2: General Rashatt, He Who Obstructs Our Path

General Rashatt, He Who Obstructs Our Path

Hissing like a cobra, Rashatt poised his sword in his hand.

Since he was pretty far away, I figured he was just trying to look intimidating. But he wasn’t posing for nothing.

CHOOM!

A single swing of the sword sent some sort of shockwave at us. It tore through the air as we all leapt in different directions.

The shockwave ripped through the space where we’d been standing and collided with one of the brick walls. It vanished once it hit the surface; the brick wall didn’t look damaged, but I knew a human body wouldn’t be so lucky.

Our turn. I spread my feet and released my spell.

“Dam Brass!”

The spell Dam Brass transforms magical energy into a destructive oscillation wave. I knew the spell would do squat to the spiritual body of a pure demon like Rashatt, but he wasn’t my target—the nearest brick wall was.

To be honest, I had only two spells that I figured could take General Rashatt down. One of them was the Ragna Blade, which had cut through Chaos Dragon Gaav. But it was in the shape of a sword, which meant I had to fight Rashatt in close quarters; I was afraid he’d escape into the sky while I set the spell in motion and I’d end up wasting my magical energy.

That was why I was going to bust a wall, make him think I was escaping, and then nail him with a close-range Ragna Blade when he chased me indoors.

Unfortunately, my excellent plan never got off the ground. The Dam Brass I’d released hit the brick wall and broke apart, leaving the wall unscathed.

“What the hell?!” I blurted.

I took a step back in shock.

“That won’t work, Lina Inverse!” Rashatt declared with sneer. “Have you not yet noticed? This place is already

part of my ward! You cannot damage a single blade of grass in this city, so attempting an escape is futile!”

I ground my teeth together. He wants to finish us here, I thought, as if that fact had ever been in question.

Still, Rashatt’s words gave me another idea. I couldn’t hurt the city, huh? That meant I could use the Dragon Slave! Unless … that would kill us, since we were packed pretty tight there. Maybe murder-suicide wasn’t the way to go.

Amelia released her spell while I mulled over possibilities.

“Ra Tilt!”

Rashatt’s form trembled slightly right before it was engulfed in blue flame. As the blue light swallowed him, the general’s body suddenly shattered.

Amelia gave a start. “I got him?!” she exclaimed, not sounding very convinced.

Like things were ever that easy. The air behind her shuddered, and Rashatt appeared there with his sword raised.

Crap! I thought frantically. Rashatt had left behind a piece of his spirit body as a decoy while his main body jumped across space. He wasn’t the first demon to use that trick.

He aimed to bring the sword down on her head.

“Ra Tilt!”

Maybe Rashatt hadn’t been expecting that one, because Zel’s Ra Tilt totally nailed him.

“GAAAAH!”

Amelia quickly leapt out of the area as the blue flames roared. After a second, the blue light vanished, leaving a pained and very pissed-off Rashatt glaring daggers at Zel.

“You impudent fool!” he snarled. His face twisted in anger, Rashatt swung his sword to release a shockwave straight at Zel.

Zel dodged easily enough. When his feet touched the ground again, the space behind him shuddered, and another one of our favorite demons tried a backstab attack.

Moldirag.

“What?” Zel blurted as he tried to regain his balance. He didn’t have time to fix his footing before Moldirag spawned and released a clutch of magic arrows. The attack hit Zel head on.

Zelgadiss cried out and hit the ground. Although the hit wasn’t fatal, it left him prone to Moldirag.

I wouldn’t leave him to the mercies of a demonic tree.

“Ragna Blast!” I shouted, releasing my spell at Moldirag.

Moldirag hid her body in space the second before my spell could hit her. The magic pillar I’d created launched black plasma uselessly into the air.

“Great,” I muttered. It had looked like Moldirag had timed her retreat to get away from my spell, but it had been a little too fast for that. Maybe she’d just been taught to attack-vanish-attack? It was an infuriating battle tactic, but I had to admit that it worked. I had no idea where the Mazoku would pop up next—and considering what she’d done to Zel, she could wreak some serious surprise damage.

That means I can’t read her movements and plan an attack. How do you plan for an opponent who appears randomly, anyway? With the time it took for us to chant our spells, reacting when she appeared wouldn’t be fast enough. I really, really missed Gourry and his Sword of Light at that moment.

All things said and done, I had to go for Rashatt with the Ragna Blade—and I had to do it fast. I borrowed power from my Amplification talismans and began to chant the spell.

“… Release the heavenly bonds

The frozen blade of hollow darkness;

Beside my power, beside my flesh,

Let us together walk the path of Destruction

That even the souls of the gods may be smashed …”

It was the incomplete version of the Ragna Blade. The completed one was stronger but a lot more draining, and I didn’t want to risk being completely depleted if I missed. Besides, the draining from even the incomplete spell was plenty bad enough, and it probably had as much power and time on it as I needed.

