Interesting chapter. About this:
As they talked, the royal castle eventually appeared before their eyes.
"Ah."
Yogiri seemed to be surprised by something, as he suddenly embraced Tomochika and quickly took several steps backward.
The exact same scene had already played out so many times that, at this point, she just kept silent and left everything to him.
After all, there should be a reason behind Yogiri actions.
A loud, thunderous sound rattled through the air.
And then, the scenery where the duo had been standing just moments before vanished.
Be it the castle's ramparts, the townscape, or the people within, everything disappeared completely.
"What… is this?" (Tomochika)
Breaking free from Yogiri's embrace, Tomochika looked at the barren land before her with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
Looking closely, it was possible to see the full scope of the area that had been affected.
It was a charred, barren expanse with a width of about one hundred meters. Length-wise, it extended straight from the inside of the royal castle, stretching all the way to the southwest wall that surrounded the city. It failed to pierce through the city's protective bulwark that had been made by the great sorcerer, said to offer an impenetrable defense against any form of attack, but even so, the damage sustained by the city within was enormous.
Does that mean that Yogiri basically killed a minor part of Ayaka's attack to protect himself and Tomochika from it?
