City of Ghosts: All That Remains is the Wind

City of Ghosts: All That Remains is the Wind

“If your chances weren’t so sad, that might be funny,” Vizea sneered in a completely contemptuous tone. He seemed insulted that anyone would even consider the possibility that he could be defeated by a human warrior.

“Lantz!” I shouted. “As soon as you get an opening, strike! Put your will into it! You can do this!”

“Nonsense.” Vizea chuckled.

Be quiet, you. Don’t laugh; it’s not funny.

I knew from experience how hard it was to maintain complete concentration in hand-to-hand combat. All Lantz needed was a tiny opening, a little slip. With his willpower infused into the Blessed Blade, he stood a chance. However… Lantz was not exactly famous for his strong will.

Of course, compared to normal people, even the worst of the best is still one of the best. He at least stood a better chance than your average warrior. I didn’t know how powerful the Blessed Blade was, but if it could just raise his power a little above Vizea’s defenses…

“You will die,” Vizea promised.

“Eventually, I’m sure.” Lantz managed a hearty laugh.

Good show, big guy.

“When I have finished with you, there will be no remains left to identify,” Vizea continued with the trash-talking.

“Bring it!” Lantz challenged. Countless white tendrils sprouted from the right side of Vizea’s face.

“Hmph!” Lantz grunted as the Blessed Blade swept them aside in a flash. Lantz pressed closer to the Mazoku.

“Kudos!” Vizea leapt high, grabbing onto the ceiling like a giant bug. “You may be more entertaining than I expected.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be enjoying yourself for long,” Lantz shot back.

“Is that so?” Vizea let go of the ceiling and dove straight for Lantz. More white whips shot out from the side of his face.

“Dwah!” Lantz threw himself out of the way. Tentacles from Vizea’s flesh plunged deep into the floor, his feet landing there a moment afterward.

“Dammit! That’s cheating, you weasel!”

“Not a weasel,” Vizea chuckled, “a Mazoku.” Just as he said that, the ground at Lantz’s feet split!

“What the—?!”

The Mazoku’s tentacles were creeping up from below. Lantz quickly leapt back, away from them. One managed to pierce his lower leg nonetheless.

“Argh!” he cried, swinging his sword down. Even severed, the tentacle continued to invade his flesh. “You bastard!” he swore, “I’m gonna tear you apart!” This time he swung, and when the Blessed Blade touched the tentacle, the tentacle vanished with a loud crack.

Good. His will is growing with his anger. Unfortunately, Vizea’s was growing, too.

“What’s the matter? Does it hurt?” Vizea mocked. Suddenly, the wall beside Lantz burst, and more tentacles reached forth.

Lantz brought his sword down to slice them.

Watching Vizea’s attack pattern was making me sick. I decided I wouldn’t be eating pasta anytime soon.

“Huh?!” Lantz stopped. The sword in his hand was being pulled in the Mazoku’s direction. A thin tentacle had wrapped itself around the Blessed Blade and was attempting to wrench it away from Lantz.

“This game has gone on long enough,” Vizea declared. “First, you will give me that blade.” Suddenly, a small, groaning sound echoed through the cave. It seemed to be coming from Flagohn itself.

For a moment, Vizea looked around with a suspicious eye, but he soon returned his focus to Lantz.

“A fine blade, indeed,” he said, admiringly. “Most magic swords are broken easily by a single tentacle.”

There was no way that sword was going to break. As Sylphiel had explained, it was attuned to Flagohn itself. To break it would be to break the tree. Mazoku though he was, Vizea was no threat to that tree. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“If I cannot break it, then I shall have it,” he sneered, and the thin tentacle yanked hard.

Lantz let out a small yelp. He was jerked several paces forward, but had managed to hold onto the blade. He drew closer to Vizea, who pulled him with a single, tiny tentacle.

“Oh… nooooo!” Lantz suddenly let go of the blade. The recoil sent the Mazoku flying backward.

“Gah!!” The sword that Vizea had so desired went flying for the Mazoku, point first.

Thwook! The Blessed Blade thrust deep into the Mazoku’s midsection.

“Take THAT!” Lantz yelled, and Vizea’s scream filled the cavern.

“Err… gghhh…” Vizea raised his right hand slowly. He’d survived the attack!

“Come on! Oh, come ON!” Lantz was trying to pull the sword from the Mazoku’s belly.

Vizea’s right hand twitched and continued to move.

“Damn! Damn it all to hell!” Lantz cried out in utter exasperation.

“Daa!” Vizea’s body bent backward.

Lantz let go and stepped away. The sword remained in the Mazoku’s belly.

“Gu… fuu… haa…” The Mazoku’s breathing was labored, but a ghastly smile was forming on his face.

“Well done,” he said. “Now I shall return the favor.” He took one staggering step toward Lantz.

Lantz crept backward. The Mazoku stretched both of his arms out, thrusting the sword, still planted in his gut, toward Lantz like a dare.

“It seems you have forgotten something,” he hissed. “Don’t you want to retrieve it?” Vizea pressed closer to him still. “What will you do now, hmm?” Vizea was rapidly closing the distance between them.

Without the Blessed Blade, Lantz stood no chance. Knowing this, the Mazoku continued to taunt him.

Lantz put it all on the line and took his only remaining option, charging right at the advancing Vizea, grabbing hold of the sword still plunged into him, and driving all of his will into the Mazoku. If he was struck by Vizea’s attacks before doing so, he’d lose. If Vizea managed to resist his will… well, he’d lose in that case, too.

It was an uphill battle either way.

Lantz’s back hit the wall. The phosphorescent moss was wiped away from that area, leaving one of Flagohn’s giant roots exposed. The impact sent spores dancing into the air.

“Come to me!” Vizea called for him.

“Rest in pieces, monster!” Lantz howled.

At that same moment, the Mazoku’s body burst into messy chunks.

