“What…?!” Violet cries. She frantically traces over the ancient writing on the pedestal with her finger.
As she does, I let go of the sword.
“The blade…is rejecting me…”
I’m just building up the mood here, upping the ante. I’m pretty sure it isn’t actually rejecting me.
But the fact that the chosen hero is the only one to draw this kind of sword is just common sense. It’s a time-honored plot device.
“Only a hero’s direct descendant can draw the holy sword… You’re right, it’s all written here. I’m amazed you were able to read that encrypted magic script so quickly.”
“Heh… I know all the devices…”
“Oh, I see. You designed a device that encompasses ways to encode magical script.”
“Yeah, that. Definitely.” I nod proudly.
Looks like we’ve got a holy sword stuck in a pedestal and a sealed door that only the sword can unlock. It’s clichéd, sure, but I love this kind of setup.
Nice! Now it really feels like I’m in a fantasy world.
“What to do…?” Violet mutters as she sits down on the pedestal.
“Is there another way through?” I ask, taking a seat beside her.
“No leads in writing, in any case.”
“Oof.”
We think in silence for a little bit. We must each be running through different scenarios in our minds.
Finally, I speak up. “Do you want to disappear?”
“What?”
“When we destroy the core, I imagine you’ll disappear.”
“Ah, right. But call it liberation. That’s more apt.” Not looking my way, Violet smiles.
“What’s the difference?”
“This place is a prison, one where memories repeat for eternity. It…pains me.” Her voice almost disappears, like a whisper.
“I see. In that case, let’s just wait a little longer.”
“Wait for what…?”
“If we take enough time, I should be able to do something about the door. Before that…looks like we have guests.”
A sliver of light has appeared in front of the door, gradually widening, until eventually a bald geezer and a cute elf emerge.
“Huh…?”
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. That elf just kinda looks like a friend.”
However, she’s definitely someone else. Her bone structure is different, as are her mannerisms and gait.
“Ah… So you brought along Aurora,” Baldy says as he looks at Violet.
The two of us engage in a surreptitious convo.
“You know this guy?” I ask incredulously.
“Who knows? I don’t recognize him, but my memories are incomplete. It’s possible we’ve met before.”
Baldy laughs. “A shame, really. It’s impossible for the likes of you to breach this door. You seem to have suffered a stroke of misfortune, boy.”
“Me?” I point at myself.
“I don’t know where you stumbled in from, but that witch has deceived you, leading you to your death. At the hands of my Olivier, that is.”
Upon receiving the bald geezer’s orders, the pretty elf strides forward.
The old fogy is just a pushover, but this cutie is strong.
Violet and I have another quiet exchange.
“We can’t… She’s…,” I start.
“I can tell. She’s strong, huh?”
“We have to run.”
“Why?”
Baldy cuts in. “If you want someone to blame, blame the witch, not me. Curse her and your own folly…! Go, Olivier, kill him!”
She readies her sword, which happens to be a perfect replica of the holy sword.
I match her by drawing my shitty school-issued sword. Her eyes are like glass beads, and they’re fixed solely on me.
I can feel my lips curl into a grin.
“Stop! You can’t fight her!”
Why?
Violet’s voice echoes behind me.
The battle begins with Cid getting blasted backward.
He violently crashes into the stone wall, then coughs up a mouthful of blood.
Even though he looks about ready to crumple into a heap, Olivier doesn’t let up. She swings her holy sword and aims for the boy’s neck.
She lops it clean off—or so it appears in that rapid exchange.
By leaning forward, Cid just barely ducks clear of Olivier’s slash. Instead, she carves a deep horizontal line in the wall.
Still, he knows her follow-up attack will come quickly. That’s why he immediately steps forward, closing the space between them.
However, his resistance ends up having been for naught.
Cid takes a full step to the front, but Olivier’s half step backward is far faster.
Because he hadn’t finished taking his step, he’s defenseless in the face of her strike.
Metal whines against metal, and Cid’s sword snaps.
He barely manages to protect himself, but his flimsy sword splits in two while his body bounces and rolls atop the stone floor.
It hardly qualifies as a fight. One side is obviously dominating.
But that’s just to be expected.
Technique has nothing to do with it. Her strength, speed, resilience, and all-around power are just fundamentally dimensions beyond his.
Just like how an adult can’t have a fair fight against a baby, the end result is predetermined when a young man who can’t use magic goes up against a hero who can.
The very fact that it isn’t settled in a single blow is practically a miracle.
“Olivier, finish that child off,” demands Nelson, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
During the time Olivier stops moving, Cid struggles to his feet. His face is covered in blood from his nose, and when he spits, that’s red, too.
He looks at his bisected sword, giving it a small swing to test it out. It’s almost as though he thinks he’ll have another chance to use it.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Hmm?” Cid responds to Nelson’s question by tilting his head.
“You still think you can accomplish something with that piece of scrap?”
“Maybe. I don’t have many options, that’s for sure.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you smiling?”
Cid responds by reaching up and touching his cheek. Sure enough, there’s a smile there.
