Chapter Eighty-one: The beginning
Tengu City
Finally,
After long years, he had achieved it.
Power beyond anyone's wildest imagination. If he wished, he could drag the sky down itself.
At this point, there was almost nothing he couldn't do.
The only thing still limiting him was his human body.
Even that, however, would soon be discarded.
To others, his instinctive pursuit of power might have seemed insane.
But to him, it was simply natural.
He had already surpassed the level of strength required to survive in this world.
But survival alone had never been enough.
With that thought, Morgan raised his gaze toward the sky.
One hand lifted, partially covering the sunlight.
He stood at the edge of a skyscraper, overlooking the city below that was now eerily silent,
"Well… what are we waiting for?"
Morgan muttered, a faint smile forming on his lips.
After all, he had come this far, even preparing a stage like this.
Sure enough—
In the distance, an unidentified aircraft slowly revealed itself.
Morgan narrowed his eyes.
"Goetia? …Interesting."
A breeze swept past him, carrying with it a faint, scorching familiarity.
It felt as though the world itself was holding its breath in anticipation of the battle to come.
"Still, senior… I expected better."
The moment he said that, an invisible wave spread outward.
Not just around to him, but across the entirety of Tengu City.
"Hou?"
Just as it did.
«Kch—Brother, what was that just now?»
A mental link reached him as the slightly worried voice of a girl came through.
It was Ashley.
«Nn… that felt a lot like Maya-san.»
Artemisia's voice followed shortly after.
Most of them were far away, waiting for the right moment to transfer over.
Ashley had already marked every inch of Tengu City beforehand.
Reaching any location would be easy.
Leo, with 'Laplace demon', would keep surveillance on the entire battlefield.
While Cecile was to give orders from their HQ.
And at the center of it all—
Morgan would be at the front lines facing Westcott and the new Ellen directly.
"Yeah… it's exactly Maya-nee's abilities."
This was the Esper Path of the Strongest, huh?
Simple and straightforward.
Almost crude in its nature.
However, it was such an amusing thought.
After all, the very concept of the Esper Path had been something he created.
It was something he first painted onto the canvas that was Artemisia.
No matter how indirect the method, no matter how distorted the process became.
He would always recognize it.
It was less knowledge and more instinct.
A connection formed simply by introducing that concept into the world.
Much like how Spirits were fragments of Deus, this, too, followed a similar principle.
«Just like we thought… Ellen got juiced up.»
Maya's voice came through calmly.
But to everyone else aside from Morgan, that phrasing was far too mild.
"Well… she technically has all of your powers."
«Nnh! That's not fair!»
Much to Ashley's comment, Morgan shrugged.
But the answer was simple.
«Claire likely means she went through the same ascension we did back then.»
Right.
Since the rest were akin to artificially created Espers, it was natural.
Their ascension was roused by them.
Forcing that same process onto someone unprepared would easily shatter their mind.
Of course, if not done carefully enough.
Which meant—
«Yes. That stupid decision was Ellen's.»
Artemisia said it without hesitation.
Blunt and merciless.
Even Morgan could not deny it.
Instead of choosing a path unique to herself.
Like the strength-obsessed fanatic she was, she had chosen the most straightforward option.
Strength.
Put simply, her obsession had dictated her path.
Then again, she had always been obsessed with strength.
He should have seen this coming.
And that's why, to Morgan, it was stressful.
With a sigh, his shoulders slumped slightly.
Not because of the path she had taken, but because of something else.
In the end, his enemy was only Westcott, huh?
"Fumu.. fine then."
Straightening himself, Morgan's gaze settled on the battleship now drawing close.
It was not alone.
There were several.
From what he could count at a glance, the number had already exceeded twenty.
"Everyone, ready the Mana Reactor."
«Roger!»
Five voices responded in perfect unison.
The Mana Reactor.
Just as the name implied, it was a system that drew in mana and converted it into usable energy.
In its simplest application.
They could generate electricity.
Enough, perhaps, to power an entire city like Tengu City.
But with the right configurations,
That energy could be redirected into something far more specialized.
Something like this.
"[Territory: Grand Wallace]"
Morgan raised his hand, forming a finger gun as he aimed toward the distant airships.
From the building he stood on.
