Rokuhara held Eina at the ready, staring down Nameless.

Though his lips twisted into a feral grin, his mind remained terrifyingly composed.

(Came looking for the professor’s unified entity, only to run into this absolute bastard, huh?)

A girl cloaked in an unknown black robe.

There were three things Rokuhara understood about the being before him, composed of an even greater unknown than Sorciera.

(Sorciera’s convergence artillery, the abilities of other Demonsgear… and then—)

“I hate your guts on an instinctual level!”

The reason Rokuhara had joined this battle.

It was because of a visceral disgust he himself couldn’t comprehend.

(This is abnormal. How the hell can I hate someone this much on a first meeting?)

It was as if his body screamed that this existence must not be allowed. His killing intent surged within him.

Rokuhara forcibly suppressed his raging impulse with reason.

“How about it? Go ahead and try something on me too!”

“Tch, I really don’t intend to fight you, you know!”

For the first time, a note of urgency entered Nameless’s voice.

Multiple artillery arrays unfolded toward Rokuhara.

“You think some cheap imitation like that can take me down?!”

The unleashed black blasts—Rokuhara slashed through them all at once, head-on.

“How…? That’s the same artillery as hers.”

“Maybe you just suck at using it?”

“That hurts, you know.”

Nameless stepped lightly.

In that instant, she was right beside Rokuhara.

“Got you.”

A forceful instantaneous movement by severing space.

Nameless, having closed into what should have been an impossible distance, thrust her blade toward Rokuhara.

A sharp lateral thrust.

However—

“Hah? What the hell is that half-assed swordplay? Sorciera’s better than that.”

Before anyone realized, Rokuhara had already moved into a stance to intercept it head-on.

Using one of his twin swords, he parried the attack and, as he passed, struck Nameless in the back.

“Guh—!?”

“Pathetic.”

As Nameless reeled, Rokuhara sent her flying with a roundhouse kick.

Watching her slam into the wall, he sighed.

“Hah… Why’s she struggling against such a weakling? …No, is this thing specifically countering her? Damn, she’s really got a pain in the ass tailing her.”

He scratched his head roughly, picturing the girl who always put on a cool act.

Behind him, a convergence artillery magic circle activated.

“Leader, behind you.”

“Yeah.”

The moment the artillery fired, Rokuhara turned and shattered the black beam head-on with his twin swords.

“Your artillery instincts are decent. Originally, you specialized in long-range like Sorciera, right? On top of that, you place your shots more cautiously than her. Were you a sniper or artillery specialist?”

Even while fighting, Rokuhara was analyzing.

To begin with, his ultimate goal in this battle wasn’t victory.

(I probably can’t beat this thing. I just… know.)

His instincts, honed through countless life-or-death battles, told him as much.

Which meant there was only one thing to do.

(Gather as much intel on Nameless as possible. This thing is undeniably abnormal. Even the director and possibly the professor don’t know about this distortion.)

Rokuhara knew the director well enough to be certain—if she knew about Nameless, she would have shared it with the S-rank operatives.

Which meant…

This was something even beyond the director’s comprehension.

(No time to talk about killing the professor.)

Rokuhara remained completely calm.

Coolly, he observed and analyzed the situation.

“You wanted to play, didn’t you? Let’s keep going.”

“Haha, have I finally made it to the big leagues?”

As Rokuhara advanced, Nameless unleashed a storm of slashes.

Rokuhara dodged everything except for those that would have been fatal, charging straight through.

“Nope! You’re not winning like that!”

“You monster…!”

The sound of the world being severed.

Just as Rokuhara’s sword descended upon Nameless, she relocated away from him.

“I see.”

Still staring at his sword that had cleaved empty space, Rokuhara muttered.

“You… can only use one ability at a time, can’t you?”

“—!?”

“Haha, hit the nail on the head? You should learn to keep a poker face from her.”

With a powerful stomp, the asphalt beneath Rokuhara cracked.

Dust scattered as he shot forward like a bullet.

Then, with his twin swords, he unleashed a flowing barrage of strikes.

“Hahahahahaha! Come on! You gotta mix in some bluffs too! If someone closes in and takes advantage of your hesitation, you’re finished!”

“Guh… Damn S-rank freaks…!”

Nameless barely managed to block just before impact using her blade and scythe.

But she was still getting pushed back.

“Ugh, enough already!”

For the first time, Nameless shouted emotionally, forcefully severing space to create distance.

But at the cost of a fresh wound—blood seeped from her abdomen where she reappeared.

“Hurts, huh? …Tell me, are you a warrior? Or just a coward pretending to be one?”

