The moment I lifted my hand away from my eyes, a new curtain of darkness pervaded my vision.
Clap.
Deeper than the hollow of any chasm, it was a blackness so total that no light could hope to pierce it. As the darkness came over me, a crack like a thunderbolt filled up my eardrums.
A heartbeat later, that magical shroud wasn't only lifted.
It was swept aside.
The shaft of an impossibly large scythe was instantly pulled, or rather, dragged and forced as it appeared between Coppelia's separating palms. It towered over the clockwork doll's frame even before the blade of moonlight had materialised.
And when it did, it moved with the elegance of an ocean wave.
Wielding her scythe like a dancer with a ribbon, Coppelia twirled her weapon once, twice, each time meeting a separate fireball that was hurled at us. The effortless way she held the shaft with one hand, using the other to lightly flick and control its motion was as breathtaking as it was ridiculous.
I had no need to attempt wielding such a towering weapon myself to know that its weight was sorely misrepresented by how easily it spun.
Because it wasn't simply Coppelia's strength which caused it to fly so freely.
It was her elegance.
When she swished her scythe, she did so in such a way that only the edges of my hair were disturbed, the very fringes wavering as if brushed by a whisper of wind.
Consideration which was sadly wasted.
Because as the pair of fireballs were redirected, they had nowhere to go but into the back of the treasury, filled with mounds of undocumented coins, treasures and artifacts interspersed with snow.
Bwooooooomph.
All of which proceeded to rain over me the moment the fireballs impacted.
“Hieee?!”
A great explosion of coins erupted around me, propelled by flames and joined by the hissing of steam.
Horrified at the threat to my hair, I drew Starlight Grace at once.
As the hurtling coins approached, I grit my teeth and turned my sword, using the flat of the blade to sweep aside the greater part of the shower.
Even so, I winced as I felt each individual coin collide with my sword, praying that I didn't accidentally destroy a single piece of my kingdom's precious currency as I was forced to prioritise my own presentation.
And if I did, well–
Reparations would have to be made.
By her.
“Marinara Lainsfont!” I called out, sweeping around to face the vagrant shopkeeper as the coins fell around me. “How … How dare you launch fireballs at us! You are a mage who did the unlimited power speech before being blown up! Surely, you possess the creativity to use spells with less threat to the piles of treasure you see before you!”
The mage stamped her foot. The blush which rose to her cheeks burned hotter than the flames dancing around both her hand and her staff.
“Marinara?! How do you add an extra syllable while somehow remembering my last name?! Marinara is a sauce! You … You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?!”
I gestured at the mounds of highly fragile assets around me.
“If any common hoodlum wishes for me to remember their name, then they need to first adhere to responsible murdering! This is not acceptable!”
“Where I murder you doesn't matter! Only that you and your blabbering mouths are immediately vaporised!”
I was outraged.
How … How dare she take that tone with me!
I was clearly the aggrieved party here! What was wrong with these people?! These peasants and nobility alike?! They appeared like vermin, one after another to feed on the failed schemes of their predecessors!
Why would they not allow me my simple victory?! The absolute disrespect to my time! Did they think they were the only obstacles I had to roll my eyes at tonight?!
Why, I still had to eat later! I had to preserve enough eye rolls for the disappointing meal I would be served at whichever barnyard inn I was staying at tonight!
“If you wish to harass me, then do so in a place which doesn't threaten to make documenting tax evasion any more toilsome than it already is! How will you make amends for any damages you've caused while you're already crafting soap for me?! You can only serve one life sentence!”
The mage's fury twisted into a look of … well, confusion at my words.
Then, she quickly shook her head, her ire returning along with two greatly expanded fireballs.
“I have no fathomable idea why you brats are here,” she said, her teeth clenched as she quietly regarded us. “But both of you will pay for the humiliation you've wrought on me.”
I raised my hand to my lips in response, scoffing as I considered a threat so textbook that I could very well read the lines from a script.
“Please. Your humiliation should feel muted, mage. Surely, this cannot be the first time your schemes to bring ruin to this kingdom's economy were brought low by those of superior will?”
