Disclaimer: I don't own Campione! or Negima.
A/N: If there are any errors in the chapter, please bring it to my attention. I can't improve if you don't tell me what's wrong.
The plane landed gently after a quiet flight. The flight was so quiet that most people, including the students were sleeping en route. They all disembarked and picked up their luggage. After that, they went to pick up a bus, when everything stopped.
Well, no one froze in their place, anything like that. Instead, every machine stopped dead. Electric current would not flow. Timepieces would not tick, nor would they tock. Man's accomplishments became nothing and he knew humility.
No planes landed.
More important and shocking than all of this, massive magic energy was felt all over the airport. The fighters of Ala Alba took defensive positions between the source of the power and the support.
A young man walked up. He wore a suit and looked incredibly apologetic as he spoke with an Italian accent. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but my king has called upon me to relay a message."
Anya felt the urge to slap her forehead. The man could only be talking to her. "Yes?"
"He said: 'Meet me on the landing strip.'"
From the Italian accent, Anya assumed that the man was under Salvatore Doni, the Campione she'd promised a duel with. She couldn't help the slight quickening of her breath. "Okay." She smiled before turning to Ala Alba as a whole. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to deal with this. Please move on. I'll catch up."
"Anya-chan!" The voice of the Japanese student that called out to her didn't reach her, even though she heard it.
Anya walked toward the site of her upcoming duel.
"Yo, Anya. How's it going?" As expected, Salvatore was standing right in the middle of the runway. He waved cheerfully.
"Pretty well! I should be a bit stronger. It's nice to see you again!" She couldn't help smiling back at him, but she hoped that Ala Alba had listened and left for Wales while she dealt with him.…
After she rushed down to the landing strip, she asked the King of Swords bluntly. "Are you behind the power outage?"
"Yup! Judging from the way you fought before, you might try to escape on a plane before we had a rematch. "
"There's definitely a plane coming! You know that London Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world, right? People could get hurt!"
"Then you need to beat me before the plane gets close, right? Besides, I can already tell. You really want to fight, don't you?"
"Geez!" She sighed in exasperation. Salvatore was surely an idiot! She would complain more, but wasn't she already running out of time? How long would it take to push back the sixth Campione, if she even could? She already doubted that she could obtain victory, but she couldn't accept the events that would occur if she failed. She woke the raging call for war that was at the base of her being and [Regalia of the War Goddess] activated.
The air tensed and Salvatore drew his sword. Instinctively, Anya bent her knees slightly, readying herself for movement. Her senses sharpened almost impossibly, everything but her opponent fading into the background.
A shoe scuffed against the ground.
She rushed at the man, already casting a spell as quickly as she could. "Stoke the flames and raise the furnace's output! Flames of Vulcanus burn bright and become my sword! Forging God's Sword!"
He kicked her in the chest, stopping her in mid swing.
His blade swung at her in a silvery arc.
Anya slashed at the sword itself, as if trying to cut it in half.
Salvatore changed the angle of his sword, deflecting the blow and allowing his weapon to continue toward her.
Anya kicked at the ground, sending herself out of range with an explosion. The man's sword cut off a fourth of her bangs and left a thin cut on her brow. Anya could feel blood leak slowly onto her face. The slight pain made was, in an odd way, exciting.
She immediately kicked off the ground again, hurtling at him with a violent swing.
Salvatore knocked the strike upward and swung the pommel of his sword at her head. In the same moment, Anya released the magic driving the spell and drove a punch at his face as she raised her arm to catch his blow.
He caught the strike easily. "Huh… You're a lot better now than you were before. Looks like it's kind of like making Godou fight, I have to make the first strike to convince you to come at me seriously."
Anya frowned. "Don't compare me to that playboy!" She threw a knee at him.
Salvatore tossed her up and threw a kick of his own.
"Guh!" She was sent a few feet back. As she fell onto her back, she rolled with the momentum and stood back up. Her cheeks twitched.
"That expression is proof of why I like you, Anya." The sixth Campione smiled brightly.
Anya realized that she was smiling as well. Her arms were trembling in excitement. It wasn't just fun. Facing against the man, seeing how effective her training had been, fighting all out, it was the best!
"I summon you! 17 Sword wielding Salamanders, come forth!" Flames whirled together and made small dragons made of flames, wielding flaming swords. Anya backed away a bit.
Salvatore smiled a bit coldly. "Are you going to avoid fighting me again, Anya…?"
She closed one eye, making sure to keep her opponent in view. Magic would at most be a momentary distraction. As expected, the use of Authorities was needed. "I follow the divine law of just war and revel in it. In this sign I fight!" The unbreakable bronze sword of war appeared in her hand. She advanced.
After easily dispatching the spirits, Salvatore deflected the incoming strike only to retreat as the edge of his own weapon was shaved off. "Heh…" His sword had superior range, and he stabbed at her solar plexus.
Anya blew herself to the side with an explosion. "Ha-!" She stabbed at him again.
The king of swords parried easily. "Is that it for your Authority, Anya? You should be much stronger than this."
"Fortis a tius lilith lilioth. Cantus Bellax!" She raised her internal magic power and used it to bolster her body. Her body was a blur of motion as she slashed at Salvatore.
The young man grinned as he deflected blows and struck back, only to have his strikes repelled. It seemed that they were even at that point, if only because Anya could move faster to defend.
Then he activated his Authority.
"I will make this oath now. I will not allow any thing that cannot be cut to exist in this world. For this sword of mine, is the invincible blade that cuts down all without fail!" Showing the mid-battle chanting skill of a mage-knight, he activated his Authority and his arm and sword turned into godly silver, even as the fight continued.
As soon as Anya saw the King of Swords' Authority, the [Ripping Arm of Silver], she leapt back, trying to escape the sword's range.
A horizontal swing went across.
Instinctively, she knew that she'd die if she blocked. She threw herself to the ground, under the swing as she tried to deflect the sword.
