What place is this?
This is the Keystone Gate.
With a diameter of less than two kilometers, it serves as a connecting hub, linking the four artificial islands that make up Itogami Island.
Due to the presence of the Keystone Gate, any distortion and vibration between the artificial islands caused by ocean currents or waves can be absorbed and buffered here.
If this place were not operational, the four regions of Itogami Island would immediately collide, or drift apart and eventually sink into the sea, resulting in the death of everyone on the island.
So, what would be the result if Rozen and Giada were to engage in full-scale combat in a place like this?
Undoubtedly, the destruction of the Keystone Gate would be the result, leading Itogami Island to face total disaster.
"With our strength, if properly controlled, we might be able to avoid directly sinking the island. But even if we control it as much as possible, as long as we exert full force, fighting in a place like this will inevitably destroy the Keystone of Itogami Island. By then, Itogami Island will still sink, with no chance of survival."
Giada pointed out the hidden dangers.
"So if you don't care about it, I don't mind accompanying you, Minamiya Nichiyo."
Giada made this statement, her eyes also showing a hint of inquiry towards Rozen.
This is the reason why Giada let Rozen retreat. It's not because she thinks Rozen is not qualified to be her opponent; on the contrary, Giada believes that if she doesn't use all her strength, she has no chance of winning, so she issues this warning and lets Rozen make a choice.
Although this girl is a battle maniac like Vatler, she does not have Vatler's reckless enthusiasm. Instead, she selectively chooses the timing and opponent for battle.
Therefore, Giada would say that neither the timing nor the place is right now.
"So, it would be wise to retreat here. Don't you agree?"
Giada calmly proposed this opinion, making Rozen silent.
On the contrary, La Folia laughed.
"Lady Giada, do you want us to turn a blind eye to your actions and let Itogami Island fall into unknown anomalies and chaos?"
La Folia asked fearlessly, making her willpower, elegance, and strength apparent even when facing such a terrifying existence.
This made Giada couldn't help but look at La Folia more.
"I admit that I intervened a little in this incident, but even without me, these witches would still invade Itogami Island, and the incident would still happen."
Giada stated.
"Our goals are different from theirs, so we only use each other. They have their goals, and we have ours. So, before the time comes, just wait patiently."
With that, Giada reached out a hand towards Rozen and La Folia's direction.
"Buzz——!"
The space around Rozen and La Folia trembled suddenly.
"Wait...!"
La Folia wanted to do something.
"...!"
Rozen's eyes also narrowed.
In that instant...
"Vroom!"
A lightning-like three-colored sword light, like a sudden rainbow, appeared without any warning and slashed towards Giada's outstretched hand like lightning.
But before that, the space completely enveloped Rozen and La Folia, causing both of them to disappear from the spot simultaneously.
The lightning-like three-colored sword light also disappeared at the same time.
However...
"Pfft..."
Accompanied by a faint tearing sound, blood spattered from Giada's outstretched hand, revealing a grim wound.
"Huh..."
Giada watched this scene, feeling both astonished and delighted.
"Just now, that slash..."
Recalling the sudden appearance of the three-colored slash that slashed towards her, Giada's injured hand trembled slightly.
This was both due to fear and joy.
Fear because from that slash, Giada felt the breath of death.
Joy because it once again confirmed that this opponent was indeed worthy of her full effort in a fight to the death.
"That slash, who exactly was it from?"
Giada couldn't even confirm this.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that it was definitely one of Rozen's powers.
Otherwise, in the split second before being transferred, Rozen's gaze wouldn't have been so cold.
"Very good."
Giada licked the blood splattered on her fingers, expressing her extreme anticipation.
"It's getting more and more interesting."
Standing at the pinnacle of vampires, one person sincerely looked forward to the upcoming battle.
By her side, the flames on the Meyer sisters, who were already on the verge of death, had disappeared, exposing their charred skin to the air.
Thanks to this, the sisters were spared from death on the spot.
However, from today onwards, the fiery red eyes would completely turn into fear, engraved in their hearts, and they would never be able to escape the torment of nightmares.
...
Itogami Island, in front of the Keystone Gate.
"Buzz——!"