“There’s nothing I hate quite as much as a man who doesn’t know his place. The only reason you’re still alive is a stroke of dumb luck,” Nelson barks.
With a sweep of Nelson’s hand, Olivier bounds forward.
She slips behind Cid with the utmost ease, then brings her holy blade down on him from above.
No counterattack, self-defense, or evasive trick can be made in time.
The only thing he’s able to do is throw his body forward.
Blood gushes from Cid’s back.
The blow tears his skin and rends his flesh, but he manages to avoid suffering a fatal wound. All he’s accomplished is to briefly prolong his life, though.
Olivier advances on the helpless young man once more.
Her strike is merciless, leaving no room for a counterattack.
Blood sprays as shallow wounds etch themselves into Cid’s body.
Yet he lives.
“Impossible…,” Nelson mutters. His tone carries with it a sizable degree of shock. “How are you still alive?”
Cid checks to make sure no further attacks are coming his way, then forces his bloody body upright.
“Battles without dialogue are empty. That’s why I’m still alive.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“She doesn’t have a heart, so she isn’t answering any of my questions.” Cid’s smile is tinged with disappointment, and his mouth is caked in blood.
“Enough of this! Kill him!” Nelson’s eyes are t
hose of a man looking at the deranged.
Olivier springs into motion, but a figure intercedes at the last moment.
“Please stop.”
The woman in question has jet-black hair and violet eyes. Aurora embraces Cid’s shoulder and helps prop him up.
“What’s the matter?”
“Please. You need to stop,” Aurora begs him.
She knew this would happen from the very start. The moment Aurora laid eyes on Olivier, she’d known how powerful the elf was.
Aurora’s memories aren’t completely intact. They only cover about half her life, but even though Olivier doesn’t appear in these memories, for some reason, Aurora knows she’s dangerous. Despite not knowing Olivier, her heart trembles, almost as if she does.
That’s why Aurora desperately wants to stop Cid.
Contrary to her expectations, though, Cid fought.
Maybe he could be the one to…
She didn’t stop him in time, held back by that fleeting hope.
But this is plenty for her.
She’s been scorned all her life, and not once has anyone ever put their life on the line for her sake. She’s made a memory she’ll never forget, and that’s enough for her.
“There’s no need for you to die. I can handle the rest.”
Nelson laughs. “What can a witch do without her magic?”
“I can secure his escape at least.” Aurora strides forward, protecting Cid.
“A witch saving a human? Wonders never cease. But…if you agree to help me, I could be convinced to spare the boy’s life.”
“Help you?”
“Indeed. You’ve been oh so uncooperative, and it’s caused us no shortage of delays.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, you’re just an incomplete memory. No matter. All you have to do is agree to cooperate. Don’t dawdle, or I’ll kill the boy.”
Aurora casts a brief glance back at Cid’s face. “Okay, I’ll do it…”
Cid interrupts them, his voice completely free from fear. “Hey, could you guys not start deciding stuff on your own?”
Aurora looks back and glares at him. “I’m doing this for you, you know…”
“I’m good.”
Cid steps in front of Aurora.
“So I’ve been listening, and I’d really appreciate it if you guys could just stop assuming I’m gonna lose. It’s really starting to piss me off.”
“What a tragic young man. Imagine being this oblivious to your situation. To think—if you’d just shut up and done what you were told, I was prepared to let you live.”
“I told you—I’m good.” Cid turns and looks at Aurora. “As for you, just stay and watch.”
“Enough. Kill him.”
“No!!” Aurora reaches out, but she’s unable to stop him.
Cid has already stepped forward and engaged Olivier.
As soon as he blindly steps forward, she greets him with her holy blade.
She leads with a thrust.
The attack cleaves through the air at a blistering clip, then pierces his abdomen.
The merciless strike runs him through.
“Gotcha.” As he’s stabbed, a grin spreads across Cid’s bloodstained face.
He grabs Olivier’s arm, then yanks with all his might. His muscles bulge, screaming as they exceed their limits.
For just one instant, Olivier’s movements are locked in place.
And she’s in the perfect range for a half-broken sword.
Cid’s blade slices toward the arteries in her neck, and Olivier bends backward to evade the blow.
However, doing so ruins her center of gravity.
Tossing aside his sword, Cid grabs Olivier and pins her.
Then he bites down on her carotid artery.
His teeth impale her slender neck, then sink into the vein.
He holds her tight and presses down on her struggling arms as he chews. Each time his teeth dig into her artery, Olivier’s body convulses.
Eventually, Olivier cracks like a mirror. She shatters into pieces, then disappears.
The only one left is Cid, covered in blood.
“I-it can’t be happening… Olivier can’t…! Curse you! How are you still alive after she impaled you?!”
The wound in Cid’s chest should have been fatal. No question.
The fact that he’s alive is strange, and taking down Olivier in that state borders on inhuman.
