8. A Tale of Two Ghosts
8. A TALE OF TWO GHOSTS
They’d been deployed to a mine that was half a day’s drive away from Alestra Academy.
It was a graimar-nuclear-alloy vein, essential for Exelia production, so the two countries often fought over possession of the resource. This was one of those contested areas.
The location’s official designation was the Claw Mine.
The East’s main forces had gathered there, forming a large military presence. However, the battle still reached the cadets rather quickly. By the time they’d arrived, the two sides had already been engaged in battle for three hours.
The Claw Mine had been scorched by fire Bullet Magic, and the rear base had gradually filled with mangled bodies and wounded soldiers missing limbs. The living were hard to distinguish from the dead at this point.
The cadets hadn’t been deployed to the front lines yet, but they knew that wouldn’t last much longer. The East’s army was getting desperate.
Kirlilith’s command of the West’s forces had dictated every aspect of the battle thus far, so their backs were to the wall.
“You’re sure, Air? That the enemy commander is Kirlilith, I mean.”
Air sat next to Rain as they remained on standby in the Exelia hangar.
“The battle over this mine is her way of challenging me. With thousands of others caught in the cross fire.”
She had the audacity to risk so many lives just to face a rival Ghost?
“Every Ghost has a distorted set of values. We’ve fought through countless major battles over the ages and have gained knowledge that normal humans can’t hope to obtain as a result. I doubt Kirlilith would pick a fight with me in any old ordinary clash.”
I see. That’s…
“It’s disgusting.”
“It sure is. And that’s why we have to kill her right here, right now.”
Rain didn’t speak to Air after that. She was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to gun down Kirlilith, so he didn’t want to interrupt her. He knew there was nothing he could’ve said to help her anyway, since his human intellect was no match for hers.
“…I’ll step out for a bit.”
Rain left her alone and walked to the adjacent hangar.
And there he found Athly, who’d been performing maintenance on her unit. She quickly noticed him.
“Huh? Is it time to change shifts already?” Athly asked him curtly. It was an unnatural reaction coming from her, since she was usually such a cheerful person.
“No, you’ve still got an hour left.”
“Oh…”
She never lifted her eyes off her machine as she spoke. She was just one of the many people had been adversely affected by the last shift in the world.
“Say, shouldn’t you stay off the battlefield for a while?”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“My parents’ death doesn’t change anything.”
The Reprogramming had put Athly’s parents among the thousands of victims in Leminus. A shell had hit their shelter, blowing them to bits. And it was all Rain and his silver bullet’s fault.
“I’m fine, really,” Athly stated in a monotone voice. “Like, I’m sorry if this sounds kind of rude, but it hasn’t really affected me at all.”
“It hasn’t?”
“Yeah. Honestly, it’s changed so little that it feels weird.”
“Weird how…?”
“I mean, Mom and Dad were much stronger mages than me,” Athly said as she pulled out the gun holstered at her waist. “I figured I’d never match them, even though I shared their genes. That’s why I chose to become a manipulator in the first place. But then they died. Just like that, they were gone. And that made me realize something… A person’s potential doesn’t matter if they die in battle.”
“…Athly.”
“So I’m fine. I can jump into those flames…into the blood and the smoke, and I never have to worry.”
Nothing she’d said made any sense. The words themselves were clear, but they didn’t connect to form a cohesive point.
Rain knew they were the weak excuses of an emotionally wounded individual.
“…Listen, Athly. If you need anything, just say the word.”
“Sure.”
Unfortunately, that was why he couldn’t bring himself to push her any further, and could offer her nothing more than a vague offer of support. And then they went their separate ways.
Rain should’ve done more to keep Athly out of that battle, but by the time he realized that, it was far too late for regrets.
Three hours after the start of the battle, the two sides were in a deadlock.
“I’m so happy.”
Someone was speaking through a wireless line that connected the thirty or so commanders among the East’s main forces.
“You came for me… You really are amazing, Air.”
And the one speaking was Kirlilith. She cleared her throat and began speaking in an official capacity.
“Ahem… Now then, people of the East… Fifteen minutes from now, we will blow up the Claw Mine.”
Blow up the mine…? Everyone from the East froze upon hearing the threat.
“I’m sure you’re all aware, but in its raw form, graimar nuclear alloy is extremely flammable and combustible. Exposing it to high heat will produce artificial plasma that will induce a series of explosions and destroy the mine. Quite bothersome, wouldn’t you say? After all, this is your prime source of alloy.”
Kirlilith was as casual as could be about this.
“If you wish to avoid that fate, surrender Air to me.”
Air…
“Do that, and we will cease all hostilities and retreat immediately.”
None of the commanding officers knew who Air was. Her existence as a Ghost hadn’t been disclosed to the public, so they likely assumed it was some sort of code.
“Now, allow me to demonstrate that this is no mere threat.”