“Ooo… ?” Vizea lay in parts on the ground, his head unable to comprehend what had just happened to the rest of his body.

Instead of blood, yellow dust the color of cheddar cheese spewed from his wound, filling the air with thick clouds of the stuff. Twitching was the only movement he could manage.

With a buzz like the song of a small swarm of insects, his flesh broke down completely. Only some dust and the Blessed Blade remained.

Lantz had driven his will into Flagohn and used the tree itself to smash the Mazoku into pieces.

He glanced in our direction. “Eris? You okay?” He broke her out of her reverie. “What were you just thinking about?”

That’s a dangerous question to ask someone, if I do say so myself.

“Ah… eh? U-um… I was thinking that I’ve never seen a Mazoku die like that before,” she replied in an awkward tone. Just as I’d expected.

* * *

“Haa!” Gourry cleaved a brass demon in two with a flash of the Sword of Light. The battle was mostly decided.

The tunnel that Rezo had opened into Flagohn continued all the way to the center of Sairaag. A rather large plaza surrounded the tree, and houses large and small stood in neat rows beyond it. We could see a crowd of onlookers watching from there.

Sure must be nice to be one of those people who just gets to stand around and watch. On second thought… nah.

“I shall not forgive you,” said Rahanim, slowly turning about in the sky, setting his sights on Zelgadiss.

“Zelgadiss! Look out!” Gourry yelled, just as Rahanim’s form vanished.

Zelgadiss dodged instinctively. The force of the wind clipped his cheek. “I see,” he said, licking his lips, his interest piqued. Red blood flowed from a shallow groove in his rock-hard cheek.

“Be careful! This guy gave us a really hard time!” Gourry warned.

“A hard time, you say? You and Lina had a hard time against a fish-man?” Zelgadiss looked like he might laugh at the notion.

“What? He moves so fast that you can’t see him to slice him!” Gourry explained.

“Who needs to see him?” Zelgadiss asked. So boasting, he thrust his sword directly toward Rahanim as the fish-man floated in the air. “Come on, fellow I’ll be having fish for dinner.”

“So you say!” The fish-man’s tail flicked suddenly as his form vanished once more.

Zelgadiss moved at the same time, raising his sword, lowering his body, and putting his weight forward.

Now, why didn’t I think of that?

Zelgadiss’ body pitched backward as we heard a sickening rip. Rahanim had fallen to the ground farther behind him. He’d been sliced evenly in two.

Certainly the speed the fish-man possessed was impressive; but, on the other hand, he had no maneuverability whatsoever. So, if someone lunged the instant he vanished from sight, he could dodge the attack. But with no maneuverability, he couldn’t change course or swerve to miss a blade held in the position of his original trajectory.

It was blatantly obvious when I thought about it.

“See?” said Zelgadiss.

Gourry’s eyes narrowed.

“Hello there!” Zelgadiss waved a hand in our direction.

“Hi!” I cheerfully waved back.

Gourry finally noticed us. “Your wound all right now?” he called.

“Yeah. Tip-top!” I answered, adding a short nod.

“How long have you been standing there?” Zelgadiss asked.

“Since you faced off against Rahanim. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

It wasn’t long after Lantz finished his duel with the demon that I was completely healed. Lantz’s wounds were repaired shortly after; and Sylphiel, Eris, Lantz, and I took off after the other two.

“Vrumugun came out again,” Zelgadiss began catching us up on what we’d missed, “… and was defeated. That leaves the Mazoku Vizea.”

“Oh, Lantz took care of him already,” I offered casually.

“Lantz?!” Zelgadiss and Gourry both cried out in surprise.

Lantz raised his thumb up with a wink.

“So that leaves…” Zelgadiss shifted his gaze from the heap of berserker and troll corpses near him to a figure with a red silhouette. “Him, it would seem…”

Gourry emitted an inadvertent groan.

I drew my short sword and silently pressed it against her back. “I think it’s time to end this charade. Don’t you agree, Eris Vrumugun?”

Gourry and Zelgadiss snapped to attention at once.

“What?!” Gourry exclaimed.

“What’s the meaning of this, Lina?!” Zelgadiss demanded.

For her part, Eris chuckled. “When did you figure it out?” she asked, realizing the gig was up and not making the slightest attempt to deny it.

Her hand, though, did go for the knife at her hip.

“Best if you don’t move,” I warned. And I meant it.

She ignored my warning and removed her scabbard, tossing it a fair distance.

“Zelgadiss, keep watching ‘Rezo’ over there,” I ordered. “Let me know if he tries anything funny.”

Now then…

“You tipped your hand when you and Lantz attacked me in the cave,” I explained.

“Oh, and how did I do that?” She turned toward me, both fists in her pockets, defiantly.

“Zel came over to rescue me when he heard the sound of my sword slipping from my fingers. So, why didn’t Vrumugun stop him from interfering? In order to put those rubies in your foreheads, he had to be nearby. And if he was nearby, then why didn’t he just finish me off?

“He wouldn’t even have needed to face me. A short-range attack spell would’ve done it.

“So Vrumugun was there to put the rubies on you, but gone by the time Zel came. Either he’d left by a different passageway, which was unlikely, or… he was one of you. I knew Lantz from before—”

“But you didn’t know me.” As she spoke, she brought her left hand up to her brow, where the ruby had been implanted before. “You did get one thing wrong, you know. The ruby in my brow had no effect whatsoever. It would’ve had to have been a little higher, like on Lantz. No, its purpose was simple camouflage. I needed it to fool Zelgadiss into thinking that I was being controlled as well. But he was too fast, chanting a sleeping spell before I’d noticed. That was my big mistake.”

“Seriously?!” Lantz still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Eris ignored Lantz’s outburst and posed another question. “So, what confirmed your suspicions?”

