On the deserted mountain road, the wyvern pinned the black wyvern beneath its claws, the two creatures roaring ferociously at each other—a scene reminiscent of a chaotic monster battle, awe-inspiring in its intensity.
Yet, the victor was already clear.
The black wyvern struggled repeatedly to rise, but the wyvern pressed down with its full weight, preventing even the slightest movement, leaving the black wyvern to snarl helplessly.
Rozen and Yukina stood nearby, watching the spectacle—one lost in thought, the other grim-faced.
"Senpai," Yukina sheathed Sekkaro and turned to Rozen. "Why would a wyvern appear here?"
She was still fixated on the question.
"How should I know?" Rozen replied irritably. "But that's no ordinary wyvern. Don't judge it by common sense, or you'll regret it."
Yukina understood this all too well.
After all, the black aurora that nullified the wyvern's breath attack was clearly not an ability native to wyverns.
At the very least, Yukina had never heard of wyverns possessing such power.
But that was secondary.
The real issue was...
"I don't know where this wyvern came from, but I'm certain it wasn't originally a living creature."
Rozen's words stunned Yukina.
"Not a living creature?"
"Mm." Rozen nodded, his eyes fixed on the black wyvern. "Its vital signs are bizarre—completely lacking the natural rhythms of a living being. It's more like a living machine, with traces of artificial construction evident in every aspect. Its biological reactions and structure are also abnormal. If I had to guess, this wyvern is similar to Astarte."
"Similar to Astarte-san?" Yukina immediately grasped his meaning. "You mean this wyvern is an artificial lifeform, like a man-made magical beast?"
"Exactly," Rozen confirmed. "And that black aurora it emits—that power doesn't belong to this world."
This was the insight granted by his Mind's Eye.
Rozen could perceive that when the black aurora manifested, its fluctuations clashed with the world itself.
The world faintly rejected this power, yet the aurora forcibly suppressed that rejection, violently imposing itself upon reality.
It felt like an invasion.
An erosion from another realm.
That was why the wyvern's breath couldn't touch the black wyvern—it was nullified by this foreign erosion.
But it wasn't just the wyvern's breath. Through his Wise Eye, Rozen had observed that no magical energy could penetrate this erosion—much like when Kanon had transformed into a pseudo-angel.
However, Kanon's pseudo-angel form had rendered her untouchable by all lower-dimensional phenomena, not just magic. This erosion, on the other hand, only targeted supernatural forces, leaving physical attacks unaffected. That was why Rozen had simply flown above the black wyvern, reinforced himself with Rigid Body, and punched it out of the sky before ordering his wyvern to pin it down.
And there was more...
"That erosion isn't the black wyvern's own power. It's being applied to it from somewhere else."
Hearing this, Yukina immediately grasped the implication.
"Senpai, are you saying someone deliberately sent this wyvern to attack us?"
She had hit the nail on the head.
Someone wanted to ambush Rozen and Yukina, hence the creation of this artificial wyvern and the use of that foreign erosion to empower it.
"Seems someone really doesn't want us here," Rozen remarked dryly before turning his gaze toward another direction.
There...
"ROOOAR!"
"ROOOAR!"
Two more black wyverns came soaring from the distance, their roars menacing.
"Two more...?"
Yukina held her breath.
Rozen, however, only smirked coldly.
"Let's see who's behind this."
He activated Kongouriki once more, and with a burst of flames, Galatine materialized in his grip.
Yukina raised Sekkaro high, her expression calm and focused.
The two black wyverns swooped down, charging straight at Rozen and Yukina.
The battle was about to begin.
———
At the same time, on an observation deck overlooking Shinjin Lake, a parking lot was filled with countless vehicles.
There were control vans for unmanned drones.
Engineering trucks.
Light-armored reconnaissance vehicles.
And wheeled armored vehicles equipped with heavy weaponry.
All of them belonged to the Self-Defense Forces.
Soldiers in military uniforms, armed with machine guns, patrolled the area.
They were part of the Special Attack Mage Regiment—an elite unit under the direct command of the Minister of Defense, specializing in countering magical disasters.
At this moment, the unit was stationed here, their tents set up around the vehicles.
Inside the tents, analysts worked tirelessly, processing data collected by reconnaissance drones.
The data all pertained to the anomalous object at the bottom of Shinjin Lake.
Under the faint morning mist, the lake appeared tranquil, its surface undisturbed—a picturesque scene devoid of any visible abnormalities.
But at its depths, an overwhelming, alien force pulsed.
An immense concentration of spiritual energy.
Underwater probes had confirmed its existence, and the footage was displayed on a large screen inside the tent.
There, at the bottom of Shinjin Lake, a shimmering, shape-shifting object—like the iridescent interior of a shell—was visible to all.
Its interior was obscured, as if veiled by an impenetrable black barrier.
This was the spiritual artifact at the lake's depths—a relic of the Holy Annihilation.
That was what the people here called it.
"The Black Shell..."
Inside the tent, a tall, hound-faced man in his thirties, clad in camouflage, stared at the screen and murmured.
He was the commander of this operation—Third-Class Special Officer Azama Tatsumi, the highest-ranking officer overseeing the sealing of Shinjin Lake.
"It's time, Special Officer Azama."
A female officer with sharp eyes and an unapproachable air entered the tent, reporting respectfully.
She was First-Class Special Lieutenant Okiyama Mitsue, Azama's adjutant.
Azama snapped out of his thoughts.
"Then let's proceed with the support."
He spoke with decisive authority.
"Prepare for the ritual, First Lieutenant Okiyama."
Okiyama nodded firmly.
The two left the tent together.
The sealing ritual for Shinjin Lake was about to begin.