B9 - Chapter 38: Deep Waters

Viola's eyes grew increasingly serious as she watched the confrontation between the Metal Mage and the twins. With every dodge and every parry, she had to reevaluate her own chances.

Though the challenger was a second-rate Grand Mage at best, he was still a man with a considerable amount of experience. None of his attacks were simple. Every second attack was either a feint or a buildup to some greater ploy.

And yet, the twins never fell for any of them.

Only in the final second did he manage to land a grazing hit. And, judging by his expression, it was clear that it had been more luck than skill that had guided his hand.

"...Pass."

Viola could hear the reluctance in Kallen's voice, even though she tried to mask it.

"Congratulations," Keiran chimed in when his sister remained silent. "Rollo of the Iron Flock Mercenary Band has become the first Group Leader of the day."

A wild cheer quickly spread, mainly led by the remaining members of what Viola guessed was the Iron Flock Mercenary Band. Many others, including herself, joined in with more measured applause.

"...That fills one of five available Group Leader positions."

The applause died down instantly.

Viola noticed Sebastian tense up beside her.

One of five. How devious. That was a piece of information the twins had withheld until now. Or maybe they had simply decided on it just now. Whatever the case, it changed everything. All of a sudden, the best move wasn't necessarily to wait anymore.

Expectantly, Viola saw many of the holdouts among the group leaders shift.

Sebastian was more decisive and stepped forward immediately, but he was far from the only one. Several of the others had started walking forward at exactly the same time. The one who beat them all to it was a woman who had already been standing at the very front.

Upon reaching the invisible line, she turned around and winked. "Ladies first, if you boys don't mind?"

Left with no choice, the other contenders returned to their respective groups while grumbling.

Viola could feel it clearly. The atmosphere had changed. There was now a tension in the hall that had been absent until now. Competitiveness. Instead of seeing everyone else as potential allies, they had become rivals.

"How confident are you?" Viola whispered to Sebastian the moment he returned.

"Confident," he answered.

"Come on, give me a number."

Sebastian hesitated for a moment. "70%."

Viola was surprised. That was a far higher chance than she had expected, but all the better for it. She brought her lips closer to Sebastian's ear.

"If your strategy involves feints or tricks, focus them on Keiran. He doesn't have the same precognition his sister has, and there is a delay in whatever method she uses to inform him. But if you are planning to use area attacks, make sure to attack from at least two angles at once, unless you are prepared to brute force your way through a [Spatial Barrier]. In that case, use an angle that threatens them both. It will slow Keiran's response, for he will not risk leaving his sister undefended."

After informing him of her observations, Viola drew back.

Sebastian stared at her wordlessly. It was the first time he had taken his attention away from an ongoing challenge in favor of something else.

For a moment, the two simply looked at each other. Then, a small smile emerged on Sebastian's face.

"75%."

The corners of her lips lifted before Viola could help herself.

She was glad to be able to help her team, if only in such a small way. The thought of letting them down by not participating had been gnawing at her, but that regret had been lifted by that single word.

The moment was interrupted by the sound of the alarm.

Rrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggg!

Followed by the announcement.

"...Failed."

There was a momentary pause as everyone watched the previously spirited woman walk back to her group with her head lowered. It was a quick reminder that just because the slots had become limited, it didn't mean they had become any easier to attain.

And haste, oftentimes, led to failure.

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But one man didn't hesitate.

The moment the verdict had been spoken, Sebastian began to move. And even before the woman had fully returned to her spot, he was already standing before the invisible line that would start the challenge.

The atmosphere slowly heated up again as everyone waited to see what would happen.

Roooaaarrr!

With a deafening cry, the winged lion, Seramis, appeared behind Sebastian. And he hadn't come alone. Three identical summons appeared at the same time. In total, four oversized beasts stood in a row behind Sebastian, each of their movements perfectly mirroring the others.

"Illusions..." Viola muttered.

This was something she had never seen Sebastian do. Until now, she had never even seen him use any Magic aside from summoning his Spirit Beast.

"He has a..."

Before Viola could even finish her sentence, Sebastian took that final step across the line, his hand already raised. The [Space Lock] descended instantly, though it couldn't stop the brilliant beam of light that shot from his hand.

"Light affinity?"

The four lions charged. By sight alone, even Viola couldn't distinguish the real Seramis from the copies. The wind gave him away. Only one of the lions displaced it as he moved.

The beam of light had been fired at Kallen, and only at the very last moment did a prism-shaped barrier snap into place to block the attack. No, blocking wasn't the right word. The beam wasn't stopped, merely redirected. Dozens of smaller beams refracted on impact and struck the ground and wall.

A second beam followed instantly. And then a third.

