The battle unfolded on a smaller scale than expected.
Neither the combatants' level nor the range of their attacks could be described as small, but the result was shaped by the fact that Arphia disliked moving, while the intruder insisted on holding his ground.
It was a clash of merciless bombardments.
Whenever [Gospel] threatened to sweep the area away, a lightning barrage intercepted it.
The exchange was terrifying, but the structure of the fight was simple, which created a brief window of stability. In that opening, Zald, having recovered, began to observe the battlefield.
*Who... is that?*
It was the question on everyone's mind.
A monster of talent. To stand against Arphia—who was said to rival even the [Empress] and the [Great Figure]—and do so by weathering her assault with magic, no less, was a sight that defied belief.
Zald was also Lv. 7, but against a peer like Arphia, he still fell a step short. And yet, this intruder was boldly countering Arphia's signature magical onslaught with magic of his own.
Cold sweat broke out at a feat Zald knew he could never accomplish. If he had been the one standing there, he would have resisted with everything he had, even if it meant risking an all-out war.
[Gospel] and the lightning barrage collided once more.
In terms of raw power alone, [Gospel] far surpassed the lightning.
And yet, astonishingly, the intruder was opposing [Gospel] through the absurdly brute-force method of firing off dozens of lightning strikes simultaneously.
What was more, he was even breaking through [Gospel] to land attacks on Arphia herself. Beyond the tactical implications, Zald could only feel pure admiration at the result.
To successfully launch long-range attacks at Arphia... how many people in all of Orario could possibly manage such a feat?
At the very least, it was absolutely impossible for him.
*Arphia doesn't seem to be going all out either, though...*
Given the location, a mage who relied on large-scale attacks would have trouble fighting at full strength.
But the same applied to the opponent.
Considering how strangely little collateral damage the surroundings had taken, it was likely that the intruder was also deliberately suppressing the scale of his attacks, just as Arphia was.
Even taking that into account, it was still an absurd exchange.
*Who is he, really? He doesn't look like one of those Evilus bastards.*
There was no way an Evilus member would care so much about the surroundings. That meant he had to be an adventurer...
*...But I can't think of anyone.*
No matter how hard he searched his memory, he had never seen a mage of that build firing lightning like that.
If someone were strong enough to rival Arphia, word should have reached him, whether he wanted to hear it or not.
"Old man, what are you plotting?"
It was only natural for Zald to suspect Zeus.
Most of the trouble that arose in situations like this was usually the work of that rotten old man.
But unexpectedly, Zeus didn't even glance at Zald, his expression indifferent.
"I don't know."
"...What?"
Zald could not hide his shock.
Of all things, this was not the kind of thing the old man would hide.
In fact, he usually pushed through such things with shameless confidence, so Zald had assumed he would do the same now...
"I really don't know who that is. I'll have Hermes check later."
"No, wait. Then that guy—he wasn't sent by you? He really just popped out of nowhere?"
Impossible. That couldn't be.
Such an obvious thought shattered against the reality being shoved in front of him.
"No matter how well he's hiding, there's no way someone like that could exist without a single rumor reaching us!"
"Stop shouting."
"How am I supposed to stay quiet when I'm losing my mind?! Then how do you explain that!"
Zald pointed at the ongoing magical battle—the silent yet violent clash between Arphia and the intruder.
"If someone like that were in Orario, there's no way either I or the captain wouldn't have known!"
"Yes, there's no way."
"Then why...?!"
"Who knows. Maybe he came from outside the city."
There were certainly unknowns beyond the city. Zald knew that much.
But even so, was it really possible for a human that strong to be born somewhere other than Orario?
Under normal circumstances, he would have said absolutely not.
But now? With the clearest proof of all—reality itself—being shoved into his face?
The answer was already decided.
"Impossible."
It was a certainty beyond doubt.
Even with the evidence before him, Zald's conviction remained firm.
"Yes, it is impossible."
Zeus readily agreed.
At that, Zald felt a strange sense of relief. Even with his own certainty, the validation of one's patron god provided a different level of stability.
"But the lower world has always turned the impossible into the possible."
And just as quickly as he felt relief, his unease deepened.
"The word 'impossible' is no basis for a conclusion."
Zeus stared at the intruder with oddly sparkling eyes.
It was a strange sight indeed, for this male god to look at a man—and not even a beauty—with such a gaze.
"...Let's think about it differently, old man. Couldn't he be a secret weapon prepared in hiding by another Familia?"
"Zald, how do you expect to convince anyone with a theory you can't even convince yourself of?"
Zald flinched, then trembled and fell silent.
It was a desperate excuse, and in truth, Zald felt it was a stretch.
No matter how one tried to cover the sky with a palm, there were no eternal secrets in this world.
Much less hiding a powerhouse like that. That would be impossible even for them or the Hera Familia.
Besides, someone as strong as Zald could recognize strength by scent alone.
The scent of the strong could not be hidden.
"Well, he certainly doesn't seem to have come from outside Orario."
"...Then?"
"Who knows. It's not like I know everything."
"...What kind of answer is that? Use your divine power like you always do and figure it out."
"I can't."
Zeus's gaze had remained fixed on one point throughout the conversation.
Not on the beautiful Arphia—who was so lovely one might absentmindedly reach for her chest—but on the intruder wrapped tightly in a black coat.
It felt like a blow to his pride as a man to have his eyes fixed on another man instead of a woman, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not look away.
*I can't feel anything.*
Yes, nothing at all.
Godly intuition. Divine insight.
What kind of fate this child carried.
What kind of character he possessed.
Whether he would become someone great, someone clever, someone who handled money well, or what he was thinking right now.
Ability, character, future, thought.
Though the degree varied, these were the fragments of information that any god would naturally perceive.
