ebonymovies Chapter 244: One Last Hurdle
Chapter 244: One Last Hurdle
“Help?” Prota asked calmly.“Hm… I’ll give it a try, I suppose,” Jinae said confidently. “However, I trust you’ll step in should something go wrong?”
“Nn,” Prota nodded. “Careful. They can use magic.”
“They can- what?!”
As if to prove Prota’s point, a weak fireball shot forward toward the group. Jinae immediately blocked it, but the fact that corpses could use magic was immediately unsettling. At least, it was unsettling to Jinae, who understood that this wasn’t naturally possible.
But even in the face of the supernatural, Prota’s first mentor couldn’t help but grow excited.
“So this is your power,” Jinae muttered, an enthusiastic grin on her face. “I see. So even the impossible becomes possible.”
Immediately, she dropped her barrier and sent several sharp arrows of earth flying forward, immediately piercing several enemies in the head. However, instead of falling over, they just continued to push forward, powered by something Jinae did not understand.
“Hm… then, how about this?”
Suddenly, a blazing inferno appeared in the middle of the room, setting any visible cloth ablaze and turning any metallic components white with heat. The creatures began to shriek, their flesh igniting, revealing the black goop they were composed of underneath.
However, that goop didn’t burn. It stayed the same. Unharmed and untouched.
“What?” Jinae frowned.
The fire was snuffed out, replaced by a frigid cold. Even then, while the creature’s movements slowed a little, the goop itself did not freeze. Jinae tried encasing them with metal and earth, but they broke out with their unusual strength. Spell after spell, element after element, and nothing seemed to work.
Jinae could affect their surroundings, but it seemed that the material they were made of was untouchable.
“I’m beginning to see what you mean,” Jinae said awkwardly. “Then, I suppose my fun has come to an end.”
Prota nodded, stepping forward. She raised her hand, picturing the wild emotions that might fly through her head when she would meet John again. Anger? Pain? Sadness?
She didn’t know.
But she knew that she would feel something.
That emotion began to burn up inside, and outside, the mana bent to her will, igniting the room. Prota managed to keep Jinae out of the blast range, but the rest of the creatures inside immediately caught fire. Not burning from an external source, but as a result of having their internal temperatures raised so high that everything in the spell’s radius began to burn.
In an instant, they were reduced to ash.
“That’s a little terrifying,” Jinae said with a feeble laugh. “I’m not quite sure that anyone could defend against such a spell.”
“But you could,” Prota pointed out.
“I suppose I could. But that is neither here nor there. Shall we continue?”
Prota nodded, and they moved through the lab once more.
This time, it was the more humanoid monster, the one that could use a rather strong range of magic. Prota remembered struggling against this creature in the past. One of the harder fights she’d had in this lab. However, that was only because it had taken her a while to figure out what its weakness was.
This time, the solution was rather simple.
Jinae knew to stay out of things this time around. Immediately, Prota summoned her strongest fire domain, setting up perfectly for the next step. There was no need to hesitate. She snapped her fingers, and a pillar of plasma materialized on the monstrosity.
Immediate vaporization. That was all it took.
“You don’t play around, do you?” Jinae muttered as they pressed on.
“Dangerous. And sad,” Prota said, shaking her head. “Experiments. Like me. Suffering. Put them to rest. No need to wait. Too risky.”
“A completely fair assessment.”
Prota’s core had been depleted twice now. Her staff was two thirds empty. While her mind was now capable of keeping up with her spells, it didn’t change the fact that mana depletion was starting to become a real issue. It was fascinating. It seemed that, no matter how strong she got, there was always some sort of issue. Still, she’d much rather have an issue of mana depletion than a lack of strength.
Soon, they reached the prison cells, the ones with doors crafted of anti-mana material. Prota steadied herself.
The end goal was almost here.
Suddenly, Prota stopped in her tracks. The sight of their next opponent was enough to make her hesitate.
At this rate, she wouldn’t have enough mana left for the last creature. In the past, [Infinity] had made her usage of mana far more efficient, allowing her to battle all the way through. This time, however, even with a larger core, she was running out of resources. This creature was strong.
Then, she remembered something. These creatures were undefeatable because they harboured [Deus Ex Machina] energy. Then where had all that energy gone?
