***
Albert,
It was for a brief moment that I stood there, giving my undivided attention to the tornado.
I felt both Zis and Carbuncle work hard, their cores in motion, and I had to fluctuate my mana quite a bit to hide their activity, but it was doable due to the amount of mana I've been radiating openly for once in my life.
I did not realize at the time that the moment felt beautiful to me. The sensation of exertion across my body and core, the tension, the fear, the pride in what I can do… all of it worked in tandem.
An easy smile stretched my lips.
Restraints, hesitation, usual boundaries, all of it was gone.
I took a breath, feeling as if I'd been inhaling life itself, and my attention moved back towards the demon of the swords who, not unlike me, seemed prepared for what would come next.
I already knew what I had to do. While my creations kept the tornado active, cooking the dragon and trapping Aura with Neugieri on the other side, I had to finish off Schrägstrich; otherwise, this battle was as good as lost.
I still felt the tornado's tug on me, as even Zis didn't have great enough control to just exclude me from the pull of her winds. Seeing that Schrägstrich was about as far from the vortex as me, I could only conclude that he too was currently keeping himself anchored to the ground with the application of the flight magic.
Schrägstrich was also horribly mangled by the spell I unleashed earlier; many of his hands were either missing or dangling limply by his body, and his body itself was shredded, three distinct slashes across his abdomen and chest looked deep enough to damage internal organs… if only those mattered to demons beyond blood loss.
The regeneration kept him from bleeding, and he clearly could still move and fight, but to a so-called 'demon general', a being who dedicated his whole existence to pushing the martial side of his demonic body as far as possible, even mere cut muscles and appendages must be more hampering than to any demon mage.
Especially against an opponent like me, who, as far as he was concerned, still had access to the horrifying fire and wind magic, and he could only guess what else.
Barely a second had passed, as we took each other's measure.
Which was why I knew Schrägstrich would mindlessly throw himself into the offense, as he had no other choice, at least not from his perspective.
The demon threw itself forward, likely combining the flight magic with the raw power of its limbs.
He screamed something, but through the howling of the wind I didn't hear it, only saw his lips move.
If this was Schrägstrich before I landed that hit on him, this might have been my end. He was simply so fast that without my djinn, he would've bulldozed straight through any defensive magic I could have created.
Now his speed was not so horrifying.
The ground exploded from under me and cracked towards the demon. I could see him seeing it; I could see him throwing himself aside, just in time to avoid a colossal boulder that rose from the ground… and promptly tore away from it, getting sucked into the vortex.
As would have been the fate of Schrägstrich if he attempted to jump over or push through.
He retaliated with another sword swing that extended all the way towards me, which collided with Saphir Grenze, to the demon's visible surprise.
That surprise didn't last, as the spider-web-like cracks on the ground spread further, pushing more earth and stone up, forcing the demon to fight for his footing… and allowing me to strike my staff into the ground and start chanting…
"Thunder, tree, five to eight…"
I could see the panic, the desperation. My mana already saturated the ground between me and the demon; it was under the control of the generic earth-shaping spell at my disposal. I can, with minimal preparations, order those rocks to shape as I please, before the swordsman would be able to react.
That effectively made it an instant-kill minefield; an attempt to cross it will send Schrägstrich directly into the air - for a tornado to pick him up and swallow him whole.
After our exchange earlier, I knew not to underestimate this demon's tactical thinking, knew full well that he understood the situation instantly and was weighing his options.
Schrägstrich made his decision quickly.
He couldn't have known what exactly I was preparing, but he didn't need to; a mage committing to shaping a spell meant a spell powerful enough to be worth the time it took. Standing in place against my fire and wind magic was death, even when I cast them without preparation. Even if he had likely figured out that supporting the tornado strained me in some way, it didn't mean he could afford to take me lightly. Yet, trying to cross the ground I controlled was death. The only place in this valley where the fight still belonged to him was within melee, and so, the only move left was to carve his way to me before the chant could be completed.
A handful of his arms, of those that still moved as he wished, folded together, palms closing one over another around an invisible hilt, and a sword ignited between them. As always, it looked as if a high-pressure water current had materialized between his palms, the mana bursting out of his hands to produce his 'lightsaber'.
This time it was far bigger than any of the blades he had conjured tonight, longer than the demon himself was tall; though that might just be because it was the first time he had shaped a sword of that size slowly enough for me to see.
He kept feeding mana into it even as he was raising it for a swing.
"Converge and root, link…" I muttered, layering the templates even as I ordered the earth between us to rise as a crude shield. I expected to at least slow this down.
Schrägstrich swung, and the slash extended, thickening as it travelled. It dropped into the ground and ran across it and…
…the earth saturated with my mana parted, cut along a straight line together with my control over it.
I had no shield capable of stopping that much mana. I knew this within the second it took him to shape this spell.
Saphir Grenze would burst, and calling on Zis or Carbuncle for a proper defence would mean letting go of the tornado.
I wrenched the staff out of the stone and threw myself aside, flight magic dragging me low over the ground. With my anchoring loosened, the vortex immediately pulled at me, turning the dodge into a clumsy slide across snow and gravel.
The slash passed through where I had stood and kept going; I didn't look where it ended.
I did, however, raise a Saphir Grenze between myself and the spot where I had stood, expecting an explosion and a barrage of debris… I was right to do so.
The demon was already running. He dove into the trench his own strike had carved and dashed along its bottom, mangled arms pressed to his body, the walls of the cut shielding him from the worst of the wind.
I instantly knew: his strike had shorn away the saturated layer almost perfectly, leaving me no control over any of the stone he was currently traveling through.
He was slower than at the start of this battle, but the dash was still so fast that I knew throwing myself back to make distance was useless… especially with unfinished Judradjim already destabilizing in my hands.
The unfinished spell strained between my palms, purple sparks slipping through my fingers, the templates already pulling apart without the final layers to lock them in place. Holding it for a few more seconds was impossible, but… this was fine.
Within expectations.
I pointed my palm at the demon and released everything I held.
"Judradjim."
The lightning that tore out of my hand was a fraction of what the completed spell would have been, the arcs thin and scattering wide, but at three steps of distance, it should still have been more than enough to burn a demon to cinders.
Schrägstrich didn't try to dodge. A new sword ignited in two of his hands mid-motion, and he swung it straight into the lightning, pouring mana into the blade until it destabilized - the same shockwave with which he had answered my Judradjim earlier tonight.
For him to be able to meet offensive magic with his own and cancel it was already unbelievable. It showed a level of skill and fine control that I couldn't boast of with any of my spells. Using the offensive spells as defensive magic and making it look effortless was a level of magical prowess beyond mortal reckoning.
The two attacks met and destroyed one another. For a moment, there was only white light and a wave of force that flattened the snow around us, briefly drowning out even the roar of the tornado.
Yet, this wasn't an equal exchange; I already realized the weakness: Schrägstrich's strikes were, fundamentally, no different from warrior techniques; they required no preparation beyond a proper form…
Which was a weakness. To negate Judradjim, he had to halt just long enough to set his footwork and stance for the swing.
