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Chapter 80 – All Elemental

80 – All Elemental

「My! How wonderful!」

After the training grounds were torn to shreds, from amidst the dust appeared the unharmed form of Mage.

「…Did you guard against it? No, that’s impossible.」said Alchemy.

「If not, then what did you think I did?!」 she replied.

Behind Mage, a giant burning rock now floats. A meteor, huh? It was aimed at Alchemy, and fired. If it hit her directly, it would completely blow away the training grounds! Mika and I need to defend ourselves, and I need to make sure the Demon King Army soldiers practicing in the vicinity aren’t put in danger.

I grab onto Mika’s handle and quickly put up a barrier. I imagine a protective barrier preventing the magic within from damaging anything outside the training grounds.

「What will you do?! Evasion should be possible, but will someone like Lady Sage truly judge an attack from a magic user such as I as a threat worth evading?」 Mage started shouting joyfully.

「Of course, it is unworthy.」

Alchemy’s voice was as calm as can be. The meteor came to an unnatural stop around the halfway point between the two of them. Using Space-Time Elemental magic, she stopped the flow of time. Then, it disappeared like a magic trick. It was teleported to a place where it wouldn’t hurt anyone using Space Elemental magic.

「To be able to use two rare elements one after another… I expected no less from one of the Six Saviors.」

Slam! Like the sound of a book closing hard, the land rose up to sandwich Mage. It’s Alchemy’s Earth Elemental magic.

Normally, she’d be a flattened corpse by now, but Mage’s presence didn’t disappear. It’s odd. I can sense her, but it’s as thin as mist. It’s very strange. People like an assassin or a hunter are able to completely hide their presence, but Mage’s current state is rare. Things should have ended with her getting crushed by Earth walls, but she just…walked out from between them – like she passed right through it.

No, wait. That’s exactly what happened.

「Wonderful! You exposed my true nature in one fell swoop! Now, I ask you, Lady Sage, what do you think is the true form of my magic?」

「All Elemental.」

「…! You…know of it?」 Mage’s expression stiffened for a moment. But, she immediately smiled again.

「No matter, it is useless even if you know. It’s like I am truly here, right here and now, yet in a different place at the same time. The enemy thinks that I am miraculously evading their attacks and starts taking countermeasures under the wrong assumption. Somehow or other Lady Sage knew about it, but your attacks will still not connect.」

I see, her magic bewilders the enemy. I suppose that’s where she got the nickname The Bewitching Witch. In terms of rarity, this is rarer than Space-Time Elemental magic. If the times were different, Mage would be the world’s strongest magic user. That would be true even in the age of the previous Sage.

「A warning.」

「…? What?」

「The next attack shall decide it all.」 said Alchemy. Light gathers at the tip of Alchemy’s staff. Looks like she’s gonna fire heat rays via Light Elemental magic.

「Fufu, it is useless. Such magic cannot defeat me.」

Alchemy released a beam of light; and, just as she warned, the match was over. The heat ray passed through the upper portion of Mage’s staff, causing it to melt into nothing.

「……What?」 said Mage, mouth agape. Her current permeable form extends to her equipment too. That is why normal attacks shouldn’t hit her. But, Mage made a fatal mistake.

History’s strongest Sage Alchemy is…

「There exists no magic, realized by others, that I have not mastered.」 She excels in all manner of magic.

For a single moment, Mage’s lips contorted in frustration. 「…Heh, heheh. I see. I admit defeat.」

But in the next moment, she speaks jovially. 「By the way, Lady Sage, where did you learn All Elemental magic? I was inspired during my battle with a slow-headed Demon called the Flawless King…」

Mage nonchalantly revealed that she’s strong enough to do battle with a King-class Demon and live to tell the tale.

The Flawless King was most likely a ridiculous enemy that nullified all attacks, yet can only attack while in that state. We’ve experienced that too.

「We have faced an evil spirit that could only be defeated by purification magic, a dream Demon that can only be killed in the dream world, and an existence that normal attacks could not connect with. All of these were prior unpleasant experiences, for they did not follow the laws of logic.」

I’ve heard this before. By the way, there was also an unbreakable holy sword, but I’ll refrain from saying that now. She told me this information before, when Mika wasn’t around; so perhaps this is Alchemy’s way of being delicate. Omitting it to avoid an annoying conversation later also sounds like something she’d do.