“Ah, so you remembered,” Anta said in her mind, as not to bother the monster. “Unfortunately, it’s ambient. That’s the answer to your question.”
“...what?”
“It’s such a little amount of energy that it hasn’t formed. See, these creatures are all the result of one set of experiments, or one set of power. In a way, they’re all linked. You’ll need to kill all of them to finish things.”
“Hm… use [DEM]?”
“Here? I’d rather not,” Anta said nervously. “What’s the point?”
“...running out of mana.”
“That’s not a reason to use the literal power of god.”
“Then how?”
“Well, ask Jinae for help. Besides, that woman’s got a lot of mana, right?”
Prota’s eyes widened. That was true. Jinae likely had more than enough mana for one more fight, and if they met up with Henry soon after, she might just have enough for the last one.
Although, the last one might just be impossible without [Deus Ex Machina] anyway.
With a sigh, Prota turned toward Jinae.
“Jinae,” she said quietly. “Trust me?”
“Trust you? With what?”
“...mana.”
“Mana? What do you– Ah.”
Jinae instinctively understood Prota’s question. The only question was whether or not she would accept.
“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing I brought these along. I should’ve known you were burning through your reserves,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
A ring on her finger flashed, and three mana potions fell into her hands. Prota looked at them reluctantly, but it was better than nothing.
“...thank you,” she said, but not without her reservations.
Once again, she couldn’t believe she’d wanted to drink these. If she ever reincarnated into some kind of other world, or some kind of future timeline, she vowed to make mana potions that tasted as good as they looked.
Quickly, she downed potion after potion. Jinae seemed to have quite a few. Apparently, she’d prepared well for this mission. Prota drank them, not without a little hatred in her heart, but eventually, her staff and core were both replenished.
Even with this, she couldn’t help but feel that things were going a little too easily. The zombie like figure before them was one thing, but if the next enemy showed up—
“Mommy? Daddy?”
Prota whirled around and froze in fear.
This monster.
The one that had been the beginning of the end.
“You know, even if you don’t say it out loud, you should really stop thinking that things are going too easily,” Anta laughed. “You know what that does at this point.”
“...not funny.”
“Well, it’s not that bad of a situation, you know? Let’s just deal with it and move on. I don’t know why you drank all those mana potions, too.”
“What?”
She heard Anta sigh loudly. Not just because she was tired or annoyed, but because the soul was actively trying to show her disappointment.
“Prota. You remember what you can absorb now? Not just mana cores or souls.”
“...spells?”
“Right, right. And do you remember why, exactly, these creatures were so hard to beat?”
Prota’s eyes widened.
“Oh.”
“There you go! So let’s get to it, alright?”
Prota nodded, narrowing her eyes as she focused on the enemy before her.
“Jinae,” she said quietly. “Be careful.”
“Will you be all right?” the old lady asked.
“Nn. But I can’t protect you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. These old bones will take care of themselves.”
“...ok. If it gets dangerous. Hide in a cell.”
Prota lowered her staff, letting it sling onto her back magically. Anta took over the body, leaving Prota to work as a separate consciousness rather than allowing them to merge.
Over the year they’d trained, they’d discovered something: integrating was not always more powerful.
While it allowed them to work more in sync, allowing their motions to fluidly connect and chain together, that wasn’t always necessary. It was an amazing power against skilled opponents who could be beat down. When all their focus could be drilled into one task, it was an incredible skill.
But not all their fights were meant to be focused on a single individual.
Sometimes, the strength of two minds was better than two minds in one.
“Mommy? Daddy?” the creature called out.
Anta didn’t bother paying attention.
“Sorry. You’re not a kid. And we’re not your parents.”
Immediately, a scythe of flames fell into her hands, cleaving through the air, threatening to immediately decapitate the monster. It bubbled, splitting in two, cloning itself.
Anta knew that was going to happen.
The scythe extended, enlarging and engulfing the entire corridor. It cleaved through the enemy, splitting the girl-like monster in two. Their forms bubbled, reforming into four.
But this time, they were smaller. More manageable.
“Anta!” Jinae yelled.
A giant fireball from behind was threatening to engulf them, but it was fine. Prota was already on it.
