[395] Taking the High Ground (4)
The fourth round went to Shirone's team. The Scatter Movement was a strategic weapon, and Iruki's Cancellation completely shut down Suabi.
The score was three to one.
Shirone's side had the edge, and unless something unusual happened, that momentum looked likely to hold.
"Oh? Only four rounds done already?"
Students streamed out of the third arena. Kanis and Arin were mixed in with them.
Their opponents had been Fermi's team, and Fermi had won decisively, five to one.
It stung for Kanis and Arin, but if you insist on being someone who strongly dislikes cooperating, you have to accept results like this.
Besides, facing Fermi's team meant even the best lineup might not guarantee a win, so neither of them looked particularly downcast.
Fermi checked the score between Shirone's team and the Screamer team from a vantage point with a side view of the second arena.
"Hmm, three to one."
"Shirone's team did better than expected. According to the original calculations it looked like it should've been close."
Fermi agreed. It was only a matter of probability, and other variables could still show up.
"Creating variables through insight. That's Shirone. If he gets one more point, this will most likely be over."
Fermi watched the Screamer team as he said it.
'Of course it won't end that easily,' he thought, and a wicked smile tugged at his mouth.
* * *
Even though the fourth round had ended, Suabi still stared at Iruki from Shirone's side.
'Iruki Merkodain…'
If it hadn't been for the top-tier overpowered magic Cancellation wielded by the Servant Syndrome, no one at the students' level would have caused her this much frustration.
Iruki stood with his hands clasped behind his back, taking Suabi's gaze in calmly.
'You're really steamed, huh.'
He didn't want to taunt. In terms of pure calculation speed, everyone in the graduating class was beneath him.
To beat a Servant you needed intuition, not calculation—top-tier intuition on a level comparable to a Servant.
"Suabi, let's go."
At Screamer's call, Suabi finally turned.
A blaze lit inside him. He knew there were many strong people in the graduating class and that he'd failed the graduation test last year, but having your specialty neutralized was an entirely different kind of humiliation.
Screamer gathered his teammates and spoke.
"Stick together. We'll punch through the center line by the shortest route. Pony, switch to offense. If we lose this round too, a comeback will be nearly impossible."
If the score went four to one, defeat would be almost certain. Shirone's team had Ataraxia, which could reliably claim a point.
"No. Keep refreshing Pony."
Suabi took off his glasses and said, "This time I'll do it right."
Screamer cocked his head.
They'd known each other for over a year, but outside the graduation exam Suabi had never been this resolute.
'Huh. He's totally fired up, then?'
For Screamer, a magus, that was fine. He had no clue how to counter Cancellation, but if Suabi said he could handle it, it was worth trusting him.
"All right. Let's treat this round like the last. I'll show you what I can do."
As Round Five began, the Screamer team concentrated on the center line except for the guard.
It was a high-risk rush tactic with a good chance of turning the tide.
When the combat package loaded into Screamer, Iruki's one good eye twitched as he sent out a detachment-type Spirit Zone.
'If it's Cancellation anyway—'
Paff! Paff-paff-paff!
One after another, buff effects detonated. Combat packages were being applied to every teammate except the guard.
Iruki blinked in surprise, while Suabi ground his teeth and stared at him all the harder.
'How about that? Still doing it?'
The number of reserved power cells in Suabi's head was staggering—137. That was an accumulated total while they were being consumed at a rate of eight per second.
'Ti-ki ti-ki ta-ki to-ki tok-tok ti-ki ta-ki tak-tak ti-ki tok-tik ta-ki tok!'
Each time that peculiar rhythm hammered at his mind, the cells in his head scattered and sprang into motion.
"Hahaha! Yes! This is it!"
Brimming with raw force, Screamer charged into the heart of Shirone's formation and rained blows on all four members. Then, like in Round One, he took a bold finishing stance.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
The Screamer team's morale soared. Feeling Suabi's resolve, the wingers started pulling out the cards they'd been saving.
'We just have to cut down Shirone.'
Luman slowly raised both hands as if drawing power up from his soles and thought,
'Nobody likes me.'
