C158
As Amy's shout erupted, Tess' rapier pierced through Falkoa's heart. Subsequently, Rian's eyes opened wide, and blood poured out of his mouth.
There were no mistakes in Tess’ swordsmanship. Her rapier had accurately penetrated Falkoa's heart, and soon its functions would cease.
Falkoa sensed his impending death. He wasn't particularly afraid. Maybe, he thought, death was a drug closest to pleasure in this world.
"Marsha."
Surprisingly, the last words that came out of Falkoa's mouth before death were his leader's name. It was as if he was experiencing his life flashing before his eyes as the corners of his mouth faintly lifted.
'Take me to the battlefield.'
When Tess pulled out the rapier, Falkoa's body fell backward. He fell down with a thud, and then Rian fell to his knees, unable to withstand the physical pain any longer.
“Rian! are you okay?"
Amy rushed over in a panic. Rian looked back at her with a forced smile.
"Hey, Amy. Did you take care of everything?"
"Tell me. Where and how are you hurt? Tess! How could you stab him too?"
Amy shouted at Tess as if in disappointment. But Tess was just wiping the blood off the rapier. Then she suddenly smiled and squinted her eyes.
“Huhu, what are you talking about? What do you take me for? Even after all this, I am confident in controlling my strikes. The only place I stabbed was Falkoa's torso. Rian is safe.”
Amy looked at Tess with a dumbfounded expression.
"But... there's blood pouring from Rian's chest?"
"What!"
Tess raised her eyes wide and looked at Rian. Just as Amy said, a thin streams of blood were leaking out.
“Rian! Rian! Are you okay? Snap out of it!"
As Tess, whose face became pale, cried out by his ear, Rian, having briefly lost consciousness, returned to his senses and gestured with his hand annoyingly as he got up.
"Don't make a fuss. It's just a little stab."
“I’m sorry, Rian. Because my lack of skill..."
“Don’t say that. If it had been any shallower, Falkoa wouldn't have fallen. Then both of us would have been in danger. Your judgment was right."
“Hng, but...”
Rian truly believed that. No matter how much one worried about a friend's safety, a deeper wound was preferable to an insufficient one. That's why Tess was able to achieve maximum concentration.
“Come on! A wound like this is nothing. Let's go quickly. I’m worried about Shirone.”
Even while the fight was in full swing, strange sounds and explosions could be heard inside the building. It was clear that he was fighting with the leader. It must have been at least as dangerous as Falkoa's fight, if not more so.
At that moment, the building's wall burst open, and Shirone leaped out.
“Shirone!”
Just before hitting the ground, Shirone cast a teleportation to retreat 10 meters. As the photonization state was undone, Shirone, who had taken a landing stance, was pushed away, sliding across the ground.
“Shirone, are you okay?”
"Don't come!"
Shirone shouted urgently. The fact that Shirone, who was always composed, was unusually excited made his friends freeze in their tracks.
"It's not over yet. It’s Sound Magic, so it’s dangerous to come close.”
Marsha's Sonar was able to freely manipulate targeted and area attacks. It was clear that the three people, who were clearly exhausted from the battle, would be caught up in the powerful Sound Magic that came and went.
"Not bad. To last this long against me."
Marsha bent her waist and smiled as she exited the building and approached. However, her smile faded away in front of the corpse of Falkoa.
Falkoa was dead.
Although he was a bit of a crazy man, he had really enjoyed his time gallivanting around with others at the bottom of life. The fame of ‘Parrot’, which known throughout the continent, had 30% of his blood in it.
'You won't have any regrets, Falkoa.'
Marsha could tell without looking. She was certain that he would have preferred a death by the sword rather than dying from a heart attack due to drug addiction.
But that was the end of sentimentality.
The fact that he had been taken down by just a student was unexpected, but considering Falkoa's physical condition, who had been addicted to drugs for five years, it wasn't an unusual situation.
