Pendragon's Infinity Gauntlet

Page 203

She took a step toward the open car door.

“I’m prepared. I will end it all here, and then…”

"And then what?"

Without turning his head, the Cleansing God addressed Tyr, who had expressed his surprise:

Chapter 365 Airport

Chapter 365

"Remember, I don't want to resolve this through killing."

Afterwards, Tsuchimikado laughed like a child, while Tyr smiled slightly, each expressing their own emotions.

The three of them boarded the train first.

"...Why didn't anyone ask me?"

Fang Cun felt that his presence was not insignificant either, and seeing that the subway doors were about to close, he quickly followed.

The train slowly started moving and entered the subway tunnel.

In order to go to the war that awaits them.

-

The sky was already showing signs of dusk.

The asphalt-paved ground looked as if nature, which had originally been there, had been completely wiped away with a scrubbing pad. In this barren corner, nothing offered any shelter from the wind, and the slightest breeze brushed against his face. The air was thick with the smell of engine oil, a typical odor of this country's cities.

A popping sound can be heard from above.

Looking up, I saw the massive passenger plane flying low across the sky. Perhaps because of the Daihasei Festival, there were a considerable number of planes flying by.

There was no one around.

The first reason is that this isn't a place that particularly attracts the average person. The second reason is probably because it's currently the Daihasei Festival, a global sports festival. Compared to this kind of place, going directly to the arena would allow for a hundred times more meaningful time.

Therefore, he was the only one on the asphalt road.

The long shadow cast by the setting sun revealed the figure of a man carrying a large cross. The man of the shadow slowly removed the cross from his shoulder and then placed his hand on the white cloth wrapped around it.

The strip of cloth ripped open with a "whoosh".

A strip of cloth, slightly thicker than a bandage, slipped away from the cross without resistance, like a ribbon untied from a gift. With a rustling sound as clothing moved, the defenses that had been tightly encasing the cross gradually disintegrated, revealing the cross in its original form.

"Apostolic Cross".

The pure white marble cross was 150 centimeters long, 70 centimeters wide, and about 10 centimeters thick. Only the lower end of the cross was thick and sharp, like a sharpened pencil.

This object, which at first glance conveys the weight of solid stone, retains its pristine shape even after more than 1,800 years, appearing as if it were made from a mold. Although it is made of marble, the inside has been slightly worn away by human touch over the long years.

Such perfect preservation is not due to the protective effect of the spirit armor, but simply because there is no publicly available historical background about it.

He grasped the unscathed, pristine crucifix with both hands, as white as a young lady from a secluded family, and then slowly picked up the naked crucifix. The weight of the stone traveled from his arms to his back, waist, and feet.

Without hesitation, he swung the cross down with all his might in one breath.

The immense weight combined with acceleration, and the sharp tip.

The Apostles' Cross, with all the necessary conditions met, pierced through the asphalt road without resistance, deeply embedding itself in the soil of the Japanese capital.

“Transform the sky into a roof, and build a place of dwelling here. Grant me the protection of the twelve holy apostles.”

The incantation that fixes the Apostolic Cross is very different from his usual tone of voice.

The cross, planted in the asphalt road, began to move on its own. As if tilting in the mud, it slowly adjusted its angle.

He looked at the sky.

Although it wasn't completely night yet, the first star had already begun to twinkle.

"What's next..."

A magician stands on the vast experimental airport runway.

In this area, which is generally off-limits to the public, it looks like a grassland fixed with asphalt. The flat, gray ground stretches to the horizon.

"I'm all ready. In a few tens of minutes, the world will change."

-

The 23rd school district is an unfamiliar sight to the people of Academy City.

"So spacious..."

As Jōjin walked out of the terminal station with Tyr and Tsuchimikado, he couldn't help but sigh.

Like a foreign ranch, the horizon is slightly rounded. However, this horizon is not the green of pasture, but the black and gray of asphalt and cement. A large part of the vast area consists of runways and satellite launch sites, with high walls crisscrossing the endless fields.

The control tower and experimental facilities are enormous, several times the size of the school gymnasium. However, the surrounding slides vary drastically in size, as if they were suddenly placed there. The fundamental scale difference is too great.

Tsuchimikado looked at the bus stop in front of the terminal station.

"...Although this is a classified area, there are still buses to regular airports. The buses are still driven by drivers, meow. This is probably to allow industrial spies to get off along the way."

The explosion of the airplane blocked out the sound of Tsuchimikado.

Jingshen couldn't help but look up at the sky. Three Cessna planes, each the size of a small aircraft, flew side by side, slowly circling in the sky.

"The security here is basically 'sky.' It's just a bluff, because the security area is too vast, meow." Indeed, it would be too difficult to patrol entirely by people up to the horizon. Besides, it's all runways here, with no shade to hide in. There's no way to avoid being seen from above.

"But under these circumstances, getting to that iron-clad airport would be far too difficult."

“But Orianna still has a way.”

Tyr replied to the words of the Cleansing God.

"Tsuchimikado, if you have a solution, answer quickly. We don't have time."

"Meow, that's the one."

As Tsuchimikado spoke, he pointed to the sky above his head.

A knocking sound came from directly above.

This time, unlike the previous Cissna, it was a massive passenger plane equipped with four engines. The aircraft, emitting a loud bang, slowly landed on a typical international airport runway.