“Trying to provoke me? …Fine, I’ll show you a little something.”

Exhaling, Nameless tossed aside her scythe and blade.

Then, she reached toward a newly formed magic circle.

(Finally playing her next hand, huh? No idea how many she’s got, but I need to make her use as many as possible.)

Rokuhara deliberately ignored the opening.

To him, this wasn’t even a real battle—just data collection.

But what Nameless summoned next far exceeded his expectations.

“…Hah? The hell is that?”

What appeared was a single sword.

A mechanical straight sword, as if still under construction, its wiring and framework exposed.

Clutching the unfinished weapon, Nameless whispered.

“Super-Dynamic Awaken—Exgear.”

“—!”

An overwhelming pressure erupted from the girl.

It was so intense that for a moment, Rokuhara doubted whether this was the same opponent.

“Act 1—”

A phrase to activate a magical system.

As if speaking to the world itself.

Or perhaps lamenting.

Black flames poured from Nameless’s abdominal wound.

They engulfed the injury—then burned it shut in an instant.

“…Oh, come on. The director just told me we had a newbie who could do that.”

I recognize it.

It is recorded in the board’s information.

Without a doubt, it was the same flame as that of a certain S-rank girl.

“Not Demonsgear, huh? So you can even mimic like that. I see, I see… Eina.”

“Y-Yes!”

Called by name, Eina changed the shape of her dual swords into a bow.

“Starreader form transition complete.”

This meant that Rokuhara had raised his alert level toward the existence before him.

(Too weak, so I poked at it—and something nastier than I expected showed up.)

(Leader, let’s run. Just dealing with Sis and Lutra is bad enough… If an S-rank joins in, we’re done for.)

(Hey, didn’t I tell you to stop talking in my head?)

(No, this is a standard feature of Demonsgear. You’re pretty much the only one who keeps it turned off, Leader.)

Rokuhara had sealed off the brain-to-brain communication function purely because he found it unsettling.

Eina usually respected that decision, but this time was different.

(Leader, let’s run. That Ex-Gear is bad news. Fundamentally, it’s the same as Sis.)

It wasn’t cowardice speaking.

It was the logical opinion of a Demonsgear unit.

Hearing this, Rokuhara nodded while keeping his bow drawn.

“Alright, got it, Eina.”

(Ah, really!?)

A ferocious grin spread across Rokuhara’s face as red, crystal-like matter began to coil around his feet.

“Just put up with me for twelve more seconds!”

(Waaah! You don’t get it at all!)

Rokuhara’s ability activated.

Its effect—an ascension to absolute supremacy within this world.

The time limit—twelve seconds.

For that short span, Rokuhara would literally be invincible.

“I’m going this far for you, so you’d better give me a real fight!”

As he loosed his arrows and charged forward—before Nameless could even register it—everything around them was enclosed in a storm of red arrows.

“Let’s start with a test.”

A massive volley of arrows came from all directions—up, down, left, right.

Nameless, in response, lightly swung her sword like a staff.

In that instant, black flames engulfed the area.

The wall of flames incinerated the incoming arrows one after another, yet Rokuhara pierced through them, closing in on Nameless.

“Hah, your dynamic vision is just that of a regular explorer.”

“—Act 4!”

Rokuhara’s kick was blocked by a spatial slash.

It was the same slashing ability Lutra had just been using.

“I see… So with that sword, you can use multiple abilities at once.”

Rokuhara muttered in satisfaction—then, in the next instant, he vanished.

No—he was already behind Nameless.

Rokuhara was mid-high-kick.

“Come on, you’re gonna get hit.”

Despite the surprise attack, he deliberately spoke.

A move meant to draw out more information about Nameless.

And Nameless responded, murmuring without even turning around.

“Act 6.”

“Huh?”

A definite impact.

Yet, in the next moment, Nameless was engulfed in flames.

Rokuhara landed and looked up.

Nameless was already gone.

“Eina.”

“…No, she’s not here. Looks like she teleported away.”

“So, she escaped by combining abilities—Sorciera’s teleportation, the new guy’s flames, and the last one…”

The hit had definitely landed.

And yet, Nameless had teleported away as if nothing had happened.

(Even after all that, it was just a stalling tactic? What’s the goal here? And that last ‘Act 6’ move…)

Just as he was about to delve into his thoughts, his twin swords rattled as if to express their will.

“…Thinking about it is pointless.”

“Leader, let’s go home. Seriously. We can’t do this anymore, time’s almost up!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll dash back, so shut up.”

His cowardly partner wanted to escape while he was still invincible.

With an exasperated sigh, Rokuhara vanished from the scene at overwhelming speed.