Published at 26th of March 2019 2:11 am

Volume 10, Chapter 12

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“I did not think an apparition could possess a robot”

“Because it’s a humanoid type or something like that probably. An artifact spirit, unbelievable.”

Tatsuya replied to Miyuki who had a look on her face that said she still didn’t really believe it in a manner that said he didn’t want to believe it.

The siblings were not talking in their living room but, in their personal car. This car is not a commuter that they share with the public, it is Tatsuya’s personal property. The name on the form said it belonged to his father but the money for the purchase had come from his earnings as Taurus Silver.

As for why they were not using a commuter that was as cheap to use as a bus was half a century earlier, Tatsuya had a personal car in order to deliver Miyuki to places in a secure and prestigious manner.

Not many people were aware of it, but Miyuki was the daughter of a good family, in other words an ‘Ojou-sama’. And a very high class one.

As part of her training for her position, she underwent studies in addition to her schoolwork.

Thanks to the special circumstances of the Yotsuba, she never went anywhere she might encounter Mayumi but she received private tutoring in order to hold her own at the highest levels of society, so she had to go to them in style.

Of course, there was a Driving Control Artificial Intelligence, and the luxury car was built to be bulletproof, heat resistant and had an anti-impact system installed and Miyuki continued to speak inside it while wearing a gloomy expression that did not suit the gorgeous clothing she was all dressed up in.

“And so Oniisama……what do you intend to do?”

“By what do you mean how I’m going to deal with Pixie?”

On the other hand, the dark jacket he was wearing could not quite be called formal, it could be said that Tatsuya was dressed more like a high school student as he made a face that failed to become a wry smile, it was more of a halfway expression.

“Because, there is no way I can take it home with us. Perhaps I’ll just have to come up with a proper excuse, I can give to the school”

“…you can’t take it home? Pixie wanted you to do that…..”

Miyuki asked in a voice that had some fear mixed in it. “There is no way it can enter the house.”

This time Tatsuya’s face was smiling as he replied.

“We know very little about the biology or nature of parasites. There’s no guarantee that the parasite was not lying.”

According to folklore, youkai did not lie, only humans lied that had been Ama no Jyaku’s weakness as a youkai. Despite the fact, that youkai who could not lie and youkai who did lie only existed in stories, at the time, no one there had doubted the words of the parasite that claimed to possess Pixie but, it was something unbelivable to Tatsuya.

“Its claim that it was created from Honoka’s thoughts is not without proof. Since Mizuki saw the ‘traces’ of that had been left behind. But other than that, we only have its word for it. Since we don’t any way to know what kind of abilities it has, there was no way I’m going to keep it close to us. What if Pixie has some way to communicate with other parasites, calling them closer to it while we are sleeping? It would be the absolute worst situation. At least until I can confirm that it has no means to contact the other organisms, I will not hear of such foolishness.”

When she heard him state his decision in a bland tone, the shadow disappeared from Miyuki’s face in the twinkling of an eye. “But, if that’s so, how can you trust the answers you get from cross-examining it, is there no way you can know?”

“That is the same condition that applies to interrogating human prisoners of war. The authenticity of the information that is extracted is something that can be decided only from our side.”

Some stiffness still remained in her face, Miyuki was erasing the traces of happiness on her face through her willpower.

◊ ◊ ◊

It was not all that big and not all that removed from common sensibilities; at the entrance to the elegant western style house, Tatsuya handed off his role of guard.

Even though it was called a hand-off, it was nothing more than verifying the person’s face.

The classroom where Miyuki took piano and etiquette lessons (it might be better to call it a school) was prohibited to men. Even bodyguards, the accessory of the rich and powerful, were not allowed to enter.

“As usual, when the time comes, I will come to get you” “Yes, I will wait for you to come”

Therefore inevitably, they would have this conversation at the time of the exchange.

By the way, the time he would come to pick her up was in two hours. Because he would have to use half that time if he returned home, it was normal for him to pass the time in a neighborhood food shop.

Tatsuya entered the name of the family oriented restaurant he had chosen into the GPS system. If he went into an alcohol oriented shop dressed in more adult clothes he would not be sent away but, he did not feel like doing that today.

He would have his evening meal at home, so he only ordered a drink. Normally, a customer who stayed for two hours and only bought a drink would be a problem for the shop but, whenever he was waiting for Miyuki, he ordered something expensive no matter what kind of shop it was. So it was alright not to worry about unintentionally causing harm.

