Petal

Cohen and his Manggot subordinates surrounded Sybil.

It was an incomprehensible action for him, who had the upper hand in the confrontation just a moment ago.

“Lord Cohen. The Manggot personnel can cross the barrier. Let's advance as it is.”

Cohen's subordinate spoke from beside him.

Cohen, without taking his eyes off Sybil, said,

“We need to kill that bitch first.”

The subordinate couldn't understand, but didn't ask further. All the Manggot personnel who participated in this war trust the Shepherds.

Moreover, all the Shepherds brought their own direct subordinates, so it was even more so.

“That bitch, she's using some strange trickery.”

Cohen gritted his teeth. The anger of losing one of his cherished swords was great, but first, he had to figure out why the sword suddenly split in two.

‘When I investigated, I heard that she receives the love of fate, was this what it meant?’

When Cohen heard that information, he initially thought it was a metaphor for talent. As with most people called geniuses, Sybil, that woman, also had a strange modifier attached to her.

But if it wasn't a metaphor, but just the literal meaning of the words…

“I guess you've survived this long thanks to luck.”

Cohen scoffed. It was a provocation, like before, to try to draw out Sybil's weakness.

Sybil chuckled.

“That's right.”

Her rapier rose.

“You all might, unfortunately, die here.”

“You insolent bitch!”

As if it were a signal, the Manggot troops all rushed towards Sybil at once.

Although Cohen's intention to provoke had instead turned into the soldiers being provoked, Cohen watched silently.

If other soldiers all ended up in a strange state like his blade breaking, it wasn't a matter of luck. The Manggot came to fight the humans of the Empire, not to wander around with some unknown ghost-like thing.

Swish!

The Manggot blades flew in, and Sybil swung her rapier as if to block them all.

Reckless, the moment Cohen thought that.

“Ugh!”

“Kaagh!”

All the soldiers who touched Sybil's sword screamed and retreated. Some even dropped their swords.

“What, what did you do!”

“I wonder.”

Sybil's calm answer. Seeing his subordinates clutching their hands, Cohen's eyes widened.

‘Really, really receiving the love of fate?’

Not even receiving the love of some god, but fate itself standing by to save this woman? For that one thing, all his soldiers couldn't even touch their swords and were in pain?

Did that really make sense? Could such a thing be allowed?

“……No.”

Cohen's aura swelled. He poured aura into a single sword.

If it was just simple luck, he could accept it. He could tolerate Sybil avoiding, blocking, and surviving attacks due to some strange coincidence. However.

He witnessed an incomprehensible, inexplicable phenomenon that wasn't even a coincidence. If it were good luck, at least his soldiers should have all tripped on stones and caused a comedy.

Even such an absurd event would be hard to accept, but just touching the sword caused pain?

“That's not acceptable.”

Such a thing. He couldn't acknowledge it. Not just Manggot. No swordsman could acknowledge Sybil's current behavior.

What have we sacrificed our time for? What have we bled and broken our bones to achieve?

“I will kill you.”

Thud, Cohen took a step forward.

“Even if fate is truly on your side, even if God hates me because of it, even if I have to receive divine punishment, I will kill you and leave.”

At those words, Sybil let out a low sigh.

“Whether you kill me or not, you won't receive divine punishment. Don't worry.”

“Shut up!”

Clang!

Cohen's and Sybil's blades clashed in the air.

“Ugh!”

In an instant, Cohen grimaced at the pain that pierced through his entire body from his hand. Indeed, was it because of this pain that his soldiers all screamed? It was certainly no small pain.

‘However, this kind of thing, it can't kill me!’

Cohen gritted his teeth and attempted a series of attacks. Sybil responded calmly and fought back. Her elegant defense remained unchanged.

The Manggot soldiers watching their fight. Their faces were also filled with bewilderment.

‘What the hell was that?’

Unlike Cohen, these soldiers hadn't heard the story about Sybil being the ‘woman loved by fate’. Therefore, the phenomenon just now was excessively bizarre.

Just touching the sword caused pain, and some couldn't bear the pain and dropped their weapons. At this rate, fighting or anything else was impossible.

Cohen was currently enraged. At Sybil, who seemed to be walking an easy path under the name of fate.

The soldiers were confused. Fate or whatever, they were trying to understand the situation that had befallen them.

Therefore, at this moment alone.

The Manggot soldiers were a bit more composed than Cohen, who knew Sybil's information.

‘This pain, somewhere…….’

One of the soldiers recalled a past memory.

He, of course, had never received any divine punishment. He hadn't experienced any strange resistance from fate or whatever.

Nevertheless, the pain he felt when Sybil's blade touched him just now had a sense of déjà vu.

So he reminisced about the countless times he had crossed blades in the past. Since it was pain caused by clashing blades, he thought maybe something would come to mind from those fights.

“……Huh?”

But what came to mind wasn't a memory of a fight.

It had nothing to do with that. He knew the identity of this pain. It wasn't the first time he had felt it.

……But then.

How could that be from a ‘blade’……?

“Lo, Lord Cohen!!”

The soldier shouted.

He realized a fact that was more direct and chilling than fate intervening or whatever.

* * *

“Send me to the barrier.”

Sybil said to Frondier.

It was when Frondier was checking the structure of the barrier on the three-dimensional map.

“……What?”

“When you're deploying personnel, send me to the barrier.”

At her voice, which somehow seemed filled with determination, Frondier blinked for a moment.

He scratched his head and said,

“Most Constel students will be stationed within the city to maintain order and prepare for emergencies.”

“That's most, not all.”

As Sybil said, it wasn't all. Those with skills comparable to the Zodiac, like Aster and Elodie, were heading to the barrier.

“……There's no guarantee it'll happen just because I suggest it. I'm just proposing this at the meeting.”

“That's fine.”

Sybil nodded.

At her unwavering gaze, Frondier made a troubled expression.

His head tilted, and he checked the map again.

“Hmm, I'll consider it.”

In Frondier's voice, Sybil read his true feelings.

Frondier had no intention of sending Sybil to the barrier.

Sigh, Sybil took a light breath and then spoke what she had been thinking in her head.

“Do you think I'm going to die?”

At that, Frondier's eyes stopped. He raised his head again and looked at Sybil.

“……I can at least worry about a classmate.”

“Or do you think someone else will die because of me?”

“Don't talk nonsense.”

Frondier's expression changed.

At the sudden sharp face and chilling voice, Sybil was a little scared, but she spoke firmly.

“I actually heard it, you know.”

“Heard what?”

“When we went to the dungeon. When you carried me on your back and headed to the sanctuary.”