Their vision went momentarily dark, allowing Prota to turn a [Fireball] into [Mana].
And from there, [Mana] back into a [Fireball].
The attack that had been launched at her was redirected right back at the enemy.
There was a massive explosion that shook the place, dust raining down from the ceiling. When the debris settled down, the creature was half dead, its body burnt away, but it was still alive. Unfortunately, Anta didn’t have time to deal with it. She was too busy attacking the more potent threat.
But Prota was available.
In this manner, Anta dashed forward, slicing away at the creature that could only split over and over. Every time it tried to form a spell, Anta would simply slash again, the [Deus Ex Machina] power within the body stopping it from properly reforming.
On the other side, Prota continued to fire spells off at her own enemy, interrupting any new spells the monster tried to form and chipping away at its defenses bit by bit. Strangely, it was tough, but then again, Prota had used an incredibly powerful spell to deal with it before. Killing it in one shot with lesser spells wouldn’t do.
“Anta! Again!”
Suddenly, Anta’s eyes flashed as she noticed two masses of mana forming on both sides of her. Neither girl had noticed the enemies forming what seemed to be a desperate last stand. It was an insane spell that was being formed. If they were hit with that, mana reinforcement or not, they would die instantly.
“Prota,” she muttered.
“...tired.”
“We have healing orbs for the after effects. I know it’s hard, but… I’ll take care of the aftermath.”
“Ok.”
Immediately, their vision went dark. The spells were large. Even with conceptual vision, the size of the [Spells] was just so large that it was hard not to be overwhelmed. Immediately, it felt like clothes made of solid lead had been placed on Prota, like the world’s gravity had increased a hundredfold. Her body felt like it was folding under the weight, like something was physically pulling her down. She struggled to just remain standing.
But she had to do it.
[Spells] were [Mana].
And [Mana] was something she could reuse.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She could see countless [Enemies] in front of her, and a singular [Enemy] behind her. If she had to redirect the spell, it would go to the swarm before her.
And with this much mana, there was a spell she could easily use.
“A Dance of Ice.”
Colours shot back into existence as the spells vanished, condensing into a small, blue ball before her, the cold freezing the walls and floor even without doing anything.
“Anta. You…”
With her last bit of energy, she tossed the orb forward.
What Prota hadn’t realized was that energy was not equal to mental strength. If her body had burned out from the effort of casting the spell, Anta wouldn’t be conscious, either.
Thankfully, it didn’t matter.
The spell exploded without much fanfare. Just a small pop.
And in that instant, the corridor immediately froze, turning every single thing into pure ice. Not just a matter of freezing things over, but turning them into pure ice. The air was frigidly cold, so cold that any ordinary human would have instantly died without layers and layers of protection.
One of the cell doors rattled a few times before blowing open, and Jinae burst out. The door hadn’t been locked.
The ice covering it had simply been too strong to break through easily.
“Prota!” she exclaimed, rushing to the girl’s side.
She held the girl’s arm, checking for a pulse. Thankfully, one was still present, and Prota seemed to respond somewhat. Immediately, Jinae took out a potion and poured it down her throat, hoping, praying.
“Nn… tired,” Prota groaned, her eyes fluttering.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Jinae sighed. “You’re alright.”
“Nn.” Prota sat up this time, squinting as a sharp pain passed through her chest.
Still, she managed to get up, looking around. Aside from the frozen hall, there were few traces of the battle.
A far superior result to the last time she’d been here.
For a moment, Prota was still dazed, but that was fine. There were no more threats in the lab. She could sit and let the potion do its work. Slowly but surely, she recovered, her vitality eventually returning.
And once she was ready, she remembered that there was one last thing she was here for.
“Nn. This way.”
She wandered over to a door, a fireball forming in her hands. Shoving it toward the hinges, she blew the thing clean off, revealing the man in the cell inside.
“Hello. Chief.”
Henry looked up, eyes wide.
“Y-you? How- how are you here- Jinae?”
“Henry! You’re alright!” Jinae exclaimed, peering into the cell. “Oh, thank the goddess.”
“Well, yes, but how are you- what’s going on?”
“Ah. I suppose we should explain from the beginning.”
