Chapter 22: A World Ending Crisis?!—Part 2

“What the hell do you mean ‘never picked it up’? A Ceres-scale one at that.”

Director Satoshi rubbed his temple as an angry male voice with an American accent, berated and cursed him over the phone. The retort, “But you guys didn’t pick it up, either,” lingered at the tip of his tongue. But he wasn’t the type to make excuses.

“Yes. We screwed up. I’m sorry for the error on my part.” He gave a slight, apologetic bow and Irina’s mood turned sour.

Why is he apologizing? It is not his fault, she thought.

“If we all end up dead, just know that billions of lives will be on our heads. May God spare all our sorry assess…”

Beep.

“NASA’s been giving me an earful. Everyone’s on edge…” the director said with downcast eyes, as he cut the call. “And I can’t say they’re wrong for doing so.”

“It’s a matter of course that there’d be unease in the minds of everyone. But don’t stress over it. Leave it to us.” Osamu assured him.

Irina couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

“Do not worry. I will handle this threat with a single swing of my sword. Just give me permission and—”

“You can’t be so hasty, Irina. Remember what I’ve already told you.”

Satoshi added to Osamu’s reprimand, “Yeah, he’s right. If you went ahead and did that, people would be more scared of you than of some asteroid.”

Irina’s lips formed a small pout. She was supposedly the greatest asset in the entirety of the Heroic Clan at the time. And she was often treated at such. But sometimes, she felt that in essence, she was just another rank-and-file member, rather than a leader.

Sure, whenever they referred to her they’d address her with great reverence—that was about it. Take that away and she would be like any other Hero within the Clan. This stemmed from a desire to maintain solidarity among members.

She really wished she could take matters into her own hands. And she was well aware that she’d be labeled a tyrant by the rest of the world…

At the Same Time, on Mount Fuji…

One hour passed, and Kuro observed the Magi-Twins execute their ritual-like warmups with keen interest. Mischief, on the other hand, seemed bored and steadily bopped into the back of Kuro’s head.

“Could you stop that?”

“Squeak…”

The Magi-Twins aura would flare, then dim, like fluctuating lights. They’d take a break and pace around. Kuro wondered why the two of them hadn’t begun chanting any verses, or concentrating their magic yet.

But that’s why he was there: to watch human magic users up close!

“Steady your resolve, sis. Mental preparation is paramount for this to work. We must be in sync.”

“Worry about yourself. I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Don’t be so cold to your brother dearest, Freeze—Ahh~”

Freeze shook her head, exasperated. The look on her brother’s face was enough to anyone uncomfortable.

“Enough, Flame. Let’s get this Whole Magic over with.”

Kuro’s ears perked up.

Whole Magic…?

● ● ●

Whole Magic…

It was first made known to the Magi-Twins three years ago. Prehistoric texts contained in scrolls and occult grimoires had been sent to them by a figure they both despised—an individual who shouldn’t have been allowed to roam freely…

The texts spoke of a certain kind of magic, one only humans could wield. This magic had a distinctive requirement for its use…

Human Multiple Births.

The phenomenon in which a person would give birth to multiple children at a time. As long as more than one child was delivered, the first step to mastering the magic would be complete.

Next, the children must be exposed to the world of magic from infancy; they must be raised in the same environment, too. Strengthening the bond between the siblings to impractical heights was the goal of this step.

As the children developed, they’d train in magic together, eat the same meals together, and even sleep in the same room… Together.

This absurd level of proximity would continue until the “Whole Effect” one day becomes apparent… Once that was achieved, the siblings would be at the doorstep that led to the magic.

When mastered, the magic would amplify their combined strength seamlessly, as if bringing fractions of something that was once “whole” together.

If say three siblings’ individual magic power was equivalent to that of a Stage I, then with the aid of the magic they’d be able to generate enough power similar, if not slightly greater than a Stage III.

The chances of successfully obtaining this magic were so slim that it could be declared nonexistent.

But what would happen if twins, each with Stage III levels of power, used it. Humans not necessarily bounded by the hierarchy of Stages…

High noon was upon them.

Flame and Freeze suddenly dropped to a half-crouch, standing side by side—Flame on the right, and Freeze on the left.

Their auras burst brightly, surging with an unimaginable intensity.

