Eunhwa (1)
Pwing! The air split cleanly in two and tore apart. It was the trajectory of a blade that had just grazed my back.
Boom! The shockwave followed a heartbeat later. Buildings sliced in half by the sword energy began crumbling to the ground in a thunderous cascade.
“What the hell… is that thing even a real monster?!”
I barely slipped out of the street shredded by the dark-red slash and broke into a sprint. Turning the corner, I spotted scattered festival equipment strewn across the ground. I threw myself behind it without hesitation.
Swallowing my ragged breaths, I peered through the gaps toward the other side.
“…”
Beyond the hazy cloud of dust, I saw Eunhwa. She walked with no urgency whatsoever, each step aimed precisely in my direction.
Come on—if I so much as lean out, a slash comes flying. How am I supposed to run?
“I need to lure her somewhere without people…!”
She was targeting me first and foremost. I wasn’t in any position to worry about strangers, but I refused to let innocent lives become collateral damage because of me.
Next chance. The very next opening, I’d burst out at full speed. I crushed down the raw terror clawing at my chest and steadied my resolve. Hesitate, and I die. I regulated my breathing once more and checked her position one final time.
“—?!”
I shouted before I could stop myself. A small child had appeared in my line of sight.
The kid stood frozen in front of Eunhwa, completely crushed by her presence. She, in turn, was staring down at the child with indifferent eyes.
Why here, of all places?
Eunhwa slowly closed her eyelids, then opened them again. She raised her sword lightly.
Did she feel no pity at all? The utter lack of emotion on that face as she lifted the blade told me everything.
“…Ha. This is insane.”
Shiiik—!
The sound of air being ripped apart. At the same moment, I hurled myself forward with everything I had.
“Save—!!”
“Hieek?!”
Bang! I tumbled across the dirt and snatched the child by the waist. The blood-red arc missed us by a hair’s breadth as I dashed into the narrow alley beside us.
The kid in my arms looked up at me with a face on the verge of tears.
“Hey! Where are your parents, letting you wander around a place like this?!”
“I-I got separated from Mom… and I can’t find the way back…”
“Then run, at least! Don’t just stand there like an idiot—khk?!”
A sharp pain lanced through my leg. Only then did I notice the red stain rapidly blooming through the tear in my pants. It seemed I hadn’t completely dodged the last attack after all.
Running while carrying a child in this condition was out of the question. Gritting my teeth, I squeezed out the last of my strength, put more distance between us and the street, then set the child down.
“Eh?! B-Brother, you’re bleeding…!”
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt. Just run straight ahead. You’ll reach a big plaza at the end. Find the adults there and follow them to the shelter.”
“Then what about you…?”
“That crazy lady came looking for me, so I have to go greet her. Go on, hurry. Hup, hup.”
I pushed the child’s small back firmly, forcing him forward. He kept hesitating, legs trembling as if he couldn’t quite commit.
Kwaaaang—!
The ground behind us exploded as if it had no patience for his reluctance. The impact slammed into my ears.
“Go! Now!! Run with everything you’ve got!!”
“Hic! O-okay…!!”
Only then did the child wipe away his tears and dash forward. He kept glancing back at me the entire way, hesitating, but thankfully he never stopped. He vanished completely beyond the alley’s end.
“Hah… I’m busy enough trying to stay alive, and she’s lost her damn mind.”
The pain in my leg intensified. I clenched my jaw, changed direction, and plunged deeper into the narrow alley.
Thankfully the tightly packed stone buildings on both sides concealed my movements. At this rate, I could make it to the far side of the plaza—
—Ping.
Chaaaak!!
Another blood-red arc tore straight through the buildings. The structures disintegrated exactly along the cut lines and collapsed.
Kwaaaang—!
Even the shadow of the building that had been shielding me was gone.
“Your movements carry a sense of dissonance. Have you faced my blade before? Or is that, too, part of your Authority?”
“Ha, more nonsense.”
Eunhwa stood at the end of the alley with roaring flames at her back, gazing at me with leisurely grace. Those twilight eyes didn’t waver in the slightest. A silent pressure that promised she would never let me escape. The name of the Creation Society was no shallow terror.
“Damn it—!”
I twisted on my toes and threw myself back toward the alley entrance I had just come from.
“—! A resident?!”
The voice belonged to a soldier. The moment I emerged, I ran straight into the guards who had rushed over at the commotion.
