Chapter 3: Reaper’s Attack

Chapter 3:
Reaper’s Attack

 

—1—

“WHITE MAGIC LEVEL 7: Healing Rain!”

Pomera waved her staff, and a gentle white light filled the area around the entrance of the Adventurer’s Guild. The wounded who had been gathered there felt the pain leave their bodies as their injuries healed. Cries of praise and joy went up.

“A-amazing, a white magic spell at such a large scale!”

“Thank you, Pomera!”

“Holy Fist Pomera!”

“Once the nickname sticks, it doesn’t go away, does it…” said Pomera, her eyes narrowing with chagrin.

There was an explosion in the distance. Pomera looked to see a building collapse there.

“Th-the scale of the attack is just too large… What are they really after?” she wondered.

Bennet had implied that the attackers were seeking the item the knights were transporting, but if that were the case, then why not just attempt a simple snatch-and-grab? A coordinated attack on this scale only made Pomera think they were trying to wipe Manaloch itself off the map.

“Philia, let’s go toward that explosion,” said Pomera.

From that direction came a small child, half-dragging, half-carrying their blood-soaked parent toward Pomera.

“M-miss, please… My mama is… Please heal Mama! Please!”

The child stumbled, and an adult nearby lent a hand in lowering the mother to the ground. The child bowed to Pomera while crying.

“A-all right, I’ll take care of it!” Pomera ran over to them and noticed some scattered stragglers coming down the road toward her from where the explosion had occurred. Apparently, people had heard this was a safe place and were coming to find her.

If she moved, she would be abandoning them. But that last explosion was a bad omen—it was in a different direction from the one Kanata went in. Things would get bad if they didn’t do anything.

“Philia, please. Go toward that sound,” said Pomera.

“But Pomera’s in danger. Philia has to protect Pomera,” said Philia uncertainly.

“I’ll be all right. I’m not as strong as you, but I’ve gotten stronger thanks to Kanata. So please…”

“No. Something bad will come here. Philia has a bad feeling.” Philia was still young and innocent, but she sometimes showed a certain wisdom. Philia was probably right, something bad was likely to happen nearby.

“Thank you, Philia, but I think we can save far more people if we go separate ways. Trust me. Please go, Philia,” said Pomera as she smiled gently. Philia still seemed uneasy, but she nodded.

“Okay. Philia will be sad if something bad happens to Pomera, so make sure she’s okay. Run if danger comes.”

Philia ran off toward the directions of the explosion, looked back once, and then quickly disappeared.

“Thank you, Philia,” murmured Pomera. She then looked at the people around her and called in a loud voice, “Anyone with injuries, gather around me for healing!”

After that, Pomera set up a station inside the Adventurers’ Guild and continuously cast white magic for a while, but the injured just kept coming in a never-ending stream.

“Healing Rain!”

“Y-you’ve cast it at least ten times since I’ve been watching! A white magic spell of that size too! Are you all right? You must be close to running out of magic…” asked one of the townspeople. Pomera felt a little lightheaded and put a hand to the wall to keep from falling over.

“P-Pomera!”

“I’m okay. I can do more!” she said, squeezing her hands into fists. “Just give me a moment.”

But suddenly, Pomera sensed a cold hostility. By instinct, she raised her staff and retreated backward as a woman wearing a kimono appeared in front of her, swinging a katana. The blade swept through Pomera’s hair and a few golden strands danced through the air as they were sliced off.

“Huh,” said the kimono-wearing woman as she stared at Pomera while the townsfolk screamed. “You managed to easily evade a surprise attack from me, even when strengthened by Zephyr’s Wing.”

“Earth Magic Level 4: Clod Missile!” A pudgy man wearing goggles stood outside the window, and a clump of dirt crashed through, flying straight toward Pomera.

Pomera knew of Clod Missile—it was a spell Rosemonde had used. The clod of dirt would explode when it made impact. And if it exploded here, the injured citizens of Manaloch would suffer even more.

Pomera had to stop it. But if she wasn’t careful how she moved, the kimono-wearing woman would likely follow up with another attack.

“Spirit Magic Level 6: Fox Fire!” Pomera raised her staff, and a magic circle appeared. A ball of flame, about the size of a person’s head, appeared between Pomera and the incoming attack. Fox Fire swallowed the Clod Missile, preventing an explosion, and Pomera quickly moved so the orb was between her and the woman.

Pomera readied her staff, keeping an eye out for the next attack. Then a magic circle appeared in the middle of the floor, and a man appeared inside.

He wore a black robe and had black hair, giving him a sinister air. He was young, but his eyes were cruel with dark circles beneath them. He clapped slowly.

“Simply incredible. I couldn’t believe it when I heard there was an adventurer here more powerful than Aries’s Hand. But it seems the rumors were true. You easily handled Yozakura and Damia’s combined attack.”

“You’re with the Cup of Blood, aren’t you?!” asked Pomera.

“Please don’t lump us in with that riffraff. I imagine the name Lovis of the Black Reapers will ring a bell for you, Hero Pomera? No, we’re not with the Cup of Blood…but we couldn’t stand by and let them have all the fun, either.”

Lovis stared at Pomera like he was evaluating her, then smiled coldly as Damia climbed through the broken window and entered the Guild. The chubby magician fell in line behind Lovis and alongside Yozakura.

“Th-three murderers!”

“You’re not alone, Holy Fist! We’ll help you take them!” The healed adventurers picked up their weapons and stepped forward.

“People like you are trying to stand against people like us? I don’t care about small fry when I have a true hero in front of me. But if you’re going to get in my way, you’re going to die,” said Lovis.

Yozakura stepped forward and the adventurers stopped warily. One careless movement and the entire place would turn into a battlefield.

As if just to break the tension, a wall came crashing down. Outside stood a massive man, nearly ten feet tall, holding a giant club. He wore no shirt, but his skin was a dark silvery gray, and his face was hidden behind a steel mask.

