Chapter 25

25 . The second match

Me and Misha are heading up the stairs towards the upper levels of the dungeon .

“Catching up?” Misha asks .

Sasha tried to use Flight

but I prevented that . Walking normally we still haven’t caught up though . Perhaps she’s running?

“It’ll be fine . ”

I raise my foot slightly and stamp on the floor . With a rumbling noise, the dungeon begins to shake so violently even standing becomes difficult .

“Hold on . ”

“……Nn……”

Holding onto my hand Misha is able to stay upright somehow .

After about a minute the shaking finally stops .

“You can let go now . ”

Misha gently lets go of my hand .

“What did you do?”

“I changed the topography a little and made some dead ends . We can catch up now . ”

After advancing onward for a while a bright s.p.a.ce appeared in front of us .

The room where nature magic could be performed .

Sasha was there though she appeared to be at a loss .

The reason was probably the fact that the pa.s.sage we came through was no longer there . When I stamped my foot the terrain changed dramatically and collapsed the tunnel .

“Yo Sasha . ”

When I spoke she jumped before turning around . She still grasping the king’s sceptre .

“Is this your doing?”

I a.s.sume she’s on about the dead end .

“Why would I tell a traitor?”

Sasha’s eyes take on a grim look .

She’s being cautious since she doesn’t know what my aim is .

“If you want the king sceptre you’ll have to kill me . ”

“What? No . Misha wants to make up with you . ”

Sasha rolled her eyes with irritation .

“Are you an idiot? Have you already forgotten what you did to me a while back?”

Sharp words but Misha just stares at Sasha .

“I’m amazed at this idiot doll as well as you Arnos . You take everything this child says so seriously . This child you are so enamoured with does not exist . It has no life and no soul . It’s just a trash doll that will disappear tomorrow . ”

“Fumu . I’ve already heard about that . So what?”

Were my words unexpected? Sasha appears to be at a loss .

“… . . I see . She told you . Doll-san has been behaving like she’s alive for a long time now . Is it afraid of disappearing?”

“Wrong . ”

“What is?”

“It’s decided that I will disappear . There’s nothing to be scared of . ” Misha said indifferently . “But before that, I want to make up with Sasha . That’s all . ”

Sasha glares at Misha .

“I also want to know the truth . ”

“About what?”

In a rare moment of hesitation Misha stalls before asking Sasha

“Does Sasha hate me?”

Sasha didn’t answer the question and instead turned to me .

“Nee . Do you want to fight again?”

She’s a woman who obviously hasn’t learnt her lesson .

“What kind of match?”

“I will draw a magic formation . If you can use it on your first attempt you win . If you can’t it’s my win . ”

Using the magic formation that another person has built is very difficult . You need to know what type of magic it is as well as understand the technique for using it . Normally the side drawing the formation will have an overwhelming advantage but that’s only if their opponent is not me .

“That’s all? It’s quite advantageous for me . You can apply some more handicaps if you want . ”

“I’m fine . Even you will find this impossible to do . ”

Fumu . She’s confident . How interesting .

“What are you betting?”

“If you win I will answer that child’s question . ”

“And if you win?”

“You’ll use a single magic of my choosing without refusing . ”

A strange condition .

“What magic?”

“Oh? You have to check? Are you too scared to play now?”

Hou . This fellow knows how to rile someone up .

The condition is to use one magic unquestioningly . It’s a broad condition and the use of Contract

will make sure it’s absolute .

cannot be cancelled by being halfhearted either . I need to be cautious due to my high magical power .

If she makes the conditions simple and limited, using

should be okay .

“Very well . I accept your challenge . ”

Sasha smiled in satisfaction and used

.

After checking the contents I sign it .

“Well then, whats the formation?”

“I’m going to start drawing it now . ”

Sasha turns around and walks off before stopping in the centre of the room .

Closing her eyes she holds the king’s sceptre with both hands and raises it up .

Magic power particles begin to rise up and an original magic circle starts to form at her feet before gradually spreading out all over the room .

It’s a magical formation of considerable scale .

Originally, this formation would be beyond what Sasha could cast due to her power levels but with the kings sceptre and the

her magic power has risen enough to let her create this formation .

Magic characters and gates form one after the other . Ten minutes or so pa.s.s and Sasha is still building it .

I still have no idea what this magic is .

For starters, I don’t know this magic . It resembles no magic from the age of myths . This is either something developed in the last 2000 years or judging by Sasha confidence something she herself has created .

Another reason is the formation is unfinished . By my guess its not even at 10% yet .

There’s too many options to guess at the moment . At this stage, even for me, it’s impossible to narrow down what kind of magic it is .

“How long is this going to take?”

“Don’t worry . It will be done before that child disappears at midnight tomorrow . ”

At her current pace, it will only just be done by midnight tomorrow .

I see . It’s probably a strategy to delay me . Does she think I’ll be in a hurry to save Misha before midnight so I’ll rush and fail or is she planning something else entirely?

“Oh? Are you getting impatient a little?”

“You challenged me to a match so you should do your best . Don’t ruin it with petty tricks . ”

“What wonderful confidence . Take a look . I’ll win this time . ”

During our last match, the differences in our abilities were clearly shown . Where’s her confidence coming from? Sasha understands how powerful I am .

“Interesting . Out of respect for your reckless courage, I’ll not look at all until you complete the formation . ”

I sit down and close my demon eyes before casting Magic Clock

to see what time it was .

Sasha is concentrating on constructing her formation . At this scale if she makes even a tiny mistake she won’t finish in time though I don’t think her pride will allow her to make a mistake .

With considerable concentration, Sasha continues drawing without making any mistakes .

As the sun goes down moonlight enters the room .

Misha watches her sister figure desperately building the magic formation as if trying to burn the scene into her eyes . It’s like she would regret even blinking and continues watching her .

In this way, time pa.s.ses and eventually

shows the time 11:45