[Side Twilight Moonbow] Labyrinth Strategy 4: From Curse to Blessing
"Heh heh heh! Well, I never thought Fred would attack me so easily. I thought I had him bound by fear, but it seems it's not as simple as I thought."
Oswell, who had been pierced through the chest by a lightning arrow—an attack that should have killed him instantly—was laughing hysterically, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Come on now, the 'Doctor' is the object of our fear. It's just that... the feeling of 'I don't want to regret it' outweighed the fear of you, 'Doctor.'"
Frederick spoke to Oswell, his tone no longer lazy but serious and filled with determination.
"Don't want to regret it, huh? Ha ha! That's a shame. You all will regret betraying me soon enough!"
Oswell's voice was mixed with laughter as the lightning arrow that had pierced his chest vanished, and the hole in his chest began to heal rapidly.
"That’s... [Self-Healing]? Why does the 'Doctor' have the same ability as me...?"
Caroline, recognizing the phenomenon as [Self-Healing], spoke in confusion.
"What’s so surprising about that? The reason I experimented on you was to achieve the grand goal of making [Self-Healing] manifest in others. Thanks to your cooperation, I was able to learn a lot about abilities. And, about what comes next..."
Oswell's gaze, now filled with madness, turned toward Caroline, and Luelia stepped forward protectively in front of her.
"Just because you have [Self-Healing], you act so relaxed, but deep down, you're probably panicking, aren't you? You can't possibly take on this kind of force with just yourself, can you?"
"True, I don’t have much combat ability. No matter how many magical beasts I summon, it would be easy for you to handle them with your current strength. That's a correct assessment. But I rose to the rank of an executive in that cult. Do you really think someone like me would fall behind to a bunch of kids like you? You’ve really underestimated me."
At Luelia's provocative words, the air around Oswell shifted.
"Anyway, after the war—or maybe when it’s over—I’ll have to face the 'Leader'... This could be a good opportunity to test things out. So, 'Twilight Moonbow', I’ll have you participate in my experiment!"
Oswell raised his voice again, snapping his fingers.
At his command, the magical beasts all transformed into a red-black mist, which gathered in his palm, forming a red-black orb.
"...The fact that you're acting like you have no intention of including Fred and me in your plans is really starting to annoy me."
Luelia, having overheard Oswell's words, voiced her displeasure.
"Well, Luelia, Fred, you two simply don’t have the right to participate in this experiment. You’ll be taking your leave here."
"What...?!"
"What is this...?"
Suddenly, Luelia and Frederick both clutched their chests and began to writhe in pain.
Before long, they were unable to stand, falling to their knees on the ground.
"Luelia-neechan, Frederick-oniichan, what’s happening!?"
Seeing her older siblings suddenly in agony, Caroline rushed to them, her face filled with concern.
"Ha ha ha! I told you, didn’t I? ‘You’ll regret it soon enough!’ Of course, I took precautions for when you betrayed me. But it would be a waste to dispose of you so quickly. I’ll make sure you’re useful to me until the very end!"
Two thin lines appeared from the red-black orb in Oswell's hand, quickly darting toward Luelia and Frederick.
"Stay away from them!"
Caroline shouted as she swung her dagger to sever the lines.
However, the red-black lines passed right through the dagger, unable to be touched.
As the lines connected to the chests of Luelia and Frederick, their suffering intensified.
"…Are... are they... sucking our blood...?"
Luelia, whose senses had been sharpened by the effects of the Doctor's human experiments, realized that the red-black lines were siphoning their blood into the orb Oswell held.
"I don’t know what you’re doing, but I won’t let you do this freely!"
Sophia, determined to stop Oswell, cast an attack spell alongside Luna.
But their magic was blocked by the red-black mist that surrounded Oswell.
"In that case, I’ll do it!"
Seeing that the magic had no effect, Logan thrust his spear into the mist.
But it too was stopped.
"This is... it’s over, isn’t it...?"
Feeling the inevitable approach of death, Frederick let out a voice of resignation.
"Frederick... are you regretting it?"
Luelia, who had also come to accept their fate, asked Frederick.
"Ha ha... not really... after all, my little sister is crying for our hopeless deaths... In the end, the choice we made... was the right one, wasn’t it..."
"No, I don’t want that! Don’t say you’re going to die! We finally... finally made up! I can’t accept this as our goodbye!!"
Tears streamed down Caroline’s face as she cried out.
"We’ve... killed so many people up until now... Either way, I can’t stay with you. ...Oh, I almost forgot... I’ve got something to give you..."
In a gentle tone, as if trying to comfort Caroline, Luelia spoke to her. With trembling hands, she took the earring from her right ear and offered it to Caroline.
Frederick, too, took the earring from his left ear and handed it to her.
"This is a magical tool... one that we made with the techniques we learned from the Doctor’s experiments. Inside, each of us has sealed our own original magic. I believe you’ll be able to use it. ...Please, take it."
Caroline received the two earrings that were offered to her.
Seeing this, Frederick smiled with a satisfied expression and spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Caroline... I know that what I've done can’t be forgiven so easily... When I found out you were alive, when we reunited six months ago, I was so happy... It happened so suddenly, and I just wanted to keep you close. I said terrible things back then too... I'm sorry."
