The Price of a Fool’s Gambit
Running from the rooftop to the first floor, another heavy, thundering boom echoed through the building. There was no time to waste. With no way of knowing how much longer the doors would hold, we all scrambled out of the building as fast as we could. Outside, the air was thick with dust kicked up by the Maju as it slammed into the gymnasium.
Mei waved her hand once, and a gust of wind began to clear the haze. The Maju, having rammed the gym doors, was slowly turning around to walk in the opposite direction, as if performing a repetitive task. Even from the rooftop, I had thought it looked massive, but standing at the same level, the sheer pressure it exerted was overwhelming. Even a beast the size of a human can exert strength incomparable to ours. Imagine, then, the power of a creature whose very eye level, even while on all fours, stood higher than a human standing on two legs.
Even if an esper is stronger than an ordinary person, a Maju is likewise stronger than a typical beast. "A frontal assault is impossible, so let's just try to draw its attention. Once it's focused on us, lead it as far from the gymnasium as possible. If someone looks like they're in danger, the others need to cover them. Jessie, stay back and use your telekinesis to support whoever is at risk."
Mei was right; a direct fight was out of the question. The goal was simply to bait the creature away from the gym. Of course, baiting it was a suicidal act in itself. But because it had to be done, we, having descended from the roof, began our own life-or-death bullfight against that monstrous ox, using our own bodies as the red cape.
The kids raised their voices to grab the Maju's attention.
"Look at me!"
"Over here, you stupid cow-head!"
The Maju, which had been trudging across the field with its back to the gym doors, turned to look at us at the sound. I swallowed hard, ready to run the moment it charged, but the Maju simply looked away, as if we weren't even worth its interest, and continued walking.
"Ignoring us? Hey, hold up your shield for a second."
Thinking the noise wasn't enough, Daniel began striking Andre’s shield with his spear—clang, clang, clang—making a deafening racket. But the Maju seemed to have tuned us out entirely; it didn't even glance our way anymore.
"Ugh, it’s not even paying attention. What do we do now?"
Jessie, who had been using her ability to shout until the veins in her neck popped, gasped, her voice filled with bewilderment.
"What do you mean, what do we do? We force it to pay attention."
At Jessie’s words, Daniel stopped banging on the shield and replied. He stared at his spear for a moment, then gripped the shaft tightly. "If I hit it with something big, it’ll look this way out of pure anger. If it charges us, we’ll just have to run without using our weapons anyway, right?"
Daniel extended his left arm, aiming at the Maju. He pulled his right arm, holding the spear, back over his shoulder. It was an attack with immense power, at the cost of losing his weapon. Daniel took the stance to fire the spear, his powerful esper body becoming a single, taut bowstring.
"I haven't practiced throwing much, but..."
He lunged forward, taking a few steps to build momentum.
"...hitting a target this big is easy!"
With a bold shout, he released the string, pulled to its absolute limit.
Whoosh—!
Daniel’s thrown spear tore through the air. It flew toward the Maju’s head with a terrifying sound, but the moment it touched the creature’s body, it bounced off with a sound so small it was almost pathetic, rendering the previous roar meaningless.
"Huh...?"
The confidence in Daniel’s voice was replaced by utter confusion. We all shared that feeling. The Maju didn't even blink at Daniel’s attack. It wasn't distracted in the slightest. The Maju walked to the center of the field and turned. It wasn't facing us; it was facing the gym doors again.
At this rate, there was no point in us coming down here. We had to stop it, no matter what.
"Don't let it run!"
At Mei’s urgent cry, everyone was already sprinting toward the Maju. Even when we reached its side, the Maju seemed to have no interest in us at all. Jessie used her telekinesis to retrieve Daniel’s spear from the ground and returned it to him. Everyone except Jessie surrounded the Maju.
"Aim for the legs!"
Each of us poured our full strength into an attack on one of its legs. Daniel thrust his spear, Andre struck with his shield, Mei slashed with her sword, and my fist, wreathed in flames, slammed directly into the creature’s leg. And despite all those attacks, the Maju took a step forward as if it hadn't felt a thing.
