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Chapter 14

At that moment, when Tatsuya tried to take off with the help of the magic of flight, the top and bottom were swapped. He stood in the clouds of the evening sky, and on top was the smooth surface of the freeway.

Logically, it was an illusion.

In a state of heightened vigilance from this ability, which managed to cover his mind with an illusion in an instant, Tatsuya interrupted the activation of flight magic and began to prepare to use “Gram Dispersion” to dispel this illusory vision.

But at that very moment when he interrupted the magic of flight...

The inverted world become normal again.

“I have the feeling this illusion technique ..."

With the word “feeling," Tatsuya expressed a certain atmosphere, the distinctive features of magic, which he couldn’t clearly describe.

Words weren’t important at the moment. The problem was that he remembered this magic of illusions.

Tatsuya activated the magic of flight. This time, he didn't interrupt it immediately before activation. Gravity control was already in effect.

However, he decided not to take his feet off the ground.

Again, heaven and earth changed places just before activation.

The magic of flight is, roughly speaking, “falling” in a chosen direction, by changing the gravity vector.

If Tatsuya were already in the air, he would lose his sense of direction and couldn’t control the magic of flight. But Tatsuya didn’t lose his awareness of where the top, bottom, left, and right were, because he could feel the surface of the road through the soles of his feet.

“Interference with the sense of direction is almost the same as that of “Kimon Tonkou.” So, the techniques borrowed from the same source as that of "Kimon Tonkou” were introduced into Ninjutsu?”

If the purpose of the illusion was to not allow Tatsuya to take off, then in this situation, the goal can be considered fulfilled. However, now that the magic of flight was in the process of execution, he couldn’t cancel the illusion. Tatsuya considered the sequence of illusion magic which continued to operate, and from the history of the activation process he determined the place where this magic was released.

Tatsuya canceled the flying magic and at the same moment released “Gram Demolition"

When “Gram Demolition" is released on a magician who isn’t using magic on himself, it doesn’t have the effect of canceling magic.

However, this action has the effect of smoking out a hidden enemy. The flow of psions under high pressure shakes the psionic field enveloping a person. And this

concussive wave spreads into the surrounding space in the form of random vibrations.

If the caster applied the illusion magic in motion, “Gram Demolition” would seem to be a simple shot into the void, however, apparently, this enemy didn’t want to hide completely.

Tatsuya was confronted by a thin-built man in monastic attire. Tatsuya knew this man by sight.

The one who had used the illusion to prevent Tatsuya from going any further was Kokonoe Yakumo, whom he called “Master.”

An open-top car with Raymond behind the wheel in which Minoru and Minami got into, drove slowly through the grounds of the Yokosuka naval base.

“Raymond. Have you had any problems with your stay in our country?

It was already eight o'clock in the evening, so there were few people on the inner road of the base. As well as people driving cars too. So there was no need to worry about eavesdropping.

“Problems?”

Raymond asked Minoru. At the same time, no pretense was read in his voice.

“You were harassed by the police in Osaka, weren't you? I thought the search activities were still going on.”

“Oh, that's what you mean. As long as we don't leave the base, there won't be any problems.”

The USNA Army had the right to use the naval base at Yokosuka, but it wasn’t subject to extraterritorial rights, allowing them to not comply with Japanese laws.

However, it was also a fact that it was difficult for the police to obtain the right to conduct an investigation on the territory of a military base. Minoru, who didn’t know what the relationship between the army and the police easily agreed with this, deciding that it was so.

“Minoru, you also got here safely. Tatsuya never caught up with you?” - Raymond asked with a big smile.

"Yes, that expression on his face is familiar to me," Minoru thought, and answered:

“He's probably still pursuing us.”

And after a short pause he added:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Tatsuya-san appears over our heads right now.”

“In the airspace of a military base? Even Tatsuya won't go that far...”

Raymond shook his head at first...

“... No, Tatsuya can, and probably will do it.”

... and quickly corrected his opinion.

“So we better hurry.”

Having said that, Raymond increased the speed of the car.

While Minoru and Raymond were talking, Minami sat silently beside Minoru.

Raymond never talked to Minami.

“Master, what is the meaning of this?”

The fact that Tatsuya spoke in an accusatory tone with the very first phrase was perfectly reasonable under current circumstances. Without any warning, he was attacked by an illusion.

“Well, don’t be so angry. Maybe we should talk a little?”