「…I see, not just against one strong enemy, but even picking up on the discomfort felt against enemies that had already set up a countermeasure…to derive an element.」

I recall an explanation that Alchemy gave me. I’m sure it went like this. Imagine a person drawn on a piece of ordinary white paper. Now, put a transparent sheet of paper on top of that and draw another person next to the first one. From above, they look like they are next to each other; but in truth, they are each drawn on two different pieces of paper – thus they cannot touch.

A normal attack cannot hit a ghost because the ghost exists on the transparent sheet of paper. We, drawn on the normal white sheet of paper, can see them, but cannot touch them. Yet ghosts can interfere in this world, meaning that there is a method to affect the other paper. Purification magic used to repel evil spirits has the power to influence the “ghost’s paper”. If we as a people are living things drawn on a normal piece of paper, then there exists a method to affect living things drawn on another piece of paper. Alchemy worked to understand this, and thus devised All Elemental magic. An element that can affect any and all paper.

In the same way, Mage transferred herself to another paper, making attacks pass through her like they would a ghost. And, like Alchemy, she could make her attacks do the same thing – affecting the other paper.

Alchemy made her heat ray travel to the other paper. That’s why it was able to destroy Mage’s staff.

「Rain.」 Alchemy walked towards me.

「Hm? Oh. And the winner is…Alchemy.」

『Well done!』

「I have no need for such words. I wish to exercise the winner’s rights.」

「Winner’s rights…you mean the reward from me?」

I’m surprised that Alchemy cares about that. I thought she took up the challenge so that Mage wouldn’t use me.

「That’s right.」

「Sure, but is there even anything you’d want from me, Alchemy?」

「There is one. From today onwards, sever all ties with the The Bewitching Witch Mage.」

「Now hold on! Isn’t that far too cruel? !」 Listening in on the conversation, Mage rushed toward us with a shocked face.

「Do not meddle with Rain. This is worth more to me than any reward.」

「Wow, what a devious Savior you are.」

「How unpleasant.」

「Rather than such a negative reward, how about something more pleasant? Like asking for a date, or asking for a hug. Something that makes the heart race.」

「Rain, is there a problem with my reward?」 Alchemy ignored Mage.

「Uh, hmm…」

「S-see?! Even Sir Hero is feeling uncomfortable! That’s it, limiting relationships would just be history repeating itself!　Elly and the others will be furious!」

「…Mrgh.」 Alchemy reacted.

Mage took this chance to press her advance. 「That is the very mistake that led Sir Hero to defect, is it not?? Are there not times when one meets a person one is incompatible with? There are also gorgeous women like me who are beautiful, have big breasts, excellent magic ability, and would make a good wife and a wise mother! It is not unreasonable that you would dislike such a person! However, it is up to the person himself who he wishes to get along with! Do not let the reward of a match such as this have an effect on Sir Hero’s life. Come now, don’t you think so?!」

「Silence.」 Alchemy points her staff at Mage.

「Eeek. Save me, darling. Lady Sage is scaring me~」 With tears in her eyes, Mage hides behind me. Because she’s bigger than me, she can’t be hidden no matter how low she stoops.
Alchemy grips her staff even tighter.

『…As much as this woman super pisses me off, she has a point. Change your reward, Alchemy.』

「Your advice is unnecessary, holy sword.」

『This one pisses me off too!』

Looks like the truce between them is over.

「…But, I shall withdraw my reward.」

Mage breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to her chest. 「Thank goodness. I was so worried that this would be the end of my lovey-dovey newlywed route with Sir Hero.」

『Rain, maybe you should just avoid her, huh? You’re free to be with anyone else.』

「Please wait, Lady holy sword! No, wait, to Sir Hero, Lady holy sword is like a sister, which would make her my future sister-in-law. Oh sister-in-law, please hear me out.」

『Who are you callin’ sister, sister?!』

And so, the battle between the Demon King Army’s strongest magic user and Humanity’s strongest magic user came to a conclusion; and the number of people Mika had to be wary of increased by one.