Stiyl watched as an expended flaming sword vanished. Card runes scattered into the air like sakura petals. There was an ordinary corridor a floor above Kamijou's location, where Stiyl knew the core of the Gregorian Chant was.
He was a magician. To him, the detection of mana flow was a specialty and such a feat was simple. Though the energy harnessed by each individual student was miniscule, the power to control 2,000 people from a single point made the core's location obvious.
"…I see. So this is considered hidden, huh?" muttered Stiyl with a cigarette in his mouth.
Hiding oneself on the front of the coin was an absolute defense against those on the back. The individuals on the back could do nothing to the front, even if it were just the removal of a Christmas wrapper. By putting the core inside of an ordinary wall, it was perfectly defended. Even if an enemy magician were to find the location, if it were impenetrable, the core was safe.
"First I have to wrap the core in the wall itself." Stiyl uninterestedly puffed smoke while he created formless flames. If there were slight distortions in walls or windows that created gaps of barely one millimeter, he could force flames in with the intense 3000 Celsius heat.
The knowledge contained on the front was unsuited for the back. If Aureolus desired a perfect defense, his best option was to place the core into a plastic bag and tie it.
At any rate, without seeing the core, Stiyl destroyed it and it seemed he managed to end the Gregorian Chant.
"…Speaking of which…" Stiyl shook his cigarette. "Looking at this bloody trail, it seems like even the alchemist has fallen so far since we met. A real bloody road should be made with one's own blood, right?"
An esper and magician's physical makeup were different. If espers even attempted magic, the unstable mana would rip apart the blood vessels and nerves in the body. In fact, there were numerous collapsed students on the corridor, even the area around his very feet. Some were still trembling while others were immobile. Searching the rooms would likely have resulted in hellish sights ten times worse than what he saw. On top of the sights, an unknown, thick smell of rust floated about.
Even Stiyl was amazed at his own bitterness; perhaps he still harbored some human feelings.
That guy really seems to believe in me. Recalling that esper boy, Stiyl seemed unable to bear it any longer.
Then, he heard the clear sound of footsteps approaching him from another direction. The steps were confident, had an unsuppressed volume, and seemed to fully express their killing intent, prepared to deliver the killing blow.
If an illustration were needed, it was like daring to knock on an enemy's door while fully intending to attack. Absolute confidence. It was a declaration of war with the firm belief of success, a preemptive declaration of victory.
The owner of the footsteps spoke. "Naturally, by using the pseudo-Gregorian Chant, I knew I could lure you to the core, no matter where you were hiding." The footsteps prolonging, he continued. "Certainly, there should be two intruders… where's the other one? Was that familiar of your swallowed by the Gregorian Chant?"
"I'd be really happy if that happened." Stiyl said. "But, that guy's life'll be longer than you'd think. Also, he's not something cute like a familiar." Stiyl chucked and turned to face the owner of the footsteps, his eyes no longer smiling by the end of the turn.
The footsteps came from a pair of Italian leather shoes. The long legs and two meter tall build were wrapped in an expensive, white Western suit. His name was Aureolus, and 18 year old male. He had dyed green hair to signify his control of one of the five elements, earth, while the slicked hairstyle made the Caucasian male all the more unique.
If others were dressed so ridiculously, perhaps they would have been ridiculed. But, for the middle-aged-looking man, his cloths were appropriate.
"What now? What do you intend to do by luring me here when you aren't a fighter? You should know that you alone can't stop me. Or rather, how many magic tools do you have on you, you antique salesman?"
"..."
The words seemed taboo for Aureolus. For alchemists to step up and fight on the frontlines, it was imperative that they equip themselves with weapons and spiritual items. Aureolus would have had to use tens, even hundreds, of magic tools to simply be on par with Stiyl.
"Idiot. Can't you tell that I don't have any on me?"
"I guess so. But, this entire building itself is like a sacred city, one large magic tool. Even if you don't use any tools to protect yourself, the surrounding environment will automatically help you. Hm… The problem is, why did you come out? If you stayed put, the sacred city would have fought for you. And, even if you're out here, you're still just relying on the power of the sacred city. Why are you here? Or rather, what can you do here?"
"You bastard…!"
Like a snake slithering out of its hole, a cold knife shot out of Aureolus' right sleeve with a swoosh.
