Ascension Ritual
In front of Yustina’s house lay a plaza of a convenient size.
Long ago—very long ago—it had often been the place where the entire clan gathered to discuss matters of importance or simply ask after one another’s health.
Or rather, saying the entire clan was a bit misleading.
Back then, the Purifier Clan had been so much larger than it was now that everyone would never have fit into this plaza at once.
I never thought I’d see this sight again after all that time…
The square was packed with people.
It wasn’t a perfectly orderly assembly, but the sight of so many gathered together was enough to make Yustina deeply sentimental.
“Clan Chief?”
“…Hm? What is it?”
“Is something the matter?”
“Ah.”
Perhaps she had lingered in her memories for too long.
When she finally heard someone calling her, Yustina came back to herself and noticed the concern in the faces turned up toward her.
“It is nothing. Go down.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
At her curt dismissal, the man stepped down from the platform.
Yustina looked after his back with satisfaction, pleased that he obeyed her without a single question.
Atisha always disliked this sort of thing.
She had said it felt too authoritarian.
But Yustina believed proper authority was an indispensable part of leadership.
It was all very well to be close and familiar with one’s clan, but a leader had to show weight when the time called for it.
That was the better way to inspire trust—that people could think, I can rely on this one and follow them.
When she had heard Yustina say as much, Atisha had replied:
I don’t want to be treated like I earned it for something I didn’t do….
“A rather adorable thought, that one….”
Atisha might have believed the respect and consideration she received from others came only because of her parents.
But in Yustina’s eyes, Atisha had every qualification to deserve it.
And that was not merely because Yustina was her mother.
Perhaps because she had grown up watching her parents from a young age, Atisha had always worried over the well-being of the clan.
One proof of that was the fact that, when the Dimensional Beast appeared, she had been among the first to fight.
When her brief reminiscence ended, Yustina’s gaze swept over the gathered crowd.
Each time her eyes passed over them, the murmur of conversation faded little by little until at last it disappeared entirely.
“I trust you are all aware of the circumstances.”
Yustina went straight to the point.
Though she had begun without any preamble, no one shook their head.
“Is there anyone who objects to this plan? Of course, even if there were, I have no intention of withdrawing it.”
Her joking addendum drew small bursts of laughter here and there.
Yustina, who had been looking down with a smile, then hardened her expression.
“And I have no intention of going over the details again at this late hour. We already did that once, did we not? Repeating the same words twice would only make them tedious.”
Right after being persuaded by that disrespectful child, Yustina had gathered the clan and explained the plan.
Of course, even then, she had not asked for their approval.
Her attitude had been that this is how it will be done, so you will naturally follow.
There had been no objections.
“When this is over, many things will have changed.”
Whether the change was welcome or not, they would never be able to return to the life they had now.
And yet…
Yustina recalled the face of the young girl who had spoken to her with such bold certainty.
There had not been the slightest trace of doubt on the girl’s face.
Was it because of Edel’s words?
That did not seem likely. From the way she spoke, she didn’t appear especially devout.
Perhaps what the girl believed in was her own strength, Yustina cautiously guessed, drawing on wisdom accumulated over long years.
By contrast, Yustina and her clan believed in the words of Edel, their creator.
The decisive reason Yustina had been persuaded by the girl was because of what Edel had supposedly said, so there was no need to question the clan’s faith.
What each side believed in was different, but the place they were headed was the same.
So there was no reason not to join forces.
“It seems none of you have changed your minds.”
Even after Yustina finished speaking, and quite a bit of time passed, not a single person in the plaza opened their mouth.
Instead, as she slowly surveyed the faces now tinged with even more resolve than before, Yustina nodded.
“Then let us begin.”
Yustina raised her hand, and the immense barrier surrounding the village gradually began to collapse.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Everyone has that sort of experience at least once in their life, don’t they?
You spot a loose thread on your clothes, tug on it because it’s bothering you, and then the whole thing unravels, leaving you frozen in panic.