“When Rezo struck Flagohn with magic. If Vrumugun had really spotted us inside the caves, he could’ve easily left and come back inside with Rezo and all his friends. Also, the aim was a little too accurate. There shouldn’t have been any way to target reliably in an echoey cave, which means that someone on our side had to have been connected to the Red Priest’s consciousness.” I pointed to the silent form of our old enemy with my free hand. “You’re controlling him through the ruby in his forehead, aren’t you? That impostor.”

Eris stood there, grinning, betraying no indication of what she was planned to do.

I continued. “Now that I think about it, there were other things. Like when Vrumugun tried to protect you from the man-spider, who likely didn’t know that you were allies.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to gather an army in the name of Erisiel Vrumugun!” She grinned as she continued, “But with my ruby implanted into that puppet over there, I could gather legions in the name of Lord Rezo.”

She glanced toward her puppet as she spoke, seething with hatred. “You know that my master was blind, don’t you? That is Lord Rezo’s copy homunculus, built as a test subject for Lord Rezo to work on healing his own eyes.

“Though his capacity is certainly great, he lacks a will of his own; he is unable to do anything at all unless I command it.” She sighed, almost wistfully.

“No matter how many allies I assembled, it would have been all for naught if you had escaped, wouldn’t it? So, pretending to be a bounty hunter, I tailed Zelgadiss from the moment I spotted him.

“Getting hit in the gut wasn’t my idea of a good time, but ending up with you—well, I couldn’t have planned that better if I’d tried.”

“Such is the extent of your eagerness to make your mark as the sorceress who surpassed Rezo the Red Priest,” Zelgadiss said while watching over the poor beast who’d been modeled after his former master.

“Oh, sure, there’s that, too. But it’s really something more,” she sighed, looking off into the distance for a moment. “I loved him. Rezo, I mean. The original…”

The idea made me nauseous, frankly.

Her hand moved subtly inside her pocket. She pulled something out and flicked it toward me with a finger.

A control ruby!

Plop! It struck my forehead dead center.

“What the—?!”

It wasn’t my voice that called out. It was Eris. The ruby bounced right off, falling to the floor at my feet.

“Sorry,” I said, smiling and pointing at my forehead. “This is a custommade bandanna.” It had been woven from the beard of a black dragon and it was embedded with a small, jeweled talisman at its center. While pressed against my forehead, the talisman acted as a focus for my mental energies while I was casting spells.

And it didn’t hurt that it was tough enough to stop a third-rate swordsman s swing cold. Not that I was eager to test it or anything.

“You’ll surrender peacefully and void the bounty without a fight, won’t you?” I inquired, innocently.

“Hmph!” Eris broke through our encirclement with unexpected speed.

Gourry! Lantz! What were you doing, staring into space?!

“Our battle has only begun!” she cackled. “Come to me, my puppet!”

Upon hearing the voice of his mistress, the standing red silhouette returned to life.

Oh, please. If we were gonna fight here, I wasn’t going to waste any time aiming at dolls.

Silently, Rezo’s sad experiment maneuvered directly behind his mistress. The bishop’s staff in his hand chimed.

Two on five. I’ll take those odds.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Eris groaned. “We’re in the middle of Sairaag City. You can’t do anything reckless. I will use the welfare of the people as my shield!”

Is it me, or does she sound like a melodramatic villain ratcheting up the wickedness gauge?

“Though he may be a crude clone of the real thing, his capacity is enormous,” she offered. “With my expert control, we can more than match the likes of you!”

“No, at this point, you would simply be in the way,” said a familiar voice.

“Eh?” Eris spun around, dumbfounded.

THWOOMP! Copy Rezo fired an energy ray that burned straight through Eris’ body.

“Gaaahh!” She stared in disbelief at the gaping hole in her gut. She and her puppet then looked each other square in the face.

“Do you find it strange? Do you? That I—a homunculus, a toy—could demonstrate pride? It must seem impossible to you.

“My pride, my independent spirit—my soul, if you will—was awakened during a certain experiment… one that you witnessed yourself.”

“Urrhh…” Eris moaned. Her knees quivered.

“I cannot fulfill my potential, nor satisfy my pride, as a toy in your service.” He spewed resentment with every word. “Did you not think it odd that Vizea so easily became my ally?

“Those of the demon race do not form pacts lightly. They obey only individuals whose power is greater than their own. Did you really think that a Mazoku such as he would mistake me for my master and not detect your charlatanry?

“It seems that like a fool, you never considered it,” his voice dripped with disdain. “Well, what Vizea obeyed was my power. His pact was with me.”

The Red Priest removed the control ruby from his forehead with ease, and with the assistance of some unseen force, crushed it between his thumb and forefinger.

“Relaying information to you, running errands back and forth, paying you respect… I hope you enjoyed it. It must have been convenient for you,” he hissed.

Eris’ knees buckled, her strength depleted. Her former liege reached out and grasped her face with one hand. A weak, plaintive yelp escaped from her lips.

“Now, now… not yet. I am far from done with you,” he threatened Eris’ flaccid form. “Do you understand? Do you understand what all of this is about?”

She did not respond.

“Yes. Revenge. In order to experiment with healing magic for the purpose of restoring his own unseeing eyes, Rezo required a copy homunculus, and so he created me.

However, while his experiments resulted in my eyes opening easily, Rezo’s remained as useless as ever.”

Of course they did. That was because the Red Priest’s eyes were sealed shut in order to contain a powerful evil. Though neither that Rezo at the time, nor this Rezo before us now, knew that then.

But if Rezo’s experiments were successful, why were his subjects’ eyes closed even now?

“Though he did not display it on his face, he was filled with anger, rage, and fierce hatred for me,” said Copy Rezo. “He was consumed with jealousy that I, his own flesh and blood, had gained sight, while he remained locked in darkness.

“And so he reused me in a variety of trials in the name of experimental sorcery. And then, during a test that you yourself witnessed, he awakened something within me. Call it my will, my pride…

“I cannot be completely confident that it—any more than anything else—is truly my own. But if it is my own, then perhaps it is simply my hatred that he awoke. My hatred for my master for doing that, to me.”