“Evacuate immediately! We’ll handle this!”
“Handle it? Forget that—just run, all of you—”
“Hm? You there—who is that woman?!”
Before I could finish, their eyes locked onto the space behind me. They had spotted Eunhwa standing silently at the end of the street.
The men adjusted their weapons without hesitation and began advancing on her.
No. The same tragedy was repeating.
“Don’t approach her!! Never face her directly—!”
Ting—.
One sweep of the blade. The soldiers’ swords and spears split cleanly in two.
Chaak—.
Two sweeps. Heads and torsos parted in gruesome halves.
Chaaaak. Thududuk—.
The chunks of flesh rolled across the ground. These were the final moments of the people who had spoken to me only seconds ago.
‘It’s suicidal. Like throwing yourself into fire soaked in oil. Like jumping into water with your feet bound.’
Why? Even though the name of the Creation Society had spread across the world, almost no one had ever seen its members in person. Every single person who had witnessed them had met the exact fate now unfolding before my eyes.
Thud.
A severed head rolled to my feet. It belonged to the soldier who had urged me to evacuate.
“…”
I hesitated to take even one step. It wasn’t fear of the corpses. If I tried to run again, more victims exactly like these people would pile up.
Tak.
Before I knew it, Eunhwa’s shadow had fallen over me. She tilted her head quietly, then stared straight into my trembling eyes. She was observing my reaction.
Trash.
“Is death truly that terrifying?”
“…You make it sound like you’re not afraid of dying at all.”
“Those who have not reached understanding always answer that way.”
The heavenly orbit is already predetermined.
Why do you fear a death that was foretold?
You and I shall fulfill the mission we bear.
Let us reconstruct the karma of this false world.
“Yes. Only the heavens shall complete my trajectory.”
Swish.
Her blood-red blade rose high above my head.
“And your end, too, must already be engraved upon the heavenly orbit.”
In that instant, my own face flickered briefly across the sword’s surface.
Ah. I’m dead.
‘I want to see the world.’
Only a few days had passed since I made that resolution. And now, in this fleeting moment, it had already reached its end. Perhaps an ephemeral dream like that had always been too much for someone like me.
“Heuk…”
This was probably the last thing I would see. Blood-red filled my vision. The blade came slicing down, splitting the world in two—
“—Aquarius!!!”
"Aquarius!"
⟨ WATER SPHERE ⟩
Baaaang!
Suddenly, a water orb the size of a house exploded from the side like a cannonball. It swallowed Eunhwa’s unprepared flank at terrifying speed.
Crack.
An overwhelming weight. She reflexively crossed both arms to block, but she couldn’t absorb the full force and was blasted away.
Bang! Kwaang—!
Dull crashes rang out in succession as her body tore through building debris and flew into the distance.
“…?”
A dazed sound slipped from my lips at the sudden turn of events. A single strike had sent a member of the Creation Society flying. Who in the world had just used magic of that caliber from somewhere nearby?
“Haa, haa… Do you always plant yourself at the center of trouble like this, Professor?”
A voice I was sick of hearing. A face I never wanted to see again. An acquaintance of barely two days. Yet who could have guessed I would feel such overwhelming relief at the sight of her?
“…Honestly, I thought I never wanted to see your face again. But right now, it’s an incredibly welcome sight.”
“Is that how you thank the person who just saved you?!”
Nephthea. Royal Chief Mage of the Allied Kingdom. A King-class water mage who stood at the absolute peak of the continent’s sorcerers.
* * *
"By the covenant of harmony."
⟨ Healing ⟩
The pain in my abdomen and the wound on my leg slowly faded. It was thanks to the chant Nephthea wove. Even though I had been in this world for quite some time, this was my first time personally receiving healing magic. Healing spells were notoriously difficult to master compared to other schools.
Yet Nephthea wielded them as if they were the most natural thing in the world.
“…Hm.”
“W-why are you staring at me so intently?”
“What? Oh, I was just thinking you really do seem incredibly competent…”
“…Exactly what level have you been imagining me at until now?”
Having finished the treatment, Nephthea brushed off her skirt, leaned on her staff, and stood.
“Just what is happening here? I was walking through the festival district when I heard the disturbance and came running.”
“…That’s…”
“This is no trivial matter. On my way here I already witnessed several tragic victims.”
