Chapter 35: Time

Chapter 35: Time

LUNA

Shooting small amounts of Mana through the veil plus nodding at Kayla wasn’t what I would call a great hint for me to know that magic can pass the veil plus that they were in danger. However, I am certain she saved their lives with that.

These masked figures were confident enough to play around instead of killing anyone… so I had more time to aim my fire projectiles than I had imagined. I connected my fire spell with the Mana from each individual I wanted to hit. Even if they had noticed it early enough and tried to dodge it, I would have given them not more than a ten percent chance to do so.

After my attack, I kept checking the surroundings for more mana signatures, but there were none apart from the one inside the church. Wace and Kajsa continued to wait at the edge of the barrier, hoping it would dissolve.

Suddenly, I see Kajsa leap from the ground towards a house on the other side of the church, quite opposite me. Before she reaches it, I hear a hissing sound traveling through the air, and shortly afterward, a person flies from said house to the ground at an absurd speed, changing their body form from solid to liquid.

I plan to jump from the building to enter the church, but I hear a quiet noise behind me. Something leaps towards me and stabs at me with a knife. I reflexively hold my hands in front of me to protect myself, both of which are pierced. I jerk my arms to the side and disarm my opponent. The pain is almost unbearable, and I let out a cry.

I didn't feel anyone's eyes on me, nor a hint of Mana. If the person hadn't made that little noise, I would probably be dead now.

This enemy also wears the same mask as the others and laughs happily underneath it while pulling out another knife. I gather Mana in my hands to launch a counterattack, but nothing more than an incredible burning sensation in my wounds is triggered. I let out a sigh and drop onto my back with my eyes closed.

The sound of a body being torn apart was enough for me. I didn't need to see it. Honestly, I had expected Wace to rush to my rescue. Still, even if he had wanted to, Kajsa would have been quicker anyway.

It couldn't have been much more than five seconds when she threw someone off the roof over one hundred meters away from me, and yet she is now sitting next to me, smiling at me with her blood-spattered face.

KAYLA

“Miko?” I scream her name. I didn’t see where she got hit, but the dark red liquid coming from beneath her body. My eyes don’t know where to look at. I need to heal her. Krys is withering in pain, but the gun is still next to him, so I collect Mana to use a wind spell in my left hand and some in my right hand to create a healing spell.

Not that I ever tried to use two different types of magic simultaneously, but I learned that magic is everything we can imagine. Right now, I need to believe in that.

The wind in front of me throws the gun and Krystoff in the direction of the entrance more than intended. My body moves by itself, trying to reach Miko. I didn’t forget the sword guy. I intend to fight him the second after I healed Miko.

“And I thought you were only decoration,” I didn’t see him, looking at the source of the voice. He moved too fast for my eyes.

I jump over the altar, roll rather badly, reach Miko, and shoot the healing into her body.

Kneeling next to her, I see that the bullet had pierced her in the waist area, and I hoped that my magic was enough to save her for the moment. I wanted to ignore the guy, but I wasn't allowed to.

I don't have time to think.

"You have no idea what kind of person you're trying to protect."

Although the room is well-lit, I can't see him. Maybe he's using magic to make himself invisible, but I can't focus on that now. My hand is still on Miko's body, pumping healing magic into her.

“Do you think your magic is any good? Haven't you seen the King? How well did it work on him? “

I was surprised that Miko didn't get up. She is conscious, but she keeps her eyes closed and moans in pain.

"I think I'll just sit here and watch her slowly bleed to death. That's all this monster deserves. And then I'll take care of the others. Funny how you weren't on anyone's list. An absolute nobody amid these terrifying creatures. We'll take you in if you feel like it as soon as this ends."

I try to ignore him and continue to heal Miko. No wound can be irreparable. If there's magic involved, mine just has to be stronger.

"Wait, what's that?"

Before he can continue talking, I see an image before my inner eye.

Most mages close their eyes briefly and imagine how their magic works. I also often visualize how my patient's symptoms are resolved during the process.

When magic is used on yourself, you don't notice a thing of it. But right now, at that moment, an image flashes before my eyes. An hourglass floating above a city.

A hand appears and knocks the hourglass over, and the sand in it stops. The flow is interrupted.

