The Great Star Absorption Art (2)
What the world knew as the Great Star Absorption Art was a truly astonishing martial art. Join palms with an opponent, or draw them into a contest of true energy, and you could drain their internal energy for yourself.
Once it came into my hands, the Great Star Absorption Art was reborn as a technique without a single flaw.
Its defects had always been the same. Vicious, filthy heretics of the unorthodox path had made it, and the stolen internal energy would not harmonize inside the body. One misstep, and the energies collided, leaving a grievous internal injury.
But my demonic qi is different.
It mingled with any energy at all. The cause, if one had to name it, was how aggressive that demonic qi was: whatever attribute of yin, yang, and the five elements came against it, the qi devoured the lot.
And from there, I refined it further still.
A searing fire bolt met the Heavenly Demon's palm with a low roar. An energy this far beneath my demonic qi— Space itself seemed to warp. The bolt wavered like a heat haze, shrank little by little, and vanished altogether. I can absorb. The ice bolt was swallowed just the same. A meager mouthful, but nothing fills the dantian half so well.
"Wh-what?"
"What kind of magic is that!"
"That wasn't a shield. She erased the spell!"
They were only fourth-circle mages, yet among those their own age they were the finest young ladies of their houses, and they had seen it plainly: the magic sucked into some space just before Lilith's hand.
"Don't tell me... she reverse-calculated the spell and dismantled it in that short a time?"
No other answer would account for the bizarre sight.
"That's impossible! Even archmages find reverse-calculation so finicky they block with shields or answer with other spells... and that wench did it?"
Reverse-calculation was something only a mathematical prodigy could use, and only after their grasp of magic had left the realm of ordinary humans. There was no world in which the likes of Lilith had managed it.
The Heavenly Demon let a cold sneer slip free. Absurd. To compare this with mere reverse-calculation.
If one insisted on a comparison, the Great Star Absorption Art was simply the superior article. Dispelling an opponent's magic and devouring it to make it your own nourishment were entirely different things.
"I-it was a fluke! Attack again! Don't give that wench a moment to breathe!"
Serna shouted through clenched teeth, half-mad with fury.
They say a fight is momentum. At her rallying cry the young ladies snapped back to themselves and sprayed magic without restraint. This was different from before. Where only a handful of spells had flown, attack magic and debuff magic now launched together.
Hm? Curious.
A thornbush bristling with sharp spines erupted from beneath her feet, climbing from her ankles in an attempt to swallow them whole. A shame, but this one I can't absorb. A light stamp shattered it with a crunch. Every attack spell screaming in, mana and all, she took with nothing more than a reach of her hand.
"Delicious."
Exchange after exchange passed, and the Heavenly Demon was smiling with satisfaction. Her stomach had not swollen, yet a fullness spread through her entire body. A rat's tail of a gain, but the demonic qi in my dantian has grown. The dantian was still a void. When would she ever fill a vessel this vast? If that day ever came, the Heavenly Demon would once more stand as the greatest under heaven — this time, in another world.
"Haa... I can't cast anymore. I'm too exhausted..."
"I'm out of mana..."
The young ladies, by contrast, had gone pale and looked ready to drop. There was no strength left in their voices; they sounded like people who had not eaten in a week.
"D-don't play games! What are all of you doing!"
They had been hurling magic for a full ten minutes — an assault that would have killed an ordinary person with room to spare. Yet they had not left a single scratch on Lilith. They had not even grazed the hem of her clothes. If they had at least worn her down, they might have moved on to the next plan. For some reason, her face looked even better than it had before the fight.
At last one of the young ladies collapsed. She had dragged out mana she no longer possessed under the weight of Serna's pressure. Cold sweat soaked her from head to toe. She breathed in a metallic rasp, clutching her chest and writhing as if her heart itself were in pain.
"Sh-she's in overload! We have to get her back to the estate right now!"
Left as she was, her heart would give out, or she would never be able to use magic again.
"Lady Serna! Quickly, give the order...!"
Their cries did not reach her. Serna was still trapped in the shock, unable to claw her way free. Th-this can't be... Who had taught Lilith magic? She should not even have had a tutor. Magic was not something one awakened alone so easily. Don't tell me she's a magical genius...? Even a genius could not grow that strong through self-study alone.
"Kugh!!"
The young lady in mana overload suddenly heaved her upper body up and vomited blood.
"Ghhh... aaagh..."
She clutched her chest harder, twisting in agony.
"L-Lady Serna! Come to your senses! At this rate, this girl is going to die!"