Jinae explained what should could, considerately leaving out details on Prota’s end. Henry seemed to calm down, but he still glanced at Prota nervously from time to time. When Jinae’s story was finally finished, Prota just sighed.
“It’s ok,” she said, shaking her head. “You already paid me back.”
“I… what?”
“What happened in the village. Not your fault. It’s ok.”
“You- you know I’m- wait, what? I don’t quite understand, I-”
“...don’t ask,” Prota said, her tone dull. “It’s ok. You already helped me. And now I’m strong. Stronger than you. So it ended up ok.”
Henry’s jaw dropped. Jinae, seeing this, could only laugh.
“She’s right, Henry. She’s stronger than me, even. There’s no use in trying to argue with her.”
“Well, if you’re saying that… very well. Prota. I don’t know quite know what you’re talking about. But what happened back then… it was not right. That fact does not change.”
Prota nodded, but that didn’t really matter to her. She’d received her apologies and compensation already in her last life. Right now, she was actually going to ask for a favour that had already been paid.
But Henry didn’t know that.
“But… Prota,” Jinae said. “While I appreciate you coming, surely you came for a reason. Is there something else you were looking for?”
“Nn,” Prota nodded.
She stepped outside and scanned the area, spotting a little red orb on the ground. She grabbed it, staring at it for a moment before Anta appeared, taking it and shoving it into Zero’s scarf. It glowed for a brief moment, then stitched a few more inches onto itself.
“What the- a ghost!” Henry exclaimed. “A-a-a ghost!”
“Oh, calm down, you,” Anta grumbled. “I’m going back, Prota. Let me know if anything interesting is happening.”
She vanished, just like that, leaving Henry dumbfounded. Even Jinae was a little startled at how suddenly Anta had appeared.
“Um… ok. Chief,” Prota said calmly, slightly annoyed that Anta had left her in this situation. “I need something.”
“What- from me? Not to question you, but… what could you possibly need?” Suddenly, he shook his head. “Wait, no. There’s a dangerous creature out there. That’s the entire reason I’m in here to begin with. We need to-”
“Killed it,” Prota sighed. “Please. Help.”
“You… what?”
“Killed it. Not a problem. Help me now.”
Henry just stared. Things seemed to be going a little too quickly for him.
“I- um- alright. Sorry, I’m just a little confused. What do you need help with?”
“...magic circle. Accelerate core growth.”
Both Henry and Jinae’s eyes shot wide open, staring at Prota in shock.
“How do you know about that?!” Henry exclaimed. “That’s-”
“Regressor,” Prota said simply.
“She… she’s on a mission, Henry. She knows what we’re looking for,” Jinae said softly. “I presume that if she knows about this, you’ve already done it for her.”
“Then did I tell you it takes me a year to recover?” Henry said, still a little doubtful. “I mean-”
“No. Last time, you died.”
“I- what?”
“Needed to recover,” Prota explained, “using Doctor’s machine. Didn’t work. Had to wait five years. You stayed. I guess… as a gift. You made it for me.”
Henry flinched. Prota didn’t judge. The news of one’s own death definitely wasn’t something to take lightly. Regarding something like this, Prota would allow Henry to take as long as he needed.
Even if he couldn’t give it to her, it wasn’t the biggest loss ever, but it would definitely help her in any fight besides the one against John. If she had to confront demons or anything of the sort, the ability to cast A Dance of Fire or A Dance of Ice would be incredibly handy.
No. Forget demons.
Even against Mystics and John, the spell was useful. It was simply too powerful to be ignored.
She’d been trying to cope by telling herself it wasn’t going to do anything against her final goals, but that simply wasn’t true. She needed Henry to give this to her. If he didn’t, she would be at a massive disadvantage.
“I thought you said she was more powerful than us,” Henry said quietly. “Then why…”
“Well, put it this way, Henry,” Jinae explained. “Did you kill the creature?”
“...I see. I… well, I guess I haven’t paid for what I did to you, anyway.”
He sighed, pulling out of piece of paper and an ink brush from his pocket. Setting them down on the cold stone floor, he began to draw.
