A strange tension enveloped the dark family restaurant.
Kamijou Touma stood opposite the woman named Vento.
(Dammit. If it's not one thing, it's another.)
If this woman was a member of a magic group, then unlike before, this was a job for Imagine Breaker. But that did not mean he could relax. If Vento's ability was real, she was skilled enough to annihilate four men armed with submachine guns so quickly they could not even cry out. Even with Imagine Breaker, there was a danger of being killed instantly.
And…
Even if he had not taken a close look at the collapsed men in black, the lack of obvious injuries or blood reminded him too much of the unconscious people he had seen too many of recently. If their state was identical, it meant this Vento standing before him was the one who had paralyzed Academy City's functions as a city.
This woman had come to crush the top of the science side all on her own.
For that reason, she was much more dangerous than those men in black.
"You don't need to be so nervous," said Vento while the chain jangled as it waved. "You won't even have time to feel the pain."
Vento casually swung the barbed wire-wrapped hammer in her right hand.
It was a horizontal strike.
Kamijou was easily over 5 meters away from her. And yet…
"!!"
Feeling a chill run down his spine, Kamijou immediately shoved Last Order away from him and crouched down just as something flew over his head. It was a mass of wind that had swallowed some small fragments. It sucked in the air, destroyed the wall, brought small fragments into its center, and changed from transparent to a dull color. This blunt weapon of air shot over a wide area from right to left.
The entire building tilted diagonally.
(Does she have magic that fires a projectile when she swings the hammer?)
Kamijou grew pale as he heard the pattering sound of small fragments falling down.
Vento's action made it clear she did not care about the customers collapsed around the restaurant.
"Go hide, Last Order!!" shouted Kamijou as Last Order tried to get up from where he had pushed her.
He watched until he saw her move behind a square pillar.
(What is all this? First those men in black and now this woman!!)
Kamijou gritted his teeth, but of course that would not stop Vento.
Vento moved back a bit as she casually swung the hammer vertically and then horizontally. The chain attached to her tongue jangled while shaking almost as if being swung around. The hammer's trajectory just barely grazed the tongue chain. Sparks had actually flown from it a few times. If her aim was off by just a few millimeters, she would rip out the piercing holding the chain in her tongue, but Vento's expression showed no concern.
Vento's hammer ripped through the air.
An explosive noise pounded at Kamijou's ears.
The hammer was like a bat that launched heavy metal balls. A table was blown away, the floor was torn up, and the limbs of the collapsed men in black were blown off and landed on top of the collapsed customers. That filled Kamijou's head with rage, but he had his hands full dealing with the wind weapons flying his way.
The instant Kamijou's right hand touched one, the air weapon would burst and disappear.
That was Imagine Breaker.
Without that ability to negate any supernatural power, his body would have been crushed long ago.
The masses of wind did not simply fly straight for him. Some curved from the right or left to cut off his path and some dropped straight down from above his head.
"Hah hah. So that's your rumored right hand. Nice effort!!"
Vento raised the hammer and swung it forcefully down while laughing. This produced a mass of destructive wind.
(Vertical!!)
Kamijou frantically held his right hand above his head.
The mass of wind blasted through from the right to the left.
"…!!"
Sweat poured from Kamijou's entire body. He immediately bent his back to move just his upper body backwards. An unpleasant roar shot past his face and tore off a bit of the skin on the tip of his nose.
The wall to his left was loudly smashed to pieces.
The ceiling was already tilted and now it began vibrating even more.
(What!? That wasn't the same trajectory as the hammer!)
Questions floated up in Kamijou's head, but Vento would hardly answer if he asked.
"Gya ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I love this!!"
The long chain in Vento's tongue swayed back and forth as she moved.
The cross attached to the end emitted an unnatural light.
It blinked two or three times.
Vento then frowned as if something had gone against her expectations.
"I see, I see."
Vento nodded interestedly as she fired attack after attack of violent wind. She was handling Kamijou perfectly well. He could not get any closer than 5 meters.
"It's called Imagine Breaker, right? It seems that right hand of yours is as amazingly effective as the report said. Even when I occasionally weave in my true attack, it has no effect whatsoever."
(Her true attack?)
That phrase stuck in Kamijou's head as he swung his right hand around.
He was also curious about the mention of a report about Imagine Breaker. The Roman Catholic Church may have started viewing him with more importance.
"But this isn't enough to know for sure… Okay, I'll test it out."
"?"
"I'll do this!!"
With that shout from the gut, Vento swung the hammer horizontally from one side to the other.
With a roar of wind, a weapon of air appeared.
Instead of Kamijou, she was aiming at one of the customers collapsed unconscious over a table.
"Damn you!!"
He immediately leaped over with his right hand stretched out. The end of his right hand touched the air weapon just before it reached the customer's head and it burst in every direction. That strike had held a shocking amount of power. Anger filled Kamijou to the very core of his mind.
Vento narrowed her eyes with great interest as she watched on.
"Hmm, so that's how it works. Seems surprisingly difficult to use to me."
