CHAPTER 6
Melody of Silence
An unsettling hush came over northwestern Orario.
Kaguya and Lyra were there, surrounded on all sides by half-ruined buildings on the verge of collapse. Opposite them stood Erebus and his follower, Vito.
Neither pair took their eyes off the other for a moment. Kaguya and Lyra carefully scanned the surroundings for any other cultists waiting in the wings, but there was no sign of them. Erebus and his lackey were alone.
“Leon?” said Lyra. “No idea. In fact, if you see her, let us know, yeah?”
“Besides, even if we did know,” added Kaguya, “we wouldn’t tell the likes of you. How dare you show your face after tricking us like that, Eren.”
The venom in their words was palpable. Especially Kaguya’s. She hadn’t forgotten how the god had toyed with them under the guise of his assumed name.
“Oh, I don’t consider it a trick,” said Erebus. “Just the same sort of thing that Hermes always does. But in the end, I grew tired of it.”
Erebus smiled, as if the ice-cold malice issuing from his lips were nothing more than a refreshing spring breeze.
“I couldn’t go on hiding my true self from my first and only friend, could I? Or are you saying you preferred Eren to the way I am now?”
In the next instant, his tone of voice and mannerisms completely changed.
“Good day to you, my fair and sharp-tongued maidens! Oh, please don’t wear such troubled frowns! What would the righteous and beautiful Astrea say if she could see you now?”
““Grrh!””
His words were the words of the mild-mannered Eren, but the smile on his face was of the purest evil. The girls were only more convinced that he was toying with them. The veins in Kaguya’s forehead looked ready to burst, and Lyra sensed that they risked changing the tone of the conversation if she didn’t change the subject.
“So what do you want with Leon anyway?” she asked. “You’ve been followin’ our girl for a while now.”
“A stalker god?” added Kaguya, providing verbal backup to her partner, loaded with all the venom she could muster. “Oh, how repulsive. Your foul-hearted perversions make me sick.”
Erebus, however, was unperturbed. “Keep playing the innocent sweetie with me and you’ll get me in a rutting mood, human. Men are all animals, and you’d better learn that before one of them takes away your precious virginity.”
“…!! You filthy…!”
Erebus said this as though it were nothing more or less than the self-evident truth. Kaguya scowled, barely concealing her disdain for his brazen words, but the god simply turned his attention to Lyra instead.
“And you, prum. Why Leon, you ask? Isn’t it obvious? Because she’s the most innocent and naive of you all! She’s an egg containing the pure-white yolk of justice inside her unbroken shell.”
““Wha—?!””
“And so I have to know, don’t I? What will she do when presented with absolute evil?”
Lyra and Kaguya remained speechless. Meanwhile, the god of primordial darkness waxed philosophical regarding the nature of that ever-elusive justice.
“Think of it as a kind of fortune-telling,” he said. “Whichever way she goes, all of Orario will go. You girls like astrology, don’t you?”
The god was laughing. At the same time, on a whim, he was testing them. He wanted to see the true worth of Astrea’s star-maidens.
At that moment, Erebus’s companion, Vito, let out a chuckle.
“Oh, my master, you truly are wicked, to force a naive young elf to speak on behalf of an entire city.”
Hearing this, Erebus placed a finger on the side of his head.
“Tell you what,” he said. “If you girls can answer my question, I’ll leave Leon alone. How about that?”
Steeped in bitter resentment, it was Kaguya who answered.
“Your question? What question?”
The god smiled.
“What is justice?”
“What?”
Lyra raised a dubious eyebrow.
“Didn’t you hear me? Tell me what your justice is.”
No hints. Erebus wanted the girls to lay their hearts bare. After a protracted silence, Kaguya spoke.
“A trivial question,” she spat. “Justice is a weapon. A weapon that makes our every aim a noble one. A blank flag to justify all manner of atrocities.”
It was a rather cynical answer, in keeping with her nature. One could only guess what circumstances in life had led her to it.
“And to follow justice is to erode yourself in pursuit of an unattainable ideal,” she concluded.
Erebus barely paused before answering her.