I sprinted toward Rashatt. It was finally time to tear the guy a new one.

“What?!” Rashatt cried, noticing me just a little too late. By the time he’d turned in my direction, I was practically on top of him.

“Ragna Blade!” I shouted.

A black blade appeared between the palms of my open hands. Already at point-blank range, I continued my charge at Rashatt while slicing a severe upward cut.

The bastard dodged it. Argh!

As close as I was, I’d expected him to parry—but the general actually leapt sideways and managed to evade me. Dodging when I was that close proved that he was faster than I thought. Probably intimidated by my blade, Rashatt quickly put some distance between us.

I decided to try an experiment. Keeping the Ragna Blade activated, I ran past where Rashatt had been and sliced into the brick wall.

ZMM!

The blade easily sliced through the ward Rashatt was using to protect it.

Gotcha.

“Impossible!” Rashatt yelled. “What have you done to my ward?!”

I sliced again, this time cutting open a hole big enough for someone to walk through. I could still follow my plan—I could still get him indoors. Even so, using the Ragna Blade was sucking my strength up pretty fast; I only had enough energy to cast one more incomplete one, and I wouldn’t have it long. It was time to do or die.

One would be more than enough.

Rashatt suddenly jumped backward, putting even more space between us. The guy looked livid.

“To think someone like you could break my ward!” he cried. “You little … very well, Lina Inverse!” He clenched his fists. “We’ll settle this next time!”

And with that, Rashatt vanished. I stopped in surprise.

Huh?

We all stood there for a second, confused by Rashatt’s sudden retreat.

Is it just me, I thought, or was that completely random? “Wh-what’s going on?!” Amelia cried. “Where’d he go?!”

Zelgadiss, still on the ground, rubbed a fist against his chin. He slowly got to his feet. “He retreated,” he muttered at last. “Unless that was a feint and he’s still hiding around here somewhere.” His gaze traveled around the area, his body still on guard.

I couldn’t sense Rashatt’s presence nearby, which meant he really had bolted. It was anti-climactic, but what else could I expect from such a loser?

“I think he’s gone, guys,” I said at last. I let out a heavy breath. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

★★★

“Mmm.” I made a small groan as I stabbed my wine-fried lamb chops. With my fork firmly embedded, I unenthusiastically brandished my knife.

It wasn’t that the food was bad. In fact, it was actually pretty decent—not a masterpiece, but definitely palatable. I just had other things on my mind.

Three days had passed since our fight in Lualdo City. Rashatt hadn’t attacked us since, so we’d made it to the Raizel Empire in decent time.

It was just… something about our recent travels was still nagging at me.

“What’s wrong?” Amelia asked as I reached across the table for a bite of steamed lobster with cream cheese. She stared at me over the table, her face partially blocked by a bottle.

I swallowed. “I’ve, uh … got a lot on my mind,” I said, stuffing some carrots into my mouth to mix in with the words.

“Like?”

I sighed. “Mostly Rashatt,” I explained. “He ran off pretty fast after I ruined his ward in Lualdo City. That just struck me as weird, y’know?”

Amelia bit into a potato. “He seems to attack and run a lot,” she agreed with her mouth full. “But you said something a while ago about him trying to avoid hurting innocents.”

“About that.” I distractedly stabbed my fork. “Why are they even bothering? I mean, I know that I’d rather not accidentally kill random pedestrians, but I’m a sweetheart. And I’m a human, to boot.”

Amelia and Zel exchanged looks. I knew what they wanted to say: “Why bring up this up now, Lina? We have other things to worry about, Lina. Why do you have to be so thorough and insightful, Lina?”

Amelia decided to actually contribute. “I thought they were trying to get dragons and elves as allies,” she said. “So Chaos Dragon and his subordinates were trying to show the difference between themselves and the demons of Kataart.”

“And Chaos Dragon didn’t want to draw attention,” Zelgadiss added. “He and his cronies knew that mass deaths would catch Hellmaster’s eye. Still…” He shrugged and picked up his cup. “Rashatt does seem a bit more direct these days.”

“Right?” And I still didn’t feel much better. Yeah, Chaos Dragon had had reasons to avoid killing humans other than me. But now …

A voice suddenly broke through my thoughts. “Miss Lina?!”

I blinked and turned around in my chair. Behind me, in the door of the restaurant, a familiar girl covered her mouth. She was about twenty; had long, black hair; and wore priestly robes dyed a light purple.

“Sylphiel?” I blurted.

Despite the fact that everybody and his brother had been sneaking up behind me lately, she was one of the last beings I’d expected to see.

But she sure beat another unexpected visit from Rashatt.

Sylphiel threaded her way to our table. “What are you doing here?” I asked as she approached. “Why are you in a place like this?”

For those of you who don’t remember, I’d first met Sylphiel in Sairaag and had traveled with her as far as Saillune.

The last memory I had of her was when she’d fainted after learning that princes could be as ugly as Phil.

I’m sure she, uh, hasn’t been unconscious since then.

