Disciple of Immortal

Act 2: Chapter 9: Reunion?

Philia, who was standing in front of me, then pointed her hands towards the magician standing on top atop the roof.

「Calm down, Philia-chan!」

Though I tried to call her, she didn’t seem to hear my voice.

Philia’s expression wasn’t her usual angelic face; it was a vigilant expression.

「Pakkun!」

Philia clapped her hands.

The roof on which the magician stood warped, forming a reddish brown giant mask.

It was the effect of Philia’s power, 《Dream Sand》’s power.

I never expected for her power to have such a vast range and could be activated in just a moment.

The mask’s mouth opened wide and swallowed the magician whole.

「CATCH!」

Though Philia triumphantly announced so, I doubt that she’d managed to catch that magician.

I mean, that magician was circling around towards the blindspot of the giant mask. Their movements were so fast to that point that even I almost missed them.

From Philia’s perspective, however, it looked like the giant mask had swallowed the magician.

「PHILIA-CHAN! ERASE THAT IMMEDIATELY!」

The magician’s arms finally came out from their robes and peeled off the glove that was covering their hands with their mouth. All that magician did after that was poke at the giant’s mask with two fingers.

The giant’s face stopped moving, twitching as if it was paralyzed.

At the same time, Philia’s body twitched as well before falling to the ground.

I moved quickly to support her body.

「Kyuu~… sorry, Kanata… Philia… can’t move…」

Philia spoke to me as she turned towards me.

It seems that her body was completely powerless.

It looks like both that giant and the little girl were Philia’s real body. They shared the same HP and MP even if she split apart. This was already something I’d confirmed in our fight before.

Rainbow colored light fluttered around the rooftop as the giant mask turned back into a normal rooftop.

The citizens who’d gathered due to the commotion raised loud screams upon seeing the giant face turn back into the rooftop and the magician who stood on top of it.

「Ka, Kanata-san… Philia-chan’s level… should be really high right?」

Pomera asked timidly.

… Philia’s lowest level was 1800, her current level.

And that magician’s level clearly far outstripped Philia’s level.

Additionally, that magician seems to realize that stopping 《Dream Sand》’s body would affect Philia entirely as well and thus had paralyzed Philia’s avatar with some sort of technique.

Though I have no idea as to the reason why the magician only stopped 《Dream Sand》 instead of killing it, that magician was definitely an extremely powerful person who had the ability to do just that.

The magician wore the gloves again and looked at me one more time before kicking the roof and vanishing from our line of sight.

I looked at Philia who’d fallen down in my arms.

Her body might be paralyzed right now, but she doesn’t seem to be hurt at least.

「… Sorry, Philia-chan. Pomera-san, please take care of Philia-chan for a while! I’ll try to chase the magician from before!」

I entrusted Philia’s body to Pomera.

「E-EHHHH!?」

Pomera held Philia’s body with a bewildered look on her face.

「I mean, that magician from before should be hostile to you two, right? It’s a good thing that all that magician did was side-step Philia’s one sided attack but…」

I have yet to identify that magician’s identity.

I mean, normally, that magician would’ve fought back when they’re attacked for no reason. The only reason I could think was that it was because the magician simply wasn’t hostile towards us.

Or rather, I even have an idea about the identity of the other party.

That magician’s height and hair color matched with Lunaire’s.

I couldn’t see the peculiar red gradation at the tip of that magician’s hair since we were separated quite far apart. But, the only person I know who could disarm Philia with such unworldly power was Lunaire.

Assuming that Philia’s senses felt Lunaire’s gargantuan mana and hades’ impurity, it was only natural if the former attacked the latter on sight.

But then, I doubt Lunaire has any reason to leave the cocytus itself.

I mean, why now of all times did she choose to leave Cocytus after living there for a thousand years.

I mean, if it really was that easy for her to leave that place, she should have just left together with me back then.

But something was a bit off about that magician’s appearance, namely, her resemblance with Lunaire’s features were just that alike.

I ran faster toward the building where the magician stood.

That magician’s presence had vanished.

I had no idea where that person was right now, I mean, her tracks were completely erased.

「Just now… where is that eerie guy who was standing on the roof go to?」

「What is this? A fight between adventurers?」

The onlookers has also started to get noisy.

It seems not even they saw where that magician went.

I ran on the wall of the building all the way up until I reached its roof.

I looked around, but the figure of the magician had already disappeared. I couldn’t feel their presence nearby either.

「Lunaire-san… no, it must be just my imagination.」

I muttered her name as I stood on the rooftop by myself.

If that person really was Lunaire, why did she come after me at this time and why did she run away from me?

Well, that person’s atmosphere, stature, and hair did bear some resemblance to Lunaire, but Lunaire would never wear such gaudy robes.

Maybe it really was just my imagination. I mean, I missed Lunaire so much to the point that I’d mistaken that magician for her just because of some resemblances.

But, enough with my reminiscing. This means that someone stronger than Zorophilia has already set their eyes on me right after I arrived at the magic city.

Though they have yet to show any hostility, there’s a high possibility that I might get involved with troublesome matters in the near future.

I should’ve closed in at once and used 《Status Check》 on that magician.

But… I have this feeling that it’s only a matter of time before I meet that magician again.

Maybe that magician had come solely because of their curiosity regarding Philia.

If my memories serve me right, that adventurer named Alfred did say that he wanted to meet with the magic city’s S-rank adventurer who’d already half-retired.

If that magician isn’t Lunaire, could it be that magician’s identity was that half-returned S-rank adventurer?

「O-Oi, where is the dude who ran along the wall just now?」

「It must be just your imagination.」

「Like hell it was… look at that footprints on the wall.」

I heard an astonished voice from below the building.

Oh crap, I forgot to hold back because I thought that magician was Lunaire. I have to keep a low profile to avoid dangerous guys’ attention.

「《Short Gate》」

The magic circle enveloped me and sent me towards the base of the building.

Though the distance between the roof and the base was short, there was no safe landing spot due to the gathered onlookers, so I decided to use teleport to go back straight towards Pomera and Philia.