Huh?

So, Lord Rezo and his clone didn’t dig on each other. That’s the gist of it, eh?

But since Rezo was already dead, Vrumugun—that is, Eris—had become the target of his vengeance, which was why he was drawing his speech out so long.

“I have long dreamt of killing Rezo with this very hand. I believed I could defeat even him. But before I could move to realize my desire, my master vanished into thin air. Then,” the fake Rezo sighed, “word came of his demise.

“Do you understand, Erisiel? Can you understand the despair I felt then? It should have been by my hand that Lord Rezo had fallen. You came to me then, saying that you would use me to avenge our lord. As you called out Rezo’s name, sorrow swelled within my breast, and a scheme began to form in my mind.

“I knew I would someday slay you for your part in that experiment, but first—” he suddenly looked concerned. “Erisiel? Are you listening?”

After a long pause, he let go of Eris’ face. Her body made a small plop as it crumpled to the floor.

It didn’t even twitch.

“She is gone.” He made a single, offhanded shrug in our direction.

“Fine… it’s over, then,” Gourry said. “Call off the bounty on us. Now.”

“Why?” His expression indicated that he had no idea why he should even consider such madness. “My revenge against the Red Priest is not yet complete.”

Knew it.

“Rezo’s already dead,” Gourry said with pity.

Copy Rezo laughed. “Yes, I know. I have no intention of challenging his corpse, should one exist. However, a single method of surpassing Rezo remains.”

“To fight and win against us, the people who slew the original,” I said.

“Precisely.” He nodded.

This is going to be a huge pain in the ass.

He’d let pass his first opportunity to dispose of us, and Eris, when we’d first met him face-to-face in the Miasma Forest. Having thrown off Vrumugun’s control long before, he could have easily blown us all away by finishing his spell before I’d cast Levitation on the wind barrier.

He didn’t. Probably because he had no intention of killing us unless he could say he’d done so when we were at a hundred percent of our power.

My judgment error and our having to take care of Lantz and Eris meant that I hadn’t been utilizing all my power. He couldn’t surpass the original Rezo by defeating us under those circumstances.

“This is absurd,” said Zelgadiss.

“Indeed. I understand how you feel,” the fake Red Priest said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. “That is precisely why I have no reason to cancel the bounty now. However, if you defeat me, then the bounty will be lifted, for there will be no one to pay the reward.”

His bishop’s staff made a small sound as it struck the earth. The chime reverberated.

“Shall we begin?” He smiled.

* * *

Zelgadiss made the first move, swinging his great broadsword forward.

The duplicate Rezo moved.

The sword’s vertical thrust passed by the right flank of its target body. The red mantle fluttered in the wind. Copy Rezo launched a spinning left back kick at Zelgadiss’ abdomen then, using the same momentum, followed with a right kick aimed at Zelgadiss’ temple.

Somehow Zel managed to dodge both attacks.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Zel promptly closed the difference between them and slashed through the momentary opening that the Rezo replica had shown him. A clear, high-pitched sound rang out.

The tip of the clone’s staff blocked Zelgadiss’ attack. Then, with the hand that bore it acting as a pivot, the staff flew up in the opposite direction, its end thrusting straight into Zelgadiss’ gut.

“Wurgh!” Zel’s body was blown back with all the force he’d put into his own attack. Copy Rezo had only shown Zelgadiss the opening in order to bait him.

Of course he’s that good.

“Come now, take this seriously,” the imitation Rezo said, sounding annoyed.

“Wanna try me on for size, then?” Gourry asked. Having quelled the Sword of Light, Gourry raised his bastard sword, still standing near a pile of berserkers he’d likely slain with it.

“I refuse.” The fake Rezo shook his head resolutely.

“Gourry, he won’t fight you unless you have the Sword of Light,” I explained as Gourry stood there, insulted and vaguely confused.

“Precisely.”

“Oh fine,” Gourry sighed, muttering to himself about how that was no fun as he once again discarded the steel blade of his sword.

“W-wait a minute,” Zelgadiss said, rousing himself. “My turn’s not done yet.”

“As you wish. I will take you on one at a time or as a team, whichever you prefer.”

“Don’t toy with me!” Zelgadiss yelled out.

Whether with sword or spell, Copy Rezo completely repelled every attack, hand to hand or with a single swing of his staff.

I’m not kidding… this guy was good. And he had yet to even begin his offense. Individually or all at once, we couldn’t afford to hold back a bit.

That said, if I didn’t hold back on my spells, the city would be turned into a lifeless desert once more.

“Miss Lina,” Sylphiel addressed me in a small voice, “I had heard from Mr. Zelgadiss that… that you possess the ability to use a spell of even greater power than Dragon Slave.”

Giga Slave, she meant.

Hey, what are you doing telling people about that, Zelgadiss?! Dragon Slave, said to be the most powerful of spells, taps into the power of the Mazoku Lord who holds dominion over all of the chaos of this world—Ruby Eye Shabranigdu. Of course a super-genius sorceress such as myself could use this spell.

Though largely similar to Dragon Slave, Giga Slave is a spell that draws upon the power of the Mazoku Lord of all Mazoku Lords, who governs the entirety of the darkness of all time and space—the Lord of Nightmares.

As an ultra-powerful spell, it naturally had risks. If I lost control of it, the entirety of my life force would likely be absorbed, killing me.

“You absolutely must not use that spell,” Sylphiel pleaded. “Now hold on just a minute,” I started. “No one needs to tell me not to use an indiscriminate attack spell like that. I would never use a spell like that in the middle of a city. Not as long as there’s another way.”

“No, that is not the point at all,” Sylphiel interrupted in a strong tone. “I am asking you to never use it again for the rest of your life.”

My eyes bulged at the heartfelt request. “But why?”

“Do you know what might happen if you lost control of that spell?” she asked.

