CLUNK.
The heavy sound of metal turning echoed unnaturally through the city engulfed in flames.
There, three figures stood.
One floated in the air.
One was frozen in shock.
And the last one… had become a stone statue.
But the statue's stillness did not last long.
Krek… Krekk…
Fine cracks began to form across the stone surface of Ritsuka's face. They spread rapidly, growing larger, accompanied by a nauseating grinding sound.
Medusa, the woman responsible for the curse, widened her eyes. Her cold expression shattered, replaced by pure shock.
"What?! How is that possible?!" she shouted in disbelief. Her eyes worked flawlessly on ordinary humans and magi, yet this human rejected them.
"Damn it… I can't stop now!"
Realizing the danger, Medusa wasted no time. She swung her massive scythe with all her strength, intending to crush Ritsuka's statue into dust before he could fully break free.
The scythe tore through the air.
But—
KRAK!!!
Just before the blade struck, the stone covering Ritsuka's body exploded outward from within.
Sharp fragments scattered in every direction like a grenade, striking Medusa's face and body and forcing her to squint for a split second.
Seizing that brief opening, Ritsuka leapt backward through the cloud of debris. The tip of Medusa's scythe sliced only empty air, missing his waist by mere centimeters.
Ritsuka landed beside Nobu. His breathing was steady, as if he had not just escaped death.
"My lord, is the experiment finished? What were the results?" Nobu asked, glancing at him. Her fingers twitched, itching for the trigger. "May I join the fight now?"
"Not yet," Ritsuka replied briefly. He looked down at the stump of his left arm, blood still dripping.
Medusa frowned deeply, unable to process what she had just witnessed.
"How did you do it?" she hissed suspiciously. "Do you possess high-level Magic Resistance? Or are you using a defensive Mystic Code?"
Ritsuka merely smiled faintly, enigmatically.
"What do you think?"
At that moment, the golden wheel above his head rotated by another notch.
CLUNK.
The heavy sound felt like a signal. Ritsuka sensed something strange in his severed nerves.
"Hm. Just as I thought. The adaptation includes this as well," he muttered.
He raised the remaining part of his left arm toward the sky, then looked at the severed limb lying on the ground.
"Come back."
WUSH!
As if pulled by an invisible magnet, the blood-soaked arm shot through the air toward Ritsuka.
SPLAT!
Flesh met flesh with a sickening wet sound. The limb reattached instantly. Bones and tendons reconnected in an instant, leaving the arm perfectly restored without a single scar.
Medusa stared in horror at the impossible sight. Her body stiffened.
"What are you?" she whispered in terror. "Regeneration that fast… Are you a Dead Apostle? Or some kind of monster?"
Ritsuka did not answer immediately. He clenched and unclenched his left hand several times, confirming that the nerves and muscles were fully functional.
"Who knows? Why don't you find out yourself?" he replied casually.
Then, without turning his head, he whispered softly.
"Nobu, when she lets her guard down, rain fire on her. Give me cover fire."
Nobu looked at him with mild disappointment.
"That's all? I'm not allowed to cut her down?"
Ritsuka nodded once.
"Just do it."
Suddenly, Medusa burst into loud laughter, her shrill voice slicing through the tension.
"Hahahaha! What a funny Magus! Interesting… very interesting!"
WUSH!
The moment her laughter stopped, Medusa vanished from sight. Using her Monstrous Strength, she lunged forward at an invisible speed, aiming straight for Ritsuka's heart.
Ritsuka reacted instantly. Instead of retreating, he stretched out his right hand toward Nobu.
"NOBU! THROW YOUR WEAPON!" he shouted.
Nobu leapt back to create distance.
"Catch, my lord!" she cried, hurling the sword at her waist.
Ritsuka caught the hilt mid-air in a fluid motion and immediately swung it to block the attack.
TRANG!
A deafening clash of metal rang out. Medusa's massive scythe was stopped by Nobu's sword in Ritsuka's hands. Sparks exploded between their faces as they pushed against each other in a contest of strength.
"Useless!" Medusa snarled furiously. "I'll turn you to stone again! And this time, I'll grind your body to dust before you can regenerate!"
Ritsuka grinned widely, meeting her gaze without fear.
"Go ahead. Try it."
The provocation ignited Medusa's rage. Without hesitation, the eyes beneath her bangs glowed a vivid purple. The Mystic Eyes of Petrification activated at point-blank range, piercing straight into Ritsuka's retina.
Medusa smiled in triumph.
"Die—"
Her smile froze.
Ritsuka did not turn to stone. His skin did not pale. His body did not harden.
