A pair of meteors descended upon a distant forest. However, there was no massive explosion as one might expect. Instead, Mana was used to decelerate their landing before crashing to the surface.
Lightly.
The Purple Tower Master landed silently.
Crunch.
The Capital Knight Order Commander did create a crater about ankle deep, but she did still land gracefully.
Crrrrrrrrrumple.
Birds and rats scattered in all directions, their instincts warning them of the impending natural disaster about to happen in the forest.
The Purple Tower Master extended her hand and summoned her staff. A crystal at the center of the spiraled end began to rotate quietly.
Whirl. Wring.
The Capital Knight Order Commander opened and closed her hand, focusing her senses. The mechanisms within the golden power armor hummed as they activated various defense spells.Before the tension of battle could escalate, a young voice could be heard from inside the armor.
“Do you wanna do self-introductions? I’m Ruru.”
“......Lemme go back.”
“I don’t wanna. Normally if someone doesn’t wanna fight this badly, I let them go….. But the gramps who used to play with me went on a long trip, so I’ve been pent up. I can’t hold back much longer. NotJustThat.”
The Capital Knight Order Commander put her hands on her hips.
“Gramps gave you high compliments. Even though your power was unstable and lacking refinement, he said if he actually tried to take you head-on, it would take quite a long time to beat you.”
“......Gramps?”
“I heard that you dodged gramps’ attack? The one who looks like a young boy. About this tall. You know him, right?”
The Purple Tower Master remembered.
She recalled the light skirmish at the Purple Magic Tower. It was just a brief encounter where neither of them even utilized Metamorphosis, but even that had destroyed the outer wall of the Magic Tower.
As the Purple Tower Master was lost in her recollection, the Capital Knight Order Commander suddenly pulled out a letter of notice from her breast pocket.
“Ahem ahem. Well, this is all useless stuff, so you can just ignore it. Unpermitted entrance into Crownhall, failure to report, and whatever, whatever. Based on these reasons, Yuna Yurensto Violetiris is banished from the city.”
“....Aren’t you supposed to tell me to listen well?”
“What’s so important about the fact that Team 3’s director is pissing his pants? It doesn’t matter what the riffraff think. The important part is that I just want to fight you.”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
The Purple Tower Master squinted and scrutinized the Capital Knight Order Commander.
She had no malice, and no sense of duty. It was as if the Knight Commander had an invisible tail wagging enthusiastically behind her, resembling a playful puppy eager for attention
The Purple Tower Master spoke as she honestly felt.
“...Are you a dog?”
“Play with me!”
The immediate response lacked any denial. Haaah. The Purple Tower Master let out a small sigh.
Well, the situation wasn’t urgent. She would have been really mad if the Commander had interfered during a fight against black wizards, but at the moment they had agreed to hold hands and return to the inn.
It’s not like he's going to storm Duke Redburn’s mansion on his own.
If she can play off her unreported entry as a mere visit to play with the Commander, this encounter might actually be beneficial. The Purple Tower Master drew her staff and pointed it at the Knight Commander.
Even so, he’s waiting, so let’s end this quickly.
The Knight Commander noticed the Purple Tower Master’s resolve and grinned, thumping her chest.
“Alright, I’ll tell you about my Metamorphosis(羽化)! It’s called 『Glutton』.”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
“I can convert anything that enters my mouth into Mana. Even if I eat nothing but dirt, my Mana grows bigger, and the maximum capacity expands indefinitely….. It was temporary before…… But now I’ve reached Sublimation! You know what I mean?”
“....Pig.”
“No I’m not.”
Whirrrllll~! Cccckkk
There was a surge of Mana. The Mana flowing from within the Capital Knight Order Commander was more than enough to power all the magic circuits, which were created without considering efficiency.
Mana began to envelop the surface of the armor. It grew denser and denser until it almost became solid, then protruded like crystals, emitting a blinding light that made it hard to look at it directly.
The Purple Tower Master frowned.
