Chapter 31

6. SKIRMISH ON THE SNOWSCAPE “This has been fun, but I think it’s time for us to leave,” Deadrim said first thing in the morning. It was slightly after six, and the sun started to rise over the snowy mountain. They’d mulled over whether to stay put or find some way through the enemy forces for quite a while, but Deadrim had proposed a plan they’d liked, so they eventually chose the latter. “Let me tell you about my Bullet Magic.” “You’ll reveal the full extent of your blue bullet’s power?” “Yes. I don’t like the idea of exposing my secrets, but I’ll do whatever it takes to save Isuna. Once I explain how it works, you’ll see how high our chances really are.” Deadrim began her explanation, exposing her biggest secret. “It grants me the power to shift the position of anything it touches at will. You’ve already seen it in action once, right? The only requirement is direct contact with the bullet itself. Weight and other characteristics of whatever it touches don’t matter. So long as I perceive it as a single object, I can shift its position.” A singular object. In other words— “I need to clearly discern something as being a singular mass. For example…the ground, the mountain, and the sea are too well-connected and vast, so I can’t move them. However, the ice that made up the surface of the lake had a limited scope that I could see, so I moved it.” That meant she could move anything, assuming it wasn’t as large as a piece of terrain. “What I’m saying is, moving a single Exelia is exceptionally easy. And that’s why, as long as we can evade their fire for at least some time, I can shift us out of their siege.” She could teleport matter from one spot to another with essentially no limitations. “…That’s insane,” Rain muttered. He once again realized how abnormal Ghosts were. They all had powers that completely overturned the very concept of strategy. “But I do have something of a weakness, I suppose.” That made sense. If she truly had no limitations, she wouldn’t have needed any help. “If I try to move something beyond a sixty-five-foot radius centered around me, my accuracy drops dramatically.” “Your accuracy?” “The object’s vertical and horizontal positions shift.” “…Come again?” “An Exelia appears upside down, with its driver seats against the ground. Or a human lands on their head.” In other words, moving something too far away was out of the question. “…That’s potentially fatal.” “Right. A toppled Exelia is no better than scrap metal. But just think about it—as long as we’re moving within a sixty-five-foot radius, I can repeatedly teleport an Exelia as many times as I want. Do you understand?” They had to get close enough for the enemy to detect them, but despite that, their chances of escaping seemed extremely high. “We’re handicapped in terms of speed because all four of us are riding in a single Exelia, but my bullet can nullify that disadvantage. I think it’s a gamble worth taking.” In other words, they planned to break through by relying on Deadrim’s bullet. And since they had no other plausible ideas, they had to pick that option. The routes north out of the ravine were limited, and fifteen minutes into the operation… Air drove their Exelia through a forested area as the morning glow washed over the sky. The obstacles in that route made it hard for the enemy to detect them. However, once they exited the forest, they reached an open field. And as soon as they did, before they even progressed three hundred feet, Rain saw it. This is…a bombardment…! Air immediately took a sharp right turn, trying to skid their unit into the snow. As soon as she took that evasive action, the ground right next to them exploded. They’d evaded a direct hit, but Bullet Magic almost destroyed them. “Air!” “I know!” The enemy had fired at them. A swift look around the field told them they were surrounded by white Exelias of unknown affiliation. They were the units that had attacked them the day before. They’d camouflaged themselves amid the snow and tried to fire at them stealthily. However, they were too far to hit with pinpoint accuracy, so there was no reason for Rain’s group to engage them. Their objective was to force their way through, after all. Unfortunately, Rain’s Qualia foresaw more enemy fire from straight ahead, as if the initial bombardment was a signal to commence their operation. Again…! A surge of fire approached them. This Bullet Magic didn’t release massive fire from a single blast, but instead scattered like buckshot…the Dark Explosive spell, Krad Ruel. It seemed like the perfect suppressive fire over a wide area. And since they were caught in a pincer attack, it should