Ayato was suffering.
'My head... It aches with every move I make. I can't see out of one eye and Asteria's broken. I'm done.'
He thought, watching Hana pull out a pistol from the bag on her waist.
She shot at him. He jumped before she pulled the trigger. The bullet missed.
'She didn't aim like she did earlier. A test, hm?'
He figured it out.
"He can't destroy things that he can't react to."
She surmised, talking to the girls beside her. It was smart so that they wouldn't be so careful.
"That makes sense."
Asami said.
"But he erased aether. That seems to be a Magic Seal. There's no way condensed mana could lose to aether..."
Yui said, trying to figure out how he did that.
'How...?'
"He probably can't use it in succession. Let's go, Yui!"
Asami crossed her hands in front of her, creating a wing-shaped web. It was like she was doing a cat's cradle.
Yui followed after the webs. If he erased them, the Mage Killer would follow up with a fatal attack.
Ayato knew this and erased the webs passing them. However, he used his right hand to repair the web.
The boy dodged Yui's steel punch and pushed her into the webs. She turned her whole body to steel. The threads scratched her.
Ayato coughed blood.
Hana fired at him. He dodged. It scrapped the side of his eye. The boy fell to his knee, breathing heavily.
'Why... why doesn't the Mage Killer use any different Magic Seals? I'm sure she has more in store...'
His body was being pushed to the limit.
"Time to finish you!"
Asami pulled her hands toward her and whipped them toward the boy.
"Man..."
She looked at the threads, hopelessly.
"I wish you would just burn away."
He raised his hands. As soon as the threads came into contact with his hand, they burned in black flames.
"...!"
"Aether...!"
"This guy still isn't dead?!"
The boy laughed slowly. It sounded almost hysteric.
"I knew that it'd work... Aether works when my back is pushed against the wall."
Ayato smiled faintly. He looked as though he was about to go crazy. The blood on his body didn't help the appearance.
"Forget the process, I'll kill you. Asami, get out of here."
"Right~! Come on, you're coming too."
The blue-haired woman dragged Hana using her threads. They jumped down the broken stairs.
Ayato turned to the woman. Her body was engulfed in a purple light. It struck her, powering her up. The aura crackled like purple lightning.
"Shit... I can't destroy that. Rupture won't work..."
He analysed his situation while regaining his breath.
Markings appeared on her face and arms. They appeared to be runes.
"Heavenly Lightning: Einherjar!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Yui's fist was stuck in Ayato's stomach. He didn't react to her attack despite her large aura. A large amount of blood leaked from his mouth.
"Die for my goal, Ayato Kyou—"
Yui's face bobbed as Ayato punched her.
"Hm?!"
She spat blood.
Ayato hugged the Mage Killer tightly. He couldn't move anymore. He was weak from fighting all three of them.
"Let go of me! You can die by yourself!"
She shouted, trying to push him off.
"Die...? No, I'm not going to die, but, I will try and kill you."
The boy croaked lazily.
Black flames started to surround the two of them. Ayato's body started to become engulfed in flames.
"For some reason... I thought my flames hurt me, but... they don't."
"Let go! I don't need this!"
She pounded his head.
"Let's see what I'll call this..."
He muttered calmly.
The black flames began to rise. They started to burn Yui.
"Ah! Fuck!"
"You're an artificial World Magician, right?"
"How do you...?!"
"I'm sure you've never experienced death. I'll help you with that one. Pillar of Death."
"AYATO KYOUYA!"
The black flames erupted, like lava spewing from the mouth of a volcano, from underneath Ayato and Yui. They both were engulfed in the flames. However, Ayato was immune.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Yui's body burned. It was more painful than being seared by a normal flame or by flame magic. If flames left a burn, these black flames would burn organs.
It was, literally, like experiencing death. Experiencing death without dying, people would call such a feeling: Hell.
·———·
(London — England — Buckingham Palace)
"Hm?"
"What is it, Morgan?"
The white-haired woman sitting on the throne asked the young woman beside her.
The young woman was a witch. At least, that's what they called them in England. She was a specialised magician. Being a witch needed a license. The male version was a wizard.
People who were witches or wizards were seen as superior magicians. That was the case in England.
The woman sitting on the throne was the Queen of England.
Even in the era of technology and magic, England was one of the few countries which continued its monarchy.
Queen Alice. She was young but a condition caused her blonde hair to turn white over time. It can be temporarily cured with medicine but she simply doesn't care since the result will be the same.
The woman beside her was her 'Merlin.'
Morgan was her name. She was a brilliant witch born in this era. She had fair hair and wore a witch's hat. She wore a short black robe. The hood and the bottom were decorated with jet-black patterns like an expensive teacup. The robe stopped her waist. Under that robe was a white bandeau.
She certainly dressed like a witch from the Medieval era.
"Japan..."
"...?"
"No, sorry, my queen. I just felt a strong accumulation of aether in Japan. It's unusual. I can feel delight."
She said to the queen.
"You felt that from here? From England? You are unbelievable, Morgan."
"Such is your attendant. Still, this is unusual even for someone on the World level."
She muttered, looking out of the window as if she could see the source.
"Where's Orfan?"
"She's probably taking on some random magician."
"Where? In spar or in bed?"
"Probably, both, my lady, but enough about that talk."
Morgan tapped her staff on the floor.
"I'll be going to my room now."
"Have a nice rest, Morgan Le Fay."
The witch closed the door and walked as her left eye glowed. She began humming while sensing the aether source.
"♪London Bridge is falling down. Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady♪."
A thin smile appeared on her lips.
"Hell on Earth. That isn't a bad idea."