In response to Frederick's apology, Caroline shook her head vigorously, as if to say, I'm not angry.
"We’re going to hell, so we may never meet again in heaven... But still, we wish for your happiness, from the depths of hell. You have [Self-Healing], so you won’t die from anything other than old age... but take care of your body. Live long for the both of us, Caroline..."
Despite the pain, Luelia managed to get her words out until the very end, her consciousness remaining intact.
"[Self-Healing]...?"
Caroline, who was refusing to accept the death of her older siblings, yet understanding in her heart that they couldn’t be saved, focused intently on Luelia’s last words, not wanting to miss a single one. It was then that the term "[Self-Healing]" caught her attention.
"An expanded interpretation of an ability... If this ability could be applied to someone other than me...!"
Clinging to a faint hope for her own ability, Caroline stored the earrings her siblings had given her into a magical storage device. She then moved behind them and placed her hands on their backs.
"Please. Save them... save my family."
Then, in a voice full of desperate pleading, Caroline spoke as if making a vow.
"I’ve always thought of my ability as a curse. It’s caused me so much pain, and I’ve suffered because of it. But all the other ability users say that their powers are 'a force that helps them.' So, please, grant my wish! I won’t run away from my ability anymore. So please... save them!"
Caroline’s ability, Self-Healing, is a rare passive power among abilities.
Even without her will, the ability activates on its own.
Until now, she had never confronted Self-Healing, which she had always recognized as a curse.
But now, for the first time, she faced her ability.
To protect what was precious to her.
Caroline shifted her perception, changing the way she saw the siblings she was touching. She now recognized them as part of her own body.
"......Ugh...!"
The change in her perception proved successful.
However, as a result, Caroline also began to experience the pain that her siblings were enduring.
"Caroline...!? What are you doing...!? Let go of us...!"
Noticing Caroline's pained cries, Luelia struggled to speak.
"No...! I will definitely save you two... I won’t let you die!"
Perhaps it was Caroline's resolve that allowed her Self-Healing to extend to her siblings. Their pain was significantly alleviated.
"I did it...! It worked!"
With the pain flowing from her siblings greatly reduced, Caroline confirmed her success, letting out a joyful cry.
"Even though you’ve already had enough blood drained to be fatal, you're still alive. Self-Healing affecting others... Interesting. It seems the true nature of abilities is—... Well, both of them are too exhausted to move for a while, so I’ll take that as a win."
Oswell, astonished by the expanded interpretation of Self-Healing that Caroline had demonstrated, realized he couldn’t kill them just yet. He decided to move on.
The red-black orb in Oswell’s palm had somehow transformed into a fruit-like shape.
Then, he destroyed the massive magic crystal behind him—Maze Core—and absorbed the enormous magical power contained within it into the fruit.
"Now, let's approach the logic of magic."
Muttering this, Oswell bit into the ominous red-black fruit.
The same red-black mist that hovered around him to protect him began to leak from his body.
It gradually thickened, and eventually, the dense red-black fog completely obscured Oswell's form.
"...Be careful, Caroline and the Twilight Moonbow explorers. When the Doctor uses his own body for something, failure is nearly impossible. Considering the situation, something very dangerous is about to emerge."
Although Caroline's ability had saved their lives, the strain on their bodies was immense. Still, Luelia managed to stand up unsteadily and warned the members of Twilight Moonbow.
"I don’t need to be told. There’s no way something that ominous is anything good."
In response to Luelia's words, Logan, not taking his eyes off the dense red-black fog, reacted.
The members of Twilight Moonbow, along with Luelia and Frederick, gathered together and assumed a combat-ready stance, keeping a close watch on Oswell's movements.
"Hahaha. Ahahahaha!"
Oswell's high-pitched laughter echoed from within the red-black mist. The sound seemed as if multiple voices were overlapping.
As the mist gradually began to clear, the figure that stood in the place where Oswell had been was no longer recognizable as human, but more as a monstrous form.
It stood over two meters tall, its skin a grayish-black resembling charcoal, marked with red-black lines. Horns, reminiscent of a goat's, protruded from its head, and dense magical power leaked from its shoulders, forming what appeared to be dragon-like necks.
"I've finally touched it! So this is the wall of magical theory. Breaking through it is going to be quite a hassle!"
Oswell, now transformed into this monstrous being, muttered gleefully.
"What the hell is this monster...?"
Logan’s voice trembled in fear as he looked at Oswell’s transformed figure. Not just Logan, but everyone present was overwhelmed by the aura Oswell exuded, their bodies trembling.
"Well then, let's start with a little test. —Black Dragon!"
Oswell raised his right hand, and a hole opened up in the sky. From it, a black dragon, created by Oswell, descended with a roar.
The black dragon swooped down toward Logan and the others, attempting to crush them with its massive body.
"Ah! —Shadow Dragon, Eiryuu!"
To block the black dragon's approach, Logan invoked his ability, summoning a shadow that materialized into a giant dragon.
