“Let me back in—!!”
Homura had just been tossed outside the wall. However, she wasn’t alone. She had a powerful assistant at her side.
“Relax, Homura! I’m here with you!” Carlila said, laughing out loud.
“Hrm… They’re not going to attack us all of a sudden, are they?”
Homura stared at the river of mindless ants as it passed by. From what she had seen so far, as long as no one got in their way, the creatures weren’t interested in attacking. But watching them march past in this mechanical fashion was frightening enough.
“Anyway, are you even allowed to be outside like this?”
This was Homura’s first time seeing Carlila in the light of day.
“I’m not allowed to be anywhere else. These are the only times that I can come out. In fact, if I were to ignore the order, I would be killed by the power of this curse,” Carlila said, laughing again as she stroked the choker around her neck.
“Yikes…”
What else could Homura say?
The ants continued to march toward the castle gate. The soldiers focused on trying to incapacitate the ants with a single blow so that the creatures would never have a chance to counterattack. But Homura’s situation was different. If she didn’t incinerate her targets in a heartbeat, there was a risk they could all come after her.
“That lad Seigrat told you to think up a finishing move, didn’t he? Well, now’s your chance to work on one.”
“Shouldn’t I pick a safer time to practice?!”
“Quit complaining!”
“Ow!”
Carlila had just given Homura a hard poke in the side.
“Any ants you attack will turn on you. That makes it dangerous to spread your flames around an area willy-nilly. So in that case…what should you do?”
Homura gave it some thought. Instead of pure firepower, she needed to go for targeted killing blows…
“Focus my fire…on a single point?”
“Exactly. And that staff I had made for you should make directing your flames that much easier.”
Carlila had been the one to oversee the creation of the staff that Homura wielded. Homura was good at making fire, but she lacked the skill to control her flames. The staff helped in that regard.
“Try to compress your flames. Picture them coming out in a long, straight line.”
“I got it! Straight line… Straight line… Just like a Bunsen burner…”
Homura pictured the Bunsen burners the students had used in science class. She remembered how excited she had felt every time she turned them on.
“What is a ‘Bunsen burner’…?”
All Homura had to do was scorch the creatures in a heartbeat. Easy. She was ready. She pumped the flames into her staff.
“Bunsen…BURNERRRR—!!”
Homura shouted triumphantly as the flames erupted from her staff.
“Oh no! What’s happening—?!”
But the flames spouted every which way, not even vaguely resembling a jet. The ants turned toward Homura all at once. The diffused flames had only singed their outer carapaces.
“Wauugghhhhh!!”
Homura spewed fire wildly, already half in tears.
“Hmph… You’ve certainly got the output down, but it looks like your visualization still needs work. Or maybe you just don’t have the skills to control the flames yet. Of course, feeling also plays a big part in magic, so a bit more oomph wouldn’t have hurt, either…”
“It’s too late for that now!”
“Fair enough! Ah-ha-ha! At this point, I guess you might as well just go wild and burn whatever you can for— Oh, I guess you’re one step ahead of me there.”
The flames had begun to quickly build while Carlila was still talking. She noticed Homura had grown quiet.
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
Homura had already entered a trance state, thanks to her own panic.
“Well, that’s no good. Actually…maybe this works out in the end.”
Homura stared at the flickering flames, eyes unfocused. She was lost in the sounds of the monsters screaming, burning, the warmth caressing her skin. She had abandoned all restraint, her sanity swept away in the conflagration.
“Prepare to be saved—!!” Homura shouted.
To be incinerated in a flash, without much pain—the flames were true salvation!
Homura’s flames grew even more intense, and she began to burn everything around her indiscriminately. The fire was no longer just coming from her staff; it was swallowing her up and emanating outward.
“Pull back! Retreat! There’s someone dangerous on the field!”
“She must be from the Academy!”
The soldiers fighting outside the wall began to retreat, frightened by the crazy magic user who had suddenly arrived. This wasn’t going to do any favors for the Academy’s reputation. The field of flames continued to spread, not only from the staff but from Homura as well.
“If this is all it takes for you to lose control, then you’ve still got some maturing to do. In any case, I was told a halo of fire appears on your back whenever you lose control, but I don’t see anything of the sort right now. Maybe there’s some other condition that needs to be met, too,” Carlila said, inspecting Homura calmly as flames enveloped her.
“Uh-oh… It looks like your body can’t withstand the flames any longer. It’s starting to burn.”
Homura’s skin was turning red from the heat.
“A shame you weren’t blessed with a Veil of Immolation as powerful as mine…”
Carlila then shouted Homura’s name, and Homura turned her cloudy eyes in Carlila’s direction.
“Do you need to be saved as well, Carlila—?!”
“Something like that,” Carlila said, touching the side of Homura’s head with one of her fingers.
Homura fell unconscious immediately.
Carlila laughed, catching the girl in her arms.
“I’ve envious you are able to make so much fire without even using magic. But I’ve still got a thing or two to teach you when it comes to controlling it.”
Carlila held her hand out toward the raging flames and began to chant.
“Devour and consume…blazing dragon.”
As she did, the burning expanse of fire began to undulate, as if under the control of Carlila’s hand. The bulk of the flames immediately formed what looked like a giant serpent and began to swallow up the ant monsters.
The soldiers who had previously fled from Homura’s fire stared in religious awe at the rolling flames, trembling before the might of Carlila, the Blazing Dragon.
“I had no idea…the witches were so powerful…”
After swallowing most of the monsters in front of them, the dragon suddenly whiffed out of existence.
“Oopsie. I almost forgot I only had ten seconds. I’m not interested in dying just yet.” Carlila tapped the choker around her neck in annoyance. “I wish I could get rid of this thing and be free to do what I like, but Melch’s cursed devices are impeccable.”
Carlila had only been able to use her magic for the ten seconds that Falmeyr had permitted. If she used her magic for any longer than that, the cursed device around her neck would activate, killing the wearer. The choker served as a tether to keep in check those who were too dangerous to be given free rein.
Most of the monsters who weren’t trapped on the other side of the ice wall had already been incinerated. Carlila turned to go, leaving the rest of the monsters in the hands of the ordinary, dependable soldiers. The larger monsters had already been cleared away. The army might have been numerous, but there were only smaller, weaker monsters left now. Galdorssia could relax. Victory seemed certain.
Just then, a cracking sound filled the air, resonating loudly.
“Hrm?”
Carlila turned to look. As she did so, she caught sight of a massive colossus towering over the battlefield, where there had been no such creature moments before. The creature was currently smashing the wall of ice to pieces.
Now that nothing stood in their way, the monstrous ants trapped on the other side of the ice began to advance once more.
“Well, that’s not good!”
Carlila fled without a second thought, carrying the unconscious Homura in her arms.