Sorry for the delay again. Stuff came up again, and I had to deal with my own dumbass bad habits too. Anyway, here's part 2.
Chapter 6 — Magi Are Not Complete Without Their Mysterious Cloaks; Part 2
Tohsaka didn't even have time to blink.
In a single instant, the magus was right in front of her, their single hand outstretched towards her about to grab her face. It was just like the Briefs monster that disappeared in her vision through sheer speed, and she could remember how a single mistake of being caught off guard almost ended her life.
So biting back her initial reaction of freezing up, she pointedly grabbed the arm and not the hand of the magus and pushed it to the side of her head instead, then pivoted around to transition into a clear body throw using the magus' momentum.
The magus maneuvered midair and recovered their balance before she could exploit it and throw her jewels. Their momentum was still too fast however and they reached the stacked metal shipments in the harbor. Instead of crashing they landed on it sideways, bending down parallel to the ground. Tohsaka saw the hand with the glowing magic circle touch the metal—
—Which then let out an ominous 'crunch' sound as it crumpled and cracked in a single instant.
Tohsaka's eyes widened.
The magus jumped back towards her, but this time Tohsaka wasn't giving them a chance to go near her again. She jumped back with her reinforced legs to put distance between her and the magus, looking at the hand warily.
A destructive mystic code, capable of destroying things with a touch of the hand… if that much damage is done in a short contact, then how much more it would be if they grabbed something instead? Her mind raced. In any case, staying close to them is dangerous. A single touch can probably kill me before I can do anything about it. And for Emiya…
"Emiya-kun! Be sure to steer clear and don't let this man grab you!" she told Emiya, who was hanging around behind her, looking unsure what to do. He looked at her with a serious expression and nodded.
"Alright. Got it."
Tohsaka eyed the magus' hand. Looks like it's limited to one hand for now. We're lucky to have taken out their right hand earlier… or else this would've been a nightmare.
But even if they had a mystic code like that… to be confined in such a range… Tohsaka smirked. Her hands took out a couple of jewels in her pockets. "Is that all you had, magus? You'd have to do better than marching straight at me! That mystic code of yours isn't even dangerous enough to hold a candle compared to the ones I've witnessed in this city!"
"I'm well aware that I am not the most dangerous one in this wretched city you call territory. However, it's clear that you are nothing but an upstart trying to nose yourself into the business of your betters." the magus once more lifted their hand, stancing themselves to charge towards her again. "Your hubris shall serve as you undoing, Second Owner."
"Now perish by the hands of—!"
The magus was unable to charge towards her, as they had to dodge the sudden jewels that were aimed towards them. When they righted themselves from the sudden attack and turned to her, they froze.
Tohsaka smirked as she held jewels in both her hands. With a throw, all were tossed mid air. She extended her arm, and her magic circuits began to flare. Midair, the gems all began to glow in a dark ominous color.
Then she spoke.
"Gandr."
Suddenly the magus had to deal with a large amount of gandr curses aimed towards them.
There was no escape with the large amount of projectiles since there were too many to dodge. The magus immediately brought their hand up and batted away the projectiles with intense fervor, the mystic codes in their hand allowing them to blast away the gandr somewhere behind him. Out of either pure skill or luck, the projectiles were all deflected away.
Tohsaka's retaliation was to just do it all again.
With two hands reinforced, perhaps it would be easy. But the magus in front of her only had one hand to use, and she could see that it was beginning to tax them. They were stuck in place, unable to strike back because the range of their attacks were confined at arms length, just taking it or else get hit by the large amount of curses hurled towards them.
Then finally…
"—! What!?"
Unnoticed amidst the barrage, were tossed jewels that landed to the side of the magus. It cracked and out of it came thorny strong-as-steel vines that Tohsaka used to incapacitate them earlier. It snared their left arm, traveling near the hand with the mystic code that can destroy steel even with a single touch.
Yet the magus didn't move a single inch to destroy it. Instead, they froze.
Tohsaka let out a satisfied huff.
"I knew it. It was strange that you had such a strong mystic code yet you didn't use it to break out earlier, and instead chose to sacrifice an arm to escape." Tohsaka commented as she approached the now bound magus. "That destructive effect—if connected to you, it affects you as well, doesn't it? I imagine the mystic code would destroy you as well since the chain is connected to yourself… from what I could guess on that magic circle, it's something like kinetic energy, right?"
The twitch Tohsaka saw in the magus shoulder made it confirmation enough.
"You're bound, unable to do anything, and those chains drain the magical energy you have each second. Do the smart move and surrender." she stated to the magus.
For a few seconds, the magus was quiet.
Then, their stance slowly relaxed.
"...Very well."
…
…
After the magus had surrendered, Tohsaka wasted no time tying up the magus in chains after draining their od completely dry. Emiya was around somewhere, walking around after she instructed him to take watch of any suspicious that might come near. Now, she was left standing in front of the incapacitated magus, who had been quiet ever since their announcement of surrender.
A few moments of complete silence and she inwardly sighed. Looks like they won't be forthcoming with giving away information… I guess we'll go the hard way.
"Rogue Mage's Association. A group of rogue magi that banded together, known for having a great grudge at the members of the Mage's Association… but disappeared three years ago after failing an attack and never heard from ever since." Tohsaka recited from her memory.
