Chapter 34 of the Academy's Weapon Replicator

Chapter 9: Menosorfo (8)

The ground was a mess of dirt and blood. I lifted my heavy, trembling eyelids.

“Ssu… Hoo…”

Every time I took a breath, my side throbbed. The bleeding hadn’t stopped yet.

“Cybel, Cybel! Focus!”

“I know! I know, but…”

Elodie’s voice, urging Cybel on. Cybel’s voice, on the verge of tears, quivered.

I seemed to have been unconscious for only a short while. I moved my eyes to check my position. I could see Cybel and Elodie a little above me.

Elodie was restraining Lockbell. From what I could tell, she was using wind magic to suppress Lockbell’s movements.

Lockbell probably wouldn’t faint even if I struck her now. She’s in a state similar to unconsciousness, moving as if under a spell.

In other words, she needs to be kept restrained.

Moreover, with a child’s fragile body, I can’t use too much force.

Elodie’s maximum output is strong, but she’s clumsy at controlling it. She must have hardly ever practiced it.

In the divine power measurement room at the academy, first-year students only measure the increase in their strength; they don’t focus on control.

This is because if they focus on fine control from the first year, there’s a risk they won’t be able to reach their maximum divine power.

“Kill Frontier, Cybel! It’s Frontier!”

“K, Kuh…!”

On the other hand, Cybel’s body wasn’t moving as she wished, and she seemed to be resisting Sylph’s commands.

Is this Sylph’s ability? I don’t understand the principle, but it seems to make the target follow her commands.

From the fact that it didn’t work on Elodie and me, it seems there are some conditions required.

Physical contact, perhaps, or giving the target an item enchanted with her magic.

“…Cy, bel…”

I called out to Cybel in a voice barely above a whisper.

“F, Frontier?! You’re awake, ugh!”

Cybel somehow heard my voice and reacted, but she was still struggling to resist the command.

Lockbell had lost consciousness as soon as Sylph gave the order.

Impressive, Cybel.

“Huh…”

I placed both arms on the ground and exerted force. At that moment, a sharp pain shot through my side.

Damn, it hurts so much that tears are welling up in my eyes.

My arms tremble with every centimeter I lift.

It hurts.

I don’t want to get up.

I want to rest.

I might die like this.

While these pitiful thoughts kept running through my mind,

…I stood up.

“Frontier…”

Elodie and Cybel’s eyes widened to the largest I’ve ever seen.

As if they couldn’t believe I was standing.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

It really makes me seem seriously injured.

Now, I can’t even take a step.

I can’t even raise my arms.

Ssu, hoo.

I’ve done this breathing exercise so many times. This wretched breathing.

But if I don’t do it, the pain is so intense I can’t breathe properly.

“Frontier! Lie down! Don’t think about anything! I’ll handle it!”

Elodie shouted at me.

I’m starting to understand Elodie’s way of speaking.

Elodie is putting all her effort into restraining Lockbell, and Cybel is struggling just to keep herself together.

And yet, she’s telling me to lie down.

“Don’t worry, Elodie.”

“Who’s worried!”

“Elodie.”

I looked into Elodie’s eyes.

Her blue eyes. When I first saw Elodie, her eyes reminded me of a lake.

Frontier must have thought the same.

He must have thought the same all along.

Seeing Elodie’s back as she moved ahead.

Even when she occasionally turned to smile at him.

Frontier was consumed by a deep sense of inferiority.

At the end of that pain, he came to a conclusion: to eliminate Elodie’s divine power.

The reason was simple.

He wanted to walk with her.

He wanted to stand by her side.

Now I understand what Frontier has wanted to say to Elodie for a long time.

Even if she felt inferiority towards Elodie, even if she felt powerless towards herself.

She still would have wanted to say it.

Whether it was pure or tainted.

That one word.

I’ll say it for her.

“I’ll help you now.”

“…What?”

Leaving Elodie, who was still in shock,

I took out ‘Menosorfo’ from the workshop.

I spread it out on the ground.

Just as ‘Weaving’ doesn’t require physical materials,

my magic circle doesn’t need to be drawn physically.

“Mana, it’s a close call if I can use it all.”

I feel the mana flowing out along with the blood from my side.

I don’t know if it’s just a feeling or if that’s how mana works.

The fatigue from the mana I’m pouring into Menosorfo is overwhelming.

Ssu…

Once more.

Hoo─

After exhaling,

I ‘spoke’ with mana.

“Menosorfo.”

With my words, the magic circle glowed.

The circle was enormous.

More so than any description could convey.

It enveloped not only me, Elodie, and Cybel, but also spread to the forest where the Indus were hiding.

“This is the one from back then…”

Elodie muttered.

Memories must have come flooding back.

The magic circle I tried out in the Roah mansion’s courtyard.

Back then, nothing happened.

Despite using mana.

“W, What is this…!”

I heard Sylph’s panicked voice.

But the magic circle only glowed, nothing special happened.

Other than the fact that its form was now visible, it was no different from the previous Menosorfo.

“──Ha! Just a bluff, Frontier! Die quietly! Cybel can’t hold out forever!”

