Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 7===

Hetepheres Men-Nefer felt a burning sensation in her temples.

The ring had exploded.

She had attacked the world’s strongest before the bell rang.

But.

“''That wasn’t me.''” Her right hand was still held out, palm forward. “''That initial explosion wasn’t me''!! That threw off my magic’s aim!”

“You should probably shut up and make your next move,” whispered Utagai Karuta, already making his next move.

One of his leather shoes was missing. He had swiftly removed and chucked it backwards with a snap of his wrist. Right into the detonating cord ropes that were set to explode if anything touched them.

That had caused an explosion just before Hetepheres’s Egyptian magic had activated. It hadn’t been enough to be lethal, but it had shaken her physically and mentally, throwing off her aim just enough.

And so he had survived.

Utagai Karuta rushed straight toward her holding the modified military flashlight he could use as a club.

He didn’t know what her specialty was, but he had no choice but to get close. His killing range was the range of that club.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on there!! I haven’t rung the bell yet, you two!!”

“Are you volunteering to pull them apart and start this over from the beginning? When the crowd is going wild like this? Why would you want to be such a wet blanket, Delane?”

His strike was rejected with a dull clang.

His flashlight was forcibly held back by an empty patch of air. He grimaced at the pain in his wrist bones and forced himself to make careful observations.

“Jackal – Connection – Anubis – 1/96.”

A bluish-white light spread from her outstretched palm like an opening umbrella and that blocked his blunt weapon.

“The judgment of the dead is permanent and there is no false second judgment for the sinful souls. Your judgment has been made. If you cannot accept it, then leave this place!!”

“I’ve torn your mask away now.”

“You aren’t surprised?”

“Sorry, but I’m not naïve enough to be surprised by a simple supernatural barrier. That’s one of the standards for crystal magic!!”

(But am I really up against Anubis ''again''!?)

If she could cover her entire body with that barrier at all times, she would have done so from the beginning. She had only tried to cheat and kill him with her first attack because she was worried about something.

There was a downside.

And not just that it didn’t last long.

The smoke and dust from the detonating cord blast had gotten in her black hair. That meant the barrier didn’t provide 360-degree protection.

It was a shield, not armor. So if he didn’t attack from head on, he could hit her!

“Ibis – Connection – Thoth – 1/96.”

Her right palm turned to face him, her shoulder moving in a way the joint shouldn’t have allowed.

He dodged out of the way and made a feint, but his flashlight was still deflected by the shield of bluish-white light. He tried a second and third time, but he could not slip past that swiveling shield.

(Is she predicting my moves!? But if she could always do this, that first attack wouldn’t have caught her by surprise.)

“Bull – Connection – Apis – 1/8.”

The shield swelled out.

No, she took a forceful step toward him with the glowing shield still held out in front. It was like a dump truck’s bumper crashing into a human.

Shields were generally considered defensive tools, but there were techniques that struck with the edge or tackled with the full front surface. Based on this, he guessed Ancient Egypt had some kind of specialized shield techniques.

His own thin barrier was breached immediately and he fell backwards. If he had tried to stand his ground, she would have snatched his only weapon from his hand.

“Gah!?”

“Utagai Karuta, you are powerless.”

He heard a high-pitched clink as a thumb-sized clear vial dropped to Hetepheres’s feet. The action was reminiscent of an empty cartridge, but it wasn’t empty.

Karuta watched as dry brown sand crumbled away, but he had seen the true identity of the vial’s contents first.

(A…mummy?)

“And a powerless boy can never defeat me.”

But this mummy was not the preserved remains of a pharaoh. It looked like an animal. That stout livestock was a cow, but it didn’t look like a fetus. Somehow, it had been dried down to the point that it could fit in a vial no larger than a size-D battery.

(But more than that…)

''Where had it come from?

He did not know what it was, but if it was necessary for her magic, he could stop her from using her magic by preventing her from pulling those things out.

He had been distracted.

He had not seen the moment when she pulled it out. Her loose-fitting Egyptian priestess outfit looked perfect for hiding small objects, but she had not actually reached into a pocket or something. And she wasn’t wearing long sleeves, so it couldn’t be hidden at her wrists. So when had she pulled it out and from where!?

“Falcon – Connection – Horus – 1/144.”

He had seen this one before.

The bluish-white shield vanished and a compressed ball of fire appeared in her hand instead. This was the bomb she had attempted to throw at him before the bell.

He also saw another vial in her hand. But he had again missed precisely when she pulled it out.

“Now it is my turn to tear your mask away. Die like the powerless fool you are!!”