Kamijou, Itsuwa, and Terra stood in front of the destroyed outer wall of the museum. The dust was lowering visibility, so they tried to wave it away.
Then Terra of the Left swung his right hand.
He swung it from left to right.
Matching that movement, the white guillotine moved. It was less like he was holding it and more like it was floating in the air while connected to his arm. The form of the guillotine that had been a meter across just a moment ago collapsed. It turned into a white tsunami that shot out in a horizontal line.
It roared through the air.
"Ohhhh!?"
Kamijou held up his right hand.
Whirling destruction followed the blade. The streets in the old town of Avignon were small. It gouged into the cliff-like buildings on side, blew away parked cars, and knocked entire buildings crooked.
There was now a clear distinction between the pristine old street to Kamijou's right and the pile of rubble to his left.
The white guillotine was very destructive and it would easily slice right through a person, but…
(I can deal with it using my right hand!!)
"Itsuwa!" Kamijou yelled, but he started running towards Terra without waiting for her to respond.
He would draw Terra's attack and Itsuwa would get in range to attack him. That was the best attack pattern for this situation.
And Terra seemed focused on Kamijou's right hand.
His sickly-looking eyes narrowed and he spoke in a voice that showed admiration.
"You should have been killed by that strike. I see. So this is Imagine Breaker. …I had heard that you beat down Vento of the Front."
Terra swung the guillotine while grinning.
He swung it from back to front.
Matching that movement, the white blade tapered off like a screw and shot in a pointed strike straight for Kamijou's chest.
"…!!"
Kamijou somehow managed to get his right hand up to hit it, but he was so focused on defense he was having trouble moving his feet quickly enough.
Whoosh.
Itsuwa ran by Kamijou's side holding her spear while crouching slightly.
"Hmph."
Terra's guillotine headed towards her.
A loud noise entered Kamijou's ears. Itsuwa had ducked under the white blade flying in a straight line. But she didn't stop moving there. She evaded the blade a second and third time, held up her Friuli Spear, and leaped for Terra's chest.
She pulled the spear back and powerfully stabbed it forwards.
Terra repelled the spear with a horizontal swing of the guillotine.
He then swung the guillotine horizontally in the opposite direction. This time he was aiming for Itsuwa.
It was something like a counter for that large blade.
"!!"
Itsuwa didn't try to stop the blade; she leapt forward diagonally and continued forward to avoid it. As she did so, she pulled the spear back to build up power and struck forward.
It may have been because she had to dodge the blade, but she lost her balance and there was a slight lag to her attack.
Terra used that time to swing the guillotine again.
It looked like Terra's white blade would reach Itsuwa before her spear reached him.
But there was a small glint of light next to Terra's face.
He then noticed lines of light crossing in front of his eyes and several straight lines of light spreading out like a spider web around him.
"Sorry about this…" Itsuwa spoke these words as a straining sound could be heard.
The sound of something being strained to its limit was coming from…
"The Seven Blades of the Seven Teachings!!"
Wires.
With the sound of the air being sliced, the wires rushed in towards Terra at an amazing speed. The superfine blades attacked at once from 7 different directions and were set to cut him at several places from his ankles to his heart.
Terra did not have time to avoid them.
Kamijou thought they might be moving faster than a bullet.
But…
"Precedence."
Terra's expression did not change.
He merely muttered that one word. The 7 wires headed for his body did not cut him to pieces; they merely coiled around him without even breaking the skin as if they were nothing but fishing line.
Itsuwa's expression turned to one of shock.
Terra lightly swung his right arm and the 7 wires wrapped around his skin ripped to pieces like they were a spider web.
"!!"
Itsuwa exhaled sharply and stabbed forward with her spear that had been pulled back.
The sharp tip stabbed towards Terra's shoulder at lightning speed.
"Precedence: Outer Wall – Lower, Human Body – Higher."
But then Terra muttered those words.
He disappeared into the wall behind him as if he was entering an invisible entrance.
"!?"
Itsuwa's spear struck the wall and a high-pitched sound rang out.
As the shock ran up her arm, Itsuwa grimaced.
And then…
"Precedence: Outer Wall – Lower, Movements of a Blade – Higher."
The white guillotine crashed through the wall and attacked horizontally towards Itsuwa's torso.
Itsuwa abandoned the idea of blocking it and practically fell to the ground avoiding the horizontal attack.
A few severed pieces of her hair floated in the air.
Meanwhile, Terra jumped out through the newly made hole in the wall.
He spotted Itsuwa shortly after her evasive action and casually swung the guillotine again.
As Itsuwa had her stomach pressed to the ground, she had no way of dodging it this time.
So Kamijou leaped over attempting to get between Itsuwa and Terra.
"Ooooaaahh!?"
He just barely managed to destroy the giant blade with his right hand as it swung down towards Itsuwa's neck.
The guillotine exploded and white dust scattered about the area.
Terra's expression did not change.
He did not seem worried in the slightest.
"Precedence: Outer Wall – Lower, Movements of a Blade – Higher."
Terra spoke the same words again and he casually thrust the now re-gathered white blade towards the side wall.
