In the vast space atop the building.
Kotori Itsuka, hefting an axe larger than a person, calmly observed the panting duo before her—a girl and a cat.
"Not bad! You actually lasted this long against me!"
"I thought you'd have collapsed three minutes ago."
As she spoke, Kotori couldn't help but scrutinise the two.
Compared to before the battle, Emilia now looked rather dishevelled.
Her thigh-high boots had long been burned through by scorching flames, leaving only remnants around her big toes—likely leather fused to her skin.
Naturally, her legs were severely burned, though she'd been using healing techniques to maintain mobility.
And while she'd prioritised protecting her legs for movement, the rest of her body hadn't fared much better.
Her long hair had been reduced to a jagged, uneven bob.
Her abdomen had taken a heavy blow, nearly burning her internal organs—she'd only managed to keep fighting by freezing the injury with ice.
If her body was in such a state, her clothing was even worse.
Thankfully, a specially crafted underarmour shielded most of her body, leaving only the burned fist imprint on her abdomen exposed.
But that hardly mattered when she was on the verge of death.
Of course, compared to Emilia, Puck appeared completely unharmed.
Assuming one ignored the fact that he'd already been resurrected once.
Contract Spirits could revive by consuming vast amounts of their contractor's Spiritual Power—a fact Kotori had personally confirmed.
It was precisely because Puck had been killed in an earlier exchange, forcing an automatic resurrection that drained Emilia's reserves, that she was now in such a dire state.
"Look, you two, if you can surrender, just surrender. I told you—I can't hold back."
Faced with Kotori's 'advice', Emilia gritted her teeth and asked:
"Can you still keep going, Puck?"
Hearing this, Puck hesitated.
"I'm fine, but Emilia, you're in terrible shape! If you borrow any more power from Satella, she'll revive inside you."
Top Tier Class Heroes could hold their own against Demigods and even escape from them—but surviving and fighting head-on were two entirely different things.
In their earlier clashes, Kotori's casual use of Concept Entanglement had required Emilia's full effort just to withstand.
The concepts wielded by the two were evenly matched in nature, yet in terms of magnitude, it was like comparing stagnant water to a flowing stream—both water, but qualitatively different.
Despite this vast disparity, Kotori Itsuka remained as steady as an old dog, showing none of the recklessness one might expect from someone her apparent age.
Her opponent had first transformed the battlefield into a sea of molten lava, then extravagantly leveraged her superior rank and output to weave concepts into the randomly appearing flames, launching constant sneak attacks.
This forced Emilia to fight the entire terrain, exhausting herself as she manipulated concepts to resist Kotori's shamelessly oppressive tactics. She even resorted to borrowing Satella's power to hold her ground.
Yet even with a Demigod as her energy source, Emilia was reaching her limit—especially after Puck's death and subsequent revival had nearly drained her Spiritual Power dry.
If this continued, she would truly die!
Realising this, Puck could no longer hold back from urging Emilia to stop.
He didn't want Emilia to die. To him, Aya Tokoyogi—Emilia's teacher—meant nothing. Only Emilia mattered as his most precious 'child' in his eyes.
Hearing Puck's words, Emilia gritted her teeth, forcing her blurred vision to refocus.
"One more minute, Puck. Whether Lana makes progress or not, we retreat after sixty seconds."
The longer they delayed Kotori—this Demigod—the easier the rescue efforts would be on other fronts. Clinging to this belief, Emilia had endured until now, and still did.
Puck visibly hesitated, wanting to say Lana's side might not have made any headway, but ultimately clenched his teeth, ready to gamble one last time with Emilia.
Having raised Emilia like a daughter all these years, he knew her temper too well. In this situation, only by following through with her wishes could she face reality.
'Ah well... I'm not exactly young anymore. If we die, we die.'
"Let's go, Puck!"
"Right!"
Human and cat roared as if making their final stand.
The sheer, almost visible determination made Kotori raise an eyebrow.
If her mission were simply to kill, she could have finished these two a minute ago.
Even when she'd killed Puck earlier—though partly due to the annoying interference from that cat—it had been a deterrent to make Emilia surrender.
Now, seeing this pair ready to stake their lives, Kotori found herself hesitating.
Her abilities leaned more towards immortality and offence, making capturing opponents not her strong suit. Now that the other side was clearly determined to fight to the end, she became somewhat hesitant and cautious.
Failing on her first mission?
Not this!
She'd finally gotten this through the lottery draw!
Just as Kotori Itsuka hesitated, Emilia and Puck were already preparing to attack.
In this confined space, facing a Demigod, even a Top Tier Class Hero could only choose to fight head-on to buy time.
And in a direct confrontation, though it was the worst option, Emilia had no choice but to engage in close combat.
Fortunately, from their earlier exchange, her opponent didn't seem skilled in melee combat, giving Emilia—who had trained in her clan's martial arts since childhood—an opportunity.
In almost an instant, Emilia closed the distance, gathered her energy, and threw a punch straight at Kotori's face.
Against a novice in combat, attacking the face was more effective than targeting the chest.
Because when hit in the face, novices tended to dodge or even freeze up in fear.
"This girl!"
The direct strike at her face made Kotori furious, but she still chose to dodge to the right.
However, the punch was a feint. The girl immediately retracted her force, spun 180 degrees on the spot, and delivered a kick with her left heel.
The Temperature Concept was attached to the kick, an indescribable chill gathering at the sole of her foot.
If it landed, half her body would likely freeze into ice.
Caught off guard, Kotori was struck by the kick.
But before Emilia could show any sign of triumph, the Kotori she hit instantly turned into a figure of flames.
The kick passed through the flames, leaving Emilia's upper body suspended mid-air. At that moment, Kotori voluntarily dispelled her elemental form, revealing a cold smirk.
Snap.
Kotori grabbed Emilia's suspended left leg and sneered:
"I may not be good at martial arts, but that doesn't mean I haven't worked to cover that weakness."
"In terms of combat skill, I'm no match for you. But when it comes to experience fighting Demigods, I've got you beat."
"Checkmate, little white-haired brat!"
With those words, Kotori prepared to manipulate her flames to finish Emilia off.
But just then—snap.
A firm grip suddenly seized Kotori's wrist.
In that instant, Kotori turned her head to look, while Emilia also shifted her gaze toward the unexpected figure.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Emilia's face lit up with joy:
"Teacher?"
Unlike Emilia's delight, Kotori wore a look of annoyance:
"Oh, come on! It had to be you?"
Hearing this, Emilia froze, and even Puck, who had been lurking in the shadows ready to ambush and rescue, halted his movements with a strange expression.
That tone... Could these two... be working together?