Fortieth Chapter
Rebellious Unwanted — Demi Azur
Unfortunately—not even Alus could turn everything around him into a desert.
But even so, Helheim covered a vast area. The trees had turned to gravel, forming several sand dunes where the larger ones had once stood.
The green Outer World had completely changed, as if in a dream. The desert glowed gold as sunlight poured down on it. And now, suddenly, there were dark clouds gathering above. A darkness covered the once dazzling sand, gradually spreading out. It was a sign of the coming storm.
Strangely, it was a phenomenon that only happened above the sand. Some distance away, the sun was shining down as always.
In his battle against the abnormal being, Alus was getting some degree of satisfaction. He’d never met an enemy as powerful as this one, and it was the first time he’d used this much mana.
He wore a thin smile on his lips. It was the elation of the strong in mortal combat.
Looking at him now, it was hard to remember how he’d griped about getting wrapped up in this trouble to begin with.
No—he wondered if it was still troublesome. Before he had gotten excited about this, it had been nothing short of carnage, the unpalatable slaughtering of the weak before him.
The refreshing experience of this situation cleared up Alus’ thinking more than anything else had. It was liberating, even. The truth was that this battle made for a fine experiment for him. He was able to use the multitude of spells engraved on his chain for whenever logical or necessary to his heart’s content.
So far, most of these spells would’ve killed most Fiends immediately, so the fight would be over the moment they were used. But in this battle, he could use them freely against this powerful foe.
Yet in spite of his composure, if a third party were to witness this battle, they would determine that Alus was at a slight disadvantage. While he had no fatal wounds, he had cuts here and there on his body and his clothes were torn and scorched.
His blood ran down his cheeks, and he used his sleeve to wipe it off. But since he’d forcibly wiped the surface of the wound, one of his cheeks was left painted red with blood. In return, the flow temporarily stopped, but he wouldn’t care if it started up again.
As for the Devourer... It wouldn’t be strange for it to be long dead considering the overall damage it had taken from Alus’ spells and attacks. But no matter if he cut this terrifying enemy’s arm off, or slashed deep into its head, the wounds would heal in an instant. And so the Fiend looked just the same on the surface as when the fight had begun. However, the magical back and forth would have considerably drained it of its mana, or should have, at least.
Having devoured hundreds of Magicmasters and absorbed their mana, even Alus and his vast stores fell short. Still, just how much did this thing eat...? He was well aware that he had an unprecedented amount of mana, on top of his flawless mana control and full control of all attributes. But even so, he wasn’t a match for hundreds of Magicmasters. He’d more or less understood that, but it was still disappointing.
And then, to change gears, he exhaled and stared directly at the Fiend. An awkward moment passed while they regarded each other.
Was it sensing danger on an instinctive level, or was it hesitating to attack out of fear? The Fiend wasn’t attacking, but Alus couldn’t imagine anything good coming from a drawn-out battle.
With a fearless smile, Alus called out to the Fiend as if taunting it. “What do you want to do? With this desert as your footing, you won’t be able to put those legs of yours to full use.”
Whether the Fiend understood him or not, it opened its mouth and began gnashing its sharp teeth together.
Regardless, if I want to kill it, I’ll have to annihilate it in a single shot. Not only were its feet sinking into the sand, there were no trees it could leap into. But even then, it was too swift to hit directly with the Black Ikazuchi expanding overhead.
In the next moment, the Fiend made its move. Kicking up sand, it ran towards Alus in an irregular zigzag pattern. It started off on all fours, but then raised its upper body in the blink of an eye, bringing up the arm that had been scraping along the sand.
Three razor-sharp claws rose up from the sand and slashed at him.
Each slash was as sharp as the last attack from Kurama’s Hazan, but the mana in them was easily twice that. The most troublesome part was that the force was in the wind attribute itself, meaning that even if they were blocked, it wouldn’t be enough to fully kill off the momentum. That said, allowing them to cut through the black clouds would disrupt the spell.
Fighting wind with wind is the usual practice. I guess I’ll crush it. Alus pulled on the AWR’s chain and poured mana into a ring close to the handle as he thrust his hand out.
“‹‹Downburst››”
A sudden burst of wind, like a massive invisible foot, came storming down. The air and claw slashes were crushed into a deep, round depression in the sand. The blast of wind that slammed into the ground dissipated along the surface, blowing up the sand and pebbles.
Even in the sandstorm—Alus kept his attention on the Fiend.
He saw two flashes of light flying at his head. In the face of the swiftly approaching attack, Alus bent his upper body backwards to dodge. With his eyes facing skyward, he could see the heat rays flash by.
Turning back to stare at the Fiend, he immediately identified the two rays as having been fired out of the abnormal ends of the Devourer’s forked tail. When it moved its tail, the still firing rays were carelessly swung around.
Alus kicked up with his leg, and the sand at his feet was thrown up. Pouring mana through the sand, he created a sand wall to block the heat rays’ assault.
In the moment of time it bought him, he twisted his body to dodge. A portion of the sand wall swelled up, and the white beams pierced through, just barely grazing Alus’ cheek.
He then put up several layers of barrier in the way of the rushing Fiend, but the Fiend used its hands and claws to try to pry them open by force.
Eventually it seemed to get sick of working at it, and mana focused in its mouth. It came to a complete stop, closing its mouth as if taking a deep breath, with its chest swelling up.
“—Trying to take full advantage of your mana, are you?!” Alus muttered in annoyance, as the Devourer’s mouth opened up at almost 180 degrees, firing out a ball of highly condensed mana.
That ball easily crushed through all layers of his barrier with ease. It was a pitch black ball of gravity, though it didn’t move as fast as the heat rays. If swallowed by that, not only would one be physically damaged, one’s mana would be damaged as well. In fact, it was hard to imagine what would happen to a human’s soft body.
In reaction, Alus created a globe of his own, but it was a manifested spell rather than pure mana. When contrasted against the Devourer’s black ball, it looked like a small white sun.
“‹‹Astral Sun››”
No, it didn’t just look like one. It was fundamentally a compressed, small sun.
The whirling Astral Sun created a spiral emerging from its surface, and crossed paths with the ball of gravity that contained a deep darkness within.
In order to brace himself for the coming shockwave and heatwave, Alus raised a sand wall ahead of him. The wall looked like a wave of sand had risen up and suddenly been frozen.
The moment the wall was finished, a fierce shockwave came over Alus. Then the hot blast from the two colliding spheres washed over the entire area. A normal human wouldn’t have stood a chance. The heatwave would’ve wiped them out in an instant.
Once the two waves receded, Alus made to stand up, when he saw a hole burst open in the scorched sand wall. Two tails with creepy mouth-like openings came through towards him.
“—!” He slashed Night Mist to cut one of them off, but wasn’t fast enough to deal with the other. Its fangs dug into his left shoulder and twisted, gouging out the flesh.
He finally cut it down on the return swing of the black blade, and the bloodstained tail made a heavy thud as it hit the ground, a piece of flesh falling out of its mouth.
When Alus glanced at the wound, he saw it was pulsing out blood. He opened and closed his hand to see how bad it was, and fortunately his fingers still moved, but he couldn’t raise his arm.
“... I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson before finishing this!” As if hungry for revenge, Alus glared at the Devourer, then he focused. The next moment a wind was whipped up, and a wriggling mana flooded out of his body. It was like darkness had been given physical form, a mana that could be seen with the naked eye.