Sylphiel frowned. “Why?” she repeated. “I heard that a number of nearby bandit groups were destroyed these past few days. And then when I arrived here, and people told me that a small-chested sorceress was eating this restaurant out of business … well, I thought I could find you here.”

I grimaced. “What are you doing in the city,” I clarified dryly. Those had been borderline fightin’ words, especially coming from someone as stupidly beautiful, articulate, graceful, and pleasant as Sylphiel.

“Oh. Well, before that.” She turned to Zelgadiss and nodded. “It’s good to see you again. I’m indebted to you for many things.”

He shrugged. “You look well. And you don’t have to be so formal.”

“I’m well thanks to you.” She shifted her gaze to Amelia. “And this is … ?”

“Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune,” Amelia announced. She rose from her seat and bowed formally.

“Thank you for your courtesy,” Sylphiel said, upping the conversation’s stiff-shirted pompousness to record levels. “I am called Sylphiel Nels Rahda …” She trailed off toward the end, her eyes going wide.

“Wait a moment.” She froze. “Miss Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune?”

This was sure to be good.

Amelia nodded. “That’s right.”

Sylphiel started to tremble. Since she couldn’t seem to do anything but mumble incoherent nothings, I leaned in and voiced the connection for her:

“She’s the kid of your crush, Philionel.”

Sylphiel clapped her hands over her ears. “NO!” she cried. “Don’t say it! I don’t want to remember!” She rocked back and forth, clearly still traumatized.

It was hard to blame her. Just putting the words crush and Philionel in the same sentence had given me goose bumps, and I was more used to him.

Zel didn’t know Phil personally so he just exchanged confused glances with Phil’s surprisingly not-fugly daughter.

After a minute, Sylphiel managed to pull herself together. She sniffed and turned back to me.

“Anyway,” she said shakily. “I don’t see Mister Gourry with you.”

Eep. She’d had a thing for Gourry, hadn’t she? I tried to sink in my chair, hoping it might shield me from the upcoming awkwardness.

Sylphiel’s eyes filled with horror. “Miss Lina,” she gasped. “You didn’t… you didn’t…” She suddenly looked on the border of having another breakdown. “You didn’t sell him, did you?!”

I sighed. I would’ve replied with “Do I look like someone who would cash in a teammate for some quick coin?” but I didn’t want to hear her answer.

“I didn’t sell him, Sylphiel,” I assured her.

“Then… you stole his Sword of Light and abandoned him on the highway?!”

“Cut me some slack, Sylphiel!” I let out an irritated breath. “I wouldn’t do that, contrary to popular belief.” “Then what happened to Mister Gourry?!”

I took a moment to think of what to tell her. The truth? Maybe it wouldn’t look so bad if I cutsied it up a little.

“Gourry’s … uh …” I flashed her an innocent smile. “BeenkidnappedbyHellmasterPhibrizzo. Tee hee!”

The table went silent. I was starting to regret my faux-cute thing when Sylphiel crumpled to the ground.

★★★

We managed to bring Sylphiel back around a few minutes later. She recovered quickly, at least, and took a seat next to me at the table.

“This is no time to be fainting,” she mumbled, mostly to herself. I could see her shaking knees under the table.

“Miss Lina, please.” She turned her glassy eyes up at me. “What in the world happened?”

Amelia, Zel, and I all looked at each other. Explaining what had happened would be easy enough, but then Sylphiel would insist on coming with us. And haven’t I involved enough other people as it is? I thought.

Still, I’d already mentioned Hellmaster. It was probably too late to avoid going into detail.

I sighed. Fine,” I said at last. “But I’m warning you— this is big, Sylphiel. And after you hear it, you may wish you never did.” I looked at her seriously. “Are you sure you wanna know?”

She nodded without hesitation. “I do,” she assured.

Here goes nothing.

I spent the next chunk of time explaining all the insane things that had happened to us lately. Xelloss, Chaos Dragon, the Claire Bible, Hellmaster taking Gourry to Sairaag—I really didn’t leave much out (although I may have skimmed over some of the more embarrassing parts). I also mentioned that Chaos Dragon’s remaining followers were still trying to kill me, this time under General Rashatt.

When I was finally done, Sylphiel let her gaze fall to her hands which rested in her lap. “Wow,” she murmured, and I could tell from her tone that she was trying not to lose it again. “So … Mister Gourry was abducted in order to summon you to Sairaag.”

I swallowed. “Yeah,” I said, sinking back in my chair a little. Something mildly frightening lurked behind her words.

“Mmm.” But instead of reaching over the table and throttling me, Sylphiel just drifted into her own thoughts. Her eyes glazed over as she went silent.

I gave her a minute. “Sylphiel?” I asked at last.

She turned to me at that, her eyes refocusing on my face. “I still haven’t told you why I’m here, have I?” she asked quietly.

I blinked. “Uh … no,” I said, a little confused at her changing the subject. Didn’t she want to talk about Gourry?

