Disclaimer: English is not my first language. I'm using Grammarly to check the Grammar and using Word to write it.
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It didn't take long to arrive at the bar.
We quickly moved to the rooftop across from it, with a perfect view for every person who comes and goes.
Mia created a bound field so that no one can hear us.
Now, all we have to do is wait for a suitable target.
I'm sure it won't take long.
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"How long has it been?" I asked, sitting close enough to the ledge but out of view to anyone on the street.
Mia checks her burner phone.
"Almost five hours," Mia said.
"I need to get up. My legs are starting to cramp," I said.
I get up with a groan, move away from the ledge, and stretch my legs to get rid of the cramp.
"You don't see this part on cop shows," I sighed in relief once the cramp was gone.
"Who would want to see two people inside a car waiting, who knows how long, for their target to arrive?" Mia asked.
"Fair enough," I shrugged. "Quick question: what do I do if I need to use the bathroom?"
"Use an empty bottle," Mia said bluntly.
"You serious?" I asked with dread.
"Unfortunately," Mia sighed.
Okay, let's think of something else.
"Anyone catch your eye?" Mia asked.
"Some people did, but I can't tell whether they are anyone important in the Empire or even part of the gang," I said.
It isn't just Empire members that come to this bar.
Civilians have also come and gone.
"I don't think anyone that matters will come tonight. They must be busy preparing for the impending gang war," Mia stretches her arms.
"Is there another place we can go to?" I asked.
I'm getting kinda hungry.
"There's, but I don't believe it will be any different," Mia shrugs.
I grab a tuna sandwich from the bag of holding.
"Want anything?" I asked.
"I will take a turkey sandwich," Mia said.
I grab one and give it to her.
"How do I-"
"There's a button on the lower right side of the mask that opens the mouthpiece," I said, pressing mine to demonstrate.
Mia does the same and starts to eat.
"Let's give it one more hour before we check the other places?" I take a bit of the sandwich.
"Sure," Mia takes a bit of her sandwich. "Wanna do an exercise?"
"What do you have in mind?" I asked.
"Use your earlier transmutation attempt as a starting point. Divide your mind and work through how to refine the process. Once you've got it, move on to other forms," Mia said.
"Give me a moment," I said.
Let's see, how do I do this?
"Create parallel thought processes, and run calculations on how to improve transmutations," I thought, ordering the neural lace.
I feel my mind split as the neural lace follows my order.
"Wow, this is a weird feeling," I take a bite of the sandwich.
"You will get used to it before you know," Mia says as she takes a bite of her sandwich.
"If you say so," I shrug. "Well, now it's going to be much easier to use transmutation circles."
"You're still going to train without the neural lace," Mia said. "Don't use it as a crutch. What would you do if all eight partitions were occupied and you needed to transmutate something?"
"Okay, you made your point," I take a bite of the sandwich.
"Good," Mia takes another bite of her sandwich.
We eat in silence as we continue to watch the bar.
"Seriously, something is always happening in Brockton, and today of all days, things are calm. Unbelievable," I finish my sandwich.
My mask returns to normal.
"It's the calm before the storm. It won't be long before things get hectic around here," Mia finishes her sandwich.
Mia's mask also returns to its normal state.
"Let's switch topics. Do you have a strategy for weakening the Empire?" Mia asked.
"I've got a few ideas. For the cape members, we should first target their members who play a supportive role before going after the others. Like Othala, Crusader and Victor," I said. "Of course, this plan depends on what kind of information we can gather."
"I read that Othala healing isn't anything to brag about," Mia pointed out.
"Maybe so, but she's still a healer and can grant temporary powers to anyone she touches," I said.
Mia hums in agreement.
"Hey, do you think our armor can protect us from Crusaders' ghosts since it's made from Ebony?" I asked.
"I have no idea. We still don't know how magecraft affects parahumans' powers. Do they cancel each other? Do they weaken each other? Does nothing happen?" Mia said, listening to questions that have been on her mind for a while. "We never had the chance to find out."
"Well, we couldn't exactly go to anyone, seeing as we didn't know a single parahuman," I said.
"That's true," Mia crossed her arms. "Do you think we can convince New Wave to help us with some experiments?"
"It's worth a shot," I said.
"Getting back to the previous topic. What about the normal members?" Mia asked.
"I'm stumped in that part. It will be easier to find the normal members, but how many would we have to capture before the Empire feels anything?" I asked.
When you think of the gangs, the first thing that comes to mind is the capes. It's easy to dismiss the unpowered members as unimportant, but doing so is a serious mistake.