Her expression was entirely different from anything I had seen before—serious, sharp, resolute. That’s right. No matter how she usually acted, she was the one who directly served the queen in the royal palace. The fact that innocent civilians had been harmed would weigh heavily on her sense of duty.
“…”
But on the flip side, it also meant she possessed the skill to match that responsibility. Perhaps Nephthea could force Eunhwa to retreat. Just judging from the power of that last attack—the one that had sent her flying—
…Wait. Attack?
“…Nephthea. Before we continue, I have one question.”
Was I missing something?
“The attack you just used—how exactly did you do it?”
“…? I simply cast a water spell…”
“I’m not asking about the mechanics. I want to know the intent behind the magic.”
Any action that displayed open hostility toward Eunhwa fell under the influence of her Authority. The fate of those guards was proof enough. If Nephthea had truly harbored clear enmity, she should already be a cold, ashen corpse. Yet she remained completely unaffected.
“Intent…? I simply saw a civilian in danger and tried to calm the situation…”
“You’re saying you didn’t cast it after confirming who your opponent was?”
“……D-don’t tell me the person I just sent flying was an ordinary citizen…???”
Nephthea’s face slipped back into that familiar dumbfounded expression. This version of her felt far more natural.
Anyway. That answer had been an important clue. If she had recognized the Creation Society and stepped forward with the intention of subjugating her, she would have deployed the magic while clearly holding hostility. Which meant she had cast it with the pure goal of rescuing me.
…And it had been the size of a house. Just how much power did this woman have?
Kugung—.
A destructive rumble shook the ground. It came from the direction Eunhwa had been blasted. A sign that she was returning. I scraped together the last of my strength and forced my staggering body upright. There was no time to explain everything in detail.
“She’ll be back soon. Nephthea, please do exactly what you did earlier.”
“What? What are you even saying…”
“Just fire magic at me.”
“What?!”
I deliberately avoided using the word “attack.” Humans had a habit of imagining the very thing they were told not to think about.
“It’s not difficult, is it? Ah… actually sending me flying might be a bit much, so maybe around me instead—”
“You keep saying weird things at a time like this…!”
“…I’m not joking. I’m completely serious.”
“Enough! You’re just going to keep ignoring me again!!”
“No, that’s not it at all. There’s no reason for me to do that now…!”
“Aah! Professor, just fall back to the shelter! I’ll handle this by myse—”
Please.
“Nephthea!!!”
“…!”
I unconsciously raised my voice. The sound of Eunhwa drawing closer was growing louder. At my vein-popping shout, Nephthea flinched and trembled.
“…I’m sorry. But I don’t have time to explain in detail.”
The blackened, burned faces of the dead flashed through my mind. If I lost even Nephthea in the same way, there would be no path left to resolve this hopeless situation.
Still, she would find it difficult to understand or trust me. I stared directly into her eyes without looking away. I needed her to feel my sincerity, even one second sooner.
“—Nephthea. I don’t want to lose you here as well. Please. Promise me.”
I held her gaze unwaveringly for five full seconds. Nephthea quietly met my eyes, then—
“…???!! Y-yes?! U-uhhh…?”
For some reason her pure-white face flushed bright red.
…? What was that? It felt like she had read something slightly different from what I intended.
The doubt flickered past, but I continued.
“Nephthea. I want to resolve this situation too. It’s really all right, so please trust me and follow my lead.”
“…”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“A-all right. But you have to explain everything properly later… N-Noriel.”
“…?”
“W-what?!”
“Nothing. I was just thinking your way of addressing me suddenly changed.”
“T-that’s because! In this situation it’s better to speak comfortably…! And you look younger than me…!!”
Wait. She was older than me? No wonder dealing with her always felt slightly awkward.
Kwaang!
That was as far as the conversation went. The last piece of debris was shredded apart, and a figure with long white hair braided down to her ankles appeared, strands whipping in the wind. She had discarded her black robe, revealing white garments bound with blood-red knots.
A white reaper. That was the first thought that came to mind as I saw her with the distant flames flickering behind her.
Eunhwa gazed at us in silence, then began walking.
One step. Two steps—
—Tap.
In an instant, her form vanished.
“—!!”
In that brief moment, she had closed the distance until she stood right before me. Murderous intent burned in her blood-red eyes as they bored straight through me.
“Nephthea!”
“A-Aquarius—!!!”
Kwaang!
Indeed… just how long could I possibly hold out against her?