Chapter 150: The Inventor's Contingency
The answer became obvious almost immediately.
Everything metallic attached to Daito's body jerked toward the ground as the magnetic field intensified. His belt buckles snapped downward, salvaged fragments embedded in his clothing shifted violently, and the hidden metal wire wrapped around his wrist pulled taut. Even the tiny steel pins holding together parts of his makeshift equipment responded to the force, dragging his body deeper into the fractured earth.
WHAM!!
Daito slammed against the ground as the magnetic field pinned him in place. The force was so overwhelming that even attempting to lift his upper body became a struggle, his already damaged muscles trembling as he fought against the invisible pressure.
Gyoran looked down at him with a satisfied expression.
"I told you," he said, his familiar smile returning. "I'm an inventor."
He lightly tapped the side of his temple.
"Machines. Gadgets. Contingencies. You should never trust a man who builds his own battlefield."
The magnet's hum grew louder, vibrating through the fractured stone as its field continued to exert pressure on Daito's body. Dust spiraled around him, and the ground beneath his chest cracked further as the machine forced him into an increasingly uncomfortable position.
Gyoran slowly raised the Salvation Duo again, angling both glowing barrels toward Daito's head.
"This is why Master always warned us," he continued, looking at his pinned opponent with genuine respect. "A strategist who prepares for one plan is dangerous."
He paused, allowing the words to settle.
"But an inventor prepares for the plans his opponent hasn't even imagined yet."
The magnetic field roared.
Daito gritted his teeth as the invisible force dragged him even deeper into the fractured ground. Every muscle in his body strained against the pressure, and his injuries screamed in protest, yet something resembling a smile appeared on his bloodied face.
"So..." he coughed, a thin stream of blood running from the corner of his mouth. "...that's how it works."
Gyoran kept both Salvation weapons trained on him.
"It is."
Daito's eyes shifted away from the magnet, studying the ground between them before eventually settling on Gyoran's boots and the way he had positioned his feet. Even while pinned beneath an overwhelming magnetic force, he continued observing, searching for details that might explain how the machine operated.
"...I noticed something."
"Hm?"
"The magnet isn't affecting you."
Gyoran nodded without hesitation.
"Of course not. I built it, so I know exactly what it affects."
He tapped one of the metallic rings on his finger, displaying it with the casual confidence of a man explaining a particularly clever invention.
"Everything I'm carrying is shielded from its magnetic field."
Daito listened carefully, memorizing every detail.
Gyoran continued explaining, seemingly unconcerned that he was providing information to an opponent who had repeatedly demonstrated his ability to turn the smallest revelation into a weapon.
"When I released the Salvation Duo, their weight disappeared from my arms. Then, when I grabbed them again just before striking you, their full mass returned."
He briefly mimed the movement with one hand, illustrating how he had released and reclaimed the weapons during their earlier exchange.
"That's why my blows suddenly became heavier. It wasn't strength."
His smile widened.
"It was engineering."
Daito remained silent for a moment, processing the explanation.
"...I see."
Gyoran smiled.
"I knew you'd understand."
Then Daito's right arm twitched.
A bronze glow began spreading beneath his charred skin, illuminating the veins along his forearm as the muscles tightened with unnatural intensity. The energy gathered around his dominant hand, growing denser and more concentrated until the surrounding air seemed to distort slightly around his fingers.
SWOORRRSSHH!!
Bronze Inverting Aura.
His signature reinforcement.
Rather than distributing the energy throughout his body, Daito focused everything into a single point: his right hand. The decision left the rest of his battered frame without that additional reinforcement, but he wasn't trying to strengthen his entire body.
He only needed enough force in one place.
Gyoran's smile faded as he noticed the change.
"...What are you—"
FWOOSH!
Daito suddenly reached forward. Not for the weapons nor the magnet. Instead, his glowing hand closed around Gyoran's ankle.
"...!"
Gyoran reacted instinctively, jerking his leg upward before kicking violently to break the hold.
THUD!!
His boot smashed into Daito's arm, forcing his fingers open and freeing him from the grip.
"...Idiot," Gyoran said, looking down at him with a mixture of disbelief and irritation. "What was that supposed to accomplish?"
