The World (4)
I rested my head against that slender warmth and listened to its voice.
It felt as though something like this had happened before. The vague sense of déjà vu scattered the moment the words reached my ears.
I see.
I… could go home.
I could return.
I can return…….
Deathbringer reflexively edged back a step at the sight of Meister, whose eyes had completely spun out of control.
“You know we have to leave, right?”
“I know.”
Under the workshop’s blue lamp, Meister’s violet eyes gleamed coldly.
“But this is more important.”
Damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him!
Thinking that, Deathbringer lunged forward and claimed the mana battery—or whatever the thing was. His hands snatched it up and gripped it like a hostage.
“Ah, just hurry up and let’s go!!”
“I’m not going anywhere until I figure out why it lit up!”
“It was sparkling from the start—how are you supposed to figure that out!”
“What are you talking about? It wasn’t glowing when I looked earlier!”
“You’re the one talking nonsense! When I picked it up it was sparkling—!”
Boom!
Neighhhhh!
Just as their shouting match threatened to continue, a violent tremor slammed into the building and the pitiful horse’s scream rang out through the street.
“Whoa.”
In the jolt Deathbringer nearly lost his grip on the battery. The thing plummeted; he barely caught it before it hit the floor.
The battery’s light grew a little stronger.
“…You!”
Meister, grabbing at nearby objects to keep his balance, felt his eyes fly wide open.
Kyarrrk.
Neighhhhh.
A grotesque cry mixed with the dying horse’s scream. The two who had just regained their footing whipped their heads around on pure reflex.
Kyarrk.
Beyond the open doorway, a massive monster had settled onto the spot where the horse had stood. It was so huge that the poor animal, crushed beneath one of its legs, could not even struggle once.
Crack. Snap. A bright-yellow beak began methodically separating bone from flesh, devouring the horse whole.
A Gryphon. A demon with the head and forelegs of a hawk and the hindquarters of a lion—infamous enough for its love of horseflesh to earn the nickname “Horse Slaughterer.”
Both men froze solid.
We’re fucked…….
Don’t make a sound.
They had no idea why the demon had appeared so suddenly. But if it noticed them, things would turn very bad very fast.
They communicated only with glances and the barest movement of lips, cold sweat pouring down their faces.
Crunch. Crunch.
The one mercy was that the Gryphon had not yet turned its head in their direction. Meister eased backward toward the rear of the workshop. Deathbringer did the same.
They summoned every scrap of lifelong concentration and scuttled into the cluttered corner, dodging the scattered debris.
What the hell do we do now!!
No—you should be thanking me. If it weren’t for me we’d still be on that horse when the Gryphon hit us.
Hit us my ass! We would’ve linked up safely!
Perhaps because of its hawk head, a Gryphon’s eyesight was legendary.
So they crouched behind a desk and worked their lips furiously. Afraid any real sound might draw its attention, they dared not voice a word.
Shut up, low intelligence. This topic isn’t worth another second. How about we focus on what comes next?
Nice subject change the second you’re losing. Bastard.
I didn’t change the subject because I was losing—
Is there a back door?
…No.
This is bullshit.
They were seething with mutual irritation, yet both crushed the feeling under the single purpose of survival. A Gryphon was that dangerous a variable.
So that really is the only way out?
Yeah.
Fuck. Then we just wait until it leaves?
That’s one option.
Even if they wanted a plan, there simply was none. What could two people who couldn’t even handle mana do against a demon?
If it had been humanoid… at least it could have come inside, so maybe this was better. Deathbringer corrected his own imagination and started to lean out past the desk for a look.
You trying to die?
He met Meister’s eyes—pure white with contempt and fury—and found a fist already knotted in his collar.
Then how are we supposed to watch its movements?
If you lack knowledge, just admit you lack knowledge. There are ways to see around a corner without sticking your head out.
Meister snatched the object sitting right on the desk. A convex mirror.
Whether you stick out your head or your hand, it’s the same damn thing…….
Surface area is different, you wisdom-averse moron.
After another brief snarl they focused on the mirror. Once the angle was right, the convex surface showed the Gryphon clearly. In those few seconds the horse’s body had been reduced almost entirely to bone.
If we’re lucky it’ll leave soon.
Well. That’s good news, I guess.
It was a sorry fate for the horse that had died in their place, yet from the perspective of the men still breathing, they were also grateful.
Meister, privately wondering whether he would have to reimburse the lord for a warhorse, pulled the mirror away.
The Gryphon’s head looked ready to swing toward them.
Give me the battery.
He held out his hand instead, determined to use the time productively. If they were stuck here until the thing left, they might as well do something.
