CHAPTER 6 – STILL A WAYS TO BECOMING THE PROTAGONIST
PART 01
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Through Harissa’s teleportation magic, we returned to Iris’ world and warped through her spaceship to Earth. It was already past 11 p.m., but we still had a little time before the meteor struck.
I’d gotten Satsuki to find out how the Satamonian king was going to drop the meteor onto our planet. According to her, they had converted an asteroid into a meteor projectile, which they loaded onto a battle spaceship equipped with a firing cannon. They would then shoot the meteor into space at high speed, and use teleportation technology to make it appear next to Earth.
The battle spaceship was parked about a million kilometers away from Earth, which meant that the meteor would take a mere four to five minutes to be teleported here. In truth, it was a horrifying weapon capable of destroying planets, as there was virtually no time for anyone to react once a meteor had been fired. It spoke volumes of the Satamonians’ evil nature.
Satsuki had also found out that the meteor they were preparing to launch at us was about 15 kilometers in width, roughly the same size as the meteor which had eradicated the dinosaurs.
We navigated our spaceship towards the air space where the meteor would fall. Then, we were lowered to the ground the same way how movies depicted aliens came to Earth to do their cattle mutilations.
I was bad at Geography, so I had no idea where we were, but we were on a vast plain, with cherry blossom trees dotted about the landscape. As the moon was just rising, we were probably in a different time zone from Japan.
Iris had not descended with us. After dropping us off, she navigated the spaceship high into the sky such that it was no longer visible from the ground. She would be playing her role in our plan from there.
The three of us on the ground set about getting the place ready for the Meteor Destruction Battle. Once we were done, Satsuki and I selected a large cherry blossom tree and settled beneath it, while Harissa made herself invisble with her magic. Now, having beckoned to Messiah with some magic, we just had to wait for his arrival.
My throat felt constricted, as feelings of anxiety about the battle ahead ran through my mind. And the silence that had descended upon us was suffocating.
“How about saying something witty?” R asked as she glanced over at Satsuki.
“……”
Satsuki was silent as she stared at the ground.
That’s right… I wasn’t the only one who was nervous.
Determined to break the silence, I looked up at the cherry blossoms as I spoke up.
“Guess cherry blossoms aren’t really found only in Japan.”
At this, Satsuki lifted her head to look at the blossoms too.
“They can be found in the warm belt of the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. This one seems to be of the same variety as those in Japan.”
“…By the way, the trees in our high school’s yard are in full bloom too. Since you didn’t come to school today, you probably haven’t seen them yet, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go see them together tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
A small smile came to Satsuki’s face.
The heavy mood had also lifted slightly.
“We’ve come all this way, so let’s just give it our best shot,” I declared with determination as I clenched my fists.
“I’ll protect you, Satsuki.”
“…Thank you, Rekka.”
And then, the “story”‘s climax came upon us silently.
Ten minutes before midnight, a man appeared in the sky and landed quietly before us.
Messiah Candystraps, the most powerful wizard of this era. It had been eleven hours since our last meeting, but his pompous smirk had not changed.
The wizard glanced at me with a slightly puzzled look.
“Are you the young man from this afternoon? I was sure you had run away, never to return.”
“Haha…”
That was how it must have looked back at the abandoned factory, that I had abandoned Satsuki and disappeared on my own…
“Why would I run away from someone like you?” I said with a bold smile.
Messiah’s brow lifted at my mocking tone.
“…Someone like me?”
“Yeah. Why should I run away from an idiot who mistakenly thinks he’s the most powerful wizard?”
“Oh, and who are you to prattle on like this?”
“Don’t you know? I am the one who is the most powerful wizard of this era.”
“What…?”
My words were a direct challenge to Messiah.
Besides, it had been my idea for Satsuki to use her magic to lure Messiah here. In truth, all this was part of a trap.
I knew this man would not turn down a challenge.
It didn’t matter if this was a trap, or who was challenging him, Messiah was confident in his own abilities… In fact, he was so sure of his status as the era’s strongest wizard that he had appeared before us so willingly.
“And what are you planning?” Messiah asked, laughing scornfully.
I twisted my lip into what I hoped was an evil smirk.
“I challenge you to a duel under a Contract. The loser would swear to never lay a hand on Satsuki ever again. And you would release Satsuki’s parents as well.”
I’d heard from Satsuki about the Devil’s Contract, which was used among magicians since its bonds were strong enough to withstand even the strongest magic. If I could win in a Contract bound with Messiah, we wouldn’t have to worry about him coming after Satsuki anymore.
“I accept, young man. But…”
Messiah raised a single finger, as if to indicate that he had one condition.
“Since the daughter of Creation would follow the victor, why don’t we bind her in the Contract as well?”
“What!? You bastard…”
Just as I was about to protest, Satsuki spoke up.
“No problem. I believe Rekka will win, so it’s alright,” she said as she smiled gently at me.
…It would be totally uncool if I were to protest now.
“Leave it to me.”
I wouldn’t lose.
“Then let us summon the Contract.”
Satsuki stood between Messiah and I, and proceeded with the Contract ritual.
“I agree,” I said.
“I agree, naturally,” Messiah added.
The both of us nodded, and Satsuki chanted a spell to seal the Contract. Then, translucent black chains surrounded us, and I felt them wind tight around “something” within me..
If anyone broke the Contract, I could imagine the chains tearing their soul to shreds.
The stage for our battle had been set.
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