Sensing the dreadful presence, the Devourer’s regenerated tail was pulled back to its body as if it was trying to escape.
“Where do you think you’re going...” Alus slowly raised his right hand, and the darkness squirmed.
“Feast, Gluttonous Predator ‹‹Gra Eater››”
At Alus’ voice, the dark mana seemingly took on a will of its own and dove towards its target. The pointed tip of it curled up in midflight... and its black mouth opened. It skipped across the sand like a stone skipping across water.
Each time it scraped along the ground, it accelerated. Finally, the black mana reached the Devourer. Vast amounts of mana spewed out from Gra Eater’s mouth.
The mana took on the shape of smaller serpents that greedily opened their mouths as well, like an endless appetite given form, multiplying and expanding. It also looked like countless black tentacles had sprouted out of Alus’ body.
Before long, the Devourer was surrounded by the greedy predator that had split into a hundred parts.
Gra Eater mercilessly tried to bite into the Fiend, but the Fiend moved out of the way, causing Gra Eater to miss and collide with itself. But only for an instant, as it quickly returned to its original rampaging form and relentlessly chased after its target.
The Devourer attempted to fight back by unleashing a slash with its claws, but they simply passed through Gra Eater’s body of mana. Moreover, as the attack had contained wind magic, a large amount of mana poured into Alus.
As Gra Eater was mana, magic was theoretically the only means of counteracting it, but in reality it weakened the enemy’s power and absorbed it with its endless appetite. In other words, neither physical attacks nor magic worked, meaning it had practically no weaknesses.
The Devourer still hadn’t given up, as it bit into Gra Eater with its tails, but only ended up having its mana robbed from it instead. Gra Eater could take in mana from the entire surface of its body, so it didn’t matter where it was attacked.
Should be about enough... The mana absorbed from the Devourer was more than expected. So Alus decided to call it back before he lost control of it and it ran rampant.
The mana Gra Eater ate was nourishment for it, but Alus could also use it for spells. Having absorbed such a huge amount, the predator had grown plump. He focused on pulling back Gra Eater, crushing its resistance.
Gradually, the wriggling black mana faded away. Confirming that it had fully returned inside of him, he coldly stared at the Fiend that still persistently attacked Gra Eater’s afterimage. “I can’t tell if this thing is intelligent or not... no, if it was, it would’ve run away when I used Helheim.” Alus shrugged in exasperation.
“OOOOOOOOoooo!!” It seemed the Devourer finally realized its mana had been eaten, as it let out a roar that made the sky tremble. The Fiend leaned forward, putting its arms on the ground, and made a beeline straight for Alus at an explosive speed.
Mana was pouring out of its mouth and from the ends of its tail. When the Devourer stomped its feet into the ground, it unleashed it all at once. Just as the Roscarg had, the Devourer froze the desert over.
“Niflheim. In the end a monster’s just a monster,” Alus muttered, as he snapped his fingers upward. When he did, the Fiend’s jaw rose up as if it was being pulled.
Space domination magic would be exaggerating it a little, as all Alus had done was form a sturdy rectangular shape from below the oncoming Fiend’s jaw and pushed it up. If it hadn’t been enraged, it would have dodged the attack easily.
Alus remained calm, carefully observing the Devourer, and he didn’t miss the opening. He quickly put out and crossed his hands.
Sharp sand spears burst forth from the frozen ground. Four of them, rapidly rotating, attacked the Devourer from all sides, piercing its upper body. Due to its composition, Helheim was resistant to interference. It created a world that couldn’t be overwritten by magic. No further change could be made to a dead world waiting for the end.
The Devourer had already shown Niflheim to Alus when it had been lurking inside of the Roscarg. It was impossible to break the source of the sand world without understanding the mechanism behind it. And that wasn’t something a Fiend could aim to do. It hadn’t even noticed the main component of Helheim that had been hidden underground.
“GYAAAaaaa!!” Its scream once more made the air tremble, the volume loud enough to burst eardrums.
The sand spears crumbled and changed form into lumps of rock floating in the air. With rocks surrounding its body, the Fiend’s arms were pinned behind its back.
The Fiend brought up its tail to break through its bonds, but the rocks only returned to sand for an instant before hardening once more.
While its resistance appeared pointless, Alus couldn’t let his guard down. It was still likely that the Fiend had enough power to break free from a binding of this level. “But it’s too late now...”
The sand below the Devourer parted, opening up a hole that seemed to lead straight to hell. The floating rocks binding the Fiend returned to sand, and collapsed.
And once freed—the Fiend succumbed to gravity and fell.
“It’s just you and me here. You won’t be able to use Shuffle.” Alus stared down the hole as it fell. The wind blew up, rustling his hair, as he swung his AWR and brought its chain in front of him. Holding his hand over one of its rings, he created a spell through his AWR that took the form of thin black lightning flashing around him.
Now that I think about it, the first to find a new type of Fiend gets the right to name it.
Animals were one thing, but only the truly eccentric would want to name a bizarre Fiend. As such, it was common for military and government research institutes to name new types.
But in that moment, something naturally came to Alus’ mind. This thing ate even other Fiends, and was all alone. It ate not only people but its own kind... it was an existence that was detested by all, a poster child of darkness that quietly lurked within host bodies.
“I think ‘Rebellious Unwanted, Demi Azur’ would suit you just fine.”
The Fiend was in free fall, plummeting deep into the dark hole. It could probably see the core of Helheim in its depths, but it was already too late. Before the Devourer was out of sight, Alus could see it reaching out with its arms and tail to stop its fall, but everything around it was sand, so it was all in vain.
As he watched it disappear, Alus mercilessly uttered the words that would seal its fate.
“‹‹Black Ikazuchi››”
Black lightning descended down the massive hole like a black dragon.
The attack moved so fast it left sound itself behind. Once in the hole, the lightning split into what looked like black snakes. And a beat later, the atmosphere trembled, and the sand was blown up.
Black Ikazuchi completely filled up the hole, blowing away anything and everything, before disappearing.
For a second blackness covered everything. It was complete darkness, like one’s eyes were closed. However, color and light and form started to return from the point of impact.
Alus had fixed his body to the spot with mana, and put up several layers of barriers to protect himself, which he finally released. He checked out how things looked after the release of Black Ikazuchi, and after floating for a moment, he slowly descended.
The ground had disappeared. Everything in front of him had been deeply gouged out, exposing the earth below. Helheim had been undone.
Unlike Niflheim, another environment-changing spell, Helheim could change the terrain while also assisting the Magicmaster. While Niflheim deceived the world through the principle of magic, Helheim rewrote and replaced the substance itself. In other words, it turned the false world into reality.
It was a change purely on the material level, but much of the changed material remained in the real world permanently, even if the caster stopped supplying it with mana.
The massive hole wasn’t just from the impact of Black Ikazuchi, but also from converting the dirt into sand through Helheim, which then crumbled away. The sand that still lined the hole was a sign of how powerful the spell Alus had used was.
At some point, the dark clouds had completely disappeared as if they were never there, revealing a cloud-free sky above. And with nothing to obstruct it, the sunlight shone down and lit up the massive scars of magic.
Alus had likely used up a third of the mana he’d absorbed and restored. The spell used too much mana, but he’d still created a spell this powerful despite lacking an affinity for the lightning attribute. It was nothing short of a feat of strength, but just being able to use the vertex of lightning was a luxury...