I had no such weaknesses.
The moment the flash dispersed, I dashed through it, winding back my left arm, and conjuring a shadow sword.
Some hesitation or surprise would have been appreciated, but Schrägstrich didn't show any weakness, he never even slowed down. If he didn't expect me to act as I did, he gave me no indication of that; a pair of his own hands that held the blade he used to defend from the lightning a few moments prior swung upwards, intercepting my own strike, and, were I foolish enough to dismiss my sword, they would have simply cut off the top of my head.
Simultaneously, I could feel his bloodlust spiking. This was it; as far as he knew, he had won.
Dozens of swords must have ignited in the hands, awakening to motion all across his body, all striking towards me from a multitude of directions…
The shadow blade he intercepted held, and this was the moment I'd won. As it meant that he bought my bluff. Were he to attempt to cut through the spell with his own swords in earnest, I had no doubt he would have succeeded. But in this chaos and confusion, the familiar shape of his friend's shadow magic must have made him believe this sword was more durable than it actually was, and that cutting through it would cost him time he couldn't spare. Which bought me a moment as he shifted his killing strikes to his other arms.
…the staff that was pointed squarely at his chest released the quickest spell I had in my arsenal, a thin beam I cast as easily as I breathed.
GreaterResonant Soul.
The pair of hands that had been cupping the demon's face until now peeled away so he could strike me with them, revealing, probably, the most beautiful face I've ever seen. It was handsome and beautiful in equal measures, yet decidedly more feminine, and struck a strange aesthetic balance I would have expected to see in the marble carved by the hands of the great sculptors of the antique world or the Renaissance.
I could see the soulful eyes widen, and the open smile, one that must have been mirroring my own, twist slightly, as the demon attempted to shift at least part of his limbs to strike at the beam instead.
He had no time; the beam struck his chest.
And instantly, Schrägstrich lost consciousness, the swords in his arms dissipating, and a heartbeat later, his hands slapping uselessly against me.
Everything since Judradjim took fractions of a second; the whole fight, not more than ten.
I stepped back, just for a moment, to take measure of my surroundings, which I'd completely lost track of, and the demon was lifted off his feet and dragged towards the vortex, before lifting in the air and flying towards the torna…
I threw myself to the side the moment I managed to pinpoint the buildup of mana.
Flames, thick and hungry, struck out of the flaming vortex, washing over the place where I stood a moment ago. I only managed to stay safe by jumping forward, propelling myself with flight magic, and then using the earth to shape a hand and catch me by the ankle.
Looking up, I realized at once what had happened; Schrägstrich and I must have aired enough mana for it to sense us.
Then, right through the vortex of wind and flame, a head struck out; the beady red eyes spotted me, nostrils flared… and the beast roared with pain and hatred.
It looked different now.
The head was the same black glass it had always been… and it glowed.
When I first laid eyes on the beast, I noted that it wasn't lit from within, that the red light in the thin edges of its scales was merely the fires of the battlefield passing through them. Back then, it looked more like a creature of living dark glass, ever shifting and likely camouflaged when it was flying against the backdrop of the dark star-filled sky.
This was no longer true.
The obsidian itself had been heated through. The plates glowed a deep, dull red across their flats, brightening towards every chipped ridge and point, and in the cracks between them, where before there had only been darkness, orange light now ran in jagged lines along its jaw and down its neck… and it pulsed, slow and steady, as if the flesh beneath the glass had turned molten, and I was looking at the beast's burning veins.
Whether the heat truly reached its flesh, I couldn't tell. Dragons mostly boasted magic-resistant scales; they were also known to be fairly resistant to temperatures, but not quite immune. Not to the heat of this level.
I fully expected the beast to be dead or at least dying by now.
There was something else, something off about the very silhouette of the head, its shape not quite matching my memory… yet all I had was a glimpse, and no time to place it.
The head withdrew back into the fire.
Then the entire flank of the vortex bulged.
The dragon tore through the wall of flames, claws first. For a moment, I was surprised the creature was anywhere near the ground at all. It was gargantuan, but a tornado of this scale was a true natural disaster; it should have lifted the beast clear of the ground the moment Carbuncle turned his solid flames back into an inferno.
Then I looked closely and understood.
The forward legs with their three-talon claws had grown massive, covered with obsidian armour so thick it likely doubled the dragon's bulk. Then its head appeared; it too had the additional bulk that I didn't immediately recognize, and the dragon let out a roar before dragging the rest of itself out of the eye of the storm.
The tornado was made to hold a blind beast. Blind, it had been wasting its strength in every direction at once, wrenching and heaving and gaining nothing. The mana Schrägstrich and I aired in our exchange gave it a bearing, and with a bearing, it simply committed everything it had into a single direction.
Coming to a decision, I cast Greater Resonant Soul on Carbuncle, temporarily taking him out of the fight, while gently patting Zis with my mana, giving her an agreed-upon order to stop.
The reason for that was simple: while the dragon was still mostly pinned, every additional second of the tornado drained Zis, and she likely couldn't sustain the spell long enough to truly finish it off.
Besides, she didn't have to; with Schrägstrich gone, there was no need for a vortex in the first place. Without having to worry about a master swordsman jumping at any opening, I had more efficient ways to deal with the dragon.
The vortex melted away like sugar on a stove. Deprived of the will that kept it turning, the column broke apart from the bottom up, the flames thinned, snapped upward, and died, and the roar that had pressed on my ears through the entire battle fell apart into ordinary gusts. All across the slope, burning debris and shards of shed black glass rained into the snow, hissing as they landed.
Soon, bigger things will start falling too, I knew.
The drag on my body vanished with it. I had leaned into that pull for long enough that my balance had rebuilt itself around it, and I had to correct my footing, like a man stepping off a ship's deck onto a pier.
I shifted my attention to my mana and… the situation wasn't particularly great. At the start of the fight, I revealed the vast majority of my mana, while openly displaying the fluctuations in it typical for mana concealment. That effectively limited me to a 'pool' of mana composed entirely out of the energy I wasn't openly displaying to keep my ruse.
The moment I had to spend more than that, the mana signature I was projecting as a show of strength would grow weaker… telling Aura exactly how much mana I actually had.
Currently, I still have some energy to safely spend. The majority of powerful spells thrown around weren't fueled by me after all.
But the way this was going, I couldn't afford to waste any more of my own mana, as after I dealt with the dragon, Aura might be desperate enough to try using Auserlese. By the point that becomes a real possibility, I needed her to have less mana than me. Ideally, I need to at least wound Aura to make her waste hers, as she's spent nothing this entire fight so far.
Doing that, however… might be a challenge.
With the wind and flame dying down, the dragon has been revealed in all of its glory. It was entombed in obsidian, which looked to be a literal metric ton of it. Its body was twice as thick due to it; its wings disappeared under its new bulk, and only its limbs and the head were exposed.
