Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Volume SP Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===
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The horoscope.

Stiyl Magnus gritted his teeth as he ran through Academy City dragging Patricia Birdway along by her small arm.

The Lævateinn man was after the complete recovery of the Alaskan rune epitaph and the acquisition of its knowledge. To achieve that, he needed the epitaph fragment Stiyl had given Theodosia Electra, Patricia Birdway, and the horoscope that could be used to calculate the magical effects of Donati’s Comet which only approached the earth after a period of longer than 2000 years.

The lack of any one of those things was fatal to the Lævateinn man’s plan.

They would work well as shields.

However, the epitaph fragment was a portion of an Original grimoire, so it could not be destroyed by human means and using Patricia’s life as a shield was out of the question, so that left only one option. Stiyl had no choice but to steal the horoscope that was being transported by Academy City. If he managed that before the Lævateinn man could do so, he could come up with a plan using it as bait.

“Pant, pant… H-how much farther are we going to run?” asked Patricia.

Stiyl was almost twice her height. Running such a long distance must have been tough for someone as young as Patricia. As he was going to have to fight the Lævateinn man, he wanted to find a safe place to let her evacuate to, but…

(Where is there a safe place? If I have an Academy City facility look after her, he’ll just burn away the building and anyone guarding her!!)

“We’re almost there. There’s a nature park up ahead.”

According to the information inside the flame of the matches Theodosia had given Stiyl, the transport vehicle was scheduled to pass through there on its way to an archaeology facility. As the term “nature park” suggested, it was an area filled with mostly trees.

As he headed for that destination, Stiyl heard his cell phone ringing.

It was from the Anglican communications official.

“Stiyl Magnus. As per your request, I will now reveal to you the information uncovered in the investigation.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You requested to be told who signed their approval of the mission unfolding within Academy City related to capturing Patricia. Would you like to hear the recording of your request?”

Patricia had no idea what was being said, so she just stared blankly, but Stiyl smiled bitterly.

It was true that he had mentioned something along those lines after defeating Theodosia, but he had not expected such a straightforward response. It seemed the communications official was simply doing what she was told unrelated to issues of ally or enemy.

“It took some time to look over the Necessarius rankings to see if you had the right to this information. I apologize it took so long to reply to your request,” apologized the official as if she were simply reading from a script. “The individual who signed approval of the mission was Richard Brave. Just like you, he belongs to the Anglican Church’s 0th Parish, Necessarius. His primary area of activity is North America. His achievements lie in setting up a defensive line along the Atlantic Ocean in order to prevent American magic cabals from invading England.”

“…”

“He primarily uses Norse spells and seems to be strong with fire-related spells. He has put together mobile sea battle strategies that use the techniques of the Vikings that ruled the Atlantic in their golden age and who discovered North America even before Columbus. …Was this helpful?”

“I see.”

The edges of Stiyl’s mouth twisted up in a smile.

Of course, he had not gained any information on what the man’s weak point may be. But…

“It’s nice to know the name of the man I’m about to kill.”

Before the official could give any kind of stereotypical protest, Stiyl switched off his cell phone. Patricia was out of breath due to all the running, but she still looked over at him with fear in her eyes.

Stiyl made no attempt to respond to her.

Most likely, Patricia’s pacifism was right in a moral sense. However, organizations like Necessarius had been created in the first place because that was not enough to deal with everything. Patricia’s feelings would not cut it in the current situation.

The park then came into view.

Either for mental health reasons or in order to eliminate carbon dioxide, an area filled with green stood there in the middle of Academy City’s usual concrete and asphalt. However, just as a forest seemed pitch black at night, the area before Stiyl and Patricia looked like a sea of darkness.

The sparse light from streetlights only accentuated the darkness.

A small sign tilted to the side made one think the area was not popular at night and that crimes often occurred there.

Stiyl stopped running and started approaching more cautiously.

The road was made of something like bricks rather than asphalt. It was “something like” bricks because it felt more like strangely hard sponge or urethane under his feet. It must have been some new material made by Academy City.

(Where’s the transport vehicle…?)

“There it is.”

He saw headlights cutting through the darkness about 100 meters ahead. Stiyl wordlessly let go of Patricia’s hand and instructed her to wait there using just the movements of his hand.

Stiyl started running without waiting for a response from Patricia.

Something was odd.

He could see a vehicle’s headlights ahead, but they were not moving. He could hear the flat engine noise of an idling car. As Stiyl approached, the odd scene gave him a very bad feeling. He scattered rune cards as he approached the vehicle and charged for the front of the vehicle while prepared to create a flame sword at any time.

The bright light dazzled his eyes.

The vehicle looked like a van with all of its windows blocked and it was indeed not moving. The engine seemed to be running, but it was completely stationary.

(It can’t be…)

Stiyl gulped.

He gave up trying to hide and produced a flame sword from his right hand. He then circled around to the side of the vehicle.

After leaving the bright light, the truth lay visible before his eyes.