The guillotine swung across the outer wall like an arm knocking things off of a shelf.
The outer wall collapsed and dozens of stones the size of melons flew through the air.
"!!"
While Itsuwa tried stand up, Kamijou grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. Building materials crushed the area they were moments ago.
Instead of chasing after them, Terra leisurely walked over the rubble in their direction.
"I'd heard about the Imagine Breaker before, so I was anticipating quite a bit." Terra smiled while the white blade of unknown properties hung from his right hand. "But from the looks of things, you're nothing much. To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed, I wish I'd never seen this. You apparently won your battle with Vento, but that was merely caused by your destroying her 'Divine Punishment' and Academy City's using that 'fallen angel' with the 'pressure of the realm' to constrict her. If she were at full power, she would not have had any trouble with you."
(This is…)
Kamijou felt a chill down his spine as he realized something.
A man who was on the same level as Vento would not attack with just a blade.
(He's a part of God's Right Seat…!!)
Kamijou subconsciously gritted his teeth, but he doubted Terra was just going to wait for him to calm down.
"My my, what's wrong?" Terra smiled and lifted up the sinister guillotine. "Surely you don't think you can defeat me by keeping your distance. At least allow me to enjoy this a little more. If this is all you've got, I don't even need to make any 'adjustments'."
"Kh!!"
Kamijou and Itsuwa dragged their heavy bodies forward and simultaneously attacked Terra.
Terra held the guillotine forward in his right hand and spoke.
"Precedence: Movements of a Spear – Lower, Air – Higher."
And with that, Itsuwa's motion suddenly stopped.
The tip of her blade that had been headed for Terra's throat was stopped as if it were obstructed by a wall of air.
As Kamijou saw this happening from side, he clenched his right fist and swung it at Terra's chest.
Terra was faster.
He casually swung his hand horizontally and the white blade followed suit. The giant blade evaded past Kamijou's right hand and lunged at his body.
(Oh, shi-!?)
He lacked the time to even finish the thought.
The blade's width was thicker than his thumb. He felt it press up against his skin and dig in. Pain exploded about him.
Kamijou's body doubled over from the force of the guillotine and he was launched into the side wall.
Shortly after he heard a loud thud, he heard a painful cracking noise from his body.
(…!?)
He was unable to speak. The force that was pinning his stomach and back had left him breathless.
"Gha…!?"
However, that was the extent of his injuries. Kamijou's was not sliced in two like the outer walls.
He punched the guillotine pushing him against the wall with a shaking fist. The giant blade burst into powder and Kamijou sat on the ground, attempting to gain control of his erratic breathing.
"…"
Terra stared with great interest at his destroyed guillotine. He took a step back and lightly moved his fingers, calling the powder to return to him.
(I'm… alive…?) Kamijou thought as he rubbed his stomach that stung with dull pain. (That hit me, but I'm still alive…?)
Terra's first surprise attack had easily broken through the outer wall of the museum. Kamijou had been hit by the same attack, so his body should be crushed or splattered.
Which meant…
(That and this one were different types…?)
Kamijou moved his gaze from his stomach to Terra.
Terra still seemed uninterested as he stood in front of the destroyed museum.
(Does something amplify the destructive power? Is there some trick to the sword?)
There was one thing that stood out as suspicious.
Kamijou stared at Terra as the latter checked to make sure his guillotine was in working order after it had been negated.
"'Precedence…'" Itsuwa mumbled as she changed position to cover Kamijou as she pulled on her spear that simply refused to reach Terra.
She then noticed the powder stuck on the tip of her spear.
"…Flour?"
She thought for a moment and her body stiffened as shock appeared on her face
"Does that weapon function using the 'Flesh of God…?'"
"Oh, so even an Asian can figure that out."
Itsuwa was nearly speechless as Terra attempted to provoke Itsuwa.
"During mass, wine is treated as the 'Blood of God' and the bread is treated as the 'Flesh of God'. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the event of mass is modeled after the execution of the Son of God on the cross."
Itsuwa bit her lip upon Terra's words.
Kamijou had no way of knowing, but those words were quite destructive to someone knowledgeable in magic.
"When you calmly think about the fact that the Son of God was crucified on the cross, you will realize that a normal human wouldn't normally be able to kill the Son of God. That'd be quite a tall order even for me. At certain times in the scriptures, the 'order of precedence' is changed. For instance, in order for the Son of God to take on all of humanity's 'original sin', the natural precedence had to be changed so that he could be killed by a normal human."
The guillotine started to crumble.
Despite the fact that Kamijou was raising his guard, Terra seemed to enjoying himself more and more.
"One of the secret ceremonies required to complete the story of the Son of God is the alteration of the order of precedence. And it is that very spell that I use. It is called the 'Execution of Light'. The ability to freely alter the shape of the flour, which used as the medium, into an edged tool shape is like a byproduct of that. Do you understand now?"
This basically meant that if "Terra's body" was given precedence over the "wires", his body would remain unscathed. If the "blade made of flour" was given precedence over the "outer wall", the blade was able to destroy the walls with ease. If the "air" was given precedence over the "spear", Itsuwa's attack would stop in midair.
