The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"Princess, please have some of this. Eat up."

"Eep!"

The unexpected dynamic suicide had left the highway in complete disarray. 

The body had been obliterated so thoroughly that not even remains were left, making the cleanup relatively easy.

For now, I tidied up the surrounding area and used "Synthesis" to level the road enough for horse-drawn carriages to pass. The drone-like holy relic had been reduced to debris, but I stored it in my item box just in case.

By the time I finished, both Gavin and Maple seemed to have calmed down. Maple's stomach growled cutely. Having been restrained for a full day, her condition didn't look good.

I took out some energy drinks and light snacks from my item box to give her, but Maple hid behind Gavin.

"Lady Maple, please don't worry. This guy may be cheeky, but he doesn't have the guts to poison you."

Gavin dissed me while smiling brightly.

I thought about retorting, but stopped since Maple looked scared. What a terrible guy, using an innocent little girl as a shield.

I shoved the food at Gavin.

"Here you go."

"Then I'll taste test it... See, it's fine."

"I-If that's the case, then I'll..."

Maple cautiously began eating after receiving the meal from Gavin. Her bites were so small, like a small animal, as she ate earnestly.

Watching her, Gavin said:

"...Ruruk, you really saved us this time."

"Huh!? Did you get a stomachache? Is it going to snow?"

"It's a knight's gratitude! As if I'd personally thank someone like you!"

"A knight with shattered armor? I see, you're the naked knight, huh."

"You're the one who broke it!"

"Your back was all messed up from the explosion, right?"

"No, the front and lower half weren't that damaged, were they?"

Gavin pointed at the full-body armor that had been shattered beyond repair.

True, I was the one who crushed that, but...

"It was just annoying to take off at the time."

"That was my father's special order! Do you know how much it cost?"

"Even so, I was in a hurry. It can't be exchanged for your life, right?"

"You could have easily taken it off. Or is mystical arts only capable of destruction?"

"You idiot. If I got serious, I could have taken it off instantly without damaging it!"

"Then why did you break it?!"

"Because I thought it would be funny to see Gavin emerging from broken armor."

"You damn bean sprout!"

He yells right in my ear. Gavin is so noisy.

As we were bickering:

"Adventurer sirs, I would like to express my gratitude once again."

Maple, having regained her composure after eating, curtsied by holding the edges of her frilly skirt. Even though it must be her nightgown since she was kidnapped while sleeping, it looks incredibly expensive.

"I am grateful for your rescue. I will properly reward you later."

"We are honored."

"Yay, rewards!"

"Now then Gavin, please escort me to the royal castle. Where are we, by the way?"

Maple anxiously grasped Gavin's hand.

"This is the Bargia Dragon Dukedom. But don't worry, Lady Maple. That ill-natured adventurer Ruruk here will take you back to the capital in no ti--"

Me.

Just as Gavin was about to finish his sentence, I instinctively grabbed both him and Maple and teleported several hundred meters.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Both of you, get behind me."

It came without warning.

A large-scale magical attack had been fired at the spot where we were just moments ago.

An invisible force was pressing down on the ground, enough to make it sink. It was gravity magic strong enough to distort the scenery.

Luna couldn't avoid it in time and was kneeling there, enduring it. The fact that she wasn't collapsing in such an ultra-high gravity field was testament to her being an angel.

"...Angel... die..."

Slowly walking towards us from across the highway was a boy.

A gloomy-looking shota with two horns growing from his head.

His ears were sharper than an elf's, and he wore tattered cloth-like clothes that barely covered him.

------------------

[Name] Zaft

[Level] 99

[Race] Shadow Demon Tribe

------------------

Another level-capped rare race, huh!

The boy - Zaft of the Shadow Demon Tribe - smiled darkly as he looked at Luna, who was gritting her teeth and enduring, and said:

"...Mission failed... kill the princess... kill more angels."

"Ngggh! I'll kill you instead!"

Light burst forth from Luna's toes.

In the next instant, Luna herself became light and escaped the gravity field, delivering a kick to Zaft's back.

Ah! That's definitely the "Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?" kick!

But Zaft had turned around and caught that kick with one hand.

"...After all, just a slave of the Light God..."