“Not good enough,” he said, his expression unchanging.
“What?!”
“It’s cute, the way you lie to yourself like that. Not cute enough for me, though, I’m afraid.”
While Kaguya stood in stunned silence, Erebus voiced her true answer, the one she couldn’t bear to speak aloud.
“Your so-called justice,” he said, “is nothing but regret. An illusion you cling to with the childish conviction that the world has betrayed you.”
“Rrgh?!”
Kaguya couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even muster up one of her trademark insults. Erebus’s words had cut straight to her core. Seemingly losing interest in her, the dark god shifted his gaze over to Lyra.
“And you. You still haven’t given me an answer,” he said. “Hoping that if you draw the conversation out, I’ll slip up and say something I shouldn’t?”
“…!!”
“Your justice is wisdom masquerading as poison. The last resort of a powerless rat who makes trickery their domain.”
Erebus commanded the dominating voice of a soothsayer. Lyra’s shoulders quivered in indignation. He had seen through her completely, and he spoke in calm, almost pitying tones.
“Or perhaps your justice is a cloak of invisibility, to hide that ugly inferiority complex of yours.”
“Up yours! This is why I hate gods! All-seeing, all-knowing bastards!”
Lyra exploded in fury. It was the only way to stop herself from shaking. Erebus had touched on their deepest vulnerabilities and left them both flustered and angry.
“Don’t get so mad, girls,” he said. “You’ve both got what it takes to go far; I’ll tell you that.”
Lyra ground her teeth in frustration, but the dark god only smiled from the bottom of his black heart.
“But I’m afraid you’ve lost this one. I’ve utterly dismantled you both. Your imperfections are so very mortal, but in the end you’re nothing but a pair of lost lambs.”
““Rrgh…!!””
“And since neither of your answers satisfied me, I’m off to go scramble an egg.”
The two girls balled their fists. Erebus had violated their innermost thoughts. And he didn’t stop there.
“Now, I think I’ll let you go. Run along and tell Astrea that this big, bad, handsome man made you cry.”
“Handsome? You wish,” spat Lyra.
“But it’s true, isn’t it? I know you want me.”
“I’d rather sleep with a maggot,” said Kaguya, capitalizing on what little payback she could seize. Erebus only chuckled.
“Nothing can shut you two up, can it? But I’m afraid you no longer interest me. Time to get a move on.”
The dark god made to leave, only to find a sword and a pair of boomerangs barring his path.
“Not so fast,” said Lyra. “I know it ain’t classy, but the big bad shows his stupid face right in front of us, we’d have to be idiots not to take that chance.”
“Killing a god might be out of the question, but we can still put you in chains,” added Kaguya. “Astrea will be very happy to see you, and an end to this war as well.”
Yet even with these two warmaidens breathing down his neck and raring for a fight, Erebus’s smile never wavered.
“So you’re not going to accept my mercy, then?” he said. “Guess that’s just the way good and evil have to be.”
Then he looked around—as if searching for something, perhaps?—but after a short moment, he called out to Vito.
“Very well. My faithful follower. You shall ensure my safety for the time being.”
“Ahhh, how did I know you were going to say that? You know, these days I feel less your loyal servant and more your human shield.”
In some respects, the god and the follower were awfully alike. Both possessed a rather theatrical disposition. Vito feigned offense as he spoke, an affectation immediately exposed by his gleeful smile.
“It’s been a while, ladies,” he said, prying open a single eye. “Since the eighteenth floor, if I remember correctly. As two parties both aggrieved by the same god, shall we dance?”
“Silence!” Kaguya roared. “This time, we’ll finish you off for good!”
And so the rematch began. Lyra, Kaguya, and Vito all drew their weapons and flew into battle. Kaguya’s swift katana strike met and repelled Vito’s dagger, but the minion of evil utilized that momentum to effortlessly deflect Lyra’s boomerang attack. Even outnumbered two-to-one, Vito didn’t give up the advantage. With polished skills and a keen mind, he made sure his two opponents never landed a single blow. In fact, with a second knife pulled from his pocket, he managed to come concerningly close to the girls’ slender necks. Lyra was forced to close the distance to cover Kaguya.
