Chapter 163: A New Predicament
"Hmm… it seems the situation is progressing more or less smoothly."
The silver-haired ‘human’ muttered with a smirk, glancing at a pad device he produced from nowhere.
"Kihara Hasuu, infiltrating as Drencher Kihara Repatri, clashed with Oumi Shuri—who happened to be present by chance—and was taken down. His subordinate cyborg, Ladybird, was captured by Oumi… Hmph. That ‘anti-common-sense’ streak of his was useful, but he was becoming difficult to manage anyway. Perhaps it’s just as well."
"...What are you looking at?"
"Hm? Ah, Vento ahead was defeated. I’m simply reassessing the situation as a whole. Oh—this is interesting. The Spark Signal Response Unit, Block, and Shundou Shunzo have started working together. Hahaha… what a delightful gathering of rebels we have here."
"That’s not something to laugh about at all, is it!?"
Aleister chuckled as if enjoying a private joke, but Reicia knew all those names—Spark Signal, Block, Shundou Shunzo.
Each one was a notorious criminal, secretly scheming to overthrow Aleister. Any one of them alone was dangerous, but if all three had joined forces at this moment… it was a full-blown crisis. Reicia’s thoughts ran cold. They were already dealing with God’s Right Seat—now this? Practically checkmate.
Her attention snapped back when something caught her eye.
"...The Vento ahead… was defeated?"
One of the three members of God’s Right Seat had been repelled.
"Indeed. It seems someone managed it."
"I see… It must have been the Doppelgänger, yes? I didn’t expect that one to be so strong…"
"No, not quite. The Doppelgänger did participate, but the main credit goes to Shiren Blackguard. Kihara Souji also contributed significantly."
"What…!?"
Reicia’s eyes widened at Aleister’s casual explanation.
From what she knew, the situation was shifting far too rapidly. Not only had the Doppelgänger been involved, but Shiren—whose malice had been provoked by Kihara Amata—had teamed up with Kihara Souji, who was deeply tied to the same Amata, to defeat Vento? Their factions were supposed to be enemies, yet the outcome completely favored Aleister.
"Kihara Amata may have stirred Shiren’s aggression," Aleister remarked offhandedly, "but he couldn’t fully corrupt her inherent goodness."
"But that makes this both good news and bad news. Her own goodness strengthens her through the allies she’s gained along the way. Yet now, she is also being driven by the malice Amata injected into her—and that malice is aimed at us. Do you understand what that means?"
"...That we may have to face our former allies as enemies. Is that what you’re implying?"
Reicia’s expression darkened.
For her, it meant fighting the comrades she once trusted and fought alongside. Her heart felt heavy—but she had made her choice. No matter what, she would save Shiren.
(My comrades aren’t so narrow-minded that they wouldn’t understand my resolve. Because I believe in the bonds we share, I can fight without hesitation.)
Slowly, sharpening her will, Reicia steeled herself for the coming clash against her former companions.
"...Ah, but… while it’s somewhat reassuring that Shiren’s engaging the Right Seat, what about those rebels? At this rate, even if we repel God’s Right Seat, won’t Academy City just fall into their hands? That seems like a very real possibility."
Reicia voiced a perfectly reasonable concern. Aleister responded smoothly:
"There’s no need to worry. My subordinate is already handling it—"
Then he dropped a bombshell.
"Kamijou Touma is on his way to the scene. It seems those fools dragged an innocent girl into their rebellion."
"Then we’re going in too!! There’s no way this doesn’t spiral straight into the center of every incident—including the Right Seat’s mess!!"
Final Chapter: I Don’t Believe in Predestination - Theory_"was"_Broken.
Episode 137: A New Predicament - Not_Over_Yet.
Hamazura and Frenda drove through the night, Shiren in the back seat, fleeing from Terra and Acqua.
"…Thank you, Hamazura-san, Frenda-san. Your timing was perfect," Shiren said with a relieved sigh.
"Well, I still owe you for that thing with Bisai and Komaba," Hamazura replied casually. "Helping out a bit is the least I can do."
The truth was, Hamazura and Frenda were among the allies Shiren had reached out to. Back during the Doppelgänger incident, Reicia and Frenda had reconciled and exchanged contact info—classic Frenda, with her impeccable social agility.
Had Reicia been here, she probably would have scolded Shiren for turning to a member of ITEM, a known dark-side organization. But now wasn’t the time to be picky. The world was collapsing; they had to use every asset available—even if it came from the enemy’s ranks.
What Shiren had asked of them was simple: gather intel and, if necessary, assist with her mobility. She hadn’t known that Jagged Edge—her power—would become unusable, but she had anticipated the chance that AIM jammers or other interference might disable her abilities.
In a situation like this, people like Hamazura and Frenda—both Level 0s with strong morals and real combat experience—were precisely the support she needed. And now, with Jagged Edge sealed and less than two hours left on her clock, their “ride” was her lifeline.
