Nordon dove behind an alley wall right as three gunshots rang out. If he’d been only a second later he’d be dead. The shots were sudden and quiet, likely from a silencer. The only thing which warned him of his life being in danger was his observation flashing red.
“Shit I missed…” Jenku sighed with a frown, she reloaded her sniper rifle and continued to aim it at the wall where Nordon had dove behind in case he tried to peek out from it.
With her spell [一に三: One In Three] every bullet she shot conjured two others, a three in one shot. Though simple it was highly effective.
“Keep your rifle positioned.” A voice came in from the ear piece in Jenkus ear.
“Got it, Itadori.” Jenku answered keeping her scope focused on the wall.
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
Itadori Ichido stood about two buildings away from Jenku staring down at Nordon through a broken window.
Hina’s radio range is only a single kilometer so we can’t stray too far from here. Otherwise he’ll be able to tap into our earpieces and read our signals…
Though Itadori made sure to keep his distance from Nordon he was still in close enough range to jump into action if needed. However he wanted to avoid that as much as possible since he wasn’t particularly skilled in hand to hand combat.
His spell [Different Face Same Day] made it to where his face eluded people's memory with only his actions remaining. As such he was far more suited to sneak attacks followed by hiding in crowds. Not even cameras or Photographs were able to register his face so he was the silent killer. However if he was to fight someone in a one on one or even two on one format it’d be quite obvious who the culprit was even if you couldn’t remember their face. As such his action was saved for the last possible moment, when either their plans up to that point had failed or he could swoop in for the killing blow.
Being a member of Domushis Joshin Elite Four he was too valuable to throw away, a role which would instead be given to lower ranking Yakuza in wait.
“Phase two.”
Itdaori said into the ear pierce and snapping his fingers.
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
From the buildings above Nordon crashed down two large men, both swollen with muscle and eyes glazed over. As soon as they had appeared they began to attack Nordon with a volley of punches.
Despite Nordons seemingly lanky body he was able to keep pace with the large men's attacks and even counter them. Seeing an opening in one of their forms he swung his leg into one of the men's heads which exploded like a grape into a puff of dust, their entire body breaking apart like gas thereafter.
Golems which have a high attack power but low durability. Nordon thought, sensing an attack coming at him from behind.
Ducking down to dodge the attack he kicked his leg behind him and smashed it into the second golems knee snapping it backwards at the joint.
As the golem crumbled under their broken leg Nordon spun around and smashed his elbow into the back of its head destroying it.
Looking to the side he saw a clear path into a building which he took, crashing through the window with a roll across the floor he jumped to his feet.
[Little Helper!]
At the spell's activation a small Buraku doll familiar appeared next to Nordon awaiting its command.
“Are there any radio signals?” He asked.
[Cannot scan due to interference] the doll answered, its voice and tone similar to an answering machine.
So there’s more than just one or two of them, blocking the radio signals proves it. Unless you’re on their white list you probably can’t access the channel they're speaking on. But there has to be a range to it with the spells user acting as the center. For it to block out all radio transmitters completely it’d have to have a small range. Maybe a single Kilometer at most. But I doubt I’ll be able to break through the range, they probably have a perimeter set up right outside the range to intercept any escape attempts. Nordon thought with a frown. But I’ll activate my [Signal] just in case there’s a gap in that technique…
“!?”
Just then his observation flashed red and he spun around while jumping backwards, a man holding a knife materializing before him.
“Wow you’re good!” The man scoffed seeing Nordon evade being stabbed.
He was invisible!? Even his aura itself disappeared, but with such a powerful effect he probably only used it for a few seconds.
[Little Helper: Passive Arrest!]
[Target Acquired] the doll said aloud. It opened its mouth and from it shot out a chain which nearly wrapped around the man who vanished just before it reached him.
“!”
Nordon immediately strained his ears and observation when the man disappeared in an attempt to find any presence but he’d vanished completely.
