episode_0010

000

After thoroughly cleaning Kuon’s completely limp body in the bathroom, and laying her down in the Count’s room.

Kleone was able to fall asleep with peace of mind for the first time in a while.

The time was dawn.

He closed his eyes, feeling a small gratitude for the late sunrise of early spring.

While sleeping deeply, undisturbed by anyone,

Kleone opened his eyes to a huge explosion that seemed to shatter everything.

Magical power reaction.

The barrier was under attack by someone.

Kleone quickly grabbed his equipment and came out to the lobby, and

perhaps Kuon had also heard the noise and rushed out.

She came out to the hallway in a half-open gown, and encountered Kleone.

“Kleone! Just now…. Kya!”

Just as she was about to say that, another explosion rang out.

And this time, vibration.

As the mansion shook as if a small earthquake had occurred, Kuon lost her balance and staggered as if she would fall.

Kleone quickly reached out and grabbed her body.

The durability of the barrier to repel monsters is not that high.

And Kleone, as the installer, felt that

it was obvious that the barrier would be completely destroyed if it received the same attack once more.

And this type of barrier destruction.

It’s not smart at all, but it’s the most efficient way if you want the barrier to be released quickly.

If so.

“K, Kleone…. I’m okay now….”

Kuon, blushing while leaning on Kleone’s arm.

Perhaps her body’s sensitivity is still high.

She trembles like a baby deer and looks up at Kleone.

Then, Kleone releases Kuon from his arms.

And turned his gaze outside.

“Kuon. Stay inside. I’ll go see.”

“Huh? But….”

Kuon makes a worried expression at Kleone’s words.

Until recently, she would never have given Kleone such an expression.

Kleone paused for a moment at that change, and then continued.

“It’s okay. I have a rough idea of who the opponent is.”

001

“Kleone-!”

The red-haired girl screams like a messenger from hell.

In one hand, a combat staff.

A custom-made item with a blade on the end that will not fall even if it is stuck in the ground.

A magical power storm reacting to her emotions shook the soil and trees around her.

Two powerful magic castings.

A typical magician should already be struggling with magic exhaustion.

Lyla is the top magician in the academy.

The amount of magical power she possesses is one of the best on the continent.

Even magic that requires magical power consumption that is difficult for others to use even once,

she could cast it dozens of times without rest.

Continuous magic without considering magic consumption.

It sounds a bit ignorant.

But for Lyla, her magic was the culmination of learning itself.

A proud flame heart.

As she once again drew up the engraved spell and was about to finish the barrier.

She stopped the spell for a moment upon seeing a man walking out as the door of the mansion opened.

“──Are you going to kill the person inside by shooting spells like that?”

“Kleone…! You bastard…!”

Lyla’s face flushed with blood vessels at Kleone’s sarcastic remark.

But soon, she released the prepared magic.

“Don’t treat me like an idiot. I calculated it properly. Once the barrier is destroyed, I was going to go directly to find you.”

“As expected. Top of the academy. Amazing formula analysis.”

A reply and applause that is neither praise nor mockery.

How much does this man want to anger her?

Lyla readjusted her staff with both hands and immediately took a battle stance.

“Kuon. Is she safe?”

Kleone seemed to hesitate for a moment at Lyla’s question.

Then he replied.

“Her life isn’t in any danger.”

“Life─ What did you do to Kuon!”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

A sly smile with one corner of his mouth raised.

Lyla, who had completely exceeded the limits of her patience at Kleone’s attitude,

pointed the head of her staff at Kleone.

Kleone also drew his magic sword and released the barrier he had set up in the mansion.

“Chanting Abandonment─ Flare Spike!”

At the same time, a huge sphere of flame rose behind Lyla.

It was like a miniature sun.

One of Lyla’s special magic skills, spikes of flame.

The thorns, controlled by the knack of moving virtual limbs, emerged from the sphere like tentacles and targeted the man in front of her.

There are four of them.

The thorns, controlled with the knack of moving virtual limbs, crossed the sky and the ground at a rapid speed,

targeting Kleone’s limbs.

“Tier 3 magic with chanting abandonment…. Your skills have improved again in the meantime.”

Before Kleone left the party,

it was possible for her to reduce the chanting of the same magic.

But she had not reached the point of completely abandoning it and activating it.

A temporary boost caused by anger?

No, she must have achieved it herself through repeated study and research.

However, Kleone has grown several times more than Lyla.

He had obtained a new power.

Kleone’s arm moved quickly, moving the magic sword in a curved trajectory like a snake.

Right shoulder. Left thigh. Left upper arm. Right calf.

The trajectory of the sword moving like a slip accurately cuts down all the thorns that flew at him.

As the plasma-shaped flame bounced off in a physically impossible form,

Lyla spat out a groan.

“However. Unless you change the number of attacks.”

Kleone said quietly, looking at Lyla’s appearance.

One year of adventurer life.