In front of him stood a slender, tidy man wearing a blue tuxedo and a top hat. The eyes below his top hat were narrowed into crescents as he smiled disconcertingly.

“Ah, Lovis, my good man. Are you certain you three can handle Holy Fist Pomera? There are rumors she is even more skilled than Aries’s Hand. We shall support you,” he said.

Pomera gulped as she looked at the strange pair.

“Laun and Paige, the Mystery Brothers. Sorry, this is a rare opportunity. A group fight would ruin all the fun. Could you two interlopers see yourselves out?” said Lovis.

“Oh, you shouldn’t treat us so unkindly,” said the top-hatted man. “Laun and I are not the most patient of people—particularly as you are not members of the Cup of Blood. If you speak ill of us again, my hand may just slip in the heat of battle. Ha ha, besides, you’ll make an enemy of Bosgin if you don’t cooperate.”

Lovis sighed, closed his eyes, and shrugged. “Yes, I understand. I suppose I have no choice.”

“It’s a good thing you’re so intelligent, Lovis. Now then—”

“Damia, Yozakura, separate the heads from the shoulders of those two idiots,” said Lovis as he opened his eyes, a cruel smile on his face.

“Lovis, stop with these empty threats of yours. The Black Reapers don’t have the strength needed to take on the entirety of the Cup of—”

Damia turned an arm, covered with a thick leather glove, toward Paige. There was a smile below his goggles.

“Yessir! Clod Missile, coming up!” A clump of dirt flew toward Paige and Laun.

“Wha—!”

Laun stepped in front of Paige, taking the Clod Missile’s explosion with his lead-colored body.

“U-uwa!”

A cry of anger echoed from behind Laun’s steel mask.

“G-good defense, brother! Have you lost your minds, fools?! You’ve just violated the truce! The Black Reapers won’t get out of this alive!” shouted Paige, his voice ragged. As the dust from the Clod Missile cleared, Paige scanned the area. Right in front of him was Yozakura, her hand on her sheathed katana.

“Spirit Magic Level 5: Ogre’s Strike.”

Light surrounded her, filling her with physical strength. Using a high-speed attack style favored by samurai in her homeland of the Yamato Kingdom, Yozakura borrowed the power of the spirits to charge her strike.

“W—!”

Before Paige could cry out, Yozakura drew her sword and struck in the same fluid motion, cleaving through Laun’s body.

“Gah, gwaaaaagh!” Laun’s scream filled the Guild as his massive body fell to the ground.

“I-Impossible! Even the Royal Knights couldn’t cut through my brother’s steel skin! How could you do that in one strike?!” shouted Paige.

Lovis immediately moved behind Paige and brought the blade of his scythe to the man’s neck.

“Ah! A-all right! I’ll make sure Bosgin understands everything!” said Paige.

Lovis leaned over and looked Paige in the face. “Paige, you must remember that I’m not like you. I don’t make empty threats. When I say I’m going to kill someone, I kill them.”

Lovis pulled his scythe and sliced Paige’s head off. With the same swing, he brought the scythe down to remove Laun’s head as he lay on the ground. The two heads rolled across the floor.

“Well, hopefully you can remember that for your next life, anyway,” said Lovis.

“Boss, you know this’ll make us more enemies,” said Damia like he was just chatting.

“The message needed to be sent, Damia. Maybe now that coward Bosgin will come at me to save face. That should make things more fun, but I don’t have high expectations for him.”

“I feel better now,” said Yozakura with a thin smile. “I couldn’t stand those Cup of Blood fools. We needed this. I was worried that you’d lost your spine after that…incident, sir.”

The Manaloch adventurers—Pomera included—couldn’t wrap their heads around the violence they’d just seen. They all stood frozen in place until Pomera shouted, “W-weren’t they on your side? How…? How could you kill someone that easily?!”

“How like a hero to say something so ignorant,” snorted Lovis. “You simply don’t understand, Hero Pomera. We humans are meant to kill each other easily. Peace and stability are all fanciful dreams. Unachievable dreams. Animals are made to gain pleasure from struggle. An animal that just lives in peace…well, it might as well already be dead.”

Lovis raised his scythe. “I created the Black Reapers for the sole purpose of fighting strong opponents with no one getting in my way. They are the opening act to my headliner. The Cup of Blood’s attack was merely a lure to bring me a worthy enemy. And those two idiots got in the way of my primary goal…so they had to die. Do you understand now?”

“Your selfishness goes too far! Attacking a peaceful city just because you personally enjoy fighting!” said Pomera.

“And how selfish are you for avoiding fights just because you prefer to live in peace? Killing is life, for me.”

Pomera gulped and held her staff at the ready toward Lovis. She was terrified, something she’d never felt facing a human opponent before. But Lovis…Lovis was more of a monster than a man.

“Hmph, well, this has been a pointless discussion anyway. You’re a boring conversationalist, Miss Hero.” Lovis snorted a laugh.

Pomera looked around her. “You said you only want to fight the strong, right? And you don’t have the same goal as the Cup of Blood, and that those two are just your opening act?” she asked.

“What of it?”

“R-right. Then if that’s the case, let the other people here go. In exchange, I won’t run. I will stay and fight you.”

It was a proposal that should be acceptable to both of them. If they had a group battle, Damia and Yozakura would join in as well. But if the people who came to the Guild to seek shelter or healing were allowed to leave, then Damia and Yozakura—his so-called opening act—would have no reason to fight. If the Black Reapers really were nothing more than pawns for Lovis to use to set up whatever fight he wanted, then he should accept.

Lovis’s face split in a wide, evil grin.

“Now that’s what I would expect from a hero like you, Pomera! Isn’t that just my perfect rival! Ha ha ha! Damia, Yozakura! Let the small fry run! Only kill the ones who seem like they might stay! We’ll do as the hero suggests!”

“We won’t give in to threats like that! Pomera, I’ll fight too!” said one adventurer as he readied his sword.

