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Slayers - Volume 8 - Chapter 1




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1: Hellmaster Makes His Move

A hand as white as porcelain. Was it a woman’s? I wasn’t sure... but that’s what I saw.

“Huh?” I breathed, momentarily disoriented.

My Ragna Blade had disarmed Chaos Dragon quite literally on his right side. It had also exhausted my magic and left me collapsed helplessly on the ground. It’d been all I could do to glare up at Gaav as he approached, ready to finish me off... But then he suddenly let out a deathly howl.

And now... I could see a slender arm extending out of Chaos Dragon’s stomach.

“You...” His face was twisted with hatred as he looked back over his shoulder, his voice tinged with a mix of pain and rage. “Y-You... When did you...”

With those words, I finally understood what had happened. While Gaav was focused on me, someone else had approached him from behind and run him through—barehanded. Obviously, it wasn’t any of us. Chaos Dragon could tank most of our spells completely unscathed. The only one capable of doing something like this was...

“I’ve been here the entire time... Though it seems only Xellos noticed,” chimed a clear voice from behind Gaav.

It wasn’t a woman. No, it sounded like... a child?! Where had they come from?

“It’s been some time, Lina Inverse,” said a small head, now poking out from behind the impaled demon.

“What...?” slipped a groan from my lips.

That familiar face, that black, slightly wavy hair... They belonged to a somewhat girlish-looking boy of eleven or twelve. Indeed, the very same one I’d met in Gyria City. This was the little boy who’d hinted to me about the plans of Gaav’s faction... and who I’d found lifeless after Xellos’s rampage.

“I thought you were dead,” I said, even as an inkling of his true identity began taking shape in my mind.

“Nobody ever actually said that I was. You just assumed so because Xellos told you my heart wasn’t beating. And that wasn’t a lie. After all, how could my heart be beating when I don’t have one?” he said teasingly.

Aha... yeah, I guess that wasn’t technically a lie. Xellos was awfully good at obfuscating the truth without outright mendacity.

“A ch-child?!” Amelia gasped tremblingly, perhaps still not comprehending the situation.

The boy smiled cheerfully back at her and said, “Yes, a child. The appearance of one, at least. I can take any form I like, but this one is rather convenient. Humans are such interesting creatures, so easy to manipulate... You always let your guard down in my presence like this.”

“And that’s why you never gave me your name...” I muttered.

“Oh, that’s right. I still haven’t introduced myself,” he responded brazenly with a slight bow. “I,” he said without a shred of humanity in his eyes, “am Fibrizo. But you can call me Hellmaster.”

Amelia, Zel, and the dragon elder Milgazia all fell silent at this unceremonious introduction.

Gourry had gotten up at some point, and now stood with the Sword of Light in one hand as he looked my way questioningly. “Is he a famous person or something?” he asked.

Yeah, go figure he didn’t remember me bringing up Fibrizo before... Is it just impossible for you to remember multisyllabic names, dude?

Hellmaster himself didn’t seem too perturbed by Gourry’s antics, however. He simply gave a light shrug and said, “Well, I am rather renowned in certain circles... though I’m no person.”

“That much is clear,” Gourry replied, readying the Sword of Light once more—now for Fibrizo instead of Gaav.

“So... you and Xellos had me in the palm of your hand all this time,” I whispered through my teeth, my jaw clenched.

Fibrizo’s possum act in Gyria City had so fiercely incited me against Chaos Dragon that I’d readily agreed to do whatever Xellos said, even knowing I was being manipulated—even knowing it served Hellmaster, who now smiled at me slightly.

“It’s true that you followed my plans to the letter. Gaav also showed up right on cue. But we can rehash that shortly... There’s something I must take care of first,” he said, then glanced back at Chaos Dragon, who was still speared on his arm.

Gaav had been silent and unmoving all this time, yet upon hearing this, he let out an angry howl and twisted around to strike at Hellmaster with his left hand. But...

Shrk! There came a quiet tearing sound, and Chaos Dragon’s left arm went flying instead.

“Graaaaaaaagh!” Gaav shouted helplessly, falling to his knees in pain.

“Don’t even bother, Gaav. You know I was always stronger than you, and you’re stuck in this flawed form now... Surely you know that resisting me is futile.” Hellmaster slowly looked down at Gaav, who remained speared on his arm. “I was thinking of killing you and purging the human element of your mixed blood... but it seems to be blended together in a most curious fashion. It’s impressively confounding, a testament to Aqualord’s binding abilities. Even killing you wouldn’t allow me to restore you to your old self.”