A invisible wave expanded outward towards the entire city, once, twice, a third time...
It spanned towards the outer edges of the city.
Reaching there, a dome slowly constructed.
Swish!
But before it did, however.
A figure tore through the sky at blinding speed, streaking toward the city like a falling star.
"You really can't wait, huh?"
Morgan muttered, pointing a finger forward.
Snap.
He snapped his finger, a single line formed between him and the incoming figure.
Along that line, everything froze.
The space visibly inverted.
Morgan's eyes narrowed.
Crack—
The warped space shattered.
As if it meant nothing, the figure broke through without slowing.
It came to a halt midair, directly before him.
Of course, it was none other than Ellen.
Despite no longer needing it, she still wore her CR Suit, likely out of habit.
Her expression, however—
Was anything but composed.
It was extreme hate, disgust, and other negative emotions clamped into a person.
"Ah… I knew this was going to be a drag."
Morgan muttered under his breath before slowly lifting his eyes to meet hers.
"You're finally standing on the same level as me. How does it feel?"
Ellen's lips moved.
"Disgusting."
Morgan tilted his head slightly.
Right.
Now that he thought about it, he had humiliated her quite thoroughly back then.
Which might mean.. revenge, huh?
Still, calmly, he addressed the woman.
"You say that, but you can feel it too, can't you?"
"Indeed."
She replied clenching her fist.
"This power that surpasses common sense… it is disgusting. And that disgust will only fade after your death."
Morgan let out a short laugh.
"Ha! Then try it."
He raised his hand once more—
But Ellen moved first.
Diving straight down like a missile, she shot toward him with a blade in hand.
Her speed tore through the air as she closed the distance instantly.
Bang!
The clash rang out.
Laser met alloy.
The two blades collided, locking together as sparks scattered between them.
Their faces drew close in that instant.
It was close enough for both to see the madness reflected in each other's eyes.
"Not bad."
"Same as you."
That was the start of the war.
From the rooftop,
They launched upward at the same time as their bodies turned into streaks of light.
Gold and blue tore across the sky as they clashed again and again.
Each collision sent ripples through the air.
Morgan drew his alloy sword back from the laser blade flashing behind her.
He positioned himself to strike, but it was blocked.
Without even turning…
She shifted her sword behind her shoulder, blocking the strike from her blind spot.
Yet, he didn't let up.
Morgan pulled away.
He made some space, positioning his blade.
Golden waves covered Morgan's blade.
The waves formed and reformed its surface, layering over it like a current.
"Let's see how you handle this."
With a faint curve of his lips.
Morgan swung his sword.
The waves peeled off the blade and converged forward.
It crashed toward Ellen.
"Kuh!"
Gritting her teeth, she placed her blade in front.
But despite that, and using her Enhanced Territory to block it, she saw it slip.
The waves passed through her defense as if it were never there, striking her.
"Gahh—!"
The impact sent her flying.
Her body tore across the air before slamming into a distant building.
Bam!
A loud echo resounded.
However, despite hitting the building in the distance that should have crumbled, it stood intact.
This was the effect of this Territory.
Now.. Tengu City was virtually indestructible.
But in exchange for that,
Mana usage was heavily suppressed.
Everything relied purely on skill, technique, and anything that did not depend on mana.
Yes.. Esper powers were just perfect.
But that wasn't the deal here.
Ellen coughed as she forced herself up from the wall she had been embedded in.
Cough, cough!
Grr-!
"Dammit, how.."
Her voice came out strained as she dragged herself free.
Morgan, in the air, tilted his head slightly.
"Divine Vibrations."
So Westcott hadn't figured it out.
A principle that interfered with and negated supernatural constructs.
Mana, reiryoku, techniques, and anything built on those foundations.
Surprisingly, it is still effective.
With that in mind.
Morgan tightened his grip on his alloy sword.
The golden waves shone; seven lights began clinging to the waves and to him.
Seeing this—
"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!"
Ellen snapped.
Space around Morgan froze again, warping into a circular inversion meant to trap him.
Crack.
However, it shattered.
She abandoned it without hesitation.
This time, she twisted the space around herself.
She launched attacks from multiple angles at once, striking from every possible direction.
Yet—
Bam!
She was blown away again.
Her feet skidded across the air as she forced herself to regain balance, using the very atmosphere as footing.