“Stop!” shouted Pomera. “Those two aren’t to be trifled with! I would prefer to stop those two from fighting, and if you stay to fight with me it will only hold me back. Just get yourselves to safety!”

A heavy silence fell after Pomera’s shouts.

“M-my apologies, miss…”

All the gathered people left the Guild at once. Pomera wondered if she’d made a wise decision, but the thought of people dying when she could have saved them hung heavy on her heart. It was a decision that might doom her, but it was the only decision that she could live with.

“Damia, Yozakura, keep an eye out for anyone who tries to interfere. Don’t you dare lay a finger on her. The Hero Pomera is my prey,” said Lovis.

A memory of a concerned-looking Philia filled Pomera’s mind.

“Philia will be sad if something bad happens to Pomera, so make sure she’s okay. Run if anything dangerous comes.”

It was almost like Philia knew this would happen.

“…I’m sorry, Philia,” whispered Pomera.

 

—2—

 

“NOT A SINGLE COCKROACH crawls its way in here,” said Lovis to his underlings.

They fell back to stand by the wall and nodded in understanding. Lovis grinned and raised his scythe.

“Let’s go, Hero Pomera! Wind Magic Level 4: Sickle Wind!”

Lovis swung his scythe three times. Three blades of wind rushed toward Pomera. She leapt far to the side to evade, and the blades rushed past to carve huge gashes in the wall.

“You’re fast… But not fast enough!” she said.

Pomera had often seen demons in Kanata’s Cursed Mirror of the Warped Realm use magic far more powerful. Lovis’s magic wasn’t all that impressive compared to that.

She might not have known it, but Pomera was around level 200, while Lovis was around 180. She held the advantage.

“Fire Magic Level 7: Fireflies!” Pomera lifted her staff and made a magic circle. Ten orbs of fire appeared and flew forward as if they had minds of their own.

“How could a total unknown cast a level 7 spell that quickly… It seems Lovis was right to lose in Aries’s Hand,” said Yozakura when she saw Pomera’s spell.

“Incredible… It seems you pass the test when it comes to magical control,” said Lovis. He ran his tongue over his lips as he watched the balls of fire move.

“There’s nowhere for you to hide!” cried Pomera.

The ten flame balls encircled Lovis and moved in for the strike.

“Boss! Why aren’t you teleporting?!” shouted Damia.

Lovis slashed out with his scythe, destroying the ball of flame in front of him before somersaulting through the gap with an elegant twist. He slipped between the fiery orbs and landed on his feet before rushing at Pomera.

“It seems I’ll be able to go all out for the first time in a while! Wonderful! Thank you, Hero Pomera! This is the battle I’d hoped for!”

Lovis grinned evilly.

Pomera was the stronger fighter on paper. In terms of magic ability and level, there wasn’t that large a difference between them. However, there was a clear difference between the two of them in terms of dexterity, experience, and simple battle talent.

If their positions were reversed, Pomera would never have been able to evade a spell with such finesse. Even if she could do it, she doubted she could make it look that easy. Her lack of fighting experience caused her to hesitate.

Well. If a finely tuned attack wouldn’t work, she’d just have to hit him with a wide area attack. She could cast Fireflies as many times as she liked, but it wasn’t going to work on an opponent like Lovis. With that going through her mind, Pomera closed her eyes and raised her staff.

“Hm, spirit magic?” said Lovis with amusement.

“Spirit Magic Level 8: Salamander’s Claws!”

Fiery claws raked through the area. Everything within the room was knocked over, and a whole wall was rent open by the attack. The powerful strike forced Damia and Yozakura to the floor, barely managing to avoid harm by staying flat on their stomachs.

“Sh-she can cast something like that?!” cried Yozakura in shock.

Pomera looked around through the dust and smoke, breathing heavily.

It took dedicated concentration to call on the spirits and borrow their power. Pomera had stopped focusing on Lovis for a moment and could no longer see him. She looked down at the floor in front of her, but he was nowhere to be found.

“What was that? Big moves are either for wiping away a group of weak enemies or to force an opening so you can hit the strong enemy. I thought you had something in mind when you were casting that spirit magic spell, but you seem clueless. You’ve never fought someone as strong as me, have you?” She heard Lovis’s disappointed voice coming from behind her. “Closing your eyes and focusing your attention on the spirits to cast a spell that has no merits beyond its area of effect and strength…that’s about as helpful as praying to the gods. Pathetic.”

“Ah!” Pomera swung her staff with all her strength. Lovis leapt backward, easily evading Pomera’s wild swing.

“If this is all the skill you have, you won’t be any fun to fight until you gain a few more levels. This isn’t what I expected at all. It seems I really should have gone after Aries’s Hand,” he mumbled, sighing as he covered his eyes with a hand.

Pomera’s heart thundered, and her breath came painfully. If Lovis had swung his scythe before talking to her, he would have killed her. If not for his whims, she would be dead right now. Terror gnawed at Pomera’s throat. This fight might well be her last.

Pomera bit her lip, raised her staff, and made the magic circle. “Spirit Magic Level 6: Fox Fire!”

A ball of fire about the size of a person’s head appeared in front of her.

“A wise choice. Finally,” said Lovis.

Most of the control of the spell Fox Fire was left in the spirit’s hands, and the spell lasted for a long time. If she used it perfectly, Pomera could cast other spells while keeping Fox Fire up. She could potentially manage her offense and defense simultaneously.

But that required delicate manipulation, like trying to thread a needle. In situations where the caster was already under intense psychological pressure, that difficulty increased even more. Beads of sweat appeared on Pomera’s face.

Pomera moved the Fox Fire between her and Lovis. There was no way she could win if she let Lovis get into melee range with his scythe. She’d lose her head in the blink of an eye.

“Fire Magic Level 7: Fireflies!” Ten balls of fire flew at Lovis.

