"As I thought... Defensive Magic really isn't for me."
The Defensive Magic flickered dim and bright, then shattered to dust the instant it met the oversized Mana sword.
Übel gritted her teeth and swung her staff at the massive blade bearing down on her.
A flash of white light.
The seemingly indestructible blade cracked, and as the fissure spread, the countless smaller Mana swords packed inside it snapped one after another!
"Oh?"
Against Solitär's expectations, the Mana sword broke in two and fell.
It felt like she could sever it.
The Severance Magic, driven by that fierce conviction, had succeeded — miraculously.
Before she could savor it, Übel slumped to the ground.
"No strength left..."
Her Mana was drained dry. To achieve the effect she'd imagined, she had unwittingly emptied every last drop.
Why had she saved this man?
Even Übel didn't know.
If she had just blocked that wave of magic and stuck with those two grown-ups, escape wouldn't have been impossible.
Gazing up at Solitär in the sky, Übel remembered Aura's words — when you see impressive magic, go and get close to it.
In the end, watching the Mana swords reappear in the sky, Übel felt a small pang of disappointment.
If only that Demon were a little closer.
Severance Magic couldn't reach across that distance.
"Uoooohhh!"
A strong arm, trailing a grim chill, suddenly hooked against Übel's waist and swept her up.
"You two over there — cover me!"
Frost sloughed off Timmy's body as he hoisted Übel against his hip and broke into a sprint toward the top of the little hill!
Even with his legs going numb, he was determined to save this child who had saved him.
Schwenk, who'd been ready to slip away, suddenly grasped a grave problem: Übel was that person's grand-disciple, and if something truly happened to her, he might not be able to answer for it.
On the spot, with rare roughness, he flung open the Scripture.
"And God said: Let there be light!"
A line of script lit up on the blank page, an uncanny Holy Power erupting from the Scripture, and the Grand Bishop began to radiate a dazzling golden light.
Like the first break of dawn, the light surged up and pierced sight and night alike.
As Solitär raised a hand to shield her eyes, Timmy ran on blindly, roaring, never stopping.
…
Could Humans and the Demon Race truly never coexist?
Nanoda knew this was only a dream.
Red fire, red blood, pairs upon pairs of red eyes.
Commoners trembled beneath broken walls; knights raised quivering blades against her.
The sticky feel on her hands. That crown dripping with blood.
Nanoda remembered. She had shattered the guillotine, shattered the king and his throne, shattered a nation.
Monster. Calamity. Demon King.
There was no place for her in this world, so she would carve one out by force.
Until she pressed the other side into oblivion.
Looking back along that road of blood,
Nanoda saw Aura, bowing in submission.
The village that had feigned welcome; the village chief who tried at midnight to burn the house down with her asleep inside it.
Emotion peeled away, bit by bit, under her rage, and the village was reduced to ruins.
In the end, that anger too returned to nothing, like the charred debris.
A domain she'd seized by force; subjects who plotted rebellion in secret wore down the last of her patience, and the domain was wiped clean off the continent's very plate.
She came upon a field of gold. A member of her own kind, named Macht, invited her to share tea and her tale.
Once more she tried to seek coexistence with Humans, joined a nation, and took up the old trade she'd practiced before coming to this world.
As time passed, the Humans came to fear her all the same.
Scene after scene of discord flashed by, and thus the Demon King was born.
An aged Hero snapped his battle-scarred holy sword.
A Dwarf warrior's life-risking blow broke through her magic and left an indelible scar.
Even pierced by a monk's light spear, she stepped forward still, her spilled blood staining the fallen Scripture red.
The white Mage who had returned stood in her path, and at the cost of grievous wounds she cut him down.
…
An Elf Mage of the Mythical Era, an Elf warrior of the Mythical Era, a new Hero...
As she fought against legends, she became a legend herself.
When she looked back once more, there was nothing there — only a blank stone wall in a cave.
"When can I become a Human?"
"When can I live in peace?"
The two prayers crossed and overlapped.
Nanoda woke abruptly from the dream.
Two short broken horns were already gripped in her hands.
It was strange — this was the first time she had dreamed of this life. Every dream before had been of her previous one.
But more than that, what put Nanoda on guard was the figure that had suddenly appeared at the mouth of her training cave.
That pinpoint of light — the kind that could be kindled by magic — and the faint approaching footsteps.
Nanoda had woken on instinct.
"There's no sign of you at all within my Mana Perception."
"Who can say? Perhaps you trust me so deeply that you excluded me yourself."
It was a cold male voice.
The tall, lean man before her, wearing a standard-issue helmet, gave Nanoda an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"We've never met before."
"No — perhaps we've met many times already."
With a soft click, he slowly lifted away the helmet that hid his face.
"So you really are alive."
The moment that pair of horns appeared, Nanoda knew him.
A Great Demon of the Demon King era, one of the Seven Sages of Destruction — Grausam the Miraculous.
Nanoda had realized long ago that Brother Miracle might have been lurking among the Humans for ages, and that he'd taken note of her and Gaderia.
"Is this dream your handiwork?"
Nanoda recalled that Brother Miracle's specialty was conjuring illusions, using illusion arts near-indistinguishable from reality to lull his enemies.
Beyond that, it was rumored among the Demon Race that Grausam could erase himself from others' memories — something akin to memory manipulation.
"Not so — though I am indeed still alive."
Seeing Nanoda about to strike, "Grausam" hastily threw up both hands.
"I have no intention of fighting. I only came to confirm the situation — and to buy a little time while I'm at it."
The point of light that had circled Grausam abruptly went out, and the cave plunged back into darkness.
Smell, sound — they vanished along with sight.
Within her Mana Perception, still no trace of the man.
An illusion art that could deceive even Mana Perception?
It was the first time Nanoda had met so troublesome an opponent. And with it came a bad feeling.
What reason did Brother Miracle have for stalling her?
"Haah... I've lived the easy life too long."
Nanoda abandoned her Mana Perception, abandoned her five senses. A purer sense awakened — like a Human without firelight, groping through a pitch-black cave.
The sixth sense.
____
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