There was no reaction. The magus' body language was completely neutral.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
The magus sneered at her. "Upstart girl. I will not tell you anything."
Her eyebrow raised, unamused by the magus' behavior.
"Do you really want to do that? I can shoot you with a gandr curse you know? Ill make sure it won't kill you, but you sure will be wanting to be dead soon after." she threatened calmly.
Her words made the magus tense minutely, but it immediately disappeared. She caught it though, and that was enough for the Tohsaka heir.
"...Do it if you want, you'll be dealing with far worse than I."
She frowned. "What?"
"Foolish child. Are you really that daft?" the magus asked her in a condescending tone\ "I have said to you that you will suffer the wrath of our organization. Attacking one of us would simply invite the others."
"Did you really think there would only be one of us operating in this city?"
Tohsaka blinked.
"I see you've realized it now. As we speak, others would've noticed my absence and were already out to investigate… I may be in chains now, but you'll be dealing with much more powerful enemies!" the magus smirked. "My mystic code, already incredible for obliterating things with transferring vibrations of kinetic energy in a mere touch, is nothing compared to the ones wielded by my superior who is on their way right now!"
As if confirming what the magus had said, she heard the sound of an explosion somewhere in the distance. Tohsaka turned in that direction and her eyes widened as she saw metal crates fly into the air, looking completely obliterated.
She flinched when one of the scrap landed near them, and she stared at the smoking heap scrap.
"That must be their mystic code." the magus intoned with smugness. "Unlike mine, they can make use of kinetic energy to imitate bombs, to the point that they are equivalent to instant hand grenades. Although, it was more powerful than it usually is… it must be because he upgraded his mystic codes. They must be comparable to tank shots now."
"Your manservant that you ordered to patrol out, though I feel he is strong, he must be nothing but a chunk of meat smeared on the ground as of this moment. You'll be the one next." the magus paused. "Although… that might change. If you remove these chains and tell me where you managed to gain information of us, that is."
Tohsaka continued to stare.
The magus frowned. "Are you deaf girl? Or did the shock get you—"
The magus paused as they followed the direction of which she was staring at, and they saw a figure sail into the air. One that quickly approached the ground and landed near beside them with a 'thud'.
It was a person wearing a dark robe, almost identical to the bound magus, except with a larger figure. They were sprawled on the ground, completely knocked out.
"...We really need to talk about you and collateral damage, Emiya-kun." Tohsaka said exasperatedly when Emiya came jogging out a moment after.
His tracksuit was in tatters, and he was sporting a few bruises here and there, but on the most part he looked fine. "Hm? What do you mean?" he asked.
Tohsaka sighed and pointed at the scrap near them. "This. This needs to stop. It's a trouble to keep things under wraps when you keep destroying things." she crossed her arms. "At this rate, you're going to be the one paying for this stuff."
Emiya froze. "Ah." his gaze went to anything but her. "W-W-Wait, Tohsaka-san. That's not for real, right? It's not like I mean to break them or anything! Hahaha…" his gaze landed at the knocked out magus sprawled out on the ground. "—Actually, it's this guy's fault Tohsaka-san! His explosions made a mess of everything! He should be the one paying for all this, right!?"
She was silent for a few seconds, and the young man began to sweat profusely.
Tohsaka waved her hand dismissively. "Just… try not to do it again."
Emiya let out a sigh of relief.
Tohsaka turned to the bound magus, who was still gawking at the sight of his defeated superior. "...Now, where were we? Oh yeah, you said something about not giving away information, did you?"
Tohsaka tried not to smirk as the magus stared at her with a fearful expression.
The magus immediately gave away the information they wanted after the complete showing of how they were completely outmatched. Emiya and Tohsaka both listened to the overview of the whole operation of the association and where the base of operations are.
They were ordered by their leader to kidnap as many as possible and take them to the hideout. The magus wasn't aware of the specifics of what they were planning to do as they were of a lower rank than the rest and you need to be a high ranker in the association to know it. That had bummed Tohsaka a bit, but she couldn't complain much for getting the information.
However, the real shock for her was that they weren't the ones responsible for the stealing of the body of the Muscle Monster. It seems that it was a different group that was responsible for it, and the only thing they had in common was wearing dark cloaks.
It looks like they had to deal with that as well. But for the meantime, they had other things to worry about.
The two quickly get to the hideout of the Rogue Mage's Association to rescue the kidnapped and capture their leader. Turns out, it was somewhere at the North of Shinto, hidden in the outskirts in one of the less developed areas. It was a large building with a blocky design, made out of concrete and metal resembling a bunker more than anything else. It was so distinct that Tohsaka had to wonder how such a thing was made under her nose.
"How did they make a base like this!? How did they build this without tipping off anyone!?" she shouted in frustration. "This thing takes a lot of paperwork and time to make—not to mention actual assistance from civilian contractors! How did they do it without me even noticing!?"
The two of them now both stood in front of the building, just a bit away from the detection boundary field Tohsaka recognized when they had arrived.
Emiya simply marveled at the sight of the building. "This looks big. How can we even enter this place?"
Tohsaka forced her outrage down for a moment to think about the question. She stared at the large steel door entrance. "I don't think we can force this door open." she frowned. "That steel door must be a dozen inches thick… and that's not accounting for the fact that I can feel the protection barrier as well. We'd have to search for a different way, or maybe wait for another member to come back and open the door for us—wait, where are you going!?"
