A pure contest of mana volume.
That was how it should have gone.
The blood-wings withered and collapsed. The endless silver swords of mana swept the pillars of blood aside one by one, driving upward toward that tiny white speck in the sky.
Watching her blood pillars crumble and be broken through with ease, Solitär hesitated for just a moment — then chose to press the attack. Blade after blade of mana-forged steel materialized and poured into the surging column of swords driving skyward.
There was no Defensive Magic. Not even the slightest attempt to evade. The longswords Solitär had conjured passed straight through the white dress and plunged into Jane's chest — and in the next instant, the column of blades swept through that small body like a storm, tearing it apart.
Jane had given up shortly after the mana-drain battle began. She closed her eyes, cut off her mana output, and redirected what remained into the blood perpetually regenerating inside her.
The pain she had long since gone numb to was awakened again inside that storm of blades. Jane's brow furrowed — a rare sight. Her body began to come apart. Flesh dissolved to powder. Bones shattered and exploded outward. Strands of white hair were sheared away. Even her head was pierced through by the mana swords.
"What on earth… what is this supposed to be…"
She had only meant to stall for a little while — but she hadn't even had the chance to turn tail and run before her opponent had simply handed her the win.
Solitär couldn't make sense of it.
Jane still had such an enormous reserve of mana, and yet she had chosen an outcome that amounted to walking into death's arms.
Even if she had realized her mana might not be enough, retreat and evasion were still options open to her. And what's more — though Jane had been squandering some unnecessary mana throughout the fight, her total mana was still roughly on par with Solitär's.
The mana swords, stained red, rained down after tearing through Jane — they held Solitär's mana within them and did not vanish at once, but drove themselves into the ground in dense clusters, like a field of grave markers.
There was no longer any sign of Jane in the sky above. Perhaps she had dissolved into Mana particles and dispersed — or perhaps she had become part of the red-and-white that fell alongside the swords.
Solitär told herself: even she, taking a strike like that head-on with no protection whatsoever, would be annihilated by it — no matter how vast her mana reserves.
"Maybe I was worrying too much…"
Jane's presence had already vanished from her Mana Perception. That last strike really did seem to have "evaporated" her.
Could she still be alive?
Faced with Jane's sudden suicidal behavior, Solitär found that her curiosity and interest had drained away entirely, replaced by a vague, creeping sense of unease.
After scanning the field of fallen mana swords one more time to be sure, Solitär exhaled slowly.
Aside from the red-and-white residue clinging to the blades — traces of the other's remaining mana — that vast presence had, it seemed, truly dispersed.
"Never seen anything this strange in all my life. Why would someone in perfectly good shape go and throw it all away like that?"
The expression that had, uncharacteristically, grown a little tense returned to its usual calm indifference. Solitär called out twice in every direction, to the empty surroundings.
"Hey! Unnamed kin of mine! Are you still alive? Don't you still have that mother of yours to help? Stop hiding and come out already! I'm warning you — if you don't show yourself right now, I'm going to go help Macht!"
Her voice was loud, but utterly devoid of feeling. Solitär held her smile and waited for a reply.
Her Mana Perception continued to sweep the area around her — ready at any moment to deploy a full Defensive Magic in every direction.
The echoes faded. Solitär heard nothing.
Only the wind moving through the grass. Only the slow drip of blood.
The sounds of battle were swallowed by silence.
"Seems she really is dead. Rare to run into an opponent that strong." Solitär shook her head.
"All right. Time to go check on Macht."
She had just lifted her foot when she set it back down again. The corner of Solitär's mouth shifted. She decided to wait a little longer — to let things on the other side reach their conclusion first, then go take a quiet peek, and lend Macht a hidden hand if it came to that.
"My job was to hold down the other side's companion. Macht's plan shouldn't have any trouble even without me in it."
Solitär considered herself Macht's insurance — no reason to push herself. Caution dictated she rest and recover first.
Her consciousness felt slightly fragmented. Drowsiness crept in, but she had to stay alert — only then could she keep her restless mana in check.
...
Her memories began to grow hazy. And with that, the recollections came flooding in.
"That is enough for today's experiment. This old one must admit — you are the most tenacious life-form, and the most singular in magic, that I have encountered in all my years."
"Is that so?"
"However, during our battle this old one also identified a number of significant flaws in you."
"Hm?"
The moment anything touched on the subject of magic, the old Demon began to ramble without end, and Jane's head started to swim.
"Your practical combat experience is insufficient — though this old one can help remedy that in time. Beyond that, your efficiency in mobilizing mana is too low. By instinct, you concentrate your mana entirely on regeneration, and your outward output is always a step behind. Most importantly: while each of your attacks appears to carry an enormous and overwhelming quantity of mana, the actual killing power converted from it is quite low — all surface and no substance. Ordinarily, with a mana reserve as vast as yours, simply releasing it outward in raw form would produce devastating results through sheer volume. But your so-called Eternal Life Magic has become a hindrance. That enormous store of mana is locked within your blood and your body, endlessly cycling and replicating, and it limits your ability to release mana freely. You can only channel it out through your blood as a medium — and that significantly diminishes the destructive power of your magic."
"Hmm…"
"Simply put, this old one believes you must either fully master that magic of yours, or find a new means of dealing damage."
"It's all so complicated… what am I supposed to do?"
"This old one can pass on to you the essentials of Killing Magic."
...
"This magic called Killing Magic is so complicated — I can't get it out…"
"Ah… I see. So 'Eternal Life' is unchanging — the one and only magic, is it. Then allow this old one to make a small adjustment for you."
...
"Oh, oh! Mister Qual, you're amazing — using the form you taught me, it really does seem like the blood cannon's killing power has gotten stronger."
"…That's not quite right. This doesn't match this old one's expectations."
...
"This is Lugner — a Demon who has devoted her entire life to mastering Blood Manipulation Magic. Hearing her perspective may be of help to you."
"I remember her!"
"It has been a long time, Lady Jane."
"The imitation is already quite close — and yet something still seems to be missing."
"Please don't worry. You have already grasped the essence of what I know. With a mana reserve as immense as yours, all you need is one opportunity — and you will find the way of fighting that belongs to you alone. And that opportunity may come sooner than you think."
On the battlefield between Gaderia and the Northern Empire —
Under desperate circumstances —
Jane, for the first time, achieved a true insight into her Eternal Life Magic.
____
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