Arifureta Zero: Volume 1 Page 13

  But more than anything, he couldn’t risk their lives.

  “Dylan, Katy...” They didn’t react to his voice. He wasn’t confident he could disable them without doing any harm.

  He closed his eyes and considered his options. Then, with a dark look in his eyes, he glared at Forneus.

  “You have to promise not to hurt Corrin... and the rest of my family at the orphanage. Also, you have to turn Dylan and Katy back to normal and send them back home. Those are my conditions.”

  “Whether I do that or not depends on the depth of your faith.”

  Oscar gave in. Forneus’ lips curled up into a sneer.

  “If you don’t promise me at least that, I’ll kill you all, even if I have to give my life to do it. At least that way, all the other families will be safe. Don’t think I’ve shown you everything I can do yet.” That was a bluff. Oscar was out of trump cards. Still, he was serious about giving his life to kill them all if he had to. One look at the resolve in his eyes was enough to tell Forneus that.

  Forneus frowned unhappily.

  “Hmph. Very well, I won’t touch the kids at the orphanage. But 44 and 45 stay with me. Who knows what kind of dangerous items you might make. If I turn these two back to normal, what guarantee do I have that you won’t turn against me? You can transmute sealstone without any trouble, so even a slave collar won’t be able to contain you. Until you’ve proven your faith, those two will stay with me. Don’t worry, I promise to keep them alive until then at least.”

  “Urgh...” Oscar ground his teeth, but in the end he nodded. He knew there was no way Forneus would agree without some guarantee. And like he’d said, methods of restraining Oscar wouldn’t work.

  He swore he’d get his revenge once Dylan and Katy were free.

  Forneus called Dylan and Katy back to his side. Then, he ordered Oscar to kneel before him.

  “Onii-chan...” Corrin clung to Oscar’s sleeve as he stumbled over to Forneus. She knew. She knew he was swearing himself to a life of servitude, just to save them.

  Oscar patted his clever little sister’s head for what might be the last time.

  “Don’t worry. I promise Dylan and Katy will come back one day. You just wait at home with Mom like a good girl, okay?”

  But what’s going to happen to you? Corrin couldn’t bring herself to say those words aloud.

  He’d made his decision, so nothing she said would be able to change that. Still, she clung to his sleeve, hoping to convince him not to go.

  Oscar gently shook her off. It seemed Corrin didn’t have the strength to stop him. Throughout the entire fight, Corrin hadn’t cried even once. But now, big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. It pained Oscar to see her like this, but still he turned around and faced Forneus. Then, he walked the last few steps toward him.

  “Hehe, don’t worry. So long as you serve Ehit, these two test subjects won’t die. I won’t do anything to the rest of your family, either.”

  “You had better not. For your sake as well.” Oscar kneeled before Forneus.

  His grin grew wider, and he nodded.

  “Now, swear your eternal loyalty to Ehit. We mustn’t forget the formalities.”

  You just want to gloat, you old sleazebag. Still, Oscar’s expression remained blank. He had never once sworn his loyalty to Ehit, but he would have to now.

  “Almighty, all-knowing lord of creation, Ehit. I hereby swear my fealty to you. I, Oscar, dedicate my life, and my soul—” At that point all was left was for him to say “to you,” but he never got those last words out.

  A loud rumbling interrupted him. The tunnel shook so violently that chunks of the ceiling crashed broke off and crashed to the ground.

  “Wh-What’s happening!? Is this an earthquake!? What is this!?” Forneus yelled out in confusion. However, no one answered.

  The knights looked around, clearly surprised by the turn of events. This was unexpected even to them.

  Naturally, this wasn’t Oscar’s doing either. Unlike Forneus though, Oscar realized something. Because he was a Synergist, he was more in tune with the stone all around them than the others.

  “It’s coming from inside the building? Shit, don’t tell me we’ve got to deal with another crazy monster.” The earthquake originated from the building. In a sense, it was true that they were about to have another “crazy monster” on their hands. However, it was not of the sort Oscar was expecting.

  The vibrations stopped. Silence filled the room. A second later, the building’s roof popped off. And from within came...