Daito looked up at him, still smiling despite the blood covering his face.
"Thanks."
Gyoran blinked.
"...What?"
"I've got more force now."
The Boss's pupils contracted.
"...Force?"
Before the realization could fully form, Daito slammed his glowing palm into the ground.
Not randomly, but directly beneath the magnet.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The reinforced strike drove its force through the fractured bedrock, sending a powerful shock through the ground beneath the machine. Rather than dispersing harmlessly into the surrounding terrain, the impact traveled through the compressed stone and rebounded upward, behaving like a gigantic piston releasing its stored energy.
The earth erupted.
CRAAAAASH!!
An enormous slab of black stone burst vertically from beneath the magnet, tearing through the fractured ground and shattering the cylindrical device into countless metallic fragments. The magnetic field collapsed instantly, its deep mechanical hum cutting off as the machine was destroyed.
But the rising slab didn't stop there.
It continued upward, striking Gyoran's forearms with tremendous force.
WHAM!!
Both Salvation weapons flew from his grasp, spinning wildly through the air as the impact disrupted his hold on them.
At the same moment, the magnetic force pinning Daito to the ground vanished.
His compressed body, which had been held down by the overwhelming pull, suddenly released like a coiled spring.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Daito launched skyward, his body folding and rotating as the force beneath him carried him through the air. He twisted in midflight, extended both hands, and reached for the weapons that had been knocked out of Gyoran's grasp.
CLACK!!
He caught both Salvation weapons.
Without missing a beat, Daito adjusted his grip and pointed their barrels directly at Gyoran.
A grin spread across his burned face.
"Surprise, Boss."
Gyoran's expression didn't change, not even slightly.
Instead, his left arm disappeared into empty space as the invisible storage opened once again. His fingers closed around something concealed within, and for the first time since the battle began, his voice dropped into something approaching a whisper.
"...Master Piece."
Then—
SHIIING!!
A sword emerged from the empty space.
Its design was elegant, its dark blade seeming to absorb the crimson light around it rather than reflect it. The air itself appeared to distort along its edge, creating a subtle but unmistakable sense that the weapon was unlike anything Daito had encountered before.
At that exact moment, Daito pulled both triggers.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The Salvation Duo erupted simultaneously.
At point-blank range, there was no meaningful distance between the weapons and their target, leaving Gyoran almost no time to dodge or evade. The twin attacks converged on him in a single overwhelming blast, releasing enough destructive energy to swallow the surrounding battlefield.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The desert vanished beneath white light.
The explosion consumed everything within hundreds of meters, erasing mountains, disintegrating ancient skeletons, and folding the surrounding flames into an expanding sphere of incandescent destruction. Shockwaves rippled across the dimension, tearing through the already shattered landscape and sending enormous fragments of rock tumbling into the sky.
Daito crossed both arms in front of his face as the blast engulfed him.
His already ruined shirt vaporized completely, exposing his battered chest and shoulders to the inferno. Fresh burns spread across his skin, and the force of the explosion threatened to tear him from his footing, but he planted his feet and resisted the shockwave with everything he had left.
He refused to move.
The light consumed the battlefield.
For a few seconds, there was nothing but the roar of destruction.
Then the explosion began to fade.
The fire receded, the shockwaves weakened, and the thick clouds of smoke slowly drifted across the ruined desert, revealing the devastation left behind by the Salvation Duo's final barrage.
Daito remained standing amid the wreckage, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to draw breath. His body was in even worse condition than before, but his attention was fixed on the figure emerging from the smoke.
Gyoran still stood.
His coat was torn, blood trickled from the corner of his forehead, and fresh cuts marked his arms. The three rings on his fingers glowed faintly before their light gradually dimmed, their protective functions having absorbed enough of the heat and shockwave to make the difference between survival and death.
Gyoran looked down at himself, then slowly raised his gaze toward Daito.
"...That actually hurt," he admitted.
For a brief moment, neither man moved.
Then Gyoran placed both hands upon the hilt of the black sword.
The battlefield became silent.
Even the flames seemed to hesitate.
to be continued....