Katsuto’s sedan drove into the path leading to the beach, according to the information he received from his subordinates.
Sounds of gunfire came from the front, mixed with sounds from explosions. There were not many residential buildings, but it was not an unmanned wilderness, and many cars still passed by. Although they were unsure of who would do such a thing, the fighting here was bold.
Katsuto’s car was attacked by a hail of bullets, but Katsuto, who was well aware of the battle, had already prepared Anti-Material Shield magic to block the heavy, high-speed ammunition. The grenade that exploded on the ground ahead of the direction that his vehicle was moving towards was suppressed by Katsuto’s magic.
Katsuto let the sedan stop in the windbreak.
He got off the vehicle alone.
Bullets came flying at Katsuto ?? he shielded himself against the bullets in his path and took off.
Katsuto’s burly body was protected by a spherical shield while in flight.
Whether or not he broke branches or drilled past tree trunks, things were nullified as if they never existed. He flew towards the direction where the bullets were coming from.
The one who was most alarmed was the rifleman. He quickly aimed and fired the high-powered rifle at Katsuto in a frenzy, but the bullets bounced off the shield. The rifleman’s face was hit by the shrapnel and could not help but freeze. An incredibly strong wall attacked him.
The gunman was sent flying by Katsuto’s shield.
Katsuto was not satisfied with this.
The gunman crashed into the trunk of a tree and continued to collide with it. The shield was still wrapped around his body.
Pinned between the trunk of the tree and the shield wall, the gunman vomited blood.
Katsuto confirmed that the man was no longer responsive, he did not care whether the opposition was unconscious or dead, and began looking for the next target.
The motionless man sitting under the tree wore dark colored clothes that camouflaged him in the darkness of the night. At first glance, there were no items that could identify which organization he belonged to, however, the gun in his hand was not something that any common criminal organization could get their hands on. If the enemy belonged to a foreign army, then the battle earlier was undoubtedly challenging Japan’s sovereignty. From the point of view of maintaining law and order, this was something that could not be overlooked.
Compared to apprehending Gu Jie, Katsuto decided to suppress the current gun battle first.
The hail of bullets weakened. Masaki, who actually felt this, finally became aware of the battle happening within the windbreak. A strong magical pressure was emitted from the windbreak. Masaki was familiar with this feeling.
In the summer of 2095, with the breathtaking sight of the last day of the Nine Schools Competition.
(Is Juumonji-dono in combat?)
Katsuto was currently battling and subduing enemies within the windbreak.
When Masaki realized this, he ran towards the windbreak instead of the ocean.
Instead of risking taking a bullet in the back while going after Gu Jie, he decided that he would spend a short amount of time taking care of these annoying people. Then, he could continue to pursue without worrying about his safety. Masaki thought that this was more reassuring.
He concentrated his shield to the front and rushed towards the hail of bullets.
In accordance to his body’s senses, the frequency of the bullets was only half of what it used to be.
High-power bullets oppressed the magic shield. The strength of Masaki’s shield was the same as his magic power, but in some respects, it was not as precise as the magic shields of the Juumonji magicians who specialized in shield magic.
Before he was under heavy fire, he tumbled and laid face-down on the beach. From this position, he tracked the enemy’s silhouette and activated ‘Rupture’.
The windbreak exuded a fearful atmosphere. They probably witnessed the horrible death of their allies.
The advantage of Ichijou Family’s ‘Rupture’ was not only its prowess, but the ability to also damage the enemy’s morale.
Watching one’s own soldiers spray and burst in blood, even those who had been in many battles would have struggled to watch this. Nobody would ever want to die like that.
Masaki could feel the enemy’s accuracy failing.
If that was all it took to be frightened, then they should not have provoked war. Masaki thought within his heart.
On the other hand, he calmly calculated the enemy’s panic as an opportunity.
“Counterattack!”
Masaki yelled without any fear.
The scene resounded with battle cries of ‘Oooooh!’
The magicians who had been forced to defend without counterattack all got up at the same time and advanced forward.
Gunfire resounded.
The flames from the grenade explosions lit up the beach at night.