The next moment, a light flashed in the distance.
“Holy…!”
A second later, a pillar of fire rose up from an abandoned mine to the south, razing the place to the ground. It’d been only a fifth of the Claw Mine in size, but it was by no means a small site. Yet that entire mountain…had been reduced to rubble.
Kirlilith’s crimson flames coiled upward, painting the dark sky red and striking fear into the hearts of all who saw them.
“Please hand Air over to me immediately. You have ten minutes. If I don’t get a satisfactory response by then, I’ll blow the Claw Mine sky-high.”
“I knew all this was about me…”
Air scratched her hair roughly in frustration and threw aside the device she and Rain been using to tap into the commanders’ communication line.
“She’s insane.”
“What do we do?”
They couldn’t let Kirlilith blow up the Claw Mine. Without the alloy harvested there, the East would be forced into a bitter war with a hopeless deficit in resources. They knew HQ would seek Air out in order to meet Kirlilith’s demands; she’d already proved blowing up the mine was not an idle threat.
“…What, you afraid of getting sacrificed?”
“No. Weren’t you listening?”
“Of course I was. Kirlilith said to hand you over.”
“Don’t take what she said at face value. Think about it. Why? Why did Kirlilith make handing me over the condition? Do you really think she’d surrender the mine and retreat in exchange for one person? It doesn’t add up.”
Air was right—it didn’t add up. Trading one person for a prime source of alloy made no sense.
“Maybe it’d make sense if it was some famous officer, but no one knows who I am. The people at HQ are probably scrambling to find me, but Kirlilith doesn’t intend to fulfill her end of the bargain. I mean, sure, she’s got some clout in the West, but she’s still just one person in the chain of command. She can’t mobilize an army for personal matters.”
In other words…
“She’s going to blow up the Claw Mine regardless of what we do,” Air explained.
“But what about her conditions?”
“She lied.” Air had read Kirlilith’s true intentions. “You’re probably wondering why she even bothered to bring it up in that case, right? Well, the answer to that question lies with Kirlilith’s unique magic.”
Kirlilith had the Traxil’s divinity, which granted her bullets the ability to inflict death on anyone and anything they hit. It was optimized for offense, unrivaled by any regular Bullet Magic, and it also gave her the power to destroy the Claw Mine.
According to Air, Kirlilith’s bullets could easily collapse rocks and stones. They didn’t just mow things down with heat or mass. Instead, anything they touched died because it was destroyed on an atomic level.
“Yes. And she said they needed significant heat to blow up the mine, correct?”
“Which means…” Rain trailed off as he got lost in thought. Then he said, “Honestly, I dunno.”
“It means Kirlilith is in charge of blowing up the mine,” Air replied, exasperated. “Kirlilith probably struck some sort of deal with her army. ‘I’ll blow up the mine for you, so let me talk with the enemy for a bit. Oh, and don’t worry—everything I say will be a lie.’ Or something along those lines.”
“Ah…”
“So do you understand why Kirlilith made that crazy demand?”
It didn’t matter if her demands were crazy, since she didn’t intend to keep her promise either way.
“…Wait, why’d she do that, then?”
It didn’t make any sense. What was the point of bringing up a fake exchange?
“I told you at the beginning, didn’t I? She’s only after the other Ghost here—me.”
Ghosts naturally sought out other Ghosts.
“In that short message, she dropped a number of hints. The first was that she’d blow up the mine regardless of the deal. The second was that she’d do it herself. Think about it—in order to use Bullet Magic to destroy the Claw Mine, she’ll have to be somewhere safe, and at the same time, she’ll need to aim at a place packed full of alloy.”
In other words, Kirlilith was at a spot that met both those criteria…and she’d hid that fact in her little speech.
“She’s trying to tell us exactly where she is.”
She’d left a code, an encrypted message only Air would be able to decode.
“It was a challenge to me. ‘I’ll tell you where I am, so hurry over to kill me. If you don’t, I’ll blow up the Claw Mine.’ Get it?”
After Air had laid out her explanation, Rain spread out a map of the mine and searched for a spot that fit the description. There was just one.
Reports were flooding in through her allied units. New information was arriving once every four seconds, and the one intercepting all of it was…
Aren’t you coming?
…a beautiful girl who seemed to be made of flames. A crimson soul who had been killed by a stray bullet to the head one hundred and forty years ago while she was running through fire and brimstone.
Air…
Kirlilith Lambert. Despite her dainty, frail visage, she was the oldest and most cunning active Ghost, a veteran of countless battlefields. Of course she’d noticed them.
“Thank goodness. You’re finally here,” she said into the darkness.
Soon after, a mechanical sound whirred near her.
“That’s a rather absurd thing to say when I’m here to end your life.”
A lone silver girl had arrived in her Exelia, with a sharp glint in her eyes. No, she wasn’t alone after all.
“How…? How are you still alive?”