He can erase himself completely. But there has to be a heavy drawback for such a strong spell. Since he materialized before attacking me I doubt he can interact with the outside world while invisible and it probably has a very short time limit. He also probably can’t turn anyone else invisible. If he could then there was no reason for him not bringing a whole gang with him to attack me right now. Meaning he’s a one trick pony. Once you know what to expect he’s useless. But I’m less worried about him and more the fact that he was able to appear and vanish so quickly, they must have a spatial manipulator teleporting people in and out…
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
“No good Itadori.” A voice came in over the ear piece.
“Whaddya mean it’s no good Kawagi?” Itadori barked back.
“He sensed me as soon as I materialized, I couldn’t even knick him with the knife.” Kawagi answered.
“Tch, looks like we’re moving closer to me having to do something.” Itadori complained, rubbing his forehead. “Chosuke, Rintarou, Kenichi you’re next!” He said, snapping his fingers.
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
Nordon hadn’t moved from where he was standing, instead he considered his options before rushing into any potential mistakes.
If I go into a more public space I’ll have more room to maneuver around but there’s the chance of civilians being brought into the crossfire. Not only that but with how far they’ve gone already I doubt the Toumeikan are above using hostages. He thought, clenching his fist.
“!”
Just then he sensed something coming for him from his left and rolled to the floor with a summersault avoiding an incoming projectile.
What flew over head appeared to be a fist sized chunk of metal which crashed into the wall before him with a bang, sending cracks up the concrete.
“Shit I missed.” A voice said from behind Nordon who spun around.
What stood there were two men, one short with crazy round eyes and curly red hair styled like a mohawk. The other a tall and lanky man with a heavily scarred face and a dark purple pompadour.
[Target Acquired: Bugiwara Chosuke and Mikani Rintarou. Multiple warrants out for their arrest.] Little Helper said upon seeing them men.
“Freaky!” Chosuke hummed, black smoke coming from his mouth. “It just makes me wanna kill it more!” Opening his mouth up what looked to be the barrel of a cannon grew from the depths of his gut and up into his throat.
BANG!
With a flash of light a cannon ball flew at Little Helper smashing into it with an explosion.
[Requirements Met Activating Stun Gun] Little Helper said as the smoke cleared, not a scratch on it.
“Lousy shot.” Rintarou huffed leaping at Nordon with a wakizashi short blade in hand.
[Little Helper: Stun Gun!]
Nordon lifted his arms up and inside his hands was a newly conjured desert eagle like pistol which he shot a single bright green bullet from.
“!”
The bullet flew right into Rintarous stomach with a flash of light.
“What the hell!?” Rintarou coughed as he slammed to the floor with a thud. “I- I can’t move!” He yelled at Chosuke.
“You’re paralyzed for the next sixty minutes so stay quiet till I finish this up.” Nordon said aiming the gun at Chosuke next,
“Wow! This isn't funny, Itadori!” Chosuke cried out, smoke still coming from his mouth, this time darker than before.
He must have a cool down period on his spell, I imagine it overheats his body quickly so he can’t use it in quick succession yet he did anyways. They’re clearly sending quantity over quality in hopes to overwhelm me so my ultimate defeat is less risky. They don’t want to risk anyone important being arrested after all.
“Coming through!” A gravelly voice called out from behind Nordon.
“!?”
Nordon spun around at the voice just in time to see a hulking man smash through the already cracked concrete wall behind him and straight into his body.
“Gah!” Nordon wheezed as he was thrown forwards, smashing through a wall and rolling across the floor. He broke my arm and two ribs. He thought, jumping to his feet.
“I’ll kill you Nordon!” The large man yelled, his face warped into a wide crooked smile. He was tall and thick with oversized arms and hands as well long brown curly hair which peaked out from the black ski mask that covered the top half of his face.
[Kinnoji Kenichi, escaped convict responsible for multiple murders and assaults with killing intent] Little Helper said scanning the large man over.
“Interesting! But I’m not a fan of complicated spells!” Kenichi laughed, flexing his arms and back. “Get lost Chosuke, I’ll take care of it from here!” He yelled behind him.
“No way! I’m not gonna let you take all the glory!” Chosuke argued.
