Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Prologue

Prologue

(Author: Robert Ring. Filename: Manuscript Data 6/13/20XX 1-Page Article)

What is the true power of the world’s strongest crystal magicians known as the Four Living Gods?

Several pieces of new information were discovered during their battle against the Threat in the ocean near Japan’s Port of Kobe.

We now know more about the power of the world’s strongest magicians.

They must not have been able to spare the energy to cover up that information like they did during their unconfirmed operation at the Crystal Beach. Several witness accounts and videos of the battle in the city have turned up and official records remain for the damage caused by the leaked crude oil and the naval petroleum fire.

Is crystal magic really all that useful in the fight against the Threat? And just how powerful are the Four Living Gods really?

They would not try to hide this information if they did not benefit from doing so, so I believe there is great value in the fragments of information that slipped through this time.

Whatever their official specs are listed as on paper, the reality before our eyes is what truly matters.

The Four Living Gods failed to prevent damage to the city and they struggled to retake their own mobile base of Second Grimnoah. In your great wisdom, I ask that you determine for yourselves whether or not they truly have the power they are rumored to.

I repeat: just how powerful are the Four Living Gods really?

Remember, these are just a collection of minor students. They were forced to sacrifice others to take back their home, so can we really expect them to take back this world of 5.5 billion unharmed?

(* Hidden Note: We do live in a better world now, though. If I had written an article like this back in the Problem Solver days, I would have been demoted, fired, or even blacklisted from the entire industry.)

The ocean seemed to stretch on forever, but beyond the horizon, a long wire stretched ever upward like some kind of mistake. That was the space elevator constructed on the equator. The wire was surrounded by crackling light even with the sky as blue as could be. That was due to the energy being sent from the facility into the thunderclouds to intentionally release their lightning into the surrounding ocean where the high voltage would not harm the elevator wire.

It was June. Specifically, it was 10:09 AM of the 13th.

The equator in Southeast Asia was apparently one of the least rainy areas in the world. But if it rained even 140mm in a month, it would rival Tokyo’s rainy season. The problem was how the area had some of the world’s highest temperatures. It was better than the stagnant jungles, but it still felt like being inside a plastic greenhouse with water spraying on the plants inside.

Directly below the Second Grimnoah’s heliport, Utagai Karuta bowed his head and spoke.

“Thanks for helping me with this.”

“It’s no problem. That President’s clever plan has me working as an emergency lecturer on Second Grimnoah anyway.”

Letnahe Kurent had one foot held above her head like she was about to perform an axe kick, except that heel was pressed against the nearby metal wall to stretch her hip joint. She was a beautiful woman in her late 20s with distinctive long silver hair and brown skin. She currently wore a baggy t-shirt and ankle-length skintight pink leggings. Indian yoga had modernized itself a lot as time passed, so colorful synthetic garments were now a common sight when it was practiced. She wore a ring on her ring finger and a mobile watch around her wrist. She had a sports band attached to her glasses to keep them in place while she moved.

Karuta, on the other hand, wore a short-sleeved dress shirt over a sports brand shirt and purple slacks. That was actually an official summer uniform of Second Grimnoah – the combat variation he had used when fighting the Problem Solvers and the Threat.

(Not that these are made to provide any real defense. And this situation doesn’t really allow me to go into hiding and get in a sneak attack. If only the world’s strongest was allowed to hide weapons in their clothing.)

He tapped his fingers against the modified military flashlight he wore in his belt at the side of his hip.

The woman continued her stretches and spoke (while breathing an oddly alluring sigh).

“You are officially known as the world’s strongest, so you can’t let people see you working so hard. That actually makes the lockable gym a bad choice. The more strictly you lock something up, the more people will want to see inside. A blind spot like this, that no one even thinks about as being hidden from view, though? Now that makes the perfect secret base.”

The fact that below the heliport had been Karuta’s first thought when asked to find a secret base may have been a remnant of the sunk first ship living on within him.

(God, how long are you going to keep saving my ass, Gekiha?)