With a screeching sound, the gladius of Bellona had a large chunk torn out of it.
Mid-swing, Salvatore changed the direction of his swipe and it crashed down.
Anya slammed her blade onto the back of his as she desperately sidestepped, losing her balance.
The [Ripping Arm of Silver] sank into the ground easily and Salvatore's leg snapped out, catching Anya in the chest.
She was knocked off of her feet even as the divine sword was freed and thrust at her throat, covered in burning hot flames.
Anya kicked diagonally backward, deflecting the stab with the remains of her weapon, feeling the Authority cut into her hand. With that, she finally escaped the sixth Campione's range. She glanced at her sword. "Wow…" The cuts, despite being jagged, were perfectly smooth internally. Of course, what was once a proud unbreakable blade had been turned into a handle and slivers of bronze. She should have felt fear, but all she felt was more excitement. This was it! She was most comfortable here! All of the frustrations and awkwardness that could happen in everyday life faded away when she fought. She finally got to let loose and use every bit of her strength!
"I am the horror of war and conflict! I conquer all, wreathed in victory!" She put the massive magical force of a Campione to bear on her reinforcement spell. She dashed in, her body appearing as a streak of blended color.
Salvatore cut her divine blade in half in one movement. He could easily understand her attacks. Small incisions spread across her dominant arm, like spider's web.
Suddenly, the flaming blade lashed out, only to be split in two by the silver ripping blade. The blade was instantly replaced before being dispelled again. Salvatore hadn't been forced to retreat, but he hadn't advanced, though it seemed to be on a whim. He was openly smiling.
The blur retreated and slowed into perceptible shape. Anya dropped to a knee, panting. Pushing her speed that much, even for chanting, made her lungs ache as they strained to keep up. She took in deep breaths and regained her wind.
"Is that really it?" Salvatore seemed disappointed.
"Not yet, Salvatore. Haven't you noticed? I can go toe to toe with you. That means I can win. Shouldn't you be a much greater warrior, King of Swords?" She clenched her fists, blood leaking from them. It seemed that his authority cut her even when she wasn't directly touching it.
"Haha, really…?" The mage king murmured softly before speaking clearly and loudly. "Alright then, Anya. Let's continue!"
The young mage bore a savage smile. It was more like a beast baring its fangs. This was the true nature of the monster called Campione. She raised a hand to the sky. The tool was waiting to be drawn. "Just war is declared! Flee and hide before me! Be hunted down and razed to the earth! There is no safe haven from my wrath!" The sky was filled with embers and a ring of flame appeared. It descended and tightened toward Salvatore Doni. The wall of flame was too large to avoid and easily encompassed the king, despite any movements he made.
Despite her expectations, but matching her hopes, Salvatore easily stood in the flame, his body outright refusing to burn. It was covered in Norse runes, a sign of his Authority, [Man of Steel]. On the other hand, he couldn't move from his position.
Anya rushed him again, watching his movements carefully. His silver blade moved much faster and with much more strength. It seemed that he'd been holding back against her. When the silver sword swung at her, she punched the flat of the blade as she activated her armor. The god-binding flames failed to harm her through the armor, which let her directly deflect the blade. The two god-slayers exchanged a flurry of blows, the mage queen determinedly avoiding the sword and ignoring the king's physical strikes, despite how they rattled her bones even through the armor, while the mage king deflected the queen's blows and counter-attacked with his body and sword.
Setsuna stared at the man and girl fighting on the tarmac. It was shocking to say the least. Was this really Negi's childhood friend? She seemed completely different from when they all were training for the trip. The small girl wasn't even making any sort of normal expression. The girl's face was unsettling. It bore an intense expression that was a smile, almost laughter. It reminded her of Tsukuyomi in a way. It wasn't a sense of innocence concealing a sick nihilistic desire to destroy. It was more a pure enjoyment, a happiness born only of the very act of combat. It was a feeling that it was doubtful any sane person could understand.
Her skill was at best practical even though she was outright punching the flat of the man's sword. It wasn't incredible like that of the strange man that seemed to exceed the very concept of swordsmanship, but the sheer magic power being thrown around and the ferocity of the fight was monsterous. They were ignoring the melting and burnt ground below them and instead focusing on trading blows. Their movements were unnatural, more like a pair of beasts fighting to the death than anything else.
Anya retreated for a bit to calm herself. Her armor had jagged scores from deflected sword strikes and dents from the Campione's punches and kicks. He really was hard like steel and her knuckles, shins and knees ached even through the armor. The scores stretched all over her armor, giving it a cracked, heavily damaged appearance. She suddenly noticed that there was something below Salvatore's feet. It was a rotating stone board. Carved into it were two phrases, both of which were distorted by the flames that wrapped about the king of swords. It clearly wasn't part of the airport and seemed extremely unnatural. Nudus Ara. Sere Nudus.
She charged again, her improved speed and focus allowing her to deflect the first swing of his blade. She slammed her foot into the melting board beneath him, using the force from it to propel herself upward. The resulting explosion launched her directly above him. She thrust her heel down at Salvatore's face. The stone shattered and the man sank about a foot.
The King of Swords leaned backward, dodging the strike and bringing his sword across, as if to bisect her. Anya tried to propel herself away from the weapon, only for Salvatore to casually grab her ankle. Anya chanted as quickly as she could, boosting the speed with Cantus Bellax. "Stoketheflamesandraisethefur nace'soutput!FlamesofVulcanusburnbrightan dbecomemysword! Forging God's Sword!" Her tongue(did she bite it?) and lips hurt, but she wielded her flaming sword to crash down on Salvatore's head. Some of the flames from the torch empowered the Forging God's Sword, making it more on the level of a true Authority. She kicked at the king's arm, making a shock of recoil echo down her leg. She ensured that her sword could cut first and brought her weapon down between her legs.
The loud roar of a jet's engine caught their attention.