Well, not exactly. I’d never known anyone but myself who had ever cast the spell, and I certainly hadn’t known anyone who’d failed. So, okay, there were a number of things I didn’t know about it.

“I’d probably die,” I said. I knew that much.

“It is nothing so minor, really.”

Minor?! My death is minor to you?

“If the prophecy is correct,” she said, “then the entire world would be destroyed.”

The world… would be… destroyed?!

“You are aware that prophecy is among the abilities that priestesses possess, yes?”

I nodded.

Prophecy is the ability to commune with gods or other higher beings, to know that which should be unknowable.

Although I’d heard it said to be a useful ability, it was completely outside the control of the person concerned. A priestess had absolutely no idea when, where, or what kind of prophecy would descend upon her. Furthermore, not all prophecies are directly related to matters of significant concern.

For example, if you were to experience a vision of someone sitting on the toilet dreaming up a plot to bring a nation to its knees… well, that vision wouldn’t be either useful or appetizing, would it? I mean, who’s to say that the toilet manifesto would ever come to fruition? You can’t fault a man for dreaming while he poops.

Well, that’s an extreme case, but you get the point.

However, just because a prophecy concerns a matter of little importance, that does not make it untrue. If you had a prophecy of someone sitting on a toilet dreaming up a plot to bring a nation to its knees, well then, you could be damned certain that somewhere out there someone was sitting on a toilet dreaming up a plot to bring a nation to its knees. Follow?

“Yours is a spell that invites a void into this world,” Sylphiel explained. “It is the power to extinguish energy and return matter to nothingness. The bringer of the void becomes its very embodiment. Were you to lose control, then it would not be strange for the world around you to become the embodiment of the void in your place. That’s the gist of it, at any rate.”

So this is really serious stuff.

I paused in silence for a while and considered the implications.

And, after careful consideration, I decided that this was not the time for serious thought about the matter. I had no intention of using that spell under the present circumstances, prophecy or not.

“Gotcha. I won’t use it,” I said. Making a promise without due consideration as I was won’t to do, I returned my attention to the fight between Zel and the duplicate Rezo once more.

Zelgadiss’ breathing was labored, and Copy Rezo was not the slightest bit fazed. The two glared at one another.

It wasn’t that Zelgadiss was weak. The Rezo replica was just too strong.

“Damn!” Zelgadiss discarded his sword and began casting a spell.

That spell! Wait!

“Yes, yes! Do it! Lest this all be false,” the imitation muttered.

What the hell was he thinking?!

Vlave Howl is a spell to turn a certain area of ground into molten lava. Though it is directional, and therefore wouldn’t get those of us behind him tangled up in it, the large section of Sairaag City real estate behind Copy Rezo most certainly would not be safe.

Even if it didn’t destroy the city outright, the resulting fire certainly would.

“Are you serious, Zel?!”

He turned toward me as I shouted.

“Do you have any idea what that’ll do to the city if you use it here?!”

“How troublesome,” the phony Rezo raised his voice with a tone of dismay, “that you cannot seriously engage me under the circumstances. Defeating you under constraints will have no meaning.”

His haughty boasts weren’t hot air by any means. I was beginning to think it entirely possible that he possessed greater magical capacity than I did and greater combat capability than Gourry.

“Ah yes! Of course,” Copy Rezo grinned. “Then I shall do this.”

Lit with the same sense of inner glee as a child who just decided to cover the family dog in baking flour and let him run around the house, the replica struck the earth hard with his staff.

“…” Words that were either nonsensical gibberish or some bizarre spell spilled from the Red Priest’s lips.

In the next moment, a faintly glittering magic wall enveloped the six of us.

“Wh-what’s he trying to do?” Lantz asked no one in particular.

“I am removing the shackles from your feet,” the replica replied. “You and Miss Sylphiel are witnesses enough for this battle.”

He couldn’t mean…!

“……” The voice began to speak on the wind once more.

“Stop! Please!” I begged.

Too late.

“!”

He raised his staff to its zen ith, and a dazzlingly bright light tore asunder all that lay beyond the barrier.

The Blessed Blade in Lantz’s hand made a sound like a series of tiny pops.

“The hell—!”

“What?! What happened?!”

“What was that?!”

I glared at our foe. Only we two understood. At that instant, Sairaag had become the city of death once more.

The light beyond the barrier abated and we began to see.

The first to scream was Sylphiel.

Her anguish echoed around us, drawing attention to the deafening silence of the world outside. While the energy shockwaves our foe had released continued, we heard no sounds from beyond the barrier.

Melon-sized stones blew about like paper, striking one another and crumbling. We couldn’t see far, due to sand and smoke, but that wasn’t essential to understanding the mystic energy wave’s power. It was likely a greater quantity of energy than Dragon Slave. Sairaag City was just… gone.

“Impossible,” Zelgadiss whispered, his voice hoarse.

Sylphiel collapsed where she stood. Lantz ran to her.

When the smoke around the barrier cleared, the spectacle was even worse than we could have imagined. It was truly a wasteland.

Not a trace remained of the city, its people, their smiles, their joy—nothing that had existed mere moments before.

Only one thing remained…

Somehow, Flagohn had survived. Though nothing remained of its thick bark or branches, the bare trunk, like a giant stake, still reached up from the ground.

“Perhaps I overdid it?” the fake Rezo asked. “Well, now you are free to fight with nothing holding you back!” He sounded refreshed.

“D-do you have any idea what you d-did, just now?” I asked, sincerely at a loss.

He smiled tenderly at me as I choked on my words. “I do,” he said. “But I don’t care. The only matter of concern to me is that you are able to engage me at your full power, so that I may defeat you without conditions—thereby relieving the burden of the ghost of Rezo the Red Priest that still weighs heavily within the depths of my soul.”

“I will not aid you in your quest for peace or comfort,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got, but we will defeat you. And your soul will burn!” As I spoke, I brought my hands to my chest and I began chanting a very dark spell.

