If Izanagi wanted to wipe out the Akabane clan, then why did they marry off the clan's princess?
No matter how you think about it, that's not normal.
He wants to destroy the other side, but also wants to form a marriage alliance? That sounds completely contradictory.
Could it be that Izanagi wanted to send a spy or agent into the Akabane clan?
But in that case, there was no need to send over an actual princess, right?
Anyway, Rozen couldn't make sense of why Izanagi would marry Hinowa to the Akabane clan.
That alone told Rozen there must be more to this than he knew.
On top of that, there was a third question.
"Why did Akabane Tenzen help the Izanagi annihilate the Akabane clan?"
All signs pointed to the true culprit behind the clan's destruction being Izanagi, not Akabane Tenzen. On the day the clan was destroyed, Akabane Tenzen must have cooperated with Izanagi for them to successfully carry it out.
But why would Akabane Tenzen help Izanagi wipe out his own clan?
Did Akabane Tenzen have some grudge against the Akabane clan?
Absolutely not.
Akabane Tenzen had always been regarded as the pillar of the next generation by the clan, the hope of bringing the Akabane family back to the center of national power. The entire clan held great respect and affection for him; even his parents cherished and loved him deeply. Tenzen got along harmoniously with his family and had never had any conflicts.
In fact, it was Raishin who had always been looked down on by the clan since childhood—believed to have little to no magical talent, considered a worthless failure compared to Akabane Tenzen. If anyone had reason to destroy the clan, it would've been Raishin, not Tenzen.
So why would someone like Tenzen help their enemy, betray their family, and become the butcher who slaughtered his own blood?
This was another question Rozen had yet to answer.
These three questions meant that the whole incident hadn't been fully uncovered yet.
With that in mind, Rozen hadn't taken any action. Even though he suspected Izanagi was behind the massacre, he had held himself back.
And now...
"You should be able to clear up one or two of these questions for me, right? Witch of the Rose?"
As he spoke, Rozen's gaze toward Astrid turned incredibly sharp.
That made Astrid feel like she couldn't even breathe.
At this moment, the pressure emanating from Rozen was terrifying to the extreme—not just for Astrid. Everyone present showed looks of shock and fear.
Especially the headmaster, whose expression kept shifting, also struggling to breathe under Rozen's oppressive force.
Everyone, including Astrid, realized something crucial at that moment.
That was—before now, Rozen had never truly seen them as enemies. He hadn't even taken them seriously.
Otherwise, considering the level of pressure he was now radiating, one could imagine how monstrously powerful Rozen really was—far beyond what someone like Astrid could withstand.
Astrid's heart was filled with both anger and regret.
Anger because she couldn't understand:
"Why is some brat from a remote little country this strong?"
It was simply unfair.
Regret because of this operation.
"If I had known this kid from the Akabane family was this strong, I would've prepared more thoroughly."
Astrid deeply regretted it.
But now, it was too late to say any of that.
What she needed now was a way to survive.
So, Astrid forcibly suppressed her inner trembling and spoke to Rozen with difficulty.
"I'll tell you… but you have to promise not to kill me."
That was the only way Astrid could beg for mercy.
Of course, this level of humiliation was something Astrid could never tolerate.
She made up her mind: once she survived this ordeal, next time, she would be fully prepared before acting against Rozen again.
As for everyone who had witnessed her shameful state here—they all had to die.
With that decision made, Astrid never realized one thing—
This ordeal, she wasn't going to survive it.
"You really think that'll keep me from doing anything to you?"
Rozen suddenly extended his hand, grabbed Astrid's head, and yanked it up, forcing her eyes to meet his.
"Buzz!"
The next second, as Rozen locked eyes with Astrid, a terrifying force of magic erupted from within his eyes—first converting to spiritual power, then to jutsuryoku—and, using their gaze as the medium, surged into Astrid's eyes and pierced into her brain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH...!"
Astrid screamed in excruciating pain, feeling as though invisible spikes were being rammed into her skull—unbearably agonizing.
As a great witch who had lived for over a hundred years, Astrid knew full well what was happening.
Rozen was using incredibly powerful magic to forcibly extract her memories.
This kind of spell would normally be ineffective against someone like Astrid.
Just as kotodama rarely worked on skilled jujutsu users, it was typically impossible to invade the minds of high-level witches like Astrid—unless the caster used a world-law-class, cosmic-level magic.
And such spells no longer existed in the modern era.
Rozen's spell wasn't especially advanced—but he used an overwhelming amount of magic power to brute-force it, pushing the spell's potency to an outrageous degree, shattering Astrid's mental defenses and forcibly invading her mind.
Under such conditions, Astrid's brain took devastating damage.
Such a violent intrusion into someone's mental domain could only end in one of two outcomes: either turn the victim into a vegetable, or a drooling idiot.
The pain, resentment, and malice within Astrid's heart all rapidly dissolved.
Before long, Astrid's will was completely shattered.
…
No one knew when it happened, but Astrid's screams eventually ceased.
Everyone watched, horror-stricken, as Astrid's body hung mid-air, bound by chains, a chill in their hearts that refused to dissipate.
Astrid now looked like nothing more than a lifeless doll, her posture frozen in the air, all expression gone from her face, her pupils completely unfocused.
She no longer resembled the dreaded great witch of the Order of the Rose—just an empty husk with no soul.
Rozen had already released her head from his grasp.
His expression now was far calmer than before.
"Snap!"
Rozen snapped his fingers, and the Injunction Shackles wrapped around Astrid, along with the Tenyoryo spearing through her, turned back into magical energy and dissipated.
Astrid's body dropped to the ground—suddenly engulfed in flame.
The witch who had terrified the great powers of the world—Astrid of the Order of the Rose—had just died at Rozen's hands.
As for Rozen, not only had he obtained knowledge of the Seth family's Spirit Magic and Miasma Magic from Astrid's memory, he had also successfully acquired the Panta Rhei time-manipulation magic.
Naturally, Rozen had also learned everything he wanted to know.
"Izanagi..."
Rozen murmured quietly.
In his eyes, a cold gleam flickered.