“Huh? How…are you? What?”
Rogue had gone up against crooks of all calibers with just his fists. He’d taken his share of blows and spells alike and survived.
“You use that spell on yourself so much, you got a child’s brain, too? You’re up against a detective! Running your damn mouth off…” Rogue snarled. “On your feet, scumbag. One punch isn’t nearly enough for you.”
Temperatures were so high that iron melted like hard candy. Wind blades sliced grooves in the ground. Each time Catherine waved an arm, the spell paths changed, keeping them on Miseria’s heels. Yet she dodged, as if she was reading Catherine’s mind, escaping by a single step each time. Miseria was rolling, jumping, scrambling up the sides of containers, and leaping off them. Catherine tried to hit her while Miseria was midair, but she’d kick flying rubble into the path of Shining and avoid the attack with merely a few singed hairs.
______How?!
Catherine split the tornado into multiple Blades, making them converge on Miseria’s position. Invisible blades pelted down, like guided rain.
Miseria momentarily hid behind a container, then slid under the rain, running directly at Catherine—the last thing she’d expected. There was a gun in her hand, at her hip. She pulled the trigger. Catherine redirected several of the Blades into the air before her, batting the bullet aside before it reached home. By then, Miseria had disappeared.
This was the problem. Any time Catherine tried to land a finishing blow, Miseria had a counter ready. She could never fully commit to an offensive.
I can’t afford to play it safe.
Catherine went for her biggest gun.
She elevated her mana output just a smidge.
Blade and Shining both got a massive boost, like she’d shifted gears.
This was really skirting the limit of what the collar allowed.
If she put even a bit more mana into it, the collar would go off—and she’d be dead.
Perhaps she didn’t need to risk it.
But she had a bad feeling about this. Miseria was just running. And that felt like she was up to something.
I have to finish it before her plan comes to fruition.
Catherine slapped her hands together.
The Blades flew around Shining. That miniature sun began to shake. Extreme heat swirled, the rotation growing steadily faster. Just as the howling of the winds became too great a toll on the eardrums…
…the sun burst.
Lumps of metal-melting heat flew at a wind speed of 105 knots, opening holes in containers, floor, and warehouse alike. Everything in Catherine’s view turned red.
This attack would keep going as long as Catherine still had mana—and she never ran out.
The sound of the wind, of melting metal, of the ground cracking—listening to those, she reveled in the destruction. Few things did more damage than this spell combo. Perhaps the boys would get caught up in it! That’d work for her. She’d feel so guilty.
The relentless destruction went on for a solid thirty seconds.
Then she began lowering the strength of both Blade and Shining. Like rotating tires, if she hit the brakes too hard, the excess energy would burst. But eventually, the spells on her palms were each no more powerful than a light bulb—and then they blinked out.
Catherine looked over what she had done.
The warehouse was no longer intact.
Everything before her was in shambles, like it had been run through a blender. She could see the night sky through the collapsed roof.
“……It’s all over,” she murmured.
Rogue, Miseria—everyone was gone.
She’d eliminated them.
She felt a pang in her chest. She almost fainted.
Detective, oh, Detective!
Catherine clutched her habit above her heart.
He might have saved her life, but she’d ended his.
“Ahhhhhhhh………”
Joy and grief mingling, Catherine collapsed to the floor, only snapping out of it when Miseria said, “Pleasant dreams?”
“Huh?”
Miseria’s blue eyes were right there.
“You’re drooling,” she said, eyes twinkling.
Catherine tried to speak, but her body defied her, refusing to budge.
“Uh-oh, can’t have that. Your magic is rather formidable. So I’ve already shut down that option.”
There were no signs of the warehouse’s destruction. The ceiling loomed oppressively—offering no view of the night sky.
Wh-what’s going on?!
“‘Wh-what’s going on?!’ A perfectly natural question!” Miseria said cheerily.
“Huh? How—”
“______am I reading your mind? Yes, I’m linked directly to it. You’ve been dreaming this whole time.”
Miseria shrugged.
Linked? Impossible! She hadn’t had time to cast! I heard no incantation, saw no sigils.
“It’s certainly typical to use incantations or sigils when casting spells, but there are other means. As long as your orders are conveyed to the magic itself,” Miseria explained. “It’s a simple trick if I reveal it, but Dominate is actually cast through my eyes.”
Miseria pointed at her dazzling blues, leaning closer.
______Their eyes had met when I was casting Blade and Shining. But how could…?
“Oh, but I can. You’re a witch yourself. Witches do what no one else can. You know that.”
It felt like she was falling into Miseria’s eyes.
______Terrifying.
She saw everything Catherine was. Controlled it.
Catherine felt no joy or grief. Only fear.
“You adore guilt, yes? That’s why you can happily kill those you care about. I’m happy to provide your share of those thrills—in your dreams.”
It felt like she’d been kicked off a cliff.
Catherine sank into darkness.
Chronos tackled him. Rogue was a child; Chronos must have assumed he could soak a few blows but would win if he pinned him down.
That was naive.
The detective batted away the grasping hand and ducked under his left arm, slamming the man’s knee with his elbow in passing.
Chronos lost his balance. Behind him, Rogue landed a kidney blow. A jab. The man blindly kicked backward, but Rogue easily sidestepped it into a high kick to the man’s back.
