"Hehehehe... Blasphemous heretic, does it hurt? Have you already given it your all? Confused as to why your attacks have no effect on me?"
Whoosh—
Brushing off the dust clinging to his body, Terra of the Left grabbed his swollen, bleeding face with his withered, sharp hand without a care for pain. His deeply sunken hawk-like eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a crazed, hoarse laugh.
"This power is the Lord's blessing. Academy City, your very existence is blasphemy against Him!"
"Out of tricks, huh? Then it's my turn. Heretic, to become a soul sacrificed to my 'Execution of Light' — hahahaha — that is your greatest honor. Perhaps because of this offering, you might even ascend to Heaven after death. Rejoice! Celebrate! Give thanks!"
"You're full of crap."
Originally just a trace of confusion leaking through her expression, Alyssa hadn't expected this green-skinned freak to immediately jump to conclusions and start spouting nonsense.
Who the hell are you? Your god, your lord—what rock did you crawl out from under?
Do the Empire's gods and lords need your shouting? Not to mention, with that repulsive mug of yours, if you don't get plastic surgery first, even the Empire's auxiliary cannon-fodder troops wouldn't accept you. You're a disgrace to the image of colonial worlds...
"Come."
With a look of disdain, Alyssa extended her right hand, flicked out two fingers, and beckoned at Terra of the Left—whose face twisted even more grotesquely after being rudely cut off mid-rant. A spark of electricity flashed.
"Disrespectful scum, sinner without piety, I will tear you to pieces!"
"Priority mode!" Terra of the Left barked. "Human body below, wheat flour above!"
Boom — the air vibrated. A white, fan-shaped 'light blade' over ten meters long suddenly formed from the air in front of Terra of the Left, then, in an almost teleportation-like motion, it slashed violently toward Alyssa's position.
Clang!
Suddenly, like the clash of swords, a metallic ring echoed out. The 'light blade' expanded instantly like a released arrow, slicing through the surrounding shopping mall walls as if they were butter.
Zzzzt—Boom!
Long gray hair crackled with thunder. Alyssa's sky-blue vertical pupils stared intently at the incoming 'light blade'. Draconic traits began to manifest faintly—her ten fingers morphing into violet-tinged claws. As her arm rose, lightning burst forth from beneath her pale skin, as though a layer of translucent blue-violet film covered her.
This was the fighting style of Queen Selene: when facing the enemy, one may appear careless, arrogant, or dismissive, but internally, one must stay vigilant and draw upon far more power than seemingly necessary as a safeguard.
Crack crack—BOOM!
Even if it's not my true body, I'm still going to kill you!
Lightning exploded as Alyssa moved. Beep—
A strange sound rang out. Thunder struck the 'light blade', and the massive clash of forces shattered the ground like a spiderweb. Deafening booms followed one after another. The 'light blade' held firm, detonating over a dozen times.
But in the next moment, thick blue-violet lightning bolts the width of a thumb burst from Alyssa's entire body. With a flash, the air cracked!
Crash!
The 'light blade' shattered, disintegrating in an instant into a cloud of white powder.
"Combining physical strength with lightning attacks?!" The smirk on Terra of the Left's lips froze instantly.
Seeing his 'Execution of Light' spell broken head-on by brute force, Terra of the Left couldn't hide his shock. But he quickly recovered, a sinking feeling hitting him—something was wrong. This "companion" of the Habsburg girl was not to be trifled with.
It was highly likely she had seen through the flaws in his spell.
"Damn it! How can a little girl possess such immense physical strength? Could she also have the constitution of a 'Saint'?"
Earlier, Alyssa had constantly evaded his attacks, giving him the illusion that she had no way to counter them.
Though she'd caught him off guard earlier, landing a solid hit when his 'Execution of Light' spell was misaligned, during the chase through the arcade, once he'd gotten serious, she hadn't managed to land a meaningful blow since. Even that plasma cannon blast had been neutralized without a scratch thanks to the adjusted 'Execution of Light'.
