Chapter 73
About five years ago, when Melissa was fired from the Seven Sages after the shortest tenure in history and her younger brother Raul became the fifth 〈Thorn Witch〉, Raul became the talk of the entire kingdom.
He was a prodigious boy from the prestigious Roseberg family, possessing good looks reminiscent of the first 〈Thorn Witch〉 and immense magical power, and becoming a Seven Sage at the tender age of sixteen—the youngest ever.
The sister with the shortest-ever tenure and the brother who became a Seven Sage at the youngest age ever were generally spoken of as a set in mage circles.
However, one year later, there was a genius girl who rewrote the record for youngest Seven Sage.
The girl's name was Monica Everett, the 〈Silent Witch〉, who had been fifteen at the time.
The only person in the world capable of using magic without chanting, this girl was a hero of the Kingdom of Ridill who had driven off the two great evil dragons—the Black Dragon of Worgen and the Curse Dragon of Laneburg—and cleared the cursed Second Prince's name.
Who could possibly believe that this hero was the tiny girl with squishy MoniMoni cheeks who had just bitten her tongue right in front of Melissa?
"A human... who isn't chanting? Why?"
Veronica murmured in bewilderment, and Sloth clicked his tongue.
"Don't tell me she brought along the other Seven Sages too... Veronica! Finish them off, now!"
At Sloth's furious shout, Veronica nodded once and pointed her slender fingers at Monica and the others. Pale-blue motes of light instantly scattered around them.
Each tiny mote was a particle of ice. In an instant, they swelled into slender daggers.
Several dozen daggers, each decorated with delicate, beautiful designs like a work of art, rained down all at once.
Without so much as changing expression, Monica extended one hand in front of her. That alone activated a defensive barrier around them.
(So this is magic without chanting...!)
Monica had heard the rumors, but seeing it with her own eyes was still astonishing.
Barrier magic was a unique type of spell formation distinct from elemental magic. It took considerable time to master. Yet even this was something 〈Silent Witch〉 could do without chanting.
There were not many mages who could fight a high-ranking spirit one-on-one.
As far as Melissa knew, the current Seven Sage known as 〈Cannonball Mage〉 was the foremost mage skilled in combat, but while 〈Cannonball Mage〉 possessed tremendous one-shot power, their chants took time. They were good at fighting large dragons, but would probably lose outright in a one-on-one battle against an agile spirit.
As for mages who could truly fight a spirit, there was the former Seven Sage 〈Thunder Mage〉 at the height of their powers, or perhaps 〈Witch of the Star Lance〉, who could control seven spells at once—both exceptional figures whose names had been etched into the history of the Kingdom of Ridill.
And now, a small girl standing before Melissa ranked alongside such legends.
While maintaining her defensive barrier, Monica created a flaming serpent and sent it after Veronica. Melissa secretly marveled at the precision of her magic.
If an inferior mage tried to control that much flame, it would surely spread to the furniture, but the gigantic flaming serpent Monica controlled burned away only Veronica's attacks, without a single bit of waste. It was extraordinarily precise and calculated magic.
(...It looks like a fifty-fifty fight for now, but...)
〈Silent Witch〉 and a high-ranking spirit—both were beings who did not need to chant.
Monica had a wider variety of magic, while Veronica possessed overwhelmingly greater magical reserves. If the battle dragged on, Monica would be at a disadvantage.
Melissa wanted to support Monica, but she was nearly out of magic herself. Unable to intervene without taking a risk, she was growing frustrated when Raul placed a hand on the thorns and began chanting.
"I'm borrowing your roses, Sis!"
"Hey! Don't use them without asking, you idiot little brother!"
"But this is an emergency!"
When Raul finished his chant, the rose vines surrounding Melissa began growing at a frightening speed.
What he was doing was the same as Melissa, but the amount of magic infused into the vines was on an entirely different level.
The fifth 〈Thorn Witch〉, Raul Roseberg, was the monster with the greatest magical reserves among all living mages.
The roses, into which he had poured that vast magical power without hesitation, grew until they covered half the room.
Though both Monica's flaming serpent and Raul's thorns targeted her, Veronica did not so much as twitch an eyebrow as she fended off their simultaneous attacks with ice daggers.
Every time Veronica flicked her slender fingers, the ice daggers danced through the air.
Every piece of icework Veronica created was delicate and beautiful, each one resembling a work of art.
The thorn whips and flaming serpent shattered them one after another. Even as shards of ice glittered and scattered through the air, Veronica did not change expression.
Melissa whispered to Raul, who was controlling the thorns.
"Idiot little brother, use your head a little."
"Huh? Headbutt?"
Wondering yet again how this blockhead had ever become a Seven Sage, Melissa lightly rapped Raul on the head and smiled wickedly.
"If that woman is a contracted spirit... then our target is over there, right?"