Even for an intermediate Maju, it shouldn't have been able to take such full-force attacks without a single scratch. Unless, of course, it was one specific type of Maju.
"Ugh, the attacks aren't landing! This guy... it’s a Maju of Sloth!"
"Why is a rare species like that here?!"
The kids let out sounds bordering on despair. Unlike lower-class Maju, intermediate-class and above possessed special abilities. These abilities stemmed from the Witch whose influence birthed them. Most intermediate Maju possessed the ability of 'Gluttony,' where their regenerative power increased the more they consumed. There were also those with the ability of 'Greed,' like the illusion Eve showed us on the first day, which trapped people within a certain space. They couldn't compare to the real Witches, but their abilities were terrifying nonetheless. And the ability of the 'Sloth' Maju, which appeared very rarely, was simple: it halved the impact of external attacks. It meant that most physical blows and magic were useless against it. It was known as a Maju impossible for students to defeat.
Not a single scratch appeared on the Maju’s body despite our attacks. Mei slashed, Daniel hammered it with his spear and spheres of water, and no matter how hard I struck it with my flame-coated fist, it didn't budge. So, we tried to slow it down instead of trying to wound it. The three who were attached to it, along with Andre, who possessed physical enhancement, held onto the Maju, and Jessie tried to bind its feet with telekinesis. For a brief moment, the Maju’s pace seemed to slow, but after a few steps, it regained its original speed.
No matter how hard we tried, the Maju marched in a straight line toward the gym doors. Its pace began to accelerate. Everyone clinging to the Maju was shaken off. Once a Maju gains momentum, it cannot be stopped. Just as a train doesn't slow down because a person jumps in front of it.
Unable to stop the Maju, another loud BOOM echoed, and a shockwave rippled out. Dust rose and then settled. I could see visible cracks spreading across the door, and splinters falling away. At this rate, the door could hold for one more hit, maybe two at most. It was certain that the impact of slamming into the door like that would be stronger than any attack we could muster. Yet, the Maju looked perfectly fine despite having slammed into it several times. It meant that we couldn't stop it with normal means. That fact weighed heavily on us.
Still, we didn't give up. We screamed and clung to the Maju again as it turned its back to the door and headed toward the center of the field. Even when we climbed onto its head and attacked its eyes, nothing happened. When the Maju shook its head, Daniel, who had climbed on top, was sent flying, and Jessie barely managed to catch him with her telekinesis. It was desperate, but a meaningless struggle.
Perhaps because we had kicked up dust and used our abilities to obscure its vision, the Maju, which had been walking with its back to the door, shifted its direction slightly. The direction it was heading was not toward us, but toward Jessie, who was standing far away. I saw the look of panic on her face.
"RUN!!!"
I shouted, a dark premonition hitting me, and sprinted toward her. Looking ahead, I saw Mei was already running toward Jessie. I heard the sound of the Maju starting to charge from behind, and Jessie, her face turning pale, turned and ran. Since Jessie’s physical ability was relatively lower than the others, she couldn't outrun the Maju’s charge by simply running.
The terrifying tremor of the earth drew closer. Before I knew it, Jessie was running right in front of Mei.
[■■■■■■■-!!!]
As the Maju let out a roar, Mei grabbed Jessie and threw them both to the side. At that moment, I felt the vibration I had been sensing right behind me move slightly further away. The Maju had predicted our actions, slowed its speed, and was preparing to change direction toward where the kids had fallen.
A chill ran down my spine. Then, the tremor returned, this time truly right behind my back. The image of Mei, who had stopped moving before my eyes during training, overlapped with my vision.
"Ugh... AAAAAH!"
I screamed and threw my body desperately. As I rolled, clutching Jessie and Mei, who were tumbling together on the ground, I felt a violent impact behind me, and the sound of the Maju’s footsteps passed us and faded into the distance. Jessie was hiccuping from the realization that she had almost died, Mei was breathing heavily from the sprint, and I—aside from my back hurting quite a bit—was thankfully safe. Thinking that if I had collided with the Maju, it wouldn't have ended this way, I took a moment to steady myself and looked back, seeing Andre and Daniel, who had arrived a little late. Andre’s shield was lying behind me. He had thrown it because he knew he would be late, pushing us a little further out of the way. It was a good call. Getting hit in the back by a shield was far better than dying.