Air’s gunner had arrived alongside her—the boy Kirlilith had shot through the eye. She’d killed him because he knew of Air’s existence, but he hadn’t stayed dead.
“Can’t say I wanted to face you again,” he said as he trained his gun’s sights on her. If she recalled correctly, that cadet’s name was…Rain Lantz. “Personally, I hate to compare us, but you Ghosts aren’t the only ones who don’t stay down.”
“A divinity? Or perhaps some kind of magic?” Kirlilith took a moment to ponder how the boy had survived, but she stopped soon after. It didn’t really matter, and she had all the time in the world to figure it out once she killed him again.
“So why did you call me out here? Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Yes. It’s very important… Listen, Air. Why don’t we join forces?”
“Join forces…?” Kirlilith’s words had caught Air entirely off guard. “…What, do you expect me to betray the East? Because if you are—”
“No, don’t worry.”
It was already late into the night. The moonlight was waning, but the flames flickered brightly, making the scenery around them as bright as at sunrise.
“I’m willing to defect, so will you accept me into the East?”
A beat of silence followed.
“Let’s fight together, hand in hand.”
They couldn’t fathom what she was saying. Fight? Together?
“Have you lost it?”
“I’m not sure. Have I?”
“The East isn’t in any sort of favorable position, Kirlilith. You’ve supported Harborant for so long—what reason do you have to double-cross them now?”
“What reason? Well, you just said it yourself, Air. This time, the West is too strong. That’s my only reason, really.”
“What…?”
“The war will end at this rate.”
It took Air a moment to realize what she was implying.
“Just think about it, Air. This war favors Harborant too heavily. That’s not a good thing… After all, we Ghosts only exist during times of war.”
Rain leaned toward Air and whispered, “Is that right?”
“Yeah. When the fighting dies down, our consciousness starts to fade. Next thing we know, we’re in another war, decades later. It’s happened to me several times already.”
Apparently, they didn’t know the logic behind how it worked. They couldn’t tell whether someone was working the magic that tethered them behind the scenes or whether the spell itself simply had a time limit. Either way, a Ghost’s existence was limited.
Once the war ended, all of them would disappear.
“So…what, you’re saying you want to betray the West, Kirlilith?”
“Yes. I need the war to continue so that I can remain, too,” Kirlilith said, sounding utterly desperate. “Over the past hundred years, I’ve led the West to countless victories. But this time, O’ltmenia is too weak… No, it’s more that Harborant has grown too strong. Their advanced Exelias have superior mobility and durability, and they have Bullet Magic optimized for combat that almost anyone can use. They’re stronger than the East in every conceivable way.”
“Is that why you’re gonna betray them?”
“Sorry, but there’s something I need to know.”
Rain’s interruption had bothered Air enough for her to chide him. But that didn’t matter; he had the right to ask. After all, Kirlilith had orchestrated the massacre that had claimed the lives of dozens of his friends and comrades. But he couldn’t forget this was war. Even if they had been students, they had been soldiers above that. They’d chosen to fight knowing they might die. If she was a murderer, then so were they. Venting his anger at her was pointless; all he really wanted to do was find out what drove her.
“Kirlilith, don’t you feel anything for the West?”
“Feel…anything?”
“Yeah. How do you feel about the country you’ve been helping for over a hundred years?”
“How do I…feel?”
She looked up to the sky, seemingly confused by his question.
“Ha-ha-ha!” Kirlilith suddenly cackled. The grin on her face was lovely, yet terribly sad… “I’ve never once thought about that. In my eyes, wars and countries are but a means to live. A policy, a process…nothing more… Oh, I see. You’re worried, aren’t you? Well, don’t be. I assure you that I will not hesitate to kill the people of the West. And if you need proof, I can call my forces over and blow them up along with the mine.”
I’ll show I can kill them…
She was ready and willing to sacrifice her own comrades, the very people who’d placed their trust in her.
And Rain finally realized the truth.
Oh, she’s…empty.
Kirlilith was a void. She didn’t have anything she wanted to protect or any sort of real purpose. She was just like a ghost from a storybook, acting to preserve her existence like a parasite. She had no friends or foes of any sort. She simply killed to suit her purposes.
“Join hands with me, Air. We can stay in this world for as long as we wish—we only have to use your bullet’s ability to change history and my bullet’s ability to invoke death. Let us fight, together, and prove that we exist!”
Her point was sound, but Air…
“Sorry, I’ll pass.”
…firmly rejected her.
“That sounds boring. I didn’t think you’d be so pathetic, Kirlilith.”
“…What?”
“Use my power to continue the war? Use my power, which has the potential to shake the very foundations of this world, just to prolong my existence and delay the inevitable?” Air mocked Kirlilith’s suggestion as if it was the stupidest idea in the world. “Compared to your mind-numbingly dull invitation, this child’s offer is far more interesting,” Air said as she poked her thumb in Rain’s direction.
