by Sato Tsutomu
“Shiba, this only becomes meaningful if he sees how powerful you are.”
Hattori’s explanation remained incomplete to the end.
“Onii-sama, isn’t this a wonderful idea?”
Nevertheless, the strongest supporting fire for their cause came to aid Tomitsuka and Hattori at this moment.
“I believe that providing a frame of reference for underclassmen is also one of the duties for Student Council members.”
For some reason, all the upperclassmen and her peers (excluding Tatsuya) who were present mentally translated “Student Council members” into “Onii-sama”.
“I also feel that it’s about time to display Onii-sama’s abilities.”
Miyuki’s motive was both blatant and not entirely in accordance with Tomitsuka and Hattori. There was significant frustration and anxiety lurking behind her smile, to the point that Tatsuya felt that “leaving it alone would be a bad idea”.
“……Since you put it that way, very well.”
Tatsuya changed his mind, or more like decided, and this should be exactly what Tomitsuka had desired. In spite of this clear turnout, for some reason, Tomitsuka’s mood couldn’t help but soar.
This feeling was not restricted to him alone.
Hattori had extended the appointment in this room precisely for this reason from the very beginning. All of the Year 3 students present knew about this plan. With the permission slip already obtained, they could begin at any time after clearing the practice floor.
“Please leave it to me.”
Miyuki volunteered to clean up the paper scraps scattered all over the floor. After manipulating her CAD, there was hardly an instant’s delay before air currents gradually began to move. The currents covered the entire floor in a complicated swirl and gathered all the trash into a pile in a few quick moments. Using the vacuum cleaner provided for the room, Miyuki disposed of the paper scraps.
Seeing her naturally perform a complicated and pristine magic with surgical skill, the Year 3 students watched her with impressed looks, Mikihiko and Tomitsuka let out amazed breaths, whereas Takuma once again suffered a blow. —Excluding the process used to harden the paper scraps, the magic Miyuki just wielded far surpassed the technical difficulty for Takuma’s Million Edge.
“Shiba-kun, do you think this is sufficient?”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Tatsuya passed his coat to Miyuki before taking the field in his uniform.
“Would it be better if I removed my shoes?”
“No, you’re fine as you are.”
That sentence implied that Tatsuya would be fine even if struck by kicks from thick-soled shoes.
Following that, Tatsuya and Tomitsuka faced one another at the center of the field.
Hattori remained the referee. However, he skipped the explanation this time.
“Are you two ready? Then, begin!”
The instant Hattori gave the signal, both Tatsuya and Tomitsuka stepped off from the floor.
Differing from the earlier exchange, Tomitsuka aggressively charged towards Tatsuya’s position.
Yet, Tatsuya’s retreat was even faster. One leap took him to the other end of the practice room as Tatsuya pointed his pistol-shaped CAD at Tomitsuka.
The magic Tatsuya equipped was Decomposition Magic, Mist Dispersal.
Heedless of Miyuki’s shock, Tatsuya pulled the CAD’s trigger.
—And nothing happened.
(As I thought.)
Completely opposite from the pale faced Miyuki covering the corner of her mouth with one hand, Tatsuya wore an expression that signified that this was within his expectations as he jumped to the side in order to avoid Tomitsuka’s punch that had been enhanced by personal acceleration magic.
This was not him putting on a brave front, as he had already predicted that Mist Dispersal would be nullified.
In Tatsuya’s vision, Tomitsuka’s projection was covered by a thick cloud, turning it into a fuzzy outline. That was how he beheld Tomitsuka’s figure through the Idea.
The dense cloud surrounding Tomitsuka’s body was the psion armor that covered his personal information.
Gram Demolition was a Counter Magic that relied on psion pressure to strip the Magic Sequence from the target.
However, Tomitsuka wasn’t using the psions like a cannonball to blow away the Magic Sequence. The thick layer of psion armor surrounding his “body” denied any invasion from Magic Sequences.
