Chapter 153: Even If We’re Apart
The first thought that crossed Reicia’s mind was desertion.
In a way, it was convenient that Aleister and Kakine had split off from her. With their paths divided, Aleister could no longer track her movements. Which meant she could pretend to head toward the Right Seat while, in truth, ignoring that front entirely and moving straight to Shiren.
Of course, that would leave Academy Garden to take the full brunt of the Right Seat’s assault. But to Reicia, that was Aleister’s fault. He had been untrustworthy from the very beginning. What sane person would forgive a so-called partner who admitted they intended to sacrifice them just to advance a scheme? Between the world and Shiren, Reicia’s choice was clear. She would choose Shiren without hesitation. And naturally, she believed she could outmaneuver Aleister in an instant.
However—
(If I can’t rely on Aleister or Kakine, that really does mean… Academy Garden’s complete annihilation.)
Even with her unwavering resolve to put Shiren above Academy Garden, if the price was countless innocent lives, the situation changed.
Had Aleister kept the Right Seat occupied, the damage might have been contained—perhaps only a handful of shops destroyed at worst. But without him, that fragile balance collapsed. Choosing Shiren now would mean saving him while knowing countless others would die, forcing him to carry the burden of their sacrifice. That was no different from the mistake Kakine had once made—the very path Reicia had vowed to reject.
And besides—
(…If it were Shiren, he’d tell me to put Academy Garden first, wouldn’t he…)
She had always known that much.
If it were Shiren, he would say, Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you can for the city. Even if she abandoned Academy Garden to choose him, he wouldn’t be angry. On the contrary, he would say things like, “You put me first,” or “I’m sorry for forcing such a heavy choice on you, Reicia-chan,” always putting her feelings above his own.
And then, looking at the ruined streets and the fallen, he would show just the faintest sadness. He would blame himself with thoughts like, If only I had done better, taking on guilt that never belonged to him.
“…That’s impossible.”
The instant she imagined that expression, Reicia froze.
How could she not have realized something so obvious? Shame washed over her at her own foolishness.
“There’s no way I’d ever let that softhearted idiot wear such a face! Isn’t it obvious!? What Reicia Blackguard should be thinking about is protecting the city, protecting Shiren, and standing proud in the end, chest out, declaring, ‘I worked so hard this time!’ That’s the only outcome I’ll accept—and I’ll drag it into reality no matter what!!”
What of the Right Seat of God? What of their angelic spells?
They were nothing but background players in the “true history.” Their leader was the sort of fool who once got run over by a monk and wound up needing an ambulance—what was there to fear? Forward, Left, Rear, it didn’t matter. Whatever blocked her path, she would smash it to pieces and—
“Well, well. What have we here? Something awfully interesting lying around, isn’t it?”
A woman’s voice struck Reicia’s ears like a blow.
“…!!”
She turned—and saw a young woman standing there.
“What’s this? What’s with that pathetic setup? Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? That bastard… insulting me like this.”
But her appearance was bizarre.
The woman, dressed in a yellow one-piece, glared at Reicia with unmasked murderous intent. In her hands, she held a barbed-wire-wrapped hammer, gripped tight and ready for battle.
“So he’s still got more half-baked angels lying around, huh? Aleister Crowley!!”
The Forward of the Wind.
A nightmare of a woman who could suppress every opponent around her simply by existing—stood before her.
Final Chapter – I Don’t Know Anything About Predestination - Theory_"was"_Broken.
Episode 127: Even If We’re Apart - Surprising_Helper.
(Think!!)
Even as Reicia locked eyes with Vento, her mind was elsewhere.
The goal wasn’t to completely crush Vento in battle. That no longer mattered.
What she needed was to neutralize her opponent—just long enough to reach Shiren as quickly as possible. That was the bare minimum required.
(This body has the same composition as Kazakiri’s. Vento herself just confirmed it. A statement from someone adjusted to mimic an “angelic body” carries credibility… Which means, inevitably, I should hold the same potential Kazakiri Hyouka revealed during the Third World War!!)