Everyone knew that no matter how high the development level or the applications of an esper's power in Academy City, it all traced back to a single root ability. That was why Terra of the Left had the confidence to act openly here, even daring to strike before the other members of God's Right Seat arrived.
Facing such single-ability enemies, no matter how tricky, Terra of the Left never feared them.
But to break through his attack directly—not by dodging, not by the rumored 'Imagine Breaker', but sheer force!—Terra of the Left suddenly woke up.
His arrogance vanished. Even a mere "companion" of Selene von Habsburg was this powerful? (The Roman Orthodox Church's intel had no record of Alyssa; Terra of the Left had assumed she was a minor character, grabbing a kid should have been easy.) Then how powerful was Selene herself?
Their mission's first step had already gone wrong. The snake had been startled, and capturing their target would no longer be easy.
In a flash, Terra of the Left grew serious.
Selene's ability, whether at its root or in its most specialized form—spatial-type—meant that if she learned he'd targeted her brother...
Thanks to Tokiwadai Middle School's recruitment commercial starring Selene, which had gained widespread attention over time, even the Roman Orthodox Church had heard of her top-tier spatial power and its complex derivatives.
To them, Academy City's classification of her abilities as lightning, fire, repulsion, and gravity being derivatives of spatial manipulation was nonsense. That was clearly a special 'Saint' constitution!
Still, one point of consensus remained: Selene was absurdly strong.
He had to retreat!
Multi-attribute compound enemies like this were the hardest for Terra of the Left to deal with!
He was the lowest-ranked in God's Right Seat for a reason: his 'Execution of Light' spell had strengths as glaring as its weaknesses. Against fodder? Rock-solid. But when it came to heavy hitters, he was the weakest.
"Human body below, wheat flour above!"
"Human body below, wheat flour above!!" ×N
He unleashed dozens of guillotine-like 'light blades' in succession to slow Alyssa down, all while readjusting his spell—not even considering a frontal attack.
"Priority mode! Lightning below, physical above!"
At this point, running was the best strategy! Leave the reckoning for when the others arrived!
Though a fanatic, Terra of the Left wasn't stupid. This wasn't Italy. This was the science side's stronghold—Academy City.
RUMBLE—!
Lightning as thick as barrels crashed down. The thunderclap was deafening, capable of rupturing eardrums. Nearby shops were instantly blown to rubble, and the arcs of electricity engulfed Terra of the Left.
Step, step!
The lightning bounced off his skin. Completely unscathed, Terra of the Left had no interest in fighting further. Forming a gesture for a teleportation spell, his body sank quickly.
BOOM!
He plunged into a city sewer ten meters underground. Ignoring the thunder overhead, he began chanting, "Priority mode, human body above, earth below. Transf—"
"I told you... you're weak!"
Just as he began the incantation, Alyssa moved even faster, not giving him a chance to finish. The earth shook as ten meters of reinforced concrete overhead were pierced by lightning. His spell, barely two-thirds complete, was shattered by a thunderbolt as thick as a barrel.
Crack crack crack—
"Priority mode! Structure below, body above!"
"This again? Hmph! I've got your ability all figured out!"
BAM!
A streak of lightning zipped through the falling chunks of concrete. Alyssa's sharp, violet-tinged claws, crackling with arcs, slammed down on Terra of the Left's head—pressing hard!
BOOM—!
Terra of the Left's gaunt, sunken face rippled like a pond struck by a stone, then slowly distorted. The immense force slammed his still-airborne body downward, his head driven harshly toward the navigable underground city drainage channel.
Zzzzt!
Claws wrapped in crackling arcs of electricity collided with his frail body and the ground. Sewage was blasted away by the shockwave, and he was embedded into the earth, erupting in a deafening roar. Gravel burst in all directions like a torrential rain, carving out a crater dozens of meters wide.
"Puh..."
Amid the blood splatter, darkness overtook Terra of the Left's vision. His brain was severely damaged, and blood mixed with shattered teeth spilled from his mouth. His consciousness rapidly faded.
