Right after closing in on the [Hero], I activated [Space Leap], which I'd spent time constructing, and we moved to a mixed forest near the border.
As the old man Eddington had described, the trees were spaced just right—plenty of room to swing a sword.
If anything, I might even be able to use these trees to my advantage in the fight.
Just before activating [Space Leap], my swung sword had been blocked by something invisible—same as the first strike—and the recoil from jumping such a long distance had created a clear opening for a moment.
But the [Hero] had been too surprised by the sudden change in scenery to exploit it.
I immediately leaped backward to gain distance.
"This is near the Cryo Mountains, huh."
The [Hero] scanned the surroundings, spotted the towering mountain range nearby, and muttered.
The Cryo Mountains formed the border between the Nohitant Kingdom and the Sauber Empire.
Just as the [Hero] guessed, this was a mixed forest near the northernmost edge of the Nohitant Kingdom, close to the Cryo Mountains.
"That's right. I want you to go back to the empire right now."
When I said that, the [Hero] turned to face me and spoke.
"I can't do that. My job is to take control of the Reglif territory. Until that's done, I'm not leaving."
"Job," huh…
So this invasion wasn't the [Hero]'s unilateral decision.
He was, after all, the crown prince.
The number of people who could give him orders was extremely limited.
"I personally don't care if the empire takes this territory. Do whatever you want. But only if you don't involve my comrades—Silver Moon Rabbit of the Night Sky members. We'll leave this territory. Promise me you won't lay a hand on us."
"I already made that promise with the gray-haired man. You're the ones who broke it. But fine—I'll promise again. As long as you don't interfere, we won't touch you."
So the A-rank party members getting taken out was retaliation after they attacked first.
If that's true, then we were partly at fault.
"Understood. I'll make sure the other members don't interfere anymore. We'll leave the territory, so do whatever you—"
"That won't do. You all have to stay here."
Just when it seemed like we might resolve this without fighting and I could return to Tsutorail, he suddenly rejected us leaving the territory.
"Why?"
"After we take control of this territory, there's something I need you to do. I can't have you leaving."
Something for us to do?
The old man had said the empire invaded to secure labyrinths.
If they needed to secure them, it was natural to assume the number of labyrinths inside the empire had decreased.
Fewer labyrinths meant they couldn't secure enough magic stones.
So the logical conclusion was—they needed to quickly gather more people capable of labyrinth exploration.
But if that was the case, they could just have the [Hero] and his group take the Reglif territory first, then send imperial explorers here.
If they couldn't wait for that… did that mean the magic stone and labyrinth material shortage was so severe they couldn't afford to delay?
If it was magic stone shortage, the empire would desperately hide it.
It would put them at a diplomatic disadvantage.
The fact that the Eddington family's spies had uncovered it meant the situation was so bad they could no longer conceal it.
In that case, the [Hero] wasn't likely to back down here.
"I see. Then negotiations have broken down. I'll neutralize you here."
I activated the anti-hero magical weapon I'd prepared while talking to the [Hero].
The large magic stone the old man had entrusted me with had its inner magic stone depleted in an instant—turning into a colorless glass marble before shattering.
Immediately after activation, the trees surrounding the [Hero] suddenly glowed. They were magical devices disguised as trees.
The four glowing devices connected with lines of light, forming a translucent cube that sealed the [Hero] inside.
The [Hero] tried punching the wall to break out—but the moment his fist touched it, he was repelled backward.
The inner surface of this wall was entirely [Reflective Wall], making physical destruction nearly impossible.
While the [Hero] was surprised at being repelled, flames erupted inside the sealed mana cube.
In an instant, the flames spread throughout the cube, engulfing the [Hero] in fire.
This was the anti-hero magical weapon.
But it wasn't as simple as trapping someone in a mana box and burning them with high-temperature flames.
It required engraving spell formulas on the ground and placing specialized magical devices in four directions—meaning it could only be activated at predetermined locations and took time to set up—but once those conditions were met, it became an incredibly powerful weapon.
And this weapon had likely been created by Grandpa.
The spell formula I read when activating it was far beyond what an ordinary magical tool craftsman could assemble.
The biggest proof was that the mana wall was [Reflective Wall].
[Reflective Wall] was my original magic.
But I'd only completed it thanks to numerous pieces of advice from Grandpa during development.
