Adaptive Body (1)
It was something I had done, but I couldn’t help frowning. The explosion made of lightning surged up from beneath Coco's feet in an instant.
It swallowed her body whole, bringing about excruciating agony. It scorched her nerves and convulsed her muscles. Her skin began to smoke from the heat.
On top of that, the crystal sword embedded in her chest couldn’t withstand the shock of the explosion and shattered. Her insides churned, and some of them even burst out.
She was still alive in that state.
"Kh… haak!"
Even while blood poured out of every opening and her body trembled from electrocution, the light in her eyes hadn’t died.
For a moment, I thought I might have dealt enough damage to skip Phase 3 entirely. But judging from that expression—like she was ready to tear me apart—it didn’t seem likely.
"Come on now~ Time to attack!"
I planned to beat her down before Phase 3 began in earnest.
Only then did the students start to move. Most of them were second-years who had volunteered for the rescue team.
Naturally, the one who stood out was Canis, the only magician. For some reason, she was actively participating in the assault.
Unlike the others who couldn’t even get close, she launched her attacks with almost wild enthusiasm. Sharp crystal shards, each the size of a human torso, flew at a fierce speed.
“She might not even be a magician.”
Canis’s attack was impressive. The speed of those crystals was too much for average reflexes to track. You could even call it artillery fire.
And Coco dodged all of it in that wrecked condition, without using any magic.
“No!”
“Huh?”
As I walked in to finish her off, my body suddenly tilted backward. I collapsed to the ground just as Winter started smearing something all over my wounds.
“You can leave it to the others! Just get treated!”
Winter was crying as she applied crushed herbs onto me.
Her passionate approach to treating patients was commendable, but I had to wonder—was there any point in patching me up if I couldn't even stand?
I barely shook her off and got back to my feet. In that short moment, she’d slathered on quite a lot.
“Feels like I turned into seaweed.”
Most of my upper body was smeared with some green substance. Just as I stood up in time to wrap it in bandages, Winter glared at me with fierce eyes.
When I glared back, she quietly turned her gaze away.
“Good job. Good job.”
Coco, now severely wounded, was struggling. Even as a second-year student at the Academy, she’d received substantial training over the past year.
Everyone here was a promising talent with a bright future ahead. And with Canis taking the lead, they were formidable.
Against such opponents, even a dying magician who could barely cast spells wasn’t entirely helpless.
“You bastard!”
Having spotted me, Coco let out a loud shout and charged in. I didn’t know how she still had that much strength, but the force behind her charge was quite fierce.
However, her attack never reached me. I swung the shovel I was holding. Canis, already prepared, also unleashed her magic.
“Ghh… uaaaagh!”
A crystal spike shot up from below and pierced completely through Coco’s body. Only then did the sharpened edge of the shovel barely manage to sever her neck.
“Y-You… Duhein’s b-brat…! Someone like… you…!”
“Huh, well. So you weren’t even human, huh?”
I shuddered at the sight of her still shouting after being beheaded. Her voice, full of rage, made my stomach churn.
I scratched my throat and spat out blood. Maybe it was from inhaling Soloven’s heat, but there was a strange irritation in my throat.
“You… I’ll… curse you! You’ll pay… for obstructing the g-grand…”
Coco couldn’t finish her sentence. Soloven, who had appeared at some point, smashed her head in with his shield.
I instinctively turned to Winter before the horror of that gruesome sight could truly hit me. Winter, who had been gagging violently, made a grotesque face as she looked at me waving my hand.
Once she understood what I meant, she pulled out the Silent BellSilent BellSilent Bell and waved it around.
“Ugh, I’m going to throw up.”
Feeling both mind and body settle, I approached with what remained of my strength. Something that had been hanging from Coco’s neck fell with a soft clink.
It was a cube with a loop attached—something that looked like a necklace but was actually a kind of lock. Originally, this item had been stored at the Academy before it was stolen.