Sylphiel looked away. “I was working as an assistant for my uncle,” she began. “He’s a magic doctor in Saillune City, and he agreed to take care of me. One day, I heard a strange story from a traveling merchant we took on as a patient: that he’d passed by Sairaag, and the tree had disappeared.”

“Flagohn’s gone?” I asked incredulously

The single, giant tree in the center of Sairaag City absorbed miasma around the area for food. It was known as Flagohn, the Holy Tree … and it had been the only thing left after the second destruction of the city.

“You mean … it broke or got chopped down or something?” I asked.

She shook her head. “He was very clear,” she answered. “The tree is literally gone.”

Gone. I stared at my plate in confusion. I wouldn’t call Flagohn the size of a mountain, but it was at least as big as a hill. The trunk alone was the size of a city block. How could something that big just vanish?

Sylphiel let out a breath. “I also found the story strange,” she went on, voicing my thoughts. “So I asked for more details.”

“And?”

“The tale became far stranger,” she said in a demure tone. “The more questions I asked, the less sense everything made, so I rephrased what I was asking—at which point he mentioned that there was a city at Sairaag.”

I stopped my teacup before it reached my lips. “What?” I breathed.

Sylphiel closed her eyes. “He said that Sairaag had not been destroyed; that there was definitely a city with people living in it. Just … Flagohn, alone, had vanished without a trace.”

I put down my cup. Sairaag had definitely been destroyed. It had been about half a year ago, and Zel, Sylphiel, and I had seen it happen right in front of us. There was no way that a city could’ve been rebuilt from a crater that fast. And that still didn’t explain what had happened to the tree!

Amelia, who’d been silent up until that point, decided to cut in. “They already rebuilt it?” she asked. “I heard about Sairaag City being destroyed by an unknown cause not that long ago. And I definitely remember hearing about the tree.”

Unknown cause?

I slapped a hand to my forehead the same instant Zelgadiss looked over at me. We’d never told Amelia about that little adventure, had we?

“What?” Amelia asked. “Did I say something?”

“We’ll discuss that later,” Zel interjected, cutting off yet another long story at the pass. “Sylphiel, you’re sure that traveler wasn’t lying or hallucinating?”

She shook her head. “That occurred to me immediately, or course, so I visited a pub to ask more travelers. But then the story got even stranger: some had seen the tree alone in a wasteland, others had more recently seen an active city but no tree.” She swallowed. “In other words, the tree vanished and the city appeared at a sudden recent point in time.”

Yikes. I chewed my lower lip, trying to piece together the story in my head. But no matter what direction I looked at it from, the tale was pure crazy

“If it’s not a mistake,” I said at last, “then I’m stumped.” I cringed at my choice of words and continued. “Any idea what it means, Sylphiel?”

“No,” she murmured. “I’m traveling to Sairaag myself to confirm the incident with my own eyes.”

I stared at her. “After the stuff I just told you about Hellmaster being in Sairaag?!”

Sylphiel pursed her lips. “Upon hearing about Mister Gourry’s abduction, my resolve has only been strengthened. However …” She trailed off for a minute, clearly thinking something through. “I’ll be able to travel faster if I go alone,” she said at last. “I’ll rescue Mister Gourry myself, if it’s possible to do so.”

Dishware clattered as Amelia hit the table with her traditionally clenched fists. “You can’t do that!” she cried in unison with Zel and me.

“We-we’re talking about Hellmaster Phibrizzo!” Amelia exclaimed. “Evil Incarnate! Lord of Destruction! There’s no way you can take him on by yourself!”

“I know,” Sylphiel answered, strangely calm. She glanced over at me. “But if Miss Lina goes to Hellmaster, no good will come of it. Phibrizzo’s scheme is likely some worldwide plot.”

I didn’t reply. From the look in her eyes, Sylphiel had guessed most of Phibrizzo’s intentions.

“However.” Sylphiel brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “I’m not saying you should abandon Mister Gourry—I just think that someone should go ahead of you and try to free him first. I’ll do it… if I’m able.”

I sat up. “I know what you’re saying, Sylphiel. But—” “Going ahead on my own may seem hopeless, but you can’t afford to have your hands tied with Chaos Dragon’s survivors still after you, Miss Lina. This is the best decision.”

“Stop being so objective for a second.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “You’re talking about a ridiculously huge risk.”

She paused. “Then do you have a plan with minimal risk?” she asked coolly.

That one shut me up. I stared at her, a myriad of excuses dying before they hit my lips. Finally I dropped back in my chair in silence.

What other plan did I have? Amelia, Zel, and I had decided to go after Gourry regardless of the danger—we hadn’t considered better methods to save him because there hadn’t been any. If we couldn’t defeat Hellmaster, for example, we’d have to wiggle out of his plan … but I didn’t have a good track record of escaping his manipulation.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. Shortly before leaving Dragon’s Peak, Milgazia had offered to kill me. He knew that Gaav was right—my death would put an end to whatever Hellmaster was planning. But Milgazia wasn’t a Mazoku, so he left it up to me. I politely declined the dying option, Milgazia let me go on my way, and he himself opted to stay on Dragon’s Peak as an observer.

