3 — You Reap What You Sow (03)

The golden light slowly faded out.

All my senses were shut off.

All of them, except my mind, and only because of that I could say I was still alive.

Where was I again? Ah. Right. At the bar.

If my memory wasn't failing me, we'd just run into Lakas, the self-proclaimed superhero.

In that case…

That would explain why I felt so numb. I was probably under the effect of that crazy teleportation magic.

Okay.

I'd seen people on TV say the same thing before. According to them, it was like a complete spatial disconnection from the real world. Something like:

'As soon as I was teleported, I felt my whole body shut down. I thought I'd died, but after a few seconds, my senses came back one by one, like someone was flipping switches. Hehe~ It felt like I was totally high.'

Uh… well, anyway, I figured I'd be back to normal soon.

And I was right.

The first sense to come back was smell; a strong scent of alcohol instantly flooded my nose.

Hearing came next. There was such a loud sound of wind I could barely string my thoughts together.

Touch returned, amplifying the feeling of the wind. On top of the noise, I could now feel the icy lashes of it slamming against my body.

Every muscle tingled, as if I'd run a marathon for days or been lifting tons of weight with my arms.

Aside from that and the nausea, it wasn't that bad. There was something really soft between my hands… It felt like…

Wait a sec…

"Hm."

Considering I'd thrown myself on top of Ichika-san, there was a good chance it was exactly what I thought it was, but…

I squeezed.

"Ofu!"

"!!!"

W-what was that? Did I… did I just?

I squeezed again.

"A-ah!~"

Shit! Is this for real?!

"Ichika-san, that was an accident. I didn't mean to squeez—?"

I started to speak, but stopped the moment my vision came back.

Under my hands there was a hairy chest. A red-haired guy with a goatee, dressed in a white jumpsuit, was staring at me with a weird look.

"L-Lakas?"

"P-please be more gentle."

"What the hell is this?! Why are you under me? Where's Ichika-san?! Where even are w—? Kyaaa!!"

Trying to get away from that weird guy, I jumped back. That's when the ground beneath my feet vanished.

"Careful, kid!" Lakas grabbed my arm.

This view…

We were on the rooftop of the tallest building in the city: the Massugu Sky Tower.

"…"

I was completely speechless.

If Lakas hadn't been there, I'd be dead.

"Haruki-kun!!! Are you okay?!"

Ichika-san ran toward me in a panic, but I couldn't answer. The thought that I'd almost died without ever getting on a plane scared me. The thought that I'd almost died without ever having a decent job pissed me off—no! Screw that! I almost died without ever kissing a girl!!!

"What happened, Haruki-kun?! You're pale!"

I took a deep breath.

Focus. Panicking wouldn't help me.

"One minute we were at the bar, then there was this flash and, bam! We end up at the Massugu Sky Tower! Hey, the guy with you is… Lakas, right?"

Apparently, Ichika-san had sobered up.

"You two. I don't know how you got caught in the range of my magic, but this is serious. Find somewhere to take cover and stay there until it's safe. This doesn't look like your average terrorist attack."

Lakas carefully set me down on the rooftop. The ridiculous expression he'd had on his face vanished completely, replaced by a dark, serious look. As hard as it was to believe, I was standing in front of a licensed mage.

"How long are you going to keep hiding?! Come out!"

The moment Lakas shouted, the building's lights came on, revealing a helipad at the center. Mari and Lili stepped out from behind two huge metal pillars.

"Uaah! So this is what a licensed mage looks like up close! Look, Mari, he teleported us almost a thousand meters off the ground, haha! You think I'll be able to do that someday?"

"With the right effort, you'll reach that level soon, Lili. Still, it takes an enormous amount of mana to pull off a magic like that."

The two of them struggled to pull off their masks.

"Ugh! A-an enormous amount of mana? By that you mean…?"

"T-that's right, Lili. After a magic like that, I wonder if he still has enough mana to deal with us."

The horse heads hit the floor.

Under the helipad lights, I finally saw the terrorists' faces.

Maybe it wasn't the most appropriate thing to think in a moment like this, but they were gorgeous. And even though they wore the exact same type of black bodysuit, they didn't look alike at all.

Mari, the taller one, had blonde hair in huge curls that almost touched the floor. Lili, on the other hand, had long purple twin-tails. And well… compared to Mari, I'd say she was… small.

(I think that's the word.)

"Phew! I couldn't take it anymore. When we get back we have to complain to Irumi. These masks suck."

"Save that for later, Lili. Focus. We have to finish this before reinforcements arrive."

◈ ━━━━━━━ ◆ ━━━━━━━ ◈

Lakas motioned for me and Ichika-san to fall back, so we hid behind some concrete blocks. It was depressing to admit, but if we stayed there, we'd only be in the way.

Based on how Ichika-san had acted back at the bar, I was afraid she'd suggest teaming up with Lakas to fight. But strangely enough, she agreed without arguing.

