Halfway throughout the battle, I hadn't noticed it, but Miranda had flipped on a switch and withdrew the chains into the ceiling. I probably didn't realize that because I was too busily fighting back against her magical projectiles. And when our spells collided and flooded the entire place with steam, Miranda seized the opportunity to withdraw those chains.
Honestly, I should have noticed the movement with my enchanted glasses, but I had originally thought she withdrew her precious chains because she didn't want her masterpiece to be destroyed during the battle. With all the fireballs, lightning bolts and icicles flying about, it was only natural that she would be worried about the destruction of her masterpiece.
Thanks to that, I was caught off guard when the chains descended from above and wrapped around my body. They were so heavy that I crashed onto my knees, momentarily taken aback by the tremendous weight. My first instinct was to try and untangle myself from the chains, but they had entwined around my body and limbs.
"Klein!" Stella shouted from the side, but she was struck by one of the muscular limbs of the grotesque abomination and flung aside. She vanished into a shelf, buried under equipment. The monstrous creature of fused humans continued to lumber toward her, bellowing in rage and pain.
Even though Stella hadn't brought it down yet, she had left a series of bloody scars across its hideous body and loped off plenty of limbs. Blood poured out of the stumps, the oily fluids splashing down against the ground.
"Ugh!"
Despite my best efforts, I was unable to shake off the chains from my limbs. While I flailed about, I felt smothered, as if something was pressing against my chest and choking the breath out of my lungs. My mana…I couldn't feel my mana at all! It was as if the chains were a ravenous creature, greedily sucking my magic out of me.
Consequently, no matter how I tried, I couldn't cast any of my ice spells at all.
"Didn't I tell you?" Miranda asked triumphantly. "My Chains of Void can seal a mage's magic powers. It was modeled after the cursed spear I found piercing Herman and Irene! No matter what you do, there is no way you'll be able to use your magic! Your ice spells have been sealed!"
"Aw hell…that's cold of you," I muttered sarcastically.
"Hmph. You can be facetious all you want, but it doesn't change the reality that my Chains of Void disrupts the flow of mana in your body, interfering with your casting of spells. These Chains of Void are the perfect weapon against mages! They will make the wielder invincible against any mage! Even demons will not be an exception!"
Oh, right. There were many demons who relied on magic. However, given their powerful physical strength, speed and innate weapons (many of them possessed fangs and claws), the Chains of Void might not be very practical.
Not that I was going to tell Miranda that. Far from it for me to rain on her parade. Instead, I remained silent as she continued to boast.
"It took me a while and many tries, but I was finally able to perfect the magic nullifying effect of the cursed spear! This is among my finest creations!"
"…you know, if you spent as much time working on these enchanted weapons instead of dissecting life humans and turning them into abominations, maybe you might have been able to not only perfectly replicate the cursed spear much sooner, but you might even be able to find a way to extract the cursed spear from Herman and Irene without killing them."
"Who cares about all that?" Miranda waved her hands dismissively. "Biology and creating artificial life is much more fascinating and fulfilling than forging enchanted gear and mystical weapons. There already exists so many enchanted weapons in this world. How impressive is it to craft yet another one? In contrast, the field of biology and homunculus remains so unexplored. If I were to attain achievements in that field, I'll be able to leave my mark on history!"
"So in the end it's all about your own ego, leaving your mark on history, huh?" I shook my head in disgust. "So much for the sake of humanity."
"Why can't they be the same thing?" Miranda sneered. "I can leave my mark on history and save humanity at the same time!"
I turned to shoot the melded abomination a dry stare. "That's saving humanity? I don't think those poor dudes merged tougher into a monster will be thanking you for your research."
"Sacrifices must be made!" Miranda raised a hand and fired wind blades and fireballs at me. "And you'll be among the first to be sacrificed!"
Uh…among the first? Funny way of numbering, given that she had already sacrificed over a thousand innocent villagers for her research.
Nonetheless, I swung the chains that were entwined around my arms and smacked the wind blades and fireballs aside. Just as I expected, the spells dissipated harmlessly against the chains. Miranda balked at that.
"Ah…I certainly forgot about that," she admitted. "But it doesn't matter. With your magic sealed, there is nothing you can do against me. Once Subject 702 finishes off your girlfriend, I'll set it on you."
She began laughing somewhat hysterically. The bitch was clearly insane.
"After watching your battle against my mage corps, I was able to comprehend your abilities. I was even able to see that you are now capable of casting the ultimate ice spell, Absolute Zero, and thus prepare the appropriate countermeasures."
Miranda then gestured toward her Chains of Void in a triumphant manner.
"And with my Chains of Void sealing your magic, no matter how powerful of a mage you are, if you're unable to use your trump card, Absolute Zero, it'll be my victory!"
"You seem pretty confident that you'll win just because you sealed my magic," I remarked with a shake of my head. Miranda snorted.
"Of course! If I shut down your spells, as long as I seal your magic, you're nothing more than a mere human! Without your magical power, you're trash! No, you're worse than trash!"
Miranda laughed triumphantly.
"YOU…!"
Stella had emerged from the shelf and was engaging the abomination again. At Miranda's words, she became distracted. Furious, she sprang toward the multi-mage, her sword flashing.
However, before she could clear the distance in a single bound, the muscular limbs from the abomination swung about and caught her in mid-leap. Gritting her teeth, Stella brought her sword back to parry the blow, but the sheer force of the monstrosity's blow hurled her toward the opposite wall. She struck the stone with such impact that she left a cobweb of cracks on the surface.