With the trembling of space, Rozen and La Folia appeared as if they had been spit out from an invisible whirlpool, staggering and retreating continuously.
"Are you okay?"
Rozen held La Folia, who was almost falling, and asked.
"I'm fine."
La Folia shook her head, not resisting Rozen's embrace at all, but instead, leaning into it as if relieved.
"Good to hear."
Rozen nodded, then raised his eyes to look at the Keystone Gate in front of him.
"I didn't expect that person to also understand spatial manipulation magic, and can use it as naturally as you and Minamiya Natsuki."
La Folia also looked over and said in a deep voice.
```
However, La Folia was wrong.
"That's not space manipulation magic."
Rozen affirmed with certainty.
"Not spacial manipulation magic?" La Folia was surprised.
But this is a fact.
Rozen, who is extremely proficient in space manipulation magic, can be absolutely sure that Giada did not use magic just now.
"That's the power of a beast vassal." Rozen said, "I'm afraid Giada should have a beast vassal of the spatial type, so she can use spatial abilities similar to spacial manipulation magic."
This is the truth about the power Giada used.
"So, that person doesn't understand spacial manipulation magic?" La Folia sensed something very keenly and said, "Isn't the No. 539 grimoire used by Lady Giada?"
"That's probably correct." Rozen agreed with La Folia's speculation, "I'm afraid there's someone else using the grimoire."
The other party is the main culprit on which LCO relies this time, the initiator of the spatial anomalies within Itogami Island.
The Meyer sisters are just her helpers.
And Giada is only assisting the other party for her own purposes.
Just as Giada herself said, she is only intervening for her own purposes and has nothing to do with the events inside Itogami Island.
"Troublesome indeed..." Rozen couldn't help but click his tongue.
The boy and the girl leaned on each other, quietly watching the Keystone Gate in front of them.
For a long time, there was no movement.
On this day, the Management Cooperative of the Artificial Island issued a Level III Special District Defense Situation.
This is the third-highest alert level indicating a crisis situation encountered in the Demon Sanctuary, where urban functions are severely disrupted, posing a significant risk to numerous lives.
The reason for issuing such a defense posture is quite simple.
- Inaccurate road signs.
- Malfunctioning car navigation systems.
- Errors in landing guidance devices.
- Numerous inquiries about getting lost.
On the day before the Harurouin Festival, visitors to Itogami Island and residents of the city began to encounter continuous incidents, causing the entire Itogami City to become somewhat chaotic.
This has become a situation that must be taken seriously.
Both road signs and car navigation systems are leading people in completely different directions from their destinations. Even aircraft guided by autopilot are missing the island's location. People are getting lost one after another in commercial facilities, and similar situations keep occurring.
If this continues, Itogami Island will be completely plunged into chaos and panic.
At least, due to the continuous complaints received by phone calls, communication channels have become almost overloaded, the artificial island network has suffered significant disruption, and even the schedules of trams have started to go awry. The losses incurred during this period are simply incalculable.
In this situation, the reason why Itogami Island has not completely descended into chaos lies only in the fact that visiting tourists are unfamiliar with Itogami Island and think that it's just minor issues like navigation or signage errors. Although the city's residents are puzzled, they are not alarmed by the anomalies occurring in the Demon Sanctuary.
However, this is something that cannot be concealed forever.
Therefore, the Management Cooperative of the Artificial Island can only suppress the voices of discovering anomalies while urgently issuing alerts and mobilizing the island's technical personnel and related personnel to start investigating and addressing the issues.
Meanwhile, the spatial distortions that pervade the entire Itogami Island are gradually intensifying, causing such situations to occur continuously.
The anomalies are approaching continuously in the present tense.
Rozen and La Folia watched as the entire Itogami Island became more and more chaotic and distorted, but they couldn't approach the source anymore.
The reason is simple.
"If we get any closer this time, we'll probably have no choice but to fight Giada for real."
Rozen was thus constrained.
If he were to engage in a full-fledged battle with Giada at the Keystone Gate, Rozen couldn't afford the consequences.
Therefore...
"Now we can only figure out what LCO and Lady Giada's purposes are."
La Folia also believed that Rozen and Giada absolutely cannot engage in a battle right now, otherwise the consequences would be severe.
