Chapter 139: True Power
"Oh? So you really were on the move."
It happened the moment we stepped out of the hospital.
Just as we passed through the main gate, we ran straight into a boy. Short-cropped brown hair, wearing a grin sharp enough to cut.
Kihara Souji.
And as expected, UAVs and several floating masses of water hovered around him.
…Yeah, this was obviously an ambush. He had planned to strike me down while I was stuck in the hospital. Just imagining the Kihara clan lying in wait indoors with their perfect setup sends a chill down my spine… Wait, so Souji had already seen through Nayuta and the others’ plan to hold back Reicia Blackguard? Of course he had. Someone like him would see through that kind of ploy.
And judging by the way he spoke, he had already factored it in: "Sure, Nayuta and her group will stick to that policy, but we’ll just ignore it and move." …Great.
"Mr. Touma."
"…Ah."
At our call, Touma immediately turned and sprinted off in another direction.
Makes sense. If the two of us stuck together, Souji’s unknown attacks could wipe us out in one strike. Whether it was electricity or water currents, Touma was the worst possible matchup. And more importantly—
"…This is my revenge match. I don’t want any excuses like 'I won thanks to Touma’s power' polluting it."
"Hah! That’s exactly the attitude I expect from a Level 5 esper!"
With Souji’s delighted shout, we discreetly scattered the sand we had hidden in our pocket.
"What!?"
A barrage of violet sparks burst from the UAVs.
The same electrical discharge that had triggered the sprinklers during the last fight. Strong enough to knock a human unconscious—but not when the air was already filled with impurities like sand. That weakened its effect.
"If you really wanted to end this without giving me any chance to counterattack, your best bet was to knock me out instantly with electricity. …Did you honestly think I wouldn’t anticipate something so basic and boring?"
The truth is, countering Jagged Edge is always a razor-thin gamble. The cracks it unleashes travel faster than the speed of sound. If the opening strike fails, it’s Souji who risks losing his UAVs and being cornered.
It’s true: Jagged Edge has no real defense against that first strike. Invisible cracks or black-and-white cracks—it doesn’t matter. Precise electrical control, even down to static electricity, renders them useless. And since the debris and airflow born from the cracks can’t block electricity either, they’re no help.
But our options aren’t limited to just firing Jagged Edge. If victory depends on the opening instant, then preparing a "trick" to survive that instant is only natural.
Which means—
"Looks like your electricity fizzled out."
And that instant, that single instant, was enough—enough to unleash the cracks and obliterate every last UAV!!!
CRRRRRRRAAASHHHHH!!!
Black-and-white cracks raced across the air, shredding every UAV circling Souji. The electromagnetic interference caused the hovering water masses to burst and scatter in every direction.
By deliberately cutting through even the dust cloud, we nullified his counter with static control. For the moment, his entire hand had been swept away.
…Of course, if he could be beaten this easily, Nayuta would never have said "absolutely impossible to win." Which meant he was still hiding something.
"Now then. If you’ve got nothing else, this fight’s over. …Care to tell me what your goal is?"
"……Heh. Pretty smug, aren’t you?"
Souji’s grin didn’t falter.
Something’s wrong. He has to have another card. But what kind of move could overturn this situation…? Either way, there’s no need to wait for him to attack. Better to take to the air, out of range, and unravel his tricks one by one.
Thinking that, we spread the black-and-white cracks like wings and rose into the sky. We had climbed barely three meters when it happened—
Masses of water slipped right through the cracks and rushed at us.
"What!?"
"Hahahahahahaha!! Feeling triumphant, are you!? Smashing every flashy toy I paraded in front of you!! Since water manipulation was run through those gadgets, you thought all danger was gone!!"
"Ghh—glub!?"
Water wrapped around our mouth and nose, choking off our breathing. The classic close-quarters tactic of water manipulation.
And—it was only then, after being struck, that realization hit. Those UAVs… they were probably decoys! I should have questioned it from the start! Could mere dozens of UAVs really generate electromagnetic waves refined enough for that level of water control? Obviously not! His reach must extend much farther. For example—microscopic machines invisible to the naked eye. Nanomachines that emit electromagnetic signals under his command.
(Damn it!! The UAVs were just there to launch counter-shocks against Jagged Edge! The real water manipulation was controlled by nanomachines!! He anticipated we’d brace for electricity, and then struck at the mental opening that would come after our counter-plan!!)