Even if he got a dirty look, all he did was pretend he did not see it.

Tatsuya took up position in a vacant seat and did not open up a publication website, he just gazed out the window.

He looked like he was just daydreaming.

Tatsuya, himself, was not concentrating on anything.

Nonetheless, what he was doing the complete opposite of the usual meaning of ‘daydreaming’.

He was not focusing his mind, his mind was diffusing.

Wider and wider, with Miyuki and himself as the two focal points, he laid his perceptions over every nook and cranny in the area.

This was not looking down from a bird’s eye view, he was looking at things from the point of view of the information dimension.

It was not an elliptical sphere around the double focal points, it had nothing to do with physical distance; Tatsuya fixedly concentrated his ‘eye’ intensifying his contact with the law of cause and effect within link space.

So that he wouldn’t miss even one thing that could harm Miyuki.

Because he had this ‘eye’, he overcame the barrier of his gender and could be employed as his sister’s only guard.

To be correct, he did not normally use this ‘observation field’. Normally, he operated this unconsciously, right now he was consciously using it and even intensifying it.

Suddenly invoking his vision of the relationship of cause and effect left him open to ‘accidents’; namely leaving his body behind in the physical dimension by incessantly using it; when he was in link space, any wound he suffered wouldn’t heal. Becoming engrossed in ‘observation’ was a situation that could indeed make him switch his mind to that side.

Even if he called it link space, the dimension did not really have that kind of meaning.

The ways you were able to see something formed part of framework of recognition.

Also, even if he called it links, it did not mean he saw red strings or black chains connecting people, he could read no more than the information related to cause and effect. Perhaps someone else would be able to see red strings or black chains if they used those symbols, the images Tatsuya used pointed out the existence of what he realized were focal points jutting out behind the scene indicating the existence of cause and effect and events, etc.

In theory, the way he did things could be used to predict events, however, Tatsuya still could only read information on the ‘present’ and twenty four hours of the ‘past’. As a result, it was extraordinarily effective at searching for enemies. It was probably equal to having an innate skill at remote viewing, though it was better than that because it had the potential to distinguish enemies with precision and range.

Within that observation field, the information about the looming adversaries was displayed.

They were not after his sister; he, himself, was the one they were coming after.

(I am a failure as a guard)

Since he, himself, had become a target; he was exposing the person under his protection to danger. Calling himself a failure as a guard was a not the insult he usually inflicted on himself.

However, he was not able to lose himself to the whispers of despair or remorse that were never quite voiced.

◊ ◊ ◊

Lt. Colonel Virginia Brown made a slight nod when she heard the report that the troop emplacement was complete.

Prior to the current operation, they had analyzed the target’s daily habits and the fact that they were so few opportunities to attack had shocked her.

Moreover, the target almost never played at night like a child(?).

The target trained every morning before his morning commute at the Ninja Dojo where they could not interfere with the target at a moment’s notice.

(There were many americans who would have made this type of mistake as she did just now)

He had gone somewhere on his bike the past two Sundays but he had quickly lost his tail and even using the observation satellite, they still had absolutely no idea where he went.

The only thing they understood from two weeks of observation was that he was no ordinary high school student. They had just about concluded that he was an agent of a special ops group. They had doubts because the target did not have any special connections (to be correct, they assumed he didn’t), their investigation was not quite futile, but.

LT. Sirius had already established the degree of difficulty of getting to him when he was with his younger sister. The target did not spend much time alone, much less, in places where there was the potential to escape was slight---this evening was one of those few chances.

“Lt. Sirius, can you hear me”

When Barans spoke to the dedicated radio device, she immediately received a reply from Lina. The girl was standing by in a nearby park as planned.

This was the operation.

‘Stardust’ members disguised as robbers would break into the restaurant, and make a non-lethal attack. And if it was possible to capture the target, abduct him. If they received a counterattack then, exchange battle while fleeing and lead the target to the park where Lt. Sirius was waiting.

It was a vague plan but, under conditions with a large number of uncertain elements, this was as detailed a plan as it could be, she didn’t just practice combat operations in order to make a good show for her superiors, Barans had learned to practice in conditions as close to actual combat as she could.

After all in chess, you were able to see all of your opponent’s moves, so only elaborate tactics were useful in it.

(There was concern that Stardust might be completely destroyed in the first phase however……)

That possibility is slight, Barans tamped down on her own uneasiness.

