Slayers - Volume 3 - Chapter 4

4: The Windswept City of the Dead

“My, how brave of you,” Vizea said with an air of absolute condescension. It was clear the idea of losing to some pathetic human warrior was unthinkable to him.

“Lantz!” I called. “You can beat him! Just wait until he lets his guard down, then hit him with your spirit!”

“Hmm, sound advice... if only it weren’t utter nonsense.”

Shut up, jerk.

Like, yeah, I know. It would’ve been one thing if we’d ambushed the guy, but there was no way he was gonna let his guard down walking into a duel with eyes wide open. The only way for Lantz to win like this was if the willpower he channeled through the Bless Blade could outstrip Vizea’s spiritual defenses entirely. And to put it bluntly, Lantz’s will was pretty weak.

I mean, obviously he had more than your average person off the street; but in a lineup of giant badasses, he ranked about a “meh” on the willpower meter. I didn’t know exactly how mighty the Bless Blade was, but if Lantz couldn’t overpower Vizea even with its aid...

“You cannot defeat me, no matter how you might struggle.”

“You sure about that?” Lantz asked, a smile spreading across his face.

“You’re welcome to try me and find out for yourself. I need to put you down quickly so that I can deal with the others, after all.”

“Happy to oblige!” Lantz shouted, taking off in a run. Countless white whips lashed at him from the right half of Vizea’s face. “Tch!”

The Bless Blade flashed through the air, sweeping them all away... while Lantz continued charging the demon!

“Oho...” Vizea leaped high into the air and latched on to the ceiling like a giant spider. “It seems I underestimated you. You may yet provide some entertainment.”

“I don’t think you’re gonna find this very fun, buddy.”

“Is that so?”

Vizea suddenly plunged headlong at Lantz, more white whips lashing from his face.

“Bwugh!” Lantz was forced to leap back. Vizea’s flesh-tentacles burrowed deep into the ground as he landed. “Dammit! This ain’t goin’ anywhere! It’s just back an’ forth!”

“Hardly,” Vizea said.

And just then... the earth erupted beneath Lantz!

“Huh?!”

It was the tentacles Vizea had shot into the ground. Dozens of them burst up at Lantz’s feet, forcing him to jump into the air to avoid them. One, however, still managed to spear his calf.

“Guh!”

He hurriedly cut through it with his sword. But even once it was severed, the tentacle continued to wriggle in his flesh.

“Dammit! Die already!”

He swung the Bless Blade again, partly in panic. And the moment it made contact this time, the tentacle writhing in his leg let out an unsettling squeal and evaporated. It seemed Lantz’s will was growing. At this rate... he might just...

“What’s wrong? You appear to be struggling,” Vizea said just before a wall to Lantz’s side erupted with more tentacles.

Okay, it’s irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but I gotta say... there was something kind of gross about Vizea’s whole deal. I wouldn’t be eating pasta for a while.

Lantz sliced through every one of the incoming noodles. At least, almost every one.

“Guh!”

Lantz’s sword arm came to a sudden halt and then slowly creaked toward the demon. At some point, Vizea had roped the Bless Blade with a single tentacle from his face.

“I see it was a mistake to toy with you. I need to be rid of that annoying thing now.” As he spoke, a faint creaking echoed through the cave. It was coming from the tree. Vizea looked around suspiciously for a moment, but his gaze swiftly returned to Lantz. “That appears to be... a very sturdy blade indeed. My tentacles could snap most magic swords with ease.”

But not this one, pal! As Sylphiel had explained, the Bless Blade was a reflection of Flagoon. In order to break it, you’d need to be able to break the tree itself—and not even a demon like Vizea had that kind of power.

“Well... if it won’t break, I’ll simply take it.”

A new white tentacle lashed out at Lantz. He grunted, and though he stumbled a few steps, he managed to avoid falling over. Still, Vizea was pulling the sword closer and closer... and Lantz right along with it.

“D... Dammit!”

There, the sword suddenly slipped Lantz’s hands. The recoil sent the demon falling backward.

“Now!”

In that instant, Lantz charged forward and snatched the sword from Vizea’s slack tentacle. He then kept charging until he was right in the demon’s face.

Wham! The Bless Blade pierced through Vizea’s stomach.

“Die!”

Lantz’s scream echoed through the cavern, followed by a shriek from Vizea.

“Gh... Nnngh...” the demon groaned, slowly raising one hand. He’d survived the attack!

“Dammit! Come on! Get outta there!” Lantz cried desperately, struggling to remove the sword from the demon’s gut. And just as Vizea’s raised right hand twitched with movement, Lantz shouted even louder, “Dammit! Die!”

“Gah!” Vizea reeled back.

Lantz quickly leaped away, leaving the sword in the demon’s midsection.

“Guh... hugh... huhh...” Even through his labored breathing, a vicious smile appeared on the demon’s face. “You hurt me... You did indeed manage to hurt me just now...”

He began walking unsteadily toward Lantz, who took an intimidated step back. The demon then spread his arms wide, as if offering up the sword still stuck in its torso.

“You left this. Why don’t you take it back?” he invited.

Lantz continued to creep back, terrified of the demon.

“Well? What’s wrong?” Vizea asked, slowly closing in on him.

Without the Bless Blade, Lantz was powerless against the demon—and the demon knew it. Vizea was keenly aware that the only way Lantz could defeat him was to make contact with the blade currently piercing his stomach and channel all the spirit he had into it. But Lantz would have to charge in in order to do that, and Vizea was waiting for just that moment. If Vizea could land a hit before Lantz could channel his spirit, it would be game over for our fighter friend. Same story if Vizea could hold out against whatever spiritual attack Lantz could muster. The odds were against him, no matter how you sliced it.

Lantz continued to creep back until he was flat against a wall—the luminescent moss-covered interior of the trunk. The second he touched it, shining spores took flight.

“Now have at me!” Vizea cried in triumph, when—

“Die! You monster!” Lantz howled.

