Episode 4: Twilight (12)

A book can teach one the method to experience a particular arrangement of magic. But grasping that arrangement and its interplay in a larger whole was beyond that of words, it was something which could only be gained from the realm of experience.

Healing magic worked on the living, not the dead.

Dark magic on the other hand, worked to break the rules between the living and dead.

If one took the best of two polarising elements and fused them into one?

Lowe, who had an intuitive mastery of auxiliary magic, very quickly grasped Eugene’s intention. In just a few attempts, she was able to weave her magic into his own flawlessly, without causing any instances of interference.

“Truly… one of a kind.” Eugene muttered as he watched her magic reach into his.

It wasn’t Eugene adapting to her—rather, it was her magic that adapted to his. This girl’s understanding of her own magic was beyond mere knowledge. To him, what she displayed here was not any less than any professor in their own field of speciality.

Gratitude soon deepened into guilt.

He knew how wrong it was to involve such a noble person in his experiments.

Over a decade of groundwork preparation and trials—with hundreds of experimental flukes and failures, through many times more iterations of tested formulas.

Each new failure only added to the weight of frustration. Gruesome chimeric monsters and masses of discarded flesh—byproducts which piled in numbers. None of which came close to his ideal.

He knew well that there was an essential component missing, one that he couldn’t fill.

So when he saw the Saint, he couldn’t help but be swayed.

With a haphazard idea teetering on the edge of reason, he had no excuses if even this failed.

Once this was over, he would then send her and her friends back by the break of dawn, hoping that it wouldn’t rouse any suspicion.

He would even wipe out their memory if needed…

“Hngh…”

Lowe’s pained groans snapped Eugene out of his thoughts. Beads of sweat trailed down her chin as her expression turned pallid. The spell was taking as much of a toll on her as was him.

All for the sake of his beloved… If she was putting in this much effort, he too shouldn't take it for granted.

This wasn’t the time to reminisce about his past. He realised that it was wrong of him to be distracted in a crucial moment like this.

He sharpened his focus.

More and more—

The two contrasting magic complimented each other on a single diagram. White stenographic lines light which spread across the black like ivy coiling around branches, as though breathing in tandem with the rising mana of light and dark.

—GURUGURUGURU…

Echoing, as if coming from deep underground was a roar. The tremors surrounding them were growing stronger.

Subtly disturbing their focus, Eugene looked at Lowe.

Her brows were furrowed, seemingly aware of some abnormality happening. However, she was wise enough not to stop.

The light folding around the obelisk was reaching the tip.

From there once the last of the four sided diagrams were filled, the last of the spell would descend sharply into the coffin where ‘her’ body laid and complete the tetrad.

Then it would be complete.

But…

—!

A loud bang pierce the air. The door across the atrium blew open.

Eugene’s expression hardened.

Of course, when had things even gone according to plan?

“Lowe!” the young man Lowe referred to as Kairen called out.

“Ah!” Lowe yelped, surprised. The light coiling the obelisk flickered. Eugene panicked.

“Saint, Focus! If this fails, we’ll likely not get another chance!”

“I-I know, but…!”

Seeing Corin with the other two, he gritted his teeth regrettably.

The young girl was right. If only he had tried to reason with them… perhaps it wouldn’t have led to this crazy misunderstanding.

The black haired boy’s figure quickly approached.

“Saint, I understand the confusion you must be feeling… but please believe me when I say I don’t wish to harm them!” Eugene raised his voice. A strand of black magic slithered over to one of the statues.

Like an egg reaching maturity, the stone cracked.

“...Hold them back!”

The monster revealed from within the statue let out a roar. Like a gargoyle, it jumped off the pillar with a loud thud.

“…!?”

—SHRIEK!!

A tide of black blood exploded the instant the young man came into contact with the monster. The flicker of the obelisk grew ever more intense, responding to the distraught state of both magicians.

The young man slipped past the chimeraand lunged towards them.

Eugene had no choice.

“...Go!”

More black lines extended across the many statues found in the room. A dark dome formed around them, function as both a protective barrier and sound dampener.

One by one the chimeras began to move, forcing Kairen into a stalemate.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry but please…” Eugene’s voice drowned in desperation.

Lowe closed her eyes, deep in uncertainty. Her mana wavered in accordance with the doubt in her heart.

Why was Glenn and Kairen here? Why did he not explain it all from the start? Why did he send the chimeraafter them? Was it wrong to revive the dead? Was she doing the right thing? Who should she prioritise? Who was in the right, who was in the wrong?

Her magic power accelerated as beads of sweat poured from skin.