“Dragon Slave, is it?!” he exclaimed, giddily. Once more, a spell my ears could not comprehend escaped his lips.

Perhaps he was expecting to fire off his spell at me before I’d finished chanting my own, but I wasn’t going down easy:

Thou who art darker than night,
Thou who art redder than the flowing blood,
Thou through whom time flows,
I call upon thy exalted name.
I pledge myself to darkness.
Let those fools
Who would oppose us
Suffer destruction
By the power we two possess!

Chaos Words such as those used here govern cause and effect within the world, whereas Power Words release the mental power imprinted within a spellcaster’s mind. Just, you know, in case you were wondering. Anyway… I completed my spell.

“Dragon Slave!”

“!”

Both our spells were released at the same time.

No… it’s just like before!

The moment I thought that, a deep red mist rose around him where the Dragon Slave spell should have caused a massive explosion.

As he stood there unconcerned, the mist slowly dissipated… and that was all.

“Mutual cancellation,” he mouthed, disappointed. “I have blocked your Dragon Slave.”

I didn’t move.

This isn’t funny.

That spell was more than capable of destroying powerful Mazoku. No human, not even a great sorcerer, could defend against it.

And yet… he did.

“You should not be so surprised,” he said flatly, all the giddiness gone. “An attack spell drawing on the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu can be defeated by a defensive spell drawing upon the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu. The theory is not complex.”

He spoke as if he were explaining how to make a tuna casserole.

His theory made sense, of course, but Dragon Slave employs the maximum capacity for energy that human beings are capable of. To block it, a defensive spell drawing upon the same power source would require greater power than a human can possess!

“Now, then…” Rezo’s heir calmly raised his staff high as he cast his spell. “!”

Light shot past me.

Gourry dove, and with a flash of the Sword of Light, he somehow blocked the Red Priest’s strike.

The staff…

“You will be next!” the Red Priest said, his face twitching. A silver light flashed, and the priest’s torn red mantle fluttered in the air. Angrily discarding it, the Red Priest moved back a bit, ever closer to Flagohn.

“Sorry for butting in,” Zelgadiss said with a smile.

Zel had attacked him from behind without warning—just like a villain.

Then again, considering what our opponent had done to my Dragon Slave, who was I to pick nits about what’s fair?

“Zelgadiss!” Gourry chided.

“You’re going about this the wrong way, Gourry,” Zel said while keeping an eye on the enemy. “He’s not an opponent to be taken on fair and square, one on one.”

“But…”

Treachery in battle was a difficult concept for Gourry.

“Please do come both at once,” the Red Priest laughed. “It will be more interesting for me that way. Come, Miss Lina. Will you not join your comrades in this fight?”

I declined.

Don’t go around telling people I said this, but while I’m quite confident that my level of swordsmanship is good enough to dispatch a dozen green troops, I couldn’t hold a proverbial candle to either Gourry or Zelgadiss. I’d just be slowing them down.

And before you suggest that I could just support them with my magic, remember that keeping track of four bodies in battle gets messy, and I would run risk of hitting one of them by mistake.

“No way,” I answered. “I’m brains, not brawn.”

“I see. As you wish.” He turned to face them both once more.

Of course, I was doing more than playing cheerleader. I was thinking. I wasn’t coming up with anything, but I was thinking, nonetheless.

If he could defend against Dragon Slave, then the only spell I had left was…

Giga Slave.

There was no reason that he should know of Giga Slave’s existence, so, even if he used the same defensive spell again, Giga was more than powerful enough to break through. However, I would be breaking the promise I made to Sylphiel earlier.

Well, she was still out cold, so she’d never even know I’d used it. Not that that was really the issue.

The three-man battle began just as I was considering my quandary.

The Red Priest had somehow blocked Gourry’s blade, leaping back a fair distance while Zelgadiss aimed a spell at him.

“!” he shouted.

Both voices reverberated, but the splitting air proved louder.

Copy Rezo initiated his first attack. Ten balls of light about the size of a fist instantly appeared around him.

A chill ran down my spine.

That… that couldn’t be Blast Bomb, could it?!

As far as I knew, only one sorcerer in all recorded history had ever used that spell—Lei Magnus the ancient sage who had invented Dragon Slave. I had once immersed myself in researching the spell, but my effort proved fruitless.

The spell generates multiple miniature balls of fire that explode on impact like fireballs. However, its level of power is in a different class altogether. According to legend, each of the balls of light in a Blast Bomb has a destructive power several times that of a fireball.

“Get out of there!” I screamed.

The Red Priest launched the spheres just as I shouted. Gourry and Zel leapt hurriedly, but there wasn’t time! The lights exploded in several surging flashes.

Gourry and Zelgadiss were enveloped in crimson flames!

My heart released a silent scream. They had both been utterly consumed. My knees shook as it sunk in.

Gourry… Zelgadiss…

As the flames and smoke abated, I saw them both standing there, dumbfounded but unharmed.

The Red Priest turned his gaze on me. He was not amused.

No, his gaze wasn’t on me, it was behind me.

“I do not possess the power to defeat you, but I can and must do something.”

I turned toward the voice, “Sylphiel!”

Having recovered from her shock, she’d placed a defensive barrier right in front of our boys. It was a pretty intense spell. Her shoulders rose and fell heavily.

“Master Gourry! Master Zelgadiss! I beg you,” she screamed, “while the defensive spell still holds, avenge Sairaag City! Avenge my father!”

Both men sprang at the Red Priest simultaneously. Zelgadiss launched a spell just out of sword range. Rezo absorbed its power with his left hand. A moment later, his staff sustained Gourry’s downward thrust with the Sword of Light.

Then Zelgadiss’ broadsword flashed and the Red Priest’s body arced. While parrying Gourry’s blade, he executed a spinning back kick that slammed into Zelgadiss’ wrist, knocking the sword right out of his hand.

