by Terasu Senoo
Oh, is that what he sees? Erika asked herself. She was aware she had sympathized with the monster’s resentment, but what she felt was far from resignation.
“Umm, you could be just a little bit more honest, you know...”
“I didn’t ask for your input, Anne! Undo the rope and give that stuff to Erika already!”
Anne sighed as she loosened the rope and handed over the leather bag and a wand. Holding up a pack of spell cards and her own staff, she stood a little behind Claus.
Erika shook off her stupor and assumed a battle stance with the wand Anne had given her.
The Zaratan was already standing tall once more, slowly trudging toward the three of them. While a burnt stench still lingered in the air, the monster’s body didn’t bear a single trace of damage. Had its hard scales protected it, or had it already regenerated?
“This takes me back... It’s all so terribly nostalgic. I remember now. The wand of a petty alchemist, is it? It’s been so long that it took me by surprise, but such trivial parlor tricks won’t work a second time.”
“I see. Then prepare to be amazed by Hafan’s marvelous craft. You won’t need a second chance to see my magic after you’re dead!”
“Hah! You have spirit, little one! I can tell you aren’t Aurelian. You smell... different. Did you come for pocket change, or did the girl trick you? Whichever it is, I don’t care, but you would do well to heed my warning. In the end, Aurelians will betray you, just as they did me. It is simply in their nature. Now move. I have no quarrel with you.”
“Like hell I’ll stand down. You fall back, monster! If I don’t get her and my sister back safe, I’ll have to face my father... and he’s a hundred times scarier than you.”
Still standing undaunted to protect the two girls, Claus carried himself proudly in front of the monster. On the inside, however, he was probably terrified.
So, he still has that strong sense of responsibility at such a tender age, Erika thought as she stared at his back. But... She glanced down at the wand in her hands.
It was a Grease wand. The tip was halite, the shaft cherry. The handle was affixed with the skin of a boar. The wick was preserved pig’s fat.
What exactly am I supposed to do with this? Erika realized she hadn’t received any further instruction. With the intense staring contest going on between Claus and the Zaratan, this was no time to ask.
Yes, at such a critical moment, Erika’s confusion only deepened.
2
Claus raised a gruff cry as he charged at the ancient monster. The mass of countless spell cards all around him formed a column as massive as the monster’s limbs.
The Zaratan swung its front leg, and Claus willed his cards to guard him like a shield. The moment the beast’s sharp claws made contact, the orderly formation of cards deployed a conspicuously large magic circle.
It looked like sparks were flying in their intense clash as residual mana scattered in the air like petals or scales. Claus fell to one knee after being forced back two meters, but he was ultimately unharmed. A majority of his cards were put into his protective magic circle.
Anne took the opportunity to hide in the shadow of the arch dividing the altar from the rest of the temple. Erika took a page out of her book and leapt behind a pillar.
The back-and-forth between magician and monster continued. Claus was forced to stay on the defensive. At times, he would charge a spell card with mana and fire it, but he failed to so much as scratch the monster’s armor.
It was amazing enough he managed to hold it off, but his mana was not infinite. The potions in his possession were a limited resource.
His only offensive wand was the Fire Bolt. What’s more, it barely had any uses left.
I need to hurry and provide support!
Erika was beginning to panic. Unfortunately, the Grease wand wouldn’t inflict any damage, and she highly doubted it would produce enough oil to trip up those massive legs.
She opened her bag and fished out her wands. She hadn’t anticipated fighting such a gargantuan creature, so she didn’t have many wands she could use in combat. For the time being, she switched out the wands on her belt holster.
Lightning Bolt. Magic Missile. Paralyze. Gust. Castling. Levitate. She kept the Grease wand on hand too, just in case.
As she was swapping out wands, she noticed one that could serve as her trump card.
The Death wand. Its shaft was cypress. The tip was formed from a ring of twelve pyrope garnets. The surface of the staff was polished to a glossy sheen, then carved with the Aurelian word for lament. Its wick was the last breath of a life-form that had died of natural causes, wrapped in myrrh-soaked cloth.
Death magic could only kill living beings smaller than whatever had breathed life into its wick. When preparing for combat against other humans, its maker would often procure the last breath of a horse.
However, this wand was made specifically for dungeon exploration. If it was made to kill ravenous beasts and monsters, then surely it contained the breath of a considerably large creature.
Erika sized up the Zaratan. It was bigger than an elephant.
I only have one shot at this. If the wick is a whale, it’s my win. If it’s a bear or tiger, we give up and run.
Claus backed off to dodge the Zaratan’s claws, and Erika used that opportunity to spring out from the shadows.
“Over here, monster!”
It reacted to her voice, coming to a sudden stop. The moment it saw her, its face contorted in glee.
“Auuuuureliaaaaaan!”
Its scream, thick with malice, sent vibrations coursing through the temple air.
It’s supposed to be scary, but it’s somewhat... comforting, even. Erika wasn’t sure why, but her heart was filled with a peculiar delight.
The monster peeled itself away from Claus as it turned to face Erika, preparing to charge her. In that instant, Erika swung her Death wand.
