[304] Master of the Incarnation (2)
"We can't stall. We have to give Shirone as little breathing room as possible. The steel wire's still tightening around his throat. If we drag this out, things will only get worse."
Amy's objection rose to her throat, but she swallowed it desperately.
Armin was right. If something was going to happen anyway, they should gamble on the option with even the slightest chance of success.
"Shirone is important, but we have to go after Arius. We need to recover the timeline used on Shirone. Three seconds. If no other solution appears by then, the time field releases."
A timer popped into Amy and Reina's heads. One second, two seconds… no solution came.
As the three seconds closed in, they had no choice but to leave everything to fate.
The time field released—imposed on them—but at least they had braced themselves to face reality.
"Good luck, Shirone…"
Having reclaimed the timeline, Armin slipped out of the food storage with Flicker magic.
If they let Arius get away, Armin would reveal that Arius had broken the agreement—and that would erupt into an international incident on the scale of the Ataraxia problem.
Amy and Reina, unaware Armin had gone, kept all their attention on Shirone.
Just as life seemed to return to Zenoger's face, light flashed from Shirone's body. A concentrated burst of radiance exploded in a tight radius and hurled Zenoger backward.
Shirone had increased the burst's density until it struck like a physical barrier; Zenoger felt it as if he'd been run over by a carriage.
Still, he couldn't understand it.
The sensation of skin being cut still lingered at his fingertips. In all his years as an assassin, he'd never been struck back after feeling that exact sensation.
"Sh-Shirone…"
Amy's voice trembled with relief and disbelief.
There was no way to know how Shirone had repelled Zenoger. Even allowing for a change in flow of consciousness, the casting speed and power far exceeded what a Magic Academy student should manage.
The spiderweb binding Shirone flared red, then hardened to a brittle ash and snapped apart. Heating a 1-millimeter-thick filament with a laser to break it by conduction was a precision Shirone normally couldn't pull off.
Relieved that Shirone had survived, Amy finally noticed something else was off.
When Shirone hit the floor with a thud and collapsed backward, Amy's head went white and she lunged forward.
"Shirone!"
"Don't move!"
Zenoger, who'd been flung away by the burst, came flying back and slammed his hand into the back of Shirone's head, pinning him. Still, his eyes trembled as though he couldn't comprehend what had happened.
What on earth was going on?
In an instant it felt like the world had been rearranged. The women who had been tied up in the web were free and scattered about.
"Something else got them."
Trapped inside the time field, Zenoger had no way to grasp the unfolding situation. But years of experience cleared away meaningless possibilities with practiced speed.
Something had happened outside their perception.
If he could keep who the current enemy was in mind, he'd be the one left standing at the end.
"Zenoger! Kill him! Now!"
Jion finished his calculation and shouted.
If even Arius had fled and Shirone survived, they would be left holding the bag. The only way to secure his future was to kill everyone involved in today's incident—starting with Shirone.
"Who would have expected him to live!"
Amy charged at Zenoger.
She wouldn't repeat her previous mistake. Even if she had to buy Shirone's life with her own, she would save him.
Zenoger moved quicker. He gathered the steel wire from his mouth into a noose and looped it around Shirone's neck.
But just as he prepared to pull it tight, red light gathered around Shirone and high-output lasers shot out in all directions.
The instant one beam struck Zenoger's shoulder, it tore through bone.
"Huh? What the— Aaaah!"
Amy's eyes went wide.
She'd seen powerful lasers before, but never at this output. Not even when Shirone had cast at full power had it been this strong.
Sensing danger, Zenoger flattened himself to the floor. True to insect instincts, he refused to take his eyes off Shirone while wriggling backwards. He crawled up the wall in reverse and wedged himself into a ceiling corner a spider would favor.
When Zenoger failed, Jion decided to finish Shirone himself. He extended the blade of his gauntlet and charged.
"Die! You worthless brat—!"
"Your Highness! No! Dodge!"
Zenoger's warning went unheeded.
Shirone staggered with his head bowed and then reached out as Jion approached. In an instant, a slender laser pierced Jion.
One second later came the reaction.
"Uaaaaah!"
Jion flew backward as if struck by a gale, clutching his stomach and writhing on the floor.
He had no idea what had hit him. He only knew an unbearable pain flared in his abdomen.
- Abdominal perforation detected. Cellular regeneration maximized. Analgesic agent injected. Physical capability utilization index reduced by 48%. Estimated recovery time: 3 minutes 47 seconds. Rest recommended.
"Your Highness! Are you all right?"
Zenoger crawled over, limbs writhing like a bug, and propped Jion's torso up. His left eye, however, remained fixed on Shirone's every move.
As an assassin of the Spatur clan, Zenoger had a manual for facing mages.
But he'd never seen such a simple kind of magic. Had the brain been pierced, Jion would have died instantly.
Shirone hadn't spoken a word until now. He simply staggered like a drunk.
After firing the laser, his body trembled and he coughed violently. A mouthful of blood spat from his lips.
"Damn, the human body…"
Shirone slowly lifted his face; Amy covered her mouth in terror.
His irises had gone jet black, and vein-like nerves had risen, red and swollen, around his eyes and temples.
Amy realized the expansion of his nervous system had amplified Shirone's magic.
But it wasn't normal.
The monstrous temperament that had appeared at Depth Level One was present in Shirone as well.