(So she's testing out what I can do.)
Vento may have been testing the exact range of Imagine Breaker.
"Sorry!" All of her attacks had been stopped, but Vento showed no sign of worrying. "It looks like painlessly isn't gonna happen. I need to kill you directly. It'll hurt like hell if you're still conscious, but you'll probably die from the shock. So if you want to enjoy this, you'll have to become a masochist."
Kamijou heard the sound of the chain.
The chain attached to Vento's tongue drew an arc from right to left as she moved. Vento forcefully swung the hammer vertically so it scraped along the chain.
Orange sparks flew out.
(!? For a while now…)
A weapon of air blew the sparks away as it curved from the right to the left.
(…the attack's direction has been different from the hammer's!?)
It almost seemed to follow the trajectory of the chain attached to her tongue.
(This pattern!?)
It almost seemed to be guided by it.
"You don't mean… The cross on that chain!!" shouted Kamijou as he crushed the wind weapon with his right hand.
Vento laughed in response.
"Oh, did you find out!?"
The long chain with a cross accessory attached freely drew vertical and horizontal trajectories through the air. Whenever Vento swung her hammer so it scraped across the chain, a weapon of air would fly along the same route as the line of the chain.
(Dammit! It's hard to defend against even when I know how it works!!)
Without meaning to, he would instinctually react to the trajectory of the giant hammer that was producing shockwaves. But the hammer and the chain moved differently. She would swing down from above, but the chain would be drawing a curving line. She would swing the hammer horizontally, but the chain would move upwards from below.
The motion of the attack and the direction in which the actual attack flew were different. That slight visual deception slowed his reaction time and threatened to have his body sliced in two.
"Dammit!!"
"Oh? This has gotten to be a real pain in the ass."
An even more powerful wind weapon flew at him.
But this one flew at the floor just in front of Kamijou rather than at him directly. The flooring was torn up and transformed into sharp wooden splinters which flew at Kamijou.
"Gyaaaaahhhhh!?"
Instead of being stabbed in one spot, he was struck over his entire body.
Kamijou was thrown backwards where he was sent rolling along the floor.
He shook his head that was hazy with pain and desperately brought clarity back to his mind.
At some point, he had been pushed back to just behind Last Order.
As if he had realized something, Kamijou suddenly lifted his head up from the floor.
Last Order stood up from behind the pillar and was about to run over to him.
"Run away!!"
"Heh heh."
Vento laughed in pure delight at Kamijou's shout.
Her attack could easily smash straight through the pillar and into Last Order.
Last Order did not move. Kamijou had no idea whether she was unable to move or if she was choosing not to.
At that rate, her small body would be smashed into mincemeat.
"Shit!!"
Kamijou began running and knocked Last Order to the floor. She fell over at the exact moment Vento let loose her attack. The weapon of air that was produced mercilessly broke through the pillar before being negated by Kamijou's right hand. Even so, fragments scattered everywhere.
The area was too dangerous.
Last Order had to leave as soon as possible.
"Go!! Hurry!!" shouted Kamijou, but Last Order shook her head while looking dazed.
She must not have wanted to abandon Kamijou.
"Hurry!! Go call for help!!"
That was why Kamijou gave her a false objective he knew would be no help.
Hearing that, she finally stood up on unsteady legs. But it seemed the contents of her pocket had come out when she had been knocked to the ground. Some sweet-smelling lip gloss that looked like a toy and a cutesy child's cell phone had fallen to the ground. Seeing them, Last Order began to crouch down once more.
"Leave them!!" shouted Kamijou.
Her shoulders shook in surprise and then she ran away on her small legs. She headed out to the road through a broken window. As she ran impatiently away, she looked almost stupefied.
Vento turned the giant hammer wrapped in barbed wire towards the short girl.
But Kamijou circled around to cut off the direct path to Last Order. Meanwhile, the building vibrated dully. Due to the pillars being destroyed, the ceiling collapsed diagonally. The line of windows Last Order had escaped through were crushed and sealed off by the falling ceiling.
One of Vento's targets had gotten away, but her expression showed no irritation.
She laughed delightedly instead and spoke to Kamijou.
"You sure are cruel. Running aimlessly through the darkness seems like quite a burden for a girl that young. The fear might be destroying her as we speak." She swung the giant hammer. "Wouldn't she have been happier being killed here with you rather than having to go through that?"
Kamijou spat on the floor in response.
This woman was horrible.
"I won't put any burden on her," he said while clenching his right fist once more. He continued to speak to Vento who was smiling in delight. "As long as I go to meet her, it's no problem. That's why I can't let myself die here."
"Oh, how fun♪ But, but! Will you be able to say that again after I shake up your organs and make human flesh juice out of you?"
A dull noise rang out as she swung the hammer. The chain in her tongue jangled as it swung.
"Well, you're my target anyway and having a heathen ape trouble me really pisses me off. If you aren't gonna run away, that would be a huge help. Makes it easier to aim!!"
Several more wind weapons blasted out and carelessly destroyed the inside of the family restaurant.