This Way
A heavy boom echoed from the wall.
“What the hell?”
“Did something just hit us?”
“N-no, Jackson. That’s impossible. This magic is supposed to block everything from the outside, right?”
“Shit…”
A low hum filled the air as Jackson thrust out his hand and activated the spell again.
“How is it?”
“The magic is still working.”
“Maybe it’s because of her ability?”
“No, no. It’s true that when I use the abilities I’ve absorbed myself instead of handing them to someone else, I can only use half the power.”
Boom!
“But even half should be way more than enough to stop something like this!”
“Still…”
“Have you forgotten? This is the ability that belonged to the guardian of that eastern kingdom! The bastard who hid his entire kingdom from the world!”
Boom!
Jackson kept reinforcing the barrier, but he could feel it.
“At this rate…”
Whatever was outside was tearing through the thickest barrier he could create at full power, and it was doing so at terrifying speed.
Boom.
“This isn’t working!”
Panicking, Jackson abandoned the reinforcement and staggered back. In that instant—
Crack!
A small hand punched straight through the wall with raw force.
“Kyaaak!”
Rosy screamed in terror.
“Fuck, run!”
In a frenzy, Jackson grabbed Rosy’s hand, ignored Ronan’s corpse entirely, and bolted.
“W-wait… aren’t we taking that guy’s ability?”
“No need! He didn’t have any magic anyway. All he had was some pathetic swordsmanship.”
Crash!
Startled by the enormous roar behind them, Rosy glanced back. Through the swirling dust, a small girl stepped into view.
“What the hell is that kid?”
“Doesn’t matter. Getting caught is bad news. We can’t fight her head-on!”
The pair descended into the building’s basement, heading for the vast underground sewers that sprawled beneath the entire imperial capital. In a maze like this, they were sure they could lose her.
A low hum.
“What are you doing, Jackson?”
Instead of fleeing, Jackson made a different call.
“The barrier’s useless now anyway, right?”
“Yeah. Since it’s useless, I’ll layer a bunch of thin ones.”
“Why?”
“This ability… the barrier feels like my own skin.”
“Skin?”
“Exactly. So as long as I’m not too far away, I can tell which barrier just broke.”
“You’re actually planning to fight her?”
“We lure her in, corner her, then strike.”
“Are you insane? She smashed through that thick barrier with her bare hands…”
“That’s exactly why we need it!”
Jackson smiled at Rosy.
“Listen carefully, Rosy. I’ll absorb and copy that girl’s ability, then give it to you.”
“What?”
“She destroys barriers with her bare hands. It has to be an insane ability.”
“But…”
“We have to take the risk. Just like when we copied the Empire’s Sword and gave it to Martin.”
“Then…”
Rosy swallowed hard.
“When I absorb it, I only get half. But if I pass it on…”
“You can transfer the full power.”
“Right. So you take it.”
“If even a monster like that… if I had the same power as that monster…”
“We’d have a chance!”
After a short kiss, the two split up. At the same time, invisible thin barriers began spreading everywhere.
“You remember, right, Rosy? Just like when we caught that southern noble!”
“I know!”
Rosy ran the moment she heard Jackson’s voice.
“Hey! Over here!”
Jackson’s shout echoed from somewhere far ahead.
A low hum.
Rosy felt it at her wrist. Jackson had wrapped a barrier around it too, and every time another barrier collapsed, the small one on her wrist reacted.
‘There!’
Rosy moved quickly, weaving through the sewer’s twisting paths as she closed in on the target.
“Over here! You monster!”
The instant she crept forward after Jackson’s signal—
‘It’s her!’
Rosy spotted the silver-haired girl walking alongside the one-eyed woman.
“It’s over!”
Without hesitation, Rosy charged at the pair and immediately activated her power. Thread-like strands of mana shot out and sank into every part of Selene’s body.
“Jackson! Now!”
“On it!”
Rosy poured her mana through the mana threads at once.
“What?!”
Brika, standing behind Selene, sensed something and drew her sword in alarm.
“Too late!”
Rosy was already certain of victory. No matter what Brika tried, she believed she would seize control of Selene first.
“Now kill your comrade!”
But.
“What?!”
Rosy saw Selene calmly turn her head to look straight at her…
“W-what is this?!”
Why can she still move? The question flashed through Rosy’s mind, but there was no time to think.
“Move!”
She sent another surge of mana, trying to force Selene under control.
“Huh?”
“......”
Watching Selene slowly turn, Rosy realized something had gone horribly wrong.
“Ugh?”
A low hum.
In that moment, Rosy felt an abnormality in the mana she was pouring out.
“What…?”