"...Huh?!"
A voice finally got through. Even so, Serna had no idea what to do, or how. What do I do... what do I do? She had not even caught Lilith, and the young lady she had brought was on the verge of death. She needed to act, and quickly, yet it was as if a panic had seized her. She could not do a thing.
"How barbaric."
The remark brushed past Serna as the Heavenly Demon went straight to the collapsed girl.
"None of you need be on your guard. I am doing this to save her."
She tore the bodice of the dress wide open. The brassiere had been sewn into the gown, so the undergarment ripped away with it, and a breast spilled free with a soft bounce. ...Hm. A woman's breast. Even the Heavenly Demon was not immune to being flustered. But it can't be helped. This is to save her... Soft flesh met her palm. Soft. It was large enough to press out between her fingers. I can't let the sensation steal my focus.
She had wondered it for a long time. Why did the mages of this other world set their circles in the heart? Setting efficiency aside, it was far too dangerous. Draw on mana past one's limit, and the heart strained exactly like this — which meant the odds of dying were that much higher. A bit of a waste, but I'll return the energy I absorbed.
The Heavenly Demon's fingertips glowed. Mana flowed from her hand and slowly seeped into the heart. Thump, thump — color crept back, little by little, and the heartbeat settled into a normal rhythm.
"Nn... nnh..."
The collapsed young lady slowly opened her eyes.
"H-how..."
A palm flew in the instant her eyes opened.
"Ack!"
A short cry, and she fainted.
"...?"
Everyone there stared at Lilith as if she were a madwoman. What had just happened? Turning it over again and again, they still could not understand it. She had gone to the trouble of bringing the girl back, only to slap her across the face?
"Wh-why on earth..."
When a young lady beside her asked in a voice that said she could not comprehend it, the Heavenly Demon answered flatly.
"That is the price of attacking me."
They yelped and drew back from Lilith as one. Sh-she's a crazy bitch!
A grin hooked the Heavenly Demon's mouth all the way to her ears, and she murmured, quiet and pleasant.
"You'll be taking one too, I imagine?"
Leaves crashed aside, and Stian burst out of the undergrowth.
"Unnie!"
Her face was brighter than it had ever been. Found you at last. My toy! How was it that not a single action of hers could be predicted? Who would ever have thought she would win against twenty young ladies? If things had turned dangerous, Stian had meant to step in and help — and then the woman went and erased every spell!
Whoa... what even is that?
A mage's talent sprang from noble blood. That was why so many aristocrats were mages, and the greatest bloodline of all was royal. Stian herself had reached the sixth circle at only sixteen, and even she could not do what that unnie had just done. Saving the young lady had been impressive enough. Who would have thought she would turn around and strike the very girl she had saved?
Hehehe! I nearly shouted out loud, it was so funny!
At the end, when she had lined the young ladies up and slapped their cheeks, it had even looked satisfying in the hand. Especially the part where she said, "Serna. I'll see you at home."
Eee! The sheer charisma!
Stian flung herself into Lilith's arms and nuzzled her face against that slender waist. From a distance, the difference in their heights was exactly the sort to set a heart racing.
"Get off."
"No!"
Whatever had her so delighted, she kept rubbing her face against Lilith.
"Oh, right! What's your name, unnie?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Mm... because I want us to be close?"
Close, was it. The Heavenly Demon of old had never let anyone near. There had been no room for it, and solitude was more comfortable. Someone at your side only meant that many more nuisances. But... For some reason, she wanted to give her name.
"Lilith Tiribi."
"Wow! So you're a young lady of House Tiribi! Duke Briton's daughter?"
Sword Masters were few even in the Doerdom Kingdom. Briton was one of them.
"Then I'll have to come play at House Tiribi all the time! That's all right, isn't it?"
"I don't see why not... but please, get off."
"No! Absolutely not! Unnie is mine!"
Stian, who could have anything she wanted, found herself wanting a person for the first time.
"Unnie, I'm saying this for your sake... you must never meet my eldest brother. You understand?"
The Heavenly Demon gave no answer. She was not curious, and she had no desire to know what sort of person he was.
"..."
Stian puffed her cheeks full of air and stared at Lilith, her face packed with complaint.
"...Fine. I'll ask why I mustn't meet him."
Her expression cleared in a flash, and she spoke in a rather serious voice.
"My eldest brother is... a devil. If he sees you, he absolutely... won't leave you alone."
The warning had barely left her lips before Lilith, the instant she returned to the estate, came face to face with the crown prince.