Brutal combat unfolded in various parts of the isolation chamber with cables stretching through it.
Kojou Akatsuki was running blindly from the arrows of light pouring down upon him like a meteor shower when the rose-colored Beast Vassal controlled by Astarte stretched a giant arm out to try and support him. Shizuri Kasugaya and Yukina Himeragi continued close-quarters combat, literally sending sparks flying from point-blank range.
Also, Yuuma Tokoyogi was taking on Natsuki Minamiya, the Witch of the Void, arrayed in a war of spells on equal terms.
“—Sorry, Teach. I can’t act freely ’cause of my pact with my devil, but there’s just one exception.”
Yuuma unleashed invisible shockwaves wrought from spatial control that assailed Natsuki from four sides.
Tch, Natsuki sullenly clicked her tongue as she teleported, evading Yuuma’s attack.
Undeterred, Yuuma continued attacking. Using her witch’s magical calculation potential to its utmost limit, she slammed shockwaves into Natsuki’s teleport destination. Natsuki engaged in dizzying teleports as she counterattacked as well. The two witches swapped locations at high speed as they unleashed surreal, inhuman levels of magical energy.
“I can attack you, and only you, anytime I want! You’re the one who locked away my mother—Aya Tokoyogi!”
Yuuma’s Guardian roared as it assaulted Natsuki with a blade of void.
In exchange for the powerful magical energy she obtained, a witch was bound by her pact with her devil. If she acted in defiance of that pact, the witch’s Guardian would instantly take the witch’s life.
The pact Yuuma made with a devil was for the sake of freeing Aya Tokoyogi, her biological mother, from her incarceration in the Prison Barrier. Yuuma had cooperated with Natsuki’s investigations into LCO for this purpose, for the Attack Mage Section had promised Aya would be released once LCO was destroyed.
If it was just to spring Aya, though, she didn’t need the Attack Mage Section’s help.
If she defeated Natsuki, the warden of the Prison Barrier, the prisoners therein would be automatically freed. Accordingly, the devil possessing Yuuma did not see combat with Natsuki as a violation of the pact. Yuuma was using this to cooperate with Kojou and try to protect Itogami Island from destruction.
“You think your power is enough to defeat me, Yuuma Tokoyogi?”
Space around Natsuki distorted, from which countless silver chains shot out like bullets. Yuuma manipulated space as well, desperately evading the arcs of Natsuki’s attacks. Unable to avoid all of them, she was forced to teleport to escape. Overwhelmed by Natsuki’s control over space, she’d wound up on the defensive.
“That’s difficult in terms of raw might. If I could beat you, you wouldn’t have captured Mom to begin with.”
Yuuma was breathing a little hard as she formed a strained smile.
Yuuma’s blue knight construct Guardian was her inheritance from her mother, Aya Tokoyogi. However, Aya’s ability as the Witch of Notaria was to reproduce grimoires from memory, making her Guardian fundamentally unsuited for combat. Of course she’d be overwhelmed by Natsuki in a head-on clash.
“That’s if you can use your abilities to their full potential, though.”
The blue knight construct’s rusted sword carved a symbol at its own feet. The next instant, Yuuma vanished from Natsuki’s sight.
“Self-acceleration…! The Witch of the Fall’s time control ritual?!”
Natsuki engaged in repeated teleports as she unleashed a horde of teddy bears. The bears approached Yuuma with unexpectedly agile movements to self-destruct once they came within a set range.
Yuuma, however, evaded every last one of them at speeds beyond human limitations. Then she fired off a pressurized, bladelike shockwave in Natsuki’s direction.
“Demonslayer, Witch of the Void! You can’t use your Guardian’s power to destroy the keystone! That’s because the pact you made with your devil…the wish at the very bottom of your heart, is for humans and demons to coexist!”
“…!”
Unnerved, Natsuki’s doll-like face betrayed human expression for the first time. Grazed by Yuuma’s shockwave, the frills of her extravagant dress tore off and danced in the air.
“When you were young, you had a prayer, a wish so very pure—you paid a heavy price for that off-the-wall pact, and that’s how you got that vast amount of magical energy!”
“Aya Tokoyogi, was it? So she told you about that…”
Landing on top of a wire cable, Natsuki gazed down at Yuuma with emotionless eyes.
Destroying the last of the bears, Yuuma wiped the sweat off her brow as she nodded.
Few knew of the wish of the Witch of the Void, feared by her other alias of Demonslayer. Aya Tokoyogi, Natsuki’s friend from long ago, was among these few.
“That’s why you can’t destroy Itogami Island. This is a Demon Sanctuary where humanity and demonkind live side by side—this place is the realization of your wish.”
“You have me there.”
Natsuki quietly murmured.
Bound by her pact with her devil, Natsuki could not destroy Itogami Island. This was the reason why the Gigafloat Management Corporation could trust her to act freely despite her being a witch.
“That doesn’t mean I have no means of sinking the island. The duty of destroying the keystone fell to the Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency to begin with.”
Natsuki declared this with a frosty air. Floating around her were strange-looking magic circles made out of magical symbols. This was a ritual unknown to Yuuma.
“Figures… You’re not soft enough to go down easy…”
Yuuma’s cheek twitched nervously.
Natsuki summoned three black-haired dolls, finely crafted marionettes looking exactly like Natsuki. Aside from the colors of the ribbons on the dresses, there was no way to tell them and Natsuki herself apart—or rather, the Natsuki in the real world was herself a marionette. In other words, the three dolls she’d just summoned had the same abilities wielded by Natsuki herself.
“Of course not, little girl. As an educator, I have to give uppity brats like you a proper spanking.”
The four Natsukis spread out to surround Yuuma.
“…Er, I think corporal punishment is frowned on nowadays, Teach…!”
Yuuma smiled impetuously, hiding her inner unease. She’d known from the start her power wasn’t enough to beat Natsuki. Yuuma’s job was to keep Natsuki busy—to buy Kojou and others enough time to neutralize Yukina. She wasn’t going to last long against Natsuki like this, though.
Please, Kojou— Making that tiny plea under her breath, Yuuma glanced at Kojou in her peripheral vision.