Chapter 10: Selfless

Chapter 10:
Selfless

 

MUTE’S POWER was known as “Sympathy.” No matter the person—big, small, male, female, old, young—she could meld their personalities and stats together. That was why Flum and the others now found themselves face-to-face with a large group of people all sporting the abilities and skills of S-Rank adventurers.

A detachment broke off from the Sympathized horde, turned toward Flum, and raised their hands high into the air in unison to cast a spell. So many swords of light filled her vision that the world went white. It was the same Judgment attack that Maria used so often.

Her opponents moved as one, hurling their blades of light.

“Icicle Blade!!”

“Ng…Reversion!”

“Ooooouuughh!”

There was no time to worry about protecting anyone but yourself at that moment.

Eterna conjured five blades of ice roughly the same size as the incoming attack to meet them head-on. Flum, for her part, was fixated on using her magic to deflect it away for her.

Gadhio, on the other hand, pressed his attack, weaving between swords as he closed in.

Eterna’s ice blades collided with the enemy’s spell, canceling each other out in a blast of steam, veiling the square in a faint mist. Meanwhile, the daggers of light deflected away from Flum and embedded themselves into their casters; a bouquet of flames wreathed the crowd. Those that missed hit the ground, sending up plumes of rocks and dirt.

“Hah!” Gadhio made a mighty overhead chop, but his target, a thirty-year-old woman dressed in an apron, neatly sidestepped the attack. He was caught off guard by how swiftly she moved before he took up the offensive again.

Two more—a middle-aged man with long hair and a young girl in a pink skirt—ambushed him on his flanks.

“Gah!!” He managed to dodge the man’s fist by only the tightest of margins. Even then, the sheer force of the wind running off his fist left a cut in Gadhio’s cheek.

He caught the young girl’s attack with the broad side of his sword.

KWONG!!

In spite of the massive size difference between the two, the sheer power of the blow forced him to stumble back. He managed to regain his balance just as yet another man struck at him from behind.

“Did you just get shoved by a little girl, Gadhio??” Flum was taken aback by the sight.

“Flum, that way!”

“Got it!” Flum looked ahead to find an adventurer in light armor rushing her, swinging his short swords wildly.

She spun clear and reached for his wrist, but the man jerked his arm away and launched into his next attack. He was coming in too fast for her to parry in time; she caught the next series of blows with her gauntlet.

“Hng…gah…hah…aa!”

She could hold him off for the moment, but she knew that her opponent was the one setting the pace at this distance. Flum misjudged one of his strikes and took a dagger in her side. Her face tensed up in agony as dull pain washed over her.

However, the man was also a lot slower for the moment, with his knife stuck in her side. She kicked him square in the stomach with the ball of her foot and redrew her Souleater as he stumbled backward. Flum raised her sword high into the air with one hand and…felt the force of a powerful blow to the small of her back. She had been run through.

“Aaaauuugh!” She felt herself fly into a rage as the smell of singed flesh reached her nostrils. Apparently, one of the attackers made their way around her to shoot a light blade at her back.

Though she was lucky to take that hit in the left arm, the force of the blow still sent her tumbling forward—putting her face in range of the first man’s knee.

“Hnnngff!”

Blood sprayed from her nose as she watched a blade swipe at her neck.

Unable to change direction, she chose to ride the force of the previous blow into a backflip. The silver blade barely missed Flum’s neck and whiffed harmlessly over her chest. She landed on both hands, getting two handfuls of blood-soaked body parts in the process. The wound in her shoulder complained at the sudden weight on it. The old woman who’d attacked her with the light blade moments before closed in fast.

“Hyaaaaaaaaah! Reversion!” Flum screamed as she put all the strength she could into her arm and reversed gravity. Within moments, she floated slowly into the air.

The old woman threw a punch where Flum was just moments before, catching nothing but air. Flum flew over the woman’s head and landed behind her.

“Sorry, lady!” She drew her sword and swiped at the otherwise innocent woman’s neck. The woman dove backward too late to fully avoid the attack. Judging by the amount of blood gushing out of her neck, Flum figured she’d hit an artery. The woman would bleed out soon.