have hit. However, at that moment, Rain’s field of vision turned dark. Ah…! A sense of vertigo struck him. And then… “The enemy’s pretty good.” …he was looking at a completely different scene. The sun had been to their right mere moments ago, but now it was in front of them. They were thirty-odd feet away from where the Bullet Magic had exploded. Snow soared up into the sky and rained back down. “Deadrim…” “I’ll handle evasive maneuvers,” Deadrim said with one hand on the Exelia, while her other gripped the blue bullet. “For the time being, focus on keeping our distance, Air.” Deadrim aptly handled the enemy fire. No matter how skilled a manipulator was, being surrounded by multiple Exelias placed them at a major disadvantage. Air was no exception to that rule, so the enemy’s fire grazed them despite her best efforts. Luckily, each time they faced real danger… “I’m shifting us.” …Deadrim gave a verbal cue and evaded the enemy’s attacks. Her ability to reposition was especially valuable in a battle of mages, where Qualia provided advanced information. The enemy fire simply had no chance of hitting them. Unfortunately, as the battle raged on, the enemy slowly gathered reinforcements. Dammit… Six units. Those were likely all the units they’d deployed to recover the second-generation Exelia. And once they’d consolidated their forces, Rain and his group were surrounded and exposed to enemy fire. Goddammit…! They failed. The enemy’s formation refused to crumble. Deadrim kept changing their unit’s position, and Air drove with precise, elaborate movements in an attempt to break the blockade, but their numbers foiled all attempts. They braked suddenly to shake off one unit, but another soon filled its space. The moment Deadrim tried to shift them through a gap, a hail of Bullet Magic greeted them. The skirmish consumed the entire snowscape. Vehicles sped across it, unleashing one blast after another as they tore up the ground. It hadn’t even been five minutes, but the number of bullets fired was well into triple digits. Rain’s group never once took a direct hit, but they had to change their strategy. They’d focused on dodging so far, but they knew they had to start attacking to pry open a hole in their formation. “We need to go on the offensive,” Air said. “If we can whittle them down to half their current numbers… No, even just two-thirds will do. If we can do that, we can escape.” If they wanted to break the siege, they needed to take down at least two enemy Exelias. However, Air and Isuna were both manipulators, while Deadrim had to focus on shifting them to evade attacks. That meant only Rain could do anything. Unfortunately… My mana… …he no longer had the ability to fire Bullet Magic. His chest wound had gradually whittled away his life. He’d lost so much blood by that point that he could barely see. Plus, his hands could no longer grip a rifle. His Qualia remained active, but he had no way to fire Bullet Magic with any degree of accuracy. Still, he knew it was only a matter of time before they got hit at that rate. He needed some way to shoot, some way to create an opening for Air and Deadrim… Ah…! At the end of his deliberation, Rain came up with a plan. “Air, I’m going to use the spare steering wheel.” “Why…?” “We can return fire with this unit.” Rain took hold of the steering wheel attached to the flank of the manipulator’s seat. An unlocked trigger rested on it. Turning the wheel allowed him to freely swerve the Exelia’s cannon, while pressing down the trigger let him shoot. Though, instead of his Bullet Magic, it used the Turret Model’s mechanical cannon. It’s more or less the same as firing a rifle… They’d already confirmed its firepower and accuracy. If he operated it accurately, it would fire an attack on par with Bullet Magic. A direct hit would down an enemy. Rain had discovered a way to attack even in his weakened state. I can take down two of them with this and cut open a path…! Rain concentrated as the battle continued. Thus far, they’d focused entirely on defense. Even with Deadrim constantly shifting their position, their enemy still surrounded them. But that also meant they were focused solely on offense. I have to find a moment where they can’t possibly dodge! Rain placed his finger on the trigger, then breathed out and let his thoughts accelerate as he focused on his Qualia. One unit chased them from behind. It remained cautious of Deadrim’s unnatural movements and refused to close the gap. Instead, it simply followed them while keeping a careful eye out. There…! But its position decided the battle. Rain swerved the turret to face behind them and pressed the