The black mana ball hovered over my left hand. It spun, shrank, and screamed with messy sparks. I tried to pull it back, but my domain was already off the mountain, popping a parachute and waving goodbye. The mana had its own mind now, and that mind, apparently, wanted to smash everything and laugh while doing it.

  “I can't stop this thing!” I yelled, cold sweat running down my face, eyes darting between Midori and the dragon, desperately begging for help.

  “Why did you even make this weird thing in the first place?” Midori snapped, her eyes wide with fear.

  “I-I don’t know! It started as a fireball, but then…” I looked at my hand, staring at the floating mass. “…it became this, and I have no idea what it is.”

  “It’s… a mana sphere,” the dragon said, concern heavy in its voice.

  “A mana sphere? What even is that?!”

  “I just thought it was a good name,” it said, averting its gaze.

  Midori and I traded a quick fed up look before the panic came rushing back. She tried to step closer, all brave and responsible, but the ball lost its mind, snapping and spitting random sparks. Apparently, it had picked me as the main character of the coming disaster. Midori took the hint and backed off, choosing survival.

  “Remember last time!” she yelled. “The training in the backyard—”

  “Y-yeah?” I stammered, eyes glued to the shaking black ball, every instinct screaming. Is it going to explode? Is it going to explode right now?

  “If you can’t stop it,” Midori said, “throw it! Get rid of it!”

  “O-okay,” I said, eyes locked at the mana ball. “But… where?”

  “Anywhere,” she said, glancing around for a safe spot. Then her eyes landed on the dragon watching us in the lake, full of worry. She pointed at it like she’d found a perfect dartboard. “There!”

  The dragon’s eyes went wide, flicking nervously between me and Midori. It slowly slid back into the lake, putting as much space between us as it could, like distance might save it.

  “W-why me?!” the dragon yelled, its voice cracking. “Stop joking! This isn’t funny! And—” it jabbed a shaking claw at the mana ball. “That thing looks like it will swallow the whole world!”

  “Well, it’ll start with you,” Midori said, cool as ever.

  “You… you shut up!” the dragon snapped at Midori, pointing at her. “Why aren’t you just teleporting away and running like last time—”

  “Look at me!” Midori snapped, spinning around. She tried to sound calm, failed hard. “And what is this, huh? You look way taller since the last time. Did you swallow some tower?”

  “Oh, really? And you’re the one talking… where’s that giant shell that always saves your ass? Did you drop it and forget where it went?”

  “At least I’m not still—”

  “Ladies, please!” I cut in, on the verge of tears. “Do we maybe, just maybe, have a bigger problem right now?”

  “I already told you,” Midori snapped, spinning back toward me, still pissed. “Just throw it at this overgrown worm already!”

  “Hey, watch that peasant mouth of yours!” the dragon bellowed. “Who are you calling a worm, you giant snail? I’m one of the Seven Ancient Dragons!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Midori shot back. “The youngest one. And clearly the dumbest!”

  The dragon finally went mad. It pulled its head back and took a deep breath. Either it was about to roar again and throw us off the mountain, or spit something as dangerous from its huge mouth. Maybe both. None of those options felt comforting anyway. But before it could do anything, we heard it.

  

  “W-what was that?” I said, carefully turning my head to the mana ball.

  It had cracked. It had just cracked. A dark light leaked out, spreading into the air. It felt like a door had opened. Not to hell, nope, but to something even worse. Like despair itself had peeked out to swallow us.

  I tried to move my arm. Time to grab this broken thing and throw it anywhere else before it killed us instead. Nothing moved. Not my hand. Not the ball. I just stood there like a half-broken statue, frozen and stiff, heroic in the worst possible way.

  “It’s… not moving!” I yelled.

  “Use both hands! All your strength!” Midori shouted back.

  I reached out with both hands, and the moment I touched it, pain shot up my arms. I jerked back like I’d grabbed pure hatred. Black lightning snapped around it. I couldn't even hold the thing.

  “Ahh!”

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  “Hayato!” Midori shouted and rushed toward me.

  But the mana ball made it very clear it didn’t want anyone near. Black lightning cracked wildly, striking the path Midori had taken and forcing her to retreat again.

  “J-just throw it already!” the dragon yelled. “You’re going to get us all killed!”

  “Right,” Midori snapped, her hand trembling with anger as she pointed at the dragon. “Throw it at that ugly face and let’s end this already.”

  “No, I can’t!” I shouted.

  “Why not?” Midori snapped. “Didn’t we come here to kill it anyway? This is the chance—”

  “W-what did that snail just say?” the dragon cut in, eyes wide with shock.

  “I can’t,” I said again. “I can’t even move this thing anymore. And even if I could…” I pointed at the ground in front of the dragon. “Look there.”

  “Edelweiss…” Midori whispered. Her eyes went wide. “I’ve never seen these many together. But… what happened to them?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “That damn dragon lost its temper and stomped all over them... But if I throw this thing at it now, whatever flowers are still alive will be gone too.”

  Midori started walking toward the flowers, calm and sure. “Alright, I’ll grab one. You… just keep that thing under control.”

  She couldn’t even reach them. The dragon swooped down and coiled its long body around the crushed flowers like a massive snake, curling tight as if guarding its eggs.

  “I can’t allow that,” it said, voice shaking. “I don’t know why you need these stupid flowers, but my survival seems very tied to them.”

  “Hey! Stop crushing them!” I yelled, helpless, still stuck in place.