"To avoid mid-air collisions, the surveillance aircraft's patrol path will be altered when other aircraft approach. And then—"

Just as Tsuchimikado abruptly stopped speaking,

One after another, passenger planes and experimental small aircraft flew across the sky.

"—The sky here is unexpectedly chaotic. If we make good use of the passenger plane's condition, we can sneak into the blind spots of aerial surveillance. The problematic Iron Body Aviation Technology Research Institute's affiliated experimental airport is very close to here; we should be able to reach it on foot."

For various reasons, Jing Shen and the others are now running across the gray plains.

Tsuchimikado, running at the forefront, sometimes tilts due to her unsteady center of gravity, looking as if she's dozing off in class. But even in this state, Hosun can easily be overtaken if she's not careful. This shows just how good Tsuchimikado's physical abilities are.

Chapter 366 Conspiracy

Chapter 366

Perhaps it's because the profession of espionage often requires this kind of running around, these people have become trained in it.

Following Tsuchimikado's lead, we passed beneath countless planes flying behind us. Although we managed to evade the surveillance aircraft, running through an area with no cover up to the bottom of the horizon was, in many ways, quite thrilling.

Even in this place where there is nowhere to hide, Oriana is still nowhere to be seen.

She's probably already arrived at the destination.

Jing Shen took out her phone as she ran. The time displayed on the screen was 5:40 PM.

(There are about 20 to 80 minutes left until the time limit.)

This is the remaining time until the "Apostolic Cross" is activated.

After using this spirit garment, Academy City will be silently and directly controlled, and it will also have a spiritual effect. No matter how unreasonable the oppression, no one will feel anything strange.

Although she was anxious, no matter how agitated she was, she couldn't stop the passage of time. As she ran, she gradually came into view of the wall separating the vast gray land in front of her. On the other side of the wall should be the "Iron Body Aviation Technology Research Institute Affiliated Experimental Airport" where Oriana was waiting.

They ran all the way to the bottom of the wall.

The metal mesh was about two meters high, and Tsuchimikado gripped it tightly. Just as he was about to burst through—

Suddenly, something was glowing at the edge of Jing Shen's vision.

It was a word card, slightly damp with saliva, sandwiched between the wires of a metal mesh.

The usually cautious Tsuchimikado should not have overlooked this, but his consciousness may have become blurred due to the pain from his wound.

"what?"

"Tsuchimikado!" Just before Jōjin couldn't help but shout.

"boom!!"

The metal mesh arranged in a row turned bright yellow due to the high heat.

Tsuchimikado, clinging to the metal mesh, jumped back as if electrocuted. She frantically pulled away from the mesh, rolling on the ground to keep her distance. The Daihasei Festival guidebook in her hand slipped from her grasp due to the impact and was engulfed in flames the instant it emitted black smoke.

"Gahhh!!"

Tsuchimikado's hands and feet made a "whoosh" sound, emitting smoke like incense sticks. Her eyes behind her sunglasses were tightly closed, and she clenched her teeth in pain.

What tormented her hands and feet were burns.

For Tsuchimikado, whose fighting style is primarily based on hand-to-hand combat, this is tantamount to having all his weapons taken away by the enemy.

Tsuchimikado gritted her teeth and tried to stand up, but her wrists and ankles looked extremely stiff. It felt like she was struggling in the mud, and she couldn't get up.

"You all go quickly..."

Tsuchimikado pressed his wounded hand down on his other hand and said:

"...Wasting time here is not the solution. Quickly destroy that vocabulary card, the three of you go first!"

"But what are you going to do? That's right, Tyr! Can you heal me with your magic!?"

"If it's just burns, then treatment should be possible—"

Tyr's gaze shifted from the earthen gate on the ground to the metal mesh.

"—The people over there are waiting for us! Prepare your right hand, let's cleanse our spirits and vanquish the demons!"

"!?"

Jing Shen was startled and turned her head away.

About 500 meters from the metal mesh, the blond man leaned against the walls of the buildings at either end of the small track.

Oriana Townsend.

He held in his hand a word card made of metal rings.

Oriana quietly brought the card to his mouth, at which point Tyr called out:

"Purify the spirit and vanquish the demon!"

"I know!!"

Jing Shen swung his sword forcefully at the single-word card held in the metal mesh. The metal mesh, glowing red from the intense heat, instantly cooled back to its original temperature, losing its heat and light. Without even checking, the three climbed onto the metal mesh.

(With Orianna striking first here, Tsuchimikado, whose hands and feet are injured, probably can't avoid it...!)

She climbed up in one go.

(Then we have no choice but to launch the attack! We can't afford any more casualties, we can't afford any more sacrifices like the class president and Himegami!!)

Fly over it.

Meanwhile, far away, Oriana tears up a word card.

As the spell was activated, Oriana's entire body emitted a blue-white light. He spread his arms and gently turned his body, as if showing off his newly bought clothes.

after that.

Five hundred meters away from Oriana, a deafening explosion erupted, and the air around him churned in circles. An invisible, gigantic iron hammer, disregarding distance, struck from afar. The clockwise-directional pressure hammer cleaved down all the nearby buildings, whipping up asphalt as it hurtled towards Jing Shen.

"!!"

Jing Shen immediately threw out his right fist.