I didn’t want to die. And even if I did, I knew it might just prompt Hellmaster to kill Gourry and forget his whole plan; he’d already killed Gaav, so it wasn’t like the entire thing could be a bust. It wasn’t just my life on the line anymore.

Which brought me back to Sylphiel’s plan. Yes, it was better than me marching into Hellmaster’s trap—but it was putting yet another life in unbelievable danger.

“Don’t worry about me,” Sylphiel said quietly, once again speaking my mind for me. “I value my life, so I won’t do anything rash when my enemy is as strong as Phibrizzo. I know what this may entail.” She looked away. “But that said, I’m not asking for your approval. I’m going to Sairaag alone, regardless of what you say.”

Zel crossed his arms. “So what you’re saying,” he said, “is that we shouldn’t bother trying to stop you?”

Sylphiel nodded firmly

Great, I thought. Just what we need: more complications.

★★★

That night, we split to our respective rooms to get some sleep. I wasn’t counting on getting a lot, but I had to try; traveling day after day toward certain death got really exhausting. I’d just taken off my mantle and shoulder guards when someone knocked on the door. I frowned and looked over my shoulder.

Now what?

“Miss Lina?” Sylphiel asked through the wood. “Are you asleep yet?”

I undid the lock for her. “Not yet,” I said, pulling the door open.

She stood out in the hallway with a very serious look on her face. That wasn’t much of a surprise—our conversation earlier had sucked.

“I have something I wanted to discuss with you,” she said. “Do you mind?”

“No. What’s the matter?”

She walked into my room without answering. She closed and locked the door behind her, sat in one of the cheap chairs in my room, and folded her hands in her lap. I sat on the bed opposite her.

“Miss Lina,” she began, “I’ll get right to the point.” Her eyes bore into me. “What do you think of Mister Gourry?”

“He’s good with sharp things, but his brain is soup.”

Sylphiel’s mouth hung open. I furrowed my eyebrows.

What? I wondered defensively. That’s the first thing I think of when I think of him, okay?

She swallowed. “Th-that’s not what I mean,” she stuttered. “I wanted to know if you … like him or not.”

“Not like him? If I didn’t like him, I would’ve knocked him to the dirt and stolen his stuff ages ago.”

Sylphiel sighed. I wasn’t giving her the answers she was waiting for, apparently, but it didn’t help that I had no idea what she was getting at.

“Let me rephrase this,” she murmured. “Not long ago, when we traveled from Sairaag to Saillune City together, I asked you why you two were traveling together. You said you were after the Sword of Light, remember?” She clasped her hands together. “Yet now, from what you’ve told me, the Sword of Light is a demon. You won’t be able to retrieve it from Phibrizzo’s grasp, right? And without the Sword of Light, even if you do rescue Gourry, you’ll have lost your reason for traveling with him.”

That struck me for a second. “Oh,” I said at last, working through what she’d said. Hellmaster probably hadn’t thought that far yet, but there was no way he’d give back the sword. So Gourry couldn’t, say … give me the Sword of Light as a thank-you for saving him.

Dammit.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, crossing my arms. “I guess we won’t have any reason to travel together after that.” As my mind started going through other possibilities, Sylphiel suddenly gave me a pained smile.

“Miss Lina,”she said gently. “Are you trying to think of another reason for you two to stay together?”

I gave a start. I… I had been doing that, hadn’t I? Sylphiel had been reading my mind all day, which was a little disturbing.

“If I’m right, Miss Lina, then why do you think you’re doing that?”

I opened my mouth to answer, then suddenly realized I didn’t know what to say. I stared at her, mouth agape, feeling (and probably looking) like a dumbstruck idiot.

Sylphiel looked to the floor, that weak smile still on her face. “I understand,” she murmured as she got to her feet. “I’ll be departing from the inn early tomorrow morning. I’ll rescue Mister Gourry on my own somehow.”

You understand? I thought, confused. You understand what?

“Goodnight, Miss Lina.” With that, Sylphiel left the room and closed the door behind her. For a long minute,

“Well, anyone would—she was being pretty obvious. But if she really does like him, I’m worried that she’ll act without thinking, no matter how careful she says she’ll be.”

I thought about that one… Amelia was probably right; Sylphiel tended to get worked up, after all. But what else could we do? She’d already left for Sairaag, so we just had to follow as fast as we could.

More crap to the pile! Didn’t see that coming.

My thoughts were sarcastic, but they were truer than I realized. I suddenly noticed something and stopped; Amelia and Zel halted at the same moment.

Rustle, rustle.

The sounds of grass and wind rose up around us. The only shadows against the ground were ours, and the road itself continued straight ahead into the pure, blue sky. It would’ve been pretty, except for one important thing.

