58 Terra of the Left

------6th October 4:45p.m.-------

The museum that had been standing was destroyed by Terra of the Left. The only thing that remains there were 2 people.

Accelerator and Itsuwa.

Although the rubble had fallen down on them, it definitely wasn't enough to kill them. There was a reason Accelerator wanted this outcome. He had planned it all from the very beginning.

He wanted Itsuwa to run for safety.

Not because he wanted to protect her, but because he could go all out then and there. He would have caused much more destruction than Terra of the Left. There would have been nothing left if she had only stayed outside.

"Why the fuck didn't you run?!" Accelerator hollered at her as he dusted the flour and debris off of him.

"I...I only wanted to help..." Itsuwa said in a low voice as she bent her head down.

"I don't need your help. I could have handled it alone."

But as true as it was, the final impact that Terra gave him left him with a wound on his head. He was starting to bleed from his head yet again.

"I-I'm sorry...you're bleeding. Let me help you---" She took out a towel from her bag but he simply brushed her aside.

"This is nothing. Just find a---"

*BOOOOM*

A loud explosive that almost blasted their eardrums off was heard. Accelerator clicked his tongue as he looked around them. One of the houses near them had exploded as the top of the roof flew into the air with bits of debris raining down.

"What now?!"

Accelerator could see the silhouettes of the source of the explosions on the other side.

But these were not human silhouettes.

The warped silhouettes on the other side of the gray curtain were moving.

"It can't be..."

Their primary equipment was the HsPS-15, aka the "Large Weapon". It was a powered

suit developed using all the best Academy City technology.

The powered suit was a new Academy City weapon that covered the body in armor that looked like a Western suit of armor. The joints were moved using electric power and the flesh-and-blood human inside was given mobility anywhere from twice normal to dozens of times normal. They came in various standard sizes and levels of firepower, but the ones here were giant masses of metal 2.5 meters tall.

"Did they already evacuate the people in this town?" Itsuwa asked as she looked at the powered suits.

The suits had blue and gray camouflage on them and the robot-like "armor" had two arms and two legs and the arms had five fingers each. However, if you asked someone whether the powered suits were "human-like", you would be told "no". The "head" area was huge. It may have been because the chest armor was so thick, but it looked like the suits had one of the drum-shaped security robots on their heads. There was no neck.

The "head" was directly connected to the chest, but it could still rotate. There was a great sound of something hard being crushed. It was the sound of the armored legs stepping on the rubble as they advanced.

The stone paving and the ruins of the bricks had both survived for hundreds of years, but they were so easily crushed now. The hands of the powered suits held special guns that had barrels so wide they looked misshapen.

The guns looked like large rifles made by forcibly shortening the barrel of a tank's main gun, but they were actually quite different. They were anti-barrier revolver shotguns. The shells used in those guns were special. Inside a single shell were a few dozen bullets that would usually be classified as anti-materiel. Each shot could blow straight through a tank and at close range a few shots could force open the door to a nuclear shelter.

Usually, the barrel wouldn't hold up to the explosive force of the gunpowder, but, by delicately controlling the type and arrangement of the gunpowder, the direction of the explosive force could be controlled so that the lowest possible amount of damage was given to the barrel and the greatest possible amount of destructive force was released.

The blood curdling screams of people could be heard all around them.

"Damn it...!!"

Accelerator slammed his fist into the rocks on the floor as he grits his teeth. This was never supposed to happen, yet it did.

What made it worse was their attacks were indiscriminatory. Everyone was getting a bullet, from adults, elderly, and even the children. Any living being that was breathing was getting a shotgun pump from those powered suits.

"What the fuck are those at the top thinking?"

"Accelerator...we need to do something about those powered suits!"

"I know, but I can't do anything. I'm running out of juice." Accelerator said as he pointed to the choker on his neck. 

At that same time, a number of powered suits had surrounded them. Their joints clanked as they aimed their rifles at them.

"I'll cut a path open for you to the palace."

"But you just said--!"

"Stop talking back! You know more about magic than I do, and plus Tsuchimikado should have been in contact with him already, he might need your help. Besides, what can your spear do against these metallic scraps?"

Itsuwa looked at the floor in shame as Accelerator stood back up on his feet. He had a murderous look as he scowled at the powered suits in front of him.