She could however decide to abandon the operation in case of failure but, Stardust were also modified magicians whom the USNA had poured their magic technology into. That these five men could be destroyed by one boy in the middle of his teen years was unthinkable .

Even if the target was as she believed him to be a user of an unknown strategic class magic, there were numerous cases where magic that was aimed at causing large scale destruction was useless in personal combat. If the target possessed destructive power of the strategic class magic, then it was even more likely that he could not use it unless he was prepared to kill himself as well.

Unless he had a special tool like Brionac.

(Even if they were wiped out, all records of Stardust had been erased so it was impossible to determine their identities)

Therefore, even if the operation failed, it wasn’t necessary to worry about consequences, thought the Lt. Colonel putting an end to her speculations.

She seems to be purposely not thinking about Murphy’s Law.

◊ ◊ ◊

After she had finished her business with Barans, Lina did the final check on the tactical magic weapon, ‘Brionac’, in the station wagon that was parked in the park’s parking lot.

It was constructed for her use, and no one but her could use it; it was a super weapon that even she who was the commander of the USNA magician troops was not allowed to choose when and where she could use it. While it was a portable weapon, its maximum power was equivalent to the main armament of a battleship and output; although, it had such destructive power, its range and output could be freely controlled and it had an absurd outward appearance, it was a thick pole about four feet in length.

About two thirds of it was about the same width as the handle of a tennis racket. and the remaining one third was a cylinder with a bigger circumference; at the border between the two, a box shaped stick about the right width and thickness for her had was placed cross-like.

Even though, it was called an inspection, the weapon worked purely by magic power.

The armanent was combined with a CAD, it was a magic weapon.

The Brionac did not use electrical powered movement or springs. So naturally, she did not perform a mechanical inspection. So even if it was called an inspection, she was only checking the responses in stand by mode prior to invoking magic.

She knew by this tool’s very nature, it could not have a complicated structure. However, when she carried the Brionac in her hand which looked kind of like a cane, a spear or a club, she had the strange feeling that she had become a heroine in a fantasy novel ( or a game).

Speaking of strange feelings.

(There was no way, she felt any doubts about the colonel’s abilities but…..would it go well?)

Essentially, Lina doubted that the crude operation might be effective against Tatsuya.

Lina also understood that a too detailed operation wasn’t combat effective.

Nevertheless, the main phase of the operation was to be completed by the five men who were operatives at the ‘Stardust’ level, and she felt that she wasn’t going to have to endure a difficult wait. She was concerned that the possibility of them being wiped out quickly was probably quite high. Tatsuya is satellite class, no, he had fought above the level of four Stars member in an actual battle.

Tatsuya was a dangerous opponent however, at first, Lina had thought Miyuki the tougher adversary.

Nonetheless, such thoughts had now completely disappeared.

Any inclination to treat Tatsuya lightly due to his lower rank were gone now.

She was able to realize recently that the embarrassing defeat she, herself, had suffered was not in any way due to her being careless.

If she had called his bluff, she might have been able to see his weirdly limitless true strength. And then, she really had no idea what would have actually happened to her.

---what could the magic that turned ‘Dancing Blades’ to dust be.

---what on earth was the technique that cancelled the effects of 'Muspelheim’.

At the time, she thought it was simply the bonds of the intermolecular forces being destroyed.

She thought the activation sequence had been neutralized.

But the instant, she started to think about what could possibly do that, Lina’s mind froze.

She became aware that such a thing couldn’t be done. At least, no one in the Stars could, herself included. Destroying the bonds of intermolecular forces was one thing. On the other hand, cancelling the effects of Muspelheim.

Neutralizing magic required interference power exceeding that of the magic being neutralized.

Even if she conceded that he had greater interference power than herself who was a Sirius, at that time, he had also effected Miyuki’s magic.

In that frozen area, her own Muspelheim and Miyuki’s Nilfheim had battled for supremacy.

As the two opposing activation sequences had clashed, only the effects had cancelled each other, the magic had not been neutralized. In order for magic to be neutralized, a calculation sequence must overwrite the magic sequence.

In short, at that time, if the resources that Tatsuya commanded had neutralized the magic then he had invoked over twice Lina’s interference power.

The moment she thought of that, Lina became unable to quell the shaking in her body.

If that was really possible then, Tatsuya must secretly posses a technique that used power of that magnitude.