If Gram Demolition was artillery, then Tomitsuka’s Contact-Type Gram Demolition was a wall of steel. Furthermore, that wall was not built from information and was only a massive amount of psions haphazardly wrapped around him. Even for Tatsuya, breaking through this line of defense to directly affect Tomitsuka with magic was no easy task.
In that regard, using the phenomena brought on by magic to attack could not be stopped by psion armor.
Yet, so long as Tatsuya still held onto the handicap of not utilizing attacks through the Idea, then he was a deficient Magician who could not use magic that directly influenced physical phenomena.
After his charge had been evaded for the 5th time, agitation began building in Tomitsuka’s heart.
He who was known as Range Zero had no long range magic abilities. On the other hand, he was confident that he was twice as capable as the average person when it came to close-quarters magic.
Nevertheless, his attacks had been easily dodged.
He was not being avoided through magic, but by a combination of magical and physical techniques.
(Although I had my own suspicions, to think that he’s capable to this degree……)
In all honesty, his awe was growing thanks to the caliber of his opponent. Yet, at the same time, his morale surged.
(But I’m not going to lose. I definitely can’t lose at this range!)
Shippou vanished from Tomitsuka’s consciousness. The purpose behind this match as well as the role he was supposed to play also faded within his mind. His entire will had been submersed in the drive for victory.
“They’re both pretty damn good! I knew about Tomitsuka’s skills a long time ago, but I never imagined Shiba-kun was just as capable.”
“I’m actually more surprised that Tomitsuka can keep up with the elder Shiba in a fight.”
Hearing the conversation between his seniors, Mikihiko could only feel astonishment. His opinion mirrored Kirihara’s own. He never thought that one of his peers would be a match for Tatsuya in a fight. Mikihiko felt like this was the first time he had ever seen Tatsuya being pressed in battle.
Tatsuya had long since been able to just avoid Tomitsuka’s attacks. Now, he had been forced to the point where he had to counterattack. Tatsuya holding the CAD in his right hand was a clear sign that Tatsuya surrendered that point. According to the rules of the match, using the CAD to strike an opponent was forbidden. Even excluding that detail, Tomitsuka’s furious attack was pressing home on Tatsuya.
Suddenly feeling a little concerned, Mikihiko directed his gaze to one side.
There, Miyuki wore a completely invested expression as she concentrated all of her attention on her brother.
Sitting against the wall, Takuma was blown away by the battle unfolding before his eyes.
From a cursory examination, this was nothing more than a plain brawl. No, thanks to the occasional kick, this appeared to be a mixed martial arts match. However, high level magic was behind every single blow. It was only because he had the talent to recognize this that the mental shock was amplified.
Tomitsuka closed the distance at a speed that the naked eye was unable to follow. Although he was using personal acceleration magic to raise the physical body’s speed, this was nothing so coarse as “as fast as possible”. Within the realm of conscious control, he held his speed at the upper limit of where his consciousness was able to follow.
Regardless, here Tomitsuka’s pace grew ragged. The instant he stepped off to move forward, there was the misconception that the ground he stepped off f
rom seemed to vibrate. Of course, this vibration was created by Tatsuya’s magic. In spite of this, even if vibration waves appeared where Tomitsuka was standing, they were often nullified by (what appeared to be) occasional activation of Gram Demolition. Takuma had personally encountered this first hand. Nonetheless, the aftershocks that accompanied these vibrations were pure physical phenomena and could not be dispelled by Gram Demolition. If this was on muddy terrain or concrete, the aftershocks would probably not be strong enough to be detected. However, the floor in this practice room was designed with the appropriate hardness and flexibility to cushion falling without disrupting movement. Taking this into account, Tatsuya used magic to interfere from this angle.
His body had already taken everything into consideration until this disruption presented itself, so Tomitsuka paused briefly to maximize the fluidity of his body’s motions. Using this brief opening, Tatsuya aimed the CAD at Tomitsuka and pulled the trigger. At the same time, Oscillation-Type Magic rushed towards Tomitsuka at such speed that Takuma didn’t even have time to comprehend the deployment of the Activation Sequence. Based on the wavering psions, this magic contained both Oscillation-Type and Nonsystematic magic.
