94. Facing Him Alone

Facing Him Alone

The final floor of the tower was a cylindrical chamber whose walls were made entirely of black metal. There were no decorations. The ceiling and floor were the same.

Only three things were worth mentioning.

A tree formed from black metal thorns, surrounded by a loose sphere of crackling red energy.

A throne made of the same black metal, upon which sat the man responsible for the destruction of this city.

And a young blond girl, perhaps only half my age, chained to the floor between me and the throne.

The pale-skinned man on the throne, with black hair and black eyes, began to clap. The harsh sound broke the silence.

As he clapped, his simple black tunic flickered with red sparks, as if he had decided to roll around in a bathtub full of glitter.

He had no weapon. No tool like Chi Li’s staff. As far as I could tell, he carried no magical items at all.

Maybe he was so absurdly arrogant that he had chosen to face the person who had killed more of his army in this city than anyone else while dressed in pajamas.

Or maybe he really was strong enough not to need equipment.

“Well done, child,” he said in a kind, conversational voice. That calmness was so plain it became unsettling. “You succeeded in causing me trouble and survived it. Many would give their lives for an achievement like that.”

“Some people will kill each other in the street over things they like,” I said with a shrug. “That doesn’t make those things important or meaningful. It just means those people are idiots.”

“On that, we agree.” He nodded amiably. “And yet you cannot deny that such desires become important precisely because they allow you to control others.”

“Controlling people sounds exhausting. I’d rather spend the same time improving myself or having fun.”

If he wanted to debate ridiculous philosophy, we could absolutely do that.

I had plenty of opinions of my own. Other people often called them annoying or stupid, which was really just their way of saying they did not like them.

So yes, we could waste time here until I recovered enough to make a sudden strike.

Or until his apocalypse plan killed us all.

“You are not much of a leader, are you?” he asked with a smile. “No matter. Leadership is a skill that can be learned. Once you graduate from the Mavis academy of magic you have chosen, you may master it.”

“Really? Is this one of those ‘join the dark side’ speeches?”

I advanced slowly, alert for traps.

He only looked at me with naked longing, which made me deeply uncomfortable, though I was ninety percent sure it was not sexual longing.

“Does anyone actually fall for this crap?”

“It is Mavis policy to extend sincere invitations whenever possible,” he said.

Of course it was.

“As for how many accept, you might be surprised.”

The blond girl’s face suddenly became clear, as if some invisible mask had been removed.

What I saw froze me in place.

“No!”

The cry tore out of me before I could stop it.

I was looking at a face almost identical to mine.

I was not really listening to him anymore.

I had already crossed the distance with Time Jump and appeared beside my little sister. I grabbed the chain and tore it out of the floor.

Then—gently!—I removed it from around her neck.

Lightning crackled the instant I touched the chain, but compared with the last warrior’s attacks, it was nothing. It barely slowed me down.

Then the chain rang with a sound like a crystal bell. The links shattered, and a glasslike cylindrical wall appeared around us both.

At the same time, the ceiling began to descend toward our heads.

Without hesitation, I seized the falling disk and strained to stop it.

“Ye Lin, are you all right? Did he… did they hurt you?”

She stared at me in stunned silence, eyes wide.

We both almost ignored Mort’s rambling while I tried to lower the metal ceiling away from us.

But it fit perfectly into the transparent cylindrical wall. Aside from up and down, it would not move at all.

“Leverage, little girl. That is why I allowed you to annihilate my servants one by one while I waited here for the ritual to finish.”

A cup of red liquid appeared in his hand. He took a sip.

Then he made a gesture, and the ceiling suddenly grew heavier.

“I am a master of weather, metal, and death magic. Challenging me inside a tower of metal and lightning filled with undead monsters was a poor plan. Did your magical tutor teach you nothing?”

“What magical tutor?!” I demanded. “You make even less sense than before.”

He did not answer.

He simply made the suspended ceiling heavier again.

Heavy enough that holding it up took real effort.

“You understand, if you refuse to cooperate, I can continue conjuring more metal until the weight crushes both you and your sister. Yes?”

More weight descended, as promised.

My arms began to tremble.

Screw him. Why was I listening to a deranged egomaniac talk?

I entered time-stop and charged the magical wall.

It did not move.

It was not a magical wall.

It was a real wall of ice.

It had certainly been enchanted, because after more than a dozen strikes I had only managed to crack it.

I had not recovered from the previous battle, and I could not maintain time-stop for long.

Once time resumed, the ceiling would fall unless I kept holding it up.

It would crush me.

But it would crush Ye Lin like an egg.

I thought of using teleportation, then stopped.

I could teleport out now, but in time-stop I could not take anyone else with me.

Cursing in frustration, I returned beneath the weight.

Time resumed.

I tried to use Spatial Jump on Ye Lin.

A pulse of dark magic canceled my ability.

“Your use of time-stop is impressive for someone your age. However, the mages of Mavis devised countermeasures against such abilities long ago. Imperfect countermeasures, yes, but if the enemy can be manipulated into entering a trap…”

He did not finish.

He only smiled smugly, because he knew he had me exactly where he wanted me.

I had blindly walked into a trap, and I was unwilling to pay the sacrifice required to escape.

“I will ask again. Who taught you how to use your abilities? Who has been assisting your pitiful resistance all this time, and how much do you know of their plans? Give me answers I find satisfactory, and you and your sister go free.”

He leaned back on his throne and drank more of what was probably not wine.

“Take your time, if you like. But how long can you hold that weight above your head?”