Instinct alone enabled her to avoid the white blade that flashed before her eyes.
Pushing Mia aside, Lina used that push off to flip backwards herself. Though covered in dust, she still pulled out the old information terminal from her inside pocket. As she slid to her side, Lina opened the terminal. A flat, Generalized CAD appeared from within. Erika never hesitated – it was perfectly natural for infiltrators to be equipped with outlandish equipment for surprise attacks.
Without sparing Lina a glance, Erika sprinted towards the fallen Mia and pointed the sharp end of the wakazashi at her while holding it in one hand.
"What are you doing, Erika!?"
Lina activated magic that was designed to blow Erika away.
That magic encountered a counter magic barrier erected against it – and was blocked from phenomenon alteration.
"Katsuto Juumonji!?"
The solemn giant appeared before her when she whipped her head around in shock. Though his physical stature wasn’t overly outrageous to her, his very presence seemed to tower over her.
Intelligence had identified his strength as something to be wary of ahead of time. Still, after encountering him in the flesh, it was hard not to be awed by the fact that someone of his caliber was lurking around her. During the instant that Lina’s attention was drawn to Katsuto, Erika had already made that final step.
"Mia!?"
The desperate cry that bemoaned her comrade’s fate was swiftly replaced by the astonishment one feels when witnessing an unbelievable sight.
Mia had caught the blade of the wakazashi barehanded. Without using any CAD, her palm was wrapped in barrier magic.
She had seen that magic before. This was the same magic that the mysterious individual in the white mask employed.
"What is going on here……?"
"Lina, can you hear me!?"
"Silvie?"
"Thank goodness! I finally got through."
This wasn’t a conversation held over a communication device. Instead, this was a type of magic that Silvia excelled in. Without using the physical body as a medium, she used aerial vibration to convey her voice. So long as she could lock onto the target, she could ignore any physical obstacle and communicate without transmitters or recording devices no matter how great the distance.
Strictly speaking, it was more efficient as a method of listening in, but even on its own merit as a transmission tool, signals could be passed along through aerial vibration in the ears without worrying about someone listening in. While there was no hope of listening in private, the magic’s practicality cannot be denied given the lack of time to converse over a receiver.
"I have uncovered the identity of the individual wearing the white mask from earlier."
Even with Michaela and Erika keeping each other at bay during their stalemate, Lina’s consciousness was still drawn away by Silvia’s voice.
"It’s Michaela! The masked individual’s true identity is Michaela Honda!"
Lina’s mind went blank, if only for an instant.
"—Mia, so you were the one in the white mask!"
For Lina, Michaela was simply a teammate. She just so happened to be someone who roomed next to her and occasionally spoke with her over tea.
Even so, the fact that Michaela was the one who had repeatedly clashed against her struck Lina a heavy blow.
Still in a standoff with Erika, Michaela glanced at Lina, who wore a rather human expression. Yet, this was no look of protested innocence or regret, but a cold, inhuman gaze of someone warily regarding an enemy.
"No need to waste your breath at this point!"
Erika was of the belief that the vampire and Lina were in cahoots. She wholly ignored what she imagined to be Lina’s feigned shouts of dismay and swung her wakazashi at the openings in Michaela’s defense. When she closed in to one step away from her opponent, the horizontal swing Erika directed towards Michaela’s neck level magically changed direction to avoid Michaela’s blocking arm and stabbed towards Michaela’s chest.
Astounded by this turn around, Michaela could only wear this expression as she looked down towards her chest.
On some level, this was the expected result.
Despite receiving training in close quarters combat, Erika was still a Magician.
While he received martial arts training, Mikihiko was still a magic practitioner.
In addition to her magical education, Erika was at heart a swordswoman. In the domain of the sword, when wielding blades or fists in combat, Erika’s skills were several levels higher than the Magicians that Michaela had been facing against up until this moment.