Yakumo wasn’t eager to respond properly. Having come to this conclusion, Tatsuya again tried using the magic of flight to go in search of Minami.

But Yakumo's spell again prevented Tatsuya.

“Master! Have you decided to side with Minoru!?

Naturally, Tatsuya raised his tone.

Yakumo's usual slick grin disappeared from his lips.

“Kudou Minoru and Sakurai Minami-jou have already arrived in Yokosuka. Perhaps they are already boarding the ship.”

“That's why I have to hurry.”

“Why?”

“What?”

From his manner of speech Tatsuya's politeness finally disappeared.

“Tatsuya-kun. Why do you need to hurry?”

“If they go out to sea, it will become a predicament.”

“Into a dilemma? But your own actions have already grown into big problems.”

“...”

Tatsuya was cornered by such a counter-argument.

“The special forces are looking for you. There hasn't been any armed shootouts on public roads in our country, even during the war. And the explosion of a helicopter and four burnt corpses. The police won’t be able to turn a blind eye to such an incident.”

“.....”

“Leaving a car with broken wheels near Lake Saiko was also a bad decision. The second son of the Kudou family has already given evidence to the police and caused a commotion in the Magic Association. And you started a fire that began in the Aokigahara “Sea of Trees.” The fire department rushed there at full speed.”

“That...”

“You should be well aware that excuses like “I didn’t do it,” and “it wasn't my fault”

won’t work here. And it's not only about today's events. Automatic dolls were blown up near the hospital in Tofu. Do you know what kind of excitement was caused by just a few demons being released? The death of Kudou Retsu and the related unrest in the army was also indirectly caused by your quarrel with Kudou Minoru. It can also be argued that the confrontation around Minami-jou also has to do with the fact that the events on Miyaki-jima didn’t go unnoticed.”

“... Is that why you are interfering with me now?”

“Do you think I should let you go?”

In response to Tatsuya's question in a desperate voice, Yakumo replied coolly, without moving an eyebrow.

“Minami-jou is still a human being, right? Is this not proof that Kudou Minoru respects her opinion? He himself is undoubtedly a demon, but he doesn’t harm Minami-jou.”

“That is... do you mind if Minami becomes a Parasite?”

“It's not for me to decide. Whether to remain human or not depends on her own

choice. This isn't something that you or Miyuki-kun should get involved in.”

Tatsuya clenched his teeth tightly, closed his eyes briefly, then opened them wide.

“Kokonoe Yakumo. Don’t disturb me!”

“No, I will disturb you. I'll make sure you keep me company for a while longer.”

?

?

Tatsuya forcefully pushed off the ground and flew up.

However, Yakumo's illusion prevented him from flying more than 10 meters, and as a result, he fell back to the ground.

Minoru and Minami moved from the car to a small boat. It was a common rowboat without a roof, which had a small motor with a propeller attached. Raymond operated the lever that was mounted on the stern that turned an old-fashioned rudder.

It was impossible to cross the Pacific Ocean on this boat. Apparently, a larger vessel awaits at sea. Minoru didn’t ask about this, so as not to interfere with Raymond's control of the boat.

But contrary to his concern, Raymond spoke himself.

“Looks like Tatsuya didn't make it.”

“Will we be boarding the ship soon?”

Raymond words seemed like an ominous omen, so Minoru, feeling some impatience, asked this question.

“Yeah, soon enough.... Oh, there it is already in sight.”

Although Raymond said this, Minoru didn’t see any ships in the vicinity.

“Submarine...?”

Minami muttered, sitting next to Minoru.

Hearing her voice for the first time in a long time, Minoru looked again at the surface of the sea.

“Over there...?”

In the place where he was looking, some kind of dome-shaped object was barely visible from beneath the water.

“Noticed, finally?”

Raymond answered Minoru for some reason with pride in his voice.

“High-speed transport ship fully submersible type, “Coral." Well, it would be easier to call it a transport submarine.”

“Fully submersible type?”

- Yeah. And the vibration damping function... Oh, let's talk about it when we are inside.”

Without slowing down, Raymond tilted the engine forward to lift the propeller and rudder out of the water.

They drove directly to the dome - the back of the transport submarine.

Raymond grabbed the slender pole, which only became visible as they approached it.

It seems that it served as a signal, because a gap appeared in the curved hull of the submarine - a large hatch opened.

“Alright, let's get in.”

Raymond jumped off the boat.

Minoru also stepped onto the hull of the submarine. Through the soles of his feet he could feel the sensation of a soft surface that wasn’t as slippery as he had expected.

