Pendragon's Infinity Gauntlet

Page 186

“No, Purification. We cannot stop here. There are other, worse reasons besides searching for Oriana.”

"what?"

Jing Shen listened to her phone while running.

"That kind of counterattack technique might not be just aimed at Tyr. If the conditions are right, it could also endanger others, meow. Ordinary people other than us."

"……What did you say?"

Perhaps because the arena was nearby, there were quite a lot of people around. If it were an official competition, entry procedures should have been completed ten minutes before the start. But this was just a "sports meet," so the entry requirements were more lenient, and there were more guards.

“Listen carefully, Pure Spirit, listen to me calmly. Oriana’s counter-attack technique is ‘reading the preparation for magic, thereby identifying the user’s life force and hindering it,’ you understand?”

"Yes, I understand."

In fact, Jing Shen didn't understand much.

In short, she knew that the "Shorthand Codex" set up by Oriana could somehow distinguish Tyr individuals and thus hinder her magic.

"So what?"

"So, meow... that's the problem. 'Preparing for magic.' Do you know what that means?"

"...Huh? Well, I think... it's something like chanting strange incantations or drawing magic circles that nobody understands, right?"

Even when asked about the content of her preparations, Jingshen could not give a clear answer because she did not have a specific understanding of "what magic is".

Tsuchimikado's voice grew increasingly bitter.

"However, that's fine enough... for purification. For example, there's a kind of spell called... 'Word Power.' It's a spell that uses the meaning of words to create influence. If it's for preparing this kind of magic, wouldn't it be enough to just make a sound?"

Jing Shen was startled.

But she didn't stop; she was almost at the school in question.

"This is just my speculation, but if it really happens, the problem will become incredibly troublesome. As long as Oriana speaks near the 'Shorthand Codex,' he can input additional target commands into the counter-attack spell, and the opponent will fall down like Tyr... If he makes a sound, do you think there will be a difference between a magician and an ordinary person? Ordinary students and spectators will also be in great danger."

“But is that even possible? When Tyr fell, we were still talking as usual.”

Jing Shen chased after the spectators heading to the arena and ran all the way to the school entrance.

Since an entrance fee was already charged when entering Academy City, no entrance pass is required to enter the arena.

"You're right, meow. Besides, the arrangement of words in magic follows certain rules, and the words used are limited, just like tanka and haiku. So simply making a sound shouldn't have any effect... If that's the case, do you know what the simplest magic ritual in the world is?"

"Huh???"

The entrance to the arena, which was also the school's main gate, was packed with people waiting to enter. Jing Shen thought to himself that he had to cleverly get past them.

"It's about 'touching.' Especially the act of 'touching with the hands,' which has even greater significance. The reason why the right and left sides have different values ​​in many religions is because the right and left hands each have different functions. In the New Testament, the very active 'Son of God' can save the sick or the dead simply by touching with his right hand. What if Oriana's 'Shorthand Text' reflects this?"

"Wait...wait a minute."

The steps of the Pure God stopped.

Tsuchimikado continued:

"To be honest, for a true mage, 'touching' alone might not be a problem. 'Touching' is a magical action used not only by Christianity but also by various religious schools. Just using that as a 'condition for analyzing' a spellcaster's vitality is a bit ambiguous. If it's a professional mage with a certain level of defense, they might even be able to deflect the aggressive attack of the 'Shorthand Text'—but..."

She paused for a moment, then continued:

"For a complete novice with no defensive magic, even under somewhat ambiguous conditions, it will force them to analyze life force and launch an aggressive attack. Moreover, without a mage's defense, the symptoms will be more severe than Tyr's. Just like severe heatstroke can be fatal, it can put one in considerable danger."

"But...but the original attack on Tyr was a spell that interfered with magic, right? Would that also affect ordinary people or superpowered individuals who aren't magicians?"

The foot that had stopped moved again, but the cleansing motion slowed down. This was to prevent tension from causing the foot to trip again.

"Strictly speaking, the target of the reaction is the 'life force' of a human 'preparing for magic,' so it's quite dangerous even for ordinary people. This has nothing to do with whether or not one can control magic power, and probably nothing to do with whether or not one has magical knowledge, meow. Isn't the 'Four Arrays of Reason' exploration magic circle that Tyr uses also receiving what I draw?"

Jing Shen thought to himself, this is the worst-case scenario.

From the front of the main gate, you can see the muddy campus.