Emiya stepped in the detection boundary field and stood in front of the door. He reared back a fist then…
He punched.
The door folded inwards as it launched in the entrance as what was now used to be an impregnable door was now just a crumpled piece of metal that is in a hallway leading to more halls. Smoke from the resulting broken concrete of the large piece of metal crashing everything made everything spread into a cloud of dust.
Emiya clenched and unclenched his fist in pain as the dust slowly began to clear. "Ow, that was a kinda hard."
"What the hell are you doing!?" Tohsaka shrieked as she stomped over. "Now everybody is now alerted to us!"
"Why? You wanted the door to be forced open though?" Emiya asked as he went through.
"You didn't even let me finish!" she shouted at Emiya as she followed, before sighing. "...You know what, let's just go. It might be better for us to get to the kidnapped quickly." Tohsaka sees the entrance split into two hallways. "Let's split up—I'll take the right, and you take the left. If it's not on this floor I'll go down and see if they have a basement, while you'll go up. Send me a message on your phone if you find them and I'll do the same."
Emiya nodded as they separated, leaving her on her own.
Let's see… this base is clearly designed to deal with any invaders, with its steel bunker design and all. So I'm going to assume that any important places are out of reach in case someone did enter their base. She thought as she began scouring the current floor, using reinforcement to quickly clear the hallways. Looks like I'd have to find a way to go down…
"...There she is!" A voice called out behind her.
"Intruder!" Another followed.
"Tch." Tohsaka clicked her tongue as she turned around to the source of the voices.
Tohsaka sees a couple of cloaked figures dash towards her as she clears another hallway. In an instant she tossed jewels towards them, breaking into thorny vines she used to ensnare the magus earlier. One of them got caught, while the other managed to dodge.
Both of them failed to notice the volley of gandr that launched towards them the next moment, making them fall on the floor unconscious.
Those two must have come from somewhere. She thought as she landed smoothly from her reinforced dash after the short exchange. She immediately went to the direction the two appeared from.
It didn't take long for her to see staircases leading down. She steeled herself, clutching the jewels in her pockets tightly, then went down the steps.
Soon, she found herself in a large room. And her eyes widened.
People wrapped in chains, blindfolded, and gagged. They sat there on their knees looking unresponsive to the world despite not looking unconscious… a clear sign of them being hypnotized. Nevertheless, these were obviously the kidnapped. They were at the side of the room, kneeling on the floor quietly.
But just a few meters away from them, was a person. They wore a cloak as well, much like the others who were part of the organization, but this time the cloak's design was different. It looked… remarkably familiar, but she can't pin down why. They blocked her way towards the kidnapped, and while she can feel that the magus in front of her was on a whole another level from her previous opponents, it had nothing compared to the other thing inside the room.
Since in the center of the room was an odd floating… something. It was large, about her size, and looked like a strange mesh of gears and prisms that resembles more of a four-dimensional object than anything else. It glowed in ethereal blue from the amount of mana it exudes, and she could feel the very incredibly dense mana that seemed to cycle inside the thing.
It felt like… a miniscule star.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" the person spoke, seeing her shock. They turned to marvel at the thing behind them. "To circulate mana in such a way, efficiently taking ambient energy and forming dense mana, eventually transforming it into something like… this. It is breathtaking."
"W-What the hell is that…?" she found herself asking.
"The Soul Accelerator." they answered, looking at their work. "Our very own path to the Root of all things."
Tohsaka froze.
"'When a living being dies, where does the soul go?'" the magus asked rhetorically. "This is our answer to the age-old question our hated enemies tried to answer. While they waste their time on posturing and politics, we have achieved something they haven't in their lifetimes in only a matter of years."
Tohsaka stared at the device with wide eyes. And with that amount of mana at its disposal, it might be possible… no, wait. Focus!
Discreetly, she took her phone and sent a message to Emiya. "You think that could reach the Root? I'm sorry to say, but I'm having a hard time believing that. Sure it might contain a lot of mana, but all I'm seeing is a glorified battery." she skeptically questioned.
Despite being covered in cloak, she could feel the person frown. "...Sadly, even I am not aware of how the device worked. As vice leader I was given a general idea, but this genius masterpiece was formed by our leader. From what I could tell, it uses the dense mana inside it to punch a hole through reality while the gathered souls traveled back to the root." they shook their head. "Perhaps if our leader was here there would be a better explanation. But alas, they have been missing since a few weeks ago. We think it's one of the other factions in this city."
This guy isn't the leader? She blinked, before shaking her head.
"So you decide to kidnap civilians to use their souls with the device. I'm afraid I wouldn't allow you to do that." she states to the vice leader magus. "Not only were you intruding upon my territory, but you were also endangering innocents. Such a thing is… unacceptable."
The vice leader turns around to regard her. They stared at her for a few moments, before giving a contemplative hum. "A magus with principles. How strange, for such a dying kind to work for an organization like the Mage's Association. Tell me… "
"...Do you know why our organization exists, Second Owner?"
Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Certainly you have to wonder why we despise the Mage's Association so much, correct? Let me tell you something that the group didn't inform you about us." the vice leader began.
