Maydare Volume 4 Chapter 6 - The Twilight Clan II

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Thanks to Nero’s contact lenses, we found a route without ogres and ran, ran, and ran. But——

“No good, there’s ogres here too.”

There were already masses of ogres invading the interior of the school island. We had temporarily escaped from the ogres and the Twilight magicians, but we were in the process of losing our escape route.

After we hid in the lemon groves that stood in rows like ledges at a cliff by the sea, we were stuck.

If things stayed like this, we would eventually be found.

We released our spirits and asked them to get help, but we didn’t know when rescue would come. At any rate, we had no choice but to keep running.

“...Phew. I can’t say that you’re completely healed, but I was able to stop the bleeding.”

Just now, Frey finished casting healing magic on Lapis and wiped the sweat from his chin.

Frey was an【Earth】Blessed Child, so he had good affinity with healing magic.

He was surprisingly dexterous, and even though he wasn’t as fast as Nero, he was much better at healing magic than me.

That said, he couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t learned it in class, so I was really glad that Frey was attending healing magic class.

“I’m sorry…Mr. Frey…”

“No need to apologize, Miss Lapis. You’re more attractive when you’re saying harsh things to me.”

Normally, Lapis would say something like, “How disgusting, Mr. Frey” in response to his affected wink, but she didn’t have a lot of energy right now.

Even though healing magic had healed her injuries, she was still devastated by the fact that she had run into and fought hated ogres and her former brethren, and even dragged us into it.

Lapis usually didn’t show her emotions, but only at this time, I could feel the pain inside her heart.

It probably wasn’t just me, but also Nero and Frey.

“So, what are we going to do now? We came this far, but we’re still the ogres’ prey. It’s not a laughing matter.”

“Of course it isn’t. The spirits going to call for help. Until someone comes, we have to survive somehow and continue to run.”

In response to what Frey and I were saying, Nero put his hand on his chin and hmmed.

Nero had a solemn expression on his face, as though he had something else on his mind.

“I’m sorry, everyone. This is all my fault…it’s all because I let my emotions control me and acted selfishly.”

Lapis apologized to us again.

“What are you saying, Lapis? We did the same thing. We’re in the same team, and, so to speak, family.”

“I think family is a bit of an exaggeration.”

“Frey, be quiet for a minute.”

She kept apologizing again and again. I patted Lapis’s head.

Lapis had been crying silently for a while now, but I leaned over her and hugged her. 

“It’s okay. I’m sure it will work out okay somehow. Even until now, we Team 9 have been working together to overcome all kinds of difficulties.”

And then I told her how I felt.

“Besides, Lapis. It was our intention to come looking for you. I had a bad feeling that I might never see you again. Compared to that, I was able to see you again. That one is much better.”

“...Makia…”

If we hadn’t come looking for her, Lapis might have died at the end of the battle and might not have existed in this world anymore.

Considering that worst-case scenario, this situation was quite fortunate.

It wasn’t a situation to be pessimistic about. We were all still alive.

“...Let’s go. Ogres are approaching from two directions. They might have noticed this place.”

Nero informed us of that with a somewhat impatient tone.

Following Nero’s lead, we moved again.

Assuming that we encountered ogres here, we had all used up our magical power. Without magic, there was little that we could do. If we didn’t escape cautiously…

We passed through the lemon grove and came out to directly above the cliff facing the sea.

“!?”

But we made a mistake.

Already, the black death gods–the Twilight magicians were waiting for us. We must have been led here by the ogres arriving from two directions.

“Foooound you.”

Two of the three Twilight members we met before–the young man with beast ears and the petite girl–who should have been hung up by the crimson threads were there, having already escaped from the Scarlet Witch’s magic.

For some reason, only the large man whose voice sounded like a machine wasn’t there. 

However, there seem to be two additional Twilight magicians. 

