22

Sion and Tenka face each other on the stone platform. Tenka smiles with the same fake smile as he observes Sion. Sion keeps moving around where he stands to loosen up his body before the fighting starts. He’s realized from watching Scima’s match that he’ll need to push himself to be even faster and more decisive with each of his moves. Tenka starts talking from across the platform.

“Facing you now, it is a strange feeling.”

“Strange?”

“I cannot tell whether you are more or less dangerous than Scima was. Tell me, what do you think? Can you beat me?” Sion ponders the questions for a moment.

“‘Stronger or weaker’ and ‘able or unable’ don’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I decided to win.”

“I see. You really are strange to me. One last question before we begin then, have you forgiven Scima?”

“No, not at all.”

“Do you think you will?”

“I can’t. Not until he understands that he was wrong.”

“I see. Let us begin then.”

The two of them begin running towards each other, both prepared to exchange blows the moment they come into range. However, before that happens, Sion senses something strange in the air and begins to see magic spread out over the platform. The magic grows heavier and heavier, more and more dense in the air. It flows out from above them, like water through a funnel, and quickly floods the entire platform. Although it is almost too large to tell, Sion is just barely able to recognize the similarities in how the magic in the air is flowing and how the magic that blew up the pillars in the servant’s building flowed.

Sion quickly turns and begins to run towards the edge of the arena he started from. Some of the onlookers jeer at this supposed show of cowardice, though Tenka pays it no mind and continues his pursuit. Sion runs as the magic weightlessly flows in the opposite direction, gathering in a large column in the center of the platform. Sion scans the audience to find the headmaster. When he spots him and Linea in the stands, he turns once more to run in their direction. From here, Sion can see that Linea is already standing, looking towards the sky.

Sion steps off the platform and keeps running, ignoring the anger and the shock at what he’s done. Rebello, somewhat haltingly due to the circumstances, announces Tenka as the victor of the tournament. Sion glances back at the platform to see the magic in the air perfectly stagnant in its column.

The giant explosion booms. As the explosion begins to spread out towards the audience, Headmaster Mirus takes action. Lamenting the fact that Tenka could not get out fast enough, he creates a barrier surrounding the platform. It encloses the explosion. The explosion pushes against the edge of the barrier for several seconds, but cannot do anything to the barrier. The whole time, the entire arena rumbled from the residual force still able to pass through.

When the explosion disappears, a woman appears in the air. She has bright red hair that turns an ashen gray at the tips. Her eyes glow and burn like fire, a cruel grin on her face. Small horns sprout from her temples. She wears very little clothing, exposing most of her body. The sides of her body and outer edge of her arms are covered in dark red scales, small wisps of fire escaping from between them. The scales on her arms spread as they go down, forming a clawed hand at the end. Her sleeveless, strapless black top only covers her large bust, and her black shorts barely go down her leg. She wears loose fitting black boots that reach halfway up her shin. She speaks, her confident voice filling the entire arena.

“I am Gitsung the Desire, general of the True Dracabanan Army. I have come to kill the false royal, Evangelina. Stand down and you shall be allowed to live another day.”

Sion looks up at her, and his eyes begin to burn once more. The blue panel appears as his head throbs ferociously. Most of the information is missing, as it was with the giant goblin in Ecg. Unlike the goblin, she has a Class, ‘Destroyer,’ and a much more extensive list of skills, much more in line with what a person should have. However, only the miscellanea actually appear. No skill of value, no skill that explains what she is doing and is capable of doing, appears.

The woman raises one hand as though she were holding a javelin. At that moment a spear of pure fire forms in her hand. With pinpoint accuracy, Gitsung throws the spear at Eva on the ground. It flies through the air quickly, little more than a streak of light like a shooting star. As Eva realizes the spear is coming straight for her, Rebello grabs it out of the air. He doesn’t flinch, even as the heat hurts Eva from the short distance between her and it. He turns it around in his hand and throws it back towards Gitsung. It flies even faster, but flickers out of existence before it reaches her.

Linea jumps up so that she is level with Gitsung and hovers in the air. She stares at Gitsung, her body thrumming with magical power. She raises an arm at Gitsung.

“Fount’s Needles.”

Hundreds of incredibly thin pure white needles spawn in a loose dome encircling Gitsung. Gitsung looks around at them, clearly panicking. All the needles begin to shoot off at her at once. As they collide with each other in the center of their dome, bright white explosions of light form in the sky. When the needles stop, Gitsung is completely gone. Linea slowly falls back to the stands beside Headmaster Mirus.

