Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Horizon at the End of the Memories I
Cipher Lock — Dead Zone
Ashley's shoulders trembled, then stopped. Slowly, her head leveled at him.
Neither he nor she had the expression of a family reunited after a long time.
In this situation, there was only one move.
One couldn't be careless, which both of them fairly understood even without speaking.
They had grasped what was going on.
And with a nod, both agreed.
Their hair swayed in the wind within the space.
Whoosh!
Morgan's grip on his lance tightened while Ashley's fists slowly curled into a fist with a resolute look on her face.
In response to Ashley's stance, Artemisia too readied her blade, leveling it towards Morgan in front.
"...thanks to stalling time, I have a little bit more stored, now how well can I fare without Beta?"
Morgan muttered more to himself without taking his eyes off those two.
He was about to find out.
And immediately, it began.
Whoosh!
Three forces collided at the center, and a violent shockwave tore outward, rippling across the Territory.
A gust of violent wind appeared from the clash with them at its center.
But not even a second long after that, Morgan's feet swept through the air in a clean, brutal kick aimed at Artemisia.
Tham!
"Nngh!"
A small voice escaped her as she was sent flying with that attack.
Thanks to the Dead Zone, she couldn't willy-nilly retract or reconfigure her Territory.
If she were the only one he was fighting, then that would be good; however…
She wasn't the only one.
Just as he sent Artemisia away, he sensed a force being generated behind him.
"Oh no you don't."
Morgan turned sharply with his fingers gliding along the lance's shaft, swinging it in a wide arc.
Invisible vibrations rippled outward, canceling the incoming shockwaves before they could fully form.
"…Wait. This is—"
His eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
Finally, he remembered what Beta had told him about his [Divine Vibration].
It was no longer a byproduct of a Territory but a phenomenon close to that of [Angel]'s.
"So that's it—"
Tzzz!
A streak of light cut his words short heading towards him.
But he reacted in time, slipping aside at the last moment.
The beam grazed past his Territory, as he twisted with it instead of away from it.
Using its trajectory as a guide, he rode the motion, circling around it while accelerating.
Finally, he reappeared directly in front of Artemisia.
"Boo."
"...!"
Genuinely, her brain waves spiked a little when he did that, freezing as the laser cannon cooled.
She was stunned.
While they might have nerfed him, the same applied to them.
Morgan knew that if he wanted to escape this place safely, he needed two things.
First, he had to synchronize his brainwaves with hers long enough to deploy a Counter Territory.
The second requirement was even more unlikely.
Which was exactly why—
"You keep forgetting about me. I ain't done yet—!"
Blue dots of light filled his field of vision.
The instant they did, Morgan activated Thought Acceleration.
As soon as he did, the world slowed.
Manipulating the mana around him, he pushed his Territory inward.
Then he deployed his Protective Territory immediately after that.
In the next moment—
Ashley's fist was frozen mid-air, straining her wrist in the process.
"Damn Territory."
In spite of the pain, she still managed to mutter that in bitterness.
At the same time, Artemisia was struck square in the stomach.
"Guh!"
Morgan sent her flying.
"Hm."
"Yo, there's one for you too!"
"Eh?"
Bam!
What happened next was Ashley seeing black, then white, then a monochrome world.
Last thing she saw was him making a dirty maneuver mid-air before landing his foot on her sides.
What sort of dirty move was that!?
Ashley wanted to scream.
For someone to become a wizard, they naturally have to undergo training.
At the very least, it should be equal to that of the military standards.
However, what they didn't teach them was how to maneuver.
Other martial arts did.
How to break a deadlock and so on, and Morgan gladly learned all this.
This was one of the superior aspects he had compared to most AST members.
One thing Morgan genuinely despised was head-on clashes.
When swordsmen fight against other swordsmen, their attacks usually lead to blocks.
And blocks lead to clashes.
Clashes in turn gave the opponent time to breathe, and analyze patterns of the other.
It was more complex than that, but Morgan always summed it up to that.
Morgan didn't like that.
Instead, while they're using that chance to breathe, close in on them and disrupt their rhythm.
This wasn't an honorable duel.
And even if it were, he wasn't fighting some ancient knight.
