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My thoughts couldn’t keep up with what I was seeing—my mind just couldn’t make sense of the sky above.

The strange sky, writhing like a sandstorm, looked so unnatural it almost felt like the entire sky was about to fall.

“…What is that?”
“Don’t look… Don’t look!! This is your fault—yours!!”

The disturbance lasted only a moment. If Momo hadn’t noticed it, I might have missed it entirely.

But Theo’s shrill scream was proof enough that what we saw wasn’t some hallucination.

“…Hey. What the hell was that just now? Judging by your reaction, don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“…………………”
“Keeping quiet, huh? Not happening. Momo, go for a knock out—punch, choke, whatever works.”
“Wha!? I could never do something so horrible to you, Master!”
“Who said anything about doing it to me? I’m talking about that silent redhead! Stop making me yell, my wounds are gonna reopen!”
“Ooh, I get it! But still, I can’t. I feel bad for her!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me…!”
“…Feeling pity for me at this point? You really are an idiot.”

Still hunched over with her legs bound in glass-hardened sand, Theo spat out her usual venom.

At some point, her wings and claws had disappeared, and she looked completely defeated. She had no will left to fight.

Even so, tiny sparks still flickered at the edges of her mouth—probably her emotions leaking out where words wouldn’t.

“Go ahead. Kill me. I’ve got nothing to say. I could probably put up a bit more of a fight, but honestly, dying in silence might be the better way to say ‘screw you.’”
“Now that you’ve said that, just killing you feels petty. Maybe I’ll start by peeling off a few nails, see if that gets you talking?”
“Master, no.”
“S̲h̲i̲t̲… Always the bleeding heart. …But we don’t really have the luxury to take it easy now. Step back, Momo.”
“Huh? O-okay—wah!”

I grabbed Momo by the hair and pulled her backward, just in time for a bolt of lightning to crash down between us and Theo.

Compared to Theo, whose attacks I couldn’t even register, the lightning—charged with raw, emotional magic power—felt almost like an act of mercy.

“――Well, well. Long time no see, Ragna. I’d hoped never to lay eyes on you again.”
“Heh, can’t say I’m thrilled either. I never wanted to see that face again myself.”

Black and gold hair, sharp canines peeking from an annoyed frown.

Wreathed in thunder, the girl who descended from the sky was Ragna—the same one I once faced in Rigel.

Today, instead of her usual oversized warhammer, she showed up with an unfamiliar purple-haired girl slung over her shoulder.

“R-Ragna, you—wait, is that who I think it is on your shoulder?”
“Hey, wake the hell up, Pest. Theo’s your problem now.”
“Gyaah!? C’mon, Big Sis! You’re treating your little sister too roughly!”

The purple-haired girl Ragna tossed landed head-first in the desert, her face now completely coated in sand as she protested.

With naturally curly purple hair, heavy bags under droopy eyes, and an outfit that looked like she was wearing a bundle of filthy rags, “put-together” was not the word that came to mind.

I didn’t recognize her, but judging by her mannerisms and attitude, she was definitely one of Ragna’s allies.

“Wait, Theo is your sister, Ragna!?”
“Oh great, it’s this one.”
“Why are you looking at me like I’m some kind of monster, Ragna!?”
“Shut it. Anyone who addresses the person they just tried to kill so familiarly is beyond stupid—they’re deranged. Pest, is she secure?”
“Uh, yeah, looks like she’s not injured or anything. She’s just got her legs completely locked up in some stupidly hard glass.”
“Hah? Seriously, Theo? You’ve gone soft enough to let yourself get caught by something like that?”
“Hmph. Mind your place, little sisters. I just wasn’t in the mood to fight, that’s all.”
“Tch. Is that so? …Well then, how about I take you on instead of my moody sister here?”

Ragna raised one hand skyward, and in the next instant, a blinding flash burst forth—when it cleared, her massive hammer was already in her grip.

She was in perfect condition, while we were in the worst shape imaginable. And on top of that, the unknown purple-haired girl stood at her back, waiting.

“…Yeah. I think we might actually be hitting our limit here.”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“W-What do we do, Master…?”

This wasn’t a bluff—Ragna was serious. One wrong word and she’d absolutely go through with it.

Master’s body was already at its limit. There was no way she could keep fighting. But even if we tried to run… would she really let us get away?

“……Master?”

Something was wrong. There was no response from the Master tied to my back.

Panicked, I fumbled to undo the ropes, and as soon as they loosened, Master slumped forward against my arms, completely limp—her face pale as a sheet.

“Master!? No—no, you have to stay with me!!”
“Huh. So she croaked, huh?”
“No! She’s not dying—she can’t die! I’ll save you, I promise!!”

I pressed a cloth to her bleeding stomach, then quickly wrapped her increasingly cold body in my cloak and held her close.

But it wasn’t just the blood loss—there had to be something else. Her skin was discolored in several places… Maybe she’d been poisoned or exposed to something just as dangerous.

I didn’t know the first thing about medicine. I couldn’t treat her on my own. If I rushed her to Regulus right now, would I even make it in time?

And more than that—would these girls even let us go…?

“Tch… fine. Pest, patch this one up before the idiot sister.”
“Huh? You sure you want me to treat her?”
“What are you saying!? Just leave her be so she dies!”
“Not interested. She’s got a garbage personality, but she’s strong. Her magecraft is the real deal. I’ve got more respect for a strong fighter than a coward with no will to stand.”
“Ragna…”
“Don’t act so familiar. And don’t get the wrong idea either! Next time we meet, we’re enemies. If we cross paths again, I will kill you.”

Crackling electricity burst from Ragna’s body, as if to push me away.

Peeking out hesitantly from behind her, the purple-haired girl stepped forward and carefully placed a hand on Master’s face, starting to examine her condition.

“Aaand… we’ve got a stab wound to the abdomen, major blood loss, and she’s been hit with dragon poison. No way she makes it to the next town with this kind of stamina.”
“Then make sure she does. That’s your job, isn’t it?”
“Aye aye… geez, you’re so rough with your poor little sister.”
“C-Can you really save her!?”
“Well, I’ll try. But this is just first aid. She’ll need to see a real doctor—or better yet, a sorcerer. First, I’ve gotta get that heart beating again.”

She rubbed her hands together with exaggerated determination—then thrust them straight into Master’s chest.

They sank in deep, like she was reaching straight for her heart, but not a drop of blood came out. I nearly screamed.

“Ah, don’t worry—I’m not trying to kill her or anything. If I did, Big Sis would kill me.”
“R-Right…”
“Still, even if she pulls through now, I doubt she’s got much time. She’s in rough shape.”
“……Huh?”
“I mean, *she wasn’t long for this world to begin with*, y’know? Her soul’s already falling apart.”