Unlike Shei, who had foreseen this turn of events, Tyrkanzyaka looked rather tense. It amounted to no more than a slight furrowing of her delicate brows, but it was a departure from the indifference she had shown while crushing the troops thus far.

“An extraordinary presence. It almost seems to be calling us.”

“Not us. Probably me,” Shei replied, gathering Sky Cherry Blossom and Earth's Ripple.

“Stay here and watch Azi and Nabi. I'll go alone and come back.”

“Will that not be dangerous?”

“I have to. There's something I need to settle.”

Shei heaved a deep sigh, then leaped through the narrow window and ran straight toward the presence.

As expected, General Patraxion stood there. He greeted Shei with a commanding air, as though he had never doubted she would come.

“Hey, boy. It's been a while.”

He held an ordinary regulation spear rather than his favored weapon. There was nothing special about it; it barely met the basic requirements of a spear. Yet his strength had long since transcended his weapon. Whatever spear he wielded, he remained an exceedingly dangerous man.

A healthy tension came over Shei. She greeted him.

“It's been a while, Peerless Spear.”

“Still an ill-mannered brat, I see. Tsk. And I thought you had promise.”

No introductions were necessary. They had met before. Shei had used Patraxion to get herself thrown into the bottomless pit.

In this run, Shei had decided to infiltrate Tantalus. But early on, before she had recovered all her strength, she had few means of forcibly extracting information about how to reach it. So she had drawn out Patraxion, one of the Six Generals.

The method was simple. Set up in a reasonably bustling city. Offer to duel for stakes, and defeat every curious challenger who approached. Keep defeating them until the army came to stop her—the Military State did not tolerate private duels. Defeat them too.

At some point, the Military State stopped sending troops. Instead, one of the Six Generals, thrilled by the unexpected news of duels, came running to fight Shei. After fighting him for a while, Shei said she wanted to face stronger opponents without interference. General Patraxion admired that ambition and kindly showed her into the bottomless pit.

“You had the skill. I thought you could at least make general. Perhaps even become the youngest of the Six... No, youngest might be a stretch. Anyway, I hoped the Six Generals might become seven.”

WHOOSH

Patraxion swung his spear in a wide arc. The sound of it cutting the air was chilling.

“But you really went all out, didn't you? Killed a general, cut off the Earth Sage's right arm, then dragged the other prisoners out with you?”

Patraxion adjusted his two-handed grip on the spear, filled with nothing but profound disappointment and hostility.

“That bastard Ebon may have had a way of talking I couldn't stand, but he was my comrade-in-arms. He died because of me, so setting things right is my responsibility. I'll honor his soul with this duel.”

Shei had no intention of turning down a fight. But she did not want needless misunderstandings either.

“Even though he tried to kill me first?”

“What? Why would Ebon go all the way into Tantalus just to kill you?”

“Because the bastard belonged to the Lords of Creation.”

“What?”

Patraxion faltered, planted his spear on the ground again, and asked,

“The Lords of Creation?”

“Yes.”

“Him?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“No idea.”

Patraxion groaned and scratched his head in consternation.

“Ah. So that's why he kept replacing his subordinates. Hmm. Their death rate did seem overwhelmingly high.”

His deliberation was brief. Patraxion steadied both his spear and his resolve.

“But! Cutting off the Earth Sage's arm was an inexcusable act of brutality!”

“I offered to reattach it. She refused.”

Patraxion asked blankly,

“... Reattach it? You can do that?”

“If it goes well.”

“Then why didn't you?”

“What was I supposed to do when she said no?”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“If I'd wanted her dead, I'd have taken her head off.”

“That's true too.”

Groaning, Patraxion scratched his head to no avail, then shouted in irritation.

“All right. Anyway. I get that you had some sort of justification. Still! That doesn't erase your crimes!”

“I'm not going to make pathetic excuses. I just don't like being blamed unfairly.”

“But that doesn't mean there's no room for compromise.”

Resting his spear on the ground again, Patraxion asked in a coaxing tone,

“Want to be a general?”

It was a remarkably unassuming recruitment offer. Shei responded as though she had misheard.

“Huh?”

“The Military State would welcome someone as strong as you. Besides, you're not purely a martial fighter, are you? The Military State is always looking for asymmetric assets like you.”

The Military State was a nation founded by toppling a kingdom of knights. It recruited soldiers, put guns in their hands, and gathered fighting strength from every direction. Yet in war, such increases in quantity... were not particularly helpful.

Once strength reached a certain level, it ceased to be an extensive property and became an intensive one. A thousand rank-and-file soldiers could not defeat a single fighter who had reached that level. Merely buying time counted as a success. What was needed then was an asymmetric asset—an ace in the hole that could change the situation and overturn the balance.

With its short history, the Military State lacked such mysteries and secrets, and was gathering beings like that to bolster its strength. However...

“I'll pass.”

Shei rejected him outright. General Patraxion's expression darkened at her firm response.

“... Is that so?”

Patraxion sighed deeply and scratched his head.

“I have a daughter. She's about your age. Such a sweet girl. Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't want to fight a child with a bright future ahead.”

Once, Patraxion had been a hot-blooded young man. Recklessly challenging an entire kingdom to a duel took extraordinary audacity. But time had passed. He had become a general, fought several wars, and grown older. As his responsibilities increased, his actions grew more measured. Having lived his youth more fully than anyone, Patraxion missed those days.

“Most of all, I like your attitude. I can see your willingness to fight everything in the world. It's kids like you who change things.”

“Are you bragging about yourself?”

“I'm envying the youth I've lost, you brat. Well, I'm on leave. I can arrest you or not, as I please. I hear you haven't killed anyone along the way. I could just let you go.”

