Conceptual Weapons,they were similar to offensive Mystic Codes, but with a different emphasis. They were created by imbuing an object with a specific meaning or 'concept' derived from history, legend, or ritual.
The Church's Black Keys were a form of Conceptual Weapon, designed specifically to interact with 'unseen' entities like spirits and vampires.
The realization flickered through Wayland's mind in a heartbeat.
He slammed his foot into the soft earth, and a fresh surge of Prana flowed through his wrists and forearms. The Gae Bolg Alternative suddenly accelerated, tearing through the fluttering red ribbons with relentless force as the point of the spear aimed straight for the girl's forehead.
But a sudden, overwhelming sense of danger flared in his mind.
The red ribbon snapped around him, entwining his body in a flash of crimson.
In an instant, his Prana vanished.
His spear flickered and dissolved into nothingness.
"It's useless."
Seeing Wayland's struggle, the girl remained expressionless. Her voice was soft and lacked any trace of physical strength. "You are a man, and you possess a spirit. This Shroud was designed specifically to handle people like you."
"The Shroud?"
Wayland froze. A long-lost memory from his previous life surfaced in his mind,an image from a game he'd played, a Mystic Code that often appeared as a 'guaranteed' item in his ten-pulls.
'Dammit! It's you!'
'The Shroud of Magdalene!'
He looked more closely at the girl. The character on the card had her hair flying out in a dramatic, stylized way, and the difference between a 2D illustration and 3D reality had made her difficult to recognize at first. But there was no mistaking it now.
"Are you Caren Ortensia?" he asked.
The sudden mention of her name caused a flicker of genuine surprise to cross her golden eyes. For the first time, her flat expression shifted. "You know me?"
'It really is you. Kirei Kotomine's daughter.'
Kirei Kotomine was currently in Fuyuki, and if Wayland remembered correctly, Caren wouldn't head to Fuyuki to succeed her father until after the Fifth Holy Grail War.
She was a rare 'suffering-type' medium, possessing Holy Stigmata that manifested as physical pain whenever a demonic presence was nearby. Her combat effectiveness varied wildly depending on the nature of the demon she was facing.
'Wait... if her body is reacting like this, does that mean she considers me a demon?'
'What the hell?!'
***
A demon.
Because he was so close to her now, the scent of disinfectant was overwhelming. He could see faint patches of red beginning to seep through her black habit.
Wayland suddenly stopped struggling. He looked Caren in the eye and asked seriously, "What is this 'spirit' you mentioned?"
"It's tragic, truly."
"What do you mean?"
"Your spirit is gargantuan, yet it is tethered to a distant, unknowable place. It means you are being manipulated. Is such a life not tragic? No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, you are merely following a path set for you by someone else. When they think you should laugh, you laugh. When they decide you should cry, you cry."
Wayland's brow furrowed.
'She can't be referring to Irigal, can she?'
Irigal had more or less forced him into the Fifth Holy Grail War and had a habit of disappearing at the most inconvenient times, but he wouldn't go so far as to say she was 'manipulating' him in the sense of total control.
Caren knelt down, her unnaturally pale, petite hand reaching out to stroke Wayland's hair. Her tone was surprisingly gentle. "I will help you purify it."
Wayland looked into her hollow, vacant gaze and whispered two words: [Constraint].
Within the shadow he cast upon the ground, a pale yellow light suddenly erupted. In response to his command, a ribbon of energy manifested and coiled around its target.
The Shroud of Magdalene suddenly lost its power, falling limp to the ground like a piece of ordinary cloth.
Wayland felt his Prana begin to return.
However, because he was still within the radius of Caren's field, the energy continued to drain away at a steady rate.
He opened his right hand and projected the Gae Bolg Alternative. Without taking the time to aim properly, he swung the massive shaft of the spear down toward Caren's head with all the strength he could muster.
"Impressive."
Because it was a desperate, last-second move, his speed was below his usual standard. Caren crossed her arms over her head to shield her skull, then used the momentum of the strike to push herself backward, skidding across the asphalt.
She rubbed her left arm. Even with her reinforced vestments, her frail, sickly body couldn't completely absorb the massive kinetic force of the blow.
"You hid a Rune within a Shadow spell?"
Caren seemed to find this interesting. "A strange idea. Layering magecraft upon magecraft... you must know the risks of composite spells even better than I. A single mistake and you would have burned yourself. And you're remarkably well-versed in the Shroud's weaknesses. You knew that if it's interrupted while it's binding someone, its effect is neutralized."
Wayland's head was spinning.
The magical circuits within his body were acting like hungry ghosts, clawing at his life force to convert it into Prana.
He couldn't afford to waste a single second.
He remained silent, his grip tightening on the spear. He leaped into the air, descending with a relentless, crushing weight as he thrust the weapon toward Caren's head once again.
"So crude."
Caren's golden eyes flickered upward. With a flick of her wrist, the Shroud of Magdalene rose from the ground to meet the attack.
A flash of crimson light precisely parried the point of the spear.
Wayland pressed down on the weapon, using the resistance to spin mid-air. He aimed a vicious double-kick at the back of Caren's head.
Once again, the Shroud intervened.
While one end was still engaged with the spear tip, the other end suddenly extended, forming a protective barrier around Caren.
At that moment, Wayland felt a sudden, sharp heat in his eyes.
It was the signal that the Illusion Array had been triggered.
Because it was an illusion, Pascal had buried a tiny, specialized spell in Wayland's eyes. Its only function was to use a physical sensation of heat to pull him back to reality.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]