Chapter 11
THERE WAS NO WIND as the sunlight filtered through the trees and the surface of the lake, casting dappled light on the courtyard. It gave the surreal impression of being inside an aquarium. In the lake’s depths, a small crowd of Isuzu Alliance leaders gathered as Mira faced Scorpion. The miao woman held a dagger in her hand.
Wise Man Danblf stands at the pinnacle of summoning, Scorpion thought to herself. Mira must be a summoner, too. Keeping my distance will leave me vulnerable to any summons… I’m no good at long-range combat, either. But the legends of the Wise Men also say that Danblf uses Immortal Arts in close combat. Has his pupil studied this as well?
Faced with an enemy she couldn’t read, Scorpion slowly devised a strategy.
“You both ready? Aaand…begin.” Uzume sounded slightly bored, but Scorpion immediately sprinted forward at the signal. The best plan was to force Mira into close quarters combat from the start. Scorpion had the agility to make it possible; she flew low and fast like a loosed arrow targeted at Mira.
Having come within arm’s distance in the blink of an eye, Scorpion flashed her dagger like lightning. If she could thrust the blade at her opponent’s neck, that would decide the fight. The blade struck true—but in that instant, Mira faded and disappeared like a mirage.
“Huh?!” Scorpion gasped. She whipped around and began running again. She recognized Mirage Step and located Mira’s true aura in seconds.
***
These elites aren’t half bad.
Mira analyzed the situation and found that Mirage Step was an effective first move when wielded by a skilled user. At the same time, she was impressed by Kagura’s hand-picked elites. Unlike the proud Caerus who had chased her mirages, frantically swinging his sword around, Scorpion adapted immediately. She zeroed in on Mira’s aura and ran directly toward her. This was someone with real experience and training.
They repeated this dance multiple times. Once Scorpion was close enough, she thrust her dagger with whip-like speed. It took the shortest path to her opponent’s throat, only to be blocked by a partially summoned tower shield. Unable to stop her momentum, Scorpion slammed right into it.
***
“Where’d it come from?!” Scorpion just barely managed to catch herself and minimize the impact. Mira had yet to teach anyone else the skill, so this was truly new to the agent.
Just as suddenly as it came, the shield disappeared, and Mira with it. Scorpion remained calm and searched for her aura. She felt a disquieting chill run up her back, like a spider scuttling up her spine, and swiftly jumped back. In the next instant, the ground where she had been caved in as if smacked by a hammer. The shockwave and thunderclap shook her to her core.
This must be the Immortal Art Pulse!
Discerning the magic from its effect, she traced its arc and looked up, wary of a second attack. She saw Mira overhead. She had used the partially summoned shield as a diversion to leap above Scorpion’s head using Air Step.
***
Mira continued to be impressed. Despite attacking from her opponent’s blind spot, Scorpion evaded the moment before the attack could hit her. She was also pleased to note that the strategy she’d cooked up in the wagon on the way here was a resounding success.
“You’re still in my range!”
As Mira admired the Hidden soldier, Scorpion summoned up her fighting spirit in the blink of an eye and held her blade skyward. A whirlwind in the form of a serpent struck out toward Mira, who remained in midair. The young summoner caught it with her hands covered in the winds of Immortal Arts and crushed it, smirking down at Scorpion.
“You’re not bad.” As Mira walked atop air, she handily deflected another of Scorpion’s whirlwinds and smiled.
The serpent, having missed its mark, dispersed in midair and became a gust of wind that whirled through the courtyard, flipping up leaves and Mira’s skirt alike. Coffin cheered—only to face Snake’s immediate wrath. Mizar and Alioth averted their eyes to avoid similar fates.
“Precocious for her age,” Diamond muttered to himself and put his hands together in prayer, resigning himself to his impending punishment.
The two combatants fought on, unaware of the commotion.
This time, Mira canceled out Scorpion’s whirlwind before it could even reach her. But this third whirlwind hadn’t yet lost its fangs. Scorpion had thrown a thin, round, saw-like blade after it. It pierced the winds of the snake and closed in on Mira. Such blades were normally coated with poison, but since this was an exhibition, Scorpion had left it off. But if she could only graze Mira…
The blade flew at Mira, arcing sharply toward her feet. Scorpion had hesitated to aim for the head—not for safety reasons, but because Mira seemed to deflect any attack aimed for her upper body.
There was a shrill metallic sound as the blade shattered against an unblemished tower shield and fell like leaves.
“Again?!” Scorpion whined.
Mira once more disappeared along with the shield. She’d summoned another shield in Scorpion’s blind spot, utilizing it as a foothold for [Immortal Arts Movement: Shrinking Earth] to vault over her opponent’s head.
Scorpion sensed her aura just in time and turned. She reacted a split second after the first shield faded. Mira privately both lauded and welcomed that sharpness.
***
“Gack!” Scorpion winced and made an annoyed sound.