“Damn you! Damn you!” Gaav seethed, struggling as he glowered at Fibrizo. But the shadow of death already hung over his every word and movement.

“You’ll never serve Lord Ruby-Eye again like this... which leaves us only one option.”

“Damn you!”

“I must finish you for good,” Fibrizo said, and the moment those words left his mouth...

Pop! Chaos Dragon’s body was instantly rendered ash. It was... far too quick a death for the likes of Chaos Dragon Gaav. The white ash, looking almost like snow, danced higher on the wind and up into the sky above.

I see now... I finally understood why Chaos Dragon despised Hellmaster so. His power was just that overwhelming.

I’d only barely managed to scratch Chaos Dragon Gaav with the most desperate, reckless attack I had in my arsenal, and here Fibrizo had taken him out with a flick of his arm. Perhaps unable to comprehend the situation, or maybe out of instinctive fear, the others simply stared on in silence.

“All according to plan, huh?” I said, my eyes glued on Hellmaster from where I lay otherwise unmoving on the ground.

“More or less,” Fibrizo replied in a tone exactly like a child bragging to his friends. “I sacrificed one of my underlings to pass a certain piece of information to Gaav’s own—that I was plotting something involving Lina Inverse. That got the ball rolling. I then told Xellos, on loan from Greater Beast Zellas Metallium, to hang around and keep tabs on you.”

“And after cluing me in on Chaos Dragon’s movements and faking your own death... you waited for him to come out of hiding so you could run in with the backstab. Nice work if you can get it.”

“I suppose. But there’s a piece to the puzzle you’re overlooking... It was I who guided you back to Xellos when you were lost in the Claire Bible’s domain. Xellos is very useful in his way, but it would have taken him far too long to find you in that twisted place. No, no, don’t bother to thank me...”

“What does all this mean?” Gourry asked with a knitted brow, still failing to grasp the situation.

I answered him, my eyes remaining locked on Hellmaster: “It means that, all along, I was Hellmaster’s pawn for luring out the traitorous Chaos Dragon Gaav.”

“That’s part of it, yes,” Hellmaster himself replied.

“Part of it?” I echoed. “You’re saying there’s more to it?”

“Oh, I thought you’d caught on by now... Or are you just feigning ignorance? Either way, my next move should be obvious...” Fibrizo turned his eyes from me to Gourry. “Though I didn’t expect to encounter Gorun Nova here. That forces me to choose you.”

“Choose me? For what?” Gourry asked cluelessly.

“Bait,” Fibrizo said casually, then began sauntering toward him.

“Bait?!” he exclaimed, backing away with the Sword of Light at the ready.

“No need to be so frightened. No one’s really going to gobble you up. Simply come along and—”

Out of the blue, Amelia interrupted Hellmaster with an incantation: “Ra Tilt!”

I didn’t know when she’d started chanting the spell, but it now engulfed Fibrizo in a pillar of azure flame! And yet... when the flames died down, he stood there just the same, completely unfazed.

“Huh?!” came a shocked gasp from Amelia’s lips.

Fibrizo slowly turned his attention back to her. “You startled me there, dishing out a Ra Tilt like that... That might destroy a very low-tier demon, but not me,” he said with a child’s impish grin.

“No... No way,” she whispered, stunned motionless.

Her astonishment was completely understandable. Ra Tilt was the strongest shamanistic attack spell in the human playbook. It was a guaranteed kill against most opponents, including low-level demons. So for Hellmaster to smile so nonchalantly after taking one head-on... We were beholding the power of the highest order of demonkind.

“Now then...” Hellmaster calmly returned his gaze to Gourry. “I’m going to ask you to come with me... to the stage I’ve set.”

“And if I refuse?” Gourry asked, the Sword of Light briefly blazing brighter.

“You’re free to try, though you can’t actually stop me.”

There, Fibrizo snapped his fingers—and the brilliant blade in Gourry’s hands went out.

“What?!” he squealed in shock.

Did that mean... it was Fibrizo who’d extinguished the sword?!

“Humans shouldn’t be using that in the first place,” Hellmaster said.

He then snapped his fingers a second time. The instant he did, several dozen black tentacles burst forth from the Sword of Light and entangled Gourry!

“What?!” we cried in unison.

I’d never seen or heard any suggestion whatsoever that the Sword of Light’s hilt could produce something like that... I’d never even imagined it. And I was certain Gourry, the sword’s inheritor, hadn’t either.

“Wh-What?!” Gourry writhed desperately, but the tentacles showed no sign of letting go.