“Master, she got away.” The headmaster sighs deeply, a mixture of both disappointment and relief.

“It’s fine for now. What matters is that she can’t hurt anyone else for now. We’ll hold a meeting to discuss what to do about this. Go on ahead of me and inform Sir Rebello.”

“Alright, Master. Is there anyone else I should bring?”

“We ought to bring Her Highness with us, for her own protection especially. And I suppose we should bring her knight along too, in that case.”

“Alright.”

Linea floats back down to the field, landing near Sion, who has not moved since Gitsung vanished. Linea looks at him and has a sudden realization.

“Sion, why were you running before the attack occurred?”

“I… had a bad feeling.” Sion feels bad about lying.

“You can see it, can’t you. Magic, that is.” Sion is shocked that Linea has again figured out so much of him without any difficulty.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Linea makes the decision for him, before even posing a question.

“You’ll join us for the meeting about the attack. Follow me.” Sion suddenly remembers something.

“Ah, Tenka!”

Sion rushes back to the platform, Linea trailing after him. In the center of the platform, where the epicenter of the blast was, is a large pit. As Sion nears the edge, Tenka pulls himself up. Although he has little visible damage, he’s clearly exhausted and drenched with water. Linea is surprised to see him.

“You survived? That’s impressive. It seems you’re stronger than I thought.” Tenka struggles to stand up.

“Yes. I suppose I am.” He wearily looks towards Sion. “I won this match today because you bested me. Know that the next time we clash, I shall truly become the victor.” Tenka walks off, stumbling from the fatigue. Sion smiles.

“It’s good that he’s alright. I was trying to reach the headmaster as soon as possible. I was worried that I had…”

“Save your worry. Let’s go retrieve Rebello Faegen and Her Highness.”

The two of them walk over to the other group on this level of the arena. Sion approaches Eva in particular.

“Eva, are you alright?” She smiles reassuringly at him.

“Yes, quite. Not a hair out of place.” Sion turns to Rebello and bows his head begrudgingly.

“Rebello Faegen, thank you for protecting my friend.” Rebello smirks.

“What’s this, brat, are you starting to respect me?” Sion grits his teeth and stays silent. Linea starts talking to Rebello.

“Rebello Faegen, take the three of them to the conference room. I’ll go assist Master.”

As Linea turns back to the stand, Rebello, Sion, Scima, and Eva begin to leave the arena.

Headmaster Mirus, Linea, Rebello, Valere, Sion, and Eva sit at a large table typically used for staff meetings. Scima stands tall behind Eva. The old headmaster clears his throat as he begins the conversations.

“The topic of our discussion will be on the identity of the attacker who just appeared and what measures we shall take in the future. Linea, if you would begin by summarizing what we’re already sure of.”

“Yes, Master. The attacker appears to be a woman of an unknown species. She utilized large-scale fire magic to attack the arena and attempt to assassinate Her Highness Princess Evangelina. She introduced herself as Gitsung the Desire, and gave her affiliation as being with the True Dracabanan Army. First, we should learn about this True Dracabanan Army.” Linea looks towards Eva.

“The True Dracabanan Army are a group of rebels attempting to usurp power from my family. However, I do not know anything beyond that simple goal. It seems that Lord Notus had fought them in the past, so it may be pertinent to direct questions to him.” Sion raises a hand as he begins to talk.

“Also,” Sion looks towards Eva, “is it alright if I tell them what happened in Clea?”

“Yes, I suppose we should. I would rather have kept it secret, but it doesn’t seem we have that luxury.” Sion continues on.

“In Clea, several pillars in the castle were blown up with magic. I think the spell used was the same as this one, just on a much weaker scale.” Linea ponders that.

“If that’s the case, then she might have created some sort of tool imbued with the spell that another person could plant and activate later.” Scima has been thinking this whole time.

“Add to that the fact that they threatened us as we tried to leave the city, and I think I can guess what their plan is. First, when Lady Eva and I first tried to leave Clea, they tried to kill us with goblins, which would make it seem like a wild accident. The period of mourning would leave the castle more vulnerable than normal, which might have been their aim. After that failed, we still entered a period of rest. I assume they figured that they wouldn’t be able to get at us so easily the second time, so they wanted to keep us in Clea, so they made threats to keep us on alert and holed up inside. From what happened earlier, I assume that they aren’t confident in their ability to take the academy, but they might have been more confident with their chances at taking Clea. I assume they wanted to keep us in one place so they could gather their army and kill us all in one fell swoop. However, now that Lady Eva is here at Sagax, I think their plan has changed again. I think now they want to take care of Lady Eva before she can grow stronger, which would then enable a better invasion with Dracabana left heirless and in mourning. They likely want to present Lady Eva’s body during their invasion, so they’ll likely keep attacking her.” Rebello makes a snide comment.