Gourry took that opportunity to make another heavy swing with his blade, but the Red Priest blocked with the staff once more.

Zelgadiss, having lost his blade, seemed also to have lost his mind, rushing the Red Priest while armed with nothing but his strength.

The moment their bodies met, a hot flash of light sent Zelgadiss flying back.

“Ugh!” A small groan filtered from his stony lips. However, Zelgadiss smiled as he tried to bring himself back up to standing. His left hand gripped a dagger that he’d hidden somewhere. There was blood on the blade.

The Red Priest turned a hateful glare directly toward Zelgadiss. At that moment, Gourry kicked straight up into Rezo’s chin. He leapt for the fallen priest without a moment’s hesitation. Gourry’s feet came down on the red one’s hands, his legs split, the Sword of Light hanging down.

Copy Rezo struggled futilely to push Gourry away, but the Sword of Light batted him back down.

It seemed that the battle would be decided right there… without my turn ever arriving.

“Kill him!” Zelgadiss ordered. However, Gourry did not move.

“Swear that you’ll cancel the bounty and never come after us again,” Gourry demanded as he loomed over Rezo.

“No! Gourry!!” Zelgadiss shouted.

“I don’t like to fight like that,” Gourry said, “and I don’t kill men if I don’t have to.”

“You do have to,” Zel spat, disgusted.

“I am,” the Red Priest said, smirking, “stronger than you think!”

For a moment, I thought I heard an echo in his voice.

Gourry flew back as the voice rang out. He went yards before landing… no, falling. He rolled several times on impact, red blood spattering on the ground around him.

What the... ?

The red silhouette rose slowly.

“No!” Zelgadiss exclaimed involuntarily.

“This is what Rezo the Red Priest did to me,” the copy began.

Lantz yelled out loud enough to shake the sky. Sylphiel gasped.

And then I saw it—what Rezo had done to his poor creation’s face.

His eyelids opened.

Eyelids? No… not quite…

The sockets were lined with small white growths, while what looked like long, scarlet whips sprung forth from the reddish black darkness within. In all likelihood these were what had ripped into Gourry. I needed a moment to absorb what I was seeing.

It wasn’t eyes that had opened, really. Where eyes should have been, there were two mouths lined with small, white fangs… and they were grinning.

What did he do to you?

The hood he had worn deep over his face was now raised, and a large, vertically opening blue eye stared at us from the creature’s forehead.

“Rezo the Red Priest and the sorceress Vrumugun did this to me,” one mouth said.

“They fused my body with that of a Mazoku,” said the next.

“It was that act that awakened my pride, my will, my hatred. There is a certain irony in that, is there not?” The creature’s three mouths were conversing with one another.

“I wonder if this pride is my own,” the first mouth continued.

“Perhaps it is the Mazoku’s pride,” offered the second.

“Even I know not,” said the third.

The blind Red Priest, jealous of his own blood, fused the imitation with a Mazoku. For revenge… and likely for amusement as well.

I understood then how the creature was able to command spells of such immense power. They were all techniques that were within the enormous magical capacity of a Mazoku.

Sylphiel said that Flagohn had been growing more rapidly since the creature’s arrival. It made sense if you thought about it. The very nature of a Mazoku is extreme hatred. It’s not surprising that the evil aura born of that nature would stimulate such growth.

But, in that case…

I moved to her side. “Sylphiel,” I whispered. “We’ll avenge them—your city and your father… I promise.”

* * *

“Now then, it’s time for the star to take the stage.” I advanced slowly.

“Lantz, take care of Gourry,” I said, borrowing the Blessed Blade from him as I spoke. “His wounds aren’t life-threatening, but he’ll need a hand.”

The silvery blade had a number of thin cracks running across it—a direct result of its attunement to the newly damaged Flagohn.

I took a look at the Holy Tree.

Hang on, Gourry. This will all be over soon.

“A contest of magic this time?” The creature laughed. “I possess the capacity and capabilities of a Mazoku in recompense for this disgusting body. I give you fair warning: you will lose.”

“We won’t know unless we try, will we? Let’s give it a shot, Zelgadiss.”

“Right,” Zel answered, tossing aside his dagger.

No dagger would suffice against a creature that was half Mazoku.

“Lina!” Gourry called me over. “Aren’t you going to need this?” he asked, offering me the Sword of Light.

“Give it to Zel,” I said, raising the Blessed Blade before me. “I’ll use this.”

“Got it.” Gourry smiled and tossed the Sword of Light to Zelgadiss.

“Have you finished your preparations?” the creature asked.

Zel and I nodded.

“!” Rezo’s three mouths chanted separate spells simultaneously.

A Mazoku’s capacity and hybridized spell-casting…

We leapt. Blue plasma rushed along the surface of the earth. We would have fallen prey to it had we not jumped. I finished my spell the moment we touched ground.

“Goz Vu Rou!”

A black shadow advanced along the ground toward the creature. He would sustain damage directly from the astral side if it reached him.

We can win this…

“That is futile!” the creature said as he raised his staff, preparing to smash the shadow as he had before.

Not so fast, you freak…

SNAP!

I created a large wave as I snapped my fingers. The shadow altered course accordingly. The creature understood Goz Vu Rou as a directional spell, and normally it would be, but a minor modification was possible.

“What?!” The creature leapt back. The shadow stubbornly pursued.

“…!”

He traced an arc over the ground with the tip of his staff as he cast his spell.

Phzzt! The shadow was neatly wiped out as it came into contact with the circle.

Zelgadiss seized the opportunity and lunged for the creature’s flank. The creature pulled back, unperturbed, as the Sword of Light flashed.

Zel charged the creature again. A new blade of light sprang from the hilt in his hand. He meant to slash with the sword while the creature’s staff was still recovering from the first attack.

The creature, however, knocked the magic blade away with his bare hand, swinging his staff at Zel!

Clang! Zelgadiss was hit squarely and blown back hard.