My vision returns to normal, but I can't close my eyes. I can't move them. I can't move anything at all. The only thing that is still active is my thoughts.

Panic spreads through me almost automatically. This feeling of no longer feeling anything is scary. Even my heart no longer seems to beat.

I am forced to stare at the same spot on the wall next to me. At least my eyes don't make the slightest impression of stinging.

Is it the same for the others? In any case, the guy didn't say another word. But I still remembered exactly how he mentioned that Miko was bleeding to death. But I can't do anything. I can't feel any mana flowing through my body.

Steps. I hear footsteps coming closer.

I don't want to say that I didn't care, but there was nothing I could do. My imagination to be able to defend myself was nonexistent.

The steps are definitely heading in my direction. When I see first the legs and then the face of the person in front of me, I want to start crying if I can.

Lilith bent down in front of me so that our eyes met.

"I'm sorry, Kayla, this must all feel absolutely terrifying. But it's all right. Give me a few minutes to make sure you're safe, and then I'll get you out of this condition."

Her smile is incredibly gentle and instantly puts me at ease. This is her magic. The image I saw makes sense now. She has stopped the passage of time.

I was terrified that something like this was possible. The question is whether everyone could still see and think in this state or whether she also has the ability to make time stand still completely. What could she do if she was the only person able to move?

"And I thought I could search for the Dungeon Core in peace. So, no blame to you. Apparently, this troop is better organized and equipped than we thought. Ah, Miko, let me borrow your sword."

A moment later, I hear flesh being cut, liquid splashing on the floor, then a thud on the ground.

"I'm going to take a quick look around the rest of the building, then I'm going to check nearby. Unfortunately, I'm a bit rusty, so I can't customize the area where my magic works how I'd like."

Should I feel sorry for her now? This guy was fully conscious while he was being killed, completely helpless. That's enough power at once if you ask me.

It's all so crazy here. Right now, I just want it all to be over and for Miko to be okay.

In the meantime, I've lost my sense of time. Lilith had walked out of the church relaxed, and I couldn't get my brain to count the seconds.

Footsteps approach again, and I hear her voice before she reaches me.

"I will end the spell now. As soon as you can move again, heal Miko... you can do it. Don't worry about anything else. The others are doing quite well."

My body slumps to the ground. I immediately turn my attention to Miko. I place my hands directly on her wound and close my eyes.

Healing magic speeds up natural healing. This wound is supposed to be incurable, so there's nothing her body can do.

That's why I have to approach it differently. Thanks to Lilith, the idea of rewinding Miko's body, or rather this wound, pops into my head, but unfortunately, I don't have the confidence to try that.

Wait, this is magic? Does it have to be logical? Can't I just close the wound? Although actually, it's not a question of whether I want to or can... I have to do it.

Ahh, I feel dizzy and nauseous. My Mana is almost empty.

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my back, which doesn't make me feel any better, but it doesn't get any worse either.

"Please hurry, I'm pretty drained too," Lilith takes a deep breath and chuckles weakly.

Oh well, it's getting worse again.

My vision starts to blur. So, I take my hand away and examine Miko's wound. It's hard to see anything through the skirt covering the area, so I rip it open to look.

Greeted by her blood-smeared skin, I carefully run my finger over the source of the wound to find that it's closed.

I giggle and let myself fall backward, landing on Lilith, who is already lying on the floor.

"You guys are killing me," Lilith pulls herself out from under me and leaves me on the cold floor. With Miko's sword in hand, she crawls towards the magic circle on the floor and begins to scratch it.

"Next time, just break it, then Kajsa and Wace could have just saved you." The moment the veil disappears, she rests her head on the ground.

I was sure they would never have been fast enough, but I remember her words.

My body feels so heavy I just manage to lift my hand and look at them. Miko's blood is on it, and suddenly, my ring starts to liquefy and flies away from me.

Startled, I lift my head and see Miko, who forms my ring into a spear in a flash and throws it behind me towards the entrance. A second later, the metal clatters on the floor.

"What are you doing, Wace? Wasn't it your command to kill on sight?" Miko literally screams at him.

"I still want to talk to this one. I'm sorry."

I slowly turn my body and catch sight of Wace pinning Krystoff to the ground, the gun lying on the ground in front of them.

