Rei, Seis, and Seto made their way from the Lord’s Mansion toward the East District, which lay shrouded in purple mist. It took them nearly thirty minutes to reach the area. By then, they saw no one capable of movement; only the occasional resident who had succumbed to paralysis and collapsed onto the ground.
(They were likely exposed to the mist and gradually paralyzed... or perhaps they were being evacuated but were left behind for some reason.)
"As soon as we handle this mist, I’ll have Dialogo make their protection our top priority," Seis muttered. He followed Rei’s gaze toward the figure of a woman in her 20s slumped on the street. Rei hadn't intended to blame the people of the City of Baar, but Seis, in his capacity as Guild Master, seemed to feel a silent rebuke.
"Don't let it trouble you. Given the nature of that mist, it’s only natural for people to want to get as far away as possible. Besides, as long as the Guild Master and I can resolve this, everything will be fine."
"...You’re right. I want to do something... no, I will absolutely see this through."
Muttering as if to steel his resolve, Seis suddenly reached out with his left hand, the one not holding his staff. Resting in his palm were two magic items. One was likely the Resonance Necklace they had discussed—a circular piece about five centimeters in diameter, made of a lustrous black metal that appeared to be some kind of magic metal. The other was a sheathed dagger.
"The Dagger of Flowing Water?"
Indeed. It was the Dagger of Flowing Water, which was originally intended to be his reward for investigating the cause of the Magic Fever.
"Yes. Normally, a reward is paid after a request is completed. However, since this mission didn't go through the Guild, there is no issue with providing an advance payment. Besides..."
Seis turned his gaze toward the East District.
"I’ve been a mage for a very long time, but I’ve never seen a phenomenon like that. I cannot guarantee that I won’t make a mistake. I want to hand this over while I still can."
"...I accept it, with gratitude."
Seis’s eyes were filled with a fierce determination to deal with the mist at any cost. Seeing that resolve, Rei nodded slightly and accepted the Dagger of Flowing Water and the Resonance Necklace.
"As for the Resonance Necklace, the white one I’m wearing is reception-only, while the black one I gave you is transmission-only. You must be careful: while wearing that necklace, you won't be able to use any magic. If you attempt to cast a spell, your magic power will automatically be channeled to me instead. To be more precise, any action intended to exert magic power while wearing it will result in that power being sent my way."
"I see. Shall we test it now?"
"Yes. I’d rather not have our first attempt be during the actual performance. It would be a great help to test it first."
Seis agreed. Seeing this, Rei stored the Dagger of Flowing Water inside the Misty Ring and put on the Resonance Necklace.
The moment he focused on the magic power residing within his body—
"Heh... I see."
Rei muttered involuntarily as he felt his strength being siphoned away.
However, Seis was in no state for calm observation.
"Th-This is... Rei, dial back your magic power. In this state, where I'm not yet using magic, I can't catch it all!"
Seis groaned in pain as he called out to Rei. To Rei’s eyes, Seis’s body looked as though it were overflowing with power—no, it was excessive. He looked like a balloon that had been inflated to its absolute limit.
Seeing Seis’s distress, Rei hurriedly removed the necklace. Only then did the nearly limitless stream of magic power stop. Seis let out a long breath, a look of profound relief crossing his face.
"...I should have expected as much. I knew you possessed immense magic power, but I didn't think it would be this much. Feeling it directly is a shock."
"My apologies. Are you all right? I was only acting as I normally do."
"I am fine for now. But as for that Resonance Necklace, please don't put it back on until I'm ready to cast my spell. My body won't hold out if I take in that much magic power all at once. ...Honestly, if I were still as active as my adventuring days, I might have managed better. To feel my own decline at a time like this..."
Though he sighed, Seis was truly glad they had tested it beforehand.
"Guruuu."
Seto, who had been watching the two, let out a rumble and turned its gaze toward the East District, as if urging them to hurry. Rei and Seis looked at each other, nodded, and resumed their march.
"...This is quite a sight."
Seis muttered as they reached the boundary of the fog. Ahead lay the purple mist. Even from their current position, they could see several people collapsed within the haze.
The saving grace was that the mist hadn't spread beyond a certain perimeter. Thanks to that, the number of paralysis victims was lower than Seis had initially feared.
"Guild Master."
"Yes, I know. Let's finish this quickly."
Nodding, Seis gripped his staff and concentrated his magic power. Confirming this, Rei put on the Resonance Necklace and began channeling magic power to the mage.
"Gugh!"
The surge of magic power was far greater than before, causing Seis to catch his breath, but he endured the flow and began to chant.
"Using my magic power as sustenance, let the great wrath of the Wind Spirit manifest before me. That wrath shall be as my will. That wrath shall be as my strength. That wrath shall be as my magic power."