“Yes, good! Put up your defenses, make it so the enemy can’t easily get close. Then make as many attacks as you can with the mid-range spells you’re good at controlling. That’s the standard strategy for a magic user,” said Lovis with satisfaction as the balls of fire surrounded him. “Short Gate.”

A magic circle appeared at Lovis’s feet. He was encased in light, then disappeared. An instant later he was behind Pomera, his scythe raised.

“Whether or not a standard strategy will work against me is a different story. I think you would have managed as a B-rank adventurer,” he said.

“Spirit Magic Level 3: Sylph Sword!” said Pomera, turning back and raising her staff at the same time.

Lovis evaded the close-range blade of wind with the tiniest of movements and continued to close in on Pomera.

In sheer terror, Pomera stood gripping her staff tight—a poor decision with a fortunate outcome. Lovis’s scythe sliced through her staff, and the slight change in trajectory redirected the blade into a shallow slice across her chest instead of across her throat.

“A-ah!”

Pomera’s small body was flung back, and she crashed to the floor. Blood splattered around her.

With her consciousness fading, Pomera brought a hand to her chest and felt something wet and warm. The terror of realizing it was her own blood snapped her back to reality.

“My…st-staff…” Pomera crawled across the floor, reached out, and pulled the mangled staff back to her side.

Behind Pomera, Lovis raised his scythe.

“You weren’t what I expected. But your lack of experience in battle compared to your high level means you’ve got some connection to someone special. I’m glad to learn there’s another pushover traveler in the area besides Aries’s Hand. They’re probably somewhere over level 300, right? Your head will make a fine lure to reel them in,” said Lovis.

Then his brow furrowed, and he hesitated.

 

—3—

 

LOVIS’S HANDS and the scythe he held stopped. Sweat beaded on his brow.

He had heard the rumors about Pomera, though they were fragmented. She’d apparently carried the fight against the demon king Lily. And she had practically displaced Aries’s Hand as Manaloch’s guardian hero. Other rumors said she’d claimed bounties on hundreds of monsters and that she summoned a massive dragon spirit…though the city was full of arguments about how much of those were true.

But one rumor among those now demanded Lovis’s attention. That one said Pomera was originally from Arroburg. He didn’t know if that was true or not. If it was true though—it brought a horrifying possibility to light.

It meant that the pushover traveler might not be such a pushover at all. It might be…him. Kanata Kanbara, the terrifying creature he’d met and then run away from on the outskirts of Arroburg.

By providence, Lovis had managed to appease Kanata at the time. But if killing Pomera meant upsetting Kanata, it would surely be the end of his life the next time they met.

Pomera had an abnormally high level, and yet she was oddly weak at fighting other people. Anyone who could manage to pull up a novice adventurer’s level to around 200 in a few short weeks would have to at least be level 300 themselves.

But it wasn’t like people over level 300 were a coin a dozen around here. The natural conclusion was that Pomera’s teacher was in fact Kanata.

“I-If you’re going to kill me, just do it quickly,” said Pomera, her voice shaking as she squeezed her fists.

“…”

Lovis didn’t know what he should say. He stayed silent. His mind was running through all the possible scenarios.

If he just outright asked, and she said Kanata, then he just had to run. If she said anyone else, he could kill her. But there was a reason he couldn’t just ask.

Yozakura…

“Sir, what’s wrong?” she asked, sounding somewhat annoyed. He’d managed to convince her of his logic at the time, but she often said things that implied she’d still lost respect for him because of that incident.

She would surely understand if they fled because Kanata was standing in front of them…but if Lovis ran as fast as he could the moment he sensed Kanata’s shadow, it wasn’t hard to imagine she might start complaining again.

Yozakura and Damia were the heart of the Black Reapers. If they lost faith and left the organization, the other members would follow. The Black Reapers would fall apart.

“Hmph…” Lovis made up his mind and shook his head. Then he removed his scythe from Pomera’s neck. “Hero Pomera… No, not a hero. You’re just a little girl who’s gained some modicum of strength. You are nothing. But your magical talent and quick thinking may one day lead you to becoming a true hero. That and your moral spirit! When that happens… Ha ha! When that happens, I will come for you again. That sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”

Lovis grinned and turned away.

“Let’s go, Damia, Yozakura. We had a good harvest. The Cup of Blood’s party is getting boring.”

His back still to Pomera, he moved slowly toward the Guild’s exit. “I have no interest in the Red Staff of Authority. Without someone to use it, it’s not even a proper decoration, it’s just a paperweight. Bosgin is up to something, but we can just hunt him down if his pathetic efforts pay off. And it seems that Aries’s Hand is even weaker than Pomera here.”

“What are you doing…?” asked Pomera, looking confused.

Lovis bit his lip. He must not have fooled her. If he was forced to say too much, he could get in trouble with Yozakura again.

“Pomera, we are kindred spirits. You showed you would easily risk your life, which means you view taking and giving lives on a broad scale. You may hold up the flag of justice sometimes, but in the end, you’re just as fascinated by battle as I,” he said.

“No, I—”

“Ha ha, I look forward to the next time we meet!” said Lovis quickly, cutting Pomera off. “Most importantly, that moment will be your last. Keep training!”

Pomera frowned but didn’t speak again. Besides, changing his mind would just go badly for her.

To be honest, Lovis didn’t see anything in common between them at all. As he left, he swore to himself that he would never meet this girl again. If she really did have some connection to Kanata, the next time they met could likely be his last moment.

“Sir,” said Yozakura as Lovis came near the exit.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“What are you so afraid of?” Yozakura’s forehead was wrinkled. She was clearly unhappy.

“What are you talking about? I’m getting tired of your insubordination. I have my honor and if you keep at this, I won’t hesitate to eliminate you.”

“No, that’s all fine. It’s just…you seem like you want to get out of this city as soon as possible.” Yozakura shot a look at Damia to seek agreement, but the mage refused to make eye contact. Then Yozakura said, “I’ll just come out and say it. You’ve seemed scared ever since that incident.”

