In extreme situations, some people crumble, while others blaze even brighter.
You might deny it, but Vanitas Benibeni was one of those types too.
“Shatter! Break! And boil over!”
It was too reckless to even call it a spell. But for Benny, magic has always been that way.
A miracle that yearns desperately, pulling out hidden desires from deep within and painting reality anew.
A clueless fool became a mage just like that.
In that sense, it’s not surprising that the magic painted on the canvas of reality touches Benny’s darkest memories.
A massive chunk of meat suddenly appears in mid-air, crashing down, and a translucent beast’s maw snaps shut, while the ground boils with bloody muck that melts everything it touches.
And the finishing touch is a being that seems like it’s been crafted from Benny’s magic. It was a Shadow.
-Kyaaaaaaa!
A sharp, grotesque cry akin to a scream. It resembled no existing creature, yet parts of it seemed reminiscent of something alive.
Or should it even be called a living creature?
It bore no vital organs essential for life but was solely armed with means to hunt enemies.
It moves as if alive, but it’s more like a thing that rapidly regenerates even if half of its body evaporates.
This is an aberration far beyond human cognition, and ordinary people would feel a revulsion towards such things.
That’s probably why people call Benny and her Shadow the Creepy Witch.
Meanwhile, Morgana simply wore a dignified smile, as if she felt no instinctual rejection.
“Unlike the possibilities you’ve harbored since ancient times, I’ve never liked you as a person. How can you be so devoid of dignity?”
Morgana elegantly swings her staff. With just that, the surrounding space begins to align according to a certain rule, connecting with one another.
The giant chunk of flesh’s arm crushes the beast’s maw, while the bloody muck obstructs the Shadow’s path.
Morgana cleverly turns the enemy’s strength back against Benny’s attack.
Her noble demeanor, as though no filth could touch her, embodied what people often refer to as ‘magical elegance.’
But for Benny, that elegance was nothing but needless affectation.
Magic is desire, longing, and hope. And collectively, it is called a miracle.
“Shut it, you old hag! Longing for youth at your age? Everyone knows you’ve been devouring the young disciples of the Mage Tower with that stuck-up face of yours!”
Benny spits while hurling insults. Simultaneously, she raises her index finger. Amazingly, it turns into a single spell.
The squashed flesh on the ground twitches, and from it, white bone fragments are spat out.
The Shadow devoured the blood-muck more toxic than hydrochloric acid and grew even larger.
Right now, Benny wasn’t seeking pure power like she would when escaping an isolated space.
This was magic aimed at killing the opponent right in front of her.
And the image of death closest to Benny was formed in her childhood and has yet to change.
Disassembled, continued, and ultimately evolving life.
That was Benny’s full power and the trauma she dredged up from the depths.
The bones born from the flesh were sharp like a spear and divided into countless pieces, wriggling like living snakes.
The Shadow, having grown several times larger, filled the corridor with innumerable eyes that repeatedly bubbled and burst.
And thus, the acidic fluid began to slowly fill the ground.
Revolting yet effective, Benny stained the surrounding area with death.
It was a sight that would make anyone shudder, yet Morgana remained composed.
And why wouldn’t she? To her, magic was an academic pursuit, a skill, and thus the more time spent with it, the denser and more powerful it became.
And for today, Morgana had prepared extensively to ensnare Benny.
Though she hastily proceeded upon hearing that they wouldn’t be heading to the usual deep labyrinth but rather the 2nd floor.
Because of that rush, there had been some trouble with the other mages in the foolish Mage Tower…
Still, Morgana could unleash her long-prepared magic onto Benny.
She was confident. Confident that neither Benny nor anyone else could escape her trap.
“Poor beast. I’ll restore your usefulness.”
Morgana shook her head and gently tapped the ground with her staff.
Tuk-tuk.
A magic circle starting from beneath Morgana’s feet expands explosively, forming a domain.
A translucent barrier emits from the magic circle filled with runes and incomprehensible shapes.
A realm that allows no filth. It appeared as if a separate isolated space was engulfing the surroundings.
“This crazy woman…”
Benny grinded her teeth, sharp as a shark’s.
And understandably so, as she and the Shadow were being devoured by the environment they had painstakingly created.