In that moment, part of the demon’s stomach ruptured.

“What...?” Vizea crumpled to the ground, looking unsure of what was happening to his own body.

Instead of blood, a yellow substance like powdered cheese flowed from the wound in his torso. Before long, he lay perfectly still.

Vzzt... Then, with a sound like small winged insects scattering, his corpse turned to dust, leaving only the Bless Blade behind.

Vizea had let his guard down after all. Then Lantz had channeled his spirit into Flagoon itself, and the sword, resonating with it, had obliterated the demon.

I tossed a glance in the opposite direction from all the action.

“What’s wrong, Eris? You look distracted.”

Yeah, I have a pretty nasty temperament sometimes.

“I, uh, it’s just... I never knew demons looked like that when they died...” she responded, as abashed as I’d expected.

“Hah!”

With a flash of the Sword of Light, Gourry cut a brass demon in half. The battle was more or less decided at this point.

I’d left Flagoon through the hole that “Rezo” had opened, stepping out into Sairaag City. We were currently in the rather large plaza around the tree. Nearby were shops of various sizes and a considerable crowd of people that had gathered to watch the fight.

Lucky them. Must’ve been nice just to stand back and watch while our boys had their hands full...

“You’re all... going to pay...” Rahannim said languidly from the air as he set his sights on Zelgadis.

“Be careful, Zelgadis!” Gourry shouted as the fishman vanished.

Zelgadis gasped, then dodged purely on instinct. A sharp gale brushed by his face.

“Oho?” He licked his lips with interest.

Though his cheek was solid rock, Rahannim’s attack had actually managed to draw blood.

“He gave us a lot of trouble too! Be careful!”

Hearing Gourry’s warning, Zelgadis wrinkled his nose in disbelief.

“Trouble? That pathetic creature gave you and Lina trouble?”

“Pathetic?! Come on! He moves too fast to hit him!”

“Even so... I can take care of him easily.” With those bold words, Zelgadis thrust his sword up toward Rahannim, who was looming in the air overhead again. “Come at me, you stupid fish. I’ll make fillets out of you.”

“Try it... if you wish...”

The fish’s tail snapped, and he disappeared again. The instant he did, Zelgadis moved. He held his sword fast overhead, shifted his weight forward, and lowered his hips.

Hey, come to think of it...

There was a quiet thunk, and Zelgadis’s body lurched backward. Rahannim fell to the ground behind him in two perfect slices.

It was true that the fishman moved faster than the naked eye could perceive, but his reaction time remained unremarkable. That was why he was so easy to dodge if you waited until he was already charging... and why he couldn’t alter his course to evade Zelgadis’s stationary sword.

In other words... dude killed himself. It was all pretty stupid, really.

“See?” Zelgadis smirked.

Gourry simply gaped.

“Hey, how’s the wound?” Zelgadis called and waved once he noticed our arrival.

“Better!” I shouted, waving back.

“Lina!” Gourry exclaimed when he finally noticed too. “All healed up?”

“Yeah! I’m in tip-top shape!” I answered with a firm nod.

“How long have you been watching us?” Zelgadis asked with a wry smile.

“Since the start of the fight with Rahannim.”

I’d recovered pretty soon after Lantz polished off Vizea, and we’d then set about tending to his wounds. Once we were done, we—me, Lantz, Sylphiel, and Eris—ran off to catch up with the boys.

“Vrumugun showed up too, but we killed him again. No sign yet of that half-faced demon,” Zelgadis explained.

“Oh, actually, Lantz took care of him,” I corrected.

“Lantz did?!” they both exclaimed in surprise.

Lantz shot them a wink and a thumbs up.

“Then that just leaves...”

Zelgadis cast his eyes over the corpses of berserkers and trolls scattered around us, eventually turning to the unflappable red-clad figure standing not far away.

“Him... I guess,” he whispered with a tone not unlike despair.

I, however, quietly drew my shortsword and pressed it against the back of our real opponent...

“No, I think it’s time we end the farce. Don’t you agree, Eris Vrumugun?”

“What?!”

“What are you talking about, Lina?”

The rest of the group turned toward the two of us.

“How long have you known?” she asked.

I thought she might try to play dumb for a while, but she didn’t deny my accusation. In a smooth motion, she reached for the knife on her belt...

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I warned.

But she ignored me, pulling her knife from its sheath and tossing it aside. A little anticlimactic, if I’m being totally honest.

“Zelgadis, keep an eye on ‘Rezo’ over there. Signal me if he tries anything. Now, as for you... I got my first whiff of funny business when you and Lantz attacked me in the cave.”

“Oh? How’s that?” She shoved her hands into her pockets and slowly turned to face me, her manner casually defiant.

“When the sword slipped from my hand, Zelgadis overheard it and came running... So why didn’t Vrumugun try to stop him on the way? If he’d cast Sleeping on you two and put those rubies on your foreheads, he had to be nearby. All he had to do was stall Zelgadis and it would’ve been curtains for me. He didn’t have to fight him, even. A single attack spell from a distance could’ve held him off long enough to do the job. So why didn’t he bother?

“It all suggests that Vrumugun was in that tunnel when he performed the Marionette spell but not when Zel came running. Either he’d escaped through some other way, or he was really one of the two of you. And seeing as I knew Lantz from before all this...”

“Here,” Eris said, pointing to the place between her brows where the control ruby had been implanted. “This is the wrong spot. Embedding a ruby here won’t do anything. You need to put it a little higher, like the one I set on Lantz. The plan was to slap one on myself and pretend to be controlled so as to deflect suspicion... The master ruby is embedded inside my body, so you’d never find it even if you removed my bandanna. And as for that guy... all I had to do was cast a little Sleeping spell. He never even saw it coming. The absolute fool.”

“What?!”

Ignoring Lantz’s indignant interjection, Eris kept her attention on me.

“So, what really gave me away in the end?” she asked casually.