The black dragon Logan had once encountered a year ago during an exploration had been the most terrifying creature he had ever seen. The dragon he now summoned was modeled after that beast, so the two dragons shared a striking resemblance.
"—[Heavenly Thunder Hammer]!"
As the Shadow Dragon restrained the Black Dragon, Luna called down a massive bolt of lightning toward Oswell.
However, Oswell remained unharmed, seemingly unfazed.
"In that case, take this! —[Amplified Chain Raise: Repeat]!"
Next, Sophia cast an original magic she had received from Orn. The immense lightning Luna had summoned was further amplified, striking Oswell once more with even greater force.
Still, the attack seemed to have little effect on Oswell.
"...A spell that amplifies the power of other spells? Quite an interesting one. Still, this body is incredible. To take such a powerful spell and only feel a slight numbness—remarkable."
As Oswell marveled at his now indomitable body, Caroline, activating her Ki, closed the distance with incredible speed and slashed at him with a dagger.
"—!"
The dagger, crafted primarily from the scales of the Black Dragon, cut through Oswell’s body.
—Yet Oswell ignored his wounds and casually swatted her away with his arm.
To an observer, it seemed like nothing more than a simple motion.
However, Caroline was sent flying backward at tremendous speed from the force of the strike.
"Caroline!?"
Luelia and Frederick, pushing their battered bodies forward, intercepted Caroline’s path and caught her.
"...Thank you, big sister, big brother."
Despite the intense pain that was overwhelming Caroline, she weakly spoke her gratitude to the siblings who had caught her. The bones where Oswell had struck her were shattered, but thanks to her [Self-Healing], the damage was already beginning to mend.
"...So weak. No, I must have just grown too strong."
Oswell let out a voice tinged with disappointment just as the shadow dragon created by Logan was destroyed by the successive blows from the Black Dragon’s magic mist.
"Ah! Gnome, please!"
As the Black Dragon loomed over Logan, Luna called out.
In the next moment, the ground erupted, and the earth rose up to cover both Oswell and the Black Dragon.
The dome that suddenly appeared shifted from earth to steel, reinforcing the defense.
"This won’t hold for long! We need to retreat now! That thing is beyond our ability to handle!"
"The teleportation setup is ready! Everyone, come to me!"
At the same time that Luna suggested retreating, Frederick activated a magical circle that would transport them to the entrance of the labyrinth.
The members of Twilight Moonbow, now acutely aware that they could not win in this battle, complied without protest and entered the magical circle floating around Frederick.
"Alright, here we go!"
With Frederick’s final words, Logan and the others vanished from the deepest part of the labyrinth.
◇
"…What the hell was that monster? Summoning a Black Dragon, that's just cheating!"
After teleporting to the entrance of the labyrinth and escaping from Oswell and the Black Dragon, Logan grumbled in frustration.
"First, let's meet up with Orn-san. I feel bad for putting it on him, but I don't think anyone but him can handle that monster…" Sophia suggested, discussing their next course of action.
"…Anyway, let's get out of the labyrinth first. Carol, are you okay? How are your injuries?" Luna asked, turning to Caroline, who had been badly wounded just moments ago.
"Yep! Thanks to my ability and Lu-nee's healing magic, I'm completely healed! Thanks, Lu-nee!" Caroline replied, jumping in place to show that she was completely fine.
"Alright then, let's head to the master," Logan said, now that their plan was set, and he called to the others as they began to head toward the exit that led to the surface. Just as the members of Twilight Moonbow followed, Luelia spoke up.
"…Caroline, we're parting ways here for now."
"…Huh? W-Why?!"
Caroline, who had assumed Luelia and Frederick would be leaving the labyrinth with her, raised her voice in surprise.
"Well, neither of us can move properly right now. If we stayed with you, we'd just slow you down, so we're planning to stay hidden in the labyrinth and recover our strength," Frederick explained, explaining why they wouldn't be joining the others.
Although they had survived thanks to Caroline's ability, the two were still suffering from severe blood loss and anemia. In their current state, they couldn’t fight, so they had decided to remain in the labyrinth.
"That's…"
"The Doctor's target is Sophia Cloudel. It's better for all of you to split up from us, or we’ll be a hindrance to your escape," Luelia added.
"Carol, what they're saying is right. Just protecting Sophia from that monster is going to be difficult enough, and bringing along two people in such a condition is too risky. Fortunately, the Doctor absorbed the labyrinth core, so the labyrinth has lost its function. With no magical beasts around, it's actually safer here," Logan reasoned, speaking quickly to ease Caroline's resistance.
"…Alright. Big sister, big brother, we'll meet again, right?"
"Yes. It may not be soon, but we’ll definitely meet again. Will you promise me?" Luelia asked softly, a gentle smile on her face as she extended her pinky finger toward Caroline.
"…Yes, I promise," Caroline said, her voice trembling with restrained tears as she linked her pinky with Luelia's.
After the pinky swear with Luelia, she did the same with Frederick.
"Carol forgives you, so I forgive you too. But don't go dying somewhere on your own. Come back to Carol!" Logan said as he watched the pinky swear, then turned and left the labyrinth with the members of Twilight Moonbow.