A sliver of omniscience, loosely called divine intuition.
That intuition, which he had never doubted for a single moment, was now obscured.
As if his eyes had been covered, as if he had gone blind, nothing came to mind when he looked at that intruder.
That mystery only made him more captivated; he could not tear his eyes away.
*Vesta...*
The face of a goddess in the heavens suddenly came to mind.
Why had the name of that cute-looking yet utterly unappealing shut-in spinster goddess ended up in that man's mouth?
*It shouldn't be time yet.*
Of course, he did not know every detail of the heavens' schedule, but he was close enough to her to know.
There should still be a long time before she descended.
*Then how...?*
He did not believe it was merely a miraculous coincidence.
His power of insight was acting strangely, but his divine intuition was still very much alive.
*And I can feel a familiar presence.*
Though obscured, an oddly familiar feeling leaked from the intruder like a lingering scent.
Was it Hestia's power? No, that didn't seem right...
*Interesting.*
It had been a very long time since he had felt this way about a man.
Yes, it was exactly the same feeling he had when he first saw that Dorowa fellow.
*
"Kuh..."
As the fight dragged on longer than expected, I started to feel a little impatient.
*She's stronger than I thought...*
That wasn't just about raw power.
The attack speed, the timing, the control of the pace, and the seamless linkage into the next strike.
And then there was the defense—the way she so effortlessly blocked the few attacks I managed to slip through.
As my [Mind] gradually dwindled, it began to gnaw away at my mental stamina as well.
Of course, it wasn't as if I was in immediate danger.
My magic was highly efficient, and this level of spamming was still well within my limits.
The problem was what came next.
*I can't find an opening to run...*
I could feel [Mind] gathering around me little by little.
I wanted to get away quickly because it felt like she was plotting something, but that barrage of [Gospel] was a constant obstacle.
*Was this how the people I fought felt...?*
I finally understood why everyone said fighting me was such a pain.
I wasn't sure if it was no-incantation magic or something close to it, but the rapid-fire casting—a true blitz—was like a cage.
A cage built by a hunter to trap a rabbit. I felt my breathing being slowly squeezed shut, which was an unsettling sensation.
*I've bought enough time...*
The promised five minutes had already passed. I wanted to pull out now, but...
*...Looks like she has no intention of letting me go.*
For someone who had been talking about chasing after her sister, her gaze was fixed on me—well, her eyes were closed, but I could feel it.
She clearly didn't plan to let me leave quietly.
"...Um."
"Talking during battle? You seem to have some room to spare. [Gospel]."
Boom—!
I dodged the newly fired [Gospel] instead of trying to intercept it.
Arphia's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Ignoring that, I brushed the dust from my hands and made her an offer.
"I've already bought the time I promised. I'd like to get out of here now, if that's possible."
"...What?"
"You said you wanted to find your younger sister, and I want to run away because I'm scared of you, so I thought our interests were aligned..."
I thought it was a reasonable proposal, but the woman apparently disagreed.
"...I see. So I've been underestimated as well."
I could tell just from the way her mana suddenly swelled with a chilling force.
*...I'm screwed.*
The ominous rise in mana made that thought slip out before I could stop it.
Master, what exactly did I do wrong?
-Existence.
That's harsh, seriously.
"L-look, I don't know what's bothering you so much, but I'll apologize first, so—!"
"No questions. No answers."
"Wait! If you fire that mana off, the whole area's going to get blown apart!"
"[The curse of blessing, the curse of birth. I, who have taken the demigod's—]"
She wasn't listening to a word I said?!
This is exactly what the Hera Familia is—a bunch of crazy psychos...!
Now was not the time for such pointless thoughts. A warning bell was ringing so loudly inside me it felt like it might burst.
Just like when I had faced the Black Dragon, it foretold the descent of an unavoidable calamity.
*I have to stop her!*
There was no time to think about the consequences. I had to stop that spell no matter what.
Jingle. A small bell rang.
And then I exploded.
The acceleration lasted less than a second, but its effect was immense.
My body, wrapped in the robe, turned into a streak of light. How many people here could possibly track that speed with their eyes?
...One person probably could, but that was fine. That one person wasn't Arphia.
*When dealing with a mage, go for the throat...*
No matter how skilled a mage was, if they couldn't chant, they were useless.
Even my own [Firebolt] couldn't activate unless I spoke the words, so other mages would be even more vulnerable.
Just by choking the throat, a mage loses their greatest weapon.
So it was only natural that my hand shot toward her neck.
I didn't intend to break it, but I was prepared to squeeze it shut.
At this point, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about whether I was touching a woman or not.
I didn't know if her defensive magic was a barrier or a grand spell, but if she couldn't activate it, it didn't matter.
Or so I thought...
"...Huh?"
Just before my hand could seize her throat, an invisible barrier stopped me.
It was sound. For some reason, I knew that instinctively.
*This is... no way...*
At that moment, a chilling hypothesis flashed through my mind.
If this barrier was the same defense she had been using all along...
*...A sustained type?*
A defensive spell activated in advance and maintained as a constant barrier.
It wasn't unheard of; Riveria had something similar.
But the problem was how it was used.
[Ataraxia]
The tiny incantation I had heard each time she defended. Based on that sound, I had unknowingly mistaken this defense for an active-type spell.
No, it wasn't a mistake. I had been lured into it.
Could this entire situation be the same?
A chill ran down my spine, but I thought I was still okay.
By my estimate, it would take about two seconds to physically break through this. That was a fatal opening, but my opponent was a mage in the middle of chanting. I was still faster—?!
Mocking that naive prediction, the woman stopped chanting and seized my wrist. Before I could even react, I was already upside down, plunging headfirst toward the ground.