Side Chapter 10: Trouble for the Hero!Ruin rises to bring about the destruction of the will!

In clear hindsight it wasn’t wrong to assume that one was better than everyone else when they are at the top and treated differently. This was much more worse said person was within a world that emphasized strength more than anything else, power came with glory and fame. It was commonplace for the people who were to be seen as either assets or threats, those were weak had to obey the strong no matter how outrageous or insane a claim they had on their lives. However this was not a case of the strong being reminded that there were always entities who were stronger, it was a clear surprise of how the frail took the throne of power from seemingly out of nowhere and what a display of absolute dominance that was.  Yamamoto Asagi could see the patten that was going on here, the ones they had discarded returned with even more strength. He was second to the last runner up who seemingly became disinterested in the tournament out of nowhere after his fight with Tadashi-senpai but now things were headed in a direction that he did not like. He rose from his seat and walked towards where he was to be, Asagi was a very active member of the football club. His tanned skin was testament of how much time he spent in the sun, he never dyed his hair, he was fairly tall and would usually have a bright smile on his face but this was not the place and time to be showing it off. His ability was the most terrifying to any mage in existence that is the total negation of magic and its flow whilst keeping its advantages and making his attacks stronger. This would in turn force his mage opponents to massively physical fight against him which would turn pretty badly very quickly. It gave him the title: Mage’s Bane.

In the eyes of those who were not as similar minded as Asagi he was a nuisance who forced his views on others and thought it was his right to guide those who did not listen the way. In no manner of thought did he ever think what he did was wrong. If you agreed with his views then he was a “good guy” who just wanted the very best for you and you were foolish for ignoring what he had to say. That was how Asagi worked as a person, of course saying this to his face he would merely be confused by it. The crowd which was silent began to talk amongst themselves, all this time they had been dumbstruck by the marvels they had watched happen right before their eyes. The whispers began to circulate from all over, “Are the heroes actually too weak?” “Is this the future of humanity?”

“How will they face the new demon king if their rejects are beating them to this extent”. Such comments were rooted in the absolute truth, at this rate the new born Demon King would defeat them with ease. The summoning of a foreign god, the death of an angel, the mental disintegration of the psychomancer and the most recent defeat of a demonic assassin were all enough to show them that they had been afraid and giving respect to these people for nothing. In the end they were nothing more than students just like them, it was a realization that was gaining more and more traction with the passing of time. They watched on anticipating yet another fantastical defeat at the hands of a person they could have known and be excellent friends with. On the side of the representatives they had merely become spectators to horrors they had never seen before and kept quiet about it unlike the commoners all around them. It was fair to be scared when you are trapped within a place that could just decide to turn to being hostile was natural. 

Asagi stood in the arena’s grounds waiting for whoever was going to come out of the entrance. He was confused by the actions of those who were rejected by the gods of this world, he wanted to thoroughly question one of them. He produced a basketball that he began to bounce, each time it hit the magic tiles the questions began circling even more. He bounced it once more but then something odd happened: the arena vanished and everyone was left in midair for a couple minutes. The shock ran across his face as well as the others, then it began to reconstruct itself rapidly. The seats were more comfortable, one could sleep in them. The walls looked sturdy with a once visible barrier being erected on the grounds of the arena. An instant renovation and improvement, whoever did this was fairly talented in the mastery of magic. Asagi stood unimpressed holding the basketball he had in his hands before popping it as he grasped his fist, he stared at the entrance hearing the heavy imposing footsteps of whoever was on the other side.

The man who came out terrified him, he shook where he stood. He was within a black robe in sharp contrast to it was silver armor that covered his body, on his face was a silver inhuman iron mask giving him the aura of a devil that would destroy everything in its path. He takes off his hood and stares at Asagi with amused eyes, just who was this monster?!The man takes off his mask and places it in the air which shocks Asagi even more.

“Mochizuki?!”

“Yes it is I, Masayuki Mochizuki nice to see you Yamamoto-san”

“…….”

“You can speak what’s on your mind”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you guys doing this?”

“Doing what?I am plenty confused.”

“Why are you fighting against us, were we not all sent here to save the world?”

“No. We weren’t, me and the others were gloriously kicked out and labelled useless”

“But even so!You have power now!You can use that power for good!”

“And you think that I am not?”

“No!You people are fighting us, injuring us and harming us to the greatest degree!You want to inhibit our mission of saving the world”

“What does the world need saving from, the demon king?He is merely protecting his kingdom from the greed of humans, so is it the elves, the dwarves, the beastkin?Any race that’s not human?”

