The noble's mansion that ruled over this town differed from most others.
Royalty usually lived in castles separated from their towns by moats, connected only by drawbridges.
However, this town's noble resided in a castle built on high ground, surrounded by an extra wall.
Long before Kiriko's group brazenly marched toward the castle, the soldiers stationed within had already spotted them from afar.
Therefore, when they arrived at the outer wall, the ramparts were already lined with fully armed and alert soldiers.
"The gate lives and dies with us!"
The soldiers' morale seemed exceptionally high. Their faces were filled with determination as they glared furiously at Kiriko's group.
Kiriko, however, couldn't be bothered to acknowledge them.
She walked over to one section of the wall, drew her sword, and smoothly carved a perfect square into it.
"And there you go!"
With a gentle kick to the outlined square, a neatly-cut section of wall collapsed inward, raising a cloud of dust.
Then, together with Raphtalia, Gabriel (the square was deliberately made large enough for even a fat Filolial), and Lute, she stepped through.
From the moment Kiriko started carving the square, the soldiers atop the walls had stood frozen. It was only after the group disappeared inside that someone finally broke the silence.
"The gate lives and dies with us!"
The other soldiers acted as if nothing had happened and continued shouting at thin air.
The castle layout resembled a square-within-a-square arrangement. In its central courtyard stood an obelisk.
Why is there an obelisk here? Is there a treasure map?
Kiriko glanced around; the surroundings were eerily quiet and empty.
Turning back, she saw the soldiers who'd stood atop the walls were retreating from sight, as though surrendering the courtyard to them.
"Master, something's wrong."
Lute raised his dual tower shields, placing himself protectively in front of Raphtalia and Gabriel, warily eyeing the surrounding buildings.
Standing there, they felt like prey caught in the jaws of some enormous beast.
Kiriko smiled.
She'd experienced situations like this countless times before—in games.
Even knowing the castle was full of traps and hidden enemies, you still had to step inside.
Those were the rules of the game, even the strongest players couldn't break them.
But this wasn't a game.
Kiriko snapped her fingers.
Brilliant golden radiance rained down from the heavens.
Lute and the others froze, instinctively looking upward.
Then their breath caught.
Over two hundred radiant Noble Phantasms blanketed the sky above the castle. The overwhelming scene was enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat.
"What is…that…?"
Countless legendary swords and spears hovered mid-air, each evenly spaced, radiating a tremendous magical presence.
The next moment, the glowing rain fell.
Weapons pierced walls and flew through windows, triggering violent explosions. Walls shattered, windows burst apart, stone and splinters blasted outward with each shockwave.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Endless explosions shook the earth!
In such a ruthless bombardment, any hidden soldiers in the castle stood no chance. Human bodies were fragile—mere exposure to the shockwaves was fatal.
By the time the last Noble Phantasm vanished into specks of golden light, the once-grand and lavish castle was nothing more than ruins, reminiscent of Harrenhal.
Smoke and dust filled the air, and fragments of broken walls still glowed faintly from residual heat.
The only area that remained untouched was the small portion of courtyard where Kiriko and her group stood, a sanctuary untouched by the devastation around it.
"Lute, check if anyone survived."
Though Kiriko seriously doubted anyone could survive such an intense bombardment, caution never hurt.
Lute nodded silently. If he'd had any lingering pride as a warrior when Kiriko bought him, seeing this overwhelming power had shattered it completely.
Not even Siltvelt's strongest warrior could survive a bombardment like that.
"Master, over here."
Raphtalia pointed suddenly toward one of the collapsed sections.
Kiriko approached and cleared away debris, revealing stairs descending into darkness.
"This is…"
"I remember this place."
Raphtalia's complexion had become extremely pale.
"This is where they imprisoned me."
A dungeon, huh? It would surely bring back many painful memories for Raphtalia.
"Do you want to go in?"
Raphtalia nodded.
Kiriko sighed softly, called Lute over, and together with Gabriel, they descended into the darkness.
...
Above ground, the castle had been turned into rubble by Kiriko's bombardment, yet the underground dungeon remained miraculously intact.
Perhaps all the soldiers had been sent upstairs to lay traps, as they encountered no resistance below.
In a corner of one of the torture rooms, Raphtalia stopped, clasping her hands together toward a small skeleton.
"Raphtalia, is this someone you knew?"
"Her name was Rifana. She was a friend from my village…"
"I see."
Kiriko could easily imagine—if Raphtalia hadn't endured until the slave merchant found her, or if Kiriko herself hadn't returned with Naofumi to the merchant's place that day…Raphtalia might've ended up exactly the same.
"Master, can we take Rifana with us? Leaving her here seems so sad."
"Of course."
Kiriko nodded, and before she could say more, Lute had already stepped forward, removing his own cloak and spreading it over the cold ground.
"Thank you, Lute-san."
Raphtalia wiped her tearful eyes, carefully wrapping the bones in the Dogkin's cloak.
Further into the dungeon, they discovered a few demi-humans who hadn't yet succumbed to torture and starvation.
Among them was even a young demi-human boy from Raphtalia's village.
Although the other demi-humans weren't from Raphtalia's village, they all belonged to Seaetto.
Kiriko recalled the slave merchant's explanation—although Melromarc was a human-supremacist nation, Seaetto had been established as a special demi-human sanctuary.
On the opposing side, Siltvelt had similarly established a human sanctuary.
This seemed like some form of political maneuvering.
Kiriko had zero interest in politics and honestly didn't understand much.
However, Melromarc's demi-human sanctuary now existed in name only; the demi-humans in this country faced widespread persecution.
Undoubtedly, Siltvelt wouldn't remain silent about this.
But, none of this had anything to do with Kiriko.
She pulled out food and water from her Dimensional Bag and passed them out to the imprisoned demi-humans.
The dungeon smelled horrible, so she told Lute to stay here and look after them while she took Raphtalia and Gabriel back above ground.
Kiriko instructed Lute to bring everyone up after they regained a bit of strength.
With that, Kiriko led her companions toward the exit.
The moment she emerged from the dungeon, before she even took a breath of fresh air, a furious voice roared from nearby:
"You! You killed all my men! Why would you do this!?"