#41: Episode 4: Twilight (11) — Try Again, Villainess?

An embroidered blanket covered her as she slept, head comfortably laid on a square silk pillow. A short distance away, built into the shelf was a doll house. Inside, a fairy was squeaking snores on her tiny bed.

The office was faintly lit by a soft orange glow emanating from a crystal ball. The orb, nestled within scattered documents piled high on the desk casted streaks of shadows across the room.

In the comfortable silence, the warm light of the crystal ball suddenly fell dim. Then abruptly, it flashed an alarm red.

The elf opened her eyes.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

Primillia’s story came flowing back to me.

“Indeed. Sometime a decade ago, a dear friend of mine had been accused of breaking a taboo.’

August, a woman unable to bear a child. That was her name.’

…She sought answers through alchemy, and through it created life.’

The creation of artificial life sowed great discord. Censure arrived from church, citing the disagreeable employment of black magic in research.’

Behest of the late emperor's rule, religious influence in the country was strong. Such factors led to her being branded a witch… someone as kind and intelligent as herself… branded a heretic.’

The Magic Tower had been torn into two camps. One that believed her death was just; the other desired the preservation of her life.’

To us who had fought to save her, she left telling us this:’

Futile attempts of defence only left scars in place. She was, for better or worse, sentenced for execution.’

Take care of—‘her’.’

In hopes of the safety of her family, to prevent the sowing of many more conflicts, she chose to die.’

Since then, the Magic Tower has never been the same. A rift in common interests and understanding between us tower mages.’

Eugene, being caught up in the middle, was the victim of both. Being the co-partner of a new life’s creation, and accused of lending his knowledge in black magic.’

One group spoke of the possibility that he may cause another such incident… while the other spoke of the unjustness of his survival in her death.’

I may warn, but words don’t do justice in the name of blackened desire. I’m afraid he may be plotting something.’

Against the tower, the church, the empire, and above all…’

Having failed using various forms of magic, Glenn turned to a more conservative approach.

He spread mana across the entirety of the internal barrier, hoping that there would be a weak gap which he could penetrate through.

But even that was starting to seem hopeless.

There were no gaps in the barrier.

And the more magic he used, the stronger the barrier got.

Not to mention, with the mana-null zone, all spells were effectively paper weak.

“Hikh… hikh.” Corin was still crying in the corner, unable to overcome her guilt.

“This feels nostalgic.” Glenn, being the air head who couldn’t read the mood, stuck by Corin’s side and started to talk about his past.

“T-The past?” Corin sniffled.

I did say anything in response, too busy carving the ground.

“The last memories of myself was that of being locked inside such a barrier. Unable to do anything, I simply laid down and waited.” He spoke, reminiscing. “I forgot how long a time passed—somehow, sometime eventually, Sage Khor came to release me. That was the beginning of how I ended up living in the magic tower.”

—Scratch scratch~

“I wonder why I couldn't remember anything before that.” Glenn muttered, in the end choosing to give up trying to break out. “Was I born here? Who was my mother, father? I didn’t know any of these things. When I asked, no one told me about it either, saying I had none.”

“Y-You had no parents?” Corin asked, whimpering.

“I don’t know if I do. I’ve always thought that I was different from the others.” Glenn chuckled.

‘Yeah. Of course you’re different.’

–Crack.

Finishing the inscription, I stabbed my sword hard into the ground.

“Done.”

I would’ve not used this magic under normal circumstances but sometimes, somethings just had to be done the occult way.

We were currently stuck in what could be described as a man-made mana dead zone—a vacuum that constantly syphons mana within the enclosure of the barrier.

Any spell that utilises the air as a partial medium of channel would be defected—namely, discharge-type spells. Other casting mediums like liquid or solid are less susceptible due to their density, things like runic magic or magic circuits.

What I had drawn on the ground was an overlay of runes and circuits—a sigil. The activation of this wouldn’t be as strongly affected by the mana dead zone as your standard spells.

Now, for a magic circle to activate, one would need to pour mana into the mould, and to do so it must pass through a conductive medium, either liquid or solid.

