Phantasm Blessing.
Phantasm Blessing.
─The 10th Stage begins.
The full five minutes of rest elapsed, and silence still reigned right up to the moment the 10th stage commenced.
I was the one who broke that silence.
"In the 10th stage, I will not intervene at all."
I drew the score sheet from my coat and slowly scanned it from top to bottom.
"The moment the total number of your deductions surpasses one hundred, our group will forfeit. And furthermore."
The gist was simple.
It meant that if they wanted to advance to the main tournament, they had to finish the 10th stage while avoiding deductions.
"You have been deducted a total of ninety-nine times so far."
The moment I made that fact known.
"...."
Ela quietly opened her mouth, as if something had suddenly seized her.
"The other three...."
"Huh?"
"Go after the other three."
Perhaps still unable to shake off the shock, her voice was deeply subdued.
Cassel asked back.
"Wh-what about Plan?"
"Ignore Plan. Just pretend he isn't there, and target only the other three."
"Ignore him, you say...?"
"I said ignore him─! He said he's not even participating anyway!"
Ela snapped in a shout. Her trembling body looked as though she was enraged, and also as though she was terrified.
"Plan. Plan.... Don't think about Plan. Whatever you do, do not think about Plan...."
Eventually, with Ela taking the lead, Igor and Cassel charged at the mages other than me.
"Hm."
I checked the time.
The 10th stage demon beast is always fixed as an Illusion Tree, but precisely when it appears was never publicly disclosed.
"...Not bad."
I simply took out the score sheet and held it.
Since I had not yet scored the 'interpersonal combat' section, this would serve as an excellent exam....
◈
KKKWAANG—!
The greatsword Igor swung slammed into the ground.
At the same moment, the knight clones Cassel summoned manifested. They lunged menacingly at Becky and Louis.
The two mages immediately scattered and evaded.
BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!
A hail of sword strikes battered the ice barrier.
"I'll handle the defense!"
Becky shouted as she concentrated on reinforcing the barrier. Louis nodded and immediately went on the counter-offensive.
Louis' flashes were fast and heavy. He coolly eliminated the clones one by one.
At the same time, something blue blanketed their entire field of view.
WHOOSH─!
Blue flame.
It swept through the knights like a wave.
Though Ela's silk sword came surging in belatedly, its speed was markedly reduced. They could all evade it with ease.
A faint smile on his lips, Louis looked at the three siblings.
"You three, your condition seems utterly terrible?"
Compared to when the preliminaries started, the expressions on the three siblings' faces had changed conspicuously.
Confidence had vanished without a trace, replaced by sheer impatience. Even Wendy, the second-born, was so deep in panic that she couldn't even participate in the fight.
"At this rate, you won't be able to break through Becky's ice, you know?"
"...."
Even in the face of Louis' blatant taunt, the three siblings merely chewed their lips over and over.
They could not answer the representatives of the Magic Department, neither with their voices nor with the swords they held in their hands.
THOOM!
But at that moment, enormous tree roots began to surge up from the ground.
At last, the demon beast revealed itself. A vast tree reminiscent of the World Tree of the Great Forest: the Illusion Tree.
At the same time, the three siblings kicked off the ground once more.
Louis swiftly withdrew out of range, and the remaining attacks naturally flew toward Becky. Becky rapidly unfurled ice into the shape of a shield.
"Oh...?"
Yet defending was easier than she had expected.
Just as Louis said, the three siblings at present could not pierce Becky's ice barrier at all.
Becky murmured to herself without realizing it.
"...Are they, are they going easy on us?"
"...?"
"Ah, no. I'm not saying this with some actual bad intention or anything.... We-weren't they, like, incredibly strong originally?"
"HYAAARGH─!"
Igor doubled his body size and swung his greatsword. Yet even so, the result did not change.
Every single movement of the swords was clearly visible. Now, protecting not only her own body but also her comrades' bodies came with considerable ease.
"Trixie!"
Becky shouted, exhilarated.
"Offense. You just need to focus on offense! I'm handling all the defense!"
But no answer came back.
When she rolled her eyes to the side, she caught sight of Trixie simply standing there in a daze.
"Hey. What are you doing just standing still...."
Before the words even finished, roots and swords came crashing in. Frustrated, Becky shouted.
"Hey! Try doing something!"
"...I saw it."
Only then did Trixie murmur lowly.
At the same instant, the mana in the vicinity began to smolder, blazing with a ferocious heat. Enough that the entire surrounding view shimmered with heat haze.
Frankly, Becky was a little rattled.
"...Was I, like, a bit much to her? Di-did she get mad, maybe?"
Without answering, Trixie lashed out with flames.
Before the blue blaze, swords were knocked away and roots split apart.
Before long, Trixie was certain. She'd been uncertain at first, but now it was truly unmistakable.
Even amid a situation hurtling forward with desperate urgency, even now when she couldn't so much as see an inch ahead of her.... Trixie could remain strangely calm.
No, perhaps she did know what lay an inch ahead.
"I definitely saw it."
One of the many paintings she had seen inside the exhibition hall's Sapour. An image of herself clutching victory and planting both feet proudly inside the Knight Department's arena.
She had distinctly seen the sight of this very moment.
And the sight of the very next moment as well.
FAAAH─!
The sensation of flame felt more vivid than ever before.
A realm surpassing even the growth she'd achieved training within the illusory world. In this state, she feared nothing now....
Trixie slowly drew a breath.
All her mana concentrated into the flames, and she began to wield them to their utmost. With everything she had.
◈
"Hm."
Absorbed in scoring, I narrowed my brow. At the same moment, a root burst through the ground behind my back.
SNAP!
I flicked my fingers.
The savagely swinging root froze to a halt where it was.
