Astarte stood before Yukina Himeragi, her hollow eyes fixed on the girl lying on the ground, who looked as though she might lose consciousness at any moment. For an instant, a trace of hesitation flickered in her gaze.
Even so, she still manipulated the Magical Power within her body and activated Rhododactylos. A massive white arm formed outside her body and swung down toward Yukina Himeragi.
Just as the giant white arm was about to strike, a black figure suddenly appeared in front of Yukina Himeragi.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out as the white giant arm was stopped by a single hand.
It was an ordinary hand that emitted no Magical Power at all. Wrapped in the sleeve of a black coat, it even looked somewhat thin and unremarkable.
Yet that very hand had blocked the massive white arm that could theoretically smash a huge boulder with ease.
Seeing this, even the emotionally restrained Astarte showed the slightest movement in her pupils, and the same was true for the Armed Apostle Rudolf standing behind her.
Before anyone could react, the black figure let out a soft chuckle. The hand that had stopped the white arm shifted slightly. It looked as if almost no force had been used, yet Astarte's body was instantly sent flying backward at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, crashing heavily behind Rudolf.
"Even though the entire world has already been wrapped in a spider's web, you still choose to tear each other apart. I wonder if you will ever manage to break out of your cocoon."
As Astarte hit the ground, those baffling words followed.
But Rudolf had no time to think about their meaning. His eyes were wide as he stared at the black figure before him, swallowing nervously.
"S-Shadow."
His trembling voice was filled with unease. That reaction was only natural, because the man standing before him was Shadow, the first and currently the only terrorist jointly wanted by all three worlds after their fusion.
Rudolf did not fear death. The moment he became an Armed Apostle, he had already accepted the possibility. But he could not die now, at least not yet. He still had a far more important mission to complete.
"Astarte, prepare..."
"Go on. Let me see what kind of drama you can offer me. I am looking forward to your performance."
Rudolf's command was abruptly cut off.
He had been about to order Astarte to expend all the Magical Power she had accumulated over the past few days and fight Shadow to the death. Instead, Shadow calmly told him to leave.
Rudolf wanted to obey, but he feared it might be a trick meant to lower his guard so Shadow could strike from behind. Because of that, he hesitated.
"Command recognition error. Requesting a new order."
Astarte climbed back to her feet. Through the gap in her cloak, the injuries from being blown away moments ago could already be seen healing. In just a few seconds, they had almost completely recovered. If not for the faint bloodstains left on her skin and clothes, it would have seemed as though she had never been injured at all.
Astarte's mechanical voice from behind snapped Rudolf out of the shock and fear he had felt upon seeing Shadow.
With Shadow's strength, there was no need for tricks like ambushes. Even if Astarte exhausted every bit of the Magical Power she had been saving to break through the Keystone Gate, it was doubtful they could survive even one extra move against Shadow.
Once he realized that, Rudolf forced himself to calm down and began thinking about why Shadow had appeared here.
After all, someone with that level of power would not bother lying to insignificant people like them. And even if Shadow did break his word, there would be nothing they could do about it anyway.
Judging from Shadow's tone, he had not appeared to deal with them. If that was the case, why had he come here?
And what did that strange statement earlier mean?
Rudolf's gaze shifted to Yukina Himeragi, who lay collapsed behind Shadow.
Shadow had appeared at the exact moment Astarte was about to kill this Sword Shaman from the Lion King Organization. Although Rudolf found it hard to believe someone this powerful would be captivated by a woman, the situation made it clear that Shadow had appeared to save this Sword Shaman.
As if he had seen through Rudolf's thoughts, Shadow let out a faint laugh.
"Heh. Letting you kill her now would be far too dull. Of course, if your little drama manages to satisfy me, you might even thank me for saving her."
You saved my enemy and expect me to thank you?
That was what Rudolf thought, but he did not dare show the slightest hint of it on his face. He immediately ordered Astarte to follow him as they left.
...
Hovering high in the air, Cid watched the battle below, his mind a little confused.
After Yukina Himeragi left earlier, he had casually slipped into an empty alley, avoided the surveillance cameras, changed clothes, and rushed over after transforming into Shadow.
But the moment he arrived, he saw Yukina Himeragi fighting the swindler uncle he had met before, Rudolf. No, calling it a fight was inaccurate. It was a complete one-sided beating.
The sight left him completely stunned.
What happened to the "swindler uncle"? With strength like that, who could possibly call Rudolf a fraud? A fraud who could take down Yukina Himeragi in three rounds? What kind of swindler has that kind of power?