“It was ‘Rezo’ breaking into Flagoon with his magic. If Vrumugun had found us and then escaped back outside, he easily could’ve led him to us. Plus, his aim was way too precise. There was no way he could’ve pinpointed our location between the winding caves and that crazy echo... That is, unless one of us was tuned to his wavelength.” I used my free hand to point at the Red Priest, who was still standing there quietly. “You have a ruby on his forehead to control him too, right? That copy of Rezo the Red.”

I wasn’t sure why, but Eris’s only response was a smirk. I kept pressing.

“Now that I think back on it, there were other signs. When that spider guy wanted to eat you, ‘Vrumugun’ got really protective... I guess you hadn’t revealed your true identity even to your own comrades, huh?”

“The name Erisiel Vrumugun doesn’t exactly bring the minions running,” she said with a brazen smile. “So I put a ruby on the forehead of that mindless copy to gather henchmen in Lord Rezo’s name.”

With that, she cast an almost resentful glare at the so-called Rezo standing nearby.

“You’re aware of Lord Rezo’s blindness, I’m sure. He made that homunculus of himself to use as a guinea pig for testing cures. It has tremendous capacity, but it’s useless and mindless outside of my control.

“Yet no matter how many henchmen I sent after you, you lot just kept on slipping through their fingers... So I pretended to be a mere bounty hunter, found Zelgadis first, and tailed him. Him knocking me out in the forest and running into the rest of you certainly wasn’t part of the plan... but if that man Gourry hadn’t caught me, I would have blown you all away with my puppet’s attack.”

“You want to be a bigshot that badly? The sorcerer who surpassed Rezo the Red?” Zelgadis asked, still keeping an eye on “Rezo.”

“Partly. But more than anything, I...” she said, trailing off with a distant gaze. “I loved him... the real Lord Rezo.”

Wha... Her words knocked me for a loop.

And in my moment of pause, her hand moved inside of her pocket. She then pulled something out and flicked it at me with her thumb—a control ruby!

Clink! It hit me square in the forehead.

“What the...”

Those confused words weren’t mine; they were Eris’s. Her ruby had bounced right off me and fallen at my feet.

“Sorry,” I said, flashing a wicked grin as I pointed to my forehead with my left hand. “Special bandanna.”

It was woven from the whiskers of a black dragon and had a small jeweled amulet woven into the lining. It was positioned at the center of my forehead to help focus my spirit when I chanted, but I was pretty sure it was tough enough to stop a sword swing—one from a third-rate warrior, at least. Not that I’d ever be stupid enough to put that to the test.

“Jig’s up, Eris. Just give yourself up and lift the bounty on our heads.”

“Hah!”

With faster movements than I’d expected, she leaped away from the group.

Dammit, Gourry! Lantz! Get on the ball!

“This isn’t over yet! To me, my puppet!”

The red darkness moved, responding to her call—the call of the sorcerer Erisiel Vrumugun.

Why do bad guys always have to be so stubborn? If she insisted on a fight, I’d take her. It might make things more complicated when it came to lifting the bounties on our heads, but it was the fastest way to end this.

Rezo’s copy silently took up a position behind Eris and a little to her side. The staff in his hand jangled. It was two against five.

“This won’t be as easy as you think. We’re in the middle of Sairaag. If I use the people here as hostages, you’re powerless!” she declared with a growl, casually proposing war crimes like the third-rate villain she was. “And even if this puppet is just a poor copy, it still has incredible capacity. If I control it right, you’re no match for us!”

“There is no ‘us,’” said an unexpected voice.

“What...?” Eris gasped in a stunned whisper.

Zing! A blast of energy shot by “Rezo” pierced through her.

“Ah...” She stared down at the gaping hole in her stomach in disbelief, then at Rezo’s face, then at herself again.

“Is it so unusual for a homunculus to acquire self-awareness? I suppose you would find it surprising... But you should know that it came to me during an experiment that you yourself attended.”

“Ngh...” Eris moaned. Her knees trembled.

“With my capacity and self-awareness, I have no reason to be your plaything. Did you not find it strange that Vizea joined you so readily? Such beings only serve those with whom they’ve made a pact, or those who possess superior magical power. That one did appear to have a contract with Rezo, but... no demon would mistake us just because we have the same appearance and the same blood in our veins. No, he was serving me. And, of course, I could remove this silly thing any time I wanted to...”

There, “Rezo” reached for the control ruby on his own forehead, grabbed it unceremoniously between his porcelain white thumb and forefinger, and crushed it seemingly without effort.

“The information you provided was rather useful, so I decided to humor you for a time, but... Oh dear.”

Eris fell limply toward the ground as if entirely depleted of strength, but Rezo grabbed her head tightly in his hand. We could hear a faint creaking sound, even from where we were standing. A small, weak cry drifted from Eris’s mouth.

“Careful there... You almost collapsed, but my sad tale isn’t over, I’m afraid. Have you realized yet what it is I’ve been trying to do? Indeed, it’s all about revenge. I was created as a guinea pig for Rezo’s attempts to grant himself sight. But the methods that restored my sight easily failed to do the same for him.”

It was because of the strength of the seal that had been placed on his eyes, but Rezo didn’t know that at the time. It didn’t seem the “Rezo” standing before us now knew about it either. But I did, and it occurred to me... it was strange that this “Rezo” kept his eyes closed too. He should have been able to see if what he was saying was true.

“Rezo never let it show, but his failure infuriated him, and he redirected that into virulent hatred for me. Why, after all, could he give sight so easily to a clone made from his own flesh and blood, while he himself remained sightless? Who wouldn’t be furious over such a thing? And he punished me for it. Rather than declaring my purpose fulfilled, he continued to use me for other ‘magical experiments.’

“And during one such ‘experiment’ that you yourself attended, my self-awareness awakened. Of course, I cannot say for certain that I am driven by a will entirely my own... But if I am, I believe it is only natural that I’m propelled by a loathing for Rezo for what he’s done to me.”