"Strength and weakness mean nothing before me. I can just alter the order of the two after all."
This was the power of God's Right Seat.
Vento of the Front wielded a power that dealt with God, "Divine Punishment", and had used it to paralyze Academy City.
This time it was the execution of the Son of God.
All magicians dealt with theories and laws Kamijou knew nothing about, but he had a feeling the ones God's Right Seat dealt with were something special.
"Hm, but what to do now? I may have revealed my trick, but that doesn't mean this is over. Don't tell me you thought it ended when you solved the mystery."
Kamijou strongly clenched his right fist at Terra's words.
He was right.
They knew how it worked, but they had no way of dealing with it.
That was why Terra had been able to reveal his secret to them while remaining confident.
"Perhaps I'll give you some time," Terra said in a teasing way. "Stretching out this battle doesn't harm me any. I'll give you 10 seconds. In that time, you can come up with a plan to defeat me or a plan to flee. …But don't be mistaken. I'm not saying any such plans actually exist, okay?"
Terra seemed to be enjoying himself more and more as he spoke.
"Fuck," Kamijou cursed.
There wasn't that much space between them and Terra of the Left.
Kamijou gritted his teeth and Terra seemed to be enjoying every single reaction Kamijou gave.
But then…
"Oh, how generous. I can come up with 3 different plans given 10 seconds."
Kamijou suddenly heard a male voice he knew well coming from outside his range of vision.
Before he got a chance to look over, a red bullet shot through the air. It was a burning orange piece of origami. The folded square scrap of paper flew towards Terra's face with enough force to crack concrete.
Terra merely followed it with his eyes.
"Precedence: Magic – Lower, Human Skin – Higher."
It struck. But just as the origami touched Terra's skin, it suddenly changed directions and struck the wall right next to Itsuwa. It was like a bullet ricocheting off of a metal wall.
Kamijou finally turned to look at the intruder.
A boy wearing blue sunglasses was standing there.
Because he had forced himself to use magic, he had a trail of blood coming from his lips.
"Tsuchimikado…!?"
Tsuchimikado gave a slight nod in response.
His gaze never left Terra.
"Don't tell me," Terra smiled slightly as the guillotine hung from his right hand, "that was one of your plans."
"Unfortunately for you…" Tsuchimikado smiled, too. His attack seemed to have been a dud, but he didn't seem even slightly worried. "I have you cornered now."
"…?"
"And it'll be checkmate next. I've proved my theory to be correct."
What he pulled out as he said this was not a magical item.
It was shining black handgun.
The very same handgun he had shot Oyafune Monaka with.
"Do you really think you can defeat me with a toy like that?"
Tsuchimikado gave no response.
He gathered strength in the finger on the trigger.
Terra made no attempt to find cover; he merely stood and slowly spoke.
"Precedence: Bullet – Lower, Human Skin – Higher."
"Precedence: Bullet – Lower, Human Skin – Higher."
Tsuchimikado spoke in unison with Terra.
The sound of multiple gunshots rang out.
But the lead bullets ricocheted off of Terra's face and chest.
It was an overwhelmingly one-sided result.
But even so, a smile remained on Tsuchimikado's lips.
"I told you, Terra of the Left."
Tsuchimikado held the handgun in one hand and put his other hand in his pocket.
He pulled out a black piece of origami.
"I told it would be checkmate this time."
"…"
Terra of the Left was silent after hearing Tsuchimikado's words.
He then slowly turned towards Tsuchimikado and prepared his guillotine.
The streets were supposed to be full of rioters, but the area seemed oddly silent.
(Move…) Kamijou thought.
For better or for worse, a major change was about to occur in his battle.
Kamijou was completely caught up in the confrontation between Tsuchimikado and Terra, so he hadn't notice Itsuwa drawing near. She whispered in his ear.
"(Um, we need to take advantage of Tsuchimikado's next action and flee.)"
"Eh?"
"(…He told us to in his instructions. He said stopping the C-Document in the Palace of the Popes is more important than defeating the enemy here.)"
Itsuwa was holding a piece of origami.
Tsuchimikado's instructions must have been written on it. Kamijou didn't know exactly when, but he must have thrown it to Itsuwa while talking with Terra.
Tsuchimikado and Terra each took a slow step towards each other.
And just when Kamijou thought they were going to strike, a noise erupted that was so loud he thought his eardrums were going to burst.
(…!?)
This was not the sound of magic.
It was the sound of the townscape of Avignon being destroyed by explosives.
Of course, neither Tsuchimikado nor Terra had caused it.
A third party was interfering.
Proof of this could be seen in how both of them clicked their tongues in annoyance and how each stepped back to put some distance between himself and the other.
Kamijou was surprised by this sudden occurrence and watched as the housing complexes towering above either side of the road began crumbling. This created a gray dust that obscured Kamijou's vision.
He could see the silhouettes of the source of the explosions on the other side.
But these were not human silhouettes.
"…What's going on? What the hell is going on!?" he mumbled.
The warped silhouettes on the other side of the gray curtain were moving ahead.