Even so, it could not stop the assault of the Juumonji magicians.
Masaki was killing the enemies in the midst of blood flowers while advancing forward.
They finally advanced into the windbreak.
Deep within the forest, Katsuto was indeed ‘crushing’ the opponents.
The enemy soldiers threw down their guns and took out knives for combat.
This was the right way.
In the midst of battle, bullets that were shot out without fear of hitting their own men would be reflected as shrapnel by the magic shields, causing damage to their own forces.
Masaki, Katsuto, and the Juumonji Family magicians subdued the USNA illegal task force like a tsunami.
At the same time when they were about to meet up with the destroyer, Canopus received news that the intercepting squad responsible for delaying the pursuing group had been annihilated.
They had fulfilled their mission to delay the pursuing group’s progress completely. Gu Jie, together with the amphibious vehicle, had already escaped onto the ship that had been standing by off the coast.
Although they had said ‘annihilation,’ the intercepting squad members were mostly alive. For the USNA, they would become witnesses who would be detrimental to the exposure of the USNA’s involvement. The weapons that they held was more than enough evidence.
Canopus picked up the simple transmitter, closed his eyes, and prayed softly.
May their souls rest in peace.
Without any words asking for forgiveness.
Canopus opened his eyes and pressed the ‘real’ button that would annihilate the intercepting squad.
After confirming that the enemy had stopped resisting, Masaki searched for Katsuto’s silhouette.
“Juumonji-dono!”
“Ichijou-dono, I am here.”
Katsuto walked out from behind the trees. The both of their locations were rather close.
Katsuto was wearing an Anti-laceration sweater with a coat. Not only was his coat undamaged, it was also unstained with the slightest dirt.
The way his motorcycle racing suit was covered in dust made Masaki feel inferior to Katsuto. The amount of filth on their bodies seemed to signify the gap in their strength. This made Masaki a bit depressed.
“Ichijou-dono, what’s the matter?”
The expression on Masaki’s face probably made Katsuto very puzzled.
After Katsuto finished asking, Masaki shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong.
“Nothing. Don’t mind this. How should we deal with these guys? I don’t think we can leave them be.”
“Right…”
Katsuto thought for a moment, and then nodded.
“Although it is not certain that they belong to a terrorist group, they did behave unscrupulously to this extent, so we cannot let them escape.”
The reason that Katsuto was perplexed lay in the fact that if they wasted more time here, then they might completely lose Gu Jie.
“Then, can we leave these guys to the Juumonji Family? I will pursue Gu Jie.”
Masaki was worried about the same thing. Thus, he suggested to split up.
“Though you say pursue, how will you catch up? From what I understand, Gu Jie should have escaped to the sea already.”
“I will chase him on water.”
“It seems that’s the only way…”
If they suffered the same fierce attacks on the sea, even if it was Katsuto, it would be a dilemma without a way out. It was not certain whether Masaki could completely defend against such an attack either.
However, compared to Katsuto, Masaki possessed longer range attacks.
Once he discovered Gu Jie’s ship, he could immediately destroy the turbines, preventing the ship from navigating. Even if he would mistakenly hit innocent vessels, the compelling importance of arresting Gu Jie, made it unavoidable. They could cover it up by giving the blame to the terrorists.
“Understood. Leave this to us.”
Katsuto decided.
No one could criticize him for being indecisive, nor could they have said that he made the decision too late.
That was because no one could have predicted that the enemy, who had been hindering their pursuit of Gu Jie, would use such an underhanded method in the end.
The moment Katsuto accepted Masaki’s suggestion.
The enemy force that had collapsed within the windbreaks suddenly combusted. This was not a metaphor, but as literal as the words described. Both the corpses and the bodies of the injured combusted into flames.
This was a self-detonation magic that used human ignition magic. No, describing it as self-detonation was incorrect. The non-regular soldiers of the USNA had been implanted with a sequence, and once it received an external signal, it would activate the human ignition magic.
Furthermore, for soldiers who are not magicians, the program was planted deep within their mind, and they would be burnt together alongside their magician counterparts.