A dark, inconspicuous black-and-crimson circle materialized at the end of the wand. Three distorted shadows, reminiscent of hands, emerged from it and stretched out toward the monster.
The black hands of death quietly stroked the Zaratan’s neck.
“Ahh, yes... Oh, I remember this magic, you cowardly imp! Foolish woman. There is no life-form larger than me anywhere in this world. I am this city itself, the very earth you stand on... I am the one who let you poor vagrants ride upon me as I crossed the sea to these lands.”
Erika was shocked. If it was telling the truth, even a Death wand filled with the breath of a whale wouldn’t be able to fell it.
The Zaratan kicked off the ground, sprinting at her with speed unbefitting of its bulk. She quickly cast aside the used-up Death wand and pulled out her Paralyze wand.
It’s no good! I won’t make it in time!
She inadvertently found herself curling up and closing her eyes.
In that instant, she heard a harsh and cacophonous sound, like a car slamming into concrete. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Claus had stepped in front of her to protect her. He’d added another several hundred spell cards to his defensive circle to bear the brunt of the attack.
“Claus!”
“Erika! You, why didn’t you... No, that’s my fault. I didn’t properly explain the plan.”
“Huh? I’m sorry, did I mess up?”
“My attacks are useless, and nothing will happen if I just keep drawing it away, right?”
Erika was finally starting to understand Claus’ strategy. Presumably, as he had the best defense, he would continue to lure the enemy while his comrades provided minimal support so they wouldn’t be considered a threat. That was why Erika was supposed to use Grease support magic.
But isn’t that plan a bit too dangerous for Claus? Unless someone fights this thing off with a decisive blow, the situation will just get worse and worse. If he gets injured, we have no way to treat him.
“I still have a Paralyze and a Lightning Bolt wand. While these may not be enough to b
eat it, I can create an opening for us to make our escape.”
“No, save your offensive magic. I’ll tell you when to—”
The Zaratan’s claws sliced through the defensive circle. Consecutive attacks had weakened the unity of Claus’ spell cards, and about half of them were stripped off and thrust aside. A massive smile peeked through the rift in the barrier.
“Bwahahaha! All finished with your cheap charade?”
“Erika! Now!”
“On it!”
Claus barely made do with half the cards, but he somehow managed to hold the monster back.
Erika drew the Grease wand. Would it really prove useful in this situation?
No, I need to trust Claus for now.
When she waved it, a white sphere of magic ballooned out from the tip. When it reached the size of a basketball, it gained physical mass, forming a large bubble of fat.
“Please hit!”
She flicked the wand again to send the ball flying at the Zaratan. The orb bobbed up and down, slowly flying along its course. Just when it reached the tip of the creature’s nose, the Zaratan moved out of the way, looking rather disappointed.
Perhaps it would have worked against a human in heavy armor, but trying to hit such an agile monster with oil magic was a Herculean feat.
A split second later, Claus was blown away, spell cards and all.
“Claus?!”
He tumbled across the floor, coming to a stop at the opposite end of the room.
The Zaratan padded toward Erika at a leisurely pace. It did so quite purposefully, as if it enjoyed the act of cornering its prey.
“Puny humans... Your struggles are futile. That’s right, you always used such petty tricks. It’s all coming back to me now... It was the same when you killed me. That night, when we reached the continent, I was so tired from carrying you that I fell asleep...! You shameless vultures! Did you want the philosopher’s stone so badly you would drop a thousand stars upon me?!”
“The philosopher’s stone?” Erika piped up.
Just as the Seafaring Tribe had sought after it long ago, modern-day alchemists were all in pursuit of this precious artifact. It could change any base metal into gold—a miraculous stone that could transmogrify all of creation into any material one desired.
Going by the events in Liber Monstrorum, Zaratan the alchemist should have been murdered by those looking to steal the philosopher’s stone.
“Oh, the stone interests you, does it? I see, you really are the spawn of those insatiable Aurelians. I don’t blame you. But you won’t get it. Your shallow plots are all pointless. The philosopher’s stone is my very soul. You tore through my stomach and gouged out my entrails, but you were never going to find it!”
Erika finally understood. It had been naive of her to think that everything would work out as long as she could save Anne. This dark monster will never forgive me or my lineage. Its grudges are directed at all the people of Aurelia; its death is a sin we all have to bear. As long as we alchemists continue to seek out the stone, it will continue to condemn us for our crimes.
“Throw down your wand, girl of Aurelia. I know every spell you can even think to cast my way. You can’t kill me unless you drop a star from the sky. So, what will you do now? You do resemble the girl I grew up with long ago, so I wouldn’t mind offering you mercy. However... that’s only if you can turn on the other two and kill them with your own hands. Betray your comrades as your ancestors betrayed me!”
The monster’s mouth spread nearly wide enough to tear, its rows of fangs—each the size of a tactical knife—weaving into a smile.
“I could never do that!” Erika heard herself shout. Killing the two of them to save herself? She would never agree to such a dastardly transaction.
“I knew it! For someone who speaks nothing but lies, there’s no way you’d admit to wanting to kill someone! But let’s turn this around. You there, girl in hiding! If you leave the Aurelian behind and run with your tail between your legs, I’ll let you and your brother out of here safely! Surely she’s just like her ancestors, only caring about herself. Would abandoning her really wound you?”
