Apostle Rubshi (2)
It was dark.
Darkness everywhere. No matter where I looked, it was pitch black.
So dark that even my own body was invisible. I couldn't make out anything at all.
Even if I poured magic into my eyes, all I saw was deep, endless darkness.
“Nothing is visible, is it?”
Before the question could finish, Ryly shot a magic bullet.
“Iko… You’re right. This is a place where you have to distinguish everything by sound. It’s the perfect battlefield for me.”
“...”
“...”
“Very perceptive. You immediately shut your mouth and held your breath. But… do you know that every natural thing in this world is imbued with magical power?”
I know.
Rubshi knew how to see magical flows, distinguish people by them, and predict movements. All of it.
“I can see that Sugar is to my right diagonal, and that Tommy is immediately preparing magic.”
“...”
“We can feel your magic too.”
If I concentrate, I can sense two large magics besides my own. One is Ryly, the other is Rubshi. That particularly sticky magic must be Rubshi's.
Sugar pointed her staff.
“Sugar. Did you forget what my specialty is? You experienced it yourself.”
“...!”
That sticky magic vanished in an instant. Even after searching around, it was just endless darkness.
Magic Sealing!
Immediately, I reached out toward Ryly. A moment ago, he was right next to me, so he should be nearby. In a place like this, the two of us should be clinging together.
“... Gone.”
But even after searching the surroundings, there was nothing.
One step to the side? To the left? No, the opposite? Where was I looking earlier?
The surroundings were just pitch black, so my sense of direction had disappeared.
“How embarrassing. I don't know which is front, back, or side, do I?”
A hand poking my back made me turn around and point my staff.
But nothing was visible.
“Well, how are we supposed to escape?”
Again, a voice from behind.
This time, it stroked my head.
“Ouch!”
Annoyed, I swung my fist randomly, and the presence vanished instantly.
“What are you trying to do, you hag!”
Back when Ryly and I were playing hide and seek.
Ryly kept snapping his fingers to create light. But no matter how hard he tried, no magic light was produced.
Did he need a stronger spell?
Then, chanting was necessary. He had to recite the incantation out loud.
Then that woman would notice. She would definitely come to stop it.
Currently, the sound of struggling with Sugar was coming. Was she preventing me from chanting the release spell? It was strange that she was doing that instead of just kidnapping and playing around, but at least it was fortunate that she had no intention of attacking.
Should I go over there, hide Sugar behind me, and randomly shoot magic? But I didn't have much magic left. And would she just leave it like that?
This was a dead end.
Ryly clicked his tongue and took a deep breath.
“Close your eyes!”
Our secret language, just between the two of us.
Ancient characters that Sugar taught me sometime.
After saying it, I continued.
“Release spell!”
What would the other do then?
Would she come to silence meaningless words to Ryly? Or stop Sugar?
Anyway, Ryly just needed to recite the prepared spell.
Whether it was the flash magic I would recite or the release magic Sugar would recite, it was worth testing both.
Just as I was about to say the trigger word, a hand covering my mouth was felt.
“Good.”
It seemed Rubshi chose to silence Ryly.
From the side, Sugar's clear chanting voice was heard.
“Release (Dispel Magic).”
Surprisingly, when Sugar said the trigger word, nothing happened.
“Sorry, but this isn't a normal magic space.”
It didn't matter.
Ryly grabbed the thin wrist of Rubshi who was covering his mouth with both hands. Hard. As if breaking it. Filling it with the resentment of the moment he lost Sugar.
Rubshi's wrist was snatched away in surprise, but it was too late.
Magic injection.
If it were Sugar, she would have immediately made it her own. But Rubshi, who had ordinary magic, would find it difficult.
It's natural for different magics to repel each other. Ryly's magic would immediately enter through the magic channels and stir her body.
And since he left traces, it would be easy to detect. Just follow his magic traces. No matter how well Rubshi hid her own magic, she couldn't hide someone else's.
Ryly immediately recited the spell.