They are the ones that transport the weapons, sell the drugs, operate the warehouses, and keep a watch on the territory.
They run the infrastructure that supports the capes. And the Empire got thousands under its command.
I don't know where to start.
Oh? Looks like the neural lace completed the task.
"Proceed to another shape," I thought.
"As many as we can. And the same can be said for the warehouses," Mia said.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," I sighed.
"Sorry to disappoint, but there's no exact number for something like this. The best option is to keep hitting them until we deal a significant blow to the Empire," Mia said.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body. 'Coding Master' allows me to program on the same level as Kayaba and even replicate any of his achievements. Recreating Sword Art Online, updating and modifying as much as I want while maintaining the same level of quality. I can even reproduce the system that perfectly replicates Magecraft.
...wait, what?
A system that replicates magecraft?
I peer deeper into Coding Master, and my eyes widen in disbelief at the scope of what this system can do.
This is insane.
The possibilities of what we can do with that system are staggering...and so is the infrastructure needed to support it.
"Goddman it," I hissed.
"What? What happened?" Mia asked, glancing at me tensely.
"I just got something good but can't use it yet cause we don't have the infrastructure," I said, annoyed.
"What did you get?" Mia asked.
"Well, it's a...actually, you should wait a little, otherwise you aren't going to believe me," I said.
"Try me," Mia crossed her arms.
"Okay. It's called 'Coding Master'. It basically turns me into a programming genius. I can recreate a game, which I'll explain in more detail later, but the important thing is that I can build a system that perfectly replicates magecraft," I said, keeping my tone serious.
"Replicates-what-now?" Mia asked.
"You heard me," I said.
"Just to be clear. This isn't just a generic template for a magical system that is being called magecraft?" Mia asked.
"Not even close. It's a one-to-one replication," I said.
"That's impossible," Mia said, stunned.
"Not anymore," I said simply.
Mia shakes her head in disbelief.
"Every time I think I've gotten used to how ridiculous these perks can get, something new shows up that makes my grasp of magecraft, hell, on the world curl up and cry in a corner," Mia said, deadpan.
I shrug in response.
"What would you even need to build that?" Mia asked with a sigh.
I think for a moment.
"I would need a large cluster of servers to run it," I said.
"How many is that?" Mia asked curiously.
"More than a thousand," I said drily.
Mia let out a hiss and leaned back in surprise.
Yep.
That isn't going to be easy to buy without attracting attention.
"You wouldn't happen to have a contact that sells servers or has a way to acquire servers?" I asked.
"Nope," Mia shakes her head.
I grunted in annoyance.
We can find out back home.
"What the? Is that a white dot flying in the sky?" Mia asked, looking to her right.
Huh?
I look in the same direction as Mia.
I tensed up the moment I realized who it was.
"That's Purity," I said darkly.
"That direction...she's going towards ABB territory," Mia said grimly.
My hands curl into fists at the thought of the chaos Purity might bring.
I ended the parallel thought process to free the neural lace.
"We're going after her," I said resolutely.
"No complaints here," Mia said. "Think she has back up?"
"I don't see anyo-"
BOOM! BOOM!
Purity started her attack.
I quickly put my arm around Mia's shoulder and use shunpo.
In a few seconds, we landed on a rooftop that was out of Purity's sight.
I glance around the area for anyone injured, but what grabs my attention is the crowd pouring out of the building that Purity just blasted.
A lot of them are carrying guns.
"Those are ABB grunts," I said.
"So it seems. We will deal with them later. There's a more immediate problem in front of us," Mia said.
Mia raised her hand, ready to blast Purity out of the sky.
Before she could do it, a man wearing a demonic mask appeared behind Purity and put her in a chokehold.
A second later, they both exploded.
Mia and I watched in silence, waiting to see if Purity was taken out.
A moment later, she burst through the smoke, seemingly unhurt.
Damn it.
Things just got more complicated.
Oni Lee decided to join the party.
I summon the magical balls.
"Wait," Mia places a hand on my shoulder. "Let them fight. With any luck, they'll take each other out. And if they don't, we can handle them more easily once they're both weakened."
"I don't think that's a go-behind you!" I shouted, seeing Oni Lee suddenly appear behind Mia.
Mia's saber is in her hand in an instant. She spins, slashing across Oni Lee's form, splitting him cleanly before he bursts into a cloud of ash.
The grenade that he was holding fell on the ground.
I grab Mia and use shunpo just as it explodes.
We appear on another rooftop.
"Looks like we aren't that lucky," I said drily.
"Yep," Mia said drily.
Not a second later, Oni Lee appears to our left, with two grenades in hand.
