"You're here... what exactly do you mean by that?"
"It's simple."
To Yurugen's voice — laced with a genuine doubt he hadn't experienced in a long time — Sheeta replied.
Gently, as though reasoning with a small child. There was no anger or sorrow in her toward him, despite everything he had done.
"The 'Netherworld of
Salvation
's
Magic Inscription Liberation
—it is the creation of a world where dialogue with the dead becomes possible, where the boundary between life and death grows ambiguous, and the magic of luring a designated target into that world.
—But think about it carefully?"
Sheeta, too, was a being who stood apart from the nobles of this country — her innate Bloodline Magic was not particularly formidable, but... she had never grown arrogant about magic, and had continued to refine her knowledge.
It was precisely because of the knowledge she had accumulated in life that she could say what she was saying.
"Magic is not omnipotent. The '
Netherworld of Salvation
' is no exception. It is an irregularity close to Creation Magic, but it is not Creation Magic. Even with Magic Inscription Liberation, there is a definite limit — things it simply cannot do."
"..."
"With that in mind, consider this: 'luring someone into a world where the boundary between life and death is softened, without any room for refusal.' —Do you think such a feat is possible with Bloodline Magic?"
"—Ah."
Impossible.
Yurugen, who possesses knowledge on par with Sheeta, makes that assertion.
What Sheeta just did. If that is truly possible — then to make things easier to understand, let's reframe it in terms of combat.
If such a thing were possible — the moment you performed
the Netherworld of Salvation's
—
Magic Inscription Liberation,
your opponent would be forcibly hurled into this world. Reduced to nothing but a soul, stripped of all ability to use magic — a state of utter helplessness.
And that's not all. Right now, Yurugen exists as a soul alone. His body — the one he was fighting with just moments ago — has been left behind in what you might call the "real world." A body with no soul, completely and utterly powerless.
If that's the case... then in a fight, the outcome would be as good as decided. Destroy the defenseless body, dispel the magic, and you've got yourself an easy corpse.
If that's how it is, then this
Magic Inscription Liberation
is, in essence,
—
a completely irresistible,
one-hit-kill spell.
That is what it would amount to.
(...No. That's impossible.)
"Impossible," Yurugen declares with cold rationality.
He knows this because he had witnessed Laplace — someone who possessed the same magic and was likewise a user of Magic Inscription Liberation. Such lawlessness is not permitted within Bloodline Magic.
Even merely creating a world where dialogue with the dead is possible pushes things half a step too far. To then drag someone into that world without giving them any room to resist — that is simply impossible.
That, certainly. He could understand it — but.
"...And what about that?"
Not understanding why she was telling him this now, Yurugen asked back.
As if she had anticipated that as well, Shita smiled.
"I wanted you to understand that 'calling someone here unconditionally is impossible.' If that's the case, then naturally... just as you're thinking right now, there are conditions. Just as I said — conditions for 'being here.'"
What were they?
"If you possess the same magic, shouldn't you already know?"
As if drawn in by her question... Yurugen immediately arrived at the answer.
After all, fundamentally,
The Netherworld of Salvation
, in its normal state, calls forth the dead conditionally — that is its very nature.
If so,
Magic Inscription Liberation
too. Under normal thinking, the conditions would be the same —
"That's right."
As if she had timed it to the moment he reached the answer, Shita declared.
"— That you hold the same will as the caster.
That is the one and absolute condition for being here."
Dumbfounded.
To Yurugen, who couldn't understand precisely because he did understand what was being said, she continued.
I was permitted to exist here by being "picked up by magic"—because I happened to be near Katia at the moment of my death. At the same time... of course, also because I fulfilled that condition.
"Great compassion for others"
"and"
"a fierce resolve"
"to protect—"
"those were the traits of my soul, you see."
"Couldn't"
"understand."
But precisely because he had grasped what Sheeta meant through her patient explanation, Yurugen stood there all the more stunned.
Of course, not in a bad way.
It was precisely because it was so impossibly convenient for him that he couldn't believe it.
He had always... wanted to be like that.
To help the weak, shield the people, and devote himself to building a beautiful kingdom—that was the kind of noble he longed to become.
That was exactly why he had despaired.
That he wasn't like that at all—confronted by none other than his own magic. The day his magic had forced him to understand that his very essence had long since been twisted by hatred and vengeance.
"No, that's not true."
And yet, she—
With a smile so impossibly gentle, with an expression brimming with loving compassion, as though delivering that message was the very reason she existed here in this moment—
"Even if you've been on the verge of being swallowed up, you haven't disappeared. Even if countless events have nearly painted over you, you haven't truly been lost."
Thus, she proclaimed.
"You truly are a very kind person. That has never wavered.
The fact that you were able to come here—that is the proof."
To something deep and dark within her heart.
Faintly, there was the sound of a crack forming.
Next time—the climax of Katia (& Sheeta) versus Yurugen! I do hope you'll read it!