If it was a magic beast, I could strike without hesitation!
"Fire Arrow!"
the bolt of flame I fired pierced the leg of a magic beast.
The moment its movement faltered, an emerald streak flashed through its vitals.
Carol had activated her earring-type magic tool; she was now wreathed in an emerald aura that flickered like living flame, magic circles shimmering in her eyes.
"Any magic beast that lays a hand on this girl... I’ll kill every last one of them."
Carol’s voice was low, vibrating with a cold, sharp rage. Emerald sparks crackled and hissed beneath her feet. Her mana swelled to a fever pitch, making the very air tremble.
"Carol, they're coming!"
"I know!"
Carol leveled her twin swords toward the approaching demi-human magic beasts. She became a blur, leaving only emerald trails in her wake as she wove through the enemy ranks with blinding speed. Any magic beast in her path was instantly reduced to black mist, dissipating into nothingness.
I followed her lead, picking off the stragglers with my own attack magic. Log, Luella, and the others were holding their own as well, and the number of magic beasts steadily dwindled.
"Alright, that’s almost—"
Just as the end of the skirmish came into sight, a dull thud echoed from behind me.
"—! Sophie!!"
I whirled around at Carol’s scream. A small shadow entered the corner of my vision.
It was the girl we had come to rescue—the one who was supposed to be asleep. She was shivering violently, her body absorbing the surrounding black mist as her eyes were dyed a pitch-black void.
"...!"
Her small frame pounced toward me with the predatory speed of a beast. For a heartbeat, I hesitated. In that split second, sharp claws clad in the stench of death closed in on my throat.
I can't dodge this...!
"Not on my watch!"
With a roar, a massive shield slammed into the space between me and the claws. The screech of metal on bone-like talons echoed through the facility.
"Sophia! Get back!"
Driven by Derrick’s booming voice, I reflexively leaped away. Beyond him, the girl was still growling with a pained, guttural sound, her claws raining down on his shield with animalistic ferocity.
"...Why? Why is this happening?!"
The words escaped my lips in a trembling whisper. By all rights, this child should have been safely unconscious. I didn't want to hurt her; we were here to save her.
As if sensing my internal conflict, Derrick barked a command without looking back.
"Sophia! This isn't the time for your 'feelings'! You can't help her if you're dead!"
"...!"
"It’s kill or be killed," he stated flatly, his posture unyielding behind the shield. "The turn to save someone only comes to those who are still standing. So—don't fall. You wanted to be the one who saves people, didn't you?"
Derrick’s words pierced straight through my doubt.
"Derrick, pin her down!" Anneri’s voice rang out from the rearguard.
"You got it!"
Derrick used his shield to forcefully pin the girl against a wall, completely halting her momentum. Anneri had already finished her spell construction.
"—Rock Bind!"
As Anneri activated her magic, the bedrock of the floor surged upward, wrapping around the girl’s body and locking her in place.
"Good—wait, these things just keep swarming! How annoying!"
Anneri glared toward the darkness where more magic beasts were rushing toward the restrained girl.
"—Fire Javelin Multi-focus!"
As Anneri brandished her staff, a dizzying number of magic circles manifested in the air, forming a protective perimeter around the girl.
To deploy that many magic circles at such a distance...?!
In basic magic theory, a caster usually deploys circles close to their body. The further the distance, the more the spell formula tends to distort, making mana infusion difficult and increasing the risk of a misfire.
The Raise Repeat technique Orun had taught me also functioned at a distance, but that was a specialized feat where mana infusion was handled automatically. Even Orun, during his battle with the Black Dragon a year ago, had "set" his formulas in place as he moved.
But Anneri was drawing dozens of magic circles simultaneously at a significant distance from herself—and with terrifying precision.
So this was the true power of a rearguard attacker from the Hero Party. If I factored in Orun’s Impact being applied to this, her annihilation capacity would be on an entirely different level than mine.
"Turn to cinders!"
Anneri snapped her fingers. The mana within the magic circles ignited instantly, manifesting over a dozen spears of flame. The javelins didn't converge on a single point; instead, each traced its own unique trajectory, seeking out the magic beasts closing in from every angle.
Every single one is tracking a different target...!
The fire javelins launched in unison, shredding the magic beasts from multiple directions. There was no escape. Through the wall of exploding fire, Anneri spoke in a calm, cool voice.
"I have no intention of letting even one get away. After all, the entire room is my strike zone."
The entire space is her attack range...
That sight—and those words—burned themselves into my mind.
I want to be like that, too...!
The path I needed to take as a mage felt clearer in that moment than it ever had before.
◇
A short while later, the magic beasts were gone. All that remained was the girl bound by the rocks, with thick, black mist swirling around her in a suffocating vortex.
"Now then. Let’s try this one more time... Induction Sleep."