Illusion Magic was still Magic. It could take many forms to find an opening, but it was just a skill that used Manaat the end of the day. If you surrounded yourself with a stupid amount of Mana, there was nothing she could do.
It was like trying to send a paper airplane through a tornado. It wouldn’t reach the center, and would just be torn apart by the torrent of Mana.
“Yeah, I’m telling you it’s a bad match-up. Illusion Magic….. That sneaky thing Black Wizards love. It has no physical power, right?”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
“That’s what was so weird. Gramps’ sword…. How did you block it? Illusion magic wouldn’t work on gramps. I was just too curious. You…. must have some trick up your sleeve. I wanted to see it no matter what.”
Zzzzt. Bam.
When the Knight Commander took a step forward, the dirt floor beneath her boot scattered and flew away. It was as if she was a walking sun.
A waste of Mana.
If used efficiently, that amount of Mana could cast dozens of high-level spells and still have some left in the tank. Instead, she was just using it without any technique, just wasting it by surrounding her body with it.
Normally, you just needed to stall.
Whether provoking them to unleash their latent power or simply making them exhaust their Mana, time was the deadliest poison for an enemy with high Mana consumption. Their Mana was not infinite, so their attacks would eventually weaken as their reserves deplete.
“The Red Tower can blast me away with explosive force, the Golden Tower can pin me into the floor, and the Blue Tower could make me float on water to restrict my movement. The Purple Tower…. Are you gonna show me my mom or something?”
“If you want.”
“I would attack even my own mother. That bitch abandoned me and ran away.”
However, looking at the Knight Commander’s attitude and how she’s just blabbering on so casually....”
“Well, let’s start off with a light attack!!”
“『Nightmare from the End of the World』, 『Subtraction』, 『Winter Forest』”
The Knight Commander gathered Mana and spread her hands.
BOOOOOMM!!
A massive magic beam, far wider than a person, shot out. Illusion Magic that affects the mind couldn’t penetrate the Mana barrier, 『Subtraction』 was nullified, and about half of the hundreds of clones were destroyed.
The Purple Tower Master crouched among the mirror images and saw trees being ripped from their roots. Calling it a magic beam was generous—it was merely raw Mana being unleashed.
The difference between the two was like blowing into a recording and just blowing into the air. It was thoughtless.
And strong because it was thoughtless.
Illusion Magic that manipulated the target’s mind wouldn’t work. The Purple Tower Master decided to use light-based Illusion magic instead.
“Take away the light, close your eyes. 『Blackout』”
She removed all the light from the whole area. Complete darkness enveloped the surroundings. To the outside world, it would look as if a giant black circle had materialized out of nowhere.
Of course, merely taking away her sight won’t be enough. The Knight Commander would obviously know how to sense with Mana, she was merely storing light for future spel…..
“Who turned the lights off! Where are you! You aren’t running away, are you?!”
“.....You can’t even sense Mana?”
“I don’t need to use that to win!”
Beeeep~!!
In the pitch-black darkness, an ominous magical light flickered, accompanied by a high-pitched sound. It was familiar to the sound of a Mana Stone battery on the brink of exploding due to a failed experiment.
A chill ran down the Purple Tower Master's spine.
“...You’re going to use a self-destruct AOE?!”
“If I can’t see, then I just have to blow everything away!”
BOOM!!
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
“Cough, Cough, Cough, Ewww….”
The Purple Tower Master spat out the dirt that had gotten into her mouth. Against an opponent who fought with sheer brute force, she had no choice but to respond in kind.
She had expended a significant amount of Mana just to shield herself from the explosion. Using the ‘Scientifically Sturdy Structure’ she had learned from his illusion, she believed she had blocked it efficiently...
The Capital Knight Captain emerged from the explosion's epicenter, unscathed, still enveloped in that immense Mana.
“You blocked it. Should I try one more time?!”
“...Ju-Just how much Mana do you have….!!”
“At least enough to make you pull out all the tricks you’re holding on to. Whatever you showed Gramps, show me too~!!”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
The Purple Tower Master bit her lip tightly.
