The Way of the Feather
Serne's face twisted into an expression of sheer disbelief.
"Even by your own logic, that makes no sense, does it? Why on earth would I help you?"
Simon swung himself up onto the back of Lorraine's skeleton horse as he answered.
"I'll count it as a debt I owe you."
With nothing more than that, he gave Lorraine a nod. She pulled the reins, and the skeleton horse shot into the sky without hesitation.
…What nonsense.
Cold-eyed, Serne raised a single feather.
The feather unraveled into a magic circle and reassembled itself into a massive anti-air ballista.
— Politics isn't your strong suit, is it? —
Your way only ever makes more enemies.
For an instant, Simon's voice echoed in her ear.
……
Serne ground her teeth.
A sophist's trick.
She had always been the strong one. The weak had only two choices before them—be taken, or die. To someone whose mental abilities had reached the very peak of mastery, the thoughts of others had never been a factor worth considering.
And yet.
My way is… clumsy?
Her gaze lifted back to the sky. There, riding the skeleton horse, Simon and Lorraine were chatting away like the best of friends.
"So the monster's gone berserk?"
"That's right." Simon nodded and went on. "Has Nephthys mentioned anything about me to you lately, by any chance?"
"Hm? About what?"
Lorraine's puzzled blink was easy to read. Nephthys had never breathed a word about the Legion to her, either. A secret between Simon and Nephthys alone—well, one more person knew now, but that couldn't be helped.
"It's nothing. Actually, a famous treasure hunter visited our Class A lecture as a guest instructor once. The monster is from that person's records. It's not in the guidebook."
Lorraine thought for a moment before answering.
"Then it may well be an artificial monster—one that never naturally lived on this island."
"That's one possibility."
As Simon briefed Lorraine on everything he'd learned so far, the distance to Big Kroom shrank ever closer. The rampaging fake had swollen to nearly twenty meters in height by now, and it had already crossed the river onto the southern island.
"What in the—?!"
"What the hell is THAT?!"
The students who had been quietly hunting monsters in the outlying areas scattered in a mad dash from the sudden appearance of the colossal beast. As Big Kroom strode through their midst, a single kick flipped the earth over and tore trees out by the roots. It was nothing less than a walking catastrophe.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
Big Kroom halted its steps and looked down at the girl who had screamed. Then it raised one massive foot.
"Ah…!"
As the giant's sole blotted out the sky above her, the girl froze solid with terror.
FWOOOOOOOM!
At that very moment, a single man came rocketing up toward the sole of Big Kroom's foot. He sucked in a huge breath and threw his fist with every ounce of strength he had.
CRUNCH!
The enormous body of Big Kroom lurched sideways for an instant, then staggered backward, its balance broken.
"Ooooooh!"
"Brad, sir! That's what I'm talking about!"
The man's identity, of course, was not Brad at all—it was Erzsébet, transformed into Brad.
A mana signal device was fixed to her ear, allowing her to communicate with Operations HQ and the other teaching assistants.
The moment her feet touched the ground, the girl cried out, her face glowing with gratitude.
"Thank you for saving me, Mr. TA, sir!"
Erzsébet tapped her index finger lightly against her forehead and flicked it away in a casual salute.
"It's dangerous here. Fall back somewhere far off, now."
"Yes, sir!"
cheeks flushed pink, the girl stole a few more glances back at 'Brad' before bolting into the woods.
Whoops—that's not really Brad's style, is it?
Brad was a simple muscle-headed brute. Erzsébet took a brief moment to re-ingratiate herself with her persona, then placed a hand on the mana signal device.
"This is TA Brad. Broadcasting intel gathered from direct engagement."
Even by her own assessment, it was a flawless imitation of his voice.
"The monster reacts sharply to sounds people make. Running footsteps are fine, but screaming and shouting will draw it in. Relay that to the students, all of ya."
"—HQ here! Good work. Relaying immediately."
"You figured that out already? Weirdly competent for once—what's gotten into you?"
"Right? I figured his brain was muscle too."
Going by the other TAs' reactions, Brad was apparently not known as the competent type around the office. Erzsébet cleared her throat and snapped back curtly.
"All TAs under me keep your mouths shut and fall in line."
"BWAHAHA! That's our sir, alright!"
"And HQ—one more item to report. All engagements are to be avoided at all costs. Operations should focus entirely on student rescue and—"
While Erzsébet was still speaking, another TA went soaring toward Big Kroom.
"Hey, Brad! I know exactly what you're thinking, but there's not a student out there who can take this thing down anyway. So I'll just kill it myself!"
He rose into the air and swept his scythe in a wild arc. A crescent-shaped blade of energy—easily over ten meters across—flew out and carved into Big Kroom's back.
"Okay! I got th—!"
Big Kroom turned around, looking entirely unharmed, and threw a thunderous punch.
BOOOOOM!
Blinding speed! Karis took the hit dead-on and went flying hundreds of meters before slamming into the ground.
"Gwahk! Cough, cough! Ah, shit! This bastard hurts like hel—AAAAARGH!"
Even through the signal device, the scream was drenched to the brim in pure agony.
"That's exactly what I was saying, Senior Karis." Erzsébet lifted her head and continued her report. "HQ, broadcasting once more. The monster possesses a regeneration ability. All engagements must be avoided. Operations are to focus on student rescue above all else."
"Copy."
Erzsébet had once been comrades with Big Kroom herself, so she knew at least this much. She switched off her comm, and a complicated expression crossed her face.
So it's finally come to this for our Legion Commander. Looks like things have gone sideways.