Marsha focused again on confronting Shirone again. She had guessed as much when she broke through the first checkpoint, but facing him directly confirmed that the combination of magics was indeed quite balanced.
His Teleportation was top-notch, and she was impressed by the power of the core offensive weapon, Photon Cannon.
Laser were perfect as siege weapons, and although the defensive magic ‘Photon Explosion’ required timing, it had the advantage of being convertible to offensive magic as necessary.
The balance set by one mage after long deliberation and evolution.
What she liked most about it was that it was a unique magic that only Shirone could learn and that could not be learned from any mage.
'Magic of the Unlocker, huh? Sounds fun. I want it.'
While Marsha was thinking this, Sirone was also analyzing the variables in the situation that had emerged in the open field.
There were no particular disadvantages since he had suffered numerous penalties inside the building. Above all, there was no risk of the hostage being injured, so he could raise his power to heart's content.
"From now on, it'll be different. I will never forgive you."
"Huhu, Shirone, you will come to forgive me."
"On what basis? What you did was beyond the bounds of humanity."
"That’s the thing, actually…"
Marsha shouted with her tongue out like a mischievous child.
“It was all a lie!”
Shirone and his companions could not understand her words and stood with blank expressions. Then Marsha shouted toward the building.
"Yuna! You can come out now!”
As the sound amplified, her voice boomed out toward the sea.
Shortly after, the door of the building opened, and a pretty young girl walked out.
"Could it be, that girl is Yuna?"
"That's right, it's Yuna. As you can see, she's been here comfortably without any trouble. How do you feel, Shirone? Are you not angry anymore?"
Shirone couldn't respond. Even with his exceptional insight, he couldn't even guess what Marsha was thinking.
“Oh my, you still don’t understand? Is it worth getting so angry over a little prank this noona played on her younger sibling? Everything I said was a lie. So please forgive me, okay?"
Yuna bowed her head toward Shirone and his companions as she spoke.
"Noona did nothing wrong. In fact, it was Marsha noona who saved me."
Rian opened his mouth in frustration.
“What on earth happened? Someone smarter, please answer this question for me.”
But neither Amy nor Tess said a word.
It was a clear mockery. That much was certain. The question was the motive. What exactly was Marsha's intention in devising such a scheme?
Shirone was contemplating that very aspect.
It was not a matter that could be dismissed as mere joke. The Parrot Mercenary Band was destroyed. Falkoa is dead. The thought that all of this was a lie was inconceivable.
"If that's really the case... then send Yuna over here."
First of all, the priority was to rescue Jis' younger sister. But Marsha shook her head with a mischievous smile.
"Yuna, go back inside. I'll send you to your brother later."
Yuna nodded and went back into the building.
Shirone was seething with anger. What exactly did Marsha want to do with this situation?
He can feel no purpose or meaning. It seemed nothing more than the behavior of a child causing a ruckus.
"What is this all about? What do you really want?"
"Huhu, why? Yuna is safe, isn't that enough? Ah, did you want to take her yourself like a hero of justice?”
"That's not it but..."
"Now you get it, don't you? This noona has done nothing wrong. It's you who's bad, Shirone. You made me sick. That's why I'll never hand Yuna over to you."
Shirone entered Spirit Zone. Before he knew it, Marsha's zone, sharp as a blade, was already targeting his forehead.
"Hmph! I won't fall for it now."
Shirone shouted confidently, but his mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Marsha has taken away his motivation to fight. Yet she was still spreading an aggressive murderous intent.
‘Let’s stay calm. She's showing hostility towards me. That's enough reason to fight.'
If it was a tactic to deceive the opponent, he couldn't just be on the receiving end. Moreover, since the hostage was safe, once the battle began, , he wouldn't be pushed back as he was inside the building.
However, contrary to Shirone's expectations, Marsha released her Spirit Zone. Then, as if disarming herself, she spread her arms and said to Shirone.
"You can kill me if you want."
Shirone's heart sank. Because he knew the significance of the words she had just uttered.
It was a magic spell that she recited every time she was beaten by her adoptive father.