She was reluctant to use it.
It reminded her. It kept reminding her. It was power that blossomed atop corpses, so it pained her heart just using it.
However, if she wanted to drain the strength from this large dog, this was the time to tap into a bit of her true power. And she had a place to heal and mend her broken heart now.
“..... I told him I’d take him out on a date.”
That was all it took to find her resolve.
If she closed her eyes.
She could see her own soul—half white, half black, with an out-of-place jewel sewn at the border.
The name of this jewel is Door.
A door that was forcibly tied to her soul through horrific experiments. That was the desperate wish of the old Purple Magic Tower, and granted her the ability to break down the boundary between reality and illusion.
Yuna Violetiris unlatched the door, and slightly opened it.
“Sublimation of Sacrifice - 『Illusionary Boundary : Opening Gate』."
Thump.
An echo that could only be felt by the soul.
Sensing something was very wrong, the Capital Knight Order Captain blinked.
“........Haaah?”
Crack. Craacckk.
A cross-shaped fissure appeared behind the Purple Tower Master. The tear in the fabric of reality slowly opened like a wound, altering something significantly.
She had felt this sensation before. It was similar to using the dimension gate to enter the demon realm at the eastern front—the same off-putting feeling like this.
The Purple Tower Master steadied her dizzy mind and whispered quietly.
“I won’t open it fully… But, since you seemed curious, I’ll show you.”
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
“In here, the line between illusion and reality blurs. Things that don’t exist appear. So if you lose your mind here…. we might both get lost. Be careful.”
“.....You, you can’t just talk about self-destruction like that!!”
That’s why she didn’t like it.
It wasn’t a flower that had naturally blossomed. It was forcibly inserted, a Sublimation(昇華) without an awakening. It was an incomplete power, so it was even more unstable. This battle had to be decided quickly.
With the intent to punish the uninvited guest who had ruined her peaceful time with him, she channeled her anger into her staff and swung it.
“If you surrender quickly, I’ll only hit you five times.”
“I don’t know what magic you’re going to use, but I won’t easily give….”
Guuuuuu
A colossal being squeezed through the door. A white giant, so enormous that one could only see its top by looking all the way up. It was a mutant that was way too big.
The giant clenched its’ fist. The Capital Knight Captain stared at it blankly and.
“...U-Uncle?”
“The first hit.”
She braced herself against the giant fist that fell from the sky like a meteor.
BAM!!
===============================================================
Two poachers were making their way through the forest near Crownhall.
“So, you’re saying there are that many green-horned deer here?”
“Yeah, and for some reason, there haven't been any mountain patrols since this morning. Let’s catch a big one today!”
“That’s still weird. Did they all go on vacation at the same time?”
“Why bother worrying about it? Just be thankful that we have lucky days like these.”
This forest, owned by the emperor, was strictly off-limits to poaching. So, there were many rare and expensive animals living here.
With the usual forest patrol that always got in their way were missing, and the poachers got excited thinking about the big catch in front of them.
BOOM!!
Suddenly, a massive explosion split the forest open.
“Wha- What the fuck is this!”
“Just what is happening….!”
The poachers fell on the ground, covering their heads. After a while, they got up and tried to figure out what had just happened.
What they ended up seeing was nothing short of apocalyptic.
Everything was being drawn into the forest's center—the trees, the squirrels, even their own bodies were being stretched and pulled into the darkness.
That’s what it looked like when the Purple Tower Master absorbed the surrounding light.
They thought their eyes must be playing tricks on them. If they didn’t think that, they would have to accept that the world was collapsing.
As they struggled in the lightless void.
BOOM!!
A blinding explosion erupted from the forest. All the trees were ripped out, and the giant shockwave sent the two poachers flying along with them.
They rolled across the ground, barely clinging to life. That was when they saw it—a white giant, towering towards the sky, delivering judgment upon the Earth.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
All they could do was bow their heads to the ground and pray.
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken