Chapter 83 – Return of Mystery Masks XYZ
To put it simply, the pegasus carriage was amazing. For Menew, that is.
However, for Ralph and Mofusen, who were on their way to war, it was terrible.
Before getting in, Menew would say, ‘Wait! Just a little longer!’ and they wasted a whole hour. He wanted to inspect the pegasus’s wings and bone structure. He talked about composition and colors, among other things they did not understand, before getting inside the carriage.
Even after they were in, he would poke his head out in the driver’s seat, or move around inside to see how comfortable it was. And so it shook. A lot.
Because of this, by the time they arrived at the hill that overlooked the battlefield, everyone, except for one, was feeling quite groggy.
“Huh? Did you get sick? Do you want medicine?”
Menew drew a motion sickness drop in his sketchbook, and then handed them to Mofusen and Ralph.
The plains that were now a battlefield, were filled with tents from both armies. It seemed like the soldiers were not moving now. And there were pillars of smoke rising, which suggested that they were cooking.
After Mofusen and Ralph recovered, they all put on the masks. The driver raised his voice in alarm.
“You did warn me in advance… But, are you really Mr. Menew?”
Menew shook his finger.
“From here on, we are the Mystery Masks, XYZ.”
And then they rushed down the hill as if flying.
The three then stopped, just outside of the center of the battlefield.
These great plains were called the Hahinof Plains. It was the end of the harvesting season, and so there was nothing there. At their backs, the vast Vala forest sprawled.
“A wakeup prank should probably involve water.”
The other two didn’t even bother to reply.
Menew quickly drew in his sketchbook.
Dark rain clouds. Thunder clouds. Amidst the black shadows, streaking flashes of light. The image was so vivid you could almost hear it.
However, it was a bright sunny day. And though some rain would not stop the fighting, it would make gunpowder more difficult to use.
Furthermore, it was now lunch time. Humans could not fight without eating.
“Summon Thunder Cloud!”
The completed ominous sky was recreated on the blue canvas above. With a look of pure joy, Menew turned to look at Mofusen.
It was similar to the cruelty of children. However, he had the eyes of a person who knew.
Mofusen did not know what to say, and so he turned his eyes towards the battlefield, which was turning into mud.
The rain was slamming hard into the ground. Each drop was so heavy that it shook your very core. Occasionally, lightning would tear through the sky and fall onto the empty field.
Menew added more lightning. He saw that people were rushing towards certain tents, which must contain provisions and weapons. And so he targeted those ones.
Now, both armies would be lacking in supplies.
“Oh, dear. What a horrible thing.”
“As long as you are alive, you can make more food.”
“That is true. At least no one has died.”
The reason that Menew did not use magic was because it caused phenomena. But with materializing his art, he could control everything. If he drew lightning that would never strike a person, it would work just like that.
Mystery Mask X, also known as Ralph, waited with his hand on his sword.
First, Menew would chip away at both armies, and weaken them.
Then, they would try to split them up.
“I always wanted to do this. The Hammer of God.”
He really should not say it in such an excited voice.
Menew appeared to be measuring the distance with his brush.
The two armies must be physically separated. That way, they will not be able to fight.
“I can’t make a wall, but this should be enough. And it will be intimidating as well.”
After Menew finished with the measurements, he drew numerous, giant spears falling from the sky, so that they would rain over the ravaged ground, where the two armies would have been fighting on for days.
The spears would take five grown men to carry. And he filled the sketchbook with them. And then he made them fall down as if to replace the lightning.
“Wh-what is that!?”
“Is Magikargia attacking!? All troops, retreat!!”
As the Nadar troops were thrown into chaos, on the other side, the Magikargia army were also in a frenzy.
“This kind of magic. It is impossible!”
“Damn it. Does Nadar really have this kind of magic!? Run! You’ll die!”
They would not actually die, but it was little wonder that they would think so, after seeing a cluster of giant spears in the sky.
“It’s going to shake a little… Summon Hammer!”
That was an understatement.
Hundreds of spears flew down from the sky and pierced the ground.
Menew wanted them to separate the two armies. And so the land should be fine, but an outsider would hardly know that.
The ground trembled for a good five minutes, and by the time it was settled, there was a giant wall of iron between the two armies.
“Kanon. …Well, it’s up to you two now.”
“Certainly.”
“Understood.”
Menew climbed onto the enlarged Kanon, and they flew up towards the top of the spears.
And then the two who remained, ran towards their designated camps.