A powerful explosion sound reverberated from the far distance . It was most likely caused by Scala .
"That was close..."
Confirming that Lina who was sitting on her knees was safe, I turned to gaze into the distance . The explosion occurred at the place where I was fighting against Scala only a few moments ago . The place I'm standing in now is an all-green area with overgrown grass and large trees obstructing the sunlight from reaching the ground . Since I teleported all of a sudden, maybe the distance I chose wasn't far enough, but it looks like things are fine now . I think I earned some time before Scala comes back .
When I took a deep breath of relief knowing that I escaped from her fatal attack, Lina had finally realized that we were standing in a different place .
"What!? Where are we...?"
"Nearby the mountains . I teleported you with me over here . "
I briefly explained the situation to Lina who was still looking around restlessly . She immediately grasped the situation from my short explanation and calmed down while still sitting on the ground .
I reached my hand to her .
"Are you safe?"
"Yeah, I'm fine . "
Lina gripped the hand I reached for her and stood up . Now that we're in a relatively safe place, I could finally think back of the time Scala used her skill .
It was the first time I felt 'Death' being so close to me . I'm still having goosebumps all over my body until now . That skill wasn't something to be underestimated .
Lina who noticed that I was rubbing my still shivering arm apologized with a sorry face .
"I'm sorry . If I was able to stop her earlier from doing that..."
She cast her down sight while making a gloomy face . Well, it's about the dead-serious Lina . she's probably feeling guilty for not stopping Scala from using her skill .
I contemplated the proper words to use in my reply . There was no need for her to feel responsible for what happened . I couldn't understand why she was making a face as if she is the one behind all of this .
"It's not your fault in the first place . If I was to act like you, I'd say that it's my fault for not defeating her . "
"No, it was not your fault . After all, you had no chance to win against her from the start . "
Lina spoke as if she knew about my chance of winning all the time, and I didn't have anything to say back to her either . Scala is far beyond my powers . There is a limit on how much I can use my skills to overpower her . Lina didn't stop me from fighting against her in the start because she had a feeble faith in me that maybe I can actually win .
"Rather, what did she use just now?"
I asked Lina about Scala's earlier skill hoping that she can explain it to me .
"That's Scala-sama's[Full destruction]skill . It exploits the intensity of her emotions to enlarge the extent of the explosion . The more her emotions are extreme, the explosion scope and energy increase . Moreover, the target's magic resistance and defense don't have the least effect against it . That skill is the epitome of genuine destruction . "
"What's up with that messed up skill..."
Recalling the moment she released the skill, I unintentionally shivered again . If I tried resisting it, I'd be in the other world by now .
"That's too much for a cheat ability . "
"What are you going to do now? I can call help for you from the heaven . "
I considered Lina's suggestion for a short while, though I decided to refuse it at the end .
"No, it's fine . Even if you do, this place will get demolished before the help arrives . "
I can hear Scala's voice outraging in the mountain even now . At this rate, the damage she is causing could reach the city .
"Then what are you planning to do?"
Lina asked . If I'm not going to call for help, then what am I going to do?
I answered that question while giving her a serious gaze .
"I'm going to knock her down . "
"K-Knock her down!?"
Lina unintentionally exclaimed with a loud voice after hearing my unexpected answer .
"Didn't you see her terrifying powers just now!?"
She drew closer to me as she raised her voice even louder than before .
"Her level is indeed too high for me . Even that full destruction skill is beyond my ability . If I was to face her directly again, I will never win . "
"Then why?!"
"Because I don't want to lose . I dislike losing . "
Hearing my childish reason for wanting to continue the fight, Lina didn't know how to respond . Usually, she would never let such an excuse stop her from complaining, but now, my persistence was originating from anger .
Scala made me go through an unbelievable pain . There's no way I'd let her go without any payback .
Lina who guessed how I was feeling, cast her sight down and gave up on trying to convince me .
"But how are you planning to win against her? If you fight her normally, you will have no chance to win . "
"I already contemplated that . "
She then asked me about my plan out of curiosity .
"What's your plan?"
"A plan that relies only on skills . "
Listening to my answer, Lina tilted her head as she let out a confused groan .
A plan that relies on skills which came from a god . In other words, I will be using[magic creation]to create a skill that will allow me to defeat Scala . It might be a reckless plan from me, but that's the only way I could think of .
By using the skill of magic creation, my magic will be vastly consumed, so I'm going to have to not rely on it while fighting . In the worst case, I may ask Lina to share some of her magic with me . Although she may refuse .
Preparing to use the skill, I joined my hands together as if I was praying and called[magic creation] .
"Come on now, give something useful . "
I closed my eyes while wishing deeply for the one and only skill that I desired .
I want a skill that could knock off Scala!!
As a response to that wish, I heard the familiar announcing voice speaking in my mind .
"You acquired the skill[Tension Magic] . "
"The skill[magic creation]had leveled up to[Skill creation (with restraints)]"
"Eh...?"
However, this time, the words that the announcer spoke were quite different from those that I was waiting for . At the same time, an unbearable headache assaulted me .
"Gu!!?"
I covered my head with both of my hands as I wriggled from the intense pain . I knew about this pain . The last time I felt it was back when I exhausted all my magic and fainted .
I just remembered that I used teleportation many times while fighting against Scala . And now I have wished for a skill that could defeat her . I should have expected my magic to dry up .
Lina started flustering from watching me holding my head all of a sudden and groaning from the pain .
"W-What happened?! Does your head hurt?!"
In order to calm her down, I mustered all the strength left in me to tell her that I will be fainting .
"Lina, I'm going... to faint... soon... so... I'll leave... the rest... for you..."
Squeezing out the words I wanted to transmit to her, I collapsed on the ground and lost my consciousness .
"H-Hey!? Get it together!!"
I felt Lina catching me before falling down, but at that time, I had already gone senseless .
———————————————————————-
Bonus
Magic creation
"Isn't that magic creation skill of yours too convenient?" ← Lina
"Why are you asking so suddenly?"
"I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time; you can create everything you want from that skill . "
"Well, not everything . "
"No, everything! I mean, you can even erase people's existence, no? You can create magic that makes everything flows at your pleasure . "
"Hey, listen . If that was really the case then think about it more . "
"About what?"
"That's not magic anymore!"