I saw the Maju, which had run far away, stop and start walking slowly back toward the center of the field. I could understand the Maju’s behavior from the sheer, terrible annoyance in its eyes. The Maju knew. It knew that on the other side of those gym doors were prey that couldn't even resist. Therefore, it felt that breaking the gym doors was less of a hassle than catching us. It was like having a kimbap you could just pick up and eat, so there was no need to go through the trouble of using chopsticks to pick up black beans that were hard to grab. Our resistance was nothing more than a fly buzzing in front of its face, so it had simply swiped its arm once as a warning.
Our resistance meant nothing more than that to the Maju. My heart felt like it was breaking at that realization. My hands trembled with despair and helplessness, and my legs wouldn't move, as if they had lost the strength to stand. But then, I saw Mei and Jessie, who were rising despite having almost lost their lives, and Daniel and Andre, who were helping them up. Tears were welling up in all their eyes. The emotions they were feeling were no different from what I was feeling right now. But even so, their tear-filled eyes were still shining.
Perhaps that was the reason why, in the original novel, even though the gym doors were breached, everyone died—even those who could have survived if they had just abandoned the citizens and run away. The boy who always knew how to laugh and lighten the mood among friends, the boy who spoke little but made everyone feel reliable when they were together, the girl who knew how to find courage even when she was scared and could cry for others' pain, and even the girl who was more sincere than anyone in everything, who was clumsy but diligent, who knew how to apologize properly when she felt she was wrong, and who was unexpectedly shy and couldn't say she wanted to be friends, yet constantly showed kindness—they all died because of the emotions that were moving them right now. It was foolish, irrational, and far removed from reason. They were all idiots, no doubt about it.
As I thought that, a plan crossed my mind. Possibilities and risks. Thinking about what would happen if I failed, and whether it would be okay even if I succeeded. Honestly, it was a plan full of holes, close to a gamble, with almost nothing but negative thoughts. A plan that was foolish, irrational, and far removed from reason—one I probably wouldn't have even considered under normal circumstances. But the very fact that I had thought of it meant I was already fully prepared to try.
I looked at my trembling hands and my legs that wouldn't hold my weight. Everything was still intact. I still had too much left, and had received too much, to leave things to regret. Mei reached out a hand to me as I lay on the ground. The emotion shining in her eyes resembled a flame, and it spread to me through her hand. I took that hand and joined the ranks of the idiots.
My hands were still trembling. So, I asked myself—now that I had become one of the idiots—the most important thing needed to execute the plan. Was I prepared?
Instead of an answer, I clenched both my fists tightly.
*
We all stood together to block the path of the Maju, which was walking leisurely, true to its name as the Maju of Sloth. It seemed to wonder why such insignificant things were suddenly blocking its way, and it let out a snort. What I said to the kids was simple. I told them I had an idea, so I needed them to bind its feet for even one second, then lower the Maju’s head. It wasn't an easy task, but the kids nodded. I didn't explain the reason, but they all joined in on my suggestion to try something.
Thinking that if it ran, we would just get hit and die, the Maju stomped its front foot. And that patch of dirt was gouged out by Jessie’s telekinesis. It was exactly as we had discussed. The Maju’s balance was momentarily disrupted by the unexpected situation. With its center of gravity shifted forward, the Maju’s head came down. Everyone except Jessie and me jumped up and pressed down on the Maju’s head with all their might. The Maju’s head was lowered just a little bit more. Finally, the Maju’s head was at my eye level. It was clear that if the Maju shook its head even once, everyone would be sent flying. The Maju looked like it wanted to shake its head immediately because of the kids on top of it. So, this was the only chance.
Don't be scared. It's not like you're going to die.
Having made up my mind, I extended my left arm and tapped the Maju on the bridge of its nose. I didn't ignite the flames. The Maju of Sloth. The reason a creature that looked like it found everything in the world annoying was working so hard to ram the door was to eat its prey. When such a creature saw prey presented right in front of its eyes, there was only one thing it would do.