He remained standing, staring back at Medusa with a mocking gaze. He was not petrified at all. He simply stood stiffly.
"What…?" Medusa froze, her mind failing to process reality. "Why didn't you—"
DOR! DOR! DOR!
The roar of Tanegashima gunfire shattered her confusion. Three blazing shots tore through the air toward her head.
Medusa's instincts screamed. She canceled her attack and forcibly leapt aside, avoiding the bullets by a hair's breadth.
She landed lightly, then turned her sharp gaze toward the Servant.
"Tch… I seem to have forgotten about you," she hissed coldly.
Nobu grinned wildly, her eyes gleaming with madness.
"WAHAHAHA! Finally! I was getting bored just watching, Snake Woman!"
She spread her arms. The space behind her trembled. Dozens of glowing matchlock rifles manifested in the air, all aimed at a single point.
"Disappear!"
BOOM!
The rifles fired in unison, unleashing a wall of energy bullets that surged toward Medusa.
Amid the chaos, Ritsuka remained motionless. His body had not turned to stone, but his muscles were locked stiff, as if his system were processing the conceptual attack.
Then, once again, the heavy sound echoed.
CLUNK.
The wheel above his head turned. The stiffness vanished instantly. Ritsuka rolled his neck, a soft krek sound escaping.
"That should be enough. Still not perfect, though," he murmured calmly.
He looked up, watching the battle above. The night sky was lit by explosions of gunpowder. Nobu bombarded the enemy with an endless storm of bullets, while Medusa twisted and weaved desperately through the air to evade them.
Ritsuka lowered his stance, condensing all his strength into his legs.
"I should end this now," he muttered coldly.
Magic Circuits across his body flared brightly, flooding his muscles with mana. He leveled Nobu's sword straight ahead, aiming at a single vital point.
And—
WUSH!
The ground beneath his feet cracked. Ritsuka shot forward like a bullet, moving faster than the eye could see.
In the air, Medusa noticed nothing. All her focus was consumed by Nobu's relentless barrage. Her defenses were wide open.
And then—
JLEB.
The sound of metal piercing flesh cut through the chaos of battle.
Nobu's gunfire stopped instantly. Silence fell.
Medusa's body stiffened in midair. All movement ceased. A strange cold spread through her chest. Slowly, trembling, she lowered her gaze.
There… Ritsuka was standing right in front of her, the sword driven through her heart and out her back.
"Y-you…!"
Fresh blood spilled from Medusa's mouth. Her strength vanished at once. Gravity pulled her body downward, dragging Ritsuka with her as he still gripped the hilt.
Ritsuka met Medusa's eyes.
"I'm sorry."
BRUK!
Medusa's body slammed into the ground, kicking up dust. Ritsuka landed atop her, his hand still gripping the sword embedded in her heart.
Medusa coughed up blood, her breathing ragged. Slowly, she looked up at the face of her killer.
"Wh… why…?"
Her voice trembled in confusion.
"Why are you making that face? Earlier… you insulted me relentlessly with that filthy mouth of yours…"
Medusa froze.
On Ritsuka's face, there was no mocking smile or contemptuous gaze anymore. There was only deep sorrow. Clear tears streamed down his cheeks, falling onto Medusa's face.
Ritsuka smiled, but it was the most painful smile Medusa had ever seen.
"Medusa…" Ritsuka called softly. His voice sounded achingly familiar, as if he had spoken her name thousands of times. "I won't let you suffer any longer."
Medusa's heart pounded wildly. A strange nostalgia flooded her chest, though her monstrous logic struggled to deny it.
"Heh… what are you talking about?" Medusa protested weakly, more blood spilling from her mouth. "After all those insults… have you forgotten? I'm a monster… I devoured my own sisters… these eyes of mine are cursed…"
She looked at Ritsuka in despair.
"Anyone who looks into my eyes turns to stone… I'm horrifying…"
"No."
Ritsuka cut her off firmly. He looked straight into Medusa's eyes without the slightest fear.
"You're not a terrifying monster. And those eyes of yours…" Ritsuka gently brushed the dust-stained cheek of Medusa. "…they're beautiful, Medusa."
Her mental defenses shattered instantly.
"I'm sorry I had to do this so roughly," Ritsuka whispered. "But we will meet again."
He pushed the sword deeper, granting her a swift, merciful death.
"Rest now. You're not a monster… you are my Partner."
Medusa's body began to dissolve into purple particles of light. The pain vanished, replaced by a warmth she had never felt in her life.
In her final moments, Medusa smiled sincerely.
"You really are… a strange Magus," she whispered.
And her form disappeared completely, leaving Ritsuka alone amid the ruins.