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-Mifune City.
3rd POV*
After dealing with Alba, Shiki began roaming the place looking for the real mastermind. She knows that Alba was just a pawn on that game and the mastermind is still hiding nearby. Shiki abruptly stopped when she saw an unexpected person appearing far away from her. That person turned his head as Shiki finally saw his face.
It was Lawrence, he waved his hand at Shiki smiling happily. "Shiki~! I finally found you!" Lawrence shouted waving at her. Shiki stared at Lawrence for a second before returning the gesture. "You're here" she said. Lawrence got closer to Shiki, he seemed to be happy seeing her figure without any wounds.
"Let's go find that man. He must be lurking around" Shiki said as they began walking around the place. It was strangely quiet and only their breathing could be heard. "By the way, where is that woman?" Shiki asked with Lawrence just tilting his head in confusion. "Who..?" He asked. "That desperate woman Anastashia. Where is she? She was with you last minute" Shiki sighed.
"Oh her, she got an urgent emergency right now and has to move away. Don't worry about her, we can spend this time for ourselves" Lawrence said as he tried to pat her head only for Shiki to dodged it. "Don't touch me with your filthy hands" she said glaring at him. Lawrence seemed to be surprise by her action but he just shook his head in dismay.
They continued walking for a few more minutes before Shiki finally stopped. "Alright, how about you stop pretending" she said placing her dagger on his neck. Lawrence widened his eyes in surprise from the sudden events. "What's wrong Shiki? Did you get brainwashed by the previous guy?" Lawrence asked.
The concern on Lawrence's eyes couldn't be hidden however Shiki is aware that it is not because he is worried about her but rather he is concerned about his current position. One simple move from him will be the end of his. "If you were even going to copy someone, make sure you have the necessary informations to copy him"
Shiki glared at his disgusting performance. It didn't even get close to the real Lawrence. Shiki instantly noticed that he was not the real one when they first met, she just wanted to gather informations which is why she delayed it but after knowing he will not speak, she just throw away that plan.
Shiki's words pierced Lawrence? heart. "You already made 4 mistake. First, you don't know who Anastashia is. Second, you said that she prioritize emergency when you are by her side which is literally illogical. That woman will do anything for Lawrence. Third, Lawrence won't be happy shoving someone just to spend time with me. He loves me, I know that but he also cares about those everyone around him"
"And lastly.. you feared me. Something which is impossible for the real one. That person doesn't have anything he fear about. He might act scared sometimes however that is just to join to vibe, there is no thing that can make him shiver in fear. You must have some knowledge about my ability which is why you got frightened when I placed my dagger on your lines. Sadly, Lawrence has no lines" Shiki stated all his mistakes.
The place suddenly turned silent that was broken when another voice entered the room. "Hahaha, great deduction Shiki! You know me that much, I am quite proud of it!" the voice said surprising Shiki but when she turned towards him, a small smile was plastered on her face. "Lawrence.." she muttered feeling happy.
"Heh, you also have a soft spot on you wretched woman. I thought that fighting is the only thing on your mind" Anastashia also appeared giving her own comment that was ignored by Shiki. "Hey! This is discrimination! What is with this different of treatment!" Anastashia complained.
Shiki boredly stared at her, "I gave you attention, are you satisfied now?" She said seemed tired from dealing with her. "Why you..!" Anastashia gritted her teeth in annoyance. Now it looks like she craved for her attention! "Now, now, don't fight right now. We still have an enemy right here" Lawrence stopped the two from continuing.
It was only then that the two remembered the man. Shiki looked at the fake Lawrence who already escaped her clutches. "Haah, that was a scary experience. If you know I wasn't the real one, why bother to entertain me? That scared the hell out of me" his way of talking changed.
He glared at Shiki for making him experiencing that thing. "Oh, an impersonator huh? The reason must be your origin" Lawrence stated observing the fake. He was intrigued by this phenomenon and wanted to conduct test on it.
The fake seemed surprise that Lawrence know the source of it. "I shouldn't have expect anything less. You are indeed a bonafied magus, you managed to understand it within just one glance. Should I be impressed or scared?" the fake chuckled to himself applauding Lawrence's deduction.
"Indeed, my origin is reflection. I can reflect whatever I want and use their abilities. Quite handy right? I am thankful to that man for awakening it for me" the man proudly stated. "Hm, I wonder if you did manage to gain all of my abilities" Lawrence's curiosity turned into interest, he now wanted to disect this man and experiment with his origin.