These were modern magi.
"I see why now. I guess I understand why the Lieutenant is scared of you."
Ashley levitated up in the next moment from behind him, wiping grime off her lips.
"What are you? A monster?"
Contrary to what she said, she was genuinely impressed by him.
'Ignoring everything… he's only operating on limited techniques and basic martial arts.'
Since Cipher Lock not only affected him but also them.
Ashley had thought with the two of them, they would manage to overwhelm him.
But somehow, he manages to land his hit first every time, as if coordination didn't matter.
Artemisia was the second strongest in the world, you know?
Yet seeing her brother casually dismiss her brought something different to her face.
A smile.
Yes, her brother was still her brother, someone capable of doing anything.
Artemisia, shortly behind, saw the small smile on Ashley's face, which prompted her to turn her head towards him.
"Oh please, neither of you is one to talk."
Their endurance was stronger than he'd thought, but right now was no time for distractions.
Click!
Ashley in the air adjusted her stance. Artemisia gripped her blade tightly with a frown.
Morgan raised his lance.
"Come!"
Two blue streaks shot in from opposite sides at blinding speed, converging on a golden point between them.
Boom!
A massive shockwave erupted.
Morgan caught Artemisia's blade with his lance to the left, and Ashley's fist with his bare right hand.
'Again. He did it again!'
Ashley sulked.
But before she could even continue, he put force into his swing, sending Artemisia away.
Then he spun.
Whoosh!
—and sent Ashley flying as well.
Gathering mana, he followed Ashley's trajectory in the air when all of a sudden…
"What?"
Artemisia appeared directly in front of him.
She suddenly got faster?
No, seemed like she was beginning to seriously pilot her CR Unit.
Morgan dodged aside.
Narrowly avoiding a vertical thrust, then, he knocked her blade off course with the shaft of his lance.
'…she's reading my movements?'
As the thought crossed his mind, a condensed mana sphere had already formed at the tip of his left hand.
He raised two fingers, shaping them into a finger gun.
But before he could fire it, a crushing shockwave slammed into his side.
"You showed me something new."
Ashley was already there, right beside his midsection.
Her arm was already drawn back for another strike.
And on her face was a grin.
"Tch, you meddlesome…"
Morgan's brows furrowed as he prepared to deploy his Protective Territory.
"Nnngh?"
Artemisia closed the distance.
Two meters.
She was now in his territory, with her sword held in a reverse grip.
Her stance was such that its only goal was to skewer her opponents.
And that move also gave Ashley the chance she needed.
"Got you…!"
Immediately,
Morgan thought of a countermeasure and the world slowed down.
Just as the idea came, it vanished into nothing.
Instead, his body moved on instinct.
Morgan's hand shot upward, palm rising toward the descending laser blade.
At the exact same moment.
…Ashley's fist broke the sound barrier, tearing through the air toward him.
But he ignored it.
Instead, his armor turned back into liquid, obstructing the path of Ashley's strike.
All the while, Morgan deflected Artemisia's laser sword with a sideways palm.
"…!"
Hissss!
Smoke filled the air.
The heat scorched his skin, leaving his hand in pain, but regardless, Morgan ignored it.
After all, this was his chance.
He focused on the opening.
In a desperate move, he thrust his left hand forward, and grabbed hers.
And the instant their skin made contact—
The liquid metal fully coiled around Ashley's fist, dispersing the shockwave completely.
"...no way."
Ashley mumbled.
But her aside…
"…!"
Both Morgan and Artemisia finally locked eyes.
Then, their worlds inverted.
Artemisia's right arm went limp.
Her laser blade slipped from her grasp, falling down to the ground below as she clutched her head.
"…Aaaahhhh!"
A piercing scream tore from her throat.
Morgan staggered as well, gritting his teeth as a sharp pain rammed through his skull.
«Unusual brainwave activity detected»
«Warning. Immediate evacuation from the area is advised»
Britannia's suit assistant AI, Aurora, warned Ashley; however, the girl merely stood.
She couldn't understand what she was seeing.
The two of them were enclosed in a field; it was like a Territory.
But it wasn't quite a Territory.