And in this cell, there was only one decent medium I had available.

Blood.

By the standards of magic, the moment I changed the medium to blood, this can no longer be considered engineering magic.

Rather, it was occult magic.

In order to apply blood consistently across the whole diagram, occult magicians came up with a double runic structure. Below, a foundational magic circle was used to spread the blood evenly across the second mould above, which is the actual activating spell.

With the sword inverted like a pillar, I slowly pressed my hand against the sharp edge of the blade. Cutting into the vein, blood poured out abundantly, trailing the cold steel, down to the ground where the first magic circle began to glow.

Filling the first basin, it then raced to trace the magic threads that ran along the outer edge. It created overlapping pentagrams, ominous in appearance. Following that, the blood turned stain black and started bubbling as if boiling tar.

“H-H-H-Huh?!” Corin gasped in disbelief.

“Kairen… what is this…! …?!” Glenn showed an expression of genuine shock.

“Just keep it a secret.” I winced, bearing the pain.

Throw aside all the explanations I did earlier about how denser mediums improve efficiency of casting. If this were all that mattered, then I would’ve simply enchanted my sword.

The direct spell effect of this magic circle is what I needed.

An enchantment to rip apart everything in its path.

<Dimensional Magic: Enchantment, Void Edge>.

During the apocalypse, surviving countries were desperate for a solution to provide strength to the average soldier at a low cost.

While it was not without its flaws, this was the solution they came up with after much research. The method spread in popularity, so much so that an occult variant was created for resourcefulness.

Mass produced in magic scroll form, this was a complicated spell with a simple effect: it applied the attribute of a dimensional fissure to the edge of a sword for a short duration.

An overpowered enchantment that allowed the typical swordsman to kill seemingly invulnerable blight monsters in a single strike with no backlash what-so-ever.

Signalling the completion of the enchantment, the magic circle’s light finally began to die down. With blood still flowing down my arm, I pulled out the pitch black sword impaled on the ground.

Lengthwise of the blade, the edge had been painted an eerie void black. There was no felt resistance even as it passed through air, as if you were holding nothing.

“All or nothing.”

I raised the sword overhead and swung diagonally against the barrier.

Cutting through the bars and invisible wall, there was no sound, no feeling, no nothing. It was even smoother than butter.

With just a wave, the prison was torn open with only as much as a flicker to the suspension of the runic barrier, as if it hadn’t existed in the first place.

Like a bell jar containing a vacuum within, all it took was someone to shatter the glass to completely destroy everything.

I slashed again at the wind-coated steel bars, opening a gap for which to pass through. Then warily I held the blade pointing downwards, careful not to touch anything with its enchantment effect still lingering.

“Let’s go.” I glanced at Corin and Glenn.

“...A-Ah…”

“...”

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

“To think he would act now of all times…” Disturbed by the ominous red flashing, the elf pulled her blanket away and got up from the couch.

Uttering a chant, the lights flickered on at her command. Slipping her pearl white feet into the soft white sandals, she walked towards her desk and placed her hands on the orb.

“Pardon me. Kairen, please report in.” She spoke. There was no response. The elf furrowed her brows. “It couldn’t be…”

She changed her approach, choosing to replay the recorded instance beginning from when someone activated the communication device.

All she got was a brief static before everything fell silent.

Trying again with the location beaming function, the signal of the device couldn’t be found.

Someone had destroyed it.

“This does not appear to be a good sign.” Her eyes furrowed as she spoke.

“Master…? What’s going on?” The fairy walked out of her doll house, asking while rubbing her eyes.

“YiLin, go to the Saint’s room and see if they’re there. If not, report it to the tower master at once.”

Noticing the tension in her master’s voice, YiLin sobered up and nodded. “Understood.”

Adjusting for the shortest route, the fairy flew out the window.

Primillia, still in her night wear, pulled a shawl around her shoulder and left the room.

Her priority now was Eugene’s office.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

The ground shook with each step it took.

A fleshy patchwork of flesh, scales, fur, leathery armour, wings, claws and bones tossed together with stapler and tar to bind the sickening blend.