If Rudolf is not a swindler, then what he said earlier… could it actually be true?
Rudolf really is the Church's Armed Apostle!
Astarte really is an artificial lifeform!!
They really intend to sink this entire island!!!
There were still plenty of unanswered questions, but Cid had no intention of thinking any further. If he kept thinking, Yukina Himeragi would be dead by the time he finished.
With that thought, Cid stepped off the air with his right foot and dove downward. His body tore through the air at high speed, producing bursts of sonic booms.
"Smack!"
The giant white arm was stopped by his palm.
Alright, now what line should he say… got it!
"Even though the entire world has already been covered by a spider's web, you still choose to tear each other apart. I wonder if you can break out of your cocoon."
As he spoke the line, the palm pressing against the giant arm pushed forward, sending both the arm and Astarte flying away.
Seeing the shock and confusion in Rudolf's eyes, Cid nodded with satisfaction.
Those words were not said at random. Although he was still confused himself and did not fully understand what was going on, he had managed to piece together a few clues.
First, the current information. Natsuki-chan and Tsubaki Shinra telling him not to go out at night was almost certainly because of these two people in front of him. With the strength to defeat an A- rank Yukina Himeragi in three rounds, telling him not to go out was actually being modest.
However, he was certain that these two had been set up.
Setting aside the fact that the Management Corporation and Natsuki-chan had already received information before they even made their move, they had been fighting for quite a while now. So why had no one shown up yet?
This place was not particularly remote. In theory, with Natsuki-chan's spatial magic, these two should have been thrown into prison before Yukina Himeragi even arrived.
They had even openly gone to the monastery and still were not discovered. If someone said they had not been set up and that no one had deliberately turned a blind eye, who would believe it?
That was why he said their entire world was covered in a spider's web. As for the "tearing each other apart" part, that was just an excuse he came up with on the spot to save Yukina Himeragi.
In his opinion, Yukina Himeragi had simply tried to play the hero of justice and unfortunately ran into this pair.
When he saw Rudolf preparing to fight to the death, Cid quickly told them to leave. Looking at Rudolf's confusion and suspicion, Cid could only feel helpless. He genuinely had no interest in defeating Rudolf here.
First of all, the drama clearly had not reached its climax yet. And if he defeated Rudolf now, the persona of the Eminence in Shadow would collapse.
Let's say it again. The Eminence in Shadow is not a good person. He is not a champion of justice either. The Eminence in Shadow would never try to rescue someone just because he saw them being manipulated.
The Eminence in Shadow would only jump in with great enthusiasm and treat the entire situation as entertainment.
Yes, he did not know the full picture right now. But that did not stop him from pretending that he knew everything and watching the show from the perspective of an observer. Acting mysterious was enough.
Besides, if even the administrators of this island did not care about the damage caused, why should he care?
After watching Rudolf and Astarte leave, Cid turned around and looked down at the unconscious Yukina Himeragi. The slime covering his body retracted back into him.
Now… what should he do?
From his vantage point in the sky earlier, he had seen everything clearly. The surrounding civilians had indeed been evacuated, but there was not even a trace of the guard force nearby.
There was definitely a conspiracy here. The criminals had already left, yet the guards still had not arrived. They were even more useless than the police in the detective anime he had seen on TV.
Judging by the amount of blood she had lost, by the time the guards finally arrived, they would probably only find a corpse.
So there was only one option. He would have to save her himself. Since he had already stepped in anyway, spending a little more Magical Power did not matter.
He crouched down and placed his hand on the cheek of the unconscious Yukina Himeragi. Blue Magical Power began gathering in his palm.
That Magical Power, whose mere presence made the air tremble, turned into tiny particles of light and slowly flowed into Yukina Himeragi's body. Her bleeding wounds began healing at a rapid speed.
"S… Senpai!"
Perhaps because her injuries were improving, Yukina Himeragi, who had been unconscious, regained a trace of awareness. Through her blurred vision, she saw Cid and instinctively called out to him.
In that instant, the Magical Power flowing inside Cid's body paused for a second.
In that instant, Cid shifted from a crouch into a half-kneeling position, moving the hand on Yukina Himeragi's cheek onto her wound.
In that instant, the quality of the Magical Power that had been powerful enough to distort space and blur vision dropped sharply, becoming no different from the Magical Power of an ordinary person.
In that instant, the calm expression on Cid's face changed drastically. Anxiety, unease, and worry appeared on his face. It would not have been surprising if he burst into tears in the next second.