"We are a group of disgraced magi, thrown away and betrayed by our families. We are their 'failures', the ones who have failed to be their tools for their own agenda. The ones who saw the depravity of that organization firsthand."
"We are people whose lives were utterly destroyed with their frivolous goals. The ones trampled under the foot of those who didn't value human life. We represent the countless who perished under their tyranny, being above any law or authority to act upon their injustice."
The vice leader brought up a clenched fist.
"We are their antithesis; The Rogue Mage's Association! It is our sole goal to remove the threat that is the Mage's Association—as they are the ones responsible for humanity being held back! With them being gone, and with a path to the Root of All Things and Akashic Records opened, we'll usher forth a new human era that no longer depends on fickle things like magi and magecraft!"
Tohsaka watched as the fist unclenched and extended towards her, the vice leader beckoning her to take his hand.
"Second Owner—no, Tohsaka Rin. I speak of you, magus to magus. Do you want to witness this birth of a new age with us?"
Tohsaka stared at the hand.
…To be completely honest, there was a part of her that was tempted to take the offer.
As a magus, it was her ultimate goal to reach the Root. Her life was supposed to revolve upon finding a way to find it. That significant part of her that was cultivated as a child wanted nothing more than to take that hand and see what would happen, no matter the consequence.
However…
She felt the phone vibrate in her hand. Taking a discreet glance, she saw Emiya's message.
Emiya: I'll be right there.
Her eyes looked at it for a few moments, then towards the kidnapped people.
She turned to the vice leader with a shake of her head.
"A nice offer, but you'd have to get my rejection for that one." she drawled out. "I have my pride as a magus after all. I'd rather die than coast on someone else's work."
The vice leader brought their hand down. "Such a shame… You seem like a promising young talent." they said, shaking their head disappointingly. "However. This still changes nothing."
"Because the moment you entered this room—"
Tohsaka tensed as she heard a heavy thud behind her. A look and she saw that a steel door had closed the stairs exiting the basement.
"—Your life was already forfeit."
She didn't hesitate, quickly getting hold of her jewels and shot her curses to the vice leader. "Gandr!"
The curses homed into the magus, who simply stayed there calmly, and simply held out a hand in front of them in response.
"Invers."
Tohsaka's eyes widened. W-Wait, that spell—!
From the hand of the magus came out a magic circle that shot projectiles which hit the curses midair, making them explode. Tohsaka had to cover her face to not get hindered with the dust blown away from the explosion. As the smoke cleared, Tohsaka saw the magus still standing there, moving not a single inch in that exchange.
I remember now, why their cloak was so familiar. Her mind looked at the magus in front of her and juxtaposed it with the image of the rogue magus she remembered that was defeated before she met Emiya. The resemblance between the two of them was uncanny. And if they said that their leader was captured… then that must mean that that rogue magus was their leader!
That magus was strong. She saw the aftermath of the probable fight with Emiya—if that magus didn't encounter him and his ridiculous strength, then it's possible that they'd have obliterated their opponent ten times over. And from what she was seeing, this vice leader seems to be similar to that one, implying the same firepower at their disposal.
…Perhaps if she were that same Tohsaka Rin from the past, she'd have a hard time dealing with such an opponent. However these past few weeks were eye-opening for her, and how she was very much not strong enough to defeat powerful opponents. Not without depending on Emiya anyway.
But now?
She continued to shoot barrages of gandr curses towards the vice leader, making them forcefully dodge this time instead of using more counter curses. Tohsaka quickly tossed jewels to the behind the magus while they were distracted, exploding into thorn vines that reached out to the magus, moving to grab them from behind.
"What—!?" they reacted quickly and reinforced their arms to cut some of the vines before they could get grabbed. However, one still managed to snake in and get a hold of them, hurling them away from the kidnapped people and towards the device. They landed in a crash and a pained grunt just a few meters away from it.
Tohsaka meanwhile, was busy. She brought out a jewel from her pocket which glowed blue and shattered, releasing magical energy.
"Acht, Sieben, Sechs—"
Ice began to form from the air around her. Od transferred into the air and turned water vapor into ice. Incredible magical energy compressed and formed into two thin icicle spears, floating just above her in form of not only a dangerous weapon, but a bomb.
She pointed it at the vice leader, who was struggling to get out of the thorned vines. They saw her prepare her incantation and saw them take something out from their pocket—a rune stone, from the inscriptions that she could see. The magus threw it at her and it shot like a bullet.
She barely managed to dodge out of the way before the impossibly fast projectile nicked her left arm. She flinched from the pain but held on.
"—Stil, schießt Beschießen, Erschießung!"
Then the ice spears launched from behind her, homing towards the magus. It cracked and released a dense amount of mana.
And the basement exploded.
The entire room shook, blasting debris and dust all over the place. Thankfully, none hit the kidnapped people on the side of the room.
Tohsaka almost lost her footing, but she managed to stay upright. Her eyes were trained at the cloud that was kicked up from the explosion, not relaxing one bit until she saw her opponent was down for the count.
That was the best spell at my disposal with the sheer mana output that it had. That was supposed to be a trump card… I spent about a year putting mana in that jewel. She took a mental count of the jewels that she used. At this point, I only have a couple for my thorned vines, and still a few for the gandr and finn shots. That magus better be dead by now.
