Why?
Maxwell clenched his jaw. 300 years ago, despite the lethargic resentment in her eyes, his daughter Laplace had carried out his orders without complaint. Why now, of all times, did she glare at him with such spirited resistance?
For 300 years, he had worked to defang the women of this country. First he sealed the Great Sorceress away; then he built a system that would rob women of opportunities for advancement and funnel them into Healer jobs. He made ineffective armor the standard. All so they could never mock him again.
Meanwhile, he spent 300 years exchanging a series of (conventionally attractive) bodies in order to advance his agenda as Court Grand Mage. And yet... the women before him still had the strength to rise up against him. Why? Why did they glare at him like that?
“Impertinent whores!”
He raised his hand high, increasing the output on the mana siphoning spell. They could try to resist all they wanted, but they were still trapped in his magic circle. Like caged birds, all they could do was stay put and wait to die.
I’ll sit back and watch the agony on their faces as I drain every last drop of their mana. I’m sure Laplace will survive it—and as for these other women, who cares?
“Die!”
But just as he was about to bring his hand down—
“Forgetting something?” asked a voice behind him. A female voice.
It was the foxkin Mage.
“Take this! Fox-Fireball!!!”
As a shower of pale blue fireballs rained down upon him, he could make out a second figure standing beside the foxkin: the lavender-haired girl who had escaped earlier. He began to panic. How had she crept up on him? He hadn’t sensed her approaching at all!
“Katherine! Nadine!” Tanya exclaimed.
“Seriously, you guys totally forgot about us, didn’t you?” Katherine laughed.
And though her mana was still being drained away, it was a laugh Tanya managed to return in kind. “Okay, you’re right! I kinda did! I’m so sorry!!!”
“Figured as much! But that’s okay, since it worked out in our favor!”
Indeed, they’d caught Maxwell entirely off-guard. He was so distracted by Tanya and Laplace that he’d forgotten—no, simply turned his attention away from—the foxkin. And this tiny mistake was more than enough to upset him.
“Rrgh... How?! This spell is supposed to grow in strength the higher the subject’s level! You shouldn’t even be able to touch it!” he snapped.
“Yes, well... I’m Level 3,” Nadine muttered as she helped Katherine stay upright.
“What?!”
She laughed softly. “I’m only a Level 3 Healer, so I guess I must not be the target demographic for this spell.”
Indeed, Nadine registered at Level 3—as a Healer, anyway. And if the spell primarily preyed upon those with more advanced mana circuitry and storage capacity, then it was little wonder it hardly affected her at all.
As for her other class, Assassin, her abilities were honed purely through effort. No matter how high her level, those skills would never be drained away, least of all through her mana.
“Impossible! You snuck into the imperial castle... at Level 3?!”
“I’m afraid so. You see, while I may only be Level 3, I’m still Lilium’s Healer. And as it happens, stealth is my forte.”
Behind her lenses, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Once again, Tanya found herself thinking: Remind me never to underestimate a Healer again!
Meanwhile, Katherine grinned to herself. She’d trusted that Nadine would be able to get them out of this, and sure enough, she was right. With Nadine’s help, she’d managed to unleash a Fox-Fireball attack with what little mana she still possessed.
Somehow, Katherine Foxxi had known that the woman who had bested her in the Sparring Tournament would find a way to turn this whole thing around. And thanks to Nadine, they’d successfully pulled one over on none other than the Court Grand Mage.
Her heart fluttered in her chest. What an adventure.
“How’s it feel to get tricked by a fox?!” she shouted.
“Serves you right!” Nadine chimed in.
Quietly, Katherine patted herself on the back for keeping quiet. “This makes twice you’ve saved my ass!”
At this, Nadine smiled... and flung a throwing knife from her dainty little hand.
“Wha...?!”
“Oh, how I love a good surprise attack!”
Maxwell flinched as it grazed his cheek—and embedded itself into the magic circle on the floor behind him, cutting off the flow of mana.
The power of any given spell was in the circuitry, and magic circles were designed to bolster those circuits. Cut off the flow, and... well... in terms of human biology, the effect was similar to slashing someone’s carotid artery.
With the magic circle rendered ineffective, the agonizing mana drain ceased its torment on Tanya and the others.
“Ridiculous!”
Maxwell swiftly reached out his hand. In the next instant, Arianora’s unconscious body floated into the air and moved over to him.
“Unfortunately for you, I’ve already acquired the minimum threshold of mana I need!”
Beneath them, the magic circle faded.
“You’re not getting away with this! Let her go, Maxwell!” Tanya roared.
Maxwell flinched slightly in the face of her unbridled rage, but quickly recovered. “Curses... No, it doesn’t matter. Take care of them for me, my beloved daughters.”
He raised his cape like a shield.
“Teleportation magic?! Stop him!” Tanya shouted.
Then she heard Laplace snap her fingers and heaved a sigh of relief. After all, Laplace could make anything happen. Sure, she’d forbidden herself from using attack magic, but that didn’t matter. She could use the stone paving and... and...
“...Huh?” Tanya blinked in confusion. “Wait, what?”
Until now, that familiar snap had always solved their problems... but this time, nothing happened.
“This can’t be happening...” Laplace muttered, defeated.
But sadly, Maxwell was already long gone.