He extended his hand to Minami and helped her off the boat.

They followed Raymond up the steps that led down from the opening hatch.

Behind them, the crew dragged the small boat inside the ship.

The hatch closed automatically when they descended the stairs.

Raymond turned and spread his arms wide.

“Welcome to the USNA Naval Transport Ship, Coral.”

Raymond said this to Minoru and Minami in a dramatic, theatrical tone.

Tatsuya, who had been forced to fall by Yakumo's illusion, barely managed to land on his feet. Repositioning himself after landing, he flew again, but this time horizontally to the East. He wanted to fly up immediately after he got out of the area of effect of Yakumo's illusion magic.

But the illusion again forced him to interrupt the flight. Turning in flight, he stopped by braking his feet on the road. Having slid back a few meters, he raised his head and looked at Yakumo, who continued to stand quietly.

Tatsuya's right hand reached into his belt. He pulled “Trident" out of the holster and aimed the “barrel" at Yakumo.

The image of Yakumo slowly wavered and dissipated like smoke.

Tatsuya kicked his feet off the road.

But not to take off.

He rushed forward and lunged with his fist one meter to the left of the place where Yakumo disappeared.

A soft breeze curled around Tatsuya.

The air around Tatsuya suddenly became heavy and viscous like oil.

Tatsuya's index finger pulled the activation switch on his CAD, which had the form of a trigger.

But not to blow away the air that enveloped his body.

And in order to erase the magic that gives the viscosity to the air, and return freedom to his body.

Tatsuya lunged with his left hand.

Not with a fist, but with his palm forward.

The left palm, with fingers held together, pointed upward, struck a space that seemed to be empty.

There was a sound.

And it wasn’t the sound of a hand striking another hand. It was a high-pitched echo, like a metal hammer striking a shield.

The transparent haze cleared, as if blown away by this sound. In its place, the figure of Yakumo appeared, blocking Tatsuya's left palm with his right hand.

Tatsuya jumped back.

The throwing knife-kunai, thrown by Yakumo from his left hand, only pierced Tatsuya's afterimage.

Tatsuya returned the “Trident" from his right hand to the holster. Instead, he pulled out a combat knife with hand protection. He abandoned his favorite CAD because he decided to switch to close combat.

The output of activation sequences can be made using the suit's built-in CAD with full mental control. Instead of his usual CAD in the form of a pistol, he chose to take a blade in his hand. Tatsuya came to the conclusion that Yakumo couldn’t be defeated by magic alone.

Yakumo grinned and threw another kunai.

Tatsuya didn’t evade it, but deflected it with the knife in his right hand.

Tatsuya tried not to take his eyes off Yakumo. But as soon as he turned his gaze to the kunai for a moment, Yakumo disappeared from his sight.

Tatsuya switched his perception to “Elemental Sight."

However, at that very moment, nine Yakumo's appeared in his “field of vision.”

They ran and jumped around Tatsuya.

However, in reality, only the dull landscape of the highway was visible around him.

Occasionally cars drove by, avoiding the lane where Tatsuya was standing.

“Is this the “Multiple Mirage Matoi?” - muttered Tatsuya.

He gathered Psions in his left hand and squeezed it into his palm.

He stretched his left hand forward.

And immediately released nine psionic shells at once.

Nine compressed psionic balls pierced the physical space along the coordinates where each Yakumo should have been.

The eight Yakumo, which he “saw" in the information dimension, disappeared, and the remaining one appeared, but in a slightly different place.

The ninth appeared right in front of Tatsuya.

Yakumo appeared swinging his short kodachi sword down.

Tatsuya took the slash on the blade of his knife.

“Not bad.”

After the blades were crossed , Yakumo's lips curved into a grin.

Tatsuya's face, still hidden under the helmet, didn't change.

Tatsuya extended his left hand.

Yakumo stepped back with a big leap to dodge Tatsuya's left hand, which tried to grab his wrist.

“So, you want to capture me? Do you think that if you grab me, you will know where I am, even if I use illusion techniques?”

Tatsuya's face, hidden under the visor of his helmet, didn’t express any concern that he had just been shown exactly what he was planning on doing.

With the gliding motion of his feet, Tatsuya moved closer to Yakumo.

The image of Yakumo trembled and disappeared.

Ignoring this, Tatsuya lunged with his right hand holding a knife.

There was a scrape of metal on metal. At first there was only sound.