At a ridiculous speed, an airplane barreled toward the two. Salvatore immediately released Anya and leaned out of her range, the girl's sword scratching along his forehead for his trouble. It didn't even leave a mark.
He swung his sword directly through the plane even as Anya leapt off of his outstretched arm.
The King of Swords bisected the plane perfectly.
The younger god-slayer hopped onto one of the plane halves and leapt high into the air.
She chanted as she rose, staring down at the young man. "Know and fear me! I am bloodshed! I am destruction! I am the very flames of the conflict of man! Fear me who has conquered the world!" She started descending. "Fear me who has razed nations and sewn salt to their earth! Fall before me! Be destroyed!" She pumped massive amounts of magic into her Authority, not holding back at all. The sky above the falling god-slayer burst aflame, making the airport resemble a deadly hell more so than the sunny locale of dispatch it once was. As far as the eye could see, the sky was filled with crimson fire. The flames fell into Anya's hand in a burning cyclone.
Anya clearly saw Salvatore coated in fire, waist deep in pavement, ready to counter her, his sword much larger and radiating deadly power. He'd manipulated the weapon with magic. He was preparing to swat her out of the sky. That would be his mistake. He was underestimating the spear because of his invincible sword. She could already tell that the god-slaying spear that she'd drawn wouldn't fail in this situation. She pulled the flames down into a spear.
The girl mage dropped from the sky the bright spear's light reflecting off of her armor making her resemble a falling star. This last strike would definitely-
Something slammed into her, sending her flying before she tumbled to the ground. The force of the landing combined with all of the stress made her armor shatter.
With a strike of lightning, a pale, dark haired man appeared. "Didn't I warn you about this after you leveled that village, Anna Kokolova? Don't destroy London!"
Spear still in hand, the young girl stared in shock. She'd only seen pictures of him before. "Alexander Gascoigne?"
The man turned to the burning blond who didn't look as surprised as he should have. "And you! Don't suddenly shut down major national facilities! What are you even doing here?!"
Salvatore scratched the back of his head with a careless laugh as he continued to slowly sink into the asphalt. "Oops. I got so excited about Anya that I forgot that you lived here too, Alec!"
With an irritated expression, the Black Prince took a deep, tense breath before speaking again. His tone was filled with exasperation. "…Just leave. I don't care right now. Just get out of my country."
"Kind of can't do that." Salvatore shrugged as he spoke with a smile. "My body can't move from this spot!"
"…What." He didn't even seem to notice that it wasn't even a question.
Anya frowned at the other Campione who dwelt in the United Kingdom. He seemed pretty tense. "That's my doing. Don't interrupt our duel, Black Prince. I will allow your retreat, but if you fail to, I'll turn my spear upon you." She pointed her weapon at her other senior god-slayer.
"The two of you…"
"Well," Salvatore smiled innocently. "It looks like that's how it is."
It turned out that Ala Alba hadn't actually left without her. Most of them were staring at the Campioni, completely bewildered.
Wasting no more time, Anya leapt forward with her spear.
Suddenly, she found herself on the ground, her spear burning a hole into the ground beside her. There was a sharp pain in the back of her head. It seemed like the Black Prince's speed was as ridiculous as rumoured. She couldn't match him with the power at her disposal. Grimacing, the girl released the flames of her spear back into the sky. "Fine then." She would just have to get creative then.
The flames twisted into a set of spears, floating in the sky. Swinging her palm down, Anya directed the weapons to fall at the two god-slayers before her.
The Black Prince directed his gaze at the weapons. "Come!" A shadow shot upward, water condensing around it even as it rose. The water trapped the spears and each one's explosion was completely absorbed. Something about the creature made it feel like the inside of her skull was itching. She mentally shook herself focused. The giant winged, fish-tailed creature shot down at Anya, her face hidden by the angle at which she flew.
Anya pulled the cyclone of flame from around her first opponent and just as the creature, Alec's [Faceless Queen], came into striking distance, bound her.
It writhed in the flames with a bellowing scream, but Anya put more power into the last tool of her Regalia. "Burn brightly, oh torch! Light the way to victory!" She was at a disadvantage. Her Authority couldn't be used again until after the fight ended and she calmed down, but her new opponent had just joined the fight, with his own Authorities. She was focusing everything on stopping his latest Authority, but that was about her limit. The only tool left was the torch, which she doubted that she could win with. She glanced over at Salvatore who was buried up to his neck in molten pavement. If she somehow managed to hold the Black Prince off, she wouldn't be able to finish the fight.
With a final scream, the creature vanished, and Anya turned to Alexander Gascoigne. She had nothing left to fight him with. His speed would prevent any path to victory from appearing. She clenched her teeth. "I can't defeat you at this point. I'll have to concede." She spoke to the King of Swords. "It looks like we'll have to stop here. It's my win."
Steam rose off of his flesh. "I can still fight, so I'd say it's my win."
"I don't think so! I just sank you into the ground!"
"It's not like I can't get out, so it's not a problem. Well, a little more and you might have actually buried me alive there!"
Anya pointed back to the flames that burned via her power. "I can still bury you the rest of the way." After a short pause, she spoke again. "Actually, would that even stop your immortal body, Salvatore?"
"You two, cut it out." Alec spoke. "It's a pain to deal with the least rational of the Campione separately, but you're even worse when you're together."
Anya spoke to him first. "Alec-"
"I don't want to get that type of complaint from a kleptomaniac like you." Salvatore would have made a more serious impression if he wasn't nearly buried under the runway. The immobile King looked like he was on the bad end of a practical joke. He was completely indifferent to his submerged state… and continued to carry conversation. "Anyway, it looks like Alec is just going to get in our way this time."
"Come on, Alec. Are really going to try and stop us here?"
"I don't care about your interests. Just don't indulge in your battle mania in my country."