I noted then that it must be able to create the mineral. It also explained how earlier it used instinctual magic to shoot its obsidian 'scales'.
This beast was smart enough to create what was essentially a heat-resistant armour on top of itself, yet, instead of merely trying to wait it out, it evidently left enough of its head and appendages exposed to attempt to escape its fiery confinement.
Now that the creature noticed its newfound freedom, the cracks spread across the upper layers of its shell, peeling off and breaking, as the dragon threw its head back and…
[GRAAA――――AAGH‼]Released a deafening roar.
With the tornado gone, I could spread my senses wide once more and attempt to locate Aura and Neugieri.
Yet, I could sense neither. The demon likely guessed that I would be targeting her and used the opportunity I had unintentionally created in conjuring that vortex by hiding her mana and slipping out of sight.
The dragon didn't wait for me to think things through, and instead, exploded, obsidian shrapnel bursting from its body like grapeshot in every direction.
"Annoying," I muttered, calling upon Zis and directing the djinn to deflect sizable obsidian scales away from me.
Immediately, I flew up and back, awaiting Carbuncle's awakening and flying out of the dragon's immediate range, much to its vocal displeasure.
I didn't have to wait long; the fire-dwelling creature let me know it was awake by cheerfully pulsing on my finger with warmth.
For a moment, I hesitated.
Could I afford to completely empty Carbuncle's reserves to kill the dragon?
I felt like a bear brought to bay. Hounded at every step, having to lash out at full force at each mutt thrown my way, yet no closer to killing the hunter.
Would unleashing the next big spell make Aura believe that she had exhausted me, to the point that she could simply use her spell? Would she not be sure, yet without any more powerful pawns, use it out of desperation? Would she instead run away now, with both her dragon and her pet demon general gone?
Those developments and countless others would mean my loss.
I had estimates and predictions about how things could shape up, but I didn't know anything for certain. I had no way to force any outcome; from the very start, my victory could have been possible only through bluffs.
And yet, looking at the dragon that exploded with obsidian shrapnel, now shedding entire chunks of its armour as it started to reveal its wings… I realized with unpleasant certainty that I can't do anything more than I was already doing. No last-minute adjustment was there to be made, no new layer to the plans and the deceit beyond what I already implemented and planned for.
I have to hope that the opportunity will simply appear. I had to hope for a miracle.
"Aura," I spoke, and a simple spell carried my voice to anyone nearby who could hear. The dragon let out an annoyed roar as it tried to spread its wings faster. "I am tired of playing with your toys."
I brought my left hand up, giving Carbuncle the command, and a ball of fire ignited atop my palm.
It grew rapidly, starting with the size of an apple and quadrupling in mass each instant, until it was bigger than Behemoth.
Then, after an instant when it stabilized and grew brighter and more vibrant, it started to shrink.
Except it wasn't the flame dying down; the fire was the same, yet it was condensed, pressurized, pulled together to a single spot.
I gently had Zis steer the hot air away from my flesh, yet the mana clothes on my body were slowly searing, and the snow was melting in a wide area around.
The ball of flame was condensed further and further, and the dragon…
[RAAA――――AAGH‼]Naturally, it must have understood what was going to happen.
The flame that was now dancing on top of my palm was barely the size of a peanut; it grew almost white, but had blue and purple undertones. It looked almost like a star.
I lowered my palm, extending it towards the dragon, from which I had been hundreds of meters away, too far for it to meaningfully be able to attack me in any way.
A flash of mana, and I raised Saphir Grenze just in time to block an attack from Neugieri, who revealed her position by trying to sneak attack me from behind and slightly to my left.
It failed only because it was exactly what I expected, and because this incredibly complex spell wasn't, in truth, shaped by me.
"Spaltung," I declared, asking Carbuncle to funnel the flames that he was condensing with such great concentration and effort, just like we've practiced.
The only reason I even needed to use Resonant Soul on him rather than simply give a command with my mana was that I never had him trained with a command for this move specifically, prioritizing moves that would've statistically been more useful.
The dragon had mere seconds from the moment I flew away and started to shape the spell; naturally, it could tell it couldn't reach me, not with its breath, nor with its scales. I would've expected it to bulk up once again and try to block the attack, but either Aura ordered it otherwise, or the beast itself had even sharper instincts than I expected. It didn't even attempt to do so, instead freeing its wings as fast as possible. By the time I released my spell, the gargantuan beast was attempting to lift off into the air, mayhaps hoping it could dodge.
The beam impacted it in the chest after it managed to flap its wings once. A white flash, bright enough to temporarily blind even me, washed over the valley.
My sight returned a moment later.
The dragon was a single wingbeat off the ground… or, rather, what remained of it had been.
There was a hole through its chest and upper shoulder blade. The left wing was gone up to the root, the left foreleg was missing along with a good chunk of the shoulder, and the neck and half of its head were smoldering cinder.
I simply looked at the spell that flew into the distance, the beam visible to the naked eye and trailing from my hand, arching due to gravity, before it impacted the mountainside.
An explosion bloomed, lifting the dirt, stone, and remains of trees into the air. If I were to hit a mountain peak with it, I knew that peak would be gone.
The sounds reached me one after another, first the explosion from the dragon, second, from the mountainside behind it. I noted a small avalanche it provoked, but seeing that it was across the valley, there was nothing to do about it.
I watched as the multi-ton body of a dragon fell to the ground uselessly, oozing thick, arterial blood from the stump that had been its head.
Its impact on the ground must have produced quite a tremor; flying as I did, I couldn't feel it.
"Now…" I turned my head towards Neugieri, who stood some distance away, her staff pointed up towards my flying figure. Naturally, Aura wasn't anywhere near her. "It's time to deal with you."
I took care not to look the mental mage in the eyes; instead, I merely floated towards her. I pretended my attention was focused on Neugieri, but in truth, I was laser-focused on my mana-sensitivity, trying to find Aura. That coward must be just about to escape with both of her aces gone. I needed to locate her as fast as possible because killing Neugieri was unacceptable, and revealing that I couldn't harm my professor for whatever reason was almost equally bad, and I would be forced to do one or the other unless I located Aura.
I had half the mind to direct Zis to search for her manually, but I couldn't in truth afford to do that.
Carbuncle was tapped out; he was awake, of course, but in no condition to really use magic on my behalf anymore. I needed Zis who was marginally less tired to save her energy, because if Aura were to attempt to flee, Zis would be the one who could boost my flying speed enough to catch up. The wind-djinn, despite being younger, already boasted impressive reserves; I've made her that way, which was the only reason why I knew she could still last one more serious exchange, or, in my plans, a pursuit.
Neugieri didn't look afraid, nor angry; if anything, what I glimpsed of her face without properly looking up seemed unmoving. Which either meant that she completely gave up, or was fighting her orders, and as such was under almost manual control of the spell.