The young woman paused.
“Y-Yes, that's the humiliation I'm referring to. You brought an end to months of excruciating field work. But that was through copious luck and an environment allowing you to scuttle like cockroaches in the night. Now?”
Marilala sent her eyes around the dimly lit treasury. Shadows flickered across the frozen walls from the flames in her hands.
And then she smiled.
“Now there are no arcana crystals to exploit to your advantage. There is no basin of water to quench my flames. You have no space to run. And you have no method to defeat me. Consider your final words now, because when I'm through with you, not even your ashes will remain to be buried.”
Standing before me, Coppelia gave her scythe a casual twirl around her body, flicking the towering weapon as easily between her hands as one of the many apples she stole.
She hummed, her eyes narrowing as she leaned in to study the woman.
Maria leaned back the appropriate amount, despite the distance separating the two. She wore a look of obvious discomfort as she took in the direction of Coppelia's gaze.
“Hmmmmmmmmm.” Coppelia's eyes went up and down the woman's frame, a rare frown on her face as deep thoughts clouded her mind. “How did you manage to breathe and move at the same time?”
“W-What?”
“Your corset. I'm 100% sure now. That thing definitely isn't your size.”
The mage's jaw dropped. Coppelia nodded, her scythe tapping against her shoulder as she considered the woman before her.
“I mean, wasn't it super uncomfortable? Like, skin pinching uncomfortable? Did you pick out the wrong daring undergarment by accident? Or did you actually pick it out specifically because of the wrong size? You know, in order to–”
“Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
Screaming the most bizarre battlecry I'd ever heard, the mage tossed both sets of fireballs towards Coppelia.
This time, my future handmaiden didn't wait for the flames to approach.
Sending coins flying in her wake, Coppelia pushed off her foot and leaped towards the screaming mage. Her scythe left a glimmering trail behind her, turning to embers as the blade rushed forward to enthusiastically meet the fireballs.
And then the mage stopped screaming.
“[Ignite].”
Both fireballs promptly exploded in Coppelia's face.
It was an explosion powerful enough to send a shockwave towards me. I raised my arm, shielding my wincing eyes as I felt the heat wash over. And yet it wasn't I who'd taken the entirety of that attack.
“C-Coppelia?!”
I observed with my heart in my mouth, fearing the worst to her fluffy, golden hair as a thick plume of smoke instantly filled the treasury and the chamber beyond. Yet like the darkness, it too was instantly swept aside.
But not by Coppelia.
Her hand outstretched, Marianne was a silhouette alone in a clearing of melted snow as she commanded the smoke to dissipate. Still with a blush on her face, her brown eyes went hard with suspicion as Coppelia's figure failed to be spied.
“I mean, I'm really jealous~” said a bright, playful voice from somewhere. “I wish I had the confidence to casually wear racy undergarments while out and about, too!”
Mary looked up, clicked her tongue, then butted her staff against the ground.
“There … There were extenuating circumstances!” said Marlene, the heat pulsing from her cheeks scorching the air more than her magic did. “That … That corset wasn't mine! It was a gift! … [Molten Barrier].”
Suddenly, a shield of blazing lava erupted into life around the mage's figure, its licks of flame and swirling liquid offering a promise of instant reprisal to any without the blessing of enchanted steel limbs.
I could see Coppelia's smile even before she re-appeared.
“Oh, hey, I figured you'd do that.”
As she came tumbling down from the chamber's ceiling, the light of her scythe blossomed into the radiance of a falling star.
“Dusk falls anew, the last light amidst paling faith. Luna Form, 6th Stance ... [Moonlit Divider].”
Trailing behind her as she somersaulted downwards, I watched as the scythe gathered with a momentum which belied the short distance of its wielder’s fall.
The air was pierced by a whistling song. And in the moment before reaching the molten shield, the silver blade burned with so much light that not even holding my arms to my eyes could shield out the spectacle.
Within the orb of twisting lava, a faint silhouette could be seen looking down.
“What a coincidence. I figured you'd do that too. [Phantasmal Shift].”
The sound of a staff striking the ground echoed clearly.