Pale, ghostly chains shot out and wound wildly around their bodies. The chains bound their forearms and legs that were in closest in proximity to each other.

The chains began to glow—

“Massive energy reading coming from the peak of Mount Fuji,” shouted a voice present in the hall at the Tsukuba Space Center. “Its magnitude is rising— rapidly!”

Irina’s and Osamu’s eyebrows both arched with surprise. A commendable amount of magic power was being concentrated atop the mountain—they could feel tingling on their skin.

“Could that be doing of those ‘Magi-Twins’?” Osamu knew about the Magicians, but never thought them capable of magic of this fortitude.

Irina responded as though she were speaking to herself, “If it is, then they truly are exceptional Magicians…”

Her anxious demeanor melted, and curiosity took its place.

Osamu grimaced. For Irina to have praised their magic, it must’ve been hiding something even greater.

The Magi-Twins were now enclosed in a crackling blue sphere that looked like it was on the brink of exploding.

● ● ●

The mountain trembled as the earth beneath quaked.

On the Shindo Scale, the shaking would likely register it at a 5-Upper. Boulders crumbled and the frozen crust shattered, tumbling off the edges of the summit.

The snow around the base of the sphere started to levitate, before evaporating in a cloud of white steam.

“Far Sight!” the Magi-Twins shouted and the spell manifested on Flame’s and Freeze’s left and right eyes respectively.

In their sights—the asteroid.

Though, at the time, the citizens of Japan could see what they could only be described as a giant ball of fire, like another sun, in the sky growing larger.

“Whole Magic!”

Their auras sparkled with an electricity-like energy, and the sphere expanded. The chains binding them together tightened.

“With this power, we’ll leave that giant space rock without a trace!” Flame roared, ignoring the blood trickling down his lips. “With this power, thought to only belong to the Heroes, and to the Demons… We will eradicate it all!!!”

“Bro…?” Freeze glanced at her brother, gritting her teeth, and holding back the iron she could feel welling in her mouth. “You good?!”

“Never been better!!!” Flame coughed up more blood as he grinned.

Kuro, watching from his vantage point, thought, Woah… I wonder how it would feel to tank that.

“Bear witness to this magic that has ventured into a realm unknown: Stage VI!” both twins roared. “We will not let you destroy our world!!!”

The faint image of the mark denoting that level of power loomed behind them, shackled by the chains attached to their flesh.

Stage VI…? Kuro let the claim sink in. Is that a thing?!

They slowly cocked back their chain bound arms with balled fists. At this point only their silhouettes were visible in the violently expanding sphere of blue energy.

The spell they were charging was dubbed the Energy Eradication Canon.

But there were some major problems accompanying it. Firstly, they’d never fired it off. It took too long to charge and put an enormous strain on their souls.

Secondly, they’d never actually had a reason to use it, until this gigantic asteroid hurtling toward them was threatening to wipe out civilization.

So what better time than to bet it all on the most powerful spell in their magical arsenal…?

“Osamu, I think it is time I go and take care of this,” Irina said with a stern tone. “How much longer would we stand and wait?”

“Until the world runs out of options,” he responded coldly, despite his chuckle.

Hmm… That doesn’t look good…

Kuro was currently studying both twins’ vital signs.

Organ rupture. Internal bleeding. Nerve damage. Multiple hairline fractures; his Demonic eyes pierced through their flesh and saw the harm magic of this level brought to their human bodies. But that was nothing compared to what would happen to their souls…

“Mischief,” Kuro said, “isn’t ‘death by asteroid’ a cliché way for the world to end?”

“Squeak.”

“Tell me about it.” Kuro squatted, rummaged through the duff covered ground, and lifted a pebble. “There’s this thing that Talmarius taught me in Physics.”

He stretched out his right hand, and grabbed a ball of swirling black—Silent appeared in his grasp.

“Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.” Kuro then squeezed the pebble in his palm. When he opened it, the pebble now appeared like a stone of polished obsidian. “So, in theory, even something as tiny as this could bring down that behemoth. Want to try it out, Mischief?”

Kuro tossed the pebble into the air, and with a swing that would put any pro golfer to shame, struck it with his sword.

“Fore!”

It bounced noiselessly from his sword at a terrifying speed, and before the pebble knew what had befallen it, it was now face to face with the asteroid…

If the two were living creatures, they would have been utterly dumbstruck.