Was he seriously planning to attack us again?

MIKO

“You are sure it's fine that I carry her?” I don’t know why Kajsa worried about holding Kayla in her arms.

I was the one who suggested that I take Lilith since I didn’t want to risk her throwing a tantrum because someone touched her while she was out.

Wace escorts the shackled Krystoff out of the dungeon. Maisy heals Luna's hands, and Alex helps drag the corpses out of the dungeon. We want to find out who these people were.

I have to concentrate on now. But it's hard when so much has happened at once. This gunshot wound was more painful than anything I've ever felt before, so I'm all the more grateful to Kayla for saving me.

On top of that, Lilith used magic, which is definitely forbidden. The feeling of having your body frozen while your mind is still active was terrifying.

I didn't know she was capable of something like that. I knew she was incredibly strong; she taught me many things, but magic like this wasn’t part of it.

It's also striking how no one mentions her magic. We have all experienced the same sensation and have our own thoughts about it, but no one dares to talk about it.

I may have lost my sense of time, but it was probably no more than thirty minutes before we got everyone out of the dungeon.

Lilith was surprisingly fit again very quickly and is discussing with Wace how we should proceed.

Kayla is sleeping peacefully with her head on my lap.

Maisy is treating Krys only now. We've given him a gag so he doesn't try to talk her into anything.

She was understandably shocked when we gave her the summary of what had happened. But at least on the outside, she seems relatively calm.

Indeed, a day that changed her, her guild leader died, and one of her close guild mates betrayed her.

I am more of the opinion that he was used. I'm not defending him or trying to excuse him from his guilt, but so far, it seems like he made a deal to protect the guild members who were and still are under a powerful sleeping spell.

But even when he had the chance to explain everything, he kept his mouth shut. Also, it's impressive that he stayed conscious despite the pain of losing an arm... oh god, when I listen to my own thoughts, it sounds like I'm talking well of him.

"How are you?"

"Surprisingly well, the sleepyhead here is really impressive. How are your injuries looking?"

Luna shows off her bandaged hands and sighs.

"I'm casting all my spells through my hands… it was weird when I couldn't do it to defend myself."

"It'll be fine. If Kayla can't fix it, then Rayan certainly can," even though I find this doctor dubious, I know he's a very good healer.

Even if her hands didn't heal completely, she could train to rebuild her mana pathways. Unlike the veins through which blood flows, those for Mana do not physically exist.

There are also mages without hands who have learned to cast their magic differently. In the end, it's just a question of willpower and imagination.

"Luna..."

"Huh?"

"Thank you. You're really impressive."

"Where did that come from?"

"I just realized again that I can't imagine how it would have gone without you. I can't apologize enough for not taking you seriously in the beginning."

"Hey, I've told you often enough. Nobody can be taken seriously with a magical girl outfit. I joined your guild mainly because I couldn't take myself seriously anymore. Besides, stop praising me so highly. Without your hint that you're probably in danger, plus the Mana passes through the veil, I probably wouldn't have had enough time to prepare such an attack."

"Thanks anyway, and sorry."

"Both accepted and now it's good."

I look past Luna and see that Wace has returned and is speaking to Maisy. There is no sign of Lilith yet. I really want to search for her. I need to ask her a couple of questions, but that will have to wait until Kayla is awake.

My legs are already numb, but I am no monster to stand up, risking to throw her out of her slumber.

"Do you need anything? A potion, something to eat?" Maisy asks me as she combs her fingers through her mint-colored hair, not making eye contact. I can't look her in the head, but I get the feeling she blames herself for what's happened, at least to some degree.

"No thanks, but do you need anything? Do you want to talk?"

Her eyes wander upwards, and she looks at me in surprise. Is it so strange that I offer myself as a conversation partner?

“That would be nice,” she sits beside me at a remarkable safety distance.

"So... Miko, what do you think will happen next? Everyone always tells me that everything will be fine and that I should calm down, but I want to know what's coming. I also want to prepare myself... I don't plan to crawl into a hole and let you do the work alone."

I take a deep breath.

“I don't know what will happen. The death of Jora will probably be announced in the next few hours. Then the Ministry will probably temporarily put someone in his position, not as your guild leader but as King of the Mages, who has to attend meetings and so on... Krys will probably be put in custody for now, and apart from that, we'll be back to our work for better or worse. I doubt Wace or Lilith would announce that our guilds will withdraw from the Dungeon Raid.”

