Slayers - Volume 5 - Chapter 3

3: Where’d They Go?! A Chaotic Pursuit

“Lighting!” Zelgadis unleashed a ball of light that liberated my trapped shadow.

Now freed from Gilfa’s spell, I ran over to Zelgadis, who, if you’re wondering, I happened to know from a few previous adventures. A certain sorcerer had fused him with a rock golem and a brow daemon against his will. I’d assumed he was still off on his quest to regain his humanity, but here he was.

“Thanks, Zel. Long time no see. What’re you doing here, anyway?”

“That’s my line. And why are you dressed like that? Where’s Gourry?”

“How about we save story time for later?”

“Probably for the best.”

“Well, well... if it isn’t Zelgadis,” oozed Gilfa’s voice.

“You two know each other?” I asked.

“We’re acquainted,” Zelgadis responded, his eyes still locked on the werebeast.

“I’m surprised you followed me this far. Is this one of those ‘destined rivalries’ one hears so much about? Oh, and I should warn you... Even if your body is made of rock, Vedul is still strong enough to kill you in one strike.”

“I know,” Zelgadis said, walking smoothly toward his sword on the other side of the room.

Vedul started to move, and I took the opportunity to unleash the spell I’d been chanting.

“Lighting!”

My intent was to blind him, obviously—magic resistance wouldn’t do squat against a bright light to the face. And while Vedul was avoiding my blast of light, Zelgadis made a mad dash for his sword!

Not good! Vedul’s gonna get him while he’s picking it up!

The werebeast, of course, was keen on the opportunity. Without fanfare, he brought his sword down on the off-balance Zelgadis. But as he did...

“Lighting!” Zel twisted around and released another flash of light in the unsuspecting werebeast’s face.

“Gwahh!”

That one got ’im good! Vedul continued to swing despite his scorched retinas, but he didn’t stand a chance of hitting Zelgadis, who effortlessly dodged the blow, scooped up his sword, and leaped at Vedul!

“Watch out! Vedul—”

Gilfa tried to warn his friend, but before he could even finish—Crrk!—Zelgadis had slipped past Vedul’s attack and pierced his sword right through the werebeast’s throat!

His body slumped silently... and then he took another swing at Zel!

“What?!” Zelgadis gasped, forced to abandon his blade and retreat.

Vedul swiftly pulled the sword from his neck, tossed it aside, and leaped back.

What the... Zel’s eyes went wide. So did mine. I’d just watched Vedul get his throat run through. No matter how strong he was, that blow had to be fatal. I might’ve thought it was some last-ditch attack, but the force behind it...

While the two of us stood there in shock, the werebeast fled down one of the passageways.

“What in the world?” Zel muttered.

“He’s got guts—I’ll give him that,” I conceded.

“I’m going after him regardless. When an enemy is vulnerable, you finish them off. What about you?”

Vedul was headed deeper into the building. Wherever he was going, I might just find...

“I’ll join you,” I said. “These guys kidnapped a member of my team, a girl named Amelia.”

“You think she’s the one behind the explosion?” he asked.

“Yep,” I replied firmly.

I was betting she’d realized that Mazenda’s seal was broken, then used her magic to blow a hole in the wall and escape... but reversed course when she saw Klotz and his goons on their way back to the cult complex. Now she was essentially trapped inside trying to fight her way out. Zelgadis must have witnessed the explosion too, arriving on the scene not long after I did.

“Then we’re in agreement. Let’s go.”

I nodded, and we both took off after Vedul.

Tracking the werebeast proved easy enough, as a trail of blood painted across the floor led us straight to him. The trail spilled into the corridor next to a staircase, which led deeper into the facility... And at its entrance stood Vedul.

He slowly turned around as he sensed our arrival. He’d wrapped a rag around his neck to try to staunch the bleeding, but his eyes were clouded over and his mouth hung half-open. His was clearly the face of a dead man, and yet... he was still moving. It was sorta creeping me out, really.

With unsteady footsteps, he turned back to us, and with some effort, readied his sword. I was hoping we’d have a chance to ask about Amelia, but... yeah, probably no dice, huh?

“You appear to be struggling, Master Vedul,” Zelgadis said, his sword at his side as he smoothly approached the werebeast. “Don’t worry. I’ll put you to rest soon.”

As if in answer to his words, I heard the low chanting of a spell with no certain source—Gilfa!

“I won’t let you stand in my way!” Zelgadis cried, dashing full-tilt at Vedul. But...

“Zel, be careful!”

The werebeast’s shadow stiffened, then launched a dozen black blades at Zelgadis!

“Tch!”

Zel managed to deflect each one with his sword, but he was forced back nonetheless. I didn’t know if the shadow swords were powerful enough to pierce Zel’s stony skin, though I didn’t really care to find out. We needed to stop Gilfa, but I still didn’t know where he was!

“I get it...” Zel muttered. (I wasn’t sure what he “got,” exactly, but one corner of his mouth was quirked up into a smirk.) He then turned back to me and asked, “Can you do something about the shadows with your magic?”

“I don’t have much to counter a shadowmaster,” I replied with a slight shrug. “Lighting can beat a simple Shadow Snap, but what he’s doing is way more powerful than that...”

“That’s too bad... but we’ll make do somehow.”

With that, he charged the werebeast again. The werebeast’s shadow swelled... and this time turned into a grid pattern that rose up between Zel and his target. Was it trying to net him?!

“Hah!”

