Chapter 35A: Versus Enigma IV: The Truth
"No...that can't be...true..." Shiori-sempai says as she falls to her knees. We are viewing all the fights from within the barriers. Therefore, we too heard the shocking revelation regarding Sempai's thought to be deceased brother.
Alicia had mentioned this Shuren-san when she told me about the time she first met Alma. He was the person who Shiori-sempai thought she lost last year. The person who I insulted, despite not knowing him, in order to bring out her tears.
I hold onto my Sempai's shaking shoulders. "Sempai, this theory is nothing more than something Carrisa sprouted, it can't be trusted." I comfort, Sempai looks at me with her tear stained red eyes.
"That wasn't a theory, it was the truth," Stella states from the other side of one of the barriers. "My battle with him a year ago was staged from the very beginning, it was all to put him under the church's radar. He was already a Human Anomaly by this time."
"What do you mean!?" I ask aggravated that what little hope we had was shot down all too soon.
"Shuren-sama wishes to avenge Nadia Ivana's death with his own hands. One of my abilities allows me to put people into a coma stasis like state, and whilst a person is under it, I share a neutral link with them. Shuren-sama has been leading Enigma through me for the past year. And when I transported you all into this world I removed the technique he was under, so now he can accomplish his ultimate goal." Stella smiles as she opens her arms wide open like she is praising a god, "Didn't you suspect the church of wrong doing from the very beginning, Shiori Azusa? Why was that?"
"Shuren-Niisama's notes, they mentioned...his suspicions regarding the...church," Sempai's replies whilst still shaking, not that I can blame her. She just learned that her brother is still alive. "Shuren-Niisama...is really...alive..."
"Correct, the reason those notes were left and he returned Voynich-Caduceus to the church was because he knew they would fall into your hands. He was planning on using you as a back door entrance into the church as a plan B should this plan have not been possible. That's why he sprouted the seeds of suspicion within you. It is also because of Shuren-sama's will that you are safely trapped within the barriers rather than out in the battlefield, in Yuichi Shiro's case it was just coincidence however."
"He was planning on using Shiori-sempai!?" I can't hold back my anger from hearing this. Sempai was always distraught because of his 'Death', and he was going to use her like a tool?
"In order to accomplish a goal sometimes compromises need to be made. However, on this occasion it didn't have to come to that. This world was created to trap the Slayers within it and prevent them from returning by using Ley-Mistletoe's ability to travel along the ley lines. Meaning, there is no one who can get in his way! Soon, neither the church, nor its Slayers, will be able to get in our way!" Stella's smile widens, "Then no human will be able to stand before an Anomaly! Our existence shall not be denied!"
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Chapter 35B: Versus Enigma IV: Wolfy VS Slots II (Perspective: Wolfy)
"My luck shall destroy your lack of!" Slots shouts as two dices enter the roulette. They both land on the fire section with values of six each.
A huge inferno shoots out of the roulette straight at me and Mizuno-sama. I quickly grab her shirt and jump into the air with her. "Whaaaaa!" She screams as she looks down. The inferno leaks out several streams of fire, I quickly manoeuvre in midair so we both avoid them, the heat that they are giving off is extreme.
Before we land I ensure to force Mizuno-sama up into the air slightly to break her fall, I then charge at Slots.
"If multiple dices fall into the same area then the magnitude of the attack is the total value!?" I question as I unleash my own fire attack. Slots jumps back and avoids it as his roulette spins once again.
"That's right," He confirms, "The attacks magnitude isn't just limited to a value of six!"
"You really are fixing the results aren't you!" There is no way ones luck can be this good.
"Like I said before! I have no need to do such things, my luck never lets me down," He declares once again, "However every now and again luck does sometimes shine on my opponent as a weak passing breeze." The single dice that Slots threw into the roulette has a value of one and has landed in a section labelled curse. The roulette and Slots' dices all turn transparent. I'm confused, just what is going on?
"When the dice lands in the curse section all other results become invalid, and I am unable to use the roulette or dices for fifteen seconds multiplied by the total value rolled on the entire roulette," Slots explains as if he read my mind. Wait this means!
I quickly charge at Slots and have flames engulf my claws "URGHHH!" I slash at Slots who can only use his arms as shields and falls backwards onto the ground.
"You shouldn't have let that slip!" I state, just what kind of idiot reveals his own weakness.
"I told you," Slots states as he gets back onto his feet, "My luck decides my fate, I have no need for tricks and mysteries." The roulette and the dice reappears again, I guess his curse wore off, it was only a value of one after all. However, I now know exactly how to beat him, the answer lies in the curse of his roulette. But unlike him I won't just be relying on luck!
I shoot another fireball as I charge towards him again. Slots remains stationary as the two dices in the roulette reveal they landed on the sections labelled, 'Barrier' and 'Recover'. My fireball hits something like a forcefield and the cuts and burns I gave him before all quickly disappear.
"Tch, how annoying," I grunt at seeing his recovery, I on the other hand am reaching my limit. I've been shooting fireball after fireball consecutively, I won't be able to keep this up much longer.
"Luck decides everything, and mine is infinite!" He screams into the sky. I respond to this by blasting another fireball. His dice lands on 'Water', all right this is actually a chance.
The fireball and the water collide leaving only steam and mist in its wake. The visibility is reduced harshly however this is no big deal for me. My sense of smell was always better than my sight anyway.
I charge at the unsuspecting Slots from his blind spot and engulf my claws in flames "URGGHHH!" I slash at his back and force him back onto the ground and straddle him.
"URGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I continuously attack him with my claws ignoring the roulette.
"GAAAHHH!" A scorching heat assaults my body. But I hold my ground and continue attacking. This game of endurance, I wonder which of us will be the first to give out!?