The reason why Eugene had been hiding such a fact from Glenn…

Even if she didn’t know the answer, knowing that it was a wish of a father to his son she…

The divine light grew in strength, blossoming ever brighter as mana surged from Lowe’s entire being.

…She decided to place her trust in Eugene.

For Glenn. For Kairen. For Corin… the faster they complete this ritual, the sooner this misunderstanding would be resolved.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

“Fuck!” I cursed.

A single chimeraof this level would take a team of regular knights to take down. So the fact that over a dozen were swarming us meant that we were against an entire legion.

“Lowe!” I swung my sword, shouting.

‘She’s still being controlled…!’

An ominous light pulsated from the obelisk where they were conducting some kind of ritual in the middle. And it didn’t help that Eugene had set up a barrier.

—Kirrkk!

A giant talon struck down.

<Sensory Overclocking>.

The sound of my heartbeat pounded my ear.

…!

<Knight Magic: Swordheart>, <Enhancement: Lightning Magic, Amp>.

I kicked the ground and dodged. Slipping between the lines of slowed time, I thrusted my sword into its leg and split it apart.

Tar splashed as its leg was completely torn open from its body.

It frenzied on the ground, shrieking. I got behind it and struck down its body again.

<Lightning Magic: Spark>.

An explosion of static erupted from the sword's tip, frying the chimera's innards with lethal amounts of current.

Even then it refused to die. Like a dead frog, the lightning only seemed to temporarily immobilise it. The creature’s eyes hadn’t lost their light, the tar served as a strong insulator against the electric shock.

Forced to retreat with the coming of a second chimera, I switched my focus to handle its unhinged onslaught.

As the seconds ticked, the first chimera rose from the puddle of black. The tar hardened redistributed flesh to replace its once gone leg, coming back to life.

‘Fucking regeneration…’

<Ice Magic: Frost Blizzard>.

Behind, serating winds howled with plumes of frosty mist; Glenn’s blizzard storm spell quickly swathed the approaching chimera. Ice froze their limbs, inhibiting the flow of tar and locking their movements.

‘I see… so they’re weak to ice element.’

Like cold machines, unless there was internal combustion or friction, these creatures did not naturally generate heat, hence are unable to counter the effects of the temperature.

The chimerathat forced themselves to move despite the cold tore their limbs and broke down into chuckles. Indirectly, committing suicide.

Effective as it was, it didn’t mean Glenn managed to immobilise all of them. Mind you, these monsters were at least 2 metres tall each.

“Kairen, smash them!” Corin shouted.

“Roger that!”

Glenn exercised his magic to turn the monsters into ice part by part.

While I turn those pieces of ice into crushed bits.

I was like a mouse darting in between the hooves of charging bisons. Pounding the chimeras with my sword while minding the horde threatening a death by orgy. One by one the chimerashattered.

But cutting the flesh and tar was like hacking a kitchen knife against a hunk of frozen meat. The recoil of each strike tore my palms and juddered my bones. With these numbers I wasn’t certain which would give way first, them, or my arm…

‘Damn it…’

—KKIIEERRKK!!

—ROAARR!!

I was in a world of muscle pain after this.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

The obelisk was filled with light. The ritual had entered its last stages.

“Saint, it’s enough…” Eugene spoke, lifting his hands off the orb.

Lowe, seeing that, finally released her magic. She staggered against the nearby pillar.

A stable light illuminated the runic paths along the geometric faces—it was complete.

Eugene took a step towards the coffin.

“...Thank you.” He spoke weakly.

Grabbing her hand with both his palm, he pressed them towards his forehead.

“My soul, sundered.’

My breath, yours.’

Take what I am, if it keeps you here.’

A piece of my soul, yours to hold near.’

My life—’

Your’s.’

His soul touched the ritual’s thread, and he was hurled into the heart of a storming sea. A giant wave crashed, sending him under.

His entire body seized by pain, nerves flaring as if a thousand needles had burrowing into his flesh.

Soul-bound deep… accompanied by a sense of being split from his body.

He choked on air that didn’t feel like his. His eyes saw the world through the warped eyes of an infant.

The price he had to pay for slipping his soul… it was unexplainable in words.

The mana which had earlier filled the obelisk was slowly being drained of its light. The runes blazed bright, pulsating as the ritual progressed.

Eugene fell to his knees, hands still tightly grasped onto her’s.

Lowe struggled to her feet.

“You…?!” She circled over to Eugene’s side to examine his condition, only to find that his life force was being drained at an alarming rate.

Alarmed, Lowe tried to gauge the source of the leak—then a stunned expression appeared on her face as she realised…

He wasn’t losing his lifeforce—he was giving it away.