“You’re overthinking it,” Lovis sighed. “Fine, so be it. If there’s something you want to say, we’ll discuss it later.”

“See, just like that. It’s like you’re trying to run away from this city.”

“You’re pressing your luck, Yozakura.”

As they bickered, an evil aura filled the space around them. It wasn’t just Lovis who sensed it—Yozakura, Damia, and Pomera did as well. It clearly wasn’t Kanata, but the desire to flee intensified for everyone.

“Anyway, let’s g—”

“Gravity Bomb.”

The second floor of the Guild exploded. Wooden fragments rained down from the ceiling. Lovis just stood there in shock, doing nothing to stop the wooden shards from hitting his face.

The ceiling was ripped away, and they could see the blue sky above. There floated a girl wearing a heavy black coat.

Beautiful white hair spilled from beneath her hood. What little of her skin was visible was so pale that it was practically translucent, giving her an inhuman beauty.

The overpowering aura was mysterious and sinister. Everything about her was…wrong. Her two mismatched eyes—emerald and crimson—stared at Pomera. Then the girl let out a long, self-effacing sigh.

“How far have I fallen, to consider just standing here and watching you die. Even if I had that thought for only a moment.”

Pomera faded in and out of consciousness, unable to understand what the girl said. She only understood that the danger had passed.

Then Lunaère turned her gaze to Lovis. “Pathetic villains like you exist in every era.”

 

—4—

 

LOVIS LOOKED UP through the hole in the roof as he wiped splinters from his face.

“Huh… You must be quite something to make me feel so threatened,” he said. His dread was tempered with relief that it wasn’t Kanata.

He looked beside him, to where Damia and Yozakura should have been standing. Instead, they sat on the floor, trembling.

Lovis was shaking too, but it wasn’t from fear. He was overcome with excitement.

The girl in front of him had an inhuman aura. He also hadn’t caught what spell she’d used to destroy the ceiling. What he did know was that it wasn’t of a normal scale or strength.

Finally, a powerful opponent!

She was calm as she faced Lovis down and had a certain dignity to her. He wasn’t sure if he could stand against her, even if he fought with all his strength.

Since Lovis had suspected there was a connection between Pomera and Kanata, he’d wanted to leave this place immediately. But he couldn’t let the prey in front of him now get away. Lovis instinctually felt that she was the goddess of battle he so longed for. She would give him the fight to the death he wanted.

Lunaère gently floated to the floor. Lovis grinned an evil, maniacal grin.

“B-Boss…?” said Yozakura in bewilderment at he saw the expression.

Without saying a word, Lovis swiftly flung his scythe. It twirled rapidly through the air, blurring into a circle as it flew toward Lunaère.

As someone who enjoyed the art of the fight itself, Lovis generally didn’t start with an abrupt, all-out attack. He liked to start light to gauge his opponent. It was normal for him to express his will to fight and give his quarry a moment to either prepare for battle or wet themselves. It would be shameful to kill an opponent outright with a surprise attack.

This was different though. No matter how dirty the trick, he was going to do everything he could to stay alive. This would be a true fight. Lovis was certain; the being in front of him could handle everything he could throw at her.

Lunaère leaned sideways, easily evading the rapidly flying scythe.

“Short Gate!”

Lovis appeared behind Lunaère, opening his arms to grab the scythe before swinging its wicked blade back around toward Lunaère without losing any momentum. Lunaère didn’t even turn to look. She just dropped her head and let the blade pass above her.

Lovis disappeared again. He teleported beside Lunaère and swung his scythe. But she evaded again, by a hair’s width. Lovis struck from every direction, but Lunaère responded to each swing without her expression changing in the least.

“Wonderful! Fascinating! Who is this girl?!”

He leapt back to put some distance between them, but Lunaère closed in swiftly. She extended her forefinger and jabbed Lovis in the forehead.

“Huh…?” Lovis went sailing away, bouncing across the floor on his shoulders and hips. He finally stopped when he crashed into the opposite wall and let out a groan. “U-urgh, wh-what just…?”

Lunaère raised a hand, and the Impurity Sealing Robe fell from her shoulders. Her white clothes were revealed, as was her beautiful face. The unholy impurity that had been held in check came flooding out in full force.

Lovis stopped as he tried to get back to his feet. More accurately, he was forced to stop. His knees shook. He couldn’t move. He collapsed back to the floor on his rear.

He’d thought he might actually have a chance fighting against the girl in front of him. But now despair flooded through him as he realized just how far removed she was from anything alive. Sweat poured from his entire body like he was a damp cloth being wrung out. He couldn’t move a muscle, and it felt as if an oppressive weight was forcing him to the floor. His teeth chattered; tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

Barely able to move his mouth, he sobbed, “I was wrong…”

He’d wanted an honorable fight to the death, but he realized too late he’d bumbled into committing suicide.

Kanata wasn’t the first opponent Lovis had met who he’d been completely incapable of standing against. There was nothing he could do against those beasts of men who stood at the high end of the humanoid dragon scale. Even this country had them—absolute powerhouses that couldn’t be resisted and rarely showed themselves. Only that wisdom had allowed him to escape from Kanata with his life.

But the girl who appeared in front of him was incomparable to anything he’d ever seen before. He couldn’t fathom why this monster would suddenly appear in Manaloch.

No, monster was too weak a word. The girl in front of him was a force of the universe. Her very presence was oppressive.

The average person might only encounter one humanoid dragon in their lifetime, and those humanoid dragons were just over level 300. They were so feared by the world at large that their general locations were easily discovered.

So then why…how…did these beings of unknowably high level keep walking into his life seemingly at random? Why did he keep running into them?

Lovis cursed his endless bad luck.

 

—5—

 

LOVIS’S TREMBLING abated slightly, but he still couldn’t breathe properly.

Unable to gather his thoughts, he just sat there frozen with his head hanging as he heard Lunaère’s footsteps draw closer like the blade being raised on a guillotine.

