[291] 5. Every Variable (5)
Zion sneered as he looked back at Amy.
"Hah. Serves you right. You should've picked someone else to mess with."
"You coward! Let her go, now!"
"Don't worry. I'll let her go. Just not before I get a good show."
Zion half-turned and gave an order to Jenoger.
"Bring Shirone's head to me."
Jenoger grinned lecherously and climbed the web where Shirone was bound.
Using his mimicry ability to adjust his center of gravity, he moved along the web strand like a tightrope, unharmed.
"Amy! Amy!"
Even with his life on the line, Shirone cried out for Amy.
That sight pleased Zion even more. He wanted—if only for the moment—to torment Amy right in front of him, but his desire to claim Ataraxia quickly was at least as strong.
'Wait, where's Arius?'
With everything arranged so perfectly, Arius should have appeared by now.
Zion felt a flicker of unease, but it didn't make sense for a scale mage who manipulates time and space to be late for an appointment. He'd likely show up in a flash at the last moment.
'Tch. All this showboating. Still, he's always been full of himself.'
It wasn't a personality Zion didn't already know. Arius took pride in his professionalism; whatever happened, he'd get the job done.
Zion glanced around one last time and made a slitting motion across his throat.
Jenoger, who had been pressing down on Shirone, stuck out his tongue and made a licking motion at his face. Shirone didn't look at him—he strained with what strength he had and shouted at Amy.
"Amy! Run!"
"Hehehe, pathetic. But you're going to die anyway."
Jenoger spread his arms and legs wide as if to pin Shirone. There was a thud at his side, and two new arms slid out from inside his collar.
Shirone's face drained of color.
"Heh heh, what's the matter? Creepy? I can make up to six arms."
With the two new arms, Jenoger pulled a strand of webbing from his mouth. With practiced skill he looped it once around Shirone's throat.
"There will be no pain. I'm the best in the business."
Shirone felt death drawing near and closed his eyes. Eighteen short years seemed to be ending here. But he couldn't die like this. He screamed with everything he had.
"Amy! This—"
"Snip!"
Before he could finish, Jenoger gave a grotesque laugh and pulled the strand taut with both arms. The webbing bit into Shirone's skin, scoring a shallow ring around his throat.
At the same moment, there was a crackle from behind Jenoger—the electric sizzle of a flicker spell. It was the trademark noise of a scale mage's magic.
'Of course.'
Zion clicked his tongue at Arius's grandstanding. Whatever—timing was perfect enough that there was no real cause for complaint.
"Huh?"
A puzzled light flickered in Zion's eyes.
It wasn't Arius. Or—was it? The man's face was concealed by a mask, so they couldn't be sure.
"What's that thing?"
The masked figure rolled along the ground and cut off the approach to Reina and Amy. From the fact he'd seized that position immediately, it was obvious he wasn't on their side.
'Not Arius? Then where is that bastard? Shirone's already—'
Zion hurriedly turned to Jenoger. He wore his usual creepy smile, but his face was twisted in a subtly unnatural way you wouldn't normally see.
Shirone, too, had his eyes wide and was looking at Amy. And the most important thing—the strand—was frozen, as if embedded in Shirone's flesh and motionless.
At that moment, another crackle of flicker magic sounded.
Arius appeared in the space and rolled to a stop beside Zion. He was soaked in sweat, looking worn out.
"Damn! Am I late?"
Zion snapped, unable to hide his irritation.
"What the hell! What's going on? Who's that guy?"
"I don't know. He's definitely a time-series unlocker. I tried to shake him off, but he kept scrambling the coordinates…"
Inside the spatiotemporal field they had been in, they had attempted flicker over seven hundred times. The masked man had fought back as well, but in the end Arius was the one who'd arrived late.
'Damn. The matchup is terrible.'
To a space specialist, a time specialist was practically a natural enemy—and vice versa. They were like fire and water that avoided each other.
Still, the fact the masked man had arrived first meant his skill was top-tier even among scale mages.
'Who the hell is he? At that level he'd have to be a well-known mage.'
That was also why he wore a mask.
A full-face covering would perfectly conceal his identity. At that level, visual perception could be replaced by Spirit Zone sensing.
Arius had a few guesses, but none of them plausibly fit someone who'd bar his way here.
Zion lost his temper and swung the blade of his gauntlet toward Shirone.
"Tch! Fine! I'll handle this!"
"Do not approach!"
Zion hesitated and stopped.
By nature arrogant, he was more annoyed at being rebuked than relieved at being out of danger.
"What's wrong? He can't even move, anyway."
"That's a temporal field, a specialty of time-series unlockers. Simply put, it's a slow spell converted into a displacement-type."
"Displacement-type? Say that in words I can understand."
Arius looked at Zion with some contempt but had no choice.
Since a fight might break out, he had to explain the essentials while confronting the masked man.
Zion's combat ability wasn't something to count on, but Armand could be useful if employed correctly.
"If you go into the field, the prince will end up like that."