Lowe looked at the woman in the coffin, the wounds on her neck closing and the gradual return of colour to her skin.

Moments turned into seconds, seconds into minutes.

The light which had originally suffused the obelisk died down.

And Eugene… he finally released his hands, falling unconscious. Lowe supported him just as he was about to fall. She examined him again, relieved to find that he was still breathing albeit weakly.

She injected some light recovery magic and laid him properly on the ground.

“...”

In the end, had she done the right thing?

She shifted her gaze away from Eugene’s face and turned to the others who had come to save her.

The atrium smelled of flowers, flesh, ice, tar and bone.

The dozens or so chimerathat Eugene had mobilised had been reduced to the last few.

Even though the person himself had already passed out, the monsters he summoned hadn’t ceased. Her eyes turned to the man who was still engaged in battle.

One monster at a time, through the gradual accumulation of a hundred cuts, the half-frozen monster shattered into true death. The sight of his battered body, bloodied, stained and torn yet unyielding—it was heroic yet painful.

…And he had been fighting so desperately for her this whole time…

“Lowe! Are you alright?” Glenn arrived first to attend Lowe who was still struggling to make sense of everything.

“A-Ah! She might still be under Sir Euegene’s control…!” Corin yelped, her entire body shaking with the still unsettled adrenaline coursing through her veins.

“Right… drink this.” Glenn took out from his pocket another antidote. A spare.

Lowe shook her head, taking out the emptied vial on her. “I already drank mine.”

“I-It could be a trick!” Corin cried.

“I’m fine! I’m fine—! Do something to help Kairen first, he’s still fighting–!” Lowe shouted out desperately.

“No. He said to secure you. He would be fine.” Glenn asserted.

“But…!” Lowe glanced between Kairen in the distance and the vail in Glenn’s hand.

She snatched the potion and gulped it down.

“So, what happened here exactly?” Glenn asked, looking at Eugene who was unconscious on the floor, then at the woman lying in the coffin.

“Um…” Lowe didn’t know how she should begin. What even was the priority here? Was Kairen actually alright? “Actually, Glenn… Kairen looks…”

“Hikh! T-The corpse… the corp… woman! The woman moved!!” Corin screamed, quickly taking refuge behind Glenn’s back.

The woman in the coffin convulsed as if having a seizure. Slowly allaying, she seemed to shift from side to side as if having a bad nightmare.

Lowe was stunned silent. Glenn tilted his head, curiously observing.

The woman jerked again. Suddenly taking in a big gulp of air, she moved her arms to clutch her chest, panting.

Then, she opened her opal coloured eyes.

“...W…?” Her voice scratchy, barely recognizable. Yet what she expressed was clearly understood.

“A-ah…!” Corin tightened her grip on Glenn’s clothes.

“I-It… actually worked…?” Lowe could hardly belief her eyes. This was a corpse just a moment ago. Through her magic and Eugenes… they had successfully revived a dead person?

Lowe, seized by the instinct to help quickly approached the coffin—Glenn restrained her by the wrist.

“Glenn…?!”

“Are you sure this is safe…?” He asked, concerned.

“It is…! Let go…!” Lowe crudely pried her hands away from him and came to the side of the coffin.

The woman looked at Lowe with hazy and confused eyes.

Warm to the touch, the presence of a pulse, flowing blood, rising chest…

she had actually come back alive.

Lowe fumbled, recalling the information Eugene had provided her earlier. “I-I’m Lowe. Y-You are Miss August… I presume?”

The woman on the bed of flowers, August, nodded weakly. She tried to speak, but all that came out was hoarse air, and began coughing vehemently.

“Water…! Someone get her some water…!” Lowe called out.

“Here.” Glenn made a cup out of ice and filled it with water using magic.

Helping August sit up, Lowe carefully fed her some sips. She kept twitching, struggling with the first few sips.

“Take you time… take your time…” Lowe stroked her back, soothing her while administering gentle recovery magic.

August nodded weakly, wincing.

“What’s going on?” Kairen, who had just finished cleaning the battlefield, came with staggering steps.

“I don’t know.” Glenn shrugged.

“T-The corpse was alive!” Corin trembled.

“Corpse?” Kairen directed his gaze to Lowe and August, before turning to Eugene who was unconscious on the ground.

Hearing Kairen’s voice, the corpse lady sitting on the coffin looked around. First glancing at Kairen, appearing puzzled, then Corin, and then her gaze stopped on Glenn.

Her eyes widened.

Bit by bit her voice was starting to return thanks to Lowe’s healing magic.

And her words. “Gl… is tha… you…?”