He thought his eardrums would blow out.
Motoharu Tsuchimikado, covered in blood, lay in a puddle of muddy water.
He'd been in the abandoned bus service facility in the forest, but not a trace of
the building was left now. Everything was torn up, blown away, or otherwise
smashed to atoms and poured onto the ground again. With syrupy, crumbled
earth all around like the aftermath of a large-scale landslide, most of the trees
had simply been buried.
Not a trace of any enemies now, either. Either they'd been buried in the dirt
or smashed into atoms.
Tsuchimikado, personally, was thankful it was raining today.
His best spells were Black Style—which meant he specialized in water.
Motoharu Tsuchimikado boasted the pinnacle of an Onmyou expert's
strength, and though he'd used the defensive spell reactively, he'd poured
every fiber of his being into it for protection. It had allowed him to narrowly
survive.
"Gh…urgh?!"
But chunks of blood still made their way out of his mouth.
His body wasn't supposed to be able to use sorcery, but that recoil wasn't the
only thing at work. An outside impact had clearly ripped through his defensive
spell and torn up his body.
Not a single wooden stake was left, either.
Rather than destroying the actual spell, he'd just taken out the entire plot of
land they were on.
What…?
His own body half-buried by dirt, he thought hard.
What…the hell happened…?
A long-range attack seemed to have hit him, but he had absolutely no clue
what kind of spell it actually was. On top of that, the blow had come from
Academy City. The situation was clearly too unnatural to simply decide that a
magical attack equated to the Roman Orthodox Church.
Unable to stand, he turned his head to look.
It…can't be…
Far in the distance, he saw innumerable unfurled wings inside Academy City.
It was only a tiny figure from here. He couldn't see where the wings came
from due to the walls and tall buildings on the outskirts, but just catching sight
of those wings made him stop breathing.
An angel.
Its appearance was similar to Misha Kreutzev, but its nature was completely
different. The archangel, the POWER OF GOD, had a piercing coldness to it. But this
was incredibly uncomfortable, like the thick smell of glue in a steaming-hot
room.
Yes—that was an angel created by man.
The attack had been precisely aimed at the sorcerers opposing the city.
A…lei…ster…, Tsuchimikado thought, unconsciously moving his lips.
The Imaginary Number District's Five Elements Mechanism. It was a manmade "plane" of existence centered on Academy City, born of controlling the
involuntary diffusion fields of the Sisters scattered all about the world.
"That bastard…He really used it…"
The angel's appearance must have let hell loose inside the city.
But by Tsuchimikado's prediction, the completion of this "plane" would
destroy everything occult, cause sorcerers to die, and destroy all magical
facilities. Tsuchimikado, though, was still alive—and didn't feel anything
unnatural about the spell's construction.
That Imaginary Number District was likely incomplete.
If it were, Tsuchimikado would have been eliminated along with all the magic
in the world.
If Aleister had needed to drag out something so imperfect…
God's Right Seat…So even Academy City is at a loss for what to do…
Or perhaps this was all just one of his "plans," too.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the time to think about it.
He had to stand up and get out of here before the next attack came. If
Aleister brought out something this devastating, then he was actually planning
on the enemy's total annihilation. It wasn't resistance—it was a counterattack,
meant to wipe out every assassin the Roman Orthodox Church had sent. And
Tsuchimikado was about to get caught in it.
"Guh…" Tsuchimikado willed his legs to move, but they didn't do what he
wanted. With the previous shock wave, his body had accumulated damage to
its very core.
"Gheh…aaagh…"
He gasped for breath, movements sluggish, trying somehow to stand up.
His body wasn't moving.
The angel in Academy City once again began to fire a devastating light.
The second shot was on its way.
Tsuchimikado knew that, but his legs wouldn't move according to his will.
He gritted his teeth.
Then he looked ahead.
There was a reason he couldn't die here—and so he still wouldn't give up.