Flames surged into the sky as a violent explosion tore through the escort vehicle that had just departed. Fire burst outward from within, instantly engulfing the entire convoy.
Thick white smoke billowed up from the burning vehicles, and the deafening blast made the ground seem to tremble.
"Whoosh!"
Hearing the explosion, Natsuki Minamiya reacted immediately. Without sparing another thought for Claire, whom she had been chatting with moments ago, she teleported straight to the scene.
The moment she arrived, she froze.
Instead of the scene she had expected, with escort personnel gravely wounded and on the verge of death, what she saw was a surge of violet-blue Magical Power cutting through the flames, forcibly carving out a path from the outer edge of the inferno to its center.
At the end of that path, in the heart of the flames, stood a slightly slender figure in a black coat, his back to Natsuki Minamiya. He radiated a calm, composed presence that clashed with the raging fire around him. Against such a dangerous backdrop, the contrast gave him an oddly striking and solemn presence.
But Natsuki Minamiya had no time to appreciate it. Her gaze shifted past him.
Several tentacles extended from behind the black figure, each carrying unconscious men, dozens of them. They were the very security personnel she had assumed had died in the explosion.
"Huh?!"
As if sensing her arrival, the man, who had been standing there quietly as though deep in thought, turned his head. The upper half of his face was hidden behind a black mask, leaving only his fair lower face visible.
"Shadow!? Why are you here? Did you cause that explosion?"
Recognizing him, Natsuki Minamiya immediately tensed. Given his presence and the timing, she instinctively assumed he was responsible.
"Let go of my subordinates!"
Even as she said it, she did not expect him to comply.
If Shadow had truly caused the explosion, then he clearly was not here with good intentions. Holding hostages would only benefit him.
To her surprise, Shadow merely gave her a few dismissive glances. Then, with a casual motion, he controlled the tentacles behind him and flung the security personnel toward her. Without another word, he turned back and extended his Magical Power, beginning to probe the vehicle in front of him.
Natsuki Minamiya quickly used spatial magic to teleport the airborne guards away to safety, then focused her attention on Shadow again.
By now, she had already discarded her earlier assumption. From how indifferent Shadow had been toward the guards, it was unlikely that he was behind the explosion.
If anything, it seemed more likely that he had saved her subordinates when it happened.
Then where had the explosion come from?
Natsuki Minamiya was not slow to catch on. She quickly identified the epicenter, the vehicle transporting the Beastman, and concluded that the explosion had been triggered by that Beastman.
Which meant Shadow's appearance here was probably because of that Beastman, or rather, the organization behind it.
What did he know?
"Tap, tap, tap…"
Footsteps rang clearly through the sea of flames. After withdrawing his Magical Power, Shadow turned and began walking outward along the path he had carved.
"Shadow-dono, have you discovered something? Would you be willing to share it with us?"
Seeing the black figure about to pass her, Natsuki Minamiya spoke up without hesitation.
The situation was obvious. Shadow knew more than she did. And since all factions had already lifted their warrants for his arrest, asking him questions like this was no different from conducting a routine inquiry. There was nothing improper about it.
Cid had not expected her to speak. He paused, instinctively turning his head toward Natsuki Minamiya, but quickly caught himself. A faint smile spread across his face, as if he found the situation amusing.
What now?
In his original plan, he was not supposed to say a single word. He had intended to leave behind nothing but the image of an unfathomable, mysterious figure.
But now that he had already turned around, staying silent was not an option.
Fine. He would go with the Cult of Diablos story he had set up from the very beginning.
"It's nothing more than a rat in the darkness trying to crawl out of the sewers."
"And who exactly is this so-called rat…?"
"You don't need to know."
A faint, mysterious smile appeared as Cid continued walking.
"It's just a little game to pass the time."
A surge of Magical Power, so dense it felt almost viscous, suddenly erupted from him, knocking away the silver sword flying toward him. The blade was sent spinning before plunging into the ground.