And then, the mage vanished–just in time to evade the scythe that slammed into the ground.
And also the glowing rune that was waiting there for it.
To my amazement, I recognised it at once.
Why, it was the same rune that had been inside the keyhole to the treasury door!
The one that Coppelia had assumed would cause us both to die horribly if I hadn't expertly handled it with my oodles of natural talent at every activity imaginable!
Fortunately, it turns out that Coppelia was wrong.
“–Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiee?!”
Because as I was promptly swept off my feet and sent crashing into a pile of gold crowns, I knew very quickly that neither the strength of the explosion nor the force of the impact had been enough to sufficiently murder either of us.
After all, the mage standing directly over my head wouldn't look so viciously displeased if that were the case.
Dark flames ignited around the gnarled staff pointing directly into my face. And yet all I saw was the woman's pale legs as she stood over me. And maybe a bit more.
I blinked.
“Oh my,” I said, looking up. “Black. Again. You truly do enjoy wearing only the most risqué of undergarments, don't you?”
The woman's mouth opened in horror. She pressed her knees together while practically poking her staff into my cheeks.
“You … You … You … T-This … I can explain … !”
The mage paused, humiliation drawn on every inch of her face as she considered the most suitable explanation she could give.
Then, the ember staff lit up with its own myriad of runes, and the dark flame gathering around it echoed with a faint laughter.
“... [Sacred Hexflare Incineration Blast]!”
I rolled my eyes.
Ugh. Another unnecessary name for an ability. When will these commoners understand that there really was no practical purpose to it?
After all–
“[Coppelia Throw]!”
All it truly did was to allow a clockwork doll with precision control over her scythe to send her weapon hurtling in the caster's direction before she'd had a chance to finish voicing the last syllable.
Or at least, I hoped she had precision control.
Because as I saw the very large scythe swinging as it shot through the air, I couldn't help but notice how a farming tool, even weaponised as it was, appeared about as suitable for soaring through the air as a fruit slime.
I assessed my priorities.
And then, I pressed down upon my hair.
The moment I lifted my hand away from my eyes, a new curtain of darkness pervaded my vision.
Clap.
Deeper than the hollow of any chasm, it was a blackness so total that no light could hope to pierce it. As the darkness came over me, a crack like a thunderbolt filled up my eardrums.
A heartbeat later, that magical shroud wasn't only lifted.
It was swept aside.
The shaft of an impossibly large scythe was instantly pulled, or rather, dragged and forced as it appeared between Coppelia's separating palms. It towered over the clockwork doll's frame even before the blade of moonlight had materialised.
And when it did, it moved with the elegance of an ocean wave.
Wielding her scythe like a dancer with a ribbon, Coppelia twirled her weapon once, twice, each time meeting a separate fireball that was hurled at us. The effortless way she held the shaft with one hand, using the other to lightly flick and control its motion was as breathtaking as it was ridiculous.
I had no need to attempt wielding such a towering weapon myself to know that its weight was sorely misrepresented by how easily it spun.
Because it wasn't simply Coppelia's strength which caused it to fly so freely.
It was her elegance.
When she swished her scythe, she did so in such a way that only the edges of my hair were disturbed, the very fringes wavering as if brushed by a whisper of wind.
Consideration which was sadly wasted.
Because as the pair of fireballs were redirected, they had nowhere to go but into the back of the treasury, filled with mounds of undocumented coins, treasures and artifacts interspersed with snow.
Bwooooooomph.
All of which proceeded to rain over me the moment the fireballs impacted.
“Hieee?!”
A great explosion of coins erupted around me, propelled by flames and joined by the hissing of steam.
Horrified at the threat to my hair, I drew Starlight Grace at once.
As the hurtling coins approached, I grit my teeth and turned my sword, using the flat of the blade to sweep aside the greater part of the shower.
Even so, I winced as I felt each individual coin collide with my sword, praying that I didn't accidentally destroy a single piece of my kingdom's precious currency as I was forced to prioritise my own presentation.
And if I did, well–
Reparations would have to be made.
By her.