"Go, NOW!"

With a single beep, the winds roared around him as he grabbed Itsuwa's arm and dashed past one of the powered suits.

"Do you know where it is?"

"...Yeah, it's that massive building right there."

"Then I'll meet you there once I'm done with these fuckers." Accelerator didn't even look at her as he spoke. He was just intent on showing these piloted powered suits true fear and pain.

Itsuwa nodded her head as she ran towards the Palace of the Popes. As she ran, his silhouette grew darker and darker until he was out of sight.

"Please be safe..."

--------------------------

"Now then. Who shall I start with first?"

Without even confirming a target, they fired their rifles at him. Explosive gunshots could be heard all around him, but he merely reflected the bullets back at them.

"This is no fun at all!"

Accelerator pressed his palm on the closest power suit and manipulated it's electricity. In a second, the powered suit exploded as it fired a final bullet at him.

But all he was met with was the smell of oil and smoke.

"(Was the explosion that strong? No, that can't be...)"

The bullets fired at him were reflected and hit the powered suits in the head a couple of times. So much so that some of them even stopped working.

"(It can't be possible...)"

Accelerator jumped on one of the powered suits and he pulled his arm back.

A loud crash could be heard as he dug his palm straight into it's head just to find nothing but cold air.

That was when his tongue clicked and he tore his hand through it's head as he grabbed it's weapon and immediately fired a round at the powered suit.

"(Damn Academy City. They never needed people for a war. These are all just scraps of metal with a programming device encoded into them.)"

Accelerator continued using the gun to fire at every single one of the powered suits.

"(Whoever thought of this idea is a fucking scum.)"

-----------------

Itsuwa had reached the Palace of the Popes.

One would imagine that a place called a palace of the popes would be a massive church or an actual palace, but the truth was much simpler.

The actual building was less a palace and more a medieval fort. The giant building was a collection of stones from a quarry and it gave a feeling of rejection to those who looked at it.

The outer walls looking down on Itsuwa were over ten meters tall, but she looked surprised as soon as she saw the place.

"Holes..." Itsuwa muttered while carrying her spear in one hand.

The huge double doors of the main entrance had been blown inwards and walls around some of the windows on the higher floors had been destroyed. Someone must have been inside because there were intermittent gunshots and explosions coming from within.

Entering a building with gunshots coming from it wasn't the best idea, but she had no choice.

The inside of the Palace of the Popes was vast. At the very least, there was nothing inside. The walls didn't even have wallpaper; they were bare stone. Other than the evenly spaced pillars holding up the ceiling, nothing was there. It was like a pyramid after all the treasure had been removed.

It was as if Terra of the Left was acting alone with a personal squad.

"It looks like no one's here..." Itsuwa said while holding her spear at the ready. The site was open to sightseers on weekdays, but no one was sightseeing at a time like this. Before, Avignon had been afraid of the rioters and now the powered suits were rampaging around the area.

The gun shots and explosions continued.

If they were continuing, that meant that an actual battle was occurring instead of a one-sided suppression.

Terra was not the only magician in the city because someone had to be operating the C- Document. The powered suits were astounding, but those Roman Catholic magicians had to be something else to take them on directly like that.

As she didn't want to draw fire from either side, Itsuwa was walking quietly.

She crept forward ever so slightly and yet so quietly that at one point, the noise around her was silenced.

It was almost spine-chilling.

The gunshots and other sounds from the nearby battle had stopped at some point. This was the natural state of the Palace of the Popes, but the silence almost hurt her ears.

She felt like some unknown tension was seeping from the depths of the passageways, from the cracks in the walls, and from the other sides of the doors. It felt like the entire atmosphere of the area had been changed.

With a loud crash, the thick wall to Itsuwa's side burst open.

A boy flew through the wall as he landed in front of her.

Itsuwa hurriedly thrust the tip of her spear at the hole where the boy came from, as she prepared for the threat ahead. She glanced down at the blonde boy who had his sunglasses broken and his shirt ripped apart. He was bleeding all over his body as if he ran through a slaughterhouse. It was a miracle that he was even breathing.

"Fuck...he's strong..." The boy said as he rubbed the back of his head with his teeth gritting.