If there is a difference between Kleone and Lyla,

Lyla did not try to see Kleone.

Kleone has been watching Lyla.

Thanks to this, Lyla doesn’t know what magic Kleone can use.

Compared to Lyla, who doesn’t know how to wield a sword,

Kleone had to understand the party’s power.

He always had to prepare a strategy.

Thanks to this, Kleone had a certain understanding of what magic Lyla mainly uses and how.

In addition, Lyla has high pride and a high desire to show off.

It was routine to test new spells on monsters every time they were completed.

Certainly, the speed of her skill growth was remarkable.

In fact, in just one week, Lyla had become a stronger adventurer than Kleone had expected.

Two fireballs fly in without giving any gaps.

Double chanting performed simultaneously with chanting abandonment.

A technique that most magicians would exclaim at.

However, this time as well, Kleone wielded his magic-covered sword, cut them off, and rushed forward.

As his body, strengthened by magic, ran out at a speed close to the speed of sound.

Lyla protected her body by surrounding herself with a wall of flames.

“Flame Burst!”

With the activation of the continued spell, the wall of flames exploded, blowing Kleone backwards.

The trees and grass within a few meters around were all burned by the powerful flame emission.

Even Kleone would have been burned on his face if he had been hit directly by this.

Lyla, thinking so, raised the corners of her mouth.

She waits for the dirt and dust that had risen from the explosion to settle down.

But, the next moment

Swoosh! Something flew through the air and pierced Lyla’s shoulder.

“Ak…!”

Blood spurts out.

Frowning at the blood and pain that soaked her clothes, she looked down at her shoulder.

The adventurer’s multi-purpose dagger that Kleone had thrown was stuck in her shoulder.

Which means

“Even after getting hit by this, you’re okay…!?”

Soon, when all the dirt and dust settled down, Kleone was standing there, glaring at Lyla, with his clothes slightly scorched.

There was clear murderous intent in those jet-black eyes.

But what made Lyla shrink back more than that was the magical power reaction gathered in his retina.

`Magical power vision…! On top of that, something I don’t know…! Is he using it to respond to magic with improved dynamic visual acuity…!`

If he had wanted to settle things a little faster.

He would have thrown a dagger at her head or heart even beyond the dust.

Of course, she is defending the important parts to some extent by putting up a barrier of magical power….

`Dangerous…. It’s not a good idea to fight this guy head-on. If so─`

Lyla quickly gathered her magical power and activated another spell.

Then, her body slowly floated up.

A height 5m above the ground.

After biting her lip tightly and pulling out the dagger.

She poured potion on that part and gave a bitter smile.

“Too bad! Kleone. If you had shown off that skill a little more in the party. You wouldn’t have been kicked out by Albein.”

Lyla’s provocation, judging that she had completely gained the upper hand.

Kleone, who cannot fly in the sky, and herself, who can move freely in the air.

If Kleone jumps into the air to catch her,

she can quickly hammer magic into Kleone, who cannot move in the air.

However, Kleone responds with a relaxed smile, as if he doesn’t care about such provocations.

“Was there a need to do that for guys like you? I don’t know.”

“…A relaxed attitude even in this situation. It’s really annoying. A trash who can only use tier 1 spells at best…!”

In the end, it was Lyla who first erased the smile from her face.

However. The advantageousness of the situation does not change.

Then, she began to draw up the engraving of the spell.

“Sky of myriad. Radiance of eternity. What is made is the seven pillars. Light of guidance.”

`Chanting. She, who can abandon tier 3, did not shorten it─`

An unimaginable magical power gathering was seen taking place around her.

The pressure of magical power of a mass that had never been experienced before.

Even Kleone was sweating just from the magical power casting that distorted space while floating in the air.

“Dubhe Merak Phact Mgreth Alioth Mizar Alkaid”

Continuing chanting.

With each word.

A mass of flame that turns blue beyond red floats around her.

Kleone could tell that it was dozens of times more powerful than the fireball he had seen earlier.

“Are you crazy? If you use that kind of magic here. Not only the forest but even the mansion behind me will burn down?”

“Ah. It’s okay. I’ll control the power. But more importantly. It’s to get rid of you here.”

Lyla’s eyes, completely imbued with magical power, contain a red light in the blue.

Even her hair burned like fire and emitted heat due to the use of more magic than expected.

The spell patterns engraved on her body, exceeding the heart’s capacity, floated on her back and shoulders,

shining red like eyes.

The magic is complete now.

All that remains is to burn the irreconcilable enemy.

“Disappear…! Kleone!”

The end of the staff points to Kleone on the ground.

Asterism Septentrion

“Asterism-Septentrion!”

The magic of constellations.

One of the ultimate points of magic that humans can perform.

Since ancient times, stars have been regarded as symbols of sacred beings that cannot be reached by human hands.

Imitating its form, condensing countless concepts.

A trinity secret technique that demonstrates absolute conceptual, physical, and magical power.

