Chapter 4: The Deadly Seven.

KUKUKUKUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Faced with such an unexpected response, Aureolus backed away. The boy with one arm was absolutely sneering.

Is he crazy from pain and fear!? No, that's not right...

His smile was one of confidence, a very natural smile that indicated his belief of victory. To remain normal in that critical situation was most abnormal

What... What's going on? Aureolus was more dissatisfied than afraid. Though he did not know what thoughts ran through the boy's head, the victor was already decided. In which case, there was no reason to feel unhappy.

Deciding to end his life, he impatiently tossed aside a needle and began his commands. "Hidden rifle appears in my hand. Load with magic bullets. One will suffice." Swinging his right hand, and as commanded, a Western sword with a rapid-fire musket pistol appeared in his hand. Rather satisfied with his perfect magic, he continued. "Application is crushing. Following the original rifle concept, fire the blade to crush prey's head into pieces!"

Aureolus squeezed the trigger and the magic bullet loaded with gunpowder flew toward the eyeball of the maniacally laughing boy. Though a low-velocity projectile, it would still pierce the brain if it hit the eyeball. Still, it was not a velocity that humans could dodge and not a defendable force. The boy could do little more but stare and watch as his brain was splattered like a tomato.

...But nothing happened.

"What?" Aureolus began to distrust his very own eyes as the blue magic bullet aimed precisely at the boy's eye had somehow grazed the stagnant boy, hitting the wall behind him.

Did I miscalculate the distance? No...

Aureolus commanded once more. "Repeat the previous command. Application is strafe firing. Simultaneously fire ten hidden rifles!"

The discussed ten rifles appeared out of thin air and fired bullets like a bouquet of flowers. However, the ten accurately aimed bullets all proceeded to fly past the boy, leaving him unharmed.

A MISSFIRE!? HOW COULD THAT!? Stunned, Aureolus stared at the boy who had escaped death twice. The bleeding shoulder gushed unbelievable amounts of fresh bled from the sliced joint, splattering blood onto his face, covering it with blood.

The boy still spoke. As if the vilest parts of his body were gushing from the sliced arm, the boy continued to smile.

In response, the offender decided to give the command for a third attempt at killing his enemy.

But he didn't do anything. He evaded Ars Magna twice!?

He stopped his actions as he felt doubt. He knew the abilities of his spell the best and he knew they were not attacks evadable through luck.

Don't tell me he's planning something I didn't foresee!?

In his heart, the boy seemed to laugh as he stuck his tongue out, licking the blood on his lips like sauce. Even a fallen vampire would not have reveled in its own blood!

WHAT'S—GOING—ON? Aureolus could not stop the anxiety bubbling from within. WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS GUY? HE CAN STILL FIGHT WITH THAT BODY? WITHOUT A RIGHT ARM? IMPOSSIBLE! TOTALLY ILLOGICAL! THIS GUY WILL DIE FROM THE INTENSE BLOOD LOSS! IT'S ALRIGHT. THERE'S NO PROBLEM! THERE SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM! THERE'S NO PROBLEM BUT—!

It was the moment that anxiety had formed in his heart...

The boy had lost his right hand, and with it, his powers. That pitiable image seemed to mutter, sneer and laugh as it stared at the alchemist.

"Ku... ah... Ugh. Damn you... YOU WON'T SURVIVE BEFORE THE EXISTENCE OF MY ARS MAGNA! DEPLOY A COUNTLESS NUMBER OF GUILLOTINES TO QUICKLY DISMANTLE THAT BODY!"

As he had finished speaking, numerous, enormous guillotines appeared on the ceiling space above the boy's head like the cracking of the surface. Each was a blade of execution weighing over 100 kilograms. Before those murderous tools of gravity, Kamijou simply sneered, intending to neither evade nor defend.

IT'S ALRIGHT! HE CAN'T GET AWAY FROM THIS! IT WILL HIT! HE'LL DIE AS HE'S MASSACRED! I GAVE THE ORDER! I GAVE AN ORDER I GAVE AN ORDER I GAVE AN ORDER! IT SHOULD BE ALRIGHT! THERE'S NO NEED TO WORRY! Aureolus repeated consolations in his heart over and over and over again. As long as events unfolded as he had commanded, the boy would die. Though he would surely die, doubts continued to creep into heart as if his silent wish was to remove his heart's anxieties.

As Aureolus had wished, an infinite number of enormous guillotines appeared above him... as the boy sneered. His expression seemed to say that he knew Aureolus' weaknesses.

Ku. DAMN IT! WHY!?

The alchemist had no hesitation as he glared at Kamijou like he wanted to pierce him through.

"DIE! BOY—"

Before his roaring command had completed, doubts crept into his mind.

Can I really kill him with just that word?

With trembling hands, he tried to take the needle out of his neck but caused numerous unused needles to drop onto the floor, something he had no time to worry about. Aureolus Izzard trembled as he stared at Kamijou. The formerly piercing gaze became as blunt as a rusted blade. Unbelievably, his control over his legs seemed limited as he stumbled away, stepping on something, crushing some of the numerous needles dropped onto the floor.