“I said get lost!” Kenichi roared, swinging shi hips around and smashing his fist into Chosuke.
“BLARGH!” Chosuke was thrown backwards vomiting his own organs out with a streak of red. He crashed to the floor with a shiver as his lungs tried to inflate with air after collapsing in on themselves.
“You are a savage.” Nordon growled, raising his [Stun Gun] and pointing it at Kenichi.
“!”
Right before Nordon pulled the trigger Kenichi dug his hand into the ground, ripping up a chunk of concrete which he flung into the air. The two remaining bullets from Nordons stun gun smashed into the rubble with a crackle, fizzling out after missing their target.
“Tch.” Nordon grunted jumping backwards as Kenichi continued to charge him.
As per the conditions for [Little Helper: Stun Gun] I can only activate the spell in self defense after me or [Little Helper] have been attacked directly, now that I spent my three bullets I’ll need to wait for him to hit me to activate it again. But if I do let him get a hit on me I’ll be crippled after and he’ll kill me before I can heal…
[Little Helper: Pellet Pistol!]
Above Nordon appeared [Little Helper] in its hand a small toy-like pistol which it pointed at the roof above Kenichi which it began to unload a rain of bullets onto.
“Huh?” Kenichi grunted looking up as the roof above him creaked.
BANG!
Right before he reached Nordon the roof collapsed down onto him the thousands of pounds of Concrete and rebar pinning him down.
“Shit!” Kenichi wheezed as blood trickled from his nose.
[Little Helper: Passive Arrest]
Little Helper opened its mouth and shot out a chain which wrapped around Kenichi binding him in place further.
“Do you think this can hold me!?” Kenichi growled, flexing his muscles to try and break free of the chain.
“!?”
However no matter how hard he strained the chain didn’t even budge let alone break.
“Don’t bother trying, that chain can only be broken through pure physical strength not including enhancement. You know what on second thought perhaps you should continue to struggle and tire yourself out. You’d be easier to throw in prison that way. But you should know that not even an elephant can break free from that chain.” Nordon snorted, wiping the dust off his white button up. That’s two immobilized, one dead and one escaped. I don’t think they have many more to throw at me carelessly. He thought.
“How annoying you are.” Itadori said dropping out of the roof from a portal in front of Nordon.
[Target Unrecognizable] Little Helper said as it scanned Itadori over.
“Target unrecognizable? I have every single notable member of the Toumeikan booked so you must be Itadori Ichido then. Joshin elite four under Sumiyoshi Domushi, his right hand man.”
“How scary…” Itadori hummed, scratching the back of his head. “I was hoping these guys would tire you out a bit more but it looks like I over estimated them way more than I should have…’ He sighed. “As you can tell I’m not the most physically inclined guy so a straight brawl isn’t exactly my thing.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Are you done?”
“Done with what?”
“Running your mouth.” Nordon answered with a scowl.
“Tch, how impatient are you? I’m not in the mood to be arrested so I was hoping to talk this out a bit more.”
“!?”
Sensing something coming from behind him Nordon dove to the side right as Kawagi materialized behind him swinging Rintarous wakizashi at his back.
“Man you’re something else!” Kawagi laughed as sweat dripped down his forehead.
Though Nordon dodged the attack he was still nicked by the end of the blade which sliced into his shoulder blade with a trickle of blood.
I only sensed him because the Wakazashi materialized first. It should be expected that he can turn items invisible since he’s not running around naked but I didn’t expect him to upgrade his weapon of choice so fast. Nordon thought. Though it only appears to be a [Stark] graded sword at most, so I don’t need to worry about anything other than the blade.
[Target Identified: Kawagi Ookun] Litter Helper said scanning Kawagi. [Member of Asago Yamikawas Joshin Elite Four]
“Two Joshin? What luck...” Nordon muttered as [Little Helper] healed the slice on his back.
“Man, that little thing does everything,” Kawagi hummed.
“It must be hooked up to the government's criminal archives.” Itadori said, reaching under his shirt and pulling out a 8” inch cyclone knife.