If there was a method other than neutralization to cancel the effects of magic then, it would also destroy more than the magic sequence.

Lina also knew that attacking with a high pressure stream of psions was also a means of destroying a magic sequence but at that time, there was no sign of that.

It had not been destroyed by an outside attack, it had been destroyed by interfering with the inner information structure---the Stars vice commander, Benjamin Canopus might have been able to figure out that Tatsuya had used ‘Gram Dispersion’ to do that. However, Lina was unaware of the magic known as Gram Dispersion.

She had been young (immature might be more appropiate) when she joined the Stars troop; unlike a normal girl, she had an abundance of combat experience but aside from that she had not been able to take enough time to acquire enough knowledge. Of course, compared to a normal (magic) high school student, she had a large variety of knowledge but, the quantity of knowledge you have is limited by the time spent acquiring it. No matter how well she was versed in the knowledge she had, information she hadn’t learned could not exist in her mind.

The unease gripping Lina was brought about by the lack of time studying caused by the deficiency of her ability to expand her experience. To put it simply, the girl was too young to be the commander of the Stars.

It might be better to say that it was the embodiment of the weaknesses of the abhorrent practice of the doctrine of complete relying on strength to determine leadership.

Until now, that weakness hadn’t really effected her but, a mission outside her home country with insufficient support staff against an opponent like Tatsuya who had not only opportunities to acquire combat experience but had formidable knowledge and technical skills, she was paying the price for her deficiencies.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya was not a battle junkie. At least he thought so and so far any fights he had taken part in hadn’t been actually started by him. Essentially, they were all for the sake of defending Miyuki’s safety and prestige.

That being said, he was not a practitioner of nonresistance. He possessed the youthful (?) idea that it was necessary to fight and win to protect peace. (hmm, five men…..)

They were parked across the street in a SUV, Tatsuya deliberately hesitated to confirm the number of men in position to spring from the car even now.

In this situation, if you wanted to flee, you should be able to do so. It should be alright to retrieve the car by remote control later.

The decision only took a second.

He finished settling his bill on the table terminal and stood up. They probably saw that, they hurriedly opened the SUV’s door. Tatsuya went to the entrance at a quick pace.

The shop’s entrance was directly across from the SUV.

The five men who were wearing something like ski masks stood in the road, they had gotten there about the same time Tatsuya left the shop.

The eyes in the masks were blue, red, black, brown and gray.

They were color contacts worn to completely disguise the fact that foreigners were commiting a crime but, it’s possible that that wasn’t the reason. On the contrary, it didn’t really feel like they were trying all that hard to conceal their appearance. Perhaps, they had confidence that they had concealed everything about their identities aside from their faces.

The attackers seem a little perplexed at the fact that Tatsuya was standing right in front of them.

Nevertheless the exchanging of stares did not continue for long. Tatsuya moved.

He neither advanced or retreated, he walked out on the road past the line of vision of the men.

A feeling of astonishment came from them,

Tatsuya was distancing himself from them without changing his pace.

Just as the distance of five meters was going to become ten meters, the attackers came to their senses.

The small clink of a gun being leveled at him reached Tatsuya’s ears.

This was not a gun shaped CAD, this was a weaponized device that combined a CAD with a submachine gun.

This armament alone was enough to serve as a confession from them that they were USNA magicians.

Western European, Eastern European, and New Soren did not use complicated mechanical weapons.

The only ones aside from the American army who might use such an elaborate weapon would probably be Japan’s Independent Magic- Equipped Battalion.

From the unfolding of the activation sequence, he understood that the rubber bullet would be electrified upon firing and release their charge upon impact. Probably, it was some type of taser gun. Apparently, they had received some kind of order to take Tatsuya alive.

Tatsuya had already thrust his right hand into his pocket and was holding the grip of his CAD. And he had used his fingers to find the trigger and put his finger on the switch.

With his back facing the masked men, Tatsuya pulled the trigger on the CAD.

He quickly turning around and kicked the surface of the road.

The parts of the submachine gun made a dull sound as they scattered all over the pavement which Tatsuya could hear as he was running away.

All these actions were stuffed into the interval when, his opponents were frozen in shock.

Just as Tatsuya entered the period where they were all without weapons, his enemies were finally released from their stupor.

The shock was probably too much for them, Tatsuya thought, but all this might be unavoidable.

Under normal circumstances, in order to interfere with an object under the influence of someone else’s magic, it was necessary to have interference power that obviously exceeds the other person’s magic power.