Yet, in the next instant, it was Erika who wore a grim expression. Heedless of the skirt she wore, Erika raised a leg to kick out at Michaela’s waist. She used this push off to extract her wakazashi and leaped backwards to a safe position.
Michaela slashed with her right arm to dispel Erika’s afterimage. Her fingers curled like talons with a pyramid-like force field around them. Before Erika and Lina’s eyes, the puncture hole in her chest swiftly recovered.
"Healing Magic!? She can heal that degree of injury instantaneously!?"
"Looks like we’re up against a real monster."
In the face of Lina’s dismayed shout, Erika spat out her own response while keeping her eyes glued onto Michaela.
"Then, how about this?"
The voice emanated from the trailer’s shadows.
Accompanied by that voice, the chill of the wintry air sharpened. With perfect precision, the frost roared towards Michaela.
Michaela was completely frozen without any time to muster a physical or magical response.
"Miyuki?"
This astounding sight prompted Erika to relax both her stance and tone. The figure who appeared before her was unquestionably Miyuki, with Tatsuya materializing behind her.
"What’s going on!? Lina, are you OK!?"
"I’m fine now, but please dispatch any special forces currently on standby. We may have to force our way out."
"—Understood. I’ll make the arrangements."
In response to the agitated queries from Silvia regarding her safety, Lina quietly replied back with her orders.
Just as Lina and Silvia were conversing, Tatsuya walked before Lina.
"Offline."
Lina swiftly said one word and immediately broke off her connection with Silvia. Though this might be meaningless, it was still an effort to hide her trump card. Tatsuya should have witnessed what Lina said, but he never bothered to raise that subject.
"Lina, she appears to be someone you’re familiar with, but I will be taking over custody."
Tatsuya said as he walked towards her former neighbor who had been turned into an ice statue.
"You…… killed the people from Maximilian Devices?"
Hearing Lina’s question, Tatsuya formed an expression that was just short of a grimace.
"No need to assume the worst. I only let them sleep for a little bit."
The employees from Maximilian Devices weren’t conspirators, given that they were oblivious to Michaela’s true nature. They were simply normal people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. While a situation where they created a ruckus might create a beneficial opportunity for Lina, she was honestly glad that they would be spared any additional hazard.
"Just a second here. I’m going to be in a little bit of a bind if you just cart her off."
In place of Lina, who could only reluctantly back down given her limited options, Erika looked to contest the spoils of war.
"Though this might seem silly in Tatsuya-kun’s eyes, we have our own reputation to consider. If that woman is truly the one who hurt Leo, then I can’t hand her over even if it’s you, Tatsuya-kun."
While not overly belligerent, there wasn’t a single bit of wasted effort in the way she held that wakazashi. This was an obvious hint that she could immediately resort to a combat situation with minimal effort.
Rather, there was no need to scrutinize so carefully, as her eyes told the whole story.
Erika was 100% serious here.
"I’m not necessarily going to press custody either."
Regardless, this was a misunderstanding of epic proportions.
"Eh?"
As expected, Erika adopted a bewildered expression as if she had been faked out by Tatsuya’s response.
"Weren’t you going to investigate that woman and dispose of her?"
Lina worried her lip at the words "dispose of". She had no right to speak here and her expression clearly showed that she was trying to convince herself of that.
"All we want is the result of the investigation."
Tatsuya never bothered with Lina’s expression. His eyes were focused on keeping Erika and Katsuto in his line of sight.
"I will contact my side for that."
In response to Katsuto’s reply, Tatsuya nodded in assent.
Tatsuya glanced at Katsuto and Erika,
Miyuki watched Tatsuya and Erika,
Katsuto kept his eyes on Tatsuya and Lina,
Erika was eyeing Tatsuya and Miyuki.
Only Mikihiko was observing the entire scene, so of course he was the first one to detect the anomaly.
"Watch out!"