A dart…? Stiyl frowned. Though it seemed like a dart, it was the size of a dagger. As Stiyl began to believe it was throwing weapon…
"Transmute!!" Immediately, the huge dart flew out like a bullet at Stiyl's eye with a golden chain attached at the end. Stiyl bent his body downwards and the snake-like golden dart flew overhead. A second golden chain flew out of Aureolus' sleeve, ripped through the air and grazed Stiyl's face.
"Tch."
With the sound of a fruit being sliced open, the tip of the dart stabbed into the back of a fallen student.
"…" Stiyl wondered what to say. "…?"
BAM! As if piercing a balloon, the student's body burst into bits and fluids. It was as if someone had used a powerful acid to dissolve the body but… something was strange. It was not an ordinary liquid but a shiny gold… It was pure gold that melted from the intense heat. With a swish, the chain curled and the dart was back into Aureolus' sleeve.
"Why are you so shocked?" Aureolus again raised his right hand. "I'm an alchemist and, I suppose, you know how I got this name."
Stiyl was speechless. The representative magic called alchemy, which was theorized to be able to convert lead into pure gold, truly existed. However, if such a project were to be carried out using modern materials, it would have taken seven trillion yen and a total of three years, a spell with quite the hefty price.
However, Aureolus had actually managed to achieve the magic in less than a second. It was impossibly fast, an unsurpassable record.
"Anyone who's touched by my Instant Alchemy Limen Magna, will be forcefully transmuted into pure gold. It can't be defended from nor avoided. Now, show me your ace, your Innocentius. I'm truly interested to see whether the shapeless flames can turn into gold." The golden dagger lunged out of his sleeve like a snake.
"…" But, Stiyl did not speak. He seemed incredulous of the situation and completely rooted to his location.
"Hm. Inevitable. It's to be expected you would be shocked after seeing my Limen Magna. But, don't get killed too easily, I'm not satisfied yet. That attitude of your from five seconds ago can't be compensated even if you died 10,000 times."
"So, why must you do something so meaningless?" With surprise, Stiyl Magnus muttered like a child who saw a ghost.
"What…?" The alchemist was shocked.
"What's so surprising about what I'm saying? The point of magic is to experiment, not get results, right? Even if an expert can make a magic drug in five seconds, what's the difference if the drug's effects are the same?"
Acting like he had seen something truly idiotic, Stiyl sighed. "It's the same with what you did. Limen Magna? How stupid. How is this any different from dumping acid on someone?"
"…Just…"
"I know you're trying really hard, but it's too much of an overkill to use Innocentius for this. Besides, he's watching a house and I have no need for him here."
"…JUST SHUT UP!!!"
In an attempt to block out the mockery, Aureolus released another Limen Magna from his right sleeve. The dart flew out with the alchemist's rage and, as the strike was much too quick, formed afterimages of several golden lasers. A barrage of ten in one second, the flesh and blood body of the magician Stiyl could not match the velocities. In the end, six of the ten stabbed through the head and abdomen like a sewing machine.
"And, what's with this? Haven't you realized you're just a magic tool?" The runic cards owned by Stiyl danced about in the air. His upper body was pierced into the shape of a honeycomb and there was even a hole through his head the width of an arm. However, Stiyl Magnus' extremely bored and unenthusiastic voice still continued.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?"
Extremely stunned, Aureolus continued to fire Limen Magna and Stiyl's tatter upper body was continually pierced and his formerly unharmed lower body was also gaining holes.
"Using basic materials and Germanic Cross to materialize a soul… it really does like something a Roman Catholic priest would do. But, I'm just looking for the real Aureolus Izzard. Will the fake Aureolus please step aside?" Stiyl said, while his body swayed in the air. He gradually became transparent, seemingly about to disappear at any moment, but he continued to remain standing.
"What are you talking about!? These words defy basic premises! Obviously I created Limen Magna. Where else would this power come from?"
"Of course it came from the real Aureolus Izzard. I believe you're beginning to realize something wrong, right? Alright, let me ask you a question. Fake Aureolus, why did you start to learn alchemy?"
"…Is there even a need to ask?" Aureolus said, raising Limen Magna. "The only aim of alchemy is to seek truth. I specialize in humans. Seeing how high I can go while maintaining a humane concept is the answer I seek."
For example, by consuming a poisonous plant hallucinogen, it was capable to accelerate the speed of assimilating and reciting incantations, even if it caused physical damage. Another example was the possibility to hibernate for thousands of years by entering the frozen mass of the South Pole.