Yakumo's figure appeared next. He held the kodachi horizontally, sliding it over Tatsuya's knife.

Tatsuya extended his left hand forward again, but Yakumo removed his right hand from the handle of the kodachi and used it to deflect Tatsuya's left hand.

Tatsuya's hand protection that was built into the knife handle, struck a small part of the kodachi.

The kodachi, which was now held only with the left hand, fell out of Yakumo's hand.

Tatsuya threw the knife away and reached for Yakumo's collar with his right hand.

Yakumo waived his right hand from top to bottom.

In his right hand, a small ball came from somewhere.

When this ball hit the road and exploded, it became clear that it was a smoke bomb.

Thick smoke appeared between Tatsuya and Yakumo.

Yakumo's figure disappeared into the smoke.

At the same time, even when Tatsuya “looked” at the informational dimension with his “sight,” he still couldn’t detect Yakumo's Eidos.

“Now that was pretty scary. But can you see me now?”

The voice was heard as if it came from the front.

Or was it heard from behind?

No, you could hear it from the front and behind, on the left and right, from above and below... so, in general, from all directions. But for Tatsuya, the voice sounded as if he had just misheard and in fact didn’t hear anything.

Tatsuya didn’t even try to find the real Yakumo by searching for the source of the voice.

His mind went back to the past, but at the same time he was looking at the present.

Chasing the present from the past.

False information superimposed on the present, and information about the present, obtained by scrolling from the past.

Tatsuya lunged with his left fist, and was stopped by Yakumo's right hand.

“How delightful.”

Yakumo praised.

A car was approaching Tatsuya and Yakumo. The driver's face could be seen through the windshield, eyes wide open with shock.

Tatsuya and Yakumo jumped in different directions to dodge the car.

At that moment, Tatsuya realized that up to this point, Yakumo's illusions had been diverting passing cars, so that they wouldn't interfere with their battle. Tatsuya realized that he was finally able to overcome the limits of Yakumo, to which he could simultaneously fight with him and control the car drivers.

Yakumo leaped over the railing of the overhanging road.

Tatsuya followed him and jumped down from the highway.

When Kuroba Mitsugu brought Fujibayashi Nagamasa to the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, he was subjected to fierce pressure from his son and daughter.

“Otou-sama, please, tell me what is the reason? Why don't you send reinforcements to Tatsuya-san?”

“I've told you many times why. Tatsuya-kun has already defeated an illegal squad of saboteurs from the USNA Army, and got rid of the pursuit of the Special Forces.”

“But isn't he also hindered by Kokonoe Yakumo-sensei? I believe that you need to send help, regardless of whether he needs it or not.”

The Kuroba family monitored the situation around Tatsuya, by employing the superpower users of “Clairvoyance” and “Remote Sensing.”

“Clairvoyance” is the superpower of distant vision, and “Remote Sensing” is the superpower that allows you to hear from afar. They are both simply powers of perception of physical signals. Such abilities weren’t enough to break through the

illusions of Yakumo, but Tatsuya occasionally broke through these illusions, so the observers were able to identify the opponent that Tatsuya was fighting.

All of the information received by the Kuroba family was also forwarded to the main house. Among all the people associated with this incident, probably only Miyuki wasn’t aware of the changes in the situation.

“I agree with nee-san!”

Fumiya complained in a heightened tone, agreeing with Ayako's words.

“Now the main enemy of Tatsuya-niisan is time. It's not important for Tatsuya-niisan to win or lose, but to get out of there as quickly as possible! I believe that our help won’t be completely useless!”

“Fumiya. Indeed, as you said, Tatsuya-kun's main enemy is now time. However, the real enemy standing in his way is a man known as one of the best users of ninjutsu of our time. Trying to fight him with a large number of people isn’t the best option.

Most likely, if you go there to help, then, on the contrary, you'll only hinder Tatsuya-kun.”

Mitsugu tried to dismiss Fumiya's protest, at first glance, with plausible arguments.

And he realized that it worked when he saw an expression of frustration on his face.

“Otou-sama, I don't think so.”

However, Ayako wasn’t convinced.

“Kokonoe-sensei is a ninjutsu user. The field of application in which “ninjutsu”

performs well is the magic of illusions based on interference with the mind. Yes, I don’t have the aptitude to use mental interference magic, but Fumiya, possessing high compatibility for this magic, can become good support for Tatsuya-san.”

“Maybe you're right...”