＊ ＊ ＊
Raul's thorny assistance gave Monica a little breathing room.
Monica dispelled her defensive barrier and simultaneously deployed a gigantic flaming serpent and blades of wind to attack Veronica.
The simultaneous attack by the visible giant serpent and the invisible blades of wind proved fairly effective, and the wind blades sliced through Veronica's clothes and skin.
No blood flowed from the white skin that had been cut. Instead, particles of light trickled down in a soft shower. Spirits were masses of magical power, so magic flowed out from any place where they were wounded.
(I wonder how much damage that actually did...)
Monica had no experience fighting spirits. In the first place, it was rare for anyone to end up in combat with a spirit.
The high-ranking spirits Monica knew were Ryns Belfeed, Louis's contracted spirit, and Wildiane, Isaac's contracted spirit, but even among spirits, their specialties differed considerably.
Furthermore, even high-ranking spirits varied in strength depending on how long they had lived.
...Put simply, the older a spirit was, the stronger it was.
(This spirit is strong... Or rather, she's incredibly skilled at handling magic.)
The ice daggers raining down on Monica were crafted with extraordinary precision. Applying such intricate designs to ice created from magic was something human skill at controlling magic could scarcely accomplish.
Of course, it was not only the craftsmanship that was impressive. Veronica's technique was extraordinarily skillful in everything from the trajectories of the ice daggers to the variations in their speed.
Monica suspected that Veronica was one of the oldest spirits among the high-ranking ones.
"I've never seen a human who doesn't need to chant. Rare."
Veronica muttered and raised her right hand into the air.
Pale-blue light began gathering in her hand. Monica caught her breath at the pressure of the magical power.
Until now, Veronica had been fighting with technique, but at this point she switched to prioritizing sheer power.
"You're unusual, but... this is the end."
"Hold it right there!"
Melissa's voice cut Veronica off.
When Veronica and Monica looked toward the voice, they saw Sloth bound in thorns.
Sloth grimaced as the thorns dug into him and spat curses.
"Damn it, that hurts! Let go! Let me go, you damn bitch!"
"My, my, what foul language... If you don't want thorns shoved into that mouth, shut it."
As she spoke, Melissa thrust her bright-red claws toward Sloth's eyeball. At this point, it was impossible to tell which of them was the villain.
Melissa brushed back her dry red hair and curled her bright-red lips into a grin.
"Now, you nasty spirit! If you care about your master's life, surrender!"
"Awesome, Sis. You're like a bandit boss."
"I might make a bloodbath of you too, you know?"
Melissa shot Raul a withering glare before turning her attention to Veronica.
Veronica stared at Melissa and Sloth without so much as twitching an eyebrow...
"I see."
With only those words, she thrust her palm forward.
A blast of the fiercest cold, accompanied by blades of ice, raged through the room. Monica instinctively abandoned her attack and erected two defensive barriers. Even so, the bone-chilling cold made her hair flutter and brushed against her forehead and cheeks.
Sloth, bound in thorns, bulged his eyes and screamed.
"Veronica! That's an order! Save me!"
"...Sloth has outlived his usefulness."
Her muttered words were utterly merciless.
Veronica looked at Sloth neither with contempt nor pity, but as though she genuinely couldn't care less about him.
The powerful cold pouring from Veronica did not stop. Even so, she created another ten or so swords of ice.
Even Monica's defensive barriers would not be able to withstand those ice swords if they came raining down.
Raul's thorns could hold back the ice swords, but they could not protect anyone from the cold.
"You humans who know my true identity will all disappear here."
The ice swords rained down amid the extreme cold.
Monica alternated between her two barriers, trying to blunt the force of the ice swords.
Like stacking layer after layer of thin paper, each time one barrier broke, she immediately created the next. When that one broke, she created another, repeating the process again and again.
It was a brute-force maneuver possible only because Monica could use magic without chanting, but it naturally consumed tremendous amounts of magic and required intense concentration.
While continuously erecting barriers with inhuman concentration, Monica calculated at the same time.
How many more defensive barriers would she need to create to completely stop Veronica's attack...?
──One hundred eighty-two times.
She could block the attack if she created one hundred eighty-two more defensive barriers—but her magic would run out before then, of course.
(...No... I can't hold out like this...!)
Just as Monica's face turned pale with despair, a sharp metallic chime rang through the room.
At the same time, something rose up from the floor. It was a wall of ice—a thick wall that protected Monica and the others from Veronica's cold.
Monica could think of only one person capable of using ice magic this powerful.
Monica's eyes widened as she turned toward the door.
The person who had saved Monica and the others with a high-powered ice spell was...
"Are you unharmed, madam?! Fear not! Now that I have arrived, everything is all right!"
At the doorway, Antony—a large black-haired man—waved while standing with an ice magic sword embedded in the floor.
Melissa half-lidded her eyes and muttered, "...What is with that overbearing man?"