Zelgadis ignored it and pressed on with his charge. Yet suddenly, the shadow morphed from a mere net to spikes on the floor! And Zel was too close to stop in time! Luckily...

“Flow Break!”

Light flooded the area for an instant, and when it receded, the shadow that Gilfa was controlling was gone without a trace.

Zelgadis flew forward! Vedul met him with a flash of his sword! Wham! Both men fell to the ground as their silhouettes collided...

And it was Zel who rose victorious after the fact.

“I appreciate the save,” he said to the white-clad figure in the hall beyond us.

I waved as well and called out, “Hey, Amelia! How’s it going?”

“Heya! I figured that had to be you, Lina. And who’s this guy?”

“This is Zelgadis... But, bleh, introductions later! Gilfa’s probably still somewhere nearby!”

“Nah, he’s dead,” Zel said flatly.

“Exactly! So we need to— Huh?! W-Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Allow me to explain,” he began, rolling Vedul’s fallen corpse over with a kick. He then retrieved his broadsword, still impaled in the hump on its back. “This here is Gilfa.”

Was he saying that...

“He’s the hump?!”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Go figure. Whoever made Vedul—probably Klotz—had transplanted a second brain into the werebeast’s back; that was Gilfa. Vedul’s brain was the one controlling the body most of the time, but if something happened to him, Gilfa’s could take over. That was how the werebeast kept moving even after Vedul took a sword to the neck.

I looked closer and saw a small but deep fissure running through the hump, hidden by wrinkles... Gilfa’s mouth, presumably, which was how he’d incanted spells. He probably had eyes of some kind somewhere too, but I wasn’t about to go looking for them. A girl only needs so much nightmare fuel in her life.

“Yeesh, what a creepy thing to make...” I shuddered.

“No time for that now, Lina! We may have more enemies on the way!” Amelia declared.

“Enemies? How many?”

“I’m not super sure... I’ve been too busy running to count. But there’s really only one we need to watch out for...”

“And who might that be?”

“I don’t know. I was hiding in the shadows and heard some guys say, ‘There’s another intruder in the building! We have no choice! Use him!’ It... sorta gave me the willies, which is why I was booking it for the exit just now. I can only assume they were talking about—”

“Wait a minute,” Zelgadis breathed, his voice hoarse. “They said to use him?”

“Yes,” Amelia confirmed confidently.

Zel then said in a dry whisper, “Run.”

“Huh?” I found myself gawking.

“We need to run! Hurry!” he repeated and, without waiting for any kind of reply, made a beeline for the exit.

“H-Hang on!”

“We should follow his lead!” Amelia said, darting after Zelgadis.

“Well, okay...” I whispered and quickly followed suit.

The girl had good instincts, after all. And Zel knew perfectly well what I was capable of, so if he said to run, it was probably the smart move.

And, more compellingly, the two of them were already halfway out of the building... No point in sticking around just to spite them!

The three of us made it out of the base and into the surrounding forest.

“I could use a Dragon Slave or something to blow the whole place up...” I offered.

“Just run! It’s no use without the main character here!” Zelgadis said nonsensically.

We continued to hurtle down the night-cloaked mountain road. Naturally, we had no light, which made it pretty dang dangerous...

Seeing no other recourse, I started chanting an amplified Lei Wing. It was a quick-flight spell, and its speed, carrying capacity, and max altitude were all based on the caster’s capacity. So with two people to lift, I’d need the amplification to get us going faster than a swift run.

I grabbed on hard to Amelia and Zel, incanted Lei Wing, and took to the air. A split second later...

Fwoosh!

A silver beam of light sliced through the area where we’d just been standing.

“What the—?!”

It looked like the laser breath of a dragon lord... It was too dark for me to see the full extent of the aftermath, but I could hear nearby trees crashing to the ground, suggesting that the flash of light wasn’t just pyrotechnics.

It had come from behind us, too... from their base. I cast a glance over my shoulder and saw something standing at the entrance, illuminated by the moonlight.

“Huh, yeah... that would give someone the willies,” I whispered, picking up our flight speed to get us the hell out of there.

“Now... who wants to share first?” I asked.

We didn’t have time to catch our breath until we made it all the way to the village of Mayin. We were holed up in the same barn on the edge of town where I’d hid my stuff before, and as far as I was concerned, our top priority now was pooling our knowledge.

“My story’s pretty short,” Amelia responded. “They captured me and locked me up in a room after that Mazenda lady sealed my magic. I thought something might happen to restore it, so I decided to check from time to time... and tonight it really did come back. I blew out the wall and ran... right into those guys.”

“So you went full guerrilla warfare inside their base?” I asked.

“Yup,” she replied with a nod.

“Wait, you said your magic was sealed... Do they have someone who can do that?” Zel asked, slightly alarmed.

“Truth be told, I’m not sure,” I answered.

“How can you not be sure?”

“Well, see... right after I lost Amelia, I met this priest named Xellos—”

“Xellos?!” Zelgadis cried out in shock. “He’s here too?!”

“You... You know him?”

“Yeah, actually...”

“Hold it right there!” Amelia said, putting the brakes on our chaotic back-and-forth. “One thing at a time. Let’s hear your story first, um... Master Zelbadis?”

“Zelgadis,” Zel and I said in the same breath.

He was exhausted. He’d been traveling solo, trying to find a way to restore his human body from the rock golem-brow daemon fusion forced on him by a certain sorcerer. Unfortunately, his quest had so far proved utterly fruitless.