Mitsugu was a loving father. He valued the abilities of his son and daughter like no other.

In fact, he also believed that Fumiya would be able to compete with Yakumo. Thus, only because Ayako was his daughter, Mitsugu couldn’t deny her arguments, which coincided with his true feelings.

“In addition, there are also many "ninjutsu users" in our family who have learned from the teachings of the Koga clan. It may be too much of a burden for just Fumiya, but it seems to me that with the support of Otou-sama's subordinates, he will be able to at least detain Kokonoe-sensei.”

This was also entirely consistent with the opinion of Mitsugu. And he answered:

“You can't. Maya-san... the head of the main family forbade it.”

Finally, he revealed the true reason.

“Toushu-sama!?” - Ayako and Fumiya asked in unison.

“Why!?”

This question was also asked simultaneously by two voices.

“... I wasn’t informed of the reason.”

Sensing the slight displeasure in Mitsugu's voice, Fumiya realized that his father really didn’t know the reason.

It also seemed to be an unwelcome outcome for his father. Realizing this, Fumiya decided not to go further into this matter.

But his sister Ayako had the opposite opinion.

“I see. Then I will ask for the reason directly from Toushu-sama.”

“Nee-san!?”

Fumiya tried to stop Ayako's rebellious behavior.

But Mitsugu didn’t interfere with his daughter's selfishness.

“Actually... If it's Ayako, then Toushu-sama will probably tell the truth.”

“Thank you for your permission, Otou-sama. Then, I'll go make the call.”

Having said that, Ayako stood up.

“Nee-san, wait for me!”

Fumiya, too, hastily jumped up and followed her.

The place where Tatsuya and Yakumo had jumped was close to some kind of comprehensive high school. The grounds of the schoolyard were extensive, and the whole landscape was covered with greenery. Yakumo led Tatsuya over there.

But he led him, not just running away. He retreated, choosing the perfect moments to attack. Tatsuya couldn’t ignore him, and was forced to follow Yakumo into the courtyard of the high school.

There were no signs of the presence of other people inside or outside the school building.

At this time, the school staff could still be here. Conversely, it would be strange if there were still students here at this time.

However, it seems that in this school, students and staff also went home early due to the fact that the state of emergency hasn’t yet been completely lifted. But maybe the school was even left closed or was out for summer vacation a little earlier.

It wasn’t known why the decision was made. Only the result was known. The grounds of this school were completely deserted. At least that's what Tatsuya's perception said.

Yakumo may have felt the same way. Tatsuya himself realized this when he burst into the school grounds, and Yakumo undoubtedly learned about this fact from a much greater distance. At least, that was Tatsuya's impression.

That is, Yakumo was concerned beforehand about not involving unrelated people in the showdown. But on the other hand, this meant that he no longer intended to restrain his techniques and abilities.

Tatsuya was in the same situation. Although he felt that the battle still wasn't serious in the true sense of the word, but to the extent that it is possible in a battle not to the death, he stopped holding back some time ago.

More precisely, Tatsuya thought that he wouldn't repent if it came to the decision to kill Yakumo. Honestly, he didn’t want to kill Yakumo for Minami's sake. Tatsuya didn’t believe that Minami was more important or valuable than Yakumo.

But since neither Tatsuya nor Yakumo had any intention of retreating, even the worst outcome could be expected.

And giving up the chase was Tatsuya's best choice in order to avoid this “worst outcome.”

“This is a request from the sponsor-sama.”

When Ayako asked Maya on the phone about the reasons for the ban on sending reinforcements, she answered her without hiding the facts.

“Sponsor-sama?”

Ayako didn’t hide her surprise on the videophone screen. And it was only natural. It was extremely rare for sponsors to interfere with the Yotsuba family's work, which was already in the middle of completion. In recent times, such cases, one can only recall the acceleration of the resolution of the “Vampire Incident” that took place last winter.

Besides, this time it’s not even “work.” Nor should the issue of returning the servant of the Yotsuba family have anything to do with the sponsors. Even Maya herself didn’t expect interference.

“Yes. I would like you to refrain from further participation in these events tonight."

Approximately in this form there was a request if you remove the extra details. The request didn’t say that we should directly stop Tatsuya-san, but that we can’t send out anymore help yet.

The Yotsuba family isn’t subordinate to the “sponsors." They have a relationship as a client and a contractor, and they have almost equal positions, not the same as in the subcontract.