I paralyzed the whole thing. The massive root, frozen rigidly in place, became a protective barrier unto itself.
Protecting myself from the other roots lashing at me with it, I silently resumed scoring.
"...They're showing promise."
The three mages had begun engaging in combat in high spirits. Every element they manifested was striking the knights.
Bonus points for accuracy.
Each attack was neither lethal nor powerful, but to the three siblings in their current state, even that dealt a very heavy blow.
At the same time, gargantuan roots came swirling in like a maelstrom.
The three mages swiftly widened the distance.
Bonus points for evasion.
However, the knights who had to engage in close combat could not say the same. One, two, three, four.... Before anyone knew it, the area around the three siblings was thick with roots.
BOOM─ BOOM─ BOOM─
The Illusion Tree thoroughly earned its stage's worth. Igor, massive in size, was eventually swept up by a single root.
After being sent flying far off and crashing into a wall, he was immediately returned.
Cassel was locked in a similar struggle.
His clones were batted away by roots the instant they formed, and for all practical purposes, Cassel's inherent ability was sealed off entirely.
Louis burrowed into that opening with a light arrow. Blood spilled from Cassel's mouth, and he too was returned to the infirmary.
"Hah.... Hah...."
Alone and left behind, Ela let out ragged breaths. Blood trickled from the lower lip she had bitten down hard.
A silk sword that had lost its sharpness, and three mages riding high on momentum. There was no need to even debate which side held the greater advantage.
"...."
In time, Ela reversed the grip on her sword, as if she had come to a decision. The hand holding it was trembling violently.
With her eyes closed, Ela silently stared at me. And at the same moment she murmured something to herself.
STAB─
She pierced her own wrist with her own blade.
"...!"
The eyes of the three Magic Department representatives flew wide.
Voluntarily forfeiting by committing suicide and returning was a clear violation of the rules, and thus the Magic Department's victory was now confirmed—but this was no moment to celebrate.
Everyone's gaze turned at once to the Illusion Tree.
THOOM─ THOOM─ THOOM─
Even now, the creature was still hurling countless roots from the ground into the open air.
As long as that thing was not taken down, the Magic Department would not be able to pass the preliminaries in first place.
"Well, fine."
I tucked the score sheet into my coat.
I had verified the results I wanted to confirm, and I had scored everything I intended to score, so I was willing enough to deal with something like an Illusion Tree myself.
My remaining mana was paltry.
That was only natural. Not only had I interfered with the very structure of the arena, I had also manipulated a pure flame into a Fire Wolf, and had even dealt with Ela's silk sword on top of that.
However.
"More than enough."
I felt as though I understood precisely why this huge tree had never been called a World Tree and had instead remained a mere demon beast.
'In the end, it's because it's a summoned creature.'
I rested my hand on the root, still rigidly frozen.
Its structure was laid bare to me. Weak points, circuits, composition, components, principles.... Now, what to do.
There was no reason to ponder.
I issued a dismantling command with zero deviation.
GUUUUUUURGRGRGR─
The next instant, the Illusion Tree began to gradually scatter like particles. It transformed into twinkling powder that shimmered all throughout the open air.
Tiny, jewel-like specks slowly descended.
Every one of these particles contained an illusion component. It was certainly possible to delete even this, of course.... I deliberately left it.
It was a small reward, given to those who had worked so hard.
Louis quietly gazed up at the sky. Upon his lips were mingled both a smile and admiration.
"...So this is the Phantom Blessing they speak of. It's no joke."
"...."
Trixie also looked up at the sky, quietly absorbed in the scene. The sight of tiny jewels gently settling down was enough to steal her gaze.
Louis slowly sank to his knees and closed his eyelids. Trixie too collapsed to the floor shortly after, drifting into a soft, childlike sleep.
Only I remained perfectly unaffected.
I couldn't be affected even if I wanted to be. The reason was that this illusion powder simply could not overcome my mental fortitude.
Amid all this, Becky stirred drowsily.
I simply caught Becky as she collapsed, leaning against me. This much childish dependence was worth counting as only one deducted point.
'Then.... That makes a hundred deductions in total.'
While I entertained such a thought, the arena returned to its original appearance. The ceiling as well.
At last, the spectator stands came into view.
Thousands upon thousands of eyes, fixed solely on me.
◈
Glittering illusion powder filled the space.
Amid a landscape akin to receiving a baptism, Becky felt her consciousness beginning to haze over.
Phantom Blessing.
She had heard of it before.
It was said that when an Illusion Tree falls, it leaves behind illusion powder and grants the most supremely blissful phantasm to a person.
This very 'Phantom Blessing' was the real reward the preliminary winners of the Subjugation Festival could receive—a joke that had circulated quite a bit among the students.
Soon, everything grew languid.
Sleep pressed in more heavily than she had imagined. Before long, even keeping her balance became difficult.
It'll be fine.
She quietly closed her eyes.
The preliminaries were over anyway. As unbelievable as it was, the Magic Department had won. So a little rest was surely allowed now.
"...."
Becky's body leaned against something with a little thud.
It was something firm yet strangely reassuring, so Becky stealthily opened her eyes.
"...?"
And when she realized it was Plan's embrace, her face stiffened for a moment—it was too absurd a thing.
But soon, she understood.
...Right, this is the Phantom Blessing.
This sense of being left alone with Plan, Becky felt a strange familiarity whose reason she could not explain.
Before long, she realized the reason.
That moment in the magic labyrinth, when she was endlessly driven underground, Becky had been alone with Plan then, too.
Thinking back on it now, it truly had been nice.
Her body no longer moved. Her eyes would not open, and it was impossible to resist the wave of drowsiness.
Becky simply clutched Plan's collar tightly, tightly.
A grand phantasm.
And at the same time.
It was a small reward given to her.