Her caution proved correct as laughter echoed in the room.
She grimaced. …Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"I admit, you caught me off-guard with that one. Color me impressed."
As the dust cleared, Tohsaka paled.
She could see that their cloak was in tatters and barely survived the explosion. They were barely standing with their own strength, looking dead on their feet as blood was leaking from their body and pooled on the floor.
"However, I won't be defeated just yet…! Not until I achieve my vengeance!" the vice leader let out with gritted teeth.
However, what alarmed her was the fact that the vice leader's hand was touching the device. She saw mana flow from it and into his body, lighting up his circuits in an alarmingly deep blue color.
The vice leader laughed euphorically as he began to absorb the mana inside of him, unheeding of the blood he spilled by doing so. "I could feel it! Such a great feeling… to feel this power flowing through my veins!"
"You… What are you doing!?" Tohsaka shouted with wide eyes.
The human body wasn't built for taking in large amounts of mana inside them. Forcibly doing so would just overload their circuits, killing them and possibly even damaging their soul in the process once you got past a certain limit. And with this dense mana, comparable to a miniscule star…
The vice leader shouted in pain, falling into their knees as they began to transform.
Their obscured face, with only their chin visible, disappeared into the darkness of their tattered cloak. Their circuits that were absorbing the device's mana crawled up their arm and spread all over their body like spreading veins, centering into their chest as a strange core that resembled the device they were connected to.
Tohsaka watched as their body grew larger and more muscular, with the magus' clothes shifting to become a part of their body. She watched as the clothes turned into hard plates, with circuits running between and under them, and as the magus' gloves and boots turned into sharp claws.
And just as abruptly as it appeared, the transformation ended.
The vice leader stood up calmly and took on their new form.
"...This is a sign." they said, voice echoing from the darkness of their cloak's hood. "A sign that my cause to destroy the Mage's Association is not a wrong one. I can feel it in my very core—the ideal that I embody within me!"
The vice leader chuckled, which slowly turned into a deep bellowing laugh that gave Tohsaka a deep sinking feeling.
"I have become pure power!" the monster exclaimed with his hands spread out in jubilation.
Tohsaka knew, without a doubt, that what she was looking at was not human. It can barely even be called that. No, this was something different entirely—one she knew and recognized the moment this thing started speaking.
It was a monster. Just like the Muscle Man and Sentient Briefs.
And she could feel it. No matter how powerful those two were, they were no match to what she was seeing in front of her now.
Tohsaka grit her teeth. She discreetly put her hands in her pocket to take out the jewels—
"I can see you move."
—and gasped as a hand grabbed her arm and held her up in the air before she could take it out. She struggled to the monster that appeared suddenly in front of her, but to no avail. The monster then squeezed her arm painfully, making her swallow a scream of pain.
"Senses surpassing that of any living being on earth. I can see from far away, and can see clearly in the dark. I can hear the heartbeats of all things in this room, and I can feel the vibrations in my feet and sense all others in the building as well." the monster remarked contemplatively.
The monster suddenly threw her to the steel door blocking the entrance to the room, making her gasp in pain. In her hand, the jewel she had clutched to before being grabbed cracked as her concentration from casting a curse failed. The monster approached her slowly.
"Brain power that is in the realm of genius—making me read people completely. I can tell which moves you are going to do before you even start." they continued.
Tohsaka shakingly stood up, clutching her now dislocated arm. Her circuits glowed as she reinforced her legs and ran to the monster in the blink of an eye, delivering a kick that didn't get a flinch from the monster. Then her pocket glowed, jewels cracking as thorny vines went and grabbed them.
"—guh!" the monster slapped her away with a backhand making her grunt painfully. She landed and skidded on the ground.
The monster observed at the vines that utterly failed to restrain them physically, but still had the secondary function of absorbing their magical energy. They simply clenched their fist and their transformed circuits glowed brightly in response. Tohsaka watched as her mystic codes break due to the sheer amount of the mana it had absorbed from the monster.
"And finally, the mana equivalent of that of those from the Age of Gods." the monster said as they dust away the remains of the mystic code. They walk towards her. "This is the true potential of mankind unleashed—you have lost the moment this fight had begun. You were simply no match to my strength."
Then they stopped a few meters in front of her.
"I thank you for your actions, girl. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have a way to finally achieve the dream we were chasing for so long. And for that… I will give you a painless death."
Tohsaka watched the monster raise a hand towards her, with a mystic code floating in front of the magus from the depths of their cloak. It whirled violently producing a high-pitched noise, shining bright blue in the same shade as the mana flowing in the circuits of the monster. She could see blue sparks of lightning around it from the sheer velocity the mystic code whirled.
"This is the strongest mystic code that our leader had created and passed down to me. Kinetic energy, used to excite every molecule in your body and break its bonds, disintegrating you into nothingness. The moment it touches you… your life will cease."
She doesn't think she can dodge this one.
"Farewell, Tohsaka Rin. Perhaps if you had joined forces with us… things might be so different."
"Spulbera."
And then the mystic code launched towards her.
Tohsaka closed her eyes as the projectile neared—
—And the world exploded.
…Or, more accurately, the door blocking the exit of the room did.
And what came out from it placed itself between the projectile and Tohsaka, protecting her from another explosion powered by condensed mana comparable to that of a miniscule star.