“No that’s not the point!”

“What is the point then?Can you not talk it out, demons are intelligent creatures are they not?”

“Their mental structures are different from ours I’ve seen some of them”

“Senpai did you ever once think the world is not as black and white as you think it is”

“It is. The demons are absolute evil and they need to be put down”

“Is that morally correct though”

Mochizuki had changed, he was far more leaner, his face handsome, one could hear the confidence in his voice. He narrows his eyes down and looks at Asagi. 

“I never said this back then because I was afraid of doing so but now I am so much more I can say it effortlessly. You’re annoying, like the Emperor, like the Grand Pope. You refuse to budge on your views, you think that the whole world runs on a strict logic. Humans should rule the world, they should be the ones who decide what everyone can and cannot do”

“That’s no-“

“SILENCE!”

Masayuki’s voice boomed, it was powerful and made Asagi keep quiet for a moment. He could hear the anger behind it, it was like he was on a throne which made it even more intimidating.

“You abandoned us, left us for dead. Especially you Asagi-senpai you said that it was better that we understand the world and grow stronger if we can, if we die we were far too weak”

“……..I did say that but you became stronger, why not cooperate with the rest of us to stop the demon king”

“Let me let you in on a trade secret, the barrier should be soundproof for this single moment. 

Masayuki breathed a sigh looking at the ground before staring into Asagi’s eyes with a serious gaze.

“The gods summoned you as heroes so that humanity and the demons could kill each other and with the souls of those involved coming back to them they’ll use it to wage wars against gods who exist beyond the stars and dimensions. Gods with great power. You are aiding in the death of this world. A useless and meaningless war they will lose. Do you not see the madness of the gods of this world?”

“No it can’t be….”

“But it is. This war will kill the world if the Elder Gods decide to wipe out the gods of this world, their boredom filled insanity will destroy it all and yet you want us to join you in that endeavor”

“……..what if…..I speak to the gods myself?”

“You can try but you are wasting your time”

“What do you mean?”

“Our teacher intends to open up the heavens”

“Your teacher?”

“She was the one who made us strong”

“What does she plan to do in the heavens?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Masayuki wore an unfamiliar smirk, it was almost evil.

“Kill the gods and replace them with people with similar power so we can maintain the world ourselves”

“You are insane…you can’t do that”

“Maybe. But it will end the endless cycle of war between the humans and people of this world”

“I will not stand for this, I thought i could reason with you Mochizuki but it seems I have to bring about that reason with my fists”

“I would like to see you try, if you can defend against my magic that is”

Masayuki knew that Asagi was tough to convince in the first place, the iron mask floated back into his hand and he wore it. He had allowed the last part to be heard by the audience. He wears the mask and seems like a different person completely.

“You shall fear my power and I shall instill into you the wonders of magic!”

“I will negate it just like I will send your ambitions to the void!”

“I believe that is impossible for the current you, Asagi. I will play the comic book villain in your story, I RUINE, SHALL MAKE YOUR LIFE HELL!”

Masayuki leaps up into the air firing ice magic at Asagi wears the gloves that would enhance the negation even more, he shows no fear to his opponent and makes the wind magic surrounding him move faster. Much to his surprise most of the ice magic vanishes but bullet like points hit his body and explode upon contact. He lands on the ground where Masayuki is waiting for him grabbing his leg and slamming him on the ground and folds his arms as Asagi stares at him with shocked eyes.

“But I should have negated your magic!How?”

“No need for words Hero. I’ve much more pain to instill”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Angered by his stupid act Asagi runs forwards firing fire magic in the form of spears but Masayuki makes a wall made from the earth blocking the fire spears which are absorbed into the wall and construct into guns that fire flaming bullets at him. Asagi tries to stop the momentum of the bullets with wind magic but that fails and he merely leaps out of the way not before shooting a spray of water at Masayuki who smacks it away with ease. Sprinting at him despite wearing armor he arrives where Asagi is with a hearty villain like laugh.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA BEHOLD YOUR WEAKNESS!”

“MASAYUKI YOU BASTARD!”

“MASAYUKI IS DEAD!ONLY RUINE EXISTS!”