While applying gentle pressure to her lithe body with her stretches, the Main Category dance teacher (and special envoy from the Indian military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and member of the human string-pullers) casually began the lesson.

“There are a wide variety of ancient martial arts, but I personally see four major categories defined by whether or not they use the legs and whether or not they allow grappling. Weapons? They all use that. Even karate uses the tonfa and boxing protects the fists. Human fists break far too easily when punching people barehanded.”

“Wait, but I recognize that stance.”

Karuta sounded puzzled.

He was not all that knowledgeable of martial arts, but he had seen similar movements used by karate fighters to judge the distance from their opponent.

The new teacher(?) smiled a little.

“India is an old country with a population of 1 billion even with the losses brought by the Threat. You can find more than 2000 martial arts styles there that can be classified as ‘ancient’.”

“Then why not use those?”

“If we combined those to create some kind of ultimate combination, we would get complaints about whose styles we used and whose we didn’t. So we avoid all that trouble by using foreign karate or jujutsu instead. You have to remember, the Indian military includes people from regions all across the country, so it’s safest to eliminate any source of friction rooted in love for one’s home region. The last thing you want is fights breaking out among your own troops.”

What a bitter reason.

And he had been hoping to see a scimitar like Kali’s or a trident like Shiva’s.

“Then again, Kenpo had its origins in ancient India before it arrived in China,” she added. “Now, if you just want as much destructive power as fast as you can get it, then Muay Thai with its punching, kicking, and grappling would be your best bet. But that is designed for close-quarters combat and is poorly suited for dodging weapons like knives and tasers. In the world of killing, you want to be an outfighter who keeps their distance from their opponent while making sure it remains a one-sided fight. But explaining it all verbally makes for poor training. You can figure out the logic behind it all while trying it out yourself.”

Karuta glanced awkwardly down at the object in his right hand.

The military flashlight that doubled as a striking weapon was about 60cm long and thicker than a relay baton. He had made use of that weapon on several occasions in this cruel world. He had also swapped out the light for a powerful IR laser that could dazzle eyes and jam sensors.

It was only a makeshift handmade device, but it was the most familiar weapon for him.

Letnahe coolly gestured him toward her with her fingertips in the sweltering equatorial heat.

“I don’t mind. Before they were developed into sports, ancient martial arts were designed with weapons in mind. Anyone who fights emptyhanded is making a choice to do so. There is no need to hold back.”

This wasn’t going to start until Karuta made his move. He slowly exhaled, flipped around the blunt weapon that had been aimed at her face, and aimed for her right shin instead.

Anyone would move to protect their face on reflex. Blows to the shin were an easy source of great pain and applying too much force had less risk of causing a lasting injury than with the knee. It was a “safe weak point” with almost no chance of killing someone if you attacked there.

But.

“Un.”

Letnahe easily pulled back her right leg to avoid the swing of his modified military flashlight.

“Deux.”

With a dull sound, stars scattered in Karuta’s vision. He had naturally lowered his head in order to attack her leg, so she had jabbed her elbow straight into his face. His flimsy barrier was easily breached, he lost control of his weight, and he could not stop himself from toppling back onto his ass. Meanwhile, Letnahe kept moving.

“Trois.”

He felt something soft on the back of his head.

Letnahe had cut sharply behind him and placed an arm around his neck. She used the inside of her elbow much like someone cracking a walnut with a door hinge. He had fallen onto his butt and his legs were pinned because she wrapped her legs around his hips from behind in a kani basami. She had essentially sat down and tangled her entire body around his, so he had no way of shaking her off after falling down. It was a lot like being strangled by the shoulder strap of the backpack you were wearing.

She did it with such overwhelming speed that the gemlike beads of sweat that flew from her brown skin only fell to the floor after the fact.

(If that’s her chin against the top of my head, then this softness against the back of my head must be her brea- gweh!?)

“Chokeholds are nearly impossible to break out of once they’re in place, but I also could have used an axe kick. The distance from the heel to the head increases the force of the blow, so it can shatter the skull of an opponent that has fallen to the ground.”

