The One Who Gazed Into the Abyss (10)
"Shub...!"
She had clearly said, Save me.
She must already be under the demonic sword's control.
Eve and Panzy were panicking too, but when they saw me fighting to keep a calm expression, they settled down a little and whispered to me quietly.
"Do you have some kind of plan?"
"Mm. Not yet. It's not time yet."
It was still too early to save Shub.
If this world truly followed the game's story, the event would happen even if the timing had been pushed forward a bit.
For now, we wait.
"The duel will now begin!"
Professor Beatrice from Class E, acting as referee, blew her whistle to signal the start of the match.
True to their nature as mages, Elua and Shub created distance between themselves and began probing each other.
Elua struck first.
She drew a magic circle in the air and sent forth blades of wind that sliced the duel arena's floor like tofu as they flew toward Shub.
Shub simply watched the incoming blades without taking any action, then raised her arm.
A magic circle glowed on the floor as a thick rock wall surged upward to block them.
From what I remembered, she wasn't yet skilled enough to skip incantations or spell formulas. The demonic sword must have changed something within her.
She was a ticking time bomb. The professors and referees could step in during an emergency, but I doubted they could actually stop the Shub standing before us now.
Damn it. Dorothy should have been here at a time like this.
She must have gone pretty far; several days had passed and she still hadn't shown up.
"Shub! Don't just stand there like an idiot only defending yourself~! Move around a little!"
"..."
Elua, acting like she had the upper hand, wrapped wind around her entire body and darted through the air like a fairy, launching attacks at Shub from every direction.
She was still using only wind magic for now, but once she found her rhythm she'd start mixing in fire spells.
Shub remained rooted in place, doing nothing but defending against Elua's magic.
Her extremely static movements gradually bored the students, who began booing.
"Hey! It's the final match, fight with some damn fire!"
"Fuck! This is so goddamn boring!"
Elua seemed to feel the same. She stopped flying around Shub to attack, floated into the air, looked down at her, and curled one corner of her mouth upward.
"Ah~ Don't tell me you're so scared of me that you're frantically defending yourself~? Oh dear~ To think the top student is such an idiot~"
"T-that's not... it..."
"Huh?"
Shub struggled to speak, then swung one arm.
A magic circle etched itself into the ground behind her, and two massive earth snakes burst forth, jaws wide open toward Elua.
Elua looked momentarily flustered but quickly hurled fireballs into each snake's maw, exploding them, then shouted.
"Yes! That's what the top student should do! Let's do this properly!"
She was clearly panicking like hell no matter how you looked at it.
Elua, excited now, quickly drew circles in the air again and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Deciding wind blades weren't enough, she instantly combined fire magic and sent it riding the wind.
The spells, similar to the Fire Tornado and Fire Cutter I often used, made it look like Shub was simply standing still and defending.
Shub only occasionally frowned in pain or gritted her teeth, showing no intention of attacking.
"No, attack like before! This is showing zero respect!"
"Huff...! Huff...!"
Shub struggled to extend her hand and draw another magic circle.
In an instant, a three-attribute circle completed, and a flaming boulder accelerated by wind shot toward Elua.
Smaller than a meteor, larger than a pebble.
Mini Meteor.
Sixth Circle magic.
"Huh? Whaaaaat?! Hey! W-what the hell is that!"
"You told me... to attack... Here's the next one... too!"
Shub drew another circle and thrust out her hand.
Dark red mana crackled with interference before shooting toward Elua in the shape of lightning.
"Whoa! What kind of magic is this! Shub! Have you opened new horizons in magic?!"
"Haa... I don't know... about that... I'm not..."
Eve seemed to recognize the dark red mana instantly.
Her eyes widened as she failed to contain her holy power, letting it leak out bit by bit.
Her hostility toward the Otherworld had been drilled into her like brainwashing as the Saintess, so it was only natural.
I quietly took Eve's hand and shook my head.
"Cain..."
"Sorry. Just a little longer."
Elua, having dodged the lightning formed of Otherworld mana, began turning the battlefield into 'her domain' more seriously.
She created tornadoes everywhere to block vision and mixed in fire to attack Shub from all sides.
People muttering that 'this year's freshmen are truly full of incredible kids.'
I acknowledged they were impressive, but unfortunately that wasn't what mattered right now.
"How long do you think you can last?"
A spine-chilling voice spilled from Shub's mouth.
It was filled with such killing intent that not only Elua but everyone nearby froze.
Shub's red eyes gleamed as she looked around.
"Is there someone you wish to save? I don't know what you're thinking, clinging to the edge of a body already beyond control. But it's over now."
