CHAPTER 16

A Blade’s Reach

After landing the second meteor, Seiya seems to stagger a bit in the air.

“S-Seiya? Are you okay?”

“I used too much MP. I need to rest a little.”

“All right, let’s return to Seimul and head to the inn.”

He draws his brows together as if in agony. I’ve never seen him like this. It’s understandable, though. He just used an extremely powerful spell twice in a row. Never mind his MP—he must be mentally exhausted as well.

Seiya groans.

“I had 15,000 MP…and now…I only have…13,500 MP left…”

“…! You have plenty left!”

“Don’t be stupid. We would be in trouble if an enemy attacked right now.”

“I—I don’t know about that… Are you sure…? A-at any rate, let’s get you to the inn.”

On the one hand, I’m sick of his overcautious personality, but on the other, I’m blown away that he had 15,000 MP. And so we fly back to the town of Seimul.

By the time we’re back in town, numerous Roseguard Imperial Knights have already gathered. The older knight from earlier comes rushing over when he sees us.

“I’m so glad you’re okay! How did it go?”

I tell them exactly what happened.

“Th-they were wiped out…? All ten thousand undead soldiers…? A-are you sure? Of course I am not doubting you, but…”

The knights put on uncomfortable smiles while exchanging glances. It seems it’s still hard to believe that an entire army of undead was defeated within a few hours. No matter how much of a Hero you are, such a task should be incredibly difficult. Seiya pulls out the signed contract from earlier and demands his reward. However, the knights stammer that they’d like to confirm firsthand before hopping on their horses and galloping out of town. Then, as if to avoid any further discussion, the older knight notes that we must be tired and guides us to the inn.

It all started on the third morning during our stay at the inn.

In my own private room next door to Seiya’s, I’m combing my hair when there’s a knock at the door.

“Ugh! Are you finally done getting ready? …Hmm?”

But when I open the door, it’s not Seiya. I look down and see Elulu, still dressed in a robe with her curly red ponytail bobbing to the side.

“E-Elulu…?”

She fidgets.

“I’m sorry about the other day, but I really need to talk to you.”

“Don’t worry about that. Besides, it was our fault. More importantly, what did you want to talk about?”

“Mash disappeared two days ago. I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Are you sure he didn’t go back to your village?”

“He would have told me if he was going to do that.”

I place a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down as tears well up in her eyes.

“Elulu, it’s going to be all right. The undead army is gone, so it’s probably nothing serious.”

Elulu tries her best to put on a smile.

“Yeah, I heard! It’s all the town is talking about. That Hero really is strong, isn’t he?”

“You could say that.”

“I don’t see him, though… Is he in the room next door?”

I let out a deep sigh while explaining.

“Get this—he’s been obsessed with synthesizing ever since we got here.”

Yes, after Seiya received that substantial reward from the knights, he went to the weapon shop and bought every piece of equipment he could get his hands on before locking himself in his room. He apparently wanted to test out his new ability Synthesis. Now I know why he wanted all that money.

“Anyway, let’s tell Seiya we’re going to be gone for a while. We wouldn’t want to hear him complain about it later.”

“Huh…? ‘We’…?”

“I’m coming with you. Let’s go look for Mash.”

“A-are you sure? I mean, we’re not even your allies…”

“That’s just something Seiya said. Besides, as a goddess, I can’t ignore people in need.”

“Th-thank you so much!”

Elulu smiles from ear to ear. I take her to Seiya’s room and knock on the door, but there’s no answer.

“Seiya? You’re in there, right? I’m coming in.”

But when I open the door, Elulu and I are met with a surprise. Dozens of swords and armor are chaotically piled on the floor, almost spilling over. Seiya stares at a sword with great concentration until finally noticing we’re there.

“Rista, look at this sword.”

Seiya, who usually never shows any emotion, is blushing a little as he shows me the sword. I gaze at the blade with its elegant silvery-white glow and raise my voice.

“I-is that a platinum sword?! W-wow! What in the world did you combine to make that?!”

