Canopus didn’t have the luxury to observe the battle between his subordinates. He couldn’t help even if he wanted to. He had the upper hand in his own battle for the moment, but he was still fighting three-on-one.
He countered Vega’s weighting magic with a similar spell of his own. He reflected Regulus’s Laser Sniping with Mirror Shield. He intercepted Arcturus’s Dancing Blades with Atomic Divider. Even for someone of Canopus’s caliber, engaging in battle against three first-rate soldiers was a challenge. This might have been less of a struggle if this were a real war and Canopus could fight at full capacity. If he could, he would have already defeated Vega.
Though Canopus and Vega were both captains, there was a difference in skill that went beyond their rank. Since the previous Sirius’s time, there had been rumors that Canopus may be the stronger captain when it came to close-range, ground combat. In a one-on-one matchup, Vega had no chance. Even now, she had trouble hiding an anxiety that had not been present when facing Lina.
Regulus was an opponent Canopus couldn’t afford to ignore, but—like Vega—he did not pose a true threat. The delay between casting and firing caused Laser Sniping to unfortunately fall short. Canopus was sure Regulus had more cards up his sleeve. He simply wasn’t using them, for whatever reason. With the lieutenant continuing to limit his tactics, Canopus didn’t find it too difficult to deal with him alongside Vega.
A two-on-one fight with Regulus and Vega was hardly concerning. It was Arcturus who was the most formidable opponent.
Captain Alexander Arcturus of Team 3 was a combat magician highly proficient in both mainstream modern magic and traditional Native American spirit magic. Though his parasite assimilation rendered him unable to wield spirit magic, he compensated for this loss by fully harnessing the parasite’s power. It provided him with combat strength that far outweighed the loss of spirit magic.
Deflecting Regulus’s lasers, Canopus pressed toward Vega. All of a sudden, he was forced to step back when a gust of wind rushed in from the side. It was Arcturus’s Wind Hammer. Though not lethal, its purpose was to disrupt an opponent’s stance. Canopus had to retreat more than five meters to evade the two-meter gust traveling at sixty meters per second.
As soon as he did, he was pursued by the shafts of flying spearheads. These were the piercing obsidian spearheads manifested by the spell Dancing Blades. Normally, this attack involved a knife-shaped CAD to ensure swift, easy, and reliable activation. But the caster of Dancing Blades didn’t need to use a weapon with CAD integration. It was the magician who activated the spell, not the CAD itself. No matter the form of magic, that fundamental rule remained absolute.
Dancing Blades manipulated the trajectory of any thrown weapon. It didn’t need to be a blade. It could even turn a roadside pebble into ammunition. Four spearheads flew in from different directions simultaneously. Canopus, wielding his katana-shaped device, used Atomic Divider to intercept them all.
Shattered obsidian fell to the ground. As the designated shape of the spearheads was compromised, Dancing Blades stopped animating them. But Arcturus’s assault didn’t end there. The rapid succession of his spells made it impossible for Canopus to pinpoint his concealed location.
Suddenly, bird feathers fluttered in the breeze. They were imitations of bald eagle feathers shaped like darts made from synthetic fibers and titanium needles. At high speeds, the extremely fine, powerful fibers could cut through human skin and even leather. Scores of them rode the wind, hurtling toward Canopus.
Arcturus, being quite proficient in both spirit and movement magic, was particularly adept at creating and manipulating air currents. His feathers sped along on these currents. Canopus’s Atomic Divider couldn’t interact with air—attempting to swat them away with his device would be futile. Instead, he countered with a spell that expanded compressed air to the point of explosion: Blast Wind. He then defended against the blast wave with a special fluid-based shield and flew once more at Vega.
✦ ✦ ✦
Regulus watched Canopus from behind. Canopus’s attack just seemed…forced. The major was clearly struggling to overcome the unfair odds of the battle.
Just then, Vega cast a gravity-control spell, making a large, discarded training vehicle float in midair. Canopus swiftly brought down the airborne vehicle with weighting magic. Even as he ran, his control over his CAD didn’t waver. There was no question, however, that the vehicle had his full attention. Regulus saw his opening and pulled the trigger of his rifle-type integrated CAD. The activation sequence took under two seconds—exceptionally quick, even for an integrated CAD.
Regulus’s specialized CAD enhanced both the power and the speed of his magic. His casting only got quicker after merging with a parasite. However, the time required for amplifying his laser’s energy was indefinitely constrained by mechanical and physical factors. He could potentially reduce the time by initiating a higher-energy laser from the outset or using his parasite’s enhanced interference capabilities. This would, however, require him to increase the energy on his current device or develop a new one altogether.
It had been only three days since Regulus merged with a parasite—when would there have been time to upgrade his device? However, with Canopus’s focus on Vega, Regulus figured a counterattack posed no real threat.
Just as he was about to fire, Canopus disappeared from his scope. The major hadn’t become invisible; the scenery had simply changed. In place of Canopus’s silhouette, Regulus now saw his own surroundings mirrored back at him. He fired his laser.
His shot came back at the speed of light, making it impossible to see, let alone react to. In an instant, the one-eighty-degree angle of the reflected beam destroyed Regulus’s armament, and the burning fragments mangled his right eye. Screaming in pain, Regulus was out of the fight.