Gaia Food -3-
Gaia Food -3-
The dagger in Renya's hand swung in a wide arc, but his right arm was already saturated with neurotoxin.
His dulled senses made the slash clumsier than usual.
Chwaak!
The office was sliced at an angle. He hadn't managed to cut through as intended.
Moonlight spilled through the gap in the wall.
'Where are you?'
Renya's pupils scanned the office.
The droplets of his own blood clinging to the wires caught the moonlight.
"Kh...!"
The sound of a voice forcibly suppressing a cough.
Renya reacted like a demon, thrusting his dagger toward the sound.
A thrust packed with mana, spared no expense.
It shattered the shield and—puk!—pierced through Max's palm.
"Cough! Ha, if I'd held it in for just one more second, I would've landed the spell right on your skull."
"I see. How regrettable for you."
Renya twisted the dagger as he pressed down.
Ppudeudeuk!
A gruesome sound echoed as the palm was crushed. Crimson blood sprayed onto Max's face.
"...!"
The difference in pure physical strength alone was staggering.
Max, being pinned down, tried to mount a counterattack by spitting the blood pooled in his mouth, but Renya lightly evaded the spray aimed at his eyes, showing a chilling composure.
"Take some pride before you die. This is the first time I, someone eyeing the 4th Circle, have struggled against a 2nd Circle mage. Especially in such a cramped space."
"Kugh!"
Max, desperately maintaining his defense, manipulated the electrical wires with Psychokinesis.
He pulled at the thick, tough cables hanging from the ceiling.
[Death Roll]
The wires wrapped around Renya's neck, twisting and tightening.
Despite this, Renya's bloodshot eyes didn't waver as he put his weight behind the dagger.
'...He's protecting his neck with mana.'
Now that he had the chance to kill Max.
Max could feel Renya's obsession not to let this moment slip away.
"Usually, mages can't even cast spells once things get to this point. Impressive concentration."
"!"
The tip of the dagger was now so close it filled Max's vision.
'I feel like my brain is going to burn up...'
Reinforcing his body with mana to push back the dagger.
Executing Death Roll on Renya's neck with the wires.
He was casting two spells simultaneously.
A desperate struggle to find a way out.
His head felt like it was splitting. He forced his circuits to operate just to survive.
[Wire]
The floor, stripped to its skeleton, exposed wires and dark empty spaces.
Inside, he installed sharp threads of mana like a spiderweb.
[Shock]
And a loaded impact.
The place to release it wasn't his palm.
'Concentrate... downward.'
Since it was an impact spell that could be loaded into a specific part of the body.
He would break the panel that both he and Renya were standing on, the one they were leaning their weight against.
Max stomped his foot.
—Ku-ung! The impact spread, and the floor tilted.
Their centers of gravity collapsed, and their vision shifted abruptly.
"You persistent bastard...!"
Renya, forced to retract his dagger, quickly tried to push himself up.
However, once the power struggle was broken and distance was created, the mage held the advantage.
[Impact Shell]
Struck by the shockwave, Renya rolled over the wires.
In the midst of it, he used his dagger to cut the wires wrapped around his neck.
Max forced himself up and sprinted.
He didn't have much mana left.
[Shock]
A soccer kick aimed straight at the face.
Renya's teeth shattered and flew through the air.
"Kugh..."
Even while being hit, Renya countered. The dagger dug into Max's thigh.
"Just die already!"
[Shock]
Max stomped on the fallen Renya's skull, but it didn't break.
A body that had reached the edge of the 3rd Circle was disgustingly durable.
"How rude, putting your foot on someone's face."
Renya grabbed Max's leg and pulled, tripping him.
A muddy, swamp-like struggle continued.
Both Max and Renya's bodies grew heavy. Every movement felt like slowly sinking into a quagmire.
It was a dogfight, a brawl in the dirt. Inwardly, Max prayed for the man to just collapse already.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Renya, utilizing his overwhelming physical abilities, swung his dagger while taking hits.
Saaaak—!
Max's flank was deeply slashed. The chill of the cold steel cutting through his insides sent shivers down his spine.
He used Psychokinesis to hold the wound closed. It was a reflexive action.
'Ah, this feeling.'
Max knew it because he had experienced it once before.
The back of his neck felt cold. Death was approaching.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
The beating of his heart hammered against his eardrums.
His overloaded mana circuits screamed, but Max didn't stop.
Instead, he used the pain as fuel to rev the engine even harder.
