It was Isabella. “You’re exhausted right now, aren’t you? I’m doing okay. And thanks to the Deep Dragon, even most of the injured are at least mobile.”
“...All right,” Orphen acknowledged. “Then Majic, can I ask you to help me? Isabella, what did you mean about the location earlier?”
Isabella grimaced. “I don’t have the full story myself... How should I say this? Up until now, the enemy has been afraid of the Deep Dragon, so they’ve been taking shots at us from afar just to keep us in check, right? But tonight, they’re even farther away.”
“They’re farther?”
“Yes. Like they’re trying to draw our forces away.”
“That’s a bit too obvious to be a diversion, isn’t it?” Orphen asked, focusing on the faraway combat sounds.
Hesitantly, Isabella said, “I think so too... Dick knows that as well, which is why he sent me here. And even if it is a diversion, they’re using their own fighters to draw ours away, so it doesn’t feel like they’d have enough forces to come at us in two places anyway...”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t imagine they’d do something so meaningless, personally. Let’s be careful, and only do the bare minimum. First, we’ve got to neutralize the threat.”
“Yes.”
After Majic responded, Orphen began to move. Since it was so far away, it didn’t make sense to run, but he hurried in the direction he could hear the fighting coming from.
He didn’t turn around and look back at Isabella as she faded into the distance behind him.
He’d lied, and he was sure she’d noticed.
Orphen thought about that as he moved.
Isabella must have known. It was all a lie. The only reason Pluto and Maria had left him, Isabella, and the other young sorcerers here was because they knew entering the sanctuary was a suicide mission.
They’d known bringing them all here would mean sacrificing the entire Thirteen Apostles, but right up until the end, Pluto hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it—so he’d decided to head into the sanctuary without them. If he hadn’t, then he would have explained everything to them and then gone.
Damn you, Pluto... That’s why you’re a hero, I guess. He couldn’t call the decision foolish considering their circumstances.
No matter what they did to resist, their chances of success were incredibly low. With a big group or a small one.
All he did was choose to limit the collateral damage. If he were in Pluto’s position, Orphen even thought he might do the same thing.
He could see a few figures in the sorcerous light that was swelling far in front of him, but it was only for an instant, and he couldn’t tell what it was they were fighting.
He wasn’t acquainted with Dick, but he’d heard the name before in relation to the Thirteen Apostles. It was probably Dick Simosoon. He was a young sorcerer from the School in the capital who was a candidate to join the Numbers one day. There was one sorcerer who had been performing particularly well in the attacks these last few days. Maybe that was him.
“Orphen.”
Orphen looked over his shoulder when Majic called his name. He didn’t stop, since they were hurrying. “What?”
“Did Claiomh disappear without saying anything to you too?”
Orphen glanced at him. The boy looked hurt. “No. She tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”
“Why... Why would Claiomh do this?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever really understood anything she was thinking,” he muttered, and Majic didn’t pursue the matter further.
They hurried onward, listening to the sporadic explosions coming from their destination, until...
“Stop!” a strong voice commanded them.
They turned around to find a young sorcerer with an angular physique coming out from behind a rock. He approached with both hands up, signaling his friendliness.
Red Dragons could disguise themselves as humans, so Orphen remained cautious as the man approached. Dragons’ eyes would flash green before they launched an attack, so as long as he was watching for that, he could probably avoid being caught by surprise.
“What’s the situation?” Orphen asked the man.
He was probably being cautious of the same thing. He didn’t get closer than he needed to, answering quietly, “Everyone’s—”
Instantly, the man’s body bent sideways.
The sudden severity of the movement had Orphen thinking it was a Red Dragon’s transformation at first. In reality, the man had been struck with such force that he was snapped in half at the waist, falling to the ground. He didn’t scream. Instead, he expelled some sort of liquid from his mouth. Giving a little bit of moisture to the dry earth beneath him, the man died.
Orphen didn’t see anything. He just sensed the man’s life ending. Before he could shout, before he could click his tongue, he was jumping backward. Something sharp and heavy cut through the darkness before him. From one blind spot to another. It flew at him with a powerful lunge forward.
He knew exactly where Majic was. As he jumped back, he grabbed the boy’s collar and dragged him with him. It was lucky he didn’t trip.
He still hadn’t laid eyes on the enemy, but the black figure was jumping around faster than humans possibly could and always launching blows from his blind spot.
Jack Frisbee! He named the enemy he couldn’t yet see.
He dove to the right and left, relying entirely on instinct as he tried to find an opportunity to counterattack. He didn’t have time to weave a spell. Even a defensive spell would only barely deflect one of his blows. And an offensive one... He would probably be hit before he could finish composing it.
There was a sound, and Majic’s body, which he’d been dragging with him this whole time, suddenly became a lot lighter. Orphen was horrified, thinking the boy had been blown away; that he hadn’t been able to protect him.
Then he looked down at his hand and realized what had happened. Majic’s jacket had torn, and Orphen was only clutching the piece of it in his hand. Majic himself was kneeling on the ground. Orphen almost relaxed for a moment, but the situation was a lot more dangerous now. If he continued to dodge and left Majic behind, he was sure Jack would kill Majic.
I have to stop and face him—
No. Orphen stopped, but he was looking at something else and not his enemy. Majic was still on the ground, closing his eyes and focusing instead of trying to get up. Lacking though it might be, Majic was swiftly composing a spell. An attack spell.
He won’t make it in time. He wouldn’t make it by himself. But realizing his intention, Orphen began to compose his own defensive spell.
“I spin thee, Halo Armor!” he shouted.
And a moment later, Majic’s voice rang out too. “I destroy thee, Primordial Stillness!”
An explosion tore through space outside of the wall of light that surrounded Orphen and Majic.
There was a blast and the ground shook...and after that, the sorcerous wall vanished. Orphen stood on the still-shaking ground and looked around. That blast would hurt anyone it hit no matter what sort of monster they were. But of course Jack was nowhere to be seen.
Orphen caught his breath and said to Majic, “That’s Thirteen Apostles tactics.”
“Huh?”
“That coordination. One person defends while another attacks. You saw them doing it against Leki, right?”
“Oh...yes,” Majic said vaguely as he stood up.
“We’re out of the enemy’s range now,” Orphen went on. “Thanks to you.”
Majic hung his head and Orphen looked away, raising his voice.
“Jack Frisbee! Come out here... You have to fight me first! If you start attacking other people, you know I’ll be able to get behind you easily!”
“I wonder about that,” came a rough voice.
The huge man suddenly appeared right in front of Orphen. Orphen had no idea where he’d been hiding. His black priest’s robes seemed to dissolve out of the darkness.
The large man continued matter-of-factly, “You’re the last ones left.” He didn’t even spare a glance at the destroyed body at his feet. “I’ve taken out almost all of your fighting power. I could just go home right now, in fact.” He seemed to remember something then. “No, I suppose that’s not true... I can’t leave you alive.”
“Our main force isn’t here,” Orphen spat. His emotions were honing his concentration to a sharp point. “Or do you really claim that you’ve killed Pluto and a Deep Dragon?”
“That would be impossible... Pluto wouldn’t fall for this. I guess I missed him,” Jack said simply. “If you think I am a mere diversion, then naturally you would send the bare minimum of forces to deal with me. And a small force is easy for me to deal with...”
“Majic,” Orphen said, still facing Jack. As he spoke, he honed his senses to their peak in order to draw out the absolute zenith of his combat abilities.