"You completely ruined the mood…" Anya sighed. Well, there was nothing that she could do in this situation. She completely lost her desire to fight Alec and the fight with Salvatore was decided already. She turned to Salvatore, slumping her shoulders as her disappointment held her down. "Let's go for tea."
"Eh, fine. Let's go for tea." The ease with which he approached life was something that Anya really couldn't help but like.
"Wait… How do I dig you out?"
Salvatore blinked. "Huh?"
After digging him out with their combined strength and Authorities, the two god-slayers went to a tea shop. The tea was better than the last time that they went out for tea. Even though it was the same place, the taste was completely different. Anya couldn't help but feel that it was due to the intensity of the prior fight. The tea was richer and more flavorful, yet it wasn't heavy. The scones were sweeter, but matched the flavor much better than the first time. The price for all of the food and tea had many zeroes at the end, but Anya was lucky that the Guardians of the Veil always footed the bill. She always ate ridiculous amounts of food after using her Authority. Of course, neither she nor Salvatore had thought to bring enough money.
It was an absolutely delicious tea. More than just scones, there were also muffins! She couldn't help but smile in rapture at the flavor. After the break, the two god-slayers left the tea shop only to run into Anya's friends.
Anya froze. How was she going to explain this? What would Negi think about what had happened in the airport? What would Nodoka and Yue think? She almost wanted to outright run away. What was she going to do?!
Negi was looking at the two of them with a serious, but bewildered expression. "Anya, what's going on?"
Anya's first reaction to this surprise was bluffing. "What are you talking about, Negi?"
Salvatore looked at her, an innocently confused expression on his face. "Anya, who's this kid?"
Negi looked just as confused, but not as childishly innocent. "Who's this?"
The King of Swords looked closely at both children. "So, is he your servant?"
Anya was taken aback. "What? No!"
Negi cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "A-Anyway, you fought him and that other man at the airport, yes?" His expression became more serious. "You really got a lot stronger while studying in London, but you can't use magic so carelessly! You'll probably get punished for using it like that, aside from the damage that you both caused!"
"Anya, why would you let mages tell you what to do, especially if it would get in the way of one of our duels?"
Negi couldn't help cut shout at the man's carelessness. "You can't put fighting ahead of peoples' safety!"
"Eh? Why not?" Salvatore merely blinked. It seemed that he honestly didn't comprehend the boy's statement.
Anya understood that Negi's statement should have made complete sense, but she also could completely relate to Salvatore's bewilderment. She should have immediately understood and agreed with Negi, but…
The shinso casually threw her even as she charged in relentlessly. "You haven't noticed it yet, but as a monster, you don't abide by human logic. Think about it: A mage," She parried a punch and threw Anya's balance off before sweeping her legs out from under her. "Who is already separated from common human logic,"
Anya caught herself and charged in again, this time avoiding the first few of Evangeline's attempts to counter before being sent off via her own momentum.
"Has killed a god, which is further from human logic." The vampire with the body of a child pinned the god-slayer by her throat, using only her foot. "By doing so, she has become a monster that devours gods, which is even further from human logic than gods are."
Anya strained against Evangeline's pressure, but didn't have the necessary leverage. "That can't be right! I follow the rules and don't reveal magic to anyone. I don't commit any crimes. How can that be against human logic?"
"How did you feel when you killed Bellona the war goddess?"
The Campione wondered how she could have known about the fight. She couldn't help but stare, shocked.
"Don't look so surprised. When gods fight, every person who is aware of magic can't help but notice. You did destroy the top of Big Ben when you killed the goddess, so no one would fail to notice." The vampire smiled, revealing her fangs. "Now, remember that fight. How did you feel?"
The youngest god-slayer pursed her lips. She remembered the burning rage at the goddess and how she had killed and destroyed as much as she wished, as long as she received the shield. Her callousness was too much to bear, so she- Thinking more deeply, she realized the feeling that she had. "I wanted to beat her. I killed her because I wanted to beat her. It didn't matter what got in my way. If-If someone else tried to interrupt, I would have-"
The vampire's expression was serious again. "Do you understand now? That type of thought process, 'I don't care that it's a god, I just want to win', violates basic human instinct. Weren't you afraid when you met her?"
Anya was, but the goddess was outfighting an entire group of mages, mages that were more skilled and powerful than her. Deep down, it was exciting. She already liked fighting, but to be able to fight that type of being and win would be an amazing experience. "Yes, but…"
"How would you feel about fighting her again?"
Anya imagined it, fighting Bellona at full strength without the shield as a handicap. Her heart picked up. She exhaled a bit shakily.
The shinso's smirk returned. "Wanting to fight a god, being that excited about it, no human being would do something so insane. Just accept it. You've joined the ranks of the monsters."
Just the thought of fighting Salvatore again made her feel the urge to go ahead and do it, no matter who was around. She knew that it was the wrong thing to do in this situation, but it didn't feel wrong. "Fighting there probably wasn't a good idea."
Yue, who had gone along with Negi, responded drily. "Only 'probably'? Aside from that, what type of magic were you using? You forewent your magic key."
Yue was really good at looking at things logically. Anya didn't know how she could get out of explaining this. "Well, um…"
Just like the last time Anya and Salvatore fought, a stressed man wearing silver glasses ran up to the King of Swords. "Salvatore! Don't tie me up, you human trash!" He was apparently very upset.
"Ah, my beloved Andrea!"
"'Beloved Andre'?! Your Highness, you need to stop acting so wildly and rampaging around like an idiot!"
Negi was completely lost. "'Your Highness'?"
"Your Highness, please give your subordinates more consideration before you start tearing apart major institutions." A brown haired girl walked to Anya from the same direction as Salvatore's 'Beloved Andrea'. As usual, her brown hair had fallen into her eyes. She was the girl who had assisted her in her fight with the Naga in Turkey. It took Anya a second to match her face to her name, but she was-
"Starts with an 'E'… 'E'… Elspeth!"
