Evil's Counterattack (4)
The Wizard's parents were dumbfounded.
"What is she saying now? You don't just talk about dying like that."
The father apologized.
"I'm sorry. She's still a child and doesn't know the ways of the world. She probably doesn't even know what dying means."
"I know. It's truly terrifying."
As an ultralogic mage, he would already have sensed every possible outcome that could befall him.
"Yes, it's very terrifying." Shirone said.
"It might not end with death. Her arm could be broken, she could be abused. Someone could run a blade across her body—"
"Stop! Stop it!"
The mother's eyes filled with tears.
"Why would you say such horrible things! She's only seven! You expect us to hand her over to the world?"
"She will."
Shirone answered coldly without turning his gaze.
"We'll pay whatever sum Stang demands. If you have other conditions, speak to Mr. Rampa."
The father shouted.
"My daughter is not chattel! Even if the Wizard wants it, we still oppose it!"
"Yes. I also think it's too much. We only confirmed her resolve; my stance hasn't changed."
Shirone knelt on one knee in front of the Wizard.
"Listen well, Wizard. The opponent you'll face is one of the most powerful humans in the world. No—he may not even be called human."
The Wizard's eyes sparkled.
"That's why I can't send you out right away. You'll stay here for a while and I'll test you—harshly and painfully. If you pass, you'll follow me and become a mage. If you fail…"
Meeting her parents' eyes, Shirone continued.
"You mustn't go out into the world yet. Wait until I call for you again. Can you promise that?"
The Wizard's resolve was clear, but her opponent was Havitz, called the atrocity of the age.
'As long as Satan remains, humanity has no future. If it's going to be ruined anyway, I might as well do it with my own hands…'
It was the only concession Shirone could offer the Wizard.
"All right. I'll do that."
After a longer pause than usual, she answered. Shirone nodded and looked back at the administrator.
"Nothing is decided yet. For the time being, we'll stay at the Magic Academy and teach the Wizard. If you wish, other students may observe the lessons."
It was a move to secure the Stang kingdom's consent, and as expected the administrator swallowed hard.
'Stars from the Ivory Tower at the school…'
He felt disappointed the contract wasn't sealed immediately, but this would likely satisfy the king.
"I will report to His Majesty first. Whether he consents, I will inform you later—"
Shirone didn't even wait for an answer and bowed to the Wizard's parents.
"Entrust your child to us. You may observe the lessons as much as you like. If you still refuse afterwards, I will not press it further."
The couple glanced at each other.
They still didn't fully understand Shirone's intent, but there was only one choice they could make.
Kido wandered through a busy district undergoing repairs.
"What am I doing?"
He'd drifted into human society on impulse, but this place had no room for him.
'She's a truly awful woman.'
Recalling the humiliation Woorin had inflicted made his teeth grit, yet when he actually left he felt an unexpected reluctance.
'There were fun moments. Maybe I should just pretend I can't help it and go back. I'd regret it, though.'
—Because she's disgusting.
Woorin's words struck like a dagger, setting an impulsive flare inside him.
"Ah, to hell with it! I'm fed up!"
He flopped down on the curb of the cobbled road and, stamping his foot, glared at the construction site ahead.
Havitz was beheading workers.
"Hmm?????"
Kido propped his chin on his hand.
'Maybe it was just a big dream.'
Every time Havitz performed his blade dance, headless corpses convulsed and fountains of blood spurted.
"I'm not a goblin because I'm weak—Woorin is an empress. A being normal humans can't even approach."
Thinking that eased him a little.
"No need to be resentful. From Woorin's perspective, humans and I are probably equally insignificant. At least I'm on the stronger side…"
Emerging from the construction site, Havitz butchered passersby without mercy.
"Still, that doesn't change anything. She thinks of me as an animal anyway."
Kido let out a long sigh and a severed citizen's arm thudded down in front of him.
"All right, let's get some fresh air and then go home. I'll be the sensible one and hold back. Why isn't Shirone coming?"
Clearing his head, Kido stared blankly at the arm leaking blood.
Then—
"…that's strange."
The words slipped out before he realized it.
'Huh? Strange? Now that I think about it, it really is odd. But what exactly is odd?'
He looked up and saw Havitz approaching.
"Long time no see, goblin."