Moreover, this relationship is not established from a position of power, where the Yotsuba family would take a dominant position. In terms of power (brute force), the Yotsuba family is higher, but the sponsors are superior in terms of political and financial influence. So even when the request came in the form of a “request," Maya couldn’t reject it.

“... Does that mean we’re leaving Minami-san?”

“In the request from sponsor-sama it was spoken exclusively about “tonight.” We aren’t going to abandon Minami-chan.”

“I said something stupid. Please forgive me.”

“I understand your feelings, Ayako-san, but I can’t allow reinforcements to be sent today.”

“As you say.”

“Fumiya-san, did you understand everything?”

“Yes, Toushu-sama.”

After asking for the opinion of Fumiya on the monitor, Maya ended the telephone conversation with Ayako.

“And yet... what are these gentlemen really thinking about...?”

She spoke in such a tone as if she was talking to herself, but she was clearly speaking to Hayama, who was standing behind Her.

“Perhaps they very much want to cleanse our country of the Parasites?”

“I think it would be quicker to destroy them rather than let them go abroad.”

In fact, Maya’s dissatisfaction with the sponsors' instructions was no less than that of Ayako.

“Perhaps the gentlemen thought that eliminating Kudou Minoru took too much time.”

“If so, they would have said so then...”

Following the rules of decency, Hayama kept silent, without reacting in any way to Maya’s dissatisfaction, which she expressed like a young girl.

 

The signal for the beginning of the battle was a swirl of leaves in the wind.

Elm, Oak, and Mountain cherry. Even though it was midsummer, green leaves began to fall from the trees growing in the schoolyard, as if they had been torn off or cut off.

Both this leaf fall and the wind were unnatural.

Tatsuya jumped aside before this swirling of leaves reached him.

He didn’t manage to dodge some of the leaves, and they grazed him on the arm, leaving a line of cuts.

The leaves looked thin, but they were able to cut the “Freed Suit,” which possesses properties of being bulletproof, and resistance to piercing and cutting blows.

“Leaves" and “blades." It was probably “Imitation Magic” that used “kotodamas” -

the word of spirits.

The swarm of leaves flying past spun into a big arc and came back at Tatsuya.

Tatsuya's body was covered in a blinding Psion light.

Contact-Type Gram Demolition.

It was a special ability of Tomitsuka Hagane, with whom Tatsuya once fought. With the help of psionic manipulation techniques, he developed a technique that has a similar effect with the unique ability of Tomitsuka.

When the wind touched the Psion armor, it lost its power, and the leaves lost their blade like properties and fell to the ground.

“Is this a kind of “Mokuton-jutsu*” - 'Hidden foliage?'”

[Tonjutsu - ninjutsu techniques (for stealth and escape) with the participation of the Five Elements. Roughly speaking, the use of each of the elements to distract the attention of the enemy. Fujibayashi Nagamasa's fire spell, for example, was also from Tonjutsu. Not so bad “distracted attention," having burnt the whole house. Prefixes for tonjutsu: Moku is tree, Ka is fire, Do is earth, Kin is metal, Sui is water.]

[Read more about the Five Elements themselves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/y-syn]

Tatsuya canceled his psionic armor, and began to look for signs of Yakumo's presence.

Not using his “Elemental Sight." In the course of the battle on the highway, it became clear that Yakumo possesses techniques capable of deceiving “Elemental Sight.”

Relying only on that is too dangerous. Rather, on the contrary, there are more opportunities to fall for some trick of Yakumo.

Tatsuya's perception caught not the location of Yakumo, but signs of magic activation.

Right under his feet.

Tatsuya abruptly jumped back from this place.

While he was in the air, all the leaves that had fallen to the ground caught fire at the same time.

The fire was quite strong, as if dried leaves were burning, not fresh and green.

“Is this “Katonjutsu" the magic of fire adhering to the system of the Five Elements?"

According to the system of the Five Elements, “wood makes fire." By forcefully applying this concept to reality, this magic burned the fresh leaves as if they were dry. Perhaps this, too, can be called the magic of the spirits of word.

The fire didn’t go out even after the leaves burned. Tatsuya was pursued by a physically impossible fire magic burning without combustible substances.

It wasn’t a real flame.

It was an illusion of a flame.

However, Tatsuya knew that if you touch this flame, it will burn the skin.

Tatsuya threw a projectile of compressed psions into this illusory flame.

“Gram Demolition."

Illusions are nothing but information that doesn’t possess a material entity. And the psion pressure just blew it away.

