'I was blown away?'
Impossible!
That was Naoki's only thought.
Even without the amplification of Reinforcement Magecraft, but due to fusing with the Heroic Spirit Arthur, he himself was already equivalent to a Demi-Servant, his physical abilities were already so strong that they were beyond human limits. Just withstanding a single blow, under normal circumstances he wouldn't move even a little bit.
Was it because of the airplane that his footing was unstable?
"It's been so long since I've been blown away that I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be hit."
Staggering out of the wall, looking at his limply hanging hands, Naoki sneered.
Both of his arms were broken.
'Temporarily reattach them with Magecraft?'
Although he really wanted to do it, but...
"It seems he won't give me a chance to do so."
*WHOOSH!*
A violent wind howled, a black shadow instantly crossed the space and arrived in front of Naoki—it was a Demi-Human. Its body was extremely strong, every muscle as hard as rock, its limbs also exceptionally long, its height even exceeding Naoki's by three heads.
Aiming at Naoki's head, the Demi-Human threw another punch!
Having been caught off guard once, Naoki didn't choose to withstand the attack. He quickly ducked and performed a sliding tackle past the Demi-Human's crotch.
*BAM!*
The wall was instantly broken through by a single punch, making Naoki unconsciously grin: "Good heavens... if that had hit my head, it would have been crushed."
'The one who sent me flying just now, his speed seemed comparable to mine, his strength... is stronger than mine.'
A difficult situation.
However, compared to the Demi-Human in front of him, Naoki paid more attention to something else.
'I haven't been able to use Magecraft since just now. It doesn't feel like my magic circuits are restricted, but rather that there isn't a single bit of Mana that can be released.'
Like a car that has completely run out of gas, the car itself has no problems, it just can't move because there's no fuel.
Undoubtedly, the cause of this situation was that bluish-green flame. Thinking back, when he came into contact with that flame, Naoki's Mana suddenly disappeared. After being swallowed once, he could no longer use Mana. Was that flame a manifestation of some kind of technique that targeted Mana?
*WHOOSH!*
The violent wind attacked again!
The Demi-Human once again arrived in front of Naoki! This time, what attacked him wasn't a fist, but its huge leg as thick as a log!
*BAM!*
The heavy impact caused a rumbling sound, making Gray and Riddel gasp.
However, in the next moment, the Demi-Human's large body suddenly collapsed, as if its leg had broken, its entire upper body suddenly slumped downwards.
Staggering to his feet, Naoki shook his head: "The soul is damaged, this isn't something that can be easily recovered, just let him lie there."
Soul Eater Mystic Eye.
Due to the impact just now, the Killer Mystic Eye had come loose. Therefore, since a few seconds ago, the Demi-Human had actually been constantly eroded by the Mystic Eyes. However, to Naoki's surprise, this erosion took more than five seconds.
"Brother!"
"Naoki."
"Don't come into my sight!"
Stopping the two who wanted to approach with a loud voice, Naoki turned away and stood in front of them, his Mystic Eyes staring at Aleister.
Leaning on his cane, Aleister frowned: "So that's it, Mystic Eyes, it seems to be the type that can cause damage to the soul, but unfortunately, Mystic Eyes ultimately require sight to work. As long as one is prepared, it's nothing to fear."
*CRACK!*
While speaking, a pendant hanging around Aleister's neck suddenly shattered.
"Killer Mystic Eye?"
Killer Mystic Eye doesn't specifically refer to glasses. As long as it is a tool that can suppress the power of Mystic Eyes, everything can be called a Killer Mystic Eye. Glasses are just the most common type.
The pendant around Aleister's neck was also one type of Killer Mystic Eye, perhaps a type that could bear the effects of Mystic Eyes in place of the wearer.
"It broke one in just an instant, it seems the effect of your Mystic Eyes is very strong, but I wonder how much longer it can be used?"
"What?"
Frowning, Naoki continued to stare at Aleister, but at this very moment, due to full concentration, he actually discovered a slight anomaly.
Aleister's soul, he couldn't see it?
Even though he could still see it just now!
"Do you know why fire can keep burning?" Aleister asked suddenly, "Because the air is filled with oxygen, a rapid, self-sustaining, exothermic chemical reaction between a substance and an oxidant, usually oxygen in the air, to produce heat and light—that is combustion."
"Do Magus also study modern science?"
"I'm just explaining the cause of your death to your dying self." Aleister said while letting three phantoms floating behind him move forward, "Purgatorio, unlike Cocytus which is summoned with water and wind, it is considered a fire-type summoned creature. Just summoning it will cause combustion phenomena in a wide area."
A fire-type summoned creature that causes combustion phenomena.
Suddenly, Naoki had an epiphany: "Hahaha... no wonder... no wonder Gray was so panicked, indeed, this summoned creature is very powerful in a certain sense."
The combustion of fire requires oxygen, but Naoki didn't feel a lack of oxygen in the surrounding space, instead he couldn't use Mana at all. Combining these, the conclusion was very clear.
The summoned creature used the combustion of Mana to cause the combustion phenomenon. The bluish-green flames without temperature that now filled this first-class cabin were all Mana that was burning. And because he had just been swallowed by these flames, the Mana in Naoki's body had also been ignited.
'No! Wrong! This summoned creature isn't burning Mana!'
If it was just burning Mana, it wouldn't cause Naoki to be unable to use his Mystic Eyes. After all, the source of Mana is the Lesser Source and the Greater Source, just burning Mana wouldn't affect the production of Mana.
However, Naoki now couldn't squeeze out even a little bit of Mana.
'Does he consider the greater source and the lesser source as oxygen?'
"Exactly." Aleister laughed, "Purgatorio not only burns Mana, but also the greater source that fills the entire world and vitality as the lesser source. You were just swallowed once, right? From that moment on, your vitality has been ignited, this is the reason why you can't use your Mystic Eyes and can't even use Mana."
Not only beyond common sense, this was truly a disaster-like summoned creature!
Actually using the greater source as fuel... Does this guy want to accelerate the arrival of the Steel World?
'Troublesome, I can't use even a little bit of Mana, and most importantly, because the lesser source 'vitality' is burning, I here am also slowly starting to...'
*THUD!*
Slumping down powerlessly to his knees on the ground, Naoki began to pant heavily.
The most direct manifestation of vitality is a person's physical strength. As vitality continuously burned away, Naoki's body also became unprecedentedly weak.
"I remember who you are. You were the one who destroyed Cocytus's protective barrier back then, and you were also the one who sent me flying, right?" Aleister asked, "How does it feel? The feeling of being checkmated from the beginning? Comfortable?"
That's right, he had been checkmated from the beginning.
From the moment Aleister and Purgatorio entered this first-class cabin, from the moment Naoki attacked Purgatorio, he had been checkmated.
'It's over... is it?'
[How shameful]
A voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
It was a very familiar voice to him. This didn't mean that Naoki's relationship with the owner of the voice was very good, on the contrary, it could almost be said to be his nightmare in the past.
But why? Why could it only be heard now? She should have been sealed by the Mystic Eyes.
'Could it be because the Mystic Eyes stopped working that—Damn it! You're still just sleeping!'
[It's useless, vixen, you can't stop me anymore]
As the voice fell, Naoki's consciousness didn't even have a bit of room to resist and was instantly swallowed by the endless darkness that suddenly attacked, while in the real world, Naoki's body suddenly froze in place, like a robot that had hung.
Then—
"Returned..."
A voice that sounded like both male and female came out of Naoki's mouth. His short golden hair instantly grew to ear-length, parting the bangs that hung on his forehead. Naoki looked up and opened his two blue eyes.
"Hello world."
"I'm back."