When the smoke cleared, what was standing there was a person that was covering Tohsaka with his back. His clothes were burned into tatters, revealing an upper body that was completely covered with lacerations and burns. The explosion had injured him fatally, and he could barely keep standing up on his own strength.
But despite that, Saitama's focus was not on himself, but rather on barely conscious Tohsaka right in front of him.
"Hoh? And what do we have here? Another magus?" the monster spoke behind him. "You must be quite impressive for you to survive my attack just now. Are you perhaps a manservant of this girl? We did get reports of someone tagging along with the Second Owner as she patrolled in her city…"
The monster trailed off as their gaze turned to the side, seeing something that gained their attention. It was the sprawled bodies of some of the members of their organization, with some of them he even recognized as their most powerful members. They littered the floor up to the stairs.
Then the monster's gaze went back to Saitama, who now had Tohsaka carried in bridal style and put her down near the kidnapped people.
"Hm. Curious. Despite seeing the dire state of the girl you are not running. Tell me boy, are you trying to throw your life away?" the monster asked. "What are you exactly trying to accomplish? Do you not know what stands before you?"
The monster whipped a hand to the side, throwing up its cloak and making it look like it was flowing in the wind.
"Then let me correct your mistake! What you see before you is the next step of human evolution, the apex being that stands above all humans and magi! What you see is a prelude to the dream that we wish once we achieve the root and realize the birth of a new human era!"
"My previous name and identity… they no longer matter. No, I feel it in my heart. The name that I shall be called and will be known as!"
The monster did a pose where he spread out his arms as his transformed circuits glowed brightly. "I am Exceed Man, the being that exceeds all! As man stands atop the food chain, I stand atop them!"
The monster pointed at Saitama who remained standing in front of Tohsaka, his expression hidden as his back was facing the monster.
"Your master was merely met with not ten percent of my power. Tell me then boy, do you think that you have a chance against me? You, a normal magus, defeating something that exceeds all the—"
"Shut up!"
Saitama turned around and punched him.
However, instead of his fist meeting the abdomen of the monster, it was redirected to the side instead. Shockwave traveled to the walls beside the monster and destroyed the wall, raining rubble on them.
Saitama's eyes were wide as he looked at the monster's hand that parried his punch.
"What!?"
"Interesting. It seems that you are no ordinary magus." the monster commented. "Such a strong attack, but it means nothing to my superior reflexes."
Before Saitama could move, he was kicked by the monster and was sent flying, but he righted himself midair and landed on the ground on his feet, skidding from the momentum.
Saitama looked to the monster after he recovered and immediately brought his hands up to block the sudden kick to the side as the monster appeared in front of him. Again, he was sent careening from the hit, and this time he wasn't ready for the follow up uppercut that hit his gut.
Saitama felt his breath leave his lungs and he was sent crashing to the ceiling and through it. The metal bunker wasn't strong enough to withstand the forces, and now he crashed into the upper floors of the building.
But the monster wasn't done. In a burst of speed it had jumped and was right in front of Saitama, clutching his neck with one hand while his body dangled. And on the other hand, a whirling projectile mystic code that was being charged.
"Perish!"
The monster threw Saitama on the ground, making it crack then let go of his projectile. It hit Saitama head on, engulfing them in a great explosion that sent them back down to the basement.
Clouds of dust were kicked up from the attack, and from the resulting destruction the monster stood without even the slightest injury despite being the closest to the explosion.
"Pathetic. Despite surviving the first few hits, in the end my power was unmatchable. Try as you might but the eradication of the Mage's Association is inevitable—along with our dream of a new human era." the monster sneered as it began to turn around—
The monster raised its arms to block the attack. Fist hits plated monster flesh, and the strength of the attack made the clouds of dust dissipate entirely.
"I'm still not done, you weird cloak bastard!" Saitama shouted.
The monster's hidden face looked in shock at Saitama who was still standing, gritting his teeth despite being covered in blood.
"Y-You, how—!?"
Saitama grabbed the arm that blocked his attack and flipped himself up to hit the head of the stunned monster with a kick, then another when the monster's head twisted to the side. The monster recovered and blocked the kick and threw a punch, which Saitama blocked, and countered with another.
Saitama and the monster were locked in a brutal exchange. Their movements were fast, and each hit made shockwaves that kicked up dust.
The monster blocked another punch, but unlike the others, the monster's arm cracked. What!? His strength… it's increasing!
That realization had the effect of a lapse in concentration and the monster was unable to block the next attack. The monster's entire body twisted to the side as Saitama's fist hit its head.
The monster jumped back, suddenly feeling light-headed from the hit. And what's more, his attacks are getting faster! Fast enough that my reflexes are unable to keep up!
Curses… to have such power, why is this guy working underneath the Second Owner? And is this guy even human in the first place…!? No magus can achieve this much power!
Still, to have pushed me this far… it seems there is no choice…!
"Be honored, boy. For you shall witness true power!" the monster shouted.
The core in the middle of the chest of the monster glowed bright, spreading into the transformed circuits. Overflowing mana radiated from the entire monster's being and it directed that energy to its arms, hand, then to the mystic code.
From last time, the mystic code glowed dark red, but this time it glowed a dark deep blue that told how dense the mana it was being fed. Compared to the usual amount of mana, this would be a hundred times as much.