“So you weren’t just a braindead savage?” Headmaster Mirus ignores him.

“Very good insight Scima, we’ll consider it as we discuss the future. However, first let’s discuss the specifics of this Gitsung the Desire. Sir Valere, you had something to say on this matter?”

“Yes, I felt something strange when she appeared. She felt like a demidragon more than a human. Though she didn’t feel quite as strong.” Linea responds, though without much confidence.

“If she were a monster, that would explain how she disappeared. It seemed like some sort of summoning. But… Sion, what do you think?” Sion is himself unsure of what Gitsung is. She might be human, or she might be a monster like the goblin was, there are just too many things left unknown.

“She used magic like a human, so she must not be a monster. Maybe she’s the Chosen of some deity?”

“Could it be both? Could she be a monster who is also a Chosen? Is there such a thing?”

“There are Divine Beasts, which are similar, but I haven’t heard of any that look human and speak.”

“So she might be something else entirely?” Headmaster Mirus interjects.

“It seems all we have are theories then. There’s no point losing ourselves to speculation. Let’s move on to our plans. I already have a course of action prepared. If, as Scima hypothesized, this True Dracabanan Army will continue to endanger the lives of the students in my care, then I will ward them off. It will take several days to prepare and ready the spell, but I will activate ‘Lockdown Barrier’ around the academy grounds and the whole of Messis.” Rebello looks shocked at the headmaster, and he slams his fist against the table.

“Old man, have you finally gone senile?”

“I’m perfectly sound of mind. If you were too, you would agree that this is the best way to keep them safe.”

“It was insane enough that you can even cast a spell like that all on your own. I’ll kill you before you ever get the chance. I’ll never let that spell be cast.” The air around Rebello shakes with anger. Linea stands up to face him.

“Rebello Faegen! You’ve finally turned against us!”

“Yeah, I should’ve known you’d be waiting for this day to come! Do you really think a brat like you can stand up to an adult!” Valere looks pensive and confused at the sudden confrontation.

“‘Lockdown Barrier…’ That’s the magic that created the Dead Land, isn’t it?” Eva looks shocked at the mention.

“The Dead Land? You would use a spell that created that? You would sacrifice the entire city? Cut it off from the rest of the world and let it die? That sort of sacrifice is not required. If that’s what it takes to protect me alone, then I would rather just withdraw from Sagax entirely.” Both Rebello and Linea go quiet and begin to calm down. The headmaster lowers his head in dismay. Scima starts talking, his voice calm, as though he was completely unaffected by everything that just occurred.

“Is it possible to reactivate Sagax’s ancient defensive systems?” Headmaster Mirus looks up at him.

“Hypothetically speaking, yes. I considered the possibility myself, but with how we and Messis allowed the area to fall into disrepair and fill with people, it would be a slow solution. Much too slow. It might take months just to relocate all the people.” Scima responds cooly, as though he’s saying the simplest thing in the world.

“If that’s all it will take, then I’ll kill every last one of them myself.” The headmaster sighs deeply.

“Don’t get drastic, now. If you all feel so strongly about this, then I will defer on my decision to use ‘Lockdown Barrier’ for now. Let us discuss the logistics of other plans we might carry out then.”

When the talks finally conclude, everyone stands up. Valere looks completely exhausted, having offered himself up to join such a lengthy meeting just to make a point that was barely discussed in the end. Headmaster Mirus looks at Eva and Scima.

“Until further notice, at least until we have some sort of proper defensive magic set up, you should stay in the academy dormitories, Your Highness.”

“Very well. Let’s go, Scima.”

Sion, tired from listening to the others talk for so long, leaves the room. The sky is already turning to night, even though the sun was still out in force when they first entered. Sion tries not to think about anything as he walks home.

When he walks inside, he finds Anima sitting nearby, waiting.

“Sorry, were you waiting for us?” Anima gets up in a rush.

“Of course I was. Is everything alright? Hmm? Where are Eva and Scima?”

“They’re being protected at Sagax. But everything is fine for now.” Sion looks at Anima’s face, full of worry, unsure of how he should be acting at a time like this. “Sorry. Because I got involved with you, now you’re involved with this.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one who decided I wanted to stay with you in the end. For now, let’s just eat.”