"Yes. It's me. We're still in hot water over the damage to Big Ben, and the wreckage at Cumhuriyet Meydani. Illusions can only go so far, Your Highness. Royal Arsenal is pretty angry about Big Ben still, even though it wasn't our fault."
"Urgh. Sorry about that. But Big Ben was definitely not due to me!"
"Well, records say that you're the one that deflected the goddess's attack toward the tower. To be frank, you both can probably be blamed for it."
"Urgh…" Anya really couldn't argue with that. She was the one that deflected Bellona's god-slaying spear after all.
"You damaged Big Ben?" Yue was caught completely off-guard.
"Erm, it was an accident! I wasn't paying attention and… well…"
Andrea grimaced, running a hand through his dark hair, regaining his composure. "Well, it is easy to see how the both of you get along so well, but it would behoove a monarch to give their surroundings more notice."
Salvatore pouted.
Anya looked away, a bit sheepish.
Negi was answering questions that his present students were asking.
Elspeth nodded at her fellow attendant. "It seems our lords are two of the more… wild Campioni. When her highness fights seriously it's the same as a massive bomb going off. The property damage makes me want to cry." The last statement didn't hold much water, given how flatly she was speaking.
Negi turned to her quickly. It seemed that he'd forgotten to switch back to English in his haste. "What are Campioni?"
"I'm sorry?" Elspeth was bemused.
Negi blinked before repeating the question in English. "Sorry. What's a Campione?"
"Oh, that. You're still on probationary license aren't you? Well, I shouldn't tell you too much then. Campioni are-" She sighed. "Okay. You know that higher level magic emulates the powers of the gods, correct?"
"Well, yes. What does that have to do with-"
Elspeth interrupted him bluntly. "Campioni don't merely emulate the powers of the gods." It was an extremely concise explanation.
"Anya has the powers of the gods?" He was shocked. It was a pretty inconceivable thing to hear.
"A-Any way, we still have to catch the train to make it to Wales on time, right?" Anya panicked, trying to end the conversation.
Yue murmured to herself, but was still loud enough to be heard. "So the powers of the gods don't need the magic key? Or is it not magic?"
"Well," Elspeth started to speak again before getting a desperate expression from her queen. "No. That's all I'll say."
Anya sighed in relief. As long as no one brought up killing gods, this would end fairly well.
So, of course, Salvatore had to open his mouth. "So, about that storm god in Turkey-"
"It was more a snake god than a storm god, honestly." She just had to interrupt him before he brought up the slaying of a god.
"Huh. It looks like that was better for you than I'd hoped."
"What do you mean, Salvatore?"
He smiled innocently. "I was hoping that you would get stronger after our first fight, and when I heard that you faced a god on your own and won, I got pretty excited."
She couldn't believe that she'd let him actually say that! Wait… Anya blinked, bewildered. "You wanted to fight me again that much?" She couldn't help but smile. Clearly, Salvatore was one of the only people that could understand her fighting urge. "I'm glad. Me too."
Salvatore smiled back, dropping the minor tension that he had in his body.
Anya slid her right foot back and bent her knees, entering a stance.
"A-Anya what are you doing?!" Negi jerked in shock as his childhood friend seemed ready to recreate the destruction that she'd taken part in at the airport.
Salvatore reached for his sword, only for Andrea to slap his hand away. "Don't start unnecessary trouble here!"
The King of Swords tche'd like a rebuked child.
Anya lost her tension. She felt a hand land on her shoulder.
Elspeth spoke concisely as usual. "It's for the best to abandon hostilities, Your Highness."
Both god-slayers looked at her, completely at a loss. ""Hostilities?""
Anya looked at Salvatore, surprised that they'd replied in sync. She continued. "There's no hostility at all. We fight because it's fun. No one else can fight like him anyway. Salvatore is the greatest swordsman after all."
The response was fairly alien.
"Your Highness, I don't think that I can understand that." Elspeth bluntly rejected the younger girl's logic. "At any rate, you did say that you were on a schedule. It would be best to make haste."
"Right!"
It was then that a blonde girl from Negi's class rushed up to them, followed by a few other classmates.
They started talking excitedly about meeting each other and something about a prior agreement.
During this, Anya spoke with Elspeth. "Please don't bring up anything else about god-slayers around them."
Her face blank, the older mage nodded. "As you wish. As a side note, do you have plans to spend your vacation in Mundus Magicus?"
Anya smiled and nodded as well. "I haven't actually been there before so it should be nice. And there shouldn't be Heretic Gods over there, right?"
Elspeth looked upward thoughtfully. "Well, there haven't been any reports about Heretic Gods there, so I would like to think that they'd only appear on Earth."
"Sounds like a relaxing vacation then."
"Your Highness, you do know that you're frowning right now right?"
"Wha- Really?"
The other people began leaving for the train and Anya noticed that they were accompanied by a mature blonde woman that looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place her. "Sorry, Elspeth! Let's talk later, okay?" Anya ran after Ala Alba.
Elspeth realized that she hadn't even noticed Salvatore Doni and his aide leave.
Anya realized that she hadn't been to her Welsh village in a relatively long time. She couldn't help but stare at the idyllic countryside view from the hill that they were all standing on. There was a gentle breeze that brought a fresh scent form the mountain forests with a bit of the smell of sea salt. It was so incredibly familiar, once she saw it again. After staying in London for so long and moving about the United Kingdom aside from the trip to Turkey, it felt good to finally be back home. She didn't have much of a chance to visit her mother as well.
She took in a deep breath, enjoying the scent of the air and smiling. The taller blonde girl that Negi had said was the class representative made an excited comment about it being Negi's hometown. "Actually, it'd be better to say it was his hometown between the ages of five and ten."
Nekane seemed to have been waiting for her cousin and his class, and rushed out to greet them. "Negi!"
"Onee-chan!" They embraced and Negi swung her around in his excitement.