I ground my teeth in frustration—but it still wasn’t fatal.
Breathing was an urgent problem, sure—but nanomachines weren’t a true enemy to us. With airflow manipulation, we could blow them away easily. Clear the field, and his water control would falter too. First, recover our balance from that disrupted flight—
That was the plan as I willed the cracks to move.
But—
"Glub—ghhh!?"
The cracks didn’t extend.
No—worse. They were unraveling on their own, slipping from my control!? Wh-what the hell!?
"Ghh—gaaahhh!!"
A violent gust slammed into us as the cracks dissolved, hurling us into a brutal tumble across the ground. The impact knocked us partly free of the water—but not completely.
Without high-speed movement from airflow manipulation, we were nothing more than a normal middle school girl with a bit of stamina. There was no way we could outrun those living water currents.
"Reicia!!"
I had no choice but to change tactics.
If our ability was being jammed, then the only option was to close the distance. Otherwise, we’d just be whittled down to nothing. So I seized control of the body, left analysis to Reicia, and dashed forward—
"Ah…!?"
On the very first step, our foot caught.
It wasn’t interference. It was clumsy, like tripping over your own feet during an unfamiliar dance.
"Ahh…!"
We collapsed awkwardly to the ground. And that’s when I noticed something wrong—not with the battlefield, but with Reicia’s body itself.
…Her heart was pounding out of control.
Not just that. Her whole body was trembling. Her fingertips numb, her skin slick with cold sweat. And then—
《No, no no no nooooooo!!》
Reicia had fallen into a full-blown panic.
"Judging from that reaction, I’d say my theory was right after all," Souji said, grinning like a scientist confirming data.
"You keep talking about rebirth and all that, but at the end of the day, she’s still just a fourteen-year-old girl. You can’t erase a suicide attempt’s trauma so easily! Which is why I was certain—it had to still be there, buried in her heart! A trauma of drowning!!"
…Reicia had thrown herself into the river.
And she hadn’t lost consciousness instantly. No—she had felt the water flooding her lungs, choking her, until she finally blacked out. She had chosen that death, knowing it would kill her—and still it was painful, unbearable—enough to make her regret it. She had time to feel all of that.
Trauma like that doesn’t just vanish, no matter how strong your comeback is. Which meant that if she was hit with the same stimulus again, she’d crack in an instant.
Still, I don’t mean to say Reicia is weak. She never had problems during school swim classes, or while taking baths. …But if you asked whether she had truly overcome the suffocating terror of water flooding her airway—well, that was still uncertain.
And right now, that uncertainty was real.
We were a wreck. Reicia’s panic made our body unmanageable, and with half our mental processing locked down, our ability couldn’t function properly. Forcing it now would only risk her terror pushing the power out of control—and exploding.
…I get it now. We underestimated Souji.
The counter he had prepared for Jagged Edge’s electronic vibrations was only one piece. His true aim was always the water manipulation he flaunted.
He’d thought it through. Not just Jagged Edge—but Reicia Blackguard herself. He had prepared specifically to surpass us. And we misread that. That’s why we’re backed into this corner.
"…Tch!!"
The water current caught us again. It clung to our mouth and nose, feeding Reicia’s hysteria. Still, I forced our body to stagger upright. …We had to stand. If we couldn’t stand, we couldn’t fight.
Souji’s strategy had gouged open Reicia’s trauma in the cruelest way. But strangely, I felt no anger toward him.
Souji had thought seriously, fought seriously, to find a way past us. Yes, it was ruthless. But in a real battle, complaining about that would be nothing but disgraceful.
…Which is why—if anything—I was angry at Reicia.
Final Chapter: As If Turning the Whole World Into an Enemy – Are_You_Ready?
Episode 113: True Power – The_Way_So_Far.
SMACK!!
I slapped her across the cheek, hard.
The sharp pain cut through the suffocating pressure for just a moment, blanking Reicia’s mind.
I seized that instant to shout, forcing my words into her.
《What kind of pathetic sight are you showing me, Reicia Blackguard!!!》
It might have looked like we were gliding down on the air current, but it was still a fall from three meters. On top of that, her panic had dragged my breathing into chaos. We didn’t have much time left—just a few seconds before we both blacked out from lack of oxygen.
No—our consciousness was already slipping, ready to cut out at any moment. I held on through sheer willpower and spoke. Not just as myself, but as someone who had helped build the person known as Reicia Blackguard.
