Chapter Fifty-Six: Exposed
DEM Research Facility.
Airspace.
"Ow, ow ow…"
Morgan slowly levitated towards the ground while gasping for air.
The cause of it was the sharp increase in his brainwave activity.
Which was accompanied by pain.
Artemisia had been only nanoseconds away from reaching him.
Even so, she was still able to react to his attack in time; it was unnatural.
That three-hundred-meter Territory instantly shrank to protect her.
Sure enough.
"...nngh."
With a slight headache tugging at him, he raised his head.
She was also descending to the ground.
Morgan had no other choice than to genuinely praise her.
As expected of her.
He was genuinely impressed.
In hindsight.
Maybe he had been the arrogant one thinking that with enough preparation, he'd pull through.
He was so wrong.
That absurd, oversized Territory—
No matter how you looked at it, it was cheating.
«At this rate, Master, the tides of this battle will shift against you»
"Mmm, I know… not to mention, my little princess is on her way."
«…»
Slowly, Morgan's feet touched the ground.
As he did, she did too, both of them stared at each other.
[Best number one—]
Morgan shook his intrusive thoughts away, looking at her.
Yeah, that mild look of confusion, annoyance, and frustration was plastered on her face.
"Reminds me, Beta, I had a feeling you were about to say something important."
«…it's your imagination»
"Hah!?"
Morgan's lips thinned, but she said nothing more.
He felt she was going to say something very important about his [Divine Vibrations].
Genuinely.
It's very impressive it has become something closer to [Angels] that spirits themselves could use.
But regardless of whether that was true or not.
Right now, other things were on his mind instead.
"I guess those on the world level are really built different."
«….»
Morgan said that loud enough to hear.
"..."
Yet, Artemisia didn't answer.
She couldn't.
The Ashcroft Series had already been created after all.
Not only was she brainwashed.
Her memories were what was used to create that series.
And Morgan deduced that might have happened already.
Perhaps, that's why SSS wants to rebel against D.E.M.
"If that's the case, then this would be tough to fix."
He muttered, scratching his head before letting out an exasperated sigh.
Then again, surely, the situation can't get any worse than this, can it—
False.
Nyun!
Boom!
Just as he was thinking,
A flash of blue erupted, followed by a massive impact that tore into the ground.
The earth caved inward as a shockwave blasted outward.
Brown dust and debris spiraling violently into the air.
Morgan and Artemisia left the area of impact staring towards the ground.
"...That was fast, wasn't it?"
A blue light shone from within the dust, and then—
Whoosh!
A powerful gust swept the smoke aside revealing the figure standing there holding her fist out.
She seemed to have punched the gust and everything away.
Moreso, that technique was undoubtedly close to one he'd done before.
'This girl… did she just generate shockwaves from inside her Territory?'
A nervous laugh left him.
To think their reunion would be like this, not to mention.
It seems like she's really grown stronger.
Morgan stared at her with a warm gaze, blocked by the filter covering his face when Beta finally spoke.
«Master, that person is—»
"Yeah, my little princess. Ashley Sinclair."
«Indeed, the resemblance is uncanny. However, she seems a bit violent»
"She's a troublesome girl, but she's also an Angel, you know…?"
While Morgan and Beta were having their own communication there.
"Sia! Are you okay?!"
In an instant.
She vanished from the crater, reappearing beside Artemisia, gripping her shoulder.
Despite the female not responding,
Ashley released a soft sigh of relief before slowly turning towards him.
Then their eyes met.
"...This might be bad."
«Master, I propose deploying the [Silver Lance Armor]»
"Funny, I was thinking the same."
Just as when Morgan prepared the lance, leveling it to the side—
"What are you muttering about over there?"
"…!"
Without giving him even a moment—
She had already made her movement.
True to form, she obeyed the law of always strike first.
She was already in front of him.
Her first corked backward, then slowly, she drove her hand forward.
In a split-second decision,
Morgan placed the lance in front of him; however, despite that—
The shockwaves she released from her Territory sent him flying several meters into the air.
But he adjusted mid-flight, twisting smoothly, coming to a halt.
"Isn't this funny, using my own techniques against me? But if I know it's coming, it's easy—"
"Release!"
Still placing his lance in front of him, Morgan muttered that.
The liquid film coating the shaft dissolved instantly.
It flowed backward like mercury before wrapping around his body.
Using Territory, he could heat it to dissolve it and cool it to harden it.
