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When Lurea threw her out to the outside of the deepest part, the area turned out to be an open hilly landscape just like the entrance to the labyrinth.
This labyrinth had no floors beyond the second layer—it concluded within the first layer.
In exchange, its surface area was incomparably larger than other labyrinths, and the deepest part—the heart of the labyrinth—was hidden so seamlessly into the background that finding it was extremely difficult.
Because of that, when viewed from outside through the hole Lurea had created, it looked as though a hole had been torn open in space itself.
"…Lurea-neechan."
Caroline took a proper landing and immediately stood up.
The words she directed toward her sister—who had also come out from the deepest part—carried strong bewilderment.
"I have orders from Doctor to kill you. But killing you would be troublesome. I will tell Doctor that I killed you. So disappear somewhere from here. If you live quietly without ever letting Doctor find you again, that will be enough."
Lurea directed emotionless, inorganic eyes toward Caroline and spoke in an equally inorganic voice—an order disguised as a suggestion.
In the past, for Caroline, the words of Oswell and her siblings had been absolute.
She had never gone against them, always responding with a smile on the surface no matter what was asked of her.
"…No."
Even so, those words were no longer absolute to the current Caroline.
Lurea slightly widened her eyes in surprise at Caroline's refusal, her expression showing genuine shock.
"I came here to settle things with Doctor! And since I know he's planning something for Sophie, I cannot run away alone! Neechan, I am serious. If you get in my way, I will fight—even against you, Neechan."
Not only Caroline's words but also her eyes burned with strong resolve.
Seeing that, Lurea narrowed her eyes for just a moment before returning to her usual bored expression and readying her sword.
"…I see. Then come at me. I will cut you to pieces until you die."
"I cannot do that. I am no longer the weak person who could only tremble in front of you, Neechan! I will show you how much I have grown!"
The two raised their voices as they closed the distance.
Caroline's weapons were two short swords, each with a blade length of about thirty centimeters.
In contrast, Lurea's weapon was a longsword nearly as long as her own height.
The difference in reach directly translated to superiority in combat.
Lurea attacked from outside Caroline's range, leaving Caroline entirely on the defensive—unable to counterattack.
Caroline could not completely deflect Lurea's heavy slashes, and finally the tip of the blade reached her shoulder.
"Guh!"
Caroline immediately retreated outside Lurea's range.
She touched her shoulder to confirm the wound had closed, then began thinking about how to overcome Lurea.
"You understand now from that exchange, right? My weapon has the advantage, and I am the only one receiving buffs. You have no chance of winning."
Lurea spoke in a cold, detached voice.
Unless there was an overwhelming difference in skill, the one receiving buffs held the advantage.
On top of that, with Lurea's longsword superior in terms of weapon reach, just as she said, Caroline was currently at an overwhelming disadvantage.
"That is something you will not know until we try!!"
Raising her voice, Caroline lowered her stance and charged toward Lurea.
Lurea showed no sign of panic. She lured Caroline in and, the moment she stepped into range, swept her longsword horizontally.
Caroline met the incoming blade with her own short swords, using the momentum of her charge to also utilize the momentum of Lurea's slash. She arced around in the same trajectory as Lurea's sword and took her flank.
"—!?"
While Lurea showed a surprised expression, Caroline stepped in further and entered Lurea's range.
Just as Caroline was about to swing her short sword, Lurea released her grip on the sword.
She stepped forward herself toward Caroline and thrust out her elbow.
Before Caroline's short sword could reach, Lurea's elbow struck Caroline's chest.
"Gah!"
Lurea did not miss the moment Caroline's movement stopped. She gripped her longsword again and swung it toward Caroline.
Caroline somehow reacted in time and caught it with both short swords, but she no longer had the leeway to deflect or redirect it like before. She was once again blown backward.
After that, Caroline repeatedly tried to close the distance with Lurea.
But every attempt was blocked, and none of Caroline's attacks had reached even once.
From an outside perspective, Lurea held an overwhelming advantage.
Yet the one mentally cornered was Lurea herself.
After yet another approach was blocked and distance opened between them again.
"Caroline… you couldn't possibly…"
"…No. This is not it… The sensation of the buffs I always receive from Log… is more like this…"
Muttering to herself, Caroline's concentration was rising limitlessly.
The atmosphere around her had become so tense that approaching carelessly felt dangerous.
"..."
Lurea stared at such a Caroline with her usual inorganic eyes, but they were trembling slightly.
Caroline kicked off the ground again and closed in on Lurea.
Her speed had become incomparably faster than when the fight began.
Thanks to her buffs and high dynamic visual acuity, Lurea could still somehow track her.
Even so, it was just barely.
That alone proved Caroline was overcoming her disadvantage without buffs.
Lurea's swung sword was deflected by Caroline, but she immediately followed with a second and third strike in succession to stop Caroline's advance.
Feeling Caroline's growth rate on her skin, Lurea resolved herself…
"—! Caroline! Concentrate more!"
"—!?"
Lurea shouted while launching attacks.
"What you are on the verge of grasping right now is the essence of the six basic support spells! If you intend to face Doctor and the cult, master it right here and now! …If you cannot master it, you will only die."
After those words, Lurea's attacks grew even more ferocious.
