Magical beasts, I can now attack them without hesitation!
"[Fire Arrow]!"
The flaming arrow I fired pierced the magical beast's leg.
The moment its movement stopped, a jade-green trail streaked toward its vital point.
Carol, who had activated the magic tool in her earring, was clad in a flickering jade-green aura like flames, with magic circles floating in her eyes.
"Any magical beast that lays a hand on this child—I'll kill every last one."
Carol's voice was low and trembling with rage.
Jade-green sparks crackled at her feet.
Her magical energy swelled, making the air tremble.
"Carol, they're coming!"
"I know!"
Carol readied her twin blades against the approaching humanoid magical beasts.
She wove between them at blinding speed, leaving only jade-green trails in her wake.
The magical beasts in her path turned into black mist and scattered.
I took down the ones Carol left behind with attack spells.
Log, Luella, and the others were fighting as well, and the number of magical beasts gradually decreased.
"Alright, just a few more—"
The moment I thought the end was in sight, a dull sound came from behind.
"—Sophie!!"
At Carol's scream, I turned around.
A small shadow appeared at the edge of my vision.
It was the girl who should have been asleep.
Absorbing the black mist, she shook in agony, her eyes completely dyed in darkness.
"…!"
Her small body leaped at me with beast-like speed.
For an instant, I hesitated.
In that moment, claws wrapped in death closed in on my chest.
(This—I can't dodge it…!)
"I won't let you!!"
With that shout, a massive shield forced its way between me and the claws.
A screech like metal screaming echoed through the facility.
"Sophie! Get back!"
Pushed by Derrick's roar, I reflexively stepped back.
Beyond my vision, the girl was still shaking in pain, swinging her claws like a beast.
"…Why, something like this…!"
The words slipped out, trembling.
She should have been asleep.
I didn't want to hurt her.
We had come here to save her.
Seeing my hesitation, Derrick turned and shouted.
"Sophie, this isn't the place to show how much you want to help!"
"…!"
"It's kill or be killed."
He declared it firmly while holding his shield.
"Only those still standing get the chance to help others. So—don't fall. You want to be on the side that saves people, right?"
Derrick's words pierced deep into my chest.
"Derrick, stop its movement!"
Aneli's voice rang out.
"On it!"
Derrick completely pinned the girl down with his shield.
Aneli had already finished constructing her spell.
"—[Rock Bind]!"
When Aneli activated her magic, the bedrock of the floor rose and wrapped around the girl's body, restraining her.
"Got her—wait, they just keep coming!"
Aneli glared ahead as magical beasts charged toward the girl.
"—[Fire Lance + Multifocus]!"
Aneli swung her staff, and a large number of magic circles appeared to cover the girl.
(She's deploying that many circles at a distance…!?)
Normally, magic circles are deployed near the caster.
The farther the distance, the more unstable the formula becomes, and the risk of failure rises due to difficulty in channeling magical energy.
Even Orun's [Amplification Chain: Raise Repeat] deploys circles away from himself, but that works because the magical energy flows automatically.
Yet right now, Aneli was creating multiple circles simultaneously at a distance from herself.
With impossible precision and impossible numbers.
This was the true power of a rear-line attacker from a hero party…
Moreover, if every single one of those carried Orun's [Momentary Ability Super Elevation: Impact], their destructive power would be on a completely different level from mine.
"Turn them all to ash!"
The moment Aneli snapped her fingers, the magical energy within each circle flared up.
Dozens of flaming lances appeared and flew out, striking the magical beasts attacking the girl from multiple angles.
There was no escape.
Beyond the exploding flames, Aneli declared in a cool voice.
"I have no intention of letting any escape. The entire space is within my attack range."
(The entire space is her attack range…)
Those words and the sight burned themselves into my heart.
(I want to fight like that too…!)
The shape I should aim for as a mage became clearer than ever before.
◇
Before long, all the magical beasts had been exterminated.
All that remained was the single girl, still restrained by rock.
Thick black mist swirled around her body.
"Now then. One more time—[Induction Sleep]."
Fred tried to cast his spell to put the girl back to sleep.
But—the black mist surrounding her repelled the magical energy like a barrier.
"…As expected, it doesn't work~"
Fred shrugged.
"What's going on?"
Log asked with a grim expression.