Fred attempted to put the girl under with his magic, but the black mist surrounding her acted like a barrier, repelling his mana before it could reach her.
"Just as I thought... it won't take," Fred said, his shoulders sagging.
"What do you mean?" Log asked, his expression grim.
"The black mist she’s clad in is causing mana interference. It's so thick that my subtle magic can't penetrate it."
If Fred’s magic was useless, it meant we couldn't stop her safely. At that moment, the rock restraints holding the girl began to creak and crack.
"—!? She’s still trying to move...!" Anneri’s eyes widened.
The girl's small body trembled, her limbs straining to shatter the stone through brute force. My heart ached at the sight.
Then, Fred turned toward me, his expression uncharacteristically grave.
"Hey, Sophie."
"Y-yes?"
"Can you make this black mist go away?"
"What? Me...?"
I was momentarily stunned. Fred stared straight into my eyes.
"As it stands, Sophie, you're the only one with the potential to handle this. If you can't, then as much as it hurts to say, we'll have to use more... forceful methods."
"Potential...?"
"That black mist is composed of mana. The fastest way to strip it away without hurting the girl is to hit it with Evil-Bane."
"............"
The word felt familiar, yet it sent a strange ripple through my chest. It wasn't that I could use Evil-Bane. What I possessed was Psychokinesis.
However, Fred continued quietly.
"Psychokinesis is a power found at the culmination of Ki. The application is different, but Evil-Bane should spring from the same root."
"The culmination of Ki..."
I took a sharp breath and looked back at the girl. She seemed to be shivering in agony. I felt like I could almost hear her crying out—it hurts, help me, I'm scared. My chest tightened.
But then, I looked closer.
The girl's muscles weren't moving of her own volition. Her very expression wasn't a mask of agony, but a distortion being forced upon her. She was being jerked around like a marionette by the black mana. The girl herself had been robbed of the strength to even resist the possession.
There is no trace of her own will here... This is unforgivable!
To be unable to feel a human touch, unable to call for help, and simply be used as a tool—I couldn't stand by and watch a child younger than myself suffer that fate.
"...I can't just leave her like this."
The words spilled out quietly, and even I was surprised by how steady my voice was. I felt fear and hesitation, yes, but beneath them, a single conviction blazed.
If I'm the only one who can save her, then I have to do it!
I adjusted my grip on my staff with both hands. In that instant, the Ki deep in my soul began to radiate a quiet heat.
Fred was right. Evil-Bane and Psychokinesis were different branches of the same tree: the culmination of Ki. Since the day Orun taught me that my Psychokinesis was derived from Ki, I had spent every day trying to understand its flow. During the breaks in my magic training, I would close my eyes and observe how that invisible power moved within me.
When I used Psychokinesis, I radiated Ki outward.
If Evil-Bane is the opposite of that...
I focused on the Ki circulating within me and began to converge it. Instead of spreading it thin, I drew it toward my center—into my very core.
The image is like the mana flow for Raise Repeat. Gather all the scattered Ki into a single point, and give it a purpose. To 'strike down the profane.'
My chest felt like it was on fire. I channeled that searing heat into my shoulder, then down my arm and into my hands. The girl’s movements became more violent, as if the mist was trying to recoil from me.
"Leave her alone!"
I leveled my staff without a shadow of a doubt. The gathered Ki flickered a brilliant scarlet at the tip, making the air hum.
"—Reach her!"
The released light became a slender arrow, striking with pinpoint accuracy through the black mist shrouding the girl. The mist tore and shattered, losing its cohesion instantly. The girl’s body went limp, falling silent within her stone bonds.
"Haa... haa... I did it...!"
The sudden release of such a massive amount of Ki made my body feel like lead, but my heart was soaring with a sense of accomplishment.
"Sophie!"
Carol rushed over, her eyes a mix of relief and awe. "That was incredible! You actually erased just the mist!"
Beside her, Log was staring at the girl, his eyes wide. "So that was Evil-Bane..."
Hearing their voices made my chest swell. But the most unexpected reaction came from Fred.
"...Not bad at all, Sophie," he said in his usual airy tone, but with a genuine smile. "Your Ki control is perfect. You're going to get even stronger from here."
Being praised by him made me want to cry with relief, but I held it back.
I had been forced to face a harsh reality today. I had hesitated, and I had shown a pathetic side of myself.
But I won't be that person anymore.
To become the "ideal version of myself" I had promised Orun I would be, I would face any challenge that came my way.
And now, I finally understood. I had found a "unique way of fighting" that only I could master—a path that would lead me to the bottom of the Great Labyrinth.
A combat style to control the entire space, and the power of Ki to sever evil. A quiet flame of determination lit up in my heart.
As soon as we get back to the Academy, I need to start working on a magic tool designed specifically for me!