The hurriedly issued warning was kept short due to the pressing nature of the situation. In spite of this, the warning still achieved the desired effect. Katsuto cast a barrier to block the electricity being generated by the Dispersal System in midair while Tatsuya employed Counter Magic to dispel it.
Miyuki and Erika both whipped their heads towards the caster who released the magic.
As the two of them stood there in bemusement, the woman responsible for releasing the magic remained frozen. A human being of flesh and blood, no, even nonhumans would have found it impossible to cling onto their consciousness – that, was public knowledge.
Yet here, all of this was overturned. The ice statue was covered in electricity.
"Self-destruct!?"
Lina was the one who released that mournful groan.
"Everyone down!"
Katsuto and Tatsuya called out at the same time. Tatsuya covered Miyuki while Mikihiko threw his arms around Mizuki. Katsuto, Erika, and Lina all crouched down in defensive positions.
Bursting through Miyuki’s ice, Michaela’s body was wrapped in flames. Like a paper held before the flame, they were immediately extinguished.
Afterwards – the dancing ashes dissipated before magic shot towards Tatsuya, Miyuki, Lina, Erika, and Katsuto from previously empty locations.
Right now, the wintry sky might be covered in dark clouds that heralded the coming of snow at any moment. However, the thunderbolts from the rain were not coming from the clouds, but from seemingly random locations. This was not lightning, given that its speed was far short of tens of thousands of meters per second and was well within the visible spectrum. At most, this was about the speed of an arrow shot from a bow.
Still, even an electrical ball of this size was sufficient to render all movement impossible. Taking ten shots from these at the same time would definitely result in death.
Furthermore, even if the speed was slow enough for the eye to follow, there was no time to erect defensive barriers when fired at a distance within ten meters. The reason they could block the first attack was because there were still traces remaining of the barrier created to block what they had mistakenly assumed to be a suicide attack. If this attack had been launched out of the blue, there was no way they could have all escaped unscathed. In addition, the danger was still present.
Before Miyuki could turn her head, Tatsuya had already used magic to erase the flash that suddenly appeared behind her back.
The electric ball gathered over Erika’s head was dispersed by the charged ice particles Miyuki created.
Katsuto blocked the flash while Lina’s plasma neutralized the current.
There was no trace that an Activation Sequence was involved. Regardless of whether it was the electric ball or force that applied the rotational motion, both were phenomenon alterations that resulted from Magic Sequences forged by psions.
By using the phenomenon alterations in the air that caused electrons to converge as a premonition, they barely managed to hold out against the attacks that could appear from anywhere.
Again, there was no sign of a Magician. At the very least, they weren’t within Tatsuya’s "vision". Given that they could elude Tatsuya’s "vision", their opponent was no Magician.
(So this is a Parasite!)
Magic was something released from the pushions floating in the Idea’s seas.
Mikihiko and Mizuki were sequestered a little further away from the other five in the shadows of the trailer.
The flashes in the sky dissipated in front of Tatsuya and his companions. This was what Mizuki beheld with her eyes, since she was unable to see the magical harbingers and fallout. All of the magical shockwaves were being cut off by the barrier. Based on her earlier experience, Mikihiko arrived at the conclusion that this was absolutely necessary for Mizuki. Thanks to this, the two of them were able to avoid the lightning strikes. After abandoning the confines of flesh, the information body appeared to be unable to perceive light and sound, thus forced to use magic waves to feel out the world.
Their friends’ predicament was not as fortuitous. The Parasite’s attack was scattered because of its inclination to launch surprise attacks. Tatsuya’s group was not being overwhelmed, but neither were they able to retaliate since they had no idea where the next attack was coming from. The monster’s attacks failed to tell on Tatsuya and company, nor could they land a decisive strike on their opponent.
"How strange…… Why hasn’t it fled yet……?"
Mizuki’s ears caught wind of Mikihiko’s words.
Upon hearing this, she suddenly started paying attention to details that hitherto escaped her grasp.
As to why the vampire – or Parasite, repeatedly used ineffective attacks.
