10. Demon in a Bottle (32)
10. Demon in a Bottle (32)
As Maya gazed at the body, her first thought was, 'This is the first time I've seen Karen in a school uniform.'
They had first met at a clothing shop and spent the day together.
Back then, Karen had never shown herself in a uniform. She'd always changed alone in the fitting room before stepping out.
At the time, Maya hadn't understood why.
Now, that behavior made perfect sense.
It was because she'd heard all of Karen's confessions.
Karen had been self-conscious about revealing her femininity.
Self-conscious, really.
It suits you so well.
"Karen."
The name that left Maya's lips was more a murmur than an actual call.
Her voice was as emotionless as always.
"Karen."
She called her name again.
She still did not respond.
The light in her half-closed eyes was vacant; not the faintest breath stirred from her nose or mouth.
The hot blood that had soaked her body was rapidly cooling.
Maya could feel it unmistakably.
The fact that she was dead.
Yet Maya called her name once more.
"Karen."
Repeating the name made it feel as though she would answer. That she'd blink her eyes and flash that shy smile, just like always.
But she didn't move at all.
Maya's small, pale hand wiped the blood and bits of viscera from Karen's cheek.
I need to apologize.
Say I'm sorry for the harsh words.
That I misunderstood.
I have to tell her.
You are my......
My......
Maya carefully stroked Karen's forehead with her hand.
She closed her eyes for her.
......my first friend.
Friend.
It was an unfamiliar word.
But there was no lie in the sentiment. She truly did think of Karen as a friend.
If that weren't the case, she would never have shown such rage when she mistakenly believed she'd been deceived.
It was precisely because she considered her a friend that the sense of betrayal had been so immense.
When had it started?
That she, so indifferent to others, had opened her heart to Karen.
At first, she had stayed with her simply because she found her useful.
For Maya, who was just starting to study the circus, Karen was a valuable guide.
Ah.
A small exhalation escaped Maya as she traced the memories.
She remembered now.
That was when it began.
Her growing interest in Karen.
Back at the magic academy, Maya had never needed anyone's help. She had outstripped every other student there.
But here, it was different. Receiving help from a peer in a field where she'd always held the advantage was a genuinely new experience. She found it fascinating.
Karen never once showed jealousy over how quickly Maya learned and absorbed things. She actually grew happier as Maya's skills improved, acting as if the accomplishments were her own.
She also accepted Maya's emotionless demeanor and lack of social graces, both more pronounced than in other girls. Having grown up among rough, taciturn men, Karen wasn't sensitive to such things.
And so, Maya felt comfortable around her.
A friend like that, and she'd cast her aside over a single misunderstanding. That friend had even lost her life saving her. What made it even more agonizing was that she hadn't been able to convey her apology or her thanks.
"You idiot."
This was the third time.
The third time she'd lost someone she'd given her heart to.
The first time happened before she was even half a year old. Her mother died in a terrorist attack at a competition. That was when Maya lost her facial expressions.
The second time was when she was five years old. Her cat Wally, whom she'd raised with so much affection, died in an accident. That was when she closed off her heart.
And now, the third.
Maya gently laid Karen's body down on the floor.
"Tch, tch, tch. Barely nudged her and she just popped! What a pathetic display of Ground Acrobatics! Zero points! Zero points! Ahaha! Zero points! Trash performer! Ahaha!"
The Avatar shouted, utterly elated.
She had trampled her opponent to death—like squashing a bug. A fitting punishment for the wench who'd insulted her. Arrogance spilled out as laughter.
Now she decided to deal with the remaining wench.
"Now what should I do with you? Chop you into pieces with my pincers? Or slam you flat with my tail?"
The Avatar spat out the rough words, panting for breath. The sheer thrill of overwhelming power had excited her.
Dozens of eyes focused on Maya alone. Her once-pristine skin and clothes were stained with splotches of red blood. She stood motionless, staring at Karen's body.
"What, frozen with terror? Try responding, would you? Huh?"
Just as the Avatar was about to take a step toward her, Maya's head snapped up.
She glared at the Avatar with bloodshot, reddened eyes. Two trails of tears streamed down her cheeks.
Her mouth opened, and a voice trembling with raw emotion slipped out.
"I won't forgive you."
Maya extended a hand. Karen's body floated up into the air and flew into a corner of the banquet hall.
The Avatar burst out laughing.
"Won't forgive me? And what exactly could a mere human wench do abou—gagagagahk...!"
The Avatar's body suddenly convulsed violently. The colossal frame shuddered visibly. It was caused by vibrations transmitted through the floor.
What the—an earthquake?
Faced with a force that could shake her own multi-ton body, the Avatar could think of nothing else. But no. Looking around, nothing else was moving or shaking. The vibrations were confined to a small section of the banquet hall.
A radius of a few meters, centered on Maya.
Crack.
