Real Combat. (4)
Yukline Manor’s temporary laboratory.
I peered closely at the ash powder through the microscope, infusing it with mana and tearing it apart with Telekinesis, attempting to Understand it down to the particle level.
“······Professor! Look at this!”
Kelodan shouted loudly, pointing at the chalkboard.
Tap— tap tap tap— tap tap—
It's Sylvia. I captured one possessed Debutante and separated the ash powder. This is the research result.
How the ash powder had encroached on the Debutante. The process of that puppeteering.
It was a near-anatomical masterpiece, analyzed directly with her own magic and transmitted by Sylvia.
······A thought suddenly occurred to me as I watched silently.
“Separation.”
Separating the ash powder from the Debutante.
What if I added a circuit to neutralize the ash powder’s control to the formula of a Barrier?
And then, if I constructed that barrier inside the Magic Tower and completed it?
“It is possible.”
Grafting circuits onto specific magic—what was colloquially called “magic patchwork”—was something I had done dozens of times already. My own Telekinesis was a magic created that way.
“Pardon? What do you mean is possible?”
Kelodan asked.
“······I shall create a ‘barrier that decomposes ash powder’ and deliver it to the Debutantes.”
“A barrier? That would take too long.”
I shook my head.
As it was not an entirely new magic, the mana consumption would not be severe. Decomposition was already a common spell used even in waste disposal facilities.
“It is sufficiently possible.”
If I designed it, and added the talents of Sylvia and Ifrin, it was naturally feasible.
“Professor······?”
I stared silently at the chalkboard, deep in thought. There was no need to write down the formula. It would all unfold in my mind······.
“Attention—!”
A shout disrupted my concentration.
Killing impulse surged as I turned toward the entrance.
Eleven unnamed men and women stood in a line. Knights from the Imperial Palace.
“Attention!”
As the knight shouted again.
A familiar voice flowed from behind him.
—Hmph. How noisy.
It was the Emperor’s timbre. I halted midway through assuming a proper bow.
The proudly revealed lifeform was not the Emperor.
—My hearing is sensitive in this possession state. Do not make such a racket.
Red fur puffed out, a long tail swayed gracefully, but the legs were short.
It was a high-class cat.
“Your Majesty?”
—Yes, Deculein. One of the magics I have learned. Going outside myself is such a hassle. Hey. Do not touch the tail.
“My apologies!”
“······.”
I was momentarily speechless.
Of course, possession was part of Harmony Magic. Complete Possession, borrowing a lifeform’s mouth and eyes like this, was quite advanced, but the Emperor could naturally master it.
Look at it, after all.
The Emperor’s current breed was a Munchkin, was it not?
The quality of mana the Emperor harbored was currently 2nd Grade, reaching 1st Grade after the awakening event, possessing talent to master not just magic and swordsmanship, but every skill in the world—a peerless prodigy.
The official setting describing Emperor Sophien in one sentence was—
The human closest to god.
That laziness could be a blessing or a curse to this world.
—Bow your waist.
“Yes!”
The short-legged cat jumped onto the bowed knight’s back.
—Ack!
The first attempt failed.
Its legs were too short compared to the knight’s large frame.
—You. Lower more.
“My deepest apologies!”
The Munchkin climbed onto the now prone knight’s back. Satisfied, it rubbed its philtrum with its tail and let out a meow~ of laughter.
—The one bearing me. Do not move an inch. My legs are short, so it is precarious.
The Emperor patted the knight lightly with its front paw.
“Yes!”
—Do not shout either.
“······.”
“Make way, all of you!”
At that moment, the court mage ‘Georg’ appeared as well. Word of the Emperor cat’s procession had already spread.
“Your Majesty! To master possession magic so perfectly······!”
—Annoying fellow. How did you know?
Georg gazed at the red cat with ecstatic eyes but soon hardened his expression seriously.
“Chief Professor Deculein. What do you plan to do from here?”
“I intend to invent a barrier magic that decomposes ash powder.”
“······Invent a barrier?”
“Yes. A barrier that decomposes only ash powder.”
“You mean to create a new barrier?”
Georg asked suspiciously.
“That is correct.”
“How much time will designing that barrier require?”
“Not even a day.”
“What?”
“It is a simple task unworthy of surprise.”
“No, explain in more detail······.”
There was no time to waste on explanations.
I spoke kindly but firmly.
“Whatever it may be, I shall take command. And bear the responsibility.”
Georg clicked his tongue but nodded.
“······Very well. But if you invent the barrier, what of the formula scroll? Surely you have drafted something by now.”
Georg asked.
I simply stared at him wordlessly.
“······.”
“······?”
The silence stretched a bit long.
I pondered how to explain, but even that was a waste of time.
I merely tapped my temple with a finger.
“It is all in my head.”
—What?
The cat asked.
To add unnecessarily.