“Marinara Lainsfont!” I called out, sweeping around to face the vagrant shopkeeper as the coins fell around me. “How … How dare you launch fireballs at us! You are a mage who did the unlimited power speech before being blown up! Surely, you possess the creativity to use spells with less threat to the piles of treasure you see before you!”
The mage stamped her foot. The blush which rose to her cheeks burned hotter than the flames dancing around both her hand and her staff.
“Marinara?! How do you add an extra syllable while somehow remembering my last name?! Marinara is a sauce! You … You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?!”
I gestured at the mounds of highly fragile assets around me.
“If any common hoodlum wishes for me to remember their name, then they need to first adhere to responsible murdering! This is not acceptable!”
“Where I murder you doesn't matter! Only that you and your blabbering mouths are immediately vaporised!”
I was outraged.
How … How dare she take that tone with me!
I was clearly the aggrieved party here! What was wrong with these people?! These peasants and nobility alike?! They appeared like vermin, one after another to feed on the failed schemes of their predecessors!
Why would they not allow me my simple victory?! The absolute disrespect to my time! Did they think they were the only obstacles I had to roll my eyes at tonight?!
Why, I still had to eat later! I had to preserve enough eye rolls for the disappointing meal I would be served at whichever barnyard inn I was staying at tonight!
“If you wish to harass me, then do so in a place which doesn't threaten to make documenting tax evasion any more toilsome than it already is! How will you make amends for any damages you've caused while you're already crafting soap for me?! You can only serve one life sentence!”
The mage's fury twisted into a look of … well, confusion at my words.
Then, she quickly shook her head, her ire returning along with two greatly expanded fireballs.
“I have no fathomable idea why you brats are here,” she said, her teeth clenched as she quietly regarded us. “But both of you will pay for the humiliation you've wrought on me.”
I raised my hand to my lips in response, scoffing as I considered a threat so textbook that I could very well read the lines from a script.
“Please. Your humiliation should feel muted, mage. Surely, this cannot be the first time your schemes to bring ruin to this kingdom's economy were brought low by those of superior will?”
The young woman paused.
“Y-Yes, that's the humiliation I'm referring to. You brought an end to months of excruciating field work. But that was through copious luck and an environment allowing you to scuttle like cockroaches in the night. Now?”
Marilala sent her eyes around the dimly lit treasury. Shadows flickered across the frozen walls from the flames in her hands.
And then she smiled.
“Now there are no arcana crystals to exploit to your advantage. There is no basin of water to quench my flames. You have no space to run. And you have no method to defeat me. Consider your final words now, because when I'm through with you, not even your ashes will remain to be buried.”
Standing before me, Coppelia gave her scythe a casual twirl around her body, flicking the towering weapon as easily between her hands as one of the many apples she stole.
She hummed, her eyes narrowing as she leaned in to study the woman.
Maria leaned back the appropriate amount, despite the distance separating the two. She wore a look of obvious discomfort as she took in the direction of Coppelia's gaze.
“Hmmmmmmmmm.” Coppelia's eyes went up and down the woman's frame, a rare frown on her face as deep thoughts clouded her mind. “How did you manage to breathe and move at the same time?”
“W-What?”
“Your corset. I'm 100% sure now. That thing definitely isn't your size.”
The mage's jaw dropped. Coppelia nodded, her scythe tapping against her shoulder as she considered the woman before her.
“I mean, wasn't it super uncomfortable? Like, skin pinching uncomfortable? Did you pick out the wrong daring undergarment by accident? Or did you actually pick it out specifically because of the wrong size? You know, in order to–”
“Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
Screaming the most bizarre battlecry I'd ever heard, the mage tossed both sets of fireballs towards Coppelia.
This time, my future handmaiden didn't wait for the flames to approach.
Sending coins flying in her wake, Coppelia pushed off her foot and leaped towards the screaming mage. Her scythe left a glimmering trail behind her, turning to embers as the blade rushed forward to enthusiastically meet the fireballs.
And then the mage stopped screaming.
“[Ignite].”
Both fireballs promptly exploded in Coppelia's face.
