"You're outnumbered. You must know your tricks won't delay the others long," Albaric said viciously, "And you certainly can't beat me. So what's the plan, Michael?"
Michael tilted his head to one side indifferently, "Are you sure about that?"
Albaric let out a contemptuous laugh, "Has being in the demon world made you lose your mind?! You've never beaten me once. You may be better than the average swordsman but you were never able to use holy magic. Do you know why?"
"I'm sure you'll enlighten me,"
"Because you can't control yourself," Albaric spat, "If you had just waited I could have had your sentence commuted to life. I wouldn't have let you die! Even after everything you've done, I would have still helped you!"
"It sure didn't look that way when you took off the moment we got caught," Michael said unmoved.
Albaric's eyes twitched, "I came back, didn't I?!"
"Old friend," Michael dismissed, "You know what your problem is? You leave everything to the last minute. Why? Because you're waiting to see if the problem will resolve itself. The world doesn't work that way. In life you have to take action otherwise no one else will."
"This is why you could never learn holy magic," Albaric scoffed, "You always have to be in control. Not everything can be fixed through the exertion of will. If you're constantly at odds with the world, you can never see its true nature. Things will proceed no matter what you or I do. Instead of always fighting it, sometimes you have to trust that a greater power knows better than you do!"
"And what greater power compels you this time, sword saint?" Michael replied undeterred. "What do you gain by stopping me? Nothing. Sometimes, you can't blindly follow. You have to look at where the path is leading you. Do you really want to live in a world without magic?"
Albaric flinched, "I know what's at stake...and truthfully first I was afraid. But I realised something in coming after you,"
"What's that?"
"Even without my magic, I will still be the same person. So will you. So will everyone else. Not just anyone would steal from the Empire as you have done. And neither will I meet another man as stubborn as the Emperor. A person's magic doesn't determine who they are. For good or for bad people will do as they desire,"
"That's it? That's your answer?" Michael laughed. "So for that reason, you'll bend your head and do as the Emperor bids you without question? We can be who we are with magic. Destroying the demon world will accomplish nothing,"
"Having been to the demon world yourself, I'm surprised you can say that. Didn't you see what they did during the last war?"
"It's precisely for that reason that we must maintain our power. As long as I have my magic, there is no greater power than the force of my own will," Michael smiled, "Here, let me show you,"
Michael suddenly threw out his hand wildly, battering Albaric with a wall of water. This time Albaric was able to leap back just in time. However, to his surprise, he found his foot trapped. He stared down. His leg was encased in ice.
"I usually can't use ice magic," Michael smiled, "but it becomes much easier when the environment is right and I've been practising,"
"Don't tell me you came here for that reason?" Albaric glared.
"It's quite difficult to switch between a school of magic in combat," Michael replied watching him with a smile, "Since you decided to team up with Clover, I needed a bit of reinforcement,"
Albaric thrust his sword down, shattering the ice. "That won't be enough to help you,"
"No, perhaps not," Michael replied, "but Albaric, don't you know? I always come prepared,"
Albaric lunged at him. Suddenly, a shard of ice shot out of the ground. Albaric's eyes widened. He dodged and skidded back. The ice spears continued to jet out of the snow one after the other. He continued to dodge each.
Albaric glanced back at Michael. What was he doing? He didn't even seem to be casting any magic. How was he doing it? Albaric narrowly dodged another spike. Michael leant back against a tree watching with a smile.
Albaric's eyes panned down. Where he had dug his foot into the snow trying to avoid the spikes, he noticed strange patterns engraved into the rock below.
"What is this?" Albaric halted. The moment he stopped moving, the spikes stopped coming.
He remained very still. Slowly his eyes came back to Michael.
"You didn't think I was just playing around all this time did you?" Michael grinned. "I didn't know who would reach us first, you or Clover so I had to plan for both. I never would have guessed you'd team up again. Has the Emperor become soft?"
"What kind of magic is this?" Albaric demanded.