The two were wearing deep hoods, so we could hardly see their faces, but judging from their statures, they appear to be an adult man and woman…

They were dressed in black robes, floating above and below as if they were standing on footholds in the air, looking down at us coldly. 

“Oi, oi, Nero? Isn’t this place full of enemies?”

Frey, with Lapis on his back, was backing away with his face completely drained of color. 

“...Apparently, they took measures so that my lenses can’t sense their magic power. I thought it was strange, because I couldn’t detect the magic power of the guys who were captured by Makia’s magic threads earlier. They might be using magic tools that gave them that kind of stealth.”

 Even Nero was a little bewildered.

With his hand on his temple, he scrutinized the magicians overhead.

“We were a little nervous when we realized you guys were hard to find. That guy over there can use some very advanced magic, I see,” one of them said.

“We never expected there would be a guy who can use this kind of magic in the musty Kingdom of Ruschia.”

The Twilights were pointing at Nero and giggling. 

Even so, we were done for. I couldn’t believe they could be so relaxed while being on the receiving end of my magic threads.

“How did they escape from that spell?”

“Haha. As expected, you can’t escape from the〈Scarlet Witch’s〉magic without any sacrifices.”

The young man with beast ears spoke meaningfully and narrowed his eyes.

“There was another big guy with us. In order to get us out of the restraints of that magic, he lost parts all over his body.”

“Eh…?”

“Kyahahaha. He had a machine-like body from the start, and now it’s too late!”

What were they talking about?

From the start, the Twilight magicians, including Lapis, seemed to supplement their bodies with prosthetics, but there were mysteries surrounding them, including the reason for this.

As expected of the Black Demon Kings’ descendants. I never would have expected that they had a way to break through the Scarlet Witch’s magic. What more could we do…?

“You’d be better off saving your energy. Unfortunately for you, Lune Ruschia is already ours. Some impenetrable fortress this is, how stupid.”

“Your old-fashioned spirit magic is no match for us. Now, you’re about to see something much scarier than ogres!”

The Twilight magicians were all talking as though they had already won.

Terrible things? What in the world were they going to do?

Anxiety and impatience built up within me, but I tightened my expression to endure those feelings.

“Wha…what are you talking about? Four weak students like us managed to hold you back so much.”

If I could just buy us some time, help might make it in time.

I purposely said things that would stir up the Twilight magicians. Although, next to me, Frey said “Oi, Leader!” with a panicked face.

“The Kingdom of Ruschia still has Professor Ulysses and Headmaster Pan. I’m sure you’ll come to realize the essence of spirit magic that you guys said was old-fashioned!”

I declared confidently. The Twilight magicians were silent for a little bit, but then they burst into loud laughter.

“Ahahahahaha! Ulysses~? That spirit magician who’s said to be the strongest in the Kingdom of Ruschia?”

“But he couldn’t do anything so far?”

“He’s forcibly praised just because he’s a prince. He’s probably a magician who has no actual combat experience.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was killed by our comrades around this time! Kyahaha!”

“What…!”

Hearing my respected Professor Ulysses be ridiculed, blood rushed up to my head, but…

“Hey, you bastards, don’t make fun of Brother! My brother’s amazing! Get killed!”

Frey shouted at them before I could.

I didn’t have the impression that they were on very good terms with each other, but when all was said and done, Frey probably recognized the strength of his older brother, Professor Ulysses.

The Twilight magicians suddenly stopped laughing. The drop in temperature was very disturbing.

“Oh, yes, speaking of princes…”

The beast-eared young man pointed at Frey, who was carrying Lapis on his back.

“You with the droopy eyes…you’re the youngest prince of this kingdom, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re carrying Lady Lapis on your back, so come with us.”

“Hah!?”

Frey was suddenly named. Since he said “Brother” earlier, he could no longer deny the fact that he was a prince.

I see, so the enemy was saying that they want to take one of this country’s princes as a hostage.

“H-Hey! Just telling you this now, but the king won’t move even if I’m taken hostage. I’m the most unneeded prince! They’ll just cut me off, seriously!”