"Take this! A whole one hundred percent of my power!" the monster exclaimes. "Spulbera!"
Its speed was instantaneous. The sheer speed of the projectile made it impossible to dodge. With wide eyes, Saitama was hit directly by the mystic code, and was engulfed in an explosion leagues greater in magnitude from the precious attacks.
The whole building shook, destroying the current floor and the ones above it. In fact, as the cloud from the explosion slowly dissipated, the shine of moonlight was visible from above.
The monster brought down their hand, heaving deep breaths.
…Such a powerful attack. It's not yet compared to the monsters in the Mage's Association like the Director, but I can feel my power grow the longer I walk this Earth.
Perhaps this way I could finally achieve my—
The monster stopped and stared in shock.
No… Impossible…!
Because standing in front of him was Saitama, gritting his teeth as he shakingly stood up. His entire body felt pain. He felt so many broken bones grinding against his insides, and his muscles were already screaming in pain. There was a cloud in his mind and he felt heaviness in his eyes that wanted him to go to sleep.
Yet he still stood up.
"I'm… not going to…" Saitama gritted out. "I'm not going to lose now…!"
"How!? How are you still alive!?" the monster shouted.
"Why am I still alive?" He muttered. "...You called yourself a seed something right? Then let me make it clear!"
Saitama thumped his fist at his heart.
"I'm a hero! And as long as rotten bastards like you exist, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
The monster stared at Saitama as he declared that fact.
"A hero…?"
The monster muttered.
"A hero… a person that does good for the sake of others? A person that saves other people from danger? A hero, who puts humanity's safety above all things!? Who upholds justice from the evildoers!?"
The monster dashed and he appeared in front of Saitama, fist clenched in rage and reared back. He punched Saitama in the face and produced a shockwave of displaced air.
Saitama's head slightly twisted to the side, but he remained in place.
"Do you not realize that I am the hero here, boy!? I will defeat the Mage's Association once and for all! And once I achieve that, I can bring about a new human era! One where there is no suffering! I fight for our very own future!" it shouted as it kept punching him. "You are fighting for the kidnapped here—but what are a few lives compared to the rest of humanity!?"
Despite the punches, Saitama still remained standing.
"You… are nothing but an obstacle to my dream! You will fall here, along with the others!" the monster reared back his fist again. "Die!"
Saitama punched, and the monster folded. Cracks appeared in the body of the monster from the impact, and the monster's large bulk was launched away from the sheer power of the attack.
"Human era this, human era that! You keep mouthing off about it but it's all over the place! Sure it sounds good, but it's just making me confused!" Saitama shouted. "Do you really know what you're talking about or are you just pulling things out of your ass!?"
"You… YOU DARE!?" the monster shouted in rage as it recovered and sent another punch.
"SHUT UP!" Saitama punched the monster on the face, making its entire twist sideways. "Do you really think doing all that will solve all problems!? That getting rid of magic or whatever would make everyone suddenly happy!? Get a life you moron!"
The monster was sent flying once more, but this time it landed roughly on the ground.
The plates covering its body were now completely cracked. The transformed circuits underneath were completely visible, and were leaking dark blue ichor to the ground. Compared to its previous appearance, it looked very fragile.
"I… I…!" the monster pushed itself up.
I will not be beaten until I… until I…!
"—GGGGRAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!"
The monster roared as it began to glow. The core in its chest shined, and an ethereal connection reached out into its source. From behind the monster, the miniature star glowed and fed all the mana into the monster.
The monster's transformed circuits glowed white as lightning began to shoot off from its body. It floated in the air from its sheer power, and reality seemed to warp with the sheer amount of mana emanating from its presence.
"I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"
The monster stretched out a hand and formed a familiar stance, and the mystic code was once again whirling at his hand. This time, the energies were so vast that it became a maelstrom of lightning and mana energy, giving off a completely bright white light that would burn the eyes of those who would see it.
"The entire energy of our leader's device, fed into the strongest mystic code that he created! An overload of kinetic energy that can eviscerate even a dead apostle ancestor! Once you get hit by this, you'll be reduced into atomic nothingness!"
Saitama clenched his fist as he stared at the monster determinedly.
"My complete power and beyond!" the monster bellowed. "Soul Accelerator Synchronization!"
"TAKE THIS, HERO! SPULBERA!"
The monster shot the projectile as it formed a large white beam that consumed anything in its path.
Saitama watched as the beam headed towards him.
—And time seemed to pause.
…
His body was at its limit.
No, scratch that, it was way past his limit already.
But he only needed a single punch. A single punch to end it all.
Through gritted teeth, he wanted to move despite the world and reality preventing him from doing so.
He would die, and the others would suffer because of it. The kidnapped would get killed along with Tohsaka. Taiga would be left without a brother. Sakura would be left without a senpai. And the monsters will roam around the city without anything to stop them.
But there was something that made it possible. There was fire in his eyes, and he knew that if he just found the will to push through, he could move.
And so he did.
Saitama ran towards the monster's attack and reared back his fist, meeting it head on.
And he felt his heart beat.
The two attacks clashed, one between a monster powered by a device capable of piercing through reality and the other, a high schooler boy that was a hero.
And between the two…
The fist had broken through.