(It can’t be!!)

The bullet proof windshield had been smashed to pieces as if it had provided no protection at all. No one sat in the driver seat. The top half of someone hung out of the partially opened door and onto the brick-like road surface.

Stiyl’s gaze moved from the driver seat in the front to the back of the vehicle.

The back had a set of double doors. The doors had been forced partway open. Stiyl peered inside, but found nothing. However, the area was filled with an odd atmosphere that made one think something had been there recently.

“…”

Stiyl could not accept that truth.

He reached into the matchbox Theodosia had given him and rechecked the visual data. He rechecked the characteristics of the transport vehicle and its vehicle number. He hoped he had made a mistake, but it all matched no matter how many times he checked.

The horoscope was not there.

That horoscope was supposed to be his trump card.

He could not deny the possibility that Theodosia had false information, but a more credible and hopeless possibility filled Stiyl’s mind.

Suddenly, a smell filled Stiyl’s nose.

It was the irritating smell of fermented beer.

“Oh, did you get ahead of me?”

The sound of flames swallowing up oxygen reached Stiyl’s ears.

The sound was much greater and more inexplicable than the one from the flame sword in his own hand.

The deep darkness was split apart, blotted out, and illuminated by the red of hellfire.

“…”

Stiyl slowly turned around.

A single figure stood there.

He was a Norse magician holding a single sword that was wrapped in flames like a torch.

He was the Lævateinn man.

He was Richard Brave.

Before the man could lightly swing Lævateinn, Stiyl leapt into the artificial forest to the side of the brick-like road. He put out the flame sword in his hand and hid. He had not planned on stopping his enemy’s spiritual item from the beginning. That would have been like a knight who did not know the power of a gun charging straight at an enemy.

He was worried about Patricia who he had left back outside the park, but heading toward her would just get her caught up in the danger. 

On the trees around him, he complexly arranged rune cards that held various meanings including attack, evasion, and illusion. He wanted to strengthen his position as much as possible.

However, Stiyl quickly found himself about to leave the forest as he ran. The forest in the park was not large enough for a true battle.

(Kh…!!)

In the current situation, being unable to hide put him at an overwhelming disadvantage. Stiyl stood at the outer edge of the forest and glanced around looking for a good place to fight.

“Excellent movements. Lively prey truly is much more interesting.”

Richard then started to move. However, he did not chase after Stiyl. Instead he remained standing on the other side of the trees with Lævateinn hanging casually down and used magic.

He used a people clearing spell.

All sorts of sects and denominations had magic with the same effects. Simply put, it was a spell that made sure no one unnecessary would enter the battlefield. As Richard produced such massive flames, it may have been absolutely necessary for him.

However…

(He’s politely left a hole open for Patricia Birdway. Since he’s creating a trap to invite her in, he must not know where she is.)

As Stiyl analyzed the situation, Richard spoke lightly.

“You should really lay out a people clearing field beforehand. A proper battlefield is needed if you want to have any fun.”

Stiyl was not stupid enough to listen to Richard’s mockery.

He hid his presence and tried to gather as much information as he could through the gaps in the trees as Richard spoke.

“Hm. Yes, it has definitely already been attacked. I guess you feel like continuing this pointless fight. If you simply hand over the horoscope, I will treat you kindly in turn.”

(…What is he saying?)

Stiyl frowned. That made it sound like Richard had not been the one to attack the transport vehicle. There was no point in confusing Stiyl because Richard did not need to stall for time in order to come up with a plan.

But there was something else Stiyl felt was more important to ask about.

He spoke even though doing so threatened to give away his position.

“What happened to Theodosia Electra?”

“Do I even need to answer? Isn’t my presence answer enough?”

Something flew away from Richard.

It looked like a box for a ring. It was the epitaph fragment’s case that Stiyl had given Theodosia. Its lid had been forced open and the contents were missing.

Its meaning was clear.

It was something Necessarius members were constantly faced with.

“…”

“I’m sure you understand. My Lævateinn is quite powerful. It’s useful when it comes to killing an enemy, but leaving behind a corpse is a bit difficult.”

“I see,” Stiyl replied expressionlessly.

Despite having fought Theodosia in the bank earlier that night, he felt anger.

He did not deny that feeling.

Even if it was inconsistent, he did not feel that it was wrong.

“G A S T T H. T F I A S T R I C! (Bring the flames to my hand. Its form is the sword and its role is execution!)”

After muttering that under his breath, a flame sword burst from his hand.

His power would be used to defeat his enemy.

While the sword gave off light that gave away his position in the darkness, Stiyl glared at Richard Brave’s face. Richard spoke upon seeing Stiyl.

“Oh? First Theodosia and now you. Necessarius has a surprising number of people who like to go straight to a fight. Do you not know any way of resolving things other than fighting?”

“I don’t need to,” Stiyl replied while surrounded by trees covered in countless runes. “All I need to know is that you will die here.”