She was confident that she’d reacted as quickly and efficiently as possible, but before her eyes stood just what she’d feared to begin with: Mira’s summons. Scorpion now realized how different her opponent was from her friends that were summoners.
And she summoned two of them… When you summon, you’re supposed to select, target, consume, and cast, right? They told me it takes two seconds even for low-level ones! They told me!
Scorpion mentally yelled at her summoner friends and furrowed her brow, wondering what to do now. Before her were a black knight and a white knight. Their eyes glowed red as they stood protectively before their princess.
***
No, no, Mira mentally chastised her. This is no time to freeze up. You’re too naïve. I’ll have to use my summons well.
Mira put her hand on her chin behind the two knights and re-energized herself as she turned her attention to the spectators.
“Time for the main event,” she announced. With only the tiniest moment of build-up, the Dark Knight leapt forth at maximum speed. It aimed for Scorpion, who faced it with no openings in her stance.
***
“Yikes!” Scorpion yelped. Though shocked by this summons’s inhuman features and actions, she coolly defended herself.
She dodged around the Dark Knight as it tore through the air, weaving through the slightest of openings as she swung her dagger. She knew she couldn’t take a blow from that sword, so she focused on evading and waited for an ideal opening.
Scorpion was skilled enough to strike deep blows, but her enemy was an artificial being made from magic. As long as the mana within didn’t run out, it would regenerate any damage she dealt. Every time it quickly healed from her strike, another annoyed furrow creased her brow. She was lucky to have a summoner friend, so at least she knew what to expect—but even so, she grumbled as she fought.
Scorpion felt a twinge of regret at challenging Mira. The Dark Knight wasn’t just an excellent swordfighter; its regeneration was also far faster than anything she’d seen in the past.
Yet Scorpion pressed her attack. Using all her skill, she guided her enemy into certain positions and used her blade once the conditions were right. Her full-power blow gouged into the Dark Knight’s stomach, finally injuring it beyond what it could regenerate.
The construct shattered like glass, each fragment dissolving into fine particles that faded away.
Scorpion was elated by the sight. She grinned for a moment, then her eyes turned sharp again and she began to run.
“No way…”
Or she tried…
She jumped back instinctively—the Dark Knight she’d just defeated stood right before her eyes. Scorpion thought she only had the Holy Knight left to deal with, but she’d forgotten the true power of summoning: as long as one had mana, they could summon endlessly.
She knew that casting advanced summons took time. As long as you forced close quarters combat and didn’t give the summoner time to cast, you were depriving them of their greatest strength. Lesser summons like armor spirits could be summoned in as little as two seconds—but Mira’s Dark Knights were clearly leagues beyond lesser summons in terms of raw strength. Scorpion thought she was fighting an advanced summon, but even that powerhouse was little more than a replaceable pawn to Mira.
Mira poked her head around the side of her Dark Knight and smirked. The usual trick of summoners was to use lesser summons to give one time to summon advanced ones, but Mira carried herself as if she didn’t need advanced summons.
Mira’s attitude was infuriating, but…Scorpion looked at the Dark Knight before her and the Holy Knight behind it and began to laugh. Was this what it meant to be the pupil of the continent’s strongest summoner? Scorpion had never thought herself conceited, but she had to admit: she’d overestimated her own abilities.
“How long is that gonna go on?!”
Abandoning her initial purpose, Scorpion charged at the Dark Knight, treating it like a training partner.
***
The fight intensified. Scorpion destroyed Dark Knights through various means, and each time, another was summoned in their place. She was roiling with motivation, but fatigue was starting to set in. Yet her techniques only became sharper as she managed to cut down her twelfth Dark Knight.
This is getting pretty hard now… Why was I fighting, again?
No matter how many she felled, more appeared. It was as if she was being forced to keep eating long after she was satisfied. Her exhaustion brought back her clarity of mind. When she saw the next unwounded Holy Knight, she heaved a sigh. The five spectators sighed in sympathy with her.
“Oof. This is tough to watch,” somebody said. The others made similar remarks.
Mira had been using her spare time to fantasize about all the new, creative ways the magic of this now-real world could be put into practice. This was her first chance to truly, flamboyantly put her experiments to the test. This experience was a reminder that imagination was different from reality. She prepared to continue her experiment.
“You are not bad at all, friend,” Mira praised her. “But I’m afraid the fight has only just begun!”
She was intoxicated by this ideal opportunity to put theory into practice. Uzume had to grin wryly as she recalled such scenes from the past. Then Mira summoned five Dark Knights at once.
“Come ooon…” Scorpion despaired. This was clearly beyond her limit. “I yield, I yield!”
Scorpion’s surrender echoed clear as a bell throughout the courtyard. Her dagger already lay on the ground, and she raised a white handkerchief like a drooping flag.
Mira groaned. “Fine, I suppose. So? My summoning passed the test, did it not?”
She climbed up on her Holy Knight’s shoulder and struck a pose. She was satisfied. If this was how she stacked up against an Isuzu elite, they’d be forced to acknowledge the power of summoning.