"URRRGHHHH! GET OFF OF ME!" Slots screams as his face flares up, "ROULETTE! HEX DICE!" All six of the dices shoot into the roulette. This is the chance that I have been waiting for.
I shoot a small fireball at the dice entering the roulette and alter there trajectory slightly. "WHAT!" Slots is shocked by my action.
"Lets see if your luck really holds up then!" I state as all the dices land on different sections with ranging values. However the only one that matters to me is the one that fell into the section labelled 'curse'. That one dice totals up all the other dices values and nullifies the other effects.
"WHATTT! NO!" Slots screams in shock as his Roulette and dices disappear, this time however the value is a lot more than one.
"The more dices you throw into the roulette, the bigger the risk of a curse showing up! Now you're helpless!" I shout as I unleash all my remaining energy into a barrage of attacks with my fireballs and claws.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH! " All the while Slots screams in agony and frustration till the very moment he loses conscientiousness.
"One who relies on luck is the one who gets devoured by that same luck," I state as I move away from the unconscious bloody mess that is Slots. I made sure to avoid his vitals so he'll live but he won't be moving for a good long while. I suspect the fact that his luck betrayed him will leave quite the trauma.
"Slots has been defeated," A voice declares.
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Chapter 35C: Versus Enigma IV: Slayers Vs Ark II (Perspective: Jijitsu)
"Damn," I grunt while getting to my feet. Glancing around I notice that both Phoebe and Bosch are knocked out nearby.
I glare at the one responsible, the man known as Ark. "HOW DARE YOU!" I scream as I tighten my grip on my soul slayer.
"It looks like you managed to get out in one piece," He says as a bunch of rubble rises into the air and shoots towards me like a bullet. I quickly dive out of the way. But Ark moves with lightning speed and is suddenly standing right above me. The wind circles around his hand at tremendous speed once again. "URGGGHHH!" The very force of it forces me back and slams me into a large chunk of rubble. He's not even taking this fight seriously now, he's just toying with me.
"Curse you!" I scream again as I decide to use my soul slayers trump card, "AWAKEN!" Fragarach-Kusanagi disappears from my hand and a dark circle littered with foreign symbols appears on the ground. Dark miasma leaks out like a dense fog, and in its centre a huge eight headed hydra like creature emerges.
"One of Fragarach-Kusanagi's abilities, the power to summon and control the soul anomaly that was once sealed into that very weapon, Yamata-No-Orochi." It seems Ark already knew this function of my soul slayer.
"Attack, Yamata-No-Orochi!" Upon my command the many heads each spew out venom at Ark, who merely stands stationary as chunks of rubble block the attack.
Whilst still spewing its venom Yamata-No-Orochi swings its long tail at Ark trying to catch him off guard.
However Ark is still very much aware and a huge chunk of rubble crashes down onto Yamata-No-Orochi's tail and traps it under it, "KKKIIIIHHHHHHHH!" Yamata-No-Orochi hisses in pain. Whilst seven of its heads continue with the venom attack the final head attacks directly with its fangs.
With quick speed it bites right into Ark's shoulder who cringes slightly but is otherwise silent. A huge burst of wind destroys the attacking head, but its done its job. That bite injected Ark with its poison this battle will be over soon. I can't help but smile at my victory.
"That poison won't beat me," Ark's words instantly deny me, what is he talking about is he just bluffing!? "Poison flows through the body's blood stream, something that I am currently controlling with my telekinesis." Wait don't tell me!
A purple and red liquid seeps out of the bite wound and floats around in the air. "You ejected the poison out of your body using telekinesis!?" I scream in shock, just how overpowered is this guy!? He can use his power to replace his heart, extract poison, whilst still at the same time blocking numerous attacks from the many heads. Monster is too insignificant of a word to describe this man.
"I told you there is no one who can use their powers to the same level that I can," Ark states, "I suppose it's about time I put your overgrown reptile down."
The ground suddenly throbs, is he creating another earthquake? But no, the ground simply opens up underneath where Yamata-No-Orochi is, creating a huge crevice that the huge multi-headed snake falls into. The ground then quickly closes itself back up, "HHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHH!" A loud screech shakes the air. He defeated Yamata-No-Orochi without even moving from that one spot!
With Yamata-No-Orochi defeated Fragarach-Kusanagi re-materialises into my hand. "Damn you to hell!" I shout as I release numerous wind waves. But he just strolls leisurely towards me as various chunks of rubble block my attacks.
When he walks within striking reach I give up on my wind strikes and try to slice his head off with all my might. However the attack is blocked by nothing but a piece of rubble that is not much bigger than a pebble. "What!" How can my attack be blocked by something so small.
"Do you know the reason why diamond is so hard it's practically indestructible?" Ark asks, almost as if he can read my thoughts through my expression, "It's because all the molecules are compressed to such a significant degree. So therefore if I use my telekinesis to compress the molecular structure of this small pebble, I can make it harder than diamond."
"WHAT! You can do something like that on the molecular level! Next you'll be telling me you can use your telekinesis to cure cancer!" I shout out in anger as I swing my sword randomly but the small stone moves to block my blade dead every time.
"I cannot use my telekinesis directly on another living organism excluding myself, so on anybody else it would be impossible. But if I were to catch it, then yes I can cure it using my telekinesis."
Damn this smart-arse has a reply to everything!
"But now its game over for you," Ark states as wind gathers around his hand again.
"Urghhhh!" I feel a sharp pain as blood pours onto the floor. My unsteady feet try to support my body weight, but they give out from the disorientation and I land face first into my own puddle of blood.
"Damn...it..." I curse as my eyes can no longer see the light and thus embrace the darkness.