The two girls scowled. Clearly, for Vito, the battle on the eighteenth floor had just been a warm-up.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Is that all you’ve got?! Only one person down compared to last time, and this is all you can—”
“Idiot.”
As Vito stepped in to finish things quickly, he heard Kaguya’s mocking tone. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. The pair had simply been feigning weakness.
“What you just saw was teamwork,” said Lyra, jumping back to optimal range. “Perfect for getting the drop on overconfident asshats like you.”
“?!”
When she moved away, Vito saw what she had been concealing from him: Kaguya had resheathed her sword. She crouched slightly and prepared to demonstrate her lightning draw.
“Iai Strike: Gleaming Blade!”
There was a blinding flash of light as Kaguya unleashed her sword. Vito could barely track its movement. All he could do was raise his dagger, which upon impact flew from his grip and into the air.
“Iai?!” exclaimed Vito, reeling from the force of the blow. “A technique from the Far East?!”
“How astute,” said Kaguya as she stepped in to capitalize on the opening. “An art passed down through my accursed bloodline. I must commend you on blocking it, but now…it’s over!”
Kaguya swiveled her blade, bringing it down on a return trajectory that would undoubtedly cleave Vito’s body in two. Mere moments from his inevitable death, Vito’s eyes went wide. Then he smiled.
“I’m impressed,” he said. “However…”
Before Kaguya had time to wonder what made Vito so confident, a figure stepped in, as silent as the night, between the far-eastern girl and her ill-fated foe.
““?!””
Kaguya’s sword halted mid-swing, caught between the intruder’s fingers. Both Kaguya and Lyra went wide-eyed with shock when they saw who it was.
“My order was to ensure my lord and master remained safe for the time being,” said Vito. “Thus my continued participation in this battle is, I’m afraid, utterly unnecessary.”
As Lyra leaped back with caution, Vito casually slipped away after Erebus. It was clear he had known all along that the mysterious assailant would step in at some point.
Flowing ashen hair. Eyes eternally closed. Deathly pale skin and a jet-black dress. A witch, arriving to a fanfare of silence.
“You are noise,” she said in an irritated tone. “An unending, ear-grating noise.”
Just two fingers. That was all it took for the witch to intercept Kaguya’s killing blow—just the index and thumb of the woman’s right hand.
Kaguya was stunned. “I-impossible! How could she…?”
Whichever way she pulled, she couldn’t wrest her sword free of the woman’s unbreakable grip.
“It’s you!” yelled Lyra. “From Hera Familia!” But the witch—Alfia—did not even open her eyes to speak.
“Do not shout in my ear. It’s actually quite irritating.”
Then she swept her arm.
““Wha—?!””
With that single gesture, it was as if the whole world suddenly shook, and Kaguya was flung clean off her feet. The blast wave caught Lyra, too, and knocked her backward.
“There you are, my sworn friend and ally,” said Erebus, suddenly appearing on the street once more. “Have you rested enough for your liking?”
“A fine thing to say after rudely rousing me from slumber with this infernal cacophony,” replied Alfia. “You were perfectly aware the church I was using was nearby, right?”
It was now clear why Erebus had looked around before the battle began. He had been searching for the witch’s resting place.
“I was,” he said, completely unapologetic. “Though I promise me being in this neighborhood was entirely incidental. Still, while you’re here, a little bit of exercise ought to wake you up, right?”
Then, he turned his attention to the two girls standing across the battlefield from him.
“Show our little followers of justice the true meaning of despair.”
““Ngh…?!””
Erebus directed a sadistic smile toward Kaguya and Lyra as they scrambled to their feet. Alfia’s expression shifted to one of concern.
“You would have me waste my efforts on something this trivial? Or are you and your followers simply too incompetent to see it done?”
“Hurtful,” said Vito, “but inarguable. Yet you, my lady, are quite impressive. Why, I can barely sense you. If I couldn’t see you standing right there, I’d have no cause to suspect your presence at all.”
Vito opened his eye a crack and continued.
“I hear the reason they call you the Silence is that your sound quells all others. I would very much like to see that in action.”