If Big Kroom went completely berserk, no one alive could stop it. Persuasion had evidently failed, which left only one option: eliminate it with as little collateral damage as possible. If a stray accident produced casualties and Kizen headquarters launched a formal investigation, things could get very messy indeed.
First things first—I need to link up with the Legion Commander.
"Hold on tight, Simon!"
Lorraine stretched an arm back behind her. Empty air split open like the maw of some monster, and within it, silhouettes with ruby eyes identical to her own peered out.
FWAAAAAAAASH!
Pillars of crimson light erupted from within, skewering Big Kroom's torso again and again.
With holes punched clean through its body, Big Kroom raised its right arm.
"Yikes!"
She yanked hard on the reins. The skeleton horse dove in a desperate dive, and the giant's arm swept past, cleaving nothing but air.
FWOOOONG!
A miss by a hair's breadth. Simon swept his wind-whipped bangs out of his face and recovered his field of vision.
"Lorraine! On your left!"
"…!"
Big Kroom's leg was already upon them. A kick from that massive frame!
She wrenched the reins in a panic, but the skeleton horse was slow to respond.
"Simon! Brace for a fall—!"
Simon was throwing both arms over his head when a feather suddenly darted in front of the two of them and unfurled into a defensive magic circle.
CRASH!
The giant's leg slammed against the magic circle and lost momentum—and in that instant, the skeleton horse slipped clear out of the attack's radius.
That ability—no way…!
Simon turned his head. Countless feathers were whistling through the air, slicing across every inch of Big Kroom's body.
SHRAAAAAK!
Fountains of blood burst from a dozen gashes carved into the monster's flesh. The feathers then wheeled back toward the platinum-blonde girl floating in the air.
"Serne!"
"Hmmm."
She rested her chin on her hand, frowning in thought.
"Physical attacks really don't work on it after all."
Big Kroom's body was already healing the wounds Lorraine and Serne had dealt it. There wasn't a trace left of any damage at all.
"Then how about this?"
The feathers coiled around her hand shot forward like arrows, slamming into Big Kroom's body one after another with sharp pock pock! sounds.
The emotion carried within them was calm. Twenty feathers' worth of it, no less. Had they struck an ordinary human, the poor soul wouldn't have merely calmed down—he'd have been lucky not to end up a permanent vegetable.
And yet.
—GRAAAAAAAAAH!
Big Kroom only flew into a greater rage, hurling a fist at Serne. She scrunched her face in disgust and climbed higher into the sky.
"This is exactly why I hate brainless undead."
Even Lorraine and Serne—the two undisputed strongest first-years at Kizen—had no reliable way to bring the thing down. When the two women's attacks paused for a moment, Big Kroom's head swiveled back and forth, hunting for students on the ground.
"If this keeps up, it really is endless."
To buy the students time to evacuate, they had no choice but to hold its attention with attacks. Lorraine poured on the firepower, forcibly dragging Big Kroom's gaze back to them, and the monster thrashed its arms in irritation.
WHOOOOOSH!
The skeleton horse skimmed as low as it could and slipped past the blow. The forest was visible directly beneath them now.
Lorraine was pulling the reins again to climb—
"This is Operations HQ. An unidentified monster is continuing its assault on the southern island of the Kera Archipelago. All students on the southern island will be subjected to a forced random teleportation to other islands. For five minutes following teleportation, you will receive a damage-immunity ruling."
Don't tell me they're suspending the exam…?
Simon waited tensely for the rest.
"Students who wish to refuse the teleportation may input a refusal signal into their Tongue Pad. Be advised: in that case, Operations HQ will accept no responsibility for any incident that occurs."
Lorraine and Simon immediately keyed in the refusal signal.
"Simon!"
Lorraine's face went white with shock.
"You should head back to the central island and keep taking the exam! This is a matter for all of Kizen—"
"No. I'm staying."
Because this is, plainly and simply, partly my fault.
Simon stared up at Big Kroom, his expression hard. Across the southern island, blue light was flickering to life here and there as the teleportations took hold.
"Simo-o-o-o-on!"
Just then, a voice calling his name made Simon look down. Erzsébet, still in Brad's form, was waving from atop a tree.
"Lorraine! I'll be right back down—just dropping off for a second!"
"What? Wait—you seriously just do whatever you want, don't you? How far does it—"
Simon had already leapt clean off the skeleton horse.
"I'll signal you again!"
"Simon!"
The moment Simon dropped out of the sky, Erzsébet kicked off the tree and leapt to meet him, catching his body in a princess carry and touching down lightly on the ground.
"Ta-da!"
"…"
Suddenly cradled in the arms of a hulking muscleman, Simon let out a long sigh.
"You didn't have to. I can land on my own, you know."
"Heehee, my, someone's awfully shy today, aren't they, Legion Commander?"
As she set him down, a teal orb came drifting down from the sky. Simon reached out and caught it.
"Simon! Can you hear me?"
"It's a magic communication device. Just press the button on the bottom and talk. The mana reserve is almost empty, so use it sparingly."
"Ah—okay."
Lorraine wheeled the skeleton horse around at once and advanced toward Big Kroom.
"So, Legion Commander. What exactly is the situation here?"
"Ah, well—"
Switching off the comm device, Simon walked Erzsébet through everything that had happened so far, down to the smallest detail. She nodded.
"So it's a fake Big Kroom."
"Yeah. We have to put it down before this gets any bigger."
"But how on earth do you kill a monster with regeneration and giant-class abilities…?"
[Kheheheheh!]
Both of them looked down.
Pier's clone, dangling from Simon's uniform, was smiling with unmistakable meaning.
[I have a way!]