Katsuto set up an emergency shield, protecting both himself and Masaki.
The Juumonji magicians that had followed him quickly set-up their magic wall as well.
They were definitely not making a huge fuss over a minor issue.
The enemy soldiers were not the only one spitting fire.
The weapons used by the enemy melted or exploded due to the high heat.
The shrapnel from the weapons struck the magic shield.
The flames that burnt human bodies into black ashes were about to spread to the windbreaks.
It was not just at one or two places.
“Extinguish the fire immediately!”
Katsuto gave the order loudly.
The top priority right now was not to pursue Gu Jie, but to prevent the fire from spreading.
On the main road, parallel to the coast, Tatsuya was running at 60km/h.
He was not using flying magic. There were a few reasons for this.
For this battle, Tatsuya did not accept the support of the Independent Magic Battalion. He hadn’t been denied assistance either. Just before the battle at Zama station, Tatsuya had already received permission to use military classified magic. Though it was a request for permission, it was more like a notification.
Tatsuya did not seek help from the Independent Magic Battalion.
Neither did Battalion actively aid Tatsuya. As a result, obviously, Tatsuya was not wearing the mobile suit.
Even if he did not wear the mobile suit, he could still fly.
Since he did not have the resistance of the mobile suit, he could not fully cope with the enemy’s attack. Tatsuya was not an expert in Anti-Material Barrier magic or Heat Resistant Barrier magic. He could detect the enemy’s attack, then use Decomposition to repulse it. However, when he was in flight he could not predict from which angle and what distance the attack from the opposition was going to come from.
Therefore, he did not have a hundred percent success rate to repulse the attack.
Tatsuya whose forte was specialized magic originally had weak points in defense. Self-restoration magic was only used after injury, and even Tatsuya did not want to be used for a suicide mission.
Gu Jie had already travelled to the distant waters, moving at a relatively fast pace towards south-east direction. At this rate, it was a matter of time before they reached International Waters.
The ones assisting Gu Jie’s escape have considerable organizational strength. Tatsuya believes it was the doing of USNA. Though he could not completely grasp what benefit USNA would receive from Gu Jie’s escape, because of their intervention, the result would likely be Gu Jie’s escape.
??Compared to letting him escape, there was a way to rid his worries.
Gu Jie’s method of fooling with a magician’s life was already a death sentence for him.
The best result was first to allow the police to arrest him, then assassinate him in prison.
However, Tatsuya started considering ‘eliminate’ Gu Jie as the backup plan.
Tatsuya was heading to the beach that Gu Jie used to escape to the sea.
He knew his target was no longer there, but he decided to meet up with Masaki and crew.
By the time Tatsuya had reached the location, the fire extinguishing had finished.
“What is going on?”
After Tatsuya asked such a question, Masaki showed a speechless, bitter expression.
The one who replied was Katsuto.
“The enemy self-detonated.”
“There were obviously no dried-up trees, did the fire originate only from the self-detonation?”
“It seems they used human ignition magic.”
Once Tatsuya heard what kind of magic was used, he understood the intent of the enemy was to rid the evidence. For some unknown reason, it would seem that the USNA was attempting to stop them from arresting Gu Jie at all cost. Although it should be impossible, Gu Jie’s terrorist attacks could not really be a plan of theirs right?
“Shiba.”
While Tatsuya was thinking about things, Katsuto started to ask a question.
“Ichijou-dono said he wanted to use water walking magic to pursue Gu Jie. What do you think?”
Tatsuya eliminating Gu Jie here was the quickest method.
But this was a trump card that must be well hidden.
“Can we ask the Coastal Garrison for help?”
Masaki disagreed with Tatsuya’s suggestion.
“Would it not be too late to call for a ship?”
“We won’t pursuit from here. Gu Jie’s ship is located at the front of the island’s peninsula. If there is a patrol ship located there it could first intercept, then we could guide them from over here.”
Masaki did not know how Tatsuya was able to locate Gu Jie’s position with such ease, but he did not ask. Thought Katsuto probably had the same question, but because he was polite, he did not mention Tatsuya’s magic at all.