Isn’t there any way I can become human again? he asked over and over again to no avail.

“You’re drinking ale, while I’m drinking juice,” a chimera researcher he’d once met had said, draining some of the juice he was drinking into Zelgadis’s tankard. “Just pouring one into the other mixes the two. But to separate them again... It might not be impossible, but it certainly wouldn’t be easy.

“Every living thing has its defining features. Birds have wings, beaks, body heat, et cetera... It’s too much to quantify if you break every being down in that much detail. But the creation of a chimera thus involves taking two or more distinct creatures and joining them together using their shared features as a sort of middle ground. Like using soap to blend oil and water.

“And if you wish to return it to normal, you need a way to break it back down into those defining features and reassemble them accordingly. If such a thing is even possible, though, you might have to wait hundreds of years for the methods to be developed... or resort to otherworldly or inhuman knowledge.”

Despite this discouraging news, Zelgadis continued his travels until he one day came across some information. Allegedly there was a manuscript that detailed a method for making chimeras—one that was completely different from known methods in our world. It might only be a rumor... but it was all he had to go on.

In pursuing it, Zelgadis learned of a family that passed the manuscript in question down through the generations. But on his way to investigate, he’d run into Xellos, who was after the same thing. They then both discovered that Klotz’s crew had killed the owner of the manuscript and taken it for themselves...

That more or less summed up Zelgadis’s story.

“Klotz’s ilk showing up forced me and Xellos into a truce. But once I’ve dealt with them, Xellos is my next opponent,” Zel said quietly. Man, dude didn’t seem happy about that thought...

“I’m sorry to say it... but even if you get your hands on the manuscript, there’s no guarantee it’ll solve your problem,” I sighed.

His response was surprisingly calm: “It’s true... I don’t know if what’s written in the manuscript will be of any use in restoring my humanity. I’m prepared for that possibility.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Despite whatever Xellos might claim, we have no way of knowing if this manuscript is the real deal or not.”

“He didn’t tell you?” Zelgadis turned to me, sounding surprised. “The girl who held the manuscript was a descendant of the high priest of Letidius.”

Letidius, huh? I think I’ve mentioned it before, but the nation fell into ruin five hundred years ago as a result of its sovereign’s ill-fated quest for immortality. The old capital was still a little further north, but the country had amassed a large number of magical materials during its fruitless search. Unfortunately, most of them had since been burned or lost.

“She said her ancestor took the manuscript with him when he fled the country.”

Huh, okay. If that was true, it would make it quite a priceless artifact, but...

“Just because it’s been handed down from the Letidius of yore still doesn’t mean it’s the real thing,” I reiterated.

Look, I wasn’t trying to insist that it was fake or anything. I was just advocating due skepticism. It’d kinda suck if we went through all this just to find out it was a dud.

But Zelgadis responded to my question with a scowl, saying, “Apparently, the manuscript’s caretaker of 120 years ago shared your doubts.”

“I’d believe it. Anyone would wanna know if the treasure they’d been guarding through the generations was legit or not.”

“It was easy enough to confirm. He tried to make something according to the manuscript’s instructions. He succeeded... But for some reason, the experiment went berserk. I think you’re familiar with the results...” With a melancholy sigh, he mumbled, “Zanaffar, the Beast of Sairaag.”

Uhh... Amelia and I were dumbstruck.

Zanaffar was the legendary magical beast that had destroyed the erstwhile City of Magic and home of the sorcerers’ council, Sairaag. There were no records of what exactly it was, and some sorcerers had theorized that it wasn’t a fabled creature so much as it was a magical experiment gone haywire, but...

“Is that true?” Amelia asked hoarsely.

“I don’t know,” Zel replied with a small shrug. “But I can’t see why she’d make something like that up.”

Yeah, valid. You’d have to be crazy or warped as hell to brag about your ancestor destroying a whole city.

“I-If the girl wasn’t bluffing... then given what we’ve seen, Klotz and his gang...”

“I think they’ve already finished their Zanaffar Mk. II,” Zelgadis said, almost indifferently. “I didn’t think they’d finish it that quickly, but...”

“Is that why you said what you did about ‘the main character’ earlier?”

“Yeah. According to legend, the only one capable of slaying Zanaffar is the hero with the Sword of Light. But he’s not here right now.”

“Let’s not give up yet!” I shouldn’t need to say who it was rising to her feet with clenched fists. “Even without Master Gourry, if the three of us work together—”

“‘It’ll all work out somehow’? You sure about that?”

My pointed question gave Amelia pause.

“No...” she eventually sighed—the only appropriate response.

“The real question is exactly what that monster is capable of,” Zel put forward.

“I have a few good guesses. It once destroyed the so-called City of Magic, so...” I said, counting off my fingers. “First option: Zanaffar was outright strong enough to totally torch a city before they could muster a counterattack. But if that was really the case, the Warrior of Light wouldn’t have been able to fight back. Legendary hero or not, he was a melee fighter. Zanaffar would’ve roasted him while he was doing the good old roar-and-charge.

“Second option: there was more than one Zanaffar. That, however, seems unlikely if it was really an experiment gone wild. I really doubt they created ten or twenty Zanaffars just to test if the manuscript was real, much less that they all lost control and attacked Sairaag. That brings us to our third option: magic attacks don’t work on Zanaffar.”

My two compatriots listened quietly as I explained.