《Yes, the terror you felt back then… the pain… it may still remain deep inside you. But!! To flail so disgracefully over something so trifling—what are you doing!!》
…I knew. I knew how cruel it was to say that.
Because it was painful. That despair was a darkness too heavy for anyone to bear alone. The only reason she had managed to stand again was because I had been with her.
But I hadn’t just leaned on her. She leaned on me too, in the places where she was unsteady and couldn’t move forward alone.
I’d known that for a long time. And still… and still!!
《Don’t you dare forget who stands beside you, not over something this petty!!》
Was the partner at your side really so worthless that you could forget me this easily…!?
Despair too great to carry alone—we endured it together. And together, we had turned toward hope. You were the one who saved me that way, Reicia. You, yourself.
So if you forget that, if you let yourself be shaken by such a shallow trick, then I—I have to be angry. As someone who shares the name Reicia Blackguard. As someone who knows the worth of rising again.
《Or are you saying the path we’ve walked together amounts to less than this cheap deception?》
《……My apologies. I’ve shown you such a shameful sight, Shiren.》
Reicia smiled faintly as she said it. And then—
WHOOSH!!!
A fierce wind blasted through, and the mass of water clinging to our airways crashed to the ground.
It wasn’t the water itself she blew away. She scattered the nanomachines controlling it, stripping the water of its obedience.
With nothing left choking our lungs, we gasped desperately. Even though it had only been a dozen seconds or so, it felt like we had been suffocating for an eternity.
“Haa… haah…! Haah…!”
“Well, well. So it was you, Mr. Shiren? What a miscalculation on my part. I didn’t factor in the influence of your double persona, Square Face. Driving one persona into panic only for the other to restore your mental state… yes, that risk was always there.”
With his hand on his chin, Souji spoke as if observing the behavior of a lab animal.
I doubted that was his only trick. He had at least one or two more prepared—enough to overwhelm us completely. That’s why he could still afford such smug composure.
…Honestly, if he hit us with two more ambushes like that—tricks we couldn’t anticipate—I wasn’t sure we could hold out. Between the electric shock earlier and the drowning just now, our stamina was already draining fast. Even now, I felt like if I didn’t force my will to stay sharp, my knees would buckle.
Sensing all of that, Souji’s smile twisted cruelly as he spoke.
“…Feeling discouraged already, are we? Don’t worry. I’ve got five cards left in my hand. Just five more traps like the one you survived, and then—finally—you’ll face me with no tricks at all.”
“…Five cards.”
That was a despair-inducing truth.
No, maybe he was bluffing to break our spirits. But if he really did have five trump cards left, there was no way we could win. Especially if one of them countered our airflow control—that would be brutal.
“Heh, so you’re ready to give up at last? Honestly, I don’t want to hurt Ms. Blackguard too much. If you’d just surrender and turn yourselves over, it’d make things much easier for me.”
But—
“You may think that defeating ‘us’ means you’ve already beaten Reicia Blackguard, but—”
I smoothly raised a finger—not at Souji himself, but at the presence behind him.
“‘Reicia Blackguard’ has never once fought alone. Not like you—utterly, pathetically alone.”
An evil smile twisted my lips.
Souji had poured everything into this. He had tailored his strategy specifically to counter Reicia Blackguard’s parameters. His preparation was meticulous. Compared to that, the effort we had put into this battle couldn’t even compare. Of course we couldn’t win head-on.
But that wasn’t the only way a fight could be decided. There was no rule saying it had to be a one-on-one duel with Souji.
“…Good grief. This is exactly why I told you to leave it to others and rest. Our queen really is hopelessly stubborn.”
“Yeah, yeah, like you weren’t dying to jump in. What was it again—Baba?”
“Shut up, Imagine Breaker! Don’t call me that!!”
Behind Souji stood the spiky-haired boy we had just parted ways with—Kamijou Touma.
And alongside him, the quadrupedal robots controlled by Baba—ten units of T:GD.
“…Reinforcements, huh.”
“The growth we’ve gained through recovery and struggle—that by itself might not be much. You could prepare countermeasures and shut us down completely. But… the bonds we’ve forged along the way? That’s not something you can handle alone.”
Souji never gave up, right to the very end.
And so—what clashed was Kihara, who had devoted everything to sealing away a single Level 5 esper, against a Level 5 who could wield powers beyond his own through the strength of others.
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