Ch.25Blasphemia Branch (5)

Red flames, dark and acrid smoke. And the noise of a fire alarm. Elements that interfere with all five human senses are concentrated here.

But Nardanit has another sensory organ. Biotic fiber hair. The biotic fibers have entwined throughout the engine room like vines taking root.

The function of the biotic fiber hair wasn’t limited to simply detecting enemies.

Just as the biotic fibers had intertwined to form a magic circle when attempting to cast a self-destruction spell, the true value of the hair lay in its function as a magical formula construction apparatus. It replaced the hand seals (mudras) that magicians form with their hands to assist with spellcasting through biotic fiber manipulation.

Each strand of hair filled with magical power supplied from the mana core. The glowing red hair was loaded with lethal magic.

The reason for preparing an attack instead of immediately suppressing the fire with water magic was simple.

The fire was a variable that favored Nardanit.

At first glance, this situation might seem fatal to Nardanit, who was unable to move while connected to the power line.

But the reality was different. Nardanit, continuously supplied with magical power from the mana core, could use unlimited magic to protect himself from the fire.

He formed an air layer to block the heat, purified the toxins mixed in the smoke, and readied himself. His opponent couldn’t afford such wasteful use of magical power.

If Ortes moved first, unable to withstand the heat, Nardanit would simply eliminate him with the magic he had calmly prepared.

The same applied if the biotic fibers detected Ortes first. The promised moment of execution would merely arrive sooner.

The movement of the hair covering almost the entire engine room was both swift and precise.

Clank!

A noise clearly different from the remnants of explosion magic. Lightning and flames struck down toward the source of the noise. Hair hardened by reinforcement magic, sharper than steel, was refined like spears and stabbed in all directions.

About 20% of the total hair was used for this attack. Nardanit knew his opponent was a skilled combat magician.

The first noise was likely a feint deliberately made to draw an attack.

First distract attention, then deliver a fatal blow.

This was a common strategy in battles between magicians.

Nardanit conserved his strength to intercept any surprise attack. The attack he had just launched was flashy in effect but used relatively little magical power.

1 second passed.

No movement from Ortes was detected.

2 seconds passed.

He searched the attacked area again. Still nothing.

3 seconds passed.

Still not moving? What on earth…

BOOOOM—!

A massive noise that seemed to shake the entire magical locomotive was heard.

A violent tremor rocked the interior of the train. The entire engine room creaked as if a localized earthquake had occurred.

‘Since he’s at a disadvantage in a magical power output battle, he’s targeting the battlefield itself.’

Damn it. As expected of someone appointed as a Secret Inspector, his mind works quickly.

Nardanit considered disconnecting from the mana core. Without the assistance of the mana core providing nearly unlimited magical power, he would be somewhat disadvantaged in a full-scale battle.

But being connected to the power line had the disadvantage of losing mobility. Although he could overcome this to some extent through his biotic fiber hair—

Nardanit froze while checking the status of the power line.

No magical power was being supplied.

“Could it be?”

Nardanit immediately forcibly disconnected from the power line, as if tearing it out. Despite the pain of flesh being torn, his thinking remained clear.

KRAKAKAKAK!

The sharply reinforced hair surged up and carved out the top of the locomotive. A choice he wouldn’t have made normally, as he wanted to use the fire situation to pressure Ortes.

The smoke filling the engine room poured out toward the sky.

Beyond the torn ceiling, a desolate plain rushed by.

The passenger cars that should have been connected were visible only as abstract shapes in the distance.

Only the front car of the magical locomotive, the engine room, was racing forward.

‘Ortes separated the locomotive!’

While his own victory condition was to kill the man, his opponent’s victory condition was to report this information to the Ten Towers. He had been mistaken to think the man would face him head-on.

It was no wonder that no magical power was being supplied from the power line. The connection to the mana core at the rear of the train had been severed.

‘Was the fire started to mask the warning sound of the power line disconnection!’

In a situation where the fire alarm was already ringing, it wasn’t easy to focus on another alarm. Drawing large amounts of magical power had backfired.

If he hadn’t accumulated magical power in the engine room beforehand, the locomotive would have stopped shortly. At least 30 seconds had passed since the locomotive was separated.

There was no time to hesitate. Nardanit leaped out of the locomotive. The gathering wind supported his body while simultaneously pulling the torn upper panel of the locomotive.