That was why liquid metal was used in its creation.
Aside from the lance's shaft, which acted as the core system…
A thin film of bound liquid metal was wrapped around it.
Normally, its properties were fixed.
But upon activation, those bindings were released, allowing it to function independently.
In this case—
Armor.
Due to the limited amount of metal available.
What formed was a scaled-mail configuration rather than full plate.
«Master. Note: the Silver Lance's weakness still applies even in this form»
Morgan nodded.
He hadn't forgotten.
"Oh? Look at that. He transformed."
Ashley said, levitating upward to match his altitude with Artemisia beside her.
Since when did she know Artemisia?
Morgan frowned briefly, then dismissed the thought.
The connection wasn't hard to imagine.
"Is that sarcasm I hear?"
Morgan replied.
"No, it's more like I'm surprised that you still have a trick up your sleeve."
"Hou? A trick you say…?"
Morgan's brows raised at the choice of her words.
Besides that…
Dear little sister, why do you look like a battle junkie?
She did not have the cute sister expression.
But rather, an expression of a predator chasing its prey.
Regardless, right now, he had to hold it in.
Too many people already had their eyes on this battle.
Satellite and optical cams are being deployed.
He was hoping to destroy them or have Beta hack into them.
Naturally, Beta was already working on that.
There was also a chance she would be found out. However—
The AI had reassured him that wouldn't be the case.
It was really good to have a trustworthy partner.
He was also sure the rest of SSS would also pitch in.
They simply didn't seem to involve Ashley yet which he had no problem with, and since that's the case.
'I'll stall.'
With that in mind.
Morgan outstretched his hand making a gesture with it.
"Then? Will you come, or should I come?"
"Fine, we'll come."
Ashley tilted her head forward slightly.
She glanced at Artemisia who also did the same for a second.
And in that split second, a decision was made.
In an instant, they both vanished from place.
"Beta, I'll have to trouble you."
«Understood!»
Since Beta was able to support parallel processings.
Especially with the new chip inside the new Augma.
She could run calculations while trying to hack into D.E.M's servers.
Now they have been exposed, he might as well go out flashy.
Clang!
They had both appeared from the corner of his vision.
Artemisia swung her blade forward and Ashley swung her fist forward.
However—
"Eh?"
Both attacks were stopped by the shaft of the lance.
Morgan then stretched out his left hand, his palm facing downward.
"Fall!"
Several motes of light from above formed a hazy pillar of light that looked like an arrow.
It was aimed at Artemisia.
"You both are protected by self-defense mechanisms that can heal you, as long as the damage isn't internal."
...they'll be fine.
With that thought, Morgan flicked his hand downward.
"Kuh!"
It struck Artemisia's territory, but her protective territory blocked it in time.
However—
Tzzz!
It pierced through; that arrow of light pierced through her barrier.
"Sia! No way... I see."
Ashley kicked the air, jumping several meters, but Morgan pursued, stretching his hand forward.
"You're not getting away that easily."
"Dammit! How persistent."
"You're not one to talk!"
"Hah!?"
A vein twitched on Ashley's forehead, but she ignored it, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
She activated her protective Territory, but—
"Wait, ain't that cheating."
The girl paled as she watched his fist phase right through her protective territory which was supposed 'definitely' work.
Omnipotent barrier so to speak off.
Such a barrier got bypassed easily.
"All is fair in war my dear."
Bam!
The blow landed squarely in her stomach.
Ashley's eyes widened as the air was forced from her lungs, a choked gasp escaping her mouth.
It was heavy.
Very heavy.
But Ashley bit down hard on her tongue and clamped onto his wrist.
"Cipher system.. Cipher key, activate."
[Activation code.. Enabled]
[Keyword activated]
From more than a thousand meters away, and it was not just there.
It happened in different parts of the city.
From what looks to be a factory, several cellular towers adjusted their antennas.
And with the command and key activated, it pointed towards the distant direction.
It shot out a thin electric signal.
The thin line formed a dead zone in the airspace several kilometers around them.
Morgan on the other hand blinked.
He was certain he had hit her with enough force to knock her unconscious.
Yet, she was holding on.
However, that gap in his judgment—
"Artemisia! Now!"
—costed him dearly.
That same territory from earlier once spread again.
No, this time...
"It's different."
A thin, flimsy rectangle encased the already three-hundred-meter territory.
He was now locked in once more.