Anya blinked. Didn't this situation usually go the other way? It seemed that Negi had gotten stronger in more than just magic while in Japan. The two relatives began fussing over each other. It was a sight that she didn't even realize that she'd missed. It was then that Nekane noticed all of the girls that had come with her dear cousin.
After a large after-flight meal, they all went around the town, giving Negi's class a tour of the different sights. They even went to Merdiana Magic Academy, which didn't seem like a good idea, but Anya wasn't in a position to somehow convince the excited students so.
They even went to the column where she and Negi had compared heights. She couldn't help but clench her teeth childishly. "I had a complete victory until last year, too!"
They went to the small cliff where they'd met Takamichi. That dummy Negi told everyone about the one time that she'd slipped off of it and landed in a pile of dung! She'd have to get back at him for that at some point.
That evening, she took the chance to visit he mother and dust her off carefully. She missed her so much no matter how many times she visited her. She gently rubbed a cloth about her mother's face and couldn't help smiling. "I don't think that I'm the same as when we last talked, but I'm getting stronger. Eventually, I should be able to heal you, right? I studied hard even though I'm not good at healing magic, so I hope that I'll be able to help you." The issue with healing magic was that it was difficult in application no matter the amount of magic power that was put into the effort. Anya wasn't particularly gifted at healing magic, so reversing the stone curse on her village was beyond her. How would power that could kill a god work on healing them? She needed to research higher level healing spells when she next had free time.
She heard a group of people come down the stairs and turned just as they entered. "Oh. Headmaster, Negi and Nekane, you came here too?" She continued to clean her mother and it seemed that they didn't hear her.
Negi was staring at the statue of his uncle and, after a small moment, he started to talk to him, just as Anya herself did with her petrified mother. She couldn't help but feel that she shouldn't listen in, since he didn't know that she was there, but at the same time she couldn't avoid hearing it as she cleaned her mother. Her childhood friend spoke honestly on how much he'd been impacted by knowing him, how he'd learnt to not deal with his problems alone. Anya finished cleaning and put away her supplies. She didn't know what else she should do, so she left, thinking about both Negi's point about allowing one's self to depend on others. Would it be alright to let Negi and her other friends know about what she'd done? What she'd become? She still didn't want to risk them looking at her with horror or disgust when they realized that she was a monster.
After a while, Nekane approached her alone. "Anya,"
The god-slayer turned to face her. "Oh! Um, yes, what is it?"
"Please, keep everyone safe. The magic world can be dangerous, and if anything happened to you or Negi, or to any of his students, I simply wouldn't know what to do with myself!" Nekane's eyes were slightly teary. Her voice trembled a bit.
Anya smiled confidently. There was nothing in the magic world that would be able to harm her, so she would definitely be able to protect Negi and his students. "Of course! We'll all return in one piece! I promise!"
Ala Alba walked to the hidden Stonehenge, which was the Welsh countryside's gate to Mundus Magicus, the magical world. Everyone was clearly excited about the trip. It wasn't every day that one got the chance to visit an entirely different planet.
Konoka had wondered what would actually be there once every one had arrived, expecting a field of beautiful flowers and singing angels.
Yue was quick to try to correct her assumption, or rather her error in making an assumption, but it seemed that no one was listening to her, being simply too excited to pay her logic any heed.
Anya was on edge, glancing about. Something about just standing there was immensely bothersome. She kept feeling eyes on her, but lacked any real sign of it. She could feel her fingers start to twitch and she became a bit stir-crazy. Why couldn't they just go ahead and go already? After a long time of just waiting, feeling like she was nearly going insane, they finally activated the gate.
A multitude of magic circles opened in the sky, creating a beautiful design for viewers on the ground. The circles, combined from that view made an almost impossibly complex array that Anya, as a mage, couldn't help but admire.
A white light blocked her senses, and when her vision cleared, Anya found that she was in a completely different location with an identical Stonehenge.
The platform upon which they all stood was connected to several other circular ones. Looking out of the windows, Anya saw flying 'whales' which she recognized from her school books as transportation. There was also the famous statue of the idealized pactio partnership, a female mage and her male partner standing at the ready, as if watching over the city in the distance.
The older blonde who had guided them all to the gate exclaimed, breaking her normal stoic expression. "Negi! There were a few stowaways! Some of your students snuck over!"
Negi started to respond before visibly twitching. "Setsuna-san, I need you to use your detection arts!"
The young woman made a surprised expression.
"Please!"
She nodded.
He then turned to one of the guardsmen and convinced him to call for backup before turning rapidly to Anya. "You've brought a mobile staff with you, right? We need to cast a magic barrier with everything we've got!"
The Campione blinked in surprise before drawing her wand. She rushed over to her friend, but-
A lance of stone shot at him from behind at a ridiculous speed, piercing right through his body. Blood burst from his mouth.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Anya was running to him. She barely remembered chanting her magic key before using basic healing magic on him and kneeling close. She could already tell that it wouldn't repair such a mortal wound. She clenched her teeth, tears coming to her eyes. "Don't you dare die!" She'd promised that everyone would be safe, but now-! Her friend was dying! The person who did this would pay!
Negi's eyes were dull with pain and leaking life as her gasped desperately so that Anya and the other people around him would get his message. "Run…Aw…ay…!"
The magic in the air spiked and Anya wheeled around, casting a magic barrier, even as lightning crashed down, slaying two of the guardsmen. She, Setsuna, Kaede, and Kotaro deflected the attack.
A white-haired boy walked forward, flanked by two cloaked men, one tall and one short, and a young girl who covered her face with a scarf and hat. "It's been a while swordswoman of the Shinmeiryuu, you as well, Inugami Kotaro. Along with Negi Springfield and his comrades. Though, it seems that you've overextended yourself, to be in such dire straits after only one of my attacks, although it's not unprecedented for such insufficient power."
The two mentioned with Negi, along with Kaede leapt to the attack.