“The spell’s definitely worthy enough of being called an ultimate level one...” There were currently only four ranks used to classify spells, but that wasn’t enough to accurately classify all spells. To begin with, this evaluation standard had been in effect for fifty years. As humanity had expanded its knowledge and made great strides in the field, some spells that couldn’t be measured by conventional standards had been created.
There was already a fifth ultimate level added to the rankings, with spells categorized as such, including Black Ikazuchi.
But normally that wasn’t a realm within human reach. Alus surveyed his surroundings with a bitter smile. It looked like a crater after a meteor impact. As a result of the gouged-out ground, he could see exposed bedrock in the hole. The whole area below was probably part of the deposit. Because he’d guessed correctly about what was going on underground, Alus’ expression eased up.
When he suddenly felt—
“—!!” He reflexively braced himself, but then let out a small sigh, shrugging. “Looks like it died after all, but to think there’s something left of it... that’s the kind of toughness you’d expect from an SS-class.”
In the center of Black Ikazuchi’s impact was the deformed body of the Fiend. Its once black body had now completely carbonized. One of its arms was blown off from its elbow, and its horn that stretched backwards gradually crumbled away.
Leaving the corpse alone, Alus turned around. Rubbing his now stiff shoulders, he walked towards the edge of the crater... when the sound of something bubbling came from behind him.
He whipped his head around to look.
Taking place in front of him was an abnormal sight. The supposedly dead Fiend’s body was swelling up like a balloon. Without anywhere to go, the mana was leaking out like gas.
The Fiend was definitely dead. So it would eventually disperse alongside the mana... or at least it was supposed to.
Shit...!
All Fiends, without exception, had a core. He was already well aware of the Devourer’s extreme regeneration. That’s why he’d used Black Ikazuchi to destroy everything, along with its core. And he should have succeeded.
But now... it appeared that the Devourer wasn’t storing its absorbed mana in its core, but in some other organ.
It was also said that the core was responsible for converting absorbed mana into something more suitable for a Fiend, which was why it was said to be a Fiend’s weak point. But apparently this Devourer’s body wasn’t that easy to understand.
Alus’ instincts told him that this Fiend stored all of the mana it absorbed throughout its entire body. Which meant that every single cell in its body was a storehouse for mana, instead of just its core.
It would normally be impossible and basically unbelievable—but this Devourer exceeded all imagination.
At any rate, it was already too late. With the Fiend dead, its cells began swelling with mana and started rampaging like an unchained beast. There were many different kinds of mana mixing and conflicting with each other... and it was probably Demi Azur’s core that had maintained the balance between them.
Without something to rein the mana in, it would eventually run completely rampant, and give birth to a certain phenomenon.
“A super anti-magic explosion, huh...” Alus muttered to himself.
It was something impossible that could become possible under the right circumstances. When compressing contradicting manas and sealing them in a small vessel, some form of trigger could bring about an explosion. The Devourer’s cells were still in the process of conflicting with each other, which created the worst possible conditions.
Just the blastwave from the explosion would stretch dozens of kilometers. Of the many phenomena that could be created with mana, it was the one that would cause the most damage.
If it happened, even Lettie’s squad, as far away as they were, would be wiped out in an instant.
He should at least put up a last stand for their sake. But even then, the possibilities were just... It was a good thing that he’d kept a degree of distance from Tesfia and Alice.
A number of doubts whirled through Alus’ head. If only he’d... and so on. However, any of the countermeasures he could think of meant nothing before the reality he faced.
There hadn’t been a single report of an SS-class Fiend since the event fifty years ago. And strictly speaking, the elimination of the Fiend back then had failed, and the full story of its nature and weaknesses had never been discovered. Not to mention the Fiend’s type and circumstances, how many Magicmasters it had devoured and the quality of their mana—all remained unknown.
As expected, it had needed to be eliminated in one fell swoop. Perhaps they should all have pooled their spells together. No, Black Ikazuchi was one step short of finishing it off, so he could have just poured all of his mana into it.
All kinds of ideas came to mind, but they were all measures for ‘next time.’ None of them would change the present.
Even now, the Fiend’s body was growing larger at a frightening pace, and Demi Azur had already lost its original form. It was swelling to its limits, and its massive body would soon be huge enough to cover the sky and dim the surroundings.
With resignation, Alus returned his AWR to its sheath with a sigh. What a blunder...
He looked up, his gaze following the clouds floating in the Outer World’s sky.
The sky today was as blue as always. And as usual, it was constantly changing. He’d only seen cloud shapes like these out here. With the sunlight lighting the clouds up from behind, their outlines glowed like halos.
If he had his water bottle with him, he’d pour the water out on his head. That was his habit whenever he was in this state of mind, and even though he knew he hadn’t brought it with him, he still reached for his waist.
“Now then...” he muttered, having made up his mind. There was no way to contact Lettie and the others. Even if he could make the call, it was too late.
Alus gazed at the Devourer’s body that was still expanding even now, looking like it could explode any moment. Once that happened, this entire area would turn into a barren wasteland. Not even Balmes, which was quite some distance away, would come out in one piece. It would without a doubt envelop the top of the deposit where Lettie and the others were as well.
Alus slowly closed his eyes. I feel bad for Lettie and the squad. He even apologized silently, completely out of character for him. He’d been the one to tell them what to do, and this is what they got.
I guess I won’t be getting the reward, either... Well, this life wasn’t too bad, he thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile.
Alus did have a choice to make, but either way, his life was already...
He knew that.
It appeared it would still be some time before his life flashed before his eyes like he’d read about in some book. Though it wouldn’t be until the very end that he’d find out if he had any memories that left enough of an impression to appear in his mind. He did have a passing interest in what he would see, though.
Regardless, he let out a sharp breath. I guess my end is in the Outer World after all... huh.
By now he even welcomed it. He loved the scenery in the Outer World. He felt a majestic providence... it was nature untouched by humanity’s hands.
Alus had already assumed he wouldn’t die a pretty death, so he felt this was probably one of the better ways to go.
Atrocious criminals or not, he’d ended the lives of several people. The Magicmasters he’d once entered the Outer World with had changed on an almost daily basis, and eventually the number of people who knew him, and the people he wanted to know more about, Lettie’s group excluded, amounted to a handful. He’d also put more allies out of their misery than he could count on his fingers.
In fact, countless people had lost their lives before he’d become a Single. And now he would just join their ranks.
However, even then... He was choosing at least to save Lettie and the others. Staking his own life to save the lives of others... whether he could actually save them or not was uncertain. He might just be putting up a useless resistance against a merciless fate.
He was aware that he was getting sentimental, his heart pounding. “Huh, was I really like this...?” he unconsciously spat out, before raising his head as if realizing something.
But he shook his head as if to reject it. Even if the chance for the best outcome was less than one percent, he wouldn’t hesitate to choose it. That was the way he was.
But... against an enemy of this caliber, there was just no opportunity for that. So this was just a chance to test his own character and soul. That was why—
“Now then, I am the ranked No. 1, so I should at least put up some useless resistance!” The AWR at his waist made a thud as it fell to the ground. It was just a pointless weight now. “I’ll unleash your shackles, so devour everything to the limits of your desire! ‹‹Gra Eater››”
Alus resolved himself and thrust out his hand. Mana, like a manifestation of chaos, poured out, and in the blink of an eye darkness engulfed the area. He’d unleashed the full potential of Gra Eater with no consideration for the consequences.