“Sairaag was home to the sorcerers’ council and widely known as the City of Magic. It stands to reason, then, that they had at least a few guys who could sling some Dragon Slaves. Yet the city couldn’t stand against one magical beast? That suggests Zanaffar had near-perfect magic resistance. I can’t think of anything to contradict this theory.”

“But what exactly keeps magic from working on it?” Amelia asked curiously.

“To dissect that, one must first consider an important question: what is magic?” came a new voice.

A sour expression appeared on Zel’s face, while Amelia tensed up.

“How long have you been with us, Xellos?” I asked without turning around.

“Since that rousing ‘if we all work together’ speech,” he said as he took a seat at my side.

“Aha... Oh, don’t worry, Amelia. He’s not our enemy—for now, anyway.”

“What a painfully honest description,” Xellos said, his usual smile showing an ounce of strain.

“Anyway, first things first. Thanks for getting my magic reactivated. What happened with Mazenda?”

“I killed her,” he said simply, his vapid expression unchanged.

“How?!” Amelia asked.

“That’s a secret,” he responded, raising a finger to his lips.

“But... how did you know we were here?”

“How else?” He turned his gaze my way. “I traced the magical emissions from those talismans you bought off of me.”

Ah, of course. It wasn’t hard to trace specific magical emissions so long as you knew the unique waves you were looking for.

“Now, back to the subject... You asked what exactly keeps magic from working on Zanaffar. Let me preface by asking you this: To what exactly does the term ‘magic’ refer?”

“Power that defies the natural order of our world,” Amelia answered without hesitation.

“Correct,” Xellos replied with a satisfied nod. “In other words, magic uses the art of incantation to twist the natural laws of cause and effect, producing power or rewriting those laws. Activating magic thus involves chants that influence the astral plane—the underside of our world, though the barrier between is paper thin—to draw out its power.

“Elemental shamanistic spells manifest said power as a physical force, which you smash into your target. But any power manifested on the material plane can consequently be defended against with material means. Astral spells and black magic spells therefore generally don’t manifest the majority of their attack power physically, but rather keep to the astral plane to strike their target’s astral form directly.”

“Question, teacher!” I called, raising my hand.

“Yes, Miss Lina?”

“The Gaav Flare creates a visible stream of fire to attack, and the Dragon Slave can directly target castles and mountains and stuff. I don’t think mountains and castles have astral forms! What gives?”

“Ah, a very astute observation. But even when you cast a Dragon Slave, you may see a faint red point of light heading for your target and coalescing there. The fire of a Gaav Flare, the thunder of a Ragna Blast, and the red light of a Dragon Slave all serve as a fuse.”

“A fuse?” I echoed.

“Yes. At the point where they coalesce or meet something that triggers contact, the attack power built up on the astral plane manifests in this world. If the target is not a living being, that’s all it does. But if it is a living being, the spell tears apart their astral form before the remaining energy spills out into this world. That said, there are also spells that keep their power strictly to the astral plane, like Elemekia Lance.”

“One more question,” Amelia said.

“Yes, my dear?”

“How do you know all that? Not even the sorcerers’ council knows this much about the nature of magic.”

“That’s—”

“A secret?”

“—because, shall we say, what’s considered common knowledge among the sorcerers’ council is not necessarily the cutting edge of magical theory.”

“I have a question too,” Zelgadis said, still looking sour.

“Go right ahead.”

“When exactly are you getting to the point?”

“Ah... about why attack magic doesn’t work on Zanaffar, you mean? That’s because Zanaffar’s spirit is segregated from the rest of the astral plane. Imagine a sort of barrier surrounding its astral form. That prevents black magic’s most damaging aspect—the astral attack—from ever reaching it. Meanwhile, standard elemental spells exclusively deal physical damage... So if Zanaffar’s hide is on par with that of a deimos dragon, a dragon lord, or an arch dragon, it could easily shrug off the piddly elemental power humans are capable of conjuring.”

“Hmm...” I didn’t know if he was talking facts or just theory, but it sounded pretty convincing. “That’s why we need a weapon like the Sword of Light to slay the beast...”

“So we really can’t fight back until we find Gourry, eh?” Zelgadis whispered, annoyed.

“Who is this Master Gourry, praytell, and what good will finding him do?” Xellos asked.

I responded without looking at him, “He has the Sword of Light.”

“Oh?” For once, Xellos looked taken aback. “Surely you jest.”

“You think we’re moping around here just to punk you?” I said, then sighed.

If only I’d known the magical wave pattern of the Sword of Light, I could track it down from the astral plane. Too bad I didn’t have any idea what it was. And before you ask, no, that’s not my fault. I’d begged Gourry to let me study the sword, but he turned me down every time. He said if he let me have it, I’d just run off with it or something.

I guess he had at least one insightful bone in his body.

“With something like that... Hmm, is it possible? If so, then...” Xellos muttered to himself for a while, and finally stood up. “Then I need to act quickly. I’m going to see what they’re up to.”

He then turned to leave, but Amelia grabbed his sleeve.

“Er... would you kindly unhand me?”

“No way,” she said flatly. “I don’t know who you are, but they’ve got an evil magical beast! You could die if you go! My every instinct is screaming at me, telling me it’s dangerous to let you go alone!”

Xellos looked profoundly troubled for a moment, then turned my way.

“Could you convince her, perhaps?” he begged.

“Sorry,” I responded simply. “She’s a passionate believer in friendship, goodness, and all that stuff.”

“What an odd one...”

“You’re telling me.”