Anya felt something in her head snap. Heat poured out of her body, making her vision swim. She couldn't think straight. "I'll kill you. All of you! You trash!" The air shimmered and the ground was covered in flames. The edges of the enemies' clothes ignited easily. She leapt forward, ignoring as Kaede was countered by black gravity magic from the taller man, Kotaro by a flashy sword technique from the girl, and Setsuna by a kung fu combination fueled by the white haired boy's inhuman strength. None of this mattered. She was going to burn them all to ash!
The first to approach her was the girl. She swung her swords so fast that they blurred. It would have been a cause for concern if Anya hadn't had experience with Salvatore or the body of a Raksha. She punched the flats of the blades aside and threw punches, the air around her burning even as explosions burst from her fists. The girl was really good. She dodged almost all of the blows, panting in excitement. Normally, Anya would feel just as excited, but all she could feel was bloodlust and rage. She loosed a flurry of burning kicks and the girl once again dodged most of them deftly. The young mage growled. One kick clipped her opponent's side and sent her flying, smoke drifting off of her body. Even so, the older girl cut through the flesh of her thigh even as she was knocked away.
The mage that used gravity sent a black hole spell at her and, at the same time, the white-haired boy rushed her. She ignored the magic and defended against the boy's blows, feeling his fists knees and elbows hammer at her bones every time she blocked. If her bones hadn't become so strong, they'd all have broken by that point. She hadn't managed to land any blows, but she wasn't tiring either. She barely had time to launch any attacks in the first place and the boy was too skilled to let her hit him.
The boy frowned. "How sloppy." His knee lifted and Anya didn't know whether he would kick her or use his knee.
This was a waste of her time. Trash like this deserved to be completely smashed to bits and burnt until nothing remained. Anya activated her Authority.
That was a mistake.
The air was filled with blood lust in an instant.
Anya's heart suddenly pumped wildly and her senses sharpened.
I've found you, Demon! Something flew at her at a high speed. Any couldn't perceive it completely, but she leapt backward just as the boy advanced.
He was sent flying by her attacker. A young girl about her age stood in front of her, wearing a kimono. She held a pair of tessen.
Anya's thoughts stopped cold. Why was there a Heretic God here? "Who are you?"
The girl didn't speak back. She sprinted at the Campione, swinging her tessen as if they were blades. The girl's speed and strength were much greater than a girl of her age or even a master mage. That charge could probably match a Divine Beast.
Anya chanted quickly. "I follow the divine law of just war. In this sign I fight!" The divine gladius appeared in her hand and clove one of the tessen apart before she swung again to slay the girl right there. However…
"It is time, Great Ancestor."
Truly massive magic energy shot out of her body and materialized in a burst of wind. A large man with a fierce expression and glowing red eyes threw a side kick as soon as he appeared.
Anya caught the kick on the flat of her blade as it sent her flying. The sword writhed and sang in her hand from the force. Her wrist was numb and felt like it was bruising. Worse than that, a pressure in the back of her head felt like it was writhing.
The man pursued the god-slayer, a hand extended to grab her.
Anya slashed at it, making a thin cut. Why was this god so strong?! She jerked in surprise as the man caught her anyway and slammed her to the ground.
He then pinned her under his large foot.
Anya writhed under him. "Gngh!"
"Come, you're only this strong, yet you claim to have the might of a conquering war god? If you're weak, then you have no worth!"
Her ribs screamed. The might of a war god? She slammed the blade point first into his ankle, shoving it right through the joint before wrenching it out. The large god stumbled, giving her the chance to slip out from under him. She forced herself to her feet. Her earlier fury, combined with the instinctual ferocity caused by the presence of a Heretic God overwhelmed her. "You wish to see my might?! I'll tear you apart!" She pointed the blade at him.
He grinned. "That's better, brat!" Steel arrows appeared and fired at her from all angles.
Twisting and leaping, Anya began cutting them down. Merely dodging wouldn't allow her to escape unscathed, and neither would merely blocking. She couldn't stay still, or she'd be killed by the god's weapons, so she kept moving, deflecting and breaking them. Even so, one pierced her shoulder, going all the way through the small bit of muscle there.
Suddenly, the god sniffed and turned to face Konoka who was staring at the unfolding fight. She seemed to have somehow gotten her hand on her pactio card, since she was dressed like an onmyouji. "That scent… It's diluted, but you're his kid, aren't you? I wonder how his blood's fared… Hmm, it'd be unfair if I tested it myself, but I am curious. Young Wako, test her for me."
"Yes, Great Ancestor." The young girl leapt at the older girl, her form blurring.
Anya leapt into the air and swung her divine sword at the large god rapidly. "Don't think that you have the free time to ignore me!"
He jerked out of the way, showing incredible agility. "Don't worry, young god-slayer." He grinned. "I won't ignore our match. As long as you don't die, I'll fight you as much as needed. After sleeping for so long, it feels good to let loose." He threw a palm strike that would normally powder a person's bones and send their viscera splattering.
Anya deflected the strike, her blade sinking partway into his bone before the force tossed her backward. She caught herself with an explosion and launched herself back at the god, feeling her weapon still vibrating from the force of the strike.
Konoka couldn't understand how she felt at the moment. She was initially relieved that she'd managed to save Negi, but then that girl and man appeared. When the giant suddenly appeared, her mind seemed to have gone blank. Uncharacteristic feelings of condescension and distaste overflowed from within and it felt horrible. More than that, her heart hurt every time that it beat, as if her blood was filled with lightning.
Suddenly, in the midst of his fight, the giant told the small girl, who looked about as old as Negi-kun to attack her. The girl, who had been called Wako, brought her tessen down at her and Konoka stumbled backward, trying to avoid the strike.
There was the sound of steel clashing with steel as Secchan deflected the attack and began countering.
Bearing an intense expression, brows furrowed in concentration, Wako parried the strikes of Yuunagi's sharp blade. She recognized some of the younger girl's movements from traditional dance, but it was still odd. The girl was fighting Secchan evenly, but hadn't even tired slightly. It didn't help that her childhood friend was already wounded from fighting Fate.