But, what Aureolus sought was not a breakthrough that sacrificed one's own humanity, but how high humans could climb while maintaining their form and pride. Such was his goal of Aureolus, the descendant of the so-called famous magician-doctor Paracelsus, as an alchemist, which was also his greatest pride.
"If that's the case, why do you want a vampire, something said to surpass human understanding?"
The words of the magician crushed his beliefs.
"…"
"Hmph. See? You don't understand. You don't understand anything. You don't know what Aureolus Izzard is doing and you don't know what Aureolus Izzard is thinking of doing. You're just a fake with basic ideas in your mind that can't even understand why Aureolus Izzard would go against his fundamental beliefs to do this."
If he truly knew nothing, how could he have been the true Aureolus Izzard? The magician that should have been physically ravaged spoke with more arrogance than the alchemist
"Also, about that Limen Magna of yours, since magic exists for research, how could Aureolus Izzard be proud to say he completed such a spell? Only a child would be happy to be cured after taking flu medicine, right?"
"Ugh… Ah…" There were too many arguments for Aureolus to counter. However, Aureolus could not prevent from listening because Stiyl's words were like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, placing themselves in the deficiencies of the alchemist's heart. He truly could not ignore him.
"I'll say it as many times as you like. You're a fake. I'm looking for the real Aureolus Izzard, not you. Though it'd be easy to destroy one or two of your security functions, I'm not too willing since your face is so familiar. Get as from here as you can."
The fake Aureolus could take no more. It was not an issue of being a fake. The point was that he had spent immeasurable effort to create that one and only spell, how could it have originated from another person?
The fake Aureolus decided to use his full power to crush the enemy before him, raising his blade.
"Also, you should understand this one clearly. How could the real Aureolus Izzard lose so easily?" said a voice from behind the alchemist. In a moment, a warm, oven-like atmosphere brushed past the alchemist's face. Then, in a formerly empty place, Stiyl Magnus appeared.
A mirage…?! The fake Aureolus began to back away.
The so-called mirage was a phenomenon caused by thermal expansion that caused light to refract. Thus, it was possible for Stiyl to seemingly melt into the air or cause himself to appear somewhere like a movie projection. Such a fake image was what was repeatedly speared by Limen Magna. The true Stiyl had hidden himself in the air and crept behind Aureolus.
Aureolus thoroughly perceived Stiyl's tactic in but a moment. It was with such mirages that Stiyl avoided Limen Magna. However, the illusions that were speared seemed to cause mental falsehoods for the alchemist and the moments where the illusion and body overlapped were the most precarious.
If Stiyl stopped to think, he would have been filled with holes.
As the false Aureolus dragged his thought back to reality, a sword of flames appeared in Stiyl's right hand, which swung vertically and hacked his left hand and leg off. The cuts were extremely smooth, like a hot knife slicing butter. The parts sliced by 3000 Celsius flames did not even bleed.
"Uuah… Ah…" What dominated the alchemist's mind was not the bodily pain.
Also, you should understand this one clearly. How could the real Aureolus Izzard lose so easily? Stiyl's words echoed in his mind and shook it. It was true, Aureolus Izzard was certainly invincible and overwhelming, never knowing either failure or retreat. He could only have been called a perfect saint.
But… what was his currently sorry state? As of then, was he no different from a frightened cat that used all sorts of gimmicks for protection and trembled before attacks?
"A…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
The fake Aureolus finally lost all sanity. Despite his lack of an arm and a leg, the fake alchemist still fired Limen Magna. Stiyl, still wary of the golden dart, raised his flaming sword. However, Limen Magna flew off in a completely different direction, stabbing the students gathered on the floor and causing the entire floor to overflow with molten gold.
Then, Aureolus stabbed Limen Magna into the molten gold, perhaps having the ability to manipulate pure gold like how a magnet attracts iron sand, splattering gold all over. Of course, this included the area around Stiyl Magnus, who responded with casual blocking and a flame-sword explosion. Though the numerous droplets of gold were not blockable, the storm repelled them. Stiyl then created a new sword and sliced apart the smoke surrounding him. He saw no signs of the fake Aureolus, who had possibly escaped during the explosion, and hesitated whether to chase after him, but decided otherwise. The five meter corridor before him was covered in high temperature, lava-like molten gold that would result in burns if the distance was not jumped.
It seemed he could only make a detour, but, lucky for him, Misawa Cram School consisted of four buildings and each was linked through an overhead corridor.
There's nowhere I can't go if I don't mind some detours. Stiyl pondered.