I didn’t know the details, but it sounded like the real Rezo had put copy boy here through the wringer. But Rezo was dead now, and if he just wanted revenge on Eris—on Vrumugun—there was no need to wreak such a convoluted plot...

“I came to dream of killing Rezo myself. I was certain I could do it. But before I had my chance, Rezo disappeared. Then,” the homunculus said with a sad sigh, “I came to find out he was dead. Can you understand it, Erisiel? The despair I felt, knowing I would never be able to defeat Rezo with my own hands?

“Yet as I wrestled with my grief, you entered my room and told me... that you wished to use me to avenge Rezo. So while you called his name and wept in my arms, a plan began to form in my head. Of course, I intended to kill you eventually as well for your role in those wretched experiments... Erisiel? Are you listening?”

After a brief silence, “Rezo” released Eris’s head as if tossing her aside. Her body fell lifelessly to the ground with a thud.

“She’s gone,” he declared plainly, his shoulders bobbing in a shrug.

“Then... this is over now, right?” Gourry asked, his expression pained. “Just rescind the bounty and we’re done.”

“Now, why should I do that?” Rezo asked with a quizzical look. “My revenge against Rezo is not yet complete.”

Thought so...

“And it never will be. The real Rezo is dead,” Gourry countered.

But “Rezo” simply smiled.

“Yes, I know. I do not expect to fight a dead man... But there is still a way I can prove myself his superior.”

“By fighting and beating the people who killed him. Us.”

“Precisely.”

This was bad news, though. “Rezo” had had the chance to destroy us and Eris back when we’d faced him in the Miasma Forest. If he’d had his own free will all this time, he could have easily hit us before I got my Levitation spell off and blown us all away together.

The reason he hadn’t was probably because he wanted to fight us at our best. I’d goofed the timing of my spells, and, moreover, I was preoccupied with protecting Lantz and Eris. Picking us off in a compromised state like that wouldn’t have proven him superior. That was probably his holdup then, but it was open season now.

“Nonsense,” Zelgadis muttered. “You expect us to play along with this?”

“I thought you might object, and I understand entirely. That is why I cannot lift your bounties. If you defeat me, however, there will be no one to pay it out, and thus you will be free,” he said pointedly, striking his jangling staff against the ground firmly. “Now... shall we begin?”

Zelgadis moved first. He raised his broadsword high and charged. When he swung, “Rezo” simply slipped to the right, pivoting as his red cape fluttered in the air.

Clack. There was a dull sound, and the two men took their distance again. Rezo had used a spin-kick to deflect the incoming blade, then continued with his momentum into a second kick aimed at Zelgadis’s temple. He’d managed to dodge it, but...

“You’ve got to be kidding...” Zel breathed, his expression tight.

He inched closer to “Rezo,” then struck in a flash the moment he dropped his guard. A high, clear sound rang out this time. Rezo blocked Zelgadis’s strike with his staff, then spun it in his hand to catch Zelgadis in the stomach.

“Gwuh!”

The strike looked effortless, yet it sent Zel flying. “Rezo” leaving himself open had been a trap, it seemed.

Hang on... This guy might actually be a serious badass!

“I wish you’d come at me with everything you have,” he pleaded almost abashedly.

“Can I request a duel, then?” Gourry asked, sheathing the Sword of Light and plucking a broadsword off the ground—probably from one of the fallen berserkers.

“I’d prefer not,” the Red Priest’s copy said politely, shaking his head.

“He wants you to use the Sword of Light, man!” I explained to the blinking, surprised Gourry.

“She is, of course, correct.”

“Tch...” Gourry tutted in annoyance, then tossed aside the sword he’d just picked up.

“W-Wait a minute...” Zelgadis said as he got to his feet. “I’m not done yet. I couldn’t live with myself if I backed down now.”

“Go ahead, then. Either or both of you. All three, if you’d like.”

“Shut up!” Zelgadis screamed as he charged in again.

But “Rezo” blocked every sword strike and spell Zel could throw at him with a single swing of his staff. This dude was just... incredible. He hadn’t even taken the offensive yet. Even if we all came at him at once, even if he gave us a handicap... there was no way we were going to get the better of him.

But at the same time, if I threw off my limiters and hit him with my big spells, Sairaag would once again be known as the City of the Dead.

And so...

“Mistress Lina,” Sylphiel said quietly, apparently having moved over to me at some point. “Master Zelgadis mentioned to me... You have a spell that surpasses Dragon Slave, yes?”

My Giga Slave? C’mon, Zelgadis! Don’t just go around blabbing about that!

Dragon Slave was considered to be the ultimate attack spell, for it called upon Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu, the Dark Lord who reigns over all chaos in our world. Naturally, as a primo genius sorcerer, I was one of a select few who could use it. Giga Slave was similar, but it instead called upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares, the dark lord over all dark lords, sovereign of time and the void of the stars. It was an extremely powerful spell, but also extremely risky. If I failed to control it properly, it would suck up all my life energy and—poof!—no more Lina.

“You mustn’t use it,” Sylphiel warned.

“H-Hey now... Don’t act like I’m some kind of attack spell junkie who can’t help herself! I’d never use a spell like that in the middle of a city! Even I know better—”

“No, that isn’t what I mean,” Sylphiel interrupted forcefully. “I beg you. Never use it again.”

My eyes went wide at those words.

“Wh-What are you...”

“That spell... Do you know what will happen if you lose control of it?”

Do I know, she asks! Well, as far as I was aware, I was the only person who’d ever cast the dang thing... which meant nobody had ever actually lost control of it before. So, thinking about it that way, I couldn’t say I knew for sure what would happen.

“I reckon I’ll die.”

“Much worse than that. If my prophecy is true, then... I think it might destroy the world.”

Destroy... the world? I was dumbstruck.

“Surely you know of a shrine maiden’s oracle ability, don’t you?”

