The Meteor Falls
A single sound swallowed everything.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH—!!
The sky bled crimson.
The once-beautiful garden sky tore open with a raw, scarlet wound like the herald of the end, and from its heart a mass of pitch-black rock emerged, wreathed in seething flames that devoured the surrounding mana.
Meteor.
No embellishment was needed. It was the pure incarnation of overwhelming destruction.
The sole comfort was that it was not falling toward us.
Its impact point was the very center of this Garden of Extinction—the site of the final decisive battle.
Yet even the shockwave that tore between heaven and earth carried the scent of death. The air screamed as it burned, and the ground beneath our feet shuddered like a giant’s roar.
“Damn it…!”
I reflexively pulled Ravne close and dropped low. But she did not shake off my hand. Instead she took one step forward.
“Saya.”
Her light-purple eyes flicked back toward me for an instant. There was no fear in them—only a quiet resolve born of duty and concern for her partner.
“Saya, lean on me for a moment. I won’t let you get hurt.”
She stretched her free hand toward the empty air.
What left Ravne’s lips was a sacred yet unyielding declaration that borrowed the authority of the divine.
“Veil of the Sanctuary!”
A translucent dome woven from dense, unreadable characters sealed us away from the world’s ending.
In that same instant the meteor’s fallout crashed over everything.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH—!!
The shockwave struck like a colossal hammer.
Vision burned white with searing light; a roar that threatened to rupture eardrums paralyzed thought.
The Veil of the Sanctuary screamed. Spiderweb cracks raced across the golden dome’s surface with sharp, splitting sounds.
“Kh…!”
A thin moan escaped Ravne.
Sweat traced her bloodless white cheeks and her slender shoulders trembled faintly, yet she never yielded.
Everything outside the veil transformed before our eyes.
The beautiful white flowers became ash; the solid crystal pillars crumbled into drifting powder.
The roar that had seemed ready to devour the world finally died, and the last scorching wind faded. At that exact moment the golden barrier that had held on shattered with a clear ching into countless shards of light.
I caught her swaying body on pure instinct.
“Ravne, are you all right?”
“Yes… thanks to you, Saya.”
She smiled faintly and returned the grip on my hand.
For a moment we simply stared at the ruined garden in silence.
The fiercest final battlefield—its very heart—had been reduced to scorched earth in a single stroke before any rivals could even arrive.
That’s so like Panir…
But the price of that power was unmistakable.
A grand magic of that scale would have required even a genius like Panir to wring out every last drop of mana.
Right now she had to be at her most defenseless.
Moreover, the residual waves of massive mana were broadcasting her exact location.
A once-in-a-lifetime chance.
I tightened my hold on Ravne’s hand.
“Ravne, let’s go!”
“Yes!”
Without the slightest hesitation we sprinted.
There was no longer any need to dodge obstacles or hide from competitors.
The meteor Panir had dropped had kindly erased everything that once blocked our path.
Shattered crystal fragments.
Between the wreckage, ownerless blue tokens glittered like jewels.
“Ravne, wait a second!”
I launched myself forward and snatched a faintly glowing token.
Opponent’s token acquired. Current tokens held: 3
A clear system chime rang in my ears.
“Ah! Saya, over there too!”
Ravne’s finger pointed to a half-destroyed statue; blue light glittered beneath it as well.
Our sprint became a harvest at the same time.
This hellish battlefield had somehow turned into an easy farming ground.
Opponent’s token acquired. Current tokens held: 8
Every time I claimed a token the system window chimed with a sickeningly sweet sound.
This is sweeter than a token vending machine.
How long had we been running?
The residual mana brushing my skin grew distinct.
A clock tower rising high above the garden, its walls half-collapsed.
The perfect vantage over the entire garden, the place where mana flow could be controlled most efficiently.
And right now, the mage standing there, gazing down at the ruined center of the garden.
She was breathing hard, yet her blue eyes still sparkled.
I did not hesitate.
One chance that would decide victory or defeat.
The very instant I kicked off the ground to charge her—
“Halt!”
