Forbidden Spell – Part 08
“I didn’t know you were a fickle guy,” I said. “You ignore facts that are not favorable to you? Say, what about Zero’s teacher? Your colleagues? Were they foolish and shortsighted? Did they wish for conflict?!”
“Shunning change and subjecting oneself to a life of seclusion is nothing but foolish! Every single day, all they did was discuss the same roundabout arguments over and over again! Those women stopped thinking at some point, and so they were as good as dead. Zero was the only one different. I suggested we look to the outside world, gave them options and tried to convince them. But the result was stubborn denial. They feared Zero’s power. They wished to tame her.”
“Then what about Zero?!”
Thirteenth’s expression changed. I could feel his hatred and contempt as he frowned deeply. Jealousy. I’m flattered, man.
Now I could move, albeit barely.
“Did you give Zero a choice even once? Did you ask her what she wanted? Take a good look at her, Thirteenth. Do you think she’s going to forgive you for what you’re doing? Do you believe she’ll one day smile at you and thank you for killing those pesky witches?!”
Thirteenth’s gaze darted from me to Zero for a split-second. Seizing the opportunity, I got up and ran.
I closed the gap between me and Thirteenth in one breath, and threw the object I pulled out of my bag as hard as I could. It zipped past him and shattered to pieces as it hit the hard floor.
Thirteenth, his face scratched from a broken fragment, quickly swung his arm. A small lightning struck me, sending me rolling to the floor.
“Mercenary!” Zero shouted, her arm reaching out from inside the cage. As much as I wanted to grab her hand, I couldn’t. Not right now.
“Curses,” Thirteenth spat out. “Holding back is troublesome.”
You call this holding back? Me and static electricity go a long way back, and not in a good way. That one just now hurt. I can’t actually get up.
Not that it mattered.
Thirteenth suddenly struck the floor with his staff, then drew a circle around himself. Small flames surrounded me at the same time. A Magic circle.
“You are innocent. You showed tenacity in climbing a sheer cliff with only two knives. Had the circumstances been different, I would have gladly welcomed you as Zero’s servant. But Zero is too invested in you.”
I glared at Thirteenth beyond the wall of flames that flickered like fine silk.
“After being abandoned in the cellar, you can’t honestly expect her to not like the first person she could actually talk to for the first time in ten years! No hard feelings, Thirteenth. Don’t blame Zero, either. You robbed Zero of her friends, made her feel lonely, and hurt her! Can you even imagine how much she wanted to talk to someone? How she longed for the company of another human?!”
“I did it all for Zero!”
“Bullshit! You did it for your own selfish reasons! It’s what you wanted to do! Get your facts straight!”
“You think you understand Zero after spending only a few days with her? Don’t make me laugh!”
“Of course not! How could anyone understand such a greedy, shameless, lazy, arrogant, selfish, and irrational witch?! But one thing’s for sure, Thirteenth. I will never lock up such a beautiful woman and make them cry out of some selfish act of kindness. I’m a man and a mercenary. It’s a man’s job to cherish women, and it’s a mercenary’s job to follow his client’s orders! Oh, by the way. I forgot to tell you.” I bared my fangs. “I will not accept your gift. I’m still her mercenary, and I’ll get my reward from her. So I returned it.”
“What…?”
“You know, that potion you gave me.”
Thirteenth turned pale and looked over his shoulder. But it was too late. The liquid that spilled from the shattered bottle made contact with the magic circle that sealed Zero. It shone dully for a moment, then disappeared.
“You little—!”
An eardrum-shattering explosion cut Thirteenth off. The birdcage holding Zero was blown to smithereens.
“Do you know, Mercenary? We do not call that “returning”, but “using”.” Brushing away pieces of metal, Zero stepped out of the destroyed birdcage.
“Come on. You’re making me look bad. I actually returned it by tossing it at him, but he dodged it, and it fell and shattered by accident. Whatever happened afterwards is not my fault.”
“You are as articulate as a demon. I quite like that.” Zero chuckled. She then quickly erased any emotion from her face and directed her gaze at Thirteenth. “Thirteenth. My only brethren, and my last colleague.”
“Step back, Zero. You cannot win against me as you are now.”
“So you increased your magical power by stealing mana from all the witches you killed. But have you forgotten why I am Zero and you are Thirteenth?”