“I-Is there something I can help you with…?” he said.

They were absurd words, but the only ones he could manage at the time. He didn’t think that a being like this, practically a god, would have any interest in his help. But maybe she would let him go. Lovis clung to that hope.

“A wicked person like you who gleefully attacks the innocent can help me with nothing,” said Lunaère. There was a cool, blatant hostility in Lunaère’s words. It seemed she planned to kill him. “How pathetic are you, that you can only gain joy from harming others?”

Lunaère took another step toward Lovis. Without hesitation, Lovis bowed his head to the floor.

“P-please forgive me! We never had a deep relationship with the Cup of Blood. I simply wanted to fight with the girl known as Saint Pomera. I swear, I haven’t harmed a single person in the city. Ah! Yes! I-I can tell you their plans!”

Lunaère’s eyebrows knit in uncertainty.

“L-Lovis, Sir, didn’t you insist that last incident was an exception?!” Yozakura said suddenly when she saw Lovis instantly grovel on the floor.

Lovis snarled and shouted, “This is an exceptional situation too! Didn’t you see how she moved?! You’re not showing enough deference! You too, Pomera! I have no idea what your social status is, but if you value your life, then bow your head! Hurry! Are you trying to get us all killed?!”

Pomera’s mouth gaped as she sat on the floor hugging her broken staff.

She did understand that the person in front of them now was abnormal…but Lovis’s shift in attitude was remarkable. It almost made her giddy. The only thing she could imagine was that he’d suddenly been replaced by a different person.

“Hurry, Pomera! You don’t know what will happen to you otherwise!” shouted Lovis again.

“Hmm…?” Something in Pomera’s memory caught her attention, and she sat there confused for a moment. Something Lovis said wasn’t right. This led to a question…an honest question. “…But you did harm someone. Those two men, right?”

Lovis had just claimed he hadn’t harmed a single person. But just before his battle with Pomera, he’d cut off the heads of the Mystery Brothers. The lie had left Lovis’s lips so naturally that she hadn’t noticed it right away, but she’d seen him kill someone with her own two eyes.

Lovis slammed the floor with his fist.

“I meant innocent people! Stop picking at unimportant details!” shouted Lovis, spittle flying. He then quickly turned back to Lunaère and bowed his head again. Then, in a honey-sweet tone, he groveled, “I swear, I have not harmed any of this city’s citizens! In fact, I put an end to two of the attacking bandits!”

“He changed his story so smoothly…” said Pomera, actually impressed by Lovis’s gall.

Lunaère looked uncertain, but then looked at Pomera and said, “You, over there.”

“Uh… M-me?”

“Yes. What do you think of him?”

“When he first came here, he did obviously seem to plan on harming the injured people here. If not for that, I wouldn’t have fought him.”

Lunaère turned back to Lovis with an expectant look.

“I-It’s not what it looks like! I might have said things like that, but I had no intentions of laying a finger on worthless small fr—I mean, innocent civilians.”

Lunaère’s eyes looked like she was staring at a worm. Lovis’s face turned pale. It appeared that his time was growing short.

“Sir…” said Yozakura. Lovis looked at her, his eyes begging, as she said, “There’s no point. Let’s just give in, Sir. Please don’t embarrass us any longer. As a lead henchman of the Black Reapers, I will accompany you to hell.”

Yozakura’s voice was surprisingly calm and quiet as she stood and drew her katana.

“I told you before! This is like a natural disaster! You and Damia feel things are so strange because you’re seeing this person as simply a powerful human! Why won’t you understand even though I’ve explained it to you?! Are you seriously considering fighting her?!” screeched Lovis.

Yozakura shook her head. “No, I mean ritual suicide. Don’t worry, I will follow just behind you.”

Lunaère observed this exchange emotionlessly. “You are such a pathetic person. Given the current situation, I lack the time to listen to all of your pitiful excuses. But, if you have any last words you would like to say, I will allow you to say them now.”

That was a clear declaration of Lovis’s impending execution. With his head still bowed, his mind churned desperately.

How did this happen? This sort of thing was as unlikely as getting struck by a meteorite—twice! The kind of rare coincidence that you couldn’t make happen if you wanted to! And yet, he happened to pick a fight with Kanata and got beaten up himself instead. And just a few months later, he ran into a girl he didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against.

What horrible, terrible luck.

That’s when Lovis realized something. These weren’t coincidences. This kind of luck wasn’t random. There had to be some logical connection.

“By any chance, would you happen to know a Master Kanata…?” asked Lovis.

Lunaère’s eyes grew wide. Her mouth turned down in confusion, and a hot crimson blush bloomed on her pale, death-like cheeks.

“H-how do you know Kanata?” she asked.

Hiding his reaction, Lovis squeezed his hands into fists of victory. It was a miracle. He’d somehow found a narrow escape from his impending death.

“Yes, yes, I know him! It might be somewhat presumptuous to call him a good friend of mine, but he is a person I hold in the highest esteem.”

Based on Lunaère’s expression, Lovis guessed that Lunaère wasn’t an enemy of Kanata’s. They must have had some sort of close relationship. It made sense…being a traveler from another world wasn’t enough to explain his incredibly high level. So, Kanata either found an item of some kind or—or!—he had some sort of high-level teacher. That had to be it. This scary girl was Kanata’s teacher!

“B-both of you know Kanata…?” murmured Pomera in bewilderment.

Lovis was now certain he had been right; Kanata really was Pomera’s teacher. He didn’t show his emotion on his face, but a wave of relief washed through him. If he’d beheaded her, he would surely be a dead man.

“Sir…” Damia started to protest, but Lovis silenced him with a pointed stare.

“Kanata would never get close to someone like you,” whispered Lunaère, biting her thumb. She had been thrown by Lovis’s sudden claim, but now she was clearly doubting his words.

Lovis gulped, knowing it would be dangerous if things continued this way.

