Pendragon's Infinity Gauntlet

Page 193

Tyr suddenly grabbed the collar of the Cleansing God who was running beside him. Because he was being pulled over, the Cleansing God had no choice but to stop. Ignoring the Cleansing God's violent coughing, Tyr said:

"...I was tricked."

"Cough! What... what are you doing, you idiot!"

"Even if Oriana discovers he's being pursued by reverse detection magic, he probably doesn't know exactly 'how far to run.' In this situation, there's no way to devise a strategy for where to escape. So what should he do? He should get the answer soon."

"Hey."

Jing Shen had a bad feeling.

The unnaturally interrupted call and Tsuchimikado's shouts lingered in my ears inexplicably.

"Just as you imagined, the purification of the gods and the extermination of demons. In order to escape the reverse detection, Oriana chose to shorten the distance instead of widening it... Destroying Tsuchimikado, the center point of the spell, is also one of the conditions for victory."

"Wait a minute, could it be...!?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of. There's a high chance he went to Tsuchimikado's side."

"We need to hurry! That guy barely managed to use magic, and now his body is completely mangled! Where is Tsuchimikado right now!?"

How could I possibly know?

In response to the cries of the God of Purification, Tyre told the truth.

Then she added another sentence.

"That's why I'm looking for it now."

-

"quack……!?"

Haruka Tsuchimikado bounced two or three times on the marble-like pavement before tumbling to the ground. Her phone slipped from her hand with the impact and crashed violently into a nearby pillar.

She was located in the connecting passageway between the underground shopping malls. The passageway, about eight meters wide, stretched for one hundred meters. Because a famous underground shopping mall nearby served as a shortcut, there were almost no people here, including employees. In the very center of the passageway, a large pillar divided the north and south sides, and the dark corners of the pillars were blind spots for surveillance cameras.

The automatic bus that Tsuchimikado was on was unable to proceed due to the 10-kilometer race, so she hurriedly found a secluded spot and began exploring the magical "Four Arrays of Reason"...

A rustling sound came from behind.

The map of the "Four Formations of Reason" that she made on the ground was trampled by someone's foot and scattered in all directions.

"Don't be so careless. Use your connection with me to find me. On the contrary, you seem to have forgotten that I, your older brother, can also sense you. Hey, girls who act presumptuously will be disliked by others, you know?"

A playful tone.

An opponent who also possesses astonishingly powerful strength.

Oriana Townsend.

Unlike before, he had changed out of his work clothes and was wearing a well-tailored suit, looking like a nobleman about to attend a banquet.

He fiddled with the word cards through which the thin metal rings passed.

"Of all the people I've met so far, you seem to be the clearest-headed, and also the one with the most dangerous thoughts. So I've come here to deal with you."

"Tsk..."

Tsuchimikado left the central pillar of the passageway and stood up.

If you don't know whether the opponent's attack can be prevented by cover, walls and pillars will become obstacles to movement.

"...Just obediently hand over the 'Apostolic Cross' to me, then surrender with Lidovia and everything will be fine. Or do you want to become a mollusk with broken bones?"

"Ah, even if you tell me you're not interested in hitting people, big brother, I also like more exciting games. Then I'll keep you company until your back breaks."

Chapter 345 The Battle of the Magicians

Chapter 345

Orian replied cheerfully, but then began measuring the distance to Tsuchimikado. Tsuchimikado gritted his teeth in dismay at Orian's precise positioning.

(Jing Shen and the others...)

Blood gradually seeped from her temples to her sides, and from her hands and feet. This wasn't caused by Oriana's attack, but rather by her body's natural tendency to reject magic.

(...I can't rely on them. Although the hike takes about ten minutes, I didn't tell them the specific location. Besides, I chose a place where no one would come.)

She gently clenched her fingers and then released them, trying not to let Oriana notice. Perhaps due to the internal damage, her movements were as clumsy as a puppet whose strings were about to snap. Although it's true that one can't always exert their full strength in actual combat... a situation like this, where a moment of carelessness could lead to immediate collapse, was also terrible. A sense of anxiety could be felt beneath her calm demeanor.

Even so—

"How could we get out of here..."

Tsuchimikado wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared straight ahead.

"...Give up?"

She applied pressure to her ten fingers, which looked somewhat out of place.

"Tyr was attacked by a counter-attack spell while chasing Oriana. The Goddess suffered an undeserved calamity because of the Anglican Church."

She clenched her fists in one breath.

"How could I retreat? I lured them into this battlefield; how could I escape unscathed! No matter how dire the situation, no matter if I'm covered in blood, it doesn't matter. I absolutely cannot waste the kindness of those idiots who trusted me, this traitor, and helped me!!"

A fierce will ignited in his eyes, behind the sunglasses.

"...'Stab in the back'—remember, that's my magic name."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Oriana's lips.

As a fellow magician, he knew the will of the woman who gave her name.

"Hehe, then it would be too impolite of me not to reveal my magic name, big brother."

Oriana's eyes showed a serious expression.

That was his nature as a magician.

“My name is ‘The Foundation Bearer’… Since I have declared this, I must achieve victory. Such completeness is the proper respect due to your will.”

Tsuchimikado did not answer.

Oriana remained silent.

It's as if starting the battle as early as possible is the greatest respect one can show to the "enemy".

The two magicians clashed fiercely in an instant.

Haruka Tsuchimikado shortened the ten-meter distance to zero in one go.

During this time, Oriana Townsend held a word card in her mouth and bit it off.

Several thick ropes appeared in the void and wrapped around his hands. The ropes intertwined and wrapped around his arms like a net used in obstacle course walking.