“Let me contact Tomokazu-dono then.”
Katsuto accepted Tatsuya’s suggestion, retrieving the information transmission terminal device.
As if Katsuto had timed the retrieval of his terminal device at the perfect moment, it had begun to ring.
The screen displayed the caller name as Saegusa Mayumi.
Katsuto turned on the speaker function to allow Tatsuya and Masaki to listen in, then he accepted the call.
“Saegusa? What’s the matter?”
“We probably don’t have much time, so I’ll get to the point”
Mayumi should have no part in tonight’s pursuit battle plan. However, she seemed to have understood the situation from this side.
“I asked the patrol ship to let me on board, we are nearby. Can you see?”
Tatsuya, Katsuto, and Masaki looked towards the ocean. They could clearly see the lights of the patrol ship closing in to the beach near them.
“You want to help pursue Gu Jie?”
“Well, yes. Tatsuya-kun, are you there?”
Mayumi gave Katsuto a positive reply, then suddenly asked for Tatsuya.
“Yes, I am here.”
Although a bit unexpected, Tatsuya responded quickly without being flustered.
“You know where Gu Jie is, right? Are you able to get here?”
Mayumi’s request went according to Tatsuya’s wishes.
“Understood.”
Tatsuya agreed without uttering any other words.
“Saegusa-san, this is Ichijou. Can you let me on the ship as well?”
Masaki chimed in while being flustered.
“Sure. And Juumonji?”
Although it was a matter of course, Mayumi quickly agreed to let Masaki on board.
“The situation here is a bit complicated, I have to stay.”
Katsuto also wanted to participate in the chase, but he could not leave the charred corpses, broken weapons and fire traces unattended.
Someone had to be responsible for notifying the police and fire departments and explain the details to them.
“Roger that. Tatsuya-kun and Ichijou-kun, I can’t send anyone over to pick you up, do you mind coming over here?”
“Understood.”
Tatsuya and Masaki answered with the terminal device in Katsuto’s hand.
The two of them ran as if they were racing to the coast. They were scrambling and rushing towards the patrol ship.
Gu Jie, who had fled to the sea on the amphibious vehicle, enter the high-speed cargo ship together with the vehicle.
He was resting in the Captain’s room currently.
Hearing the knocking sounds at the door, Gu Jie simply answered ‘come in’.
“Lord, sorry to disturb you.”
As expected, the one who opened the door was Doe.
Gu Jie looked at him, with an afterthought ‘so he was this type of person’.
He was about thirty years old in age, with a height of 175 cm. Black hair, black eyes, with a tan skin tone. He had a plain complexion without any special characteristics. This look left people without much of an impression. Thought he had seen him several times already, every time it would give a false impression of a first meeting. It was probably because he had no spare time to care about such matters. Gu Jie self-deprecated in his heart.
“My Lord, did you want a drink?”
Doe’s hand was a bottle of Shaoxing wine. If the content was as the label suggests, even if it was not the highest end, it was definitely a top-quality variety.
“Give me a cup.”
After Gu Jie’s reply, Doe nodded and placed the bottle on the table. He then retrieved a small glass cup from the cupboard.
Doe placed the cup in front of Gu Jie and poured in the Shaoxing wine.
Gu Jie picked up the cup and handed it over to Doe.
Thanks for the hard work. You can drink first.”
“Ai ya, then excuse my rudeness.”
Doe did not hesitate to take the cup and drank all the wine inside.
It was obvious that Gu Jie wanted Doe to test if there was poison in the drink so Doe drank without any resistance. He took out another small cup, and invited Gu Jie to drink the Shaoxing wine with him.
Gu Jie drank all the wine the Doe poured.
“En… good wine.”
“I don’t deserve your praise.”
Gu Jie placed the glass cup back on the table while looking at the Doe who was standing.
“So, what’s the situation?”
“It will take just less than one hour to leave Japanese waters. Currently there are no pursuers.”
“That’s it huh.”