"Are you...Tsuchimikado-kun?" Itsuwa asked as she lowered her spear at the hole.

"You must be Itsuwa then. Where's Accelerator?" Tsuchimikado said as he slowly got up from the rubble.

"He's...dealing with the robots that invaded Avignon." Itsuwa answered with a slight hesitation in her voice.

"Damn it, at this time?!"

Before they had any more time to continue their conversation, a white blade struck between them.

A loud crash was all it took to send the debris around them flying.

Through the destroyed wall, a magician stood holding the giant white blade.

It was Terra of the Left.

"*Yawn* You were boring to deal with, boy. Seems like you can't even use magic properly." Terra of the Left said as he placed his hand over his mouth. "But for Academy City to go to this extent to stop the riots. It just goes to show how ignorant they are to even resort to shorthanded methods like these. It's simply unprofessional."

At that instant, the tip of Itsuwa's spear thrusted forward, but he simply dodged to the side.

"Precedence: Spear - Lower, Flour - Higher."

Terra of the Left swung his guillotine down on her but she quickly jumped back. The guillotine hit the floor as it produced another crash.

Although the guillotine didn't hit her, the rocks from the resulting damage would hit her like bullets.

"Kh...!" She was grazed from the small rocks and some of it even went into her eye. Going so far as to make her left eye socket bleed.

"Itsuwa, do you think you can still fight?" Tsuchimikado asked as he fixed his gaze on Terra of the Left.

He didn't want the Right Seat of God to pull any tricks if he looked away for one second.

"Yes, somehow." Itsuwa did the same as she glared at him with her remaining eye.

"Then you go forward and fight him. I'll cover you from behind." Tsuchimikado whispered as he slowly and secretly pulled out his handgun from his pocket.

"If you're still alive, that means the Imagine Breaker is still here. Guess I'll have to end this quick." Terra of the Left frowned as he raised his guillotine. "Precedence: Air - Lower, Flour - Higher."

Before the two of them could take a step forward, the guillotine expanded like a fan with a roar, as he drove it downwards. The huge fan made of flour flew downwards as it came crashing down on the floor. The both of them flew back as Terra of the Left continued advancing.

"Precedence: Human Flesh - Lower, Flour - Higher."

The guillotine was formed in his right hand again as he walked towards Tsuchimikado whose gun had dropped out of his pockets from that huge crash.

"Petty tricks won't save you." Terra of the Left said as he swung the guillotine down once more, this time targeting Tsuchimikado's chest.

However, a spear had gotten in his way before he could land the hit.

Itsuwa was quick on her feet, but she wasn't quick enough to fix her posture. Tsuchimikado quickly crawled away in the meantime as he went for the gun.

"Precedence: Spear - Lower. Flour - Higher."

Terra of the Left raised the guillotine as he struck Itsuwa's spear like a wooden plank. She quickly pulled back her spear as she raised it up to defend against his attack but his guillotine cut right through her spear as it smashed onto her chest.

"Agh!!" Saliva flew right out of her mouth as she crashed onto the rocky ground. Her spine spasming from the pain.

"Precedence: Bullets - Lower. Human skin - Higher."

As if predicting Tsuchimikado's moves, Terra of the Left spoke those words. The next few seconds, dry gunshots rang out within the stone walls. However, the bullets were met with metal clanking sounds.

The moment the click from the gun was heard, Tsuchimikado threw the gun away as he took out paper cranes from his pocket.

"C'mon, wake up you fuckers. Destroy some shit and laugh your asses off about it!! (The color black is the symbol of water. Open a path similar to that violence!!)"

A sphere of water a meter across suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flew towards Terra of the Left.

"Precedence: Water - Lower. Human - Higher."

The water splashed him as if he was taking a shower. It didn't even affect him in the least bit. In the next second, blood oozed out from Tsuchimikado's lips and body. His body fell as he tried to support himself using his left arm. His body was as weak as it was. One more spell would kill him indefinitely.

"Is that all you have to offer? For a magician such as yourself, it's a real pity. You could have been much better than the Imagine Breaker if you didn't have that limiter on you." Terra of the Left said as he slowly raised the guillotine up again.

"Heh, you must be...kidding me. That monster would...rip me into shreds even without that stupid left hand of his."