“Y-your beautiful face, your incredible magic! Your stunning, flowing hair, like pure white silk with flaming tips! No! I couldn’t believe it at first, but it must be true! Master Kanata spoke of you often. You are his teacher, correct?” said Lovis.

“K-Kanata talked about me?! O-oh…” Lunaère’s cheeks turned a shade redder. She was obviously flustered. Her eyes, which had been staring at Lovis with doubt, now turned away, and she twirled the red-tinged tips of her hair.

“He’s so much trouble. I know Kanata can be a little stupid sometimes, but he should have understood that he shouldn’t speak about me so easily to people outside… Really, now…” she muttered to herself.

“No no no, it’s only because Master Kanata trusted me so much. It seemed he really wanted to talk about you to someone, considering how deeply he respects you,” said Lovis.

Pomera looked confused as she glanced between Lovis and Lunaère. She had never once seen this beautiful, mysterious girl in her life. She also didn’t remember hearing a single thing about her from Kanata.

And yet, the shady leader of a criminal organization had somehow heard about this girl from Kanata. It was almost like Kanata trusted Lovis more than he did her. Here he was, speaking so passionately like Kanata was his lifelong friend. That wasn’t all! He was even going on and on with facts that matched this mystery girl’s statements.

Damia and Yozakura were utterly lost. They were even more confused than Pomera. They’d been there near Arroburg the whole time and they hadn’t heard Kanata say anything about a pale, scary girl. Lovis didn’t have any relationship with Kanata, friendly or otherwise. All that happened was Lovis groveling a lot and Kanata deciding to spare him despite the attempted murder. Lovis’s lies were so skilled that he was even tricking Damia and Yozakura into believing that perhaps he’d gotten closer to Kanata at some point when they weren’t listening.

“S-so what did he say?” asked Lunaère.

“What?” said Lovis.

“A-about me. Wh-what did Kanata say about me?” she asked, the words seemingly difficult to get out.

“Well, of course, he spoke of how you are an incredible lady…a perfect lady! He said you were the person he most respected in the world.”

“D-did he…? And, umm… D-did he say anything else? Besides that?”

Lovis secretly wondered if a monster would be concerned about things like love, and if that might be his ticket out of this mess.

“Welll… Master Kanata didn’t tell me all the details, I’m not sure it’s my place to really say this, but…yes. He did say that he truly loved you.”

Lovis carefully chose his words as he gauged Lunaère’s reaction. She turned bright red and looked down, fiddling with the tips of her hair anxiously. Seeing that, Lovis knew he’d won. It had been a dangerous gamble. If he’d been wrong, he could have been subjected to a fate worse than death.

“K-Kanata is casually telling people things like that?! R-ridiculous! He’s so much trouble. He’s normally so mild, I wouldn’t have expected him to suddenly start saying things like that. B-but…he really did say it, didn’t he…?” asked Lunaère.

“Y-yes. Well, it’s not as if he’s saying it to just anyone. And I suppose it is true that he didn’t use those exact words…”

“He didn’t say he loved me?” Lunaère’s eyes snapped wide open, and her gaze pinned Lovis to the floor. The room felt a few degrees colder.

“Of course he said it! Of course!”

Lovis had somehow managed to wriggle out of a swift execution, but he knew his luck was running thin. If she kept asking questions, sooner or later the truth would come out and that would mean his goose was cooked. He needed to cut this conversation short and get far away from here.

“I swear I will change my ways, and from now on, I’ll live to help people and the world! So, please…may I leave?” asked Lovis.

“…Of course, I couldn’t harm a friend of Kanata’s. I couldn’t bear to make him sad…and I don’t think I could keep living if he hated me…” muttered Lunaère as she worried over what to do. Just as Lovis was breathing a sigh of relief, Lunaère lifted a hand casually and said, “Summoning Magic Level 23: Yama Dharmaraja.”

A jet-black magic circle filled the entire floor of the Guild.

“L-Level…t-twenty…th-three…?” muttered Lovis, his mouth agape as he turned over Lunaère’s words in his mind.

Until Lovis met Kanata, he’d believed that magic only went up to level 15 spells, and those only existed in legends. However, Kanata had used Gravity Bomb in front of Lovis, which was when Lovis learned that magic went up to level 19. Level 23 magic was a new and terrifying revelation.

From the circle arose a gigantic red demon with four arms, so tall it burst through the Guild’s ceiling. It sat on the floor, but Lovis still couldn’t see its head until the beast stooped down, finally showing its face.

It had a fearsome expression and three inorganic-looking eyes. It wore opulent clothing and a black crown on its head. Around its neck was a necklace made from human heads, their eyes rolled back and groaning in pain.

“What…wh-wh-what is, what is this monster…?” asked Lovis.

Lunaère reached up to gently pat the massive demon’s knee.

“This is Yama Dharmaraja. It will check to see if you’re lying to me,” explained Lunaère.

Lovis prepared himself for death.

Yama Dharmaraja lowered its head and fixed its three eyes onto Lovis.

“And…h-how does it do th-that?” asked Lovis, looking tense.

“The eye on Yama Dharmaraja’s forehead can see the flow of fate. Put simply, he can tell if the person in front of him is lying or not with just a look,” said Lunaère as she pointed to her own forehead.

“R-right…”

“And if Yama Dharmaraja determines the subject he is investigating is lying, he eats them. Their souls are trapped for eternity within his stomach, suffering and unable to move on. He shouldn’t react to jokes or metaphors, but just in case, try not to say anything unnecessary. Now please repeat what you said earlier.”

Lovis looked up at the demon.

It opened its mouth. Inside, the outline of a human glowed faintly as it stretched out its arms and writhed in pain. Screams of the captured dead echoed from inside the demon. Then it closed its mouth and moved its jaw up and down like it was chewing something.

Lovis actually stopped sweating.

If he continued, he would end up facing a fate far worse than death. He seriously regretted not realizing that something like this might happen. This girl—this force of nature—belied all his understanding of the world. He’d realized that the moment she’d taken off her black coat. It would probably be best if he just gave up and went along with it at this point.

