Minoru sensed a powerful spell being directed toward the warehouse he was in.
Was that Pseudo-Teleportation? he thought.
It wasn’t an attack spell, but he figured combat magicians had been sent to the roof. He could feel someone there, but he didn’t let this distract him. Instead, he focused his energy on the spell he was casting.
“Done!” he declared, a bit louder than he meant to.
Just then, a hole appeared in the warehouse ceiling. The spell Oxidation Collapse had breached the rooftop’s composite material, capable of withstanding tactical nuclear strikes, in a matter of seconds. Oxidation Collapse forced electrons out of solids, stripping them of their ability to bond molecularly. Minoru also excelled at this skill. Although the version of the spell that had ruptured the warehouse ceiling was inferior to his own, it was still remarkably high-level magic.
Minoru recognized the small figure that jumped down through the hole. It was the boy from the previous year’s Nine Schools Competition. In fact, he played a pivotal role in the newcomers’ event, the Monolith Code, and was in Minoru’s same year at Fourth High School.
“Fumiya Kuroba?” Minoru called out to the boy.
Instead of responding, Fumiya thrust out his right hand, which was adorned with a black knuckle guard.
Is that…Knuckle Duster? Minoru thought.
Fumiya was still nearly ten meters away from Minoru. It was impossible to tell what he was going to do. Then, suddenly, a wave of pain surged through Minoru’s middle.
Did he hit me in the stomach? Minoru thought.
Fumiya’s fist hadn’t physically reached him. Nor did it feel like he had been hit by a projectile or a burst of pressure.
Ugh!
Minoru quickly redirected his mental control, cutting off the pain receptors. Yet he still felt a sharp throbbing in his abdomen.
The pain isn’t going away! Minoru winced. This isn’t good!
Faced with the threat of an unidentified attack, he cast Plasma Blitz, unleashing a rapid barrage of ionized air bullets at Fumiya. But Fumiya dodged the glowing plasma shots with the same quick aerial footwork he had showcased during the Nine Schools Competition. He then landed just in time to thrust his right hand forward again.
“Ugh!” Minoru groaned, pressing his hand against his right eye.
He suddenly felt as if his eye had been crushed, but the sensation of his eyeball under his palm assured him that no real damage had been done.
He dropped to one knee, and the thought of defeat flashed through his mind.
Am I going to lose? Is this all really going to end in failure?
Driven by desperation and the fear of not fulfilling his wish, he unleashed a self-destructive spell.
✦ ✦ ✦
Direct Pain inflicted agony directly on the target’s psyche and worked on humans and parasites alike. Fumiya was surprised his spell didn’t take Minoru down the first time, but the boy-turned-parasite was on his knees after the second blow. A calm third party observing the scene would have thought Fumiya was just one step away from victory.
However, the moment Fumiya tried to cast a third Direct Pain, he was struck by an overwhelming sense of danger. It wasn’t just a gut feeling; his magic senses detected the entire warehouse was about to be engulfed by Minoru’s magic.
Is this Nox Out?! Fumiya exclaimed internally.
Nox Out was a spell that released NOx, or nitrogen oxides. More specifically, it was an absorption-type magic that forcibly combined oxygen and nitrogen in the air. The spell’s magic program was designed to avoid the highly toxic nitrogen dioxide while primarily producing nitric oxide. The issue was that nitric oxide is also toxic. Inhaling it could cause a person to fall unconscious in minutes. The spell’s name, Nox Out, thus had a dual meaning that highlighted both its chemical nature and its effect.
For humans, loss of consciousness via nitric oxide wasn’t the only danger. By sucking a large amount of oxygen out of the air at once, the spell could also deprive humans of the oxygen they needed to breathe.
In a closed space, Nox Out was especially dangerous. Minoru unleashed it on the entire warehouse, without the standard precaution of setting up a safety zone around himself.
Is he suicidal?!
Fumiya cursed silently, but he understood what was really going on. Minoru’s strategy was to rely on his parasite’s strength and healing abilities.
Fumiya backed up to the entrance and pressed the button to open the door. Fortunately for him, Retsu Kudou had placed his traps only on the external console. The door’s inner system was harmless.
The motor operated without a hitch, and the door opened smoothly. Fumiya dashed out of the warehouse, maintaining a distance of about twenty meters just to be safe.
✦ ✦ ✦
The nitric oxide and lack of oxygen caused Minoru’s central nervous system to shut down. But thanks to his parasite, his mind remained aware of the outside world and maintained the ability to influence it.
Go, all of you!
He commanded sixteen Parasidolls into combat. After just lifting their seals, they were now in a fully operational state and ready to move. The Parasidolls swiftly rose from their coffin-like cases and dashed toward the open entrance.
Minoru then reversed the nitrogen oxide in the warehouse air back into oxygen and nitrogen. Once the air became breathable again, his parasite’s healing abilities automatically kicked into gear.
It was not until then that he realized he was lying face down on the ground.
Pushing himself up with both hands, he murmured in a weak voice and bitter tone, “I would have lost that battle if I were still human…”
✦ ✦ ✦
It took Ayako a little over a minute to travel fifty meters. A series of relentless attacks had been slowing her down. Her enemies were ancient magic practitioners—specifically, immortalists from the continent.
Ayako’s abilities were not cut out for direct combat. She preferred more open spaces. The type of skirmish she was faced with now was one she struggled with the most. That said, she refused to indulge in her specialty and disappear and flee. Instead, she took down the seven immortalists.
Ayako let out a relieved sigh as the attacks finally came to an end. Immortalists were far from weak, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of having defeated them without hurting herself in the process.
Luckily, the way her opponents fought was a big help. The odds were one against seven, but the immortalists never attacked all at once. Instead, one would charge in, and once it was defeated, the next one would appear. Their complete lack of coordination made the situation easier for Ayako to manage.
Each immortalist’s attack pattern was also monotonous. Ancient magic practitioners excelled at deceiving their opponents’ senses via ambushes that seemed impossible to physically break through. This caught their enemy off guard and delivered a decisive blow to break their opponent’s spirit. But if the immortalists faced Ayako head-on, they were at a disadvantage against the speed of modern magic.
Both they and Ayako knew this. Yet head-on was exactly how they approached her, launching perceptual fireballs, electric shocks that they first illuminated in their hands, and wind spells that they used exaggerated hand gestures to cast.
“I wonder if they were being controlled,” Ayako murmured.
The Yotsuba family, too, was capable of using magic to control an opponent’s will and turning them into fighting machines. The immortalists’ movements resembled those of puppets under this exact type of magic.
Minoru Kudou was also capable of hypnosis. Ayako took a mental note of this as she resumed her regular pace, determined to help her brother in the ongoing battle.
However, on her third step forward, Fumiya burst out of the warehouse entrance. Before Ayako could ask what had happened, a female android rushed out after him. Ayako recognized it immediately.
This was no ordinary combat gynoid. It was a Parasidoll—an artificial humanoid weapon infused with a demon and capable of wielding its own magic. A swarm of the dolls charged toward Fumiya, some of them redirecting their focus toward Ayako.