Lawrence turned to Shiki, "You can go ahead and find Araya. I will deal with this guy here. Also, use this" he handed her a blue staff like thing with eyes on it. Shiki was familiar with this thing but from her memories, there should only be yellow of it. "Blue one? What does this do?" she asked.
"Place it on the side of the yellow one, this can help you see through illusions and invisible things" Lawrence explained. Shiki stared at the Blue Ward before nodding her head, this can certainly help her find that sneaky bastard. Shiki gave Lawrence a one last look as she started walking on other way.
Lawrence and Anastashia just watched her go with calm expression on their faces. They have no doubt that she can solve this situation alone, that is how far their trust to her.
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Shiki stood to what feels like the middle of this place to her. She grabbed the blue ward on her left and yellow ward on her right. Without hesitation, she plunged both of them to the ground as her understanding of the place widened. She can now sense everything that is happening in here, she can even see Lawrence and the others.
No matter how many times Shiki used it, it still never ceased to amaze her. It was a mindblowing phenomenon after all. "Still not here? Hmm" Shiki muttered sensing that Araya wasn't inside the place. With that information, she concluded two things. One is that Araya is far away from this place and is observing them while the other is..
Shiki raised her dagger and stared at the floor, without any hesitation she plunged it slashing the floor in half. It didn't take long as a scream was heard somewhere nearby. 'As expected. This whole building is his body huh?' Shiki turned her attention to the place where she sensed a person emerging.
"Ryougi Shiki…" the man Araya Souren grunted feeling the pain on his stomach. He didn't expect her to do that leaving him with no time to sever his connection with the building, meaning his body received damage from that single slash. Though that wound immediately healed showing the capability of his origin which is 'Stillness'
This origin made him extremely difficult to kill, since something that is already 'still' supposedly cannot be killed. His consciousness would survive even if his body should rot and crumble to dust, this made him effectively immortal. "To think that you can even see me when I am already using Rokudou Kyoukai. It seems that I still underestimated my view on you" Araya commented.
Although he commended Shiki's ability to see him, it still didn't faze his confidence about being able to use her. "This building.. is your body?" Shiki asked staring at him. "Hm, indeed. This whole structure is the embodiment of my internal world. I am a god within this place" Araya said before a frown appeared on his face. "That useless man. He made me waste time reviving him" he cursed.
Shiki thought about the first man they met, this means that Araya was the one who was reviving the man which is presumably killed by Lawrence and Anastashia. "Can you create something within this world of yours?" She asked the most important thing. She recognized that this Bounded Field already left the realm of magecraft and reaching Magic already.
Araya got silenced by the question because of the simple reason which is he can't. He can't create anything in this place as that would be already touching the First Magic. He is simply a master of Bounded Field, he can't rennact any magic phenomenon.
"First Magic is not needed for this. I can get that thing after reaching the ROOT and no one will be able to stop me" Araya said already deciding to end this fight. The walls besides Shiki suddenly started moving as they enclosed her. The walls slowly moved trying to devour her whole body.
Shiki was not idle either as she immediately slashed those walls to not be capture by it. She dashed towards Araya who simply raised his hand and made a gesture, "Shuku!" he muttered. Shiki who was running was instantly slammed through the wall.
She widened her eyes as the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception opened itself. She was that the thing that hit her was a cluster of space used roughly. She is now taking this seriously, it would be bad if she keeps looking down on the opponent. Araya has already shown that he is a formidable opponent for Shiki so as a sign of respect, she will kill him painlessly.
Shiki used her blink dagger appearing besides Araya before lunging her dagger at him. Araya didn't even flinch faced with her attack, he just raised his left arm tanking the hit. Shiki's eyes shone in surprise when she wasn't able to see any lines of death within Araya's left arm.
"Surprised? My left arm is embedded with Sarīra. A sacred remains of the Buddha, this has no death lines" Araya explained raising his hand again. "Shuku!" He said as the space flew towards Shiki. This time though she just slashed the space already seeing the lines of death within it.
Shiki's talent is already helping her adapt to the situation and giving her advantage. The two clashed causing destruction everywhere which was fixed by Araya. He just need to find a chance to encase Shiki and make her lose consciousness. That would be enough for him to reach the ROOT.
He already prepared everything, even the building they are standing is designed to make his journey easier. It was specifically designed to look like Yin and Yang. "Give up Ryougi. You don't stand a chance!" Araya loudly declared as the two entered a fierce clash.
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