He didn’t use “Gram Dispersion” because he was cautious, suggesting that a trap might be waiting for him in the process of reading the magic sequence.

Of course, this could be unnecessary suspicion. But if the goal of Yakumo is to seal Tatsuya's special abilities, making him cautious, then it turns out that Tatsuya has already fallen for his trick.

But Tatsuya wasn’t so simple either.

“If he follows the Five Elements, then the next one will be “Earth.”

“Dotonjutsu?”

Tatsuya, who had extinguished the flames while still in the air, tucked both legs high in the air a moment before landing. And at the moment of landing he strongly stamped them on the ground.

Psionic waves, propagating from the soles of his shoes, shook the surface of the earth.

The magic sequence that began to “infect" by coming into contact with the “ground"

obtained from the ashes of the burnt leaves was broken by the psionic shock wave.

“You are well-versed in the 'Five Connected Tonjutsu Technique.'”

Yakumo's voice echoed in the schoolyard, the source of which couldn't be determined.

It was the first time Tatsuya had heard the name “Five Connected Tonjutsu Technique," but he decided not to be distracted by it.

It was probably magic that uses the principle of the interaction of the Five Elements, connecting together the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water in a chain.

Tatsuya himself suggested this when he was able to predict the attack using Dotonjutsu - earth magic.

However, he didn’t devote the slightest bit of his mind's resources to this thought.

Instead, he focused his mind on finding Yakumo's location.

“But it's not over yet.”

Yakumo's words weren’t a bluff.

Guided by intuition, Tatsuya looked up.

An innumerable number of needles fell from above.

Tatsuya had to exert all his strength to breakthrough and avoid this swarm of long needles, which were coming down with considerable acceleration.

Needles with a length of about 30 centimeters, one after another, stuck into the ground of the schoolyard. Their length and thickness were completely the same.

Obviously, they were made with one standard for use as throwing weapons.

Periodically activating the magic of self-acceleration using his instant recall technique, Tatsuya dodged all these long, thick, and sharp needles coming from the sky.

However, this didn’t leave a moment of time for a break. The needles stuck into the ground still existed. From all these needles there were signs of magic activation.

“Magic of the release system?"

Tatsuya intuitively sensed that it was magic that created lightning, even without using his “sight."

“By the way, “ninjutsu users" and “exorcist-onmyoji" are completely different things!"

In general, in the ideology of the Five Elements, lightning refers to the element of the tree. The generally accepted principle of interaction between the element of metal and the element of tree seems like “metal defeats tree,” therefore it can’t lead to the phenomenon of metal needles emitting lightning. Tatsuya's discontent was based precisely on this discrepancy, but regardless of his swearing thoughts, he had already begun to confront another real threat.

Activating the CAD built into the suit with his mind, Tatsuya released the activation

sequence.

It took only a moment to build a magic sequence.

And it wasn’t “Gram Dispersion” - the magic of decomposing information bodies designed to neutralize magic.

It was “Mist Dispersion” - the magic of decomposition, designed to break down any object, solid or liquid, into their basic molecules & elements by interfering with the structural information.

Several objects of the same form can become the goal of decomposition magic as a single set of objects. This is an extremely useful feature of Tatsuya's decomposition magic.

All the needles that fell from the sky were of the same length and thickness, and ended with the same point. This made it possible to recognize them as a single set of objects.

One step ahead of the magic activating in the needles, Tatsuya applied “Mist Dispersion" simultaneously on all the needles stuck in the ground.

The forest of needles instantly disappeared, as if they had evaporated.

And along with this, the magic built into the needles was also forcibly canceled.

The power of interference in the phenomenon, prepared for the performance of magic, lost the place in which it was supposed to go to.

Most of the power of interference in the phenomenon simply dissipated in the surrounding space, but a small part of it returned to the caster in a reverse flow.

If Tatsuya had not previously observed the true nature of the interference force, he would have lost sight of it now.

If the magic had been released from a distant place, unreachable for the normal five senses, then Tatsuya, who wasn’t able to see pushions, couldn’t do anything.

But now the place was within range of normal vision. The Pushion streams rushed to a single point that was in Tatsuya's field of vision.

Tatsuya (like most other magicians), although he couldn’t recognize Pushion information bodies, but he could vaguely feel Pushion flows.

Tatsuya confidently saw how the Pushion flow returned to the spell caster — that is, to Yakumo.

The distance to him was approximately 25 meters away.