  Midori formed her bow and aimed an arrow straight at the dragon’s head. “So you’re saying we can’t get them without killing you? Works for me!”

  The dragon glanced at the arrow. To it, the thing probably looked like a toothpick in an ant’s hands. “Hahaha—” It stopped mid laugh, sniffed once. Then sniffed again.

  

  Then it roared. The shockwave slammed into Midori with a horrible boom. She dug herself into the ground and barely held on against the wind, but her bow and arrow were ripped from her hands, smashed apart, and flung away.

  “Damn it!” Midori shouted, spinning to face me. “I’m out of mana to make another one! Just throw the ball already at this reptile!”

  Then the dragon spun in rage, lifted its foot, and was about to stomp the already wrecked flowers again.

  “Stop! Wait! I said wait!” I screamed without thinking. "If even one of them stays alive, I swear I won’t throw this at you… and I’ll spare your life.”

  It was a complete bluff. I couldn’t even move the thing, let alone spare anyone’s life. I just hoped it would buy it. Somehow, it did. The dragon slowed, then stopped. It turned its head and stared at me for a long, quiet second.

  “You look more trustworthy than that wicked one,” it said, nodding at me. “Fine. Deal.”

  Still, it curled tighter around the flowers, shielding them like they were its own heart.

  “But,” it said, voice sharp and scared, “only if you throw it into the sky. Not at me. Not at my mountain. Not anywhere near here.”

  “O-okay,” I stammered, staring at the screaming ball over my hand. “Just give me a moment.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to feel the mana again. I had done this once. I could do it again. All I had to do was let go of myself and become one with the mana, merge with the nature around me. But damn it, calm was the last thing I had right now. Cold sweat slid down my back, my focus hanging by a thread. And of course, that was the exact moment they decided to start another mess.

  “One second…” Midori said, finally catching on. “Did you just call me wicked now? You are the real witch here!”

  “How dare you call me like that… you low-born pest!”

  “Overgrown worm!”

  “Giant snail!”

  “Overgrown—”

  “Enough!” I shouted. My voice echoed across the whole mountain. My focus was completely out of hand. “I am trying to concentrate here!”

  Finally, they went quiet. Midori crossed her arms and looked away, clearly sulking at the dragon. The dragon turned its head and looked the other way. I just watched the two of them, tired and drained, questioning my life as I stared at this childish scene. Then I closed my eyes again and tried to focus. No way, I couldn’t do it. Not even a fraction of a second.

  “Blue worm,” Midori whispered, loud enough for both me and the dragon to hear.

  “Green snail,” the dragon replied in the same tone.

  I opened my eyes. I had given up, and my shoulders had followed. There was nothing left to do. All we could do was accept our fate. I looked at them, despair written all over my face.

  “No. It’s not moving. I can't control this thing!”

  “How can you not do it?” the dragon snapped, clearly at its limit. “You can drain enough mana to create something that could wipe out the entire mountain, but not enough to move it?”

  “What?” Midori said, pointing at the black ball. “That thing… is it the mana of the entire mountain?”

  “Y-yes… more or less.”

  “I won’t even ask how you managed to do that, but you should get rid of it. Fast!”

  “I know!” I yelled, close to losing my mind. “But I had to. It… it was all because of that mana dragon!”

  “What? I did nothing, I swear!” the dragon said, as Midori shot it a sharp look.

  “No, not this one,” I said, then added, “There was another dragon down there. Huge. Transculent. Made of pure mana. The only way to beat it was to absorb it, and I—”

  “What? There was no dragon down there,” Midori said, completely stunned.

  “You were asleep at the moment,” I said.

  “No, you were asleep,” she shot back, confused. “A huge fog rolled in. Then a giant cockroach monster jumped out and attacked us... After that, it wanted a soul bond with you so it could become human. The spell failed and you turned into a cockroach instead. Then you ran away and vanished—”

  “I— What?!”

  I stared at her with the most weird face I could manage. My face twitched on its own. None of that made any sense. Not even a little. But she believed it so hard that it actually scared me.

  

  Then another crack split the air. This one was louder, scarier. I thought the ball almost tore itself in half, and thick black light leaked out, painting the sky.

  “O-okay, forget about it!” I yelled, rubbing my forehead. “What the hell do we do with this thing now?!”

  “Maybe you could… hold it with mana,” the dragon muttered, half-thinking, half-doubting even itself.

  “Fine,” I said. “But I don’t have any mana. The ball ate it all. So… if you don’t mind,” I added, glancing at the dragon’s terrified face, “I’ll borrow some of yours.”

  I didn’t even wait for an answer. I just released my domain and started drawing the dragon’s mana. I funneled it into my hands and somehow grabbed the ball. The moment I held it, the ball started sucking that mana too. I pulled harder this time and poured in more mana. Finally, it broke free. I caught it like a goalkeeper saving a penalty and grinned at Midori.

  “I… I did it!” I screamed, my eyes sparkling, and so did Midori's.

  The dragon sank into the lake, then slammed its head into the ground and passed out there. No time to celebrate. I glanced at the sky, then at the ball. I shoved the rest of my mana into my leg and kicked the thing with everything I had.

  

  The ball shot up into the sky at blinding speed until it was just a tiny dot. Then, suddenly, it slowed… and stopped. After a heartbeat, it started plummeting back down toward us at full speed. Midori and I froze, shoulders dropping, heads tilted up to the sky. We just stood there, waiting for the end to hit us.