At the conclusion of the entire fight, the base of the Rogue Mage's Association was in a state of complete destruction. The floors beside the basement were wrecked and destroyed, and the entire place was about to crumble down.
Tohsaka had already led the kidnapped people outside and away from the danger. She had difficulty doing it, considering that her entire body was in pain while also sporting a broken arm, but she managed to do it nonetheless. Now they were waiting outside, ready to be snapped out of hypnotism anytime.
Now she was only here for the final person that she needs to get out.
Tohsaka stared at the visage of an unconscious Emiya. He was completely covered in blood and wounds, one that she knew that would have killed any person twice over, but he still breathed. She had done all that she could to heal him so that he wouldn't die from blood loss.
She knew that he was strong—out of everyone she personally knew, he was the strongest of them all. But the world is vast and there are much greater things out there. For all that Emiya stated that he was a 'hero for a hobby', she always wondered whether he'll still think that way in the face of true danger… because as much as she wanted to believe it, someone that altruistic doesn't exist.
"I'm a hero! And as long as rotten bastards like you exist, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
And yet he was willing to risk his life for it, pushing through and doing the impossible.
It was just like that muscle monster… and probably for his earlier fights before he met me. Why do you do this to yourself, Emiya? What pushes you to do all this?
Why do you want to be a hero?
"...You idiot, hurting yourself like this." she muttered as she started to support Emiya up with her shoulder.
A chuckle. "He really wasn't."
Tohsaka tensed as she heard the voice.
H-He's still alive!? How!?
She held Emiya on her grip tighter and angled him away from the vice leader. She had to take out her jewels and—
"Don't worry, girl. I won't hurt you or the boy. I had already lost this battle." the voice interrupted. She turned at the source and her eyes widened. "I believe I'm not capable of doing such a thing, anyhow."
The vice leader was covered in blood, with his entire left side no longer to be found. Around him blue ichor and cracked plates are was clear that they were completely defeated, but that is not what is surprising to Tohsaka.
Because instead of the monster she expected, she was looking at a human again.
"...You are not a normal magus are you, Tohsaka Rin?"
She flinched. "...What?"
The vice leader was silent for a moment, before they spoke. "Any magus would have taken the opportunity to see the Root, yet you have refused it." a pause. "I'd have thought it was because of your principles, or your duty… but I can clearly see now. That you still bear your morals."
The dying vice leader inclines their head to look at the now-visible night sky above.
"Such a tantalizing goal, The Root of All things. So tantalizing that all things seem not so important in the face of it. So much that we tend to lose the important things all for the sake of it all. It seems so obvious, now that I am at death's door." the vice leader chuckled again, but this time tinged with self-deprecation. "The ultimate goal of magi—what a bunch of nonsense."
The vice leader sighed.
"The boy was right in what he said earlier. Our organization existed for revenge against the Mage's Organization that led to us being disgraced, only covering ourselves with righteous reason as a means to the end. I suppose it's a way to deal with all the sacrifices we made along the way." they spoke. "We have lost sight of our true goal a long time ago, if there was even one in the first place."
"Try to not follow my footsteps, young Tohsaka. Magi had been too absorbed in their magecraft to realize what is important. Don't fall for the same trap as all of us did."
Tohsaka was silent.
She didn't answer, but the contemplative expression that she wore gave it away enough.
If they were bothered by the silence, the vice leader didn't comment on it. Instead, the vice leader smiled. "And before I forget…" they lead on.
"While it may not be my true goal to create a new human era… I still find that ideal beautiful. And what you hold in your arms might be the key to it." they spoke. "For all his ridiculous talk of being a hero… I'm sure that it's not as far-off as it seems. Be sure to take care of that young man, I'd like to see how far he goes."
She took one last look at the magus before facing behind her. "…I don't need you to tell me all that."
The vice leader laughed in reply.
The building slightly shook as the foundations are unable to withstand the building's weight from the accumulated damage. Rubble fell from the ceiling from the destroyed upper floors. The whole place was now on the verge of collapsing… and they were running out of time.
With no more things to say, Tohsaka went to the exit with Emiya in tow, leaving the slowly dying vice leader and all the other members behind.
The vice leader—no, the man simply stared at the moon in the night sky.
"Such a beautiful view." he marveled. "To think I never took time to see its beauty until now…"
It was at this moment that the entire building collapsed, succumbing to all the damage. It had buried all things inside it with steel and rubble, crushing all that was inside. Luckily, Tohsaka and Saitama were already outside when it happened.
But within…
The man who once was a magus managed to recover the humanity that he lost in his last breath.
And he died with a smile on his face.
This chapter took way longer than it should have. Anyway, this small arc is finally done. It shows a lesson of how people think the Root is capable of fixing their lives and a great investment to spend entire generations of your family in. It's insane to hear and reminds me of that dialogue in Tsukihime (I think?) of how they know that the Root will do all of those if no one was able to get there in the first place. For all the Mage's Association prides themselves for being scientific they're more like a religion for putting too much faith in the Root.
Or maybe I'm misunderstanding something in the fate series. Seriously, it's like a maze there. I'm not willing to put much energy in analyzing the whole setting.
Oh, and some pointed out how Tohsaka shouldn't become tired when fighting Sentient Briefs in the earlier chapters. I went ahead and changed that to fit the situation more.
If there are more criticisms then please leave a review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!