Their ascent was just as abrupt as it was rapid.

The circular pad beneath their feet rose with only a brief warning, shooting up through the Spire at an alarming pace. The noblewomen all clung onto their knights, stumbling as a result of the upward acceleration. The only one who had managed to stay relatively stable amongst them was Viviane, but even she had to rely on Medrauta’s strength.

 “H-Hold on tight, Vivi!” Medrauta said.

“Y-You don’t have to tell me twice!” Viviane cried, clinging on tightly to Medrauta’s waist. The silver-haired knight had stabbed her sword into the pad, allowing her to better stabilize herself and her lady.

“We’re almost at the top!” Eris shouted. While the other knights were preoccupied with their ladies, the blonde-haired knight kept her gaze focused on the rapidly approaching ceiling above them, knowing that Scarlet would be just fine after latching onto her waist.

Heeding Eris’ words, the knights all braced themselves, anticipating a stop just as sudden as the pad’s rise. Fortunately for them, the pad actually stopped gently this time, likely due to the fact that such a sudden stop would no doubt throw any passengers directly upward should they not be holding onto something attached to the pad itself.

Once the pad ceased all movement, Medrauta and the other knights removed their weapons from its surface and began looking around their surroundings. Unlike the floors they had passed by, the pad was completely encircled by walls, a sole opening acting as a foreboding passageway for the group of eight.

“...Only one way to go.” Medrauta said.

The other knights nodded in response, leading the way as they proceeded through the sole entryway. The walls were the same pitch-black as the rest of the structure, but for some reason, it seemed to be a little brighter than before. There was no visible source of illumination, and the vein-like extensions on the walls were now gone, leaving the light a mystery.

However, the brighter atmosphere did nothing to dispel the ominous feeling that radiated through the air. It was a heavy sort of sensation that the knights were familiar with, much like the pressure that a powerful warrior would exude. However, unlike bloodlust or battle pressure, this particular feeling had a rather sinister weight to it.

Filling themselves with resolve, the knights steeled themselves as they continued through the passageway, a long and brightly lit hallway that revealed the almost imperceptibly writhing surface of the Spire’s walls. Silently, they advanced with their ladies close at hand, a few of them even joining hands in an attempt to share their courage.

At the end of the passageway was a set of stairs that led upwards into what seemed like a large and empty platform with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed the morning sun to shine brightly into its interior. One by one, the knights proceeded cautiously up the stairway, not knowing what would await them above.

“Careful,” Rosette warned. She was the first to finish ascending the staircase, Estelle close behind her. With her sword drawn and at the ready, she cast her gaze around, searching for any signs of witchspawn or other threats. Much to her surprise, the floor was entirely empty.

As the rest of the knights and noblewomen fanned out behind Rosette, they began to grow increasingly suspicious of the vast room’s utter emptiness. It simply didn’t look right. Just across from them was yet another staircase, but it felt as though this hollow space should have been filled. Despite its sinister nature, there was a somewhat cozy feeling to it that reminded them of someone’s home. There should have been furniture, but instead, there was nothing.

Nothing but air and the feeling of... victory?

“Get down!” Medrauta shouted. The silver-haired knight didn’t spend a second longer on her feet. The moment those words left her lips, she dove to the floor, wrapping her arms around Viviane and pulling her lady down as well.

The rest of the knights and ladies crashed onto the black stone floor a second later, and not a moment too soon. As their bodies hit the ground, an enormous crimson whip scythed through the air above them like a gargantuan crescent blade, its passage filling the air with a terrible hiss.

“Oh, my.” A girl with long purple hair descended from the stairway across from them. “What a shame. And here I thought I could get this over with in a second.”

She tossed her head contemptuously, causing her deep violet locks to flutter and cascade around her shoulders. Her whip retracted, folding back into her hand as she descended the staircase slowly and deliberately, the sound of her black high-heeled boots against the stone echoing through the room with each step.

The knights hastened to pick themselves off the ground, most of them staring at the girl in surprise, though Rosette and Eris clearly recognized her. She met their scornful gazes with a smirk, affixing her whip to the small hook on the hip of her outfit, a tight black dress that hugged her curves in an almost dangerous fashion.

“...Volutia.” Eris and Rosette said in unison.

Volutia smirked, no longer deigning to give the knights her attention. Instead, she focused on Scarlet who was still in the midst of standing up. A cruel, sadistic thrill of pleasure shot through her body as she recalled how the supremely elegant noblewoman had been plastered against the floor mere seconds ago, forced into such an ungraceful state by nothing other than her very own whip.

