When Oliver-san suddenly crouched in pain after looking at the golden magic stone-like object that Marquis Forgas produced, I rushed to help.
"Oliver-san! What's wrong!? Are you okay!?"
I immediately cast [Heal], but it had no effect at all.
"This is… mana…?"
Dense mana began leaking from Oliver-san's suffering body.
Thanks to my ability's side effect, I'm highly sensitive to mana.
I can perceive even the slightest flow, but this concentration was so thick that even someone without my sensitivity might notice.
"You really did it, Clive Forgas."
Philly-san muttered with anger in her voice.
Is this really the same person? She bears no resemblance to the Philly-san we were with just yesterday.
"I will always remain the victor! With Oliver's power unleashed, even you can't win! Now, Oliver! Crush this woman!"
What is the Marquis talking about?
Looking at Oliver-san now, how can he think he can fight?
He clearly isn't in any state to battle.
"…This forces a change of plans."
Philly-san muttered to herself while staring at Oliver-san, completely ignoring the Marquis's words.
"Guaaaaah!"
Oliver-san let out an agonized cry.
Golden mana—dense enough to be visible even without my ability—overflowed from his body.
Then, the suffering Oliver-san suddenly fell silent and stood up.
"Oliver… san…?"
"Hahaha! Oliver, kill this woman!"
The Marquis ordered the standing Oliver-san.
"Destroy the guild."
Oliver-san muttered just that, then walked toward the wall.
"Hey, Oliver! What are you doing!? Kill this woman quickly!"
Ignoring the Marquis's shouts, Oliver-san reached the wall, casually picked up a sword leaning against it, and slashed the wall.
A massive hole appeared—far larger than any sword swing should create—and Oliver-san walked straight outside.
"I see. So that's how it is. —Then let's do this."
Philly-san muttered something.
I was still confused, unable to grasp the situation.
Then—
'Luna! Fortify your defenses right now!'
A girl-like voice echoed in my mind.
"—!"
I instinctively deployed a mana barrier around myself. Immediately after, Philly-san tapped the floor with her staff.
A freakishly powerful gust erupted centered on her, and the mansion couldn't withstand it—it was blown away.
When the wind stopped and the building was gone, only Philly-san, the Marquis, Aneli-san, Derrick-san, and I remained in the ruined space.
"W-What just happened!?"
The Marquis, in a state of panic from the sudden event, shouted—but it was understandable.
"…Not only did you react to my attack, but you protected everyone too. Impressive, Luna-san."
'Sylph? Thank you. Thank you for protecting everyone.'
I had only deployed the mana barrier around myself.
Normally, the defenseless Marquis, and even Aneli-san and Derrick-san—who were just standing there—should have been blown away.
But they remained.
I deduced that Sylph, the wind fairy, had created separate gusts around the three, neutralizing Philly-san's attack.
'Humans can drop dead for all I care. But Queen told me to protect you.'
'Titania…? Why would she—'
'Don't space out!'
"—!?"
Another voice echoed in my mind.
Immediately after, countless magic circles appeared around me.
"…Truly troublesome. It seems my ability is a terrible match for you. As expected, Luna-san, you must die here."
By the time I realized every circle was [Ex-Explosion], I was enveloped in countless blasts.
◇
"Cough… cough…"
'Still alive? Luuko.'
Coughing from inhaling the smoke caused by the explosions, an adult woman's voice echoed in my mind.
'Yes, thanks to you. Thank you for helping, Titania.'
'Jeez, what a handful.'
◆
Invisible to normal humans, yet existing in the world—these are fairies.
But I can sense their presence even without seeing their forms, and I can converse with them.
My ability is [Spirit Domination].
It allows me to place spirits under my control and manipulate them freely.
In essence, it's similar to Orun-san's [Mana Convergence].
Just as he interferes with mana to concentrate it at a point, I interfere with spirits—altered mana—though limited in scope, I can do far more than just gather.
As a side effect of this ability, I possess two capabilities others lack.
First, I can perceive mana.
I sense its flow, density, and the presence of spirits.
Anyone with mana-interfering abilities can do this to some degree.
But the second is likely unique to me.
I can perceive and converse with fairies.
Fairies are spirits too, but special ones, so I cannot command them.