With the roar of oxygen being consumed, the flames whirled.

The same noise came from both Stiyl and Richard.

Richard did not enter the forest. He gently swung Lævateinn in the middle of the brick-like road. That was all it took to create a great sea of flames that headed toward Stiyl.

It was like an avalanche.

However, Stiyl only smiled as it swallowed him up and burned him away like thin paper.

“An illusion,” Richard muttered.

A few of the large trees along the road started burning unnaturally at their base. As if the trees had been cut down by flames, they fell toward Richard’s head like giant axes.

“Mere child’s play.”

With a whooshing sound, Richard lightly waved Lævateinn like a traffic guide light and the large trees burned away. His flames were not normal. Richard was not even covered in ashes.

Richard looked around the area.

(If I just look around, my prey will escape.)

Richard realized nothing would happen if his opponent merely remained on his guard, so he stepped from the brick-like road and into the forest. Stiyl had placed rune cards with all sorts of effects throughout that area, but Richard ignored them.

His breathing stopped.

His senses sharpened.

And that was it.

“There.”

The instant Richard looked over, Stiyl charged out from behind a tree. He had determined that hiding would no longer do him any good. Richard swung Lævateinn and burnt away everything from the forest undergrowth to the giant trees. A sea of flames shot out in a straight line and cut through the forest like a firefighter’s hose wearing down a desert sand dune.

“Hh!!”

In response, Stiyl burned through the trees around himself with his flame sword so that they would fall in the path of Lævateinn’s flames. The flames burned through everything evenly. In other words, even the toughest obstacle was burned away in the same amount of time as the tiniest obstacle.

“So you’re trying to force your way through with numbers?”

Stiyl did not respond.

He must have sensed how much of a disadvantage he had, so he fell back. The small park forest was not very large. Before long, Stiyl found himself on a walking path outside of the trees. He started looking around for a better place to fight.

Before he could find anything, Richard arrived.

Or more accurately, his tsunami of flames arrived.

“!?”

Stiyl frantically jumped to the side and the flames cut across the path and into a manmade lake. The water did not evaporate. Instead, it burned like it was made of paper.

No kind of fireproofing had any effect.

Lævateinn burned through everything in its path.

“What’s the matter?” a figure approached from beyond the trees. “Is this really something to get surprised about ''now''?”

Without responding, Stiyl scattered runes cards as he ran through the park. The power and range of his magic were set in response to the number of rune cards. His flight had a purpose behind it.

(But…)

He had to be constantly aware of which direction his opponent was coming from, so he could not run at full speed. As such, Stiyl could not escape Richard. The man almost playfully produced spirals of flames two or three times, but Stiyl managed to avoid each one somehow.

(No matter how much I increase the power of my flames, I cannot defeat Lævateinn on a more fundamental level. There’s no point in raising your defensive power against an enemy that can burn through thick walls and thin walls in the same amount of time!!)

Stiyl wanted some kind of cover, so he left the arcaded walkway and entered what seemed to be a rest area. It was not a proper building. It was only constructed out of multiple pillars and a roof. A thin wall was set up on one end where many vending machines were lined up.

Most likely due to Richard’s people clearing spell, no one was inside.

Stiyl stood before one portion of the line of drink vending machines and then turned around upon feeling a presence behind him.

“Hm,” said Richard.

He casually stepped forward.

“I thought a Necessarius magician would try to come and take the epitaph fragment from me. Do you not even have enough leeway to do that?”

In his hand, he held the epitaph fragment Stiyl had left with Theodosia.

It was a portion of an Original grimoire.

“…Are you screwing with me?”

“Not at all,” Richard said with a sneer. “Given the situation, I feel that is the most reasonable evaluation.”

An explosive noise rang out.

Lævateinn shined even brighter and a huge whirl of flames appeared when Richard swung it lightly. The pure white light of the vending machines was blotted out.

Stiyl arranged the bare minimum of runes and uttered a short spell under his breath. A tiny flame sword appeared.

Stiyl Magnus had to be searching for even the smallest chance.

Both types of flames would provide instant victory with just one hit. They held the destructive power to blow away a human body with the slightest graze. That meant the battle was one of getting the enemy into your range more quickly than they could get you into theirs.

“What courageous prey,” Richard said scornfully.

As he mocked his opponent, he strengthened his grip on Lævateinn.

“Do you want to please me that much?”

As if he was decapitating an invisible man before him, Richard swung his weapon horizontally.

“!!”

But Stiyl reacted before Lævateinn produced a tsunami of flames.

Instead of hopelessly trying to reach the man in time, he stabbed his flame sword directly behind him. One of the drink vending machines was there. The flames melted the plastic as well as the metal.

(…?)

Richard frowned as he moved Lævateinn.

Immediately afterwards, shock covered his face.

With a muffled roar, the vending machine exploded. It had been caused by a phreatic explosion. Stiyl’s flame sword had instantaneously turned the soft drinks to gas. The large amount of steam had needed a way out and had erupted from the hole Stiyl had created.