He did not care.
Human unity is only a second-best option born of the fear of distrust. If you can control others, their feelings don't matter.
'Yes, I am the master of crowd control—self-proclaimed.'
Luman's cheeks trembled, the whites of his eyes showed, and his grin stretched toward his ears.
"I am the king of the battlefield!"
His ace, Spiral Hunter, revealed itself.
Kurrrrrrrrr!
The ground whirled into a spiral, turning squelchy like mud as it dragged Shirone downward. Then it hardened into rock and bit into his waist, refusing to let go.
"Now!"
As Screamer surged forward, Suabi's concentration spiked to its peak.
Countless power cells surged through his mind like a gale.
This was beyond calculation—it was intuition. Each time a cell struck another, Suabi's tongue snapped out in quick beats.
'Ti-ki ta-ki to-ki ta-ki ta-ki ta-ki to-ki ta-ki to-ki ta-ki ti-ki ta-ki!'
Reserved cells: 372.
A small curl lifted the corner of Iruki's mouth.
'I'm glad I made it into the graduating class.'
He'd never had any desire to beat someone in his life. But now he vaguely understood something.
He hated losing even more.
'Impressive, Suabi.'
So many talents, each insisting on their own specialty.
'You must've practiced every day. To hold onto a drifting mind, biting the backs of your hands each night, grinding away like that.'
Iruki lowered his stance and clenched his fists—a personal reply to Suabi's sincerity.
'This will shorten my lifespan, but…'
Since entering the Magic Academy he'd done this twice before—six years ago in a rain-soaked duel with Naide, a year ago when Kanis's provocation in the infirmary corridor stirred him—and this was the third.
Even if brain cells fried, did it matter? Beyond the duel, the pride of Shirone's faction was at stake.
'You'll be a fine mage. But not yet. Only two people in the world can stop me. One is Shirone, and the other…'
A real spark flashed in Iruki's pupils. Electrical activity in his cerebral cortex projected an image onto his retina.
'I, Merkodain Iruki!'
A torrent of data—a hundred million lines per second—surged like a geyser through the virtual image in his head.
The information-processing capable of handling every incident in a city at once completed, and the double Spirit Zone tore through the Screamer team at an astonishing speed, canceling every buff.
"This can't be…."
Suabi stood stupefied. The computation speed was overwhelming; it stole the will to fight itself.
Kwak kwak kwak kwang!
Shirone smashed the frenzied Spiral Hunter and led his teammates in a counterattack.
Stripped of their buffs, the Screamer team rapidly weakened and were forced onto the defensive.
"Sigh, we're still getting pushed."
Aider let out a breath.
The drawback of a magus's ace strategy was the lack of a Plan B. If they lost this round too, there'd be no chance for a comeback.
The childish energy drained from Aider's face. He took out a black-and-white chip and swallowed it down his throat.
'Feels sketchy, but whatever.'
If it let him enjoy himself, he'd be willing to risk even graduation. No—he couldn't give up graduation. Becoming a mage meant he could enjoy it more.
Power cells locked into his head. According to the dealer, it was the advanced air technique Ghost Movement.
Even without understanding its inner workings, he could cast the magic because it relied on a mechanism similar to Shirone's Ataraxia.
"Ah, aahhh…"
Aider's eyelids trembled.
Days spent restraining the urge to taste humans—now there was no need to hold back. Having struck the deal, his graduation was practically assured.
"Hahahahaha!"
Aider tore off his mask and flew straight into Shirone's formation. It was a tactic called reverse position, but he hadn't coordinated it with the Screamer team.
While his allies gaped, Shirone's team met him with their magics.
The Photon Cannon reached him first. But just before being struck down, Aider's movement warped strangely. His path wavered like a willow branch and dodged every Photon shot.
"Huh? Ghost Movement?"
Dorothy, watching from outside the arena, brightened.
This wasn't a spell a mere student should handle. Aider's motion could only be explained by an AT algorithm.
'Did he hook up with Fermi?'
It was unlikely he'd learned it in only a few months. An AT algorithm that controlled turbulence to automatically avoid incoming objects was a power cell even pros struggled with.