“S-sir…” Yozakura started to say something to Lovis but found herself at a loss for words. Not only had her mind been rattled from the moment Lunaère had appeared, but she was also completely thrown off balance by her boss’s lies.

And now a demon was probably going to eat him. She couldn’t keep up with anything that was happening today.

She wasn’t the only one bewildered by the circumstances. Damia and Pomera both sat silent, unable to do anything but watch events unfold.

“What’s wrong?” said Lunaère, hurrying Lovis along.

Lovis gulped and prepared himself. Then he began to speak.

“I-I owe my life to Master Kanata. A short time ago, I was in a dangerous situation, I was close to being killed, and he saved me.”

Lunaère looked up at the huge demon. It sat quietly, watching Lovis.

“After that, I helped Master Kanata with something, just a little thing. I gave him a gift, and we traveled together. And through that…we became closer.”

The demon nodded, but there was no further reaction from it.

“Well, you didn’t have to go into that much detail. But it seems you truly weren’t lying,” said Lunaère, and Lovis let out a sigh of relief. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his throat.

He hadn’t actually lied…he’d simply glossed over the fact that his life had been in danger because he’d attacked Kanata and that Kanata saved him by forgiving him. You could even say that Lovis did owe Kanata his life.

The gift Lovis gave Kanata, the task he completed for him, and traveling with him were all things Lovis had done to butter Kanata up and avoid angering him. The only reason they’d traveled together was that Kanata didn’t know much about the outside world and asked Lovis to show him the way. They were indeed with each other the whole time until they reached town, so you might say that they did become closer—if just a little—during that time.

If Lunaère drew her own conclusions, well, that wasn’t his problem.

“Well then, if you are a friend of Kanata, I have no choice… Please leave,” said Lunaère.

“Y-yes! Thank you so much for overlooking this transgression!” said Lovis.

Lunaère raised her arm toward the wall. Black light appeared and space began to warp before collapsing in on itself. With a sudden roar, the wall was destroyed.

“However,” said Lunaère, pointing at Lovis, “by letting you go, I am now responsible for what you do. If I learn that you have committed evil acts in other places, I will accept my responsibility and find you. Remember this.”

“U-understood! P-please give my regards to Master Kanata!” said Lovis as he bowed over and over. He crawled across the ground, then stood, grabbed Damia and Yozakura by their shirt collars, and dragged them outside.

Lunaère watched them go and then dismissed the spirit she had summoned.

Then she turned to look at Pomera, who was frozen in place. Her eyes narrowed as she stared hard at the white mage.

“…”

Pomera was overwhelmed by her aura, but Lunaère’s eyes were even scarier than when she’d looked at Lovis. Pomera sensed fathomless emotions churning behind that sublime, two-toned gaze.

“Wh-wh-what is it? Umm… Y-you know Kanata…right?” asked Pomera.

Lunaère’s eyes were still narrowed in distrust. She slowly moved closer to Pomera like a stalking cat.

“Ah! P-p-please don’t eat me, I don’t taste nice!”

“…Spacetime Magic Level 23: Retrograde.”

Lunaère held her hand up, and a gentle light flowed from it. Pomera’s wounds closed before her eyes.

“I-Impossible…”

Pomera stared where her injuries had been, dumbstruck.

Her wounds closed, and the blood flowed backward into her body, leaving not a single scar behind. None of the white magic Pomera had learned could do something like this. This was so far beyond enhancing the body’s ability to regrow.

Lunaère nodded coldly to herself.

“Spacetime Magic Level 22: Object Memory.”

Light glittered through the building. The rubble came together and floated through the air. In a few moments, the ruined Adventurers’ Guild was returned to its original state. It was like the Cup of Blood had never attacked.

“Th-this is… U-umm, Miss…wh-who are you? You know Kanata, right?” asked Pomera in confusion.

Lunaère closed her eyes and seemed to hesitate. Afterward, she turned back gently and said, “Your name is Pomera…right?”

“Huh? Y-yes, it is.”

Lunaère took a deep breath and then pointed a finger at Pomera.

“I-I won’t let you take Kanata! R-remember that!” said Lunaère, her face beet red. Then she fled the Guild at an incredible speed. Pomera could only stare at her back in confusion.

A few minutes later, the adventurers returned to the Guild. They were still wary and held their weapons at the ready, but they let out cheers of joy the moment they saw Pomera.

“A-amazing! I knew the Holy Fist would win!”

“I told you! I saw them! That guy Lovis and his lackeys were running from here like it was the end of the world!”

Pomera listened to what the adventurers said and then started shaking her head vigorously.

“N-no! Th-that’s not what happened!” she pleaded.

“Look, Holy Fist is uninjured too! Three against one, and she still managed to wipe the floor with them!”

“No! There’s another explana—!”

“And the building, it was destroyed, but it’s back to normal… Saint Pomera’s white magic can even heal the wounds of buildings?!”

The Guild was filled with cheers.

“No! No! Don’t just decide this is all because of me! I’ll really get angry!”

 

***

 

Elsewhere, Lovis, Damia, and Yozakura fell to the ground in a field, their breathing ragged after their narrow escape.

“I thought that was the end… I really thought we were done for this time… Damia, Yozakura, you probably know already, but we’re never going to Manaloch again. I feel like I’m going to puke just thinking about it,” said Lovis.

“Who was that girl? You seemed to know her, but…” said Damia.

“Huh? How the hell would I know who she is?”

“What?”

“You two were with me the entire time! You think I found time to talk one-on-one with Kanata?”

“B-but…”

“I don’t even know the name of that white-tinted girl. We got out of there just in time, but she obviously had plans to meet up with Kanata in Manaloch. Those lies are going to be the death of me if we ever see her again!”

“S-sir…” said Yozakura, looking at Lovis and failing to find the words she needed.

“What?! Are you seriously still judging me?!”