A bizarre sensation crawled up the fingers she was using to control Selene. They were going numb. No—they were beginning to move against her will.
“Move! Move! Move!”
Rosy screamed, pouring every ounce of her power into the command. She tried once more to dominate Selene through her fingers.
Crack!
But instead—
“Eek?!”
Rosy watched one of her own fingers twist backward at a sickening angle…
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
The sudden agony tore a scream from her throat.
“Ugh?!”
She quickly realized she didn’t even have time to scream.
“Why… me?”
Rosy understood. From now on, the one being controlled by the mana threads wasn’t Selene—it was her.
“N-no!”
“Rosy!”
As her right hand moved against her will, Jackson, sensing the danger, rushed over and grabbed her.
A low hum.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
He instantly used his nullification magic to cut off Rosy’s spell.
Crack! Snap!
“Kyaaaaak!”
The violently severed mana shattered the fingers of Rosy’s right hand. She screamed and clutched the ruined limb. If Jackson had been even a moment slower, every finger would have been ripped clean off.
“Aaaaaagh!”
“Rosy! It’s okay now!”
Jackson quickly pulled her away to safety.
“Ugh… Jackson!”
Rosy groaned in pain, voice trembling.
“Plan… B.”
“What?”
“Plan B!”
“Rosy! Right now we should—”
“No no no!”
“Rosy…”
Filled with rage, Rosy screamed at him.
“That bitch! That damn bitch! I’ll make her pay! I’ll definitely make her pay!”
“Rosy…”
“Take that bitch’s ability for yourself!”
Then, as if they had reached a decision, the two stopped running.
“We’re going with Plan B, Jackson.”
“Fine! I… I’ll definitely—”
Unaware that this choice would lead them straight to ruin…
“I’ll definitely give you that bitch’s ability!”
***
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?”
“Brika. Stay close to me.”
Brika knew in her gut that right now she was nothing but dead weight to Selene. The only thing she could do was stick to her side.
Boom!
“Ugh?!”
It didn’t take long for even that to go wrong. A wall suddenly collapsed, cutting her off from Selene.
“No way?!”
From the other side of the barrier, she could hear Selene smashing through the wall to reach her.
A low hum.
At the same time, Brika realized the truth.
“Goddammit!”
The enemy had switched their target from Selene to her…
“I won’t go down that easily!”
Sensing the incoming mana, Brika yanked a pendant from her pocket. Among the ones shattered during Ronan’s earlier stunt, she had managed to find one that was still intact.
She tried to break it immediately.
“Selene! They’re after me!”
She attempted to nullify the approaching mana at once.
Thud!
“Ugh?!”
Something slammed into her, and the pendant slipped helplessly from her fingers.
“What?!”
Brika’s right eye—the one she had lost in battle and now covered with an eyepatch—was her blind spot.
“Shit!”
Because of that, she hadn’t noticed Jackson sneaking up from her blind side.
“God… damn it…”
The moment Brika fell after losing the pendant, a low hum enveloped her body as mana wrapped around her.
“No! Don’t come, Selene!”
Brika lost control of her own body.
Crack!
“Selene! Don’t!”
Brika shouted as she sensed Jackson’s presence vanish again and saw Selene charging forward. But Selene ignored her completely, smashed the rest of the wall to pieces, and kept coming.
“Kuh!”
Brika moved. At the same time, she instinctively realized something.
‘I haven’t… completely lost control yet!’
The enemy’s ability was probably the one that controlled people with mana threads—the same kind that had affected Leonia. But it had only taken half of Brika’s body so far. She didn’t know what was happening, but this was her chance.
“I won’t die alone, you son of a bitch!”
Using the half of her body she still controlled, Brika charged straight at the enemy.
“What?!”
Rosy panicked as Brika suddenly rushed her. With her right hand destroyed, she could only use magic with her left, so half of Brika was still free.
“Stay back!”
In a panic, Rosy lashed out with her magic.
Crack! Snap!
“Graaaaagh!”
Brika’s left arm twisted violently. But she didn’t stop.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaak!”
With half her body mangled, Brika charged forward and finally seized Rosy.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
“Cough?! Jackson! Jackson, help me!”
***
Bang!
On the other side, Selene, having punched through the wall, continued toward Brika.
“It’s over now!”
Ignoring the presence she felt beside her.
“Brika. I’ll save you.”
“Haha! Now your ability is mine!”
At that moment, Jackson dropped his stealth, stepped forward, and placed his hand on top of Selene’s head.
A low hum.
He began copying Selene’s ability with his own power.
“With this, you…”
But.
“Ugh?!”
The instant the ability activated, Jackson realized something was terribly wrong.
“What?!”