It was the true reward of Episode 1 that I’d been aiming for.
“Doesn’t look like much.”
It was the artifact known as [Bridge That Closes the Sky], a quest item in the game.
It was an item that generated a barrier to reverse gravity. Handing it over to the Chairman would begin the quest.
But I knew the artifact’s true value.
“Hm? What’s that~?”
Canis, looking quite satisfied, asked the question. Instead of answering, I fiddled with the artifact.
“An artifact? If you mess with something like that carelessly, it c—”
Before Canis could finish identifying it, a soft light began to radiate from the cube.
Each face of the cube split apart and floated into the air. Just as Canis tried to activate her magic, I stopped her.
“Hold still.”
[Bridge That Closes the Sky] was an item meant for sealing things. More precisely, it sealed things away.
That “thing” could be anything. Not just space and time, but even souls and lifespans could be sealed—though it demanded a price of equal value.
What I intended to do was the opposite.
The glowing fragments of the [Bridge That Closes the Sky] formed a shape.
—Speak your desire.
The light took the form of a golden woman. She was small, with her eyes closed and holding a scale. She spoke.
Her voice carried weight and solemnity.
“I will seal everything related to magic.”
“Huh?”
Canis let out a dumbfounded sound. I ignored her and waited for the woman’s response.
An artifact that let you offer something to seal something else could also do the opposite.
She would ask what I wished for, and I would answer. Then she would ask what I was willing to offer, and I would answer.
But if, when she asked what I wanted, I instead answered with what I was willing to offer, a strange phenomenon would occur.
—…You have a guarantor.
“Huh?”
—A covenant of the Golden Rule has been formed.
The woman said those words and shone once. Then, she scattered into light and was sucked into my body.
I felt something being drawn out of me. The extreme exhaustion from that extraction left me with a loss so great, it was as if my organs had been torn out.
“Huuh! Haa! Ha! Khahahaha!”
Something else rushed in and filled that emptiness in an instant. An overwhelming sense of fullness, something I had never felt before, burst out of me in hearty laughter.
▶ You have acquired the skill [Covenant of the Golden Rule].
[Covenant of the Golden Rule]
A contract with the Goddess of Justice. Since the contractor did not specify the desired reward, an equivalent offering will be compensated with a corresponding reward chosen at random.
Offering: Everything related to magic
Desire: Undecided → Adaptive Body (Anaye)
***
Winter was frustrated. Due to the nature of the Theology Department, she had little to no experience with combat training. Even when Soloven had asked her to join the rescue team, she had firmly refused—only to give in eventually.
Then they encountered a monster beyond their ability to handle. A magician who conjured raptors made of pure magic. At the beast’s roar, most of the rescue team had been turned to stone.
She had thought she would die today—until Davide showed up. Instead of the usual face that looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, he wore an expression tinged with slight excitement.
He made a grand entrance, rescued her, and even played a pivotal role in taking down that monster of a magician.
Seeing him still move despite those clearly severe injuries almost made her lose her mind, but the chilling glare he gave her snapped her back to reality.
“Huh, that looks dangerous, doesn’t it?”
The mind she’d barely regained tried to flee again. It was the first time she had seen Davide laugh. And to see him laugh so heartily—like that, gazing up at the sky—was something else.
Then, something began to cover his body.
And right after, Canis asked brightly,
“Isn’t that bad?! Isn’t that bad?!”
Realizing what had enveloped Davide’s body, Winter let out a panicked scream.
It was the very thing she had once seen through the Great Ash Tree—the massive contamination that had spread across most of the forest. That same pollution was now clinging to Davide’s body.
“He shouldn’t go near that~”
Watching with curiosity, Canis suddenly held back Winter, who was about to dash toward Davide.
She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she could tell—it was absolutely not a good thing. That was not something a fragile girl like Winter should approach.
“No… No! Let me go!”
Tears streaming down her face, Winter struggled in vain. She clenched her teeth and tried to break free, but the grip holding her was too strong.