He felt the warmth of a grown women across his back and the heat of her breaths on his ear, but he could not afford to tense up. If she bent her elbow just a little further, she would fully constrict his carotid artery. Then he would have less than 30 seconds before he passed out.

Instead, she released him and stood up, brushing back her long hair with a hand, leaning over, and holding her other hand out toward the dazed boy.

“You cannot learn from a single loss. You need to continue losing until you understand why you lost. We don’t have much time, so you have to stay focused on that trial-and-error process.”

“…”

He took her hand.

No, just before he did, he flipped his entire body around to sweep her feet out from under her.

“Nice try.”

The teacher looked somewhat amused.

She stomped on his sweeping foot, but he could not just grimace at the explosion of primitive pain in his ankle bone. She had already pinned him in place.

With his one leg held to the ground, she spread her legs in her leggings and sat down on his belly. She made the temporary restraint much more permanent. She had to be lighter than him, but he couldn’t force her off of him with his center of gravity so accurately pinned.

“But not good enough.”

She held his hands down, swung her head back, and then slammed her forehead against his without even removing her glasses. He tasted rust while his vision blurred.

“Of course, I could have tightened your collar with my hands to knock you out instead.”

The kind teacher’s lecture continued with forehead against forehead like she was checking his temperature.

They were close enough for him to notice a cool minty scent in her sweet breath. It may have been her toothpaste.

“Do you see now that you can’t just attack at random? There are rules you must follow. Any attack you can think up on the fly can be just as easily blocked. You need to have at least two options at any single moment – preferably three. Do that and you can either win or draw – you will never lose.”

“Jab, strike, kick. Grab, choke, throw. Not to mention weapons and magic… Combat can happen in any context and with any kind of attack, so is it really that simple?”

“It is true there are as many methods of attack as stars in the sky.”

“Sh!!”

He threw a punch toward her side while she was talking and his vision darkened.

It took him three whole seconds to realize the teacher seated atop him had apparently tensed her side to block and thrown her own fist as a counterattack. Yes, seconds. In his battles against the Problem Solvers and the Threat, he would have been killed several times over in that time.

Letnahe maintained a composed expression as she continued speaking.

“But there aren’t all that many different forms of defense. Blocking, dodging, breaking free, parrying – well, there are four or five more if you include counterattacks that combine offense and defense. And your options there don’t change all that much whether you have a weapon or not. Plus, people can only perform one form of defense at a time. You cannot lower your hips to brace yourself against an incoming attack while also deftly dodging out of the way.”

“Gah…ow.”

“I will teach you several ways to efficiently destroy your opponent, so once you have a decent repertoire of attacks, you need to learn which forms of defense they can defeat. For example, a sway used to move the body out of the way of punch can be crushed by a kick or a tackle. A method of breaking free of an attempted grapple is powerless against all forms of striking attacks. Again, people can only perform one form of defense at a time, so if you always have at least two attack options at the ready, you can switch between them at a moment’s notice to render their defenses meaningless.”

“Ugh, cough.”

“In this case, you don’t need to worry about being caught in a brawl against multiple opponents, but that rule is still worth keeping in mind.”

Their lips were less than 2cm apart, so Karuta didn’t dare move his head aside when he coughed. He was afraid any movement at all would make their lips touch. This must have delighted some weirdly sadistic side of Letnahe because she rubbed her forehead against his in obvious amusement.

“You need to be an outfighter with excellent dodging skills, but your attacks also need real weight behind them. In that sense, Japanese karate isn’t bad. And you should avoid using leg techniques for a quick power boost since they will also reduce your mobility. Fancy taekwondo is best left to the experts.”

“But won’t my attacks be too weak like that? Even I can tell a kick is more powerful than a punch. Won’t this increase the risk of the battle dragging on?”

“Of course it will. The ideal result is to defeat your opponent within 4 seconds. Otherwise, you lose the element of surprise and the bullets and screams will start flying. And in real combat, either one is deadly. In your case, you will immediately be put on the defensive once that happens.”

She was so close he couldn’t get his eyes to focus on her face and he felt her breath of laughter on his lips.

