The story goes back a little in time…
The second round had ended. The remaining enemies were Diodora himself and his two Knights. The Gremory side had suffered zero casualties.
The balance of power was overwhelmingly in Gremory's favor, but they still couldn't let their guard down. The Astaroth servant team had its [King], Diodora, as its ace. They couldn't rest easy until he was defeated.
"Kazuki? You seem to be in a bad mood. Is something wrong?"
Artoria studied Kazuki's expression, her shapely eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Hm? Ah... I'm worried about Asia. I hope she's not suffering too much..."
Kazuki had just heard that Asia had been taken by Diodora. He had blamed himself for not being by her side then, but Sirzechs had admonished him, saying, "Thinking you could have done something if you were there is arrogance."
That was certainly true. Having been promoted to a High-class Devil and gaining Artoria as a servant, he might have gotten a little carried away.
Sirzechs's words had chastened him. At times like this, he could genuinely admire him, thinking, 'As expected of the Demon Lord...'
"Don't be disheartened, Kazuki. That girl will return if we win the game, correct? And if, by chance, she does not return, I will also assist in her rescue."
Artoria's words honestly made him happy.
"Thank you, Artoria. I'll ask for your strength if the worst happens."
"Yes. I am your sword—no, your [Queen]. My power is always for you—"
He thought happily that her noble character hadn't changed since her time as a Servant.
At that moment…
"What's this? Fog is appearing over the battlefield?"
At Azazel's voice, Kazuki stared intently at the screen.
As Azazel said, fog had generated over the battlefield. The fog spread rapidly, soon growing dense enough to conceal the entire area.
"Sirzechs-sama, a report just came in. All communication with the interior has been cut off."
"!?!?"
Tension ran through everyone at Grayfia's report. At that moment, Kazuki sensed an ominous presence approaching this very room. Glancing at Artoria, she gave a slight nod.
And then, the next instant—
"Sirzechs, prepare yourself!!"
"Perish, false Demon King!!"
As a magic circle glowed on the floor, several devils sprang forth.
Kazuki intercepted the three who lunged at Sirzechs with [Spinning Kick], then swiftly took down the two who were caught off-guard and flustered with [Tiger Cannon] one after another.
The three who went for Azazel were effortlessly cut down by Artoria. The remaining two were struck down by Raynare, who had belatedly noticed the assault, with a sword of light.
The three who attacked the Gremory couple were obliterated by Irina's light. In the meantime, Grayfia deployed a barrier to seal teleportation. The entire exchange took about ten seconds.
"Are you unharmed, Sirzechs-sama?"
"Well done, Kazuki-kun. Thirteen assailants in ten seconds... Impressive."
"These guys called you a false Demon King. Which means..."
"[Khaos Brigade]... And the Old Maou faction at that..."
"So Diodora is indeed a traitor. In that case, Sirzechs-sama, I assume it's fine if I finish him off?"
Diodora was likely just being used and wouldn't have any significant information about the Khaos Brigade. Kazuki had reached his limit of patience. Clenching his fist, he declared his intention to intervene.
"It can't be helped. But that fog..."
"It's likely [Dimension Lost]. The strongest barrier-type Sacred Gear. Entering the barrier is difficult, but leaving is even harder. Breaking it from the outside is likely impossible."
"What!? Then, is there no way to break that barrier!?"
In response to Irina's cry, Azazel stated his opinion.
"No, there should be a barrier-generating device inside the fog itself. If we can destroy that..."
"Then we have to go inside regardless. —Let's go, Artoria."
"Yes, Kazuki."
Artoria's prompt and clear reply was reassuring. Then,
"Kazuki-nii, I'm coming too!"
"Kazuki-sama, please take me with you as well!"
Irina and Raynare came forward, requesting to accompany him.
"It's dangerous, you know? Are you still okay with that?"
"Yes!!"
They seemed to have made up their minds. 'Well, with four people, it would be quite cramped, but they could probably just barely manage.'
"Fine then. Let's go."
The two showed expressions of joy at receiving Kazuki's consent.
"But Kazuki, how do you plan to get inside?"
In response to Azazel's question, Kazuki explained his idea.
"I think I might be able to bypass the barrier using Guyver's dimensional travel... What do you think?"
"That's it! Dimensional traveling, which moves through the interstitial space between dimensions, uses a different access method than standard teleportation! You might be able to slip through the barrier!"
Both spatial teleportation and dimensional travel are methods of moving instantly to a destination, but their access methods differ.
Spatial teleportation warps space using magical energy, but is ultimately movement within this dimension/world. If there's a wall or barrier, it becomes impassable.
However, dimensional traveling/shifting is interdimensional travel that first moves outside this dimension to the interstitial space between dimensions, then shifts back into this world/dimension.
Barriers of this type often have more complex formulae and are harder to control, so many only affect movement within a dimension and have no effect, or only a weak one, on interdimensional travel.
They didn't know how much the caster of this fog barrier had anticipated, but using [dimensional travel], the chances of breaching it were high.
Having heard Azazel's analysis, Kazuki equipped himself as Guyver and focused his thoughts to summon the '[Cocoon]'.
"This is...!?"
As Azazel, seeing the [Cocoon] for the first time, expressed his shock, Kazuki called out to Artoria and the others.
"Everyone, get on!"
At Kazuki's command to board the [Cocoon], Artoria was the first to react, boarding on his right side. Raynare followed, boarding on his left, and Irina clung on frontally, hugging him.
With four people, it was indeed quite cramped. But they could probably manage.
"Hang on, everyone---!!"
As Kazuki sent his thoughts, the [Cocoon] floated into the air and shifted into the interstitial space between dimensions.
...
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