He was playing too much into this game of superheroes and villains, how unrealisti…..wait was this how he viewed the world?It can’t be. He did not want to admit but that supervillain wannabe had already arrived and struck him with lightning. It should have been negated but his ability wasn’t working for some reason and he was forced to resort to physical attacks, still shaken by the attack he swings his fist at Masayuki’s stomach but that is stopped as he is sent flying with a red beam coming from his finger. He lands on the ground and stares menacingly at Masayuki, he shoots air bullets at him with his opponent doing the same but much bigger destroying his own. He uses his ability once more and most of it vanishes except for the one that cuts into his body, whilst covering his body from the attack he watches a sea of flames headed his way. With fear in his heart Asagi jumps up into the air but is hit by an instant explosion that sends him crashing down into the ground. He hits the floor with a loud thud, confusion overrides his mind as he slowly begins to stand up.

“How is your magic overcoming my negation?!How?!This ability is a mage killer!”

“Oh Mage Bane my magic is simply more superior than your feeble magic negation.”

“QUIT IT WITH THIS COMIC BOOK BULLSHIT!”

“I refuse. I Ruine shall make you see the error of your beautiful light whether you like it or not!Stand up and fight me!”

It was getting annoying so much that he sends knives filled with lightning, fire and acid magic respectively that they would cause damage in their greatest capacity, Masayuki simply stood there with his arms folded and stared at him. Nothing happened as they fell down like simple knives, they were negated Asagi was more than shocked he was terrified of this monster but that wasn’t reason to stop attacking. Taking advantage of his shock Masayuki kicks each knife into the air and sends them with greater power than they had when he sent them himself. Dodging the explosion of the fire knife, the beeline of the lightning knife which left a deep cut in his arm and numerous melting acid shots that the acid knife would give his body if they hit. Right when he didn’t expect it a kick lands on his face not before something is thrown on his body with a flicker of a flame is sent to him. It becomes a great flame on his body that he only puts out by dousing himself in great volumes of water. 

“Tired yet Mage Bane?You can give up you know?”

“NEVER!!”

Asagi sprung forward with intent to kill as he swung his flamed filled fist into the iron mask of this Ruine character that Masayuki is playing in his madness. He did not move and instead laughed menacingly as he grabbed his face with his hand and slammed him into the ground right before he could stomp on him Asagi escapes this fate and threw ice magic at him in the form of knives which multiplied in the air. Like a matador he waved his robe and it protected him from the barrage of ice knives, he throws it at Asagi who teleports very closely to him but find him gone. 

“Over here Magic Bane Asagi-chan!”

His booming voice is heard above him, a dropkick filled with energy comes crashing down on him managing to block it he was rather proud of that. What he didn’t expect were the cracks that started to emit out energy, within that single moment he stared into the eyes of Ruine who laughed even more within that mask, this was not the Masayuki he knew but a devil. The light was burning him more than it was supposed to, the negation layer surrounding his body was ripped off. Ruine walked away touching his chin with a light laugh in his voice.

“My experiment worked”

“What are you talking about?”

Asagi stared at the person who had been causing him pain all this time. He had hate in his eyes and wanted to kill him.

“Your negation cannot work against those who are higher levels than you. It cannot even fight alchemical based magic. It’s a rather fair weakness, for your foes they would not know it but now they do I cannot tell what they will do with this information.”

“You mean”

“Yes some of the magic I employed had several devices made from the science of magic. The extra air burst came from my palm. Technology and magic are both beautiful and I am a gee- researcher of these fine arts.”

He almost broke character there, how long would he keep this up?Null magic was supposed to be all powerful and able to make any mage useless to him. But now came a formula that would destroy his power, he couldn’t accept it. A work around was formed to fight him, with this knowledge every single court mage he had put in the ground had means to injure him.

“You release this knowledge allowing everyone to have it knowing fully well they mean to harm me”

“What is a hero without adversity and suffering Mage Bane?I intend to make your flaws known. ALCHEMY BASED MAGIC IS OUT OF YOUR REACH!”

“SHUT UP YOU MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!!”

“YES!SHOW YOUR WRATH HERO!SHOW ME YOUR POWER!”

If that’s how he wanted to play the game, he will play it as well. He wasn’t afraid of killing a classmate if he was too dangerous and to that end he got up and immediately made a mad dash to Ruine or whatever he called himself who floated in the air with his arms folded waiting for his next attack, he made a sword of cold flame and swung it. A fire filled slash was sent forwards with uncontainable wrath but Ruine didn’t move and merely waited for it to hit him. Pointing at it he could hear a single word being uttered.

“Redirect. Increase power by 15%. Increase size by 5%. Multiply by 25. Enable Omnidirectional Tracking.”

