The voice revealed himself to be a man, clad in a flowing robe with colorful depictions. Approaching leisurely, he took a sweep of look at the surrounding environment filled with destruction, noting the various burnt bodies and wreckage of the remains.
"Ureapaddy Exica, after all, is aligned best to the Brahma Astra, the greatest of the weapons. This result is not surprising. The failure of her experiment did not hold her back."
The man had a voice that one might hear from merchants within busy marketplaces. He was relaxed and appeared aloof from the present situation. Either he was a member of the Tenjō Yori Kitaru Kamigami no Mon, or an outsider with knowledge of their inner workings. Haru assumed former.
"So, I guess you escaped her slaughter." Haru replied, readying himself for inevitable battle that would occur.
"Oh no, I am not affiliated with this Magic Cabal, although I still use Hindu related magic. I do not deal with small fries." The man smiled, stretching out his arms.
"A small fry that has the power to destroy the world if certain conditions of her unique Astra is fulfilled." Haru replied.
"Come now, you and I both know that there are bigger things in motion compared to this tiny planet."
Most likely he was...
"Another member of the oligarchy?" Haru replied. "Or a hired gun, assigned to eliminate me?"
"I have my own reasons to hunt you down."
Dark aura of sudden tension spread into the atmosphere.
"Dexteritas418—With my strength I will protect!"
Physical arms sprouted out from under his original two appendages. A small eyelid sprouted out on the middle of his forehead. Several different instruments of pointy death and bodily mutilation appeared, grasped within his four arms. Using his extensive knowledge on mythology, Haru began to immediately analyze each weapons, gauging their purposes.
Within the man's top right arm he wielded a large bow which Haru quickly identified as Pinaka, an infamous weapon used by Shiva. The mace he held within his top left arm either symbolized Gada, or more likely, Khatvanga, as Shiva was recorded to have used it as a staff. Its bottom two hands both held a long three-pronged spear, symbolizing Trishul. On his back was a quiver filled with numerous arrows. All in all, an awe-inspiring sight.
"The Tenjō Yori Kitaru Kamigami no Mon uses non-physical forms of Astras, but I approach it in a different way. I augment the physical forms of their Astras with the powers of the gods themselves, increasing their strength." The man lightly swung around his weapons. "I have little idea why, but feeling the physical weapons within my grasp is more suited toward me."
"Tachyon Saber!"
A sword of blue light sprung from within his grasp. Clutching his weapon, Haru readied himself.
The gigantic mace swung down forcefully toward his head. Placing his sword up he held parried, giving a sharp push with his palm toward the man's bottom left hand, countering the attack his opponent was attempting to make with his trident. The bow itself had no sharp edges, and Haru paid little heed to its strike compared to his opponent's two other weapons.
The man shoved simultaneously with all his four arms, pushing Haru back several meters back.
"Trishul."
In one swift motion he threw his trident toward Haru. Arcs of lightning shot out from the tip, forming a large cage. Haru quickly transmigrated, escaping from its deadly trap. His opponent gave him no moment of rest as he fiercely charged toward him the moment Haru appeared outside of the cage.
Haru quickly realized that this man manipulated his transmigration in order to attack him right after his large exertion of energy, but it was too late. His adversary was quick enough to already retrieve his spear, and a large sword additionally appeared within his free hand. All four weapons leapt upon Haru simultaneously. It was something a single-handed weapon could not counter.
CRASH!
Ashes from the ground sprang upon the resulting shock. Miraculously, all the weapons the man used were parried at the same time. He frowned at this unexpected outcome.
The debris cleared to reveal, surprisingly, four swords made up of tachyon particles locked against the man's four Astras. Two arms made up of blue light were under Haru's two normal limbs.
"You know, this kinda tickles, having another pair of arms under there." He smiled, taunting his opponent.
"Copying my overwhelming style of combat. Truly, your powers are versatile."
"Your lightning trident is pretty cool too. I saw hints of Greek deity related magic there, but all mythologies influence each other."
"...!"
As if induced by his comment, the man's face twisted in surprise.
"Tryambakam." He spoke.
The battle was back on. While his weapons were locked in struggle against his own four blue swords, The eyelid located on the man's forehead twitched.
In the next moment, it opened.
It was a terrible sight to behold, worthy of the god of Destruction. The color of the pupil itself was indescribable, and Haru was automatically held in a trance at its gaze.
"Maheshwar!"
A bright beam of light shot forth from the opened eye straight toward him.
Not good! That eye had the power to annihilate immortals in legends!
In response, Haru's two eyes began to brilliantly glow in a blue light.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The light quickly enveloped his entire irises, and then concentrated beams of tachyon particles shot forth from his eyes, faster than the speed of light. The two lasers clashed for brief moments, and then—!
BOOM!