Frey declared boldly, despite being somewhat panicked.

And he said something a little sad…

“You didn’t get the point, do you? I’m saying that if you and Lady Lapis come with us, we’ll let the others go.”

“Huh…?”

“Kyahaha, on top of not being like a prince, you’re stupid too.”

Frey was somewhat considering what the Twilight people were saying. He might be thinking something like, If I become their hostage, my friends will…

But surprisingly, it was Nero who told Frey, “It’s no good.”

“Frey, don’t fall for their words. You can’t gauge their behavior with the peaceful Kingdom of Ruschia’s measure. If you and Lapis go over to them…they’re not going to let anyone here live in any case.”

Nero calmly looked up at the Twilight magicians.

“To them, Lapis is a traitor. If she’s captured by them, who knows what terrible thing they’ll do to her. Even with Frey, he’ll be brutally killed depending on his value as a hostage. Makia is the descendant of the Scarlet Witch. She’s the best research material the Heavenly Empire could ask for. As for me…I’ll probably be the one killed first.”

Even while saying such things, he didn’t particularly show any hint of fear. However, there was something like contempt or pity in his eyes for the people in front of him. I felt strangely bothered about that.

“The Heavenly Empire isn’t soft. It will kill even those who have lost their hostility and beg for their life without hesitation. If there’s even the slightest inconvenience to them, they’ll try to eliminate it. …Hasn’t the Twilight clan always been treated that way by the Heavenly Empire?”

Talking as though he knew that very well, Nero seemed to, through the Twilight people, hold a strong animosity and disgust towards the faraway Heavenly Empire.

Frey and I were both shocked at seeing Nero like that.

Even the Twilight people looked somewhat taken aback. Nero continued calmly.

“...I understand. Even you guys would say that your whole clan would have been ruined if you didn’t listen to what they say. It was probably much easier to kill your heart and lick the enemy’s boots.”

“What did you…”

The air around the Twilight magicians became tense.

Nero’s words had touched a nerve considerably.

Immediately after that, they went in front of us in an instant, restrained our arms and pinned us down on the spot. It was a speed that made full use of teleportation magic and couldn’t be dealt with at all.

My hands were put behind my back by the girl with braids and upturned eyes.

“...!”

“There’s no point in trying to escape. I’m much stronger than I look.”

Certainly, it was hard to call this a young girl’s strength. Even though there was no bondage spell cast on me, I couldn’t move my body. Furthermore, my ring was taken away.

“Kyahaha! Now you can’t use that thread magic from earlier. Or rather, do you even still have that kind of magic power left? …Even though you’re the descendant of the Scarlet Witch, this is all you’ve got.”

The girl whispered into my ear from behind.

“But there’s no need to worry. Just as your friend said earlier, you’re great research material. We'll have you come with us, along with that good-for-nothing prince and Lady Lapis.”

“!?”

Let’s assume that the good-for-nothing prince was Frey, who was pinned down by another Twilight magician and unable to move right next to me.

Across Frey, Lapis’s hair was grabbed by a man whose face was hidden with a mask.

Although healing magic was applied to her, she couldn’t move anymore because she was even more out of magic power than me.

The man who grabbed her hair told her this.

“That’s right, Lady Lapis. The person who’s orchestrating this plan is your older brother, Master Solomon Twilight.”

“!?”

Lapis’s face changed at his words.

“Master Solomon gave us orders that if we find you, we must do whatever it takes to find the whereabouts of the Black Box. …What a pitiful and laughable girl you are. Your own brother is the one leading us, and without knowing that he has joined the Heavenly Empire, you tried to resist until the very end.”

Lapis’s eyes became filled with despair, as though everything she had believed in had betrayed her.

“Now, speak. Where did you hide the Black Box? We know you escaped with it.”

However, Lapis didn’t tell the enemy any information.