Naturally, he didn't need Beta to tell him; after all, he was experiencing it himself.
Not only was he getting weaker, his gathering of mana was visibly slower.
What's more, the effect of his Territory was whittled down by a whopping 50 percent.
To make it worse was that,
«Master's facial filter is being decoded...»
"What? So that's it! Beta, disconnect now! Their target isn't me alone!"
To put it simply, his facial filter worked like an encryption system.
One could say this is no less than a variant of an EMP attack.
But this one seems solely focused on Wizards.
«On it..»
Thankfully…
Before it could lock onto his system, he had Beta pull the plug and she did.
"I can't believe you really are the one behind this, and even now, Aunt."
There was no hiding it; he could see the filter stripping away little by little.
Ashley, poised in front of him, ready to fight, froze mid-air, her lips trembling.
While she did that, Artemisia too simply stood there.
Despite being autonomous, she recognized an ally from the enemy.
Especially Ashley, with whom she had spent time with.
It was instinctive.
The female guarded the front, shielding Ashley from facing Morgan.
"Y…you…!"
"...Yo, how have you been, little princess?"
"B-brother?"
Shortly before that—
Deus Ex Machina Industries.
Security feeds filled the room.
Dozens of angles captured the battle between Artemisia and X.
No—
Between Artemisia and Morgan.
A fight that most Wizards in the world wouldn't even be able to approach.
And yet, this man wasn't even using the CR Unit he'd deployed in Japan.
From the looks of it, he wasn't even wearing a CR Unit.
Yet, he kept pace.
The fact that he was able to keep up with Artemisia is incredible.
"Magnificent, magnificent. But this isn't the true extent of your power, is it?"
Westcott murmured, genuinely delighted.
Indeed.
X had the power to back it up.
Now he could understand why Morgan decided to trigger the Spacequake alarm.
His aim was the Sleeping Princess all along.
That meant he had probably hoped to stow her away.
…Right.
Not that he couldn't understand why.
If his powers were combined with that girl, then their combined powers would reach further heights.
Even he couldn't deny he wanted to see it.
Alas, they were enemies.
But that didn't stop Issac Westcott from admiring the scene displayed in front of him.
"He's keeping up with Artemisia..."
Ellen muttered the words under her breath.
Her eyes were clouded as her fist clenched so tightly it trembled.
But that wasn't even it.
Joining the battle to prove herself was secondary.
The attention being lavished on Morgan irritated her deeply.
'I'm the strongest Wizard.'
Maya caught that.
And so, beneath her breath—
"Irrelevant. The Britannia Unit will arrive shortly. Once it does, the scales will tip…"
As the last word left her lips, a faint beep sounded from inside her suit pocket.
Her brows knit together as she retrieved the device.
One word.
That was all it displayed.
Having seen that. For a split second, her expression twisted into a scowl.
Then, just as quickly, she erased it.
Right now, more than anything, she wanted out of this room.
"Sir, if you'll excuse me."
"You're excused."
Immediately after she said that, he gave her the go-ahead without second thoughts.
He simply allowed her to go simply because he didn't care.
"Ike, should we really allow her to go?"
Westcott didn't even look away from the screen.
"Let her be," he replied indifferently. "She has already outlived her usefulness."
He leaned back slightly, satisfied with what he had witnessed.
Naturally, he was also done with Artemisia.
Of course, he didn't want to give her up.
But he had a feeling X would succeed in capturing Artemisia.
Yet, even if he did succeed, that didn't mean that X and co had won.
They had already succeeded in replicating her neural structure.
A second personality.
No—
A digital personality, purpose-built solely for Wizard combat and progression.
With this, the foundation for mass-produced countermeasures was complete.
Spirits can be fought on semi-equal grounds. And even now…
Even if X succeeded in stealing Artemisia, it would change nothing.
Not even a scratch on the board.
Westcott smiled faintly.
He was still the one moving the pieces, he was still the cheat op game master.
Now, it seems like another game master capable of matching him on the board has appeared.
"I hope we both have a good time."
Isaac Westcott thought.
Meanwhile—
Maya stormed out of the door, running down the hallway, catching her breath.
A frown crossed her face with irritation so deep it almost turned into a scowl.
She rounded a corner, then another, before finally slowing.
With one hand, she braced against the wall as she exhaled sharply.
Her jaws tightened.
Annoyance churned deep in her chest.
It was an annoyance so deep it nearly curdled into anger.
"…Tch."