I’d seen mountains in the distance earlier.

Dammit! I thought. When the hell did we fall into a spell?!

Amelia stiffened as she looked around. “It must be Rashatt’s ward,” she said quickly.

There was no sign of anyone nearby; knee-high grass grew as far as the eye could see. And then we heard it again.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The grass to our right heaved, like some kind of beast was creeping around inside it. The grass waved erratically, but whatever was hiding in it was definitely headed our way.

“It’s coming,” Zelgadiss hissed.

The moment he spoke, the swell suddenly stopped.

And a sense of bloodlust raged behind us.

The grass was a feint!

I continued to chant the spell I’d already started as the three of us leapt in different directions. A flash of light tore through the air from behind us. Once my feet hit the ground again, I whipped to where the light had come from … and saw nothing but grass waving slightly in the wind.

I blinked. Had something just jumped across space?

The bloodlust hit from behind again, now from where we’d seen the grass move. Sensing the danger, I jumped away while twisting around in midair.

SHOOM! A streak of light sliced through the grass, straight for Amelia!

Amelia jerked away in the nick of time. The light singed a few strands of her hair before vanishing again in the perfect blue sky.

I gritted my teeth. That light had come from the grass, but the bloodlust from a second before had disappeared. If whoever was after us was jumping across space, I couldn’t see where he was—and there was nothing to indicate that he was hiding in the grass somewhere.

Unless … Realizing something, I continued chanting my spell.

The light wouldn’t quit. Cutting back and forth across the grass and air, Amelia and Zel had to hold their spells and pull back They were obviously thrown off by our invisible enemy

That meant it was up to me. “Zelas Brid!” I shouted.

A sash of light extended from my fingertip, its arc changing in midair according to my will. I sent it to impale a section of the green, earthy plain.

RGOOOOOO! The scream seemed to cut right into my head. The landscape around us shook for a second, then returned to its natural state. The range of mountains once again appeared in the distance.

I let out a breath. Looks like I broke the ward.

“General Rashatt!” I called, sure he was somewhere he could hear me. “That ward we were in—the whole place was your demonic body, wasn’t it?!”

There was a pause. “That is … correct,” he answered at last, space warping as soon as he said the words. When he finally showed himself, I could see he was in his blood-red dragon scale armor.

Rashatt breathed heavily while he glared. “I’m impressed you noticed,” he said darkly. “I had certainly thought… that the forcefield would … impede you a bit longer.”

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but his voice sounded pretty strained. I was hoping that meant my shot had taken a lot out of him.

A thought struck me, and I grimaced. We were just inside Rashatt, I realized. Ew.

“Very well,” Rashatt called as he slowly drew his sword. “That being the case, I will fight you head on!”

“Ra Tilt!”

Amelia had taken his declaration of a direct fight as a sign to shoot him from the side. Rashatt swung his sword.

“That won’t work!” he roared as he literally sliced the blue light in half.

Zel took that as a sign. “Ra Tilt!” he shouted, and his spell completely engulfed the Mazoku.

“GAAAAAAH!” Rashatt screamed.

I knew one blow wouldn’t take him out.

So did Amelia. She immediately started chanting her second Ra Tilt. Bloodlust surged from behind us.

I knew it was Moldirag—but I also wasn’t surprised. Without missing a beat, I turned and released the spell I’d intended for Rashatt.

“Gaav Flare!” I cried.

A belt of magic fire emerged from my right palm, shooting through the air and totally nailing Moldirag!

At least, it was supposed to. Instead, I just stood there, my Power Words trailing into the wind ineffectually as I thrust out my empty palm. I probably looked like a complete moron.

Why didn’t the spell work?!

I was shocked stupid. My incantation, motions, and mental control should’ve been perfect. So why was I just standing there?

Moldirag took advantage of my spell’s failure to launch multiple spears of light at Amelia. Amelia dodged easily.

Needless to say, I was a combination of confused and pissed. Had Rashatt put a seal on my magic when I’d been inside his ward? Mazenda had done that a while ago, and it had sucked royally

When in doubt, experiment. I began the incantation for the Dragon Slave.

Amelia had already finished chanting a new Ra Tilt, so she launched it at Moldirag. But with a single, loud roar, it shattered like a glass hitting a stone floor.

Zelgadiss turned to Moldirag and chanted his own Ra Tilt. Rashatt laughed at him, a twisted sneer on his face.

“It is futile!” Rashatt cried. “No matter how often you try!”

Zel ignored him and released. “Ra Tilt!” he shouted.

Rashatt raised another roar to protect his precious tree-demon. But this time, the joke was on him—Zel wasn’t aiming for Moldirag.

FOOM!

Rashatt screamed in pain and surprise as the blue flames swallowed him. I had to admit, it was a great fake-out on Zel’s part.

I was convinced the second Ra Tilt still wasn’t enough. Finishing my own chant, I released my spell and hoped for the best.