With a single sharp sweep of her wrist, Mia cuts off his head.
It burst into ashes.
Shame, she didn't get the real one.
In a burst of shunpo, we go to another rooftop to evade the explosion.
"You wouldn't happen to know how to disrupt his teleportation, would you?" I asked.
"I've never come across anything like this. Teleportation isn't something that can be used anymore. This is borderline, you know what." Mia said.
"Why do the villains get the best powers?" I asked, annoyed.
Mia shrugs in response.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
My head snaps to the explosions.
Purity is shooting beams of light at the ABB grunts on the ground.
They are trying to fight back and are losing badly.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body, and nothing happens.
Oni Lee teleports to Purity and tries to latch onto her.
She moves in a flash, twisting out of Oni Lee's path and firing a beam of light into his back in one seamless motion.
With Purity's attention elsewhere, Mia seizes the moment and snaps her fingers, hurling a blazing fireball at her.
It hits Purity dead on.
She screams in pain as she falls and strikes the ground hard.
In a burst of shunpo, we appear in the middle of the street.
Mia goes straight to Purity, while I turn my attention to what is left of the ABB grunts.
I send the magical balls towards them.
"Hado # 25: Kaminari," I said calmly.
Bolts of lightning slam into the grunts, wiping out the last of the remaining ABB grunts.
I cast one final glance at the grunts, making sure that all of them are out of commission, before turning my focus on Purity.
She was getting up slowly.
Mia slammed her hands on the ground, transmutating concrete arms that pinned Purity down and engulfed her from head to toe.
It doesn't last even for a second, as Purity blasts her way out of her temporary containment, sending debris around us as she shoots upwards.
"Please, wait!" Purity shouted. "You two are Red and Blue, yes?"
"What if we are?" I asked tensely.
"Then we don't have to fight! We're on the same side!" Purity shouted.
She did not just say that.
"We most certainly are not," Mia said coldly. "You're with the Empire."
"I left them months ago! I'm a hero now!" Purity shouted.
"Couldn't think of a better lie?" I scoffed.
"I'm telling the truth!" Purity insisted.
I rolled my eyes.
"Let's not waste anymore time. We still have do deal with Oni Lee," I said.
"Yeah...wait, where's Oni Lee?" Mia asked.
I paused for a moment.
He should be attacking us relentlessly, but I don't see him anywhere.
Where's he?
"Oh," Purity said, looking at something behind Mia and me.
I turned my head enough to see behind me while keeping Purity in my line of sight.
Oni Lee is standing at the end of the street, and he isn't alone.
A man covered in tattoos and wearing a steel mask in the shape of a dragon is standing next to him.
Lung.
"Oh," I said drily.
That is not good.
Metallic scales slowly spread across Lung's body as he begins to grow larger.
"You have a lot of-" Lung didn't get the chance to finish before Purity blasted him straight into a building.
Purity doesn't stop; she keeps blasting the building until a sudden fireball erupts from within the building and hurls straight at her.
Purity quickly flies out of the way.
Lung rips his way out of the building in his draconic form, roaring in fury.
My eyes widen in alarm as he rears his head back. I scoop Mia into a bridal carry and, in a burst of shunpo, flash out of the way just as Lung exhales a torrent of fire that engulfs the street.
Mia and I appear high above the street, hovering in the air as we survey the damage.
"Look at the lamppost. They all melted," I said with a frown.
"So did the asphalt, and yet the buildings look untouched. That kind of precision is worrying," Mia said. "Are the suits fireproof?"
"Not enough for us to survive those flames," I said.
BOOM!BOOM!
Purity unleashes beams of light at Lung as she dodges the waves of fire he spews in her direction.
"...we're going to have to work with her, aren't we?" I asked with a frown.
"Unfortunately, yes," Mia said, displeased. "Right now, Lung is the bigger problem. Afterwards, we deal with Purity."
I set Mia down on a rooftop and, in a burst of shunpo, instantly reappear before Lung.
"Bakudo # 23: Kosuko Kekkai (Binding Barrier)!" I shouted.
I thrust my palms forward, releasing semi-transparent bands of lights that could tightly wrap around Lung, pinning his arms to his sides and anchoring his feet to the ground, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Mia and Purity seize the moment and unleash a relentless barrage on Lung.
Lung screams in fury and pain as he tries to break free.
I grit my teeth and channel more reiryoku into the spell, but even then, cracks are starting to spread.
At this rate, it won't last for much longer.
I quickly set up a parallel thought process to maintain the kido spell while I turned my attention elsewhere.
Like the three Oni Lee that appeared around me.
I use shunpo to dodge just as they all exploded.