I nodded. It was the ability to commune with gods—or beings roughly on that level—and learn things beyond normal human knowledge. Which, yeah, sounds like a really useful ability, but in truth, there was no control over how it worked. Not even the shrine maiden herself had any idea when, where, or how they might receive their divine inspirations.

Received oracles didn’t even necessarily relate to whatever problem you were currently grappling with, see. For an extreme example, let’s say you’re a shrine maiden stressed out about a plot that might destroy your kingdom. You can pray all you want and get nothing, only to find your divine being of choice suddenly whispering to you while you’re sitting on the can about the price of radishes in ten years’ time. (Like I said, that’s extreme, but you get my point.)

Even seemingly useless prophecies, however, would always come true. So if Sylphiel said the world was going to be destroyed, then it would be.

“That spell creates a portal that allows the void to enter our world and gives it the power to annihilate most things. And if unleashed, the void could incarnate here using the caster—you—as a nexus. I know it sounds strange to talk about void incarnate... but it would draw everything into it.”

Draw everything into it? She said it like it was nothing... but that was... yeah, that was pretty damn serious. The gravity of it all kept me silent.

Still, there was no point in stressing over it in the moment. I wasn’t going to cast Giga Slave here and now either way.

“Don’t worry. I won’t use it.”

After giving her that shallow promise (a Lina specialty!), I turned my attention back to the ongoing fight between Zel and “Rezo.” Zelgadis’s shoulders were heaving as he sized up his opponent, who stood before him without a hair out of place. Zelgadis wasn’t weak, mind you. Not by any means. “Rezo” was just that strong.

“Dammit!” Zelgadis shouted, tossing his sword aside to begin a chant.

Hang on! That spell...

“Yes, good... It wouldn’t be right if you didn’t try that,” Rezo whispered gleefully.

Are you guys crazy?!

Vrave Howl was a spell that turned a patch of ground into a boiling lava flow. We were behind Zelgadis and it was a directed attack, so it wasn’t like he would hit us with it, but it would do serious damage to the stretch of Sairaag behind “Rezo.” Even if it didn’t raze the city outright, we’d still have a massive fire on our hands.

“Have you lost your mind, Zel?!” I cried. “Don’t you know what that’ll do to the city?!”

My plea snapped Zel to his senses, and he quickly backed off. “Rezo,” however, seemed disappointed at this development.

“Hmm, how troublesome... I really need you to hit me with everything you have, or there’ll be no point to defeating you at all.”

It was a bold statement, but it wasn’t just big talk. His capacity seemed to be even greater than mine, and his combat skills were at least on par with Gourry’s.

“I know... Let’s try this.” With an expression like a child who’d just hit upon a grand idea, “Rezo” struck his staff against the ground.

“    ...”

A strange spell that no normal person could pronounce and that I only barely recognized as words slipped his lips. The next instant...

With a hard, dry sound, thin walls of shining magic rose to encase the five of us and “Rezo.”

“Wh-What is he doing?!” Lantz panicked.

“Simply undoing their fetters. You and Mistress Sylphiel there will be the witnesses to our true battle.”

N-No way! He can’t be...

“...   ...”

More strange words drifted by on the wind.

“Please! Stop!” I cried.

But as I called to him, “Rezo” completed his spell.

“ !”

He raised his staff aloft, and then... everything outside of his barrier was engulfed in bright light. A soft crack rang out from the Bless Blade in Lantz’s hands.

“What the...”

“What?! What just happened?!”

“What’s going on?!”

Everyone else was shouting, but amidst all the confusion, “Rezo” and I just silently glared at each other. We were the only two who knew what he’d just done. In an instant, he’d rendered Sairaag worthy of its old namesake... the City of the Dead.

It was Sylphiel who screamed first when the light faded and we could see around us again. The energy wave left from the attack was still wreaking havoc on the city. The barrier cut off all sound from the outside, but we could see the destruction roiling.

Rocks the size of a person’s torso blew around like bits of paper, slamming into other rocks and bursting apart. I couldn’t see far through all the dust and debris, but even the lingering energy in the spell’s tail end spoke of destructive power that exceeded a Dragon Slave. Which meant that Sairaag... That first wave of light must have wiped it off the map.

“Impossible...” Zelgadis whispered hoarsely.

Sylphiel fainted, and Lantz rushed to catch her.

As the dust outside the barrier began to settle, the exact sight I feared came into view: a barren wasteland.

Just minutes ago, Sairaag had been a vibrant city filled with smiling, happy people going about their lives. Now it was gone as if it had never been there at all. Only one thing remained: Flagoon. Stripped of its thick covering of leaves and branches, it now looked more like a massive post driven into the desolate landscape than a tree. Yet, somehow, it had survived the blast.

“That was perhaps excessive... and that did tire me a bit... but now you can fight me without reservation,” the copy of the Red Priest said calmly.

“Do you even realize... what you just did?” I hissed.

In response, he flashed a warm smile.

“But of course... I simply don’t care. My only concern is banishing the specter of Rezo the Red Priest from my mind. And I will do so by defeating you as you fight me with everything you have.”

“In that case,” I said, pointing straight at him, “I’ll take you out just like you want—with everything I have!”

There, I clasped my fingers together in front of my chest and began a dark incantation.

“A Dragon Slave!” Rezo exclaimed joyously before more strange words dripped from his lips.

He was probably trying to blow us away before I could finish my spell... But I wasn’t gonna let that happen!

Thou who art darker than twilight

Thou who art redder than lifeblood

I swear in thy exalted name

Obscured, deep in the flow of time

And make this pledge to darkness here:

So all those in equal measure—

Fools that they are to block our path—

Shall face destruction unconstrained

Grant me power, and unleash thine!

My chant, spoken in chaos words, distorted the laws of cause and effect. It would be unleashed with one final capstone—a word of power—using my gestures and my spirit as an intermediary.

Here goes!

“Dragon Slave!”