…This damned girl was just as much of a coward as I was.

"Lili, keep him busy while I prepare my magic. Don't get within his range, and don't get caught in any magic circles."

Mari clasped her hands together in front of her body. A faint glow slowly appeared at her fingertips.

"Worry about yourself and hurry up, or I'll finish him off before you even get to join in."

Saying that, Lili stepped forward, and her aura immediately flared. In a matter of seconds, the bright red she'd been emitting went dark, like venous blood floating in the air.

"Tch, too bad for you, jiji… you're gonna end up as my punching bag! I'll start light, but if I were you, I wouldn't take my eyes off me for even a second. You'll regret underestima—"

Shick!

A magic circle lit up under Lili's feet.

A cloud of blood burst into the air.

"Lili!" Mari screamed, and at the same time, the white magic forming above her head scattered.

"Gughyaa! My leg!"

I could barely look.

A thin metal bar was sticking straight through Lili's thigh.

"Don't worry, little girl. I won't underestimate you. Age doesn't matter. I never go easy on villains."

Mass teleportation and object distortion…

There was no doubt about it. This really was Lakas, the spatial mage.

"You bastard!!!!!"

"Calm down, Lili, if you keep this up he'll—"

"Shut the fuck up! I'm gonna kill this old man if it's the last thing I do!"

The terrorist's eyes burst into flames.

A spiraling storm of furious mana swirled around Lakas.

And yet, he didn't even move.

The difference between them couldn't have been clearer. That guy was a monster, in every sense of the word.

"What a waste of mana. Haa!"

With a single motion, Lili's energy was completely shattered.

"Reaching this level so young is an impressive feat. But you lack experience. You lack a real purpose."

Lakas started walking toward the two of them.

"『Advanced Magic: Preparation』"

At his command, the entire building began to shake, and golden lines flowed intensely across Lakas's body. His stance was a little terrifying, but I couldn't help being impressed.

"Surrender while I'm still asking politely. You two still have bright futures ahead of you. Don't throw that away for some idiotic cause."

He went on:

"It's not worth becoming the enemy of the world. Don't make this complicated for me."

"A-a idiotic cause?! What do you know about us?! How dare some bastard born with a silver spoon say anything?!"

Right after Mari screamed, there was a small ripple in the air and then—Where did she go?!

A beam of white light exploded in the sky, and in the next instant, Mari reappeared right in front of Lakas.

"『Advanced Magic: Photon Explosion』"

It was so fast I didn't even have time to shut my eyes.

A flash.

And then there was nothing. Just white.

"Aaah!" Panic took over me.

It felt like my retinas were on fire; like I'd spent hours staring straight at the sun. Or like thousands of needles were stabbing into my corneas.

Fuck!

I started rubbing my eyes like crazy until, finally, my vision began to come back.

"What the hell was that? For a second I thought I'd gone blind for good."

Even though the shock had passed, everything was still ridiculously bright. Even so, in the distance, I could see Lakas still standing.

"Keuk— L-let go, you clown!"

Both his arms were raised, and at the end of them, the two terrorists dangled by their necks, struggling.

"I didn't expect you to pull off a magic like that without a chant. You two are really skilled."

"Gwa-haaa!"

"But that's as far as it goes. It's not enough to defeat me. I don't need to see to know exactly where you are."

Only when he said that did I notice: Lakas's eyes were completely white, with blood running down his eyelids.

Lakas…

Zwam! The sound of space vibrating cut through my thoughts.

Two golden circles formed in the sky.

"Ghh—! How long are you going to just watch?!"

From Mari's scream, I could feel the pain of his grip. The veins in their necks bulged, and then Lakas smiled wickedly.

"Don't worry, it'll be quick and painless…"

With every second, it got harder to watch.

Did Lakas really have to go this far?

I knew they were terrorists, but… this didn't feel right.

My muscles were tense. I had to do something, or I'd stop being human.

"Ichika-san… I can't sit here and watch this anymore. If he keeps going, he's going to kill them… we have to stop him!"

"…"

No response.

As expected.

No one in their right mind could watch such a grotesque scene and walk away okay.

"S-sorry, Ichika-san… I suggested that without thinking. I don't want you risking your life because of my selfishness."

(Though, it was your fault we ended up in this mess.)

"Either way, I'll talk to him… you hide and let m— Huh? Ichika-san?!"

Wait! Where the…?

She wasn't there anymore.

She wasn't anywhere.

"How? She was just here! Where the hell did she go?"

"!!!"

The answer came quickly; as soon as I looked back toward the front, Ichika-san was behind Lakas.

"I-Ichika… san?"

"『Unique Magic: Glacial Tomb』"

White vapor condensed around her orange nails, and the temperature dropped instantly.

Lakas didn't even have time to react.

One second he was standing there, smiling imposingly, and in the next… his face, his body… everything…

Everything was frozen solid.