Chapter 331 Wit

Chapter 331

Somewhere on campus, something resembling landmines was buried. Unaware of the mines, many unsuspecting people were about to compete there. Unlike a relay race or a 100-meter dash with a fixed route, this competition would utilize the entire campus for a ball-throwing contest. Therefore, the chances of winning were quite high.

"In short, Purification, we need to deal with the counter-enchantment before the sacrifice occurs. It would be terrible if magical phenomena appeared in front of the camera—in any case, I absolutely do not want to hurt ordinary people."

The call is over.

Jing Shen put her phone in her pocket and left the main gate. She knew she wouldn't make it to the queue now. She walked along the metal mesh fence separating the school from the main gate; the fence was about two meters high. If she climbed over it, the unmanned reconnaissance helicopters overhead would likely be active, and if the commotion escalated, combat helicopters might even arrive from elsewhere. She ran around the school to the back of the school buildings and found the back gate there.

There are guards at the back gate, of course. If I had this middle school gym uniform and ID, there wouldn't be a problem. But dressed like this, even a resident of Academy City would be stopped.

"What should we do next..."

Jingshen leaned against the juice vending machine, deep in thought. There were about five minutes left before the match started. There was no time to find another entrance…

A sudden noise came from the back door. A male student carrying an ice bucket full of sports drinks walked into the campus. He wore a thin jacket over his short-sleeved gym uniform, and his legs, clad in sports shorts, could be seen through the hem of the jacket.

This is their class monitor!

"No way!?"

In a panic, Jing Shen moved from the front of the vending machine to the side to hide his body.

"...?"

The class monitor, who was holding an ice bucket, suddenly stopped at the back gate, turned around to look this way, and then disappeared into the campus with his head tilted to the side.

"He probably wasn't seen..." Jing Shen thought. If he had found out, he would have angrily yelled, "Why aren't you cheering for our school? Why are you slacking off here?! Jing Shen, you devil! If your brain isn't developing enough, supplement with DHA! Eat more fish eyes!"

"Oh no... Oh no... Tsuchimikado wants me to infiltrate the match, but as soon as the class president starts acting as referee, he'll find out... Damn it, this plan was an impossible mission from the start?"

"...What impossible mission, meow?"

Hearing the woman's whisper suddenly behind her, Shirogane jumped in fright and trembled. "I've caught up with you!?" She turned around in a panic, and there stood Tsuchimikado, dressed in a brand-new gym uniform. His wounds seemed to have been completely treated, and at first glance, there was no sign of injury.

"You...you're still planning to go in through the back door?"

"Yeah, it's at least easier than going in through the front door."

"Tsuchimikado said casually. Kiyokami glanced at the back door again. Three fully armed guards stood there, and a drone helicopter hovered overhead. How exactly were they going to sneak in?"

Seeing the surprised expression on Jōjin's face as he continued to ponder, Tsuchimikado smiled slightly:

"Is it really that simple? Look at Jing Shen, there's standing water there. It hasn't rained lately, it's probably water sprayed by the operations committee."

"Okay. So... what should we do next?"

Like this!

After saying that, Tsuchimikado suddenly tripped over Jōgami's foot. "Whoa!?" Jōgami screamed as she tumbled into the puddle. Tsuchimikado yelled, "Hahahaha! I didn't expect someone this age to still be playing in the mud!!" Then he launched a flying tackle at the fallen Jōgami.

"Thump!"

Accompanied by sound effects unlike anything heard in cartoons, Jing Shen's body sank even further. The guards at the back door looked at them suspiciously.

"Pfft... Whoaah...! What...what are you doing all of a sudden...!?"

The woman wearing blue sunglasses whispered to Kiyokami, who was pinned beneath Tsuchimikado's body:

"(…Jing Shen, are your gym uniforms completely covered in mud? They're so muddy that it's impossible to tell which school designed them at first glance.)"

"What?" Just as Kiyoshin was about to ask, Tsuchimikado, covered in mud, stood up. She reached out to Kiyoshin, or rather, grabbed his arm as if to pull her up, and then said to the female guard approaching warily:

"Wow, I'm so sorry! We have a competition later! Do we really have to compete looking like this? There are cameras coming to interview us!"

The guard seemed startled by the sudden request.

She looked Jing Shen and the others up and down. Their gym uniforms were covered in mud, making it impossible to tell which school they belonged to. The original character of the uniforms was completely covered by mud.