“Hey wait a damn minute you bastard! Don’t just go stealing my kill!” Kenichi shouted from under the rubble.
“You had your chance and blew it, so shut up and be thankful you’re not getting life in prison.” Itadori snorted.
“What did you say you little-!” Before Kenichi could further curse Itadori, Itadori stomped his foot down onto his head, making it explode into a mess of gore. “Kids these days have no respect.” He sighed.
“!”
In the next moment both Itadori and Kawagi rushed Nordon. Itadori ducked down low and thrust his knife at Nordons side hoping to carve out his liver. Kawagi jumped up and brought his Wakizashi down onto Nordons neck intending to sever his head completely.
[Zenkeidou!]
“!?”
It was as if Nordon had Teleported. One moment he was there and the next he was across the room with a drop of blood trickling down his nose.
Zenkeidou, he created a set plan of action in his head and then using Enhancement and Observation projected it into reality. By following that exact course of action without wasting a single moment your body moves so fast it’s as if you’re teleporting. Itadori walked towards Nordon, his bloody soaked shoes making a splash every time he took a step. It’s a powerful technique without a doubt but it puts an immense stress on your entire body, most people would die from just attempting to perform it yet he only got away with a nose bleed. I guess that’s a captain for you… “Kawagi, plan B.”
“Roger that.” Kawagi called out as he vanished into thin air once more. His very presence seemingly erased.
Another sneak attack huh? Nordon frowned, rubbing his throbbing forehead.
“!”
In a split second both Itadori and Nordon leapt forwards. Whoever made the first movement was irrelevant as the other immediately countered with such speed you’d think they’d both planned it beforehand.
Their forearms clashed against one another with sparks of mana and Nordon kicked upwards aiming the tip of his shoe at Itadoris temple.
“Tch!” Leaning back just in time, Itadori managed to avoid the kick with only a graze, his skin being sliced open with a splash of blood. Falling backwards he planted his hands on the floor as an anchor point and swung his legs upwards. His heels nearly smashed into Nordons jaw.
“!”
Nordon jumped backwards avoiding Itadoris kick but was immediately bombarded with a series of punches of Itadori who sprung up from the ground and pursued him.
[O-Soto-Gari!]
Nordon Grabbed Itadori arm as it flew at him and pulled him inwards he swept Itadori out from under his feet and flipped him over his shoulder.
“!?”
However Itadori by twisting his body managed to land on his feet and wrapped his arm around Nordons pinning it to his side and creating a clear opening for a shot at Nordons liver.
Nordon barely managed to tuck his right side in as Itadoris knee went for him, in relation he swung his forehead into Itadoris nose cracking it with a spray of blood.
“Gyah!” Itadori gagged, his throat filling with blood and eyes filled with tears. He released Nordon from the momentary shock and Nordon not missing the chance immediately activated [Little Helper: Passive Arrest].
From Little Helper's mouth shot out a chain which nearly wrapped around Itadoris torso if not for him suddenly switching places with Rintarou.
They switched!? Nordon wondered furrowing his brow.
“What the hell!?” Rintarou barked as he was constricted by the chains and fell to the floor with a thud. “How’d I get over here!?”
“Phew, what a life saver you are Rintarou~” Itadori coughed now from across the room where Rintarou had been. From under his white t-shirt he pulled out a small paper seal which began to disintegrate into ash in the abandoned buildings' slight breeze.
A paper seal with a spell pre imbued into it. Not so different from the rings Jinen gave Sarumalder-San other than these only being a single use. But who’s to say how many more he might have hidden under his clothes?
“This is going to be a lot tougher than I imagined, so why don’t we change our setting?” Itadori asked with a coy smile.
“!”
Itadori appeared before Nordon grabbing him by the head and running him through a glass window some ways behind them with a crash.
He was holding back on purpose so I’d underestimate him!? Nordon thought as he felt himself crashing through the glass window. It was as if Itadori had more than tripled his previous speed in an instant.