“Mental arithmetic.”
Whether it was 3 a.m. or 3 p.m.
In a time impossible to discern, Sylvia and the children stared blankly up at the chalkboard.
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
The vast formula filled the entire chalkboard.
Beneath the magic circle Deculein had personally invented was this sentence.
Can you activate this barrier?
“Possible.”
Sylvia answered on behalf of the dazed group. Lucia, who had been watching her expression, shrugged.
“······Yeah. It’s not impossible. If we can draw this formula.”
Deculein’s barrier explanation was detailed and kind. Even Debutantes could understand it fully.
The problem was that the barrier’s magic circle was enormous.
It covered the entire 3rd floor.
“Set the magic center here in this lecture hall, and I’ll go outside to draw the formula on the 3rd floor. Mana······ there are plenty of mages here, so we can manage.”
Ifrin said that, glancing around the lecture hall interior.
Excluding herself, there were 50. Pooling 50 people’s mana would make activating the barrier easy.
“Still, won’t we need a catalyst? To construct the barrier······.”
At Julia’s concern, Sylvia unclasped her necklace.
An artifact made entirely of mana diamonds. A heirloom from her mother, packed with effects like mana storage and magic amplification.
“Use this as the catalyst.”
“······Is that okay?”
Lucia, knowing its value, asked in surprise. Sylvia did not reply.
“Hmph······ if you’re going that far.”
Lucia sighed and removed her bracelet.
“These two should suffice. My bracelet is worth at least 20 million elne, a family treasure.”
“Twenty, twenty million······ Fine. Then I’ll draw the formula.”
As Ifrin spoke, she snipped— her long hair off in one go. Lucia gasped.
“Are you insane? Why cut that? Your hair can’t be a catalyst, idiot?”
“Goddamn it! Who said catalyst? It gets in the way when moving!”
“Ifrin, it’s fine. Ignore her.”
Julia stopped Ifrin and neatly trimmed the haphazardly cut hair.
“There~ Now it’s pretty.”
“······.”
Sylvia followed by tying her long hair up. The ponytail flowed down her pale nape like a horsetail.
“Wow. Sylvia. You’re beautiful.”
Ifrin momentarily regretted as she watched Yurojan and others clap blankly.
I could’ve just tied it up?
“Ifrin. You’re fast, so draw the formula. I’ll draw their attention so they don’t reach you.”
“Attention?”
“Yes. Like in that practical class.”
Ifrin nodded at Sylvia’s words.
Then, a short sentence appeared on the chalkboard, comforting them.
Trust and wait.
Trust and wait.
That one phrase was enough.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
The two, preparations complete, dismantled the lecture hall’s barrier.
Instantly, a thud—! echoed again, but Ifrin and Sylvia opened the door without hesitation.
Debutantes swallowed by ash powder, and a massive golem made of Ashes Heap.
Sylvia drew their gaze, and Ifrin manifested Self Telekinesis to stick flat to the 3rd floor ceiling.
Whoosh—!
Sylvia scattered pure white mana over the golems’ bodies like paint. The white instantly turned to superheated flames, white-hot incandescence.
The golems’ bodies ignited in a flash.
Simultaneously, Sylvia blanketed the floor in blue. The color became ice, and the Debutante monsters flailed atop it, unable to take a few steps.
But at some point.
“······.”
Thick ash powder like kraken tentacles gripped Sylvia’s waist. She soared up then slammed into the floor.
“Ah······.”
That was the end of her groan. Without showing pain, she erased the tentacle immediately. But her insides burned hot, as if internally injured.
“······.”
Sylvia staggered, gazing down the dark hallway.
Clack— clack—
Heel sounds.
—Futile efforts.
Sylvia regarded the emerging presence from the darkness.
External adjunct professor Ruina. Once chief professor of the kingdom’s Magic Tower, now a monster assimilated with ash powder.
—······You have strange talents. It makes me jealous.
Her voice was grotesque. A choked, acrid tone.
—Jealous, so I must kill you.
Her lips split to her ears in a grin. Ash powder surged from that maw.
In the form of a massive blade.
Kwaaaa······.
Sylvia turned the area into her domain. The ash sword deleted itself before reaching her.
—So this······ is Tri-Color.
Ruina muttered in admiration at the sight.
—Magic akin to miracles: reshaping reality, interfering with phenomena, recreating all creation.
Seizing the gap in her muttering, Sylvia drew bars to cage her.
—An absurd Origin that lets you knead the entire world as you please······.
Ruina tapped and licked the bars, then clenched her fists. Her face twisted demon-like as she spat hatred.
—This fucking! World is so goddamn unfair! Does that make sense? Fucking hell, does this make any sense?!
Ash powder exploded instantly. The bars shattered, and Sylvia took a fist to the gut.
A punch laden with speed and weight.
“Ack!”