In the cases, where the other magician was physically touching the object, the level of difficulty goes way up. So it could be said to that it was close to impossible for the CAD and Armament devices to be instantly destroyed by magic for a number of reasons.

However, it would be a mistake to believe that this is why the men were surprised.

The magic used by them was the magic that would make the rubber bullet electrified upon firing and release their charge on impact. The target of their magic hadn’t been the guns but the bullets. The bodies of the guns were connected to the CADs but the breech-blocks, the percussion devices and the rest were mechanisms completely isolated from the CADs.

Originally, for the sake of maintenance, the weapons were constructed to be easily taken apart into pieces; something Tatsuya’s magic could easily manipulate. The reason they had been shocked until now might possibly because until now the had believed that the Japanese were probably aficionados of swords, the way Americans were probably aficionados of guns.

Of course, Tatsuya was not just casually thinking about such a thing.

Those thoughts he had made out of reflex when he saw his adversaries’ shocked faces were only running in the back of his mind, the focal point of his mind was on taking out whatever means that they were going to use to attack him in this interval.

To Tatsuya there was no reason to not to capitalize on this. However, this was a public thoroughfare.

This was not a busy street, this was not late at night, there were passersby, and traffic cameras here and there. Killing them would cause various problems.

Therefore in the presence of so many reliable witnesses, he did not want to display ‘disintegration’ magic. So it was best if he did not disintegrate the parts.

All that thinking was packed into that interval. Tatsuya stuck out the back of the palm of his hand. His target was the stomach.

Aiming at the solar plexus didn’t take much work.

He used flash cast just as the bottom of his hand struck. The invoked magic was an oscillation type.

From the touch of his palm, his opponents body was filled with oscillating waves---that was what was supposed to have happened.

However, his magic splattered. Tatsuya realized that not from the feelings from his hand but from the ‘eye’ he observed with.

He immediately jumped to the side.

He felt a wind blowing up from below.

His after image was pierced by a glossy black knuckleduster worn on his adversary’s fist.

He escaped to the side and switched to the back and sent a vibration wave through the man one more time.

The man’s body fell to the ground from the single attack that came from his blind spot.

Even so, the man’s ability to resist magic was astonishing.

In spite of physical touch increasing the amount of information about how to weaken the armor that was part of the magic he was launching against the man, the man’s reflexively invoked interference power had wiped it out. No matter how power is put out, the magic was emitting from an inferior virtual magic area; so ordinarily, this was impossible.

(Modified body---no, probably a reinforced human)

While he was jumping and dodging the attack from his enemy who had stood up and resumed his stance, he was accessing information on his opponent’s body and investigating this living organism.

From the report on the warped structure, this was not simply DNA modification, unmistakably the report showed results of multiple preposterous reinforcements.

(With their bodies like this, how are these guys even moving?)

To Tatsuya who had ‘observed’ hundreds of people on the brink of death, the fact that these guys could collapse at any time was obvious.

It would be more appropriate for them to be in hospital bed receiving intravenous drips than to be waving around knives and guns.

Despite that, they had this vitality.

They were like shooting stars just before they burned out.

Without a doubt, they were stardust trapped by the earth; their bodies whittled down by the blaze of the radiance they could not endure emitting. If it was at this level, then they would never accept themselves failing; there was no way to know what kind of recklessness this type of irregular opponent would commit.

It was somewhat risky but, he had to finish them off quickly.

With that, Tatsuya’s objectives changed. Within his mind, he quickly redrew his plan for his upcoming attack.

---after jumping even further back to gain distance, his hand reached toward the CAD in his pocket.

---as he took it out, he performed a fourfold invocation of part separation.

---this would certainly be able to halt his opponents.

As Tatsuya was solidifying the image, by coincidence just as he was doing that.

A man intruded on the scene.

Chiba Naotsugu was rushing.

Unbelievable, a street fight suddenly starting was unanticipated. The excellent data on the classroom educational records had left him with the preconceived notion that Tatsuya had a timid introverted personality.

He was about eight hundred meters away from the boy who was the focus of his observation and protection assignment on the third floor terrace of a midsized building. The dossier said his target was extremely sensitive to his surroundings, so he had kept his distance and it led to this screw-up.

Running down the stairs was also a waste of time. Maintaining his specialized skill, he jumped off.

Continuing in that fashion, Naotsugu kicked the surface of the road.