“What…did he offer you?”
“He’s trying to use my bullet’s power to end the war.” Air activated her Exelia as she said that. “And not just this war, either. He’s going to use my power to overwhelm the West so thoroughly that no wars ever break out again. His wish to end all future conflict.”
“That’s…”
“Oh yes. Without war, we Ghosts will have no reason to exist. Plus, no one’s ever been able to permanently end the fighting, so it’s most likely impossible.”
“In that case—”
“But it is interesting.” Air cut off Kirlilith to bring an end to her pleas. “If nothing else, it’s far more interesting than your ridiculous suggestion to keep fighting endlessly. This conversation is over, just like your existence as a Ghost.”
“…I see. So be it, then.”
Negotiations had concluded. After that, Kirlilith looked around with an icy gaze. After a few moments of hesitation, she lowered her head. When she raised it again, her eyes were dyed black and red.
“That means…!”
They were pitch-black, reflecting her unfathomable hatred. Those wasp-hued eyes were both proof of her identity as a Ghost and evidence of her malicious, murderous intent.
“Good-bye, then, Air. I will miss having one more Ghost to fight.”
“Yes, farewell, Kirlilith. I’m sure you won’t be so bored in the afterlife.”
Their Qualia were honed to razor-sharp precision, marking the beginning of a battle between mages blessed with future sight.
Every Ghost, without exception, was armed with divinities that set them apart.
Ordinary Bullet Magic was akin to mass-produced weaponry, so it was easy to learn. But in the end, it was only a mock imitation of divinity. The Ghosts’ magic used real divinity at its core, leading to the creation of higher-level phenomena.
“Horgo Bardas.”
The moment the battle began, Kirlilith fired off a shot that turned into pure heat, swelling up to crush their surroundings. A single spell from her had created a deafening explosion, splitting the earth and scattering molten rock in all directions, and forming a stream of lava.
Crimson flames kicked up all around them.
She is way stronger than any ordinary mage!
Large-scale death and destruction bore down on them. Kirlilith had used a bullet that inflicted death on anyone it touched, so it spelled doom for any unfortunate soul it so much as clipped.
“Rain.” Air uttered his name as she activated their Exelia. Rain braced himself as soon as he heard that, and in no time flat, their unit accelerated.
Ugh…
He withstood the inertia flinging him around inside the vehicle, but the very next moment, Air flipped them around and accelerated again.
If she keeps this up, I’ll lose my lunch!
She operated the Exelia with such incredible speed that Rain struggled to keep up with the action.
“We can’t let her control the flow of the battle. It’s our turn now. Get ready to fire back,” Air instructed as she avoided bullets from all directions.
She really isn’t human!
A battle between mages depended almost entirely on Qualia. Whoever predicted their enemy’s actions most accurately and swiftly came out on top. If one could use their future sight to react even milliseconds faster than their opponent, their bullet would hit first. Which meant…
What an…insane fight!
…their Qualia were equal. And if two mages were equally matched in terms of both Qualia and skill, the battle turned into a simple exchange of blows. Kirlilith deftly avoided shots Rain assumed would hit, and then, as soon as they stepped into what felt like a safe spot, her Bullet Magic was bearing down on them.
Their skirmish had begun only a few minutes ago, but they’d already exchanged thirty-odd blows. Honestly, Rain couldn’t help but be impressed. The two Ghosts had surpassed his wildest expectations.
Air had focused her Qualia on operating the Exelia, but Kirlilith had used hers to try to land a killing blow. The bullets that zoomed past them were charged with deadly heat, and when they crashed into the nearby ground, they created depressions that seemed like the work of a meteor shower.
The Belial and Traxil divinities, the bullet of Oblivion and the bullet of Death, clashed.
Each Exelia unit consisted of two people. Kirlilith served as the gunner, while her manipulator was some unknown western soldier. He’d been doing a fine job supporting her, but Rain knew he was the easiest target.
“Air…”
“Got it.”
Air instantly realized his intent and shifted their Exelia’s positioning. She changed her strategy, deciding to get into the best possible position to help Rain aim, instead of focusing on evasion, as she had so far.
“I’ll place my faith in you.”
Rain activated his utterly ordinary Bullet Magic…Pharel.
“Shoot, Rain!”
The moment Rain opened fire, their opponent dodged nimbly, evading a direct hit. But his bullet didn’t stop there. If normal bullets were a point that extended like a spear, then Rain’s bullets were a surface that spread out like a shock wave. The bullet that had initially missed its mark rebounded against a tree, striking the Exelia from the rear.
Boom!
It was a trick that surprised ordinary mages. The more experienced they were, the more unavoidable the bullet became. But…
How predictable.
…Kirlilith had seen right through it. Just before the bullet had struck, she’d fired a shot backward, hitting Rain’s bullet with a feat of precise marksmanship akin to threading a needle.