A tidal wave of black rushed at the Fiend like it had discovered a feast. Before long, the torrent-like Gra Eater opened its mouth and bit into the Fiend.
He had made the decision to drain the Fiend of mana before an explosion could occur. But that came with a risk to his life. As expected, the mana Gra Eater ate and absorbed filled up the capacity of Alus’ vessel to its limit in an instant.
Thump. He felt something bouncing. It definitely wasn’t the sound of his heart. It was the sound of something inside reaching its limit and breaking. Ignoring the abnormal event in his body, he focused solely on manipulating Gra Eater to have it feed on the Fiend’s mana.
Gra Eater explosively grew in size due to the amount of mana it absorbed. Fortunately, even after Alus unleashed its full strength and weakened his control of it, it continued to linger around the Fiend’s body. It was moving purely on the instincts of a predator, refusing to let go of a delicious feast.
It’s not enough... it’s not going to make it at this absorption rate! Even with Gra Eater eating at it, the Fiend still had an abundance of mana. No matter how much it ate, the signs of the coming explosion weren’t receding. Alus clicked his tongue, and further loosened the reins on Gra Eater. Having gone this far, he couldn’t turn back. If the grown Gra Eater were to run rampant, he wouldn’t be able to regain control.
Gra Eater continued eating with increasing speed.
Alus grimaced as mana gathered inside of him at an extreme rate. His extended right arm started trembling. It slowly started to bounce around in all directions, and suddenly blood began spewing from his arm. A blood vessel must have ruptured. The mana in his blood had grown so dense his blood vessels and skin were unable to withstand it any further.
He bit down and endured the pain. At the same time, an abnormality occurred to his left arm. He’d left it dangling, but blood was running down from his shoulder, and he gradually stopped feeling the pain and numbness. The nerves were starting to shut down. After a short pause, the blood vessels in both legs swelled into bumps and burst open.
Alus fell to his knees, but still kept his right arm thrust out, staring at Gra Eater and the Fiend. He’d known from the start that even if he prevented the explosion, he’d definitely lose control of Gra Eater...
He could feel the signs of the magical explosion within the Fiend weakening, little by little. And it appeared that Gra Eater had finally devoured all of its mana, as it moved away from its remains. Only pieces of its outer shell and dregs of mana were left. Cracks ran through the shell, before it crumbled like sand.
Did it... the next will be...
Having finished the food in front of it, Alus anticipated that Gra Eater would start to rampage. But contrary to his expectations, it began to coil around itself above him. But this could also be just a short nap after dinner, and it was likely that its instinctual greed would send it out in search of new prey.
Alus’ entire surroundings were covered by the massive Gra Eater. It blocked out the sun, making it look like night to him. Because its body was somewhat transparent, it cast a dark, eerie, and wavering shadow on the ground.
“To think it was this big...” Looking up at the sky, he could see Gra Eater casting a shadow that covered the entire crater. It had sent so much mana into Alus, but just how much more had it absorbed and used as nutrients for itself to grow?
It looked like a massive, black sphere. Bobbing up and down in the air, overflowing the area with mana, it was like a strange aquarium in the sky.
Driven by an insatiable appetite, there was no telling when it would hunt for new prey.
It was likely that it could detect Lettie and the others’ mana already.
Maybe it would even bare its fangs at Balmes itself.
... Though it probably wouldn’t go that far. Gra Eater might have a sense of self, but it was still an indivisible part of Alus, so if it got too far away from him, the information should degrade and it should be reduced to mana particles.
However—there was no guarantee of that. Which was why this was such a gamble.
With this much mana, it was possible that Gra Eater could make up for the deteriorating mana by itself, becoming independent from Alus, and making it capable of going wherever it pleased. To put it bluntly, it would be the birth of a complete magical life form.
If something like that was unleashed on the planet... he would have created something worse than the Devourer. He wanted to think it wouldn’t happen, but that might be too optimistic. The sense of unease sent a chill down his spine, despite his lack of sensation.
But even if that happens, I have a card I can play. That was to take his own life before Gra Eater became a complete life form. That way, this special ability would completely disappear.
Killing yourself. Stopping your own life with your own hands.
He’d done the same to others time and time again...
Suddenly an old memory came to mind. It hadn’t been on purpose, just a spur of the moment kind of thing. Just when had it been...? When he’d said that he didn’t need anyone else...
Was it after he’d seen hundreds of Magicmasters die... or when someone had begged him to kill them rather than let the Fiends get them...
The screams and shouts of those who had been left to die reverberated in his head. And he could still see Magicmasters with tears in their eyes full of regret and crushed hopes.
The answer to when it happened was probably when he’d killed his feelings to escape from the endless hell of having to see allies die, and sometimes having to kill them with his own hands.
Maybe I didn’t want to kill anyone... he wondered to himself. It wasn’t a bad feeling. But then a smile of self-derision appeared on his face, as even in the end the squad he’d brought with him were at risk of losing their lives.
The next moment, a chill overcame him. Gra Eater’s massive body lurking above him had dispersed in a flash.
“Tsk!!” Several smaller creatures burst forth, like water from a ruptured dam. All of them were made up of just a mouth, the perfect image of a predator, all baring their ferocious fangs.
***
Even from the top of the deposit, it was easy to see. It was clearly different from the dark clouds of Black Ikazuchi, but it was still similar in appearance.
“What’s that thing...?” Lettie muttered, staring at the pool of black mana.
There was no answer to her question, but she decided to call out to the person who’d shown a reaction. “Ms. Rinne, you know, dontcha... what happened to the Fiend? What is that thing?”
“T-The Fiend... the Devourer has been killed by Sir Alus.”
Relief washed over the squad members. But Lettie stared at Rinne, urging her to continue and answer her questions in full.
“And that thing is... Sir Alus... I guess you could call it a spell...” She’d been told to keep quiet, but looking at this ominous mana, she couldn’t keep it a secret anymore.
Rinne had already ascertained that this was an abnormal situation with her magic eye. That dangerous thing was probably something that Alus had brought forth, but was now out of his control. She’d clearly seen as much.
But leaving that aside for now, she continued her explanation. “Remember that absorption ability Sir Alus showed against Kurama? Its true form is no doubt that bizarre mana over there.”
“So it’s all solved then?”
“No. We should get away from here as soon as possible... there’s probably nothing anyone can do about that thing... not even Sir Alus.” Rinne looked down in resignation, her words tapering off.
Lettie questioned her. “Why? That’s Allie’s magic, isn’t it?”
“Y-Yes. But it’s different from normal magic... I think. That pool of mana doesn’t have a spell construction to begin with. And it’s like it’s moving with a will of its own,” Rinne muttered, having given up on the idea of covering it up any longer.
“...”
Rinne’s words blew away the relief that the squad members had felt, replacing it with a stiff tension. “I believe Sir Alus was trying to control that mana. And from what I gather it absorbed all of the mana from the Fiend’s body that was about to explode... or he tried...” Going on was hard for her, so she closed her eyes and bit her lip before finally continuing, “Sir Alus is already on the verge of death. The bleeding is awful...”
“Then we need to hurry and save him!” Sajik exclaimed.
