Run. Jump. Slide. Pivot. Kick. Roll.
I cycled through every movement the human body was capable of, emptying my mind of everything but the rhythm of motion. I focused entirely on maintaining distance, parrying the beams of light coming from every angle, and finding the microscopic openings needed to evade. The pace was changing so rapidly that my eyes could barely keep up.
The weapons coming at me were just as chaotic: swords, rapiers, spears, axes, hammers, flails, staves, whips, drills, kunai, bows—it never ended. Because they were formed from light, their range and reach shifted constantly. I had to dodge a massive iron ball earlier that nearly took my head off; I wasn't giving him that satisfaction again. I had to identify the randomized weapons instantly, adapt my style to the specific traits I'd learned through bruising experience, and focus on one thing: getting out of his reach.
"Delete!"
I exhaled sharply, applying three effects to a short spear I'd created with Analysis and hurled it. Remove Air Resistance. Remove Holy Light. Remove Aura. I aimed for his wrist right as he swung his weapon. A standard trick would have been deflected by his passive armor of light, but to make a man like him flinch, you needed a hit with weight behind it. My pseudo-Senjutsu was the only thing I had that could actually count as a meaningful strike.
The attack forced him to stop his advance. He twisted his arm, easily knocking the short spear off course, but the momentary pause gave me the breathing room I needed to get outside his range. My conceptual strikes were exhausting, but in this world of monsters, they were the only thing I had that made me dangerous.
"Auric Erasure" was still a work in progress, but I didn't have time to complain. This guy's stamina was terrifying. Does he ever get tired? You bottomless pit of a man!
"Good reaction," a short, calm compliment reached my ears.
My face instantly contorted. High-energy purple sparks began to crackle and expand in his hand. From our previous bouts, I knew exactly what was coming: an area-of-effect blast. I sprinted across the floor, gripping my spear to break through the encirclement. Simultaneously, the lightning burst into hundreds of light spears, raining down on me from above.
"No, no, no! Partner, help me!"
There were hundreds of them. I didn't have Lavinia's ability to create a high-density ice shield. I didn't have Issei's raw power to blast them away. My only option was to not be where they landed. But with the variations in angle and timing, my eyes couldn't track them all.
I had one card left. If I couldn't do it, I'd ask the one who could. I emptied my lungs and poured every ounce of focus into my Sacred Gear. I forcibly suppressed my panic, synced my consciousness with the spear, and initiated Operation: Total Reliance.
The plan was simple: evade by instinct. More accurately, I would let my partner's crisis-detection system drive my body. I handed over all my energy to the spear and executed every command it pulsed into my mind. Sometimes, a Sacred Gear possesses a sense of intuition that borders on precognition. This was the culmination of my training with Azazel—a trump card built on absolute trust.
"Right, back, right, left... UP!"
I didn't doubt the feeling for a second. I threw my body into a slide. When I lacked the reach, my partner stepped in, firing Remove Air Resistance on my feet to give me an unnatural burst of speed. Since the spear has its own will, we were essentially two minds operating one body in parallel.
Normally, I'm not fast enough to recognize an attack and counter it in time. So, I just stopped trying. I let the spear handle the recognition and the reaction. Azazel once told me that I'd graduated from "being carried" to "requiring full-time nursing care," but I didn't care. It worked.
"It's just an extension of what I usually do anyway, so fine," my partner sent a mental shrug. It felt like a resignation, but I'd take it.
I focused entirely on the crimson rhythm, letting the light spears graze my clothes as I danced through the gaps. Seconds later, the buzzer for the time limit echoed through the room. I collapsed onto the floor, a heap of sweat and exhaustion.
+++
"I... I thought I was dead..."
"Don't put your elbows on the table while eating."
"My arms are too tired to lift, Barakiel! Besides, what was that last move?! Keeping up an area attack like that for that long? Are you a demon?!"
"Combat is rarely a fair exchange. Sometimes the enemy numbers are greater than anticipated. Using overwhelming volume from the rear is a basic tactic."
My instructor always had a reason, and he always took the time to explain it after he'd thoroughly trashed me. But God, my body was reaching its limit. Every time I mastered one lesson, he moved the goalposts. It was rewarding, sure, but it was brutal.
Of all the teachers I've had, Barakiel was the one who made me feel the most growth. Tannin had never trained a human before, and Masaomi was also new to the mentor role. Barakiel, however, had spent centuries training subordinates. He knew exactly how to push me to the brink without breaking me.