Eventually realizing she couldn’t get away, Winter began furiously shaking the Silent BellSilent BellSilent Bell.
“Please…”
Supporting the drained Winter, Canis furrowed her brows. She understood that Davide had activated an artifact. She also understood that the black mass now covering his body was ominous.
But the reaction of the white-robed girl, who had been with the product line, was a bit different. She wasn’t acting like Davide had died.
“Does she know what that is?”
“Contamination…”
No sooner had Winter spoken than an overwhelming surge of force erupted from Davide. Canis instinctively pulled Winter behind her.
“What… is that?”
It was a ghost.
The cloth skirt draped around its lower half looked more like black flames than actual clothing. Above that, a gaunt torso was covered in tattoos.
Tattoos so intricate that peeling the skin would likely reveal a sigil or emblem. But above that, it became even more grotesque.
A skull of a stag, exuding a chilling aura, sat where the head should be. Behind it, sea-blue hair fluttered like a wild mane.
Why the hell was he wearing something that horrifying on his head?
“...Is that a new boss?”
“Are you insane?”
Everything about it screamed villainous final boss. A stunned Canis cautiously looked to Winter for an answer, but the reply came from elsewhere.
Davide’s voice was laced with exasperation. Winter stood there blankly, staring at him.
That form wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. She tried to recall where she’d seen it.
“Ah! A… ah? Aah! Aaaah!”
“What the hell? Did you lose your language skills?”
At last, she remembered and let out a dumbfounded shriek. That battle inside the Great Ash Tree—the final form they faced. Anaye’s avatar. Davide looked exactly like it, minus the weapon.
“Davide? Is that really you?”
“What, are you high? What kind of question is that? And more importantly, you’ve been casually dropping honorifics for a while now.”
To Canis’s cautious question, Davide answered bluntly. That was definitely him. Canis, somehow, felt relieved.
“To mess around with an unknown artifact like that~ Maybe he’s got two lives or something?”
“‘Something’?”
“…Sir!”
Even with Canis’s snide remark, Davide didn’t seem to care. He casually dug at his ear and shrugged his shoulders.
“Uh, senior?”
“Oh, right. Are you okay? Your body, I mean.”
“Uh… yes…”
Winter cautiously approached Davide, her face full of concern.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Do you… want to touch your face?”
“My face? Huh—what the hell is this?”
Davide clearly had no idea what he looked like at the moment. When he touched his face at Winter’s suggestion, he felt something hard.
“Right now, you look just like the avatar of Anaye we met inside the Great Ash Tree.”
“What? Hey, can’t you make a mirror?”
“Hm~ I don’t know that kind of magic~”
“Kyak!”
Davide turned his head and asked, but Winter looked behind her in confusion. No one was there—so who was he talking to?
Turning her head again, she saw Canis had somehow crept right up behind her.
Winter nearly had a heart attack and fell backward in surprise, but Davide caught her before she hit the ground and helped her back up.
“Adjust it properly. You could use it as a mirror substitute.”
“Anyway~ that look you’ve got is intense~ Like, the kind of image where stabbing someone wouldn’t be surprising~”
“Can you shut up?”
Canis teased Davide as she pulled out a crystal. Davide clicked his tongue as he looked at his reflection in the crystal.
“So this is what it meant by having a guarantor.”
“Guarantor?”
Davide removed the stag skull. The skull crumbled into particles and vanished.
Underneath was a face full of tattoos—but unmistakably, it was his face.
“Hey~ Top of the second years.”
Davide called out to Soloven, who was sweating off in the distance. Soloven furrowed his brow when he saw Davide’s tattooed, bare face.
Davide’s sharp eyes combined with the tattoos made him look even more menacing than usual.
“You should head over to the extermination team. Isn’t that your job?”
Soloven nodded. It had been quite the day. He had witnessed the unexpected power of the troublemaker Davide and experienced an attack from an outside faction.
But the road ahead was still long.