The slash was sent back to him seeming larger than before, he dodges with ease but is surprised when 25 more of the same slash come from all directions. He is hit by all of them making a thin layer of his unique skill on himself, he slashes the dust that had surrounded him at the moment and leaps into the air to get a better view of Ruine. Using the same slash once more he sends tens of them with ice spears, if he could overwhelm him with magic then he wouldn’t be able to use his alchemical devices. 

“Fool!Negative Strike!”

With a wave of a hand a black lightning rushes towards him eliminating any magic he had sent previously to Ruine. He clicks his tongue as he teleports to the ground but much to his surprise the attack does not stop there as it rains down from the air. Nimbly dodging it as he makes his move to the person who is causing all of this pain and heartache, fire and water arrows appear close to him which he sends off to the insane fellow in armor. They were supposed to explode upon reaching a close radius of that thing however those vanished without a trace right before his eyes.

“WHAT?!”

“You think you’re the only who is special?I am afraid you have to realize that I have been blessed by a god who has a thousand forms and has mastered the greater multiverse”

“SHUT YOUR NONSENSE FILLED TRAP!”

He was scared, even more so than before. He recognized what kind of magic Ruine used. It was his magic. He thought only he could possess that kind of magic but now he knew that anything he would throw at him would be just useless. Asagi kept on running towards him swinging his sword so he could cut his proud figure in half but that is stopped by the index finger and thumb respectively with a light push he is sent flying not before a massive fireball is sent along with his body. He crashes on the wall and is burnt some more by the fire which turns into electricity that courses through his bones, at the last moment within the gap of the change to sharp wind he moves out of the way. Asagi stares at the being who could easily manipulate magic however he pleases, he heals himself until that is ineffective due to the natural null aura he has around his body. This was his last stand before he would go berserk from all of this pain like everyone before him.

“I……will…..certainly send your magic to the void”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Show me the strength of a hero”

Several magic circles surround Asagi as he was now activating something that could be called his trump card. He did not want to use it because everyone would be watching him because of how embarrassing it was but he had no choice he was forced to do it. It was a sort of last resort because of its nature. A one trick pony that would last forever but he would live with it as long as the person in front of him was in the grave.

“TRANSFORM!”

“?!”

Whichever god thought this was a hilarious idea was a sick bastard, his thoughts uttered out as his body was covered in a bright light. He grew shorter in size, his figure changed from being masculine to feminine within seconds, his hair became a colorful blonde with red tips tied in twin tails, his magic robes which were in the form of a suit with a black cape on top changed into a frilly dress, his now ice blue eyes stared at Ruine holding a cute wand. That’s right. He had another unique ability that he did not want to use, it was called 『Transformation: Magical Girl』.Even the overly talkative Ruine was dumbfounded by this turn of events.

“S-Say something!”

“Oh my god……”

Ruine, no Masayuki face palmed upon seeing this form with the rest of the crowd being unable to process the information before them, the only ones who knew what was going on were the Heroes and the Principal’s Demons (who were laughing quietly as they watched this).

“……”

Masayuki sighed before he breathed in and let what he had on his mind out.

“YOU ARE SO CUTE!YOU LOOK EXACTLY LIKE A MAGICAL GIRL WOULD IN AN ANIME!!THIS ABILITY IS EVEN GREATER THAN YOUR LAST ONE!YOUR BODY HAS BECOME MAGIC ITSELF!YOU ARE SO ADORABLE!!LOOK AT THOSE FRILLS, THE TWIN TAILS! AH THE CUTE WAND!!OH MY GOD MAGICAL GIRL ASA-CHAN HAS MADE HER DEBUT!!SHE IS GOING TO TRY HER BEST DEFEAT THE BIG BADDIE RUINE, THE EVIL WIZARD!!!SHEEEEEEEEESH GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!I CAN’T! I JUST FUCKING CAN’T!!”

Asagi regretted this with all of his heart, he fucking hated this. He was pushed so far that he was forced to use this joke of an ability that was shoved off to him because it would be hilarious. Masayuki who was an otaku took it all in and loved every single minute of it. This was worse than death and he wanted to bury himself inside of the ground for all eternity from the level of shame that he was feeling. One could say the whiplash of these events were similar to if one read an action packed shounen manga in one page only to be hit by the unnatural levels of wholesomeness of a slice of life one in the next. The audience who were watching this couldn’t comprehend it either and were thus silent. Masayuki teleports to where he is and touches his shoulder.

