[80] An Unwelcome Visitor from the Dark (4)
"Damn! Am I too late?"
Sade, who had ridden the carriage all night, teleported to the main gate as soon as he entered Creas. As expected, the guards stood frozen, showing no reaction.
It was dark magic.
And of a very high level.
'I have to find Master first.'
Sade headed for the faculty dormitory. But before he had gone ten steps, the characteristic roar of a teleportation split the sky.
As Sade's alertness snapped on and he entered the Spirit Zone, Etella descended on a beam of light.
"Teacher Etella! What's the situation?"
Just back from a field assignment, Sade asked as if he already knew what had happened at the school. Etella looked puzzled, but since every second mattered she cut to the chase.
"It seems to be dark magic. Both the students and the faculty have lost their memories."
Sade had expected as much, but now that it was reality he was stunned. No matter how mad—who would raid Alpheas School of Magic, one of the kingdom's five great academies?
"We don't have time. Tell me everything first."
"When I scouted through the Spirit Zone, I saw the entire student body moving up the mountain. Judging by the direction, it looks like toward the impassable bridge. There are three leaders and three people trailing them. As for the teachers… it seems I'm the only one who barely escaped."
Viltor Arkein's dark magic had risen to the rank of great mage, but Etella was a bishop of the Karcys Order; they shouldn't have been able to dominate her mind. Relieved at that, Sade explained what he knew.
"Quickly then. The one who did this is Viltor Arkein. A great mage who wreaked havoc about forty years ago."
"I've heard the name. Why would someone like that target the school…?"
Sade bit his lip. It was an unpleasant part of Master Alpheas's past. But for now the only person he could rely on was Etella, and he trusted that she would accept it without prejudice.
"Viltor Arkein is the principal's teacher."
Etella blinked. She didn't imagine anything beyond what Sade had said.
"I see. But among those taking the students, I don't think Arkein is one of them. Whatever the reason, we should rescue the students first."
"No. You must feel it too, Teacher Etella—mind magic like this isn't easily undone. If we try to rescue the students one by one, we'll probably trigger a counterattack."
"We can't just leave them."
"You said there are three people tailing them. Can you tell who they are?"
"I couldn't confirm their faces, so I can't be certain… but from their auras it felt like Shirone."
"Shirone?"
Etella's words made Sade snap to attention. Arkein's spell had likely been cast around twenty-four hours earlier. The only students who could have been outside the school at that time were Shirone and his group—those who'd been suspended.
"I didn't confirm their faces, so I can't be sure. But by temperament it felt like Shirone, Nade, and Iruki."
"That sounds likely. If it's those kids, they'll be fine for now. They're clever—they'll know what to do. Leave them to it, and you, Etella, find Arkein."
"And what will you do, Teacher Sade?"
"I'll find the principal. First priority is to find Master and remove the dark magic."
Etella nodded.
"All right. I'll search for Arkein."
Sade scanned the ridge. The school grounds were vast; there was no sense of where Arkein might be hiding.
"Several hundred people were affected at once. For a spell that large, the caster must be severely drained. He'll probably be hiding where there are no people. Searching around the mountain will be fastest. How wide is the Spirit Zone's radius in Jonar Mode?"
"Hmm, roughly two kilometers in diameter."
Sade did the rough math and nodded.
"If we set about five points, we should be fine. Patrol from the training grounds as a base. I'll head to the school."
"Okay. After we catch Arkein, I'll rescue the students."
"Don't overdo it. Arkein is—"
Sade stopped himself. Saying how strong the opponent was would only inflame Etella's sense of duty. Who else could he trust besides a bishop of the Karcys Order recognized by the state?
"No. Please, I'm asking you."
As a disciple of Alpheas and feeling responsible, Sade bowed on behalf of his master. Etella shook her head with a shy smile.
"I don't know the details, but I'm a teacher at this school too. I'll do my best for the students."
"All right. Then…"
From here on, it was a race against time.
Sade teleported toward the school, and Etella finished her breath and focused.
Her hierarchical sequence spiked at hyperspeed and the Spirit Zone expanded. Jonar Mode's unique expansion unfolded, letting her perceive everything within a two-kilometer radius through synesthesia.
"First, the 26th training ground."
Etella's body turned to light and she flew to the mountain peak. In a single teleport she covered a kilometer.
The Mage's Battle (1)
Canis's group had gathered the memory-blocked people at the start of the impassable bridge.
Arin's face was pale after finishing the mission. Even working under an Abyss Nova, moving hundreds of people under mental domination was back-breaking labor.
From the bushes, Nade, watching Canis's group, said, "Why here? It's just a bridge and a cliff."
"I don't know. Maybe they're waiting for someone?"
