Chapter 6
[A Show of Power]
Of the Yotsuba Family’s buildings on Miyakishima that housed its central functions, there was an eight-story building that was remodeled from the prison administration facilities at the time when the island was used as a maximum security facility for magicians charged with a serious crime. Combined with the adjoining eight-story building formerly used as the administrator's residence, these twin buildings were often referred to as the "Miyakishima Branch" within the Yotsuba Family. The former was formally known as the "Miyakishima Administration Building" and the latter as the "Miyakishima No. 4 Building." ──However, there didn’t exist a No.1, No. 2, or even a No. 3 building.
On Tuesday, June 22nd, at 3:00 A.M. Tatsuya was standing on the top floor of the administration building. The walls and ceiling of this floor composed a dome-shaped display similar to a planetarium (but without the seats), which projected vivid and realistic images of both the surface of the Earth and space. Its original purpose was as a recreational facility to enjoy virtual sightseeing trips, but for Tatsuya it became a targeting monitor. It served the same purpose as the main monitor in the Command Control Room located in the same building, but this one was easier for him to use.
In his hands was a rifle-shaped CAD. This wasn’t the "Third Eye" that was created by the former Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion. Instead, it's a personal CAD optimized for Material Burst, built independently by the Yotsuba Family. It’s called the "Third Eye II" within the Yotsuba Family, and its name lacks any originality or flair to it. Although some people were concerned about "how can it be called the second when it has third in its name," but as far as Tatsuya, the user, was concerned, he didn't care about it at all.
Right now, the universe is being projected on the dome-shaped display. It's a starry sky where the floor has been angled to match the orbital plane instead of the universe as seen from the Earth.
Raising the CAD high overhead, he peered into the sighting attachment that resembled an optical scope. There, he saw a magnified image of a star linked to the projected starry sky, a crosshair reticle, and the heliocentric ecliptic coordinates of latitude and longitude.
After making adjustments to the CAD angle, Tatsuya aligned it with the coordinates of 61° ecliptic latitude and 122° ecliptic longitude. At the same time, he used Elemental Sight to get a "visual" of the target comet.
The target comet was displayed as a small dot on the sighting attachment screen, only slightly off from the intersection point of the crosshairs. He made fine adjustments to the angle of the CAD to align the sight, then lowered the CAD for a moment.
"What time is it now?"
"It’s 3:21 A.M., sir."
Tatsuya's question was answered by his personal butler, Hanabishi Hyougo, who was standing by the wall behind him.
"Tatsuya-sama, why don't you take a short break?"
And this was from Miyuki, arranging the freshly brewed coffee on the round table that had been brought in.
"I guess that's a good idea. I'll have a drink."
He had less than twenty minutes until the time of the operation. Since the operational test had ended well, there was some time to spare. Tatsuya decided to let himself relax for a moment.
On his way to the table, Tatsuya walked up to Hyougo and left the "Third Eye II" with him. When he took a seat, Miyuki took the seat to his left.
As Tatsuya lifted his cup, Miyuki stared at him with a smile as she placed her hands on her knees in an elegant posture.
"It hasn't started yet, has it!?"
Just then, Lina came rushing in saying this.
"It's alright. You arrived before the scheduled time."
Miyuki replied, with her face still locked on Tatsuya.
"If you're sleepy, you don't have to push yourself, you know."
Tatsuya pulled the cup away from his mouth and turned to address Lina.
"No, I don't want to. How could I miss such a big event?"
As she said that, Lina sat down across from Miyuki and asked, "Is there any coffee left?"
"Here you go, Rina-ojou-sama."
Hyougo placed a cup on a saucer in front of Lina and poured coffee brewed in a separate pot from Miyuki's. The name "Rina" was actually Lina's current official name.
"Would you like some milk?"
"I'll add it myself."
At Lina's reply, Hyougo left a white porcelain milk pitcher in front of her.
"Oh, is that a CAD?"
Driving away the sleepiness with a swig of coffee and a generous amount of milk, Lina asked, staring at the "Third Eye II" propped up on the rifle stand.
"Yes. It's a dedicated CAD for Material Burst, for Tatsuya-sama’s personal use."
"You haven't used that magic since the time of "Scorched Halloween," right? The activation test of CAD’s is… Well, being you, I guess there’s no chance of error." "The last time wasn't five years ago, actually. I’ve already done a trial run." Lina widened her eyes in horror at Tatsuya's words.
"Wait, when!?"