But the top of Isuzu was, of course, Wise Man Kagura. She knew Danblf well from how often they had both worked together and competed with each other. She already had a deep understanding of the utility of summoning. Summoners made up a not-insignificant portion of the Isuzu Alliance forces. Scorpion was friends with one, after all. None of the people here shared the common view that summoning was an obsolete practice.
But now they all had a new impression of summoning.
“Her summoning magic sure is…effective, isn’t it?” Mizar chose his words carefully.
“Seems very one-sided,” Alioth agreed with a chuckle.
“Ah ha ha ha ha! Wow! That was sick!” The tense mood was swept away as Coffin laughed. He wasn’t wrong.
“What’s going on…?” Mira’s smirk turned to a small frown. These weren’t the reactions she expected.
“Is that the result of summoning, or is it the result of her personality?” Diamond muttered, gazing at the clearly dispirited Mira sitting atop her Holy Knight’s shoulder.
No matter. They were glad to have such a powerful ally on their side.
***
With the duel concluded, they went back to the meeting room, and Mira discussed the spectators’ view of events with Diamond. According to him, she was like a cat toying with a flightless bird. Scorpion slumped her shoulders, unable to think of a way to defeat summoners now.
“Hey, she’s an exception, okay?” Uzume consoled her quietly.
Mira glanced at their backs and wondered what they were talking about, all the while racking her brain over future public relations attempts.
The secretary distributed tea shortly after the party arrived at the meeting room. When everyone sat, Alioth cleared his throat and spoke.
“I’m amazed that you could overwhelm Scorpion with lesser summons alone. Lady Uzume was right—we’re no match for you.”
Uzume responded with a proud, “Right?!” She’d never doubt a fellow Wise Man.
“You’re not lacking in firepower. We’re glad to have you along.” Mizar gulped down his entire cup of tea at once and glanced at Scorpion, who lay exhausted atop the table.
Now nobody objected to sending her to the Citadel of Scales. However, Snake still looked disappointed. Diamond had proposed the duel as a way of taking Snake’s feelings into consideration after she’d been told to sit out the mission. But he hadn’t known her real feelings at all. Snake never cared about Mira’s ability; she was upset that she would be left out of Isuzu’s biggest mission of all time. She just wanted to go with them.
Noticing she was still down, Diamond asked, “What’s wrong, Snake? They’ll be fine.”
Snake slowly lifted her head, occasionally taking sidelong glances at Uzume. “I have no problem with Mira. But not being able to go… I’d be the only Hidden left out.”
“Oh…”
Now Diamond finally understood. This mission would mobilize the entire Hidden forces, save for Snake. All because of the passenger capacity on a flying wagon. She’d have felt better about it if they’d simply said she was too weak.
“Hmm…” Diamond crossed his arms in thought. He turned his stern yet kind face to Mira. “Missy, that wagon you rode in is one of those that’s pulled by something created by a laborer, right? I haven’t seen it, but when you said three people, was that due to weight concerns?”
“No, weight should not be an issue. It’s a simple matter of size. It would be cramped already if three people sat.”
At least that’s what Mira assumed. When she’d first shown Garuda the wagon, the great bird had lifted it up easily with one talon. She didn’t doubt its ability to haul more weight, only the space to cram more people.
Hearing that, Snake slammed her hands on the table and leaned forward eagerly. “I don’t need to sit. I can stand out of the way. Hang me off the side if you’d like. Just please allow me to come.” She gazed at Mira with pleading eyes, looking as though she’d burst into tears if refused.
“You think it’s doable?” Uzume asked Mira from the side.
Mira pictured the inside of the wagon. Once she’d mentally sketched a diagram of her, Snake, Scorpion, and a (hopefully female) mystery A-Rank adventurer packed in closely together, she chuckled to herself…maybe the small cabin wasn’t so bad, after all.
“Right. It’ll be tight, but if that is acceptable, then I say fine.”
“Hm. Okay, I guess Snake can go with you, then.” Uzume sighed inwardly as Mira’s lascivious grin betrayed her mental calculus.
“You have my thanks.” Snake bowed so deeply her head almost hit the table.
Thus, the Citadel of Scales party grew to four people. Then the meeting moved into proper strategizing.
An hour later, they’d settled on their plans. The executives dispersed and busily contacted people to prepare, leaving Mira and Uzume alone together. They put the strategizing aside and had a frank discussion about their current situation.
When Kagura spoke of the importance of Isuzu, the expression in Mira’s eyes was like someone watching over a dear friend’s children. She said simply, “Leave them to me.”
To Kagura, Mira was a friend she hadn’t seen in ages. Despite Mira’s different appearance and voice, those words lit up Kagura’s world. Their bond may have been born in a fantasy world, but it had crossed the boundaries of time and space to become real.
Kagura hid her embarrassment and smiled. “Thank you!”
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