— — — — — —
The voice right behind him was so close that Cao Cao felt his soul nearly leave his body.
He didn't have time to think. Instinctively, he poured all his strength into breaking free from the hand gripping his right wrist.
But at that moment, the hand seemed to vanish.
Caught off balance by his own exertion, Cao Cao stumbled forward and crashed onto the floor.
"Cao Cao!"
Seeing what had happened, Jeanne and the others were both shocked and terrified.
The instant he hit the ground, Cao Cao rolled away, using the momentum to put roughly two meters between himself and the figure beside him. It looked pathetic, but it worked.
Then he shouted, "Attack!"
In truth, Hercules had already moved before the order was given. Gripping an axe larger than half his body, he swung it down with a howl of wind, bringing it crashing toward the blurry figure.
At the same moment, a gigantic dark-blue python erupted from beneath the floor. Its two-meter-wide body coiled around the enemy in an instant, pinning them firmly in place.
This combination attack—Leonardo's beast restraining the target from below while Hercules delivered a killing blow—was one of their favorite tactics. Countless opponents had died before they even realized what was happening.
Unfortunately for them, their opponent was anything but ordinary.
BOOM
The giant axe came down with a thunderous crash.
The python was cleaved into several pieces.
Yet the enemy they had expected to crush stood calmly in the middle of the severed snake's body, completely unharmed.
It didn't even look like he'd moved.
"Run!"
Cao Cao roared, gripping the Holy Spear with both hands as he charged forward, intending to buy time for the others.
Then—
"Even if you tell me to run... I don't really dare move..."
Jeanne forced out a pale smile and slowly raised her hands in surrender.
At some point, Ryo had wrapped an arm around her slender waist and appeared amidst the blood-soaked floor, turning her into a hostage.
The crimson snake blood. The captured blonde girl.
Together, they formed a strangely beautiful scene.
"Jeanne!"
Georg clenched his teeth.
The sight of his teammate being captured filled him with dread.
Moments ago, Jeanne had already reached his side and was about to be teleported into another dimension. Even then, Ryo had somehow plucked her away effortlessly.
What did that mean?
It meant that if Ryo wanted to, he could kill any one of them at any time.
"Despicable!" Hercules shouted angrily. "Fight me one-on-one if you've got guts! What's the point of hiding behind a woman?"
"Catching women is one of my talents." Ryo chuckled.
As he spoke, his hazy silhouette gradually solidified.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"What...?!"
Only then did Cao Cao realize the truth.
The thing that had grabbed them wasn't Ryo at all.
It was merely a manifestation of his will through magic, one that hadn't even fully materialized yet.
Now Cao Cao finally understood why Ryo had let him go earlier.
Because he had never actually been caught in the first place. The sensation of being restrained had been nothing more than an illusion caused by Ryo's magical projection drawing near.
He had just spent the last few moments fighting a battle of wits with thin air.
"..."
Hercules stared with wide eyes.
Looking at the amused expression on Ryo's face, he suddenly felt a chill run through him.
A moment ago, he'd only shouted because Jeanne's capture had made his blood boil.
But now that he was facing Ryo directly—even if this was only a manifestation of his will—an inexplicable fear rose in his heart.
At that moment, Ryo placed a hand on Jeanne's lower abdomen.
She trembled.
Rather than resisting, she lowered her head awkwardly and stared at the hand that was passing through her stomach.
"This..."
Feeling Ryo's aura up close, Jeanne's mouth twitched.
The projection magic wasn't particularly rare. Lots of people knew how to create "will-bodies."
The problem was that they were usually useless—mere projections, true to their name.
Realizing she'd been captured by what was basically a phantom was so embarrassing she wanted to disappear.
In full view of everyone, Ryo's hand moved in and out through her stomach as he smiled. "Come to think of it, I didn't manage to catch this lovely young lady earlier. Looks like I've finally succeeded."
Hearing that, Hercules glared at Jeanne with a mixture of frustration and anger.
Seriously? You got your waist touched by a half-real illusion and froze up in fear?
"Uh... He's stalling for time! His real body will be here soon. Run!" Jeanne shouted and tried to break free.
But then Ryo's arm around her suddenly became solid.
Jeanne froze.
His hand was still inside her stomach. If it fully materialized... wouldn't that be the same as being disemboweled?
Besides, she'd never even heard of a magical projection that could become physical. What was going on?
"Uhhh!" Jeanne suddenly cried out in pain. Her face turned deathly pale.
"Jeanne!"
Cao Cao's eyes nearly split with fury as he took a step forward.
Slowly, Ryo withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "Mm. Definitely a cute young lady. I was just inside her and can confirm that."
"..."
"What do you want?" Cao Cao asked coldly. "If you've gone out of your way to keep us here, then there must be something you're after."
From the very beginning, aside from deliberately frightening him for amusement, Ryo's objective had been obvious.
Capture Jeanne. Use her as a hostage.
And he had succeeded.
Now that Jeanne was restrained, they were trapped between advancing and retreating. Their chances of escape were shrinking by the second.
If this dragged on for a few more minutes and the experts within Nijō Castle arrived, there would be no escape at all.
"What do I want?" Ryo looked at Cao Cao in surprise.
Then his gaze dropped to the spear in Cao Cao's hand.
Noticing this, Cao Cao tightened his grip and said sternly, "So that's it. You're after my True Longinus? Heh... The great leader of the Three Factions, stooping to take a helpless girl hostage over a single Sacred Gear. How impressive."
"What are you talking about?" Ryo looked up, genuinely puzzled.
"You—"
Cao Cao stopped mid-sentence.
His expression froze.
A Holy Spear had suddenly appeared in Ryo's right hand.
Cao Cao immediately looked down.
His own hand was empty.
Then he looked back at Ryo.
Cold sweat trickled down his face.
"W-when...?"
His weapon had been taken without him noticing. How was that even possible?
Meanwhile, Ryo stared at him with an odd expression. "You think I took a hostage over a spear? I think you've misunderstood something."
"Misunderstood what?" Cao Cao blinked in confusion.
Without answering, Ryo casually tossed the spear onto the ground.
The next second, the spear let out a resonant hum and flew straight back into his hand of its own accord.
Only then did Cao Cao realize what had happened.
His connection to the spear had been severed.
Not by force. The spear itself had cut him off.
The first and most powerful Longinus had abandoned its owner and thrown itself into the arms of a new master without the slightest hesitation.
.
.
.