The marble beneath her feet fractured. Invisible waves of force rippled out across the floor, spreading like cracks on a frozen lake.
Crunch.
The shattered fragments trembled violently. Crushed by pressure from all sides, they shed dust as if they would be pulverized at any moment.
A crimson light flared in Maya's eyes.
Within the canvas of her mind, a black stain spread outwards. But this was different from the darkness that had been eating away at her heart for the past two weeks.
It wasn't paint. The pristine white canvas was burning. The emotion she harbored wasn't simply bleeding color; it was radiating heat.
Its identity was fury.
"You killed my friend."
A storm-like energy erupted from her body, so violent that even the Avatar flinched and pulled back for an instant.
A mage's mana output at any given moment is fixed. That limit varies from person to person. Once mana is released from the body, it rapidly slips from the mage's control and tries to revert to ambient mana. Knowing the limit of mana one can control at once is critical for any mage.
In Maya's case, the amount of mana she could handle at once was not that large. Even at the academy, she'd only been slightly above average.
Unable to use 'Mystic,' she had to conduct her entire mana operation through 'calculation.' Managing even an average amount had been possible only thanks to her genius-level intellect.
Right now, the amount of mana she was drawing out had far surpassed the threshold she'd believed was her limit. And every bit of the mana she poured out remained perfectly under her command.
Papilax had been completely overcome. The obstacle that had blocked her path to a higher realm had finally been obliterated. Maya could now use magic beyond the boundaries she'd set for herself.
But Maya felt not a shred of joy over it. The price for this breakthrough was far too great.
Detached from her searing emotions, her mind coldly analyzed her opponent's combat capabilities and formulated strategies.
For a lone mage to face an Avatar in single combat was impossible. Yet she was no ordinary mage, and her opponent was far from a full-fledged Avatar. The way its body was visibly decaying as it dragged across the floor made that clear.
"Grraaaah... mere mage wench!"
The Avatar refused to admit, even to itself, that it had felt a flash of fear. It twisted its body and swung its colossal tail.
Boom!
The marble shattered, fragments and dust billowing up like a cloud. A massive furrow was gouged into the floor.
The Avatar watched the settling dust with expectant eyes. It hoped to find Maya's corpse lying there in tatters.
But as the dust thinned, and the silhouette of the figure standing within was revealed, the Avatar's antennae quivered with shock.
Maya stood in the exact same spot. Completely unscathed.
"W-What did you do! How in the world... no, wait just a...."
The Avatar, scrutinizing Maya's form, realized something was off. The dust particles floating hazily in the air were passing straight through her body.
"An illusion? Right. Of course. You were an illusion mage, weren't you... aaarrrgh!"
A sudden pain in its leg made the Avatar shriek. Something sharp had stabbed into it.
It was unbelievable. She was wearing a suit of armor made of hard exoskeleton....
The Avatar looked down at the leg. A dark red ichor trickled from a joint.
The joints between the layered exoskeletal segments were made of soft cartilage. Something had pierced through there and penetrated.
The Avatar could guess what it was. Dozens of eyes scanned the surroundings.
Hundreds of bladed implements, gleaming with a silver luster, were aimed at her. She recognized what they were.
The props used in magic and acrobatic performances. They were real, sharp-edged daggers.
These were the objects from the earlier acrobatics contest. Several boxes of them had been stacked in the corner of the banquet hall.
Maya had drawn them out with her telekinesis and levitated them in the air.
This time, she didn't use telekinetic spheres. Even if she'd poured every ounce of her mana into one, she doubted it would have had the power to shatter the Avatar's exoskeleton. Sinepekus's carapace was simply that sturdy.
Instead, she'd decided to target the cartilage at the joints. She could have created illusionary blades, but she'd chosen to use the real daggers.
The logic was simple. Grabbing an existing physical object and hurling it was more efficient than shaping mass out of magic and launching it.
She could fully calculate the force and angle needed to send a dagger flying along a given trajectory. The practice she'd put in after hours at school every day was now proving its worth.
She had scrutinized every gap in the exoskeletal armor the Avatar wore. There were dozens of them across its entire body. She pictured the launch points and trajectories for each individual dagger in her head.
The Avatar stared at the ring of blades surrounding her and let out a panicked groan. It had realized what the opponent was planning.
"Grrrk... impossible. There's no way...."
Telekinetic magic from stage-performing mages was mostly used for remotely adjusting devices or aiding an actor's mid-air maneuvers. Performing Shooting with telekinesis was unheard of.
Why would a mage with that kind of 'mana,' that level of 'computational ability,' and that 'technique' be working as a wandering acrobat? She should be a researcher or engineer for some wealthy corporation.
Yet here she stood. A prodigious mage, the kind who'd be courted for special admission to IMT.
Maya poured every ounce of her released mana into her telekinesis. A thousand daggers shot forward at once.