Entropy's Servant

Chapter 19 - Inquisitive

I looked blankly at the site of the explosion for a number of seconds before the thought came to me to attempt to identify its origin. After probing the environment using my mana, I concluded rather quickly that the explosion had been a mixture of various types of mana- the usual, elemental mana, used for most spells, the demonic mana emitted by strong Monsters and even the holy mana emitted directly by the god-sword, Claiomh Solais.

Even if I didn't understand exactly what had happened, I was able to make the connection that Lilith had caused that, so while the dust from the explosion was still settling and the status of the Heroes was still unknown, I cautiously made my way over to Lilith.

"Lilith... What did you do?", I asked, continuing to probe the site of the explosion for signs of reaction.

"Ah, Master", she responded, forcefully tearing her gaze away from me and towards the cloud of dust. It looked difficult. "Well, y'know how we can use Telepathy to talk to each other? Charlotte had a plan, so I jus' followed instructions, really."

"A plan of Charlotte's, was it? Even so, tell me what you did."

"Well, uh... I'm not sure exactly how it works, but some types of mana can't exist together, right?"

"Well, yes. The mana from different goddesses--especially goddesses of opposite elements, like Lady Entropy and Lady Luciel--has a tendency to fight. So? You only have access to mana from Lady Entropy, no?"

"Well, normally, tha's true, yeah. But ya felt it too, didn't ya, Master? That sword was emittin' some crazy mana, so it was gettin' on my nerves." She was now occasionally glancing in my direction, so I decided I'd try to hurry the discussion up.

"I can imagine it would feel suffocating towards the mana-sensitive Devils, I suppose. It was even irritating me, after all. So you're saying you caused this mana to react with your own? How? You shouldn't be able to control Lady Luciel's mana, and even if you did, the process would blow you up."

"Which is why I did what Charlotte told me to! I can't explain it well, honestly. Ya should just ask 'er, instead."

"In a moment", I answered, "I will, but for now, it appears the dust is clearing." Once again, Lilith tore her gaze away from me and looked in the direction of the dust cloud, in which three standing figures were now visible.

A hoarse coughing sound came from the settling dust, followed by the mage Hero's voice: "Are you alright, you two?"

In response, the voice I recognised to belong to the Barrier Hero answered: "It looks like my stamina's... at zero. I'll leave the rest of the raid... to you." The somewhat tragic words, if put in the right context, were followed by a thud as one of the three figures dropped to the ground.

"... Annoying", I said, before waving my hand while activating the skill [Elemental Magic: Air] I borrowed from a Demon. The action caused a strong gust to take over the area, blowing away the dust as good as instantly.

The gust also caused the sisterly garb of the now-revealed Saint to flutter, though on her face was still the same emotionless smile as ever. The mage Hero's clothes, too, fluttered, and with a rather girly scream, she pushed her skirt down in an attempt to hide her undergarments.

I didn't bother to look, so the action was meaningless.

The Barrier Hero's body was lying nigh motionlessly on the ground, and his armour had cracks running all over it. Through the small movements of his chest, I could see he was still alive, but it appeared he had collapsed.

"Not bad, Lilith", I praised, returning to my usual arrogant demeanour. "With this, only two are left." In a single jump, I made my way over to the three Heroes and picked up the Barrier Hero's unconscious body. After slapping him in the face twice without reaction, I concluded: "Well, he won't be waking up for a while, it seems."