Flum turned her attention back to the man with the daggers, only to catch a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. The old woman had her hand over her neck, mending her wound.

“They can use healing magic?!”

Now that she thought about it, they did have the light affinity. That meant that nothing short of a lethal blow would reduce their numbers.

The old woman and the man with the daggers resumed their attack.

Elsewhere, Eterna resorted to fighting from atop her ice construct, Fenrir, trying to stay clear of the horde’s reach and bombard them from a distance.

“Aqua Pressure!” A two-meter-wide ball of water formed around her hand and then shot out, slamming through everything along its path.

“Aqua Golem, GO!!”

A five-meter-tall giant made of ice appeared at her side. The golem was the most durable ice construct she could field—her best shot at occupying the horde’s attention for long enough to get the survivors clear.

At the sight of it, the detachment surrounding her stopped, turned their attention to the golem, and let loose a massive volley of light spheres, reducing it to steam.

“This is really starting to annoy me!” Even as she voiced her frustrations, Eterna continued to evade her opponents.

Out of nowhere, a woman leaped into Eterna’s field of view, delivering a vicious uppercut into Fenrir. Its body bent under the force of the blow, throwing Eterna high into the air like a rebounding seesaw. Fenrir shattered and enveloped the woman, freezing her mouth and nose shut in the process and blocking off her airways.

“Well, that’s one down.” Confirming that the woman suffocated, Eterna allowed herself a brief grin.

The moment came to a swift end as a blade of light slashed past her bicep.

“Hng!”

Her bodysuit began to stain with blood. A torrent of lightning bolts came crashing after her from another direction, pinning her in place in midair.

“Fairy on Ice!”

Eterna waved her hand through the air, summoning a meter-wide rail of ice. Blades formed at the bottoms of her feet, allowing her to gracefully skate away. Whenever a piece of the rail would break, she would conjure a new one and continue on her path. She threw in the occasional spin as she glided past, toying with the enemy below between volleys of water spears. She did look like a fairy, dancing through the air.

Unfortunately, the combatants below weren’t satisfied by watching a woman of indeterminate age dance gracefully above the hellscape they’d created. They began to attack in earnest.

“Sorry, performers only!” With a snap of her fingers, the rail shattered into hundreds of ice shards that shot straight toward the crowd. They hurried to cast barriers, but the “Immortal Witch” wouldn’t be stopped that easily. The ice fragments shot straight through the shields, though it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Several shards also found their way into Eterna’s body, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Good luck…you two…” Eterna smiled weakly, ready for her death.

The horde reached up from the ground and summoned balls of light that rained down and gathered around Eterna, healing her wounds.

“You have a pretty cruel sense of humor.” Eterna stood back up as if nothing had happened and summoned Fenrir once again, riding it straight toward a group of five that was surrounding Gadhio.

“Titan Blaaaaaaaaaaade!!!” The air itself trembled as Gadhio screamed.

He summoned up all the prana he could muster and heaved a stone-sheathed blade so massive that it towered over the neighboring buildings. Anything it touched was torn to shreds. Three of his attackers leaped clear; the remaining two were sent flying.

One of the three survivors hefted a great axe and tried to hew Gadhio from stem to stern.

Though Mute’s Sympathy ability brought everyone to the level of an S-Rank adventurer, the weaker the individual was at the start, the quicker their efforts shattered their untrained bodies. Many lacked weapons, fighting only with their bare fists.

Of course, there were still a number of battle-hardened adventurers in the group that Mute drew together. From the potent equipment and their practiced footwork, the dagger-wielding man facing Flum and the man bringing his axe to bear against Gadhio were both natural S-Ranks. They were clearly a step above the rest, judging by how they moved, though that might also have been their stat-boosting equipment. If they could take these men out, it would be the equivalent of removing at least three fighters from the battlefield.

