-1174- Monastery

Previously, Rozen had no idea why the members of LCO had distorted the entire spatial layout of Itogami Island.

Perhaps it was just one of the many experiments conducted by the witches of LCO.

Perhaps it was to test the power of the Grimoire No. 539.

Perhaps it was to hinder others from approaching them, in order to carry out their true purpose.

Or perhaps it was to plunge the Itogami Island Management Cooperative into chaos, preventing them from noticing their activities and allowing them to act freely.

But now, with the knowledge of Tokoyogi Yuuma's existence and the existence of the Prison Barrier, Rozen finally connected all the dots.

"Their goal is to find the Prison Barrier and rescue Tokoyogi Aya."

Ten years ago, Tokoyogi Aya, who caused a major incident on Itogami Island and committed horrendous crimes, was arrested by Minamiya Nitsuki. But where exactly was she imprisoned?

After all, Tokoyogi Aya was the head of LCO, a notorious criminal organization in this world, and a witch whose level was not inferior to Natsuki. Where could she be imprisoned to ensure she couldn't escape?

Perhaps even the most fortified prison couldn't completely contain this witch?

The same applied to other magical criminals, who all possessed some special abilities. Even if they were successfully captured, controlling them completely was still uncertain.

Given this, the rumor of the Prison Barrier emerged, suggesting that the heinous magical criminals were actually imprisoned in the temple of an evil god submerged under the sea, where they could never escape.

However, this rumor was both true and false.

"The Prison Barrier does exist, but it's not some temple submerged under the sea."

If Rozen's guess was correct, the so-called Prison Barrier should be an alternate dimension.

"Created using the power of leyline flowing through the Demon Sanctuary, Itogami Island, this artificial alternate dimension cannot be seen or detected, not even by the members of the Management Cooperative who created the artificial island. However, it does exist, somewhere in this Itogami City."

If not, many things wouldn't make sense.

"LCO came to this island with the aim of rescuing Tokoyogi Aya."

"For this, they need to find the location of the Prison Barrier."

"They distorted the spatial layout of Itogami Island in order to find the location of the Prison Barrier."

To find the hidden location in the alternate dimension, LCO planned to use the power of Grimoire No. 539 to distort the entire spatial layout of Itogami Island, much like using a pencil to shade a blank paper, revealing the traces left on the paper. LCO intended to use this method to find the location of the Prison Barrier in the alternate dimension.

"Tokoyogi Yuuma exists for this purpose, right?"

To use Grimoire No. 539, one must possess spatial manipulation abilities on par with Rozen and Natsuki.

Witches like the Meyer sisters couldn't even use Grimoire No. 539, which was intended for spatial manipulation.

Therefore, Tokoyogi Yuuma, who had a deep connection with Tokoyogi Aya, became a witch of the same type as Natsuki by making a contract with a demon, gaining the ability to freely use spatial manipulation magic.

The reason Tokoyogi Yuuma could transfer Nagisa, Avrora, No. 6, and herself silently to the warehouse street in the eastern district of Itogami Island, despite the severe distortion of spatial layout, was because she was not only a user of Grimoire No. 539, but also a witch proficient in spatial manipulation magic.

Perhaps Tokoyogi Yuuma's spatial manipulation magic wasn't as powerful as Rozen and Natsuki's, but it wasn't far off. Plus, with the power of Grimoire No. 539, her spatial manipulation ability would become much stronger.

With this ability, Tokoyogi Yuuma could use the power of the Grimoire to distort the entire spatial layout of Itogami Island, locate the Prison Barrier in the alternate dimension, and rescue Tokoyogi Aya imprisoned there.

This was the plan and goal of LCO.

As for Giada and No. 6...

"They just want to continue the ceremony of the Blazing Banquet with me, but due to the constraints of the Sanctuary Treaty, they can't openly wage war against me on Itogami Island. The Lion King Agency and the Management Cooperative have no reason to assist them in hosting the banquet as before, so they decided to hide behind LCO's plan and force me to take action, thus successfully intersecting with me."

After all, unlike half a year ago, at that time, Lion King Agency and the Management Cooperative provided the venue and assistance because they knew the awakening of the Fourth Primogenitor was inevitable and wanted to establish a peace treaty with him.

But now, with the Fourth Primogenitor sealed by Rozen, there's no need to worry about him disrupting the world order or to sign any peace treaties. Therefore, Lion King Agency and the Management Cooperative no longer need to allow the Blazing Banquet to proceed.

As a result, Giada and No. 6 needed a pretext, a pretext to bypass the constraints of the Sanctuary Treaty, to act against Rozen without alarming the other two Night Empire Primogenitors and other entities.

It's really...

"They've gone through quite a few hoops, these bastards..."

Rozen took a deep breath, unable to suppress the anger in his heart, and his magic began to burn slowly.

If they hadn't touched the people around him, Rozen could have turned a blind eye and let them do as they pleased, just to play along with them.

But now that they've reached out to those close to him, taking Avrora away and causing Nagisa such shock and distress, Rozen's anger couldn't be contained any longer.

"Is it because I'm too easygoing these days that I'm constantly getting picked on like this?"

Taking Avrora away, this must also be their scheme, right?

Giada and No. 6 must have realized that it wasn't so easy to make Rozen go all out, which is why they took Avrora away to provoke him. That's also a possibility.

And I must say...

"You've succeeded."

Responding to Rozen's anger, his magic kept burning.

"If you want a fight that badly, then let me accompany you to the end!"

It's unknown whether it was coincidence or destiny.

Just after Rozen had finally made up his mind to fight, an extraordinary surge of magic power appeared in the direction of the Keystone Gate.

"Boom!"

An astonishing shock accompanied by the rumbling of the atmosphere surged forth.

The shock originated from the northern end of Itogami Island.

There, near the sea surface close to Itogami Island, an unseen island suddenly appeared, swaying like a mirage.

It was a rugged island, resembling a peak, with a diameter of less than two hundred meters and a height of about eighty meters. Most of the island was made up of artificially constructed sanctuaries, bearing a striking resemblance to the island of Mont Saint-Michel in Europe.

The monastery was later used as a fortress and then transformed into a prison for numerous clergymen and political prisoners.

Now, a similar island with the same characteristics appeared on the ocean north of Itogami Island, exposing the towering stone-built monastery under the moonlight.

At this moment, many people on Itogami Island saw this scene.

Including Rozen, Kojou, and Nagisa.

"That is..."

Kojou and Nagisa were stunned.

"Prison Barrier..."

Rozen muttered softly.

His eyes flickered with coldness.

//// Going to rest a few more days, got a high fever right after the exam. I'll just upload the draft I've saved up. At most three days ////