This magic did not possess the power to strike down Tomitsuka. Takuma hypothesized that this magic probably placed more emphasis on speed than strength. Takuma supposed that he was unable to recognize the Activation Sequence because it had been tuned this way or this was the CAD’s effect.
That being said, not possessing the strength to strike down Tomitsuka was not the same as having no effect. After being struck by the psion wave, the psion field around Tomitsuka’s body also shook slightly. Turning into noise and smoke, the psion wave briefly dulled Tomitsuka’s senses.
The next blow was the real attack. Using his left palm, Tatsuya threw a palm strike at Tomitsuka. Takuma detected that some sort of magic was being held in his left hand.
Once again, Tatsuya displayed a different attack. This time, Tomitsuka adopted a defensive stance. Using the right arm wrapped in Contact-Type Gram Demolition, he blocked Tatsuya’s left palm holding Oscillation-Type Magic. In the face of a myriad different attacks, Tomitsuka only used one shield to continuously defend himself.
At this point, Tomitsuka’s left hand jabbed towards Tatsuya’s abdomen. Dodging was made difficult because his earlier attack had been blocked, and Tatsuya barely managed to slide across the blocking right arm.
Tomitsuka activated Acceleration Magic “Explosion”. In the middle of casting this magic, Tatsuya used Gram Demolition to destroy the magic that was being activated.
In order to avoid the follow up attack, Tatsuya jumped far to the side. Takuma momentarily forgot to breathe as he watched this. He was unable to believe the sight unfolding in front of him and was terrified that his feelings as a Magician were faltering.
Tomitsuka’s Acceleration Magic had been nullified during the cast. Using the interrupted phenomenon as a stepping point, Tatsuya activated his own Acceleration Magic.
(Is that sort of thing even possible!?)
Takuma wanted to shout out loud. If his internal shock was any lighter, he undoubtedly would have called out. It was true that for the same type of phenomenon alteration, the latter magic could be cast without suffering interference from the phenomenon alteration strength of the former. Since Explosion was an acceleration vector that expanded outward from the point of activation in a semi-spherical manner, accelerating to the side did not violate this principle.
However, that was merely not violating the principle. Takuma had never even considered the possibility of using another person’s magic to create new phenomenon alteration by moving in accordance to the physical rule of least resistance.
What was being displayed before his eyes was indeed the same “magic” he himself was using. They were techniques that belonged to the same category. Yet, his own magic was far beneath the level of the magic before him. Takuma had been completely defeated by the otherworldly duel erupting before his eyes.
(My attacks aren’t landing!)
Tomitsuka was gradually growing more agitated.
The battle had not gone on for very long. Barely 10 minutes had elapsed since the beginning of the match. Yet, unlike his physical sensations, Tomitsuka’s mental fatigue felt like he had been in combat for dozens of hours.
The current situation favored him. Without a doubt, his side held the advantage. Tomitsuka had complete confidence in that assessment. Although he had yet to land the decisive blow, Tomitsuka could feel that his attacks were beginning to tell even though they fell upon his opponent’s defenses. Tomitsuka sensed that from contact.
However, Tatsuya was not the only one sustaining damage. Tomitsuka himself could detect the accumulated wear and tear building on him. While he had successfully blocked his opponent’s attacks, the damage he incurred came from misconceptions and not his physical body. Yet, it was precisely these misconceptions that were steadily causing his shield to crumble. Each of the varied attacks sent his way were uniform in the sense that they all contained Nonsystematic Oscillation-Type Magic. The oscillation would rebound off the shield and dissipate, but in that instant, the vibration would carry over to the shield itself. That vibration would shake the psions, causing the psion field to expand as if heated, alerting Tomitsuka that the density dropped during those moments.
Tomitsuka himself was unable to fire psions at distant targets and could only maintain a field tightly surrounding his own body. This deficiency was precisely the reason why he was unable to use long distance magic. The magic scholar summoned by his parents explained that this phenomenon showed that his “core” heavily attracted psions, hereby restricting psions that normally flowed out of the body from doing so. On some level, the Contact-Type Gram Demolition that Miyuki and Sawaki spoke of was the byproduct of his cursed physical disposition.