Even as he spoke, Patraxion kept glancing at her expectantly. Understanding what he wanted, Shei smiled defiantly and raised her two swords. Sky Cherry Blossom in her right hand, Earth's Ripple in her left. The two treasured blades held their breath in a human's hands.

“That would be a shame. You taught me a lesson last time. Aren't you curious how much stronger I got inside the bottomless pit?”

“... Yes. That's exactly why I like you.”

With a twirl and a snap, Patraxion happily took his spear in both hands. His presence poured from his entire body as he leveled its point and spoke in an exultant voice.

“Don't worry. I'm quite good at fighting. I'll make sure you don't die, one way or another.”

“I'm not very good at holding back. You might die.”

“Hahaha! That arrogance! I love it!”

An instant later, a streak of light split the air. Shei's eyes turned violet, and she raised Sky Cherry Blossom. A heavy weight bore down on both her arms. The moment the spearhead caught on her blade, it changed direction like a snake and went for her throat.

So much for making sure she didn't die. Grumbling, Shei gritted her teeth and knocked the spear aside. Their energy arts collided, scattering bright red sparks.

Patraxion bounded back with nimble footwork. His spearhead had been aiming at her throat just a moment before, yet he was already more than ten paces away. He struck the ground once with the butt of his spear, planted his rear foot hard, and shouted.

“Good! Greetings are done, so let's fight! What more is there to say?”

“Hmph. Fine. Just what I wanted!”

Shei shouted boldly and lifted Sky Cherry Blossom over her head.

Earth's Ripple was a shield. More precisely, it was a terrain feature that favored Shei alone.

CLANG

A harsh metallic sound rang out. Even the Peerless Spear's weapon could neither push Earth's Ripple aside, pierce it, nor knock it away. Clothed in Patraxion's energy arts, the spearhead had the power to cut and shatter steel, yet it left not a scratch on Earth's Ripple. The general marveled at that impregnable defense.

“What an incredible treasure! You didn't have that last time!”

“I picked it up down there!”

Keeping Earth's Ripple between the spear and her body to restrict its paths, Shei immediately charged in and swung Sky Cherry Blossom. The blindingly fast blade bore down on Patraxion, but he grinned and flipped both his body and his spear around.

CLANG

Fire blazed down the length of the shaft. Spear and sword, brimming with energy arts, scraped against each other in a shower of sparks.

Taking advantage of Sky Cherry Blossom's lightness, Shei turned her wrist, intending to strike the hands gripping the shaft. The Heaven-Reversing Realm sounded a warning. A sudden chill ran through her, and she ducked behind Earth's Ripple.

SHING

The spear thrust along a precise path that grazed both Sky Cherry Blossom and Earth's Ripple. Like a snake, it slithered through the gap.

“I can see what you're after. Trying to turn this into a contest of speed with that light sword? Listen, the spear is the most defensive weapon in the world. Not counting shields, since those are armor!”

Blocking once was not the end of it. The spearhead split into dozens. Staying at a distance where only his spearpoint could reach, beyond the reach of her blades, Patraxion struck and withdrew over and over, almost unfairly. His reach was too long, his movements too fast. Unable to close in easily, Shei was kept busy retreating.

“Distance itself is the finest defense! This is how you use a weapon's advantages!”

Neither approaching nor pulling away was easy. His footwork was peculiar. His feet and legs glided lightly over the ground without ever leaving it. Yet whenever he wished, he planted himself as though rooted to the earth and thrust his spear with tremendous force.

The spear pierced even the wind without a sound. Without the Heaven-Reversing Realm, she would have had at least two holes in her body by now. Patraxion kept pressing Shei as he shouted,

“Haha! What do you think? Guns aside, spears are better than swords!”

“Heavenly Sword Art, Dragon-Slaying Slash!”

“Huh?”

An enormous blade, easily ten meters long, fell upon Patraxion. Sky Cherry Blossom, enlarged by unfolding its space to the fullest, was like a sword wielded by a giant. The moment he blocked the blade threatening to cleave his waist with his spear shaft, a violent recoil surged through him and sent him skidding backward.

“Wait. What about the spear's advantage now?”

A weapon that large ought to have left openings, but the impossibly light Sky Cherry Blossom weighed, at most, as much as the same volume of air. Robbed of his advantage in reach, Patraxion darted back.

Shei did not stop attacking. As the distance widened, she drove Earth's Ripple into the ground instead of swinging Sky Cherry Blossom.

CRUNCH

The earth split as though a meteor had struck it, and Earth's Ripple sank deep.

“Earth Staff Style, Sharp Fang!”

Then she swept it in a great arc. The ground beneath Patraxion shook. An instant later, a gigantic spike erupted from the earth and launched him into the air. It was Earth's Ripple's power: earth arts.

“Wahaha! What a truly incredible weapon!”

Patraxion had bent his knees in an instant to absorb the impact. As he righted himself in midair, Shei lengthened Sky Cherry Blossom and inserted it into Earth's Ripple. The union of Sky Cherry Blossom and Earth's Ripple—an ultimate technique that used Earth's Ripple as the cannon barrel and Sky Cherry Blossom as the shell.

“Heaven-and-Earth Sword and Staff, Ultimate Technique.”

Horizon Cleaver.

An invisible slash cleaved vertically through Patraxion's position. Sensing danger, he raised his spear at an angle to block it, only to be violently hurled away and crash far in the distance.

Shei exhaled deeply. Bringing the swirling winds under control, she stared into the darkness with red eyes. She had not gone all out. She had no desire to deliberately kill General Patraxion and make an implacable enemy of the Military State, and exhausting Sky Cherry Blossom's space would make the battles ahead more difficult.

... Besides, if Patraxion had truly felt himself in danger, he would have countered with some means of his own. For he had touched, however slightly... upon the principles underlying the world.