Chapter 2: The Witch-Hunter Moves Along With the Flames. Part 7

"It looks bad but the injuries aren't serious. Treatment will do." calmly said Deep Blood Himegami Aisa. Kamijou had dragged the Misawa student, the girl with braids, onto the corridor.

"BU-BUT SHE'S COVERED IN BLOOD!" Kamijou placed the girl on the floor and could not help but roar at Deep Blood's words. The unknown school's summer uniform was dyed a fresh red and her face, hands and other visible skin were damaged, looking like a layer of plastic was wrapped over them.

"Only her damaged skin caused damage to the capillaries. Had her arteries ruptured, it would have been worse. The blood would have gushed like a fountain.

"How… do you…"

You're not a doctor. And even if you were, you'd need to thoroughly examine this. How can you make a prognosis just like that? Kamijou thought.

"I'm well informed about blood flow than other people." Kamijou was stunned and automatically recalled the name of Himegami Aisa's ability.

"Help me!" Kamijou's reaction went unnoticed, likely because she began emergency treatment and proceeded to undress the wounded girl in front of the boy.

"Uwah! Hold on…"

"Don't overreact. It's disrespectful to the injured."

Though Kamijou was panicked for whatever reason, considering it, it was wrong to think that it was a girl's naked body. It was similar to how quickly a doctor would be fired if they were excited because of a patient's naked body. Himegami then, like a doctor or paramedic, used a handkerchief to stop the bleeding and, since it would not suffice for the bleeding wrists, used Kamijou's belt to tie her wrists. The ruptured abdominal muscles were then stitched together with the injured girl's hair and needles from a sewing box.

Kamijou could do little but follow Himegami's directions and lift the arms higher than her heart or use the handkerchief to press the wounds. Doing such things caused his hands to stain red and, considering it was because of attempts to save a life rather than hurt, caused a rather remarkable feeling for Kamijou.

"Anyways, she's alright." Himegami, whose miko outfit was stained with blood, spoke with little impact. "We managed to stop her blood loss. It'll take 15 minutes for the blood to clot but once it does, the wounds will be patched up. However, the sterilization's incomplete. Though there won't be any danger for the next couple hours, it'd be best to send her to a hospital just to be safe.

"…" Kamijou stared at the injured individual on the floor. She was about Kamijou's age but her wounds were so sever it was a difficult fact to imagine. Psychology, it was unlikely she was faring any better. It was true that he should have been happy that they saved a life, but, the fact that she had lost everything bothered Kamijou.

"We did what we could. Now… we can only leave it to Academy City's technology." He said, still staring. As the wounds were internally caused, her damaged skin stuck to her flesh like damaged plastic sheets.

"It'll only take plastic surgery. She just needs the skin from her arm." Himegami Aisa noted with an according knowledge of modern medicine.

"..." However, Kamijou still found it unbelievable that the arm could have been used as a replacement for facial dermis. "Speaking of which, you were amazing just now. Are you a certain doctor that operates without a license?" [1] [2]

"I'm not a doctor." Himegami continued before Kamijou could ask what she was. "I'm a spellcaster."

"…" Kamijou recalled that she had previously said something similar. "Eh? On what basis are you a spellcaster?"

"I have a magic wand."

"O…Oi! Hold on! That's a police baton!"

"New material."

"STOP MESSING AROUND." Kamijou, who was loudly criticizing such ridiculousness, finally realized that he could only do so because the injured person before him was safe.

He collapsed onto the floor, the current activities allowing Kamijou's tension to be seemingly released. It was an easing feeling in an out-of-the-way, unknown place where many people were killed. It would have even been unsurprising to find someone in tears. Even if they managed to save one or two people, it would have been insignificant compared to the hellish sight.

However, saving a person was still something to be happy with.

"If she needs a hospital…" Regardless of anything else, he could not leave an injured person there. No matter how they intended to deal with Misawa Cram School and Aureolus Izzard, finding an ambulance took first priority. "I'm going back. We can't leave a wounded person here and it'll be better to let the ambulance wait at the entrance."