Since direct combat is not an option, they must first gather intelligence and understand the purposes of LCO's witches and Giada.
"Giada's purpose is easy to guess." Rozen almost instinctively said, "Her ultimate goal must be to fight me."
This is beyond doubt.
When Rozen saw the joyful look in Giada's eyes, he confirmed that this girl was definitely coming for him.
However, besides this, she seemed to have something else she wanted to do, so she didn't act directly but waited patiently.
Given this, what exactly Giada is waiting for is what Rozen and La Folia need to figure out.
On the other hand, the purposes of LCO's witches are quite intriguing.
"What is their purpose in returning to the island after ten years?"
Is it to conduct the extremely dangerous experiment like ten years ago?
Or is it to rescue the leader who was arrested by Natsuki ten years ago?
Rozen believes that the purpose of these witches is probably between these two possibilities.
Or...
"Both of them are their goals."
If that's the case, then it's even more troublesome.
Leaving aside the experiment, if they have the idea of rescuing prisoners, the first target must be Natsuki, who was responsible for the arrest back then.
However, since morning, Natsuki's phone has been unreachable.
"Could it be that Natsuki-nee is in trouble?"
Rozen thought of the worst-case scenario and quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought from his mind.
"Anyway, I'll have the Holy Ring Knights conduct some investigation first."
La Folia made this decision.
"If we contact the Management Cooperative and request their cooperation, we might be able to find out something."
Making this decision, La Folia didn't hesitate at all, decisively preparing to go back and start working.
However, before leaving, La Folia lightly kissed Rozen on the lips.
"Don't worry, even though the enemies this time are unexpectedly troublesome, you're the kind of person who claims to have no assurance of victory even against such opponents directly. If it's you, you can handle any difficulties with ease. I believe in your abilities."
"So, all you need to do is calm down and believe that the Witch of the Void will definitely be fine."
"Then, you will be invincible."
Leaving behind these words, La Folia turned around and left, very resolute and imposing.
And it must be said that La Folia's reassurance did calm Rozen down a lot.
"Phew..."
Rozen exhaled a breath, calming himself down and thinking.
What is the most important thing for him right now?
"Go home."
Rozen immediately thought of it.
The reason is simple.
"If the spatial anomalies within Itogami Island are reacting to strong magic and spiritual power, then it's highly likely that the problematic children at home have encountered some situations."
You see, in Rozen's house, there are not only Nagisa and Kanon, who possess extremely strong spiritual power, but also Astarte, who raises a artificial beast vassal inside her body, and even Avrora, one of the matrices of the Fourth Primogenitor.
When these people gather together, the chances of triggering spatial displacement phenomena are particularly high.
So...
"The priority is to rush back and check on their condition first."
After calming down, Rozen almost immediately made a decision and hurried towards home.
In this situation, Rozen soon arrived home, and even outside the door, he heard lively conversations inside.
"It seems they're okay."
Rozen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, reached out his hand, pushed open the door, and walked into the living room.
The next moment, Rozen saw it.
"Ah, Nichiyo-kun, you're finally back, we were just talking about you!"
In the living room, Nagisa, who was treating a guest like a host, looked at Rozen who walked in, raised her hand happily.
"You're finally back, Yuuma has been saying how much she wants to see you."
Kojou sat opposite Nagisa and their childhood friend, speaking to Rozen with a somewhat sarcastic tone.
Avrora, Kanon, and Astarte were also present, sitting properly on the sofa.
The group gathered around a stranger.
That's the childhood friend of the Akatsuki siblings.
"Hey, you must be Minamiya that Nagisa and Kojou have been mentioning all this time?"
This was a girl who greeted Rozen with a clear mid-tone voice.
A lively girl.
She had short bobbed hair with a hint of curl at the ends, wearing a sporty hoodie cinched at the waist and shorts, her long slender thighs exposed directly, paired with a pair of basketball shoes, she looked especially charming.
At this moment, this charming girl was smiling at Rozen like a cheerful boy.
Seeing such a girl...
"————!"
Rozen froze when he saw her face.
His pupils instantly contracted into needle-like shapes.
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