Yet, even as I floated closer to Neugieri, dodging two other firebolts she threw at me, I couldn't catch Aura's trail at all. The time I'd bought myself with those pointless, arrogant gestures of grandeur was running out.
Five Kraftstoßs ignited around me as I resolved to take Neugieri down in the next exchange and temporarily bury her in the ground. I saw her shape another flaming bolt, prepare it, and launch it at me, and this time I formed a shield to intercept…
…it happened when I was weaving Saphir Grenze, to be more precise, when I was halfway through casting it, solidifying the template. No matter the quality of the mage, shaping the spell required attention and time; one can say that in the instance of creating the spell, but before actually releasing it, the mage is at their most vulnerable.
The instance when I almost finished crafting the spell was when a familiar source of mana exploded to my left, and a crescent blue blade of mana…
Was deflected by the emergency shield Zis conjured in my stead. A moment later, Saphir Grenze appeared, blocking the firebolt, though I saw this with my peripheral vision, my head snapping towards the attacker who would have killed me if not for Zis.
"You…" Without a doubt, the demon who was flying at me now was Schrägstrich.
Realization arrived a moment later.
He didn't burn in the tornado. I must have released the spell a bit too fast, or shortly after being hit by my curse, he somehow acted to defend himself from the flames and the wind.
Unthinkable to me at the time, especially considering how distracted I had been dodging the fire-breathing dragon, but it made sense.
True, I've cast the Greater Resonant Soul on him, and if I knew my curse, which I did, Schrägstrich should currently be minutes into my memory of being stranded in München airport for two nights due to a storm, but… that didn't really matter when my enemy was Aura, did it?
It seems my deduction was right; even Schrägstrich was under the influence of Auserlese.
"Does no one die around here?" I muttered to myself, releasing the force balls towards the demon, and freezing momentarily.
Aura's mana flared; she was… next to the dragon! She was doing something!
Was this Auserlese? I had no time! I need Schrägstrich dead yesterday!
Thoughts racing, I dove towards Schrägstrich, who must have been hiding next to those boulders around him. Trash still rained from the sky, and the demon, seeing my reaction, kept shortening the distance, flying low to the ground, yet giving himself additional momentum by using his legs when needed. With his physical capabilities, that was meaningful.
I've expected as much; Schrägstrich's soul must still believe that he had an advantage up close.
He was right to believe it, in a way; against most mages, closing in would have been the correct answer. Earlier, his instincts were sharp enough not to try it against me while I still had my djinns. But the puppet wasn't as sharp, evidently.
So we raced towards the same spot from opposite ends of the cliffside, three hundred meters apart and shrinking, each of us certain of what would happen once we met there.
My five Kraftstoßs reached him first. He cut two of them out of the air with one sword slash that traveled through the air; the remaining three he destroyed with three sword swings executed in a single breath, letting the force burst against his body without so much as breaking stride.
Then, he continued to swing at the air, and the crescents of blue light started coming at me, crossing the distance momentarily.
The first energy slash left his swing while the gap was still wide, and I had a whole second to roll my dive around it. The second I met with Saphir Grenze, the shield spun it aside and into the slope. The third should have been the dangerous one, launched at half the distance… it went wide on its own, shearing through a boulder well to my right.
I saw the state of him clearly by then. The demon was seared along his entire left side, skin blackened and split, and several more of his hands hung limp; the crescents themselves were dimmer than before, fraying at the edges as they flew.
Weaker. Still lethal without a doubt. And I had no time to grind him down from range; the mana by the dragon's corpse kept building, and caution told me I had moments.
So when the fourth crescent came, I made my move. I folded my dive steeper and dropped beneath the mana slash; my boots struck the ground at a run, boulders and torn earth obscuring me from the demon for just a moment.
I made full use of it.
"Aschewind."
A cloud of flame and ash ignited low over the ground behind me. I threw a second cast further along, then a third, stringing them between myself and the dragon's corpse. Each was relatively small, but at ground level, three of them were enough to cut the line of sight between me and Aura.
I focused on Aura's mana. If she were to fly up, I would use any spells necessary to make sure I wouldn't be within her sight.
The demon cleared the boulders, and the last fifty meters disappeared in a blink. No more crescent slashes; swords were igniting across every hand he had left, which he, somehow, still had plenty of. Quite clearly, he was prepared to focus on the defense as he crossed the remaining distance.
I let him commit. I raised Saphir Grenze flat before my chest and, when five steps separated us, I outlined a shape with my mana-string, giving Zis a wordless command.
The wind materialized behind him. I knew he must have turned in the last instant.
I knew he still wasn't quick enough.
The winds caught the demon, lifted him briefly, overpowering the flight spell effortlessly, and slammed him onto my shield, hard enough that the spinning outer shield started to crack.
The wind howled, and the power intensified.
Zis began to slash and bite into him.
The wind djinn could conjure blades with wind, press with it, grind with it, drill with it… Zis did all of that, to various degrees. I've seen the red mist and blood splatter on the ground and around the shield.
I commanded Zis to cease just a few seconds later, dismissing Saphir Grenze. The djinn was now about as drained as Carbuncle. A mingled and disintegrating pile of meat dropped into the snow…
…just in time for me to feel the thundering pulse of mana coming from Aura.
I felt it then, her mana dropping substantially… past my current level. I wasn't sure why or how, but instantly I did as I planned to do before even starting that fight; I started to hide more of my mana below what Aura was displaying, while removing the slight fluctuations from it that were the norm for less experienced mages hiding their mana.
Obviously, I knew that I would have to justify such a drop in mana, and glancing at the disintegrating remains of Schrägstrich who still was radiating mana…
I directed my palm at his remains.
"Druckwelle."
A wave of force was released, exploding the ground around, but mostly in front of me, and vaporizing what remained of Schrägstrich.
Only then did I fly up and…
…froze, seeing Aura stand next to the obsidian dragon, who once again was on its feet… Its remaining three feet, to be exact.
The beast itself lacked any of the rage and bestial fury it displayed before; it merely stood there, half its head and neck still missing, but I recognized it now that I looked closely. Necromancy. Its chest and spine were mostly closed up by bone and flesh, which must have been recreated by necromancy. I've recognized none of the templates or weaves but… I wasn't exactly paying the closest attention, and, besides, it was only natural for a demon to use their own inventions.
The dragon's body was far from restored, but Aura decided to spend a lot of her energy to make the dragon functional again.
"Are you done hiding?" I called out to her, floating in the air.
The demon looked smug as she floated up and settled atop the dragon's remaining shoulder, looking back at me.
I could see the obsidian of the scales lengthening subtly around her sitting form, and I could bet it could grow into a shield, not unlike my earth-shaping spells, in an instant.
"Is there a point for me to hide anymore?" she asked, the smile on her face easy, "I admit, you've surpassed all of my expectations by this point, but… It's over, don't you see it?" she called out simply, "Throwing around spells of this caliber, you've exhausted yourself. Even if you hide your formidable mana for whatever reason… even this bottomless well is starting to dry up, isn't it?" she gloated before shaking her head, her smile dying down slightly.
