Magic Astras

As Ureapaddy smiled thinly, a golden glow came from her right hand. It was a spear. At some point, she had switched from Gandiva to some other spell. And the tip was pointed directly at Kamijou.

It was as if she was sticking some sharp blade in through the gaps of the cage.

A surefire attack was coming.

“Trishula.”

That whisper called in a great disaster.

An explosive noise rang out.

The golden tip stabbed directly towards Kamijou Touma. She had only used this surefire strike after cutting off his escape routes. That destructive power that was great enough to rip apart and melt the asphalt stabbed mercilessly towards a flesh-and-blood human.

It resembled lightning.

If that lightning attack had struck the side of a submarine, it would have evaporated over half of it.

However...

During that flash of lightning, Ureapaddy Exica saw something.

She saw a certain right palm receive that tremendous light. And in the next instant, the Trishula strike was blown away with the sound of bursting air.

“I see.” Ureapaddy gave a thin smile as she repeated the motion of drawing a bow in order to create the spell called Gandiva. “So you actually do have enough power to set foot into this world.”

Kamijou took a quick breath and then charged toward Ureapaddy at full speed.

If his fist could reach...

If he could get close enough...

“But.” Her lips twisted ominously. “Pashupata.”

Kamijou heard an unpleasant creaking noise. But not in from his ears. He heard it directly through the vibrations in his bones.

The sound grew into a pain.

He forgot all about all of the cartilage in his body as his entire body was wrapped in an intense pain like having one’s back teeth scraped down with a course file.

“Ghabhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

He fell to the ground, thrashed about, and arched his back like a bow. Ureapaddy looked down on him with a grin.

“That is an interception Astra. I was warned never to use it against a person, though.”

As she whispered, the golden light of Trishula that resembled a three-pronged spear appeared in her hand.

She was going to strike at close range.

The sound of the air being roasted reverberated through the area.

“Oh? So you can still defend against it from this close? My, my. And even when I use it so many times in a row. My, my, my.”

Lightning flashed again and again.

And even while collapsed on the ground, Kamijou swung his right hand to negate the lights as they fell towards him one after another. If even one made it through, his body would be blown to pieces.

“Hm? So you can remove the Pashupata within you simply by pressing your hand against your body? What a convenient right hand. Convenient, but it seems you need the right hand to do it. In that case...”

“!?”

Kamijou immediately rolled to the side.

In the next moment, Ureapaddy dropped another Trishula. But not at Kamijou who was at her feet. She had intentionally missed. The asphalt melted from the high heat so that the boy would be enveloped by that black bog.

He just barely avoided being fried.

Intense pain ran through Kamijou’s upper arm where a few drops of the black liquid landed, but he did not have time to worry about it. After gaining a bit of distance, he shot to his feet.

“Parashu.”

Ureapaddy held nothing in her hand and yet a heavy weight as if from an axe could be seen weighing it down.

She lightly swung it horizontally.

With a tremendous noise, the melted asphalt at Ureapaddy’s feet was sliced in two. Ureapaddy slowly walked through the path she had created.

“It may seem I use so many Astras because I enjoy novel and destructive techniques.”

Her hands nocked another of the bluish transparent arrows of the Gandiva spell.

“However, I use so many techniques to ensure reliability. And so I will repeat the same methods as many times as it takes. I will repeat the attacks I have proven to be effective.”

“!!”

Kamijou did not have time to say anything.

Ureapaddy whispered name after name.

“Gandiva.”

“Parashu.”

“Pashupata.”

She sealed off his path of escape, forced him to use his right hand to defend against an attack that would otherwise kill him, and then used the interception spell while he was stopped to eat into his bones. Her means of attack was almost exactly the same as before. But he could not overcome it. Before Kamijou’s body could fall to the ground due to the intense pain torturing his entire body, Ureapaddy reached out a hand to grab his neck.

“Gah...gh...!!”

“Oh, right. You negated Pashupata with your right hand, didn’t you? Could you prove to me that is all you can do? Once you do, I will have the certainty I need. Certainty that I can wear you down and defeat you by repeating this enough times.”

“Is that so...dammit!!”

“Now, now. Don’t force yourself. Choosing a different path when you have no cards left in your hand will only bring you to a stalemate faster. I changed the details, but your response was the same. If the range of attacks you can handle with that right hand is fairly wide, then it should be difficult for you to escape from the rails I have prepared.”

She tossed Kamijou to the asphalt as easily as tossing an empty can away.

And the next attacks came.

“Gandiva.”

“Trishula.”

“Pashupata.”

The pain spread. His weariness grew. And as it did, Kamijou lost his calm and his thoughts grew simpler and simpler. If he could not even overcome that set procedure, the Trishula and Parashu Astras would smash him to pieces.

“That should do it. Now that we have seen each other’s abilities, all that remains is to bring this to the end we can both already see coming. So let us end this. If you have any last words, you should speak them now.”

“...”

“If not, that is fine too.” Ureapaddy grinned as her long silver hair blew in the wind.

“This was a meaningless sacrifice, but it will make you the foundation for the change created by Brahma Astra. I suppose I can remember you as playing that role.”

She did not hesitate.

A tremendous sound of destruction reverberated throughout District 23.

Road to Endymion, Chapter 5, Part 3