"The black mist around her is interfering with magical energy~ At this density, my spells won't get through~"
If even Fred's magic couldn't affect her, no one could stop the girl without hurting her.
In that instant, the rock restraining the girl creaked loudly.
"—!? She's still moving…!"
Aneli's eyes widened.
The small body trembled, and her arms and legs strained desperately to break free.
My chest tightened.
Then Fred turned to me with a serious expression.
"Hey, Sophie."
"W-What?"
"Can you erase this black mist?"
"Eh, me…?"
I was so surprised I lost my words for a moment.
Fred looked straight at me.
"Right now, if there's anyone who might be able to do something about this black mist, it's only you, Sophie. If you can't, I'm sorry, but we'll have no choice but to use rougher methods."
"Possibility…?"
"That black mist is magical energy. The quickest way to remove it without hurting the girl is—by hitting it with [Demon Break]."
"..."
Even though I knew the word, my chest stirred.
I couldn't use [Demon Break].
What I had was—[Psychokinesis].
But Fred continued quietly.
"[Psychokinesis] is a power at the pinnacle of ki. The direction is different, but [Demon Break] should be the same."
"Pinnacle of ki…"
I swallowed hard and looked at the girl again.
She looked like she was suffering.
It felt like I could hear her crying out in pain, asking for help, saying she was scared—and my chest ached.
But—that wasn't right.
The girl's muscles weren't moving on their own.
Even her facial muscles weren't twisting in agony—they were being forcibly moved.
Like a puppet, black magical energy was controlling her limbs.
The girl herself had even been robbed of the strength to resist.
(I can't allow this child to stay like this… I absolutely can't forgive it!)
Unable to be touched by anyone, unable to call for help, just being manipulated.
I couldn't just stand by and watch a child younger than me suffer like that.
"…I can't leave her like this."
The words slipped out quietly, steadier than I expected.
There was hesitation and fear.
But stronger than that, a single feeling burned deep in my chest.
(If I'm the only one who can save her—then I have to do it!)
I gripped my staff with both hands.
In that instant—ki quietly heated up deep inside my chest.
Fred had said that [Demon Break] and [Psychokinesis] were different directions but both at the pinnacle of ki.
Ever since the day Orun taught me that [Psychokinesis] was a power derived from ki, I had been constantly trying to understand my own ki.
Because it was an invisible force, I closed my eyes every day during magic training and quietly observed how it flowed.
When using [Psychokinesis], I always released my ki outward.
(If [Demon Break] is the opposite…)
I gathered the ki circulating inside me—converging it.
Instead of spreading it outward as usual, I pulled it toward my center, tighter and tighter.
(The image is the flow of magical energy during [Amplification Chain: Raise Repeat]. Gather the ki scattered around into one point and give it direction. —'Break the demonic.')
My chest burned like fire.
I moved that heat to my shoulders, arms, and hands.
At that moment, the girl's movements grew even more violent.
As if trying to escape from me.
"Don't hurt that child any more!"
I readied my staff without hesitation.
The gathered ki flickered crimson at the tip of my staff, making the air tremble.
"—Reach her!"
The light I released became a thin arrow and accurately pierced only the black mist covering the girl.
The mist tore apart, burst, and lost its power.
The girl's body went limp inside the rock.
"Haa… haa… I did it…!"
Releasing so much ki at once left my body heavy, but my heart trembled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Sophie!"
Carol rushed over, her eyes filled with relief and surprise.
"Amazing! You really erased only the mist!"
Log beside her also stared wide-eyed.
"So this is [Demon Break]…"
Just hearing their voices made my chest grow hot.
But the most surprising thing was—
"…Not bad, Sophie."
Fred said in his usual light tone, but clearly sounding pleased.
"Your handling of ki is perfect~ With this, you can get even stronger."
The moment I was praised, I struggled to hold back the emotions welling up.
—I had faced a harsh reality.
There had been hesitation, and I had shown plenty of pathetic sides.
(But I won't show such a disgraceful figure again.)
To become the ideal version of myself that I declared to Orun in Daruane, I would keep facing forward no matter how many times it took.
And now—I understood clearly.
(I've found my own unique way of fighting that only I can do to conquer the Great Labyrinth.)
A tactic that controls the entire space.
And the power of ki that severs the demonic.
A quiet heat lit up deep in my chest.
When I get back to the academy, I need to start working on a magic tool just for me!