“Dragon Slave!”

Crimson light appeared out of thin air and zoomed toward Rashatt. I blinked in surprise.

It worked!

Probably expecting another attack, Rashatt sliced the approaching light in two. It was annoying, admittedly, but at least it proved that my magic wasn’t sealed.

So what had happened earlier? Why hadn’t my Gaav Flare—?

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. No way.

I suddenly had a hypothesis. If what I was thinking was true, then it sure explained a few things … but I wasn’t yet sure and that meant more experimentation. I quickly began chanting my next Dragon Slave.

“Your weak methods will fail!” Rashatt declared. He sliced his sword to shoot a shockwave at me, but I easily sidestepped it and released my spell.

“Dragon Slave!” I shouted.

“Ra Tilt!” Amelia echoed as she released at Moldirag.

I was impressed to see that she’d delayed the activation of her spell on purpose. Now we had simultaneous attacks on separate opponents, which meant Rashatt had to abandon Moldirag or eat my Dragon Slave.

Unfortunately, Rashatt refused to play along. “Fools!” he boomed as the blue fire and crimson light were shattered simultaneously.

Crap.

I hadn’t expected him to be able to do that to different spells going in different directions. He wasn’t a general for nothing; he was proving to be a crafty bastard.

Call me stubborn, but I wanted to try again. “Dragon Slave!” I shouted as I released another spell at Rashatt. When he easily batted it away, I just started chanting another one.

While I kept trying for Rashatt, Amelia and Zel kept casting at Rashatt and Moldirag. But they didn’t make any headway, and I didn’t make any headway, so the whole thing just got stupid after a while.

I decided to end it.

“Dragon Slave!” I cried, going for Rashatt again. When he blocked that too, I started to breathe raggedly.

“Ugh!” I gasped. “My magic power’s finally … !”

Rashatt scoffed. “What’s wrong, Lina Inverse?” he taunted. “You exhausted your magic energy on a string of insignificant spells? You really are a fool!” He raised his sword high.

Amelia chanted Ra Tilt to cover me. Just before she completed her spell, I jerked my thumb at the white demon behind us.

“Over there!” I shouted.

She instantly did as she was told and switched her target from Rashatt to Moldirag. It was time to see if my hypothesis was right.

“Ra Tilt!” Amelia cried.

In one of the more refreshing sights of the day, Moldirag’s body was instantly engulfed in blue flame.

“OOOoooOOOooo … !”

The white Mazoku was annihilated, roaring like a beast as she went.

Rashatt’s face fell. “Moldirag!” he cried. He glared daggers at Amelia.

“Grr!” Rashatt clenched a fist. “You’ll pay for this, mark my words!” And with that empty threat, Rashatt vanished into space.

Perfect, I thought. Everything had happened exactly as I’d expected it to. As I stood there, smiling, Amelia and Zel stared at me like I’d stolen their wallets.

“What the hell?” Zel finally asked with a very suspicious look.

I took in a deep, victorious breath. Of course Amelia and Zel were curious—who wouldn’t be?

I’d spent half of the fight flinging useless Dragon Slaves at Rashatt, and he hadn’t defended Moldirag when she’d really needed it at the end. The whole thing probably seemed completely bizarre. “No worries, guys,” I said with a laugh. “I just figured out how to beat Rashatt.”

★★★

The rock-strewn highway extended up a small, high hill. Other than a small grove on my right side and the mountains in the distance, there was nothing but wheat fields as far as the eye could see. I expected the next town to be visible beyond the hill.

I stretched out my arms, enjoying the morning sun on my back as I walked in my silent solitude.

Yup. Solitude. I was alone, and it wasn’t half bad.

Amelia and Zel had gone ahead to Sairaag in pursuit of Sylphiel. We’d decided it would be easier that way. Our last fight with Rashatt had been four days earlier, and Amelia and Zel had continued the next morning.

As I walked the abandoned highway, I suddenly realized something. I stopped and looked around.

I’ve been by here before. With Gourry, during our trip to Sairaag together. Since I was about to be attacked by an enemy there again, maybe the place was cursed.

“You’re leaking bloodlust, General,” I said into the wind. “If you’re trying to ambush me, you just earned a big fat F.” His voice came from behind me. “I don’t see your entourage,” he commented.

I slowly turned to him, my mantle flapping in the wind. He stood there, in his dragon scale armor, the lush landscape behind him making him seem extra impressive.

I shrugged dismissively. “I had them go ahead to Sairaag. I knew they wouldn’t get very far if they stayed with me.” Rashatt’s lips curled up in a smile. “Oh,” he said. “Then you’ve finally resigned to your death.”

“What? Get real. It means I’m ready to get serious and take you out alone—I’m more than enough for the likes of you, thanks.”

Rashatt snorted. “You have quite the mouth on you, hm? But regardless …”

“We’re ending this here!” I finished for him, leaping back as I chanted a spell.

“And I prefer it that way!”