The area between them exploded as they were catapulted away from each other. Haru slammed directly into the metal wall and crumpled to the floor. He began to furiously rub his eyes.
"Ugh, I didn't like doing that. This hurts too much..." he mumbled, his eyes burning intensely. Squinting, he attempted to see his opponent through the ashes in the air. He was holding his bow within his hand, and an arrow was strung to it.
Uh-oh.
"You have exerted too much of your energy. Not only did you use your ability to travel through time five times, you have resorted to a difficult means in order to counter my third eye. You will not avoid this."
He was right, unfortunately. His legs felt weak, and his eyes still wavered.
"Pashupatastra. Ureapaddy executes this move through spoken means, but she is only allowed to do so through her secret trick. I have to resort to a physical bow and arrow. Try not to scream too much."
Pashupatastra destroys the designated target completely in the mythology. Getting hit by that may very well be the end of me.
The man readied his bow, preparing to fire the arrow.
"Hhuuummmmm..."
The string of the bow broke with a snap. The arrow that was supposed to be launched directly at him feebly hung within the man's hand.
"What...?" Confusion was apparent within his voice.
"Shiva Dhanush. Bala Kanda of the Ramayana." Haru replied. "By Vishnu's humming the powerful bow of Shiva is broken. The trick is to know that correct tone and pitch, but thankfully the mythology itself was ambivalent on that particular detail."
"You know about that secret mantra..!?" The man replied, shocked at his knowledge.
"You underestimate me too much."
"You are an Esper!" He yelled. "You cannot use spells!"
"Espers are not physically restricted from using spells. And technically a mantra is not a spell. However, it does indeed react against my own personal reality."
From his stomach to his chest a large wound opened. Blood slowly began to seep into his clothing.
"But, having a broken blood vessel is better than being hit by Pashupatastra, no?"
Ignoring the pain, Haru jumped back up and ran toward his opponent, his four arms brandishing sharp blades. Firmly grasping his arrow the man also charged. Their roars rang out in the night.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"
There was a single strike, comprised of all eight weapons clashing at the same time.
CLANG!
Attacks, blocks, counters, and parries were being carried out simultaneously by multiple arms. It was a battle no normal human being could achieve, one that required extensive concentration to carefully maneuver all four limbs.
The tip of the dangerous arrow was inches away from penetrating his skin. Not getting pierced by that fearsome arrow was the utmost priority; the harmful effects by pashupatastra would give his opponent the much needed edge in order to kill him. It was a critical moment.
Lifting his leg, Haru sent a powerful kick toward the man's shins.
The man screamed in response. Using that brief moment, Haru quickly grabbed the arrow by its shaft, attempting to wrench it out from the man's hand. However, his opponent was unyielding.
SNAP!
The arrow was broken in half, Haru holding the upper part. He wasted no time in throwing it toward the man's face like a dart. At point blank range, there was no point in attempting to dodge the arrow; the man had quicker agility with his arms, as it was his combat specialty. Twisting his mace he quickly deflected the dangerous projectile.
But Haru was not about to let his opponent have a moment of rest. Reconjuring his sabre within his hand he quickly stabbed all four blades toward his opponent right after his throw. The man used his three other weapons to block the attacks, but it wasn't enough to parry the fourth weapon.
Haru's sword sunk into the man's stomach like a knife through a slab of meat. Blood began to slowly flow out from the wound and soon gushed out as the sabre itself dematerialized.
"So... this is my limit." The man faintly smiled, his breath becoming more shallow by the second.
"Surrender now, and I'll be able to quickly take you to a hospital." Haru replied. "Come on. Your pride is not worth your life. Please."
"Too late for me, I do not have the luxury to surrender." The man disregarded his offer. "Now, listen to me quickly, as I do not have much time. Are you kind enough to fulfill your opponent's last request?"
"You can talk later, but if you do not receive immediate medical assistance, you will die—"
"No." The man cut through his protest. "Listen to me. Long time ago I took up magic in order to protect people who are important to me. However, I won't be able to protect them any longer."
"Why are you telling me this now!?"
"Because I do not have much time. Within my current possessions there should be enough information about their whereabouts. Please, find them and protect them. Tell them I fought till the end."
"Listen, we can discuss all this on our way to the emergency—"
"Will you at least promise me this great request? I need your confirmation now in order to rest peacefully."
"... Alright, I promise. Now we have to hurry to a hospital."
"Thank you..." The man whispered. "But, if I am not dead at this point, they will make sure I am."
"!?"
Various red dots began to surround the man's body.
"... Huh?"
Moments later, multiple bullets pierced the man's flesh. Losing strength, his body fell to the ground. Stunned, Haru stood there in disbelief.
"... No." scrambling to the ground he checked the body. "No! NO!"
However, the man refused to come back to life no matter how much he shook the corpse. He was still smiling peacefully. His eyes were still open.
But there was no life within them.