In other words, Grandpa also knew the [Reflective Wall] formula.
Conversely, in this world, only Grandpa and I knew it.
I had complicated feelings about Grandpa developing such a vicious weapon and being connected to the Eddington family—but it wasn't my place to judge.
While thinking that, the flames inside the cube suddenly vanished.
This weapon could easily kill a person.
But it had no killing function.
That was because the flames were set to disappear before the person died.
Still, being roasted by high-temperature air would inevitably cause severe burns all over the body.
That alone made this weapon vicious—but its true viciousness came after.
Even in the scorching space where the flames had disappeared, the [Hero] remained unscathed. Not even a single burn.
From his various feats, I could roughly guess what his unique ability was.
I'd thought even this weapon could at least inflict some burns—but I'd underestimated him.
However, the unscathed [Hero] was crouched over, clearly suffering.
The reason was simple—he couldn't breathe.
Flames require air to burn.
The mana cube was a sealed space with limited air.
Most of it had been consumed by combustion—so almost no air remained in the space where the [Hero] was now trapped.
Scorching him with heat and suffocating him to unconsciousness—that was this weapon's effect.
It was only a matter of time before the [Hero] lost consciousness. —Or so I thought.
Suddenly, the ground began to warp.
"—This is bad!!"
I immediately placed my left hand on the ground and activated magic.
I tried desperately to suppress the warping—but it didn't work. The distortion grew larger and larger.
Eventually it even affected the spell formula engraved on the ground, breaking the magic's maintenance—the mana cube vanished.
A wave of heat spread outward.
"Cough… cough… haa… haa… haa…"
Freed from the sealed space, the [Hero] knelt, gasping for breath.
(This opening—I can't let it go…!)
I activated [Sharpness Zero] on Schwarzhause gripped in my right hand, then closed the distance to physically knock the [Hero] unconscious.
Just as I swung down toward the kneeling [Hero], he raised his face.
His eyes burned with rage and killing intent.
Immediately after, I felt a violent force—like being pushed from the front and pulled from behind at the same time—and the [Hero]'s figure grew smaller and smaller.
"—!?"
By the time I realized I was being blown backward, a tree was rushing toward my back.
I instantly activated [Vitality Up] and [Resist Up] with [Triple Layering] to brace for impact.
My back slammed into the tree, snapping it, but I kept flying.
Using [Mana Convergence] footholds to stabilize myself, I finally managed to stop.
"…The same as before…"
I immediately cast [Heal] on myself.
As I recovered, sunlight was suddenly blocked.
The [Hero] appeared right beside me, muttering "For a second I thought that might actually kill me," and swung a right kick toward my neck.
I caught it with my left forearm.
The intense impact sent me flying. —Or so I thought, but after traveling about two meters, I felt an invisible force pulling me back with the same strength as the kick—tearing pain through my body as I was forcibly stopped.
The [Hero] closed in from the front and swung a fist.
Even while grimacing in pain, I poured mana into the prepared spell formula and activated [Reflective Wall].
The [Hero] touched the translucent wall and was blown backward.
I immediately cast [Ex-Heal] on my left arm to treat it.
(Finally… a little breathing room. Still—no external injuries, but after that situation, my body should have taken massive damage. Yet he can move like that immediately… is he really human?)
The rapid chain of events had left me confused, but forcing distance from the [Hero] finally let me regain some composure.
The [Hero] quickly steadied himself, summoned a sword into his right hand, kicked off the ground, and closed the distance again.
Neutralization via magical weapon had failed.
Next, my task was to stall the [Hero].
But the earlier exchange made it clear.
In my base state, the difference in ability was overwhelming.
If I layered buffs heavily, I could probably put up a decent fight—but I couldn't endure prolonged combat like that.
The old man and the others in Roils were probably rushing here with the army at full speed—but even in the most optimistic estimate, I'd collapse first.
Ki activation was still unstable. [Seal Release] was out of the question.
To stall the [Hero] for a long time, the only option was maintaining minimum buffs with layering while supplementing the gaps with ki activation.
After that, if I could buy time through conversation, that would be ideal—but after blindsiding him with that magical weapon, he wasn't likely to engage in talk.
It was going to be a tough battle, but I had to steel myself.
"…[All-Status Up] [Triple Layering]."
With my future course set, I combined magic and ki to enhance my physical abilities and met the approaching [Hero] head-on.