by Sato Tsutomu
Although she described it as divine, no one present believed that was an exaggeration.
This was no exaggeration, this was a "miracle".
"...That's why Tatsuya-kun seems so unbalanced."
"Ah... With such a high class magic on hand, it's not surprising that other magics would be obstructed..."
Miyuki only told them half the truth. She opted against revealing the other half.
That was why she only wore a lonely smile as she watched her easily misled senpais converse with one another.
"...But isn't that amazing. He can eliminate any major injury suffered in the past 24 hours, right?"
Kanon's sudden interjection broke through the doom and gloom.
"Indeed. It doesn't matter if it's a disaster area or battlefield, there are countless people who need help. He could save thousands, even tens of thousands of lives."
As he finally grasped the meaning behind all this, Isori warmly agreed with Kanon.
"Yeah! Compared to that, not using any other magic is only a minor hassle. Why is such an incredible power kept under wraps? You see, he could save so many more people with this. Rather than becoming infamous through taking the lives of others, he would be renowned for saving others. He could be a true hero!"
"Is that so... The power to erase any injury, no matter the severity. And you dare to insinuate that such a magic would come at no cost?"
A complete contrast to Kanon's excitement, Miyuki was terribly calm, her face devoid of any expression.
Her chilly, piercing gaze seemed to root Kanon to the spot.
Although this was the first time they saw this, no matter if it was Kanon, Mari, Mayumi, it suddenly dawned on everyone that Miyuki was using that crystalline expression to cover her wildly rampaging emotions and forcibly projecting an aura of calmness.
She, was in the throes of grief.
She, was furious beyond all reason.
"Onii-sama reviews the catalogue of changes in the Eidos to completely copy the Eidos. To do this, he must read all the stored information regarding the Eidos."
Miyuki's voice was still ever so calm to the point of being objective.
Yet, Mayumi and Mari, Kanon and Isori, everyone present who heard her words felt a chill crawl up their spine.
"And that, of course, includes the victim's pain."
Someone sharply inhaled.
"Pain is not read from an intellectual perspective. The feeling of pain, the signals of pain that travel through the injured body's nervous system, are directly transferred to your own side as direct information. That information does not pass through the brain, but is directly imprinted on your mind."
Cough, someone began hacking. This was not intentional, merely a biological side effect of being unable to breathe.
"Furthermore, all of that is condensed into an instant as it is transmitted. For example... In this situation, the time elapsed between Isori-senpai being wounded and Onii-sama arriving to use magic was approximately 30 seconds. Onii-sama used about 0.2 seconds to review all the changes in the Eidos. In that brief instance, the condensed pain that weighed on Onii-sama's mind is about 150 times Isori-senpai's suffering."
"One hundred and fifty times..."
A surprised gasp spilled from Isori's lips. He couldn't even begin to imagine that degree of pain.
In addition, Isori was also questioning whether he could master himself in the face of that sort of pain.
"The longer the duration of the wound, the greater the condensed pain. In order to erase an injury suffered one hour ago, the caster must suffer pain 10,000 times greater than the original."
While Miyuki was not channeling her rage at anyone other than herself, her gaze still drifted towards Kanon.
"Onii-sama must pay this price each time he heals someone else. With that in mind, do you still wish for him to wield this power for others?"
She was exceptionally calm, but also in a towering rage.
She was more enraged at herself than anyone else.
That was because the willful individual who requested her brother to use "Regrowth" was none other than herself.
◊ ◊ ◊
"Captain, allied forces are retreating!"
"Is that so."
Hearing his subordinate's report, Great Asian Alliance Special Ops Captain Chen Xiangshan's voice did not betray a hint of surprise or regret or anything else at all. He merely nodded his head, not because he had already predicted that there was a high probability of allied defeat, but because he had already taken into account this possibility when plotting out his objectives. There was no correlation between achieving combat objectives and victory in battle. He had climbed to his current position because he had always followed that creed.