“The Sword of Light... what an arbitrary name you humans have given it. Its real name is Gorun Nova,” Fibrizo said quietly. “It’s one of Dark Star’s five weapons.”

“?!”

This sudden revelation had me at a loss for words. Xellos had mentioned that name when he sold me the talismans... Dark Star, dark lord of another world.

While we stood there dumbstruck, Fibrizo continued: “I don’t know who did it or how, but Gorun Nova was drawn into this world and transformed into something usable by humans. But even shaped like a weapon, it’s still a part of Dark Star—an extension of him. It’s like a demon itself, in other words. That means it’s far closer to me than you humans, thus I can easily bend it to my will instead.

“It’s meant to be wielded by a dark lord. That’s why, Lina Inverse, you didn’t exceed its capacity even when you channeled a Dragon Slave or that other spell through it. Granted, if you’d used the true form of that spell, I suspect not even Gorun Nova would have withstood it.”

You son of a... I glared at Hellmaster with all the vehemence I could muster.

“Have you caught on to my intentions now? Of course, I doubt you’d willingly oblige me if I asked, and you couldn’t do it right now anyway... So I’m going to take him with me. To my city, Sairaag.”

“Wait—” I started to shout, but before I could finish...

Crack! With an ear-splitting sound, Fibrizo and Gourry disappeared!

“Gourry!” I crawled to my feet, but a wave of vertigo knocked me to my knees again.

Hellmaster had probably brought Gorun Nova into his resonance field and blinked through space, dragging Gourry with him. I assumed he was headed for Sairaag in the Lyzeille Empire, as he’d said. But what had he meant by “my city”?

The remaining four of us were left staring out into space.

“What... in the world just happened?” Amelia whispered, her question carried away on the wind unanswered.

I awoke from a dream I couldn’t remember. It was frightening, maybe, or sad...

Driven by urges I didn’t understand, I sat up in bed. My cheeks were wet. I must have been crying. I couldn’t recall anything about what I’d been dreaming, but my tear-stained face told me it was a nightmare. At least, I didn’t see how it could have been anything else.

Small beams of light streaked into my dim room through the plentiful cracks in the window shutters. Morning, huh?

After everything that had happened yesterday, me, Amelia, and Zel left Dragons’ Peak behind and set ourselves up at this inn in a nearby village. I was so completely spent that I didn’t even get dinner before I collapsed into bed. And then the next thing I knew, the sun was up.

I listlessly pulled myself out of bed and dragged myself down to the dining room on the first floor. There, I found Amelia and Zel already seated at a table like they were waiting for me.

Where’s Gourry? I found myself unconsciously looking for him, and then it belatedly hit me... Right, he isn’t here...

“Morning...” I said half-heartedly as I took a seat. I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I ordered a meager two helpings of the breakfast special.

“You feeling okay?” Amelia asked with a faint look of concern.

I forced a smile and said, “Oh, yeah. Totally fine. Weird dreams kept me up, is all.”

“Well, I hope that’s all it is...” she said with rare uncertainty, then fell quiet.

Eventually my breakfasts arrived, and I silently tore into them.

“So, what’s the plan?” Zelgadis asked once I started on my after-meal black tea.

“Master Zelgadis!” Amelia chastised.

He ignored her and continued, “We can’t just sit around sulking. Whatever we decide to do, it’s best to act quickly.”

“That’s... true,” I whispered after finishing my tea. I didn’t feel like I was depressed, but given how they were acting, I must have looked like it. I let out a tiny sigh and began rambling, “Thinking about it rationally... We’re up against Hellmaster Fibrizo. He effortlessly defeated Chaos Dragon Gaav and took a Ra Tilt without batting an eye... He’s a genuine monster. An entire series of Dragon Slaves probably wouldn’t be worse than a bee sting to him.

“In other words, even if I do go to Sairaag, not only will I fail to save Gourry, but I’ll be giving Hellmaster exactly what he wants... Besides, it’s not like he ever promised he’d return Gourry safe and sound if I comply. That means me going might actually put the big lug in even greater danger. He’s probably safer as a hostage if I don’t show up.

“The smartest move, then, might actually be for me to run the other way instead,” I said, then stopped. After some length of silence, I sighed with a self-effacing smile. “But still... despite his many, many faults, he is my guardian. I can’t just leave him in the lurch.”

“You mean...” Amelia started breathlessly.

“It’s off to Sairaag,” I replied with a nod.

“That’s my Lina!” she declared with a beaming smile. “Even if you are a scheming, ill-tempered, loud-mouthed, unrepentant glutton, you can sometimes do the right thing!”