"Ugh…!"
Blood dribbled from her mouth. Stella staggered to her feet and raised her sword, warily watching the approaching grotesque abomination.
"It's so tough…!"
"I almost forgot about you too." Miranda shook her head and gave the fallen Stella a look before the latter's figure was blotted out by the hulking monstrosity of fused flesh. She grinned, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "A vampire knight, huh? Come to think of it, I have never dissected and experimented on a vampire before. I heard that you have incredible regenerative abilities. Ah…the endless possibilities! You will be the perfect specimen for my experiments!"
"Do you think I'll let you touch her?" I asked.
"Do you think you have a choice?" Miranda retorted. She raised a hand and blasted me with more wind blades, but I deflected them once more with the chains.
How interesting. Even though they sealed my magic, these chains were simultaneously the perfect shield for me against enemy mages. Perhaps I could make good use of these Chains of Void in future.
"Honestly, though…" Miranda peered at me, having no idea what sort of thoughts were running through my head. She placed her hands on her hips. "I never thought someone like you would be able to attain the ultimate ice spell. I always thought you were trash, a mage with average talent at best. That's why I agreed with the rest to get rid of you. Not only were you stealing our recognition and making all of us look bad with your hypocritical kindness, I thought you would be a liability eventually, with your lack of talent and mediocre skills. Seems like you have far more potential than even the losers who I accepted as my subordinates!"
"Huh? Are you talking about the mage corps?"
"Who else do you think I'm referring to?"
I scowled. "Those so-called 'losers' were willing to give their lives up for you. They were loyal to you until the very end, you know? Sacrificing themselves to try and protect your precious laboratory. And you're just insulting them like this?"
"So what?" Miranda sneered and folded her arms. "Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for them?"
"Huh?"
Miranda placed a hand on her face and laughed.
"What a fool! You really are a 'kind person,' aren't you?" she shook her head and grinned. "I'll let you in on another secret. You know, I told the others that you were the ideal candidate to sacrifice. Irene knew it too. We both agreed that you would be the easiest to manipulate, the best person in the party to take advantage of, because of how pure you are."
"…huh? Me? Pure?"
What the fuck was she talking about?
"Given your nature, you're the type who pretends to be kind and selfless. In order to hypocritically maintain that image and get in the good graces of others, you'll stupidly sacrifice yourself for our sakes. So we were already preparing…for a worst case scenario where if we met an enemy we cannot defeat and find it difficult to escape, we'll use you as bait…to throw you at the enemy so that you can buy the rest of us the time we need to escape. We were confident that you'd do it. But...at the same time, we know how hypocritical you are, how fake your kindness and selflessness was. That's why we told Herman to cripple you by cutting off your legs, in case your façade breaks down and you decide to revert to your true self and run away with us instead of nobly sacrificing yourself for our sakes."
…the irony was that she was wrong. That they were all wrong. If these idiots hadn't done the whole betrayal thing where they cut off my legs and sealed off the exit to trap me with Vincent Lucard, I would have gladly given my life for their sakes, to willingly sacrifice myself to buy them the time they needed to escape. Okay, maybe not gladly and there would be a great deal of reluctance, given what scum they clearly were, but even so I would have done my duty.
But these idiots ruined everything with their savage betrayal. Honestly, they brought their deaths upon themselves.
However, Miranda didn't realize that and she continued gloating.
"Perhaps your concern for other people is genuine. It doesn't really matter. But it's only natural that subordinates sacrifice themselves for their mistress, you know? Just like how all these worthless peasants should be honored to sacrifice their bodies for my research! I'm the chosen one! The greatest mage of Havan! Having all these people worship and dedicate themselves to me is only natural!"
Holy fuck…this bitch was really insane.
"Anyway, I have enough of listening to you."
Miranda raised a hand and launched several fireballs at me. I parried the fiery projectiles with the chains and felt the heat dissipate harmlessly. Hmm, so the null field had a range of several centimeters. That was good to know.
"Ugh, I keep forgetting that those chains also protect you from magic." Shaking her head in exasperation, Miranda turned to the abomination. "Subject 702! Are you still not done yet?!"
The grotesque monstrosity was staggering from a grievous wound that Stella had dealt it. She had eviscerated its belly, causing a few vile organs to spill out along with noxious fluids, but it was still alive. With a screech, it swung its limbs wildly at Stella, who was forced to dodge once more.
"Having so much trouble with a mere girl…you really are a failure!"
Shaking her head in disgust, Miranda turned back to me and continued to gloat.
"Don't worry, Klein. I won't kill the both of you. I'll make sure you spend the rest of your short lives in agony. Who knows, I might be kind enough to fuse you together with your girlfriend. I wonder what sort of creature the two of you might become. A vampire-human hybrid? Or perhaps you'll turn into a vampire if you receive some of her blood during the merger…"
"You know, you talk too much."
"Huh…?"
Miranda never got to finish her response. My hand smashed into her face, breaking her nose and knocking loose a few of her teeth. With a shriek, the multi-mage tumbled over, clutching her ruined face and staring at me in horror.
"H…how…?" she spluttered in a nasal voice. I flexed my arm, testing the weight of the chains, and then raised my leg to do the same. Then I kicked Miranda so hard that she was hurled against the wall with a bone-crunching snap.
"Like I said, you talk too much." I hopped about on the ground to check my limits. Good, seemed like the chains weren't as heavy as I originally thought they were. "You gave me enough time to get used to the weight of your precious enchanted weapon."