"Shadow! What did you do to Cid?!"
Claire yanked the sword from the ground and pointed it angrily at Shadow, who stood unmoving, immense Magical Power swirling around him and whipping up waves of pressure in the air.
"Claire, calm down. Could this be some kind of misunderstanding?"
Natsuki-chan, startled by Claire's reaction, hurriedly stepped between them, afraid things would escalate.
"There's no misunderstanding. Shadow, what exactly did you do to Cid? Why did he collapse the moment you appeared? And why hasn't he woken up yet?"
Pushing Natsuki Minamiya aside, Claire pressed forward, her voice sharp. By the end, a trace of killing intent flickered in her eyes.
When the explosion went off and she saw Natsuki Minamiya teleport away, Claire had intended to take Cid and leave immediately.
But when she turned back, she found that Cid, who had been standing nearby, had somehow collapsed. At first, she did not think much of it and assumed he had simply been frightened by the earlier attack.
Only after trying every method she could think of, even using a dose of Phoenix Tears, and still failing to wake him, did she realize something might be seriously wrong.
After asking Aurora within her and hearing that it might be related to Shadow's appearance, she rushed over without hesitation. She did not dare gamble on whether this unconsciousness was temporary. What if it was permanent?
"What? Cid collapsed?"
Hearing this, Natsuki Minamiya also turned toward Shadow, hoping for a reasonable explanation.
So… I just fainted. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?
Behind the mask, Cid rolled his eyes.
All he had done was shape a humanoid doll out of slime fluid and leave it in place to rack up an Eminence in Shadow achievement, adding a bit of Magical Power to maintain its form and mimic a living presence.
The doll was extremely realistic. Unless someone stabbed it straight through the heart, no one would ever realize it was made of Magical Power.
The downside was that it was completely lifeless. He could not control it, and it would collapse the moment it was touched.
Incidentally, the idea for this technique came from Natsuki-chan's Magical Power body. To replicate it perfectly, he had spent nearly a month observing her and copying the flow of Magical Power that made up her body.
Watching Claire stand there, tense and furious, Cid gave a small shrug.
Well… whatever. At worst, I'll just unlock another "Sisterly Bond, Brotherly Respect" Eminence in Shadow achievement. I've wanted to complete that one for a while anyway. Might as well use this chance to deal with my sister's recent episodes.
After all, the scenario where an Eminence in Shadow has to beat up their own family for some reason had long been on his achievement list. It was a classic scene from anime in his past life.
Sure, characters in that role usually either get redeemed or end up becoming the final boss, but that did not matter. He was confident his sister would never figure it out.
As his thoughts turned, Cid made up his mind. He would give Claire a beating to vent his frustration over being dragged into the Rias rankings for no reason. He had lost three million four hundred thousand zeni, enough to live as Pochi for an entire morning. As for how hard he should go…
Maybe I should hit her a bit harder and send her to the hospital for a while. Otherwise, with her erratic personality, she will probably lose control again and cause me more trouble.
No, I cannot quite bring myself to do that right now. I will wait until she really snaps, then break her legs. By the time Claire gets out of the hospital, her attention will probably have shifted to something else.
"I personally dislike dwelling on 'why.' It is a pointless line of thinking. Since things have already happened, instead of asking why, it is better to think about how to deal with them first. Once everything is settled, you can take your time reflecting on the reasons."
Walking up beside Claire, Cid spoke calmly. His voice was not loud, but every word reached her clearly.
"Right now, there are two possibilities regarding your brother. One is that his unconsciousness is temporary, and he'll wake up once I leave.
The other is that it's permanent. If you don't wake him up now, he'll never wake up again. From a probabilistic standpoint, each has a fifty percent chance. So, which will you choose?"
"Ah… thank you for the guidance. I know what to do now."
Claire lifted her head and gave Cid a bright, grateful smile.