While there was no way to ascertain if the Parasite possessed a will or judgment, assuming this was their innate nature or mechanical reflex, then there must be some sort of reason forcing them to keep up this obstinate assault.
Exactly why is that?
This question kept floating around in Mizuki’s mind.
Before the phenomenon alteration could occur, Tatsuya had already broken down the Magic Sequence devised by the Parasite.
Maybe it was because there was no replacement, but in the beginning he had not been able to grasp the key components of the Activation Sequence deployment. Now, Tatsuya was able to perfectly intercept the Parasite’s magic attacks.
After obtaining the necessary opening to launch a counterattack, his mind also found the leisure to begin analyzing the conundrum at the same time.
"Shiba, what do you think the reason is?"
It was the same for Katsuto.
Right now, with Miyuki, Erika, and Lina in tow, Katsuto and Tatsuya were arrayed in a formation where everyone had their backs to one another. Though they were unable to see each other’s faces, this was not going to disrupt their ability to understand each other’s questions.
"I’m not certain if this is its intent or innate ability, but there must be some reason why we must be kept here."
"So it could flee whenever it wants to."
"At the very least, I have no way of restraining it."
"Likewise. In the end, we don’t even know where it is."
Katsuto was pretty much in the same boat as Tatsuya. Even if their perception through the Idea told them the target was right there, they had no idea how to handle it in the physical world. There was no clearly defined target in the material world. There was a very fragile connection to any physical existence, which gave the impression that there was only a frail thread that barely maintained the connection in order to invoke magic.
In addition, their opponent was a quantum information body. Tatsuya couldn’t break down its design even if he could identify the target, which left Tatsuya with no viable means of attack.
"Lina, do you know anything?"
As he said this, Tatsuya turned and pointed his CAD at Erika before pulling the trigger. By her side, the magic harbinger dissipated like mist.
"……The true form of the vampire is a nonphysical entity known as a Parasite."
She had planned on maintaining her silence even in the face of Tatsuya’s interrogation, but swiftly reevaluated that this wasn’t the time and place. Lina replied back in a bitter tone.
"The definition coined at the London Conference. I already knew that."
Yet, Tatsuya’s rejoinder was so shocking that it struck Lina dumb for a solid ten seconds.
"……Really, you guys. Don’t tell me that all high school students in Japan would say the same thing."
"Relax. By all standards, we are exceptions."
Whether Lina could understand the hidden nuances behind his reference as exceptions rather than special remained unknown.
"Well?"
Since Tatsuya himself wasn’t clearly conscious of this, it would hardly be surprising if Lina missed it.
"Parasites possess the human body and bring about mutations in humans. Though there seems to be some connection with its compatibility with the host, the Parasite’s movements seemed to be based off the host’s self-preservation instincts."
"In other words, it wants to possess one of us."
"Most likely."
"How?"
"Uncertain, which is why I’m hoping someone will teach me."
"……How very useless."
"Well, excuse me!"
During this rough exchange of insults, Tatsuya and Katsuto still cooperated to completely nullify the Parasite’s attacks. Regardless, rather than hoping, Tatsuya held the belief that the Parasite’s energy was finite.
The information body’s energy transfer system remained a mystery to him, but Tatsuya felt that it was highly unlikely that their opponent could endlessly release magic. Once it arrived at the conclusion that it couldn’t possess one of the five people in Tatsuya’s group – either through consciousness or instinct – it might elect to try and find another host elsewhere. Of course, that being said, purposefully allowing a possession was out of the question. He wasn’t arrogant enough to put himself on such a pedestal.
—Any strategy that would yield a breakthrough remained elusive.
"Shoot…… Erika’s being targeted."
Keeping Mizuki safely at his back, Mikihiko was completely focused on watching his companions as those words involuntarily slipped from his mouth.
"Did it notice that Erika is the only one who can’t hurt it…..."
