The movement of the falling curtain comes to an abrupt halt. The light fixture shattered, sending shards crashing to the floor, creating a strange echo.
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
The wires unraveled and bounced. The sight of the light bulbs in a parallel structure crackling and shattering was horrifying, like something out of a horror game.
Grotesque is the right word.
As in the game's tagline.
'Anyway, Inner Lunatic, you crazy developers.'
I cursed and shook my head.
Because that damn game, Inner Lunatic, tried to switch genres every so often.
I might be okay with that, but....
Apparently not everyone else.
"heoeoeoeong...."
Talia is practically crying. Well, not really crying, but she's in serious condition. Hagiya, she's freaked out by spiders too.
As one of the main heroines in the game, she's one of the cutest characters in the game, so we see her like this a lot. It's not a surprise, it's just something you'd expect.
What really surprised me was the other way around.
"Kaaaak…!"
She turns to the source of the scream and sees Eleanor de Rivalin with her long, reddish-brown hair.
Her whole body is shaking in shock.
Her fright is not an act, but real fear dripping from her. I stare at her, scratching my head.
'Did Eleanor have a setting like this?'
I searched my memory, but nothing came to mind.
Maybe it was some other personality change she had that didn't show up in her traits, or something that wasn't properly represented in the game.
There was nothing I could do but speculate.
I looked first at Princess Penelope, who was perfectly fine.
'Of course, she's had her fair share of assassination attempts.'
Penelope has been betrayed by those she trusted since childhood.
She's seen bizarre scenes of her nanny hugging her warmly one day and being executed by guillotine the next.
There's no way she can be surprised by this now.
Leon is calm, to say the least.
I'm the same way. It's more of a character trait than a mental strength. More likely, he's already seen what's coming.
I shift my gaze elsewhere.
The character I'd be working with in this episode, Lana von Sader, the last of the Three Dark Houses, was also calm.
She's a succubus-born demon half-breed.
She's also incredibly beautiful, with a charm stat that's almost on par with Nox's. But I know I shouldn't be fooled by her looks.
She's a pretty clingy character, and she can be a bit of a jerk if things get out of hand.
'By the way, Marin seems to be taking care of herself.'
The door to the outside is closed.
I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms nonchalantly. Biding my time.
The goal is clear.
But then I heard Leon's voice.
"It's not safe to stay here."
He stood up and scanned the area. He touches the faint reverberations of magic with his fingertips, or rather, he channels them.
Hagiya, he is a magical genius.
Of course, he can't use [Time of Genius] like I can… but at this level, it only adds a slight advantage, but it doesn't guarantee absolute dominance in battle.
Winners and losers are only determined by focus, sheer numbers, and the proper utilization of your skills and abilities.
In that sense, I'm a little afraid of the situation.
This guy, Leon von Marvas, is going to be an insanely talented mage. If I recognize something out of place here, I'm going to have a headache.
"I see."
Or not.
My suspicions were not wrong.
"There are two spells that have been activated. The first, spatial binding magic, which binds us to the outside world and tries to cut us off from it. And the second, stairway interference magic, which tampered with the location of the stairs in the building. In order to break free of this, we need to...."
Scratching my head, I replied as if I couldn't do it.
"So you're saying we need to break the stair interference magic."
"Yes, because if you remove the dependent magic, the parent magic will resolve itself."
Magic.
It is a diverse and difficult discipline.
It is notoriously difficult, especially when dealing with both major and minor spells at the same time. For starters, major spells are those that directly affect an entire field or area.
Instead of expending large amounts of mana, it can have a strong and far-reaching effect, granting certain properties or doing other things.
Like Ludwig's imperfect way of transporting us to the forest once and for all.
However, dependent magic is a bit different.
It's basically a secondary form of primary magic that's exercised on a narrower scope. Mathematically speaking, it's more like an intervening spell.
As a result, the formula for a dependent spell is often many times more difficult and complex than the formula for a primary spell, as it must naturally fit in between the formulas to activate the spell.
'Also, if a dependent spell breaks, the main spell breaks as well.'
That's why Leon suggested that.
Break the complex dependent spell first, and the main spell will disintegrate on its own. Common knowledge, already known to mages.
I can't even deny it.
'You're damned quick.'
In the end, I have no choice but to comply. After all, I was the first to notice the twist in the magic before, and it's hard to remain oblivious here.
Moreover.
"You're right," I say, "it's impossible to break this binding with force in our current state, so I think we should do as Leon says."
Penelope quickly agreed.
"The Princess is right. I think so too."
Echidna is so good at listening to her, it's not surprising. But for me, I'm not so sure.
In many ways, I could have taken more time.
Genius is scary.
I can't help but be struck by the truth of this once again. It's one thing to recognize someone's genius, but it's quite another to see it from a third-person perspective.
In that sense, Leon von Marvas is one of the greatest of all time. This was evident from the fact that he was initially placed in the same league as Paracelsus.
But then.
Something completely unexpected happened here.
"Eh… that… me... I think so too…. I think… I think it's some kind of… staircase interference magic… that they use in buildings...."
That's Lana von Sader, a woman known for rarely speaking to others, speaking up.
...What?
Lana is rarely seen here, though we do get to explore the labyrinth together.
She's just there to be helpful, or at least to be the face of the game with a good review. She didn't really get involved in the case.
So why does she get involved again?
Did the characters collectively agree to abandon the original trope?
Damn
(jaegol)
However, I'm not as agitated on the outside as I am on the inside. Calmly, I say, my voice deepening with the power of my trait.
"Listen, now," I say, my voice thick with the power of my trait, "we must break the bondage spell, as Leon von Marvas said. And that means analyzing the nature of the magic, forcing the formula to break, or… attacking the magic itself."