Zion looked over Shirone and Jenoger, frozen in time.
Having allies in that state while an enemy stood before you was horrific.
"Don't get close. The moment anyone touches it, they'll suffer the same fate."
"What if that bastard acts first?"
"That's impossible as well. If the caster enters a displacement-type Spirit Zone, the displacement releases. In other words, time reverts. That masked man won't be able to maintain this state either."
Arius kept his guard on the masked figure and quietly inspected the temporal field.
Its radius wasn't as large as he'd feared. But since the caster was clearly a time specialist, the distortion inside was extreme.
'Huh?'
Arius felt something odd and stared hard at the temporal field—at Jenoger and Shirone trapped inside.
'They're moving…?'
Jenoger's arm was moving.
Even with his finely tuned senses it was too subtle to see directly, but the sense of motion was definitely there.
'How is that possible?'
If this was an opponent whose skill he'd gauged via flicker pursuit, extreme temporal distortion would make sense.
But at this rate, you'd expect visible movement within an hour.
'If you calculate the time until he descends into first-stage core consciousness…'
Arius swallowed hard.
It wasn't over yet.
Because the brain wasn't completely separated from the body, there would be unconscious pressure, but Shirone had indeed suffered a shock close to death.
Moreover, by the time he reached stage one, Shirone's condition would worsen. If they seized the advantageous position, there was still a chance.
"Your Highness, I'll open the door."
"What? Now?"
"There's still a possibility. But I'll need a little help. When I go in, follow immediately."
Arius cast a door spell outside the field. As the Spirit Zone materialized, a two-meter-tall oval orb formed.
When Arius leapt in, Zion ground his teeth in frustration.
There was no time to hesitate. Besides, Zion didn't want to face that masked man any more than the others did.
"Damn it! What a nuisance!"
Zion withdrew his tentacle and lunged into the door.
Only then did the masked man unfold from his crouch and rise. After a moment's thought, he ran toward the door without looking back.
"Wait!"
The masked man stopped at the threshold and looked back at Amy.
"Take me with you! It's like a gate to heaven, right? I've been there before. I can help save Shirone."
For the first time, the masked man revealed his voice.
"How do you expect to go in like that?"
"Well, if you untie this a bit…"
"Ignite."
"Huh?"
Amy stared at him in astonishment.
"You don't know Ignite? Aren't you a fire mage? Sticky webbing is vulnerable to flame. If you'd burned it with fire magic, he could've gotten out."
"Ah…"
Amy went blank. She couldn't figure out why she hadn't thought of it herself.
Was it the urgency of the situation? That was part of it. More precisely, she hadn't been able to pull the idea up from her unconscious.
The Spirit Zone's flames won't burn a mage, but the fire generated when the web burns would burn a mage.
That calculation suppressed the thought—even though Shirone was dying.
'Why couldn't I—'
Amy lowered her head, eyes brimming with tears.
"Don't blame yourself. You can't be expected to respond correctly without training. You lack experience. It's dangerous for you to follow me. It won't take long. Wait here."
"No! I'm coming with you!"
Amy shouted with eyes full of resolve. If she let the masked man go now, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.
'It's not that I'm scared! It's not fear of fire or anything!'
She really hadn't thought of it. But Shirone would have—he would have thought of it.
Maybe the last thing he was going to say was "Ignite." Even facing death, he'd say it to save her…
"Shirone! I'll save you, I swear!"
She cast Fire Mist and flames surged up the webbing. As the masked man had said, it burned readily. Amy shut her eyes despite the pain on her face.
For a moment the heat vanished.
When she opened her eyes, the masked man was standing, holding the webbing aloft and tossing it aside. The web burned rapidly and vanished like thread in a magic trick.
"W-why…?"
The masked man sighed and knelt before Amy.
"You're foolish. Even if you'd freed him, the result wouldn't have changed. Unless your opponent is an idiot, you'd only have hastened Shirone's death."
Amy rose immediately.
This man was truly strong. And he wasn't giving up—he was still trying something.
"Let me go. No—now I'll go even if I have to go alone."
"Amy! Me too! Me too! Let me go!"
Reina, clinging to the heights, kicked her ankles and shouted.
Amy formed Ignite between her fingers and asked, "Are you sure? It'll be hot."
"My insides are burning more than anything! Hurry! The tunnel might close!"
Amy smirked and amplified the flame between her thumb and forefinger.
A little heat would have been enough to ignite everything instantly, and gravity might spare them severe burns on a fall.
Before she could fully cast, the web split vertically and Reina fell through.
Amy stared at the masked man in disbelief. With a simple Wind Cutter he had cleanly sliced the webbing—who was this person? At minimum, he was beyond anyone in her network.
Reina landed nimbly and approached Amy.
She, too, looked at the masked man with curiosity. He didn't seem malicious, but his identity was unknown, so caution remained.
The masked man checked the door's condition. A strong energy field was emanating from the spatial boundary. It was proof the gate's lifespan was running out.