Naotsugu’s mastery of the acceleration magic (formerly a sage’s skill) made it possible for his running speed to reach 120kph for a short distance.

At this distance running was faster and swifter than using a car. It took him about thirty seconds to arrive.

Along the way, he sensed two invocations of oscillation type magic.

He was able to see from behind the fight, an attacker receive a bottom of the palm strike and tumble down onto the road.

Within his mind, Naotsugu murmured, ‘did that boy use magic arts?’. The dossier did not mention this information.

Since this was not information worth concealing, the dossier makers had probably not gotten a hold of this detail.

There seemed to be various other hidden gems of information.

Naotsugu’s interest in the observation target---in the current situation, he was switching it to subject of protection--- ‘Shiba Tatsuya’ deepened inside him.

Good grief, just what is his fighting ability…

Nevertheless, there would be other chances to check that out. Naotsugu was a person who drew a line between private and business matters. (at least, he thought himself as such)

He pressed the switch on the armament device, he was holding in his hand. The short baton morphed into a kodachi.

Naotusgu had modified the newly developed product that the Chiba clan had just begun to supply to law enforcement for his personal use.

He preferred convenient, easily replaced, general use weapons to unique high quality weapons like ‘Ikazuchimaru’ and ‘Ochimaru’.

Weapons were fundamentally tools to be used and replaced. Besides, even famous blades became dull with use.

It was an ironic thought for someone who styled himself as ‘one of the world’s greatest magicians in combat within a three meter limit’.

The boy which he had to protect made a great leap backward.

The information contained in the dossier concerning the troops facing the boy displayed itself in Naotsugu’s brain.

His opponents were Stardust---modified magicians attached to the USNA, no, they were weapons made from the bodies of magicians. A suicide squad constructed of magicians who were certain to have no more than a few years left to live who had been strengthened and altered. In Stardust, there existed groups that had various abilities. Naotsugu was able to learn that the unit that the boy was now facing, were soldiers modified for close combat.

If I don’t have long to live then I don’t want to die a futile death……they had been brainwashed to turn their thoughts in that way without a doubt but, Naotsugu did not think of it as evil. Instead he felt sympathetic, they were gambling their lives on a mission---not theoretically---literally.

Nevertheless, that made them dangerous opponents. Suicide soldiers were the toughest soldiers in the world.

No matter how skilled the boy was; they were probably too much for a high school student to handle.

Naotsugu interposed himself between Tatsuya and Stardust.

Tatsuya had already grasped that he was under observation. He had even known that it was the USNA and another party.

Nevertheless, he hadn’t anticipated intervention within this short time period. Tatsuya had believed that the other party would remain as onlookers.

The fact that the newcomer turned his back to Tatsuya, probably meant that the newcomer wasn’t an enemy at least in the current situation.

He even knew who this person was from the profile, he’d seen when the man had intervened.

Erika’s second eldest brother.

However, Tatsuya did not know the reason why Naotsugu was lending Tatsuya his assistance in this fight.

“Shiba kun”

Tatsuya had also not expected to be spoken to.

“My name is Chiba Naotsugu. I am the elder brother of your classmate, Chiba Erika.”

That the man would personally identify himself was also unexpected. “I will deal with this situation. Retreat behind me”

As expected, there was not an explanation but, this was not the occasion for that.

“Thank you”

If he was going to say leave it to me then, Tatsuya wasn’t going to contradict him.

He retreated at a rapid pace, Tatsuya discerned indications from Naotsugu’ s back that he was going to make an under shoulder swing.

Naotsugu had probably expected him to make some kind of “I will fight, too!” statement.

Unfortunately, Tatsuya did not have that kind of egotistical personality. If a specialist said fall back, all he would do is meekly obey. ---As long as it was to his advantage.

Naotsugu’s sudden intrusion confused his adversaries for several seconds.

Since one opponent was already down, the four remaining masked figures produced guns from somewhere and pointed at Naotsugu.

CADs answered the speed factor that was significant in modern magic.

Even so, taking off the safety from a gun is faster then constructing the magic sequence needed to process the activation sequence. At this distance, it wasn’t necessary to spend time aiming.

These men were probably extremely accustomed to real fights. Rather than relying on their unique magic skills, they chose an option that eliminated the hindrance to speed without hesitation. Abandoning magic did not mean not using it at all, a movement type magic--- an activation of magic that halted flying objects was simultaneously proceeding. Probably, to deal with any airborne tools their opponent might have.