She flew back, crashing into the wall. Her chest clenched. Shattered ribs pierced her lungs; she couldn’t breathe.
—Hmph. You keep erasing my ash with parlor tricks, but it matters not. I’ll beat you to death.
The overwhelming gap.
The thought that she might die.
Pain searing her body, trembling in fear.
“······.”
Yet Sylvia did not flee.
She knew not how long she could hold, but at least until her mana ran out, she would endure.
“······I won’t lose.”
And if enduring was victory.
It was all too familiar to Sylvia, who had lived enduring day by day.
······.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
“Everyone. Stay sharp and wait.”
Lucia took command of the Debutantes in the lecture hall. All 49 had prepped their mana; they awaited only the barrier’s completion.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
The second hand echoed in the silence.
Hearts pounding.
Hands trembling like leaves.
Lucia wiped sweat from her brow.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
The Debutantes’ breaths grew ragged. Some frail hearts seemed on the verge of fainting.
“Don’t lose it! Screw up and you won’t survive tower life next semester!”
Everyone snapped to at Lucia’s shrill cry.
Tick······
Tick······
Tick·······
Then, the slowing second hand stopped.
Ifrin’s signal.
“Now!”
Lucia and all Debutantes released mana. Perfect timing.
Whooo······.
Their mana converged on the catalysts first.
Sylvia’s necklace and Lucia’s bracelet. The two treasures absorbed 49 shares of mana and channeled it to the barrier formula.
Blue mana flashed like lightning.
Rooooosh—!
A light that shattered the retinas.
The lecture hall blazed like a supernova.
Mana drained instantly; exhausted Debutantes collapsed one by one.
“Nngh······.”
Lucia forced more mana but fell short.
Thud—! Pain like her nape snapping.
“Ugh!”
Vision blurred; her body swayed. Lucia collapsed face-down. From there, she watched the center.
The radiant light was fading.
Like embers after the fire died.
······That won’t do.
She thought so, but her body wouldn’t move.
Lucia blinked blankly.
No······
Between closing and not,
A vision arose.
A familiar face looked down coldly.
Deculein’s assistant professor.
Allen's face.
The next instant, the catalysts’ light revived brighter than any source. Mana blazed sun-like, surging forward.
Soon, the formula completed—
The entire floor wrapped in flash.
The barrier manifested.
······.
‘Mom. Why does Yaong die? I loved it so much. Cherished it. It’s not supposed to die, right? Why betray me when I loved it?’
‘All life is like that, dear. It goes to a better place. Not betrayal, but waiting for Sylvi in a far land.’
‘Liar······ Then, then, how long will Mom stay with Sylvia?’
‘Hmm~ How long~?’
‘Waaah. Waaaaaah. Waaah.’
‘Sorry, sorry. Don’t cry~’
‘Hwaaaah. Hwaaaaaah.’
‘I’ll stay until our Sylvi wants.’
‘Ah. Then, then······.’
Sylvia always dreamed.
Because the scenery she desired lay not in the present, but the future. The present merely a stepping stone for later.
Studying magic books all night, grinding entire meals to save eating time, climbing Floating Island weekly for info······.
None of it from ‘want’.
Not from ‘fun’.
The mother who left her side in an instant.
The day she went to rainbow land with Yaong.
From that moment when the one coloring her life vanished, to now as tower mage.
The world remained colorless.
Like a smeared oil painting, thick and opaque.
To Sylvia, the present was a place she loathed lingering.
She often wished to spin the clock hands, squeeze eyes shut and open to a distant future.
To grow more adult, numb to all, this memory less painful.
Become archmage and reach those skies; Mom would see her. Mom would be proud.
To her, today was······.
Merely prep time to make future picnics more enjoyable.
Whiiiish······.
A lonely wind blew. The sealed tower’s draft let Sylvia sense the barrier’s manifestation.
—Ah~ Pointless meddling, you lot.
But her mana was spent, and Ruina still loomed.
Sylvia touched her collarbone hollow. Her mother’s ever-guarding heirloom was gone.
—You die first.
Ruina unleashed Ashes Heap. Sylvia had no mana left to defend.
“······.”
Sylvia gently closed her eyes.
The surging ashes halted before her nose, but she saw not even that.
She merely staggered and fell.
Thud—
Something caught her from behind.
Firm as a wall.
Sylvia lightly opened her eyes at the odd sensation.
His face was unseen.
Just his broad chest supporting her.
“······Sylvia.”
By that voice, she knew who. She tilted her head up slightly.
He gazed at her.
“Worry not. I shall not let you fall.”
Words delivered smile-like.
Sylvia wanted to say something. But her lips wouldn’t move. Not even a fingertip twitched.
Mana exhaustion.
“You always repay trust. Now it is the professor’s duty.”
Sylvia leaned into him. Faintly smiling, eyes closing. Clutching his collar, she slept.
“Rest easy.”