“  !”

We completed our spells simultaneously.

Crap! We’re gonna kill each other!

But just as I thought so... a curious red mist appeared in the area around Rezo where the explosion from my Dragon Slave should have occurred. It drifted around Rezo for a moment, then began to fade... And that was that.

“Rezo” then explained in a quiet voice, “Killing each other would render this all pointless... so I chose to block your Dragon Slave instead.”

I couldn’t even move. This was absurd! That spell could take out a reasonably high-level demon. For any mere human, even the greatest of sorcerers, there should have been no way to block it.

And yet, with ease, he’d...

“Don’t look so surprised,” the copy of the Red Priest said calmly. “Dragon Slave calls on the power of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu. I merely invoked the same power to block it. It’s a simple equation,” he said as casually as if he were sharing an easy late-night snack recipe.

It made sense in theory, but... Dragon Slave basically demanded your entire magic capacity. That meant even if two casters called upon the Dark Lord, the defending caster still had to have the greater power.

“Now...” he said, unhurriedly readying his staff.

“ !”

As he chanted, however, he suddenly swept his staff to the right. Zzzing! There was a burst of movement. I don’t know when he’d done it but Gourry had gotten around behind “Rezo” and into striking range. But “Rezo” had blocked the Sword of Light with his magic-infused staff.

“You’re next, are you?!” the Red Priest’s copy asked, his face tensing.

Then there was a flicker of silver light and a sword pierced through his red cape... But “Rezo” had already cast his mantle aside and leaped to safety some distance away, closer to Flagoon.

“I’ll be joining in too, if you don’t mind,” Zelgadis, the attacker, said with a grin.

Who comes at someone from behind? That’s what baddies do! Then again, when your opponent can wave off a Dragon Slave, fighting honorably probably isn’t the wisest strategy...

“Zelgadis!” Gourry shouted in a scolding tone.

“Master Gourry... I think you may have the wrong idea,” Zel said, his gaze fixed on the copy of the Red Priest. “We can’t beat this guy in a fair fight one-on-one. We don’t stand a chance.”

“But...”

“By all means, come at me together,” the man in red invited. “That will make things more interesting for me as well. What about you? Care to join in too?”

I immediately shook my head. No one else is gonna say it, so I will. I may be a crackerjack with a sword—I could probably even take a dozen novice swordsmen at once—but I’m no Gourry or Zelgadis! If I threw in with those two in a swordfight, I’d just hold them back. Granted, even casting spells from the sideline like a good little sorcerer, I might still end up hitting one of them if I wasn’t careful.

“Nah. I’d rather focus on fighting smart.”

“As you wish. In that case...” He turned to face the other two again.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was just gonna sit back and watch the battle. I was already working on various plans in my head. Not that anything was really jumping out at me...

If this guy could wave off a Dragon Slave, the only thing that stood a chance of beating him was my Giga Slave. “Rezo” probably didn’t even know such a spell existed. Even if he tried to block it the same way again, it should be more than enough to beat him.

Still, Sylphiel had begged me not to use it earlier... And, yeah, sure, she was passed out right now and would be none the wiser if I slipped. But a lecture from a shrine maiden wasn’t really what I was afraid of at the moment.

As I thought things over, the fight continued. Rezo blocked Gourry’s strike, deflected Zelgadis’s spell, and leaped backward.

“ !” he howled.

Hraaah! A strange scream rang through the air as if resonating with his voice. “Rezo” had finally gone on the attack. He was instantly wreathed by a dozen orbs of light, each about the size of my fist.

A chill ran up my spine. Was this... a Blast Bomb?!

As far as I knew, there was only one sorcerer in history who could use this spell: the ancient sage Lei Magnus, who was also the progenitor of Dragon Slave. I’d spent some time studying this spell too, but it had proven beyond me. I’d managed to get as far as launching a bunch of small balls of flame that exploded on impact, but the power I could muster with them was trivial. According to legend, each orb should have been several times more destructive than your standard Fireball.

“Not good! Run!” I shouted just as “Rezo” unleashed his orbs.

The boys scrambled back—but not fast enough! There were multiple flashes as the balls of light exploded. The crimson flames consumed them both.

I let out a voiceless scream. That was a direct hit... I could feel my knees trembling.

Gourry... Zelgadis...

Before long, the smoke and flame subsided, and... There they both were, looking shocked but unharmed.

“Hmm...”

Unamused, “Rezo” turned his gaze to me. No, past me!

“I don’t have the power to kill you... but I can do this much,” someone whispered.

I turned to see who it was, and...

“Sylphiel!”

She’d recovered from her swoon and cast a defensive spell on the boys before they were hit. It must have been a powerful one, too. Her shoulders were heaving from effort.

“Sir Gourry! Master Zelgadis! Avenge Sairaag... and my father! Now, before he breaks through the barrier!”

“Got it!”

“Right!”

The boys, finally grasping the situation, charged “Rezo” at once.

Zelgadis got within arm’s reach and cast a spell, which the Red Priest diverted with a swipe of his magic-infused left hand. The next instant, Gourry’s Sword of Light descended on him and he blocked it with his staff. Zel made a play with his broadsword and “Rezo” lithely twisted to avoid it. He then deflected Gourry’s next attack while executing a perfect spin-kick that nailed Zelgadis’s hand and knocked his sword out of it.

Gourry took the opportunity to swing, but “Rezo” once again caught the Sword of Light with his staff. Even unarmed, however, Zelgadis wouldn’t relent! He lunged for “Rezo,” and the moment their silhouettes crossed...

“Ngh!”

I heard a small groan as I saw a flash and then Zelgadis went flying. But...

“Heh...”

Zel was smirking as he picked himself up. I don’t know where he’d hidden it, but he held a shortsword in his hand that was now stained red.

“Rezo,” bleeding from his side, scowled at him viciously when...