"Hm. That is unfortunate." Terra of the Left replied with no remorse whatsoever. "Precedence:"

"Human flesh - Lower, Flour - Higher. Right?" Tsuchimikado said as he pulled out one final trick from his pocket.

He stretched forward as he pressed a black origami of a dragon facing west on Terra's foot.

"Black of the twelve directions, suffocate him with negativity. (Wake the hell up delinquent and drive him below the surface!)"

In that instant, the black origami expanded all over Terra's body like a bubble as Terra was stuck floating in the air as the bubble filled with water.

Tsuchimikado smirked with his remaining strength as he dropped to the ground.

"Haha...not even you can match...the Accelerator..." Blood squeezed itself out of his body like a sponge as it slowly leaked all over the floor. This time he was really colored in red.

Despite that devastating attack, Terra did not even have a single look of pain or struggle as bubbles came out of his mouth.

Tsuchimikado continued looking at Terra who was still floating in the air as he clicked his tongue and finally closed his eyes. "So that didn't...work as well...huh?"

The bubble around Terra dropped to the floor as he stood back on his feet after being released.

"Ahem...the ears of god hears everything. Even if I am drowning, he will still hear me and come to my rescue. That is the power of god! And I have the honor of serving his highness as the Right Seat of God!!"

The sound of something piercing the air could be heard as Terra dodged it instinctively.

The shape of a spear flew past his head as he twisted his body around to see Itsuwa driving her spear in with determination.

"Such stubbornness. It's really embarrassing at this point."

"Shut...up!!"

Itsuwa swung her spear from that angle down towards Terra, but he quickly jumped back.

"Precedence: Air - Lower. Flour - Higher."

The guillotine formed in his right hand again as it expanded with a roar yet again. He swung it towards her as he used his power again.

"Precedence: Spear - Lower, Flour - Higher."

The fan-like guillotine minimized itself as the extra flour crashed into Itsuwa and her spear. Because of her spear being formed out of joints, it broke out of her hands as the force from the impact pushed her to the side along with the joints.

"As expected from a mere magician who tries to go up against a member of God's Right Seat." Terra lifted up the guillotine once more.

He swung it down with such force that her body was crushed with the floor around her.

Blood flew out of her mouth as it spread across the floor.

A loud roar that sounded like cold water being sprinkled on a heated iron plate amplified hundreds of times resounded throughout the Palace of the Popes.

Something must have happened outside the building, but Terra did not bother to look outside to see what was happening. Instead, he just dusted himself off.

"Well, seems like Imagine Breaker didn't show himself. What a shame. I was really excited for a rematch." Terra looked down at the destruction he had caused as he sighed in disappointment.

However, the next thing he knew, his vision was inverted as he flew through the vast space in the Palace of the Popes.

He flew into the wall as the debris fell on him yet again after breaking the wall.

"You did quite a number on them."

Within a few seconds, he got out of that rubble as he smirked at the Accelerator.

"Haha! Does that make you angry?"

"No. In fact, I'm absolutely glad you did." Accelerator returned his smirk with his own. "I'll show you the monster in Academy City."

"Good, good! Show me the true power of Imagine Breaker!"

Accelerator pushed his foot off the floor as he charged at Terra of the Left.

"Precedence: Air - Higher. Human - Lower."

Accelerator only had his momentum stopped for a second before he pushed himself through the resistance of the air around him.

"What?!"

"Sucks to be you!" Accelerator elatedly exclaims as he drove his fist straight into Terra's face. That attack left him spinning for a few rounds. The punch was so terrifying that it sent him flying sideways instead of backwards. The momentum caused him to lose the C-Document in the process as he continued flying through the air. But he didn't care about it at that point, his only concern was staying alive now.

"Precedence: Human - Lower, Flour - Higher!"

The guillotine formed in his hand again as he guarded himself before he even went down to the ground.

It was supposed to be effective. Accelerator was never supposed to pass through that attack. If he was normal.

Only if he was normal.

The flour weapon disappeared from his hand as a glass breaking sound could be heard. As the flour slowly descended like a curtain, Accelerator's right arm was pulled back and simultaneously, he moved his left hand aside while using that momentum as a driving force.

Accelerator's right arm disappeared from Terra's sight as everything went black afterwards.