Normally, Territories couldn't be seen by the naked eye, unlike Morgan, who could see them.
However, at this moment…
A golden circle beneath his feet lit up, slowly expanding around him.
From him, it slowly reached Artemisia and covered her.
"Brother! Sia!"
Instinctively, she reached out for both her brother and her friend.
However—
"—Kuh! What the—?!"
She was violently repelled from them several meters back before stabilizing herself mid-air.
"What the hell is going on now?"
For any outside observer.
They would see a male holding the hands of a female with eyes closed, levitating in the air.
However,
On a more fundamental level, something else was happening to both of them.
Morgan appeared in another space, looking around.
It appeared to be a field of green grasses swaying softly on a small hilltop.
There, several children ran across the field happily without a care in the world.
"Hahahaha!"
Their happy laughter filled the air as they passed by him, accompanied by a soft breeze.
«This place is…»
Morgan muttered.
He looked back to see a distant building.
To the left was a tree, where a solitary girl sat on a mat with a book on her lap.
She looked like she had dozed off while there.
«Artemisia?»
He instinctively called out her name.
But she didn't answer.
Immediately, he knew that he was likely within her memories.
«So, she was an orphan, huh?»
Morgan closed his eyes in respect for a moment before looking back.
The field spread in front of him.
Rather, the horizon «White Hole» in front of that.
«The synchronity was actually possible, just like Beta theorized?»
Morgan crossed his hands in thought. This was the first time he'd experienced something like this.
«Does the mister want to go over?»
Just as he was in thought, a voice came from behind.
He tilted his head and saw her.
A girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pure white gown, a smile on her face.
«Y–you…»
With a warm smile, Artemisia folded her arms behind her, leaning forward.
«Thanks to Mister calling out to me, I was able to take form, though I'm missing most of myself»
She then brought a hand to her chin, closing her eyes as though she were in deep thought.
«Right, you could say I'm her subconscious in a way, a remnant of her»
Morgan looked at her...
That was about right to him, but he instead said nothing.
But in the next moment,
«So, tell me, did you enjoy yourself viewing my memories?»
«…you could tell?»
«Yeah, and I think it may be thanks to you»
Now, he was sure of where they were after she had confirmed it.
«Still… I can't help but be fascinated by you, Mister.»
Morgan regarded her in silence for a long moment.
«And what exactly is there to be fascinated by?»
«The fact that you never bend your ideals. You just keep moving forward.»
Morgan looked at her oddly.
For a moment, he'd half-expected her to call that mindset selfish.
Not that he would have cared if she had.
«I don't think it's selfish at all.»
She stepped forward until she stood beside him, her gaze drifting toward the pale horizon ahead.
«At the very least… it's not as selfish as believing I could change the world, right?»
Artemisia let out a small, awkward smile.
Perhaps it was because she had seen fragments of Morgan's memories.
Not everything, but enough.
Enough to understand that he possessed knowledge of the future.
Yet even that didn't truly matter.
What mattered was the realization that—
Contrary to what she had once believed.
She had been used for the opposite of her ideals.
Despite that, she didn't hate herself, nor did she get dramatic over it.
Her decisions were her decisions.
«I know a certain fool who has a savior complex too, and I don't trust people like him…»
From what Morgan knew,
On one of the supposed timelines of this world, everything was wiped away clean.
Were it not for time travel, the world would have been doomed.
Even without that,
Morgan couldn't leave things like that and hope for the best to happen.
Not when he could interfere with it.
«But knowing your intentions is enough, I've always known what kind of person you are….»
It was simply unfortunate that her power had been given to D.E.M.
Then again, he couldn't truly blame her.
D.E.M. was, after all, the organization that supported the AST.
Morgan turned to face her fully.
«Come back to Japan with me and work for [Clocktower]... you'll be able to fulfil your dream»
Artemisia's lips parted slightly.
Because their thoughts were connected, she could feel it clearly.
There was no deception.
This man genuinely believed he could change the world with his own hands.
«As long as I can stay behind you, then I don't think it matters»
In a way, Artemisia now also came to know about the future through him.
Truly, the future was dangerous.
But he made it seem like it wouldn't be, and she liked that.