The Black Box…I didn’t know what that was, but it was definitely something that couldn’t fall into the enemy’s hands.

“Well, that’s fine. Even Lady Lapis would confess if her friends are killed horribly.”

“...!?”

The man who was grabbing Lapis’s hair gave the beast-eared young man a look.

The young man was kicking Nero, but when he received that signal, he grabbed Nero’s neck and lifted him up high.

“We don’t need you the most, so we’ll start with you. I have no idea who you are, but you talked like you know a lot about us.”

He strangled Nero’s neck tightly. Nero’s face wrinkled slightly in pain.

“...Nero!”

I struggled. Nero was going to be killed.

“A citizen of the peaceful Kingdom of Ruschia…who are you to criticize us like you’re better than us? This is why this country pisses me off. It’s as lukewarm and sluggish as its climate. Everyone can live peacefully just by being protected by the Empire’s umbrella.”

The beast-eared young man’s voice gradually became more heated.

“That’s why I want to destroy it! Even though you don’t know a single thing about the hell in this world―”

However, Nero silently glared at the young man.

He was single-mindedly dispassionate, not showing any agitation or fear.

Even though he should be in pain, how could he stay unperturbed?

The beast-eared man probably also felt that there was something odd with Nero’s attitude. He looked closely at the face that was glaring at him and frowned slightly.

“...Have I seen you somewhere…?”

It was a strange reaction. Furthermore, Nero’s indifferent gaze seemed to have caught him off guard, as he averted his gaze from Nero in spite of himself and clicked his tongue.

“Well…whatever. I’ll torture and kill you in front of these guys. Give me some nice screams, at least.”

The beast-eared man threw Nero down.

Nero’s body slammed against the rock wall behind him, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“Nero, Nero!”

The enemy planned on killing us, starting from Nero.

The Twilight magicians here, unlike us, had the bearings of experienced warriors. As if they had survived battlefields with their bodies and magic.

I was sure that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill people.

There…there had to be something I could do. I couldn’t make excuses like I didn’t have any magic power or that I couldn’t move. If I didn’t save Nero here and now, I would lose someone important to me…!

“Hot! Hey, you, don’t do anything weird! I’ll break your arms!”

I intended to brush away the enemy’s hands using my heat constitution, but I was immediately found out and my arms were powerfully twisted from behind. It was so painful that I really thought that she would break my arms, and my face contorted in pain.

Nero looked at me and shook his head lightly.

His eyes seemed to be appealing to me. Like he was telling me not to do anything.

I started in surprise. It must have been the impact from slamming against the rock wall, since the contact lens in one of Nero’s eyes, which could be seen through his bangs, fell out…

“Now then, it’s time for a fun execution.”

The beast-eared man forged knives, making a circle around him, and then threw them all at Nero. 

The countless number of knives were blocked by Nero’s incantation-less magic walls.

“...tch.”

However, two of them passed through gaps in the magic wall and pierced his right shoulder and left leg.

The blood was slowly staining his uniform red. 

“Nero!” “Mr. Nero!”

We shouted and struggled, but we couldn’t escape from our restraints. If we didn’t save Nero right now, he would…

“Haha…does it hurt? It does, doesn’t it. I’ll torture you where you can’t die. I’ll show your friends you covered in blood, begging for forgiveness and slowly weakening…”

“Shut up.”

Nero only said those words in a low voice, and raised his hanging head.

At the same time, the beast-eared man closed his mouth and stopped in his tracks.

Nero’s eye, where one of his contact lenses fell out.

His eye that was a bright magenta color.

When he saw that–he had a look of terror on his face, like he had seen the most terrifying thing in the world. 

“H-How…”

The beast-eared man was clearly upset and backed away step by step.

“Why are your eyes that color…?”

Where did his carefree attitude and playful killing intent go? As though everything was painted over with fear, he shook his head in disbelief.