“Hang on, are you trying to pick a fight?”

“I don’t mean it maliciously! Or benevolently, either!”

Well... she was honest, I had to give her that.

“Now that it’s decided, let’s get out of here! Sairaag, here we come!” Amelia proclaimed with sudden gusto.

“W-Wait a minute!” I quickly interrupted her. “I’m going to Sairaag... but I’m going alone.”

“What?” she replied, shocked by my words. “You mean... all by yourself?”

“Yeah, all by myself. I’m the one Hellmaster is after. There’s no reason for all of us to go.”

“That’s true enough,” Zelgadis whispered.

“Master Zelgadis!” Amelia exclaimed in a harsh voice.

But he responded evenly, “We’re virtually powerless here, Amelia. Our spells won’t even put a mark on Hellmaster. We’d be a drag on Lina, at best.”

“That’s true, but...” Amelia frowned when confronted with the inarguable truth.

“Still, we can’t let her go alone. So we’ll just need to keep our drag to a minimum,” Zel said matter-of-factly, looking off in a random direction.

I had to wonder if he was embarrassed by his own cheesy line.

“Th-That’s right! Of course!” Amelia shouted, her eyes sparkling again at Zelgadis’s words of encouragement. “Even if we can’t beat him, we can’t run away either! If we fight with courage in the name of justice, we’ll always find a way to victory!”

Really? Life would be a lot easier if that were true, I whispered internally. Honestly speaking, I was highly doubtful that things like smarts, courage, and friendship stood much of a chance against a beast like Hellmaster. When he kidnapped Gourry, not even the golden dragon elder Milgazia had made a single move to interfere. Nevertheless, there was no way Zel and Amelia were just going to let me run off on my own.

“Now, there’s one thing I want to get clear first,” Zel said with a cool calm that rivaled Amelia’s raging fire. “Hellmaster’s objective.”

Yeah... figured he’d go there.

He eyed me carefully as he continued, “It’s clear he means to use you for something. And judging from the way he was talking, you have some clue what that might be. So—”

“Okay, stop right there,” Amelia said, casually interrupting Zelgadis.

“What?”

“I don’t want to know what that jerk is planning.”

“You don’t?” Zel arched an eyebrow at this unexpected reaction. I mirrored the expression.

“Nope. Not one bit,” Amelia insisted.

“That’s... unexpected. You really don’t wanna know? Isn’t universal truth and justice, like, your motto?” I asked.

She grinned abashedly as she answered, “That’s exactly why I don’t want to know! There’s no way Hellmaster is up to anything good, so if you tell me what he’s really plotting, I might be forced to stop you from going—even if it means abandoning Master Gourry. And I don’t want to do that, so... I don’t want to hear it.”

“That... makes sense,” Zelgadis admitted with a wry smile at Amelia. “Then I won’t ask either. I doubt knowing Hellmaster’s plan will help us stop him, anyway.”

“You guys are sure?” I asked hesitantly.

“Who cares?” Amelia responded with a bright smile. “We’re going to go save Master Gourry together. That’s what matters, right?”

To be honest... I’d never been happier to have companions in my life.

Sairaag was the heart of the Empire of Lyzeille. Or, at least, it used to be. It had flourished long ago as the City of Magic until it was destroyed by the magical beast Zanaffar, after which it became known by a far more horrifying nickname: the City of the Dead. It eventually revived, however, and grew into a thriving metropolis once more... until very recently, when a certain incident had laid waste to the land once more.

Well, “a certain incident” makes it sound all nice and neutral, but as it just so happens... I kinda sorta had a hand in that one.

Point is, the area was a barren wasteland now. I’d seen it devastated with my own eyes, so I could speak with some authority on that point. The only living thing still standing should be the large tree at the center of the city... It made me wonder what reason Hellmaster could possibly have for calling me there. Whatever it was, though, I assumed it would become clear once I arrived.

Under ideal conditions, Sairaag was a twenty-day trip from our starting location in the Kingdom of Dils. Fortunately, with Chaos Dragon dead, there wasn’t anyone left to try to stop us along the way. I expected smooth sailing the entire time.

Which left me with no other recourse...

“Mega Brand!”

Bwooom! My spell flashed in the darkness, and sent bandits flying!

“Graaagh!”

We were now three nights into our journey, and I was feeling pretty stressed out. I didn’t know if Gourry was safe. I didn’t know if I could stop Fibrizo’s plot. Hell, I couldn’t even stop my own head from spinning when I tried to bed down for the night, which left me with a nasty case of insomnia.