Sylph shouted.

For someone hiding in the forest, her voice was surprisingly confident.

And where did the honorifics go?

“F, Frontier…”

Cybel called out to me with a trembling voice.

She was facing me.

And she was a bit closer than before.

“Run…”

When I looked at Cybel’s face,

she was crying.

Her beautiful appearance was marred by tears and hair.

Still, she pleaded with me.

“I’m going to kill you, Frontier…”

She seemed to have truly reached her limit.

Cybel’s arms were shaking violently.

But I don’t have the strength to lift a finger. Standing is already a struggle.

“It’s okay.”

But I reassured her.

I had a plan.

A plan based on conjecture, and I’m not sure if my body can handle it.

But this was definitely the right move.

Sylph hasn’t noticed yet.

She’s been giving simple commands all along. The only thing I’ve heard is ‘kill him.’

In other words, she can’t give Cybel detailed commands.

At best, she can only order her to kill or stab someone. That’s the limit.

“Sylph.”

I called out Sylph’s name, wherever she was.

“Really want to kill me? The Roah family won’t let you get away with it.”

“Ha. I don’t care. I’m neither a noble nor a commoner. I don’t belong anywhere. The nobles can’t catch me. I’ll just hide in the shadows until the ‘revolution’ comes.”

“…Is that so.”

‘Alright, Sylph.’

I’ll do as you wish.

Menosorfo

Void Weaving

Rank - Divine (神位)

Chrysalactos, Iokeira

I wove without moving a finger.

Chrysalactos and Iokeira. They are Artemis’s bow and arrow.

The two appeared not in my hands,

“Huh?”

but right in front of Cybel, who was still far from me.

Without using Black Heaven, they were clearly visible to Cybel.

This is the power of Menosorfo.

It allows the caster’s magic to be manifested anywhere within the circle’s range.

Even if I don’t raise my hand.

Even if I can’t take a step.

The weapon I created through weaving is born far away from me.

“What is this?”

Cybel was startled by the sudden appearance of the bow and arrow in front of her.

“Take it.”

I said.

Cybel, looking frustrated, replied,

“I, I can’t move!”

“Take it and shoot me.”

Cybel’s expression froze at my words. She looked at me as if I were insane.

Well, I guess it does sound crazy to others.

“Hahaha! Frontier, you’ve lost your mind! Cybel! Do as Frontier wants!”

I heard Sylph’s voice.

Sylph’s command is ‘kill him.’

So, Cybel should be able to do it—take the arrow and shoot me.

“F, Frontier?”

“Trust me.”

“B, But I don’t want to hurt you!”

Cybel shook her head.

I smiled.

It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.

“Cybel.”

“Why!”

“What is your destiny?”

“W, What?”

Cybel, who is loved by destiny.

She must know.

The situation unfolding as she wishes. Everything that doesn’t hurt her.

“You’re loved by destiny.”

“E, Even if that’s true! My destiny only protects me. It doesn’t care about others! I can’t believe that. It will hurt you!”

Honestly, I’m surprised to see Cybel like this. I thought she was just an annoying villain.

But she still doesn’t understand.

What she truly is.

“Cybel, whether you like it or not, destiny is on your side.”

“B, But for others…”

“I said, it’s on your side.”

“…Frontier.”

To Cybel, who still found it hard to believe, I said,

“Cybel. Don’t be led by destiny. It’s already at your feet.”

“A, At my feet?”

Cybel isn’t a character who is swayed by good fortune.

If she were, she wouldn’t have such a bad reputation among Etius gamers.

Destiny isn’t above her.

Just because she’s loved by destiny, it doesn’t mean destiny will give her what she wants and watch from above.

As I said,

destiny is always there to serve her.

Cybel doesn’t follow a good destiny.

Destiny venerates Cybel.

“Cybel, what do you want to happen?”

“…For all of us to leave here safely.”

“Right. That’s what will happen.”

Cybel bit her lip.

She picked up the bow and arrow in front of her, drew the string, and aimed at me.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Sure.”

“You, you, if, if you’re lying, I’ll really kill you!”

Unfortunately, I can’t grant that.

If I’m lying, I’ll die from the arrow here.

“…Kuh─!”

Cybel, unable to bear watching, closed her eyes tightly and released the bowstring.

The arrow flew straight at me.

──What.

Whether Cybel is loved by destiny or not,

I don’t believe in destiny.

[Chrysalactos]

•Rank: Divine (神位)

•Description: The bow made by Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, and given to Artemis

Ability Details >

- Female Only: Only women can draw the bowstring due to Artemis’s request.

- Certain Hit: The user will always hit the target they aim at.

Because of these abilities,

the arrow that flew straight at me changed its trajectory in an impossible way, passing by me,

Thud!

and flew into the forest, making a short sound.

It was so eerie, it made the forest air heavy.

At the same time,

I slowly, began to lean.

“Frontier!”

Cybel ran over and supported me.

She seemed to have more freedom of movement now.

Sylph had been hit by the arrow.

For the second time today.

Being held by Cybel.

‘If this happens, I’ll owe her…’

Consciousness didn’t last long.