[339] Waves of Law (4)
The Ice Queen swung wide, but she couldn't open the angle faster than Shirone spinning at the center. The moment the first shot struck, shockwaves followed in succession. When the trailing photon cannons all unleashed their fire, a thin, strangled scream tore from the Ice Queen's chest.
"Kyaaaaah!"
But she did not shatter. Shirone's wrists, which kept sending out burst after burst, were close to being torn apart.
'Ugh! Why won't she go down?'
Cold seeped from the Ice Queen's body like vapor as the photon cannons hammered her. It spread faster with time until a vast cloud formed and swallowed the queen's figure.
- Remaining oxygen consumption time. 1 minute 2 seconds. 48 seconds. 35 seconds.
Armand's reserve oxygen was draining fast. At zero seconds they'd have to breathe air at extreme cryogenic temperatures. He forced himself to steady his breathing, and starting at the four-second mark the air began to replenish.
'What's going on? Did we win?'
He'd been firing the photon cannon at a rate of one hundred and twenty shots per minute. Any normal organism should have been reduced to mashed flesh.
As the mist that had clumped like a cloud dispersed, the Ice Queen finally revealed herself.
'Th-that is…?'
Shirone gaped blankly. His pupils trembled violently with shock.
* * *
Amy's crimson eyes flashed and recorded the coordinates. Dante and Lilia followed. They'd already run over a kilometer, but because of the circular maze they couldn't get within a hundred meters of the center.
Entering the shopping district, they saw buildings cleaved in half against the towering walls. Amy and the others slipped into a two-story house with its floors exposed and hid.
Dante peered out the window. Even ignoring Jokre's group, freaks prowled every block.
"We can't run forever. Those things won't tire. Eventually we have to take them down and get out," Dante said.
Lilia shook her head. "They're victims too. We can't make them targets."
"What if that gets us killed? The Ice Queen will only grow stronger. We need to help Shirone now. We're stuck at the monster level and can't even break the maze," Dante countered.
"This isn't about efficiency or results. Violence without the will of good is no different from evil's methods. I'm not forcing you, but if you plan to help me, then even if we die we mustn't hurt the innocent," Lilia said.
Dante gave a bitter smile. It wasn't hypocrisy or falsehood—strengthening your will to control reality requires an unshakable conviction.
"Is that how mages think? Hah. Our school has a bright-eyed teacher like that too—Etella," Lilia added, brusque and incredulous.
"That's not naïveté, it's conviction. As much as evil spreads, there are always those who try to keep the will of good—and that's how the world holds together. If in desperation we adopt evil's methods, we'll end up under its rule! I don't expect a mage like you to understand the old clash between good and evil…but—" Lilia went on.
Dante waved his hand to cut her off. "All right. Enough preaching. You're right—I am a mage. So what's the plan?"
Calm now, Lilia explained, "We'll shrink the area of influence of the wide-area golden magic boundary set on the sanctum to amplify its power. It's a chant called Bakyojin. If the coordinates are precise, even a demigod's law can't escape."
Dante's face went serious. "But if that means—if it fails…."
"Yes. Even the last bastion, the golden boundary, would vanish. The Ice Queen, once outside, would only grow stronger. So there's only one chance. If I can't make that chance, I won't attempt Bakyojin even if it kills me."
Dante agreed. If the Ice Queen slipped past the golden boundary, the damage would be uncontrollable. It was more efficient to keep her contained, even if everyone here died.
"Okay. So what do we need to do?"
"You can't set Bakyojin anywhere. It has to be installed at the point where the power of the golden boundary concentrates."
"And where is that?"
"At the vertex formed when you draw an inverted pyramid within the golden boundary. Take me there."
"Another mountain after the mountain," Dante muttered.
Finding that installation point inside a maze full of monsters was nearly impossible. At minimum, the maze had to be removed before the operation could begin.
"Fine. Let's do it. Lilia and I will handle the monsters; Amy, remove the maze. You're the only one with crimson eyes who can go to the center of the Spirit Zone's radius."
Lilia sounded worried. "Are you sure you can do it alone? Their powers aren't magic. The other two probably have abilities on par with the maze."
"That's all the more reason for you to step up, Amy. They'll most likely target you first. It's better if we split. Amy—can you do it?"
Amy didn't answer. Jokre's group had grown stronger. No—before they'd strengthened, they were already skilled enough to pass graduation exams.
'And I… failed,' she thought.
"You can do it. Trust yourself," Dante said.
"I can't. I really can't," Amy admitted.
"If I can't trust you, I'll trust your family," Dante said, putting a hand on her shoulder as she looked up. "Your family has proven what they can do. There's no way you can't. Use everything you have to fight."
Countless relatives had validated her talent. That's why she could believe in herself in any situation.
When resolve hardened in Amy's eyes, Dante left the building with a satisfied look. "Let's go, Lilia. While they focus on Amy, we need to get as close to the coordinates as possible."