I reappear a few meters away, looking around for any sign of Oni Lee.
Gotta keep his attention on me.
Mia and Purity are doing some serious damage to Lung and have to keep that as long as possible.
An arm shoots out from behind me and drags a knife across my neck. Sparks explode on contact, flashing outward where blood should be.
Son of a...
I reinforce my arm, pivot sharply, and strike him across the head, shattering his mask into pieces. He burst into ashes a second later.
A sharp blow to my thighs forces me to drop to my knees. A hand grips my neck and drags my head back. My eyes widen as Oni Lee's knife comes straight for my face. It strikes my mask and shatters into shards on impact.
Oh, thank god I made these costumes.
He lets go of me and jumps back, creating some distance.
I quickly got to my feet and reinforced my body.
What is he doing?
Why did he change to close-quarter combat?
Oni Lee discards the broken knife, grabs a new one, and lunges forward.
I reinforce the magical balls and hurl one at him. It strikes Oni Lee square in the chest, and he bursts into ashes.
I snap my arm up just in time, blocking a slash aimed at my head as Oni Lee appears beside me. He drives a knee into my stomach, forcing a grunt from my throat. Three magical balls streak towards him. He twists away from two, but the third slams into him, and Oni Lee bursts into ashes.
A knife bounces off my back, and before I can do anything, Oni Lee bursts into ashes.
This is annoying.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body, and nothing happens.
We keep trading blows, but this isn't going anywhere.
I can't hit him, and he can't hurt me.
What sho-
My attention snaps back to Lung as he shatters the bindings, roaring angrily at the sky.
Crap.
Thankfully, he's in pretty bad shape.
Most of his scales are shattered, his wings are damaged, and he's breathing heavily. But he's slowly healing.
We need to finish this now.
I glance at Oni Lee and see that he's gone.
Damn it, I shouldn't have looked away.
Lung roars, unleashing a wave of fire at Purity that briefly illuminates the night.
Before she could flee, Oni Lee teleported and latched onto her, delaying her just long enough for the flimes to strike.
Purity lets out a piercing cry of pain before darting away from here.
Lung turns his attention to Mia.
Lung jumped onto the building and started to climb up.
I don't think so.
In a burst of shunpo, I appear next to Mia.
"Wait," Mia said.
He reaches the rooftop in seconds, only to be hit by a point-blank fireball that blasts him off the building and down onto the street.
"Nice," I said.
"Thanks. Any luck with Oni Lee?" Mia asked.
"It's a pointless fight. I can't keep up with his teleportation," I clench my fist in annoyance.
I'm faster than Oni Lee and yet can't keep up with him.
I need to train more with Hoho.
"We will deal with that later. Let's see how Lung is doing," Mia said.
Mia and I approach the ledge and look down.
Lung groans on the ground, shrinking back into his human form.
Before Mia and I could do anything, Oni Lee appeared beside Lung, and a second later, both of them burst into ashes.
"It's over," I relax in relief. "That was awful."
"It would have been much worse if you didn't restrain Lung," Mia pointed out.
"Yeah, good point," I said with a shudder.
I grab Mia and take us to the ground.
I look around at the destruction.
"You don't think Lung power really turns him into a dragon, do you?" I asked.
"It most certainly does not. If he were one, we would be dead," Mia said gravely. "Dragons are living calamities and, most importantly, they don't exist anymore in modern times."
"So, it must be a coincidence that Lung transformation looks like that," I said.
Mia shrugs in response.
Yeah, that isn't important right now.
"Let's go ho-" I turned to the sound of an engine.
A motorcycle is rapidly approaching us.
Wait, isn't that...
It stops a few meters away from Mia and me.
A man in blue armor dismounts it, grabs a halberd, and points at us.
"Freeze! You are both under arrest!" Armsmaster shouts.
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Sorry for taking so long.
I went on a trip in the middle of writing this chapter and had a little of writer block.
First time this happend.
Better late than never.
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Please leave a review. It helps me to stay motivated.
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If you like my stories and wish to support me, you can find me over at pa-tre-on (slash) Regulareader.
Or at Ko-fi.com/regulareader
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CP points: 300.
Coding Master (Fate/Revelation Online) 100:
Well, considering your position as a peer of Kayaba in running SAO, it's only natural that you've got the skills the position requires. You can program at the level of Kayaba, and are perfectly capable of replicating any of his feats, such as making the system that replicates magecraft. You are also easily able to update and alter the game while keeping the same quality of work as him. At this level, anything less than creating a true AI is trivial to you, and you can even accomplish that with significant effort and time now that the soul has been analysed by Kayaba.