"What am I even saying? Of course you see it; it's the reason why you flew to me, and the reason we speak now." She looked me in the eyes, her eyes cold. "So let's discuss your surrender, Albert the Accursed."
I scowled but lowered myself carefully all the same, landing a safe distance from the dragon.
"And why do you assume I can't win still?" I asked, my voice growing even, "It's true that I am not at risk of your spell, but I am confident I will be able to block your vision each time you would prepare to cast it."
Aura chuckled at that, throwing her head back and covering her mouth with the back of her palm.
"I? Assume? Goddess, no," she shook her head as if she just heard something extremely vulgar. By the expression, I immediately recognized that she must have been emulating some noble. "I merely state facts. Your mana isn't enough to kill the dragon anymore, at least, not while shielding yourself from me…" Her eyes narrowed again, "And you understand that this is your last chance to propose surrender. I suggest you stop this farce while you still can. You know that if you push this fight further, I will have no choice but to kill you." I realized what she was referring to, a matter of reputation that, amongst demons, decided everything.
I was vaguely familiar with the topic from other demons I questioned, but most of what I knew of this was the result of countless sleepless nights when I allowed my thoughts to wander.
If I kept fighting, even if Aura enslaved me, killing me would be the only right decision, because even if everyone else who followed her had died, I would remain disloyal and only subservient when convenient, and as such, dangerous. That is different from a demon who decided to surrender to the mercy of the stronger demon, and willingly chose to follow, even under the threat of death. Why… was difficult to explain, but it seemed to be part of the culture demons had.
I knew that because this is how the Demon King operated with his own subordinates.
"What are your terms?" I asked after a moment, trying my best to think of an exact expression I should be making now.
I settled on tense annoyance. I glanced behind me and saw Neugieri slowly approach us.
"You submit to my Auserlese and serve me now," Aura said simply, her tone leaving no room to argue.
"Absurd," I responded, shaking my head. "I will be submitting myself to your mercy after killing a good portion of your army and servants. There can't be a guarantee that you won't kill me."
The demon leaned back on her 'seat', smiling magnanimously.
"That is correct, but there can't be guarantees in such things, no? It's a matter of faith." She shook her head, her finger tracing across the sharp-looking edges of the obsidian armour beside her. "Besides, if you look at this from my perspective, you will realize exactly why I want you. If this fight has proved anything… it's that without a puppet as strong as you, I will never be able to aspire to be a Sage of Destruction," she said, her voice growing empty.
I instantly realized why. She, a demon, was admitting her weakness. This was as much of a touch of sincerity as a demon was able to extend.
"Naturally," she continued, "I am not planning to be cruel to you. You will serve me, but in doing so you will have countless opportunities to acquire more magics and spells. Between the two of us, we will practically be unmatched, don't you see?" she proposed, her voice growing deeper, "We both have the same type of magic, the one that lets us accumulate power, and working together we can cover each other's weaknesses near perfectly."
I considered the demon before me, and while judging anything by her tone, expression, or even words was pointless… I couldn't dismiss her words easily.
I figured the offer was genuine.
"The Demon King can't possibly allow it," I said after a moment, "You will be simply ordered to kill me, and you will do so," I lied, at least, to my understanding, and yet it was a convincing chain of events.
This must have been a reason why Aura didn't have other Greater Demons amongst her subordinates in the original story; a ban on doing just that.
"I've mentioned that Schlacht the Omniscient had a hand in this, haven't I?" she reminded, her voice growing more sure, "This is as close to His Majesty's permission as this can get."
Aura sighed, shaking her head, moving one hand aside, as if weighing something.
"Think of it like this: on one hand, you can continue this fight with your mana exhausted, against a genuine dragon and me, who will participate most actively. You also need to hope that your pawns have triumphed over my servants, and that no demon will interrupt to help me kill you mid-fight," she listed, before lifting her other hand, "On the other hand, you can risk a minuscule amount of the Demon King not approving this and forcing me to kill you." She moved her hands up and down in sync, as if they were scales, before letting the 'second option' win and tilt lower, "The choice is rather obvious, isn't it?"
It really was.
Yet, keeping my face neutral, I pretended to think it over, sparing another glance to Neugieri, this time even looking her in the eyes… only to see a bloodshot stare full of hatred, and trembling lips.
I turned back to Aura.
"Naturally, what I know of your spell tells me I won't be able to break out of it even given time, and you won't have a reason to heed me after I become yours," I spoke slowly, "But I would strongly like you to give me access to any demon serving under you, at least to their magic."
Aura nodded simply, yet magnificently.
"Granted," she offered, yet her eyes were glued to me.
I made a motion of hesitating before taking a single knee, throwing my staff aside, and lowering my head in submission.
"Then I pledge myself to you," I lied, feeling hot magma travel through my veins.
This is it. Yet, this can't be this simple. I've been losing. A step behind this entire fight. This couldn't be happening; this is way too lucky. I couldn't believe it…
"No," Aura's voice made my heart briefly freeze, "Think of this as merely assurance; you will be no servant of mine. I prefer to think of it as the beginning of a true friendship."
I felt it then, her mana blooming, and the spell being shaped, and I couldn't help it; I looked up.
Aura slowly floated towards the ground from the back of the dragon, her clothes fluttering in the wind as she landed, simple-looking scales in her right hand.
I felt her mana shoot at me faster than thought, penetrating deep, past the fake skin, flesh and bone, reaching somewhere beyond.
I didn't grasp it; magic couldn't touch the Soul, not to my knowledge, but it clung tight, took shape, and floated out of my chest as a black flaming sphere…
…with utter fascination, I realized what her spell did. I couldn't move now, couldn't control my mana properly, because the ritual was engaged, but unlike most, as a demon whose curse was also related to the soul, I knew why. It was because the black sphere she conjured out of my soul was… a replica of my core.
My soul was still in place, beyond magic, beyond touch. But she had faked my mind and body, created a duplicate just intricate enough to fool the soul into believing that this little sphere was me too.
A similar dark orb left Aura's own chest, both landing on the scales.
"Fascinating," I muttered, being quite honest.
Aura glanced away from the spheres, looking at me, and smiled, seemingly genuinely.
"Thank you. Your magic was quite spectacular too. Now…" The scales tipped in her favour, making the demoness's smile widen… and then the scales shook.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I recovered enough control over my body to stand up, dusting my pants off.
"I wasn't addressing you, but rather, divine providence," I explained slowly, glancing up towards the dark sky, at the countless stars above, "All my life I've considered that Miracles of God are things mostly of the past and mythology, and that people find coincidences in the smallest of things… yet, standing here now, winning this against all odds… maybe The Lord does nudge things around sometimes. Or maybe I am just feeling emotional for being truly fortunate with my life on the line, for once."
I glanced down, seeing the sheer incomprehension on Aura's face, and then the metal of the scales creaked.