Are you insane?
What business is it of yours if I spend my own time legitimately?
You’re actually crazy.
He thrust the open hand forward more insistently. Deathbringer shook his head in disgust and handed the battery over.
Unfortunately the light was out.
Not a sound. If you make noise and that Gryphon notices us, I’m throwing you to it.
Ha. Try it.
He already knew better than to make noise. Meister snorted, took the battery, and began examining it with sudden seriousness.
Even with the light gone, there was still something to investigate.
Unlucky bastard…….
This was… the same battery on which he had written the formula in a fit of temper last time—the one that had sparked for a moment while he was smoking with Half-and-Half Head.
While Deathbringer muttered curses, Meister calmly identified the object. It was astonishing. A formula that already had history was showing promise again.
Once could be coincidence. Twice was worth noting. And if it happened a third time…….
You said it sparkled when you picked it up earlier.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Meister sank into thought.
The only differences between what he had seen on entering and what he saw now were whether the battery sat on a surface or lay on the floor, and the viewpoint.
So the cause had to be one of those two. Realistically the latter could not be a variable. The former, however…….
Was dropping it the answer?
The Demon Knight had also seen it light up when he caught the thing he himself had dropped. And this time the person who picked up the fallen battery had seen the glow.
When he added the later observation, only one conclusion remained. Just to be sure, he lifted the battery—careful not to raise it higher than the desk where the Gryphon might see—and let it fall.
Are you out of your mind?!
The man beside him nearly choked. Before the battery could touch the ground, Meister snatched it back.
Its light had returned.
If you have time to think I’m moving recklessly, check the situation instead.
…Ah, for fuck’s sake. At least keep your mouth shut.
He adjusted his glasses with a middle finger and confirmed the hypothesis. Falling was involved. Reason? Unknown. That was next.
…So it worked?
Deathbringer finally asked, curiosity overriding annoyance.
If success without an established intermediate process still counts as success.
He hated labeling a half-baked result “success.” Meister wanted to dive into further research immediately, yet the situation limited him to what little he could manage: dropping it repeatedly, checking whether mana was actually gathering, that sort of thing.
Once the intermediate process is established… can people without mana use mana now?
Correct that to: can they operate devices that require mana?
You’re a pedantic bastard.
Oh, if I were you I’d have despaired long ago over a life that installed a tongue for swinging but forgot to include a matching brain, and started aiming for the next reincarnation early.
Fresh bickering flared, yet the Gryphon served as an excellent anger suppressant; the quarrel never escalated into a real fight. Harmony, courtesy of a demon.
…….
…….
Even if the best they could manage was sharply raised middle fingers aimed at each other.
Anyway, yes. Once the operating principle is clear, mass production becomes possible… so it could probably be distributed widely.
Explaining after you’ve already pissed me off as much as humanly possible…….
I still have to answer a question when it’s asked. When else is that empty head of yours ever going to absorb knowledge?
Ah, fuck.
Deathbringer seriously considered whether, once the Gryphon left, he would be justified in cracking this bastard’s skull. The impulse was dangerously appealing.
Forget it—the Gryphon’s gone—
At that exact moment a tremendous bang! shook the entire building.
The hanging lamps blinked out once, then flickered back to life.
What the hell? Both men snatched up the mirror in panic. Bang! Another impact rocked everything around them.
“We’re screwed.”
“If you make a sound— Wait?!”
Bang!
Seeing the Gryphon force its head into the door gap, Meister finally rose. Bang! The creature kept slamming its body forward, trying to cram its head through an opening far too small so it could eat them.
“It must have known we were here from the start.”
In short, they were completely cornered.
Blink.
The lamp flickered uneasily.
But… what happens if I go back now?
“Save me! Save me!!”
“Aaaaah!!”
“Attack! Attack them!”
“Don’t scatter—Tony!”
“Urgh!”
Screams rose from every direction. Explosions and sheets of fire bloomed across the streets. The orderly line of evacuating civilians had collapsed into pure chaos; nothing remained but panic.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
“Run! Keep running!”
“Hyaaah!”
“Hurry!”
“Don’t stop—run!”
Even so, the defenders still had reason to force order back into the madness. Soldiers who had raced up seized people and shoved them rearward almost by force.
“Loose!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
Dozens of arrows streaked outward, delivering a sharp warning to the harpies that hovered, waiting for openings.
“Support them!”
Then a knight appeared. A superhuman who wrapped their body in reinforcing mana or edged their blade with killing intent leapt into the fray.
“Cover the knight!”