"I don't want to hear that from an errand boy of the Dark God! Blegh!"

Light and darkness clashed.

This guy must be another pawn of the Maguu Empire.

Luna moving at ultra-high speeds, and Zaft standing still to intercept.

Both seemed evenly matched, sustaining similar levels of injuries. They must be followers of opposing attribute gods, light and darkness. Like dragons and demon races, they clashed seriously without even trying to hide their hatred for each other.

The timing of Zaft's appearance was too late to support the kidnappers, but too early to be a separate unit. He probably was elsewhere but came using a long-distance movement skill.

Since the kidnapping failed, now he's here to kill.

But it's amazing how they can keep throwing in forces one after another. And even using such a rare race that's at the opposite end of the angel tribe.

It shows how serious the Maguu Empire is about this operation.

"H-Hey Ruruk. Is she going to be alright?"

"For now, they're evenly matched."

Luna was attacking Zaft with a glare rather than her usual smile.

It's no wonder Gavin is worried. Her forehead is cracked and bleeding, and one of her arms is bent at an odd angle. Zaft, on the other hand, is bleeding from his chest and seems to have several broken ribs.

But neither of their injuries are fatal.

To begin with, both are nucleated species with cores.

That's why they both fought in a way that didn't care as long as their cores were protected. Luna aimed for one-hit kills, while Zaft used insidious attacks and defenses to whittle down her health.

Their fighting styles were complete opposites, but neither could land a decisive blow.

"Take this!"

Luna fired a laser beam, but Zaft's palm distorted the light, deflecting it into the forest behind him.

Luna had the advantage in output. However, her long-range attacks didn't hit, and Zaft's surroundings were full of debuff traps. If she got close, she could be afflicted with poison, slow, petrification, or who knows what else.

Luna, who had charged in several times assuming she'd be status afflicted, managed to land a few heavy hits but was now quite unsteady from the poison and counters she took.

"The Shadow Demon tribe... they're pretty strong."

"I can't see a damn thing."

While Gavin was at a complete loss, I couldn't let Maple, who was behind him, get involved. If Luna won, I wouldn't have to move from here, so I wanted to leave it to her, but...

"Just fall already--!"

"...You're the one who should die...!"

Luna activated Line Pulsar for the umpteenth time.

She instantly moved behind Zaft, but he read the movement of her mana.

Zaft's fist sunk into Luna's torso as he swung around -- and at the same time, Luna's entire body flashed like a flashbang.

Zaft closed his eyes reflexively, and a beam saber formed from Luna's palm pierced him.

However, it missed his vitals. As Zaft grabbed the light sword that had pierced his shoulder, the sword began to turn pitch black. The darkness then started to spread to Luna's arm.

"Ugaaaah!"

Luna howled as she punched Zaft's face with her blackened fist.

Zaft flew back with tremendous force, bouncing and rolling on the ground.

"Huff, huff, huff"

"...Hah, hah..."

Both were in tatters all over.

They glared at each other again after putting some distance between them.

The end is near.

"Hey, Shadow Demon!"

Luna pointed at Zaft with her left hand while her blackened right arm hung limply.

Her expression, which had shown nothing but hatred until now, broke into a grin.

"...What is it, angel..."

"Luna's going all out next! I'll end it with everything I've got!"

"...So what..."

"You come at me with everything too! Win or lose, no hard feelings!"

"...Are you an idiot..."

Zaft smiled slightly while looking exasperated.

"...Well, fine... I'll play along."

"Alright! Here I come!"

Luna put all her strength into her lower body.

Zaft gathered his magical power to the maximum.

A moment of silence fell.

"Ruaaaah!"

Luna leapt at maximum speed, her fist gleaming as it traced a straight path.

That fist pierced through Zaft's torso as he tried to raise his hand.

"...Damn it..."

Zaft collapsed.

Luna, breathing heavily, looked down at the falling Zaft before raising her fist in a victory pose and shouting.

"I won... I won! I won! Luna is the grea--"

Squelch.

A knife was stabbed into Luna's back as she was raising her victory cry.

It had pierced the center of her body without the slightest deviation.

Luna's eyes lost their strength, and she collapsed limply.

Behind her was Zaft, who had crawled out of the shadows.