“He has the same eyes…as that person…from the Heavenly Empire…”

The other Twilight magicians were reacting the same way. When they saw the color of Nero’s eye, they were clearly shaken and trembling.

What was going on?

Nero was dispassionately glaring at the Twilight group in front of him, as ever.

With those deep magenta eyes.

“...Tch, change of plans!”

The Twilight man with the hood deep over his face ordered in a loud voice.

“Leave the other ones…we can deal with everything later! First, kill, kill him!!!!!”

Upon hearing that, the people who we were restrained by let go of us. With weapons they forged in each of their hands, they surrounded Nero.

It all happened in an instant. They surrounded Nero in that amount of time.

The blades of the enemy were ready to take Nero’s life at any moment.

This was completely different from how at ease they were just a minute ago. They were clearly agitated and about to kill Nero immediately.

“Nooooo!!!”

I reached out my hand to Nero. A flame lit up at the end of my hand, but it was a very weak light, so it couldn’t reach the large group of enemies.

Nothing could be done at this stage. I didn’t have enough magic power.

Everyone in Garnet Team 9 shouted Nero’s name.

――Immediately after that.

Pillars of ice zoomed across the ground at breakneck speed and surrounded Nero, forming a wall of ice that protected him.

“!?”

The Twilight magicians reacted immediately and backed away in order to not get swallowed up in the ice.

In the suddenly cold air, the person who descended from the sky in front of Nero with a thump was a knight wearing the uniform of the royal knights.

While exhaling white breaths, he glared coldly at the enemies in front of him.

“I won’t let you lay a finger on Milady’s precious teammate…”

The one who wielded his sword to protect Nero was Thor Bigreitz of the royal knights.

My spirits Donsuke and Popotarou also scampered back to me.

They made it, they made it in time…!

My spirits found Thor and brought him here…!

“What’s with…this man…?”

The enemy had a strange reaction to Thor’s appearance.

“Black hair and bright violet eyes…”

“No way, is he a Twilight…? But I’ve never seen this guy before.”

“Who the hell are you?”

The Twilight magicians were shaken once more and were muttering amongst themselves. They seemed to have sensed something that connected with them from Thor’s appearance and presence.

However, Thor didn’t see the Twilights as anything other than magicians of an enemy country and didn’t let his guard down.

There was no hesitation like he was facing off against his compatriots, and he held his sword at the ready and had a ring of sharp ice blades on standby.

The enemy was wary of Thor, and right then, countless magical attacks rained down from above.

“Eh!?”

I looked up and saw countless familiar spirit magic circles opening in the sky. Royal knights on pegasi descended from them.

“It’s over, you foolish invaders!”

The Guardian Lionel’s voice echoed.

There must have been several knights in Lune Ruschia who were serving as Airi’s guards. Several of them stayed in the sky, while others including Lionel descended on the ground in order to save us students.

There were quite a few injured, perhaps from fighting the ogres, but they showed no fear against the Twilight magicians.

“Tch, the royal knights!?”

“Why are there knights in the school? There should have been a barrier around Lune Ruschia.”

“Doesn’t matter, the knights of the Kingdom of Ruschia are no big deal. Don’t get scared!”

“Focus on him. We have to kill him——”

They were thrown into chaos, but the goal of killing Nero didn’t seem to change. They aimed for Nero even while being on the receiving end of Thor’s ice blades.

However, the knights stopped the Twilight magicians one by one. Their spirits also joined the fray, and the Twilight magicians had no room to deal with Nero, no matter how skilled they were.

Using that as an opportunity, Sir Lionel brought Nero, who was unable to move because of his injuries, to us. Thor was also protecting them while blocking the enemy’s attacks.

Sir Lionel and Thor were making some kind of eye contact with each other. 

“Nero, Nero!”

“Don’t worry, Makia. None of my injuries are fatal.”

Even though he was the one covered in blood, he was completely nonchalant like he didn’t feel the pain. I, on the other hand, was on the verge of tears.

Frey and Lapis also stood up while being supported by the other knights.