"Clang!"
In the next instant, her expression changed. A sharp glint flashed in her eyes as her wrist flicked, her longsword cutting a silver arc through the air. Violet Magical Power flared along the blade, surging forward like waves split apart across the sea, crashing straight toward Cid's neck with unstoppable force.
"Clang…"
Black liquid surged from Cid's coat, gathering in his hand and forming a jet-black sword that blocked Claire's sudden strike. The clash rang out with a series of sharp metallic sounds.
"I admire your courage. But courage only counts when it succeeds. When it fails, it's just recklessness."
With an effortless motion, Cid pushed both blades apart, wearing a gentle yet openly mocking smile.
...
The explosion startled Asagi Aiba and the elderly Beastman, who had been in the middle of a transaction inside the restaurant. Both immediately grew wary, suspecting the other party might be responsible, and quietly prepared to retreat.
Only after several dozen seconds passed without any further disturbance did they realize the explosion must have come from elsewhere. They resumed their discussion, though the suspicion lingering between them did not fade.
"Since you are unwilling to swear an oath to the God of Magic or any other god, then what exactly do you intend to use to convince me that you will honor this deal?"
"Miss Spellweaver, we can swear an oath to the Beast God of our Beastmen and have Him bear witness."
"Hah. Then I think there's no need to continue this negotiation."
Asagi Aiba let out a cold laugh, ready to walk away.
If they brought in Loki, she might still consider it. After all, a full set of Evil Pieces was too tempting. For the sake of her goals, she was willing to take some risks.
But asking her to swear to a Beast God whose existence was uncertain? That was no different from asking her to trust their word outright.
And someone introduced by a Witch of Netheril was hardly trustworthy to begin with.
Besides, what reason was there to distrust the Magic Network just because one did not believe in gods?
Everyone knew that the Lord of Netheril was famously hands-off. The witches under him constantly fought among themselves, even stirring up conflicts across the world, yet he never intervened.
And since the only one theoretically capable of interfering with the Magic Network did nothing, the Magic Network itself functioned as an absolute, impartial oath enforcement system.
If someone swore in the name of the God of the Magic Network and broke that oath, the Magic Network would draw on the energy of the earth's veins and strike them down from afar without mercy.
It was the only system in the world that could not be influenced or altered.
Because the Lord of Netheril never interfered.
"Miss Spellweaver, our Beastmen's Beast God absolutely exists. He simply hasn't been born yet."
Hearing this, Asagi Aiba sneered inwardly.
Anyone could make empty promises. The real question was why she, who was not a Beastman, should believe in theirs.
Seeing the disdain in her eyes, veins bulged on the elderly Beastman's clenched fist, but he forced down his anger and continued.
"If Miss Spellweaver is unwilling to swear an oath to the Beast God, then we can proceed with a direct exchange."
Asagi Aiba paused mid-step and looked back at him.
"Money for goods?"
"Exactly."
She fell into thought.
Honestly, this deal looked unreliable no matter how she examined it. Under normal circumstances, she would never agree. But…
"Fine. Deal. But the transaction will take place here."
Compared to this, her chances of success felt even lower if she went to the academy now, while the rules had yet to change, and competed against those pure-blood Mythical beings who surpassed her in both talent and strength.
She had confidence in her abilities. In the past, if she used her hidden trump card, she would have had a strong chance of winning.
But things were different now. The younger generation of elites, whether those about to receive Peerage Pieces upon graduation or those who normally had no interest in them, would almost certainly take part. She had no confidence she could defeat them.
Not to mention, if she revealed her trump card, those people might start targeting her as well as the pieces.
Compared to taking that kind of risk, it was better to try securing the pieces through other means.
Still, to be safe, she set the transaction location at the same place.
"Agreed."
At her words, a faint smile appeared on the elderly Beastman's face. Unfortunately, Asagi Aiba was too preoccupied with her own concerns to notice.
...
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