So what better way to set a maiden’s mind at ease than a bit of bandit bullying? Gotta work off the day’s tension! Vent all that resentment to the world! No rights for the wicked, as I always say! Besides, beating up bandits earns you a sweet combo of local gratitude and heaps of treasure (liberated from the ill-gotten stash, of course)! There’s just nothin’ like it!

I’m sure some of you might be thinking this behavior is a “leopard can’t change its spots” situation... And you’d be right! I dare say this is my purpose in life! Yeah, I went there. Excuses be damned! I don’t need to apologize for the fact that bandit bullying is in my blood!

Accordingly, I’d slipped out of our inn in the middle of the night, found the local bandit hideout on the outskirts of town, and immediately got going on the blowy-uppy.

“Why are you doing this?! What did we do to you?!” cried one of the brigands as he collapsed in front of me.

“Aw, you didn’t do nothin’! I’m just kinda in a bad mood,” I said with my cutest smile.

“Y-You’re just in a bad mood?!” The bandit clearly didn’t appreciate my honesty. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Argggh! You don’t get to devote your life to crime and then complain about unfair treatment! Now make with the loot before I make with the pain!”

“No! That’s mean!”

“It’s exactly what you do to other people all the time!”

Granted, those who abided by the golden rule generally shied away from the whole bandit gig...

“D-Dammit...” the bandit muttered, but then I caught a glint in his eye.

Oho...

“F-Fine,” he said, suddenly compliant. “I’ll hand over the loot, okay? Just spare my life! Please!”

Ignoring his transparent ploy, I quietly began chanting a spell and then turned to look behind me. As I expected, there was a man with a bow and arrow trained on me some distance away.

Too slow, sucker! Bandit No. 1 was probably just stalling me while Bandit No. 2 set up to shoot me in the back. Too bad the look in his eyes and the surge of hostility behind me had tipped me off. I was about to unleash my spell on the would-be sniper, when all of a sudden...

Whom! Something burst through the archer’s chest, and he collapsed on the spot. The smell of blood wafted my way on the night air.

It wasn’t me, I swear! I hadn’t even had the chance to toss my spell yet, and the killing blow had come from behind the guy.

The other bandits around him began to fall too. Some lost their heads, and some had their chests blasted open as balls of light began flying willy-nilly from the trees.

“Wh-What?!” I gasped.

I swiftly turned my attention away from the panicking bandits to search for nearby presences. The trees of the surrounding forest looked like lurking black beasts beneath the crescent moon sky. There was a keen feeling of hostility hanging in the air like a cold draft all around me. Of course, it wasn’t from the bandits. Could it be...?

“I’ve found you, Lina Inverse,” said a voice on the wind from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was none other than...

“Rashart?!” I called, shouting the name of the man I knew had to be hiding somewhere nearby.

“Indeed,” his voice echoed from the darkness, his figure yet to be seen.

General Rashart was one of Chaos Dragon’s lieutenants... He didn’t compare to Xellos, Gaav, or Fibrizo, but he was still a high-ranked demon. The last we saw him, he was pursuing the injured Xellos on Dragons’ Peak. I hadn’t heard from him since then, and with everything else going on, he’d frankly slipped my mind altogether...

“Hey, I totally forgot about you. You’re not very memorable, y’know? Did you finish off Xellos or what?” I said into the dark while continuing to scan for his presence.

“I’m afraid not,” he responded casually enough, with no real sense of vexation.

“So? What brings you here?”

“I think you know what,” he said slimily, like a predator to its prey. “You and Xellos have put me through an awful lot. Sir Raltark is gone because of you... and even my master, Lord Chaos Dragon Gaav, fell victim to Hellmaster’s trap...”

Wait, don’t tell me...

“Hang on. Don’t say you’re here to avenge him or some nonsense like that.”

“And if I am?” Rashart responded, his voice perfectly placid.

Hey, wait a minute!

“H-Hang on here! Think about it for a sec! The real one at fault is Fibrizo for planning all this! He’s the one you should want revenge on!” I said, trying to shift the blame in my panic.

To be honest, I really didn’t want to fight this guy... He was so forgettable that it was easy to think of him as some punk, but that was only true relative to the other big-name demons we’d been dealing with.

Rashart was still the General of the Dragon, meaning it would take more than a couple of Dragon Slaves to ice him. Meanwhile, Xellos had scarpered off and Hellmaster was kicking back in Sairaag... which left me without a whole lot of confidence that I could win solo under the current circumstances.