Ars Magna turned a person's wishes into reality. But, once Aureolus believed that he could not win, could not defeat someone, those also became reality, becoming a double-edged sword. It was the reason why he could not create vampires and needed Deep Blood for his goals. The doubts in his heart that he "could not create this" were why he could not form them in reality.

Each and every order was like a bullet. If he were to simply think, numerous random thoughts would have mixed in. Thus, the ambiguousness of the order would have prevented its occurrence. Gathering his concentration, he could fire his command like a bullet. And, like when learning English words, reciting out loud simplified the process.

Ars Magna was not a spell that turned anything spoken into reality but a spell that turned imagination into reality. Aureolus Izzard had lost control of his verbal ability. Before, he converted ambiguous thoughts into words and automatically created reality. It was like a handgun that fired without human interface. In order to prevent such a situation, he had prepared a countermeasure.

DAMN IT. WHERE ARE MY NEEDLES? WHY DID THEY LAND ON THE FLOOR!? I USED NEED THEM TO EASE MY ANXIETY! WITHOUT THEM—!" In shock, Aureolus held his breath. IF I DON'T HAVE THEM WHAT WILL HAPPEN? STOP? NO! STOP THINKING! IF I CONTINUE TO THINKING THEY'LL BECOME PERMANENT!

The more he considered running away, the further his thoughts divulged. It was a known fact that he could not stop. If he did stop, it meant he had consented to his own powerlessness. Like a rolling snowball, Aureolus' doubts went out of control and lost all meaning.

The boy before him said nothing. He said nothing and only silently walked, causing Aureolus even more anxiousness. He could not stop the boy and did not know what to order to do so. Aureolus Izzard could do nothing but wait until the boy closed in like a scarecrow.

Somehow, the boy was already there.

They faced each other with Index and the table between then. It was an event of irony. At that point, the alchemist was like prey frozen by the gaze of a snake.

THAT'S RIGHT! STIYL. INDEX. HIMEGAMI AISA. I KNOW ALL OF THEM. I KNEW THEIR POWERS AND THE FACT THEY WEREN'T A MATCH FOR MY ARS MAGNA. ONLY THIS BOY IS DIFFERENT!! I MET THE BOY FOR THE FIRST TIME AND DON'T KNOW HIS POWER! I DON'T KNOW IF ARS MAGNA GOLDEN ALCHEMY IS EFFECTIVE ON HIM!!!

OI!

Suddenly hearing the boy's voice, Aureolus trembled like a child being lectured.

"YOU DIDN'T THINK THAT YOU COULD GET RID OF MY IMAGINE BREAK BY JUST CUTTING OFF MY RIGHT HAND, DID YA!?!"

Kamijou bared his fangs while his eyes seemed to glow reddish gold. He had spoken from the bottom of his heart.

WA-WAIT! STOP THINKING—! DON—ANXIETY—NOW I NEED—! Unable to reign in his thoughts, the alchemist could only pray.

Then, an abnormal change began on Kamijou's right shoulder that was releasing blood like a fountain. The blood loss increased and an object formed as if the blood were being splattered all over a transparent glass statue. And unbelievable object began to take shape.

What formed on his shoulder was not a human's arm.

It was a head, a savage, two meter long head seen only in ancient legends, the head of a large and almighty King Dragon.

What should have been a transparent head was dyed with blood. The boy raised it and swung it, slowing opening the jaws containing rows of saw-like teeth.

It seemed like it was revealing the right hand's true identity.

Its teeth were bared.

At first glance, nothing seemed to happen. However, in the unseen world, it changed while the alchemist's once dominant presence disappeared.

It was as if the role of the protagonist was forcibly ripped away.

WHA—

Aureolus looked up and found that the repulsive human constellation observatory consisting of Stiyl Magnus' flesh and blood began to gather together from all over the room. It was like the command to explode was repealed.

DON'T TELL ME HE'S REVIVING!? LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIMEGAMI!? THE PEOPLE DESTROYED CAN—

As Aureolus considered the idea, Stiyl reformed and landed onto the floor, completely unharmed. In turn, Aureolus felt like his spine were being stabbed by an icy pillar. Naturally, the magician's revival was caused by Aureolus' anxieties.

HOLD ON... THIS IS JUST... MY... ANXIETIES... CALM DOWN... AS LONG AS I... CONTROL MY ANXIETY... I CAN DEFINITELY... MAKE THIS RIDICULOUS MONSTER... DISAPPEAR!

Attempting to reign in the sensation crushing his heart, Aureolus attempted his final resistance. It was surely a monster that Aureolus had created and, so long as he had calmed himself down, the mystical beast residing in the boy would surely have disappeared. But, the transparent King Dragon glared silently at the alchemist with both eyes.

And, like that, Aureolus' vision faded from the sheer horror.

IM... POSSIBLE... I CAN'T... WIN...

Simultaneous to those thoughts, the King Dragon's mouth widened until its maximum, completely swallowing the alchemist head first.