Lilia followed. "You okay? You don't seem confident."
"There's been reason not to be. But I'll be fine. Maybe a little lost right now…but I'm not stupid enough to forget who's on top," Dante said with a smile.
* * *
"Hohoho! Running away suits you! Truly the students of a prestigious school!"
"Tch! Shut up!"
Vivian popped out of the wall at every turn to taunt Amy. She searched desperately for a path, but everywhere she moved was inside the enemy's palm.
A section of the wall in front of Amy suddenly opened and Ludvans stepped out, chewing gum.
"Wrath of God," he said.
He slammed an invisible shock orb into the ground. A shockwave of electricity and recoil force launched Amy into the air.
"You can see her panties," someone sneered.
As Amy flipped and landed, Jokre rushed in from the side at high speed. "Speed Gear!"
The Speed Gear, which adjusts inertia from level one to ten, moved in a way that flagrantly defied physics. As common sense broke, it felt like even space-time warped.
Amy hastily deployed an air shield. Jokre's fireball detonated against it and shoved her far away.
'I can't find Vivian like this. I need to get up onto the wall,' she thought.
If she were airborne she could activate the air tunnel and strike Vivian's true body directly. But getting that chance against Jokre's group wouldn't be easy.
'The ground's blocked by walls. Sniper mode is impossible. Maybe injure one to pin them down…'
Amy shook her head. Her thoughts were thickening again. Dante's advice brushed past her mind.
-You have no style.
'Style. My style.'
You can't have a solution for every situation. Amy forced herself into sniper mode and narrowed her focus. At the same time her eyes snapped open as a pivotal idea struck like lightning.
'Maybe… no, I can do this. I can.'
Surveying the wall's structure, Amy set two arbitrary points, A and B, and drew an imaginary chord. Using the wall's curvature she calculated radian values, then combined area formulas and trigonometry to deduce the central coordinate where Vivian's true body must be.
'Coordinates are set. But to hit it…'
Sniper mode alone wouldn't be enough. With walls blocking every direction, flame couldn't reach out.
Amy didn't give up. Like Shirone and Dante, she deepened the strategy.
'It's possible. As long as it's denser than air…'
Her crimson eyes flashed like electricity. 'I need more power. Much more power.'
Power. Power. Power.
Her self-image memory began backing up hundreds of frames per second, shearing away distractions.
Extreme self-censorship.
Her mind narrowed to a single purpose, untainted by even one percent of impurity.
Focus upon focus.
As if an explosion detonated in her head, her mental strength multiplied.
A single path.
A temporary state of samadhi that comes when all thought converges on one point.
"Inferno."
Two columns of flame twisted like braided ropes beneath Amy's legs and rose above her head.
"What is that—!?"
Jokre's group halted, astonished at the size of the flames Amy had produced. The gas density was so high the fire dripped like paint.
"That is…."
Jokre, who specialized in flame, realized what she was attempting.
A thousand-degree-class fire that even professional mages rarely reach.
Judging by the color, the blaze overhead burned at least thirteen hundred degrees.
"You… that—"
Jokre's group dared not approach. If Inferno detonated, everything within its radius would melt.
Amy turned toward the wall and said, "Right. You couldn't even imitate this."
Jokre frowned in confusion. He couldn't understand why she'd cast such a decisive spell and aimed it at the wall. But Vivian understood instantly. Even petrified, her expression of horror was plain.
"No! Jokre, stop her!"
Amy braced both hands under the enormous flame. "Stop it! Stop it! I'm going to attack the true body!"
Jokre didn't get it. How could she attack the body when a thirty-meter-high barrier stood in the way?
Amy smiled triumphantly. "This is my style."
She arched her torso like a bow, snapped her waist, and swept both hands downward. The thousand-degree Inferno vaulted over the thirty-meter wall and flew into the sky in a parabola.
Ludvans muttered, "A curved howitzer…."
The dense, gas-rich ball of flame traced a ballistic arc across the sky.
Indirect fire ignores cover but loses accuracy; Amy used her self-image memory like a machine to strike the precise target point.
"Kyyaaaah!"
A Vivian clone screamed and vanished. If Inferno fell at the maze's center, the petrified original would instantly melt.
Kukukukukuku—thud!
A kilometer-wide stretch of wall simultaneously collapsed into the ground, and the Vivians freed from petrification shrieked as they fled.
When the Inferno struck and detonated, the earth melted like molten metal. The lava glowed a sickly red, dark impurities bobbing in it before cooling quickly in the cold air.
The terrain before and after Inferno's fall was completely altered. The ground twisted grotesquely, like a demon's face.
Vivian, who'd barely escaped death, reached Jokre. The maze was gone, but Amy was nowhere to be seen. Jokre scanned the area and muttered in annoyance, "Damn! Where did she hide?"
From where Ludvans had been came a dull thud. A burning stone struck the back of his head, and he collapsed without even a groan.