“GU… D-Don’t mess with me!”
Crimson immediately got himself back up after being blown by the sword-shaped mana into a wall, but there was a straight dent on his armor that looked as if someone had cut him.
He complained about Shinichi’s weapon of choice, but there was no denying the power behind it.
Crimson showed surprised at how strong it was, but Shinichi clicked his tongue.
“Still fine even after being hit at point blank? That armor is way too tough.”
Shinichi inadvertently glanced at the nails on his right hand.
Orol Crystal Claw, a weapon made from Falandia’s rare metal, Orol Crystal.
His nails have been stopped from growing and then coated with orol crystal to give birth to his strongest and only weapon.
Orol Crystal is the hardest known material from Falandia that can demonstrate a special power when injected with mana.
It’s as easy to use as the Magic Raiment Battle Law, and due to its shape, it can be used to slash with.
If it’s the Orol Crystal Claw, it could probably cut that thick armor along with the contents inside.
Shinichi has clashed with that armor several times now, so his conjecture should be correct.
“…If that were an option, I would have used it a long time ago, but unfortunately…”
Shinichi muttered to himself as if in self-derision, then he threw the toy sword at crimson before jumping back.
Afraid that the toy sword might explode, Crimson jumped back too, causing the distance between them to widen once more.
But when the toy hit the ground, it just turned into sand and vanished.
“I guess using Magic Raiment Battle Law on toys really might be a bit too much… Now then, this is a bit troublesome, but…”
Shinichi wryly smiled upon seeing the toy sword break from too much strain, then he picked up his next weapon while muttering to himself seemingly troubled.
—Since that incident, he hasn’t been able to kill anyone.
But then again, he was just a little boy and never really possessed the mentality of a killer.
He was the kind of person to joke around that he wouldn’t be able to kill a person even if his life were in danger.
That just goes to show just how hard it was for him to imagine being in a situation where it’s kill or be killed. That’s also the reason why the trauma he incurred was so grave.
If one were to investigate the Demon of the Black Tempest incident, they’ll find that that’s also the reason why no one died then.
When he gave in to his emotions and went on a rampage, he held back unconsciously.
Since then he’s been unable to keep himself from protecting anyone who’s in front of him.
This is also the reason why he protected the people being used by the hired thugs and the hired thugs themselves.
Because of that he can’t deal a fatal blow to his opponent and can’t use his strongest weapon. He needs to hide his magic, though some of them had no effect.
The Magic Raiment Battle Law by itself was lacking. He also won’t be able to use it anymore once he runs out of mana.
In the first place, he couldn’t use anything lethal.
Whether he wished for it or not, that was the sort of handicap he had when facing an unknown enemy with unknown equipment.
“Well, this isn’t anything new.”
After confirming that he still had 30% of his mana left, he wielded his ‘spear’.
That’s right. Relatively speaking this wasn’t anything new. He’s done this plenty of times before.
Hide his identity. Hide his real powers. Hide the strangeness about him. Hide his brilliance. Hide his expectations.
If so, then this is just business as usual, and in fact, his opponent has already fallen into his trap.
A crescent smile bloomed on his face hidden by the mask.
“Why do you have that with you!?”
This opponent that had unknowingly been led to that position cried out in surprise, but Shinichi just laughed.
In Shinichi’s hands was one of the two remaining spears from the seven spears Crimson had on his back.
It was the conical spear that had attacked him earlier.
The reason Crimson was so shocked was because there’s a system in place that made it so that only the registered user could use it.
In fact, Shinichi felt like his nerves were being fried just by holding it.
It wasn’t on the same level as the electromagnetic nets, but electric current was indeed coursing through it.
Even with mana covering him, he was still assaulted by a pain that static electricity couldn’t compare to.
“That’s impossible! Just what kind of equipment are you using!? That’s not a pain a person can endure even with an exoskeleton!”
“Come now. Pain is something you’re supposed to endure while fighting.”
But it wasn’t really anything special. Although it hurt, he could just heal himself later.
It didn’t matter how much it hurt either.
Even if pain on the level of his arms blowing up were to attack him consecutively, he would just endure it.
They were in a middle of a battle, after all. It wasn’t the time to be wavering because of something like that.
“Dwell, burst, lightning (Jibarudo)”
Shinichi told her that matter-of-factly as he muttered a chant.
As the internal components of the lance were destroyed, lightning energy gathered.
Even if he were to gather dozens of streaks of natural lightning, ‘dwell’ would keep the spear from breaking.
Because of that the lightning couldn’t be seen from outside. At most, only sparks.
Not being able to use magic without seeing was a problem, but fortunately, he managed to push through.
An electric-type attack should also be relatively safe. Even if he releases an attack that’s a little strong, it shouldn’t be a problem since that Crimson probably already has a countermeasure prepared beforehand.
After all, electric attacks were the bane of machines.
If done well, they could fry even the delicate components.
But of course, even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t be a problem.
After all…
—Do you know, warrior in crimson armor? The place where you’re standing right now is where those thugs of yours planted the bomb.
The place where Crimson jumped to after Shinichi had thrown the toy sword was none other than the place where Shinichi and the others were gathered earlier.
The girl had already told Shinichi earlier that a bomb had been planted there.
The reason the girl raised up the terminal then wasn’t to show off her skills, but to show him the information on the screen.
When Shinichi remembered that, his mouth slackened.
“Nice assist… Bind, Seal, Wind (Funto)”
It was curious whether Crimson knew there was a bomb there or not, but either way, he seemed to notice that something was about to happen and moved. Unfortunately, the gust of wind still got to him.
Shinichi made it seem as if that wind came from the hole beyond the wall opened by Crimson.
The power behind the created wind could be stopped only for a moment, but that opportunity quickly passed.
The spear thrown toward crimson’s feet pierced deeply into the ground and touched the bomb.
Immediately, a flash of lightning ‘burst’, detonating the bomb, and a whirlpool of lightning and explosion attacked the crimson armor.
The wind that ‘clad’ Crimson ‘sealed’ the explosion and minimized the damage to the building.
At the same time, the shockwave that circulated inside the armor left it in an unshapely state.
“—!?”
No one could hear Crimson’s cries of anguish due to the blast, but his armor lost its characteristic crimson color and was charred black.
After the flash of lightning and explosion, the only thing that was left was that charred exoskeleton.
It was still able to maintain its shape and hide its pilot, but large cracks could be seen all over.
With sparks scattering, even an amateur could tell that it had already incurred too much damage for repairs.
“…And yet it’s still able to retain its shape… What a terrifying thing.”
It was precisely because Shinichi knew that it was durable that he used that kind of attack, but it was still another thing to see it for himself. Once again, Shinichi was reminded just how dangerous Garesto’s technology was.
From the sound of faint breathing, it seemed the pilot was still fine.
That Crimson that wouldn’t fall even in the midst of the flashes of electricity and explosion had finally been knocked down.
After confirming that he was still alive, Shinichi left.
He should leave the rest to the Countermeasure Department—
“—Wa-it.”
—But then a hard voice that belonged to neither a man or a woman stopped him.
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