Accelerator pushed his hand through his skull as he smashed the floor right beside Terra's head.

The floor exploded, which caused the whole building to collapse on them afterwards. It only collapsed on one side of the palace fortunately. So Itsuwa and Tsuchimikado were unharmed.

At the end of it all, the person to get up from that rubble was none other than Accelerator.

When Terra was buried under the rubble, Accelerator waited for a few seconds to see if he would pop out again.

He waited and waited.

But he didn't rise. Most likely, he was really gone.

He wasted no time in searching for the C-Document which was just lying on the floor beside the rubble. He walked up to it and touched it with his left hand. As soon as his fingertips touched the C Document, the parchment fell to pieces like the end of a cigarette being tapped on an ash tray. It lost its form becoming dust and was gently blown away by the wind.

It happened much too quickly.

It made all the uproar seem almost pointless.

Accelerator turned off the battery as he sat on the floor. Looking ahead, he could see a wall of lava surrounding the town of Avignon.

"This wasn't what we agreed to. Damnit..." Accelerator whispered as he fell back and looked at the ceiling.

The sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard outside the Palace of the Popes but it didn't matter much to him anymore. It was going to be over soon, and he knows it.

He looked around for something that he could use as a cane. Fortunately, Itsuwa's spear joints were close by so he picked them up and used it as a cane.

He got up and limped over to Itsuwa as he tapped her with his foot.

"Oi, get up. I'm not going to carry you in this state. I probably have 15 minutes left if I don't activate esper mode."

Itsuwa's right eye opened up as she looked at him. "I guess it's...over huh?"

A loud roar was heard, before Accelerator was sent flying forward. The only thing she saw afterwards was the color white before it finally dissipated.

"Don't think you've won yet, Imagine Breaker!!"

Accelerator held on to the cane tightly as he stood back up.

"Tch, just die already." Accelerator said as he placed his finger on his electrode.

The moment Terra of the Left swung his guillotine horizontally, Accelerator activated esper mode and charged at him with his left hand blocking the direction of the guillotine. But before he could even go close to Terra, his electrode's whirring sound slowly came to a halt as it made a final beep.

"Ah." Was the only thing that came out of his mouth afterwards.

Accelerator fell forward as the blade crossed the top of his head.

"Hahaa...you lost. Imagine Breaker."

Accelerator could only hear the quiet footsteps of Terra coming closer and closer. He could imagine him wielding his guillotine and preparing to slash him down.

The footsteps grew closer and closer.

And closer.

Until it stopped.

He was right in front of him.

His blade held high.

"This is as far as you go."

He heard Itsuwa's voice. He tilted his head up to see her standing in front of him. She was hurt, he could see it. She was tightly grasping her right arm as she hunched her back. She could not fight already, yet why was she defending him?

Was it because she felt the need to stop the evil in front of her?

No, he reason was much simpler. It was because of guilt.

She had forced him to use his powers to walk, troubled him by making him use his power to defend her.

It was not right for him to suffer her consequences.

"Your friends are truly stubborn, Imagine Breaker." Terra said as he held sheathed his guillotine away. "Tell me magician, defending the power in his left hand will not save the world, you know? There are much stronger magicians than me. Magic gods exist as well. Surely you should know it too. If defeating me is already so difficult, what chance --"

"Shut up. I'm not defending the power that he has. Is it so wrong for me to defend him because he's a person?" Itsuwa said as she stared him down.

"The extent of his left hand is powerful. So powerful in fact, it could swallow him whole if he's not careful. Can you truly understand what that means?"

"I don't care what that means. I don't care about your goals or his power. I'm only caring because he's a person and that's it!"

Terra twisted his lips as he looked down at her. "Shame. Then you will die with him." The guillotine appeared in his hand again. "Precedence: Human - Lower, Flour - Higher."

Itsuwa picked up a piece of the rubble that was somewhat shaped like a shield.

He swung down the guillotine as she lifted it over her head. The attack destroyed the floor piece as the rocks that it was made out of scattered around them.

Her knees bent under the pressure, but she still held her ground.

She took one step forward and he swung once more horizontally. She dodged as she bent her knees and back forward and took another step.

Along the way, she picked up another floor piece.