trigger. The moment he did, it filled up with heat that fired off a second later. The enemy perceived the linear shot with their own Qualia, prompting them to dodge. The blast tore through empty space and crashed into the ground…before it suddenly rebounded. “Ah…!” The enemy soldier’s eyes widened, and the next moment, an explosion resounded. The blast leaped back at the Exelia, which found itself helpless to dodge, and scored a direct hit to the fuselage. “Wow.” Deadrim raised her voice in amazement. “Pharel, huh? I’ve never seen someone use it so well.” This unit is incredible… Rain didn’t feel relief as he shot down the enemy. Quite the opposite, in fact. Intense doubt filled him; seeing that shot had confirmed his suspicions. There was more to the Turret-Model Exelia than met the eye. There’s something different about it… It wasn’t simply a rig that had a cannon attached to it. It had far more features. Rain’s Bullet Magic should only have worked with a gun, but imagining a Pharel shot when he pulled the trigger had created one in the cannon. That should have been impossible. And yet, it had actually happened. A spell that only mages could activate had been unleashed by a mechanical cannon. …… This technology went far beyond all current Bullet Magic research. I might be riding a real mechanical monster… For the time being, he returned his attention to the battle at hand. They’d destroyed one enemy unit, but the remaining five still moved about cautiously. Rain just needed to destroy one more Exelia, so he had to make use of that chance. And so, he quickly turned the turret’s sights toward his next target. Their flawless formation had crumbled due to the loss of a unit, so they were no longer as perfectly positioned as before. They’d mostly concentrated their numbers at the front to block any hope of escape, which meant there was suddenly a hole behind them that one enemy scrambled to cover. …There! Rain decided to make that Exelia his next target. He reached for the trigger, aligned his sights, and fired at the ideal moment. This is it… Realizing the cannon reflected the abilities of the mage who fired it, Rain poured his mana into the shot and prepared to pull the trigger. However… Ah…! …his hand stopped, not out of indecision or fear, but because of a sense of impending danger. When he’d fingered the trigger, he knew death was near. This is… His Qualia had alerted him of danger aside from the enemy. He’d foreseen it the moment he poured his mana into the cannon; the sheer volume would make the barrel inflate and explode. If I shot at them just now…we would’ve been blown sky-high… His heart thumped in his chest like an alarm bell due to the revelation. He was relieved that he’d avoided that danger. It seemed the Turret-Model Exelia produced such an unusual amount of heat that adding more mana would’ve created an explosion. …… Something was off about the unit, for sure. It hid a great deal of power but also contained danger; misuse spelled doom for them. And not knowing that had cost Rain a priceless chance. He’d let the perfect opportunity slip by. Dammit… When the hell will another opening appear?! But just as a wave of regret washed over him, a flat voice rang out from behind. “Oh, I think this distance will do.” Deadrim’s voice. “It’s a good thing I can move.” Shortly after saying those words… …she appeared atop a nearby enemy unit, towering over the riders. “Now, then.” She traversed the sixty-foot gap in an instant with sword in hand, then slashed down at the manipulator’s head. The blade slid through his cranium, sending his face flying. Blood spurted out of the cross section like a crimson flower. “My apologies, but…,” Deadrim said as she leaped at the other man operating the Exelia. “…I’ll be taking this unit.” She sliced him diagonally down from the shoulder, cutting the soldier through the torso. The resulting fountain of blood stained both the windshield and her, but she didn’t flinch. She just grabbed the man’s head roughly and dragged him off his seat. “Now, let’s see,” Deadrim murmured as she lifted the man’s corpse. “Maybe they’ll reconsider and decide to run once they see this.” No, at that point, the thing she held wasn’t a corpse. She’d slashed its torso open, so veritable waterfalls of blood spilled from the wound, but… “Gaaah, aaah…!” …he remained alive. The man groaned loudly in pain, but Deadrim ignored it. Instead, she simply held him up like some distorted objet d’art. “A wise decision.” After a few moments, the enemy stopped trying to catch up to them. The remaining four units simply circled in place, giving up on their previous coordinated actions. One