"………"
Shiren’s gaze stayed tense on the dark road ahead. Hamazura noticed and teased her lightly.
"What’s wrong? Worried about getting chased? Relax. Those guys picked fights with every thug and hero in this city. They’ve got their hands full cleaning up that mess. Chasing us is the last thing on their minds."
"It’s them I’m worried about," Shiren said earnestly.
"My guess is their primary targets aren’t just Aleister Crowley or Academy City’s core—they’re after me and Touma-san too. Given my actions, it’s only natural. I’m not naïve enough to say something saintly like ‘I don’t want to involve anyone else’… but still…"
"Feeling guilty for letting others handle the danger while you run?" Hamazura snapped. "You don’t get it, do you, Miss Saint? You’ve still got that ‘strongest wins’ mindset stuck in your head."
As Shiren hesitated, Hamazura nodded toward his partner in the passenger seat. Frenda, lounging casually, grinned.
"Who ever said running away means you’ve given up the fight?"
The words hit Shiren like a paradigm shift.
"I heard from that guy of yours—Baba, right? He said your esper power’s out of commission, but you’ve got some weird new ability now. What was it again?"
"Result Twister—a strange ability that makes any malicious act fail through sound alone. That’s all it does."
"Yeah, that!" Frenda snapped her fingers at Shiren.
Shiren hadn’t shared much about Result Twister, but Baba had filled them in. Her allies were clearly coordinating behind the scenes.
Frenda leaned in, her mischievous smile turning serious.
"Then stop clinging to that Level 5, ‘strongest of the strong’ mentality already. Weak ones don’t stand still. They don’t fight head-on. They run, they crawl, they scrape together every last piece that might lead to victory. It’s ugly, it’s desperate—but that’s how you win the game of tag called life."
She flashed a daring grin. "In the end, if you’re the one laughing last, that’s all that matters."
Hamazura chuckled. "Besides, I bet those guys fighting the Right Seat would be pissed if they heard you acting like you dragged them into this. They’d tell you, ‘Screw that. We jumped in ‘cause we wanted to!’"
"……You’re right," Shiren murmured, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Hamazura’s confident smirk and Frenda’s fearless grin eased her heart. The enemy’s target might be her or Touma, but everyone fighting had chosen to be here. Trying to shoulder all the blame would be arrogance. Touma especially would’ve yelled that at her—with three times the conviction.
What she needed to do wasn’t wallow in guilt, but thank those standing up to the Right Seat and focus on a plan to defeat them.
"Besides," Hamazura added, "those Right Seat guys don’t seem to be working as a team."
He gestured at the car’s roof.
"This roof? Wrecked by that green monk-looking guy. But he was working solo. They might’ve come here for the same goal, sure, but they’re not in sync on how to get it done."
"Yeah," Frenda nodded. "The musclehead one seemed to avoid fights, but the green guy? Total ‘smash everything in sight’ type. Seriously, what are those guys supposed to be anyway?"
"I see… so that’s the situation," Shiren said, nodding.
"──The green monk who attacked you two before is Terra of the Left. He’s an esper from outside Academy City with ‘Execution of Light,’ an ability that lets him change the priority of physical matter. He can even swing flour around like it’s a blade."
"No wonder he didn’t get scratched after taking a missile head-on."
Frenda clapped once, acknowledging her understanding.
"But the more troublesome one is the other guy. Acqua of the Back. He has a rare condition known as ‘Dual Saint,’ letting him move faster than the speed of sound with his bare body… basically close to a Level 5 esper."
"What the hell…? A car like this won’t even slow him down—he could catch us in seconds!"
"Yes. The only reason we aren’t cornered is that the city’s heroes and villains are attacking them, forcing them to deal with that chaos. Even so, I don’t know how long that balance will last."
The threat was immense. In ten minutes or less, the local fighters would be wiped out or shaken off. Once that happened, Shiren’s group—just a handful of powerless Level 0s—would have no way to resist someone moving at supersonic speed.
(…It really hurts that Kakine was taken out back there… Damn it, if only I’d done better…)
Cursing inwardly, Shiren refocused. The lack of coordination between Acqua and Terra was a rare advantage.
Terra of the Left had been killed by Acqua of the Back in the “correct” history. Considering the practical use of Execution of Light, Acqua likely knew about Terra’s human sacrifices. Camaraderie between them? Nearly impossible.
(…Best plan: separate them and take them out one by one. Start with Terra. But how!? Execution of Light is a monster, on par with the Divine Punishment Spell. Taking him down instantly? Impossible. Acqua’s interference is inevitable…)
Suddenly, Hamazura hit the brakes.
The car jolted to a stop. Frenda leaned back, smirking at Shiren.
"Still overthinking it, huh?"
Terra of the Left and Acqua of the Back—two of the four extraordinary beings standing at the peak of a billion.
"But don’t worry," Frenda said, her fearless grin unwavering. "God’s Right Seat can be taken down easily—by their own powers."