“Take revenge on Hellmaster, you say?” Rashart replied quietly. “It’s obvious who’d come out the victor of that conflict. No, the only way to have my revenge on Hellmaster is to eliminate the linchpin of his plan.”

“Wait a minute! You don’t mean—” I started, but before I could finish...

Zing! There was a sharp sound, and balls of light appeared all around me!

“?!”

Vwoosh! Light flashed and sound roared as the orbs cut through the night. I managed to fall back in the nick of time to avoid them.

“But of course you could dodge that,” said a voice nearby.

I could now see the figure of a man hovering in the dark. He held a sword in its right hand, and he was dressed in draconic armor... Needless to say, it was Rashart. Without so much as glancing at the scrambling bandits, the Dragon General locked eyes on me.

“But you can’t keep it up forever. Mordirag!”

At Rashart’s cry, I felt a spike of malice behind me! Another one?!

I leaped to the side, knowing I didn’t have time to glance back. A red beam of light streaked through the dark and struck the ground not far from me... I managed to dodge it, and when I finally turned around, I saw something hovering behind me. It looked a lot like a human woman... but only her upper half. She had a perfectly beautiful, expressionless face like a mask; translucent, white skin; and long hair the color of a new moon.

Then, below her waist was just... lots of dangling bits in disarray. Were they intestines? Roots? I couldn’t really tell. She watched me with an expressionless face while hanging in the air all creepy-like, in that particular way meant to give little kids nightmares.

“Wow... So you still got a couple of weirdos sticking by you, huh?” I blustered to Rashart, keeping a careful eye on both him and the abomination he’d called forth.

Rashart smiled confidently in response: “I can also call as many brass and lesser demons as I like. I could summon them now and overwhelm you with sheer numbers, to be sure... But one capable ally should be enough to keep you from escaping.”

Yeah, of course. Going for the quality over quantity, huh? To be honest... things weren’t looking good for me here. From where I stood, Mordirag seemed to be on par with the likes of Duguld and Guduza, two demons I’d fought before. I could probably beat her, but only in a one-on-one fight. If she was here to support Rashart, then just getting away from them was gonna be tricky. What to do, then?

“Let us begin, Lina Inverse!” Rashart declared before I could come up with a plan. On his cue, countless balls of light appeared around him.

“Ngh!” I leaped to the side and dove behind a nearby tree.

Wham! One energy ball smashed through the tree as I ran out from its cover, chanting a spell as I went. But before I could finish it... I spotted a ripple of mist in the darkness ahead of me. Mordirag’s white form then appeared. Teleportation, huh?! Luckily, I had anticipated this!

“Elemekia Lance!”

As the white demon manifested, I unleashed my completed spell! This puppy was designed to deal damage directly to an opponent’s spirit. It wouldn’t be enough to beat Mordirag, but it would at least hurt so long as it hit. She should dodge, then, and I’d use that opening to run past her. At least, that was the plan, but...

Zing! Mordirag wordlessly formed and released a spear of light, which effortlessly shot down the one I’d thrown her way.

What?!

Mordirag then produced a second spear of light right on the heels of the first. I didn’t have time to cast another spell, so I quickly rolled forward.

Okay! In that case...

As I started on my next chant, I heard Rashart’s voice echo behind me: “Give in, Lina Inverse!”

I made a sudden change of course again just before an explosion flashed beside me. I bobbed and weaved through the ensuing series of attacks, all while dashing in a direction not too far from where Rashart loomed. And just as I’d predicted, Mordirag appeared again to block my way. The second she did...

Got her! I unloaded my spell! “Dragon Slave!”

This one drew from the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu, the dark lord of our world. Even if it wasn’t enough to take Mordirag out, it should deal plenty of damage! That would give me an opening.

At my call, a scarlet light born from darkness began to coalesce in the white demon’s direction. And just then—Roarrr!—an animalistic howl rang out behind me. With that, the vermillion light of my Dragon Slave diffused powerlessly into the night.

What?!

“Not so fast!” Rashart proclaimed triumphantly.

Oh, duh! He’d banished my Dragon Slave aimed at Mordirag in the nick of time. That’s the power of a high-ranked demon for you...

Things were starting to look grim. I couldn’t defeat Mordirag, I couldn’t run away... Was lying down and dying basically the only way this ended for me? I knew I could probably take out one of these guys with a Ragna Blade, but if they dodged it, I’d be toast. And even if I did get ’em, the spell would drain me to the point of leaving me totally vulnerable to the surviving demon. Which meant—

I was mentally weighing my options as I prepared to leap away from another spear of light from Mordirag... when my foot slipped.