“______Gah!”
The breath was forced out of Chronos, and his spine arched. Rogue got his feet under him, then aimed behind the knees. The top of his foot connected, and the man buckled, then toppled over forward.
Just as Rogue had intended.
With the man’s center of gravity lowered, the detective could now reach his head.
He grabbed a fistful of Chrono’s hair, ignoring the strands that he pulled out, and dragged him closer, swiftly slamming his elbow into the man’s skull. Two hard objects made for a satisfying crack. That must have hurt. Another—
“Gahhhhh!”
Chronos finally lost his nerve and started screaming and flailing. Was the hit too shallow? No, that wasn’t it. I’m still shrinking.
“______Ahhhhhh! Damn you! Arghhh!”
Screaming, Chronos turned his bloodshot eyes toward the detective. Rogue was free to keep punching. No problem there. He cut off an attempted spell with a liver jab, sway, step, duck under a big swing kick, then turned that opening into a nut punch.
“______Hngggggggggggg!”
Legs turning inward, Chronos howled. Nice.
Chronos raised his arms, so Rogue switched targets, kicking his shin. Another howl.
……Not enough, not nearly enough.
A hook to the right cheek, then to the left on the snap.
……You’re not getting off this easily.
One swing, and another. Each rather weak, but the damage mounted.
But the longer he swung, the less air he had, and the more his lungs hurt. But still, he kept punching. Blocking Chronos’s blows, parrying, deflecting, countering, punching till his fists bled.
……You’re not getting off the hook!
He was on the verge of collapse, but his mind was clear.
He had to take Chronos down. Before he killed a lot more people.
“Rahhhhhhhhhhh!”
Rogue had no clue where he’d found the air for that bellow.
Chronos was still on his feet.
The tendons in his arms were aching, but Rogue kept swinging.
Still, Chronos stayed up.
Rogue’s vision blurred. Something was flowing from his nose.
Chronos was still…
Chronos—
His consciousness almost cut out, but Rogue bit his own lip to wake himself up. Weight on his hindquarters. Swing on the left foot, speed up the right, lock the toes, hard upward kick.
Crack.
Chronos’s head snapped back. Chin high, hands flailing like he was dog paddling.
That’s all Rogue saw before toppling over backward. He had no strength left. His chest was heaving, lungs desperate to restore oxygen.
……Go down!
A prayer.
He heard heels click.
Tap. Ta-ta-tap. Offbeat.
……Go the fuck down!
His blurred vision caught Chronos swaying. Still swaying, he made a fist and turned toward Rogue, lurching his way.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Rogue couldn’t move. Couldn’t fight back. The fist coming his way got bigger, and he was about to close his eyes when the fist curved to the right, and Chronos came crashing down. Flat on his face next to Rogue, shoulders brushing.
“……Hahh, hahh! About goddamn time!” Rogue cried, exhausted.
He found himself covered in blood. Earning that nickname of his once again.
Didn’t think I’d wind up like this again.
His body felt like lead, but he sat up.
He rolled Chronos over, face up. Those handsome features were now a fright. He cuffed him and stuffed a cloth in his mouth to stop him from casting.
“Hellooo? Rogue? Are you still with us?” Miseria cried out. She was running his way.
He looked up, and despite the racket, she did not have a scratch on her. She seemed rather pleased with herself.
“……You done, too?”
He needn’t have worried.
Meanwhile, every bit of him hurt. For lack of options, he heaved himself upright to face her.
“Rogue, must you sound so disappointed? I would think you’ve got something to say to me.”
Miseria grinned expectantly, a hand to her ear.
He sighed.
“……Thanks.”
“Hmm? Thanks? For what? I don’t know what you mean.”
“……You do.”
“I do? I really don’t.”
“Augh, dammit!” Rogue yelled. “Thanks for coming to save me! I owe you my life! Satisfied?!”
“Aside from the exasperated tone…it’ll do.” Miseria nodded happily.
“Shush. I’m fresh outta wherewithal. Look how tiny I am.”
“Oh? I thought you’d had a makeover.”
“Do I hafta punch ya?”
“I’m kidding! Let’s release this spell before your life runs out.”
“Can you?!”
“Who do you think I am? It’s easier than boiling water. I have one hundred and fifty ideas.”
“……Okay, that’s not true.”
“It isn’t, but I do have some. Bring me his head?”
She was talking about Chronos. Rogue grabbed the unconscious man’s head. In his current body, that was quite hard work.
“I’ll cast Dominate on him, then have him undo the spell himself. Reverse the flow of time once again and stop when you hit a good age.”
“……Right,” Rogue murmured. “You really can save me, then.”
“Oh? Does that not please you?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Just…if we could have caught him faster, there’d have been far fewer victims.”
Miseria closed her eyes and sighed. A very long sigh.
“I had a feeling, but you really bottled everything up. A bedeviling personality.”
“……Anyone would think as much.”
“Your problem is that you say so at the wrong time! Take a lesson from me. I’m always blowing off steam! It’s so much better.”
Miseria reached out and poked his nose with her fingertip.
“……Sorry,” he said.
She sighed again.
“Never mind. We’d better hurry. You don’t seem to have much time left.”