I already know you use Pharel, so I can include it in my predictions…
Rain’s magic fizzled out. The bullet itself broke apart and fell to the ground as scrap.
Your magic…won’t work on me!
Once she confirmed she was safe, Kirlilith looked around to assess the situation.
No one, not a single person, will ever touch me!
Kirlilith’s bullets affected everything equally. Anything they touched was annihilated, enemy Bullet Magic included. Even if her opponent far outclassed her when it came to Exelia combat—or even if they shot advanced, multilayered Bullet Magic at her—she would always be able to turn the tables on them with a single shot.
On top of that, she’d perceived the way his bullets rebounded. Pharel was already effectively useless when one expected it, but she’d even analyzed all the subtle movements of his bullets to make sure they’d never hit her. Long story short…
He’s so weak…
…Kirlilith was disappointed. Their lack of strength had greatly disappointed her.
You’re so weak! What the hell?! Are you…really a Ghost like me?!
Filled with rage, Kirlilith fired the Traxil’s bullet. Air responded deftly, swerving her unit to easily avoid Kirlilith’s attack. Her precise reactions exceeded human capabilities, proving that Air was indeed a Ghost. But that only made things worse.
No, Air! You weren’t like this before! You were far more noble, far stronger, because you always fought alone! So why...? Why are you letting that child handle things?!
The boy’s lack of strength was especially apparent when he was next to Air.
If you’d just used him as a pawn, you’d be so much stronger!
The rules of Exelia combat stated that all teams must be formed of pairs, but not once had Kirlilith ever treated the manipulator beside her as a partner. She’d bound the soul of the mage riding with her through the pact, controlling him to suit her needs.
And that was the natural order of things. Ghosts were at their strongest when they fought alone. That was why the magic of the pact existed. It was why all the Ghosts she’d encountered thus far had fought alone.
But that silver-haired girl didn’t completely subjugate the boy. She did give him some instructions, but it seemed she fully entrusted the timing and power of the attacks to him. She hadn’t been like that before. She had once treated her partners as slaves, just as Kirlilith did. She had abandoned her source of strength.
“……”
Unable to bear it any longer, she decided to address Air’s unit through the megaphone.
“If you use the pact to control him and fight alone, you’ll be so much stronger! You do know this, don’t you? So long as you let that human handle the magic, you’ll never beat me!”
No answer came. In place of a response, Bullet Magic fired in random directions from Air’s unit.
She knew those random shots would never hit her; they’d turned into an annoyance.
“That’s enough. If you aren’t going to put up a real fight, I’ll just put an end to you!”
In an attempt to show Air the error of her ways, Kirlilith closed the gap between them and unleashed the Traxil’s bullet of death. And one out of the seven shots she fired…
“Ah…!”
…hit Air’s unit.
A violent impact jolted them.
“Ugh, aaah!”
Kirlilith’s bullet had hit their Exelia’s front section, blowing it apart. Luckily, they’d purged that leg right before the shot had landed. If they hadn’t, their unit would’ve been reduced to scrap altogether.
“Ugh…”
That wasn’t to say they got away unscathed, though. The aftershocks of the massive blast had definitely reached Rain and Air.
“A-Air…”
Rain’s consciousness was hazy. Every part of his body screamed in pain. Kirlilith’s bullet had sent their unit flying, and his body jostled and banged repeatedly until the unit eventually stopped tumbling at the bottom of the forested mountain. The only real silver lining was that they’d gotten out of Kirlilith’s range.
“Hey… Air. Hurry, we’ve gotta move!”
Kirlilith would be here before long, so they were in as much danger as ever. Rain had called out to Air blindly, since his sight was still muddled, but Air had never fully ignored any of his requests before. He had no reason to worry…but her silence surprised him.
Rain gazed at her back, trying to focus his vision…and froze.
“That wound…”
Red was everywhere. Blood was pouring from Air’s right arm.
“Haaah… Haaah…”
Air panted heavily, barely managing to stay conscious as she put pressure on her wounded arm with her healthy one. But upon realizing that it hadn’t helped at all, she swiftly returned to operating the Exelia.
“Wait, you’re too injured to do that!”
Rain reached out to grab her shoulder and stop her, since she was clearly in no condition to drive. But…
“Ow! Hey!”
“I’m fine.”
…Air slapped Rain’s arm away without even turning to face him. She’d rejected him.
Just like always, Air refused to let anyone touch her. “I’m fine. I can still fight… One of the Exelia’s legs is missing, but it can still move.”
Upon hearing that, Rain looked at the heavily damaged unit and replied, “There’s no way that’s true… You seriously think you can drive a damaged Exelia with one arm?”