Refinement magic swept across the locomotive’s upper panel. Supports sprouted for a person to hold onto, while the edge of the metal plate was sharpened like a blade. Nardanit grabbed the support and stood, then applied lightning magic to both sides of the track.

Between the crackling lightning following the rails, the torn panel carrying Nardanit was positioned. It resembled a projectile.

The biotic fiber hair dug deep into the ground. Lightning continued to gather, shaking the metal plate, but the hair embedded in the earth remained firm.

The crackling noise was now so rough it should be called thunder rather than noise.

When the collision of the two lightning bolts grasped by Nardanit reached a critical point, he withdrew all his biotic fibers.

A giant blade was launched at tremendous speed along the straight line drawn by the lightning.

***

‘That crazy bastard. Is he using a railgun with magic?’

The term “railgun” was something I’d only seen in novels or occasionally in the news, but I vaguely knew the principle. A weapon that places a projectile between two rails and fires it using electromagnetism.

That corrupt branch director had created a makeshift railgun using the cut-off upper part of the locomotive and lightning magic applied to the rails, and was approaching me.

No. “Approaching” is too weak a term.

He was colliding with me!

“Heh, damn it!”

‘Wasn’t it in America where they developed a railgun with a speed exceeding 3 km per second? Judging by how it’s approaching, it’s not quite that fast.’

But it had already surpassed the speed of any ordinary train. More than enough force to obliterate a person.

Although he had torn off the front engine car, there’s still inertia. This train was still slowly running on the tracks.

At the same time, this track was, quite unfortunately, straight. I was automatically getting closer to the magic railgun.

If I stay here, I’ll be cut in half by that metal plate.

So. What should I do?

***

With rapid acceleration from the electric current, Nardanit’s eyes spotted Ortes as he traveled backward along the tracks at hundreds of meters per second.

The man was boldly showing himself right in front of the passenger car. Was he planning to withstand the collision with barrier magic?

No. He could see a right hand aimed as if firing a gun.

The man was targeting his head. Some kind of magic bullet spell?

It was difficult to use additional magic beyond controlling the trajectory of this metal plate. Only seconds remained until impact. The processing capacity of his computational auxiliary brain was already at its limit preparing defensive magic to deflect the impact.

If he used the prepared defensive magic now, he could block Ortes’s magic.

But the warning message that hadn’t been fully transmitted held him back. He couldn’t choose mutual destruction when he needed to convey this news to his comrades.

The only means available to him now was his biotic fiber hair.

Nardanit gathered his hair to form a barrier.

At this point, less than 3 seconds remained until collision. The sharply carved steel projectile aimed at Ortes.

But the hunter’s eyes aiming at the gun barrel were covered by his own barrier.

KWANGANGANG!

The metal plate Nardanit was hanging onto split an entire passenger car and crushed about half of the second car before stopping.

As soon as the vibration ceased, Nardanit removed the barrier. He had to confirm Ortes’s corpse—

As he turned his head, Nardanit faced two blue-tinged lines looking at him. They were Ortes’s seemingly closed eyes.

Bundles of biotic fibers hardened into blade shapes rushed toward Ortes. It was a reflexive attack.

Ortes’s left hand deflected one bundle of fibers. The deflected hair blade cut its own companions. At the collision point of the two fiber bundles, a gap in the attack formed.

Ortes, who had slipped through that gap, grabbed the severed bundle of fibers. That biotic fiber, still maintaining its blade shape due to residual magical power. He charged.

The blade that Nardanit had reinforced to its limit easily pierced its owner’s body. The strike aimed at the heart connected precisely.

“H…how?”

A question thrown with his last breath.

“I jumped. The metal plate you used as a projectile was long horizontally but not very tall vertically. If your vision had been clear, you would have countered with magic, but you covered your own eyes.”

So he had jumped right over him and clung to the back of the metal plate? Nardanit realized that the defensive magic he had cast had also protected Ortes who had been behind him.

“Damn it…”

Nardanit’s body, with his head drooping, no longer moved.

***

They really fought like hell. This is why I hate dealing with Blasphemia.

As I caught my breath, I heard hurried footsteps approaching.

Oh, great.

“B-Branch Director?!”

The kid looking at the corpse in dismay. It was Niobe.