They were armed with guns and shielded with magic.

They were using their faculties to their best effect. As he thought, their true fighting potential had probably been hampered by their need to ‘to capture Tatsuya alive’. Don’t ask questions, just destroy the enemy; without a doubt, that was their original fighting style. The fighting style was extremely pragmatic and sufficient to take down the average enemy.

However, Chiba Naotsugu was not an ordinary opponent.

Faster than the men could pull the trigger, Naotsugu had closed the distance. Unquestionably, aside from the man, Naotsugu had closed with, they had all lost sight of him. His speed was such, that even Tatsuya would have lost track of him, if he hadn’t been concentrating.

As he passed by, the kodachi flashed. He had added a black border to the edge of his blade.

The hand holding the gun fell from the wrist down. The point of repulsion produced by the edge of the blade of the kodachi as it moved from left to right parting skin, flesh and bone with astounding pressure.

His adversaries were probably aware of the instant slashing attack executed with the weight type magic ‘pressure cut’.

Unconcerned with their comrade’s cry of pain, the three men redirected their guns at Naotsugu.

The bullets penetrated Naotsugu’s afterimage.

To the BGM of glass breaking and painful moans, Naotusgu bridged the gap between his opponents.

Despite it not being the swiftness of the gods, the soldiers could not keep him in their gun sights.

Their fields of vision was to full of real and false images of their target.

Even Tatsuya watching from behind was not confident that he’d be able to perceive Naotsugu’ s true whereabouts, if he had been facing him at point blank range.

The root of the trick was to continually cycle between charging and freezing.

Due to Naotsugu repeatedly charging, freezing, changing direction, charging and freezing, after images were being produced in his adversaries’ retinas.

Originally, the logic of sword technique abhorred suspension or in other words ‘being still’. Without going into the fine details of the theory, being still was stiffening the muscles, halting the movement of the legs meant fixing the legs in a state where the leg muscles were stiffened, being still was could lead to collapsing.

However, that was the case when only the muscles were moving.

Naotsugu used ‘Beginning’ in short, by controlling his body’s first movement with magic, he could switch from being at a complete standstill to top speed without a time lag.

Nevertheless, saying this was easy, doing it in combat was incredibly difficult.

Movement proceeding thought was the natural state in the world of martial arts, it is said that if you did not move before thinking then you will never become first class.

What Naotsugu was doing could be called the body’s movements surpassing thought even beyond the invoking of magic.

Come to think of it, with the ‘pressure cut’ from a little while ago, Naotsugu went from being an onlooker observing the adversary from far enough away in the area that he could not be sensed to instantly invoking and instantly finishing off an opponent. To do that without being able to read his opponents intentions, he probably did not take any countermeasures.

This switching, indeed this on and off speed was without a doubt the essence of the techniques that made Chiba Naotsugu, one of the top ten martial artists in the world, Tatsuya thought.

While Tatsuya had been analyzing Naotsugu’s fighting abilities, all of the masked men had been rendered powerless.

Naotsugu lowered the hand holding the kodachi.

He did not visibly relax his vigilance but, it felt like he was less tense. It was the same for Tatsuya as well.

He must thank him for his assistance, as he took his third step towards Naotusgu, an intense sense of danger assaulted Tatsuya.

Naotsugu probably sensed it as well. Tatsuya hit the deck and Naotsugu raised his kodachi almost simultaneously.

Afterwards, a shining ray attacked Naotsugu.

The kodachi was attacked by the shining ray---a high energy plasma beam. As the blade took a direct hit, the beam parted it left and right.

The point where ‘pressure cut’ would form a point of repulsion was probably bending the raging stream of plasma.

However, the electromagnetic wave’s influence would not be enough to block it.

The shining ray disappeared.

Strangely, the plasma beam disappeared before it reached the buildings along the road.

Naotsugu’s body trembled slightly as he stood stock still with his kodachi raised, his muscles were probably convulsing from being bathed in the electromagnetic waves shielding him at point blank range. It was probably like having his whole body receive the full force of a stun gun.

Tatsuya directed his eyes to where he estimated the ray had been fired from.

Far away, in the center of a roadway shrouded in darkness. Floating leisurely in the street light, with deep crimson hair and golden eyes.

Something cane-like was pointed in this direction, the masked magician, ‘Angelina Sirius’ was looking at Tatsuya with a gaze of invitation.

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