[574] The Monster of Omnipotence (1)
"This is… impossible."
It was Eden's defensive magic—never before broken in any graduation evaluation, not even on the graduation exam.
'He came back as a monster, didn't he?'
Before Hershi even had time to decide, Shirone lunged at Kaiden.
"Block!"
By the time anyone shouted, it was already too late.
Because they'd lost to Shirone at Kang, no one on the allied team could lay a hand on him.
Jincheon Sorcery—Cheommilmil.
When Anchal's illusion spell unfurled, the scene Shirone saw warped into something obscene.
"What the—!"
It wasn't a clear form, but the Gestalt conjured up arousing images.
Dense metaphors seeped into the trees, the rocks, even the grass, bypassing reason and striking instinct.
"Now! Run!"
Seizing the instant, Pisho steered the giant spider and hauled Kaiden and Eden away.
When the Cheommilmil illusion faded, Shirone's face was flushed.
His heart pounded so hard it thudded in his ears.
'Anchal…'
This wasn't a crude illusion meant only to disorient the eyes.
He was a master who used Gestalt—an illusionist specialty—to stimulate humanity's primal psyche.
'Too bad we didn't smash Eden's card, but still, ruining their hand was a big gain. At least we bought ourselves more than a day.'
Besides, Kaiden was wounded and couldn't join a match immediately.
'I'll have to rework the plan.'
A summon-signal flare shot up above Shirone's head.
* * *
Midnight.
The allied team that'd failed to kill Shirone gathered at their hideout with gloomy faces.
Kaiden sat slumped with bandages around his waist, and Eden knelt in a corner of the woods, praying and weeping.
"This is troubling."
Pisho, still mounted on the giant spider, descended from the tree canopy to the trunk.
"We barely collected any scrambles. At this rate, we'll probably be behind on day four too."
Hershi clicked his tongue.
Because they'd put Kang on Shirone and been completely routed, an all-out fight was impossible for the time being.
'They'll definitely throw Kang from their side.'
They couldn't risk attacking recklessly and having the master card stolen, so collecting only a few scrambles was the only fruit of the day.
"What about players dropping out?"
Anchal asked.
"Kaiden's injured. Even if he gets recovery magic from the research members, it'll take at least a day."
If not for Anchal's illusion, Kaiden—and maybe Eden—would've had their master cards taken, so it was fortunate things ended as they did.
Hershi said to Anchal, "You saved us. This was my strategic mistake. Stopping Shirone's movement with the illusion was what turned it around."
Anchal had also been unable to harm Shirone after losing at Kang.
"Honestly, it was a gamble. The definition of harm was vague. But since you said secondary traps would be allowed, I risked disqualification and tried it."
'Hmph, he must have already finished his experiments.'
Still, Anchal's groans weren't about the fight itself but about the credit distribution afterward.
'If we win, the shadow research groups will bicker again. How much each contributed will determine priority for Istas's inspection rights.'
Though the research heads formed a powerful party, the allied team had limits.
"We can still fight."
Kaiden gritted his teeth.
"I don't need recovery magic. I'll go after Shirone again starting tomorrow."
The obsession bordered on desperation.
"No—get the recovery magic. There are four days left; there's still time to make up for this."
"You said you could fight. This wound is nothing…."
"Kaiden, that's an order."
Hershi spoke with Fermy's delegated authority.
"Then I'll disobey. Even if it's Fermy, he can't boss me around."
Hershi's gaze went cold.
"Admit it. If Shirone had hit you with the same spell that broke Eden's shield, you'd be dead. Not just ribs—you'd be missing your torso."
'Damn it!'
It was useless to argue after the loss. Kaiden ground his teeth until his jaw ached.
"O Lord, forgive my shameful transgression. Bless us with the teachings of infinite love…."
Eden's voice, praying in a trance, cut the silence.
Hershi, watching her, turned back to Kaiden.
"As long as you couldn't stop Shirone's solo run, we can't stick to the same strategy."
Still, there was no one else to take that role.
"I'll do it."
Eden, having finished her prayer, stepped forward.
"You?"
"I'll start collecting white cards again. If we build and defend Infinity (○○○○○○) as fast as possible, won't we win?"
"But you were hit too. Another failure would be dangerous."
"No—the thing that broke was the magic, not my faith."
"I get your conviction, but—"
Eden's eyes sharpened.
"I can do it. From now on I'll be different. But there's a condition."
"Hmm."
Even within a team, they were still competitors in the graduation class.
Just as Anchal kept a sealed card, Eden surely had a trump she didn't want to reveal.
'Putting a condition on it means she wants to settle this here and now.'
Hershi judged and said, "Fine. Tell us. What's your condition?"
"If I can hold the Infinity card until day seven, give me priority for Istas's investigation."
Hershi's face tightened.
"You can't be serious—"
"No, this offer is to everyone here. The gap in card counts has already started. But I can definitely assemble and defend Infinity. It's far better than losing and paying the price, right?"
If Eden truly had a hidden card, the chance of a comeback looked high.
'Eden will do her best. It's a matter of religious conviction.'
Hershi scanned the group. "We'll vote. But it needs to be unanimous. Raise your hands if you agree."
Each member had their own calculus, but one by one hands went up.
