Journey to Planar World

"This is incredible! Could it be that Hestia Familia intends to end this as quickly as possible?!"

A roar of shock and excitement erupted, shaking every corner of Orario. The city's atmosphere had stopped resembling a War Game viewing and started feeling like a full-blown festival. Applause, shouts, and whistles rang out from every street corner.

Ninety percent of the Divine Mirrors floating in the air displayed a vision that was both horrifying and breathtaking: the northern and eastern walls of the castle reduced to smoking rubble, the inner towers severely damaged, dust still billowing up to swallow the sky above the fortress. But the crowd's attention remained fixed on the mysterious hooded adventurer.

With movements that were graceful and lethal in equal measure, Ryuu dispatched one adventurer after another in the blink of an eye, as if she were dancing across a battlefield in chaos.

Ryuu's popularity surged in a matter of minutes. The spectators packing the streets kept cheering for the beautiful Elf who dominated the battlefield so completely.

"Please, tell us, Ganesha-sama, what exactly are those ferocious magic swords she's using? Are they rare artifacts?" The commentator, Ibri, asked eagerly, angling the microphone toward the elephant-masked god.

"This is Ganesha!" Ganesha answered with his signature pose, both hands raised in an L shape, not remotely addressing the question.

"If you have nothing useful to add to the commentary, please feel free to go home, Ganesha-sama!" The broadcaster shot back, yanking the microphone away, to peals of laughter from citizens already well acquainted with Ganesha's eccentricities.

The atmosphere in the Guild's front plaza was electric. The commentator's voice continued to echo through every corner of the city via amplification magic, stoking the excitement of every spectator connected to the Divine Mirror.

Meanwhile, far from the public clamor and the noise of the city, a different kind of atmosphere settled over Empyrean Citadel.

Charlie lounged comfortably on his plush sofa, Aishia on one side and Est on the other. He tossed popcorn into his mouth from time to time, his eyes fixed on the private Divine Mirror Astraea had arranged specifically for him.

"Kei is performing well." Aishia said flatly, her expression as unreadable as ever, though her eyes never left Kei's figure on the screen.

Charlie nodded in agreement, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint smile. "This is exactly what I expected. With a weapon I made, Kei has been eliminating opponents who are far stronger than her with real efficiency."

For him, the PGM Hécate II's performance in Kei's hands was living proof. Modern firearms, a technological achievement from his own world, demonstrated their superiority even in a fantasy world modeled after medieval Europe. The sheer number of Orario's adventurers and their levels seemed to mean nothing against the precision and destructive power of a weapon that transcended the era entirely.

Still, Charlie understood the limits. Firearms were revolutionary, but their effectiveness only held reliably against Second-Class and Third-Class adventurers.

Against First-Class adventurers, an ordinary bullet was not an unavoidable threat if they were already on guard. Their reaction speed could exceed the flight of a bullet, making deflection or evasion a real possibility.

"Onii-chan, me too."

A soft, flat voice broke through his thoughts.

Est tilted her small head up slightly, her doll-like porcelain face looking up at him. She opened her little mouth and waited patiently to be fed.

Watching Est's endearing behavior, Charlie couldn't suppress his smile. The tension of the War Game playing out on the Divine Mirror hadn't touched the peace inside Empyrean Citadel. This warmth was an oasis for all of them.

Unhurried, Charlie picked up a still-warm piece of popcorn and placed it in Est's mouth.

"Good?" he asked simply.

"Nom... Nom..."

Est chewed slowly, then gave a small nod as her answer, her cheeks puffed out adorably. Beside them, Aishia glanced over once before returning her focus to the screen, where Ryuu had now begun to be encircled by fifty blood-hungry adventurers. The sofa felt perfectly relaxed, but they all knew the War Game's most crucial act had only just begun.

"My Mana has recovered. I won't let anyone bully Mikoto-san."

On the high ground hidden behind the undergrowth, Kei had finished drinking the Magic Potion Charlie had given her. Her breathing had steadied, and the flow of Mana through her body was stable again. She returned to lying prone, pressing her shoulder against the cold stock of the PGM Hécate II.

Through the scope's lens, she watched a human girl moving nimbly across the landscape like a predator on the hunt: Yamato Mikoto.

Dressed in a camouflage cloak that blended perfectly with the color of the meadow, Mikoto used the chaos Ryuu had created to approach the castle undetected. She moved like a shadow, silent and swift.

With the northern wall already torn apart by Ryuu's magic sword strikes, Mikoto scaled the large chunks of rubble and slipped inside the main structure. Gripping her longsword in one hand and leaping over piles of stone, she began her chant without breaking stride.

"I humbly speak to you, my War God who can break through all things, carry me from the precious heavens..."

"Ambush! Another enemy coming in from the north!" shouted a surviving guard in a damaged watchtower, his voice ragged with fear.