The foundation of Erika’s magic techniques favored close quarters combat against physical foes. Beyond long range shockwaves that could weaken an enemy, she didn’t possess any other abilities to counter enemies without a physical body.
Mikihiko might be loath to admit this, but he was seriously growing worried. If he was any calmer, he might have noticed Mizuki overhearing his every word, a realization that would have immediately prompted him to stop his careless words.
"If we at least knew where it was, then there would be some way to retaliate……"
At Mikihiko’s muttering, Mizuki steeled herself.
"Yoshida-kun, please remove the barrier."
"Eh?"
Mikihiko’s panicked response was not because he had forgotten about Mizuki’s presence, but rather because of the unexpected nature of her request.
"Shibata-san, what are you planning?"
"I might be able to tell where it is exactly."
At these words, Mikihiko finally realized that he had been verbalizing his internal thoughts out loud. A terribly rueful expression crossed his face.
Yet, Mizuki seemed not to care. Buoyed by a fierce will, she pinned Mikihiko in place with her upward gaze.
"……I can’t, the stimulation would be far too strong for you. Even if I suppressed the demonic aura, there would still be side effects. I don’t even know what will happen once the barrier comes down and you stare directly into that demonic aura. In the worst case scenario, there is the chance of going blind."
"Since the moment I chose to become a Magician, I have long resolved myself to face that risk. Erika-chan is in serious danger, no? If I don’t provide any assistance now, then the power I hold will truly become pointless. My very purpose for being here becomes null and void."
He knew exactly what Mizuki was trying to say. Mikihiko was educated under precisely the same set of values.
However, Mizuki was a young girl born to an affluent but mundane – mundane referred to the fact that her family was not magically gifted – family who just happened to manifest her ancestor’s natural ability to see spirits. Her bloodline was so thin, her family so peripheral that if she had not been born, their connection to their magical practitioner of an ancestor would never have been known. She should have been raised by a pair of parents who knew nothing of the ways of Magicians.
There was no reason she should have been so resolute. She was a young woman who didn’t need to bear such determination.
You cannot say these words – say things like that, Mikihiko wanted to say. Those were words that were more befitting of people like himself who saw themselves as nothing more than that which accompanied magic, who used magic to obtain livelihood and recompense from their fellow man, and not the words of a young girl who just so happened to be born with magic. At least, that was how Mikihiko felt.
Setting aside that he was only a "young man", this was what Mikihiko was considering.
"……I understand."
Finally, he could only bow before Mizuki’s request. How ironic was it that he had been given a shove from behind by the very same restrictive values that bound him as a scion of a famous magical family.
Mikihiko pulled out a folded cloth from his sports jacket pocket and handed it to Mizuki. Seeing Mizuki accepting the cloth without fully comprehending, he motioned for her to "try and spread it out". That cloth was surprisingly thin and its area barely covered a shawl. This was an artifact for magical defense that was based off the "Ofudas" in Shinto artifacts.
"Wear that around your neck. If you feel in danger, immediately pull it over your eyes. This should have the same effect as the glasses Shibata-san wears."
Persuaded by Mikihiko’s stern tone, Mizuki tied the thin cloth around her neck without skepticism.
Now, Mikihiko reached out with one hand and untied the cloth from her head and shifted it so that both sides were symmetrical on her shoulders as the cloth fell before her chest.
Mizuki seemed to be overly nervous at the slight touches to her head and shoulders, but Mikihiko seemed intent on something else.
"Promise me you will never force yourself. Erika would never want someone to sacrifice themselves for her."
"……I promise."
With Mikihiko’s eyes locked onto her, Mizuki forgot her embarrassment and nodded.
After hearing Mikihiko’s whispered words, "We’re going in", Mizuki tightly clasped the two ends of the cloth that dangled down.
A simple yes seemed like such a short reply, but she had to give it her all so that her voice didn’t quaver.
Mizuki was so terrified that she couldn’t even tell herself not to be afraid.