Desperately flinging grotesque magic and occasionally having the Shadow try to withstand it with its body, both were ultimately overwhelmed.
Benny wasn’t weak. Her yearning was intense, and the Shadow’s madness was ferocious, but…
The issue was that Morgana was already aware of this and had prepared countermeasures.
A domain created solely to neutralize Benny and the Shadow. Inside it, Morgana’s powers amplified, while her enemies grew increasingly weaker.
Benny sighed from the drain of magic and the dimming vision.
“Life is such a bitch.”
Resignation. Yet in her gaze, filled with stubborn defiance, it was clear she wouldn’t give up just yet.
Even without the mana, a Succubus’s eyes sparkled with a lewd heart shape, glaring at Morgana.
Naturally, Morgana merely snickered dismissively.
“Seems our test subject has grown a spine.”
“Who are you calling a test subject!”
Benny growled, biting her wrist to draw blood. With force, she splattered it everywhere while forcibly channeling her mana.
“O flower blooming from a corpse!”
The blood droplets rapidly blacken as something akin to small pus bubbles appears, swelling at an incredible speed.
Shaped like a flower. But the stench wafting from it was enough to shake even a high-level mage’s mind…
Yet Morgana had anticipated this as well.
“All the magic you use—no, calling it magic is too generous. I know every little stunt you call a miracle.”
The gem at the end of Morgana’s staff sparkles like a well-cut diamond, amplifying its brilliance madly until it reaches Benny’s corpse flower. And then…
Clink.
With a metallic chain sound, Benny’s magic becomes immobilized. Shortly after, something is heard cracking from within.
Crack…crack!
Benny’s magic shatters into dozens, hundreds, thousands… or perhaps even more pieces.
The fragments also crumble into dust, scattering away like sand.
And that was the end of it. The magic that Benny poured her life force into vanished without a trace.
Morgana, standing with a casual demeanor, looks down at Benny.
“Still not giving up? But this is it. Just because you don’t age doesn’t mean you won’t die in vain.”
With a flick of her finger, a translucent guillotine-like device materializes behind her.
“…Spatial cutting.”
“Indeed. With your dull beastly head, you can understand this is the pinnacle of space magic. It’s also the tweezers that will preserve you.”
Getting hit by spatial cutting doesn’t mean you die. It’s not Benny that gets sliced, but the space around her.
She’ll continue living, scattered into pieces, until Morgana allows her to die.
“I never thought there’d be someone more gruesome than me.”
Benny grits her teeth and retorts sharply.
She still hadn’t exhausted all her powers. But what difference does that make? Just prolonging resistance doesn’t turn the tides.
She sent Jonah up, but that was merely to save that young boy, not out of any belief that he’d truly bring Ellie to help.
Even if Ellie were here, how useful would she be?
Morgana’s magic was extraordinary, and her preparations thorough.
“…Shadow.”
-Mrrg.
The Shadow, seemingly pained just by existing, shrinks back. It inches closer to Benny.
So yeah. Even if it’s a fight with a predetermined outcome, she wouldn’t just go down without a fight. At the very least, she’d leave some scratch marks on that annoying face.
Just as she resolved to struggle until the end.
“Huh? An assassin, perhaps?”
Morgana frowned. This is her domain. No matter how skilled in stealth one is, they can never escape their master’s senses.
Morgana aims her staff at the empty air beside Benny.
A transparent glare flashes, distorting the space as a bullet is fired. And then…
Boom!
From seemingly nowhere, immense divine power erupts.
A pink aura staining the pure white space. At its center stands Jonah, whose return was thought impossible.
No matter how solid the material, it would tear apart the instant it met the divine power radiating from Jonah.
As though such magic never existed.
Jonah, negating space magic outright, glances smugly, his pink hair reflecting the divine light.
His half-covered grin and his body language reeked of cheekiness.
“Pfft. Pfft. Is this what you call magic?”
“……”
“Lame incantation! Mana leak! Apologize! Apologize to the god of magic for casting such trash magic!”
“……”
In this moment, Benny felt no curiosity about why Jonah had returned, what the divine power enveloping him was, or how he had destroyed the space magic.
She merely felt a strong urge to smack him, albeit he was on her side.
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