Although he did not show the expression or attitude, Gu Jie finally felt a sigh of relief. It was hard to say that it was safe. Even if they entered into international waters, it would not prevent a pursuit. However, he could not hold back the peace of mind he had from finally escaping from the grasp of the enemy.
“And after that? The Japanese should be aware of this ship.”
“Yes, I think so too. Although it would cause trouble for my Lord, please transfer to another ship later.”
“Your preparations are thorough.”
“Lord, I’m honored by your praise. After the transfer to the next ship, it will directly head to Sydney.”
“We won’t stop at ports along the way?”
“Yes, I thought that would be best… However if my Lord had any ports in mind.”
“No, you can take care of it.”
“Understood. If you have any orders, I will come immediately.”
Doe left the room.
Gu Jie picked up the Shaoxing wine bottle left on the table.
When Tatsuya jumped on to the Patrol Ship from the surface of the sea, the ones who welcomed him was Mayumi and Yakumo.
“Hai, Tatsuya, you are slow.”
“…Master, why are you here?”
Tatsuya inquired with a frown. Yakumo let out his usual leisurely smile.
“You’re actually asking me this. Did I not say that earlier? I am here to help resolve the incident. Did you forget?”
“What I wanted to ask wasn’t this. I am asking how Master got on this ship.”
While Tatsuya questioned Yakumo, Masaki who had just gotten on the boat questioned Mayumi on the side.
“Um, Saegusa-san, this monk is?”
Mayumi showed an awkward smile and replied Masaki.
“This is Ninjutsu master Kokonoe Yakumo. He is Tatsuya-kun’s master.
He said he was willing to help us.”
“Correctly speaking, I am not his Master. That’s because Tatsuya is not a ninja, nor is he a monk. I only help him practice Taijutsu a bit.”
Yakumo did not answer Tatsuya’s question, but instead interrupted Mayumi and Masaki’s discussion.
Tatsuya sharply glared at Yakumo, making Mayumi feel it was her fault, causing her to hurriedly reply.
“Although everyone told me not to do anything today, but I could not sit still”
Tatsuya’s expression of ‘and so?’ urged her to continue speaking.
“Just in case, I had the patrol ship travel to the Hiratsuka’s New Port.
There, I discovered Master Yakumo… He said he knew where Tatsuya-kun was, so I invited him onto the ship. I also knew that he was Tatsuya-kun’s teacher… Was I not allowed to do this?”
After Mayumi asked while trembling, Tatsuya swallowed his sigh.
“…No, it’s fine.”
“Great.”
Listening to Yakumo’s words, Tatsuya did not know why he felt annoyed.
But he restrained himself from making meaningless questions and answers, instead focused on what should be done currently.
“Saegusa-senpai, let’s begin the pursuit immediately.”
“Yes. Then Tatsuya-kun will you help guide us on the route?”
“Understood.”
Tatsuya and Mayumi headed towards the deck of the patrol ship. Masaki and Yakumo followed closely.
Canopus, who was called to the destroyer’s battle intel center, put on a solemn face after hearing the report. Previously, in the planning rehearsal for the final stages of battle, the event that he had hoped was predicted incorrectly slowly became true.
“In general, Japan’s patrol ship caught up to Heigu’s cargo ship?”
Looking at the sea charts while listening to the explanation of the route and relative speed, Canopus summarized the content into the following line to confirm.
“It could be said so, but could also not be said so.”
Apart from the destroyer’s crew, one of the backup combat member stated the information once again to Canopus.
“It is predicted that Japan’s patrol ship will only catch up to Heigu’s vessel when they reach international waters. However, Japan has the Right to Pursuit, we cannot intervene.”
The Right to Pursuit (also called Right to Continuous Pursuit) was a right recognized by International Conventions. A country had the right to continue to pursue a vessel in international waters if the vessel violated the laws within that country’s territorial waters. Canopus already knew this without listening to the explanation.
“Need to change the final phase of the plan.”
The member used this line to answer the summary.
Canopus sighed deeply.
“Hard-line measure, huh…”
As expected, it wouldn't end so easily. Being able to avoid the worst situation by sinking Gu Jie’s vessel in Japanese waters, was already for the best. Canopus comforted himself with this thought.