“I see,” said Alfia. “So you truly are powerless. Then it will indeed be quicker for me to end this personally.”
She silently took a step forward. Immediately, Lyra and Kaguya felt an immense pressure bearing down on them. All was silent, save for the alarm bells ringing inside their minds. They had never felt so threatened in all their lives.
“We’ve got to get out of here, Kaguya! We can’t fight a monster like this!”
“We can’t. If we run, we die. If we so much as take our eyes off her, we die. She’s that strong.”
Kaguya was the first to realize just how dire the situation was. She gripped her sword tightly and steeled herself for the inevitable.
“I see there are those who still show their opponents the proper respect,” said the witch. “However, my disappointment in this city is not so easily abated.”
While she spoke and moved almost silently, the power building up inside her body was of a terrifying magnitude. She stopped suddenly, at some distance from the two girls, causing their pulses to race.
“Unfortunately, I lack the score for a funeral dirge; only a trumpet sound that will grind your bodies to dust. But please, do not cry.”
Alfia sounded almost saddened as the death sentence passed her lips.
“There is nothing more irritating than the screams of a dying young woman.”
The air itself seemed to creak, groaning in advance of the unfathomable magical power this Level 7 was poised to unleash. Staring at her was like staring into the open maw of a fire-breathing dragon.
“Fuck this!” cried Lyra. “I’m out! You can stay here and die if you want, Kaguya, but I’m hoofin’ it! I’ll take my chances!!”
“No, we have to stay and keep our eyes peeled for any opening! I can’t survive this without your help, Lyra!”
With inhuman courage, Kaguya steadied her trembling arms and dashed toward Alfia.
However…
“Begone, noise.”
Their entire argument was a wasted effort. For the melody of silence began and ended with a single word.
“Gospel.”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhh?!”
Like a giant’s fist, the colossal force came out of nowhere, slamming Kaguya in the stomach and shoulder and making her spew blood. She was sent flying into the nearby ruins with the force of a surging river.
Lyra, on the other hand, managed to leap aside before the invisible attack was unleashed. Her survival instincts served her well, allowing her to escape the initial blast, but nonetheless a shock wave knocked her off her feet.
The devastating blow threw rocks and boulders into the air and cracked the ground. Even Kaguya’s sword exploded into a million tiny pieces.
A single chime, like a church bell, was all that heralded the destructive blast, although its tone was anything but jubilant. After the dust settled, all that remained was a cold, dead silence. Alfia was the only one standing.
“D-devastating!”
When Vito laid eyes on the aftermath, his mask fell from his face. He trembled in fright while a deafening silence rang in his ears.
“Glad she’s on our side,” said Erebus, eyes similarly wide. “That’s why you don’t piss off Hera’s girls.”
A faint smile on his face was all that indicated the depths of the dark god’s excitement and admiration.
Meanwhile, Lyra struggled to her feet, shaking the dust and debris off herself. Then she saw it.
“Grh… Huh?!”
Blood. Dozens of little droplets, falling off her face and speckling the ground. But that wasn’t all. Slowly, her sight started to turn crimson as blood seeped from her eyes, her ears, and her mouth.
“You’re kiddin’ me. I didn’t even get hit directly!”
My ears are ringin’, my head’s poundin’, and I can’t even stand up straight! Urgh…feels like I’m gonna be sick!
The ground beneath her trembling hands roiled like swirling paints. Fighting back the urge to vomit, Lyra lifted her head and glared at Alfia.
“That wasn’t like any magic I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t wind or light. It was sound!!”
The woman’s devastating spell broke both her body and her mind, but that wasn’t enough to stop Lyra from analyzing the situation. Alfia bore the prum’s fearful look with total calm as her long, ashen hair flowed behind her.
“Did your allies not warn you? Loki’s and Freya’s children? Yes, my magic is sound. That and nothing more. I cannot burn you to cinders nor encase you in ice, only batter you about until all that remains is a mangled lump of flesh.”
Invisible but utterly destructive. Alfia’s magic released a wall of sound so powerful, it could flatten even those not caught in the line of fire. And the scariest part was, she could do it with only a single word.