Gourry’s right foot met his chin. The Red Priest did a somersault and hit the ground flat, with Gourry right on top of him. He straddled his prone opponent, one foot on each of the priest’s arms and the Sword of Light held aloft. “Rezo” was now completely subject to his mercy. He couldn’t use his hands, and even if he tried to throw Gourry off, the Sword of Light would still fall and slay him.

It looked like the fight was over... and I hadn’t lifted a finger.

“Finish him, Gourry!” Zelgadis screamed.

But the man didn’t listen.

“Do you swear to rescind the bounty on us and never come after us again?” Gourry demanded, holding his position.

“Excuse me! Master Gourry!” Zelgadis shouted critically.

“You’re really strong... Or, you were. But I don’t like fighting helpless men, so I don’t want to kill you if I can help it.”

“Naive fool...” Zel spat.

“I...” Rezo said, still pinned. Gourry was blocking my view, so I couldn’t see the guy’s expression. “I am even stronger than you think...”

Wait, was there an echo in his voice? Just as I was wondering that...

Gourry leaped back screaming. He jumped as far as he could and landed—no, collapsed—awkwardly. Spatters of red stained the ground around him. I could see two vertical cuts stretching from his shoulders to his thighs.

What in the world...?

“Yes, behold...” the priest said as his body began to emit a quavering darkness.

“What?!” Zelgadis nearly shrieked.

“Behold what Rezo the Red Priest did to me...”

Lantz, who was still just watching, let out a scream, while Sylphiel gasped.

I looked. At Rezo’s face—his true face. His eyes, closed all this time, were finally open.

I shouldn’t even say “eyes”... for inside his open sockets were rows of small white ridges lining a crimson darkness from which scarlet whips grew. Those must have been what slashed Gourry. It took me a minute to realize that they were tongues. So, what should have been eyes were actually two cavities full of small teeth, which were now drawn up in the shape of smiles.

To give him sight—I guess—a large, lone blue eye sat vertically in the center of his forehead, now visible with his hood removed.

“Yes, the Red Priest Rezo and the sorcerer Vrumugun... This is what they did to me...”

“They fused my body with a demon...”

“And through that experiment, I became self-aware... How ironic...”

His three mouths all spoke in rotation.

“Did my fusion with a demon awaken my sentience?”

“Or is my will simply that of the demon?”

“I fear even I don’t know...”

The blind Red Priest, enraged at his homunculus who’d found the light so effortlessly, had fused the non-sentient copy with a demon. Out of anger. Out of spite. Or perhaps even out of twisted amusement. That explained why this copy-Rezo could cast such incredible spells. Everything he’d done was easily within the capacity of the demon inside him.

I was reminded of what Sylphiel had said about Rezo’s arrival accelerating Flagoon’s growth. Now that I thought about it, it would take something major to make the tree grow so quickly... And, as creatures of darkness, demons were like infinite wellsprings of hatred. The miasma they produced was just the kind of thing the tree ate up.

But in that case...

I backed up slowly to stand next to Sylphiel.

“Sylphiel,” I whispered to her. “I’m gonna blow this guy away... to avenge your city, and your father.”

“Now... make way for the real star of the show,” I said as I walked forward. “Lantz, look after Gourry. Those wounds shouldn’t be fatal, so don’t worry too much.”

I then readied the Bless Blade, which I’d borrowed from Lantz. The damage to the tree must have taken a toll on it, as visible hairline cracks now ran through the silver sword. I cast a glance back at Flagoon, visible to my left.

Hang in there, Gourry. I’ll finish this soon.

“This will be a battle of magic, no?” Rezo smiled quietly. “I should warn you, it won’t be easy... In exchange for the burden of this disgusting body, I have acquired the magical capacity and techniques of a demon.”

“Hey, we won’t know until we try it, will we? Let’s do this, Zelgadis.”

“Right,” he said as he tossed his bloodied shortsword aside. Now that we knew Rezo was fused with a demon, mundane weapons were worthless.

“Lina!” Gourry called through a cough, holding out the Sword of Light. “Don’t you... need this?”

“Give it to Zelgadis,” I said, holding the Bless Blade up in a battle-ready posture. “I’m using this.”

“Got it,” Gourry responded with a bright smile as he tossed the sword to Zel.

“Are all your preparations complete, then?” Rezo asked.

Zel and I both nodded resolutely.

“ !”

Rezo’s three mouths each chanted different verses simultaneously. This explained how he’d been casting spells in an inhuman tongue. Composite incantations, backed by the magic capacity of a demon...

We all leaped up. In that instant, blue plasma raced through the ground. If we hadn’t been airborne, it would have hit us for sure. The moment we landed, I finished my chant.

“Goz Vu Row!”

Black shadows raced along the ground toward Rezo. If they hit him, they would damage his astral form directly. Not even he could shrug that off.

“Futile!”

He brandished his staff again, ready to banish the shadows like he did before. But I wasn’t going to let him have it that easy!

I snapped my fingers and swung my left hand widely. The shadows changed trajectory accordingly under my control. Normally Goz Vu Row was a straightforward spell that moved in a line... but if you really understood the incantation, you could make a few alterations for effects like this.

“What?!” Rezo jumped back in a panic. The shadows continued to home in on him.

“ !”

He incanted his spell and traced a wide arc on the ground with the tip of his staff. The instant the shadows touched it—Fshhh!—they vanished into thin air.

And while that was all happening, Zelgadis threw himself at Rezo. The Sword of Light streaked toward him, and he dodged it, looking unthreatened. But then...

The blade on the Sword of Light shot out of its handle straight toward Rezo! Zelgadis then began charging as a new blade formed in its place. His plan was to cut the Red Priest down while he was knocking aside the first blade with his staff!

“Tch!”

But Rezo swiped the approaching magical blade away with his hand, then swung his staff down at Zel! Whunk! Zelgadis took the blow head-on and was sent flying.

I’d nearly crept around Rezo and finished an incantation at this point, but he finally noticed me and quickly began to chant a counterspell.