But Rinne stopped him with her eyes, before frankly speaking in a cold tone, “That black mass of mana is comprised of a frightening amount of mana in spite of the state Sir Alus is in... even though it’s meant to be a part of him.”
The sound of someone gulping was strangely loud.
She went on, “I believe that is the kind of existence that it is. If we go there now, we probably won’t even have a chance to fight back. This isn’t on the level of attacking or defending.” The memory of that special ability absorbing Hazan’s attack was burned into her mind. Her intuition as a spotter told her that it wasn’t a spell.
The existence was on the level of a calamity. Humans had no way of fighting back against it. It was like having an unknown monster inhabiting his body. That’s why her instincts were telling her to get away as soon as possible.
“Let’s retreat as soon as possible. But even then we might not make it in time...” Her words made it clear that the situation was hopeless.
However—“Then it’s decided. We’re going to save Allie.”
“Right!”
“No objections.”
“I’m confident in my speed.”
Lettie’s statement was followed up by Mujir, Sajik and the other squad members.
Rinne was shocked. “It’s impossible! There’s no way to make it over there in time. Not to mention that we have a duty to report this situation right away!”
“Hmm, that’s true. Then I’ll give that duty to you,” Lettie said with a broad smile. “You’re not part of our squad, after all. You have no obligation to tag along.”
“T-That’s not the problem here...” Rinne raised her voice, when she was interrupted.
Mujir said, “That is the problem, Lady Rinne. We are soldiers. Members of Captain Lettie’s squad. We have our pride to protect, and a line that can’t be crossed. It’s not the way of life you’d understand, right? But that’s how we are. If I abandoned Sir Alus here, I wouldn’t be able to face my wife.”
“If you have a wife, then that’s all the more reason to...”
“I’m not going there to die. But I believe I understand what has to be prioritized. My wife vowed to stay with me till death do us part because I am like this. And considering the coming generations... that’s all the more reason!”
Mujir scratched his cheek in embarrassment, while Sajik glared at him with some envy mixed in, before saying, “Well, this guy’s in the minority, but even a bachelor like me wouldn’t want to return in shame. The battlefields I’ve been on taught me never to abandon my commander.”
“That’s how it is,” Lettie said. “But there’s an easier to understand reason...”
“What?” Rinne asked with a mystified expression.
Lettie’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t speaking from personal feelings, but stern facts. “Allie is our last hope. I don’t know about the other Singles, but Allie is irreplaceable. To Alpha, and to humanity. The Governor-General understands that too. And we all feel the same way... then there’s me personally not wanting to abandon him.”
“Is that love then?”
“Who knows? So, Ms. Rinne, survive this and report to the Governor-General.” Lettie’s smile grew wider as Rinne silently stared at her.
The squad members showed no regrets over their decision. They had no hesitation about what to do. In fact, it was clear to them. Rinne had been in the military, but primarily in logistical support, and her time in the military had been short. As someone who specialized in information gathering, she’d been taught to survive and bring back what she’d learned above all. So she struggled to understand that pride.
Yet she was somewhat envious of the squad members’ vivid expressions. She had no complaints about her current position as the ruler’s aide. If anything, it felt like her calling. At the same time, she felt like their lifestyles as Magicmasters were worthy of her respect. And if Cicelnia was in the same situation, she would have quickly made up her mind.
Rinne sighed, then shrugged, releasing her body from the tension of the unexpected situation. She mustered up her willpower, and forcibly put on her usual meek smile. “I understand. Please let me go with you.”
“—! What about the report?!”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? You’re not going there to die after all. Either way, there’s no time.” This irresponsible comment was delivered with a sarcastic smile. While she said that, she didn’t believe in Mujir’s words. Perhaps she had something planned.
Taking Rinne’s words as a sign of her determination, Lettie smiled fearlessly. “Then do what you want.”
“But if we go in without a plan, even the easiest of rescues can fail. I have a general idea of what’s happening there.”
“That’s unexpected.”
Rinne frowned at Lettie’s words for a moment. She was Alpha’s Eye, so wasn’t that a little rude? But there was no time to spare for that. “I’m not at Sir Alus’ level, but I do have some knowledge about special abilities. It’s really only an idea, and parts of it I don’t understand. It’s a special ability that no one else has heard of, after all.”
Seeing everyone nod, she continued, “I’m sure that thing will continue to move even if Sir Alus loses consciousness. If that happens, there will be nothing we can do, but there should be something we can do as long as he’s still conscious. But try not to touch that thing no matter what... you’ll lose your life immediately. And be careful of its ability to absorb mana. Any reckless spells will only make it bigger and stronger.”
Perhaps because she’d touched on the matter beforehand, but even after hearing that they couldn’t touch or even block it, the squad members didn’t waver.
Rinne had confirmed the black mass of mana’s speed with her magic eye. At that size it was destined to turn a little sluggish, but in the end not even Lettie would be able to escape. That was why she’d advised them to retreat earlier. Not that they would listen to her... “Sir Alus is somewhere in the center of that massive hole, but he’s badly wounded and unable to move. He should still be conscious, but it wouldn’t be strange for him to pass out any moment now.”
“These bad odds are made for us! I like it.” Lettie surveyed her squad with a broad grin.
They nodded to her, and together with Rinne—they all rushed down the peak of the deposit.
The squad descended, not lumping up together, but also making sure to avoid spreading out too far. They didn’t even bother going around the massive trees in their path, instead opting to jump over them, making a literal beeline for the crater.
“That aside, does Allie’s special ability have the same level of strength as your magic eye?” Lettie asked, her eyes pointed straight forward. She was speculating in an attempt to find a solution.
“I wonder. Special abilities are not just limited to magic eyes...” Rinne answered her, but she still had the closest thing to a solution in mind.
However, it was just a possibility. From what she’d seen with her magic eye, the chances of success were doubtful. Controlling a magic eye ultimately relies on mental strength. Even if that special ability isn’t similar to a magic eye, it should still work the same way. Sir Alus should already know that too... once it’s released, restraining it by will alone is impossible. And based on the current situation, that’s already happened.
Rinne knew very well that there were special abilities that would resist and struggle against their user whenever there was a chance. Once that thing grew too massive, it would be impossible to regain control of it. And that black mass of mana looked like it had already far exceeded the limits of Alus’ ability to control it.
However, if an outside influence were to appeal to him... well, the chances for success wouldn’t be zero at least, as long as Alus was conscious.
At the same time, Rinne suddenly thought, Maybe this is why Sir Alus took an interest in my eye. Maybe he’d feared this possibility and looked for clues as to what to do in case something happened. Thinking about it, perhaps not even Alus had a solution for his rampaging special ability.
Then she realized that she’d been swept away by the squad’s enthusiasm, and that maybe coming with them wasn’t the best idea. Strictly speaking, she did have a plan, but it had never been tested before, so its chances for success were a complete mystery.
She wouldn’t have any regrets, but if Cicelnia heard about it, she would no doubt make fun of her. She could easily imagine Cicelnia mocking her for getting so worked up with the others, with a sarcastic smile. At the same time, she was also somewhat looking forward to it, causing her to frown. It was like she enjoyed being bullied by that beautiful and perfect ruler.
When it happened, she would surely be gritting her teeth in mortification as she was being mocked. Maybe she’d even object... and once that happened, she’d surely make excuse after excuse.
Cicelnia would then coldly stare at her incompetent aide and...