──A few minutes later.
Terra of the Left had just finished fending off a group of boys and girls who had attacked him and exhaled lightly.
From his perspective, the situation couldn’t have been more unpleasant. He was only cooperating with Acqua out of circumstance; the two were fundamentally incompatible. Cooperation was impossible, and as members of God’s Right Seat, their destructive power was so overwhelming that they constantly had to deal with collateral damage from each other’s attacks.
On top of that, Academy City’s forces came at them endlessly, in all shapes and sizes. Execution of Light could only target one enemy at a time due to its lack of proper adjustment, making chaotic brawls far from Terra’s specialty.
(Even if these irritating monkeys aren’t worth much, dealing with them one by one is a waste of time. Honestly, this is exactly what Vento is supposed to handle—where on earth is that woman, anyway? I wouldn’t mind purging her for aiding the enemy.)
Terra was just beginning to consider a shift in strategy when—
A young lady appeared before him.
Reicia Blackguard.
One of the targets marked for elimination by God’s Right Seat.
The moment Terra recognized her, he checked his surroundings instinctively. His ally—or at least, technically—Acqua of the Back, was about a hundred meters southwest, still engaged with some “heroes” and “villains” on the main street. He seemed to be holding back because civilians were present, so he hadn’t finished them off instantly, but it wouldn’t take him more than a few seconds to do so.
Apparently, Reicia possessed abilities beyond the white-and-black serrated blade known as Jagged Edge mentioned in the intel. Even so, Terra held the advantage.
With that in mind, he declared:
“──Prioritize Reicia Blackguard as lower rank and the atmosphere as higher rank!!”
Immediately, Reicia was trapped in an invisible prison of “air,” unable to move a finger.
Terra never let pride blind him. Even when facing a foolish heretical monkey—or precisely because of that—he could not allow any further struggle. He moved in for the finisher.
“Now, it’s confession time, heretical girl. Repent for your sins in purgatory!!”
From above Reicia’s head, a white guillotine blade descended. Its lethality was low, but a direct, unguarded hit to the head would still be fatal—a true killing blow.
Faced with the attack, Reicia—
“‘Execution of Light,’ hmm? Rather underwhelming, don’t you think?”
With a smooth step back, she casually invalidated the attack, as if ignoring every rule that bound it.
“Wha—!? The spell formula is—working perfectly!! What is this…!?”
Terra stood frozen, stunned by the impossible development. Reicia took another graceful step back, widening the distance. He quickly tried to retract the falling guillotine for a counterattack, but—
“This causality shall be twisted!!”
BWHOOOM!!
With a single finger snap, the malice in Terra’s spell was distorted and unraveled. The priority order reversed.
The flour-based guillotine—both techniques—rendered useless in succession.
Terra could only stand amidst the cloud of scattered flour, frozen in disbelief.
“…Pathetic, Terra.”
THUD!!
A man dropped between them, saving Terra from the brink.
“…I can’t even argue this time. She’s supposed to be Reicia Blackguard, yet she escaped my spell—”
Just as Acqua was about to respond to Terra’s casual remark—
From beyond the mist of flour, Reicia raised her voice.
“──Acqua of the Back. Quite the troublesome man you’ve shown yourself to be… But don’t you think that was a little careless? That place is covered in flour. As I said before—”
“Dust explosion, is it? A poor bluff. Out here, with the wind blowing, there’s no way such a thing could occur,” Acqua replied calmly.
By this point, he was beginning to piece the situation together.
He had already countered the risk of a dust explosion earlier by using water in his defense. For her to bring up the same tactic again could only mean one thing—she wanted him to react in the same way. Either with electricity or another prepared counter. In any case, Reicia had crafted her strategy expecting him to defend with “water.”
Knowing this made his next move simple: gather up the flour. Even if Terra’s previous spell had been disrupted, he hadn’t lost his ability to use magic. Once the flour was gone, the smokescreen would vanish. From there, it would be like a game of shogi with the end already in sight. Many details remained unexplained, but they could be sorted out once she was captured.
As Terra began manipulating the flour beside him—
“…Ah, so you figured it out. Yes, you’re correct. My earlier remark was a complete bluff. I couldn’t cause a dust explosion before… ‘Before,’ being the keyword.”
God’s Right Seat did not know—
This time, Reicia had an expert with her, capable of manipulating any kind of explosion.
“Let me restate it then… Are you familiar with the concept of a dust explosion?”
Before either man could react, the world around them erupted in a catastrophic blast.
At that moment—
Hidden behind a piece of cover she had chosen in advance, Shiren quietly endured the blast. Even as she watched the plan succeed—dragging two members of God’s Right Seat into a dust explosion—her mind stayed calm and focused.
(────Frenda-san.)
What that really meant was—
(If I die from this, I’m gonna haunt you, you hear me!!!)
“Nothing’s over yet.”
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