I got mine off first: “Dynast Blas!”

Lightning crashed into the five points of a pentagram—symbolizing the purging of evil—that had formed around Rezo. Electricity from every angle assaulted him all at once.

He began chanting and raised his staff, and when he did... Shing! It audibly broke into pieces.

It probably had some kind of magic of its own, but my attack spell along with Rezo’s defensive spell together simply put too much strain on it. And once it was done for, lightning struck Rezo head-on!

“Gwaaaah!” the three mouths howled at once.

Then the lightning circle burst. Rezo had broken through my spell with sheer spiritual power.

“Not bad!”

Dodging a swift blow from the recovered Zel, he leaped back—in the direction of Flagoon—and began a new chant.

We didn’t have any idea what spell it was, so our only safe option was to evade. But would this one race along the ground again, or would it come from the air? If we chose the wrong move, we were toast.

Ugh! I decided to stay on the ground, resigning myself to the worst. Not knowing anything about this Rezo’s personality, I didn’t have a good read on him. I just had to go with my gut.

“ !”

The Red Priest completed his spell and raised both hands high into the air. His body glowed with a bright white light.

I didn’t even have time to shout. Zel and I were both consumed by the light he conjured. And when it faded... I was down on one knee. Zelgadis was in a similar position. Gourry and Lantz were looking at us worriedly, so I raised a hand to show them I was okay. I couldn’t see any sign of Sylphiel. She must have moved while we were fighting. Now, the question was if we could finish this...

I stood up shakily, lifting the Bless Blade at Rezo. Flagoon was visible just over his shoulder.

“You okay, Zel?” I asked.

“I think so... but he really is...” he replied, sounding exhausted from the spell.

It appeared to be some extreme version of Elemekia Lance, a spell that targeted an opponent’s spirit directly. And when I say it was extreme, I don’t mean its power, but its breadth. You normally fired it like a spear, but Rezo’s was like a wave of light. That diluted the effect somewhat, so he’d need more than the one hit to incapacitate us... but he’d still dealt a serious blow to our magical power. I wouldn’t be using any more big spells this fight.

Zelgadis was in the same boat, as indicated by the Sword of Light in his hand. The weapon, whose brilliant blade reflected its user’s will, was much shorter now than it had been before.

“Anyway, let’s go!” I said, charging off. Left with no other choice, Zelgadis ran with me.

I knew if I tried any petty tricks, Rezo would just brush them aside. We could potentially slay him with the Sword of Light and the Bless Blade, but Rezo had also proved he could best us both in combat.

Rushing past the Red Priest on either side, we swung our swords simultaneously. Rezo dodged them both with ease and directed a spin-kick at Zelgadis. The golem boy just dodged it, and we met back up at the base of the now-bare Flagoon.

“What exactly are you planning? Well, knowing you, you might not have a plan at all...” he whispered quietly.

“On my signal, hit him with all the Fireballs you can muster, then dive to the side.”

“All right,” he agreed without any further questions.

“Okay... Let’s go!”

I took off running again. If we could finish Rezo here and now...

“It’s time to end this!” he declared, holding both hands up.

“Zel!”

Right on cue, he sent multiple balls of light barreling toward Rezo.

“Hahh!”

With a swing of his left hand, the Red Priest detonated them all midair. He’d probably emitted a field of pure magic to make the Fireballs explode prematurely. Flashes of light and smoke obscured the area. It was obviously a distraction.

“That won’t work!” Rezo cried.

He unleashed the magic stored up in his right hand in the direction I’d been standing moments ago, then leaped back far. He must have realized that he hadn’t hit anything, or maybe he sensed my presence, because...

He turned to look behind him. But it was too late! I was already in position.

I’d wreathed the Bless Blade in wind, then let it fly. This effectively turned it into a javelin, which pierced through Rezo’s heart!

“Guh!”

The sword embedded itself in the priest up to its hilt, driving him back and spearing him against Flagoon.

While he was occupied with the exploding Fireballs, I’d used a Lei Wing to fly over the Red Priest’s head and get around behind him. Gotcha!

“It’s not over yet!” Zelgadis cried.

“I will not be ended!” Rezo roared, grasping the sword impaling him.

His demonic nature meant that he didn’t feel any pain from the Bless Blade if it wasn’t in human hands. But...

“Sylphiel!” I called out.

She’d been waiting behind Flagoon this entire time, and it was finally her turn to work her magic.

Tha-thump! Flagoon pulsed, and Rezo let out a scream that echoed through the wasteland that was now Sairaag. On my signal, Sylphiel had cast a spell on Flagoon. A healing spell.

I’ve talked about this before, but Recovery stimulates the natural vitality of its recipient to max out their regenerative powers. The cells of Flagoon were thus jump-started one by one, and its stripped bark, branches, and leaves all got to work restoring themselves. This process required an enormous source of energy, mind you. But, fortunately, it had a nearly endless supply of miasma close by.

In other words... Rezo.

Flagoon was now regrowing quickly. The bark on its trunk returned before our eyes and green buds began to sprout across its breadth. In a flash, the buds turned to leaves and then branches, which grew long and strong...

Rezo’s struggling slowed gradually. The miasma that powered his demonic vitality was being drained away from him, consumed by the tree. All that left him was his human vitality. And with that sword through his chest...

Blugh. He spat out a gob of red blood.

“H-How...” he whispered as he writhed. “How... did I... lose? Why could I not... surpass... Rezo?”

“You don’t know?” I asked.

The priest was silent for a time.

“...I was... fixated on him alone. That’s why... I could never surpass him...”

“That’s right.”

The green leaves of Flagoon rustled in the wind. Rezo coughed up another gob of blood.

“What name do you want on your gravestone?” Zelgadis asked.

“I don’t... need one...” he responded with a slight smile. “Let this tree... mark my grave...”

And with that, he let out one final sigh.

The green leaves continued to rustle in the wind.