The space is torn apart, revealing the black space beyond the blue sky.

Blue flames embroider that place.

Eventually. One by one.

Huge pillars of fire surge towards where Kleone is.

The size of the pillar is thick enough to easily crush a single human.

In addition, it freely chases the target designated as an enemy and burns everything that blocks it.

The speed of magic is also beyond imagination.

It was impossible to grasp with the eyes.

It was tightening from all directions, chasing after the head, shoulders, legs. Arms. And the heart.

There is no way to avoid it.

Lyla raised a smile of joy as she watched Kleone get caught in the fire prison.

However. With her magic-enhanced eyes.

The next moment after seeing the smile on Kleone’s lips.

“Mana Shock.”

“Ugh!?”

A sudden shock of magical power running through her shoulder.

The power itself was nothing special.

When Lyla looked down at her shoulder with a trembling face, a spell pattern completely different from the one she had engraved was floating there.

“No way, on the dagger-”

The next moment. All the magical power she had condensed dissipates into the air.

The magic she was casting was also caught up in the aftermath, losing its shape and returning to a simple mass of magical power.

“Wh, why!? Once activated, how could magic dissipate with such a small shock─”

Lyla realized the next moment after saying that.

Her intelligence, which she prides herself on as a genius, confirmed the numerous possibilities in her mind and finally realized it.

`Magical power control…. Forced incapacitation…. Very temporary though. But when activated directly inside the body- the heart, the magic organ, will gather the magical power to protect itself….`

The protection of the body using magical power, which ordinary humans would have to intentionally perform.

However, Lyla had honed her control to the point where it was automatic,

to the point where she could protect her body, which was vulnerable in close combat.

That was the cause of her defeat.

She remembers proudly bragging about this story to her party members someday.

Tier 5 magic, called the limit of humans. It just disappears naturally.

The torn space returns, and

Lyla’s magical power, which was close to infinite, is now close to the bottom due to the magic and defense she used earlier.

She could only be grateful that she was able to maintain her flight.

And the fear that assails her.

The state where she has become so helpless was an unfamiliar situation for her.

`──I have to, run away. I can’t do it alone. Kleone knows too much about us…!`

If it had been Albein, he would have fought back without admitting it, even if there was a difference in skill.

But Lyla was different.

She was wise.

You could even say it was a difference in intelligence.

And she was foolish.

She should not have come alone in the first place.

The next moment, she realizes.

`─What?`

Lyla looked down at Kleone, who hadn’t done anything to her despite showing such a gap.

However, he was holding a different weapon in his hand than before.

A black bow.

It was not made of pure magical power, but had a solid existence.

But what was hung on it was not a physical arrow, but one made of magical power.

More than that, had Kleone ever used a bow?

No, that stance is.

It’s a ranger’s. Not the kind of skill a magic swordsman can use.

The eyes of a hunter, aiming at prey in the air, far from the ground.

Eyes. Bow. Hunter.

“S, Sha…?”

“Fall.”

The bird flying in the sky fell.

It was the fall of the noble red bird, who seemed untouchable by anyone.

002

“Wh, how far did she go….”

Sasha advancing through the forest.

She was armed for the time being, but she did not have the expression of someone who had come to hunt.

Early in the morning. The moment after receiving the story from Albein.

Lyla immediately ran out towards the Forest of the Living.

Perhaps, she saw something that was not visible to others.

Albein also tried to follow, but.

Gala stopped him from seeing the wound on the back of his neck, so he decided to get treatment first.

─Kleone, who disappeared with Kuon.

The moment she heard that story.

Why did her heart thump?

Ever since he said he would protect her

Sasha would often think of Kleone’s face and feel her heart flutter.

But. That was a little different from before.

A feeling of something squeezing in a corner of her heart.

However, she couldn’t forget her trust in him somewhere.

“Mr. Kleone…”

She raises her hand to the faint pattern that appears on her chest and thinks of him.

Sometimes, that pattern seemed to glow faintly.

Each time, she confirms the connection between herself and Kleone.

Then. Her heart warms up in an instant.

Sasha, feeling Kleone’s location vaguely through this pattern,

was heading to where he was.

“…Huh?”

The next moment. She saw the space in the sky distorting in the distance.

The pressure of magical power felt even kilometers away.

Sasha saw all the small animals around her terrified and running away in the direction she came from.

She hid her body behind a rock to prepare for a huge impact.

The expected thing did not happen.

She peeked out and checked the sky.

The same magic as before was no longer there.

She judged that it was fortunate that nothing big had happened.

Thump.

Again, the throbbing of her heart.

This time, it was different.

Sasha’s body was reacting as if responding to someone’s call.

The pattern on her heart rises greatly.

The pattern, which was light purple, finally turned completely purple.

Sasha trembled at the feeling of fulfillment that penetrated her entire body.

Soon, a black arrow is shot up into the sky.

She could tell instinctively that it belonged to Kleone and herself.