'Even if our priority slips a bit, it doesn't matter. We'll never find that card anyway. If she succeeds we get a reward; if she fails nothing changes. It's better to let her try.'
When Kaiden raised his hand last, Hershi said, "All right, it's settled. We'll go with Eden's plan for now. This time, do it right."
Anchal asked, "So who's going to mark Shirone? Even if we don't know how he manipulates time, he always seems to form the strongest combinations."
That was the biggest problem.
Even if Eden gathered Infinity, if no one could stop Shirone, they'd end up tied and the outcome would depend on the next-ranked cards.
While looking for a suitable person, Hershi spoke.
"Prings."
With Kaiden injured, he was the team's only combat mage.
"No, I won't take Shirone as my exclusive mark."
Prings twirled his moustache. "I can't break him. He's too honest."
Pisho said, "He does have a soft side. If we exploit that—"
"He's not soft."
Hershi's face hardened as he stared into the dark.
"It's just… a blow to my pride."
As Fermy predicted, this left a bad taste.
—Kaiden alone won't be enough.
Before the Scramble Royal began, Fermy had said, "Stopping Shirone will require double, even triple layers of traps."
Hershi couldn't follow at first.
"In the preliminary Golden Ring simulation we were only destined for about seventh overall. Anyway, first through fifth were ours."
"That was true through the first half."
"Will anything change? Besides, in this Scramble Royal Kaiden will use a sword. You know his swordsmanship."
Fermy conceded that point.
"Of course Kaiden could hold Shirone. Without Armand, mage kinds are vulnerable to physical force."
"Then what's the issue?"
"But that guy… will find a solution in the end."
"You don't like Shirone, do you?"
Fermy chuckled. "I don't hate anyone. People just end up hating me. In any case, Shirone won't stop. If his growth is accelerating, it's safer to assume he's always further ahead than expected. In short—defensive investment."
The key was that Miro had taken Shirone away.
"So what if Kaiden can't stop him?"
Fermy pointed at Hershi. "Then do this."
Snapped out of his thoughts, Hershi said, "Fine. We'll give up the exclusive mark on Shirone. Instead, Prings, there's something I need you to do."
"If it's something I can do—what's the plan?"
A cold smile curved at the corner of Hershi's mouth.
"If you act like a strict old man… we'll assign a real old man to babysit you."
* * *
The faces of Shirone's group gathered at the hideout were generally bright.
"All right, we turned it around! Keep this up!"
Amy, the last to join the team, was the most excited.
Everyone, guessing the reason, laughed. Nade looked at Shirone and said, "Perfect timing. With that single Sibulsangpokmae you flipped more than ten cards."
"Still, I'm a bit disappointed. I wanted to push it to day four so they'd have no comeback, but they challenged us first."
Iruki said, "They'll be careful with Kang going forward. But we can use that tactically. Anyway, we've kept the momentum. We even destroyed Eden's shield."
"It's a shame we didn't get the full exposure scene… ouch!"
Sabina smacked Nade on the back of the head.
Amid the good spirits, one person remained unusually quiet—Dorothy.
Iruki, who had noticed her slow reaction since the third scramble was summoned, asked, "Dorothy, what happened?"
"Hm? Nothing."
"I wanted to ask—why did you retreat so fast in the third scramble?"
Dorothy answered in a tense voice, "It was dangerous."
"I'm not blaming you. I trust your judgment. If there's a problem we can fix it—"
"It's nothing!"
When everyone stared in surprise, Dorothy immediately realized her mistake and bowed.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. I apologize sincerely."
Amy said, "It's fine. Combat can make you edgy."
Nade chimed in, "Right. Get some rest today and be good tomorrow. We can win."
As Shirone's team dispersed after the day's fights, only Iruki lingered.
* * *
Day four of the Scramble Royal, opening.
"The second scramble has been summoned."
Shirone, who already held six cards, focused on destroying the opponent's scrambles.
The nearest coordinate was the forest near the Combined Training Ground.
"Move out!"
Excited by their lead, Shirone closed the distance in an instant and found a glittering scramble.
"Found it!"
The ground heaved, and a mantis-like insect three times the size of a human surfaced.
'Pisho!'
-Only participants may collect scrambles.
When the scramble-devouring bug turned and fled, Shirone immediately fired a Homing Photon Cannon.
-However, the scramble's location can be moved by factors other than the participants.
This had already been confirmed by Dorothy's experiment, and a moved scramble's coordinates will not be recorded on the master card.
'I have to catch it before it burrows underground.'
Of the Homing Photon Cannon shots Shirone launched, four slammed into a tree and the remaining three smashed into the insect's carapace.
Kiyeeeeeee!
Screeching, the bug collapsed. As Shirone ran toward it, a faint glow bled from cracks in its exoskeleton.
Insect Magic—Exploding Insect.
A bug evolved to self-destruct.
Typically grafted onto small insects, this variant could blast a radius of five meters.
"Ugh!"
Shrapnel struck Shirone's body.
'This isn't improvised. It's an ambush.'
Knowing the insect family, he was certain.
Insect mages use a "mind-ecosystem" to induce specific evolutions from the egg state.
To produce an insect of this size with a self-destruct function would take at least two hours.
'What are they aiming for?'
Shirone expanded his Spirit Zone to search for Pisho, and his eyes widened.
'Is there one more person?'