“Well, what other options do we have?” Still breathing heavily, Air struggled to turn the Exelia on with her good arm. “We can’t keep running. In this state, Kirlilith will definitely corner us. Our only way out of here is…through her…”
Wasn’t there any way to win? Kirlilith had shown off the incredible advantage she had over them, so Rain knew a frontal assault wouldn’t work. He couldn’t overcome the difference in their skill, which meant he needed some other method of turning the tide. And as he started racking his brain, it dawned on him.
Earlier, didn’t Kirlilith say…
“If you use the pact to control him and fight alone, you’ll be so much stronger! You do know this, don’t you?”
He’d never heard of any such thing before. Air had kept this little detail hidden from Rain thus far.
“Air.”
“…What now?”
“Was what Kirlilith said earlier true?”
“Oh… Yeah,” Air said, clearly still in a daze. “She’s right… If I forcibly manipulated you, I’d be stronger for it. That much is fact.”
“If that’s the case…”
Why hadn’t she done it already? Rain was a soldier who preferred to use the most logical, sound tactics available, and he knew Air was in the same boat, so this felt wrong.
I did think it was strange…
Air had demanded he enter a pact in exchange for the Devil’s Bullet, but she hadn’t actually ever used it to bypass his will. She may have verbally ordered him at times, but she’d never invoked the actual pact to force his hand. He’d always thought that it was simply because nothing they’d faced had required it, but he realized he was wrong.
Air had made a conscious decision not to use it, even in life-and-death situations. Kirlilith had mentioned the pact let a Ghost exhibit their full capabilities. They excelled at fighting solo, and manipulating others was a part of that.
“Why not use it?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you control me with the pact in this fight?”
“…So what if it’s the ideal solution?”
“Doing that has never”—Air hung her head and briefly paused before continuing—“changed anything.”
Her voice was hoarse, and she wasn’t at all her usual self. The wound had clearly muddled her consciousness and clouded her judgment. Still, that also meant she was being completely honest with him.
“Forcing you to do something is easy… I can even make you commit suicide if I want. But a person who’s been forced to do something…will never truly forgive the one who coerced them.”
Those words weren’t directed at Rain; they were more of a warning for herself.
“The stronger your powers get, the lonelier you become… And magic that lets you command others is the most extreme example of that… All people who manipulate others to suit their own needs…end up in the same place. All alone.”
They would find themselves in utter darkness, drowning in their own despair.
“I believed in them… I thought we had a special bond, but…”
Blasts of Kirlilith’s long-range fire roared around them as Air spoke.
“I was…the only one who felt that way…” Air struggled to convey her true feelings, her voice little more than a whisper. “The moment I invoked the pact, I ended up alone.”
She’d finally regained a bit of her strength now. Tightening her grip on the Exelia’s steering wheel, she moved their three-legged unit to widen the gap between them and Kirlilith.
She’s lonely…
Air had said that the world never truly changed. Even with the immense power of the Devil’s Bullet in hand, she’d been unable to make a real difference.
Rain didn’t know how much she’d suffered. He didn’t know what she’d lost in exchange for her great power, or how she’d felt when people betrayed her… But…
“The moment I invoked the pact, I ended up alone.”
…he’d caught a glimpse of the burden on her shoulders.
However, he didn’t have the time to entertain such thoughts as Kirlilith’s unit came into view in the distance.
“I’m just asking to be on the safe side, but it’s not too late for you to start using the pact, right?”
“It’s not impossible.”
Luckily, Air seemed to have recovered enough to think of a plan.
“But our timing is bad… The rig’s missing a leg, and I’ve only got one working arm.”
“…So we’ve got no real chance, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
He’d realized they were in a hopeless situation, but he still didn’t intend to rush in and accept death. Rain wanted to act only if they had some small chance of success.
It’ll come down to a gamble. If we get even the smallest chance, we have to bet on it…
However, the moment the word gamble rose to his mind, he thought of something.
“…Air, I might have a plan.”
“Oh? What?”
“It’s pretty risky…”
They had no realistic shot of winning, but that plan at least gave them a fighting chance. So Rain informed Air of his idea, then patiently awaited her response.
“You want to blindly fire off Pharels?”
“Right. Multiple shots, so many that even my future sight can’t keep up, all over this thicket.”
It was actually the simplest plan imaginable. He’d shoot at random and pray for a hit.
“Hmm, well… I suppose the probability you’ll hit her isn’t zero.”
If Rain couldn’t predict the trajectory of his bullet, then neither could Kirlilith. That meant the best strategy was to fire Pharels at random and bet on their luck.
At best, he’d hit Kirlilith. At worst, his own bullets would hit him. It was a literal gamble. But mages always employed methods with the highest probability of success, so this would throw Kirlilith off her game.
“…You think that relying on luck, on a reckless attack that could end up killing you instead, will fool Kirlilith because she relies on logic?”
“Exactly.”
If they were going to gamble anyway, this was the best available option. After all, the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.
“Fine. We’ll go with that.”
