range barrage.
KWA-ANG!
"Kh!"
He hurriedly raised his arms to block Tyr’s fist. The arm that took the blow went numb and tingly.
His body stopped, and Tyr and Renzo clashed at close range once more.
Normally, in this close range where Renzo was the strongest, Tyr would be the one to be pushed back. But against Tyr, Renzo was the one overwhelmed. In an instant he fell into a defensive position, barely managing to block.
Even though he said that, in truth this was something Renzo hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Facing an opponent stronger than himself. The stronger Renzo became, the fewer people there naturally were who surpassed him. It was a truly despairing reality for Renzo, who sought fun.
At least recently, there was Frondier, and thanks to that his vitality had been blazing, but honestly, it was hard to measure Frondier’s strength. Fighting Frondier, for Renzo, wasn’t like facing an opponent stronger than himself—it was more like waving at some unknown fog right in front of his eyes.
But Tyr was clearly an opponent stronger than he was.
Renzo retreated, blocking in a frenzy.
In fact, at this point, Renzo ought to have realized something was off.
Unlike just earlier in the fight, when his guard had been broken, his defense was now holding.
‘Damn, I thought it was a pretty usable technique!’
Just moments ago, Renzo had been grabbing and throwing the air, kicking it, shoving it with his hands. He’d suddenly had a feeling that it would work. Just like when he’d developed the technique of leaping off the air itself while fighting Frondier.
‘So it {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} doesn’t work so well if I just suddenly copy it......!’
Huh?
Wait.
Did I copy someone?
"Urk!"
Whooosh─
A brief moment of thought. Seizing that opening, Tyr’s right fist went for his flank. Renzo hastily hurled his entire body into the air to brace for the impact.
KWA-ANG!
"Khrrrrr!"
Struck by Tyr’s hook, Renzo went flying far away. At least, by having his entire body blown away, he reduced the shock. He slammed into a tree, but that hurt less than taking Tyr’s fist head-on.
"......Kh, heh heh."
But Renzo laughed.
That thought just now. It had brought something back to him.
"Right, that’s how it was. This technique isn’t originally mine."
It had been a very long time for Renzo.
Since he’d fought someone plainly stronger than himself.
And so that long-ago past, the time before Tyr when he’d fought someone stronger than himself, bubbled up unbidden in his mind.
Back then, when he’d faced a powerhouse he couldn’t even lay a hand or foot on.
Renzo had been beaten helplessly and run with all his strength. At the time, a fear he’d felt only a handful of times in his life had reared its head.
‘Angfer.......’
Frondier’s father.
Angfer de Roach.
Renzo had seen this technique from him.
‘Back then, it never even occurred to me that I could steal that technique.’
It was only now that he could imitate it. That alone let him truly feel, only now, just how overwhelming the difference in skill had been back then.
‘But this isn’t something you do bare-handed.’
The reason it hadn’t come to mind even though he’d unconsciously been imitating it.
This technique wasn’t done with fists or kicks.
It was done with a sword.
But now, Renzo couldn’t use his sword, and finding another weapon right now was difficult.
‘I can’t look for something that isn’t there. First, even if it’s just bare-handed.......’
I’ll make it mine. In the first place, copying it exactly as is doesn’t suit my tastes.
As Renzo steeled his resolve—
Dududududu.......
"......?"
From far away, he heard the sound of something running.
If it had been only the sound, he might not have known.
But the aura rushing from that direction was far too familiar to Renzo.
So Renzo turned his head.
With Tyr right in front of him.
It was such an absurd move that even Tyr followed Renzo’s gaze.
A voice rang out.
"Ren~~~ zo~~~!!!"
From far away.
A blond-haired man was madly waving his arm as he closed the distance at high speed.
And on the hand he was waving was a single spear.
"I left this behind with you!"
"......Huh?"
Renzo looked at the spear Aster was holding.
Of course he knew that spear.
And he’d thought he would never be seeing it again.
What did that brat just say?
He thinks I left it behind?
He thinks I forgot something I threw away?
Even if he did think that, he picked it up and came all the way back to me?
[That spear......!]
At that moment, Ares, who had been watching the battle from around Renzo, narrowed his eyes.
To him, Aster was nothing but a thorn in his side, but this one time, he was welcoming him for the first and only time in his life.
Ares cried out in a voice of deep emotion,
[That is my Enkes—]
"I don’t need it, you bastard!" Renzo cut him off.
