Acting like nothing was happening, Kabe walked step by step toward Libra, unbothered by the gravity bearing down on him. But his gaze slid past Libra, settling instead on Yukino's face behind her. Noticing the strange black and purple striped markings spreading across her face, he couldn't help but ask Libra, puzzled:
"Have you Celestial Spirits gotten so foolish that you'll carry out an order to the letter no matter whether it actually reflects your summoner's true will?"
The words left Libra utterly speechless. She glanced back at Yukino, whose expression was clearly caught in some inner struggle, and after a moment's hesitation withdrew her magic and stepped aside on her own.
"What are you doing?! Libra, I order you to kill him!"
Yukino, clearly not herself, screeched the order at Libra. Libra, however, acted as though she hadn't heard a word, standing perfectly still where she was, and even turned the tables to reason with her instead:
"Miss Yukino, this gentleman is remarkably strong. He may well have a way to help free you from whatever's controlling you."
"Traitor!" Yukino screamed, and immediately pulled out the Libra key, ready to force the gate shut and send her back. But Kabe wasn't about to give her that chance. In a flash, he appeared behind her and delivered a light, precise chop to the back of her neck with the edge of his hand.
Yukino, her face twisted only a moment ago, immediately rolled her eyes back and crumpled limply to the ground. Kabe caught her, sweeping her up into his arms.
Just as he was about to find some tree to set her down under for the time being, he noticed, to his surprise, that even with her summoner unconscious, Libra hadn't yet been forced back through her gate despite the feedback from the loss of magic power. Their eyes met, and Libra, catching his confusion, spoke up first to explain:
"I'm burning through my own magic power to stay. But I won't be able to keep this up for long."
"Then I'll leave this girl in your care. If you see a Celestial Spirit mage with the same white hair coming up behind, you can explain the situation to her."
Libra nodded and took the unconscious Yukino from Kabe's arms. With someone to look after Yukino, Kabe set off after Brain again with an easy mind.
Watching Kabe's figure shoot up into the sky and vanish in an instant, Libra finally felt the sense of danger that had been pricking at her back like needles, as though a fearsome beast stood before her, ease just a little. Recalling how he'd treated her gravity magic as though it were nothing at all, she pressed her lips together tightly beneath her veil, a look of helpless resignation crossing her face.
"He and I aren't even in the same league. Humans really are an extraordinary race. In a lifespan of just a few decades, they can master power that even Celestial Spirits could never hope to reach."
After a moment of quiet reflection, she carried Yukino over to a reasonably clean boulder, sat down, and settled in to wait quietly for the person Kabe had mentioned.
Though Kabe hadn't spent all that long dealing with Yukino, Brain's group still managed to reach their destination before he could catch up. It was a deeply hidden cave, its interior vast, surrounded by a forest of strange rock formations. At its center stood a towering ancient tree glowing with a faint phosphorescent light, bound to the surrounding stones by hundreds of chains.
One glance was all it took for Brain to be certain this was the site where Nirvana lay sealed.
The two mages from a subordinate guild who'd first discovered the site and had been keeping watch here rushed forward the moment they saw Brain arrive, all smiles and flattery.
"Boss, we're..."
Before either of them could finish introducing themselves or angle for credit, Brain swept his skull staff in a single arc, sending both of them flying like ragdolls. They slammed into a stone pillar and were knocked out cold.
"It's mine, finally mine! This world belongs to us now!"
Cobra, Racer, and Hoteye cheered loudly in excitement, while Midnight remained fast asleep, arms crossed, head bowed, sitting cross legged on his flying carpet.
A smile crept onto Brain's lips as well. The joy of finally realizing a goal he'd pursued for years quickened his steps without him even noticing, carrying him to the base of the glowing tree.
"There's no mistaking it. This overwhelming, boundless magic power, even sealed away as it is."
He raised his staff high, channeling his own magic power through it into the tree, and bellowed:
"Manifest, our future! Ancient Super Reversal Magic, Nirvana!!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a massive pillar of light, streaked with black and white, shot up into the sky. The sheer magic power contained within it was enough to force even Brain back a couple of steps. That only deepened the smile on his face. This was exactly the kind of overwhelming presence that matched the invincible Nirvana he'd envisioned in his mind.
"Tsk tsk, seems I've arrived at just the right moment."
An unexpected voice rang out abruptly from behind them. The four of them, still caught up in their excitement, jumped at the sudden voice and spun around warily to look.
Kabe strolled in slowly from the mouth of the cave. The closer he came, the more clearly Nirvana's flickering light lit up his face. He tilted his head back to gaze at the pillar of light shooting into the sky, his expression showing not the slightest regret at having arrived a step too late, only an air of amused curiosity.
But Brain and the others had no such leisure of mind. The moment they'd learned their subordinate guilds' rank and file had been wiped out so quickly, they'd already guessed that whoever was hunting them this time was no ordinary opponent. But now, having gotten a clear look at Kabe's face and recognized who he was, they realized they'd still underestimated the newcomer's strength.