It was a smart move by Keiran. Instead of trying to stop Sebastian's Light Magic head-on, he redirected the attack, forcing its power elsewhere instead of contesting it directly. Though the choice came with an obvious drawback. Even if the attacks didn't look like they would ever manage to reach either of them, the unpredictable stray beams effectively locked the twins in place. It would make dodging any additional attacks difficult.

Not that they had to...

Under the effect of the [Space Lock], even the real Seramis could barely move, distinguishing him clearly from the illusory lions that continued forward without hindrance. The ploy had clearly failed, though Sebastian didn't seem concerned. Instead, he continued firing beam after beam, forcing Keiran to redirect each one with his prism-shaped barriers.

Then, without warning, Sebastian changed targets.

The next beam struck one of the lions.

Viola blinked.

For the briefest moment, its golden fur flashed like polished glass. The beam bounced off its side, crossed the room, struck another lion, and changed direction again.

Keiran barely managed to raise a barrier in time.

Viola's eyes widened.

"Mirrors..."

That was the purpose of the illusions.

Sebastian fired again.

This time, the beam ricocheted between three lions before coming at the twins from behind. Another followed from the side, then another from above.

Within moments, the straight, predictable attacks had become a web of light that could strike from almost any direction.

Kallen's head snapped from side to side as she tracked the incoming attacks, and barrier after barrier appeared wherever her gaze settled. Behind. Left. Above.

Viola's eyes narrowed.

Sebastian wasn't trying to break through their defenses. He was multiplying the number of threats Keiran had to respond to until something gave way.

And it wasn't only Keiran who was struggling.

Every reflection changed the path of a beam. Every movement of the illusory lions changed the possible angles again. Kallen might be able to glimpse what was coming, but knowing which attack mattered became increasingly difficult when Sebastian could alter the path of any beam halfway across the room.

Keiran blocked another attack behind his back.

The [Space Lock] flickered for an instant.

Seramis lunged immediately.

The lion crossed several steps before the field stabilized again.

Keiran noticed and immediately focused on him, reinforcing the [Space Lock] before Seramis could gain any more ground.

Three beams flashed at once.

One went straight. The other two struck the illusory lions and bounced across the room, splitting Keiran's attention in three directions.

He blocked the first.

Kallen dodged the second.

The third came from behind.

Keiran twisted around, and another prism-shaped barrier snapped into place just in time.

For the briefest moment, Viola thought he had managed to block it all without losing control.

Then the lion took another step.

Keiran's head snapped toward him, and the [Space Lock] intensified once more.

At the same instant, the beam that had passed Kallen a moment ago ricocheted off one of the lions toward her exposed back.

Keiran froze.

Only for a fraction of a second.

But Viola saw the choice clearly.

Protect his sister or restrain Seramis.

The barrier appeared.

Seramis surged forward.

Kallen spun, but the lion was already there.

One enormous paw swept past her side. It had caught the edge of her robe.

Silence filled the hall.

Kallen looked down at the fabric hooked around Seramis's claw.

Then she clicked her tongue.

"...Pass."

Sebastian slowly lowered his hand.

The three illusory lions vanished.

"Congratulations," Keiran said. "Sebastian of the Wayfarers has become the second Group Leader of the day."

Viola broke into a smile. Her teammates were far less restrained.

"YEAAAAH!"

"SEBASTIAN!"

"VICTORY!"

Whether it was Grent, Irina, or Bernard, they all screamed at the top of their lungs. Meanwhile, Sebastian returned to their group with a small, satisfied smile on his face.

Viola gave him a nod. She had severely underestimated how capable their enigmatic team leader truly was.

His spellwork, calculation, and strategy had all been first-rate, even by her standards. It made her appreciate her luck in stumbling upon such a dependable team.

The applause stopped suddenly. Viola turned to find that a new contestant had already stepped up to the line.

It was a hooded figure dressed entirely in black. Their silhouette was so ambiguous that it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman under there.

They didn't even stop as they reached the line.

Tick-tack. Tick-tack.

The very moment the clock started, an ominous aura flooded the entire hall. It seeped into flesh and bone like an invisible poison, bringing with it a coldness that had nothing to do with temperature. Every breath suddenly felt shallower, every heartbeat weaker, as though something unseen had reached inside her body and was slowly drawing the life from it.

The figure slowly raised their hand, pointing it at the twins and...

"Pass."

They slowly lowered their hand.

"Krabat of the Ashen Choir has become the third Group Leader."

The figure turned around on the spot and slowly walked back to their group. Nobody cheered.

Even Viola didn't know what to say.

She couldn't blame the twins for surrendering. She had felt it too, the power gathered in that single hand. Whatever would have happened if Krabat had actually released it, she wasn't eager to find out.

Sebastian's murmur finally broke the silence that had overtaken their entire group.

"The waters here run deeper than I thought."

Viola nodded wordlessly. She couldn't have said it better if she tried.