Oh right, I forgot to mention, but we crossed a hundred thousands words a while back. So, yay.
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As far as my knowledge went, most of the Holy Church's operations were carried out by the likes of exorcists, specialised in dealing with certain unnatural forces (daemons) that plagued society via cleansing rituals and weaker spells that fell under the designation of Baptism Rites.
These people were... of no real threat to someone like myself. They simply weren't equipped to deal with human combatants wielding the same power as them. In this case, there was another group of individuals, the Executors. Of course these people were also armed with the same cleansing spells and whatnot, but their training extended a step above that, to deal with the heretic, the false, the pagan.
The heretic being, naturally, we magi, who distorted the world to suit us as needed. Armed with anti-heresy armaments that, as I assumed, tampered with the process of spell-casting or even outright, nullified them.
Once these people were sent out, surviving became a Heraculean ordeal, and whoever they were ordered to terminate was most certainly going to die. The Clock Tower, and by extension, the Mage's Association did have a way of dealing with them. A counter unit, the Enforcers, who among their various other duties, were no doubt magi's society's way of showing that they indeed had the bigger dick in the supernatural world even in this department.
That said however, for a person like myself who'd been in this world for nothing but a couple of months, facing off against a renowned Executor was unthinkable. An impossible task. But, that was the sort of thing that scratched all my itches.
So, when Sancraid turned his full attention to me, I made no effort to hide my excitement. My heart drummed against my chest, the numerous magic circuits I possessed roared to life with a slow hum, and my eyes shimmered.
He... backed away.
"You're a little too excited, heretic."
"You're a little too relaxed for someone in punting distance."
I smacked him across the face with my plate before flipping the table. My foot exploded through the thin wood a moment later, but, he easily caught the kick and went so far as to tilt his head in genuine surprise.
"I wasn't expecting you to attack me in broad daylight, I admit." He said, leaning back just enough to avoid my second kick, "Aren't you afraid of the Principle Enforcement Division?"
The Principle Enforcement Division... The Department of Policies... Hishiri Adashino's lot... Ugh...
"In my professor's fashion, let me share a neat bit of information with you."
I quickly pulled my leg back, narrowly avoiding the absolutely devious elbow he'd almost dropped on my shin.
"Memory Alteration and weak Mental Compulsion are one of the basic spells taught in Mystile, as well as the most basic Bounded Fields. Weaving the three together is the easiest thing to do, for me at least. I wouldn't know about people that aren't me."
The Department of General Fundamentals, Mystile, was a faculty lorded over by the Trambelio Family. A Department every student at the Clock Tower had to enroll at for a set bit of time. Naturally, I was a student of this department too, mostly in name though, since I only attended the lectures that actually showed spells instead of theory or history.
"I don't see-... Wait no, I do."
He looked around curiously, only now noticing the people dumbly leaving the scene, and the people avoiding the scene entirely. The moment he confronted us, I erected a small yet potent Bounded Field around us with a flick of my wrist.
The mystery to the spells was rather simple, a little too simple even, at least when it came to my version. Memory Alteration capitalised upon the human mind's own ability to interpret extreme events as something else, something more digestible for an individual's psyche. Mental Compulsion simply imitated the human 'gut' instinct to avoid certain situations. Bounded Fields were... well, Bounded Fields. I'd studied them to an insane degree in my crazed quest for the Limitless technique.
"Wow, you're a rather bright young man, aren't you?"
"Sodomy is frowned upon by the Lord. At least, if you wish to suck him off, do it in a place I can't see like the rest of your peers." Caren rattled off, still seated comfortably. All she'd done was pick up her cup and plate.
"Shut up, subhuman filth. Don't taint my opinion with your ugly words." Sancraid barked at her. Then, he tried to stab her in the mouth again. This time, his blade tore through the diamond-like stone under my skin and buried itself firmly in my hand. "Didn't anyone ever tell you the same technique doesn't work twice?"
He ripped the blade free. It shone as he slashed at me, throat, ribs and gut. I met each blow with a fist or a palm, and ended the exchange with a fist to his throat, coated in Blue, which he only narrowly avoided through sheer instinct. That made him jump back, visibly confused.
Then, the crazy fucker licked my blood off his Black Key and smiled wider.
"You're going to use your little tricks then, are you? That's fine with me, I prefer it even. Your despair will make for a delightful end to my day."
"That sounded... corny as hell." I raised two fingers. "Who even says that shit anymore? Anyway, unlimited power!"
