The Reaper Descends
"Now then, give it a try! Let's see just how far you can go!"
Umbra's lesson, held in the infirmary a few days prior, had been a simple one.
He floated a variety of Spirit-branch dark magic circles into the air and had Simon attempt to replicate each one using Chaos.
The goal was to find where Chaos and Spirit were compatible. Power and practicality didn't matter — if it could be realized at all, it counted as a success.
Simon had managed to recreate his first attempt, Soul Spear, in Chaos without any trouble, but every other Spirit spell ended in failure.
Well, I managed to salvage one, at least.
In Simon's hand was a crackling spear that brought violet lightning to mind.
A spear of Chaos, its trajectory, impact, range, and duration all decided at random.
Still, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
Simon's greatest hope had been to realize Spirit Summoning through Chaos — that was the area he'd been most excited about.
"You said combat practice is coming up soon, didn't you? For now, I'd say your best move is to devote yourself to training with that technique!"
"Yes, sir. Understood."
"I'll also use this data to prepare more dark magic that's compatible with your Chaos!"
With that, Simon helped Umbra pack up the belongings he'd rustled out of his bags.
But among the various items laid out, one in particular caught Simon's eye.
It was a 'stone'.
Shaped like a human face, its eyes glimmered with an eerie light, as though a ghost were dwelling inside it.
Simon had the distinct feeling it was staring back at him.
"Ah, that one has caught your interest, has it?"
Umbra cut in abruptly.
"It's still too early for you, but nothing ventured, nothing gained — give it a try!"
That 'Spirit Stone' was a medium for Spirit magic that raised phantoms.
Simon placed the medium atop a Chaos magic circle he had constructed with Umbra's help.
Whooooooosh!
At once, Chaos began to be drawn in toward the medium. Before long the light in the stone's eyes vanished, and above it, a phantom revealed itself.
A death god with a transparent body, a scythe in one hand, and a clown's mask on its face.
Kikikikiki!
It let out peal after peal of laughter as it whirled around and around Simon. It was wreathed in the very same violet hue as Chaos itself.
"Hard to believe!"
Umbra puffed with excitement.
"Its otherness was so intense that even I struggled to tame it and kept it around for research material. It turns out it's a perfect match for your Chaos."
"Wh-what is this thing, Professor?"
Umbra grinned wide.
Whoooooooosh!
Simon's Chaos magic circle blazed to life. When he finally drew out the summoning stone Umbra had given him and pressed it into the center of the circle, the light swelled even brighter.
[...What is that?]
The twin eyes of Hector, transformed into his dragon form, trembled violently.
Ssssssssss—
A phantom materialized from the heart of the magic circle.
A ghost that brought a joker to mind — smiling mask, scythe in hand.
"Reaper."
"If Summoning has the Lich, then Spirit Studies has the Reaper!"
Recalling Umbra's voice, Simon flung his arm out wide. The Reaper sank into Simon's shadow, spilling its giggling laughter.
Of course, this was no ordinary Reaper.
Simon Original – Chaos Reaper
Simon was overcome with a thrill of pure, absolute satisfaction.
Summoning really is my roots.
At last, he had forged a summon unlike anything in the world — a brand-new creature born from the power of Chaos and the power of Spirits combined.
[You!!]
Hector's mouth twisted.
[You could use Spirit Studies too?!]
"Technically speaking, it's not Spirit Studies."
Simon corrected him.
"It's Chaos."
The moment the Reaper appeared, the battlefield itself transformed.
Every Chaos Spear that had lost its power and lain strewn across the ground sprouted long, curved blades, becoming scythes.
The Reaper's first ability. Every 'Chaos Spear' becomes a 'Chaos Scythe'.
Woom! Woom!
The violet scythes hanging in the air began to spin. The Reaper was giggling, waving its hand.
[Did I look that easy to you?! Another untested new technique!!]
Hector lowered his stance, face contorting. The black dragon and the death god glared each other down, readying for battle.
Simon and the Reaper stretched out their arms together.
"Chaos doesn't need testing."
Shaaaaaaaak!
Shaaaak!
Ten scythes spun freely through the air and hurtled forward on their own.
Blessed with Chaos's fundamental trait — every trajectory and movement utterly erratic — the scythes began swinging themselves, seeking to carve the black dragon apart.
[Tch!]