"Mm. That's true. Since it's not just one person, we can save travel time by calling the ambulance here."

"…Don't say it like it doesn't involve you."

"?" Himegami stared at Kamijou with inexplicability. Perhaps because of her long-term imprisonment, her mind had not considered running away.

"Eh… I meant you don't have to be locked up in here. Let's get out of here. In fact, we came here to save you." Himegami, unresponsive and frozen, revealed a frozen look of surprise. "What is it? Did I say something weird?" "…" Himegami responded softly. "…Why?"

"Why, what? Do I need a reason to save others?"

Himegami, shocked once more, remained stiff with what seemed like a blush, which was perhaps just Kamijou's imagination.

"But… I…" Himegami Aisa seemed like she had wanted to say something. However, she was then interrupted by the sound of something being dragged which was followed by the sound of heavy breathing. Kamijou had heard no one speak but still felt the negative feelings of hatred and anger, as if an echo of his mind.

"Damn it! Damn it! Exactly why am I so injured! He's supposed to be material but he's dragging me down… Kuku… huhu... dragging me down? Dragging me down? That's interesting, isn't it Aureolus Izzard! You don't even have a leg for others to pull! Kuku! Kukuku! You bastards looked down on me! In the end I'M GOING TO MELT ALL OF YOU…!" said an abnormally loud male voice, sounding like crashing echoes.

With an extremely loud swoosh and the sound of dragging, the man escaped down the stairs and into the corridor. Kamijou was stunned by the green-haired foreigner in a white suit. His left arm and leg were sliced off at the joints and slanted golden sticks were attached the damage parts, serving as crutches. It should have been painful but the man seemed unperturbed. His sweaty, exaggerated face perhaps betrayed the anger, hatred, ecstasy and insanity that served as anesthetic for the man.

Additionally, in each hand, his normal right hand and prosthetic left, were the collars of bloodied boys and girls, three on each for a total of six.

"Wh-What's going on?"

The man stared at Kamijou with bloodshot eyes. "Kid, what're you doing here? Only magicians are allow here! Are you an intruder? A friend of that flame magician?"

He was approximately three meters away and continued to allow his saliva to fly. However, Kamijou stood his ground. "You… those people."

"Of course these are just materials! Alchemy requires materials! Why're you looking at them? That's weird! Aureolus Izzard and his Limen Magna stand before you and you're looking at the materials!? I should be perfect!! Why are you unmoved!?! What do I lack!?"

The name Aureolus Izzard shocked Kamijou, finally caused him to back away. However, Himegami Aisa, beside him, maintained her expression.

"Poor thing… If you hadn't realized the truth, you could have continued to be Aureolus Izzard."

"Ku…!? Damn you!!" With Aureolus' growl flew a large golden dart from the right sleeve, which quickly spun around the alchemist, the golden chain making some sort of boundary.

The dart pierced through the bloody students that Aureolus had dragged with him. The six students immediately melted into something gold. It was no ordinary fluid. The mercury-like metallic substance's hissing and the noisy beast-like breathing of the steam proved that the fluid was molten metal.

"Wha— DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING YOU BASTARD?!" Seeing this, Kamijou Touma worried for the melted students, ignoring the murderous technique itself. Aureolus faced Kamijou, seething with anger.

"Of course. ACCEPT YOUR FATE!" Aureolus cried out and the golden dart and chain spun around the alchemist with increasing velocity. Even the surrounding golden dirt flew in mid air like a tornado. It seemed like a wall, yet like a tsunami and yet like a meteor crashing into the sea. It raised waves around Aureolus that extended to the ceiling.

During this, from the corner of his eye, he saw Himegami move. She wordlessly bent down and lifted the injured girl before backing away. Staggering slightly but visibly not anxious, she clearly knew she had to back away and get clear of the attack range.

Luckily, the fluid formed by the spike was different from water. Rather, it was more like sticky, melted chocolate. Even if it were to crash like a tsunami, splash damage would not have been a factor.