Tomitsuka had long since come to terms with his condition. After expending considerable effort to become somewhat able to use long range magic, he had turned this unique condition of his into a close combat weapon that could not be found on any other Magician. When facing purely physical attacks coming at him like the shockwave emitted by Sawaki’s accelerated fists – the fact that the president of the Magic Martial Arts club bestowed upon it the embarrassing title of “Mach Fist” remained a secret only known to club members – this only offered a “slightly higher” level of defense, but in regards to coming into direct contact with magic, Tomitsuka had absolute confidence in himself.
In spite of this, the psion field that should only be able to contract was gradually expanding under Tatsuya’s attacks.
This detail struck Tomitsuka in a manner that was beyond expression. This was not simple fear or cowardice, but the shock that came upon someone who peeked into Pandora’s Box.
The psion field that could not spread out was expanding. Wasn’t this that long cherished, but impossible dream?
Tomitsuka hurriedly stilled his leaping heart.
The one standing against him was not an opponent he could defeat while worrying about frivolous matters.
In order to settle this, he decided to use his trump card.
Tomitsuka’s entire body was covered in psions. Beyond Tatsuya, everyone here to watch the match could feel them.
Tomitsuka’s body accelerated at an explosive rate. —The only two who realized that this was not caused by personal Acceleration Magic were Tatsuya and Sawaki.
The psions that wrapped around Tomitsuka’s body like a formless cloud suddenly grew organized. They were driven into place by Tomitsuka’s will.
Far more precise than before, Tomitsuka delivered a mid-kick.
The Magic Sequence for “Heating” covered his leg. If struck by that kick, the damage would be equitable to being bathed in microwave electromagnetism. Using his elbow as the focal point for Gram Demolition, Tatsuya planned on blocking the kick fueled by Heating Magic.
Yet, Tomitsuka’s right leg came to an unnatural stop an instant before co
ming into contact with Tatsuya’s left elbow.
The Heating Magic was nullified by the Gram Demolition coming off the elbow, but for Tomitsuka, this was the expected outcome.
From his current position with the right leg extended, Tomitsuka used a right hook. No, that wasn’t a right hook. He wasn’t leading with the fist but the fingers instead, making this a palm strike. Still, his current bent posture was usually unable to deliver a strike with any force behind it.
Despite this, Tomitsuka’s palm strike was both swift and vicious. Bending at the waist to block the kick, Tatsuya was in a position where he was unable to avoid this attack.
Pah, a lifeless sound rang out.
“Onii-sama!”
Along with a mournful shriek.
Tatsuya’s body rolled along the floorboards.
Lowering his right leg and retracting the right hand while standing there only on his left leg, Tomitsuka blinked in shock as he stood there like a doll.
“……Tomitsuka is surprisingly devious. That rascal was aiming for the older Shiba’s eardrum.”
Kirihara saw that Tomitsuka’s palm strike actually curved the palm to concentrate the air pressure on the point of contact.
“Ho, and he managed to jump away himself! Can’t believe he managed to neutralize Tomitsuka’s 'Self Marionette' even under those conditions. Shiba-kun, nicely done!”
By the time the two Year 3 students finished dissecting the exchange, Tatsuya had already recovered his footing. Sawaki correctly caught Tatsuya rolling away to widen the distance.
Tomitsuka’s astounded expression came from the lack of any physical resistance that he believed was inevitable. If Tatsuya had stiffened his neck to prevent the head from shaking, then any stiffening in his leg and waist should have resulted in physical pushback on his hand. If he relaxed to jump back in accordance with the force of the blow, then naturally the contact would feel soft. In other words, Tatsuya relaxed at the same time that he applied force.
Tomitsuka hurtled any shock fountaining from his heart into the back of his mind as he activated Self Marionette again. This was a type of magic that only used Move-Type Magic to move his physical body. This Magic Sequence attempted to suppress the flesh’s magical resistance as much as possible while prudently taking heed not to surpass the extents of the joints’ movement.