"Attack the magic…?"
Talia asked. Hagiya, no wonder she didn't recognize it.
She loves to use her body and hates to use her mind.
'You said earlier that if you had as much brains as brawn, you'd already be in the top three. Maybe....'
It's still a mystery how such a weak-minded unit was able to stab Nox in the heart at the end.
Of course, that would mean that Nox was an asshole.
I hid my expression and replied moderately.
"Literally. Every wizard's magic has a 'purpose,' and we either force it to fulfill that purpose, or we break it so that we can get out."
For example, let's say your opponent fires a magic missile.
Then the purpose of the magic missile is clear. The act of hitting something, or a firm belief in taking down an enemy.
Since it has been materialized and fired in the form of a bow, it is absolutely the primary purpose of the magic.
Because of this, there is only one condition for the magic to dissipate as long as the caster has any magic left. The magic is directed at the enemy, or is forced to break through.
The same is true here.
'But unlike the [Magic Missile], it's almost impossible to forcibly pierce a bond of this level.'
As I pondered, Talia grabbed my head with a faint groan.
"Ooohhh...."
"In layman's terms, that means that if you were to force it, there's a good chance it would break. Unless it's one of the more persistent curse types."
Leon explained it a little more easily, but it would still be difficult for the Brawn to understand. It's not a concept they're meant to understand.
But I'm a nerd, so I get it. Other people will never get it.
They're going to have a lot of problems.
But I'm not a professor, I'm not an instructor.
There's no reason for me to go around explaining this to everyone.
"In order to break the staircase interference spell, we must first check the condition of this building. Let's split into two teams to check the conditions, and meet back up in exactly one hour."
"Doo-doo-doo, we're going to split into two teams…?"
Talia was stunned, but Penelope was quick to comply.
"We have no choice, Miss Talia. We need to get out of here quickly or risk being swallowed up by the magic itself."
"You're right, it's no small feat for someone who designs magic of this magnitude, and even with the combined strength of Mr. Knox and I, it's probably going to be difficult to break, even with the Empress joining in."
"Why not me?"
Echidna asked deeply, but Leon shook his head firmly.
"You're the type to use up too much magic at once, and if even one of us has a leak in our power, it could be more dangerous."
"Right. We'll split into two teams for now."
I organized the teams, resenting the extremely reasonable Leon for the first time in a long time.
For the record, me, Talia, and Eleanor made up one team.
At our joint martial arts party, with only the shrewd Fellman missing....
This was the kind of team that would make me suffer psychologically.
Is it a good thing that Lana, the only variable, didn't go with us?
I'm not so sure about that.
Shit.
(jegilal.)
* * *
"…Nox von Reinhafer. Looks like he's got the skills to take me down after all. You didn't get swept up in a massive magic storm, and you're pretty trusted by others, right?'
Marin used a distant cloaking spell, and they made their way down the building together, Nox, Talia, and Eleanor on her tail.
She wasn't sure what was going to happen on the other side, but it was an absolute Lunatic rule to protect your own people first.
The last thing they wanted was for Nox to get hurt.
Sure, he's a bit of a dick and he's handsome, but so what?
Everyone in Lunatic is fair game.
This applies to everyone without exception.
"It's curious, by the way. How did he survive the 'madness' of the Red Moon while using dark magic?"
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't help but think about the words I'd heard during Lunatic's recruitment process.
Not that I doubted Knox's abilities, but what he'd done was beyond belief.
The Dark Element reacts easily to anomalies of negativity, such as a red moon.
It's safe to say that it has the most direct and indirect impact on the Corruption. To face such a thing head-on, and to fight it for the longest time, was enough. Nox claimed to have killed every single one of them.
Is that really possible?
The killer's thinking was beyond comprehension.
Regardless, it didn't bother me.
"By the way, is it finally time for the first attack on the Labyrinth of Zone 2?"
Marin grinned.
The moment was about to unfold before her eyes when the first labyrinth she had spent days and days manifesting would materialize.
' I Name it, the Labyrinth of Dreams and Deception!'
It was an illusionary spell that told the sweetest of tales, sprinkled with the blood of imps and sprinkled with the minds of the travelers who found it.
A spell optimized for stalling.
It was what awaited Nox and the others.
"It won't be easy for even the brightest students of Eldain to endure this. The newcomer must be able to handle it somehow."
I've been beaten and humiliated, but I don't have enough magic to keep up with a new student. The meal itself had been prepared for so long.
"Perhaps a knight of the Four Sages, or even lesser rank, would be hard pressed to escape easily, and with so much blood spilled that even the strongest of minds would struggle to hold out, it should give us at least an hour."
Marin crossed her arms and watched as the two teams split up, each taking their own steps into the labyrinth of imp blood.
It was the moment.
"Huh?"
A panicked voice escaped Marin's mouth.
Only a few moments later, she was watching Nox in amazement. The reason was simple. Nox was reacting in a strange way.
"This isn't right! What should I do?"
Marin panicked. She had written the formula, but Luna had organized it. Since it was her creation, she should have been able to customize the formula so that the new Nox would be able to withstand it...!
"That's weird. I suppose if there's a problem… I'll just have to step in."
Marin swallowed hard.
From what she could see, Nox was in bad shape, to say the least.
His whole body was shaking like an aspen tree, and his face was ashen white. There was a hint of panic in his expression as he clenched his fists in shock.
But that wasn't the most shocking thing.
There were tears in the corners of Nox's eyes... for some reason.
Marin would never know. Nox was dreaming now, and....
And that the dreams belonged to a person who existed in a past life he didn't remember.