Chapter Fifty-Five: All The Range Catastrophe X
Wednesday
12:52 P.M,
Cipher Key
A system capable of bypassing any encryption.
In simple terms, it functioned like a virus.
However, unlike a conventional virus, it was tailored to target…
Wizards.
When paired with the Aurora System, an advanced, intelligent AI.
It became capable of effectively neutralizing an enemy's Territory.
Based on this concept, an entire class of CR Units had been developed.
Most notably, the Britannia Unit and the Ashcroft Series.
And the sole reason their development had been accelerated to this extent was, him.
X.
At this moment—
D.E.M. Research Facility
Morgan dashed through the hallways, eventually stopping in front of a door.
He had already removed the lance from its case, but he hadn't activated it yet.
"…Beta," he muttered, "how are things?"
«Road is clear master»
Morgan nodded, swinging the door open.
Everywhere was completely dark, but he could still see his surroundings.
An advantage of having heightened perception.
It was a stairway, and it only led to the upper parts.
"Climbing is a pain, I'm jumping."
Morgan crouched, tensing his muscles, shooting towards the rail guard, then he pushed himself.
He jumped up.
Planting his foot firmly on a higher railing, and like that, using that as a step, he continued.
Another perk of becoming a Magus and learning martial arts.
He was doing all of this with only minimal enhancement.
Indeed, his body had changed, and evidently, he had become much more supernatural.
«Master, I have picked up an unknown signal. Beta is currently trying to discern its source»
"That so? Then please continue."
Replying to Beta.
Morgan's hand clamped firmly on a railing, pushing himself forward.
His body shot in a front flip motion before landing gracefully on the ground.
Tap!
"Fuu."
He exhaled and immediately pressed himself flat against the wall.
A door was there.
Slowly, he brushed his palm along the cold concrete and extended his senses outward.
He could feel vibrations, so he was sending them out.
If someone was nearby, the signal would bounce back. It seemed like no one was around the corridor.
Morgan then pushed, placing his hand on the door, before stopping.
'Wait, a minute, if that girl was...'
Morgan suddenly paused, his eyes slowly widened, as though coming to a realization.
However, it was too late of a realization.
Still, the world around him slowed down.
"Dammit!"
Yet, despite the accelerated time he could perceive, his body could barely follow the movement.
And-
BOOM!
From the outside—
What could be seen was an explosion bursting from one side of the structure.
Forcing its way outward is a blinding light spilled into the open air.
Smoke followed the light, then finally a silhouette escaping the smoke.
It was Morgan.
Or now X,
He brushed the back of his hand across his lower lip as cool outside air slammed into him.
His clothes were rustled by the wind, leaving his hood flapping against it.
Yet, his overall features could be discerned, but still, his face was glitched out regardless.
"I can't believe I also didn't think about this. I guess Beta's theory of resonance was correct."
Morgan muttered that.
As he spoke, blue light pierced through the rolling black smoke behind him.
She stepped forward.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, an extremely slim figure, coupled with the blue-white armor she wore.
Artemisia.
Morgan's eyes narrowed.
However...
"…Something's wrong with her."
He could tell immediately.
"Tsk... so it's come down to this."
Morgan exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
[Silver lance]
[Releasing...]
Liquid metal swirled around it in a film-like manner, stopping enough to give space for grip.
As soon as it stabilized, an invisible domain covered Morgan.
Yet, amidst this, she only watched him in silence while entering a stance too.
"Right, I remember now. You were brainwashed, weren't you? And here I hoped I could sneak you away in the midst of a commotion, but well oh well."
He leveled the lance at her.
"Not that I'm expecting an answer from you."
"Come."
Silence enveloped the air.
Only the rustling of winds could be heard, carrying a mixed scent of wet concrete and smoke.
Their hair swayed in the wind.
And in the next moment.
Shua!
Their figures blurred into light.
Clang!
Light detonated between them as weapons collided midair.
Morgan clicked his tongue.
"Not really a fan of samurai duels."
Kwin—!
Two spheres of condensed light formed at Artemisia's side and instantly fused into a beam, firing straight toward him.
But she barely reacted.
The beam struck—
And bounced off.
"Oh?"
Muttering that under his breath, he then withdrew the lance, aiming for a side attack.
His left leg swept across the air.
And just as it was about to connect, he stopped.
"Baka~"
His stance changed from a left kick to the side to a spin in the air and a right to the head.
Bam!
The kick connected, sending Artemisia downwards; however, Morgab didn't feel it connect.
She blocked it in time.
Just as he thought, he saw her raise her head, a small frown elicited on her face.
"Please, I'm not a softie that would go all easy on my opponent."
Morgan said lightly, resetting his stance.
For some reason, he felt that she agreed with that statement, after all...
She was now charging at him.
"Hahaha! It wouldn't be fun otherwise."
Morgan gathered the mana around him and immediately made it explode, propelling him forward.
Like that, he propelled himself upward, with Artemisia trailing further behind into the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sky erupted with shockwaves as the two figures tore higher into the air.
However, Artemisia blocked each strike without any visible change in expression.
Only the slight furrow in her brow betrayed mild annoyance, even in her current state.
Even so, she pressed forward, swinging her sword.
It cut through empty air—
Cling!
Morgan was behind, about to strike.
But she spun smoothly, catching his weapon mid-motion and locking it with her own once more.
She's strong.
Clearly, he could see that.
However, both had yet to grow serious.
Morgan hadn't used his [Divine Vibrations]; heck, the lance itself wasn't even his go-to weapon.