Both Itadori and Nordon crashed down to the floor outside the building, falling three stories and crashing onto the sidewalk with a thud.
“AIEEE!”
“WHAT THE HELL!?”
“Are they filming a movie!?”
“CALL THE POLICE THERE’S A FIGHT!”
The sounds of panicked onlookers shook Nordon to his very core, he saw Itadori who was still pinning him to the ground smile maliciously before jumping off of him into the crowd and disappearing.
He’s running away!? Did he give up!? No, he must be trying to use his spell to hide himself so he can take potshots at me slowly. I don’t know what his face looks like so I can’t discern him from anyone else here.
“!?”
Just then Nordon sensed something coming from behind and spun around throwing his arms up expecting to see Kawagi. However what he saw was a Wakizashi materializing and falling to the floor.
A decoy!?
CRACK!
“Gah!” Nordon wheezed as a fist smashed into his back throwing him forwards, spinning around he saw Kawagi standing there with a smile.
He materialized the sword first probably by dropping it and then ran around to my back side for a surprise attack! Thought Nordon.
“!”
Just then from behind him came Itadori, his cyclone blade in hand which he stabbed straight into Nordons back. The spiral shape mutilating his flesh and muscle as it was ripped back out.
Ignoring the horrific pain Nordon spun around with a kick but instead found only a crowd of panicked people who flinched at his gesture. For them it must have been no more than two or three seconds since Nordon and Itadori came crashing from the window.
I get it now… Nordon thought, They’re using the crowd as cover so the only way to win would be to attack the entire crowd without prejudice, until I find them. Preferably in an AOE (Area of Affect) spell, but they know I won’t do that, so they’re going to pick me apart slowly. Their abilities are also perfectly suited for hiding in crowds like this so I’m quite literally at their mercy here…
“But that won’t stop me!” Nordon smiled nervously, the corners of his mouth reaching ear to ear.
[Little Helper: Scan!]
Little Helper appeared next to Nordon and at the same time Itadori came at him again, this time aiming to rip into Nordons stomach. However this time Nordon dodged the attack.
“!?” Itadoris eye widened and he jumped back into the crowd avoiding a swift counter attack from Nordon.
If I can’t trust my eyes, then I’ll just have to use someone else's!
Much like how Little Helper has the ability to scan people and use its internal database copied from the criminal archive to identify the Toumeikan it can also lend its eyes to Nordon. Though he can’t use his own eyes at the same time, Nordon can see through Little Helpers.
While [Little Helper] was unable to recognize Itadori it did have a wider range of vision due to multiple factors.
So I’ll watch them as they come at me this way!
“!”
Just then Kawagi appeared to the side of Nordon with a punch but Nordon reacted in time, twisting himself around and kicking his leg upwards, smashing it into Kawagis head.
“Gah!” Kawagi wheezed, as his brain was rattled and his vision blurred.
“Damnit!” Itadori grunted as he jumped at Nordon from behind thrusting his knife at Nordons bloody back once more.
“This is getting old now.” Nordon scoffed , jumping to the side to avoid Itadoris attack. He swung his leg upwards, and his heel smashed into Itadoris stomach with a loud pop.
“Blargh!” Itadori spewed bile from his mouth and was thrown backwards where he disappeared into the crowd once again vomiting profusely.
Tch, that gave him enough time to vanish… Nordon frowned, seeing Kawagi had also disappeared into the crowd. I’ll defeat them with a single attack each to prevent any harm to the civilians. Nordon thought, releasing some of his aura.
“!”
The atmosphere instantly changed, his aura making it grow more intense and imposing especially to Itadori and Kawagi. If Nordon landed a single clean hit on either of them from this point onwards they’d lose.
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
How the hell did he go from not even knowing what I looked like to counterating my attacks!? It must have something to do with that creepy Buraku doll familiar he keeps conjuring, is it able to discern my face? No, when it first saw me it said I was unrecognizable so that can’t be it. Maybe it’s much simpler than that? Maybe he’s just widening his field of view so he can see all around clearly? Normally with observation you wouldn't even need to think of such a thing so for him to already have it preplanned. What a nightmare this guy is! Itadori frowned as he slunk through the crowd.