She looked at the scales in wonder and shock, and saw them starting to tilt the other way.
"What…" Then the scales tipped to my side, the representation of 'my soul' igniting brightly with dark flames, overshadowing Aura's own.
I felt disappointment that my soul was represented as pitch-black as hers by her spell. Yet, disregarded it immediately; after all, it was demonic magic, not a genuine judgement of His; it is merely imperfect.
I felt it then, how her spell started to weave around my soul… and around hers. I felt it, the leash that started to form and connect us.
And I instantly understood why Auserlese had its weakness. I might not recognize the templates and weaves that were weaving themselves around me now, using my own mana that was somehow hijacked by the ritual, but I recognized the principle.
There are several knots that a seaman can tie that serve their purposes in securing objects or the ship itself, yet can be untied by a right application of force. Yet, you can create a knot that can't be undone in any circumstances.
The downside is that such a knot can't be undone even by the sailor who tied it in the first place.
This was Aura's Auserlese. For the sake of being unbreakable for the victim, the ritual involved her, the spell's caster, and the one she cast it on.
It was, in truth, a beautiful spell. Yet, even its composition and newfound realization caused by experiencing it felt dim compared to the sheer breadth of opportunity presented to me by this victory.
This triumph.
A smile on my face was far too wide; it showed teeth, but I didn't even notice, feeling as if I was floating.
"No… no-no…!" Her first word was a whisper, the other two hot, angry denials that I interrupted.
"Aura, shut up," I ordered simply, and her mouth snapped shut with visible strength.
I didn't just speak, of course; I also tagged on the framework that tied us, in a way that was hard to explain but felt instinctually right.
"Aura, don't use magic, don't speak or act in any way unless I command you to, and order Neugieri and the dragon to cease any hostile action," I ordered, starting to walk across and towards her, throwing a quick look around. The dragon that opened its mouth immediately snapped it shut, and Neugieri's spell that she started to weave fell apart as well.
Despite Aura's earlier words, I couldn't see any other demon approaching the battlefield. The dragon, likewise, remained frozen.
As I approached Aura, I finished deliberating my options.
"Aura, think long and hard. Are there any contingencies to Auserlese or your servants I need to be aware of? Think about what would happen if I ordered you to release the spell, in detail," I ordered, giving her a second. Aura's face naturally remained neutral and frozen. "Nod if you are done." She nodded.
Instantly, I placed my hand on her head and cast Greater Resonant Soul, experiencing the last three seconds in her shoes and seeing exactly what sort of thoughts she had.
Snapping out of the vision, I blinked before straightening my posture.
"Aura, release control over everyone you enslaved and hold under control," I ordered, knowing that she can't release herself no matter what she does. Only I held this power.
Instantly, I felt her mana flare, and an invisible wave traveled outwards.
The dragon behind Neugieri simply folded over and fell; its soul released, and without the Auserlese that Aura's necromancy had been built around, it was just a corpse.
I immediately turned away from Aura and headed towards Neugieri, who stumbled and cried out, falling to the ground the moment Aura released her.
She wasn't too far, yet when three or so steps separated us, I could see her staff pointed at me.
Her mana shaped, and a ball of fire was launched at me.
A blue spinning double-layered shield rose, once again dispersing the flame.
"Neugieri, calm down; it is over," I spoke, my voice even, "I know how this must look to you, but I will expla-"
"Don't," the woman spoke, her voice hoarse, "Don't take another step," she said, her voice shaking and full of panic, and hateful, yet fearful eyes looked up at me, "Do… do you truly think me this stupid?! You will kill me, making it look like I died in the fight with demons, and come back a hero, won't you?!" she asked, her voice breaking down, "I refuse to just let you do this! So many… so many already died because of your games! All of you, you… goddess damned monsters!"
I heard her, my mind picking up rather quickly on the versions of events she must have believed… and I had to stop myself multiple times from interrupting her and faking compassion and sincerity.
I wanted to, and in those circumstances… it would've been excusable, wouldn't it? Yet, somehow, I figured this wouldn't be the right choice.
"Neugieri, I will not kill you," I said simply, my voice even, "In the first place, the reason you are alive right now, while a much more powerful demon and dragon are not, is because I could never afford to kill you," I explained to her simply.
I could see her briefly hesitate.
"Why? Because of master?" I could see her trying to connect the dots frantically.
I merely shook my head.
"No, because you are a human… a person. I've never killed a human in my life, and I never will," I said simply, before looking her in the eyes. "The reason for that isn't easy to believe, and the explanation right now can wait; the people in the city likely need our help. But the words of a demon are cheap; merely think back on what I've done so far, where I've been sighted, the rumors around where I've been. Do they match what you would expect from a demon?" I explained to her, and I could see that she was so shocked and scared she barely heard.
Then I felt it. Something slamming across my mind as I studied Neugieri's face for a reaction and…
…I felt so sleepy… and so peaceful…
My own modified mental shields kicked in just a few moments after, making me wake up and see… Carbuncle floating before me, hissing angrily at Neugieri. I saw the sphere of fire floating pointlessly in front of me.
I glanced down at the rings on my fingers; both of them were empty, the stones gray.
As if answering the unasked question, something buzzed in my ear, as if a person had blown softly into it, and I turned my head to see Zis, who chirped happily.
"Both of you… relax," I commanded, and even if djinn weren't intelligent enough to understand me, they were smart enough to recognize intent.
I gently patted the head of an angry-looking beetle composed of flames that was blustering and posturing defensively.
"You did great," I said softly, scratching the pleasantly warm, yet somehow smooth flames, specifically under the djinn's 'chin', "But you can rest now," I coaxed, "You are probably incredibly tired, right?"
"Shhhh," Carbuncle let out a pitiful sound that reminded me of a quiet fluttering of flame; I knew it was its way to show its laziness, and it retreated into my ring, but not before giving a gentle shove to Zis.
The bird made of wind whistled annoyedly before burrowing itself into my hair for a 'hug'.
Annoyingly, I knew I wouldn't be getting her out of there for a while.
"What…" Neugieri observed the interaction with shock, "Chimeras? But they don't even have bodies…" She looked so completely stupefied that she forgot to even be afraid.
"They are djinn," I explained, gently forming a few mana strings to attract Zis's attention. She was well-trained, so she did glance where I was pointing with my mana, which was Neugieri.
She brushed me questioningly with warm currents, and I simply caressed her with my mana a bit in assurance. I had trust in Zis; she was energetic, active, but incredibly kind. She hurt Hexe exactly once by accident, dropping her from a bit too high; ever since that time, she was always so scared around humans. A gentle creature.
She disassembled into a gust of wind with barely a form, brushing across Neugieri, making the young woman yelp, before nuzzling up to her cheek, making the girl blink in shock and hold onto a happily whispering bird of wind nuzzling up to her.
