"You must be utterly confused right now. I should enlighten you, shouldn't I?" I said, as I stroked Liliana's cheeks lightly and watched her glare stiffen, relax, then stiffen once again.
The assassin had made two errors in her judgment. They both stemmed from the fact that she once again underestimated me.
Who could blame her? I was but a trifling child. The events that had occurred thus far were surprising enough. She was certain to think that it was the limit of my capabilities.
Unfortunately for the poor miss, she was wrong.
"You were clever, young lady… stalling for time while circulating your mana throughout your body. A most impressive strategy. It's too bad that you failed to notice…" I began calmly.
She should have suspected that it was unlike me, for someone who is so meticulous, to reveal my plans in such details. I was being a chatterbox and conveniently bought her enough time to fully utilize her magic. The reason for that was simple.
"… I was stalling for time too!" I smiled devilishly.
Her eyes bulged, but she couldn't make any other reactions or expressions. Her body still throbbed painfully, and I knew why.
As for the second error in judgment that she made, or rather, the oversight she made on my part, was concerning her use of magic. Liliana was a skilled mage for her to have been able to nearly kill me with my own spell at first glance.
She must have calculated the technique and amplified it accordingly to give her the results she required. A truly frightening woman.
Why didn't I think of the fact that she could easily use magic to free herself from my paralysis and turn the tables in moments?
The answer was simple… I did!
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice the circulation of your mana? Or did you think I didn't predict the outcome that you would use magic? In fact, I counted on it!" I said, taking a few steps back while looking at the sky.
I inhaled slowly, enjoying the night breeze. Now that things had progressed this far, there was no need to be tense anymore.
"Liliana, or whatever your name is… do you know what is happening to you right now?" I asked, narrowing my gaze as I continued to observe the bright glow of the stars in the sky.
Suddenly, I felt a burst of mana surge from the assassin. This made me lower my gaze, to look at her once again.
The brilliant surge of mana covered her whole body, causing her to move once more. Her vengeful eyes were locked onto mine, full of hatred towards me for shaming her to this point.
"You… how dare you! Forget the contract… this is personal now. I'll make sure to rip you to shreds!!!" She growled, increasing the tempo of her Mana.
Her body now had an ominous blue glow as she clenched her fist. A single blow would tear my body apart, I was well aware.
Liliana was very strong! However…
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" I slowly remarked.
Ignoring my words, Liliana made to move towards me, but froze once again, and this time it wasn't just tremblings that shook her.
"A-arghhh… Gahhh… Gahhhhhhh!!!" She screamed out in pain, stiffly moving her hands to touch her body, and then her neck.
"U-urkkhh… Ahhh… Arghhh!!!"
Liliana's voice slowly faded and her body slowed down, but her lips moved nonetheless. Even with her voice gone, they displayed an unimaginable amount of pain. Her eyes, nearly bulged out of their sockets, and her body trembled violently, swerving uncontrollably.
I watched the erratic dance Liliana performed before me, leaping away from her a little so that I could watch everything from a distance.
"This… is…?!" Her voice returned, but was quickly drowned by screams of pain before it faded again.
"That's right…" I proceeded to complete her words.
"It's Mana Shock… and an extreme one at that!"
Her body trembled more violently as she shrieked, swerving uncontrollably. Veins began showing on her skin, as though wanting to pop out of her body, and her formerly clear and flawless skin began paling and showing signs of emaciation.
"I-impossible… how can this…be?!"
I moved closer to her, watching as her body danced, freeze at a certain moment, then continue its frenzied dance.
"It is. I made it possible… with the formula Alphonse gave me!" I said, mercilessly gazing upon Liliana's suffering state.
In medical treatment, there are concepts known as conflicting effects. This occurs when a deadly condition in the body is combatted by another equally deadly one.
"Poisons are often cured with another type of poison. Both neutralize each other and cancel out their effects. It's the same with the Mana Shock cure…" I revealed.
I had no idea why this hadn't been discovered yet, but by altering the dosage slightly, I extracted the chemicals found within the ingredients of the cure, and amplified their effects. The results were as I suspected.
"I can now induce Mana Shock… and you're my first experiment!"
Although, this was no ordinary condition. Unlike the case with my mother, Liliana suffered one even worse. By increasing the dosage to a frightening degree, I made sure that the consequences for suffering my induced Mana Shock… would be death!
"The moment you decided to use magic against me, it was all over. I merely waited until the effects of the Mana Shock solution had spread across your body and seeped into your Mana Core. The more you use your magic, the more complicated it gets for you…" I shook my head.
"… So tell me, Liliana… just how much magic have you used?"
The answer was simple.
"Guarkkkk!!!" She coughed violently.
Her eyes were turning bright red, the color of blood. Her body kept shriveling while her skin became even paler.
"P-please… don't… don't do this…" I heard her whisper.
At this point, the assassin was struggling to breathe. I watched her pitiful state, without flinching from where I stood.
"Don't you… want to… know who the mastermind… is…? I-I can tell you… so please, spare… spare my life…!"
'Oh? So she's pleading for her life now.' My mind rang a little in surprise.
Moving closer to her stiff body which was too weak to make any more movement, my face drew closer to hers, as I stared directly into her red bulging eyes.
"No!"