"Dammit… if that's how it is, then I'll just do exactly what you're doing!"
She thrust both hands forward.
White, silky waves began to gather around her.
Ellen was mimicking the very phenomenon Morgan had been using with Maya's waves.
With a strained smile, she swung her laser blade—
Only for the waves to shatter the moment they touched him.
"W–wha..?"
Morgan watched her attempt.
In particular, he was no longer focused on her.
"How's the situation?"
«Currently, Sia and Ash have begun engaging DEM's forces.»
Morgan didn't need to worry.
Those two could handle that level of opposition without difficulty.
In fact, this outcome had already been predicted.
Before any of this began.
All of them had discussed the possibility of Westcott targeting the Spirits directly.
With calculations run through Laplace Demon, the conclusion was clear.
It was highly likely.
Now that Tengu City was completely isolated.
The Spirits had effectively been placed in a vulnerable position.
And more than that—
This version of Ellen was only fighting at roughly half of her true power.
Not to mention, he also deduced she wouldn't be wearing her CR Unit without reason.
Just as that thought passed through his mind—
«Master, detecting an attack from an anomalous digital entity.»
A mature figure floated beside him.
It was none other than Beta, with blond hair and eyes swaying in the wind.
'He deduced that too, huh?'
«Yes. Surprisingly.»
Morgan let out a quiet huff.
She said it as if DEM wasn't even worth considering.
Then again, she wasn't careless enough to truly underestimate them.
"Can you handle it?"
«Leave it to Beta.»
The matured figure slowly drifted away from his side heading to her own battlefield.
Now then—
all the pieces were in place.
What would be your move, Itsuka Kotori?
Tengu City.
As soon as the battle started, one figure in particular had practically jumped in.
Her petite figure flew across the air.
It was Ashley.
"Time, stop!"
She stretched her arms outward.
With the invocation of her power, everything within a five-hundred-meter radius began to freeze.
Space, motion, flow.
Everything slowly came to a halt.
This wasn't even her limit.
If she truly wished, she could stop the entire city.
And if she did, only a handful of people would be able to move.
But because of certain plans, she held back.
And even then—
Whack!
She casually struck down flying drones and mechanized units.
Ashley knocked them out of the air like toys.
However, because they were still in frozen space, the impact had yet to come.
Still, most were left hanging.
Having learned from Mukuro, her control over space had reached an entirely different level.
Now, she sat atop one of the disabled machines, watching the battle in the distance.
The one between Ellen and Morgan.
As expected of the former strongest, Ellen was keeping up with Morgan even at half power.
'...hm?'
Ashley narrowed her eyes slightly.
Is she underestimating him?
No. That wasn't it.
Even Westcott wouldn't make that mistake, and if anything, that felt like..
A performance.
Both of them were holding back.
"Un.. so that's what it is.."
Slowly, Ashley's grin widened.
«Ash, be careful, there's—»
"I know. So that's the reason, huh?"
Behind her, a presence had slowly descended into the frozen space.
A woman levitating in the air, donned in dark pink and gray-red armor with a glowing blade.
She had curly dark red hair with fox-like icy blue eyes.
This woman… Ashley knew her.
Jessica Bailey.
Adeptus 3.
She's the Third Strongest Wizard... or rather, the Fourth Strongest.
"Traitor of DEM, die."
"Hmph. Try me."
Ashley's lips curled into a battle-crazed smile. But despite that, she was perfectly clear.
This woman... she was completely fine in frozen space.
"Cee."
«Roger»
Ashley already had a suspicion.
It was likely connected to why Ellen was only using half her power.
Something similar to how Morgan and Artemisia could share abilities.
"You must be shocked, no?"
Ashley blinked.
Jessica mistook her silence for caution and continued speaking.
"Thanks to you, DEM was able to analyze the technique—"
Ashley tilted her head slightly.
What is she even saying?
Mm, doesn't matter.
Whoosh!
She vanished.
Reappearing right in front of Jessica, she swung her first forward, towards the woman's face.
Thud!
The punch landed squarely mid-sentence.
"Guh—!"
Jessica's body twisted in place before being sent flying backward.
Ashley, now in her Queen form after opening her Esper Pathways, tilted her head slightly.
"Yosha!"