"Don't get in my way, youkai!" Wako leapt backward, opened her fans, and swung them. Secchan looked confused for an instant before jumping to Konoka and grabbing her before leaping upward.
Deep furrows were carved into the ground where the two of them had been.
Wako swung her fans again.
Secchan pulled Konoka close and twisted in midair, letting her wings out in a beautiful flash of white. Her brilliant feathers seemed to glow ethereally, once again reminding Konoka of an angel. A beautiful sword-wielding angel. "Shinmeiryu Ougi: Zanmaken!"
The slicing wind was dispersed.
The small girl started to dance, oddly enough. Metal objects in the port shattered and turned into soldiers before attacking.
Konoka focused her powers. "Spirits of light, come and gather before me…"
The Heretic God before her created a sword out of thin air. He thrust and swung so quickly that she could barely react, forced to remain on the defensive without a chance for counter attack. Their blades clashed violently, the masses of divine power making sparks fly. At that rate, Anya would eventually tire and then be killed. She needed to use other tools from the [Regalia], but indoors, they could collapse the building, making an advantage become a disadvantage.
The giant god swung his sword, accompanying it with a blast of wind.
Anya pushed magic into her blade and brought it down on the flat of the other weapon, cleaving it and the wind attack. She advanced, stabbing at the god's heart.
He instantly had a blade and deflected the thrust. "If you won't fight me seriously, then I'll simply kill you."
Anya's arms ached from all of the fighting. She didn't have a choice at this point, but to use other tools. "Just war is declared! Flee and hide before me! Be hunted down and razed to the earth! There is no safe haven from my wrath!" A bright light shone through the building's windows.
"Hoh? What trick is this, god-slayer?" The god spoke easily even as the two continued to fight.
With a crash, flames roared through the ceiling and walls, splitting the very building from its roof. The ring of fire wrapped itself about the god. In a moment of anxiety, Anya hoped that no one had been hurt by the attack, but she couldn't risk letting her attention fade in binding such a powerful opponent. She could feel him straining against the Torch itself with power alone, not even using his physical strength.
"Hm?!" His eyes brightened and he struggled against the binding flames.
Anya was about to charge and hopefully end the immobile god, when the entire building started to shake. "Wha-?"
The white haired boy's other ally had destroyed the central stone pillar of the World Transference ritual site.
The boy himself then used a high level earth spell to shatter the platforms.
Her staff was back with the package containing everyone's weapons, so, with the ground falling out from under her, Anya had nothing with which she could prevent her fall, so she grabbed onto the Heretic God that she'd been fighting.
He was looking at the occurrence with vested interest. "Young Wako!" He called over the roar of the wild magic energy. "You will not die!" He then focused on the Campione holding on to his clothing. "Let us continue this match in a new location. Do not disappoint me, Demon." The other keystones to the ritual site went wild and enacted a forced transference spell.
The wild magic suddenly wrapped around the two.
"Oh, crap!"
There was a massive explosion. Anya's vision went white.
Anya found herself and her opponent high in the sky. The air was too thin and she could barely breathe. She decided that it would be the best chance to strike down the god that she'd been fighting. She'd been too surprised to maintain the divine torch, so it had vanished in transit. Since the flames would appear in the sky, she'd be able to draw it faster. "Know and fear me! I am bloodshed!"
The Heretic God instantly recognized her intention. His eyes widened and he made an intense smile. "Do you think that I'll allow this?"
"I am destruction! I am the very flames of the conflict of man! Fear me who has conquered the world!" She didn't have a way to break her fall, but the god was a bigger issue. She'd just have to figure out how to land afterward. "Fear me who has razed nations and sewn salt to their earth!"
The Heretic God conjured a massive steel spear, large enough to bisect her with a thrust. "If it comes to matching weapons, then I won't lose to you."
"Fall before me! Be destroyed!" The howling flames of destruction appeared and swirled into a spear.
Wind roared about the floating god, filling the air with magic power. "Come!"
Anya threw the spear as her divine opponent did the same.
The god's spear, pushed by the wind to split the very air, shot down like a missile.
Anya willed her spear to travel faster, be sharper. She needed her spear to split the other one and then slay the god. She poured magic power into the spear, using everything she had.
The spears glanced off of each other, their momentum and speed making them mainly stay on course.
The steel spear shot with the speed of a bullet and pierced Anya's side, tearing her open all the way to her spine. Organs burst and started to leak. Her floating ribs shattered and punctured her lungs. It left a burning pain afterward. The steel weapon was burning hot. She almost screamed, but held back her breath so that she could continue fighting. "Hh!" She focused on her spear. She needed to kill him with her spear, her head spinning as she tried to continue empowering it.
The blazing, white hot spear of war lanced into the god's lower stomach and exploded, tearing off his lower half. His spine hung out leaking metallic ichor. "Mu…!" Being torn in half would kill most people, but this was a god. A blow that wasn't instantly lethal wouldn't put him down if he got the chance to heal from it.
Anya watched the stream of blood and other fluids trail out of her as she tumbled down, the spear's force making her spin. She saw that she was falling toward a large stone fortress. As fast as she was falling, she would probably be splattered if the wound didn't kill her.
She reached terminal velocity. Her eyes tearing slightly, she activated the Armor, feeling something internal start aching even more.
With the force of a meteor, she slammed into the top spire, hearing several bones groan and break. She fell through a few floors before her vision suddenly went dark. Was she going to die? She still had things to do! She needed to protect her friends and learn enough magic to save her mother! She couldn't let herself die here.
Despite this, she couldn't find any strength to make her body move, and found herself slipping away. Her vision began darkening as the pain in her broken bones filled her mind. It wasn't fair. But, she was so tired, and everything hurt so much...
She felt a pressure in the back of her head, but couldn't bring herself to wake.