"Wh...what? I'm really impressed. Do you have any spare gym clothes?"

"Ah, yes, yes! But they're in the clubroom."

"Then hurry up and change! There are only four minutes left before the match starts. Excuse me, could you please let us verify your ID? It's the rule. It'll be over soon."

Jing Shen couldn't help but be startled.

The guard produced a cylindrical device resembling a ballpoint pen. By pressing a button on the top of the cylinder, a transparent panel, like an open book, would extend from the side. Approximately fifteen centimeters in length and width, it could read fingerprints, vein patterns, and bioelectrical signal patterns by placing a palm on it—a simple ID verification device for Academy City.

(...Wait...Hey, Tsuchimikado, how do I get past this level...!?)

Jōjin was so nervous she almost screamed, but Tsuchimikado stretched out his mud-covered hand.

"Okay, sticking tight, right...wait!? Something seems to be giving me an error message!!"

"What! You put it on without wiping your hands!"

The guard frantically operated the identification device, but the reading section, which had sucked up the mud, didn't respond at all. She turned to look at her colleagues, but they all shook their heads. It seemed she was the only one who had brought the identification device.

"Damn it, we'll send someone to the main gate to get another one..."

"There's no time! We need to change in the clubroom first, and then head to the entrance!"

Hearing Tsuchimikado's urgent voice, the guards turned to look at their colleagues again. Of the remaining two, one beckoned them over, while the other waved his hand in front of his face as if to say no.

After a moment's thought, the guard nodded. Thus, with a two-to-one majority vote, Jing Shen and the others were allowed to enter.

"Hurry up if you're going! You can't start the race halfway through when the time is up!"

"thank you--!!"

Tsuchimikado, holding Jōgami's hand, led her through the back door with an air of composure. Jōgami was somewhat exasperated, but she still made sure to ask the important question:

"Hey, Tsuchimikado! Where's the spare gym uniform?! It'll be hard for me to 'sneak in' covered in mud like this!"

Chapter 332 The Imposter Misaka

Chapter 332

"What are you talking about? They usually have these things in the infirmary! They'll probably be open today to treat the wounded, meow! Hurry up and change your clothes and sneak in!"

As they talked, Jōjin and Tsuchimikado ran along one end of the muddy schoolyard toward the concrete-covered school building.

There are three minutes left before the match starts.

-

"so boring……"

Fang Cun stretched out a long yawn at the same time.

She originally thought that with a large influx of parents at the Grand Star Festival, the chances of chivalrous acts should have greatly increased. However, to her utter surprise, in order to prevent security problems, almost all of Academy City's guards were mobilized and could be seen everywhere, to the point that they were distributed in every street and even every alley!

Horror!

These days, you can probably leave your doors unlocked at night in Academy City; the security is incredibly good.

Then this hero, who was only interested in playing the game, got bored. Even her original share of the business was taken away. She just took a nap on a park bench and felt like her body was about to rust.

Feeling bored, Fang Cun changed into gender-neutral clothing and went to watch a superpower competition.

Her fingerprints were exactly the same as Misaka's, so she used the Railgun ID directly and had free access to all the venues.

At most, the security guards verifying her ID will kindly remind her that this isn't the venue for the competition, that she's gone to the wrong place, and that she's going to be late, etc.

Since they weren't allowed to enter this area, Fangcun had no choice but to follow Misaka to the location indicated by the guards to watch the superpower fight.

"Oh, right! If we follow him, we can find the cult leader, and maybe we'll even have a chance to trigger the main storyline."

Fangcun has now discovered that doing good deeds can be addictive, and the feeling of receiving genuine gratitude after helping others is wonderful.

Of course, with so many people in Academy City, you're bound to encounter some idiots. She's also met a few ungrateful individuals.

However, without exception, all of these idiots were awed by her terrifying power to shatter the wall with a single blow and obediently shut up.

Fang Cun arrived at this sub-venue and swiped his fingerprint.

"You're the Railgun? Aren't you already inside?"

The female security guard looked at the results on the testing instrument with some confusion.

"The instrument must be malfunctioning. I'm right here, could it be affected by my current?"

As Fang Cun spoke, his body moved in perfect unison, sending out a few sparks of electricity.

"Oh, I see. It seems the equipment here needs to be upgraded."

The guard stepped aside and said, "Then hurry up and go in. The competition is about to start. Go change into your sportswear."