An ultra-short chant that hits fast with an insane range! Even gettin’ grazed would flatten an upper-class adventurer! In a straight-up spell-slingin’ contest, she’s a monster!
It was despair-inducing. The raw power behind Alfia’s spells was so great, it easily outclassed the city’s top mage, Riveria Ljos Alf. Lyra scowled, struggling to keep her eyes focused on her foe, the Level 7 witch known by some as the Monstrously Gifted.
“And on top of all that, she ain’t even weak in a melee? That just ain’t fair!”
The prum girl shook with fright as she remembered what had become of Kaguya’s sword. Then at last, her trembling arms gave out, and she planted her face on the ground.
“Words fail me,” said Erebus with a malicious smile. “I told you to teach them the true meaning of despair, but it was over so fast, I don’t think they had the chance to feel it.”
Even a god recognized the vast gulf in ability that separated the two sides of this battle—if what had just happened could even be called that. Alfia, meanwhile, stood unruffled and didn’t even glance at Erebus as she replied.
“If a lesson is what you seek, then bring a more fitting opponent. Besides, this fight is not over just yet.”
Still without opening her eyes, Alfia turned her attention to someone else.
“A convincing act, prum,” she cried out over the battlefield. “Did you learn it from your fellow gutter rats, perhaps?”
“Grr…!”
Lyra’s outstretched fingers twitched, and she cursed under her breath. She hadn’t even been breathing, yet the horrid woman had seen through her facade with minimal effort.
“You must be Level Two or thereabouts,” said Alfia, slowly walking over to her. “I was holding back, but nevertheless, you do well to still breathe. You are cowardly and sly—the polar opposite of that other prum, with his delusions of heroism.”
With silent footsteps, Alfia approached the fallen Lyra. Her shadow fell over the prum girl’s bloodied face.
“Zald has a fondness for your ilk,” she said. “But I find you irritating. Now, sleep.”
The woman began building up a spell in one hand. A blunt and brutal means of cutting short Lyra’s final moments. But before she could unleash it, Lyra’s lips parted, almost imperceptibly, and she spoke.
“I’m small…” she said, “and weak… So I gotta pull my weight…”
“What?”
“I gotta play dead…make bombs…anythin’ so I don’t drag the other girls down… It’s hard as shit, I tell ya…”
Alfia arched a slender eyebrow. She could have sworn she heard the prum girl chuckle.
“Sometimes I gotta be the bait, too… You know how crappy that is? But somebody’s gotta do it…’cause…”
“………”
Alfia’s face was as hard and featureless as a slab of granite. Her, a Level 7, being lectured to by a measly Level 2.
Lyra raised her voice and shouted as loud as she could.
“I ain’t the only one who knows how to play dead!!”
Alfia’s reaction was almost immediate.
But “almost” wasn’t good enough.
Aided by Lyra’s excellent powers of distraction, Alfia’s other foe reached her back the very instant before she could put up her guard.
“Iai Strike: Futaba!”
Kaguya appeared like a vengeful demon, bloodred from head to toe. In her hands were the short swords that bore her technique’s name. She unleashed a terrifying flurry of strikes, but Alfia took one step to the side and moved out of range.
“I’m surprised you have weapons remaining,” she said. “Or bones, for that matter.”
“Haah…haah… You monster! How dare you dodge that so easily!”
Blood spilled from her lips as she spoke. Kaguya had staked her entire life on that backstab, and it hadn’t been enough to kill her.
“But…”
A crimson smile crossed her blood-caked lips.
“You’re bleeding, Level Seven!”
Slowly, Alfia raised and examined her left arm. Sure enough, the sleeve of her dress was torn, and a single bloody line grazed her otherwise flawless skin.
“It may just be a scratch,” said Kaguya, “but that is still a wound! My sword shed your blood!”
Kaguya rallied with triumph as though that flesh wound was enough to win her the battle. Alfia only continued staring at it, saying nothing.
“Your strength may be beyond our reckoning, monster, but you’re not invincible!”
“………”
“Even a powerless child can make you bleed! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Pathetic!”