What I was looking at now felt very similar to that.
The barrier was the clothing, and the Magi was the thread that made it up.
The strands of Magi that came loose from the barrier fluttered and scattered in the air.
If left alone, they would surely disperse without a trace.
But Yustina and the demons guided them expertly, gathering them neatly into one place.
“This is getting a little hard to breathe….”
When the barrier had collapsed to about half its original size, Celine, who had been watching, spoke up.
Since Celine was not the type to complain unless she truly meant it, the fact that she said that out loud meant the pressure must have been considerable.
“Yeah, it is.”
It was the same for me.
Just being this far away and already feeling pressure like this.
It felt as though every bit of Magi in the air was pressing down on me, trying to force me into submission.
I hate to admit it, but this feels a little like the first time I saw that snake bastard.
A few days ago, before the Ascension Ritual began, the Magi had supposedly been at least twice as dense as it was now.
How was anyone supposed to endure that environment for days on end?
Well…
Even I wasn’t confident about that.
Honestly, until now I had been underestimating this place a little, but as the Magi gathered like this, I could really feel why Laxia had earned the name “the Demon Continent.”
Of course, humans had probably named it that because it was the demons’ homeland, but still.
“K-kelgh…!”
“...Are you okay? If it’s too much, you can go back in.”
“N-no… I’m… still holding on….”
I was the strongest here.
And even if not at my level, Celine stood on a plane far beyond what ordinary people could ever reach.
If the two of us were already feeling the pressure, there was no way Daeun, the one at the lowest level, would be fine.
Even with Celine’s Holy Magic blazing around her and enveloping her in protection, Daeun’s face had gone so pale she looked ready to cough up blood at any second.
Gulp—
Daeun took a bottle from her arms and swallowed its contents in one go.
After downing the blood-red potion, she finally managed to catch her breath for a moment.
If she was already struggling this much now, it wouldn’t be strange if she collapsed later.
Grasid.
-…What is it?
…Are you sulking?
Grasid’s voice somehow sounded petulant.
Right, not voice—mind.
-Not particularly. I only find it infuriating that you ignore me whenever I speak, then call for me only when you need something.
Hm.
That was true, wasn’t it?
I couldn’t exactly deny it, because I really had been doing that.
I’d mostly ignored him because everything he said was nonsense, but hearing it laid out like that made me feel a little guilty….
Then go bother someone else.
…Like hell I would.
He lived off me and still had complaints? He had no right to be picky.
Besides, the one who stood to lose more here was him, not me, so there was no reason for me to be the one backing down.
-Ahem. I wasn’t so offended as to go that far.
That’s a little disappointing.
-…Hah. So why did you call me?
Oh, right. Can you help ease the burden Daeun is feeling?
-Are you joking? That was a rather amusing joke.
So it can’t be done, then.
-If your idea is to blow her apart with mana instead of Magi, that’s not a bad thought.
Well, there was no way Daeun could endure Grasid’s mana.
It would be like trying to remove one bump only to end up adding another.
I could take off the ring and hand it to her, of course.
-No.
Yep. Thought so.
I nodded at the answer that had not surprised me in the slightest.
Couldn’t be helped.
“...Huh? Kana?”
“Wouldn’t this make it a little easier?”
I took Daeun’s hand with the one wearing the ring.
It wouldn’t be as good as actually wearing it, but it was a dragon-made item, for heaven’s sake. It should still help in some way.
When I suddenly took her hand, Daeun looked flustered for a second, then broke into a smile.
“Yeah. It’s definitely better.”
“Right?”
“Kana really is the best. Hee, it’s soft….”
“...You are okay, right?”
I told her to feel the effect, not my hand.
I had clearly expected it to help, but seeing that reaction did make me question things a little.
If this doesn’t work, I guess I’ll have to shove her back home by force.
Meanwhile, the barrier continued to collapse at a rapid pace, and with it the pressure around us kept growing harsher.