However, they sometimes lend assistance, like earlier.
Fairies are whimsical and often dislike interacting with humans, so they're rarely cooperative…
◆
'I'm sorry for the trouble. But why Titania? You said you had no intention of helping humans.'
'Indeed, I hate this world… But I like you, Luuko. I don't want you to die. —Besides, just seeing that woman makes my guts boil. If I can interfere, I'll gladly help.'
Do fairies even have guts? A stray thought crossed my mind.
'Having Titania's cooperation is reassuring. I don't understand why Philly-san is doing this, but first I'll neutralize her. Talking comes after!'
'…It irritates me to admit, but that woman is special. With your current power—not fully drawing out ours—you have no chance. Defeat is certain if you fight.'
Certainly, I've never seen anyone cast so many high-grade spells so quickly.
If Titania says I have no chance, it's true.
Fairies don't use pretense like humans. Every word is honest.
Fairies exist on a different plane from humans, so they cannot directly interfere here.
They need a medium.
But even I—with high fairy affinity—cannot draw out their full power.
I can only access a tiny fraction.
'Understood. Then what should I do?'
If there's no chance of winning, escape is the only option—but escaping Philly-san, likely a specialist mage, won't be easy.
…Come to think of it, Sylph's presence is gone.
Where did she go?
'…Luuko, just focus on surviving for a while. Um, what was it? Right—time! —Survive ten minutes. The situation will turn then.'
Ten minutes? I don't fully understand her intent, but from Titania's words, even surviving ten minutes will be difficult.
If I let my guard down, I die. I know that best after taking Philly-san's attacks.
I don't want to die. I'll struggle desperately.
◇
After finishing with Titania, I used wind to clear the surrounding smoke and brought Philly-san into view.
Philly-san held a fist-sized red magic stone in her palm, concentrating on something.
What is she doing?
"Fuu… As expected, triggering five simultaneously isn't easy. But with this—"
Philly-san muttered, and the red magic stone in her palm shattered into dust.
The massive mana contained within split into five streams and flew off in different directions.
Such precious stones can only be obtained from deepest dungeon cores or equivalent deep-layer floor bosses.
To use something so valuable as a disposable means she accomplished something significant—but I had no idea what.
"Aneli, Derrick, head to the guild. Use this chaos to dispose of Leon Conti."
At Philly-san's words, the previously motionless pair began moving.
Dispose of Leon Conti—the guild master? Meaning kill him!?
"Do you two understand what you're about to do!? If you do this, you won't be able to remain explorers!?"
Explorers who harm guild staff face penalties like temporary labyrinth entry bans.
Killing staff could mean expulsion.
Expulsion means losing your guild card and access to labyrinths—you can no longer be an explorer.
"… …"
They continued walking toward the guild with emotionless expressions, ignoring my voice completely.
"Useless. They have almost no self-awareness left. They're puppets that move only on my orders now."
"Puppets…? Is this your ability, Philly-san?"
"Yes, exactly. No point explaining details to someone about to die."
While Philly-san and I spoke, a massive crash came from behind me—multiple buildings collapsing.
"—!?"
I hurriedly turned. A large section of buildings was gone—reduced to rubble.
In the distance stood Oliver-san.
(Did Oliver-san do this…?)
"Impressive—the power of a fairy-tale hero. Well, this is just the beginning. I really wanted to see that power clash with a 100th-floor boss. What a waste to destroy it here."
"What the hell is going on!? Hey, Philly! Explain!!"
The Marquis—still in panic—demanded answers from Philly-san.
"Annoying. Go to sleep."
At her mutter, the Marquis collapsed like a mana-depleted magic tool.
His breathing was stable—no immediate danger—but this was clearly Philly-san's doing.
"Why… why are both Oliver-san and Philly-san doing this…!? If you continue, not only the party but all of us are in danger!? Attacking defenseless civilians is the lowest act! Stop right now!!"
"In this era… compared to the past, things are somewhat peaceful. That's why humans live so carefree. —But that's foolish. Don't you think?"
"I don't think so at all! If it's peaceful, isn't that fine!? Where's the need to bring conflict!?"
"Naive thinking. Modern humans are rushing toward their own ruin. Well—for me, this development is most welcome."
'Luuko, blow that woman away. Her words are unbearable…!'