“That explains much,” he said, nodding. “You’re proverbial birds of a feather...”

I didn’t let that rattle me, though. I just pointed at him and said, “Bird.”

“What? I’m perfectly normal!” he insisted unconvincingly.

I glanced over at Zelgadis to see him deep in thought, ignoring the chaos. But that distant gaze in his eyes said it all: I’m normal, unlike the rest of you.

“A-Anyway, I’ll be off now!” Xellos said with unusual gusto, then made for the exit.

“Huh?” Amelia mumbled quietly.

“Hey, Amelia! Why’d you let him go?” I hollered.

“I... I didn’t!” she protested, looking down at her hand, which still looked like it was clasped around something.

“Ugh! Anyway, we can’t let him run off on his own... Hey, Xellos! Wait up!” I shouted as I scrambled after him.

I made my way outside to find the clouds over the eastern mountains blushing red against the predawn sky.

“Why are you all following me?” Xellos inquired, looking distinctly unhappy, even as he kept walking.

“You really need to ask? Two heads are better than one, and four are better than two. I don’t care who you are; there’s always safety in numbers.”

“That’s rather simple logic... But very well, if you insist. I won’t slow down or change destinations to accommodate you, however. If you wish to accompany me, you’ll have to keep up.”

“Got it,” I said with a nod. I didn’t ask Zel or Amelia for approval, but they both followed along without complaint, so I assumed it implicitly. “But if you were planning to go alone, why’d you come to us in the first place?”

“I promised that I’d meet you in this village,” he said just as...

Boom! Another explosion roared from the mountains.

“Goodness me...” Xellos whispered with his usual smile in place.

The explosion had originated from the cult’s base, so we quickly headed there... only to discover a barren wasteland where the building once had been. Probably the work of a Dragon Slave.

“But... who could have done this?” I whispered.

“The inevitable fall of evil!” Amelia responded resolutely—I guess it made sense to her?

“I believe Master Klotz was responsible,” Xellos put in.

“He blew up his own base? What makes you think that?”

“There’s no sign of a fight here. It would certainly be possible to catch them unawares with a Dragon Slave if they were oblivious to danger... but after your raid last night, they surely would have had security at its tightest. It’s more likely that they decided to move their headquarters elsewhere and then destroyed the old one to hide the evidence.”

“Wait a minute,” Zelgadis chimed in with a scowl. “How did you know we were here last night?”

“Simple inference,” he responded, raising his index finger knowingly. “Firstly, you’ve recovered your captured friend. Secondly, you were discussing Zanaffar, which suggests you’ve encountered it. Thirdly, when I arrived in town, I saw a flash from the mountains.”

“Hmm... But why bother ditching their base? If they have a Zanaffar, even if we came after them again, they could take us out easily.”

“Ah... I wonder,” I found myself saying. “Amelia made it sound like they were only grudgingly using their Zanaffar-alike. And then it gave up after that first attack. Plus, it hasn’t been that long since Klotz got his hands on the manuscript. If you add all that up...”

“Oh, do you think...” Amelia spoke up hopefully.

I nodded.

“I think their Zanaffar is still incomplete.”

“We have to track them down!” Amelia said heroically. “We must foil their evil ambitions before their servant of darkness, Zanaffar, is complete!”

“I’m on board with the beat-’em-up plan. But tell me, Little Miss Justice, exactly where did they go?” Zel asked sarcastically.

There, Amelia faltered.

“Um...” she muttered, casting a pleading glance in Xellos’s direction. “Do you know?”

“I’m afraid not. If, as Miss Lina says, Zanaffar is incomplete, they’re likely setting up shop elsewhere... If I’d known this would happen, I would have asked Mazenda the location of their other base before I finished her off.”

“I don’t know where the base itself is, but...” I said with some hesitation, then pointed to the southeast. “I think they went that way.”

“What makes you think that?” Zelgadis asked.

I cast a sidelong glance at Amelia. Should I really say it? Well, I figured I couldn’t exactly keep it to myself...

“Last night, I infiltrated another of their rallies,” I admitted. “And that guy... Klotz, I think... said they were gonna destroy Saillune.”

“Whaaaaat?!” Amelia exclaimed in near a shriek. “Th-They’re gonna destroy Saillune?! They can’t do that! Unless they finish Zanaffar... We just gotta stop them! We gotta catch them as soon as we can!”

Without waiting for a response, she started to storm back in the direction of the village... and quickly froze in her tracks.

“What is it, Ameli—”

When I followed her gaze, I froze similarly. There were... close to a hundred villagers approaching, all steaming with murderous rage.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the cultists,” Xellos said with his usual cheery expression.

“You did this!” one of the villagers, a man of about forty, said accusingly. “Where’s Lord Klotz? What happened to him?!”

“It’s them! They’re the ones who ruined our rally!” shouted another voice from somewhere in the crowd, seething with hatred.

“Ah, of course. Agitation. A fully expected tactic from Master Klotz,” Xellos whispered, his trademark smile now somewhat strained.

Welp, that explained that. Klotz had blown up his base to destroy the evidence of Zanaffar’s creation, but it was also a handy way to rile up his followers. He’d probably sent some deliberate agitators into town to make sure the angry mob set their sights on us, too.

In other words, the cultists were here to waste our time.

“They leave us no choice. Let’s clear them out, then,” Xellos said, his expression unchanging even with such a terrifying line.

“Hey! Hang on just a minute there, buddy!” I interrupted in a panic.