Rinne shook her head to free herself from her negative thoughts, and told herself that she had to make it back alive. “That said, it all depends on Sir Alus... if we can make our way there, that is.”
“Right. But it’s not moving yet. You made it sound like it would make its move right away.”
“I just meant that it wouldn’t be strange for it to move. I became convinced that Sir Alus is still conscious because it hasn’t moved yet... in other words, even though that mass of mana should have left his control already, he’s still resisting it and keeping it in place.”
“I see,” Lettie said. “So we still have a chance then.”
Rinne nodded with a smile, as she moved through the air. It was proof of possibility. This could still be resolved so long as Alus was resisting... they had to believe in that. Approaching Alus to save him meant recklessly getting in front of the mass of mana and exposing themselves to danger.
“P-Please wait a minute—” Rinne suddenly shouted out in panic. A magic circle floating above her eye signaled that the Eye of Providence was active. Far ahead of them, closer to Alus, she’d seen something flash by in her magic eye’s view. It was very small, but she couldn’t overlook it.
And what she’d seen was clearly a person’s silhouette.
And if she was remembering correctly... “Someone is heading for the crater ahead of us. It’s only one person... but why is she...”
***
Immediately after the countless mouths had burst out of Gra Eater, Alus was doing his best to keep the rampage under control.
Maybe putting up any resistance was pointless. Alus had actually polished his mana control, which other Magicmasters tended to dismiss as less important, so that he could control his special ability.
In spite of that, what floated above him was no longer a trump card under his control, and it probably wasn’t just a mass of mana either. Its magical connection to Alus was gradually disappearing as it grew and became more of an individual.
Thanks to him putting up a weak resistance with his hazy mind, he’d managed to slow the mana’s movement. Even if it was just temporary, he should be able to buy some time.
If Lettie and the others could escape, it would be more than enough.
After that... Alus would bring things to an end himself. That way, Alpha would have successfully eliminated the Fiend and kept the damage from the incident to a minimum.
“Haa, haa, haa... Ack!” Alus kept his fading mind from passing out by biting into his lip. He felt the taste of iron as blood rushed into his mouth.
Any sensation from below his knees was long gone, and he couldn’t feel his left arm at all, so it may as well have been gone. Though he could feel a weight pulling his shoulder down in between bouts of pain.
After expelling all of the mouths, Gra Eater moved forth to try and shake free once more.
His vision was darkening, and his body was getting colder. His body temperature was probably dropping due to extreme blood loss. Blood was pooling on the ground, and the blood running down his body was so warm he just wanted to lie down in it.
If he let his guard down for even a moment, Gra Eater would move as it pleased. That said, even if he desperately held on, he’d likely only last another minute.
That was when he felt a presence rapidly closing in. Once the person reached the edge of the crater, the small silhouette jumped in and rushed over.
Alus could tell who it was from her hair color, reflecting the sun’s light. And when he did, he glared at her.
There was no way he’d mistake that familiar cloak and dark military skirt. The slim legs were entirely wrapped up in bandages.
Still on his knees, Alus raised his upper body and held up his right hand. “Why did you come?!” With those words and anger... no, rage, he called out to the silver-haired girl.
Once she was right in front of him, Loki finally stopped. She was completely drenched in sweat. The bandages around her legs were red from all the blood that had soaked through. “S-Sir Alus... What is...!! You’re hurt! L-Let me treat you...” she said, panicking, and tried to step closer.
But Alus stopped her. “I told you... don’t come! You went against my orders!” The Devourer was dead, but the rampaging Gra Eater was still a threat, so Loki needed to get away from here as soon as possible.
But she took a big step towards Alus, as if to say that justice was on her side. Her face twisted in pain, but she showed no signs of stopping, as she came closer. “I didn’t go against your orders. Sir Alus’ words are absolute. That’s why I came... according to the promise that we made. The Second Magical Institute won the tournament. And you promised to bring me along on your missions.”
He’d even said he wouldn’t go back on his word. The situation was bad, but this took the wind out of his sails completely.
“You never said when, so I decided that the promise was valid from when our victory was declared.”
Alus couldn’t find any grounds on which to retort right away. But in any case, he didn’t have the leeway to think about things logically...
Gra Eater was still coiling above them, when it suddenly seemed to detect Loki’s mana as it reacted to her.
An extra large mouth reached down towards the ground... Alus focused his mind to restrain it, after which it stopped and hovered in the background. If he let up for even a moment, Loki’s small body would be gulped up by that massive mouth in an instant.
Alus spoke to Loki in a polite and calm tone. “This is my power, but it’s already out of my control... like trying to hold back a monster freed from its cage. It will even go after you. So get away from here right now! I’ll be able to buy you at least that much time.”
“I see...” Loki paused for a moment. Back when she’d fought against Alus to earn her position as his partner, perhaps it was this power that had erased Naruikazuchi. “I understand the situation. But what will happen to you? You will survive, won’t you...? I believe those injuries are in need of immediate treatment.”
Alus said nothing. But he wasn’t going to lie. He knew how she’d become his partner after all. Her sincere feelings and pure stubbornness had driven her so far that she’d been willing to give up her life. He hadn’t admonished her for that because he knew that once Loki was composed and her feelings settled down, she’d understand it for herself.
He had never asked for that kind of loyalty. In fact, it was a burden. He even wondered why she would go so far for someone like him. “This thing will probably not be able to go beyond a certain distance from me. As long as it doesn’t absorb any more mana and grow even more, that is. If the main body stays here, there’s a limit to how far the mana can go. After that, well... it will probably eat me.”
The end of his life would result in Gra Eater disappearing as well, but Alus was more or less convinced that the rampaging mana could no longer make that kind of distinction. And having grown this much, it was possible that it could make up for the mana information regulating it with its own power. He explained this to Loki with a calm expression.
“—!!” A chill ran down Loki’s spine. She’d predicted it might be something like that, but predicting it and hearing it as the truth were two different things.
At the same time—an unshakable resolve was born. “Is there nothing I can do?”
“Nothing! Just get as far away from here as you can! I might have saved you once... but that’s not a reason for you to go down with me. There’s no need for you to stay out of gratitude.”
“...!!” Loki’s reaction was from having something that was coiled up inside of her finally be unleashed. “So you remembered...”
Her feelings rushed up... like her soul was trembling. She was so happy, she wanted to embrace him, as she shed tears and thanked him. She was always bad at recognizing her emotions, and even worse at showing them, but in this moment she was able to smile naturally.
“Listen, I didn’t choose you as my partner just to let you die...”
“Yes, I understand.” That’s the kind of person you are, Sir Alus... but this is my only desire. Loki kept the rest of the words to herself, as she slowly approached him again.
Alus instinctively glared at her, as if saying not to come closer. “Loki, you are brilliant. And you have talent too... That’s why...”
“Sir Alus, as you know, I am like you. I don’t have any admirable aspirations like protecting humanity or saving the world. My world is the one you live in. Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any gratitude...”
Loki found herself shouting, “But in reality, in reality that doesn’t matter! I am here now by my own will! This decision and these feelings are my own, and they will remain even if my body is crushed and my soul cut to pieces! I need Sir Alus so that I can be myself...!”
Once she’d said her piece, she closed her mouth and held her hands in front of her chest, as if praying that this situation was all just a bad dream.