Gadhio clasped his hand tightly around the hilt of his sword and braced the broad side of the blade against his wrist as he turned to meet the incoming axe. Despite the difference in their strength, there was no way he could fully absorb the blow with the man putting all his weight behind it. His sabatons screeched along the ground, throwing sparks as the man’s follow-through pushed Gadhio back inch by inch.

Though he blocked the attack, he left himself open for the other attackers to press in. Their spells hit squarely, but they failed to pierce his Legendary-tier black armor. It was simply too strong for the magic attacks to penetrate.

“Hangh!” He focused his prana into his arms and pushed back, knocking the axeman off balance and giving Gadhio the opening he needed.

He slammed the ground with the tip of his blade, sending a powerful blast of wind flying out in a fan-like pattern. His opponent anticipated Gadhio’s move and dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast and lunging back in.

“Well, aren’t you a speedy bastard!”

The man must have specialized in sheer brute strength in his earlier days, given his command of such a massive axe. Now that he’d been joined together via Sympathy, he had the agility of the other S-Rank as well. Even with all the raw physical power Gadhio could bring to bear, it was still no easy feat to land the lethal blow he needed.

Whenever he blocked the axe, the others would press in and attack his flanks. They worked seamlessly, like puppets strung to the same master, ever so slowly wearing him down.

Flum and the others continued to pick off adventurers one by one. With each defeated opponent, their chances of success grew ever brighter.

“Ang… Ha…haaah!”

Things were quickly getting more dire for Flum, who now found herself facing off against three enemies at once. Her body was covered with gashes, and her shirt was torn to shreds. However, as long as no one landed a mortal blow, she knew she’d survive, so she bided her time.

However, she was quickly reaching her limits.

“Hng… Ngah!

Spittle sprayed from her mouth as an old woman slugged her square in the gut. The blow lifted Flum off the ground. Another man leaped skyward and landed a chain of jabs into her stomach while she was still suspended in the air.

“Gyafooo!” Flum hit the ground hard, bouncing once before coming to rest.

Most of her internal organs were smashed to pieces; she spewed bright, fresh blood. They quickly began to heal themselves, but that did little to help her recover from the brain fog from when her skull hit the pavement. She could just barely make out the shape of the countless shards of light created by the figures surrounding her.

“Aaaannng…” She made her best attempt to get away, curling up into a ball like a cowering child.

Pulling together the will to move, she caught a glimpse of a little girl in the very same position, trembling with terror, hidden among the corpses.

“Aahhhnng…”

She couldn’t just leave the girl behind. Flum forced herself to her feet, turning to face the incoming shower of death. There was no way that she could block it all, but she had no time to worry about that.

She drew her sword and cut a cross through the air to set up another prana shield. “Hyaaaaaaaugh!”

It held through the first volley but began to buckle under the second, allowing a dagger to pass through and slash open Flum’s cheek.

Knowing that she didn’t have enough time to create a new shield, Flum threw her body over the girl to protect her.

“Gyaauh…gaaaaaaaah!”

The luminous daggers poured down relentlessly, each one setting her ablaze as it pierced her flesh. She lost track of how many she’d taken as her organs burned. Without her gear sapping her pain, she was sure she would have already lost consciousness.

“Aaaauugh…hyaaaah…kyaaa…hyaaaa!” A new wave of agony rolled in with every breath. She bit down on her lip until it drew blood. The girl in Flum’s arms stared up at her, wide-eyed.

Finally, there was a brief lull in the rain of death.

“Run!!” She let the girl go, watching as she took off.

Flum turned on a heel to face her tormentors. She was too weak to bring the fight to them, her legs fighting to keep her upright. She stabbed the Souleater into the ground and leaned on it like a crutch.

Unless she thought of something, she would find her head, heart, or both smashed to bits in the next exchange of blows. She closed her eyes.

Right as the fists and daggers were about to strike their mark, she tapped the toe of her boot against the ground.

“…Reversion!”

GWOOMF!

The ground beneath them shuddered, tossing her attackers to the side. She had created a hole five meters wide and two meters deep directly in front of her with her magic.