of their units had been destroyed, while the enemy had seized another. They suddenly faced a four-on-two scenario, which had them hesitating and weighing their options. “Tch… Irritating little shits!” Impatient, Deadrim pierced the man she held through the stomach. Repeatedly, as if running a needle through a cloth. The still-living soldier screamed and thrashed, but she kept punching new holes into his body with practiced motions. And despite it all, the man wasn’t afforded death. Deadrim always avoided his vitals. “……” Eventually, the four units fell back. Perhaps they’d concluded they stood no chance in a four-on-two battle, or maybe Deadrim’s ghastly execution of their comrade made them lose heart. …We won? The battle had ended. They overcame the six-to-one disadvantage and emerged victorious. At that point, they simply had to take the shortest route off the mountain and escape to safety. Rain had suffered a deep wound, so his odds of survival remained low, but they’d at least managed to secure a chance. They had to get moving, fast, to capitalize on it. And yet— This is… Rain quickly realized what had happened. Neither of the two remaining units moved. Air and Rain remained aboard an O’ltmenia unit, while Deadrim rode the unit she stole from the enemy with Isuna. Only three feet separated them as they stood in absolute silence. However, the standoff only lasted ten-odd seconds. “Air.” Deadrim spoke to them through a wireless transmission. “My Bullet Magic is exceptionally strong.” Her cold voice sounded somewhat different from her normal tone. “Its official name is the Crystalline Bullet. The first time I used it, those words popped into my mind.” She held the power of the blue bullet, which governed spatial shifting. The Crystalline Bullet, which drew on the Achiral divinity of the Crystalians. “It has its fair share of limitations, but be it in combat, in open spaces, or assassinations, it allows me to turn the tide of battle. And so, it’s too risky to let anyone who knows the full extent of its power live.” The two units faced each other as the transmission continued. Deadrim stood over the gunner’s seat, still gripping the dying soldier, while Isuna lowered himself into the manipulator seat with staggered breaths. “And most importantly, I need that second-generation Exelia. That cutting-edge model is unique enough to draw the attention of an unidentified army. I’s essential that we possess it. I’d gladly give it up in exchange for Isuna’s life, but the enemy has fallen back, so he has more time.” Rain and Air felt clear, palpable bloodlust as the ebony Ghost spoke with utter indifference. “Deadrim, ” Air answered Deadrim’s transmission. “I don’t want to fight you.” “Huh?” “I can’t say I understand you, and I don’t care to try to sympathize with you, either. But I do know that, as fellow Ghosts, we’re both working toward the exact same objective.” Deadrim wanted to end the war. She’d said as much the prior night. She truly wished to break herself and Isuna free from the curse of fighting. Air had sensed no falsehood in her words. There was no need for them to kill each other. Rather than fighting, they should have joined forces… “No, Air.” Deadrim cut her off and shook her head before Air uttered another word. “If we’d met under different circumstances, that might have been possible. But as things stand, that’ll never happen. We need the second-generation Exelia for our plans, and you won’t ever hand it over. Plus, Isuna’s injured, and I can’t rely on the West or the East to treat him.” Deadrim had already betrayed Harborant, and O’ltmenia would never treat a defector’s wounds. If she wished to save Isuna, they needed to get to another country. “I don’t want to fight you, either, Air. We share the same goal, and you have a kind heart. Someone like you is so hard to come by… But considering the situation, we can’t hope to cooperate.” Deadrim let go of the man. “Besides, this is my greatest and final chance to obtain the second-generation Exelia. All I have to do…is get rid of you two.” She swung her sword horizontally, splitting the man in half. His body tumbled down, scattering over the snow in a lurid picture of violence. Most people would have averted their gaze in terror or disgust, but Rain kept his eyes fixed on her. Ah…! Through the blood spatter, he spotted Deadrim drawing a pistol. “Rain!” Right after Air called his name, their Exelia turned around and sped away. They drove at maximum speed, putting as much distance between themselves and Deadrim as possible. Not once did they look back as they rushed away. They knew what was behind them—death and bloodlust.