Though confused why her sister was suddenly saying such things, Caroline focused her mind on the new sensation she was grasping while defending against the incoming attacks.
As Caroline's concentration reached its peak, her movements grew sharper with every passing second.
And then, the slash from Lurea that Caroline had previously been unable to fully receive even with both short swords—she now caught with just one.
It was proof that she had mastered—at least imperfectly—the technique of enhancing her own physical abilities without support magic: the manipulation of ki.
She swung her free short sword toward Lurea.
Seeing that, Lurea produced a red gem-like object from her storage magic tool and placed it between them. The gem exploded.
Lurea protected herself beforehand with a magic barrier, while Caroline—whose reflexes had been heightened by ki activation—avoided a direct hit. The minor burns she received were healed by Self-Healing.
"You really did master it… Perhaps everything we have done was not entirely meaningless after all."
As Lurea spoke those words, her expression carried something that could not be summed up in a single phrase—both sadness and joy.
"—I will not hold back at all. If you wish to settle things with Doctor and desire a future with your comrades, then surpass me, Caroline!"
The words she directed at Caroline carried genuine emotion toward her little sister—something absent from her previous bored and inorganic tone.
"…Yeah. I will surpass you."
Caroline's overwhelming concentration seemed to dominate the air around her with an intense presence.
Lurea sharpened all her senses and focused on Caroline's every movement.
Even so, Caroline's movements far exceeded Lurea's expectations. For a moment, she lost sight of Caroline as she closed in.
Still, her instincts as a swordswoman warned her that Caroline had entered her range.
Following that instinct, she swung her longsword—and there was Caroline, right where she had lost sight of her.
—Got her, Lurea thought.
In that instant, Caroline's figure vanished again.
Immediately after, Lurea sensed a shadow fall over her and looked up. Far above, Caroline was in midair.
"…Reflective Wall."
The magic Caroline activated was an original spell given to her by her instructor Orun as a coming-of-age gift.
A translucent emerald wall appeared behind Caroline. When she kicked off it, her trajectory redirected straight toward Lurea.
Bound by the common assumption that movement was impossible in midair, Lurea could not react in time to Caroline's maneuver. She managed to swing her sword, but the strike carried almost no power.
Against Caroline—whose physical abilities had been enhanced by ki manipulation—such a strike could not possibly land. It was easily deflected by her short sword, and Lurea was knocked flat on her back.
Caroline mounted Lurea to pin her down and pointed the tip of her reversed short sword at her.
"I win, Lurea-neechan."
"…I never thought I would actually lose."
Lurea murmured while looking up at Caroline with distant eyes.
Her expression strongly showed resignation, yet it also carried a hint of relief.
"You have grown strong, Caroline. Now kill me."
She spoke to Caroline in a calm voice that seemed to accept her own death.
Hearing that, Caroline's eyes widened. Tears welled up, and finally droplets fell from them.
Whether from sadness or anger, her trembling sword tip steadied as she gathered strength—and Caroline thrust the short sword down.
—Not into Lurea, but into the ground beside her face.
"Do not accept death so easily!"
Caroline let out a tearful cry that was almost a scream.
"…Caroline…?"
"You have always been so selfish, Neechan! You never consider my feelings and just decide everything on your own. After finally fighting you properly, I somehow understood how you felt. You and Fred-niichan… were protecting me… weren't you?"
There is a saying that swordsmen can understand each other's thoughts through crossing blades, even without words.
In their fight, Caroline had touched Lurea's heart.
"…You are overthinking it. Fred and I hated you. That is why we suggested your disposal to Doctor, and you were disposed of accordingly."
"That is a lie! Because your sword from the very beginning felt warm! Your eyes, your expression, your voice—everything was cold, but the sword you swung was always caring for me!"
"I was swinging normally to cut you. I even gave you actual cuts… Though they have already healed."
Lurea weakly denied Caroline's words.
"Then what was that advice earlier!? Was it not because you were thinking of my future!? If you really hated me, you would not have given me advice!"
But Caroline rejected that as a lie.
"I remembered during our fight, Neechan. I remembered how much I loved you and Fred-niichan."
"—!"
"We were born on the same day, yet both of you called yourselves 'older sister' and 'older brother' and loved me. I remember that now. After being taken by the cult, everyone was just doing their best to survive. So we drifted apart—that is all it was, right?"
"…Even so, the fact remains that I hated you for manifesting Self-Healing and receiving preferential treatment, and I suggested your disposal. Saying our minds were unstable at the time is nothing but an excuse. You were lucky to be here now, but Fred and I might as well have killed you."
Tears streamed down Lurea's face as she confessed her sins in response to Caroline's words.
"But I regretted it immediately. I despaired at a world without you. Yet you were alive. And you had comrades who truly cared about you. Seeing that, I decided. I would use this life for you! And you grew strong—strong enough to defeat me. So it is enough now."
"If you are going to use your life for me, then live! Fight Doctor together with me! What I want is to be siblings with you and Fred-niichan again! I do not want to lose any more people I love…!"
Pouring out all her feelings, Caroline rested her head on her sister's chest and clung tightly to Lurea's clothes while crying.
"Caroline…"
Lurea gently placed her hand on Caroline's head as she cried against her chest and slowly stroked it with affection.
She continued until Caroline's tears finally stopped.