Rashatt opened his left palm and shot a number of balls of light at me.

I jumped to the side.

A moment later, Rashatt’s balls of light slammed into the stone highway and gouged multiple holes into the earth.

I can do this in one shot, I thought. One shot, Lina! I sucked in a breath and released my spell.

“Dragon Slave!” I cried.

Rashatt immediately got a dig in. “I told you it’s futile, Lina Inverse!”

I knew hitting him was a waste of time, so I wasn’t aiming for him. My crimson light exploded into the ground by his feet.

BOOOM!

The wind shuddered as the grass bent backwards in the explosion. I also knew that wouldn’t inflict damage on the demonic Rashatt; before the reverberation of the explosion had time to die out, I chanted my next spell and ran through the cloud of dust straight for him.

As I flew out, breaking through the wall of dust, I saw Rashatt glaring at me from a distance away.

“Did you just mean to blind me?!” he howled, readying his sword to send a shockwave.

He wanted to force me to evade so he could regain a good position.

Like I was gonna let him! I ran at him again, picking up speed … And closed my eyes.

I heard his cry of shock. “What?!” he blurted. If he still sent that shockwave at me, I knew I’d be dead in a second.

SHOOM! The shockwave came after a second of hesitation, harmlessly passing by my right ear.

I knew it. My unexpected action hadn’t thrown of his aim—he’d meant to miss me. I opened my eyes again to see him standing right in front of me, his face torn between expressions of hesitation and shock.

I activated my spell. “Ragna Blade!” I shouted.

SLICE!

The blade of darkness impaled Rashatt right in the chest.

Rashatt choked. “Wh-why you … !”

I smiled triumphantly at him, unbothered by his anguished expression. “Too bad, Rashatt,” I mocked. “It looks like you just couldn’t cut it as an actor.”

His gaze darkened.

“But maybe it’s not fair to compare you to Xelloss and Phibrizzo, General. Or should I even be calling you that?” I raised an eyebrow. “After all, you’re Hellmaster Phibrizzo’s lieutenant now, aren’t you?”

“What?!” Rashatt gurgled.

So I’d been right. There was no way he was working to avenge Chaos Dragon; he was after me because Phibrizzo had ordered him.

There’d been too many inconsistencies. If he’d wanted to kill me just to spite Phibrizzo, why the ward inside the city and the retreat once it was broken? With Chaos Dragon’s plans completely trashed, it was easier (albeit a bit violent) to blow away an entire city in order to take me out. But he’d consistently retreated, and always when my magic energy was low—like the last time, when he’d deliberately stopped guarding Moldirag and chosen to retreat.

Not only that, but he’d always waited a few days before attacking again, which meant that I was always replenished when he came for another fight. And his “I’m gonna kill you” garbage. He’d always gone after Amelia and Zel in battle, sending nothing more than token attacks my way.

Only one thing made sense: he was putting on a crappy act.

My first tangible piece of evidence that he was working for Hellmaster was when my Gaav Flare hadn’t Worked. If a spell that draws on the power of Chaos

Dragon Gaav doesn’t work anymore, that means Gaav is entirely gone. Hellmaster had destroyed that guy beyond a trace, apparently. And although I didn’t know much about which demons obeyed which other demons, for pure demons like Rashatt and Raltaak to obey Gaav to the point of betraying Ruby Eye Shabranigdu probably meant that they bore absolute obedience to their creator. Just because Chaos Dragon had human will mixed in with him didn’t mean they were off the hook.

So with Gaav completely gone, who would Rashatt obey? The default, I assumed, was the lord of Mazoku in the world: the Demon King of the North, Ruby Eye Shabranigdu. And who was under his authority? The mastermind of a particular project: Hellmaster Phibrizzo.

“Looks like I hit the mark,” | said through my teeth before slicing sideways with the blade of darkness.

“RAAAAAAAAAA!”

The wind trembled from the scream. Rashatt’s body turned into a burst of red flakes, scattering themselves across the green field around me.

I sighed. First for Gaav, then for Phibrizzo … General Rashatt had been nothing but a patsy until the end. It was sad, really. Even before working for Phibrizzo, he hadn’t been able to kill me. It was exactly why I didn’t mind sending Amelia and Zel ahead without me. And although Rashatt probably could’ve avoided the Ragna Blade alone, my Dragon Slave had masked my closing the distance and chanting the Ragna Blade spell. Closing my eyes made him hesitate, he missed with his shockwave on purpose as a warning shot… but I’d just blown through his hesitation and cut him down with the Blade. Almost had to feel bad for the guy.

At least Hellmaster’s objective had become a lot clearer. He’d sent Rashatt to try and back me into a corner; Rashatt just hadn’t been a good enough actor to get the job done.

I turned my eyes back to the highway that stretched in front of me. That way, in the distance, Sairaag City waited for me. The City of Ghosts waited for me.

And, unfortunately, so did Hellmaster Phibrizzo.