Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 13===

She ran and ran and raced up a narrow metal stairway to leave the outdoor café, but Machibula Delphi was ultimately cornered at the heliport that resembled a massive plate.

She and Karuta would have fought here had it not been destroyed in the previous match.

She heard the dry cracking of the sharp crystals covering the boy’s body shattering away. The severe burns from the flamethrower were nowhere to be found.

The ocean view from the rooftop heliport was marred by black smoke. The Chrisbart electric battleship was tilted, but it was not sinking. The slaves aboard it had apparently surrendered, so the crystal magician students were busy setting up a perimeter around it.

Karuta was glad they had not been forced to sink the captured ship.

It would have reminded him too much of what happened to the first Grimnoah.

“Ha.”

Without warning, Machibula moved her fingers swiftly through empty air. But he already knew what the real threat was. He forcibly tore the flashlight from the skin of his palm and threw the blunt weapon. Machibula must not have been an experienced fighter because she was slow to react and only managed to swing her head to the side. Unfortunately for her, that was not his target.

He had aimed at the miniature planetarium on her shoulder.

That physical device supported her calculations and imagination like an abacus or slide rule, but now its stars vanished.

“Ha ha ha.” Machibula Delphi laughed weakly and put her hands up. “Okay. I get it. I surrender.”

“…”

“This is going a little too poorly. I never would have missed such a major change in the light of the stars… Was this an inside job? Eh, it’s probably just Kildna rebelling ''yet again''.”

“…”

“But you can’t kill me outside the ring. Those are the rules you set and the entire tournament would be meaningless if you broke them. I’m not aware of all the details, but I know you wouldn’t have held this tournament unless it was necessary for some reason.”

“…”

“Which means you cannot kill me! You have no choice but to back off!! Ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha!! That’s what you get for being the world’s strongest. You have to be a role model, showing the people how they should behave.”

Utagai Karuta’s fist immediately flew toward the priestess’s face.

Her eyes instantly lost their focus. She didn’t understand what had just happened and he could guess her mind had gone entirely blank.

The force of his fist alone damaged her very soul.

And his clenched fist stopped only a few millimeters from her nose.

He had followed the Catastrophe’s rules, but the Greek priestess’s legs still went limp and she collapsed to the heliport a moment later.

But this was not over yet. Just like Karuta had said to Yamane Deiri, this was revenge for what they had done to Aine.

“You’re right. I can’t kill you here.”

“Pant…gasp.”

“So.”

So he was not in a forgiving mood. And he knew exactly how to deal with someone like her.

“''I’ll kill you in the ring. I promise you the world’s strongest will kill you. You no longer have your saboteurs in Orpheus’s Orchestra. And someone who resorts to tricks can’t hope to win without those tricks. Yeah, that’s right. I’m the same way, so I know that all too well. The most frightening dead end for a coward is to be forced into a direct confrontation.''”

He heard a phone vibrating, but his own had been fried along with his body. It came from the chest of the blonde priestess’s loose-fitting clothing.

“Check your phone.”

“…”

“I’m sure it’s an important notification. To be clear, I win by default if you run away instead. And once that happens, ''you’re no longer a contestant and the rules don’t say squat about what I can or can’t do to you outside the ring.''”

“……………………………………………………………………………………………”

She looked half dazed.

She pulled out her phone with a trembling hand and checked the screen to find the following message:

“Stardust (for tournament staff only): Round 3 Match 2 will begin as scheduled. Miss Dephi, please report to the contestant waiting room so you may begin at any time.”