"Shirone, are you really Shirone?"
Shirone didn't reply.
Of course he was Shirone—only now he'd integrated with the Behemoth at the avatar stage.
This wasn't possession where two egos shared a host. Integration meant they had truly merged.
He was no longer pure Shirone, but if that merged being was Shirone's avatar, then he was undeniably Shirone.
"Answer me! Who the hell are you?"
Shirone let a cold smile curl.
"It's me, Amy. Don't you know?"
Amy felt certain.
The being before her was not the Shirone she knew.
"That's a lie! You're that monster from before! Put Shirone back now!"
Shirone was normally cold, but now he looked like an active volcano, molten rage churning.
He ignored Amy and scanned the area ahead.
The only thing driving him now was fury—an anger that felt like it would burst from his insides if not released immediately.
At the center of that rage stood Jion.
His wounds had already healed; he drew the blade from his gauntlet and readied to strike.
"A lowborn like you… do you think I'd be bested by trash like you?"
Zenoger offered cautiously.
"Your Highness, perhaps you should avoid—"
"Shut up! Where would I run with a traitor who mortally wounded the prince still roaming free!"
It wasn't pride that made him fight.
If this ended as it was, they'd have to answer for attempting to assassinate Shirone. But if they killed Shirone here, they could pin the rebellion on him and close the case cleanly.
"Zenoger, distract him. I'll strike from behind."
"Understood, Your Highness. I don't care if I die—just preserve your body."
Shirone watched Jion and Zenoger without expression.
Inside him, however, chemical reactions of rage churned so violently his mind felt ready to shatter.
"Now, Your Highness!"
Zenoger charged with an all-out attack.
What every assassin knew was this: if you threw yourself at Shirone now, you'd die. Still, he hurled himself toward death willingly.
"Hail to Queen Teraje! Long live the Spatur clan!"
Zenoger poured everything into the steel wire.
But there was nothing where the wire extended.
There was nothing at the spot the wire had reached. When he arrived at the place where Shirone had stood, he turned and a chill ran down his spine.
Shirone had teleported at explosive speed.
Shirone appeared beside Jion, grabbed his throat, and slammed him against the wall.
"Ugh!"
Jion hung a hand's breadth off the ground, strangled.
Even as he choked, Jion caught sight of Shirone's contorted face. His irises were darker than ever, and the protruding nerves around his eyes had grown down to his cheekbones.
"Heh heh heh—found you. It was you."
Jion's face felt familiar and yet alien.
Shirone didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that a massive flood of hatred had flared the moment he saw Jion.
A gleam flickered across the surface of Shirone's eyes, and Jion realized, for the first time, that light could live inside darkness.
The murderous intent in Shirone's face went deathly pale.
Arman was busy supplying oxygen to the suffocating Jion and had no mind for other tactics. That, too, had been Jion's only instruction.
As Jion trembled on the edge of asphyxiation, Shirone grew irritated. He inspected the limp tendrils and curled the corner of his mouth.
"So it's an object. How about this?"
Thickening nerves lifted the skin along Shirone's arm to his wrist.
His grip tightened. He could hear tiny pops as blood vessels in his eyes burst, and his eyelashes stained red.
'Neck… my neck…'
Shirone intended to snap Jion's cervical vertebrae.
Even with Arman's bodily enhancements, Jion's neck made a creaking, wrenching sound. He went pale and shuddered.
"Je—Zenoger…"
He called out desperately, but there was no answer. Zenoger had judged there was no chance for Jion to live and had fled to warn the clan of Teraje's vengeance.
"Really annoying. Still not broken. Or is my body weak?"
The avatar fused with the Behemoth had forcibly expanded Shirone's mind. His magic power rose, but so did a brain-rending pain.
If he suffocated him, the object would siphon oxygen; if he tried to break the vertebrae, his muscle power didn't match his intent. It was infuriating.
Shirone's words brought pure terror to Jion.
Having had a near-death experience, the world looked different. Nothing was worth more than life.
"If you kill me…"
Jion screamed, drawing on his last strength.
"If you kill me, you won't be safe either! I'm Teraje's son!"
At the same instant, Shirone flung Jion to the other side.
Jion rolled on the floor clutching his neck, hacking and choking. Water and saliva streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
Shirone clicked his tongue and rubbed his wrist. The ligaments must have stretched; it hurt.
He couldn't break the cervical bones with his body. His mental domain was satisfying, but he'd neglected strengthening his physical nerves.
As Shirone approached, Jion flinched.
Surviving the brink left his head spinning. He believed Shirone spared him because Shirone had heard the name Teraje.
'Well, even a psycho would be afraid of that. If he killed me, how would he deal with the aftermath?'
Contrary to Jion's expectations, Shirone was neither frightened nor solemn. He merely recalled a memorable incident from long ago.
"Teraje. It's been a while since I've heard that name. That woman was interesting. So… what of Teraje?"
"I told you—I'm Teraje's child. If you kill me, my mother will hunt you down to the ends of hell and kill you."
Shirone cocked his head.
"What are you saying? You… were a woman?"
"Hah! I know the rules of matrilineal succession too! But blood is blood! My sister even likes me! Touch me and Teraje's entire force will come after you."
"Puh…"
Shirone's lips trembled as air leaked out.
"Puhahahaha! Puhahahaha!"