“Don’t be stupid! ... Damn it!” Alus’ focus wavered for a moment because of his anger, setting Gra Eater free. And having picked out Loki as its next target, fangs of black mana stretched down to surround her.
Just as he thought he wasn’t going to make it in time, Gra Eater went against his expectations and stopped.
Next, the clear sound of something breaking rang out. The sound came from within Loki’s hands, which she held over her heart.
Loki stared into her hands, seeing there the fragments of the pendant she’d gotten from Alus, embedded with a crystal that changed color depending on the mana inside.
Alus’ mana was inside that black gem. It was a precious gem, like a talisman, and had mana sealed within it. The burst of mana had caused Gra Eater to hesitate for a moment. It must have been confused as the same mana as its master came from Loki.
What the shattered pendant gave them wasn’t just a single moment of time. Loki stared down at the pendant with a sorrowful expression. There was never any hesitation or fear in her eyes to begin with. She’d come here with a firm resolve.
After its brief pause, Gra Eater moved its fangs closer to Loki once more. A beat later, Alus managed to regain control.
A dust cloud covered the ground, and he looked over in surprise. The long dark fangs had bit into the ground, but Loki wasn’t there. Instead, she was lying down right next to Alus, close enough to touch.
“Force...!! When did you...” Alus didn’t know that Loki had learned Force and used it in her battle against Fillic. She’d kept it a secret until the day of the tournament as a surprise for him.
“I never thought I’d debut it here, though... I don’t think I can move anymore.” Loki, on the ground, gazed at Alus’ face. Her breathing was ragged. Despite that, she still smiled. And her smile was filled with determination, to the point where Alus realized that saying any more would be pointless.
Force’s repeated rapid starts led to major damage to the body, and the bandages that had been around Loki’s legs, but which had come loose from her quick movements, were as red with blood as they could get.
“... But at this rate, we’ll both die.”
“Yes. I will always be together with you. If you are going to die, I will go first. I don’t want to be in a world without you for even a second.”
“...” Instead of her face being drenched in tears, it was strangely calm. He’d never seen that expression on Loki before. Not to mention it was very different from the kind of face a Magicmaster would make before their death. It was a satisfied smile from the bottom of her heart, as if she was accepting everything as natural.
Alus found it beautiful, but at the same time it aggravated him. “Like hell I’m going to give up!” He was angry at himself for being on the verge of giving up. Angry at himself for accepting death without even fighting to survive. Especially if the reason was his own inexperience. “Loki, if we get back from this... I’ll have you put a little more thought into your actions!”
“Yes...”
He wouldn’t lament his own death, but in the end he’d been shouldered with the responsibility of one more life. “... Geez, I can’t even die an easy death.”
“Yes, please assume that I won’t forgive you if you close your eyes before me.”
Loki’s smile became the driving force for Alus to put his resolution into action. He threw his eyes upward. In front of him was a mouth projected from Gra Eater filled with countless fangs.
He sighed, and got up on one knee. “Sheesh, this is the first time I’ve been this seriously wounded,” he joked, perhaps because he could no longer feel the pain.
Showing no concern for Alus’ relaxed atmosphere, Gra Eater above stretched out hundreds of tentacles, as if to envelop the surface. It opened its mouth wide. It was unclear whether it was still only targeting Loki, but at this rate they would both be swallowed.
In response, Alus raised his arm in a fluid movement, and once he’d thrust it forward, he quickly opened his hand. “—Don’t move.” A deeply reverberating voice demanded absolute obedience, leaving no room for objection.
A stupidly large number of tentacles made of mana were reaching out towards Alus and Loki from all sides, before coming to a stop.
Alus’ ferocious order was overpowering, as if it could force anything to obey. His cold eyes were filled with the determination to not see anyone get hurt.
Ultimately, Alus’ absolute order stopped Gra Eater from moving. But that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t attack its master. He was aware of that as well. As he’d said before, Gra Eater was like a monster freed from its cage. Moreover, if it developed a sense of self, it would be impossible to control it with will alone.
That’s why he’d taken that gamble. Gra Eater was like a newborn animal, and rather than using magical means to bind it, he’d put pressure on its instincts. Truth be told, he was grasping at straws, but fortunately it seemed to have an effect.
The next moment, a change happened in Gra Eater. Eyes opened up everywhere, from its tentacles to its main body. Eyelids of all sizes appeared all over its surface, as if it had kept its eyes closed until now.
“...” Alus stared at the change emotionlessly. Eyes were the primary organ for the sense of sight, and the mass of mana adopting them was a sign that it was starting to perceive the world for itself.
There were now as many eyes on its body as there were stars in the sky, and after a short pause, they all turned to Alus at once.
Despite being faced with this bizarre sight, Alus spoke in a cold tone. “I don’t need a power that goes against my will.”
It was unclear if it could hear him or not, but the eyes narrowed as if appraising whether he was worthy of being its vessel.
As if to say even that was disrespectful, Alus closed his open hand, forming a fist. With a dry bursting sound, cracks ran across all of Gra Eater’s eyes and they slowly began to close.
“Obey...” he said, breaking the silence.
As he clenched his fist, the cracks spread further, and as he put more force into it—all of Gra Eater’s eyes shattered. The crushing sounds filled their entire surroundings.
A moment later, Alus’ gaze met with the single huge eye in front of him... the eye seemed to smile before shattering like the rest.
Once all of the eyes were gone, the black mass of mana began flowing into Alus’ body like a genie being sucked back into its lamp.
Gra Eater had grown to this size. While he’d managed to get hold of the reins once more, taking it all in pretty much assured his death. But he was prepared to die to save and protect Loki.
The intense feeling of the abnormal amount of mana flowing into him jolted his heart. Gra Eater even had the many kinds of mana it had absorbed from eating the Devourer. Unlike the mana used to restore Alus’ own mana, it was like a foreign substance that only served as nutrition for Gra Eater. And taking that in felt like it was burning his soul and eroding his mind. It was akin to a feeling of being filled with a certain kind of power.
He felt like he was able to protect someone for the first time. Despite his absolute power as a Magicmaster, it was the first time he’d protected something important to him.
His death, which was supposed to soon follow, showed no signs of coming. A sense of relief came over him and seemed to last a long time, though in reality it was only a few seconds. Then his tense nerves appeared to let go, as raw chills surged through him.
A line of blood ran down from Alus’ lips. One line after another... the flow didn’t stop. It was like a dam had burst. He began vomiting blood.
He put his hands on his swollen throat, coughing up a dark red stream of blood that stained the ground at his feet.
When Loki saw that, her eyes shot wide open. Her last wish was unceremoniously crumbling before her.
She didn’t understand why he was painfully coughing up blood. His words before had been of their future... so he shouldn’t meet his end here. At least she thought they’d reached that common understanding.
Finally she realized his true intention. He’d tried to save her at the cost of his own life. Self sacrifice... it was something so unlike him, yet nothing could suit him more. He was more arrogant than anyone, yet he didn’t hesitate to put his life on the line.
“No...! This isn’t what you promised!”
Ignoring Loki’s scream, Alus slumped over and collapsed, as his consciousness drifted away.
“S-Sir Alus!!” Loki raised her head and her eyes opened wide once more. Fear filled her expression and her body trembled. She brought her shaking lips together, and squeezed out in a hoarse voice, “N-No, Sir... Alus... Aaa... Aaa... AAAAAaaaa...”
