Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume19 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 1===

Disappearance of the Holy Capital of Alexandria instantly spread throughout the palace.

For a massive capital city to vanish all of a sudden, residents and all, that was unprecedented in the entire history of the continent.

Receiving the report, Fianna instantly summoned the nobles to hold an emergency meeting of the imperial council.

"Unbelievable, Alexandria has vanished?"

Inside the circular hall of the imperial council, an aristocrat exclaimed.

"It is certainly hard to believe. Is the report reliable?"

"Confirmation is in progress. However, according to reports from our border, the news is quite likely to be true."

Standing in the center of the hall, Fianna spoke.

"Vanished, rather than destroyed...?"

"That is what our sources say."

"B-But is that even possible...?"

The imperial council was plunged into confusion.

(...Oh well, I can hardly blame them.)

Leaning against the wall at the back of the imperial council hall, Kamito muttered to himself with his arms crossed.

There were no detailed reports at the current stage, only a disorganized mess of rumors. Added to the fact that the Empire had been in turmoil not too long ago, one could forgive the nobles for losing their calm.

"Is it true? News of the Holy Capital disappearing&mdash;"

Claire whispered.

"...Unconfirmed for now."

"For a city to vanish in an instant, that is unheard of."

"The Sylphid Knights had a training excursion which included a stay at the Holy Capital. The city was roughly the same size as the Academy town. To think it could vanish&mdash;"

Ellis had her head tilted in puzzlement.

"Suppose it met the same kind of calamity that destroyed my homeland?"

Thinking of something, Claire rested her chin on her hand.

"Claire, do you have some kind of idea?"

"Yes, the Fire Elemental Lord's avatar is at that city."

"Oh..."

Hearing Claire's whispers, Kamito groaned.

Victorious in the Blade Dance, Kamito and his team had succeeded in liberating the Fire Elemental Lord.

But according to Rubia, the freed Fire Elemental Lord's soul apparently teleported to the Holy Capital.

The Holy Kingdom must have planned to take possession of the Fire Elemental Lord a long time ago.

In fact, the Fire Elemental Lord was traveling with the Sacred Spirit Knights at the Demon King City.

"Did the Holy Kingdom screw up, causing the Fire Elemental Lord to go on a rampage?"

"That is possible. If the Fire Elemental Lord's power was released, destroying a city would be effortless."

"That's true&mdash;"

Even the pyramid of the Demon King's Tomb had melted within the blink of an eye by the Fire Elemental Lord.

Obliterating the Holy Capital in an instant would not be impossible.

"But according to Lily, the city had vanished suddenly without any signs of destruction."

"...Yes, that is quite unbelievable."

Claire looked down again, lost in deep thought.

Just as the council continued to remain in a state of chaos, a princess maiden arrived at the center of the hall.

"Who is that?"

"Oh, it is Lady Rosamia Ashel!"

Rinslet exclaimed quietly.

"Eh, that's the famous Heavenly Eyes&mdash;"

With great interest, Kamito looked upon the princess maiden with beautiful black hair.

"Heavenly Eyes" Rosamia Ashel.

Kamito had heard of her name back in his Instructional School days.

She was second of the Numbers, as well as being the top-ranked special operative knight.

At the age of twenty-five, she was the oldest of the Numbers.

Rosamia Ashel bowed to the nobles before chanting ritual magic.

"What is she planning to do?"

"This is the spirit magic of Clairvoyance. The ability to observe situations from afar."

"Like the magic used by Princess Linfa of the Four Gods, huh?"

"Yes, but just on an even higher level&mdash;"

After a while, a translucent sphere appeared in the center of the hall.

Projected on the sphere's surface was a clear image. The hall instantly filled with clamor.

The image was projected from a spirit's eyes.

"W-What is that!?"

"What happened?"

Claire and the girls were fixating their gazes upon the image on the sphere too.

The massive Londinia mountain range was gouged out.

Nothing remained to prove that a magnificent city once stood there.

Not even the slightest trace of destruction.

Left behind was a dark and hollow space where even light did not reflect.

"What the heck happened?"

Just as Kamito asked in shock...

"&mdash;Signs of Astral Shift."

A calm voice spoke from behind him.

"N-Nee-sama!?"

Kamito and Claire looked back, only to see Rubia standing there wearing a scarlet mask.

"Did you say Astral Shift?"

"Yes, indeed. According to reports, when the human realm and Astral Zero overlap, this sort of void space is left behind at the location of where the Astral Shift occurred. However, previous reports were all concerned with small-scale shifts that happened naturally in places like the Spirit Forest&mdash;"

"Don't tell me the entire city went through an Astral Shift..."

"Then the Holy Capital has been transported to Astral Zero?"

"Yes, it appears so."

Rubia nodded slightly.

"Could it be that the Astral Shift at the Academy was a trial run for this?"

"...Possibly. But what is the purpose...?"

The eerie image shown on the sphere had plunged the imperial council into deeper chaos.

The entire hall was full of noise.

"Silence&mdash;"

Fianna spoke sternly. Just then...

The image on the sphere shook violently.

"...!?"

The mountain range became covered by blinding light. Soon, nothing could be seen.

"Dame Rosamia, what exactly is this!?"

Fianna looked back to ask Rosamia Ashel.

Only to see&mdash;

"...Ah, ah, ahhh, ah... Ooh, ahhhhhhhhh!"

The princess maiden of Heavenly Eyes clutched her head and began to moan in pain.

"Dame Rosamia!? A-Are you alright?"

"...Ah, ooh... Ahhh, has been... issued..."

"...Huh?"

"...An oracle... has been, issued... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Rosamia's eyes rolled up and she screamed, losing consciousness on the spot, collapsed on the ground.

The hall was instantly in commotion.

"Spirit interference! Deploy a barrier immediately!"

THe first to notice this possibility, Fianna issued orders to the Numbers serving as bodyguards.

Someone had hijacked Rosamia's contracted spirit.

(...To think someone interfered with the spirit of one of the Empire's Numbers from outside?)

With his hands on the hilts of his two swords, Kamito secretly jumped in surprise.

How many elementalists capable of such a feat existed on the continent?

Two knights standing by in the corners of the hall immediately deployed an isolation barrier.

This ought to break the interference afflicting Rosamia&mdash;

Just then, the sphere hovering in the air changed.

The blinding brightness went away and an image seemed to surface.

"H-Hey, don't tell me that's...!?"

Claire pointed at the sphere and shouted.

"...!?"

Seeing that figure shown in the sphere, Kamito gasped too.

It was a blonde young maiden, clad in pure white holy armor.

Appearing there was&mdash;

The legendary Sacred Maiden who had revived in the Demon King City.

"Sacred Maiden Areishia..."

The Sacred Maiden in the sphere looked down at the nobles with her blue eyes.

'&mdash;I am Holy Lord Alexandros. I am issuing my final oracle to you.'

Thus she spoke.