"It’s not as if I’d be able to take a shot at a celestial body that is how many millions of kilometers away without any practice."
"Ye-Yeah, I guess so."
Though Tatsuya didn't give a clear answer, it was enough to satisfy Lina.
"…Speaking of new developments, Honoka's been acting a little strange lately. It doesn't seem like she was affected by any hex."
"Come to think of it, that is rather odd, it’s like she's been acting superficial lately."
While Tatsuya listened to Miyuki and Lina talking about how things were going on at the university while passing the time, the mention of an unexpected topic brought a frown to his face.
"I can't say much about her acting superficial, but I've been getting a similar vibe like what you're saying, Lina. How should I put it, there seems to be no real feeling in what she says or what she does…"
Perhaps this could be something more than just a passing worry. Although this is what Tatsuya thought,
"Tatsuya-sama. I believe it's about time."
He didn’t have any time left to think about it right now. He gave a nod to Hyougo, who informed him of the advent of the appointed time, and then Tatsuya briskly stood up.
"Tatsuya-sama, I'm terribly sorry! I shouldn't have brought these troublesome topics to your attention just before an important moment…" Miyuki apologized to Tatsuya in a fluster.
"Not at all. I'd like it if you could tell me about it again later."
But Tatsuya's mind was already completely focused. He had completely disconnected himself from Honoka's topic and was now fully and utterly focused on the demonstration he was about to carry out. ──This might be heartless, but for better or worse, this was who Shiba Tatsuya is.
After receiving the dedicated CAD "Third Eye II" for Material Burst from Hyougo, Tatsuya stopped in the middle of the room and adopted the appropriate stance.
The time is 3:43 A.M.
Now that the physical distance to the target comet was of the order of 300 million kilometers, or 1,000 light seconds, in about 16 minutes and 40 seconds, any alterations brought on the comet will be observable on Earth.
Therefore, the time of the operation was set to be at 3:43:20 A.M. so that the observation would be possible at 4 A.M.
"Tatsuya-sama. Shall we proceed with a countdown?" Hyougo asked as Tatsuya held the CAD high in the air.
"At the ten second mark, please."
Once he replied, Tatsuya peered into the sighting attachment that resembled an optical scope.
The "muzzle" of the CAD moved with a resounding rustle before coming to a complete stop.
It remained in that position for a couple of seconds.
Tatsuya stood motionless as if he were a statue.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven…" And the countdown started.
Tatsuya didn’t move a muscle.
"…three, two, one."
At "one," Tatsuya pulled the trigger.
The trigger of the CAD in the shape of a gun was a switch that outputs an Activation Sequence. It’s not as if by pulling the trigger, magic would shoot out.
A magic of mass-energy conversion that yields a super-destructive power at a target 300 million kilometers away.
Deliberately taking a second to construct the Magic Sequence for Material Burst, Tatsuya unleashed it upon the surface of the target comet.
Unrestricted by physical distance, the magic activated instantaneously. In the strictest parlance of magical theory, magic works outside of the confines of time.
The Material Burst Tatsuya unleashed was faster than light, nay, it transcended the concept of velocity and converted 10% of the surface area of the "tar" at a depth of 10 meters on the distorted spherical shaped comet with an approximate diameter of 20 km’s into pure energy.
There was no emission of light. In the case of an antimatter reaction, regular matter and antimatter are converted into photons and neutrinos. The energy generated in antimatter reactions comes in the form of high-energy photons, namely gamma rays.
By contrast, Tatsuya's Material Burst converts matter into nothing but energy. The energy created by the conversion of mass is imparted to the adjacent matter, breaking the intermolecular bonds of the adjacent matter and splitting the molecules into atoms, the atoms into electrons and nuclei, resulting in a plasma of massive kinetic energy. That in turn, partially causes the decomposition of the nucleus, to the point of inducing neutron decay.
The destructive force brought by Material Burst is mainly derived from the kinetic energy of the adjacent matter being converted into plasma. The surrounding matter comes into contact with this plasma, which is then heated up, causing further destruction. Thus causing an enormous explosion to emerge.
And what happens if this phenomenon occurs on the surface of a celestial body?
As a direct reaction to the explosion, the celestial body is subjected to a large acceleration in the opposite direction to that of the surface of impact. Which would, in turn, change its orbit significantly. If the celestial body cannot endure the explosion, the shattered fragments will be scattered in the opposite direction of the surface of impact.
Upon the influence of the Material Burst, the celestial body is blown away, ejected from its former orbit.
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