“I see.”

LILITH

"Aren't you embarrassed about playing dead?"

"Do you call a broken doll dead?"

Even for me, it's a grotesque sight to see something that looks like a person with a slit throat talking to me like it's nothing.

"Did you create this dungeon?"

“No, I am more into creating creatures.”

“What are your goals?”

“Haha, it's all in the spirit of asking costs nothing, right?”

“I just figured I can't do much more than ask questions. I guess you can just abandon your puppet and leave me alone.”

“You're right, but you still came here to talk to me. I thought you wanted to thank me for getting Jora out of the picture.”

“I didn't need him dead to achieve my goals, and it's a shame to bring such weapons into play.”

“Don't you think it's unfair that mages can take risks because they know that almost everything is fixed with a tad of healing? Normal creatures don't have that luxury. We just consider whether it's worth compensating for the imbalance.”

“By building weapons that kill mages? Who hurt you?”

“Hey, why are you getting personal now?”

“So, what are you up to?”

“As I said, we want to make the world fairer.”

“What a load of bullshit.”

“I don't think that's for you to decide. Anyway, I don't think this is going anywhere. The Dungeon Core is buried in a lake, have fun finding it. See you around.”

And with that, the body I killed earlier slapped lifelessly on the floor again. No trace of Mana was left.

I have a headache, and it's annoying that I had absolutely no idea any of this was happening.

I was careful; I knew that big events like the Dungeon Raid had the potential to attract events similar to the last election.

But this was different. No big attack on the public, no big spectacle.

Just a simple assassination.

What have I actually been doing for the last few weeks? How come I don't do anything here except react to the actions of the opposition? I have no control over anything.

I'm sure it was the right decision to get involved here, but what's in it for us? Is it worth sending my guild into this sort of danger?

I spent too long just waiting and sitting around. I'm sick of myself.

Anyway, now I'll destroy the Dungeon Core and take care of my people.

I let my Mana flow through and around me to levitate my body. Outside the church, I rise into the sky and search for the lake. I hardly think he lied to me. Why would he?

Once I reach the top, I find my destination and fly there... so I'm definitely not going into the water. I don't have much choice but to blow the whole thing up.

It's not hard to imagine the huge crater, and my mana reserves should be sufficient. Supporting Kayla with her healing magic was really exhausting. When our mana systems connected, she began to drain me relentlessly, but I'm more than okay. Even though I acted like I was exhausted, I didn’t want the others to be even more afraid of me.

What I'm lacking right now is concentration... fuck it. I point my hand toward the ground and shoot a big pile of Mana at the lake. The shockwave from the explosion reaches me several hundred meters in the air.

The dungeon begins to dissipate, but I can feel my face continuing to clench, unable to relax.

As I fly towards the gate, I watch the buildings disintegrate into loose Mana. Someone has created this city with magic. Ever since I realized that dungeons are handmade, I've been trying to make things out of Mana, but I'm already having trouble shaping magical ore. It's really sad when I think of my huge mana pool, and it certainly wouldn't be a problem.

Hmm, what is that?

I can feel something flying towards me. I turn around and see a kind of lightning bolt flying towards me, fast and silent. With a swing of my arm, I create a mana-blocking barrier against which the attack bounces off.

Because the floor has disintegrated, a sewer system that we had completely ignored is now visible. And there is actually a second gate in it and a figure in front of it from which the spell was cast in my direction.

You're not getting away from me. Launching an attack would take too long; the figure would have disappeared through the gate with some steps. I can't stop or slow down time in a hurry and at a distance, either.

So, I create a portal that lets me out right next to the second gate, speculating that the person will try to attack me again.

When I reach the bottom, all I can see is their back. I don't know where the portal leads. My anger tells me to go after them and wipe out everyone over there. But I can't just disappear now.

As the gate starts to lose its blue shimmer, I want to fire another attack, like the one that had caused a huge crater before, but this one would go straight into the gate and hopefully to the other side, wherever it led.

I don't do it.

It's too likely that innocent people could be hit on the other side.

I'm not that much of a monster.