“I’ll be your no.1 fan Asa-chan. Hell I’ll even create merch for you and what not, look a body pillow, small, medium and life sized figures. This is not even enough for you, you need an anime at this point.”

Said items appeared out of thin air with this imposing figure gushing out incessantly. It made the situation even more surreal with the Principal’s Demons trying and failing to stop their laughter, the more he continued the redder Asagi’s face was becoming.

“Aha! I Mochizuku Masayuki will be the director of the anime, Pure Pure Heart! Magical Girl Asa-chan!I think you need a witch as the antagonist for that one not me of course since I am your fan and all. Oh you are as cute as an idol Asa-chan which will rally the masses to easily give you their life force if you ask for it in a cutesy voice*. Your eyes maybe the cool and composed type but your face is totally ganbarimasu!(I’ll do my best!). There’ll be albums upon albums. Video games. Movies both animated and live action! I can see the future brightly for you Asa-chan!”

[*Think of the most UwU voice you can think of, or better yet an extremely childish anime character with a lisp ending her lines with desu]

He kept on talking and talking without end that if he continued Asagi’s manly pride would be worn down and he would eventually accept this ability and just become a magical girl for real.

“There’ll be tons of dresses for your transformations, wait let me check something. Huh?Oh how cute!They have a bear and lac-“

It was by instinct if he didn’t do it then shame would follow him for the rest of his days. Masayuki easily got back up and it seemed to have got the memo.

“Ahem I apologize we will save that for later. Now then to your demise Magical Girl Asa”

“JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DISGUSTING OTAKU!!”

A short girl shouted that out to Masayuki who returned to acting his role as Ruine. A sharp increase of power could be felt in the attacks that followed as the magical arrows of flame, ice and crystal hit the surface and clashed with Ruine’s armor made impactful sounds however it was futile as he could easily make them disappear within seconds. Asagi dove to the left as they all returned in a greater force absorbing some of them back into his body for use later. Pointing his wand at him a blast of bright pink followed by the scent of strawberries could be seen heading towards Ruine but using the null magic in his hand he smacked it away and appeared above Asagi which didn’t shock him at all. In fact he smiled as he had laid a trap in the air right before him which explodes from their air landmines that cover Ruine’s body, thinking this would be the end of him was very foolish as his hand grabbed his head and threw him into the air.

Stopping by creating a soft wall of air Asagi stares at the rapidly approaching Ruine. The battle had taken to the skies preparing for the worst Asagi fires all that he has at him, but alas they all bounced off the armor which was covered by the same aura that he covered his body. This was not the end as Asagi sends a massive of magic swords that would certainly pierce his armor, flying to the side so he could hit him with another beam that would kill him in one go. He fires it and makes a clone to fire another in the other direction, he smiles once more to think he was pushing into a corner but just as he believes he has defeated him something happened. For split second he sees what he shouldn’t the moon was staring at him with its big singular eye, it was covered in flesh and tentacles, it opens its mouth to reveal rows upon rows of teeth that smile at him. The energy stops flowing through his hands and he watches the great horror speed towards him then it disappears in its place is Ruine having survived his attack, the inevitable smack back to the ground was expected but it still hurt. 

Whilst falling down back to the arena Asagi fires beams at Ruine who simply laughs.

“You are slightly stronger but not that strong. Allow me to show you the Chaos of Magic”

He spoke in a solemn voice as all time freezes around him as tens, no thousands of magic circles are created within moments. A sense of great pride behind the mask could be felt as everything within this space is naturally his, the one who sits on the throne of magic laughs loudly as all the elements that could be studied in the world appear and unite as a great sword in his right hand. 

“Scream in despair and strive to reach my strength. Emperor’s Feast!”

Trumpets blast loudly as he holds the great sword with two hands and slashes down on Asagi who is hit by everything magical in this world. The attack bores a hole into the flying city’s arena before stopping entirely. Before it can fall completely everything returns to normal with Asagi in his well since the transformation is permanent it would be appropriate to refer to her as a girl laying on the ground. Barely conscious as she watches Masayuki walk away.

“no……don’t….go….I….can…..still….fight…”

“Rest it up Asagi, go out into the world, discover whether your views are truly good or not. Is humanity worth serving or saving that will be something you will soon realize. Put your near minded world view away and see with your eyes the things that make up this world.”

He left and the arena went silent once more, that terrifying back was all she saw before she blacked out.