Air eventually approved of his tactics. Shooting Pharels at random… The plan had an excessively low chance of success, but it was their only hope.
......
“Air.”
“What? Do you have something else to add?”
Bam!
“Ouch!”
Rain whacked Air in the head with his gun. She’d already suffered a major injury, so the blow only made it worse.
“How long are you gonna keep being so weak?”
“I’m not weak.”
“Then how’d I manage to land that hit on you?”
“That’s…”
Normally, Rain would never have managed to hit her, so he knew something was up.
“…I’ll be honest. I can’t really understand the baggage you’re carrying. I can only try to imagine your reasons for not invoking the pact and why you said the world won’t change.”
Rain paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.
“But…we still have to change it.”
“……”
“This isn’t about who’s right. When two sides that won’t back down clash, one of them has to crumble.”
There was no point discussing who was right and wrong, because neither was actually wrong. Both had sound arguments. But if battle was the only proper form of debate, the only way to figure out who deserved to come out on top, then they’d fight.
Rain fixed his grip on his rifle and held his breath. He was nervous, betting both their lives like this.
“You said you can’t change the world…but I can. If everything around us is evil, then I’ll change every last bit of it.”
“…Ha-ha-ha,” Air chuckled as she heard his bold proclamation. Then she replied, “You sure talk a big game for someone so naive… But sure, I’ll humor you. Go on—show me what you can accomplish.”
She fixed their unit’s bearing, but it was no longer angled toward retreat…
“We’ll gun down Kirlilith here and now. How hard could changing the world be, right?”
Instead, she’d aimed to intercept the Ghost charging at them.
Rain’s strategy was fairly basic. He’d decided to shoot wildly in her general direction, which left him with a less than 50 percent chance of victory. In other words, he’d abandoned his abilities as a mage. He’d thrown aside his Qualia to create a weak spot in Kirlilith’s future sight, meaning he was basically just praying the bullets hit. Kirlilith could still evade the bullets’ trajectories, so their chances of success were slim, but this wager was their only hope of seeing tomorrow.
The enemy entered Rain’s firing range.
I have twenty shots…
As Kirlilith’s unit charged toward them, Rain activated his magic, unleashing all his mana-charged bullets at once.
Ugh...!
The bullets rebounded. Rain had unleashed his Bullet Magic, but he couldn’t tell any of their trajectories.
Hit her…
The rebounding bullets flitted about before his eyes. He’d shot the bullets straight ahead, but a few of them rebounded back in their direction. Luckily, Air’s superhuman reflexes allowed them to evade.
Hit her, dammit!
The results of their gamble soon became apparent.
“Ah…!”
A blast filled the air. Kirlilith’s unit billowed black smoke from a few feet in front of them, scattering damaged parts into the air. And when Rain’s remaining bullets dispersed, the threat disappeared with it.
“Haaah… Haaah…”
Rain’s breath caught in his throat.
I…won?
Kirlilith’s unit had been destroyed, so they’d come out on top. However, right when that thought crossed his mind—
“Ugh!”
“Even an utterly idiotic plan can be…formidable at times, it seems.”
—Kirlilith’s unit leaped out from the smoke, ramming their Exelia. Unable to evade, they took the blow at full force and slammed into a nearby tree.
“Kir…lilith…!”
“You…got lucky. But on the battlefield, those who rely on luck…will die!”
The enemy Exelia was also heavily damaged, but it still had them beat in terms of sheer horsepower. Its front legs pinned their Exelia, rendering them completely immobile.
The two units were locked together, no longer able to move at all.
“It all…ends here!”
Kirlilith’s face appeared behind her windshield. Blood trickled down it from the previous blast, but that was all. They’d only succeeded in wounding her lightly.
“Tch…”
Rain lifted his rifle to fire Bullet Magic.
…Dammit!
But he couldn’t see a path to victory. His Qualia told him that no matter where he fired, he wouldn’t hit Kirlilith. It seemed the brief openings had disappeared now that she’d started taking him seriously.
Kirlilith noticed Rain’s momentary lapse and knocked their Exelia off balance with a sideways sweep from her unit’s forearm.
Oh no...!
And Rain was dislodged from his seat.
Ah…
His body soared through the air. He reached out to try to grab on to the machine, but he missed the mark. And as he fell down toward the ground, Rain realized he’d lost the gamble.
Shit...!
If he were to hit the ground now, Air would essentially be a sitting duck, with no offensive capabilities of her own. And Rain would have no Exelia.
No, who were they kidding? This match was all but decided already. Rain and Air had lost the moment their sneak attack had failed to finish Kirlilith. That had been their one chance, but they’d flubbed it.
Goddammit...!
Many emotions were at war within him at the moment, but bitter frustration won out. Given the situation, he had no choice but to admit he’d failed. He’d driven both himself and the silver girl to their deaths, leaving nothing to show for it.