What's more, Artemisia hadn't used her [Territory].
She was only using her protective Territory.
When switching to offense, she would eliminate it.
'…So this is how the world's strongest fight, and I can keep up.'
A smile crept onto Morgan's lips as their weapons clashed again.
He pulled back and thrust—
Only for the strike to be parried cleanly.
That alone told him enough.
'If [Avalon] were here… this wouldn't even be a match. With what I can do, that is...!'
Artemisia suddenly recoiled, pulling back several meters through the air.
Something was wrong.
The device in Morgan's hand began to glow brighter and brighter.
"…Enough playing around," he said evenly. "Let's both get serious."
Artemisia blinked.
Her head shrank a little, letting out a small imperceptible nod.
In the next instant—
A radius of three hundred meters. A mega-sized territory appeared.
"Wait, huh?"
Morgan blinked.
"…That's excessive."
SSS Base.
Back several minutes earlier.
Having receiving the order.
A small three-person squad had been dispatched,
…instructed to sortie immediately and head for the site.
Right now,
They were in the hangar.
A spacious place that looked like a locker room.
Walled on all sides with reinforced steel.
Fixed into the wall was a cylindrical tube which attached the Unit to them.
Already suited up, Cecile stood in front of a CR Unit designated Jabberwock.
Part of the Artemisia Series, Unit II.
A weapon made at the expense of her friend. A loathsome weapon.
But that wasn't what occupied her thoughts.
To think he'd move this fast.
Although indeed, she went and told him all that, she didn't expect him to actually make his move this soon.
From the looks of it, he was planning on using a false spacequake alarm to his advantage.
Worse, he was now engaged in a battle with Artemisia.
Things had gotten all the more complicated.
But this situation was still salvageable; she knew her own course of action from this moment.
It's plenty of time.
Just as she drowned in her own thoughts…
"Are you okay, Ci?"
A hand patted her shoulder as she turned her head to look.
That familiar voice of Leonora.
She nodded her head, but currently, Cecile was sure. that if she opened her eyes and looked at a mirror.
What would reflect back would unmistakably be strained expression.
"Let's go."
"Hmm…. are.. we really doing it?"
"…As much as I don't want to say this.. X is our shot at getting Artemisia back, we can't lose this opportunity."
"O-okay... I'll go with you."
DEM Research Facility
Morgan's lips parted slightly in exasperation.
Chotto matte.
Seriously, just how broken is this girl? Judging by the feel of it alone, this—
«Yes, a three hundred meter radius Territory»
"She's even crazier than me."
And clearly—
He was at a disadvantage now.
Mana gathering was sluggish.
It wasn't completely nullified, but heavily interfered with by her Territory.
Worse still, Bootleg Rhongomyniad hadn't been designed for advanced calculations.
If not for Beta synchronizing with its processing power…
He wouldn't have been able to fight this freely in the first place.
«That will not be an issue. Calculation speed remains unaffected»
«However, Master's [Divine Vibration] is another matter»
"Hm?"
«It is no longer a byproduct of Territory or Realizer systems»
«It is now synonymous with phenomena exhibited by Angels»
"…Wait."
Morgan's eyes widened.
"You're telling me I can use [Divine Vibration] without the drawbacks—ooh!"
His head snapped to the side as a gust of wind tore past him.
He narrowly dodged a high-speed slash.
"…Aren't I in danger?"
His own Territory was being suppressed.
What kind of JJK domain expansion nonsense was this?
Regaining his balance, Morgan sensed another streak of light cutting toward him—
But this time, he was ready.
Using thought acceleration and detonating condensed motes of mana, he blasted himself backward.
He was positioned near the center of her massive Territory.
Which was, obviously, the worst possible place to be.
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
Dashing across, turning herself into light, she ricocheted off the boundary of her territory.
Each rebound accelerated her further, prompting her velocity to climb with every second.
'Sorry, but physics ain't physicsing anymore!'
"Beta, have we gathered enough?"
«Not yet. Almost complete…»
Morgan exhaled.
[Divine Vibrations]
It was a technique worked by emitting specialized oscillations that canceled out specific effects, truly a godly power.
But this—
This wasn't something it could neatly negate.
More like, it didn't apply to techniques like this, what's more was that—
He wasn't outside her territory, but inside, and her rules applied to him.
Now, she was seriously locked into his weakness.
"Here she comes."
Morgan had been watching closely.
The instant he sensed the smallest microscopic lag in her movement…
He knew.
«Just in time. Using the per-stored mana before Ashcroft Territory was deployed...»
"Too long, keep it simple!"
«In short. Go crazy..»
"Now, that's my language!"
Once more, the world around Morgan slowed down.
The already accumulated mana was ready for release, and in this case, there was only one attack.
"Let's go...!"
An all range attack.
He decided to use a wipeout AOE attack.
After all, even with slowed-down time.
Her attacks were coming from the front, left, back, up, and down simultaneously.
That's why he came to that conclusion.
"All-range—"
Mana, after all, was a constant force of nature.
One could argue it wasn't bound by time at all, but to his case… his perception.
Comparing it to superluminal particles might not be a stretch.
Depending on one's view.
The fact that Morgan, in this situation, could activate the attack was proof.
VRPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
A thin column of blinding light erupted upward, tearing through the clouds—
..and another speared straight into the earth below.
Luckily, its point was far from human habitat, and no underground shelter was there.
Regardless, the diameter was only about two hundred meters.
Considering it was an emergency attack with less mana to work with than usual.
It was still a catastrophe.