Kays Translations

Chapter 28: Should I settle for Resentment? Part 2

"You want to exorcise me? A mere monster like you? You make me laugh."

Harunaga stood before me, floating twelve Shape-doll forms. They seemed to come out from under his clothes, and I couldn't help but wonder if those Shape-dolls were also some kind of magic.

Harunaga pointed his finger at us and sent the Shape-doll flying while smirking.

"It is not me who should be exorcised but that one," 

"There's no way that's true."

However, all of Harunaga's Shape-dolls froze, falling to the ground before they could become magic.

The snow Princess's ice magic. It locked away all the attacks before they became magic.

"The snow Princess turned into a monster because of you and yet, she didn't kill anyone. She's not an ordinary monster."

"Didn't you see it? She killed two magicians from the Mutsu Kingdom," 

"It was self-defense."

Sometimes, I still wonder if I could have survived in my past life if I had noticed that creepy guy with a knife before he stabbed me.

But the answer is always the same.

No. Impossible. It wouldn't have worked.

That lunatic intended to kill me, and he was not someone you could reason with.

So, I strongly believe that there are opponents you can't communicate with.

And if someone like that comes to kill you, you have to kill them first... or you'll die.

"I see. Then my actions are also self-defense," 

Harunaga said.

"No, it's not."

As Harunaga releases all of the dolls, which the Snow Princess is sealing away, I move forward.

"You brought this upon yourself."

From what I observed in my battles with Harunaga, all of his magic went through Shape-dolls.

Unlike us, who directly transform Guiding Thread Silvate into magic.

He made an unnecessary intermediary step.

So, if I destroy the Shape-dolls before it becomes magic... Harunaga won't be able to use magic.

And surely, that would apply to defense as well.

"Lightning Cage!"

I released a cage of lightning.

I used it to protect myself earlier, but this time I directed it to cover Harunaga.

"Stop thinking about trivial matters." 

Harunaga took out a Shape-doll at the same moment, but my lightning cage automatically reacted, burning the Shape-doll.

Both "Mine Kirai" and lightning magic are relatively easy to set up with automatic countermeasures.

That's why I created the Lightning Cage.

It burned the Shape-doll just as I planned.

"...I see."

For the first time, Harunaga's expression disappeared from his face.

His carefree and light-hearted attitude vanished.

"I understand now. You've killed my defense," 

"That's right."

Helpless, the young exorcist had turned into a mere human.

No, Harunaga was no longer human.

He was a monster who couldn't use magic.

"So, all that's left is... to exorcise you."

Following my words, ice pillars emerged from the ground, piercing Harunaga's feet.

"I've been waiting for this moment," 

Said the snow Princess, speaking through Aya-chan's form.

"This time, I will kill you!"

Her blue Guiding Thread Silvate sparkled.

Drawing a circle in front of her, she exhaled into it.

The moment her breath passed through the circle of Guiding Thread Silvate, it turned into a pure white wind and froze Harunaga, along with my lightning cage.

"I'll crush and kill you, Itsuki."

"Yeah."

I mercilessly hurled stones at Harunaga, who was frozen in ice.

The spell was not as powerful as "Falling Meteor," but it was a magic named "Skimming Projectile," which used Guiding Thread Silvate to throw stones at high speed.

The opponent may look human, but he's just an insect. And the original personality is nothing more than a scumbag who created the snow Princess.

There's no room for hesitation.

My magic should've crushed Harunaga into pieces along with the ice... or so I thought.

"You thought I was dead just now, little brat."

But the ice shattered, and Harunaga was left without a scratch.

...Unharmed.

"Itsuki-kun, stop! You won't exorcise him like that."

Shirayuki-sensei called out from the other side of the window in the viewing room.

"That's the 'Curse Transfer' spell. By transferring his wounds to the Shape-doll, which resonates with him, he can share his injuries among them! It's the deepest form of resonance!"

"Interesting, right? This secret technique. Only a few, including myself, can use it. It's a bit troublesome to prepare, though... I took too long to create the cage. Brat."

...Hey, wait a minute. Are you serious?

Can he really do that...!?

I inadvertently widened my eyes and froze.

"The 'Curse Transfer' is a useful technique. Once used, the Shape-doll resonate with each other until it stops. Therefore, the sorcerer who used it doesn't need to do anything afterward."

"..."

I couldn't help but grit my teeth.

Does such magic really exist?

...I want to know.

I want to know, but now is not the time to be saying that.

"Then, I shall take my leave now."

"No, not yet."

"Not yet? No, I have sealed all of your spells, little brat. You can't defeat me."

However, there's one thing I must do. Exorcise you.

I create five "Guiding Threads Silvate." 

The countdown of life begins.

After developing "Haze Moon," I paused for a moment and thought.

That magic devours everything. It's a magic where everything around flows into the black dot created in the air. But there must be a more versatile magic. So, I thought about it and arrived at one magic.

“You sealed all of my magic. But there's still one thing I can do."

"You still have the spirit? Give up already..."

As I released the five Guiding Thread Silvates, they wound around Harunaga's body.

But Harunaga didn't notice them.

He doesn't possess the "True Eye" to see my threads, after all.

"The 'Curse Transfer' can only be used as many times as the number of Shape-dolls, right?"

"That's correct."

"In that case, what happens if I eliminate each Shape-doll one by one...?"

"Impossible. With my 8,096 Shape-doll, how would you get rid of them all at once?"

"I will... eliminate... each one..."

As I spoke, I demonstrated the magic.

I combined five attributes to create "Compound Attribute Change: Night."

But this time, I didn't create just one exposed attribute.

I produced a large black sphere that surrounded Harunaga entirely, imprisoning the monster.

"Barrier...? But it's so dark."

This is the safety measure I created.

By creating a vanishing point only inside the black sphere, I can safely and surely eliminate the monster with this magic.

"Falling Sun."

As I chanted the spell, the black sphere I created started to make a tremendous noise, as if digging through the bedrock. The sphere was shrinking, and right now, Harunaga's body was being swallowed inside it.

"Do you think you can exorcise me with something like this? Inside this barrier that doesn't even have a teleportation seal..."

Seeing that Harunaga still seemed nonchalant about his situation, I decided to enlighten him.

It was already a hopeless situation.

"Anything you do now is pointless. This spell renders you unable to use magic."

"...What! My magic is unusable!?"

At last, Harunaga seemed to notice.

He couldn't use magic anymore.

I had learned this when I exorcised Raikou Douji with the same "Attribute: Night" before. This magic seals the opponent's magic, and once sealed, the target is swallowed into nothingness.

No one can escape.

That's why this magic is called "Night."

"S-Stop it! I have only just changed my life! How many sacrifices do you think it took for me to reach eternity? I haven't repaid those who sacrificed themselves for me yet! If I die here, those who died for me..."

"For you?"

The snow Princess questioned.

The size of the sphere had already halved.

"There's no one who died for you. You killed them. Die with the arrogance of not admitting that. Exorcist!"

"Don't mock me, a mere brat... those monster fools... how dare they try to close off my eternity...!"

He disappeared.

Completely vanished along with the entire sphere.

It was such an anticlimactic ending, but I exorcised him.

As proof of that, Harunaga's barrier he used a moment ago was also dissolving.

"Falling Sun" leaves no trace of even the black mist from the monster.

However, I left the "Adashi Harunaga's" relic gently on the ground.

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