The audience finally recovered their wits when the players started
leaving the arena.
The players did not depart in sequence.
At the end of the match, the players closest to the exit left first.
Miyuki, who landed in the center of the lake, was the third out of the
four people to leave.
After extending a deep bow towards First High's supporters in the
stands, Miyuki lightly leaped into the air and flew across the sky
towards the exit like a figure skater gliding across the ice.
Her graceful motions prompted a thunderous applause from the
audience.
In the stands, numerous individuals could be seen frantically typing
away on their portable messaging terminals.
Some were overly excited to the point that they sent scattered spittle
as they shouted into the microphone; others had to repeatedly shout
the same words over and over into the phone, yet still wound up with
a headache because of the speaker on the other line; still others
furiously ran their fingers through their hair as if mad while their
fingers danced across the keyboard; there were others who jotted
down their thoughts on erasable boards... All sorts of people used a
myriad ways to convey their amazing experience to others who were
not present.
Among them, one strange, expressionless man was staring at the
messages from the HMD. However, no one seemed to remark on his
presence.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Number 17 has reported in. The target from the second match has
passed the preliminary round."
"...It's the opponent who saw through Golden Electron Silkworms.
This is the expected result... But things are looking grim."
"Not just that. The target also used Flying-Type Magic!"
"Bullshit, how can that be possible!?"
"If the target is exhausted then we lucked out... Was that too
optimistic?"
"I don't think this is the time to quibble over the methods, right?"
"I agree. One hundred deaths or so would be enough. The competition
would be forced to end prematurely."
"Once the competition ends, we would have to return the original bets.
While there will be some loss, that's well within our limits."
"Won't our customers balk at this? Setting aside the guys from our line
of work, those weapon merchants will be a hassle. Those guys
maintain close relationships with various governments around the
globe."
"It doesn't matter what excuse we give to the customers. Currently,
rather than worrying about the merchants of death, we should be more
concerned about the organization's purging."
"Exactly... Will it be OK just leaving this to Number 17?"
"People with only a modicum of ability are no match for a 'Generator'.
Unfortunately, no weapons could be brought in, but Number 17 is a
high speed model. Once the limiter is removed, that thing can easily
kill anywhere between 100 and 200 people with its bare hands."
"So we are all in accord...? Then remove the limiter."
◊ ◊ ◊
Once the tide of enthusiasm ebbed, the man removed the CAD and
slowly rose in a crowd that was slowly departing for other matches.
The exposed eyes give off an "emotionless" impression.
No, this wasn't a blank expression, wasn't this like he lacked emotions
in the first place?
It was an utterly lifeless "expression".
Suddenly, the man's body started shaking.
In a flash, he activated personal Speed-Type Magic.
Before the Magicians around him could detect the charged magic aura,
the man pounced towards the man who just passed by him.
His outstretched fingers plunged downwards like claws towards the
unprotected back.
—Afterwards, the stage switched to the exterior of the observation
deck without anyone being the wiser.
By the time that man, "Generator" Number 17, had grasped the
situation, he was only three meters off the ground.
The first target he chose after receiving the kill order had managed to
avoid his attack even though his back was facing him. Even if this was
a full frontal assault, this reaction speed was not something mere
human cognition could accomplish.
Through personal Speed-Type Magic, Magicians could surpass the
physical movement limits of flesh.
Yet magical acceleration ultimately was only physical and not directly
accelerating — biological reactions, signal relay for the nervous
system, the brain's processing ability — the mental processing speed
itself.
Human senses surpassed physical motion, so it was possible to
mentally control physical movements that have been accelerated
beyond normal limits. However, the reverse was not true. In other
words, Magicians were still biological organisms with upper limits.
While magical acceleration had no glass ceiling in terms of magic,
there was still a finite amount that the brain could command.
In that case, his accelerated movements coupled with chemically
enhanced mental processing abilities shouldn't be something that
normal humans — even humans who could wield magic were
ultimately mortal — should be able to handle.
Yet the reality was that his stabbing forearm was caught and used as a
fulcrum to throw Number 17 into the air using his downward force as
added momentum.
Just like he was doing a somersault over a horse, he went heads over
heels in the air. During the instant he was upside down, a powerful
force smashed Number 17 past the railing of the observation deck and
sent him hurtling out of the arena.
This was Move-Type Magic that intentionally omitted the accelerated
processes.
He was almost knocked unconscious by the blow and by the time he
recovered his senses, he had nearly reached the end of the trajectory
and was about to collide with the ground from a height of 20 meters.
Normally, this situation called for an individual to huddle into a ball or
flail about in a panic as they helplessly plummeted to the earth, but
this man was a "Generator".
He was a reconstructed individual — created through a combination
of surgery and magically crafted medicinal herbs, hereby eradicating
free will and emotions and completely controlling all thoughts and
flushing all unnecessary thoughts that might obstruct magic activation.
A biological weapon forged to wield magic in the heat of battle.
A Magician re-purposed to be a tool for using magic, a "Generator".
Terror and panic held no meaning to tools.
Number 17 calmly — more like coldly applied Inertia Neutralization
Magic.
Casting deceleration right now would be like hitting the emergency
brakes, but injuries would be unavoidable. Compared to that, reducing
inertia could help mitigate some of the damage caused by the severe
shock upon contact. This was the result of almost instantaneous
calculation.
The magical herb's effects not only adjusted personal consciousness,
emotions and perception, they also improved physical mobility. By
using the elasticity within his feet as well as the muscles within his
thighs and arms, he completely absorbed the shock from his fall.
"You were able to make it in time even under those conditions. You do
have a few tricks up your sleeve."
On all four limbs, Number 17 raised his face towards the source of the
voice and found the man who had thrown him into the air.