It was an explosion powerful enough to send a shockwave towards me. I raised my arm, shielding my wincing eyes as I felt the heat wash over. And yet it wasn't I who'd taken the entirety of that attack.
“C-Coppelia?!”
I observed with my heart in my mouth, fearing the worst to her fluffy, golden hair as a thick plume of smoke instantly filled the treasury and the chamber beyond. Yet like the darkness, it too was instantly swept aside.
But not by Coppelia.
Her hand outstretched, Marianne was a silhouette alone in a clearing of melted snow as she commanded the smoke to dissipate. Still with a blush on her face, her brown eyes went hard with suspicion as Coppelia's figure failed to be spied.
“I mean, I'm really jealous~” said a bright, playful voice from somewhere. “I wish I had the confidence to casually wear racy undergarments while out and about, too!”
Mary looked up, clicked her tongue, then butted her staff against the ground.
“There … There were extenuating circumstances!” said Marlene, the heat pulsing from her cheeks scorching the air more than her magic did. “That … That corset wasn't mine! It was a gift! … [Molten Barrier].”
Suddenly, a shield of blazing lava erupted into life around the mage's figure, its licks of flame and swirling liquid offering a promise of instant reprisal to any without the blessing of enchanted steel limbs.
I could see Coppelia's smile even before she re-appeared.
“Oh, hey, I figured you'd do that.”
As she came tumbling down from the chamber's ceiling, the light of her scythe blossomed into the radiance of a falling star.
“Dusk falls anew, the last light amidst paling faith. Luna Form, 6th Stance ... [Moonlit Divider].”
Trailing behind her as she somersaulted downwards, I watched as the scythe gathered with a momentum which belied the short distance of its wielder’s fall.
The air was pierced by a whistling song. And in the moment before reaching the molten shield, the silver blade burned with so much light that not even holding my arms to my eyes could shield out the spectacle.
Within the orb of twisting lava, a faint silhouette could be seen looking down.
“What a coincidence. I figured you'd do that too. [Phantasmal Shift].”
The sound of a staff striking the ground echoed clearly.
And then, the mage vanished–just in time to evade the scythe that slammed into the ground.
And also the glowing rune that was waiting there for it.
To my amazement, I recognised it at once.
Why, it was the same rune that had been inside the keyhole to the treasury door!
The one that Coppelia had assumed would cause us both to die horribly if I hadn't expertly handled it with my oodles of natural talent at every activity imaginable!
Fortunately, it turns out that Coppelia was wrong.
“–Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiee?!”
Because as I was promptly swept off my feet and sent crashing into a pile of gold crowns, I knew very quickly that neither the strength of the explosion nor the force of the impact had been enough to sufficiently murder either of us.
After all, the mage standing directly over my head wouldn't look so viciously displeased if that were the case.
Dark flames ignited around the gnarled staff pointing directly into my face. And yet all I saw was the woman's pale legs as she stood over me. And maybe a bit more.
I blinked.
“Oh my,” I said, looking up. “Black. Again. You truly do enjoy wearing only the most risqué of undergarments, don't you?”
The woman's mouth opened in horror. She pressed her knees together while practically poking her staff into my cheeks.
“You … You … You … T-This … I can explain … !”
The mage paused, humiliation drawn on every inch of her face as she considered the most suitable explanation she could give.
Then, the ember staff lit up with its own myriad of runes, and the dark flame gathering around it echoed with a faint laughter.
“... [Sacred Hexflare Incineration Blast]!”
I rolled my eyes.
Ugh. Another unnecessary name for an ability. When will these commoners understand that there really was no practical purpose to it?
After all–
“[Coppelia Throw]!”
All it truly did was to allow a clockwork doll with precision control over her scythe to send her weapon hurtling in the caster's direction before she'd had a chance to finish voicing the last syllable.
Or at least, I hoped she had precision control.
Because as I saw the very large scythe swinging as it shot through the air, I couldn't help but notice how a farming tool, even weaponised as it was, appeared about as suitable for soaring through the air as a fruit slime.
I assessed my priorities.
And then, I pressed down upon my hair.