"State magic," Michael picked up a stone and threw it in Alabric's direction. A shard of ice immediately shot out. Albaric barely dodged in time before another row of spikes followed. He fell back against a tree breathlessly. He was pinned against it, unable to move, least he was attacked once more.
"It's an old and somewhat useless magic on most accounts but I learned it just in case," Michael said drily, "I happened upon it researching Ace's necklace. It's the act of changing the state of mana to magic in an inanimate object. Of course, what you see here is far less complex than that of the necklace. It still requires my magic to work. I've stored it in a hundred or more stones all over this forest. The ruins get activated by the presence of magic. And since you use magic like it's water, it's quite happy to target you. I imagine sister Rena and Clover will be the same."
"It's only been a few days since you came here." Albaric said through gritted teeth, "you can't have expended that much magic in such a short period of time. Eventually, it will run out, then you'll be trapped again,"
"Correction," Michael grinned, "I decided upon this plan in the demon world. It was quite difficult to tell you the truth. It used every ounce of my magic. So many times I wanted to tear Clover apart but I had to restrain myself, it really was an exercise of control. Luckily, as you've pointed out, I love being in control. Everything went exactly as I predicted. I even had time to fill some additional stones upon arrival."
"So running around the north with the portals. It wasn't to hide from us?"
"No, alas it was to set a great trap for you all," Michael gave a theatrical bow, "Both the Emperor and Clover are quite singularly minded when it comes to this necklace. Fortunately, that makes them easy to anticipate. You are still right though. The magic will eventually run out regardless. And thus, I need to get on with what I came here to do,"
"What would that be?" Albaric interrogated.
"Well, my plan is..." Michael paused. "Just kidding. Come on, Albaric. As if I'd tell you. You'll be much too busy to worry about my plan anyway,"
"What does that mean?"
Michael waved his hand. The ruins were activated once more. A dozen spikes flew towards Albaric.
Michael walked away with a smile.
On the other side of the forest, Ace and Clover were arguing once more. Though the manner was quite different than usual.
"Why did you do that?!" Ace's voice trembled.
"Can you yell at me later?" Clover swallowed uneasily.
"Just stay still," Ace exhaled rapidly. He tiptoed towards them.
"I couldn't move even if I wanted to," Clover laughed shakily.
They were impaled in the shoulder by a shard of ice against a tree. Ace crept towards them. He reached out and pulled it from their shoulder. Clover fell into his arm with a stifled groan. Ace caught them and for a moment they were still. However, upon seeing Clover's blood across his hands, Ace began to shake again. He swallowed hard.
"Why did you push me out of the way?" he asked, his voice breaking. "I don't understand you at all, Clover..."
"Ace, I need you to focus now," Clover patted him limply.
"How can we get out of here?" Ace breathed. "Wherever we go, the magic just comes from nowhere!"
"Stay calm," Clover said softly, "We'll be fine,"
"How can I be calm?!" Ace faltered, "you've lost so much blood, Clover. First before and now..."
"Panicking isn't going to help. I just need a minute to think," Clover said, "just be quiet for a second,"
Ace could feel the warmth of their breath falling quickly and shallow on his neck. He couldn't fathom the source of their composure but he obeyed. His own mind had only grown more chaotic.
"Okay," Clover said at length, "listen to me carefully. In a moment, I need you to help me stand. This magic is activated by something around us. It's reactive. Rather than fighting the magic itself, we need to destroy the source. I'm going to flatten this whole area. When I give you the signal, you need to run, okay?"
"I'm not going to leave you here!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief.
"I will be fine." Clover sighed, "but I can't cast the magic and be worried about you at the same time."
"But Clover...I...."Ace faltered.
"Just trust me, Ace. I know what I'm doing. You think I intend to die before the demon world gets destroyed?"Clover gave a weak smile
Ace's brow furrowed as he stared down bitterly.
"Okay then," Clover inhaled, "Now, you need to go find Albaric and Rena. They'll know what to do,"
"Ready? Now!"