Axel slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"...Oh, we really made it back," he commented, as if finding it unbelievable.

"R-Really...?" Nina, who was pulling at his clothes from behind, asked timidly. "It didn't fail again, did it...? Is this really the fortress?"

Axel turned to the scared princess and sighed. "Well, we did get sent five times to unknown, weird places... your worry is valid." He then turned to Fenrir and asked, "So, is this reality, or another weird illusory space?"

"It's the real fortress, Master."

Fenrir answered without hesitation.

"I can still smell our scents in this place, and those people's scents are familiar too... except that one."

"People?"

Axel finally turned around, facing the witches who were staring at them, mouths agape.

"P-Princess..."

"It's Princess Ethernina! The second princess has returned safe!!!"

"Report to the palace at once! Hey, you...!"

As if that was the signal, time started running for the witches present once more. One of them used a return scroll without hesitation, disappearing.

"Looks like we've made them worry..." Axel scratched his head. "Can't really tell them what we've been doing for the past three days."

"T-That's...!"

Nina, recalling the things that ate up two-thirds of their time, couldn't help but blush. After all, even if she didn't participate in it after the first time, she still stayed there and watched... while playing with herself.

"So, you're the missing ones~?"

"Hmm?"

Before they could start a romcom once more, a new figure approached and spoke.

Axel quickly checked them out and frowned. "A guy... no, gay?"

At his words, something flashed—and was caught between Fenrir's fingers. A small throwing dagger. The other party frowned, taking a stance and growling.

"I'm a woman, kid," she said. "Of those who called me a man, nobody remained to tell the tale."

Axel didn't really care... but there was one problem now.

She tried to attack Axel.

An attack with killing intent.

And she did it right before Fenrir, who swore to protect him... in short—

"Don't kill her!"

Axel's voice barely made it in time.

Without anyone noticing, Fenrir's claw was already skin-deep against the woman's neck. It was so fast that nobody saw it happen.

Cold killing intent swept through the field, sending shivers down everyone's backs.

'No way...!' Even the woman herself, Viola, couldn't believe it. 'This girl broke through layers of my defense and injured me in a flash?!'

It felt as if, in the past few decades, this was the first time she felt genuine fear for her life.

Slowly, Fenrir pulled her arm back. But her cold gaze remained locked onto the other party even after she fell to the ground, her legs losing strength.

"And...?" Axel glared at the woman on the ground as he asked, "Who are you? You're not a witch of Witcheria either, right...?"

Of course, Axel didn't really care if the other party died. However, killing them without knowing and killing them after knowing could save him a lot of trouble.

Viola quickly found her voice, replying in panic.

"I-I'm Viola, the matriarch of the Totems, a shaman!" she explained. "We came here to help search for you lot... but since you're all here, then that's good. I'll recall my girls and return."

She was a matriarch of a different dimension!

Axel felt relieved that he stopped Fenrir in time. If not, then a war might have ensued between the two dimensions!

Smiling with a poker face, Axel continued. "So you weren't alone...?"

Right at that instant, a powerful roar broke the peace.

"RAAAAAGH!"

Hearing the voice, everyone in the fortress stiffened.

Some fell into despair and panic as the powerful roar reached their ears.

Fenrir, Axel, and Nina were too familiar with the voice. They didn't need to guess the source of the pained, angry howl.

"Vulcanus...!" Nina gasped in fear.

Fenrir's frown deepened as her head turned in a single direction—north.

"Seems like he's angry after finding my presence here once more," she said. "After all, I should've died already, after Surtr caught me."

She placed a hand over her chest, where there had originally been a fist-sized hole going through it. However, rather than painful memories, she started to cherish the memory of her "death" even more.

"But this time, I will not lose!"

She turned back, staring into Axel's eyes, and asked, "Master! Please allow me to fight Vulcanus!"

"..."

Axel paused.

Deep inside, he wanted to keep her beside him—to protect him in case of an emergency.

However, after the previous fiasco, he had learned that keeping her near could lower their chances of survival instead. Albeit dissatisfied, he could only nod.

"Alright," he said. "Go and wrap up your fight with him. Don't hold back!"

"W-Wait...!"

"Hmm??"

Viola suddenly raised her voice and begged.

"M-My elites... my girls are still out there! If this person and that scary monster fought, I fear that they will...!"

Axel's ears hurt.

He recalled her saying she brought others with her and had them search for Axel and Nina. Just as he was about to nod along—without promising anything concrete—

"No way!" Nina raised her voice next.

Her voice was smeared with fear and panic, enough that Axel couldn't help but notice.

"What's wrong this time?" he asked, expecting more trouble.

However, the trouble was even bigger than he expected.

With trembling lips, Nina summarized what she heard from the witch on standby. "M-My sisters... Fria and Gwyn... They also went to search for us!"

Two princesses—Ria's and Nina's sisters—were out there in the Red Zone!

This was extremely bad news.

After all, the temperature around them was already starting to rise, nearing sweltering heat. A clear sign that Vulcanus was approaching. Which also meant that, wherever the search party was, they were already within the heat's range.

"Damn," Axel cursed. "I bet their scrolls already stopped working by now, too."

He experienced it himself, after all.

Vulcanus's presence alone was enough to stop teleportation through return scrolls, and at an extremely close distance, even disrupt the operation of a teleportation array.

At this point, he couldn't ask Fenrir to save them first either. No matter how fast she moved, rescuing the entire search party would delay her meeting with Vulcanus—thus endangering everyone still in the fortress if it became the rendezvous point instead.

Knowing this, Axel realized how grim the situation was.

And at the same time, he knew there was only one option left.

"Fenrir!" Axel turned to the wolf lady and commanded. "Stop Vulcanus at all costs! Leave rescuing the search party to me!"

Axel had to take action himself.

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