  “Hiyaaah! Everyone’s favorite gal, Miledi Reisen, is here to save the day!” The building’s roof remained floating in the air. There was no visible air magic holding it in place, either. Miledi stood on top of it, striking a heroic pose. She made a peace sign in front of her face and winked at Oscar. He could have sworn he saw stars floating in the background behind her.

  “Wh-What on earth are you—!” Forneus, Ping, and the templar knights all exclaimed in surprise. They were surprisingly in sync, and their eyes all looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

  As always, Miledi did as she pleased, heedless of their shock.

  “Mwahahaha! You, the disgusting old man over there! Too bad, but O-kun’s already promised himself to me~ Did you think you’d won? Did you really think you beat him? Hehehehehehe!” Forneus’ veins bulged as he looked up at Miledi. Never before had anyone dared to call him a “disgusting old man.” What infuriated him even more though was Miledi’s playful grin. It aggravated him more than words could express.

  Moreover, she’d arrived at the absolute perfect time to save the day. It was almost as if she’d been listening in on their conversation and had planned her entrance. Oh, also, she’d blown the roof off of Forneus’ precious building. He had plenty reason to be angry.

  He opened his mouth to yell at her, but before he could say anything, Oscar looked up at her and voiced his thoughts. “M-Miledi? Wh-Why are you here?”

  Miledi looked down and grinned at Oscar.

  “O-kun, I can’t believe you. If you’d just asked me for help, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt like that, and you wouldn’t have made Corrin-chan cry! How pathetic can you get? You even made a little girl cry!”

  “That’s not true! Okay, well, maybe it is! But still, I thought really hard about what you said and... Wait, this isn’t the time!”

  Even when she’d just saved his life, she managed to be annoying about it. The shouting exacerbated his injuries, and Oscar doubled over in pain. Miledi’s expression grew serious, and she continued.

  “O-kun, I can’t believe you. You should know he’d never keep his promise. As long as it’s in the name of their god, they think anything’s justified. Even he doesn’t know how to turn Dylan-kun and Katy-chan back to normal.”

  “What?” Oscar’s eyes went wide in surprise.

  Forneus flushed with anger and he screamed at Miledi.

  “You bitch, I made that monument for Lord Ehit! How dare you destroy it! Oscar, is she one of your allies!? If that building is completely destroyed these test subjects will never return to normal! Are you fine with that!?”

  “Ah—” Oscar felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Forneus glared at him, silently imploring him to call Miledi off.

  Oscar gripped his umbrella. However, Miledi continued cheerfully, as if unaware of the turmoil in Oscar’s heart.

  “Hm? Could it be you’re worried about me destroying... this?” She snapped her fingers, and a large object floated out of the roofless building.

  “Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh—” Forneus couldn’t even articulate properly anymore. His surprise was understandable.

  Floating in the air, with chunks of it crumbling away and falling to the ground, was a section of the ground nearly six meters in diameter. A complex magic circle had been engraved onto the surface of the earth, with an altar of sorts resting above it. The altar was held up by a rectangular pillar in the magic circle’s center, and an eye had been engraved into its
center.

  “O-kun! This is what transformed Dylan-kun and the others into mindless fighters. It’s an artifact that holds the memories of ancient masters. Not only that, it can transfer those fighting skills into other people. But this stupid bishop doesn’t actually know how to use it right!” According to Miledi, the sheer amount of information transferred into the people who inherited these skills was too much for the hosts to handle. Because of that, it suppressed their original personalities. At first, the subjects he’d tested on had gone berserk, but after a while the bishop had figured out how to at least control his super soldiers. However, he still didn’t know how to turn them back.

  Moreover, in order to execute the kind of moves master fighters had been able to, the hosts had to push their bodies far past their limits. Of course they couldn’t last long in that state, and quickly destroyed themselves. But because their healing abilities had been forcibly increased as well, their bodies regenerated over and over. Still, there was a physical limit to how long they could keep doing that. Even with such powerful healing magic, a few battles would leave them dead and broken.

