I was in a situation where I could talk immediately, but it took Sylvie and the others some time to settle down. Nevertheless, we were able to talk that night.

“Before we get to the main topic, let’s confirm something first.”

Through my Familiar, I spoke up.

“Sylvie, Kuuza is there too, right?”

“Yes.”

The reply came from Sylvie. So, I nodded once, and said,

“Then Sylvie. Next, please explain about the people who are there.”

“Alright, first there’s Phili and her companion Kori. And a Magic-user named Basili.”

“Same as before.”

“Yes. Plus Radi and Nestor… this is also the same as when we fought the Demon Race named Beluna.”

“Everyone is here, then?”

“That’s right.”

“Understood… So, what about the strange things that happened?”

“Regarding that, let me first explain it in order. The battle with Dagride, a Demon Race member who was in the Stronghold… No, let me start from before that battle—”

According to Sylvie’s story, the others were most surprised by Kuuza’s abilities.

“That magic is cheating.”

“Is that so?”

Kuuza shrugged and replied to Radi, who had exclaimed in admiration.

“You’ll be able to do it too if you train.”

“Don’t ask for the impossible.”

Radi gave a wry smile. Sylvie was in the front, and more importantly, Kuuza, a user of No-Chant Casting, was in the rear… Even upon reaching the Deepest Part of the Castle, they seemed to have plenty of leeway, and Sylvie and the others arrived in front of Dagride’s Room with almost no injuries. They opened the large door and went inside.

There, a Demon Race member wearing what would be called samurai armor in their previous life stood.

“You’ve come, intruders.”

—If Redras was a warlike Knight, then Daclide was more like a samurai loyal to his duty. He brandished his sword and raised his voice as if to intimidate Sylvie and the others.

“You probably won’t listen, but I’ll give you a warning. If you leave quietly, I’ll let you go.”

“That’s not an option.”

Radi declared resolutely.

“You’re conducting experiments, aren’t you? I don’t know the details, but it’s definitely something that harms Humans. I’ll stop you here.”

“…It can’t be helped.”

Perhaps Daclide’s thought was to avoid unnecessary conflict—however, his true strength was undeniably that of a Book-level being. In an instant, ice formed around the Demon Race member.

“I have no choice but to destroy you.”

“That’s my line!”

Kuuza moved first. The arrow he fired was a red light that converged the power of fire.

It mercilessly pierced Daclide—it was an attack that would have been more than effective against a spawning Monster, but it seems it wasn’t the case against a Five Great Demons class opponent.

“A splendid attack, but it won’t work on me.”

Daclide, having declared resolutely, scattered the ice in one go without changing his position.

Everyone moved to evade the spreading ice. Radi also provided support, and they managed to avoid trouble.

Daclide reacted to this and tried to launch a follow-up attack… but before that, the vanguard moved.

Sylvie led the charge. It seemed she didn’t have enough leeway to unleash ‘One Instant’, but she approached and unleashed ‘Belial Slash’, which Daclide received with his sword.

It seemed to be a stalemate for a while, but the Demon Race member was forced to retreat after receiving attacks from Phili and the others. Radi’s Magic then overlapped, and Kuuza’s Magic exploded. They succeeded in forcing Dagride to retreat significantly.

“I’ve been watching your fighting.”

Dagride replied, re-positioning his sword.

“Therefore, I understand your fighting style.”

“But there are some attacks that you just can’t defend against, no matter what.”

Kuuza declared resolutely and took an attacking stance.

“Even if you know it’s coming, there are methods you can’t do anything about… I’ll show you that.”

“Try it.”

A provocative remark. Immediately after, Kuuza’s arrows rushed towards Dagride.

The Demon Race member defended against them with a Barrier. However, it was difficult to completely nullify the impact itself, which inevitably created an opening. Sylvie and Phili aimed for that opening and attacked.

According to Sylvie, they moved to settle the matter in one go—but,

“Indeed, your fighting is splendid. You are using the advantage of numbers to surely destroy me.”

As Dagride’s actions were assessed, in an instant, magic power emanated from the blade held by the Demon Race.

“But that charge is reckless.”

At the same time as those words, Nestor moved to intercept Sylvie and Phili. He raised his shield, taking Dagride’s swift strike.

Humans and the Demon Race—if this had been magic or a powerful technique, it might have been canceled out, but Nestor couldn’t manage that.

“Guh!?”

With a cry, his body was easily blown away. Before anyone could call out, Dagride prepared to unleash a second strike.

Next to move was Kori. He tried to counter with a sword using Body Enhancement—at that moment, the strange thing Sylvie mentioned happened.

“—Ooooh!”

Phili suddenly appeared next to Kori. As Sylvie wondered what was happening, she sensed a considerable amount of magic power condensing in his blade.

What on earth—with that thought in mind, Phili received Dagride’s sword. A one-on-one clash… as a result, Phili and the others managed to push back the sword.

“What…!”

This surprised their opponent—and Sylvie also felt a sense of unease here.

The magic power Dagride emitted from his blade. While miasma was naturally present, she felt something even stranger beyond that.

The offense and defense continued without her being able to guess what it was. Sylvie stepped forward to counterattack, launching an assault with Phili and Kori.

Dagride’s stance was broken, and his movements were sluggish. Then, Kuuza provided magical support. He was further delayed in recovering—

The swords of Phili, Kori, and Sylvie rushed in—

“—After that, we began a fierce assault on Dagride. There were counterattacks, but we successfully evaded all of them and finally managed to defeat him.”

So said Sylvie. If one only listened to her story, it could be interpreted as an easy victory, but she herself didn’t seem to think so.

“The battle itself was advantageous for us the whole time. But as Nestor’s case showed, one wrong step could have led to our annihilation.”

“I see… the strange thing you mentioned, was it about Phili?”

To my question, Sylvie replied, “That’s right.”

“Suddenly Phili’s power swelled, and then there was that strange power and light I felt from the Demon Race’s Dagride…”

Sylvie must mean that the Sage’s Power was involved.

Hmm, did the Sage’s Power resonate? But other Protagonists, including Sofia, have never encountered such a situation.

“Radi says that if we can successfully draw out that power, it might be useful in future battles… and Phili himself also seems to want to effectively use such power.”

“I see… we’ll investigate it on our end too.”

As I replied, I heard Phili’s voice say, “Please do.”

However, power during battle… the strange sensation Sylvie felt was probably Dagride diverting the Sage’s Power to his attacks. And because Phili is of the Sage’s Bloodline, he resonated with it and was able to draw out power. But there was nothing for Radi, who is of the same Bloodline… perhaps it’s unique to Phili.

Does the reaction to the Sage’s Power mean that Phili possesses such power more than other Protagonists? No, that might be too hasty a conclusion. Perhaps he unconsciously acquired a way to effectively draw out the Sage’s Power.

If that’s the case, perhaps we could also activate the power of other Bloodlines… With such thoughts, I decided to move the conversation forward.