Damn! I was about to pitch over, but managed to keep my balance and jump to my right. Except...

“Ngh!”

I felt a burning sensation shoot up my left leg. I couldn’t keep myself upright when I landed, and thus collapsed on the spot. I’d never felt pain like this before... Slipping had apparently kept me from dodging the spear entirely. I looked down and saw my boot charred all the way up to my ankle. I couldn’t tell how serious it really was from a glance, but I couldn’t feel my foot, much less move it.

“It seems this is the end, Lina Inverse,” Rashart said as he slowly approached. “You won’t be running anywhere with your leg in that condition.”

He didn’t get too close, but rather stayed back to observe me. Mordirag remained silent, still floating in the air some distance away.

“You’re quite capable for a human, but in the end, that’s all you are. Hellmaster deserves the blame for dragging you into this, but don’t think for a moment that I’ll grant you a quiet death—” Rashart suddenly stopped mid-sentence and turned toward the white demon. “Mordirag!”

His voice was met with another cry through the darkness: “Ra Tilt!”

That was Amelia’s voice! But the second before her spell hit, the white demon vanished into the darkness.

“Tch... What an annoying interruption.” Rashart clicked his tongue, then turned back to me. “You get to live... for now. But I have time. Don’t expect to make it safely to Sairaag.”

And with that, Dragon General Rashart likewise vanished.

“Lina!” In that same moment, Amelia and Zelgadis came bursting through the brush. “Are you okay?!”

“I just hurt my leg a little... What are you two doing here?”

“You were bound to attract rubberneckers with all that noise you were making this close to the village. Now, how bad is it?” Amelia asked, looking at my leg and frowning before beginning a Resurrection chant. Recovery would have sufficed for any normal wound, so I guess I was worse off than I’d imagined.

“The enemy that disappeared before we arrived... It was Rashart, wasn’t it?” Zelgadis asked.

I nodded and explained, “I think he wants to avenge Gaav.”

“Avenge him?” Zel replied, scowling slightly. “That’s... impressively loyal, for a demon.”

“I agree. He brought that white demon—I think you saw her—Mordirag with him.”

“Then that means...”

“Yeah,” I whispered, gazing up at the sky with narrowed eyes. “This journey might be more complicated than I thought...”

Carriages came and went along the wide street, cutting through the waves of people that flooded the avenue. Stalls were lined up on either side of the road with barkers loudly hawking their goods all around us.

We were currently in Ruald, a trading city near the southern border the Kingdom of Dils shared with the Kingdom of Ralteague. It had been six days since we’d first set out, and we were finally almost into the next country.

The plan was to pass through here into Ralteague, from which we’d enter the Lyzeille Empire and take the main road to Sairaag. Passing through multiple nations might make it sound like we were taking the scenic route, but this was actually the shortest way to our destination.

“All right, we’ll stay here for the night,” I declared.

“Huh?!” Amelia shouted in surprise. “But why? Master Gourry is in the hands of the enemy, and Rashart is after us! We need to keep moving! Besides, once we reach Sairaag, Rashart won’t be able to touch us! We must reach the next town with the utmost haste!” she insisted, pointing determinedly in a random direction.

She wasn’t wrong, but... striking a fiery justice pose like that in the middle of a crowd? Really? She was certainly in her element, but I was a little embarrassed to be seen with her.

Wow... even Zelgadis had walked away, pretending not to know her.

“Listen, Amelia...” I managed to pull her away by her clenched fist and whisper into her ear, “It’s true that Rashart won’t be a problem once we hit Sairaag... but that’s because we’ll be dealing with Fibrizo instead.”

“Urk...”

The mere mention of Hellmaster’s name put beads of sweat on Amelia’s brow. Rashart was a tough opponent indeed, but Fibrizo waiting for us in Sairaag was a far more fearsome foe.

“I agree that we should hurry and that we have plenty of daylight left,” I admitted. “But if we take off now, it’ll be dark before we reach the next town. Spending the night camping out would be like asking Rashart to attack. And even if he doesn’t, we’ll just be exhausting ourselves... which’ll only slow us down more in the long run, right?”

“I suppose...” Amelia stared straight at me, thoughtfully. “But Lina, aren’t you worried about Master Gourry?”

“Well, of course I am, but...” I found myself averting my eyes and scratching my cheek. “I’m pretty sure Gourry’s the kind of guy who wouldn’t stay dead if you killed him, y’know? I get the feeling he’s probably okay... Though I can’t exactly say why.”

“I see...” she whispered, seeming to accept my answer. “Then I guess we’re spending the night here.”