At the warning, several Apollo Familia members still standing swung their magic staves and bows toward Mikoto, ready to unleash lethal attacks. But before a single arrow left its string or a spell took shape, Kei moved first.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Three sharp reports rang out almost simultaneously, splitting the air like thunder. The Mana-compressed bullets carrying Myriad Curse flew true, striking the attackers in the head before they could react.

In an instant, the scene atop the watchtower became a strange kind of horror. Those hardened male adventurers dropped their weapons. Their eyes went wide, pupils contracting as a wave of "alien" yet devastating pain crashed through their nervous systems.

"UWAAGHHHHH!"

One Beastman adventurer crumpled, both hands clawing at his abdomen, which had suddenly begun to feel as though a giant fist were squeezing it from inside. He rolled across the stone floor, his face going a sickly blue-purple as he held his breath against it, cold sweat soaking him from head to toe.

The sensation of violent contractions simulating labor, forcing their hips to feel as though they were being pried apart from within. It was a pain never designed for a male body, a torment that dismantled all logic.

"It hurts... my stomach... it feels like it's going to explode!" another cried, crawling on all fours, desperately searching for a position that could somehow ease a pain no man's reason could explain.

Cold sweat poured from their foreheads in seconds. Some began deliriously calling for their mothers, while others could only produce choked, strangled sounds that died in their throats.

For adventurers accustomed to sword cuts and mace blows, this "labor pain" was a form of suffering that stripped away their dignity and shattered their fighting spirit in an instant.

Mikoto, watching her enemies collapse into pitiful curled-up heaps, didn't waste the opening. She kept running toward the heart of the enemy's defense, while Kei in the distance faithfully kept her path clear through the scope.

"Save them, purifying light, sword that destroys all evil. Sweep away the sword of oppression, sacred sword of conquest. It arrives here now at my command."

"Descend from the heavens, take dominion over the earth..."

Mikoto leapt into the center of the courtyard, her black hair fanning out behind her.

"Shinbu Tousei!"

A massive wave of magical energy was released the instant her feet touched the courtyard ground. The Apollo Familia members surrounding her flinched and hurled swords, spears, and axes in a desperate attempt to interrupt the deadly chant. But it was already too late.

*SRING!*

A wave of purple light spread outward fifty meters in every direction, the maximum range Mikoto could reach. A pillar of shimmering light in the shape of a giant sword appeared above her head, marking the activation of the gravity-bearing spell.

"Futsunomitama!"

A ring of purple light shot outward as the sword struck the earth beneath her feet. Instantly, an overwhelming gravitational field took hold, forcing every weapon suspended in the air to clang to the ground before reaching its mark.

Every adventurer within the ring, including Mikoto herself, was driven down by an invisible weight. Knees met the earth, and several were pressed all the way down until their chests touched the ground.

"Gh-gahhhhh...?!"

The adventurers trapped beneath the gravitational dome screamed in pain, feeling as though a mountain had been placed on their backs. Their bones groaned under the unnatural pressure.

Apollo Familia members outside the ring's reach tried launching arrows and hurling blades at Mikoto, but every attack dropped the moment it touched the pale purple barrier.

*CLANG!* *CLANG!*

The sound of metal striking stone echoed throughout the courtyard. Humans, Elves, and Demi-humans inside the outer ring were forced to their knees. Some were crawling with their faces pressed to the ground, struggling simply to keep their heads up against the crushing weight of the gravity magic.

Mikoto clenched her fists, her feet planted firmly in the cracked earth. She bore the full weight of her own spell with her teeth locked together, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth from the internal strain.

"Are you actually serious?!" one of the crawling enemies shouted in disbelief, unable to fathom that someone would willingly put themselves through this for the sake of a strategy.

This was self-sacrifice.

By trapping herself inside her own spell, Mikoto had locked down every adventurer in the courtyard, holding them for as long as her body could endure it. She watched them faint one by one under the crushing gravitational pressure, and she didn't waver. Her eyes met the gaze of the nearest adventurer, who howled at her with equal parts rage and agony.

In the middle of this agonizing test of endurance, Mikoto answered with a voice that trembled but did not break, full of unshakable resolve.

"You'll stay here with me for a while."

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

The sound of gunfire barked out from a distance. Kei, watching through her scope from the high ground, ruthlessly put down anyone who tried to attack Mikoto from outside the gravitational range. Her cursed bullets made sure nothing disturbed Mikoto, clearing every threat that might break the spell-caster's concentration.

The two of them showed a wordless, perfect understanding of each other: one holding prey inside a dome of gravity, the other eliminating anyone who dared interfere with the holder from afar.

The courtyard of Apollo's castle had become a quiet killing ground, full of suffering, watched by all of Orario with held breath through the Divine Mirror.

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