  Dylan and Katy had started coughing up blood just from moving around a little. It was obvious fighting for even thirty minutes would be enough to kill them. So the skills of the best warriors from the past were forcibly implanted into their bodies.

  “I crushed those knights’ bones with gravity magic until they talked, so I’m sure of it.”

  “No... then that means Dylan and Katy won’t...” A despair-filled wail interrupted Oscar’s trembling voice.

  “My... My artifaaaaaaact... You have Ehit’s Eyes! Aaaaaah, how could you!? You accursed, wretched, harlot!” Forneus tore at his hair. He looked completely deranged.

  His artifact was known as Ehit’s Eyes. As Miledi had explained, it allowed its user to transcribe ancient skills into new hosts. It seemed templar knights had stumbled across it by accident when exploring the sixty-fifth floor.

  Forneus received a report on what they’d found and he’d quickly formulated a plan to create Ehit’s Legion, an army of super soldiers dedicated to their god. The floor had also made for the perfect location to conduct his experiments out in secret. His knights weren’t skilled enough to carry the altar back out with them completely unscathed, so it was practical as well. He’d excavated one of the larger rooms on the floor and built the building Miledi had destroyed to serve as a base of operations.

  “This was meant to be my greatest offering to Ehit! I would have created for him a legion of worthy soldiers, loyal to his every command! My achievements would have elevated me to the position of archbishop, no, even to the papacy! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

  That’s what he sacrificed Dylan and Katy for? Darkness wormed its way into Oscar’s heart. He could feel flames of black hatred raging within him. He felt like he was the one about to go mad, not Forneus. Oscar gripped his umbrella tight and pointed it at Forneus. He wasn’t thinking rationally anymore.

  “Don’t cross that line, O-kun.”

  “Mi...ledi...”

  Miledi floated down and put her hands over Oscar’s. He was gripping his umbrella so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

  For some reason, Miledi’s touch soothed him. The haze of hate that had been clouding his thoughts dispersed.

  Forneus turned to Oscar.

  “Oscar, kill that wretch! Don’t forget, I hold those miserable childrens’ lives in my hands!” At Forneus’ command, Dylan and Katy pointed their weapons at their own necks. With a single word from him, they would kill themselves.

  Oscar ground his teeth in frustration at that. However, he was no longer fighting alone.

  Miledi looked directly into Oscar’s eyes. There was no cheerful frivolity in her gaze anymore.

  “O-kun. Even if you join him, you won’t be able to protect anyone.” She snapped her fingers again.

  At her signal, Dylan and Katy lowered their weapons. Seeing how they were struggling desperately to raise them back up, Oscar guessed that they hadn’t lowered them voluntarily.

  It was as if their weapons suddenly weighed too much to lift. Forneus watched in dumbfounded amazement.

  “It’s time for you two to rest.” Her voice was tinged with kindness. Dylan and Katy rose up into the air and floated over to Miledi. They tried to break out of her spell, but there wasn’t much they could do midair. She tapped both of them with a light electric shock, making them lose consciousness. She then lowered them gently to the floor. Next, she lifted Corrin up and flew her over to Oscar. Corrin gasped in surprise as she flew through the air.

  She was still a little confused, but she hugged Oscar tight. There were still tears in her eyes.

  “You weren’t born into this world so you could suffer like this.”

  “Miledi?”

  Miledi stroked Dylan and Katy’s hair.

  “You focus on healing yourself, O-kun. Those injuries are pretty serious. I’ll handle these fools. Okay?” She stood up and turned to face Forneus and his knights.

  “The artifact’s in my hands. I’ve rescued all the other children that were in the building. The ones you’d already transformed are unconscious and restrained. O-kun’s a master of using artifacts, so I’m sure he can use it to turn everyone back to normal. Do you get what this means, you crazy monster?” Miledi’s voice was so cold that Oscar could hardly believe she was the same person.

  The knights began chanting their spells. Forneus grasped the crystal hanging around his neck and glared daggers at Miledi. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Miledi interrupted him.