Hector was armored head to toe in sturdy dragon scales. Some attacks glanced off harmlessly, but others punched clean through the scales to land their blows. A few of the scythes even carried enough force to shear scales away in a single stroke.
It's getting through!
Simon should have struggled to pierce Hector's scales, but with Chaos — an attribute specialized in creating variables — the story was different.
Leave controlling the Chaos Scythes to the Reaper!
Simon spread both arms wide. The scattered bones of his skeletons rose weightlessly into the air and flew to him.
I'll fight my own fight too!
Bone Nail
The bone shards flew like daggers, sharp ends leading. Their target wasn't Hector's scales — it was his wings.
First, he had to strip away that mobility.
Woom! Woom! Woom!
Chaos Scythes wheeled around Hector while Bone Nails screamed in from the front. Amid the dazzling barrage of projectiles, not just the onlookers and the Hayward brothers but even the adults were left gaping.
"Kizen's top student really is something else."
Meilin's father, Daniella, breathed out a sigh of admiration.
"Did you teach him that violet technique too?"
Vampire Lord Dietrich nudged Richard with his elbow.
"Hardly. That one's Simon's own original."
Richard smiled, toying with his fake glasses.
With Ursula, the Ivory Tower, and the Moore family all watching, Richard was fighting a constant battle to keep the corners of his mouth from shooting up in pride.
"Hnngh! Don't lose, Hector! Harder! HARDER! Fight with everything you have!"
Only Darkos Moore, head of the Moore family, was swinging his fists through the air with a look of frustration, utterly unable to keep his hands still at the sight of his son's struggle.
Richard found it oddly hilarious, and turned his eyes back to Simon.
You've got this too, Simon!
Shaaaaaaaaaaak!
"Whoaah!"
Then came the big one.
A Chaos Scythe had sheared off the very tip of Hector's wing as the dragon tried to take to the sky and escape.
Hector's body wobbled and sank back toward the ground.
[Damn you!]
He clapped his palms together and unfurled a magic circle, then poured a rapid chain of small breaths through it.
Fwoooooooooooosh!
The dragon breath passing through the circle became a rain of fire, pouring down on Simon.
Shk!
Simon thrust out his arm with a confident grin. A single Chaos Scythe came flying and landed in his palm.
Vmm— Vmm—!
After giving the scythe a light swing one-handed, Simon lowered his body and took up a combat stance. The Reaper mirrored him perfectly, pose for pose.
Let's go! Reaper!
Boy and death god began whirling their scythes in dazzling arcs against the oncoming rain of fire.
Two scythes left violet trails hanging in the air, and every tongue of flame they touched was either cleaved in two or crumbled to ash.
Cheers of awe spilled unbidden from the mouths of everyone watching.
Ugh!
But there were moments when a scythe would slice the flame cleanly — only to fly straight off course and slam into Simon's own barrier.
That was the nature of Chaos, whose destructive power shifted on a whim.
So creating variables can be a risk to me, too!
At that very moment, Hector flooded his torn wing with Jet-Black and came charging in at blinding speed, like a hawk homing in on its prey.
"Block it, Reaper!"
CLAAANG!
Hector's fist and the Reaper's scythe collided head-on.
"Hah!"
In that instant, Simon fell back swiftly and swept around behind Hector.
His fist was rapidly winding itself in Jet-Black.
Hong Peng Original – Sky Piercer
CRUNCH!
The defense-piercing martial strike crackled squarely into Hector's back. Against this technique, scales were no protection at all.
Hector crumpled and collapsed to the ground, and just as Simon readied another Sky Piercer—
"!!!"
A prickle of dread shot through Simon's instincts, and he snapped his head back.
Vmmmmmmm!
A violet blade grazed past his throat by a hair's breadth. Simon whipped around in alarm.
R-Reaper?
Kikikikikikiki!
The Reaper's pupils had warped into something wrong. Simon managed a strained, bewildered smile.
Oh no. This is bad!
Whang! Vmmm! Woom!
The berserk Reaper began swinging its scythe indiscriminately, without warning.
The assault cared nothing for friend or foe — Simon and Hector alike were forced to tumble frantically across the ground just to stay alive.
[What the hell is this trick now!!]
"Not my fault!"
The Reaper was unquestionably a mighty Chaos summon — but it had one critical side effect.