“I needed to change my perspective. Combining swords with other swords only slightly increased the strength. However, strong weapon synthesis requires something completely different to serve as a catalyst.”

“A catalyst? Like what?”

“The hair of a goddess. I found some in your room when you were gone. Then, when I synthesized it with a steel sword, it turned into this platinum sword.”

M-my hair…? He was in my room?

I have mixed feelings about it, but I keep my mouth shut until…

“I want to make some spare platinum swords, so could you give me some more of your hair? I’ll only need around one thousand strands, root and all.”

“Do you want me to go bald or something?!”

I refused, but for some reason, Elulu looks at me in admiration, her eyes glittering.

“Wow! Your hair is magical?! I wish I were a goddess!”

“Hoh-hoh-hoh! Wh-what can I say?”

Right after I allow myself a prideful smirk, there’s a knock at the door. I soon hear a familiar voice coming from the other side.

“There’s a delivery for you, Hero.”

It’s the old lady who runs the inn. When I open the door, she’s holding something long vertically in both arms, wrapped in cloth, before handing it to me. It’s surprisingly light despite its large size, so I’m able to hold it without any help.

“What is it? Who brought it?”

“I don’t know what’s inside, but a man wearing a hood brought it by. He said, ‘Allow me to offer this to the Hero who defeated the undead army. ’”

After the innkeeper closes the door, Seiya quizzically stares at the gift.

“I don’t trust whoever brought this. It’s probably an explosive. You open it.”

Just because goddesses can’t die doesn’t mean he should treat me like a meat shield. Regardless, I unwrap it just like I’m told, unveiling a full-length mirror. It’s wider than most. Two people could probably line up in front of it side by side.

“Oh, what a wonderful gift… Huh?”

That’s when I notice. It’s not a mirror embedded in the wooden frame but a transparent board like glass. When I place it against the wall, I can see the same wall right through it.

“Wh-what in the world is this?”

However, in the very next moment, it starts emitting a sound.

Vshhh.

The transparent board darkens.

“Eek!”

Elulu and I scream.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

An ominous image appears on the “mirror.” In a dimly lit room sits a person tied to a chair, blindfolded and gagged. The captive’s hemp clothes are stained dark red with blood.

Elulu is the first to notice. She covers her mouth, then speaks in a trembling voice.

“Mash…! That’s Mash…!

Clink… Clink…

I can hear someone approaching Mash. A man eventually appears by his side and talks to us.

“Can you see me? Can you hear me? I can see you very well. A handsome Hero, a dashing goddess, and a cute redheaded girl.”

He’s on the shorter side, wearing a black robe like the grim reaper. Bald from the forehead back, with three eyes adorning his grotesque face, it’s clear he isn’t human. He speaks with a vile tone one would expect from a face like that.

“It’s wonderful, is it not? This mirror is the result of the Demon Lord’s power. It can display images from two separate places at once like this.”

The man suddenly smirks.

“Oops. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Deathmagla, one of the Demon Lord’s four generals. I normally use my abilities to re-create human corpses into undead.”

I grind my teeth at the revelation.

D-Deathmagla…! So he wasn’t marching with that army of undead?!

“That was one impressive performance. You annihilated all my undead soldiers in the blink of an eye. Aether magic, was it? Very powerful. I’m lucky I was controlling those undead from afar.”

Deathmagla places a hand on Mash’s shoulder, causing him to flinch.

“But, well, even though they were only undead, it still takes a long time to create that many. It really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I just had to get back at you somehow, and so I did—with this boy.”

Elulu is trembling by my side.

“N-no… Th-this can’t be happening.”

“Oh, we played and played and played. It’s really fun playing with a living human for a change. Dead bodies never react no matter how much you prod them, so it gets a little boring, you see.”

Deathmagla puts a knife to Mash’s throat.

“But I’ve had my fun, so I’m going to kill him now.”

Elulu’s scream echoes throughout the room. Deathmagla looks at us with a bloodthirsty gaze.