With his face turned to the side, Alus didn’t move. His black hair covered his eyes, making it hard to tell what kind of expression he wore.
Loki’s vision started to blur, the landscape becoming distorted, and she only saw the horrifying reality. Her body would no longer move, but her tears flowed endlessly. Only her imagining of the worst possible outcome spun through her mind. The sole focus of her confused mind was getting closer to him, to his side.
As she sobbed, she struggled and commanded her body with all her might. Move, move, move, move! “—Move!!” Her legs were of no use.
But her fingers moved slightly, and her arms slowly rose. Without hesitation, Loki clawed into the ground, using all her strength to raise her upper body. Her thin elbows folded under the pressure, though, and she collapsed onto the ground again.
With Gra Eater gone from the sky, the sun shone mercilessly down on the pair. To Loki, it seemed cruel and hateful. If she was going to have to witness a scene like this, she should have gone with him from the start. Selfishly forced her way in, and died before him.
With mud and tears on her face, Loki rose up again. Still lying on her stomach, she clawed into the ground. It didn’t matter if her nails came off. She wouldn’t even acknowledge the pain.
None of this could be real. If she could reach her destination, surely she would wake up from this nightmare.
Loki desperately crawled along the ground. He was so close, yet it felt like she had an endless distance to cross. But if she continued to reach out, she believed that she could get to him as she continued to drag herself ever closer with her fingers.
Perhaps from an overuse of Force, each time she pulled herself closer, intense pain ran through her body. But it didn’t matter. She would make her way to him even if she had to crawl like a caterpillar, even if she could only move a few centimeters at a time. If she could get closer to him, there was meaning in her desperate struggle. Even if she lost her fingers by a centimeter for every centimeter she approached, she would still continue.
At the same time, dark feelings ran through her mind. She didn’t want to taste this kind of despair... She hated this, hated everything... and most of all she hated herself for not being able to do anything but crawl along the ground.
Loki endured overwhelming sobs, and kept crawling beneath the glaring sun. Her beautiful silver hair had lost its sheen from all the dirt, but she put more strength into her fingers to keep moving forward. Behind her was a trail of blood from wounds bleeding so profusely that bandages weren’t enough to stop them.
Mustering up the last of her strength, Loki threw herself forward... and her hand finally reached Alus’ back. With her blood-stained fingers, she grabbed at his shoulder.
And with that, she was finally able to pull her face up to Alus’ face, the two being upside down to each other.
She gazed at Alus, and something hot dropped down on his dirty cheek. “Sir Alus...?” Limply lifting up her arm soaked in blood, she used her little finger to brush away the hair from his eyes. The finger had its nail torn off, caked in dirt and blood.
She rested her palm on the unmoving Alus’ pale cheek, as if to gently stroke it, before it powerlessly slipped down to the ground.
***
“Are you sure we should have let lil Loki go ahead alone, Ms. Rinne?”
“She’s more likely to succeed than us,” Rinne replied in a calm tone, and Lettie glanced at her.
On their way over to Alus, Rinne had spotted Loki and let Lettie and the squad know about her. When it came to combat, Lettie’s squad was superior, and they were greater in number. So where was Rinne’s confidence coming from?
That said, she was the only one with a magic eye, and the most knowledgeable about special abilities. “I believe I’ve said this before, but control isn’t just about simple strength, but also mental fortitude. You could call it a complete control of mana; the absolute regulation of all sensory organs and the information from them. Even for a first-rate Magicmaster, doing that consciously would be difficult.”
Not only Lettie, but the entire squad was listening to what Rinne was saying.
“That may sound vague to you, but there’s still much about special abilities that is unexplained, leaving a lot up to intuition.”
Thanks to generations of Magicmasters, many components of everyday magic that required intuition had been researched and refined into theory. But things were different for special abilities. Not only was there little data, but most of those abilities ate away at the user’s life.
That’s why special ability users needed to rely on something more primitive than theory. It was said that the shrine priestesses and shamans of the past would go deep within to commune with gods and spirits, and like them, the special ability users needed to acknowledge the other existence within them and commune with it.
Their relationships with this other existence were wide and varied, but in Rinne’s case, she’d established a co-existent relationship. She was one of the few successful examples.
Special abilities were said to be almost like a separate individual within the user. The user truly harbored their special ability, like carrying around another life form inside them. In the case of magic eyes, the magic eye could behave almost as a separate magic power from its user. As special abilities also varied wildly in nature, there were all kinds of ways to handle them, and as a result it would depend heavily on the mental abilities of the host. And the only way for others to influence special abilities users was to stir up their mind through words and actions.
The idea that this would work seemed unbelievable, but when it came to things heavily intertwined in the mind such as magic and special abilities, it was a natural truth. That’s why—
“That’s why it should be Ms. Loki. Even though she was only recently acknowledged as such, she is Sir Alus’ partner. Besides... there’s no way we could stop her. We don’t have any way to contact her to tell her to join us.” Rinne recalled seeing Loki’s desperate look. “All we can do is reach our destination as soon as possible. If we can act as decoys, that’s good enough. What do you think, Lady Lettie?”
“Well, if that’s what you say, we don’t have any problem with it.”
“Thank you very much... not to mention, there is actually one method that can be used in the worst-case scenario.” Rinne reached behind, pointing to the quiver on her back.
“That’s...” Lettie stared at the arrows for a few moments, then let out an astonished voice as she realized Rinne’s intent. “... You can’t be serious.”
Rinne looked at Lettie with intensity in her gaze. “The worst case would be that thing making its way to Balmes. It’s a threat beyond an SS-class. But a special ability disappears when it loses its host...”
“Ms. Rinne, we came here to prevent that!” Lettie said, with almost murderous bloodlust.
“Lady Lettie, it’s not like I’m trying to kill Sir Alus. This arrow is engraved with a magic circle to inhibit actions. The material it’s made of also amplifies the magic. You could say that he would temporarily cease all life functions. It’s my first time using it, but if I could shoot Sir Alus with this, then it just might work.”
Ironically, it was the same reasoning and conclusion that Alus had reached, and Rinne’s face was calm and filled with determination. “He’ll end up in a state of suspended animation, but I don’t know how the results will play out. He might lose consciousness and not wake up, and there’s no guarantee that his special ability would disappear. But in the event that Ms. Loki fails... this will be the only option we have.”
“Just in the worst-case scenario, right...?” Lettie muttered, putting her bloodlust away. With a sullen face, she let out a sigh. “I don’t want to let it happen, but Allie’s a soldier too... but don’t think you’ll be able to send that flying because you want to. A soldier always gives it everything they’ve got, after all.”
Rinne answered with a nod. However, there was one thing she had kept quiet about that Lettie didn’t seem to realize. The special ability had the power to absorb mana. If that power included Alus’ own body...
In order for the arrow to have an effect, it needed to directly penetrate the body. But if his body was clad in the same power to absorb all mana, then its spell would never manifest.
In that case... the arrow would simply penetrate as any arrow would, and would pierce his heart. The way Alus was now, he wouldn’t be able to block it.
And that was why she prayed... Ms. Loki... please.
***
Lettie and Rinne arrived near the center of the crater, where they saw a collapsed Alus with the blood drained from his face, and an unconscious Loki next to him.
The squad was relieved to see that Loki still drew breath, but a chill ran down their spines when they saw a pale-faced Lettie lift up the motionless Alus, a dark foreboding feeling coming over them.
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