It almost looked like a laser made of steam.

The steam contained sharp fragments of the plastic bottles and metal cans.

Some of those pieces slipped through the gaps in Lævateinn’s flames and approached Richard Brave.

“But...”

Richard used his wrist to change Lævateinn’s trajectory.

“That is too weak. Much too weak!!”

In response to his motion, the direction of the flames changed as well. It blew away the deadly fragments as well as the steam surrounding them. The flames burned through it all evenly.

(Next is my turn!! And this will end it!!)

Richard started to swing Lævateinn once more, but he then realized something.

A thin, thin smile was on Stiyl’s face on the other side of the flames.

“People have a surprising number of blind spots.” He pointed at Richard’s face. “Maybe you should have thought a little more carefully about what burning that steam meant.”

By the time Richard realized what he meant, it was too late.


It was true that most of the steam from the explosion had headed in a straight line for Richard. However, not all of it had. A portion of the steam had departed from the main blast and dampened the air around its target rather than striking him.

That portion had been ignited as well.

The steam that had evenly spread around him had ignited.

And Lævateinn burned through everything evenly.

What that meant was…

Richard had blown himself up.

The flames lit everything up with its bright light as it enveloped him.

While that happened, Stiyl immediately jumped to the side of the vending machine he had destroyed. The flames that burned Richard headed back along the path the steam had taken, burned away the entire vending machine, and started to spread throughout the entire rest area.

Stiyl headed out of the rest area and onto bare ground where he tried to catch his breath. A throbbing pain spread throughout his back. He had not been directly hit by Lævateinn, but he had been very near the vending machine when it had exploded. It would have been more surprising if it had not harmed him at all.

However, he felt more relief than pain.

Stiyl spoke quietly as he watched the flames.

“…Now see the true form of what you have been scattering about.”



Stiyl thought as he pulled out a new cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

(Looks like I managed to put a stop to that attack. I guess he must have had the Alaskan rune epitaph fragment. Well, an Original can’t be destroyed, so I can just search through his ashes and retrieve it once the flames disappear.)

For an instant, Patricia came to mind, but he decided it was too soon to call for her. The flames were still dangerous until they had been fully extinguished and, more importantly, he had no intention of calling her into an area where someone had been killed.

But then suddenly Richard Brave blew away the sea of flames with an explosive wind.

“An excellent counterattack…”

His clothes were burned in places and the melted fibers must have stuck to his skin because his skin had discolorations that did not look quite like dark stains or burns. Even so, Richard had not been defeated. He had received flames that burned through concrete and asphalt like they were thin paper soaked in oil, but he had not been defeated.

However, Stiyl’s expression was not one of fear.

“But since I have survived, the only fate left for you is to be turned to ash.”

It was a smile.

It was the smile of a cornered beast that had gained a chance to turn things around.

“Since you’re still alive, that means those flames are not absolute. There is some means of avoiding them.”

“Don’t try to act tough,” cut in Richard, shaking his head. “You were afraid of a straight fight, so you came up with some plan and it failed. It’s obvious how this will end.”

He raised Lævateinn up above his head.

Something changed.

A sea of flames was not created as before. Before it became a mass of flames, it became a massive whirl of sparks. The wind blew them toward Stiyl, creating something similar to a random carpet bombing.

Holes opened up in the ground like in a sponge.

The flames spread from those holes.

“!?”

Stiyl immediately turned around and ran.

Before the whirl of sparks could get above his head, he ran in a direction the wind would not blow them in. But even though he was not directly hit, the countless sparks that fell to the ground quickly surrounded him. It was like hundreds of arrows with the ends lit had been fired.

(Not good. I’m surrounded…!)

There were a few gaps, but he would definitely be showered by the sparks if he tried to force his way through them. And that would be all it would take to turn his body into a pile of ashes.

“I see,” smiled Richard from the other side of the orange curtain. “Even now, you are not trying to use the horoscope as a means to negotiate. …Perhaps I was too quick to jump to conclusions. It seems it was neither you nor me that acquired it.”

In that case, he need not hesitate to kill him.

Richard lightly waved Lævateinn and the ring of flames surrounding Stiyl slowly approached.

“…Do you want the Alaskan runes that badly?” said Stiyl as he tried to come up with a way out of his predicament. “Close examination of your actions will show plenty of unnatural things. In other words, the Anglican Church will eventually take action. It’s true the Alaskan runes are rare and valuable, but is that really enough to make an enemy of the entire Anglican Church? Do you really think you can survive that?”

“Mere survival? My objective is the annihilation of the Anglican Church.”

A slight smile appeared on Richard’s face for the first time.

It was neither a sarcastic smile nor a mocking one.

It was filled with hatred and the feeling of fulfilling that hatred.

“And the Alaskan runes are nothing more than the key.”

“…?”

“The Dvergr. As a rune user, surely you have at least heard of them.”