“Hero, this is all your fault. How dare you employ such a cowardly tactic to destroy my army.”

But Mash’s murmurs get Deathmagla’s attention.

“Oh? Begging for your life?”

After the monster removes the gag, Mash weakly strains his voice.

“Y-yo, Hero… I—I heard you defeated that army of ten thousand…”

Mash raises his voice as if struggling through the unimaginable agony and fear.

“You may be a piece of shit, but you’re the real deal! I can’t even compare! That’s why…”

Tears of blood stream down from under the blindfold.

“That’s why…I need you to save the world in my place!”

I hear Mash scream and instinctively look away. I can’t watch. I can’t listen. Mash knows there’s no hope for him. That’s why he’s entrusting his last wish to Seiya, despite his hatred for him.

Deathmagla looks bored.

“What? So you’re not going to beg for your life? You cried like a baby when I was torturing you, but now you’re trying to be the tough guy? Nice try, but it’s over for you.”

Elulu tightly squeezes my arm.

“Goddess! Please save Mash! He’s the only family I have! Please…! Please save him!”

I rack my brain, but no matter how much I think about it, it’s hopeless. I say nothing. I just stand there in silence. Elulu lets go of my hand, drops to her hands and knees, and bursts into convulsive sobbing.

“No…! No, no, no! Somebody… Somebody save Mash… Please…”

Deathmagla smiles in amusement as he watches us.

“Oh yes. Just remember, while you were able to destroy an army of ten thousand, you failed to save a single human dear to you.”

But his face clouds over when he looks back at Seiya.

“My, my. Look at you, Hero—remaining calm even at a time like this. I heard you were quite the cautious one. Perhaps you already discovered where we are and sent someone here to stop me?”

Deathmagla shows his true colors, wearing a fiendish expression and roaring with laughter.

“Gya-ha-ha-ha! But you wouldn’t be able to do that! ‘Hero’? Don’t make me laugh! You’re nothing! All you can do is stand there and watch as I slit this boy’s throat!”

Even after being peppered with insults, Seiya doesn’t flinch, and he whispers into my ear.

“Rista, open a gate to the spirit world.”

“O-okay. But…”

It doesn’t matter how much slower time moves in the unified spirit world when Mash is going to be killed seconds from now.

“Just open it. That kid…”

As if he couldn’t even hear what Deathmagla was saying, Seiya begins speaking calmly to himself like always.

“…Mash the dragonkin, huh? He’s got guts. I guess I could let him carry my stuff.”

Deathmagla seems frustrated. Did he hear Seiya?

“What are you plotting, Hero?”

“…I’ve constantly visualized what to do in a situation like this.”

“What are you babbling on about? Answer me.”

Deathmagla is growing annoyed. Even I don’t know what Seiya’s rambling about.

“The same thing happened with Chaos Machina. I saw Nina’s father on the verge of death through the crystal ball. Ever since then, I’ve been wondering to myself what I would do in a similar situation but with far less time to work with.”

Seiya lowers his posture and places a hand on the grip of his sheathed sword. Deathmagla’s three eyes open wide the moment he notices that Seiya is getting into battle stance, and his lips curl into a sinister grin.

“You fool! You’re going to attack me? Just because you can see me in the mirror doesn’t mean I’m there! You can’t hit me! You’re too far away!”

Deathmagla then points the dagger at Mash’s throat.

“Gya-ha-ha-ha! Time to pay for destroying my army!”

“Noooooooooo!”

Elulu screams. I don’t look at Mash, however, but Seiya. The slightly unsheathed part of his blade shines with a brilliant light. In the next instant, he draws his glowing sword at lightning speed and slashes at the mirror horizontally. Immediately, Deathmagla’s arm holding the knife spews out blackish blood before soaring through the air. Realizing he’s missing an arm, Deathmagla screams.

“Wh-wh-what is this?! It can’t be…!”

With his arm still in full swing, the Hero stares down the enemy like a hawk.

“This photon sword tears through the very fabric of space—Dimension Blade!”