More than a dozen metres tall, its maw covered in rows of omnidirectional teeth could swallow a human whole. Spines, some metal, some bone, ran from the neck through to the tail at the back.

It’s eyes pulsing red, teeth dripping with foul smelling tar.

“H-Hikh!!!” Corin shark back.

‘What the fuck did Lowe actually fight?’

—ROAAAAAAAR!

With its roar quaking the atrium, it came charging at us like a T-rex.

“...!”

“The two of you run!” I dove headfirst with my sword.

“K-Kairen!” Corin yelled.

I slid under its belly. The chimera’s shadow loomed over my head. Scraping by the tar-spitting teeth, I swung my sword and hacked into its flabby hind legs.

‘Damn it, the blade is too short… damn fuck it’s still going!’

“Glenn! Out of the way!” I yelled.

“AHHHH!!!” Corin screamed.

Glenn grabbed her and leapt away.

The chimeraslammed into the wall, black liquid bursting everywhere, chunks of flesh and debris went flying, and dust rained from the ceiling.

I was hoping to immobilise it if I could sever one of its legs but… the thickness of it was too much for a mere sword.

The chimerastaggered with a grunt, its massive form shifting as it turned to face us.

The sight of it was chilling. Its entire skull had caved in, yet somehow it stood. Blood-red eyes, brighter than before, burned like coals in an undying furnace.

With its nose spewing out acrid mist, parts of its body began regenerating itself in bubbling of tar.

‘This motherfucker…’

The <Void Edge> enchantment coating my sword was starting to fizzle out. An enchantment of this power could only last so long.

‘Are we supposed to fight this thing, alone?’

I recalled Lowe mentioning that it took the entire Magic Tower’ fighting force to take this guy down… now I understood she wasn’t just spewing metaphors.

“Fucking hell is wrong with this world.” I cursed. At this rate I may have to resort to blight magic.

“What do we do now?” Glenn landed beside me, with Corin in his arms trembling like a fawn. “We can’t take that thing down.”

“R-Run! We run!” Corin flailed.

“That’s a swell idea Corin. Let’s go with your plan.” She was spot on. If you know you can’t beat it, the next best option is a tactical retreat. “We’ll barricade this place, the corridor between here and the next room.”

I looked towards the connecting hallway behind us, signalling to them that we would flee that way.

“Understood.” Glenn nodded.

—ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAARR!

The chimeralunged at us again, shaking the entire ground.

5th-tier spell, <Ice Magic: Glacier>.

3rd-tier spell, <Groundshift: Transmutation, Earthen Wall>.

<Engineering Magic: Weave> <Engineering Magic: Reinforce>!

All three of us created a massive blockade using our best magic.

BAANNGGG!!

A loud crash was heard from the opposite side of the bulwark. Cracks splintered as tar rolled down from the seems

<Engineering Magic: Reinforce>!

<Ice Magic: Glacier>.

For good measure, Glenn added another layer of ice to the wall and Corin added additional reinforcement…

<Engineering Magic: Reinforce>, <Engineering Magic: Reinforce>, <Engineering Magic: Reinforce>!

“It’s enough Corin. Let’s go.” I said.

“B-B-B-But!”

“Conserve our energy.” Glenn added with a nod.

“O-O-Oh k-kay.” Corin trembled like a fawn. Nodding, she took a step and then fell to her knees. “H-Huuh?! I-I c-c-can’t m-move my legs…!”

“You can’t… move your legs?” My expression contorted. For a moment I had thought that Eugene’s mind control potion was still in effect.

“I-I’m-I’m-I’m too terrified!” Tears glistened at the edge of her eyes. Honestly, this innocent girl being caught up in such a mess looked so pitiful.

“Should I carry you?” Glenn asked.

“P-P-P-Pleasee… h-help… me…” Corin nodded, half-desperate, half-terrified, completely embarrassed.

“Climb here.” Glenn turned his back to her and gave Corin a piggyback ride.

—Thud!

The wide corridor shook as it slammed against the barricade for the second time.

“It won’t hold long. We need to move.” I urged, watching the bulwark cracks expand even more.