Relying on Rei’s backup, Seis wove the magic more slowly than he would for ordinary spells, ensuring total precision. The wind flowing from the tip of his staff—a companion for many years—started as a mere breeze. But as the chant progressed and absorbed the immense magic power from Rei, the wind grew steadily in scale.
Its momentum was relentless, eventually growing into a 10-meter-tall Tornado that seemed to suck in all the surrounding air.
"Sylph's Frenzy!"
The magic activated.
The massive tornado that suddenly appeared in the East District began to gather the surrounding purple mist into its vortex. Following Seis's command, it moved toward the source—the East Storage Facility, where the thickest fog still lingered.
(...Incredible.)
Rei muttered to himself while continuing to channel power. What impressed him most was that despite creating such a massive tornado, Seis was causing almost no damage to the city. A normal mage would have caught the surrounding houses in the destruction. However, through talent and decades of experience, Seis managed to avoid destroying the buildings.
Of course, it wasn't perfectly unscathed. There were scratches on walls and broken windows. A few ancient structures even collapsed. But for a tornado of this size moving through a city, the damage was negligible.
"Gu... guugh..."
Naturally, Seis wasn't performing this feat easily. Large beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. Controlling magic power with such precision was difficult enough, but he was also manipulating the sheer volume of power being sent by Rei. The fact that he maintained control of the tornado proved he was a mage truly worthy of his title as Guild Master.
As the tornado reached the storage facility, it rapidly swept the purple mist into its winds. The vortex, which had been nearly colorless at first, was now dyed a deep, pale purple.
"Guruuu."
Unlike Seis, who was dripping with sweat, Rei showed no fatigue. He was merely providing the power. He lightly stroked the back of Seto, who was watching Seis with concern and rumbling in its throat.
Despite sending enough magic power to Seis to normally cause a person to lose consciousness, Rei remained composed. His internal reserves were simply too vast.
The distance would have normally taken a few minutes, but because they were gathering the mist along the way, their pace was slow. After about ten minutes, the East Storage Facility—where the Dungeon Core had been—came into view.
"...Rei, I'm going to destroy the roof. In other places, the power of the Sylph could force the mist into the tornado, but that facility was the source; it's so large that I can't pull all the mist out just through the entrance."
"Understood."
"Once the gathered mist is moved high into the sky and carried outside the city, I want you to use fire magic to burn it all away. It doesn't seem like something that will dissipate naturally."
"...Yes."
Nodding, Rei drew the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring, readying himself. Seis showed a flicker of surprise as the massive scythe, over two meters long, appeared in Rei’s hand.
It wasn't just the size; Seis was astonished by the sheer tier of the Death Scythe as a magic item. Even the staff Seis held was made from a branch of an Elder Treant—a High-Rank Monster over five hundred years old. Yet he could tell with certainty that Rei’s Death Scythe was on a level far above his own.
(Where did he get such a... no, now isn't the time.)
Seis re-established his control over the spell, which had wavered for a second, and focused on the roof of the facility.
"Here we go!"
With that spirited cry, the tornado plunged into the storage facility, shredding the walls and roof. In the next instant, the building itself was torn apart. Simultaneously, the tornado snared the mist remaining inside the structure, its color deepening rapidly.
A large number of barrels containing distilled liquor were also swept into the vortex. This was a stroke of luck for Rei; since it was distilled liquor, the alcohol content was high. It would make burning the mist much easier.
Rei touched the Resonance Necklace, prepared to remove it. It was truly a Mage-killer, as it prevented the wearer from casting their own spells.
"Haa... haa... haa... haa..."
His breathing ragged from the strain of Rei’s power, Seis desperately forced the remaining mist into the tornado. After a few minutes, seeing that no more mist remained, he looked toward Rei.
At Rei’s wordless nod, Seis summoned his final strength to lift the tornado high into the air and drive it out of the city. It was a sight impossible in nature, a feat only achievable through magic. Rei involuntarily held his breath as he watched.
And then—
"Now!"
Seis's voice was raspy, but clear. Rei yanked off the Resonance Necklace, threw it to the ground, and leaped onto Seto. Understanding perfectly, Seto took flight, flapping its wings toward the deep purple tornado.
Simultaneously, Rei gripped the Death Scythe and began to chant.
"O flame, manifest through thy form one of thy true aspects: destruction. Thou art that which burns all, erases all, and brings all to naught. Bring forth a great ruin, and let it serve as the sacrifice for a new rebirth."
As he chanted, a fireball appeared at the tip of the Death Scythe. It absorbed Rei's magic power, rapidly expanding in size. Once the flame-clad scythe reached a diameter of about one meter, Rei swung it wide while atop Seto's back... and the magic activated.
"Scorching Hellfire!"
The massive fireball flew vigorously toward the purple tornado. Because the spell prioritized power, the fireball was immense and its speed was not particularly high. But the tornado of purple mist could do nothing to stop it. In the next instant, amidst an explosion of immense flames, the mist was erased... no, it was utterly incinerated.