But this is fine, because I already knew that we would lose in a straight up fight, especially if you got serious Nordon. That’s why I wanted to take you out quickly while you were still feeling us out and gauging the threat level we posed. But you proved more competent than I’d imagined. I wasn’t lying when I said this was a bad matchup for me. Both of us don’t appear to be physical fighters but you have utility spells to make up for that while I don’t.
But I wasn’t chosen by Domushi because of my strength. Just like how you weren’t chosen because of your strength either. You were chosen because of your ability to think calmly in a panicked scenario and the utility you provide.
I was chosen because I’m willing to do what no else would! People like you, Nordon are hard to break, but once you're broken it’s even harder for you to come back from it. I’ll shatter that composure and dance on the shards until there’s nothing left but powder which’ll blow away in the wind!
“We're doing it now, Kawagi!” Itadori screamed into the sky.
“Got it!” Kawagi yelled back as he materlizard with a paper seal in hand.
[Madman's Entourage: Illusionary Army!]
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
The change was sudden and strange. The moment Nordon saw his face he instantly recognized it’s owner. It was Itadori Ichido, even though up to this point he’d not been able to identify or remember a single detail about the man's appearance now he could see every single feature clear as day.
Before he could pounce on the man however he realized that his problem hadn’t been erased, not it’d simply been flipped. As everyone around him had the face of Itadori Ichido and they looked at each other in confusion and panic.
Maybe 15 seconds in total had passed since their fight in the street began, in that time people both fled from the scene and more gathered. Some stayed to watch out of either the fear of moving or morbid curiosity. Now however they all came to regret their greed of wanting to witness the fight. For that greed had led directly into their torment.
He reversed the effect!? Nordon wondered, his eyes growing wide. First things first, I need to identify the spell's effect. Normally I’d assume my vision was being affected but seeing as I’m looking through the eyes of [Little Helper] that’s out of the question. So now the question is whether their actual flesh and bone has been transformed into his or is it simply applying an illusion to their [Jikai] which reflects into the world? If it’s the former then that just brings in even more questions. Is it a permanent change or will their faces return to normal after a set amount of time? No, right now that’s not something for me to worry about, I need to find the real Itadori and capture him then I can find out those details rather than just hopelessly speculate on them. Even if they all do look like him it doesn’t matter if only one of them is attacking me. In fact that only makes things easier for me to deal with.
“!”
As Nordon finished that thought and attack came at him from behind. Spinning around he smashed his fist into his assailants stomach with a pop sending them flying backwards.
“Blergh!” They wheezed, blood flying from their mouth.
He wasn’t using reinforcement? Nordon wondered, pulling his fist back.
“!”
Then another attack came from Nordons opposite side, however this time he spun around grabbed the attackers arm pinning it behind their back.
“!?”
What Nordon saw made him stick to his stomach, In his arms flailing around like a mad man and trying to bite him was another Itadori. Holding back the urge to vomit he let out a deep breath of air and cleared his mind the realization of his opponents plans becoming clear.
They transformed the crowd's appearance to match that of Itadoris and then through a clairvoyance spell are making them attack me so It’s even more difficult to discern who the real Itadori is and who isn’t. It was native to expect them to make an obvious mistake. They’re going to kill me no matter the cost. So I’ll finish this before anyone else can be brought into the crossfire!
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
[Madman's Entourage: Imaginary Army], Itadori expands his aura to create a territory and those within its range have their Jikai warped. The illusion of Itadoris face placed upon them. This was a spell Itadori was inexperienced at using. In fact he was rather poor at barrier techniques in general. In order to make the spell possible he needed a fellow Joshin to imbue a seal with a barrier expanding spell inside of it. However this was only one step on his plan. Like Nordon has assumed it was pointless to turn others into yourself if you’re still the only one attacking.
The spell had only been recently made by Itadori for one specific reason, to kill Nordon. And with him he had the help of Kawagi who used another spell imbued seal.