As Shub spoke, she drew Dainsleif from her waist.
The dark red blade hummed loudly in resonance.
Before Elua could even process what was happening, the flaming whirlwinds were sliced apart along with the space itself and annihilated.
Shub, sword in hand, slowly floated into the air without any preparatory stance and faced Elua.
"Uh, uh? What is this?"
"...Please... dodge..."
"Kyaa! Shub! You know how to use a sword too~?"
Elua barely avoided Shub's swing and tried to play it cool.
She sounded relaxed, but she was definitely panicking inside and cursing up a storm.
The duel had to be stopped.
If it continued like this, Elua Arcana would be in serious danger.
Eve and Panzy, seeing my urgent expression, seemed to realize the situation and waited for my next move.
I first scanned the spectator seats.
Alex.
I had to find that fucking bastard.
"Whistle. It's way more impressive than I thought?"
Alex smiled with satisfaction and clapped.
That so-called demonic sword was truly outstanding. To corrupt the top student and mage Shub le Ruelle in just a few days and use her like an extension of itself?
It really was an incredible blade, just as expected!
He didn't resist the pounding in his chest.
When Shub drew the sword and split space itself, he was so delighted he nearly jumped around screaming.
His whole body trembled as ecstasy washed over him.
That power that led everything to ruin.
If he could just control it.
He could kill all the bastards who made his life hell!
Back in Orphe Village they'd told him to treat the treasured sword with care, and he'd wondered how useful it could really be. To think it was this incredible.
"Haha... Cain. You're probably watching this with a completely shocked face right now."
Alex giggled as he looked around the spectator seats. It was a shame the fight between Elua and Shub blocked his view.
He could see the referees approaching Shub to stop the match.
This was too fun. He couldn't let it end so anticlimactically here.
The sword kept humming, trying to tell him something, but he couldn't hear its words.
Perhaps that was why he hadn't fallen under the demonic sword's control.
Still, one message had reached him.
Nothing else got through, but the one thing he wanted most.
For some reason, that single phrase had come through clearly.
Alex wore a manic grin and recited the sentence he'd always wanted to say.
"Defuncto mundo gloria esto."
The moment the words left his mouth.
A vivid red light exploded outward with Shub at its center as a massive mana storm raged, and the duel arena's roof burst apart like an explosion.
It all happened in an instant right before my eyes.
While Shub was one-sidedly overwhelming Elua, she suddenly stopped as if in pain and let out an agonized scream.
"K-kyaaaaaaaagh!!!!!"
"Sh-Shub? D-don't tell me you're finally feeling pain from this body's powerful magic... Kyaaaa!"
Dark red light exploded outward from Shub's body.
The light was so blinding it momentarily blinded everyone in the spectator seats and beyond.
"...It's begun."
Half the duel arena, including its roof, had vanished.
Students were panicking and fleeing in every direction while professors and student council members quickly evacuated them to regain control.
I was briefly impressed by their swift judgment in such a short time, but only for a moment.
In that hellish chaos I stood firm, waiting for something, and that something appeared as if on cue.
Shub revealed herself with the same elegant grace as when we first met.
She sat atop a tall pillar in the center of the arena in a seductive pose, quietly watching me.
The sword in her left hand trembled with joy, humming loudly.
"Cain."
She spoke.
As if that were the signal, space distorted all around the arena centered on her, and gates to the Otherworld began forming.
At first it was like ink spreading in water—dark red mana faintly bleeding into the air.
That contaminated mana soon caused spatial interference, opening its hidden filthy maw wide as it finished preparations for invasion.
Flowers of death. Or the maws of hollow beasts bloomed everywhere.
The gates multiplied so quickly they couldn't be counted.
"Cain."
She called my name again.
Shub's empty eyes were fixed on me.
Around her—around the entire arena—the gates spread across the sky began to wriggle as the vanguard of monsters revealed their hideous forms.
They say the first emotion people feel upon witnessing beings from the Otherworld is 'fear of death.'
Death had greedily opened its door and come for us.
"Cain."
Shub called me once more, as if she held some wish.
I knew.
Even though her body was being controlled by the demonic sword, I knew exactly what I needed to say to her.
I knew what words she needed to hear.
"I have a way. I'll save you. Just hold on a little longer."
The spirits gathered around me as if they'd been waiting, assuming battle stances.
And just then, the message I'd been waiting for appeared before my eyes.
The One Who Gazed Into the Abyss
📍 Objective: Defeat Shub le Ruelle, who has been corrupted by the Otherworld.
"You said you believed in me."