'At this rate, even if I win, I won't make it back alive.'
At the same time he drove his knee like an awl into Renya's abdomen, he reached inside and forcibly stretched his circuits. It was a gamble.
Enduring the searing pain, he structured the form.
Max's mind and knowledge had always reached the 5th Circle.
A paradoxical, insane feat possible only because he knew what structure a 3rd Circle circuit should take.
The moment he failed, his circuits would be torn to shreds and shattered, but he didn't hesitate.
'Critical point...!'
He didn't need grand resolutions or enlightenments.
Max simply craved more mana and stronger destructive power. His body and mind just had to respond to that demand.
'Create it. Now.'
The mana that had been trapped within the narrow frame of the 2nd Circle cracked with a loud jjeok! sound.
It flowed through the newly formed circuit shape.
A refreshing sensation, like peppermint flowers blooming in his consciousness.
"...My fortune for today was definitely 'Bad Luck'."
"!?"
Renya, who had allowed the hit while bracing to endure it, was pushed back by an unexpected force.
Max's physical strength was completely different from just a moment ago.
"From now on, I'm going to have to treat coconut candy a bit differently."
He forced his mangled, rag-like hand into a fist.
Then, he pointed a finger at Renya.
A 3rd Circle impact spell.
[Compression Bullet]
A bullet of compressed impact flew through the air.
..
..
Under an old bridge in Sector 56 Gray Ditch.
The back door of a Mercenary Association vehicle, which had been waiting quietly, opened.
"Heugh...! Heugh!"
Max had returned. His entire body was a mess.
The best he could do was hold onto the wounds directly linked to his life to keep them from opening.
Max exhaled ragged breaths as he pulled a device containing data from his coat.
As soon as the driver took the item, they stepped on the accelerator.
"Max-nim. We are heading to the emergency room immediately."
Flora woke up in the morning and sent a message to Max.
Asking if she could come over to deliver some food her mother had made.
However, no reply came through lunch and into the afternoon.
'Is he very busy?'
She didn't know the specifics of mercenary work, but perhaps he was away on a request.
"..."
Normally, Flora would have just waited for a reply.
But there was a strange sense of foreboding tingling her beast-kin instincts. She didn't feel right just sitting still.
'Should I go for a walk? Near the office.'
Flora packed the side dishes and headed to District 27, where Max's mercenary office was located.
'It's quite far by subway.'
Flora arrived in District 27 on her own, without a family vehicle.
After doing nothing but going back and forth to Minerva Academy every day, coming all the way here felt fresh.
It really gave her the feeling of being out. She saw quite a few interesting shops too.
[Max Mercenary Office]
After confirming the sign, Flora climbed the narrow stairs.
Looking inside the office, the lights were off.
She gave the door a light kong-kong knock. It was quiet, with no response.
'A presence... I think someone is inside?'
Flora considered the possibility that Max Steiger might be intentionally avoiding her.
But sensing that wasn't his personality, she took out her smartphone.
Tturururu— Tturururu—.
She tried calling Max Steiger.
He didn't pick up. However, her perked-up ears caught a sound.
'I hear it. Inside.'
The sound of vibration was coming from within the office.
Did he collapse? Did he suddenly lose consciousness?
As Flora stood there, letting ominous imaginations run wild, she turned the doorknob, and the office door opened. It wasn't locked.
"...Excuse me?"
Flora entered quietly and placed the side dishes she brought on the desk.
"Hmm?"
At the same time, her nose twitched. She closed her eyes and sniffed.
Among the scents lingering in the office, there was one that felt familiar.
'Wait, this smell?'
It was similar to Ellen Clements's scent.
But it was faint, as if quite some time had passed. On top of that, various other smells were layered over it, making it hard to be certain.
'No way.'
Flora shook her head.
Common sense dictated there was no reason for that Ellen Clements to be here. It must be someone who coincidentally had a similar scent.
Step. Step. Step.
Flora approached the room where she felt the presence.
Likely Max Steiger's private space.
The smell of disinfectant wafted through the gap in the closed door. And a faint scent of blood.
The closer she got, the stronger the smell of medicine became.
"...O-Oppa. Are you inside?"
Flora blurted out the awkward title and informal speech as she knocked kong-kong on the door.
"It's okay to open it, right?"
As she carefully opened the door, a dark room greeted her.
A thick medicinal smell, reminiscent of a hospital operating room, rushed out.
Flora carefully poked her head in.
"!"
She saw Max, sleeping with bandages wrapped all around him.