The ability to stand toe-to-toe with the Archangel Gabriel. If she could awaken that, Vento of the Front would be nothing more than a trifle. It was the only path to the future Reicia sought.
But—
(…There’s no way I could possibly know how to draw that out!!)
From what she knew of the “true history,” Kazakiri Hyouka’s power hadn’t come from her own will. It had only manifested because the circumstances aligned to bring it forth. No matter how determined Reicia was, she couldn’t simply conjure that same output from the Third World War by bracing herself.
And unless she did, she would fail—not only to defeat Vento, but to stop Aleister from reaching Shiren.
…On the other hand, Vento didn’t know about this body’s immortality. And she was clearly fixated on targeting Reicia above all else.
(Feign death, then a surprise attack. That’s my only chance!!)
Of course, even she didn’t know the limits of that immortality. If her body shared the same triangular prism core as Kazakiri’s, then its destruction would almost certainly mean her end.
Even so, doing nothing wasn’t an option. Her opponent was still human. If she refused to give up until the very end, some chance might open.
Just as Reicia steeled her resolve—
BOOM!!
A colossal fist of rubble smashed down between her and Vento.
“…What now? Too many annoyances are piling up—I’m about ready to snap.”
“Well, well. I get an emergency signal from Shiren, and it turns out you’re the one in trouble. Quite a desperate scene, isn’t it?”
With a heavy rumble, the rubble shifted to reveal a figure standing calmly beyond it—
A girl.
Patchworked skin. A school uniform beneath a coat like a lab coat. Even faced with an incomprehensible sorceress, the girl’s composure never wavered.
“Jagged Edge. Need a hand?”
A girl clad in a white, robe-like shroud.
Kuriba Ryouko.
No—more accurately, the Doppelgänger.
It was the natural conclusion.
Shiren hadn’t been sitting idly by while everything collapsed. She, too, was Reicia Blackguard’s other wing. Of course she would move in the face of such an abnormal crisis.
And her greatest asset was the network of bonds she had built. Naturally, those strong allies she had met along the way would answer when she needed them most.
“…What the hell are you? My spell isn’t working on you?”
“Oh, it’s working fine. Kuriba Ryouko is already unconscious, as expected. The exact principle is unclear, but as for me—I’m not human. I’m a collective of microorganisms.”
—A microorganism-based spring-type computer.
As a slime mold intelligence, the Doppelgänger lay outside the scope of the “Divine Punishment” spell. If Shiren had called upon Kuriba, she must have already accounted for that.
“Then I’ll leave this place to you!”
“…What? No, we should fight togeth—”
“It’s fine! On its own, that one’s not much!!”
Ignoring the baffled Doppelgänger, Reicia bolted forward without hesitation.
The Doppelgänger blinked, momentarily caught off guard. But events pressed on regardless.
“Ahaha! Don’t tell me—you were abandoned? So the fallen angel bastard really is a cruel, coldhearted piece of trash, just like he deserves. And you, demon—you’re nothing but a blasphemous scum who’s desecrated life itself! Do me a favor and let me crush you right here!!”
Rattle-rattle-rattle!!
From Vento’s mouth slithered a chain-like tongue tipped with a cross. She lashed it about as she shouted, sneering at the existence before her.
“Filthy heretics beneath even humanity!! How far are you going to mock us before you’re satisfied?!!!”
KRA-BOOM!!
“I see… so the focus really is off.”
Even when shards of compressed air flew from the hammer’s swing, the Doppelgänger didn’t flinch.
──No.
The strike had been completely stopped, swallowed in the palm of a pure-white hand that emerged from the ground.
“……What the hell is that?”
“Is it really something to wonder about? I told you already—it’s a colony of microorganisms. Of course, I’ve done some selective breeding, mixing in traits from parasitic fungi that control insects and primates that grow muscle tissue simply through breathing.”
There was no hint of emotion in the Doppelgänger’s face as she explained her research. Instead, it carried the proud, measured composure of someone confident in her intellect—the unmistakable mark of a researcher. Vento, however, spat back:
“So even the brats in this city wear the face of researchers, huh.”
“Naturally. I am a researcher, after all.”
