Before the Weapon Pavilion.

Bale, having leapt into the air, crashed down.

Rolling across the sand, he tumbled several times and slammed into a pile of boards stacked against the wall.

“Damn...!”

“Are you all right?!”

Raul and Enzo rushed over and helped him up, but Bale’s eyes were fixed on one spot.

On the empty space about four meters above the ground.

“How are we supposed to destroy that?! You can’t even see it!”

Reaper, head of Grimreaper, watching from the side, sighed heavily.

“I told you there’s nothing to be done. Until Tesetan arrives, you can’t fully visualize the subspace.”

Elanes standing nearby also lowered her brows, looking upset.

“Yes. No matter how hard we try, it doesn’t work... It seems we’ll have to give up on saving the master.”

Bale ground his teeth.

When he heard reinforcements had come, he had thought they were saved.

But without Tregava it was all meaningless?

“By the way, just so you know — don’t blame us later, okay? It’s all because Tregava didn’t come.”

Elanes’s words made his legs go weak.

He flung aside the dagger he’d been holding.

He understood that himself.

Tregava had no duty to rescue Astie.

So if Tesetan didn’t come — perhaps that was only natural.

Still...

His gaze slid helplessly over the void.

Half a day had passed since Grimreaper and Scream of Silvar arrived.

During that time the mages of the two mercenary squads had strained without rest to manifest the subspace.

Yet no spell could make Krazar’s subspace visible.

Only about an hour ago something like pale translucent scale had appeared in the air for a moment.

But as soon as they tried to strike it physically, the subspace vanished again.

“What will become of the master?”

“Is the elder really going to—”

Knowing how it might end, the smiths began to slump to the ground one by one.

But that was not the only worry.

“If this keeps up, could Krazar be reborn, squad leader?”

At the deputy leader Gaben’s words, Reaper slowly closed his eyes.

A heavy sigh rose in his chest.

‘You can’t completely rule out that possibility.’

Devouring people might allow Krazar to at least partially restore its strength.

But he had never heard of a magic beast’s core reviving and beginning to attack people.

‘What on earth is happening here.’

Everything that had occurred had long since exceeded the bounds of reason.

And that meant predicting what would happen next was impossible.

“If that happens, it will be a catastrophe...”

“Shut up. We don’t know anything yet.”

Reaper’s eyes went cold.

Somewhere beyond that void, without doubt, the subspace existed.

Inside it, the master and the leader of Agavert were trapped.

But they couldn’t find it.

And they couldn’t rescue them.

Reaper frowned, then turned away.

“Looks like this is hopeless. I’m leaving.”

In truth he simply lacked the strength to watch any longer.

As Elanes had said, for him this incident could have been an opportunity.

A chance to push Tregava aside and score points with the Imperial Council and the Church Order.

But an unpleasant feeling would not let go.

‘We argue about rank and pride... but mercenaries become mercenaries to save people.’

Every time he saw someone fall victim to a magic beast, that same feeling rose.

Reaper was about to force himself to leave.

“What is that?”

Someone muttered from behind.

He turned.

All the smiths were pointing in one direction and talking excitedly.

Reaper squinted and looked where they pointed.

“...?”

He froze at once.

The surface of the subspace that they had earlier seen for a moment was appearing again in the air.

But this time the pattern was clearer and the area larger.

“Squad leader... look.”

Gaben ran up to him.

The clamor among the smiths grew louder.

“Is it spreading?”

“It’s expanding! It’s definitely expanding! The subspace is manifesting!”

One by one the smiths jumped to their feet.

Indeed, the subspace that had manifested in the air was gradually growing.

Like the surface of water slowly icing over.

“...Reaper. What is that? Do you know?”

Elanes, who had run up, asked softly.

But Reaper didn’t answer.

He stood still.

And in the next second he shouted to his men.

“Everyone — to arms!”

Elanes’s eyes widened.

Ignoring her, Reaper lunged forward and pointed at the emerging subspace.

“To positions! The subspace has become visible!”

The surface of the subspace appearing meant one thing.

Now they only needed to bring all their force to bear and break it.

Elanes watched him from afar in bewilderment, but Reaper continued issuing orders.

“Concentrate the attack on a single point! If the force scatters, you won’t break the subspace!”

“Yes!”

From fighters with long spears to those who dragged up heavy wagons to use as a brace.

All held their breath, waiting for Reaper’s final command.

“Wait!”

Someone suddenly leapt out in front of Reaper.

It was Nordix.

He pointed at the surface of the subspace.

On it, a small dot had appeared.

“Hold on, don’t attack!”

Reaper saw it too.

Something tiny was moving on the surface of the subspace.

He squinted.

And soon something suddenly popped out.

“...What the—”

It was a human finger.

But too thin and short for an adult.

As Reaper stared dumbfounded, the finger began to move and slowly pry open a slit ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ in the subspace.

The point split sideways as if someone were pressing soft flesh aside with their fingers.

A head emerged from the gap.

“Aww—... Gonzyan! Tie said not to push!”

The child’s face, cheeks puffed, turned back.

And behind the child—

“What the hell! I told you the slit was too narrow! Nothing to be done, King of the Dead!”

...stood Master Berugon himself.

Everyone stood as if petrified.

Berugon stuck his head out of the subspace, looked down, and frowned.

Then he barked at the smiths.

“What are you standing there for! Can’t you see we’re about to fall?! Haul something over here at once!”

Tie, wrapped in a blanket, looked around in astonishment.

“I told you so many times to get the weapons checked! This is all because you’re lazy about maintenance!”

“No — it’s not the weapons that matter now! The elder’s forehead won’t stop bleeding!”

Having barely escaped the subspace, Berugon was already scolding his apprentices.

The smiths examined his wound — the very wound Tie had caused.

Nearby, unfamiliar mercenaries muttered among themselves.

“Gaben. First contact the Association. Tell them the master is alive.”

“Understood!”

“Wait, Reaper. First explain. What do you mean Tregava changed route on the way?”

Compared to before they had been trapped in the subspace, the scene was now true chaos.

Tie’s own eyes darted around in anxiety.

‘Why are there so many people here...?’

As far as she understood, they had all come to rescue her and the master.

Which meant—

“And Krazar?”

“We’ll ask the master now. If the King of the Dead got out of the subspace, he must have destroyed it.”

“If he destroyed it, there should be a core.”

So they had come to hunt Krazar.

Tie hugged the bag with Puppu tightly and broke out in a cold sweat.