Nothing could stop Aider. He reached the hill and bolted for the flag.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, he aimed not for the flag but for Maya. Wham! A powerful kick slammed into Maya's jaw and her body tumbled down the hill.
"What…!"
Aider sat on Maya's stomach. His face twitched with the eagerness to unleash a year's worth of suppressed urges.
"Sis, this will hurt a bit. You can take it, right?"
Aider's fists pummeled Maya. A hollow laugh escaped him.
Seeing her terror, the pleasure chemicals washed away his reason.
"Argh! This is so fun I'm going crazy!"
Aider pounded like a gorilla, hands raised. He no longer looked human—his eyes were mostly white, saliva dripping from his mouth.
The brutality left both his teammates and the students watching outside speechless.
"You asked a question in the Truth Courage Game," Arin said.
"The ugliest person? At first I was puzzled—I can't easily judge forms. Back then I picked Luman, but the strongest first impression was Aider. By psychological classification he's 'malign'—evil."
Kanis listened quietly.
"Only someone who understands evil can play the role of good. That's the law of good and evil. What's in that kid's head from start to finish is only the desire to torment others."
Kanis didn't think much of it. After all, everyone in Radum could be an Aider.
"The question was just to feel you out. When you denied it I played the role a little longer."
"Right. I thought it could be a bargaining chip. But today's first impression was more blatant—probably because he joined Fermi's organization."
"Your presence probably influenced it. Once a first-impression talent shows up, they can't keep faking it for a year. Anyway, one of our cards flew out the window."
Kanis shrugged off the regret.
They still had dozens of cards. It was actually good to know how much pressure Arin's first-impression ability could put on the graduating class.
"Maya!"
Shirone's eyes flared. Seeing Maya curled up and covering her face while being beaten made his chest go numb.
"Hee-hee-hee! Does it hurt? Does it hurt a lot? Aren't you so mad you could hate me to death?"
Aider swung with empty eyes.
He didn't notice Shirone's team closing in. As long as Ghost Movement was active, nothing they tried would hit him.
Sizzle!
Blue electricity flashed before Aider's eyes.
The AT algorithm kicked in belatedly and shoved him more than ten meters. Naide's face, slashing like a claw, burned into his retina. By the time he recovered he was already at the bottom of the hill.
Terror mixed into the ecstasy on Aider's face.
'What was that? What did I just see?'
He thought he'd seen Naide's face, but he couldn't make sense of it. He also noticed one of his legs trembling like a dog's.
'Afraid? Me?'
Naide, who'd arrived first, intercepted Maya. The murderous expression he'd worn when he swung to kill flickered in shards across his features and then receded.
"Screamer, the flag."
"Ah…."
Pony's words snapped Screamer back to his senses; he dashed forward and pulled the flag free. No one paid attention to anything else.
Shirone moved to Maya. Seeing her still curled and trembling made his heart break.
"Maya…"
Maya was never cut out to be a mage. Her Spirit Zone-level talent belonged elsewhere; she was an artist who moved people's hearts, a genius singer.
"Maya, get up."
Shirone said it in a cold voice.
Maya had a family to support and a tribe's honor to protect. If she collapsed here she would never cross the threshold to become a mage.
"Get up. We're still being evaluated. If you're disqualified now, we all lose twenty points."
Maya's shoulders flinched.
That damned twenty points. But everyone in the graduating class was risking everything for those twenty points.
'I'm… so scared, Shirone. All these people here—their coldness is terrifying.'
She wanted to give up. She'd endured for her tribe and fought for her family, but the moment she looked into Aider's eyes she realized—
This wasn't where she belonged.
'Shirone…'
Slowly, Maya stood.
She had somehow fallen in love with Shirone. She wanted that more desperately than a mage's license. The graduating class might sneer, but Maya was that kind of woman.
"I'm okay… I can keep fighting."
Trying to hold back her tears, Maya's voice made tears rise in Shirone's own eyes.
He glanced at Aider, laughing and taunting from the enemy formation. Terrifying rage filled his gaze.