Stiyl’s breath caught in his throat and Richard continued speaking while holding Lævateinn.

“The power of the Norse gods is symbolized by their weapons. Odin has the spear Gungnir and Thor has the hammer Mjölnir. The lightning god exists as a set with the spiritual item that calls in lightning attacks. In other words, the power of the gods and the power of their weapons are one and the same.”

An ominous flame flickered on Lævateinn’s surface.

“Of course, they are not mere spiritual items. My theory is that the weapons are a special spiritual item combined with a connection ceremony that strongly binds it with the user. It may be something like a large scale version of the types of ceremonies used to complete symbolic weapons that are specialized for a specific magic user. The connection is so great that the god with the lightning hammer becomes known as the lightning god.” Richard paused for a second. “But oddly enough, they were created by the Dvergr, a different race from the gods. ''The gods themselves do not know how to make the weapons that symbolize their own power.'' In other words, the power of the Norse gods does not belong to the gods.”

“…Are you serious?” Stiyl frowned. “That theory has no real basis. For example, Lævateinn was created by the god Loki, not the Dvergr.”

“Heh heh. There are doubts about whether he really counts as one of the gods, but whatever. I’m sure you know the flaw in your argument. …There is a story where Loki cut off the goddess Sif’s golden hair which brought her husband Thor’s wrath upon him,” Richard said seeming to enjoy himself. “In order to avoid Thor’s retribution, Loki had to swear he would return Sif’s hair to normal. To do this, he had a group of Dvergr brothers create golden hair that grows just like real hair.”

“…”

“It may be true that Loki had the ability to create a weapon of the gods, but if his ability was greater than that of the Dvergr, that story would not have been created. He would simply have had to create the golden hair on his own. …What this means is simple, don’t you think? The Dvergr have skills that Loki cannot compare to.”

The Dvergr.

They were a type of creature that lived underground and were also known as dwarfs, but everything about them was wrapped in mystery including their origin. In Norse mythology, the entire world was created by the gods using a giant’s corpse as the material, but there were a few exceptions.

The Alfar and the Dvergr.

They were something like bugs that came forth from the giant’s corpse on their own. In other words, they were rare existences that had come to be by their own power and lived within the world ruled by the gods despite not having existed before the creation of the world and not having been created at the command of the gods.

“What are the Dvergr in the first place?” continued Richard without counterattacking. “They came to be, ignoring the commands of Odin. They know means of manufacturing weapons that even the gods do not and they are the ones that truly gave the gods their power. …The more you learn about them, the less they seem to fit the rules of Norse mythology.”

“You don’t mean…”

“I do not know their identity, but they at least had something that could not be explained by those who believed in Norse mythology and passed down those stories. Doesn’t that seem like a reasonable explanation?”

The epitaph fragment Richard held had been discovered in Alaska.

The Norse lands were in northern Europe.

However, the Vikings had believed in Norse mythology and, in their golden age, they had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the eastern end of North America. That was well before Columbus. So wasn’t it possible they had walked as far as Alaska?

In other words, there may have been a connection between their materials and information.

The identity of the Dvergr.

The identity of a race that had techniques that not even the head Norse god could use. In other words, techniques that did not fall inside the category of Norse mythology.

“Are you saying they were people…?”

“In legends related to advanced techniques, especially methods of manufacturing steel, specific races or cultures often appear in the mythologies. A stereotypical example is having elves or fairies hating steel because an indigenous group that fought using copper was defeated by weapons of steel. Am I wrong?”

“…”

In the case of Japan, there were indeed theories concerning the terms “steel” and “race” regarding the slaying of Yamata no Orochi. Stiyl was able to recall similar legends from around the world because of his knowledge of magic.

“I don’t know if the Dvergr refer to a specific race or is formed from a collection of separate groups that had mastered exceedingly difficult skills. Either way, someone like that had to have existed.”

(This is bad.)

Stiyl had that thought because he had figured out what Richard Brave was after.

“The weapons of the gods are only complete when the weapon is brought together with the god. Most likely, the Dvergr had the skill to create exceedingly powerful spiritual items, but their connection spells to bind them to the user were weak. The gods kept the connection spells to themselves, so they were able to control the Dvergr even though the Dvergr could create such great power. Otherwise, Norse mythology would have been filled with the Dvergr.”

But…

“Doesn’t that also mean the weapons themselves can actually be used?”

Richard Brave’s words were like something from a nightmare.

Stiyl groaned as Richard joyfully continued.

“The Dvergr were not an exaggerated fictional legend. They were nothing more than people.”

His smile grew even wider.

“And if they were human, then the techniques they used to manufacture the weapons of the gods are something that mere humans can use. Do you understand what that means? We can freely wield the techniques that gave the gods their power in the form of their weapons!! Let me ask you again: Do you understand what that means!?”

“Didn’t you just say that the spiritual item alone did not complete the weapon? Even if your theory is correct, you can’t use the power of the gods without the connection ceremony they kept to themselves!!”