Iruki counted off with his fingers.
"If you look at it with just three elements—cliff, mind control, villains—the answer's obvious. They intend to throw them off the cliff."
"What? Why would they do something that insane?"
"Logically it makes no sense. Tossing students off won't gain anything. But what if it's emotional? Like hatred or revenge."
Shirone thought that made sense. And if they were really planning such a thing, waiting passively wasn't the best option.
"We have to act before that happens. We might have to fight."
Nothing happened for ten minutes. The students and teachers stood blankly under mind control while Canis and Arin stared over the cliff, waiting for their master.
"Do you think it's really okay, Canis? We searched the whole school and still couldn't bring Alpheas."
"We can't help it. Even Master warned us to be especially careful if we met Alpheas. We just have to do what we can."
"Still… I feel like we're going to get scolded."
Canis turned to Arin with a sour look.
"Arin. Master is a good person. He won't scold you for this, so don't worry."
Lucas, who had been listening, was growing irritated. He'd come for the large payday, but he hadn't expected a terrorist attack on the whole academy.
Considering the mission's difficulty, the advance payment they'd received was paltry. And Arkein hadn't shown up long past the agreed time.
"Hey. When is your master finally coming? He didn't run off, did he?"
This was an assault on one of the kingdom's five greatest schools. With most of the students being top-class nobles, even if this ended without casualties the backlash would be enormous. Even a great mage could have panicked and fled.
"Don't underestimate my master. He's not someone for you to speak of."
"Hah. Unbelievable."
Lucas scratched his head in annoyance. Suddenly he lifted his chin and glared at Canis with a venomous look he'd never shown before.
"You think I'm that easy to intimidate?"
A surge of hostility beyond normal levels hit them. Arin, sensitive to telepathy, stepped back in alarm. Canis, however, remained calm. He had endured this kind of gaze countless times in Radum.
'Is that the Serpent Eye?'
A stare that strikes the brain and paralyzes the central nervous system; among schema techniques it manifests more from combat experience and temperament than training. Lucas's use of it hinted at what kind of life he'd led.
"Consider your leniency finished. From now on, watch your words. You complained about the contract, but you're the ones behind schedule."
Canis couldn't retort this time. Why was his master late? He, who had been waiting more than anyone, being delayed was strange.
When Canis fell silent and lowered his fighting aura, Lucas released the Serpent Eye. They were still a team for now, and more importantly, they still had to collect the final payment.
'He wasn't supposed to come with us from the start.'
Lucas looked over those afflicted by Abyss Nova. They were still normal, so the time they could stand was limited. If the people with weaker stamina began to collapse, handling them would become even more complicated.
"Hey, why not just kill them now? It'll be a mess if they faint. We can't toss them all individually."
Lucas had been hired as a professional killer. While a mage was useful for killing many at once, no one cut throats one by one better than a blade. Once stamina ran out, it would all fall to Lucas, so he wanted to reduce the numbers ahead of time.
"Not until Master arrives. The whole point of the operation is to massacre them in front of Alpheas."
"Ugh, then at least let's enjoy ourselves. They'll all be falling off the cliff soon anyway."
Canis glared at him in disgust, but in the current situation he had no standing to stop him. As someone from Radum, he knew how dangerous people like Lucas were. Lucas would do what he wanted in the end. It made Canis shudder with irritation.
"You trash."
Lucas's steps halted. He should have killed Canis with the first Serpent Eye; the human brain adapts to shocks, so repeating the same technique on the same target loses effectiveness.
"Ke ke ke, you know why I hate you? You act like you have some grand conviction. We're both criminals. After today, you'll be a murderer who slaughtered hundreds."
"I'm not upholding a conviction to be grand. I just find people like you disgusting."
"Ha? Really? You want to know what's truly disgusting? It's weak braggarts who only talk. What are you going to do if you're disgusted?"
Lucas turned and grabbed Shiina's neck. With her face contorted, he lifted her with one hand and strode toward the cliff of the impassable bridge.
"Kill one first and you'll see. You'll be the same kind of trash as me."
As Lucas stretched out his arm, Shiina's legs dangled over the edge. She coughed and gagged.
"This one'll do. A pity to kill, but whatever…"
Lucas loosened his grip and let Shiina fall. At that moment a spark lit in his pupils. It prickled like the raising of fine hairs—the particular stimulation of the Spirit Zone only schema users could feel.
'Where is it?'
His keen nervous system pinpointed the Spirit Zone's focal point. As something flew through the air, there was a loud pop where his right knee had been. Had it hit squarely, the bone would have shattered.
Lucas somersaulted back on landing. Even without knowing the Spirit Zone's radius, the basic rule when facing a great mage was to keep as much distance as possible.