The moment its summoner's supply of Chaos weakened, it turned traitor and attacked allies and enemies alike without discrimination. It became, quite literally, 'Chaos' incarnate.
Whether this effect was unique to the Chaos Reaper or shared by every Chaos summon, Simon had no way of knowing yet.
"Tch!"
Staggering clear of a swing, Simon pressed his hand to the Chaos magic circle he'd inscribed across his body.
"Release!"
FWOOOOOM!
The Reaper spell unraveled, and its body melted away like a chocolate cake left in the sun.
"Attacking its own master? What kind of summon does that?"
Meilin muttered, slack-jawed.
"Uh, but isn't this dangerous?"
Rick's face had gone dead serious.
"Simon's out of Reaper time, but Hector's still holding his Dragon Form!"
CRUNCH!
And he was proven right. Hector, every offensive spell dispelled, rose to his feet.
[So it's finally over?]
"......."
Simon added one more modifier to the dissolved Chaos circle — and grinned.
"Think again!"
FWOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Reaper's melting body erupted with a thunderous roar, scattering into hundreds of streams of Chaos that burst in every direction. They surged skyward — then began raining down without mercy.
Simon Original – Chaos Flurry
KU-KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
Violet slashes bombed the air across the entire radius in a frenzy. Hector hauled every drop of Jet-Black in his body to the surface and fled, while Simon slipped and wove through the narrowest possible gaps to evade the storm.
My senses are still linked to the Reaper's, so I can feel how the trajectories move.
Though the indiscriminate Chaos assault fell without preference for its target, dodging was far easier for the summoner who knew it was coming.
This was the final Chaos magic Simon could unleash — by sacrificing the Chaos Reaper itself.
[GRAAAAAAAAH!]
Hector, battered by the Chaos again and again, bellowed in fury.
But the dark magic's radius was simply too wide. The violet slashes came crashing down on Meilin and the onlookers as well.
"Step back, everyone."
A broad, steady back appeared before them.
At Richard's gesture, a barrier unfolded to shield them. Violet lightning hammered against it again and again, deflected on every strike.
While Richard held the line, Daniella used levitation magic to lift the Hector-faction students from across the beach and carry them over to safety, and Dietrich spread a blood-flow barrier above their heads.
Crack!
"Hm!"
Then, a single falling bolt of violet lightning punched a thin hole straight through Dietrich's blood barrier. The students' jaws dropped.
The barrier of the strongest Vampire Lord, and—!
It got through?
Seeing his own barrier breached, Dietrich let out a slow grin.
So it's this potent!
A weak bolt of the lightning would land without so much as a scratch, but the strongest bolts were destructive enough to pierce a Vampire Lord's barrier. Which made it dangerous — dangerous enough that even its weakest strand had to be watched.
That was exactly what made Chaos so terrifying.
"Truly, there could be no better power for creating variables. A formidable volatility."
Daniella remarked.
But his control is still lacking. He'll need to keep honing it.
Richard thought, stroking his chin.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The violet lightning finished its descent, and the area brightened once more. The adults withdrew their barriers as well.
The beach by the sea had been reduced to near-ruins. Massive craters gaped everywhere, and between them, the two boys stood gasping for breath, the battle having lapsed into a lull.
Hector's Dragon Form had already worn off.
Simon's reserves were spent too. Both of them had drained their Jet-Black to the dregs.
And yet.
"Alright!"
Rick's voice rang out across the beach.
"Hector's barrier is DOWN!"
Simon still had a faint, flickering barrier clinging to him — but Hector's Barrier Gauge had gone completely dark.
Which meant only one thing.
"Match over!"
Rick shouted.
"Another flawless performance from start to finish! A sweeping arsenal of tactics — martial arts, curses, deadly poison, and summoning one after another! And finishing it all with a brand-new technique to seal the victory — what a match! The winneeeerr iiiis...!"
CRUUUUNCH!
The instant before Rick's declaration could fall, Hector's fist came flying at Simon out of nowhere.
"Ugh!"
Simon threw up his arm to block by a hair's breadth and skidded backward. His arm throbbed.
"Wait, Hector—!"
"Simon Polentia."
But something was wrong with Hector. His pupils had been stained a deep violet.
"The fight isn't over yet."
Grind. Grind.
With a gnashing of teeth, Hector charged in with his bare body.
"IT'S NOT OVER YET!!"