Kamijou followed the burdened Himegami's lead and backed away. Then, a hole appeared in the golden tsunami from whence a golden dart lunged with terrifying speed.

"…!?" Though he would have dodged it, as he was backing off, he could not find proper balance in such short notice. Instead, he chose to use right hand to grab the attack that approached.

The sound of ripping muscles was heard from his hand. The golden dart was not so easily caught; it retreated and returned to the golden storm. The cut palm felt hot, as if scalded by a metal plate.

After a moment, the golden tsunami began to rise. Kamijou jumped backwards and then rolled, avoiding the molten hot attack. The golden sea separated Kamijou and Aureolus a distance of three meters.

…Ku. Damn it. I have no feeling in my right hand! Kamijou grit his teeth at the difficulty of clenching his right hand's five fingers. The right hand that could negate any miracle had no power to block a small knife.

"What—What's going on?" After the gold tsunami subsided, Aureolus reappeared, seeming to be more anxious, perhaps even confused, than Kamijou. The golden dart in his hand began to disintegrate like sand.

Kamijou's right hand, Imagine Breaker, began its effect. The dart was something imbued with super natural power, which was destroyed upon contact with his hand. The wound on Kamijou's hand was caused by the blade just before destruction.

"Just what exactly is up with your range hand? Certainly… it won't change? Without question, my Limen Magna is alchemy's pinnacle! It's a miracle that even two schools, Bohemia and Vienna, abandoned thinking it impossible! This is unbelievable! Exactly what did you use to negate my theory!?"

Limen… Magna? Kamijou felt his wound pulsate with his heartbeat. He automatically frowned and analyzed. By "change" does he mean that molten metal?

"Ha. How satisfying! Haha! THIS IS SATISFYING. YOU'RE TRULY FASCINATING, BOY! WHAT'S YOUR BODY'S SECRET? LET ME, A MAGIC DOCTOR, DISSECT YOU AND ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS!!!"

Aureolus swung his right hand vertically and revealed a new dart that was pointed at the spot between Kamijou's eyebrows, exacting the killing intent held in his eyes.

He's coming!?

The dart nearly reached his forehead. Kamijou had frantically used his right hand to block his face, swatting the dart aside, causing a sharp, cut-like pain in his own hand.

"Tch!" Aureolus attempted to use his chain to counter, but Kamijou's right hand shattered it like glass before he could catch it. Another dart appeared from his right sleeve.

Just as Kamijou prepared to dodge, golden darts fired out like machine guns from Aureolus' suit.

It was fast. The firing, the damaging and preparation for the next each lasted less than a fifth of a second. The level was no longer something a human could handle. However, Kamijou could not simply run away or even turn his back on others. The smallest mistake would have allowed for a dart to lance his chest or other vitals.

Luckily, the dart, though fast, had a relatively simple trajectory. It continued to fire in straight lines which were much easier to predict than the straights and hooks of a boxer.

"Ku! Ahh!!"

Though Kamijou knew he ran the risk of cutting his hand, he could only choose to deflect with Imagine Breaker. Considering the dart's ability to transform, he would have been melted into gold if he had blocked with anything else. Thus, after some time, the remains of darts and chains surrounded him.

"HAHA! HAHAHAHA! SUCH AN INTERESTING HUMAN SPECIMEN! IT'S NOT EVEN USING A CHANT TO ABSORB THE MAGIC OR A LANCE OF LONGINUS GOD SLAYER! IT USES ITS BARE HAND TO DESTROY MY LIMEN MAGNA!" Though he was continuously unable to kill his enemy, Aureolus seemed quite ecstatic. He was like an adventurer exploring some mysterious place that none had reached prior. "IT'S NOT ENOUGH! HAHA! BOY! THIS ISN'T ENOUGH TO TEST YOUR LIMITS!"

The speeds of the golden dart's destruction and regeneration more than doubled, continuously ripping the air and flying at Kamijou.

Kamijou's hand was already stained in blood, unable to even clench into a fist.