Yet amazingly, she never even thought of running away.
For some mysterious reason, Mizuki sincerely believed that this was to be her role.
Mikihiko muttered something that Mizuki could not understand.
In the next instant, a wave of chaos came rushing forward.
She didn’t even have time to register the pain in her eyes.
Mizuki felt pain stabbing all over her body.
She couldn’t even tell which part of her body was in pain.
Pumping strength into her buckling knees, she opened her eyes.
On an average day, how much had she missed by closing her eyes – Mizuki finally got that kind of feeling.
Before her eyes that beheld another world, there was a foreign object sticking out like a sore thumb.
Mizuki’s instincts told her that that was the Parasite.
The magic shot out by the Parasite vanished when it came into contact with Katsuto’s barrier.
Mizuki was able to see the tiny threads that seemed to be hidden in that electrical attack.
The long, thin strands stalked towards Miyuki, Lina, and Erika, but were blocked aside by Katsuto’s barrier and torn to shreds by Tatsuya’s shots.
Mizuki had no basis for this, but she believed those thin strands tucked inside the electrical attack would invade the human body through the body’s electrical current.
She could only watch.
"There."
Her mouth moved on its own as her wrist spontaneously pointed. Mizuki was like the audience on the other side of the silver screen as she watched this sight.
"Approximately 20 meters above Erika-chan’s head, one meter to the right, 50 meters to the rear. That is the point of contact."
Mizuki pointed out the hole in the world that enabled these strands to slip out.
Mikihiko didn’t even bother to waste time on speaking as his fingers danced across the CAD. It was a fan-shaped equipment. He opened the talisman that recorded Yamashina’s flames, infused his psions, and deployed the Activation Sequence.
Anti-demon magic, Karura-En – specifically designed to counter things that were not information bodies. The independent information body that formed its "flames" shot towards the coordinates that Mizuki pointed at.
While Tatsuya was aware of the concept of "ignition" despite the lack of any materialization of "something burning", he truly witnessed that the magic launched against the detached information body had brought harm to the Parasite.
While that was the enemy’s situation before his eyes, Tatsuya could not help but be caught by surprise.
SB Magic – the fundamentals of Spirit Magic were known to Tatsuya. Using free floating, independent information bodies in the Idea to interfere with information bodies that have been separated from the phenomena, then materializing the physical effects of the independent information body was the system how Spirit Magic worked.
Right now, the magic displayed by Mikihiko functioned along the same theory. The difference was that the materialization effect was not happening in the physical dimension but in the nonphysical dimension.
For magic that was designed to act upon the information body, this was neither rare nor astounding. The magic he wielded to break down information bodies was the same and was magic that, on some level, overwrote the information body itself.
However, Mikihiko’s magic used one of the cornerstone principles behind the systems of magic theory by utilizing the fact that "if phenomena are accompanied by information bodies, then the information body that accompanies the phenomena is recorded in the Idea", thus using the information body that tagged along and not interfering with the physical dimension to directly interfere with the Idea. The "combustion" never occurred in the physical world, but something in the Idea was rewritten to "being burnt".
The systems of magic were all about using magic to turn a concept on its head. Nonetheless, what shocked him even more was that coordinates of the Parasite that had hitherto been dancing in and out of his grasp were suddenly clearly within his vision. There was a sense of an imaginary value suddenly being granted a real value.
The term Schrödinger’s Cat flashed across his mind.
Whether the cat in the box was alive or dead could only be verified by opening the box. Contrary to the original creator’s intent, this thought experiment had a unique approach by using an observer’s observations to determine the veracity of the truth. Regardless of whether one subscribed to the Copenhagen or Everett theory, the fact remained that the undeniable truth was that the observer was uncertain of the truth.
In the case of the Parasite – that which was called a "monster" of an information body, once it had been observed by an observer, wouldn’t the same sequence of events be repeated by a third party?