“Inform me when Heigu’s ship gets near. I will be waiting in the cabin.”
“Understood, Major-dono”
Under the farewells of the members, Canopus left the battle intel center.
“Maintain the current course. We should have the visual on the target soon.”
Just as Tatsuya predicted, a ship appeared before the lights of the patrol ship.
The high-speed patrol ship prepared by Mayumi utilized its speed. Just before the ship that Heigu was riding in reached international waters, It had closed into visual range.
“Captain, please!”
Without hearing the full command from Mayumi, the Captain of the patrol ship had order his crew to issue the suspension signal.
Using both loudspeakers and signal lamp to advise the ship that Gu Jie was riding on to stop sailing. Thus, the pursuit right was established.
The bridge of the patrol ship was filled with relief.
The stop command was issued in multiple languages. It had reached the ears of Gu Jie who had been resting in his room.
Someone hurriedly knocked on the cabin door.
“Enter!”
Gu Jie’s voice revealed some anxiety.
“My Lord, sorry to disturb you!”
Doe who had been watching the door could not conceal his panic.
“Japan’s patrol ship seems to have spotted us. How many vessels are there?”
“One ship.”
Doe did not understand why Gu Jie asked this question, thus answered on reflex.
“So, how should we proceed?”
“Flee to international waters just like this.”
“But, their speed is rather fast?”
It was not clear why Doe was responding to Gu Jie’s accusations so confidently.
“Our ship will standby on the perimeter of Japanese territorial waters.
The following course of the ship will be a bit rough, please be careful.”
Currently, Gu Jie had no pawns. He did not have the battle ability to sink the patrol ship.
But he was not completely helpless.
If he was out of pawns, he could make more.
There was not enough time or tools, so he can only produce consumables. Fortunately, there was only one ship of pursuers. Once he broke through the current predicament, he would find a way out of danger.
Gu Jie looked at the man that claimed to be John Doe. The first time they met, he already knew that this man had very good talent. Though he seemed to have hidden his strength, but Gu Jie saw through him with one glance.
Moreover, Gu Jie was convinced that he had concealed some things.
“Understood. Doe, I’ll leave this to you.”
“I will do as you bid, my Lord.”
Du bowed deeply to the point of exposing his back while concealing his hand.
Gu Jie activated the magic he had pre-set on Doe’s body.
Doe’s body twitched as though he was having a seizure.
Soon after, he fell forwards.
The collapsed Doe was holding a small pistol within his right hand.
“Is your goal to assassinate me? To put in such effort just to assassinate me. Do you think I will believe a man who I have never met before unconditionally?”
Gu Jie issued the next command using the mouth that had ridiculed the corpse.
“Doe, get up.”
Doe’s physical movements began slowly, but then immediately got up as though energy had returned to his body.
“Do you understand my words?”
Doe nodded his head.
Upon seeing his response, Gu Jie could only smack his own lips.
“Can’t speak anymore.”
Although he had preset the magic, but at the time he had omitted even the simplest ceremonies. It would seem that the preparations were not enough. The process to convert lifeforce into magic fuel had been successful, but the body had lost some of its function.
Gu Jie gave up on inquiring about Doe’s background. He ordered him to handle the patrol ship.
“Doe, sink with the Japanese Patrol Ship.”
Doe nodded his head in the same way and left the cabin.
Gu Jie also left the cabin and headed towards the bridge to control the ship.
Hearing the sounds of knocking, Canopus responded with “Enter”.
The one who entered was not a destroyer crew member, but a combat member.
The member closed the door after entering the cabin. He stood in front of Canopus.
“Major, Joseph Doe’s life signal disappeared.”
Canopus raised his eyebrows and asked the combat member.
“The assassination failed?”
“Regrettably, it is likely that it failed.”
Canopus got up silently.
When he wanted to exit the cabin, the combat member stopped him.
“Major, the amphibious vehicle used by Gu Jie to escape to the sea is heading straight towards Japan’s patrol ship from the current vessel he is on.”
“We need not care. The Japanese patrol ship will most likely sink that vessel.”