His sharp eyes and hands were directed straight at the blind apostle.
“Explosion (Explosion).”
A cool explosion sound echoed in the black space.
Just then, I thought I heard something like a shattering sound, and my eyes started to hurt.
Frowning, I looked around. It was an ugly mountainous area.
......
“Wow, Tom... Ryly!”
Sugar ran toward Ryly with a whoosh. Her momentum was about to hug him.
“What did you do?”
“Just... for now, wait.”
Following Ryly's gaze, I saw Rubshi staggering to her feet.
Surprisingly, she was fine after taking that explosion.
“Ah... I can't get up.”
“?”
But suddenly, she collapsed with a thud. Staggering as if her body had no strength, she sat down.
As I slowly approached her, Sugar followed beside me.
“Was breaking that piece the way to escape?”
Rubshi was referring to the black piece she dropped on her shadow.
“I’ll keep this a secret.”
Rubshi smiled weakly and held up her hand.
“It was an incredible spell. A fluid connection. Ah~ It feels like my insides are being twisted because of the magic repulsion~ I can't do anything~”
And then, with a staggering tone, she opened her mouth.
“Rubshi... you...”
Sugar didn't understand what was going on.
An apostle who had lived for a hundred years was in action incapacity over something like this?
It couldn't be. She hadn't even properly fought. From her perspective, it was just kids playing around.
The apostle who had gone through intense, bloody battles, who had always survived there.
Even in the dark space, if Rubshi had wanted to, she could have allowed no contact. She could have bought time until the other apostles or disciples came.
But she didn't.
Instead of giving an opening, she kept winking.
It was too strange.
Rubshi had clearly tried to kidnap Sugar, but the one who actually did that was...
But the attitude she showed from the altar to the current fight seemed like...
“I really don't know what your intentions are...”
The snake-like woman just hugged her staff gently and smiled.
“The world is like that, after all. Even I have lived this long, but there are many things I don't know.”
And she opened her eyes and looked at the sky. Her empty gray eyes looked upward. What was she seeing? She just stared upward endlessly.
Sugar broke that impression.
“Don't talk about the world. Rubshi, you. Your insides.”
“Oh, are you interested in me?”
“...”
“Well... Sugar is kind, which is both her strength and weakness. You'll have a hard time from now on.”
Clearly, she was talking to Sugar, but the tone was as if speaking to someone else. When Sugar tilted her head, Ryly, who had been listening from the side, made a strange expression.
“Anyway... when I was talking to you? Ah, if I had just a little more strength, I would have grabbed you right away.”
“...”
Ryly picked up the grimoire and was about to recite the spell, but looked at Sugar. Sugar looked down at Rubshi with an uneasy expression. Her eyes were clear.
Soon, Ryly sighed and took Sugar's hand. Let's go quickly. Urging her.
But Sugar, who kept having something on her mind, stopped.
“Rubshi. I thought about it. If that day, you had let me go, you, and I, would have been in the cult's hands—”
“Just remember this.”
She cut off quickly.
Like when she had spoken gently to Sugar like a mother sometime, or like when she was a child running through the grasslands while looking at the night sky. With an unreadable smile, she muttered.
“Freedom isn't something you get for free.”
“...”
And then she waved her hand.
“Then, I'll be going. See you next time.”
“Never. Get lost.”
Ryly answered instead and pulled Sugar along. Puhaha, Rubshi laughed loudly. She was gentle but laughed in a way that was inappropriate at some points.
With that sound behind them, the two kids left.
Partings are always sad.
Even though she said that, she hoped they wouldn't meet again. She hoped the two would rely on each other and live well in a place where her eyes couldn't reach.
Abandoning the conscience of having to protect the kids and the duty as an apostle, she drew one wish.
I want to see the two kids who remind me of my childhood self and Claude become free.
They were kids I found by chance, but regardless of whether I saw them, due to their magic properties, it would be a matter of time before they got involved with the cult. Like the day Sugar showed her adaptation to that person's magic.