But then she pulled back and got off of him.

“But there is no need to insist on using just one form of martial arts in combat. Just like the Japanese police have combined karate, judo, and kendo to create their own arresting techniques, you can take parts of different martial arts to make up for what one might lack. I assume you are more familiar with Japanese martial arts, so…yes, take this for example.”

Letnahe planted her feet at shoulder width and lowered her hips.

While partially crouched, she pressed her palms against her knees and lifted her right leg up high. Then she slammed the foot down against the hard floor.

In other words, she performed a sumo stomp.

“In sumo, greater body weight obviously provides an advantage, but you can still pose a threat with an average weight as long as you know how to throw that weight around. You can rattle your opponent’s vision and mind with a swift sumo slap and use that opening to tackle them. As long as you learn the effective patterns, you can nearly guarantee a win that way. There is a brief risk as you move in close to slam your weight against them, but you still have a greater chance of dodging an unexpected attack than if you raised your leg for a kick.”

“…”

Karuta greatly appreciated her valuable advice, but he was having trouble looking her in the eye.

She gave him a confused look through her glasses, but then realization filled her eyes. She must have heard the straining of the synthetic material. Yes, she shouldn’t have spread her legs so wide and placed such a large burden on the pink leggings already stretched tight over her skin. …The shape of her crotch was showing through a little too clearly. Mrs. Camel was showing off her toes.

Letnahe held herself in her arms and rapidly backed away, glaring at him like he was a bug on the bathroom floor.

“What kind of animal has time to lust after a married women wearing a wedding ring when his life is on the line?”

“How is it my fault you decided to do this combat training in yoga pants? An ordinary long-sleeved track suit would’ve worked fine!!”

Just then, a bright white beam of light shot from the heliport above and shook the entire world around them.

This was not like an ordinary explosion spreading out in every direction like a dome.

Had it been given even more brutal destructive power by focusing it all in a single direction? One of the cruisers patrolling nearby nearly had its bow torn off and a desert island on the horizon and an ocean wind power plant were erased from the world.

This was magic.

However, it was not the crystal magic Utagai Karuta and his friends were so familiar with.

“Aaaaand there it is!! Soufflehilde S. Gerbline’s Valkyrie rune magic just landed a solid hit!! Fortunately, the stands only had a piece of their base torn away, but do remember it’s up to you to dodge any foul balls that fly your way. Now, what has become of Eikele and her Celtic wicker man? Was she blasted outside the ring, or was she vaporized on the spot? The satellite and drone footage is being rewound for a careful analysis as we speak, so please wait until we have a ruling!!”

The amplified and cracking voice coming from the speakers was the excited yelling of a little girl much too young to be commentating a deadly event like this. The cheering crowd soon followed. The cheers were so loud they shook the 600m ship that was Second Grimnoah.

That was all happening atop the heliport directly above Karuta and Letnahe’s heads.

For all that to fit up there, it was obviously much larger than the average rooftop heliport.

Emotions were contagious, so excitement could spread from a single person just as well as panic could. Maybe the edgy little girl’s shouts were meant to excite the crowd that way, or maybe she was just stalling until the result of the match was confirmed.

“But you can’t hope to face the real star of this tournament if you don’t pack at least that much of a punch. Now, everyone, use this new information to inform your next bets. Wouldn’t it be boring if the world’s strongest just won it all!? That kind of fuck up isn’t gonna make anyone rich!! So grip those tickets in your hands and raise a greedy prayer for whoever you’ve got your money riding on! Who do you think will kill Utagai Karuta and claim the title of world’s strongest for themselves!!!???”

No one questioned it.

The cheers only grew louder and filled their surroundings with the strange energy of a festival.

“You don’t have time to zone out.”

Was it Letnahe Kurent who said he could not let other people see him right now? She checked her blood pressure and other vital signs on the mobile watch synced with her phone while she performed some stretches more to stimulate her internal organs through yoga than to loosen her muscles.

“Remember, you don’t have the luxury of Aine fighting by your side this time.”

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