However, just as Rain started accepting his death…
Huh...?
…his prediction changed altogether.
What’s going on...?
The sense of despair filling him dissipated as his fate changed. Soon enough, he realized what’d happened. Seconds had passed, yet he hadn’t hit the ground. And when he lifted his gaze, he understood the reason why.
Air had grabbed on to his arm.
“Air…?”
“Quit…daydreaming, you idiot!”
Air had touched him. Air had actually touched Rain. Until this very moment, she’d violently rejected the idea of coming into direct contact with other people. But that same girl was clasping his arm tightly, her skin touching his.
“Air, why…?”
“Why…? Didn’t you swear we’d win?!”
Letting go of the steering wheel, Air reached out her free hand and grabbed on to him, refusing to let go.
“You said…you’d change the world, didn’t you?” she rasped. “Then your only path forward is to aim and shoot, Rain Lantz!”
Air yanked hard at Rain’s arm. She’d just saved Rain. And that single act had shifted all his predictions.
“Ah…!”
That near-impossible feat had made the situation entirely unpredictable.
Both for Kirlilith, who’d believed Air would never act to save someone, and for Rain, who hadn’t believed Air would touch a person of her own volition.
And more than anyone else, for Air, who’d reacted almost on instinct. Luckily, that single moment, when all their predictions were annulled, was Rain’s chance.
…I’ll end things here!
Rain unleashed his Bullet Magic straight at Kirlilith. Fire raged through the air, and this time, his spell burned away half of the Ghost’s body.
* * *
The blast knocked Kirlilith away. She hadn’t died instantly, but there was no way she was getting back up. Rain had seen over half her body burning.
Man, that was even more of a gamble…
The tension finally drained out of him. He’d nearly died several times over because of Kirlilith’s overwhelming ability. Nothing he’d tried had worked in the face of her transcendent Qualia and her bullets’ incomparable destructive might. But Air never gave up—and they had survived.
All that’s left…
Rain reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a silver bullet. He had to finish Kirlilith with it, so he walked up to her body with it in hand.
“I’m…surprised…”
Her voice sounded extremely feeble.
“A Ghost, saving another… And me…losing…”
“Make no mistake—you were way out of my league. If you hadn’t toyed with us at the start, you would’ve won.”
“…Yeah…you’re right.”
As he gazed at her, Rain noticed that the left side of Kirlilith’s body was a charred husk.
“At some point, death became…almost unimaginable…,” she said. “I’ve lived for…over a century… I’ve claimed lives both young and old in battle. I’ve even killed infants… And then I’d disappear…and wake again for the next battle… In all those many years, I never imagined…I would die like this.”
Those were the dying words of the eldest Ghost, Kirlilith Lambert.
“I see.” Air climbed down from the Exelia and began speaking to her. “In all your prior battles, during all your prior victories, you never truly feared death. Right now, you’re clinging to life for the very first time.”
“That was…what strength meant…to me…,” the dying crimson girl said. It was pitiful, truly. “I stole and destroyed…without ever worrying for my own life. That was all I wanted…after I died like an insect…on the battlefield. It was what I wished for the most…as a Ghost… The power I sought in life.”
The power she sought in life?
“Say, Air…haven’t you…ever resented it?”
“Resented it?”
Air paused for a moment as she considered how to respond. “What about you, Kirlilith? Do you?”
“Of course…I do… All the Ghosts I’ve met have powers that stem from…their hatred. Inside, they’re dark pits of rage…as black as the color of our eyes.”
So wasn’t Air full of hatred, too? Didn’t she loathe the world that had turned them all into terrible monsters?
Air fought back her wasp-hued eyes as she responded to Kirlilith’s provocation. “I’ve heard enough. Rain.”
She hadn’t answered her question. She hadn’t given the dying Kirlilith the word she wanted to hear.
“We’re done here. I’ll kill Kirlilith…and permanently erase her existence,” Air said as she whipped out her own pistol and loaded it with the Devil’s Bullet. However—
“Ha-ha-ha.”
Even at the very end, Kirlilith laughed. Even here in agony, she was mocking them.
“I don’t mind…dying. Honestly, I’ve grown a bit tired…of living. But…”
And then…
“…I don’t want…to have my existence erased.”
…at that exact moment…
This is...!
…Rain sensed a massive surge of mana diffusing around the area, washing over the terrain. A symbol surfaced on the ground around them…the Traxil’s emblem.
“I am…the Ghost Kirlilith.”
The sight came as a shock. If Kirlilith could invoke the spell to blow up the mine so easily, that meant she had prepared it before she ever called them here. And that meant it’d been ready to blow during their entire battle.
So what would happen if all the heat she had accumulated was released at the same time? What if Kirlilith, one of the strongest mages, unleashed all her magic at once?
“I won’t let anyone…steal my magic!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, her magic formula activated in exchange for its creator’s life.