Being a knight did not mean one could cut a demon down in a single stroke. Yet neither were they as weak as ordinary soldiers who could only keep gremlins at bay.
“Footstool!”
At Captain Dietrich’s shout one soldier threw aside his weapon and dropped to one knee, hands laced together. The instant she planted her boot, he heaved her upward as if launching a spear.
The airborne knight redirected the mana that had been strengthening her body into the sword, sharpening its edge.
Slash!
Kyaaaak!
The face of the harpy diving toward the soldiers was carved open on a diagonal by her blade.
The demon thrashed in agony, lost balance, and plummeted.
“Dodge! Move!”
Soldiers at the impact point retreated in perfect unison; elsewhere other soldiers surged forward instead, driving gremlins and lesser demons back.
“Push them! Keep pushing! Drive the demons out!”
Every movement existed to protect the knight who had fallen with the harpy.
While those who had taken the place of the retreating soldiers formed a loose ring and checked the gremlins, the landed knight raised her sword again.
“Surround it!”
As Dietrich fended off the thrashing claws and kept the harpy from taking wing, the soldiers who had pulled back leveled their spears.
Spears stabbed in from every side, piercing the creature again and again. A few shafts snapped under the demon’s violent thrashing.
“Keep stabbing!”
Demons did not die from a single blow. Knowing that, the men continued their assault while the knight endured claw marks and held the harpy’s full attention.
“A gargoyle’s coming!”
“Knight, fall back!”
“Leaving it to you!”
But if one more demon that ordinary soldiers could barely handle arrived, the balance would tip.
Dietrich slowly withdrew through the gap her men created. The harpy was still alive; that could not be helped. Its strength was nearly spent, so they had no choice but to trust the soldiers could finish it.
“Aaaaah!”
“Damn it, where the hell are they all coming from!”
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
There were simply too many demons. As they forced the fleeing civilians farther back, several soldiers began to weep.
“Annihilate my enemies!”
Fortunately someone capable of lightening their burden stood among them.
The moment the Archmage scraped together every scrap of mana and cast, demons that had been harassing soldiers among the crowd were skewered by raw power and died or suffered wounds nearly as fatal.
“Hurry—save the people!”
Soldiers long accustomed to working with mages immediately began hauling the fallen to safety. The dead were left with regret; those still breathing were slung over shoulders and carried rearward.
“…Looks like the city is going to fall.”
“Don’t say ominous things!”
“Look at reality. A city whose residents are fleeing and which is filling with demons—will it be classified as fallen or not?”
“That’s true, but people still have feelings!”
Feelings were useless. Cheongsanho ignored the chief mage’s protest and continued moving mana.
Controlling it with internal injuries already was pure hell, yet he would not actually die, so it did not matter.
“Are you all right?! If you take another backlash here, you’ll definitely……!”
“I’ll die. But can you say that in front of people who are already dead?”
And as long as he did not cancel a spell mid-cast or miscalculate a formula, there would be no backlash. He was fine.
He steadied those whose mana control was shaky and layered on additional attack spells. With the Archmage double-checking every formula, failure was impossible.
A massive mana arrow formed and intercepted a diving gargoyle. The creature’s body, heart blown clean through, crashed into the street.
“Enough. Get the next spell ready, and be quick about it. More demons are coming.”
“What? More?”
“If you don’t like it, go complain to the lord. What kind of inspection was that?”
Of course the lord would shout right back: for the last seventy years those merchants had never once dabbled in demon worship—who would suspect people who only traded quietly?
He admitted the point. That was exactly why the Magic Tower itself had accepted the deal without deeper scrutiny.
“While you’re going to tell him, pass this along as well: two Great Sages are already here, so one knight is enough. No further support is needed—stop sending more knights.”
“You’re telling me to go report that right now?!”
Then when else? Instead of answering, Cheongsanho simply let the rising blood come up and spat it out.
“Aaaaah—Great Sage!!”
“Lord Cheongsanho!!”
The surroundings erupted in panic. It was not an especially important matter.
“Noisy. Shut up and work.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Gather mana!”
Rather, Cheongsanho recognized that this sector had stabilized and turned his attention elsewhere.
“…I wonder how the west is faring.”
That was the greatest concern of all.
Even the southern gate—where two Great Sages, the lord, and several knights stood—was in this state. What of the west, which had none of them? Worse, it lay closer to the direction from which the demons were flying.
Cheongsanho found he did not want to imagine it.
The answers that came were simply too bleak.
“I just hope we can keep it from being a complete massacre.”
Instead, he prayed.
That fortune enough to escape the demons’ claws might settle upon as many people as possible.
…How is Bemyurhen going to turn out now?