"What's the plan for this afternoon?" I asked, struggling to lift my spoon.
"Shemhaza is coming. Azazel is busy with work. I have a mission as well, so I'll be gone for about three hours."
"Understood. Thanks."
For the past few days, they'd been trying to analyze the deep layers of my Sacred Gear. Apparently, they'd hit a "black box" created by the God of the Bible. They were trying to trace the line from my spear to the central System, but they kept hitting walls. My partner wasn't resisting; it was just a built-in defense system. Because my soul is tied to the gear, these tests often left me feeling drained and raw, but the teachers were careful to prioritize my health.
"I've been at Grigori for over a week now," I mused. "It's been tough, but I guess humans really can adapt to anything."
"The restrictions must feel suffocating," Barakiel noted.
"I mean, yeah. But it's for my safety. I don't want to cause trouble for you guys."
Whenever one of the big three wasn't with me, I was confined to my room. I spent the time on homework, solo meditation, reading books Shemhaza lent me, or talking to Lavinia. I didn't mind being "canned" in my room—I knew better than to go wandering around a Fallen Angel base out of curiosity.
Barakiel's words of concern felt like they were meant for someone else, though. Someone he was likely forcing a "suffocating life" upon. Seeing him look relieved at my answer made me realize how clumsy he was with his own feelings.
+++
"Hello, Kanata. Did I keep you waiting?"
"Not at all, Shemhaza. I just finished my homework."
I felt a wave of relief. With my summer assignments done, I could actually enjoy the rest of my break once I got back to the surface. Last year's essay was a nightmare, but this year was just a book report. If I had to write an essay about my summer, it would just end up sounding like a fantasy novel.
Shemhaza led me back to the high-ceilinged training room. I was starting to develop a Pavlovian fear of this place.
"Today, we're doing an experiment with your Gear," Shemhaza said.
"Oh? Usually, I do the experiments with Azazel."
"This one is simpler. But if it works, you'll gain a new technique based on 'Recognition.'"
I perked up. I loved new tricks, even if my skill tree was becoming 100% support-focused.
"Kanata, you are a near-universal support type," Shemhaza said, as if reading my mind. "In a team setting, you are invaluable. Healing, status removal, stealth, information gathering, debuffing, stealing enemy spells, presence detection, and most importantly, the adaptability to cover for the unexpected. I'd want one of you on every team."
If I were with the Gremory group, I could be the second healer alongside Asia, or debuff enemies to help Issei. If I were with the Sitri group, I could set traps or scout. It would be a busy life, but better than being useless.
"Today's experiment is an application of Remove," Shemhaza continued. "You've used it to take fish bones out of food or clean graffiti, right?"
I winced. Yeah, I'd mostly used a God-slaying power for household chores.
Shemhaza produced a small brown cardboard box. "Tell me what's inside this box. Without opening it, shaking it, or dropping it."
"Can I use X-ray magic?"
Shemhaza just gave me a gentle, terrifying smile. Right. No magic.
I stared at the box. Recognition... perception. To recognize something is to perceive and understand it. It's a function of the mind. Was he telling me to delete a part of my own consciousness?
"What is the one thing you don't need to see the contents?" he prompted.
I blinked. The box. The box itself was the obstacle. If I could just delete the recognition of the box from my own eyes...
I closed my eyes and focused on the spear's aura. I didn't just want to "erase" the box from the world—that would be too destructive. I wanted to erase the concept of the box from my own vision.
"Recognition Deletion: Remove."
I opened my eyes. The box in Shemhaza's hand flickered, then blurred. My partner helped me stabilize the focus. Slowly, the brown cardboard vanished into a transparent haze, and sitting in Shemhaza's palm was a bright red apple.
"...An apple?"
"Correct! So, it works."
"I used the logic of a scrying spell but substituted the magic with my conceptual deletion," I explained, taking the apple he offered as a reward. Crunch. Delicious.
This was... actually amazing. I could choose to not "recognize" certain things. I could see through people's heads at a concert or watch a parade through a crowd. Wait, if I used this on people, would I see their skeletons? That's a bit too Body Worlds for me.
"Azazel wanted you to master this to pair it with your Detection," Shemhaza said. "If you look at a crowded street and delete the 'human' recognition, what's left?"
"Buildings, cars... and non-humans," I realized.