  “You face Miledi Reisen. This is checkmate.” Sky blue mana erupted all around her. It twisted into a spiral, its radiance illuminating the dark room. She floated up into the sky, as if the laws of gravity had no effect on her. Her blonde ponytail fluttered back and forth, and her blue eyes sparkled as she gazed down at her foes.

  A swirling black sphere appeared in between her hands. She set it to orbit around her.

  Her mana capacity surpassed even Oscar’s.

  The knights were stunned speechless. It felt as if time slowed to a crawl.

  Hovering over them like that, Miledi looked almost divine. Everyone was left awestruck.

  Forneus was the first to return to his senses.

  “Wh-What are you fools doing!? Shoot that woman down!”

  The knights returned to their senses and unleashed their spells. Oscar made to shout out a warning, but it proved unnecessary.

  “Wh-What is that!?”

  “My magic just... disappeared!?”

  The knights’ spells were sucked into the sphere orbiting Miledi and vanished.

  This was one of her gravity spells, Spatial Severance. She’d created a black hole that absorbed all spells, regardless of their element. Even the knights’ Celestial Flashes couldn’t escape the dark star’s singularity. An unbreakable barrier made of gravity protected her.

  “If I can just take control of her consciousness!” Forneus yelled and held up his crystal. It seemed his crystal was imbued with some kind of mind manipulation magic.

  The knights began chanting again, hoping to supplement Forneus’ attack with their own.

  “Too late— Heavensfall.” Countless tiny black spheres popped up around her. They gathered above Forneus and the knights.

  A second later, they all sunk to the ground. The knights hadn’t even had time to scream. They were flat on the ground in the crater Miledi had created, not moving an inch. Forneus was barely conscious, but he still managed to spit out an insult.

  “Gah! Y-You harlot, what did you do!?” Blood dripped from his mouth.

  Miledi didn’t answer, and instead shifted her attention to the knights struggling to their feet. It seemed they’d survived by casting multiple body strengthenings at once.

  Miledi silently swung her hand down.

  “Gwaaaaaah!”

  “Uwooooooh!”

  They’d been using their swords as crutches, but Mil
edi’s new spell drove them back to their knees. They screamed in pain as they were forced to the ground.

  “Something’s pushing down on—” The knight didn’t get to finish. With a thud, the crater underneath him grew larger. All of the knights collapsed.

  They couldn’t even croak out an incantation.

  “You accursed heretic! You may break my bones, but you shall never break my faith!” Though his robes were tattered, the man wearing them was anything but. Oscar fully believed Forneus would take death over renouncing his faith. The faint light surrounding him led Oscar to guess that he’d used some kind of magical barrier, or a spell that absorbed mana to defend himself. Whatever it was, it just barely let Forneus withstand the weight.

  “The heavens belong to the gods! I shall smite you down— Earth Blast!” Having a large amount of mana was a prerequisite to becoming a bishop. A high-rank earth spell like Earth Blast was well within Forneus’ capabilities.

  The spell shattered the ground around the caster, and allowed them to use the resulting rubble as ammunition to shoot down their enemies.

  A hundred boulders of various sizes all hurtled toward Miledi.

  “Miledi!” Oscar shouted a warning. He was worried the sheer number of projectiles would overwhelm Miledi. Fortunately, he was mistaken.

  “Unbelievable, even mass attacks like that don’t work...” Forneus’ voice trembled in fear.

  To be honest, even Oscar sympathized. Miledi had stopped all of the boulders in midair, but they hadn’t fallen to the ground. Now they too were orbiting around her.

  “How is this possible! First, we have to fight a monster who can make artifacts left and right, and now you!? Why do heretics like you possess such power!? You disgusting, worthless, wretched, deplorable, bitch!” Forneus cursed Miledi out with unbridled rage.

  Miledi didn’t even dignify that with a response. Instead, she raised one of her hands. The boulders stopped circling around her. She brought her hand down and they all moved in accordance with her will.

  She’d shaped the hundred boulders into a guillotine made of rock. If that fell on Forneus, he would surely die. There was no dodging it. All he could choose was whether he’d be crushed to death, or have his head cut off.