Da-Damn it…! MY FINGERS MIGHT GET SLICED! As Kamijou experienced the frightening thought invade his body, a dart unexpectedly missed and whizzed past the slowly moving Kamijou

"The enemy missed" was much too optimistic a thought. Standing behind Kamijou was Himegami Aisa and the injured girl!

"HIME—!"

Kamijou turned his head around and attempted to yell. However, facing where the dart originated, the action was too slow. It was aimed for the area between her eyes. Perhaps Aureolus' extreme mental confusion caused him to not consider showing any mercy for the Deep Blood he had labored to obtain.

Before them was the shocked look of Himegami Aisa's face. Kamijou attempted to shout… but the sound of a dart piercing flesh was heard. In fact, there was a shocked cry whose origin Kamijou was unsure of. He could not tell because the scene before him was much too pitiful and much too unexpected.

The golden dart had not pierced Himegami Aisa.

Instead, the thoroughly injured girl that she was carrying, a girl who could not possibly lift a finger, had actually moved her hand to protect Himegami.

The dart deeply pierced into her soft hand but the girl did not show a look of pain. Instead, she used her other hand to gently push Himegami's chest, swaying her and forcing her one step away from the girl.

She seemed to mutter something with an extremely weak voice. She went unheard… but she smiled.

Rather than a smile for her, it was one for the consoling of others.

Then, the anonymous girl was simply transmuted into flowing gold.

For an instant, Kamijou seemed to shout something. He knew not what he shouted but he had nearly ruptured his throat. The alchemist also seemed taken aback and, likely due to luck (or a lack of it), the golden chain stopped winding.

Kamijou grabbed the chain, not with his sure-kill right hand but instead his left. His instincts told him that only the dart could carry out Limen Magna because, if the chains could, Aureolus would have swung the chain rather than fire the dart because of the extended lateral range.

"Ugh…!" Aureolus naturally attempted to pull the chain back but was held straight like a rope in tug-of-war as Kamijou used his foot to hold it in place. Aureolus himself was the one pulled.

And… in front of him was the fiery liquid gold he had created!

"GUOAHHHHHHHH!!"

Upon stepping into the golden fluid, Aureolus attempted to escape, but could not. The golden chain had become a bind, restricting his movements.

Aureolus roared and released the chain hidden within his suit, managing to eventually drag himself out of the gold. Although the contact was only two seconds, his foot was smoking.

Perhaps understanding he could no longer bind him with the chain, Kamijou's bloodied hand abandoned it.

Should he run? Or should he attack?

As Aureolus hesitated, he witnessed something unbelievable. Kamijou bent over in an attempt to maximize his jumping distance and jump over the golden stream in order to attack the opposite alchemist.

In truth, the abandonment of the chain had nothing to do with locking Aureolus in place. As for the leaping distance, anyone could have told him it was impossible. The gold stream between them was three meters wide, which was possible with a running start, but impossible starting at rest.

Even so, Kamijou's eyes lacked hesitation.

It was as if he were saying that even if he were to fail and jumped into the burning gold, then he just had to beat the enemy before him before he was burned.

The intense, unrestrained emotions caused Aureolus his fear.

The next instant, Kamijou jumped without hesitation.

It had seemed like a suicidal jump… but it was not toward Aureolus. Instead, his foot landed on a slightly protruded platform window in the corridor that allowed in the shining sunset; Kamijou flew at him!

"…!"

Kamijou had already jumped before Aureolus could prepare an attack, and from a position much higher than both Aureolus and the floor. The alchemist's survival instincts told him to respond quickly and use a dart to shoot Kamijou out of the air. However, as he rushed to raise Limen Magna, he realized that Kamijou Touma was overhead. If he used Limen Magna, the fiery gold would have rained down.

"Apparently, I didn't foresee this…!"

Actions, pride and a burning foot were all abandoned by Aureolus as he frantically rolled to flee Kamijou's attack. In comparison to the shame of losing to an ordinary person, a non-magician, unendurable damage was a greater fear.

All the alchemist could do was crash about as he ran away on his battered legs, into the darkness.