Stiyl’s words reached a yell by the end.

His priority may have been on denying what Richard was saying.

“But isn’t that enough? True, the Dvergr could not defeat the gods. They could only wield a portion of the weapons’ powers, so there was just too much of a gap between them and the gods who could draw out 100% of the power,” Richard replied simply. He had no need to hesitate. “But there is no one in modern times who can fully wield those weapons. Even the level of the Dvergr is more than enough to conquer the world. As long as you have the means of manufacturing the weapons, you can force your way through with overwhelming power.”

He may have been right.

If you had a weapon with such great power, you might be able to start a war with only a portion of its power. In a war against humans rather than a war against the gods, that would be enough to win.

And…

If Richard Brave acquired such a weapon and then researched and researched until he had a connection spell equal to or greater than the one of the Norse gods…

(This is bad…)

The Anglican Church was a denomination of the Christian Church.

They used spells related to divine miracles, but they were nothing more than a small portion of that power. They had no way to draw out 100% of the Son of God’s power.

But the Dvergr’s techniques were different.

They had the power that had given the Norse gods their power.

With the holy spear Gungnir that Odin used, you had 100% of Odin’s attack power. With the lightning hammer Mjölnir that Thor used, you had 100% of Thor’s lightning element power.

The term “Magic God” floated up in the back of Stiyl’s mind.

The term did not refer to the god of the demon world.

It referred to one who had so utterly mastered magic that he or she entered the territory of a god.

(The Anglican Church is an organization that specializes in anti-magician techniques. And Richard can’t have mastered a connection spell yet. Even if he has gained the power of the Dvergr, that is not enough to completely decide things here.)

Stiyl and Richard glared at each other with a wall of flames between them.

(But his actions will surely cause a war to develop. He intends to begin a long, drawn-out war against a nation all on his own.)

Such a war could last 10 or even 50 years.

How many people would fall during such a war?

Stiyl’s comrades might be killed. Not everyone in the United Kingdom was a magician. Whether they were experts or amateurs, they would be killed indiscriminately.

Or would such a war become the final battle spoken of in Norse mythology where all races including the gods would be wiped out and the entire world would head to its destruction?

Was Ragnarok beginning?

“…So your goal is to use the weapons of the Dvergr? Or is it stopping the Anglican Church from continuing its analysis of this?”

“You could say it’s both and you could say it’s neither,” replied Richard simply. “As I told you before, my objective is the annihilation of the Anglican Church. In doing so, I will use the techniques of the Dvergr and as a result, the Anglican Church’s analysis will be forever stopped.”

What was that man’s reason for hating the Anglican Church so much?

Before Stiyl could find that out, Richard ended the conversation.

“Let’s bring this to an end.”

A great roar came from the flames surrounding Stiyl.

“I have the epitaph fragment. Without you, Patricia Birdway is now defenseless. If I can just acquire the horoscope, the balance of the world will tip in my favor.”

The surrounding flames tightened in.

The walls of flames closed in in order to kill Stiyl.

(Something…)

He could not force his way through. But it could not be over. After all, Richard Brave had been covered in his own Lævateinn flames and had survived.

(There has to be something!! If I can figure out what that is…!!)

How were the flames produced in the first place? Merely carving the torch rune on the sword was like scattering something like alcohol around and lighting it. It was not enough to cause what was happening.

(There has to be a trick it uses to make things burn and the way around it has to be directly connected to it!! Think! Don’t give up!! Giving up won’t change anything, so think even up to the point where death is staring you straight in the eye!!)

Rune magic. Lævateinn. Flames that burned away everything. A spiritual item. Sgkalu. It was impossible just by carving that onto the surface of the sword. Norse mythology. The techniques of the Dvergr. A smell like fermenting beer. The meaning of the runes. The torch that acquired the sun using magic.

“It’s no use,” was Richard’s final remark as he watched Stiyl. “Give up.”

The flames approached all at once.

Stiyl did not shut his eyes to the very end.



Richard Brave sighed disinterestedly as he stared into the roaring whirl of flames.

One problem with his Lævateinn was that its power was so great he could not hold back. If Stiyl had used Patricia as a shield, he might have had a bit of trouble dealing with it, but luckily Stiyl had not opted to do so.

“I guess it’s over.”

Moving only his eyes, Richard looked to the side.

Stiyl Magnus lay collapsed a short distance away. An unpleasant smell was coming from his clothes in places, but it was not due to Richard’s flames. Lævateinn would have burned him away, not even leaving any ashes behind. Stiyl had immediately detonated his flame sword at his own feet in order to use the explosive wind to escape.

The Lævateinn flames had surrounded Stiyl, but…

“I never expected you to use that flame sword to lift up the burning ground itself. That was quite skillful, but do you really think you’ve escaped?”

He seemed to have prepared some kind of fireproofing spell, but it did not seem to have been a very strong one. As a result, Stiyl had not been able to suppress his own flames and the blast had knocked him unconscious.