The earth within the hole was completely overturned. Two attackers on the outside of their formation barely got clear when they heard the roar and felt the ground move, but the dagger-wielding man at the center didn’t stand a chance. The earth shot up and upended itself before sucking him back down into the ground with a squelch. He died immediately, compacted by the soil.

“Well…that’s…one…down…!” Flum drew her sword from the ground. Sweat beaded across her forehead, and her shoulders trembled as she heaved for breath.

Another three attackers came to join the remaining two.

“I’ve got this!” Flum gave a rallying cry to boost her confidence before throwing herself once again into the fray.

 

***

 

Mute ran through the city streets.

“Haah…haah…haah…”

Her escape wouldn’t last long. Linus already anticipated which way she would head and shot a single arrow through her calf. The young girl let out a cry, stumbled, and fell.

A spiral formed over the wound, pushing the arrow out of her body. It eased her pain enough to let her stand up and run again.

Linus pressed his pursuit. He put away his bow and switched to his short sword. Hopping down from a rooftop, he landed right in front of her. “I think we’re done playing tag.”

“I can’t…die yet.”

“I would have been more than happy to honor that if you hadn’t killed so many.”

Linus stepped closer.

Mute reached out toward him in an attempt to use her Sympathy ability, but he flipped over her and rammed his sword into the base of her neck.

“Auuck…”

Arterial spray shot out, and she threw her hands over the wound, scooting backward in an attempt to escape.

“That body of yours sure is making this difficult.”

Her wound was already healing.

“Looks like I can’t just stab you in the neck. There goes giving you an easy, painless death.”

“No… I don’t want…to die!”

“If you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at Mother for giving you that body in the first place. Or yourself, even. You’re the one who killed all those people.”

“No… I must…must repay…Mother.”

“Sorry, I forgot about that. You’ve been together your whole life, haven’t you? You’re invested in that relationship.”

Despite the circumstances, Linus acknowledged that Mute had some degree of humanity. He’d heard all about the Children from Flum and how they were victims in their own right. Be that as it may, he wasn’t about to let her live.

“I guess I’m going to just have to pierce your core this time. Don’t hate me, okay?”

“I… I…”

Linus held his blade at the ready.

Mute reached into her pocket and pulled out a black crystal.

“Is that an Origin core? And what do you plan on doing with that?”

“I don’t…want to die… I want…to live…but…” Mute held it to her chest and paused. “This…will make…my dreams…come true…”

She made up her mind. Mute pressed the crystal tightly against her chest. A moment later, it began to push its way through her skin. Her body convulsed as a transformation began within.

“Aah…aaaghaa…gaaaa!” Her back arched, her eyes went wide, and drool welled out the side of her mouth. Blood poured from her eyes like tears, and her face flushed a dark red.

“Wh-whoa there!”

“Good…bye…everyone…”

One by one, her nails began to fall off. Her skin peeled away, and blood gushed out of her body as it twisted and contorted.

The very fibers that held her muscles together tore away as Mute’s transformation continued.

“What in the hell is going on here?!”

“Mother… Fwiss… Luke… Nekt… In…k…”

Sensing the danger he was in, Linus drew his bow and loosed a wind-infused arrow. “Gale Shot!”

A loud whoosh accompanied the arrow as it stirred up a massive tornado on its way to its target.

Mute caught it in one hand.

“How did you stop that so easily?!”

The accompanying wind blade should have severed her arm, but she didn’t suffer so much as a scratch.

The all-consuming spiral crept up her body until it finally reached her head.

“Cyri…ll…” Tears ran down Mute’s cheeks as she thought of the girl who she nearly befriended for the last time before she lost her sense of self.

The flesh tore away from her face, revealing the same bright red muscle and sinew, like the rest of her body.

Her transformation now complete, any semblance of humanity was now gone. In exchange, she had gained an immense power that would let her leave an unforgettable mark on the capital.

“Raaaaaaooooooooooooor!!”

The figure once known as Mute let loose an unearthly roar, despite no longer having a mouth or voice box. The high-pitched yell marked the birth of this brand-new creature.