He responded with an air of confusion, “Whatever is the matter? You’re not about to try to tell me they’re all good people deep down, are you?”

“Such faith in humanity sadly eludes me. But still... you made it sound like you’re gonna kill them all.”

“I am,” he replied casually.

I was dumbstruck for a good moment there.

“That’s mass murder! They’re at least pretending to be innocent villagers most of the time... I’m not doing the whole ‘wanted criminal’ thing again.” Even as we argued, the villagers continued to talk amongst themselves and their air of hostility grew stronger. They didn’t seem to have the guts to attack us quite yet, but it was only a matter of time before we got there. “Just clear the way.”

Xellos closed his eyes for a moment, then said, “Very well. Let’s proceed as peacefully as possible.”

While chanting a spell, he walked swiftly toward the cultists.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing?!” one yelled.

Xellos’s right hand swept slowly through the air. A word of power drifted from his lips. I couldn’t make it out, but...

Whoosh! A strong wind whipped up, joined by countless screams. It was a more powerful version of a Diem Wind... Many times more powerful. The gale Xellos conjured scattered the cultists, sending some flying into trees and others slamming into the ground. Once it quieted down, I could hear them all groaning in pain.

“Now, everyone,” Xellos said gently to the fallen, writhing cultists. We couldn’t see his expression, but... I was pretty sure he was still smiling in the same chipper fashion as always. “Would you kindly let us through? If you don’t, I’m afraid we’ll have to cut a path open ourselves...”

The cultists immediately, with moans close to screams, dove into the underbrush on either side of the road.

So this was his version of proceeding peacefully, huh?

“How was that?” he asked, turning back to me with his unflinching smile.

We were now headed toward Saillune, but it was slow going. Four days out of Mayin, we still hadn’t picked up any trace of Klotz and his gang. But we couldn’t move much faster until we knew where their new base was, lest we accidentally pass it by.

We kept an ear out for relevant rumors in each town we came to, then scoured the surrounding areas the old-fashioned way. We covered about a village a day, though our investigations were far from thorough. We were kind of in a hurry since Zanaffar could be completed at any time.

In truth, there was a good chance it was already done. But it wasn’t like we could just call off our search. I thought it might be possible to locate the beast from the astral plane, given Xellos’s theory about its unique astral form, but that yielded bupkis.

Fortunately, however, there were other things I could do in the meantime... by which I mean study magic. I needed to test how well the talismans’ amplification worked, for one thing, but that wasn’t all. Certain spells depended on more than just getting the words right, see. Even if you recited the chant perfectly, some required a gesture, tool, or ritual to activate. Some could only be performed at certain times of day.

And some were purely dependent on your capacity.

Take the Blast Bomb that Xellos had used, for instance. I had a few spells in my repertoire that I’d mastered the incantations for, but couldn’t actually use. Would the amplification bring them into reach? I was dying to know. So while we were in the midst of pursuing Klotz and his gang, I did some quick research, and...

“Was that you yesterday?” Amelia asked me, the same as she had the past several mornings as we left our village du jour.

“Tee-hee! Busted!” I stuck out my tongue all cutesy-like.

Late last night, I’d sneaked out of the inn and tried a few experiments in the forest at the edge of town...

“This is no giggling matter,” Zelgadis said, sounding understandably disgusted.

Xellos then chimed in as cheerfully as ever, “Ah, I thought I heard some kind of roar last night. It had the villagers in quite a panic. Was that you, then?”

“Well, I was tryin’ a lotta stuff out... an’ I decided to see what an amplified Dragon Slave could do!”

I honestly hadn’t expected it to wipe out an entire forest in one go... Who could blame me for fleeing the scene in a panic afterward?

“Just look the other way, okay? This stuff might come in handy later,” I said with a big grin.

“Well, I would hardly be one to object, but...” Xellos said as he suddenly came to a stop. “It doesn’t appear that Master Klotz and his ilk will oblige.”

“Two birds with one stone,” I said, coming to a stop myself.

Obviously, Zelgadis and Amelia both were holding their breath as well, glaring at the underbrush ahead.

“C’mon, guys. We know you’re there. Show yourselves already.”

Two werebeasts appeared in response to my summons.

“Oh... you sensed us, did you?”

One of them looked like an ordinary werewolf, while the other was some kind of brass demon chimera...

Jeez, was this stuff all that Klotz guy was good for? I’d never met them before, but since they were Klotz’s werebeasts, it felt safe to assume I’d need some serious attack magic to hurt them. However...

“You gotta be kidding me!” I said, registering overblown surprise.

“Hah... The girl’s startled,” the half-demon whispered.

“I seriously can’t believe you guys think the two of you can beat us!”

“Wh-What was that?!” the half-demon cried as he smoothly drew two swords from his back, brandishing a longsword in his right hand and a shortsword in his left.

The werewolf didn’t bother reaching for his own blade. He just silently watched our exchange with the half-demon.

“I’m saying there’s no way you two can beat all of us. I’m sure you don’t realize what total badasses we are, so I guess I can’t blame you for trying... Maybe it was a bad order from a bum lieutenant, or maybe you took this extremely misguided initiative yourselves. But I’m telling you—take a hint and clear out before we kick your asses straight to the hereafter.”

“Hah! Say whatever you want!” the half-demon clamored, casting a glance in Xellos’s direction. “Lord Balgumon only said we should watch out for the damned monk! Right?”