He had to worry about falling tons of reinforced concrete, his opponent's monstrous physical strength, and her terrifying lightning control... His spell's flaw had still been exploited.
He underestimated her. One wrong step, and everything unraveled... Damn that intel division! These were the so-called 'ordinary human bodyguards and servants'?
Was Terra of the Left weak?
That depended on the comparison. Among God's Right Seat, the other three far outclassed him—that was beyond doubt. But in the broader magical world, Terra of the Left was unquestionably among the elite few.
The spell of God's Right Seat—the Roman Orthodox Church's deepest dark faction—wasn't something any random mage could endure. Even with two billion believers, it was rare to find someone capable of handling this spell in any given generation.
As a devout and extreme Christian, Terra of the Left wielded the 'Execution of Light' spell, which allowed him to adjust the priority of all things.
Constructed from the legend of the Son of God being crucified, the spell changed the natural order: 'ordinary humans' cannot kill the 'Son of God' unless the hierarchy is reversed.
With a proper medium, Terra of the Left could select two entities and designate one as superior to the other. The upper-ranked item would always have absolute priority over the lower.
When faced with various types of attacks, he had to reconfigure this priority order—making him particularly vulnerable to compound attacks. In contrast, any single attack, regardless of its power, could be nullified using 'priority'.
That was why he could tank Alyssa's raw strength and lightning individually, but fell apart when she used both together. For someone like Alyssa—tough, powerful, with elemental damage—Terra of the Left was completely countered.
Relying on magical gear and physical rune reinforcement, Terra of the Left had managed to overcome many of his flaws.
Most mages specialized in a single field and only explored secondary abilities later. But even then, their secondary skills rarely matched their primary ones in strength. Against them, Terra's victories were often one-sided and flawless—fully worthy of his title.
"Hmph, your trick only cancels one type of effect at a time."
Rising slowly, Alyssa looked down at the deformed skull of the emaciated man. Glancing at her right hand, which had shed its armor and still held a faint white trace, she scoffed.
She had found it odd before: his body, unharmed by a plasma cannon, was somehow scratched by sharp debris from the arcade's collapse. That contradiction alone raised red flags.
The same went for the 'light blade' made of powdery matter. When she hit it with brute force, it didn't budge. But once she added lightning enhancement, it shattered instantly.
Ah, so it's a magic spell, huh?
Alyssa had traveled all across the Empire, meeting all kinds of people. Her combat instincts were sharp. She found the answer immediately.
"So you're here to ambush me? Look down on me, will you! Go meet your god!"
Alyssa had no intention of sparing him for torture or interrogation.
She was pissed off!
You didn't attack when the Queen was present. You didn't act when Sebas was guarding. But the moment she brought Ferdinand out for a stroll, you struck? You seriously think she's easy to bully?! Just how much are you underestimating Alyssa, Supreme Commander of the Valkyrie and Sisters of Battle Corps!
BZZZ-BLAM!
Lightning lit the air, and in the next moment, Alyssa's foot, fast as lightning, smashed into the skull of this elite Roman Orthodox Church operative.
BANG!
A bone-crushing impact rang out. The wide underground waterway shattered. Dirt and rock exploded.
Before Alyssa's storm-like wrath, Terra of the Left's body disintegrated in an instant. Flesh and shattered white bone burst apart, chunks of meat shooting out like cannonballs. A thunderous roar echoed, carving a bloody trench in the ground.
Clap clap!
Finishing him off, Alyssa clapped her hands, crouched slightly, and leapt back to the surface. Glancing around the ruined arcade street, she mumbled, "Uh... not my fault. That ugly terrorist started it."
"Now then... I wonder if there's still an arcade street left in District 7?"
As she sensed Ferdinand's location, Alyssa stretched and glanced back at the nearby street.
"Not the same group... security forces?"
"Eh, whatever..."
She turned her head, muttering as she walked away, "All done. Better report to Big Sis."
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