Titania's voice echoed with anger.
I too felt our values were too far apart for conversation to mean anything.
I'm an explorer.
Explorers exist to bring resources from labyrinths and enrich people's lives.
For explorers to turn their fangs on people is unacceptable.
Even more so if they're party members.
That's why I have a duty to stop comrades committing evil.
If fighting is necessary—I won't hesitate!
I'll stop Philly-san!
So please—stop Oliver-san. —Orun-san!
Sensing Orun-san approaching from above, I entrusted Oliver-san to him.
◇
After that, I began fighting Philly-san—but to be honest, individually… I couldn't do anything.
Even with Titania's cooperation—effectively two against one—I was still being cornered.
"Fufu. Come on, struggle harder."
"—! Titania, defense please! —[Ex-Explosion]!"
Philly-san cast [Cyclone]—a wind-based high-grade spell. A tornado formed, trapping me inside.
[Cyclone] slices those trapped within with countless wind blades.
Once enclosed, escaping on your own is nearly impossible—one of the most vicious attack spells.
Thanks to Titania forming a cube-shaped mana barrier around me, the blades couldn't reach.
This barrier was incomparably stronger than human mana barriers—no matter how many high-grade spells struck, it wouldn't break.
Leaving defense to Titania, I cast [Ex-Explosion].
A massive explosion erupted near Philly-san—but the wind wall blocked it.
"Kuh—"
I've attacked Philly-san repeatedly—but nothing works.
I've reduced power to avoid killing, but even then, they shouldn't be so easily neutralized.
The gap in ability is painfully clear.
'Luuko, that's enough. Focus solely on buying time now.'
Following Titania's words, I tried various attacks—but the situation didn't change.
"Truly troublesome, fairies. They block my ability too. And you've made such an annoying ally."
'…You were blocking her ability against Luuko? What does that mean?'
'I was nullifying that woman's ability toward you. Mostly Pixie handled it. Otherwise you'd already be like those two.'
'Uh… thank you.'
"No helping it. I'll get a little serious."
Philly-san said that, and magic circles appeared overhead—[Mjolnir] activated. Massive lightning rained down—but Titania's barrier protected me.
'!? This is bad… Luuko, stop attacking! Focus everything on staying conscious!'
Titania—who could see something I couldn't—warned me.
What was about to happen…?
'U-Understood!'
Right after I replied, countless high-grade and super-grade attack spells assaulted me.
Over a hundred, easily.
"—!?"
(Even with Titania's help, this many spells from one person…)
Without the barrier, I'd have died instantly.
And I understood why Titania said what she did.
The barrier was incredibly strong.
It withstood all those attacks without flinching.
But Titania maintained it—through me.
When fairies interfere with this world via a medium, it drains the medium's stamina and willpower.
When I reach my limit—the barrier disappears.
Whether because of that or the sheer intensity of Philly-san's attacks—my stamina and willpower drained rapidly.
This is tough…
"Guh…"
'Luuko, hold on! Don't lose consciousness!'
I desperately focused only on staying conscious.
"No matter how much more of a fairy's power you can draw than normal humans, you're still just a mortal. Unless you're something like the 'King of Ability Users,' you can't manifest fairies here. Checkmate, Luna Flockheart. Die now!"
Finally I could no longer maintain the barrier—it vanished.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
Standing became impossible. I collapsed to my knees, gasping for breath.
Luckily, the barrier's collapse timed with Philly-san's interval—I survived.
But this was—
"Fufu, impressive you lasted this long. —Now, farewell."
Philly-san said that and unleashed a wind spear toward me.
'Titania, sorry… despite your help, my strength wasn't enough.'
'…No, Luuko—you did well. —So it made it in time…'
At Titania's words, something passed right beside me.
Then a girl appeared before me—dressed in foreign clothes, long black hair flowing.
The wind spear heading for me was offset by the sword she swung.
"…Eh?"
'Special… deserves special.'
Back when Orun-san was still in the hero party—after a joint subjugation—he once said:
'The strongest in Tsutorail is undoubtedly her. In a fair fight, no one in this city—no, this country—could beat her.'
The strongest swordswoman Orun-san praised—Fuka Shinonome—now stood protectively in front of me, facing Philly-san.