"Back when I only started to create what is now known as chimerology, I was inspired by the elementals," I explained softly, "A monster must have a core. It is a given. But elementals proved that a monster doesn't necessarily need to have its own body," I shared, showing the woman my hand, fingers spread and rings visible, "Elementals are defined as monsters who use other substances as their bodies. I figured this concept could be taken further with chimerology…" I tapped my rings gently, "By containing the cores in an artificial environment, and carefully selecting the right monsters to shape what is essentially an elemental… that can shape its body remotely."
I closed my eyes briefly.
"That is the essence of the djinn. Fundamentally, they are spirits that live in my rings and feel comfortable doing so, though they can sometimes come out autonomously."
Neugieri, who finally managed to placate Zis by scratching at her tummy, stared at me for a few moments.
"It wasn't you who used all those spells… it was those creatures…" she mumbled, glancing at the bird in her hands.
"Correct. The capabilities you've heard ascribed to me, as well as my motivation for making DAMN are…" I hesitated, "I suppose, are doable, if I am being truthful, but not in the way those two seemed to believe. Much like with everything else, I just played into what they wanted to see; I… wouldn't have won otherwise," I admitted, taking a step closer to the woman and seeing her recoil.
"Neugieri, I know how this looks to you. I know you are afraid. But there might be people in Sturmkamm that need our help," I spelled out slowly, "Including Hanseln." She froze. "I will place a curse that will knock you out for hours and carry you if I have to, but I would rather you not wake up and reveal what I am."
Neugieri looked deeply confused for a moment, before frowning and staring at me.
"Why would I play along? You are still a demon!"
In hindsight, it was annoying yet strangely satisfying to finally be treated this way.
"Correct. And I've been a demon for the last few years you've known me," I said, pointing at my chest, "And, again, we have no time. If you decide to reveal what I am, so be it, but do so when you at least have the presence of mind to make it a decision, rather than an action of spite," I asked, "No matter how justified."
She scowled, but I could see, between Zis being her cuddly self and my own actions, she was taken out of immediate flight or fight just enough to actually give my words some thought.
"If we go…" She pointed behind my back, "What do we do with her?"
I glanced back towards Aura, who stood there, frozen in place. For a second, I considered it.
***
Sturmkamm,
"Men, heads up!" Standhaft commanded, as he saw the familiar pink-haired demon carrying both the elf and the unfamiliar mage approach in flight and descend on the streets not far away.
His men, who were carefully transporting the wounded, placed them down and immediately prepared for a fight…
"Stand down," Albert spoke, stepping forward.
His tone was even, as always, as he glanced around.
"I still have a few potions on me for the wounded. The story with her," he gestured with his thumb at the demoness, "is difficult to explain, but in short, her spell rebounded. Right now she is in the same position all of you have been."
The Lord rightfully hesitated before he saw the woman by Albert's side step forward, pressing her hands to her face.
"Hanseln!" she shouted, running forward.
"Neugieri!" And the knight they found ran back at her.
Standhaft hesitated further. The demon's spell failing on them was proof enough, but…
"Was she truly defeated in such a way?" the noble couldn't help but ask, feeling the divine justice playing its part. "This is fitting." He sheathed his sword and felt his men do as he did. After a brief moment of hesitation, he reached for his helm and took it off, as he nodded to the elf, "Albert the Hermit, it is pleasant to see you well… I must offer you my most sincere apologies. It seems you were completely truthful with me after all, and right on all accounts. Evidently, you've also risen to the occasion once again, and become a hero," he stated the obvious, ignoring the two, clearly lovers, embracing between their parties, both desperately checking each other for wounds.
It was difficult for him at such times not to smile.
"I've simply done as I should have," the elf merely shook his head, stepping forward; the demon that Standhaft, through his haze, remembered to be so boisterous and commanding followed him like a servant, "I am sure there are plenty who martyred themselves tonight." Albert reached for his bag before levitating it towards the lord, who caught it easily enough.
Standhaft considered his words for a moment, but nodded sharply.
"Distribute it. We move on," he commanded sharply to the rest, especially to those pushing the cart with the wounded, as he gestured for Albert to come with him. As the mage approached, he shot a long stare at the demon and spoke quietly, "This demon, I assume, if you brought it, it poses no danger?"
"Not unless I order it to become one, or if I am exceptionally careless," the elf… threatened. Standhaft merely accepted it and moved on; the man clearly was within his right to have his grievances, and considering the circumstances, he would even let the threat to his life go. "I sense Hexe's mana amongst the wounded. I would like to see her now unless you need me for anything. Do you want Aura to fly someone to the healers faster?" he asked simply.
Standhaft considered him before shaking his head.
"No, everyone who needs to be there urgently needs to be brought there carefully. I doubt that this abomination can carry them with their beds," the man stated simply, "Those who needed such attention… are with the Goddess now, beyond any help."
Albert merely nodded.
"I see." His voice sounded quieter. Standhaft understood.
Gently, he tapped the man on the shoulder.
"I've felt what this creature was like. I don't know how you made the foul magic fail her, but without a doubt, you are a hero today. Especially because she can be tried formally, and brought to justice for her crimes in a rightful manner." It was when Albert's eyes met his own that Standhaft paused, even slowing his stride.
"That won't be happening," the mage said, his voice quiet. "I am sorry."
Standhaft blinked, feeling a pit in his stomach.
"You… were you seduced by having someone with this kind of power under you?" Standhaft questioned, his voice growing… both indignant and disappointed, "I expected more of a man of your moral character."
It was only then that Standhaft realized that they both stopped in place; everyone was staring.
Albert merely shook his head.
"It's not about her spell. I care little for it. Nor is it about her personal magical power, or anything foolish like her body," the man explained slowly, glancing around, his eyes for some reason stopping on the woman he arrived with, "I need Aura, because I study monsters. Eventually, I will have to conduct experiments on living demons. The first experiments I will do will likely lead to their death instantly. But the later ones… would require conducting changes that need to be observed. Not over years, or even decades, but perhaps centuries." The elf looked the human in the eyes. "I can't do this with a captive demon. The risk of them escaping, or the conditions of the captivity itself contaminating the observation, are too high. Aura, bound by her own magic as she is, is the only one I can make use of for this. This is an opportunity I would never have again, and I can't overstate it."
Standhaft's brows furrowed as he stepped forward, genuine anger, for once, ignited in his chest.
"You speak of the benefit you will receive, mage, but I don't care for it. What of justice? What of the evil this creature has wrought? You are going to give it centuries of life when it deserves to be dead yesterday! My men have died here, at her hands," he said, pointing at the demon, "Your own neighbors who bravely fought today died by her hands! How can you shield yourself from rightful retribution?!"
Albert merely met his eyes.
"She will serve her penance in the work I will have her do. She will harm no human for the rest of her life, that I can promise. This will be her justice."
Standhaft genuinely couldn't stand it; he exploded with rage.
"On what grounds?!"
The mage's mana exploded, making him unconsciously step back.