Through Mizuki’s vision, has the existence that previously dwelled in the nonphysical dimension grown stronger?
If that’s the case……
(This time Mizuki is in danger!)
There was no way that the Parasite would be ignorant that someone’s eyes possessed the power to alter its very composition.
Tatsuya frantically concentrated on his "vision".
Within his mind’s eye, the scene he was most worried about was unfolding.
He thought about this for less than a moment.
Tatsuya raised his left hand that wasn’t holding a CAD towards Mizuki.
When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
This was public knowledge even without Nietzsche’s words. In order to look into a passage you must see through, then there was the possibility of an opponent seeing you through the passage.
Just as Mizuki caught sight of the Parasite, so too did the Parasite catch sight of Mizuki.
"Incoming!"
Hearing Mizuki’s loud, almost grim warning – or rather, it may have just been a tragic cry – Mikihiko quickly erected the barrier.
"Where is it!?"
Mikihiko pushed the barrier to its maximum strength as quickly as possible while he queried Mizuki for the Parasite’s current position.
The defensive magic he cast almost on reflex was the same barrier he deployed earlier.
This magic primarily veiled them against the enemy.
The durability against invasion was low and once discovered, its veiling power was decreased by half.
Mikihiko himself was well aware of the need to press the attack from their side.
Yet, Mizuki had no time to answer the question.
She was pressing both hands to her eyes.
Mikihiko didn’t have the heart to reprimand her.
Mizuki had never stood toe to toe with the "demonic", and Mikihiko knew she was nothing more than an inexperienced young girl. This was the reason why Erika asked Mikihiko to protect Mizuki, and why Mikihiko fully planned on doing so. In the face of the "demonic", it was only natural that Mizuki was reduced to this state, which was why they pulled so far back in the first place.
As the Parasite approached to a range where even he wasn’t sure he could survive, Mizuki went to pieces just as was expected, so he wasn’t going to berate her.
In addition – there was no time.
The Parasite extended a "thread". Although Mikihiko couldn’t see the thread, he was sure that "something" mixed in with the light was trying to seize hold of Mizuki.
It wasn’t like there was nothing Mikihiko could do. Even if he couldn’t see the actual body, he still possessed techniques that could sever the spiritual effects. Originally, Ancient Magic practitioners like Mikihiko were more accustomed to combating the spiritual than physical phenomena.
Nonetheless, at the same time, the traditional artes of Ancient Magic required a long time to activate. The decisive lack of speed during critical situations was one of the primary reasons why modern magic had become mainstream while Ancient Magic had fallen by the wayside.
In spite of this, Mikihiko was still launching the anti-demon magic "Exorcism Cut" at the breach in his barrier. Though its strength paled in comparison to ritual magic, the magic’s speed rivaled that of the artes used by Magicians of the Forbidden Sect.
Forming into a blade, the psions shredded the threads sent forth by the Parasite.
Unfortunately, this was only a temporary measure.
Even if this could break the curse, there was no way of damaging the source.
Immediately, several other threads slunk towards Mizuki.
Mikihiko knew that this was a losing cause, but still let fly with Exorcism Cut.
—However, before the blade could be swung.
Swifter than Mikihiko’s Exorcism Cut, a rampaging gale of invisible light blew away the actual body along with its "threads".
The cloth that she borrowed from Mikihiko successfully kept away the uncomfortable wave motions that seeped past her glasses.
Yet, the amazing thing was that not feeling "uncomfortable" didn’t mean she was unable to see them. Several shimmering strands of dark light billowed down from the figure in the sky, like a crab dancing in the wind.
Even so, none of this diminished the terror she felt.
Also, there was another flaw.
Even if she closed her eyes, she could still see it. Even if she didn’t want to, she could still see it.
There were thin tentacles that wanted to rush towards her. Those were the things she could see. Both the biological and inherent horror were enough to send her normal thoughts screeching to a halt.
She could sense that Mikihiko was shouting, but as to what he was shouting, she remained oblivious.