"Currently, we will now begin Plan B."
There were 20 soldiers accompanying him. Although their numbers were few, each one of them was a specialist at disrupting enemy assets from the rear gathered from back home. They were of an entirely different sort than the infiltrators he originally brought with him.
"Lieutenant Lu."
Despite his mishap earlier, after taking into account his raw fighting ability, Chen still called out the name of his most trustworthy subordinate.
"I know you may think otherwise, but do not consider taking vengeance. Fixating on a relic of unknown value was a misstep from the outset."
"Understood."
No matter what his own thoughts on the matter were, Lu Gonghu perfectly modulated his voice when he responded to his superior officer. He was wearing his original equipment, the enchanted armor called the "White Tiger Armor".
"Move out."
In accordance with Chen's order, the unit quietly began to advance.
Their target lay ahead of them, the Kantou branch of the Japanese Magic Association in the Yokohama Bay Hills Tower.
◊ ◊ ◊
The heavy atmosphere on board the helicopter that Mayumi and the others were riding on was broken when Mizuki suddenly gasped.
"Mizuki, what is it?"
Miyuki, who was the center of the foreboding silence, gently asked the first question probably because she felt that it wouldn't do to keep going like this.
"Well, near the Bay Hills Tower, I thought I saw the flare of a bestial soul..."
Despite sitting in the helicopter, Mizuki occasionally removed her glasses to scan the ground. Although she only did so because she thought there might be the off chance she would catch something, this time she was definitely on the right track.
"Bestial? As in a bloodthirsty, violent sort of way?"
While directing his question to Mizuki, Mikihiko pulled out a talisman from his breast pocket before getting a reply. Mikihiko activated the spell, put it up to his eye and looked through the talisman at the Bay Hills Tower.
"Enemy attack!?"
Surprise caused his voice to hitch.
"Is that reliable?"
"I thought the enemy retreated before the volunteers' attack?"
Erika and Kanon immediately followed up with their own questions.
Mikihiko nodded at Erika's question, but shook his head at Kanon.
"A small number of enemies launched a surprise assault from the rear with a terrifying amount of spell power. We have to turn around quickly, the Magic Association is in danger!"
The last comment was directed towards Mayumi.
A hint of indecision floated across Mayumi's eyes as she looked to Mari.
"Mayumi Ojou-sama."
Nakura's voice came from the co-pilot's seat.
"There's an emergency call on the line reserved for the Ten Master Clans from the Magic Association."
"Patch it through."
Mayumi seized the ear set from Nakura.
Through the ear set, she heard the Magic Association member report the same dire situation that Mikihiko spoke of. Although the enemy numbers were few, there were limited Magicians at the Magic Association at this moment. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to hold out much
longer.
Mayumi swiftly made a decision as if hesitation never crossed her mind.
"Nakura, turn towards the Magic Association."
Without waiting for a reply, Mayumi operated her own terminal and established a connection.
"Saegusa, what's going on?"
Katsuto's anxious voice that came down the line contained traces of frustration and confusion. Mayumi knew that Katsuto must have received the Magic Association's plea for help as well.
"Juumonji-kun, we will head towards the Magic Association."
Mayumi skipped the preliminaries and spoke quickly.
"The helicopter will immediately turn around, so we won't take very long. Juumonji-kun, you focus on defeating the enemy forces."
Katsuto didn't know that Mayumi's group was evacuating by helicopter, nor did Mayumi know that Katsuto was leading troops at the front line.
However, Mayumi believed that Katsuto definitely wouldn't sit idly by while the situation worsened. In addition, she knew that he would enter the battle and would serve as an essential part of the armed forces.
Even Juumonji Katsuto was not someone who could be in two places at the same time. He could not possibly defeat two enemies that came from different directions at the same time.
"I'm relying on you!"
"Leave it to me!"
After cutting the feed, the helicopter turned around and advanced forwards.