The Zaratan spread its front legs wide with the poise and gravitas of a theater actor, its eyes fixed on Anne’s hiding place. What the monster desired was a reenactment of betrayal. A betrayer and a pitiful victim. It demanded an offering, a companion in its misery—to see faith, friendship, and compassion crumble before its eyes.
As Anne glared at the monster, it sensed her hostility and laughed, wholly amused.
“Could you stop trying to seduce my sister?”
With Claus’ voice came the sound of something slicing through the air. Spell cards stuck onto the monster’s knee joints in triple-layered rings. This was binding magic, meant to fasten a target to a point in space.
The triple binding caused the Zaratan to lurch forward, but it still came to a halt.
“If you insist, you’ll have to go through me first,” Claus added.
“You can still move? What foolishness, to cast aside the life I purposefully conserved!”
“I’ll never abandon someone I’ve sworn to protect.”
Claus poured mana from his staff into his cards, slowly walking up to the Zaratan. Here and there, his torn clothes revealed bruises and scrapes. He really was wounded all over, but he’d avoided any major lacerations or broken bones.
After spitting out a bloody lump of saliva, Claus continued, “Besides, what’s wrong with being a fool? Better than being a liar or a traitor, right, monster?”
He gave a fearless smile to intimidate his foe. An inferno blazed in his brilliant blue eyes.
“It’s useless, little one. Your magic cannot pierce me. The same goes for that Aurelian Fire Bolt wand.”
“Don’t look down on my magic, you nameless beast.”
“The blood that flows through them may differ, but humans are all equally foolish. You would stand with Aurelia thrice to hinder my revenge? Do you know who it is you dare to threaten? Do you know how merciful I’ve been? Will it take death for you to realize how fortunate you were?!”
The Zaratan clenched its claws, raising a roar like an earthquake. As it focused its power into its body, cracks spread through the rock-hard substance making up its shell, and its form began to swell like a flexing muscle. It was as if its outer armor was no longer able to withstand the pressure from within.
Bodily fluids resembling black seawater gushed out of the gaps and hardened anew. By repeating this process, the monster swelled larger and larger, as though it was attempting to regain its original form.
Apart from its knees, still held in place by binding magic, the Zaratan’s legs had doubled in thickness. Even its restrained limbs threatened to break free. The magic circle facilitating the seal was bent out of shape.
Then the magic finally burst, its mana spilling out in fine grains of light.
“Claus, the restraining magic fell apart!”
“It’s still too soon, but... Ugh! Change of plans!”
Claus wildly swung his staff to control the flight path of countless spell cards, which stuck fast to every nook and cranny of the Zaratan’s body.
“If a normal Fire Bolt’s no good, then how about I turn up the heat?!”
He had secretly been using his spell cards to collect the spilled grease the monster had dodged earlier. Now aiming straight at the fat-spattered monster, Claus unleashed an arrow of flame from the wand in his hand.
As the compressed inferno hit its mark, the grease immediately caught fire. A pillar of flame rose several times higher than the Zaratan itself, illuminating the dim labyrinth as though it were midday.
“No way...”
Claus’ mutter was answered by a low chuckle.
“What is it, little one? After talking so tough, that’s all you can do? You couldn’t kill a fly with a flame that weak.”
Its body enveloped by the fierce blaze, the Zaratan calmly walked toward Erika. There was nothing holdi
ng it back now. It held out its two enlarged forelimbs and slowly brought them together.
In accordance with these movements, the flames engulfing the Zaratan shrunk, sucked away into the soles of its feet. By the time its front claws were touching, the fire had dissipated entirely.
“Grr...! I’ll just bind you again!”
“Hah! I won’t fall for the same trick twice!”
The Zaratan batted the cards away before they could position themselves, closing the distance one step at a time. Its strength had definitely increased with its size. This time, even Claus might not be able to hold it in place.
This is bad, Erika thought as she swiftly used the Lightning Bolt wand. Before the bolt of electricity from its tip could hit the Zaratan, the monster opened its mouth and let loose a familiar-looking stream of magical flames.
Fire and lightning met head-on, the structures of the two spells interfering with and offsetting one another. Both spells soon cleared the air, and the Zaratan stood unhindered and unharmed.
“Fire magic? How?”
“Oh no... It can’t be!”
Erika and Claus gaped at the monster.
“You’ve noticed far too late! Now, be good and get crushed like the vermin you are!”
A massive forelimb, thicker than a number of trees bound together, loomed over their heads. Claus leapt in front of Erika, his arms outstretched to protect her.
The next moment, a single streak of light crossed her field of vision. A fine yet powerful ray collided with the Zaratan’s left knee. The monster’s thick scales crumbled as the beam pierced all the way to the other side.
After a moment of silence, the hole opened by the light burst into pale blue flames. With its knee joint destroyed from the inside, the Zaratan missed its next step.
“Claus! Erika! Run!”
“Nice work, Anne!”
Claus dragged Erika by the hand out of the inner sanctum. Anne awaited them there, her staff at the ready and sweat on her brow.