"Precedence: Floor tile - Lower. Flour - Higher."

He swung horizontally again and she used the rock to block it, but the blade sliced through the floor tile and smashed into her.

"Gah!!" She fell to the side as Terra prepared to swing his blade once more.

He didn't care if there was lava pouring into the Palace of the Popes now, or what was the Palace of the Popes. It looked like an abandoned stronghold that has been exposed under the sun.

"..."

Terra of the Left did not say anything. Not because there wasn't anything to say. But because he was speechless.

---------------

Accelerator was watching Itsuwa as she continued marching towards Terra of the Left.

He couldn't understand fully what she was saying. But he caught the words 'person'.

She saw him as a person. Whereas others saw him as the monster. Enviable.

Everyone wanted to be him. Holding that unlimited power of vector control.

Holding that which could defy the laws of physics.

A versatile ability. An ability that can be used to defend himself while hurting others.

But no one wanted to be the sour piss that he was when he was not in esper mode. They used him, manipulated him until there was no such thing as humanity within him anymore.

But that was what he thought.

Over the course of a few months, he had met an innumerable number of people who were willing to sacrifice their meager lives for him. That he could not understand. If anything, he saw himself as this pathetic boy who killed for the sake of himself. A boy who wanted to be a hero, but could never be.

He was a villain at heart. That was what he thought.

But all those people still saw the humanity in him, and the person who believed in him the most was gone.

All because he was too...

Weak.

So he had two choices: Continue chasing the non-existent light at the end of the tunnel...

Or...

Embrace the monster that he was and prove them all wrong.

The final groan from Itsuwa was all it took for him to make that decision.

His ticket to hell was given to him a long time ago. No amount of good deeds can refuse his ticket to hell.

This was after all, a one way road.

----------------

"Accelerator..." Itsuwa mumbled as she looked at him. Her eyes were weak as they struggled to keep themselves open.

"Well well, this was not what I expected." Terra said as he looked at Accelerator's new form.

Jet black wings appeared on his back as they soar towards the ceiling of the Palace of the Popes.

He was in full control this time.

"What...is...that...?" Itsuwa whispered as her eyes slowly started to shut themselves.

The wings itself had a menacing appearance. So much so that the explosions from outside didn't matter anymore.

"Those wings...hmm they didn't mention anything about those wings in the report. This is definitely fascinating. Espers are indeed --"

Before Terra had the chance to finish his sentence, Accelerator took a step forward. Through that one step, Terra could feel the immense power coming from him.

"That's not esper though, is it?" Terra of the Left grinned as he raised his guillotine once more.

But Accelerator kept moving forward.

"Precedence: Human - Lower, Flour - Higher!"

He swung his guillotine downwards, but Accelerator merely pushed it aside with his left hand. There was 0 impact and 0 recoil from that negation.

"Kh?!" Terra of the Left was stunned. Usually if he had charged right at him, he wouldn't be that stunned if his attack was negated. But this time, it was a different feeling.

It was simply suffocating.

It was as if all the oxygen had been stripped away from him.

Before he could process his actions, Accelerator was already right in front of him.

"Precedence: Human arms - Lower, Human Skin - Higher!"

But it was pointless.

In one swift motion, Accelerator formed his right hand into a claw as he pierced through Terra's chest, grabbing hold of his heart before pulling it out in front of him.

"Gah?! H-How?! Th-This power...!!"

Accelerator crushed his heart in front of him as the blood splattered all over the floor and onto their faces. Terra still had a steady supply of oxygen from his lungs so he could still stand but at the same time, he was already feeling nauseous.

But Accelerator wasn't done yet.

He grabbed ahold of Terra's jaw and ripped it off his face. A cracking sound followed by squishing noises followed as he jammed the two ends of his jaw into his eye sockets. Then, he grabbed his head as he slowly twisted his head before a tearing noise could be heard and he pulled his head off along with his spine.

The shadow on the floor illuminated by the lava outside the Palace of the Popes could show Terra's body falling to the ground as his head and spine dangled beside Accelerator's legs.

Not a single noise or word was made by Accelerator.

Accelerator squatted down as he continued to dismember whatever remained of Terra of the Left. Bit by bit and piece by piece. Limb by limb, bone by bone.

This was the real monster of Academy City.