Canopus picked up the sword shaped armament device that was standing next to the door. He then went to the deck to solve everything with his own hands.
The target that was sent the stop signal did not have any signs of slowing down. Seeing the situation, the Captain of the patrol ship ordered for the firing of another warning.
“Take aim, the suspicious vessel is closing in quickly… Please Wait!
Confirming that the enemy vessel only sent out a small boat!”
Mayumi was the first to react to the Shooting Controller’s report.
“Tatsuya-kun!”
“No, Gu Jie is not on the small boat.”
Mayumi was not the only one to suspect that Gu Jie was attempting to escape via the small boat. Because Tatsuya suspected the same thing, he could immediately reply to Mayumi.
Then, what was the purpose of the small boat?
The answer would be revealed immediately.
“The small boat is heading straight for us!”
“Any weapons!? What kind of boat is it!?”
Immediately after the Captain finished asking, the Shooting Controller answered in a tone as if he was in disbelief.
“It is an amphibious vehicle! Such speed! What is this absurd speed!?”
Knowing that it was impossible for the speed of an amphibious vehicle to be so fast, the controller could only be stunned speechless.
“That acceleration is the result of magic!”
Masaki said in a firm tone, at the same he pointed his bright red CAD
towards the amphibious vehicle.
The Psion light released from Masaki’s body lit up radiantly.
“Rupture” was activated.
The small boat seemed to be using a hydrogen engine, therefore the fuel did not explode. Looks like the hydrogen fuel diffused before a fire could start.
Given the situation, this also meant that the magician in the amphibious vehicle did not receive a fatal blow.
As the amphibious vehicle sank gradually, the silhouette appearing from the vehicle started travelling towards them at high speeds as though he was water skiing on the sea.
“Shoot warning fire towards the fleeing vessel, we will handle that person.”
Mayumi suggested to the captain. She had already finish her magic activation sequence.
“Aim!”
“Aim, the suspicious vessel is very close!”
“Preparations for firing complete!”
“Fire!”
The tracer bomb bombardment sailed past the side of the ship that Gu Jie was on.
At the same time, Mayumi launched her magic.
“Magic Shooter”
Mayumi did not necessarily require dry ice to materialize her bullets.
Even if it was normal ice bullets, she would have the same control as if they were dry ice. To be honest, Mayumi’s full potential could be released when she was on the sea or lake where there was ample water to materialize bullets from.
Mayumi created ice bullets directly from the sea water, a magician of the sea ?? a personal belief ?? fired at the silhouette from all directions while predicted his movements. The silhouette could not withstand the barrage and sank into the water.
“Suspicious vessel has left our territorial waters.”
“No problem, intercept it from the front.”
In accordance to the command of the Captain, the patrol ship closed in on the ship Gu Jie was riding on.
Mayumi seemed concerned about the magician that had fallen into the ocean, but did not say to have him rescued. Apprehending Gu Jie was the mission she was entrusted with.
When they were one step away from catching up to Gu Jie’s vessel, the Radar Officer said in a concerned voice.
“Captain! USNA’s destroyer is approaching us!”
“What!?”
The Captain could not contain his shock.
USNA’s destroyer was anchored in close proximity to the border between Japan’s territorial waters and international waters. This was something that they had been aware of since the start of the chase. When inquired about their identity, they also revealed who they were. It was concerning that the location of the destroyer was directly in the escape route of the suspicious vessel, but because they had not taken any hostile action, the Japanese forces could not intervene.
However, the opposition began to move suddenly.
From the navigation route of the destroyer, it was possible that they were assisting in the arrest of the suspicious vessel, at the same time, the destroyer could also be trying to obstruct the arrest.
The staff on the bridge rushed into action. The correspondents quickly began to set up communications with the destroyer.
“Target has reached international waters.”
“Forward at half speed.”
The destroyer moved in accordance to the Captain’s instructions. The ship’s course was headed southwest. To the right was the ship that Gu Jie was hiding in, just further away was the Japanese Patrol Vessel.
Equipped with a powerful engine, the USNA destroyer caught up to Gu Jie’s high-speed cargo ship in the blink of an eye.