Since I can sense auras, I could filter out the "normal" signatures and immediately spot any supernatural entity hiding in a crowd. I was becoming the ultimate supernatural radar.
I thought about Tobio Ikuse, the host of the Dog God. Azazel had mentioned him before. In the original stories, he could cut through thousands of spells in a heartbeat. He was an "Attacker" type of conceptual user. I was the "Support" type. I wondered if we'd ever meet. I hoped I wouldn't be a burden to him if we did.
+++
I spent the next hour practicing, deleting red balls from a pile of multicolored ones, or picking a specific item out of a "blind" container. Then, I tried something on a whim. I tried to delete the recognition of the wall.
"Whoa, I can see the hallway."
Shemhaza froze. He stared at me, his face becoming a mask of deep thought. He started muttering to himself, looking like he had a migraine.
"Um... did I do something wrong?" I asked.
"Kanata... can you delete the recognition of all the walls in your field of vision?"
"I mean, if I use long-range vision magic with it... yeah. There."
Shemhaza gave me a look of pure, unadulterated concern.
"Is it bad?"
"Let me explain. Kanata, try to see through that wall using standard magic."
I focused my mana. I'd used this trick to check on the Hyoudou house before. But when I looked at the lab wall... nothing.
"...I can't see through it."
"Exactly. Magic scrying is a common skill. Therefore, every high-security facility is built with materials that block it—special ores, anti-magic fields, and barriers. If scrying worked everywhere, privacy would be a myth."
I nodded. That made sense.
"But," Shemhaza continued, looking at me with a distant gaze, "your ability isn't 'seeing through' the wall. You aren't sending magic through the material to the other side. You are deleting the recognition of the wall from your own mind. The wall's defenses don't matter because you've decided the wall doesn't exist to your eyes. You've bypassed every security measure in Grigori by accident."
I realized the weight of what he was saying. I could walk into the most secure bunker in the world and see everything as if it were an open field.
"You can erase your presence, erase your aura, detect everyone else, and now you can render any fortress transparent," Shemhaza summarized. "You have the perfect skill set for an assassin."
"I'm supposed to be a Lancer, why am I becoming an Assassin?!"
"In a way, your personality is the world's only saving grace," Shemhaza said. "I'm glad you're a pacifist. An assassin with your powers would be a nightmare."
+++
As we were wrapping up, Shemhaza clapped his hands. "One more thing, Kanata. It's been bothering me."
"Yes?"
"During the incident in Kuoh six months ago, you were with Azazel when he fought the Church and the Devils, correct?"
"Yeah. He and his friend held off the exorcists in the park."
"Right. But Azazel refused to give me any details. He just said he 'intervened quietly.' Every time I ask, he shuts down."
I felt a cold sweat. I knew exactly why Azazel was hiding it. He'd built a giant robot without permission and rampaged through a park.
"Hey, Kanata," Azazel had told me yesterday. "If Shemhaza asks about six months ago, do not tell him the truth. It's a man's promise!"
I didn't want to betray Azazel. He'd helped us when he didn't have to, and he'd never mocked my own embarrassing "Magical Girl" phase. I had to protect him. But Shemhaza was narrowing the exits.
"Kanata-kun, please. He's the Governor. If the Church knows something I don't, it's a political liability."
"Well... it's just..."
"Azazel's 'I'm fine' usually means one of two things. And my gut tells me this is the 'I'm definitely not fine' version."
He stepped forward, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder. He gave me a smile that was so radiant, so full of "angelic" mercy, that I felt my soul starting to melt.
"Don't worry. I'll deal with Azazel later. You're just a kid; you shouldn't have to carry his secrets. Just tell me the truth. Relax."
The light was blinding. It was the "Ascension Smile" of a former high-ranking angel. It was pure, doting pressure designed to make me spill everything. My brain was screaming. I had to say something—anything—that wasn't the giant robot but would make Shemhaza stop asking.
"Kanata-kun?"
"...We..."
"Yes?"
My mind went white. I blurted out the first "embarrassing secret" that came to mind.
"WE PLAYED MAGICAL GIRLS TOGETHER!"
"...What? ...Oh. ...Oh."
Shemhaza lost the ability to speak.
The next day, Azazel came to me looking terrified. "Shemhaza is being weirdly nice to me. He keeps asking if I have 'any hidden burdens' I need to talk about. What did you do?!"
I just looked away. "I kept your secret about the robot," I whispered.
I decided to be extra nice to Azazel for a while. It was the least I could do.
***
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