So, I will remain in the cult forever.
Secretly guiding the other apostles so they wouldn't target those kids.
That day, when Sugar showed her ability. The problem was that Claude was there. At that moment, information would have flowed to the other apostles through the crows.
Rubshi couldn't stop it. What then if she released Sugar at that moment?
Would she fight Claude again? With all the apostles?
Even if it's me, I can't do that.
Ability-wise, yes. Rubshi is like this and that, but the cult is good. Her faith in that person is sincere.
But, more than that, she wanted to see Sugar become free. She thought it would be better to find other means to appease that person rather than Sugar.
That's how Rubshi's plan started.
First, pretend to team up and kidnap. The common goal is to unite people. The top priority there is to end the fight.
Rubshi is a cold woman who prioritizes the cult above all else.
If I give this image, Claude or other apostles would look at me again?
Then, let Sugar escape from the cult.
Of course, the desire to be together is also strong. Imagining transferring knowledge to that small girl, praying together. Isn't it fun just to imagine? Whether Sugar is caught or runs away, it's a satisfying ending for her.
Kuk, the snake-like woman laughed wickedly.
Even this is giving you a lot of consideration.
But since it's this much, it's better to laugh. It's better to be free.
Make a big deal of it.
Then, the heavy-bellied knights would come running.
It's really not to my liking and annoying, but I have no choice. Since information about the apostles has already entered their ears, the only place where Sugar can be free is ‘there’. Once she enters there, the apostles will have no way to handle it.
So, I ignored the tracking magic on Sugar's headband.
Because the boy who cherished Sugar was running wild in the mountains, and I had to come save her.
I ignored the black magic in Sugar's body.
If Claude knew, he would suppress me so I couldn't even lift a finger.
So, pretending the magic went astray, I released the entrance blockade, watched the fight appropriately, and secretly helped with the escape.
I deceived Sugar, and deceived the cult.
In the process, Claude's subordinates died, losses were incurred, and hatred was received, but still. No choice.
Once a promise is made, it must be kept.
“I will send you home as much as I can. Don't worry.”
There was a debt there. Because I made Sugar upset, I wanted to repay it by running away. Let's say I repaid it.
... Then, everything was my doing.
From the moment I saw Sugar, to saying those words. All of it.
So, I had no choice.
I had to take responsibility.
I had to directly lead the ending.
Anyway, the kids' will is the most important.
Rubshi, huhu, lay down comfortably with a sigh. Before I knew it, the footsteps of the two kids had disappeared.
Run, run.
As you live, greedy hands will reach for you, but please overcome everything and grasp freedom with those hands.
Once, I couldn't do it, but I want to succeed.
With that longing, I reached out to the sky, and a crow sat there.
“... How did the barrier go?”
[Almost done.]
“Wow... but what now? I lost the kids. It was too strong than I thought. Maybe I'm really old.”
She wouldn't know what happened inside the dark space. If she says so, then that's it.
The crow said as if sighing.
[Rubshi. I really don't know what you're up to.]
“Believe me. If you hadn't used that person's magic yesterday, you would have moved better. I'll rest a little and act again.”
[...]
She was silent, as if she had nothing to say about that.
“And, it's sad that you still don't believe me. I've always been the same. Rubshi noona who loves and cherishes the kids.”
[It's not funny. Okay. The punishment will be later.]
The crow flew up and opened its beak wide.
Just like that, with the outside and inside swapped, it became the shape of a person.
A man in a black gown wearing a beak mask. He glanced at Rubshi once, then started walking in the direction the two kids disappeared, and soon vanished from sight.
“...”
Rubshi tried to hide her confusion.
I didn't expect her to appear directly. What to do about this.
Could the kids hold on? No matter how I thought, it was impossible. If they didn't die, it would be fortunate.
Rubshi, who was agonizing, made a circle with her fingers and put it to her eye. How impatient to wait for the expected ones to come.
“Umm...”
I tried hard to stay in the cult.
But, it seems things are going a bit wrong.