If she had kept going any longer, her mind would have suffered horribly.
Maybe when compared to her body rotting away, her mind would be devoured first.
What saved her then, was the oncoming tide of brilliant psions.
Much like the scene that greeted her eyes half a year ago in that lab, but this time the force was even more overwhelming.
Although this was barely in the nick of time, there was no such thing as running out of active psions during a battle where magic was being wielded.
His right hand was stronger with Decomposition magic, but unlike Gram Dispersal, for Gram Demolition it didn’t matter which hand he used even without a CAD. In that instant, Tatsuya gathered the maximum amount of psions in his left hand.
As he suspected, thanks to the event with Mizuki’s vision, the creature’s existence in this world was stabilizing. As it drew closer to her, the fluctuations in the Parasite’s coordinates became much smaller, and the scattered points began to congregate.
Even if the information body existed, the Parasite that once baffled Tatsuya regarding its location and how it could be killed could now be fully analyzed.
Still, there was no time for him to convey that message. The tentacles that Mikihiko was severing – in Tatsuya’s imagination, it looked like an irregular protozoa extending filamentous pseudopods – immediately regrew and reached towards Mizuki.
Alas, he had no other options.
—He slightly squinted his eyes,
—Took aim at the target and imagined the shot.
—Tatsuya released the block of compressed psions he held in his left hand.
With the palm set as the firing point for Gram Demolition, the storm of psions stampeded towards the Parasite and sent both it and its tentacles flying.
"Shibata-san, are you alright!?"
Mikihiko’s voice was so stunned that he sounded like he was on the verge of jumping to his feet. Hearing this, Tatsuya lowered the left arm he had raised.
He bitterly gritted his teeth at the expected result of him calling on his Nonsystematic magic.
Gram Demolition contained the word "demolition", but in practice the magic was more like using the pressure of a psion tide to flood away the information body.
In situations where the target was a Magic Sequence, the technique could strip a Magic Sequence’s functions through the Eidos, hereby creating its magic nullifying effect as Counter Magic.
The majority of Magic Sequences would collapse under the strain of the information matrix being shattered at the moment of impact, hence the name "Demolition", but in reality, the psion tide from Gram Demolition did not possess the ability to destroy information bodies. When faced with a target that had a sturdier design than Magic Sequences, there was a high possibility that the information matrix would be blown away rather than destroyed.
Even with those realizations in mind, Tatsuya still chose to use Gram Demolition at that time.
In order to save Mizuki.
Because Tatsuya really couldn’t think of any other solution.
"It got away……"
Tatsuya didn’t respond to Katsuto’s murmur. By using Gram Demolition in that situation and removing the Parasite from the field, there was a rising possibility that they might have lost the chance to deliver the final blow. Tatsuya had already turned over that scenario in his head, but the result still turned out this way.
"Ah, oh well. Although it got away, it didn’t emerge unscathed. Since no one was injured, I think this result is satisfactory."
Katsuto’s words weren’t all meant to be comforting. When faced with an expected attack from the Parasite, they still managed to escape without casualties. It’s just that this particular encounter was a snare that they devised. Maybe their opponent never planned on fighting in the first place.
Since they elected to take a battle that wasn’t necessary and wasn’t unavoidable, the bottom line was for there to be no casualties. The primary objective was to capture the target, the secondary objective was to annihilate the enemy. If the above could not be achieved, then at the very least they needed to obtain new clues to help unmask their enemy’s capabilities.
In other words, from Tatsuya’s perspective on their combat priorities, their net gain was effectively zero. The most they could say was that their score wasn’t negative.
(What a disaster……)
Tatsuya forcibly made sure he didn’t say this aloud.
If he said this,
Miyuki would worry.
Mizuki would blame herself.
Erika would be hurt.
For Tatsuya, this was nothing more than rubbing salt into an open wound. There was no way Tatsuya would do something that would leave such a mess on his hands.
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