It had all been in order to just barely escape from Lævateinn.

Stiyl lay face up and unmoving while Richard observed him. After confirming that it was not an illusion or a fake made of packed dirt, Richard adjusted his grip on Lævateinn.

(I don’t need to fear someone on his level, but this could get to be a real pain if Patricia gets involved. I guess I should crush him here.)

The roar of the air being consumed by flames strengthened.

He raised Lævateinn and its sinister light blew away the kind darkness.

But the end did not come.

This was due to a single small stone.

Of course, it had not come from Stiyl as he was unconscious.

It had suddenly been thrown from an area to Richard’s side.

It was not a spiritual item that had special magical effects. It had not been given overwhelming speed using some kind of attack spell.

It was truly just a small stone that had been picked up from the ground and thrown with all the thrower’s might.

In truth, Richard did not even turn around. Lævateinn activated on its own and turned the small stone to ash before it could strike Richard.

But Richard’s movements still stopped.

This was not due to fear or surprise.

On his face was a ghastly smile that made it look like he had just seen the most amusing thing in the world.

“What are you trying to do?”

A girl of around 12 stood there.

She was not a magician and she did not understand what was taking place there.

And she was a foolish girl who had come all that way in order to save Stiyl Magnus.

“You may know nothing about magic, but you are still a smart girl. I’m sure you’ve been able to figure out that this place is ruled by some kind of mysterious set of laws.”

His voice held no piercing hostility. Instead, there was a strange, viscous sweetness there. It had a way of destroying people’s standpoints even further, causing them to lose their strength.

But Patricia did not respond. She moved her muddy hand and picked up another small stone. With her eyes practically clenched shut, she gathered all her strength and threw the pathetic weapon at Richard.

“Get away from him…” she said in a trembling voice.

How much fear did she hold in that small body of hers? How much confusion did she hold inside? Whatever the answer, Patricia pushed it aside and spoke.

“Get away from him. Move!! You need to leave!!”

“I see.”

Richard smiled.

The smile showed scorn toward everything and was filled with all the malice of the living beings known as humans.

“Heh heh. You are soaked in virtue. You are most certainly a kind person and that kindness has taken the place of what is right. But did you know that you have just denied everything that magician fought so hard for?”

“Eh…?”

“It should be obvious! He was fighting to protect you. He was fighting to prevent having you stand on this battlefield!! Nn, so what are you doing casually walking out here? First Theodosia Electra and now him. It seems a vain death is all an Anglican magician gets!!”

Patricia trembled upon hearing that.

She had not known that Theodosia Electra had lost to Richard.

The shock left her frozen in place and Richard stuck his hand in his pocket.

“Let’s make a bet, Patricia.”

(A missing limb or two won’t have any effect on the ceremony.)

He pulled out a small stone and tossed it so it landed at her feet.

Anyone who knew of magic understood its value.

It was the fragment of the Alaskan rune epitaph.

It may have been just a small piece, but it was still a true Original grimoire.

“That item is a symbol of magic. Technically, it is a portion of a grimoire, but it can also be used as an automatic spiritual item.”

Patricia was confused, so Richard spoke slowly and simply.

“Do you understand? If you use that, you can use the same mysterious power he and I can.”

Stop!

If Stiyl had been conscious, that is surely what he would have shouted.

Not even expert magicians like Stiyl or Richard could properly use something like an Original grimoire. Not to mention that the Alaskan rune epitaph had been sealed by the Dawn-Colored Sunlight. Nothing could be done with the epitaph fragment without the horoscope for Donati’s Comet.

Richard knew all that, but he still tried to lure her in.

He was enjoying the prospect of her touching the Original, causing it to explode.

It was a labyrinth. All of the exits were already sealed, so he could simply smile as he watched his prey struggle with the pointless gimmicks prepared within. No matter how far his prey continued, they would never reach the end and he would whip them if they tried to stop even for an instant.

“What will you do?” Richard asked calmly.

No one could stop him.

No one would stand up for Patricia.

“Oh, right. Be careful how you use it. An Original’s self defense functions are quite powerful. Not even magicians like us can deal with it. If you screw up, you won’t just lose a limb or two. You may come to regret your decision here for the rest of your life.”

“…”

“But an Original holds enough possibility to make that risk worth it. There is a small chance you might be able to even save that pathetic magician. Do you understand what I am saying, Patricia?” His words invited her into the abyss. “Your only chance lies there. Now, will you grab it or waste it? The choice is yours.”

The small girl unsteadily looked down at the epitaph fragment that lay at her feet.

Unless that stone were a garnet laser, Patricia had no idea how it could possibly hold such great power.

(If…)

But it truly seemed that some kind of mysterious set of laws was ruling that place.

(If that truly is what he says it is…)

As Richard had said, even Patricia understood that much. She could at least tell that the power Stiyl and Theodosia had wielded to protect her had not been mere deceptions.