Before Oriana could use the net, Tsuchimikado threw a punch.

Anticipating that her initial right punch might be blocked, she feigned aiming for the chest and, with her opponent's arm immobilized, unleashed a series of left hooks, attempting to shatter the defensive wrist first. Simultaneously, Tsuchimikado stomped hard on Oriana's toes with his shoe. This was a tactic to dismantle the enemy's limbs in one fell swoop, depriving them of all mobility.

but,

As if he had understood her intentions from the start, Oriana stepped back with his right foot, which was being targeted, and blocked Tsuchimikado's first punch with only his arm. He used the impact of the punch and the balance lost from stepping back to fall backward and create distance.

Tsuchimikado's left fist, which he intended to use to shatter the wrist, missed its mark.

Oriana, leaning his back against the ground, swung his right hand, which was wrapped in a rope net.

A gust of wind swept up.

Within the mesh formed by the ropes, there was a flow of air, like bubbles being blown.

But instead of soapy water bubbles, what appeared were sharp blades capable of sending rocks flying.

"!!"

Nearly twenty blades came hurtling towards Tsuchimikado.

Faced with a barrage of bullets spread out like a shotgun blast, Tsuchimikado leaped to the side and lay prone on the ground to avoid them. Behind her, countless pillars were knocked down, several fluorescent lights on the ceiling hurtled towards her, advertisements and building materials pasted on the walls were flipped up, and the marble floor was turned upside down as if it had been tilled.

Tsuchimikado didn't get up; her limbs were flat on the floor as she pounced on Oriana like a wild beast. At close range, this would shorten the time required to get up and run.

"Haha, big brother, I don't dislike this kind of wild, youthful energy!!"

With her back against the floor, Oriana couldn't dodge and unleashed a flying kick to meet the attack. Tsuchimikado grabbed her ankle with her right hand and her calf with her left. If she could bend her ankle at a right angle, she would gain the upper hand.

"call!!"

Just as Tsuchimikado was about to bend his ankle and inhale, Oriana, before being completely restrained, used his ankle as a fulcrum to turn around with all his might. Then, with his other free leg, he kicked Tsuchimikado in the face like a hammer.

"Gah... Ahh!!"

Tsuchimikado rolled forcefully to the left.

Oriana got up and tore off the word card with her mouth.

An invisible force, released from his hands, surged towards Tsuchimikado, who had fallen to the ground. Tsuchimikado, in a sudden twist of his body, leaped high before slamming his back against the wall. Strange cracking sounds emanated from his body, and his mouth tasted of blood.

"asshole!"

Tsuchimikado kept jumping to the side to dodge Orianna's barrage of light projectiles. The basketball-sized white sphere crashed into the wall and exploded, the shockwave hitting Tsuchimikado's body and sending him crashing to the floor again.

Tsuchimikado, who had collapsed on the path, slowly got up.

He wiped the blood from his lips and calmly analyzed the situation:

"Although it was only a beat slower, the movement... was indeed sluggish... If it were me normally, I would have broken one or two bones by now...!"

"Hmm? Your approach is to avoid using magic as much as possible? Never mind, I don't want to interfere with other people's lifestyles... but if you do that, you'll die."

Oriana said, looking rather bored, pressing the corner of the word card to her soft lips.

"If this is your strength, you definitely won't be able to dodge the next attack. If this is all the determination you have to show your magic name, then I'm not going to play with you any longer."

He seemed to be lamenting how quickly the results had been determined.

It's like putting in a lot of effort to prepare for an exam, only to find that the important questions are too easy, making you feel like all the hard work you've put in so far has been wasted.

"...It would be foolish to expect external help at this point. I've also devised a strategy to disperse our forces. This underground passage is now protected by a barrier, so no one will want to approach it, nor will they sense anything strange. The situation inside won't be transmitted to the outside. Not only can it conceal the flow of magic and magical actions, but even the occasional elements of the sixth sense will be dulled—even professional magicians won't be able to get close to this place so easily."

Chapter 346 Playing with Psychology

Chapter 346

"..."

Tsuchimikado looked up when he heard these words.

I felt that something was off about what they just said, but what exactly was it that bothered me? Even if there were some contradictions, my slow-witted mind couldn't grasp them. They were just things the enemy said, possibly a threat or a piece of false information intended to create confusion.

"So you'll be defeated right here. I'll make you regret this. You dare to give me your magic name with such a low level of awareness?"

He said so.

Oriana Townsend tore apart the word card she was biting with her teeth in one go.

Like pulling the pin on a grenade.

"……what to do?"

Oriana's word cards floated to the ground.

"Judging from the extent of my injuries, my body can't perform another spell. But even if I wanted to use the 'Red Magic Formula,' there's no time to chant it now!"

As the word card touched the ground, a metal pillar suddenly shot out from the floor next to Oriana. The pentagonal metal pillar, about one meter in diameter, shot straight toward the ceiling.

(In that case, under these circumstances, if we want to deliver the biggest blow to Orian…! Damn it, we have to catch up! We have to catch up!)

Tsuchimikado pulled a shikishi (a type of colored paper) from his blood-stained gym uniform.

With the speed of a precision machine, she quickly folded the already crumpled paper.

"Everything begins with this signal! Accompanied by dazzling light and a sharp sound!!"

"too late."

As soon as he finished speaking, the huge iron pillar shattered like an ice sculpture.

The storm, which had transformed into thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of millions of sharp fragments, surged towards Tsuchimikado Haruka as if trying to bury the path. It felt as if it wanted to stuff this tiny human being, Tsuchimikado Haruka, into a giant cannon and bombard her.

The sound of insects reached my ears a little later.

(You absolutely have to come—!!)