“Yeah. We’ll find an inn nearby and drop off our stuff,” I said.

With that, I started to look around... and my eyes froze on a single point down the road. I’d caught a glimpse of someone in the middle of the teeming crowd.

“What’s wrong, Lina?” Amelia asked.

Still staring, I answered, “Might just be my imagination, but... I thought I saw... over there, just now...”

“Saw what?”

“A familiar face.”

“Who, though?”

I hesitated for a second, then quietly uttered his name... “Hellmaster Fibrizo.”

“No way!” she cried out in equal disbelief. “He said he was going to Sairaag! Why would he be here?!”

“I don’t know. Could just be a case of mistaken identity...” I said, then felt my throat seize up.

For right in my sight line, weaving through the tightly packed crowd... I caught another glimpse of a small figure in a dark cape. That slightly wavy, black hair. That pretty face easily mistakable for a girl’s. And those childish, inhuman eyes that had definitely cast a glance my way...

That’s him. It has to be!

No sooner had I thought that than he disappeared into the crowd.

“I saw him! That way!” I cried, dashing off in pursuit.

Pushing through the throng, I made it to where I’d just seen him, but Hellmaster—or the boy I’d assumed to be Hellmaster—was already gone.

“You’re sure it was him?” Zelgadis asked as he caught up.

“I’m sure... I think,” I responded without much confidence. I’d felt so certain in the moment, but I really had only seen him for a second. And now he was g—

“There!” Amelia shouted out suddenly, pointing to a street corner where a short, caped figure was turning off the thoroughfare into an alley.

“After him!” I declared, battling my way through the crowd once more to give chase.

We reached the alley, which was really less of a proper alleyway and more just a gap between buildings. It was barely wide enough for us to pass through single file. The red brick walls that towered on either side of us smothered the narrow passageway in darkness. I could see a faint bit of light up ahead, suggesting that the alley dumped out onto another street. The boy was just a black silhouette against the distant illumination as he walked deeper and deeper into the alley ahead of us.

I could only see his silhouette from behind, but it looked just like him... just like Hellmaster Fibrizo.

“Wait!” I called, but he didn’t seem to hear me. He simply kept walking on in silence.

With no other choice, I darted after him. Amelia and Zel quickly followed. The alley was so skinny that my pauldrons were scraping the walls, but I didn’t have time to take them off.

I wasn’t sure if the boy knew he was being pursued or not, but he quickly turned right into a different alley. Of course, if this was really Hellmaster Fibrizo, he’d know we were after him.

The boy remained silent, slipping down one dark, narrow alley after another. Despite his leisurely gait, we were running to keep up and couldn’t seem to close the gap. That suggested, at the very least, that we weren’t dealing with any ordinary human.

After a bit more chase, we suddenly came out into an open space about the size of a small house. It didn’t strike me as an intentionally created plaza or anything. It was surrounded by tall, windowless brick walls that cast it in shadow.

I glanced around and didn’t spy anyone in the square, or down any of the alleys that emptied into it for that matter.

“He’s... gone?” Zel whispered shortly.

The disappearing act wasn’t much of a surprise. If this was Fibrizo, blinking through space was child’s play to him. I couldn’t imagine why he’d lured us here just to ditch us, though...

Or... does this mean...

“Thank you for coming, Lina Inverse,” a familiar voice hailed from behind us, back down the alley we’d just come from.

I whipped around to see the petite, black-cloaked boy standing there. He definitely looked like Hellmaster Fibrizo, but...

“I knew you’d follow me if I took this form,” he said.

The voice that came from his mouth was that of a grown man—General Rashart. His appearance flickered and faded, and the next instant, it transformed into the recognizable man clad in dragon armor.

“Yeah... Guess I walked right into this one,” I admitted ruefully.

High-ranked demons chose their human forms at will, so it stood to reason that they could alter them just as easily. It stood to reason, then, that Rashart could take the appearance of Fibrizo if he so desired.

“You interrupted me right before I could finish things last time... but you can’t escape now.”

Rashart was right. There was no way for us to safely get away. Even if I ducked into an alleyway, he could nail me with one of his energy balls or some other magic projectile. And though she hadn’t shown herself yet, I was quite certain Mordirag was lurking close by too.

This was the General of the Dragon we were up against. And because we were in the middle of a city, I couldn’t use any of my flashier spells. I knew I was at a huge disadvantage here, but now that we were in the thick of things, I had no choice but to give it my all!

We each began chanting our own spells, and then...

“Let us begin!” Rashart roared, his voice echoing through the square.



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