The voice reached his ears vividly, but it didn't seem to travel fully to his brain.
"Let's have some fun. Have fun."
As Havitz raised his sword, Kido bit the flesh on his right hand.
Clang! The blade slammed into the ground.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
Kido lunged back and, panting heavily, rifled through his memory.
'What is this…?'
Havitz still didn't register properly in his awareness.
But inside the memory's taste, a scene different from reality spread clearly.
"Oho?"
Having struck the earth hard enough to gouge it, Havitz slowly lifted his torso.
"You're an interesting one, after all."
The ability to feed again on a memory and thereby extract objective information.
"Suck! Suck!"
Kido drew blood and sucked it repeatedly.
'It's getting clearer.'
When he finally detected a faint silhouette, he pushed off the ground and backed away.
'It's Havitz.'
Not a perfect form, but a monstrous silhouette holding a sword was definitely there.
'What should I do? Run? But I don't know where I actually am. If he's next to me—'
He thought and acted at once.
'—if he's there!'
Kido drew a spear from his back, slashed roughly at the area around him, then rolled on the ground.
It could be a delusion.
But unlike humans, goblins have a fierce survival instinct; they choose life over pride.
'Is he closing in? Or did he dodge?'
Sticking out his tongue, Kido tried to taste the air.
'…No. The chance that Havitz's cells are drifting here is low, and they're too faint to be called a taste.'
He had no choice but to flee.
'Wait.'
Kido flipped backward, landed, and sucked again at the blood on his right hand.
'There. He's still there. Some blurred figure watching me from within a horrific scene.'
If he could kill Havitz here—
'Woorin too… if I could cut off the head of the one who gave the Empress of Kashan the most humiliating disgrace of her life.'
"Pfu!"
Kido gripped the spear with both hands.
'If I rely only on the taste of memory to attack, it will be too late. Sensory calculation: roughly twelve paces. Time to reach me—three to four seconds.'
An imaginary clock ticked.
'Two seconds. One second.'
The strategy of obliterating the area when an opponent relaxed was excellent, but—
"You can hear everything, you know." Havitz possessed a 'divine frequency.'
Kido activated the earth law "Jibakryeong" and spun on his back, scanning his surroundings.
'Now!'
Local gravity twisted, and Havitz's feet felt as if stuck in a bog.
"Ke-ke, an amusing technique."
His heart, bored from endless mundane killings, felt a dry kind of ecstasy rise after a long time.
'Get caught! Get caught, get caught!'
Kido swung his spear tirelessly toward a possibly nonexistent enemy.
'As long as Jibakryeong holds, he can't run far. You'll realize the moment you kill him!'
In Havitz's eyes the blades multiplied into dizzying afterimages rushing at terrifying speed.
Raising his long sword as if to stab, he murmured while calculating the timing.
"Siok."
A sliver of time not accounted for in the Law: 0.666 seconds.
"Huh?"
A black shadow rose from the ground and surrounded Havitz, but time did not stop.
"What the—!"
As Kido yelled while watching the rotation, a powerful impact struck his side.
"Ugh!"
Kido planted his spear to block, slid across the ground, and peered toward the strike. A figure in a black robe stood there.
"…Good judgment."
The Wanderer's six o'clock.
It returns the result assuming you took every action necessary to achieve your goal.
"Who are you people now?"
Without answering Kido's question, the Wanderer's six o'clock returned to Siok's position.
Havitz circled, inspecting those standing in their respective times.
"What's this?"
The four o'clock position was empty.
"One person's gone?"
Siok was human, and he didn't need a spoken answer—the divine frequency conveyed it.
"Hmm, Shirone, huh."
When the vanishing phenomenon faded, Kido could finally see the corpses scattered everywhere.
It was a gruesome, grotesque sight, but Kido had a matter that needed resolving first.
'I'll protect Woorin.'
Though the wound in his heart hadn't healed, he still couldn't give her up.
"Havitz! Listen carefully. One step from here—"
"All right, I'll guide you."
"...Huh?"
Havitz tapped his head.
"You say you'll go meet them? In the voice of your heart, he says. For a woman like her, not bad."
With a dazed look, Kido lowered his spear, then suddenly bared his teeth fiercely.
"This woman really…!"