Kaguya kept on laughing and laughing. It was all she could do, yet all the same, it was a route that led to a chance of victory, however small. The enemy was not immortal. If she could bleed, she could be killed.
Even so, Alfia’s expression had not changed at all.
“Are you finished making noise? Then it’s time for you to disappear,” she said, raising her arm toward Kaguya, who by now was barely standing.
“Not on my watch! Try these on for size!”
That voice came from Lyra, who had maneuvered into Alfia’s blind spot, tossing dozens of small, spherical objects in the witch’s direction. These bomblets exploded, scattering dirt and soot in the air. When the dust had finally settled, the two of them were nowhere to be seen.
“A magic item?” mused Vito with mild surprise. “No, it must be improvised explosives.”
“One played the decoy, while the other bought time,” said Erebus. “Not bad. They sure gave us the runaround.”
Neither Kaguya and Lyra had planned to run into Silence, but their improvised teamwork was enough to distract even a Level 7, at least long enough for the two of them to get away.
“Still, they won’t get far in that state,” said Vito, stepping over to where the girls had been standing and spotting the trail of blood on the ground. “Shall I hunt them down for you?”
“No. Let them go,” said Alfia, still staring with closed eyes at the wound on her arm.
“Are you sure?” inquired Vito with the devious smile of a wicked court vizier. “I thought you didn’t like to leave noise unsilenced.”
“I had forgotten the sight of my own wounded skin,” Alfia replied. “I grew lax, arrogant…like Hera was.”
Even now, the woman was silent. Her heart was calm and at peace. The price of this lesson was the few drops of blood dripping down her arm.
“Consider this your reward for reminding me of the folly of complacency, girls.”
“Ly…ra…”
A faint voice on the verge of disappearing completely reached Lyra’s ear. It was Kaguya’s, and it burned with indignation.
“I swear… I’m going to kill that woman!”
“I’m out… That’s a Level Seven you’re talkin’ about,” replied Lyra, helping her to walk. Despite the thrashing she’d received, Kaguya was seething with anger, and her face remained fixed in a permanent scowl. Lyra answered her between gasping breaths.
“How come I gotta hold you up anyway? You’re twice my size!”
As a prum, Lyra was the height of other races’ children, and the sight of her supporting her injured comrade would have been comical if it weren’t so tragic. She had to practically drag the girl along, scraping Kaguya’s knees across the ground behind her. Blood and sweat dripped down her face as she leveraged the full power of her stats.
“Besides,” she said, “how are we meant to beat her?”
“We’ll get the whole team together and gang up on her!” Kaguya replied, her face brimming with malice.
“Ain’t that exactly the kind of unfair bullshit you hate bad guys for?” retorted Lyra.
“Then…” Kaguya clenched her hanging fist. “You think of something… Some clever trick to turn the tables. You’re good at that!”
Feeling the far-eastern girl’s fingers dig into her side, Lyra gave up trying to persuade her. Kaguya’s mind was made up, and there wasn’t anything Lyra could do to change it. Besides, it was the cold, hard truth, whether she liked it or not. Something had to be done about that troublesome Level 7.
“We need that idiotic elf, as well…! And the captain, and…everyone! Or else we don’t stand a chance…”
“Listen, I get what you’re sayin’, but you heard that psycho. He’s after Leon, too. We gotta get back and have the whole gang find her before it’s too late…!”
Lyra struggled like she was climbing a mountain, barely keeping her breathing in check as she gritted her teeth and hauled Kaguya on. Seeing as nobody had come after them, she guessed—correctly—that the enemy had chosen to let them go, but this only deepened her disgrace and resentment. She couldn’t even spare a hand to wipe her face as the sweat dribbled down her chin and fell to the ground.
“You better not hear this and come runnin’, Leon…! Just this once, learn to look the other way…!”
Lyra’s pleas, however, did not reach their recipient. By sheer coincidence, Lyu happened to be nearby, in the northwest streets of the city.
“What was that noise?”
She turned to see a plume of smoke rising over the ruined buildings. Then, slowly, as if guided by fate, she began walking toward it.
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