I’d circled around behind him, my spell nearly complete. Sensing this, the creature hurriedly chanted a counter… but I was faster.

“Dynast Brass!”

Lightning rained down around the creature in the form of a pentagram. No sooner had it formed than the fire bolts began closing in, assailing him from all sides.

The creature raised his staff as he completed his spell. But then…

Crack! His staff noisily disintegrated.

Likely, between my attack spell and the creature’s defensive energy, it simply could not take the strain.

The lightning struck the creature squarely!

“Gaaaaaah!” all three mouths cried at once.

The pentagram symbol blew apart. He’d countered my spell with the force of his raw mental power alone.

“Not bad,” the creature said, giving me my due.

Zel, now recovered, lunged in for another attack, missing the creature but forcing him farther back toward Flagohn. There, the creature began to chant anew.

Since we had no idea what spell was coming, our only option was to get out of its way. But since we didn’t know if would be a surface spell or an air attack, how could we evade?

Dammit.

I remained fixed on the ground, my stomach in knots. It was pointless trying to read the creature without understanding what made him tick. I had to trust my gut.

“!” The creature opened his arms wide as he completed his spell.

A dazzling light shot out from his body. There wasn’t even time to shout. The white light hit Zel and me at full force.

When it was done, I dropped to my knees where I stood. From what I could tell, Zelgadiss was in the same condition. I raised a hand toward Gourry and Lantz as they looked on, concerned. Sylphiel was nowhere to be seen. She’d apparently left during the fight.

Well then, time to put our end in order.

I rose to my feet. “You okay, Zel?”

I raised the Blessed Blade. The creature stood between the weapon and Flagohn.

The spell that had wiped us out was some kind of large-scale Elmekia Lance. It inflicted damage directly to the mind, temporarily weakening an opponent’s mental faculties.

When I said large-scale, I was referring to its range rather than its force. Instead of the usual spear of light, this version shot out a huge light wave. Of course, that came at the sacrifice of power. One hit wasn’t enough to cripple the nervous system to the point of collapse, but our powers were considerably weakened. No matter how hard I might try, getting off a big spell was going to be ifly.

Zelgadiss was in the exact same situation. The Sword of Light’s blade, the physical manifestation of the wielder’s power, had shortened considerably.

“Anyway, let’s do it!” I said, breaking into a run.

Zelgadiss reluctantly followed.

I was fully aware that the creature could easily handle the few clumsy stunts that we were capable of producing in that condition. While it was possible that we could strike him down with the Blessed Blade and the Sword of Light, the creature’s hand-to-hand skills were greater than Zelgadiss’ or mine.

We both swung our swords simultaneously as we rushed past the creature. He easily deflected our blows and launched a spinning back kick at Zelgadiss, which Zel somehow evaded by a hair’s breadth. We regrouped at the base of Flagohn’s bare trunk.

“What do we intend to do?” Zel asked. “Or do you just do, without intending?”

“On my signal,” I said, “Nail him with a fireball and peel off to the side.”

“Understood.” Zelgadiss didn’t say another word.

“Let’s do it!” I said, and I took off running once more.

If we don’t settle this here…

“It is time to bring this to an end,” Copy Rezo said, extending both hands out to us.

“Zel!”

On my signal…

Zelgadiss fired several balls of light at the creature in rapid succession.

“Haa!” The Red Priest waved his left hand up, causing a great explosion in midair. He’d destroyed the fireballs with directly channeled magical energy. Flashes and smoke clouded our field of vision, but the creature’s eye saw through the obstructions.

“Weak!” the creature scoffed.

He gathered a spell in his hand, shooting it at the spot I’d been a moment ago, before I’d moved to his rear.

He either sensed my movement, or my presence, and he turned his head back. But it was too late. I was right in front of his face.

With my wind spell coiled around the Blessed Blade, I released the sword. It thrust forward like a spear, plunging straight into the creature’s chest!

“Gwaaah!” Copy Rezo screamed. The blade sunk deep into him down to the hilt, the force impaling his body upon Flagohn behind him.

When the fireballs were exploding, I’d used Ray Wing to fly over the creature’s head and come back down behind him.

Finished!

“Not yet!” Zelgadiss yelled.

“You think this is enough to finish me?” The creature grasped the sword he was impaled upon.

With the Blessed Blade out of my hands, it was nowhere near enough to affect his demonic vitality. However…

“Sylphiel!” I shouted. She had been waiting behind Flagohn for her turn to act.

Creeeaaak.

The Holy Tree pulsed heavily. Its creaking blended with the creature’s moans to fill the wasteland that Sairaag had become.

Sylphiel had cast a spell upon Flagohn under my direction. It was a common spell, one used to boost the life force and speed the natural healing process of the being upon whom it was cast.

Twig by twig, Flagohn’s lost bark, branches and leaves began to regrow. For this, a great deal of energy was required. There was a source close at hand, a powerful source of miasma—Copy Rezo.

Flagohn continued to recover at a rapid rate. Its thick bark was regenerating before our eyes, with stalks sprouting from it left and right. Leaves grew into branches in the twinkle of an eye.

The creature continued to moan steadily. The miasma, the source of the Mazoku’s vitality, was being drained from him. The tree was consuming the Mazoku part of the creature. All that remained was his humanity. But, with his chest wound…

Copy Rezo coughed and spat out blood.

“H-how?” he moaned in a small voice. “How did I… how did I lose? Why could I… not… surpass my master?”

“You don’t see it?” My question made him fall silent for a time.

“I… I never saw beyond his back. That is why…”

“Yes,” I whispered.

Whoosh.

Wind echoed through the lush leaves of Flagohn.

The creature coughed up more blood.

“What name shall we inscribe on your grave?” Zelgadiss asked.

“That is not necessary,” the creature smiled in reply. “This tree… shall be my tombstone.” That said, he left our world with a sigh.

… And lush green treetops swayed with the wind.