It was the same shadow-hiding skill that the upper-rank demon Skato had once used. It seems the one defeated earlier was a clone.

"...Kukuku, kukukuku! Ahahahahaha!"

Zaft let out a shrill laugh.

He seemed to be reveling in the fact that he had gotten one over on his hated angel.

"...Idiot! You're such an idiot! There was no need to have an honest fistfight with the likes of you! A fitting end for a single-celled angel... kukuku, what a pitiful creature. But with this, one less angel... which means one more of our comrades is born... kukuku, Dark God-sama. The war between light and darkness has made a big move after a long time... kukuku, kukukuku... Phew. I took quite a bit of damage, but it's fine. Now to take care of the remaining small fry and fulfill the Emperor's orde-- Huh?"

Zaft, who had been laughing so hard his cheeks might split, turned back towards us and froze.

That's because...

I was carrying the unconscious Luna over my shoulder.

"...What?"

"Luna, you did well."

She had charged straight ahead without fear against a sworn enemy of the same level.

Although they were supposed to be hated foes, in the end, she declared her intent and tried to clash with all her might. While it might be a failing grade as a way to survive, it was respectable behavior as a warrior.

On the other hand, Zaft's way of fighting would have been perfect for winning. I can't blame him for that.

But.

"You laughed, didn't you?"

He stabbed an opponent who had given their all in the back and laughed.

This guy spat on someone who had shown respect.

"W-Why... is that one..."

Instead of answering, I shifted my gaze.

There lay Luna, who had collapsed after being stabbed by Zaft -- but she disappeared into particles.

"Why... I definitely felt the..."

"You did the same thing, didn't you?"

"...Impossible... Shadow clones are dark magic... Someone without magic power couldn't possibly use it..."

"Replication techniques aren't the privilege of magic alone."

In fact, I can create more precise copies than attribute-based fakes.

That's the beginner-level mystical art technique of substitution -- Transcription.

Being a beginner technique, its effect time is only a few seconds. However, the higher the proficiency, the more precise the transcribed copy becomes.

The copy I created was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

"You won the duel with Luna. But listen well, Shadow Demon."

I deployed a technique while still carrying Luna.

Zaft probably can't see it, but out of respect for the winner of the duel, I'm slowly and carefully creating a path of spiritual elements that anyone could avoid if they could see it.

"I don't forgive those who laugh at my friends."

"...W-What can a weakling do... Carrying that one, do you think you can wi--"

"Light Sphere Synthesis."

Light is both a particle and a wave.

I thought that the only way mystical arts could interfere with attribute substances was through state changes via synthesis... That's what I believed. Until now, I couldn't manipulate formless attributes with my techniques, and Roze said it was impossible.

But that wasn't the case.

Even attribute substances, if traced back to their origin, are elementary particles or quanta. In other words, just matter.

While only magical power might be able to interfere with them as a macro aggregate, if you interfere at the micro level, even mystical arts can manipulate them. I clearly realized this when I myself was transformed into a light attribute being by Line Pulsar.

Now I was confident that I could manipulate attribute substances.

Come to think of it, there had been hints from the beginning. With Roze's "All Creation," she had transformed into lightning. That was undoubtedly a mystical art skill.

Moreover, my Rending Bullet is air that has been information-enhanced. Thinking about it, this is also a wind attribute substance.

Preconceptions had been narrowing my perspective all along.

"Information Enhancement"

I enhanced the light sphere.

Then, like Roze's technique, I arranged spiritual elements to create a path.

All that's left is to fire the light sphere I created in front of my eyes.

"Take this -- 'Light Bullet'"

I snapped my fingers.

Unlike the coordinate attack of Rending Bullet, this was a light bullet that pierced through all points on a freely set trajectory. It was a penetrating attack that could reach anywhere within my visible range without being attenuated by air resistance.

And of course, there was no way to avoid a bullet moving at the speed of light.

The light bullet pierced Zaft's forehead.

He died instantly, falling unceremoniously.

"A...Amazing"

"Gavin! What happened?! I can't see anything!"

Gavin was dumbfounded, while Maple, whose eyes were covered by Gavin, was shouting.

As expected of a royal guard. He's even considering educational discretion.

For now, I laid Luna's body down and immediately began treatment.