He then looked to his comrade for confirmation, but the werewolf coldly replied, “That doesn’t mean we can underestimate the others.”

“Well... true enough...” the half-demon said, suddenly cowed. “It’s true that I don’t... really wanna fight that monk. And you’re saying the others might be just as dangerous...”

Man, if you’re gonna chicken out that quickly, don’t mouth off to begin with!

“Still,” the half-demon said with a sudden flash of a bright smile, “I guess we can’t just leave and pretend we never saw you, now can we?”

“That’s true. I still need you guys to tell us where your new base is.”

“Heh... Come and try us if you dare!”

Before the half-demon could finish blustering, the werewolf was dashing straight for me! And instead of drawing his blade, he raked at me with the claws of his right hand!

“What?! Dammi—” Even if I jumped back now, I wouldn’t be able to get out of the way in time. “Tch!”

Without hesitation, I charged the werebeast to body-check him.

Whump! No matter the weapon, if you can throw off the attack, you can greatly reduce its killing power. The werebeast’s claws just caught my back and the top of my cape—but now I had the claws on his left hand to worry about! Had I made a wrong move?! Just as I was debating that, the werebeast’s foot found my solar plexus.

“Grkh!”

Oof. That one hurt. I barely managed to stay on my feet, but...

I looked and saw the werewolf and Zelgadis, broadsword drawn, staring each other down. That explained it. If the werebeast had clawed at me with his left hand, he might have killed me... but Zel would have slain him the next instant. That was why he’d kicked me away instead.

“Guh!” While drawing far back, the werewolf finally unsheathed his sword.

“Tch!” Forced into the fight now, the half-demon charged. And his target was... Amelia!

“Fireball!”

The ball of light she unleashed hit him head-on! Fwooom! The blast blew the half-demon back, slamming him into a nearby tree. But...

“Heh... heh heh heh...” He stood up slowly. “Fireballs... can’t hurt me...”

“Fireball!”

Interrupting the half-demon’s brag, she unleashed a second one! Fwooom! He was blasted back again, and slowly rose to his feet once more.

“I t-told you...”

“Have another! Fireball!”

Fwooom!

“Um... hey...” the half-demon said, precariously picking himself back up.

Attagirl! Even if the flames of the Fireball wouldn’t hurt him, if Amelia could keep blowing the half-demon into things, the blunt trauma alone would take its toll.

“And another! Fireball!”

Fwooom!

Plus, chain-firing on him like that would keep him out of the battle. That left the rest of us to go three-on-one against the werewolf. Easy street!

Said werewolf was currently clashing with Zelgadis, and obviously, I wasn’t just going to stand around providing commentary. I finished chanting my spell, and the moment Zel and the werewolf got some distance from each other...

“Elemekia Lance!”

“Tch!” But the werewolf leaped back again.

“We definitely underestimated them!” he said, whipping around. He then ran into the trees shouting, “Withdraw! If we stay here, we’re dead meat!”

“O-Okay!” the half-demon responded, shakily running after him.

“After them!” Zelgadis cried, plunging into the brush in pursuit of the werebeasts.

The rest of us followed his lead.

Obviously, all we had to go by were their tracks. The underbrush and tree branches made it difficult, but the half-demon must have been in a bad way, because their own progress was slow. If we hadn’t been in the middle of the woods, we could have easily chased them down from the sky...

The chase dragged on and on. Aside from the ever-chipper Xellos, we were all visibly exhausted by the time we finally made it out of the forest.

“About time...” Zel muttered as he leaped out from the trees.

We’d arrived at a village. The werebeasts ran straight into it, drawing cries of fear and surprise from a man leading a cow and some kids playing tag.

Argh! This is even worse! Nobody here seemed to be in cahoots with the baddies, but a village offered lots of hiding places, and would force us to keep our spells on the small side. Bad guys also loved taking villagers hostage. I hoped we could catch them before they tried anything funny, but...

The two werebeasts ran straight down the village’s central avenue with the four of us in hot pursuit. It wasn’t exactly an ideal situation. We were likely to end up on a wild goose chase or lose them entirely...

Or so I thought, but the two werebeasts came to a halt all of a sudden, right at the center of the village. We stopped a little ways behind them. Were they going to throw caution to the wind and put up a fight now?

“So you’re ready to turn yourselves in!” Amelia called out, pointing dramatically at the werebeasts. “Good triumphs over evil once again!”

“Ugh... It’s four against two and you act like you’re the good guys? You look like bullies to me,” the half-demon (rightly) snarked.

Amelia, however, was unperturbed.

“No, what you see here is the power of friendship! The power of teamwork!” she shot back shamelessly. The rest of us averted our eyes.

“Well... whatever. We’re sick of running. Why don’t we settle this already?”

I felt a chill rush up my back. Don’t tell me...

“Bring it on!” Amelia declared boldly.

There, the half-demon flashed a nasty grin.

“Well, well! You hear that, everyone?” he shouted, and right on cue...

What?! The three of us (sans Xellos) let out a groan.

They seemed to come out from everywhere, behind buildings and stalls and carts... Close to twenty werebeasts, by my reckoning, encircled us.

“A trap...” Zelgadis whispered bitterly.

“That’s right,” the half-demon responded. “Lord Klotz actually had a perfect read on your power. You defeated Vedul and Gilfa, two of our strongest, after all. We knew we could never beat you with just us.”

I knew it. They were decoys to lead us here...