And then, at last, the barrier vanished completely.
“...Huu.”
Even though Celine’s holy power had been blazing intensely for a long time already, it was still difficult to keep my back straight and stand properly.
Celine was swaying but somehow still hanging on, while Daeun had already given up and dropped heavily to the ground.
Empty potion bottles lay scattered beside her.
“...Everything is ready.”
Among the demons, all of whom had gone much paler, Yustina alone still wore a healthy complexion as she approached me and spoke.
She looked at me in silence for a moment, then the corners of her mouth lifted.
“You do not look terribly at ease. Have you decided to back out now?”
“If I wanted to back out, do you think I could?”
“Of course not.”
“Then don’t say pointless things.”
“Ah!”
I chided her and let go of Daeun’s hand.
Only after I released it did Daeun realize what had happened, and she made a disappointed sound while flailing at empty air.
“I’m going.”
“I-I’ll go with you too….”
“You know you can’t.”
“...”
What I pointed at was the black vortex surging without pause.
If Daeun stepped into that, death by Magi poisoning would be the least of her problems—her body would be torn apart from limb to limb.
That was why Celine had to support us from a little distance away.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“Ah…!”
There was no need to drag out an exchange that wasn’t even a farewell.
Ignoring the sigh from behind me, I strode forward.
“A fellow small in stature, yet possessed of a heart no less stout than a man’s.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“That depends on whether you succeed.”
“Then it’s a compliment.”
Casually brushing off Yustina’s remark, I took another step toward the Magi.
“In case you forgot, I shall remind you one last time.”
“No need. Once I’m inside, I’m supposed to empty out all the mana in my body and accept the Magi you send through, right?”
“That is correct.”
I had already been told several times how the Ascension Ritual worked.
And now that I had confirmation that my memory was correct, there was no reason to linger any longer.
“I’m going.”
“May you succeed….”
With Celine’s brief farewell behind me, I stepped into the vortex of Magi.
“Ghk!”
Pressure far beyond anything I had felt until now crashed down on me.
If I let my strength slip for even an instant, that pressure would break me and I might never get back up again.
Feeling that, I gritted my teeth and forced my mana upward.
Crackle—crack-crack-crack!
The pink mana within my body and the golden holy power blended together softly, fighting back against the blades of Magi.
One step, then two.
As I walked, resisting the crushing pressure that bore down on me like a mountain, the unpleasant noise I had been hearing in my ears at some point vanished as if washed away.
But the Magi still made it hard to breathe.
What is this, the eye of a typhoon?
That thought barely passed through my head before I realized what I needed to do.
I immediately released the mana stored within my body.
Since I let out a substantial amount, the Magi around me seemed to thin a little, and breathing became somewhat easier.
Or maybe nothing had changed at all and it only felt that way.
“Haa.”
I had already said countless times that there was no turning back, but…
Now it was truly, absolutely impossible to return.
Since I had emptied out all my mana, leaving this place was no longer an option.
So instead of wasting time on something pointless, I spread both arms wide.
...!
The instant I decided to accept the Magi, the wandering currents around me rushed into my body all at once.
It was unlike Grasid’s violent mana, and unlike the mana I had used before.
Thick, sticky, corrupted Magi.
“Cough!”
Before I could even truly feel the pain, my body reacted first.
In the dim light, the blood I spat onto the ground was not the usual red but pitch-black.
“Ah….”
Thud!
The next moment, I found myself on my knees, staring at it.
I struggled again and again to get back up, but my limp body refused to obey.
…No.
...Do I really need to get up?
As that thought suddenly crossed my mind, my heart settled into a strange calm.
Right. There was no need to force myself to stand.
It wasn’t difficult, was it?
I just had to close my eyes and entrust my body to the hand guiding me into the darkness.
If I did that, I wouldn’t have to feel the pain gnawing at my body anymore.
“...Yeah. Let’s do that….”
I quietly sank into the gentle darkness welcoming me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