The surprise attack from Chen's detachment completely caught the Japanese forces unprepared. This wasn't because it was a surprise assault using a small detachment of troops, but because they had kept so many elite forces in reserve.
The Great Asian Alliance troops attacking along the coastline are currently (estimated) to be in a completely inferior position. The hillside forces were crushed by the volunteers under Katsuto's command and the inland forces had all been captured because of the betrayal at China Street. The troops at Sangechō were in complete disarray because of the flying troops in black. There was simply no additional troop strength left.
And yet, they were definitely being attacked by a small group of elite soldiers. Their size did not surpass one squad in strength, yet every single one of them was incredibly capable in battle. Especially that warrior garbed in white, Chinese-style armor who didn't even flinch at machine gun fire from APCs and broke through barricade after barricade until he reached the summit of the hill.
Alighting from the helicopter, Mayumi and company caught sight of him.
"That guy!?"
Seeing that soldier in white armor, or to be more precise, after feeling the aura he was giving off, Mari made a sound of pure astonishment.
"It's that man from before... I think he is called Lu Gonghu. Guess he managed to escape."
Mayumi squinted her eyes as she used Sensory-Type Magic to inspect the man's face.
"Lu Gonghu!?"
"Erika, do you know who he is?"
Erika nodded in raw excitement at Leo's inquiry.
"He's a strong one!"
"Eh~"
Still, upon hearing Erika's concise answer, Leo didn't seem cowed in the slightest and his eyes seemed to glow even brighter. Because of this, the pair of upperclassmen felt a headache eclipsing their initial worries.
Catching sight of the approaching enemy unit, Miyuki pulled out her CAD.
"Miyuki-chan, STOP!"
Mayumi was completely focused on Erika, but managed to catch wind of the danger in time and frantically stopped her.
"Do you want the Magic Association members' magic to fail as well!?"
Miyuki's favored magic targeted whole areas. Magic with weak interference strength would fizzle away when Miyuki unleashed her magic. If she could identify each individual situation, then she might be able to differentiate them enough to avoid interfering with allied magic, but Mayumi considered this to be impossible at a range where men looked to be the size of ants.
"Don't worry, I will end this in one strike!"
Sure enough, Miyuki's response implied that she was about to unleash a cruel attack that paid no heed to allies in the line of fire.
How could she say something so horrifying despite that adorable appearance, Mayumi felt her headache worsening.
"No, if something goes sideways, is Miyuki-chan the only one who will pay the price?"
While Miyuki's thoughts on Mayumi's comment revolved around "there's no way I would miss any of them", Miyuki still obediently put her CAD away since Mayumi was concerned on her behalf after all.
"Miyuki-chan, please protect the branch headquarters itself. I know this seems like I'm leaving all the responsibility to you, but the only one who can hold the fort is probably Miyuki-chan."
"Understood."
Although Mayumi's "request" strategy was plain to see, Miyuki still accepted her new mission.
"Kirihara-kun and Mibu-chan will accompany Miyuki, and can the two of you protect Shibata-san as well?"
This arrangement was blatantly taking Kirihara's recent injury into consideration, but Kirihara didn't object as he accepted his charge.
"Isori-kun, Kanon-chan, and Yoshida-kun, you three take care of the enemies besides the warrior in white."
After saying this, Mayumi glanced at Mari.
"Mari."
"Ah, we'll handle that guy. Erika, Saijou, you two are with me."
Mari nodded at Mayumi and looked towards Erika.
"I was going to do that even without you saying so!"
Leo chose to forgo saying anything, but he nodded gravely as he stood next to the combative Erika.
The White Tiger Armor that Lu Gonghu wore was a device enchanted through the Chinese Ancient Magic Daoism and could amplify his Steel Qigong. When wearing this White Tiger Armor, Lu Gonghu's world-renowned might as a close combat Magician could be put on full display.