She almost descended into a fit of laughter, but she held it in. She would save the indulgence for last.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Lady Scarlet herself, gracing my very own room with not just her feet, but her entire body as well.” Volutia cackled. “Should I be honored? Shall I prostrate myself before you, my lady?”

“Spare me the theatrics, Volutia.” Scarlet glared at Volutia fiercely, her violet eyes piercing into Volutia’s crimson. “You’re nothing more than Amelia’s dog.”

“A dog, am I?” Volutia sneered. “I suppose that’s all I was to you. All those years, I thought we were friends... and then you just left me out of it. All of it.”

“It was for your own sake.” Scarlet scoffed. “Look at you now. You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

“Shut up! Shut up, Scarlet!” Volutia snarled, slashing her hand in Scarlet’s direction violently. Black mana burst from her fingertips, forming a blade of shadow that shot towards the raven-haired noblewoman with frightening speed.

“My lady!” Eris reached for her dagger, stepping in front of Scarlet immediately. So long as she was there, that arc of darkness would never touch her lady.

But this time, even Scarlet was late to the draw.

Rose petals fluttered through the air as Rosette’s sword cleaved through it, a beautiful display of the mastery she had achieved. The steel of her thin blade glowed a soft pink as more petals trailed behind its elegant movement, falling gently to the floor and decorating its pitch-black surface with splashes of rich crimson.

In the wake of Rosette’s precise cut, the wave of shadow was vanquished in an instant, leaving Volutia shaking in rage. She reached for the whip she had only just returned to her hip, stepping down from the staircase entirely and making her way toward the group of knights and noblewomen. Despite being severely outnumbered, she didn’t appear worried in the slightest.

Meanwhile, Medrauta’s eyes widened in disbelief. “...Is that? It can’t be...”

“This is indeed what you think it is, Medrauta.” Rosette said. “I wanted to keep it hidden for a little longer, but it seems we have no choice.”

“...When could you?”

“When could I what? Use Chivalric Arts?” Rosette shrugged. “Ever since I learned to wield a sword. Haven’t you heard? The sword techniques of House Lontaine can cause real roses to bloom. That’s why my mother named me ‘Rosette.’ She wished for those techniques to come back to us... and so they did.”

Medrauta simply shook her head. She grinned, impressed. “...We should duel. For real this time.”

“M-Medrauta! This isn’t the time nor the place!” Viviane protested. Her bow had long been unslung from her shoulder, and an arrow was nocked to the string already. In fact, she held several arrows in one hand, ready to shoot a volley at Volutia the moment she needed to.

Rosette laughed. “Is that the only thing that goes on in your head, Medrauta? No wonder you’re so strong. I’ll accept that offer, but first...” She pointed her sword at Volutia. “We have a score to settle, don’t we, Volutia?”

Crack!

Volutia removed the whip from her hip, demonstrating its deadliness against the floor as she cracked it violently, striking the black stone and pulverizing a chunk into pieces. “That we do. However... If you think this will go as easily as it did last time, then you’re dead wrong.”

Rosette raised an eyebrow. “It’s eight on one. What do you—”

Volutia snapped her fingers, causing the space around her to ripple. The effect was similar to what happened whenever Eris used Scarlet’s Crest to teleport, but unlike the noblewoman’s more elegant way of traversing through space, whatever Volutia had triggered was much more forceful.

Instead of slipping through space as though it were a liquid, the ripples tore it open instead, revealing a black void before two humanoid-looking witchspawn stepped out. Their appearances were similar to that of the behemoth, but their stature was far more normal. They only stood a head taller than Volutia, who wasn’t particularly tall herself, though their muscular bodies and horned, bull-like heads implied that they were much more dangerous than they seemed.

One more of these creatures rose from Volutia’s shadow, and all three of the humanoid witchspawn reached out their hands, manifesting swords that they brandished toward Rosette.

“Say hello to my knights. I call them my Fiknights. My final knights. A little wordplay is always fun, don’t you think?” Volutia smiled when no one responded, though it was clear that Scarlet had received her veiled message. That was satisfactory enough. “Now it’s four on eight. I wager I’ll have better odds this time, won’t you?” 

“Nah.” Medrauta stepped forward lazily, joining Rosette by her side. “Not really.”