Eventually, Veyron still backed down.
But, Veyron left behind a single sentence.
"I will definitely defeat you."
Leaving behind such a line—though it was unclear whom it was directed at—Veyron finally retreated to the corner of the arena with Sleipnir, who had lost one of its arms.
"A wise choice."
Charl withdrew her mana, lifted her chin proudly, and struck a spirited pose, causing many onlookers to murmur and discuss her earlier display of Gram Battle Arts.
Frey, on the other hand, approached Charl hesitantly and asked a question.
"You're not going to finish off the Last One?"
Frey seemed rather timid.
After all, on the eve of the Night Party, Frey had fought Veyron once. In that battle, Frey was nearly pushed to the brink of defeat, her mechanized heart going berserk and almost costing her life.
Since then, Veyron hadn't laid a hand on Frey again—he seemed to have lost interest in fighting her.
And because Frey lacked confidence in defeating Veyron, she could only watch as he continued fulfilling his standby obligations day after day, never being eliminated.
Now, only powerful contestants remained on the field, and Veyron was the only one clearly positioned as an enemy.
Given that, taking Veyron out here and now might not be a bad move.
But Charl simply shook her head.
"While he is indeed an opponent, back when I voluntarily lowered my rank to fight Rozen, he didn't interfere or attack us. So I won't make the first move on him."
This noble young lady, known for her strong pride, was surprisingly principled in moments like this.
Because of that, Charl merely repelled Veyron and didn't take his glove.
Loki, on the other hand, looked quite eager to fight Veyron.
"He beat up Frey badly before. We can't just let that slide."
Loki insisted.
Unfortunately, he too lacked confidence in defeating Veyron.
It wasn't that Loki's strength was inferior to Veyron's, but rather that their automatons were poorly matched in terms of compatibility.
Veyron's automaton had a Magic Circuit that remained unidentified, but it clearly possessed movement equivalent to teleportation. For Cherubim, which required time to generate hot air, time to transform, and also needed to land direct hits to cause damage, taking down such a mobile opponent would not be easy.
"That automaton's Magic Circuit is pretty interesting. To beat it, I'll need to plan carefully first."
So said Loki, implying now wasn't the time to strike.
However, Loki seemed to have already seen through Sleipnir's Magic Circuit.
That wasn't surprising.
With the ability of Mind's Eye, as long as one observes carefully, identifying Sleipnir's Magic Circuit isn't difficult.
Back when Veyron first stepped into the Night Party's battleground, Rozen had already seen Sleipnir's combat and discerned the nature of its Magic Circuit. So it made sense that Loki could figure it out too.
Still, without a strategy, Loki wouldn't make a move on Veyron for now.
As for Frey...
"I don't think I can beat him."
Frey looked a bit crestfallen.
Even though she had grown stronger and could now command all of her Garm, defeating Veyron—who was said to be on par with Magnus—still seemed out of reach.
Currently, Frey's strength should be enough to place her in the top twenty of the Night Party. But she still lagged behind the level of the Thirteen. Defeating Veyron was naturally not very realistic.
Of course, Frey seemed to be hiding a trump card. If she used it, the match might get interesting. But it clearly wasn't something she could use lightly, so she could only back off for now.
That left Rozen, who had been observing the entire time.
"You really don't plan to make a move, Rozen-sama?"
"You won't fight anyone, not even the Last One?"
"Do you not want to battle at all?"
Irori, Yaya, and Komurasaki each asked him in turn.
Rozen simply replied with his usual line.
"No preemptive strikes. Let's just leave it at that."
Rozen smiled calmly the whole time.
He had noticed Veyron's hostility toward him a long time ago.
Even so, Rozen found Veyron's behavior quite puzzling.
"Did I ever offend him?"
Rozen muttered to himself, looking completely indifferent and unable to make sense of what was going on with this Last One.
Still, Rozen didn't dwell on it.
After all, if the other party attacked, he could always retaliate.
Having already seen through the automaton's Magic Circuit, Rozen didn't believe this Last One could pose any threat to him.
In fact, he doubted there was anyone in this world who could threaten him now.
So, Rozen continued to maintain his zen-like detachment and showed little interest in the Night Party battles. Instead, he turned his gaze in another direction.
There, standing on the rooftop of a school building, a masked man commanding six girl automatons looked down at them, locking eyes with Rozen.
The two stood at a distance, silently meeting each other's gaze.
Their expressions were equally calm.
A short while later, the man led his squad away.
Seeing this, Rozen simply smiled and looked away, as though nothing had happened.
The battle ended there.
Veyron no longer moved. Rozen and the others merely exchanged cold glances, but none of them took action.
"The Night Party is far from over. We can fight again later."
Charl made her stance clear.
"Too many people around. I won't be able to go all out."
Loki explained his reasoning.
"I… I don't want to fight everyone either."
Frey shrank back timidly.
In short, no one was trying to settle the score right now.
Even though everyone's goal was to become Wiseman, now was too soon to decide the victor.
The Night Party was only halfway done. The second half would be where the true excitement began.
Then, the strongest of the puppeteers who could make it into the top fifty would begin to appear one after another.
That would be the true spectacle of the Night Party.
And so, Rozen and the others all tacitly fulfilled their one-hour standby duty and left the field together.
The spectators only began to disperse, still excitedly discussing the power Loki and Charl had displayed.
Many felt it was a shame.
"We didn't get to see Fimbulvetr's Winter fight."
"Yeah."
"I wonder how strong he is now."
"I really want to witness it."
The audience was filled with such thoughts, and even those with hidden agendas shared the same curiosity.
The difference was that ordinary spectators simply wanted to see Rozen's strength, while those with ulterior motives had their own considerations.
These different thoughts and motives would intertwine, brewing something unknown.
The only thing that could be said with certainty—
A storm is coming.
And on that very night, someone arrived in the Machinart City of Liverpool.
"So this is the Machinart City?"
At the station, a young man muttered as he looked at the cityscape before him.
He wasn't particularly tall, but his physique was solid, and his sharp eyes radiated the aura of a seasoned warrior.
He wore a loose kimono, draped with a haori, and at his waist hung a demonic-looking sword.
Tightening his grip on the sword at his waist, the young man smiled.
"Nuragami is here, isn't he?"
The boy spoke to himself.
And then—
"That person is here too..."
The smile on his face vanished, replaced by boundless hatred.
With his chest full of rage, the boy uttered a curse.
"Two years. I finally stand before him."
"Nadeshiko, Father, Mother, and everyone..."
"I will avenge you all."
"I will kill you."
"Akabane Tenzen."
With that, the youth stepped into Liverpool.