There was a snap from my left shoulder, and the Maju’s throat gulped heavily. I heard a scream from somewhere. Don't worry. It's going according to plan.
"Everyone, get off!"
I shouted as I pulled my body away. I saw the kids who had been on the Maju’s head jump off and run toward me. It hurt like crazy, and my vision seemed to be sparkling, but it was more bearable than I thought. Fortunately, the gamble, which I didn't know would work or not, succeeded. An opponent against whom external attacks didn't work. My ability was only to ignite flames from my body. Then, in good conscience, I should at least be able to ignite flames from the arm that had been torn off. Just as I thought, although my left arm had been torn from my body, I could still feel that something was connected. I deliberately didn't emit flames from my arm to lower its guard. The Maju’s eyes crinkled into half-moons, as if it liked that very much. Looking at the smiling Maju, I smiled back and said,
"You shouldn't just eat the appetizers, you son of a bitch."
Fire burned in the Maju’s belly. What ignited that fire was my anger at the world. I had hated the world I was dropped into without knowing why. But I learned that there were good people in that world, too. So, I hated a world where such people had to die. I couldn't tolerate that. That anger was greater and hotter than anything I had felt before. Normally, I would have felt it was dangerous if I didn't control it, but that didn't matter now. The anger, ignited without limit from my left arm, used the arm itself as firewood and burned even hotter. It felt like that flame wouldn't go out until it had burned everything nearby.
The Maju seemed to sense something strange and opened its mouth. What came from the Maju’s mouth wasn't a cry, but the sound of flames roaring. Just as I thought flames were rising from its open mouth, the Maju’s entire body began to burn. The flames burning from the Maju’s body burned red, like the color of my hair. The flames burned and burned. The Maju, which didn't seem like it would ever fall, was engulfed in flames and collapsed to the ground. As I stared blankly at that sight, I heard the kids shouting something from the side.
"The blood... the blood won't stop!"
"Scarlet, stay with us! Lie down with the severed part facing up!"
I glanced at the spot where my left arm had been, and blood was gushing out. Was I feeling dazed because I was losing too much blood? I couldn't die, so I ignited a moderate flame in my right hand and pressed it against the area where the blood was flowing. It hurt more than when my arm was severed, so a groan escaped my lips, but the bleeding stopped. The kids looked aghast at the extremely manly first aid, but I had no choice since I would die if I left it alone. I had intended to do this from the moment I thought of the plan. Jessie burst into tears, and the other kids supported me with worried faces. The kids survived, and the people inside the gym were protected. I was alive, too. Since it was the best result I could think of, a laugh escaped my lips without me realizing it.
The burning Maju turned to ash and disappeared, and only a small, pitch-black piece of charcoal remained where it had been. Was it over? Just as my legs lost their strength and I was about to collapse,
[■■■■■■■-!!!]
A familiar roar was heard. From the school gate, another Maju, looking similar to the one we had just defeated, was walking toward us.
...Seriously, don't fuck with me.
Even as I spat out the curse, the slight doubt I had left was resolved. Even so, if there had only been one, I didn't think the people inside the gym would have been wiped out even if there were no doors. There must have been one more creature blocking the entrance... I wondered why it had appeared only now, but since it was better than there being two from the start, I forced my collapsing body to stay upright. This time, the right arm? Or the right leg to balance it out? As I was wondering which one I should feed it, a flash of light burst forth.
"I heard something was happening at the school, so I came as fast as I could, but am I a little late..."
A man’s voice was heard. The hair color and skin of the man standing as if to block our path—I didn't know when he had arrived—were identical to those of someone I knew. Relief welled up in the kids' eyes. Among the heroes, he was counted in the top five for strength, but for speed, he was the best among them. The golden hair and brown skin were the symbols of the fastest hero.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come faster. You've worked hard, so rest now."
Known as, [The One Followed by Sound]. Leon Lionil. With his appearance, the tension broke, and my memory cut off there.