And so, Marsha was sincere. She was truly asking to be killed.
‘What on earth is this, Marcia? Who exactly are you?'
* * *
Magic Association Investigation Room.
Sakiri, a certified 5th-grade magician and investigator, wiped the sweat from his forehead. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and more than half of the buttons on his shirt were undone.
It was clearly the appearance of an exhausted person. Yet his forearms, gripping a sledgehammer, still seemed to be brimming with strength.
"Huu, now that I've rested, shall we start again?"
“Keueu….”
Lucas, lying on the floor, groaned in pain.
Vice leader of the Parrot Thief Band who followed Arcane in raiding the Magic Academy. However, at that time, his both legs were amputated due to Sienna's Ice Magic, Absolute Zero.
It was unknown how many hours he had been beaten.
If he hadn't protected his body with Schema, he would have been in such a state that he would have died a long time ago.
"Here we go. Clench your teeth."
Sakiri swung the sledgehammer again. Lucas, bombarded with the merciless beating, dragged himself across the floor with his arms until he finally rolled over, exhausted.
"Arrgh! Please stop! At least ask me something before you hit me! I said I'd tell you everything!"
"Wait. We need to reach a thousand hits, don’t we?"
“You crazy bastard!”
Sakiri counted to himself inwardly. Five hits left. Now four. Three.
Finally, having delivered the final blow to his side, he threw away the sledgehammer as if relieved.
The sledgehammer rolled on the floor with a clattering sound.
"Whew, that's refreshing. That's my workout for the day done."
“Why, why on earth are you doing this….”
Lucas clutched his aching stomach and shed tears.
He was someone who had been recruited by the Parrot Mercenaries as they fell into becoming a band of thieves, but he rose rapidly to the position of vice leader due to his exceptional abilities. He was a notorious villain who never lost his nerve, even in the face of Arcane.
However, in front of Sakiri, he was like a piece of gum stuck to the ground.
Sakiri grabbed Lucas by the hair and threw him towards a chair.
As Lucas, who had been violently thrown down, clung to the chair, Sakiri sat down on the opposite side of the desk and said,
"Sit down quickly. Before I chop off the remaining arm too."
Lucas managed to hoist himself up with his arms and barely sat down in the chair. Then Sakiri silently went through the documents compiled by the investigators for quite some time.
"Sir Investigator, please just send me back to prison. I will tell you where Marsha is."
"No need. What kind of woman do you think she is? Does you still think she will still be there?”
"Shit! Then why on earth did I get beaten up?”
Sakiri, turning the last page of the file, slammed the desk in irritation.
"Do you know what kind of criminal I hate the most? A murderer? A home-wrecker? No, it's escapees. Does the kingdom look that easy to you? There's a limit to how brazen you can be, and you, a B-class criminal, escaping? Your life is over. You won't see the sun again for the rest of your life."
Lucas swallowed hard. Sakiri's words weren't a threat, they were a fact.
You could tell just by looking at the investigator's tendency to actually carry out the thousand hits he promised.
“Anyway, let’s begin. It'd be good for you to listen carefully. My daughter is four years old now. She's at the age where she act cute in front of her dad. But I haven’t been able to go home for several days! Let's live a little, alright?"
"What do you want to hear?"
“Everything else is fine, just this woman named Marsha. Spill everything you know about her."
The information Sakiri wanted was just that.
Clay Marsha. As a political criminal and an A-class offender, she hadn't caused a big stir, but that made her all the more difficult to catch.
The biggest problem was that the intelligence on her was scattered all over the place. Sometimes she was said to be a Fire Mage, at other times she was said to use Ice Magic.
From that perspective, she seemed to be very shrewd and meticulous. Even though he searched with as many investigators as possible, he was unable to clearly pinpoint her travel routes.
That's why Sakiri had called Lucas. He had thought from the beginning that the strategy had gone wrong.
What really needed to be known was not where Marsha was, but Marsha herself.
---
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)