Vento cut the conversation short, swinging her hammer again. One shot, two, three—shards of wind released in rapid succession. The Doppelgänger slid through the air to evade, carried by the invisible slime mold she controlled. Though unseen to the naked eye, the entire area was already webbed with her mold.
“……So the hammer’s movement is just a bluff, and the shards themselves are generated by its swing.”
Then, staring intently at Vento, the Doppelgänger spoke in a flat, expressionless tone:
“……Hah?”
“The hammer generates the air masses, while the chains from your tongue determine their firing vectors. That’s your ability, isn’t it? The control method is closer to that of an Aeromaster than an Aerohand. You’re manipulating vectors at the scale of fluid dynamics.”
“……Shut up.”
Vento’s glare snapped back:
“Don’t you dare explain my spells with science!!”
BOOM!!
The floating wind shards scattered like buckshot, raining down on the Doppelgänger. By giving multiple vectors to the air masses generated by her hammer, Vento had turned them into a deliberately spread-out attack. Each shard carried enough force to pierce rubble. On top of that—
“I’ll destroy the whole damn city. Just now, you wrapped your defense around my attack, didn’t you? That means even collateral damage counts as a loss condition for you.”
“……You’d target innocent civilians?”
“Innocent? Ha!! They wallow in their precious, precious science, living easy on the sacrifices buried beneath it—and you’re telling me they’re innocent? That makes them criminals already. They’re my enemies, every last one of them!!”
With a sneer, Vento swung her hammer again. Countless transparent air masses scattered like billiard balls across the field.
──And the truth was, Vento’s deduction wasn’t wrong.
The Doppelgänger was here on Shiren’s orders. Being a microorganism colony, she lay outside the scope of Vento’s “Divine Punishment” spell. She had been deployed as a wild card: “Even if you can’t defeat Vento, just keep her tied down and minimize the damage to the city.”
(If I recall… her ability—what Shiren calls a ‘spell’—paralyzes hostile humans, restricting their actions according to the degree of their hostility.)
That explained why Kuriba had fallen so quickly. But for the Doppelgänger, it worked as an advantage—removing combat-unsuited personalities early.
The real problem lay with “the other properties.”
(I’ve confirmed the wind-control spell Shiren mentioned. I understand its principles. But… the defensive spell—that’s the problem.)
When the request had been given, Shiren had provided a brief lecture on the enemy’s capabilities, including the appearance of “Vento up ahead” and the powers she wielded. The real danger, however, was the so-called “defensive spell that could withstand even an anti-tank gun without a scratch.” Shiren hadn’t understood the precise mechanics either, only speculating it might involve wind. Either way, there was no reason to think simple rubble-smashing could break through.
That was why Shiren had said, “It’s enough just to stall her.”
RATATATATATA-BOOOOM!!!
A thunderous chain of explosions roared as countless wind shards struck. The blasts were so violent it sounded like fireworks detonating point-blank—noise fierce enough to be lethal. Yet—despite it all—the cityscape remained intact.
“……What… the hell?”
The brick houses, reminiscent of a European town, had survived even a strike from one of God’s Right Seat.
Vento blinked, disbelief etched on her face. Then, a slick, sliding motion as if the scenery glitched—something thin and white peeled away from the buildings.
“This much output is enough to match a Level 5 esper’s strike. Against a scattered area attack with diluted power, all I need is to manipulate the mycelium I’ve already spread throughout the field.”
“Tch…!! What a pain!! But with this much racket, the foolish brats who gorged themselves on peace will notice! Once they do, the damage accelerates on its own. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten—that alone is enough for me to achieve my goal!?”
“……Ah, that’s right. Honestly, what a troublesome ability you carry…”
Shrrrk-shrrrk.
Grasping a spear of mycelium rising from the ground, the Doppelgänger said:
“Rest easy. I’ve already calculated one hundred million, thirty-four thousand and eight separate ways to kill you at this point.”
And then—
From the brickwork streets, a sudden alabaster tidal wave surged forth, crashing down on one of God’s Right Seat.
Comments (2)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.