Prota wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was definitely beautiful. The silent rustle of bristles on paper, leaving behind a trail of ink, seemingly random at first, but soon gathering in a beautiful pattern. Stroke after stroke, line after curve, all coming together in harmony.
However, as soon as the circle was complete, there was a faint glow, and Henry immediately doubled over, coughing up blood. Prota suddenly understood what this man meant.
His core had been depleted, and it wasn’t regaining mana normally. He would literally be unable to use magic for a full year.
But, at the very least, she could bring him some relief now.
“What the-” he started as a faint green light was cast over him.
One of the gems in Prota’s bracelet darkened.
“...thank you, Prota,” Henry said, seemingly calmed down. “I’m sorry. I forgot myself for a bit. This is usually reserved for new members of the organization, so I may have overreacted a bit.”
“Nn. Not your fault. Pushed things too fast,” Prota said, shaking her head. “Sorry. But I need to go now.”
“No, no. This is the least I can do for you.”
“...thank you.” She turned to Jinae, nodding once. “If you want to find me, find the hero.”
“What- the hero?”
“You can find him. If it’s you,” Prota said with a little smile. “If we meet again, we meet again. If not, then thank you.”
“Me? For what?” Jinae frowned.
“Taking care of me. Both lives. You helped me. Told me to live. So thank you.”
Jinae was momentarily confused, but gradually, she just gave Prota a gentle smile.
“You are most definitely welcome, child. And should
Prota gave her a single nod, then turned back to Henry. She wasn’t exactly sure how to say her goodbyes, but…
Well, maybe that was for the best.
“Thank you, chief. You saved the world. Kind of.”
With that, she grabbed the magic circle and left without another word.
~~~
As it turned out, only a day had passed since Prota had left the Elvish kingdom. She was exhausted, though, so she rented a room at an inn for a night and slept like a log. Maybe Jinae and Henry were still here. Maybe not. She didn’t care.
It was past noon when she awoke once more. Sitting up, she combed through her long, tangled hair with her fingers, trying to straighten it out, but with little success. In the end, she gave up and pulled out the magic circle again.
Somehow, the whole situation didn’t feel real. It’d gone by a little too easily. A little too quickly.
But maybe that was simply in perspective of what was to come.
“...it’s a lot of power,” Anta said quietly. “I mean, it doesn’t change anything, but this really is the end, huh?”
Prota nodded. She felt a strange sense of dread. She’d grown to accept her future, but now that it was actually here, it felt a little strange.
The last bits of her adventure had passed so suddenly. Without warning. Without preparation.
“Hey. I just want to let you know… once we do this, there’s no going back. I don’t think this is going to end with John just giving everything up again. If he does do that, well, we might as well just die.”
Prota recoiled as if physically hit by the statement. This was the first time Anta had ever suggested something so grim.
“Think about it, Prota. Realistically, if John does not want to lose, he’s not going to. Have you thought about it? How are we going to bypass [Resets]?”
“But [DEM]-”
“I hate to break it to you, but no. That’s not how that works. Diaboli knows this too. Why do you think John survived last time?”
Prota flinched. Right, even when John was at his weakest point, Diaboli had never actually killed him. She’d had multiple opportunities to do so, but in the end, she hadn’t.
“The only thing we can do is convince him to give up on himself. And that is pretty possible. Sofia almost did it. Diaboli almost did it too, I think. But simply killing him isn’t possible. And do you have it in you to demoralize him so much that he gives up on life itself?”
There was no answer to that question.
“Look. I don’t think that’s going to happen. But my point is, once we face him, it’s either a happy ending, or a doomed one. Either way, we have time. He won’t come to us. We have to go to him. And don’t worry about Diaboli. If John uses his energy well enough… well, she’ll come on over anyway. Everything’s fallen into place for us. So, given that: is there anything you want to do before you face him?”
A sense of finality.
The journey really was coming to an end.
There was nothing left for Prota to do, no mandatory tasks or set events she had to attend. No more [Deus Ex Machina] to extract, no more friends to collect.
Suddenly, Prota felt very, very small. Not because she was insignificant. But because the task before her was so gargantuan that she felt overwhelmed in comparison.
In the fact of all that, perhaps she was entitled to a little selfishness.
“...ok. One more time,” Prota said quietly. “Let’s live.”