Qin jumped toward Eta. He turned around and fired off a flaming cannon without hesitation.
"Shit!"
The speed of the flames increased, along with its shape becoming more streamlined. It was more like a flaming laser now. Qin had underestimated the flames.
"Hah!"
Anastasia leapt in, grabbing Qin, and getting him away from immediate danger. The cannon got Qin's arm and Anastasia's thigh.
Eta gritted his teeth.
"Pawns don't get to move backwards! You only move forward!"
Suddenly, flames erupted from all over Eta. The clothes on his upper body burnt away, revealing his chest with a large, thorn-like, tattoo on it.
"Only queens decide where they go!"
His tattoo glowed a faint amber colour. A small white ball appeared in Eta's palm.
"I guess I'll be the one to go up against him."
Qin said, aiming his left pistol.
From his nexus to the muzzle of his gun, mana flowed through like water following a current. On his hand, blue circuits appeared, stretching through his fingertips and onto the gun itself.
"Ignite, Bellion."
The Arcana uttered.
With two words, the white ball became black and he pointed it at the group with his finger. Qin was charging up for his next attack.
"Fire."
At the same time, they released their spells.
The black flames transfigured into a black dragon, baring its fangs toward them. Qin had fired a spell far stronger than normal. It was a white, hot bullet that was powered by his mana circuits.
"Where did they go?"
Eta noticed that Tatsuya and Anastasia had disappeared from Qin's side.
The black flames consumed the white bullet, with ease, now charging toward Qin.
He put one of his guns in its holster.
"Fuck, I should've just done this from the start."
Qin put his hand toward the raging black dragon. He shouted, imbuing mana into his palm.
"Seal!"
Blue chains wrapped around the dragon, shrinking it into nothingness.
"This guy, he—huh?"
The bullet hit Eta's chest. It dug itself into the right side of his chest. He grabbed himself doing his best to catch his breath.
The bullet was never devoured by the black dragon. It survived in its stomach and came out the other side, injuring the Tarot.
Calm and composed, Tatsuya revealed himself, holding his katana tightly, he cut off one of Eta's arms.
"GGGGRRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream filled the air. Eta dropped to a single knee, biting his lip to fight through the torturous pain.
"Release."
It was only around 9 months ago, a while after the exhibition match, something made Qin realise. The truth about his Singularity.
His Singularity was Autonomous Sealing, as long as he provided the right amount of mana, he could seal anything, in theory. It used something similar to the alchemist principle of equivalent exchange.
However, anything that can be sealed can also be released. The best thing was, there was no price for releasing.
Bellion, the flaming dragon, flew toward Eta. Due to his critical condition, he could not avoid the attack, taking it head-on.
Blood leaked out from his mouth, pouring a cup's worth of blood onto the ground. He laid on his back.
"B...Blu—"
BANG!
A gunshot rang out and a hole appeared in Eta's head.
"Got him,"
Yoko sighed, walking out from behind a tree.
"That was easy, I guess."
Anastasia said.
"You barely did anything. It was us three who did all of the work. Right, Tatsuya?"
Qin turned to the white-haired boy.
He was frozen. Frightened and perturbed, if you will. Tatsuya was the innocent type, who has never killed a single person in their life. He was also the type of person to keep someone alive, even if they were his enemy, believing that it was simply 'right.'
Many people follow the law and its set justice system, however, there are many with their own sense of justice. Tatsuya was one of those people who simply followed the law without any questions asked. Even training to become a Magi, not once has a thought similar to 'I'll have to kill one day' crossed his mind. If it ever did, it would have been thought of as a joke.
They all stared silently. It was Yoko who broke the ice-cold silence.
"Let's hurry up and move ahead. I just reported to the IS that we beat the Lovers Arcana."
Tatsuya flinched, looking up at his squad members. Observing their unreactive expressions, he snapped.
"How can you all act so cold?! You just killed him!"
"If you're going to complain every time we kill an enemy, then just go home."
Qin advised him.
"Babies should stay in their diapers, asleep. What's wrong with killing someone who tried to kill us, Tatsuya? Is it 'morally wrong?'"
Anastasia asked him, curious what his answer would be. Although, she would feel disappointed as he never gave her an answer.
She breathed out, turned around, walking toward the entrance.
"I'm not in the mood for this shit."
(Even I was like that up until recently, I guess...)
She thought to herself.
Yoko shivered. Her Singularity went wild. Not only she would be in danger, but her comrades too.
"All of you, jump!"
They all turned when they heard her warning. Without question, they leapt off the ground—red spikes protruded from the ground, mercilessly stabbing toward those in the air.
Most of them were able to dodge the attack but the spike sliced the side of Anastasia's calf. She dropped to the ground, doing her best to get to her feet, ready.
"Where did that come from?"
"You messed my husband up..."
Eta stood up. No, the person was not Eta anymore but someone else completely. The minor injuries healed while they still were missing an arm. Their hair was now mid-length and the tattoo was on the left side of their face. Their chest and butt grew slightly.
"We just killed you..."
"Yeah, well,"
The woman pulled the bullet out of her forehead and the wound healed.
"You killed my husband. Not me."
"Husband?"
"Has it ever occurred to you why our Tarot is plural, not singular? It hasn't, has it? That's because there's more than one of us. I am Zeta, the other one with the Lovers Arcana."
She regrew an arm using blood. She moved it around to see whether it would have any problems functioning.
"The blutschwur was useful..."
She muttered to herself.
Blutschwur was German for Blood Oath. It was a pact, or contract, made between two separate parties because of something else. Usually, a body. Since it's considered black magic, which is forbidden, not many use it in this day and age. That is how Zeta and Eta came about the same body.
"I'll kill you all. Be prepared."
"I'm tired of this shit. I'll just finish this up."
Anastasia proudly walked forward. She faced Zeta with a smile.
"A brave one, I see? A pawn, right?"
Zeta said, almost like she was teasing Anastasia. Instead, the girl grinned at her opponent.
"Pawns can be promoted, can they not?"
The Tarot scowled.
"What are you getting at?"
"I think it's about time I promote myself to a queen, how about it?"
Anastasia laid her hand out.