Mana swirled, bolts of lightning bounced off my fingertips. They shot at the Executor with a thunderous clap. He held his Black Key aloft against his face, mumbled something under his breath and stabbed the blade into the concrete sidewalk. Like a lightning rod, the sword caught my spell.
With a grin, he kicked at the blade's hilt and launched it right back at me.
I easily absorbed the lightning.
"Thanks for giving the mana back." I snorted.
"You're welcome." He lunged, and cut at my neck. But I saw that coming. He knew that, and diverted his blade right through my shoulder at the last moment before he took off running... with me in tow.
The fucker straight up juggernauted me right through a wall, several walls even, right through the cafe and then the office building behind it. When he finally stopped, my back hurt like a motherfucker but he didn't seem to care as he propped me against an office wall, still grinning.
"The Lord dwells within me, the righteous Lord, the benevolent Lord..."
He was chanting, anyone could tell, even without eyes like mine. Mana rushed into the sword still pierced through me. When I went to remove it, he grabbed my arm with his free hand and slammed it against the wall at an unnatural angle, with strength greater than before.
"The furious Lord, the wrathful Lord, the vengeful Lord..."
Evidently, I was about to get my shit rocked.
Nahhhh... I narrowed my eyes, focusing on his spell.
"Hark ye of sin and evil! His fire is surely intolerable for your corrupted flesh! Be fearful! Repent! If ignorance is thy path, then thine end is-"
You know... it was sort of ironic that a vile, mass-murdering, racist piece of shit, was channelling the literal miracle of the Divine Word to fuck me up. Now, I wasn't really a Saint, I admitted that. But surely, I was better than this... thing.
That was a dilemma for later. Right now, I knew that was a spell. A spell I'd already analyzed. A spell that was about to implode me with fire and sulfur. A spell that I was about to return to fucking sender.
Unfortunately, the chance never came.
Before he could finish, a crimson shroud wrapped itself around his mouth, interrupting the cast.
"With how confident you were about this, I was pretty sure you could easily take him... But then, I guess even this rotten person is someone trained by the Church. Lord forgive me for leaving one so challenged alone."
Caren held the shroud firmly by both ends and abruptly knelt on the floor, pulling the ex-communicated Executor's head along with her.
I shrugged, "I was about to blow him up. Had it all under control, trust."
That was the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth, I finished up and reversed his spell before he even finished the chant. Hell, the second he did finish, his arm was going to blow up along with that sword of his.
"It really..." Caren narrowed her eyes, "It didn't look like that at all from where I was. It even looked like you were about to die."
"So you couldn't bear to see me hurt and decided to intervene~? Oh my oh my. Again, I'll have to apologis-"
She kicked me in the knee. "I can't restrain him for long. The Shroud of Magdalene isn't suitable for this-..."
Sancraid proved her statement for her when he grabbed the shroud and slammed her against me. Or rather, I bodyblocked her.
"Aw man~ I was really looking forward to seeing this yellow filth go splat against the wall like the insect she is."
"Yeah, you're starting to get on my nerves." I pursed my lips.
"And I take after my mother, how did you even know I was part asian?"
Sancraid made an ugly face. "...I can smell it on you."
I shivered. Caren shivered.
"A pervert. He's a pervert."
Shaking my head to rid myself of the thoughts, I raised my fists again.
To the layman, it must have really looked like Sancraid was just taking it easy and clowning on my narcissistic self. This was... not the case at all. He knew now that nothing he'd already shown was going to pierce my defenses, and would have to step up his game.
At the same time, I couldn't go all out either. One, because of the concealment of Mystery, but most importantly, because I ran the risk of straight up deleting him before he ever showed me what I came here for.
That was... the mobile defensive bounded fields he was known for.
It became clear that my worries were for naught when Sancraid suddenly hung his head and his arms went limp. He shifted, tilting his head at an uncomfortable angle that made me almost retch before sticking out his tongue.
"Heretic, since you seem to care so much. I'm going to torture that girl in front of you after I break every single bone in your body." He licked his blood-stained Black Key, and proceeded to spout shit that made me blank for a second, "I'll make you watch as I slowly bless her with my seed. Maybe her inferior womb will be of some use after all."
Caren gripped my sleeve. "...He's just trying to provoke you."
"Oh? What makes you so sure I haven't done the same exact thing before? And one more thing!" He pointed his blade at me. "Your Mystic Eyes, they're what's letting you keep up with me, right? I'll be taking those! If you self-destruct them, I'm going to find your mother or your sister and I'm going to have them make me those."
Yeah...
"Henry... Don't rush in."
"Cursed Technique Reversal-"
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