In that case, it was possible that stone had enough power to be valuable enough to risk one’s life over. After all, Stiyl, Theodosia, and Richard had been desperately fighting over it.

It held the power needed to escape her trapped situation.

On the other hand, it held enough power that Patricia would be swallowed up if she failed to control it.

It was like a bomb.

“Uuh…”

Something in her heart yelled for her to stop.

A mysterious set of laws she did not understand existed. Using it, one could cause strange phenomena like Richard had been. But Patricia did not understand what exactly those laws were. The term “spell” was a mystery to her and the term “magic power” left her drawing a blank. Telling her to use that power in that situation was like handing the steering wheel to an elementary school student while driving down the highway.

She would fail.

She did not know why, but she knew that she would fail if she tried.

“Uwaaaahhh!!”

But Patricia still reached out her hand.

Her hand shook as it slowly stretched out. She stretched her hand out toward the epitaph fragment so slowly even she thought it to be foolish. She could imagine that something would happen the instant she touched it and she knew it would not be what she wanted, but a drowning man will try to grab at even straw.

Her small hand and small fingers touched the rough surface of the stone.

(It’s over.)

Richard’s face twisted into a smile.

He was wrapped in the joy of victory.

(I now have the epitaph fragment and the remains of Patricia. Now I just need to find the horoscope, but I’ll have some time before the Anglican Church sends out new pursuer. I know it’s inside Academy City, so I can take my time in my search.)

And then…

A great noise exploded out from the epitaph fragment.

Just as she touched the surface of the small stone, Patricia’s arm shot backwards. She grimaced in pain and the epitaph fragment shot into the air as if to distance itself from her. A pale light showing some magical phenomenon had occurred could be seen in the darkness.

“…”

But Richard’s expression was not one of joy.

After all, that had not been the result he had been expecting. The Original had not gone out of control.

Instead, an explosion had occurred.

It had been a shockwave caused by a third party in order to distance the Original from Patricia.

“Damn…you…” muttered Richard Brave as he turned his head to the side.

Seeing that, Patricia looked over in that direction while holding her arm.

“Stiyl…?” she said.

She received no response.

A priest slowly stood up in the direction they were looking.

He had long hair dyed red, pierced ears, silver rings on all 10 fingers, a cigarette in his mouth, and a barcode tattoo under his right eye. It was clearly Stiyl Magnus standing there.

He was burned.

Parts of his clothes had burned off and a burnt smell permeated the air.

But he was not dead.

That magician would not die.

“…”

Richard Brave’s response was actually quite simple.

His enemy had stood up, so he swung Lævateinn.

With a roar, a sea of flames exploded out.

A raging crimson tsunami attacked Stiyl Magnus.

That destructive attack would crush the weak and the strong evenly. The flames instantly enveloped his entire body and the light enveloped him to the point that not even his silhouette could be seen.

Stiyl Magnus had not spoken a word.

Seeing that, Patricia uttered a terrible scream.

But…

With an idiotic sound, Stiyl Magnus blew away the sea of flames.

He was unharmed.

Those flames would swallow up anything in their path and evenly burn away everything they swallowed up.

That was the absolute attack produced by Lævateinn.

With nothing more than a swing of his flame sword, Stiyl had sliced that attack in two so it passed by him on either side.

A few stubborn bits of flames smoldered down at his feet, but Stiyl simply crushed them underfoot. Stiyl Magnus mercilessly destroyed that horrible weapon that would burn away anything that touched even a spark from it.

That should have been impossible.

It was like he had risen from the dead.

What he had done was no coincidence. It was not a miracle that had no reason behind it. The spells used by true magicians did not allow for such things. That meant there had to be a reason. There was a reason Stiyl had been able to stand up and eliminate Richard’s flames.

Richard Brave was utterly shocked.

He could not see Stiyl Magnus’s expression.

“What…?” Richard forced the words out of his dry throat. “How could you break through Lævateinn with a toy like that?”

Stiyl Magnus did not respond.

Only anger could be seen on his face.

That anger was not in response to having been injured himself. It was not due to something as trivial as that. His anger was enough to swallow up the crimson glow of Lævateinn and it was for the sake of the girl who had been forced to hopelessly stand alone as she was toyed with over the magic she did not understand and was forced to jump into what she knew was a trap. It was for the girl who there was no need to harm but had been almost injured for the purpose of some twisted bit of fun.

“…Richard Brave.”

Stiyl spoke that name of evil and tension ran through the one it belonged to.

He had Lævateinn in his hand and he had an overwhelming advantage, but that voice drove all that out of his mind.

Stiyl Magnus glared at him.

He glared at his enemy.

He glared at the face of the enemy he had to kill as quickly as possible.

“It seems you truly want to die here.”

A new whirl of flames appeared.

It was different from Lævateinn.

It simply glowed.

That overwhelming whirl of flames appeared in order to save the girl who had wandered into the world of magic.