Okay, I’d like to say I knew it, but it had only occurred to me when they came to a dead stop in the middle of the village. So, yeah... bit of an oversight on my part this time. My bad.

The street was now filled with werebeasts. Even if they weren’t as strong as Vedul and Gilfa, it would be tough to deal with this many at once.

If we hadn’t been in the middle of town or so close to them, I could’ve just launched a Dragon Slave into their ranks. It seemed they’d lured us here specifically to throttle our magic usage. In a brawl, Zelgadis was a skilled swordsman and I could probably hold my own well enough... But Xellos only had his staff and Amelia was totally unarmed.

“Sorry, but you should realize you’re outclassed and just give up,” hailed a familiar voice. I recognized it and reflexively turned around.

It was another werebeast (natch), but this one seemed a head taller than the others. He was a fusion of a human and some breed of big cat with silver hair—a white tiger?! He was wearing platemail of a curious design that matched his fur, and he carried a large battleaxe in his hands.

“Are you... Duclis?”

When I said his name, a stunned expression crossed his face.

“Hey... I know that voice! You’re that kid!” He scratched his head lightly with his left hand, abashed. “Oh, so you were a girl... I see.”

“Master Duclis, we’re about to fight them,” the half-demon scolded.

But Duclis remained calm.

“Hey, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt to talk. But this does make it harder to fight you... I’m kind of at a loss...” he said, scratching his head again.

“You know this guy, Lina?” Amelia asked.

“I’ll explain later,” I whispered in response.

“Can I ask you something?” I petitioned, turning to Duclis. “Why are you guys so devoted to Klotz? Even to the point of casting aside your humanity? He’s an awful person who believes in the Dark Lord, resurrects magical beasts, and wants to destroy the world!”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t understand,” Duclis whispered in sad tones. “We—most of us here—were on death’s door. I myself was a wandering mercenary abandoned by my team, left injured for dead... and the one who saved me was Master Klotz. He did it by turning me into a chimera.”

“I see. And in the process, he oh-so conveniently earned himself a new pawn,” Xellos said bluntly.

Duclis seemed to take no offense.

“Yeah, I know. I’m always a pawn. But still... I don’t have anywhere else to go. The other guys here are probably in a similar situation... even if they won’t admit it,” he said.

“So, to get down to brass tacks, there’s no way you’re not fighting us, is there?” Zelgadis asked, his broadsword already drawn.

“Xellos,” I whispered to the man standing next to me. “Don’t do anything too flashy.”

“Then I can do whatever I like, provided it’s drab?” he asked back.

I thought for a minute.

“I’d prefer if you just stayed out of this as long as possible, but...”

“Let’s get to it. Talking isn’t getting us anywhere...” Duclis said wearily.

“Let’s do this!” the half-demon cried, making the first move.

He charged right for Amelia, clearly eager for payback. Zelgadis moved to cover her while she started chanting a spell. It was... a Ra Tilt! That would only hit a single enemy, but it was strong enough to take out even a brass demon in one blast. And in our current situation, dealing with these guys one at a time was probably the only option...

Another group of werebeasts closed in on Amelia too. I began chanting as I drew my shortsword from my belt, repositioning to provide Amelia additional cover. Just then... Duclis made his move.

Fwish! A silver helmet clicked into place over his head, most likely snapping up from his back. He hefted his battleaxe like it weighed nothing, then charged smoothly forward. Meanwhile...

Clang! Sparks flew as the half-demon’s longsword clashed with Zelgadis’s broadsword.

“Gotcha!” Zel cried out as he caught the shortsword in the half-demon’s other hand with his open palm!

“What?!” the half-demon yelped in surprise.

Duclis and more werebeasts were still charging at us from separate directions. I’d have to hold some off with spells, and some with swordplay. Let’s see... Duclis had that huge battleaxe, which I was pretty sure I couldn’t block with a sword. I’d have to fire at him first.

“Elemekia Lance!”

Not even one of Klotz’s werebeasts could tank a hit like that. And while Duclis was busy dodging, I could use my blade to hold off the other werebeasts heading for Amelia—

At least, that was the plan. But Duclis didn’t even try to evade! He took my Elemekia Lance head-on and kept charging unabated!

I beg your damned pardon!

“Amelia! Zel! Get outta the way!” I screamed, believing it was the best thing I could do in the moment.

“What?!” Zelgadis quickly withdrew and turned to look.

But Amelia was slower to respond...

“Amelia!” I shrieked.

“Die!” A group of werebeasts charging from the other direction swooped in on her!

And like the wind... Amelia leaped! With one light twist of her body, she was standing behind the mob. She then unleashed a back kick on them.

“Bwuh?!”

Her kick wasn’t especially powerful, but it rerouted the werebeasts’ momentum, sending them stumbling toward Duclis.

Huh... Amelia’s a pretty good martial artist.

“Guys! I said don’t let your guard down!” Duclis shouted, using his open hand to lightly catch the clamoring werebeasts.

Just then, Amelia finished her spell: “Ra Tilt!”

With those words of power, a blue pillar of light enveloped Duclis! She must’ve pegged him for the leader of the squad and decided to take him out first. The blue light receded moments later, and poor Duclis... That one spell struck him down.

Or, it should have, but...

“I see... That’s pretty impressive,” he said, sounding unfazed.

“What?!” Amelia exclaimed, flabbergasted.

“Oh, it’s just this armor that Klotz gave me,” Duclis explained. “The anti-magic armor Zanaffar...”