Thunder rumbled across Jabar, the land of fate for Informationists. Heavy snow clouds blanketed the sky overhead, and Tsushima and Finé stood facing each other on the gray wasteland.
Finé closed her eyes firmly for a moment, then turned her glowing golden eyes to Tsushima. The facts he had revealed had left her baffled.
“My assassination, you say?” Finé questioned Tsushima, as if seeking confirmation. Surely, no one even existed who would dare target someone as overwhelmingly powerful as her.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it? It’s not just you. Apparently, I’ve been requested to get rid of both you and Canus.” Tsushima sighed, returning the card to his pocket. “So basically, we were fated to kill each other right from the start. That’s what it means.”
While giving the impression she still didn’t understand, Finé looked at Tsushima coldly.
“Tachibana is a fool for giving you that order. Thinking you could defeat me, baring his fangs at the Balga Empire—all of it is a mistake.”
“Not necessarily. There are things you won’t know unless you try.”
Tsushima tossed his cigarette butt to the ground and planted his feet shoulder width apart. His body creaked, and blood began to seep from the wound in his abdomen. No matter how he struggled, the odds would be against him.
Even so, there was no getting out of the task before him. With his target in sight right in front of him, Tsushima cracked one last joke.
“I guess that makes us mutually infatuated with each other. Not a bad stage for it, eh?”
“It’s impressive for a fool to get this far. All right then, I’ll make you regret challenging me.”
Watching Tsushima’s movements, Finé readied herself as well. The air between them suddenly grew thick with tension.
It was an explosive situation. Amid the strained silence, a single snowflake drifted down. The white flake fell between their fields of vision, landing soundlessly on the ground. As if on cue, Finé’s and Tsushima’s eyes both flashed fiercely at almost the same time.
Finé executed a Code for a blade of light. Tsushima countered by firing a heat ray. Both stood their ground, and a direct contest of strength began.
The phenomena they executed collided with a thunderous roar, scattering shards of light and enormous amounts of heat.
Where the two forces clashed and shattered, either flames erupted or the blade of light pierced through everything in its path.
The impacts were so intense that they lit up the surrounding area, as if it were midday. The powers they used to attack each other seemed to be evenly matched.
However, while Finé’s expression remained unchanged, Tsushima’s twisted in pain.
“Tch, so the odds really are against me.”
Tsushima had already fought Canus of the Six Imperial Swords. No matter how strong he was, the wounds from that battle hadn’t yet healed. Tsushima was the first to be overwhelmed from the strain of his Code execution.
Sensing this, Finé stepped forward, gradually closing the distance between them.
“Shit!”
The balance of power shattered in an instant.
Tsushima abandoned his Code and turned to flee behind the rubble. But Finé would not let him escape. She executed a new Code.
“Lightning Flash,” Finé whispered softly, executing the Code. With a graceful motion, she swept her long, slender hand toward Tsushima. At the same time, a band of light appeared from nowhere, flashing across the world to the horizon.
Not caring how awkward he looked, Tsushima threw himself to the ground just before a burst of light streaked over his head. With that single sweep, the flash had pulverized almost all of Jabar’s rubble.
Tsushima desperately tried to hide as he got covered in debris raining down from above. But his attempt to conceal himself seemed pointless in the face of such overwhelming Code execution. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
“God dammit. How the hell did things end up like this?”
Tsushima pressed a hand to his abdomen, where his wound had split wide open and blood had started gushing out. He had already lost a lot of blood. Losing any more would mean death. Looking at his red palm, Tsushima discarded the option of a prolonged fight.
Finé’s Codes most likely granted physical properties to light. Although minuscule, her light particles possessed the force to push things slightly. She had probably maximized that force by compressing her light to its limit.
Tsushima understood the theory.
But he didn’t understand what kind of Code could make such a thing possible. It was completely unclear. It was often said that Exceptional Level Informationists wielded supernatural powers.
“How am I supposed to deal with this monster? Dammit, Tachibana…”
Even after just a brief exchange, he could tell Finé was a monstrously powerful Informationist. But if he tried to run now, he’d only get shot in the back.
Staring out at the dust-filled streets of Jabar, Tsushima began piecing together hypotheses and searching for a strategy.
“I guess I’ll just have to do what I can.”
Half resigned, Tsushima rose from between the rubble.
Even through the haze of dust, Finé—wrapped in light—was clearly visible. She was implying that there was no need for her to hide.
Tsushima executed his own Code and charged at her. She sensed his presence and unleashed a flash of light.
But for some reason, her attack landed just slightly off from where he actually was.
Pushing through the barrage of flashes that grazed his cheek and shoulder, Tsushima finally closed the distance to within arm’s reach of Finé. That’s when she realized he was using heat-induced light refraction.
By applying the principle of a mirage, he had shifted his visible position ever so slightly. Up close, his outline appeared unnaturally distorted—proof of his trick.