Itadori used a large part of his mana pool to create the Territories barrier technique and what was left over quickly was spent on [Madman's Entourage: Imaginary Army].
That’s why Kawagi was there, his barely depleted mana pool was needed for the second phase of the plan.
[Madman's entourage: Rabid Solution!]
Those affected by [Madman's Entourage: Imaginary Army] had the command to kill those not under the effects of [Madman's Entourage: Imaginary Army] imposed upon them.
Itadori being the one to activate [Madman's Entourage: Imaginary Army] in the first place was considered the [Master] of the army and excluded from their attack.
Kawagi with his Invisibility spell simply slipped out of the army's sight and hid somewhere safe out of their range.
Meaning the entire focus of the eighty or so people was now on killing Nordon and Nordon Alone.
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
When the crowd first began to attack Nordon it was easy to out maneuver and dodge their attacks with Observation. He’d disconnect his eye sight from Little Helper in hopes to better resolve the situation with the least amount of damage. Though that proved to be difficult as the army of Itadoris began to clump together and trample on one another. Becoming a massive undulating blob of killing intent focused solely on Nordon.
They bit, kicked, punched and stomped on Nordon but he took no damage. To him their attacks were similar in power to a toddler, only being able to cause a slight dull ache after repeated hits. The danger was not the crowd itself beating him but their mass of numbers. If they managed to climb atop of him he’d suffocate and die, with that in mind his best course of action was to avoid their reach and figure out a way to deactivate the unknown spells effects.
[Little Helper: Passive Arrest!]
Little Helper opened its mouth and shot a chain out at the person farthest away from Nordon. Using that person as an Anchor, Nordon pulled himself away from the crowd which quickly changed their course to change after him.
[Release!]
Little Helper retracted its chain freeing the man who’d been wrapped up flinging him into a wall which fell unconscious upon crashing into.
The conditions for [Stun Gun[ have been met, but if I activate it now I’ll only be able to shoot three shots. And those who’re stunned will only be trampled over by the others. [Passive Arrest] isn’t an option either, since I can only keep three people captive at a time. I was hoping to use those two remaining chains on Itadori and Kawagi but with how things are going now I’m not sure If I’ll be able to find them…
Nordon kicked off the ground with enhancement and flew into the air. Looking down at the crowd below he saw them trample and climb over another forming a brutal hill in an attempt to grab him from the air.
BANG
BANG
BANG
Three gunshots rang out and flew at Nordon who countered with [Little Helper: Pellet Pistol].
PEW
PEW
PEW
Meeting the three sniper shots with its pellets Little Helper knocked the bullets from the sky before they came ner Nordon.
The sniper from before… Nordon frowned seeing a female figure atop a building in the distance.
“You’re a sitting target up here ya know!” Kawagi chided as he materialized above Nordon.
“!”
Nordon crossed his arms to defend himself right as Kawagis foot stomped down to his chest, throwing him back down to the crowd below.
Landing on the floor with a meaty thud, Nordon was instantly met with the mob of Itadoris who tried to jump on top of him.
What’s the point in this!? Nordon scrowled slipping out from under the crowd, his clothes ripped and face covered in dirt.
The manipulated people attacking me can’t be the main part of the plan. They’re not able to deal any damage to me and they’ll tire out far before I do. So what is the point in this? To make me angry? To make me lose my composure? If so they might be onto something… Nordon clenched his hand hard enough his nail bit into his palm drawing a trickle of blood.
Behind… Nordon thought his observation flashing red as a signal something was approaching him. Spinning around he turned to greet the Itadori which came at him when it happened.
BANG!
Itadori flickered from sight and who appeared in his place was Kawagi who he’d switched places with. In his hand he held a pistol which he’d already shot, the bullet smashing into Nordons stomach.
“!”
A searing pain filled Nordons nerves, as if they were each being lit on fire at once. His mana circuits and aura nodes quickly shut down. The ever prescient aura around him and the crowd slowly slipped from his perception and [Little Helper] was deconjured.
Nordon had lost his ability to use magic.