“You are a Murky Black Witch. Zero is the absolute standard value, representing nothingness from which everything is created. But knowledge and skill sometimes surpasses natural gift.”
“Do you wish to test it then? I am in a foul mood at the moment.”
Black particles danced around Zero’s body, and a magic circle formed in an instant. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Thirteenth drew a circle himself. At the same time, the flames surrounding me disappeared. Apparently even Thirteenth couldn’t cast two spells at the same time.
They began reciting an incantation simultaneously.
“Ard Geld in de Koa Dia Zea—In the name of the King of Despair, who lords over the crossroads of desire and longing, from the abyss of mud and darkness, come forth from the murky abyss, O’ Gate of Decay.”
The world changed in an instant. The walls and floor began to rattle, and something—something inexplicably chilling—was crawling up from the deep darkness under my feet.
I felt the fear of death wrapping around my neck, its jaws, its fangs, digging into my heart.
“O’ servant of discord bound by the covenant of flesh and blood, descend upon the feast of the foolish and devour them!”
“O’ servitor of discord bound by the covenant of flesh and blood, descend upon the banquet of the foolish and devour them!”
“Forbidden Chapter, Last Verse: Segtor Medis! Grant me power, for my name is Thirteenth!
“Forbidden Chapter, Last Verse: Segtor Medis! Grant me power, for I am Zero!
The writhing darkness behind the two erupted with great force, charging forward in an attempt to devour the other. Darkness and darkness clashed in this godforsaken hellscape. The smell of blood filled the air. The stench of flesh, death, and war.
An intense wave of nausea surged over me. The two masses of darkness were fusions of human beings—devouring, killing, screaming, and laughing.
Did Zero create this Magic? For what purpose? It obviously wasn’t a spell for hunting game, protecting, or saving people. The terror crawling up my spine made me want to scream and run away. But how? Where do I go?
Then I heard a dull, crunching sound. I looked up and my eyes opened wide.
Thirteenth was clenching his teeth, his face twisting in anguish. In contrast, Zero’s eyes were calm, yet filled with deep, perpetual darkness.
She was on a whole different league, overpowering Thirteenth completely. His clenched teeth creaked as the clashing darkness inched closer and closer to the sorcerer.
“Preposterous! How could there be such a difference in power?!” Thirteenth coughed out blood. He almost dropped to his knees, but managed to hold himself steady.
Then his fingers, pushing back the darkness, suddenly burst, and blood gushed out.
No. He’s not gonna make it.
Thirteenth will die. By Zero’s hands.
“Zero! Enough!” I shouted. “You already won!”
Thirteenth fell to his knees. When I saw the darkness about to devour him whole, my body moved before I could think of anything else.
Why am I saving this asshole?
It was too late for that, however. I got down on the floor, covering Thirteenth, and gritted my teeth, prepared to die. As a man and a mercenary, I would gladly die to protect Zero, yet here I was, defending Thirteenth of all people. What a fucking joke. A wind that reeked of blood rushed past. Silence returned in an instant, and I cautiously looked up. Thirteenth was pinned down under me, quite unfortunately.
“What…? I’m alive?”
“Zero!” Thirteenth cried. He pushed me away with ridiculous force, sending me rolling across the floor.
What the hell happened? My gaze followed Thirteenth and found a bloody Zero.
How?
Zero clearly had the upper hand. Thirteenth couldn’t possibly win against her in that situation.
“Wh-What the hell’s going on?! Why is she hurt?!”
“You still do not realize it?! Zero took your injuries to herself. There should be a magical mark on your body somewhere that binds you to her!”
“And why would I—”
—have something like that?! The words caught in my throat. Shocked, I recalled the time I was taking a bath in Fomicaum, when Zero drew something on my back.
Does he mean that? I believe she said something about thanking her. So that’s what she meant.
“The only way to break the link between your souls and free Zero is for her to undo the spell herself, or you die inside my barrier. Otherwise, I would have burned you on the spot already!”
I finally understood. The night I left Zero, a witch that Pooch escorted attacked me, her spell piercing me through my stomach. Albus said Zero coughed up blood and collapsed that same night.
I was hit, but unharmed, and Zero took the wound instead.
“Stop! You will hit Zero!”
What Thirteenth said when we escaped the burning square finally made sense.
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