“I would like to cast healing magic on you guys, but unfortunately the knights’ healer magician isn’t here. It would be smarter to leave this place right now. I will take you with me. You can rest assured.”

Sir Lionel, with Nero still in his arms, took several knights and told them to accompany us.

“Then, I shall buy time for you.”

On the other hand, Thor would be staying here in order to fight the Twilight magicians.

His profile, dark hair, and fluttering cloak passed right by me.

“Thor…!”

I turned around without thinking.

When Thor passed by, he glanced at me for a moment and smiled with his brow furrowed.

That’s right. Thor and I were still on different pages…

“Makia, let’s escape. While the knights are stopping them, the top priority is taking Mr. Nero and Mr. Frey to a safe place. For the sake of the future, those two must not fall into enemy hands. …That includes you as well, of course.”

“...Lapis.”

The words “for the sake of the future” made me gasp in surprise.

Even though Lapis had a look of despair on her face all this time, but it seemed like she was telling herself that this wasn’t the time for that.

It was as though she recalled some sort of important mission…

“Especially you, Mr. Nero. You are also fully aware of that.”

“...Yeah.”

Meanwhile, on the ground and in the sky, the Twilight magicians and knights were crossing blades and battling with magic. Thor, too, was fighting in the air among the knights, who were being pressed by the speed of the Twilight magicians.

With Thor participating in the battle, I could tell that the situation had changed at once. 

He wasn’t just using spirit magic.

Surprisingly, he was fighting back at a speed that could compete with the Twilight magicians.

Just when you thought he disappeared, it was like he reappeared from somewhere else…he was probably using “spatial magic” by repeatedly doing small-scale transfers and moving.

While making full use of that magic, he used multiple spells instantaneously and accurately to drive out the enemy.

The ice-type spirit magic, which was Thor’s specialty, also had its speed increased and trifled with the enemy.

“How are you…how are you using Twilight’s magic!?”

Even while his shoulder was pierced by an ice stake that Thor released, the Twilight man glared at Thor.

An outsider like Thor was using Twilight’s spatial magic.

He couldn’t hide his fear and panic at that.

“Miss Makia, you must not look back!”

I was startled by Sir Lionel’s shout.

I couldn’t leave Thor behind no matter how hard I tried, and I kept turning around.

——That was when it happened.

“I won’t let you escape!”

Right after I heard the voice of one of the Twilight magicians, the beast-eared young man, something like a thin spear whistled past me.

It pierced into the ground hard.

“!?”

A spiral explosion erupted with the spear as its center.

“Kyaah…!”

I was running along the edge of the cliff just then.

It was my fault for lagging behind the others who were running ahead of me because I was too focused on the fighting Thor. 

My teammates huddled together to withstand the blast, but I was caught in it and thrown into the ocean facing the cliff.

“Makia!!”

My teammates stretched out their hands, but they couldn’t reach me.

Even when I tried to use levitation magic, I was already completely out of magic power.

At this rate, I was going to fall into the sea——

“Milady!”

Although I felt my body float with levitation magic for a moment, another spell was fired from somewhere and created another big explosion near me. 

This was the impact when several spells collided.

Pushed by the blast, my body slammed into the cold midwinter surface of the sea and was swallowed by the torrent.

It was as though the sea grabbed my body and wouldn’t let go. It was slowly dragging me down to somewhere dark and cold.

No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t seem to get away from the water pressure.

However, at the end of my outstretched hand, an arm lifted me up powerfully, pulled me in, and held me.

That person chanted an inaudible incantation in this undersea world.

Torc mel me gis——

A first incantation I had never heard before.

And yet, I felt like I knew the voice very well.

My vision was turning dark, as though I was being enclosed within a square black box.

There was no sound or scent.

Everything was pitch dark, and I could no longer feel the coldness of the seawater.

Even so, someone was hugging me tightly–that was the only feeling enveloping my body.

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