The APC that replaced a standard barricade opened fire with its autocannon at Lu Gonghu with shells equivalent to high powered rifles, but Lu Gonghu brushed them aside easily. Not only were the areas covered in armor like so, even the uncovered portions were also the same. That was the result of amplifying Steel Qigong. The White Tiger was closest to "Gold" in the Five Phases. In this white armor, the Steel Qigong that covered Lu Gonghu entirely was strengthened further. With him in the vanguard breaking through every obstacle in their way, the ambush troops were drawing closer to the side branch of the Magic Association.
However, in front of the final barricade, Lu Gonghu caught sight of that accursed young woman. Lu Gonghu was thankful for this unexpected opportunity to avenge his earlier shame. Although he had acquiesced to Chen's order, the desire for vengeance burned fiercely within his bosom. Both his injuries across the ribs and back were fine so long as he wore the armor. Lu Gonghu charged towards the young woman twice responsible for his failures — Mari.
Holding her favored triblade that she received from the Magic Association — Mari always carried this hidden weapon on her, she prepared to meet his charge. Mari held the blade in her left hand while her right hand carried the CAD that was normally in her left hand. There were two kodachis attached to her belt along with many bottles of chemicals. The female combat uniform she wore was also lent by the Magic Association. Mari's equipment could cover all the bases, but Mari was clairvoyant on how long she could last against Lu Gonghu operating at peak capacity.
Completely indifferent to Mari's ability, Lu Gonghu took a slashing attack from Erika on his flank.
Yamatsunami.
The speed was too quick for Lu Gonghu to dodge. No, if he had noticed Erika from the outset he still could have pulled it off, but tunnel vision prevented Lu Gonghu from doing so.
Forced to respond to the sweeping odachi, Lu Gonghu raised both wrists to parry Orochimaru's attack. Rubble scattered everywhere at Lu Gonghu's feet from the impact. After the force from Yamatsunami was transferred into the ground, Lu Gonghu's Steel Qigong repelled the blade's attack.
"Ha!"
Someone let out a roar behind Lu Gonghu.
Synchronized with Leo's roar, Usuba Kagerou came sweeping in. The stroke was aimed towards the lower half of the body where Lu Gonghu's legs were.
If this was a full frontal assault perpendicular to the ground, Lu Gonghu might have ignored the attack completely based on the thickness of the blade. However, since it was an attack that ran parallel to the ground, the black shadow of the carbon nanotubes was reflected in Lu Gonghu's eyes.
Lu's body flew through the sky. He sent a flying kick with the force of a cannon ball at Leo and although Leo aimed at Lu's body and tried to turn his horizontal slash to a vertical one, there was no way he was going to make it.
"Heh?"
A short "hmph" came from Lu Gonghu's mouth as he slid through the sky.
While taking a shot at Leo, Mayumi's magic caught up to Lu Gonghu. Each of the shots carried little weight, but several hundred shots impacting on him would definitely send him flying. Lu Gonghu's flying kick was diverted from its course and just managed to miss Leo's side. The moment he landed would be a perfect opening for an attack. —Except no one was in position.
"Armor!"
Just as Leo's voice activated sequence ended, Lu Gonghu's twin fists impacted directly on Leo's chest.
It was a Tiger Claw launched with eye dazzling speed.
Leo's body flew sideways and crashed into one of the cars that acted as part of the barricade.
"Damn it!"
Erika's Orochimaru swung downward.
This time, Lu Gonghu easily dodged the downward swing of the sword.
The downward swing of the odachi did not violently impact on the ground, but bounced upwards and sliced towards Lu Gonghu's abdomen. Inertia was not restored upon the swing downwards, but rather, concurrent with the slice upwards. This was one of the alternate techniques of Yamatsunami.
"Yamatsunami Tsubamegaeshi".
Nevertheless, while the weight of the blow was maintained, its speed was not; therefore, it was unable to break through Lu Gonghu's Steel Qigong. The blade slid across Lu Gonghu's abdomen as he bore down on Erika.
Erika's left hand released Orochimaru and used her forearm to eat Lu Gonghu's attack.