“It’s so easy for people to die. Most of the time, all it takes is a small blow to the back of the head. And hey, I’m no different. One little knock on my skull, and that could be it for me.” Cid stands, patting his wound as if to make sure his body is still in one piece. “But as long as you protect your vitals, you’re surprisingly sturdy. You can get stabbed through the chest, but if you protect your arteries and important organs, you won’t die. Kinda sweet, don’t you think?”
“‘Sweet’…?”
“Totally. You can eliminate the time spent dodging before you counterattack. Just punch their face while they’re punching yours. Rip apart their neck while they’re stabbing you in the gut. Offense and defense become one and the same, and the tempo of your counterattacks accelerates to its absolute limit. They become nearly unavoidable.”
“There’s…something wrong with you.” Nelson’s face scrunches up, as though he’s looking at something grotesque.
“Are you okay…?”
Cid responds to Aurora with a nod. “So the elf chick’s gone. You up to bat next, Gramps?”
Nelson gulps, clearly flustered. “I—I get it. I never imagined you’d defeat Olivier! You’re clearly very powerful. I was wrong. I’m so sorry!!”
Nelson bows, but a chuckle soon escapes his lips.
“…Heh, did you really think I’d say that? Sure, I was surprised a boy with no magic was able to take down Olivier. You’re not just a child, even if your victory was dumb luck. But a win is a win. Congratulations.”
Nelson raises his head, clapping.
“But don’t get cocky over beating a single low-grade copy. You could never conceive of the quantities of magic slumbering within the Sanctuary. That’s why it can even do this.”
Nelson waves his arm, and light floods the area.
When it dies down, Olivier is there.
And she’s not alone.
An incalculable number of Oliviers, enough to fill the entire ruin, stand where the light once was.
“This can’t be happening…!” Aurora cries.
Cid’s wound may not be fatal, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t serious. There’s no way he’s in any state to fight.
“This is the power of the Sanctuary!!”
The Oliviers rush toward Cid.
Cid lets out a weak laugh. “Sorry, but…your time’s up.”
The Oliviers are charging at him from all directions, but…he mows them all down.
“What?!”
It’s unclear when it appeared, but he’s holding an obsidian katana in his hand.
“Where did you get that…? Wait—can you use magic?!”
Cid’s body is bursting with bluish-purple energy.
The magic is so incredibly concentrated, it’s visible. It glitters beautifully, compressed to an unimaginable degree.
“If my magic is getting sucked away, all I have to do is thicken it until it’s too dense to be absorbed. It took a little time, but it’s pretty simple, really.”
It definitely wasn’t simple. Aurora was widely referred to as a witch, but that technique is beyond even her.
“Th-this can’t be…!! How can you do that?! Qu-quick! Kill him!!” Nelson screams, his face frozen in fear.
The Oliviers bear down on Cid once more.
However, Cid stretches his jet-black blade out wide and fells them in a single sweep.
“This isn’t supposed to… Olivier isn’t supposed to…!!”
“I told you—time’s up.”
One after another, the Oliviers attack Cid.
Although the black sword blasts them away, most don’t immediately disappear. After blocking the attacks with their holy swords, they rush back at Cid.
“Man, you guys really are strong, and you keep on coming.”
The Oliviers swarm, and Cid sweeps them back. The pattern repeats itself faster than the eye can see.
Each time, blood drips from Cid’s wound, and his face contorts in pain.
The equilibrium won’t last. That fact is clear as day.
“Ha-ha! Good! Good! Keep it up!!” Nelson laughs, though his face has taken on a scary look.
As Aurora watches Cid’s predicament worsen, tears well up in her eyes. “Please… Don’t die…”
All she wants is for him to survive.
“We were supposed to draw the holy sword, cut through the chains, and destroy the core, right?” Cid calls out to Aurora from the thick of his desperate battle.
“What? I mean, yes…,” Aurora replies, confused.
“That sounds like too many steps. What if I just blew everything up?”
“That would be fine, but…you can’t be serious, right?”
Cid smiles, slashing in every direction.
The Oliviers are all scattered, giving him a brief moment of respite.
He flips his sword to an underhand grip, then holds it overhead.
Bluish-purple energy spirals around him, collecting in the length of his obsidian katana.
“I AM…”
“Wh-what is that?! N-no! Stop!!”
The Oliviers charge.
The one in front strikes with her holy sword.
The full-strength blow pierces Cid’s defenseless chest.
More specifically, it strikes the location of his heart. Covered in blood, her blade bursts out his back.
Aurora screams and extends her hand.
“…ATOMIC. ALL-RANGE ATTACK.”
His chest impaled, he brings his sword down and stabs the ground.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
The bluish-purple magic immediately fills their vision.
The Oliviers vanish, Nelson disintegrates, and the holy sword melts away.
Then, the magic continues swallowing the surroundings.
His attack is an esoteric technique designed to annihilate everything within a small range in all directions.
And on that day, the Sanctuary is completely wiped out.
When he comes to his senses, Cid finds himself surrounded by darkness.
The Eminence in Shadow, Vol. 2 (Light Novel) Page 8