Arc Blades

“Those arc fusion blades follow the movement of your fingers. But is that only a one-way thing? Even in my desperate struggles to block them, I saw what happened. I saw your arm get repelled just like the arc fusion blades did.”

“Damn you…”

“Those blades can slice through anything. They weren’t made to catch on anything. What you’re doing is like taking a metal baseball bat and swinging it at a concrete wall at speeds you can’t control. Receiving these ridiculous attacks is wearing down my wrist, but the same goes for you! Your wrists are at their limits too, aren’t they!?”

His 2000 meter reach held no meaning in this fight.

Both Kamijou and Thor were injured when the attacks were repelled.

In that case…

“Before, you asked me if I really had no reason to pick up the handgun,” said Kamijou as if spitting out the words. “I’ll give you my answer. No, I have no reason. I’m not perfect. Even without a grand reason, I will think about reaching over to pick up a nearby gun if I’m in danger. But that isn’t the case here. Whatever your reasons may have been, you risked your life to save Fräulein Kreutune! There has to be a way to resolve this without anyone killing anyone!!”

“…I see.”

Thor smiled.

He had been smiling ever since the fight began, but this one was somehow different.

“Interesting. You really are interesting. Even if you stand in a position from which you can reach the stars in the night sky, you would show us some different answer. You would follow a different path than the one that led me to Gremlin.”

“Thor?”

“That’s right!! My enemy has to be at least on this level!!”

There was no signal.

Thor casually swung his arc fusion blades toward Kamijou, slicing through the much too vague concept of the “scenery” as he did so. Rather than simply trying to defend, Kamijou kept in mind what would cause the most damage to Thor’s wrist as he used his fist to knock those blades to the side. The blades struck each other and lost a bit of their momentum. Kamijou used that as an opportunity to move forward a bit and slam his right hand into them once more.

An ominous creaking sound came from within Kamijou’s body.

The same had to be coming from Thor’s body as well.

“!!”

Even if things were controlled by subtle tricks on the surface and even if it appeared they were pushing the momentum back and forth with skill and cleverness, it was something else that would decide whether Kamijou or Thor won. As the pain was amplified with each consecutive strike, who would reach their limit first? Whose wrist would give out first? That was what it came down to. Even if one of them had an overwhelming advantage in everything else, they would lose it all if that one point was overturned. That was the essence of this fight.

After 5 or 10 strikes, a truly strange noise came from Kamijou’s right hand.

He did not make it to 20 strikes.

With a decisive cracking noise, all strength suddenly left the five fingers of that hand. The commands he was sending from his head were not reaching the hand, and it simply hung loosely down, ignoring its skeletal structure.

The joint had been dislocated.

“Ha ha.”

Thor’s laughter reverberated throughout the area.

In response to the change in Kamijou’s right wrist, his attacks ended.

“Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.”

The battle was over.

The Imagine Breaker power residing in Kamijou Touma’s right hand would likely still function whether the joint was dislocated or not. But if he received such tremendous impacts on the hand with the joint dislocated, the flesh would be crushed around the wrist and the hand might even eventually come off altogether.

And that was simply from an anatomical point of view. Receiving an impact to that dislocated wrist would also send intense pain running through it. He could easily pass out if he felt that pain repeatedly.

But…

“…You got me,” said Thor.

“Yeah.”

“Damn, and I really thought this would be checkmate. I guess I really can’t see anything else when I have that carrot hanging down before my eyes. But I guess that’s just the kind of spell it is.”

Thor shrugged and spread his hands out like wings.

Those wings were broken.

Or more accurately, Thor’s wrists were.

Thor’s colorful arc fusion blades flickered a few times like a neon tube reaching its lifespan, and then they disappeared as if dissolving into the air.

Kamijou had no idea where Thor’s limit was. It was possible he could emit arc fusion blades from his feet as well.
- To Aru Majutsu no Index NT 6 Chapter 8 Part 3