At the front of the deck stood Canopus, unsheathing an armament device modelled after a Japanese sword, watching the cargo ship.
Gu Jie, who had arrived to the deck, had turned the entire crew including the captain into his puppets. Although the crew had almost no resistance, the process of turning them into puppets was not instantaneous. Before Gu Jie’s jutsu completed, the ship had been sailing straight and nobody had been paying attention to the surroundings.
Gu Jie was only aware of the destroyer closing in until they were about to collide.
“Stop the ship!”
“Full speed retreat!”
The crew on the deck was deprived of free will, they can still complete what was order with the same technical expertise as before.
The Cargo ship halted in accordance to the command of the Captain.
The Cargo ship gradually slowed down, until it stopped moving.
The destroyer closed into the Cargo ship’s path.
It seems collision had been avoided. The instant Gu Jie thought of this, he felt a powerful magic pressure and immediate stopped thinking.
Canopus raised the armament device used for ‘Molecular Divider’.
Gu Jie’s position was reflected on the transparent screen of the glasses.
This could only be achieved because Special Agent Joseph Doe had sacrificed his life to install the transmitter.
Second only to STARS First Unit Captain Angie Sirius, USNA’s second strongest, Major Benjamin Canopus launched the most powerful ‘Molecular Divider’ towards Gu Jie who was aboard the cargo ship.
“Full speed retreat!”
The patrol ship issued the same order as the cargo ship in hopes of avoiding collision with the destroyer.
The bow of the destroyer was now in direct line of the cargo ship’s navigation route.
At this time.
Tatsuya felt the activation of a powerful magic.
The Magic Activation Target Object Area was a slender sheet space with total length of seven hundred meters.
Extremely large-scale Area Magic.
It was magic categorized under ‘intermolecular binding force reversal’, also known as ‘Molecular Divider’.
(Do they intend to chop Gu Jie together with the rest of the ship in half!?)
If one was to receive a strike of Molecular Divider of that magnitude, no corpse would remain. They would basically disappear together with the ship in the vast ocean.
If he allowed the opposition to do that, all of Tatsuya’s hard work up until this point would have been in vain.
If the goal had been elimination, everything would have been ended earlier in the morning.
Tatsuya intends to use Gram Dispersion to cause Molecular Divider to fail.
Almost as if it was a habit, he stretched his right hand forward.
Yakumo caught his hand.
Tatsuya glared at Yakumo.
Yakumo immediately began to shake his head.
Suddenly, Tatsuya’s heart had a moment of hesitation.
And it was during this instant, Molecular Divider was activated; a giant blade came crashing down.
The ship that was carrying Gu Jie was split in two halves without the slightest resistance.
At the same time, the Psion marker that Tatsuya left in Gu Jie’s body dissipated.
The individual “human” existence known as Gu Jie disappeared.
“Just now, that was… what was that?”
“It was… Molecular Divider?”
Mayumi and Masaki muttered blankly.
Tatsuya glared at Yakumo with sharp eyes.
But Tatsuya also saw Yakumo return a glare with the same intensity, hence he gave up on questioning Yakumo’s intentions.
The Captain personally cursed in rage at the microphone of the communication device.
The Captain of the destroyer answered in a steady voice.
Their Captain said that the ship was a notorious pirate ship that they had been tracking thus far.
He advocated the reason why they sank the cargo ship was because the pirate ship was ignoring all stop warnings and had attempted to escape.
Given the situation, they were forced to do what they did.
“Wasn’t that ship ready to stop!”
“From our perspective that was certainly not the case.”
“Lying with your eyes wide open!”
“If you have any objections, then send them through the proper diplomatic channels.”
After the destroyer finished their communication, they had changed their course towards the East.
The crew of the patrol ship were not the only ones gritting their teeth as they watched the destroyer leave.
Tatsuya, Masaki and Mayumi were left with feelings of emptiness. All that remained was the view of the back of the destroyer in the distance, and the ocean that had engulfed Gu Jie.
Well I’m really pissed… very unsatisfying