The Sage of Spirits II

I draw my sword and brandish it at him. I draw the Holy Sword Ascalade, the strongest thing in the world, and hold it towards him. Towards my companion. Towards Zero. He still only smiles at me. He doesn’t even put down his parasol. But it’s fine. It’s not like I’m going to go all out against him.

But even if I did, if there was any person who could withstand me and Ascalade, it would be him. Anyone else would be scared if Ascalde were drawn against them, after all.

I jump forward, letting Ascalade flow back in the wind. As I begin to pull it forward, he finally moves. Zero puts his parasol out in front of him. My blade, the blade that destroys all evil, Ascalade, the strongest thing in the world, bounces off the parasol like it were nothing but a weak ray of light.

The parasol falls to the ground, and Zero is no longer behind it. I put the flat body of Ascalade above my head as a spell comes raining down. I can’t tell what kind of spell it is. All I can tell is that none of it reaches me. I look up and find Zero floating there, right above me, looking down at me with a smirk on his face.

“Come on, Dust. Aren’t you supposed to be the hero? You can do better than that.”

It seems that Zero can tell too. I really can’t live up to what a hero should be. But that doesn’t matter. Right here and now, so I can stop being the hero, so that somebody can use this sword to save the world, I have to win.

I jump at Zero. I can’t use the power of Ascalade against him, not fully, so it’s best for me to end the battle quickly. A prolonged battle would be in a mage’s favor. And he’s stronger as a mage than I am as a swordsman.

I reach him. He’s right there in front of me. I’m only a single slash away from victory. However, before I can swing, I feel an intense weight on my body. Or rather, the intense weight is my body. It’s a spell he always favored, one that can end a fight before it begins: gravity magic.

I plummet and crash into the ground. I can feel my body buckling under the pressure of gravity and fall to my knees. The form the spell takes is a field. It seems like a column of air around me has had the force of gravity increased. It shouldn’t be very hard to escape. As I look ahead, I see Zero floating just above the ground in front of me.

“Is this enough, Dust? If you won’t even use Ascalade properly, then there’s no way you can win. I’m stronger, so just shut up and listen to me.”

“I can’t just go along with you, Zero.” He laughs softly, looking at me like I’m an interesting experiment.

“I should’ve known that a spell as weak as this couldn’t stop you.” I raise one knee and press into the ground as I ready myself to move. “With this much pressure even staying on your knees shouldn’t be possible, much less talking like normal.”

I explode forth, gripping Ascalade tightly. I escape from the column of increased gravity and feel my body grow light. It feels like my speed’s increased to an incredible degree, even if it was only my normal speed. All the same, facing such a sudden change in speed should be difficult.

I let my blade cut into Zero’s side. That should be enough. He’s seen enough to know that he would have died if I intended to kill him. But I can’t stop my blade. It’s too smooth of a cut. I don’t feel any resistance as I cleave through Zero’s torso.

Of course I don’t.

It’s another one of his favored spells. It was just a phantom. I should have guessed. It’s the sort of trick he likes. He wasn’t in front of me from the start. He might have disappeared at any point. It might not have been his real body from when he first arrived for all I know. His illusions are perfect, after all. And I don’t have any sense for magic.

I don’t know where he’ll attack from. He’s hiding himself. I can’t feel his presence at all.

I feel a dull prod on the small of my back. Then I hear a buzzing behind me. Electricity runs up and down my spine, bursting out into the rest of my body. It hurts. It’s one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt, only beaten by the Demon King ripping my body apart. I collapse on the spot, using what strength remains in my rattled body to flip myself over and lie on my back.

Zero is standing there over me, smiling softly. I grip Ascalade tightly, the tingling in my body not yet gone.

It hurts. But that’s all. It only hurts. It’s another one of his favorite spells: a pulse of electricity fine-tuned to stimulate the body as though it were in pain while not causing any real damage. It’s the one I call his masterpiece. But I hate him for using it. I hate him for all the spells he’s used so far.

He’s only used his favorite spells against me. He’s only used spells that can end a fight without hurting anyone. He’s too gentle, after all. All of these spells are his mercy. All of these spells are ones I haven’t seen since we set off on this journey.

I hate them.

He’s pitying me. I hate it.

He isn’t fighting me for real, even though I really meant to cut into him. Even though I’m the hero who’s supposed to save the world, he doesn’t need to take this seriously.

“Is this really it, Dust? You’re the hero, so you can’t lose here.” Even though I’ve recovered, I can’t respond. I can’t even face him. “Don’t act like some weakling. I know. If this is all the hero amounts to, then I’ll just go all out and kill the Demon King myself. It can’t be that hard if the hero is only this strong. I’ll bet it’ll make me look cool, too. If I’m the one to kill the Demon King, then I’m sure even Alice would fall for me. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

I don’t understand him. I can’t understand a genius like him. But even then, even if I’m only a weakling who failed to become the hero, I have to fight him. I have to fight him for real, even if he’s my friend.

I don’t understand him. But even still, no matter the reason, he’s said something that I can’t forgive.