What blocked my path was a powerfully built male student who seemed to be on the same team as Panir.
He planted himself at the only climbable approach beneath the clock tower and drew a greatsword.
“As long as I stand here, no further approach will be permitted!”
His shout carried the firm will to protect his teammate.
Ravne whispered softly beside me.
“Saya, let’s combine our strength…”
“Ravne.”
I cut her off. My gaze was locked not on the male student but on Panir beyond him.
“Can you buy me just a little time?”
The words had barely left my mouth before Ravne clasped her hands without a shred of hesitation, and the earth answered at once.
“Wha—!”
From beneath the male student’s feet golden thorns laced with holy power erupted and coiled around his entire body.
He was bound inside a massive cocoon of light before he could even scream.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
I was already past him,
taking the final step of the stairs.
And the moment my reflection appeared in Panir’s eyes, I swung my sword without hesitation.
Clang—!
A dull friction sound; my blade was stopped by an invisible membrane.
Though unseen, the tingling resistance transmitted from the tip of the sword announced its presence.
A wide Mana Shield spread around Panir’s body.
Even after expending the massive card that was the meteor, she had still reserved enough calculation and mana to maintain a defensive spell.
As expected, she’s no ordinary opponent.
Her blue eyes pierced straight through me.
Rather than panic, a strange exhilaration—as if she had discovered something fascinating—glimmered within them.
Then I should live up to those expectations a little more, shouldn’t I?
Without hesitation I opened the silver case at my waist. The Trigger Needles, holding a cold light, came into view.
“That looks a bit dangero—”
Before Panir could finish, I drove one Trigger Needle into my left arm without a second thought.
Thud.
But I did not stop there.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Needles sank one after another along the mana circuits of my arm.
A sharp, boring pain forced a groan from my throat.
Nerves screamed; muscles twisted. It felt as though a small storm were raging inside the arm.
Sorry, healer. Looks like I’ve turned my own body into research material.
In an instant vivid blue mana surged like a flood along the veins of my left arm.
The arm no longer looked human; it convulsed like a monster formed of pure mana, boiling with uncontrollable power.
“Now—!”
The very moment Panir opened her mouth to speak, I condensed every amplified drop of mana into the tip of my sword and brought it down once more on her Mana Shield.
CRACK—!
A roar incomparable to before erupted.
With a shattering sound like breaking glass, the shield that had not budged an inch tore apart as easily as paper.
Panir instinctively tried to gather her remaining mana for another defensive spell, but my body already far outstripped her reaction speed.
“Ah…”
That short sound from her lips was the last; blue flames wrapped her body.
According to the rules of the pocket dimension, before any true danger to life could occur she dissolved into a handful of light particles and scattered.
Opponent’s token acquired. Current tokens held: 9
“Pa-Panir?!”
The powerfully built male student, still bound and forced to watch everything, screamed.
But before his gaze could even reach me I was already standing in front of him.
Forcing down the runaway pain in my left arm, I drove the sword in my right hand into his solar plexus.
Opponent’s token acquired. Current tokens held: 10
Even the last teammate vanished into blue light, and at last only the two of us remained around the clock tower.
“Haa… haa…”
The moment the tension snapped, a terrible backlash crashed over my entire body.
From the left arm where the Trigger Needles had been driven, pain like tearing muscle flooded in.
Vision blurred; strength left my legs and I was about to collapse when a soft yet firm touch supported me.
“Saya!”
Worry and pity tangled complexly across Ravne’s face.
“Maybe… I overdid it a little.”
I barely clung to my scattering consciousness and murmured faintly.
Ravne’s voice, thick with tears, burst out.
“This is not a little! It’s reckless! How could you treat your own body like that…!”
“Well… among the people I know, the one who lifts a fallen person most gently is right beside me. Before I knew it, I pushed a little too hard.”
That was as far as I could speak.
Strength drained from my whole body like an ebbing tide; my legs finally gave way.
Ravne caught me in silence, carefully tilting her body so our eyes could meet.
She said nothing, yet her light-purple eyes trembled like ripples spreading across a clear lake.