"On the grounds of the fact that I am the one due to whom you can cry about justice in the first place," the man's voice grew cold, "On the grounds of being the one who holds her leash, and the one who bested her in combat when you, and the kingdom's elite, could only die en masse," he continued, his voice still emotionless as if he was merely talking about the weather. The mage stepped forward.
Somehow, for some reason, Standhaft's instincts made him step back.
"Ultimately, Aura won't die today because I have use for her, and I believe it to be more important than your justice," the man said, and Standhaft could only stare him in the face, looking for a weakness, a spark of regret perhaps, or anger, or even self-righteousness…
…he found none of it.
"…your kind truly is a sad existence. Even all of this," Standhaft threw his hand around, "does not touch your heart?" How much misery could one experience, how many centuries to live through, that a man living righteously would be left so apathetic in the face of this horror?
Albert didn't answer.
After a moment, the Lord gestured.
"We are losing time. We move to the priests," he commanded the surrounding men, who instantly started to display activity, as he turned back to the elf, "…your woman is at the back, if you even care. Corpses of a few who defended you before me are there too; I thought them your friends but… I am not sure anymore." Standhaft's expression twisted. "If somehow seeing them will change your mind, find me." The knight turned around, and after glancing at his helm with the visor half-molten, placed the helm back on top of his head. "If not, I will pray for your soul, and expect to never see you before me again."
Saying his part, he departed.
***
Albert,
Neugieri didn't come back to awareness even after receiving tending by the priests. I've been told she was merely exhausted and sleeping, and it was nothing to be concerned over.
I believed the priests, even if they did stare at Aura, who was silently shadowing me the whole time.
Yet, even if I believed them, I had nothing else to do but stay by her side. Standhaft had been organizing things with the remaining leaders, and he clearly didn't wish to see me now, and until I recovered my mana at least a bit, it would be better not to show my face around him in turn.
There was nowhere else I could be but by Hexe's side.
Berg was dead. The dwarf's spine was severed in the fight with Hanseln, I've been told, and the old stubborn fool made it worse by deciding to strike the man one last time.
He didn't die instantly, however; he was a warrior. I've spent the last few minutes with the man, by his side on the carriage. I couldn't grab him and fly him because he was the one heavily wounded but delicate to transport that Standhaft had referred to; transporting him any faster than by a slow cart was impossible.
I couldn't do anything. Not a thing. I've dedicated the grand total of three hours to studying Goddess's Magic before, and… I've never even bothered familiarizing myself with Lisch's work of Living Flesh Knitting beyond the theoretical.
There was nothing I could do.
I've never before held a dying man's hand.
He made me promise a lot of things. He knew that Hanseln wasn't with him because he couldn't bear to look at the dwarf, blaming himself, and made me promise to make sure the boy wouldn't smother himself with guilt. He made me promise to look out for his family. Asked me to make sure the drinks in his tavern were good as long as I lived, in what I believe was a joke.
He told me not to blame myself, as if I could. That it was fine, that he was ready for this end, even if I could clearly smell his fear and confusion at his failing body.
He spoke of his daughters and wife then, trying to give me messages to pass on to them, but at this point his speech grew mumbled and confused; he seemed to start forgetting where he was and where he stopped.
I didn't interrupt him, letting him speak until he could no more.
Zaudern had died before I could ever return to the city. He was afflicted by a curse that forced him to lose a lot of blood, and he was old; his death came swiftly, and was as peaceful as such things could be on the battlefield.
It's too bad that by the time priests applied Goddess's Magic to him, the man's body looked as if he had been starved for weeks before his death. That would hurt his family all the more at the funeral.
Outside of those two, there was no one by whose side I would prefer to be, so it only left Hexe. For this reason, it was only natural I was here with her.
"Mmh…" The woman stirred; I sensed her heart rate change, realizing with some surprise that I could probably tell when someone was awake by such things alone now, "Ah…" Expressive green eyes stared into my own. "Have I… ah," her voice was painfully hoarse, and seeing her discomfort, I levitated a mug filled with water to her, and gently, holding the woman up with my left hand, tilted the mug telekinetically to satiate her thirst, "…ah, am I still sleeping?" she tried, but by the awareness returning to her eyes, I could tell the question wasn't remotely genuine.
"Unless the entities in your dreams are smarter than I give them credit for, I doubt it," I answered drily, before gently pushing the woman who attempted to move upwards back down, "Stay still; priests said your wound shouldn't be disturbed. Reality is inconvenient like that."
The woman shot me a wry, tired look.
"Is that so? And yet, I woke up to such a handsome man holding my hand," she said dreamily, showing my right hand intertwined with hers. "With such gentleness and of your own volition too!" she giggled, and it sounded childish and genuine indeed.
"It is what is done for a patient, is it not?" I replied after a few moments, in truth, knowing full well what I was doing.
Emotional care wasn't something I could provide, but faking it just enough for the woman to feel appreciated was not beyond me.
I tried to tell myself I wasn't doing this because I needed her help in convincing Neugieri.
Besides, she isn't the only one whose hand I held today.
"Albert?" I blinked, feeling the woman touch my cheek gently. "You look out of it."
"Mana exhaustion," I explained quietly, "I helped with the rubble and am still somewhat out of it…" There was also the unfamiliar spell connected to the innermost part that gave me dominion over Aura. Who knew if it also affected me for a time.
"In any case, I promised a priest to call for them once you wake." I reassuringly squeezed her hand. "We will talk. For now, worry about nothing else. You did great, Hexe, better than I could ever ask of you, better than anyone could imagine."
I could see her tear up before she rapidly used the sheet near her neck to clean her eyes.
"I… Goddess…" And she started to cry, bringing herself up and embracing me, whispering things about her fears.
I could only carefully pat her on the back and stay quiet, electing to give her time; her physical wounds could wait.
Patting her on the back, I stared at the walls of this randomly chosen house, the bedroom of which was used to house Hexe, and stared at the small painting on the wall, depicting a ship at sunset, departing towards the ocean, its mast forming a long shadow on the water… in the shape of a cross.
And yet, to the crying woman I've said nothing.
As I was feeling nothing too.
------
Author Note: This is a 25k chapter.
I apologize for the long delay. Those who have been following my notes (on discord or elsewhere) would know that I was taking something of a break due to getting a laser-correction operation, and later wanting to write chapters for some of my less popular works for once.
With that out of the way, we are back to the usual 2–3 week schedule for The Real Human Being, I think.
I am happy with what I ended up doing, but the first part of this chapter, the Zaudern segment of the golems fighting, was genuinely incredibly difficult, and I don't think it turned out as good as I hoped even now. Considering how long I've been hanging that particular gun.
Would certainly love to see what people think.
Other than that, everything in those fights had been planned a WHILE AGO. I hope it delivered on everything you hoped to see, and yet was a pleasant surprise.
Next chapter is, as always, on Patreon (link in the fic's description).
As is a vote for the patrons about what sort of arts we are commissioning to commemorate the end of the arc (essentially a tome).
Also here is the permanent discord link: https://discord.gg/TnSF28zkxk