Which was within reach of his “Gram Demolition."

Tatsuya squeezed a mass of psions into his hand in less than an instant...

He shot the compressed psions out of his right hand.

A dazzlingly shining, powerful psionic stream collided into the trunk of a suspicious-looking elm tree towering on the edge of the schoolyard.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the trunk.

As if emerging from muddy water, the silhouette of Yakumo appeared from the ripples.

Then he turned to face Tatsuya.

Hearing a quiet voice from such a distance won't work. But according to the movement of his lips, Tatsuya could read Yakumo's question: “Did you find me?"

But he looked no more tense than a child being found while playing hide-and-seek.

Tatsuya didn't say anything in response.

He only rushed towards Yakumo.

High-speed transport ship of the USNA Navy fully submersible type, “Coral". Inside it, Raymond wasn’t the only one accompanying Minoru.

Raymond led Minoru and Minami behind him, and behind them were two soldiers and one female officer. They were walking down a wide passageway toward the stern of the ship. The female officer was First Lieutenant Zoe Spica, a Parasite from Stars, who has the class of the First stellar magnitude.

The spacious interior of the warship “Coral" contradicted the generally accepted image of a cramped and narrow submarine. Perhaps it was designed so that there was even more space on it than on a luxury passenger liner.

“This is your cabin, Minoru, and next to it is the cabin for your girlfriend. However, the lock can only be locked from the inside. This function is not provided from the outside. I'm sorry about that.”

“I wasn’t going to ask for luxury. But thank you for the individual cabins.”

Minoru replied gratefully to Raymond, who didn't look all that apologetic when he apologized.

“Though perhaps it would have been better if you had shared a cabin?”

“It's nothing like that.”

Minami didn’t react to Raymond's teasing, as if she was wearing a mask, and Minoru answered with a short, dry phrase.

He seemed to be trying to hide his embarrassment in this way.

“Oh, yes, by the way. Just because you can't close the door from the outside, also means that you can't open the door from the outside. This means that if the door is locked, no one will be able to find out what you are doing inside.”

Raymond added with a grin.

“That's unlikely. Also don't tell me there are security cameras.”

Minoru voice went cold. He didn’t even try to hide his dark feelings.

Minoru and Minami were strangers here. And on a warship it is impossible to remain without observation. Minoru believed that the statement about the impossibility to open the door from the outside was an outright lie. It is unlikely that the USNA Army was so courteous.

“No, no, it's true. You aren’t prisoners of war, but guests. Such rudeness like peeping is impermissible.”

Minoru decided to ignore Raymond's stupid joke and changed his mind about arguing about it.

“Since you are treating us with such hospitality, can you at least let us know where we are going?”

Minoru had not yet heard from Raymond about the destination of this ship, and didn’t know where he and Minami were going.

“Of course, we can.”

Raymond nodded.

Lieutenant Spica and the two soldiers didn’t stop Raymond. Therefore, Minoru thought that treating them not like prisoners of war was probably not a lie.

Without even noticing that he was being treated with suspicion, Raymond turned to face Minoru and said:

“This ship is heading to the naval base on the Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

Tatsuya abruptly approached Yakumo. He feinted with a left hook. And with an actual right uppercut Yakumo took a hit to his left elbow.

Opening his left hand, Tatsuya pulled it to Yakumo's right hand and grabbed hold of him. Even though it was through a glove, he definitely felt that he had touched Yakumo's hand. That is, Tatsuya was now undoubtedly facing the real Yakumo.

But despite this...

Tatsuya was hit in the back with a heavy blow.

Tatsuya lost his balance, leaning forward. Yakumo aimed his right hand at his head.

A blow that flew in from behind was affected by the blind spot in the limited field of view of Tatsuya's helmet. Tatsuya semi-intuitively tilted his head diagonally forward and to the right.

It wasn’t possible to completely dodge, and Yakumo's right hand grazed his helmet.

Without resisting the impulse of the impact, Tatsuya rolled in the direction in which he had tilted his head. As he stood up, he took off his helmet and cast it aside. The last blow had the power to break through the helmet. More precisely, this power really did break through the helmet.

His armor or helmet won’t protect him from Yakumo's attack. Such a helmet, which impeded visibility, is only a hindrance when the enemy can deliver blows that penetrate armor. Tatsuya took off his helmet, because he knew it instantly.

With his head now exposed, Tatsuya rushed to Yakumo at an even higher speed than the last time. His left jab was aimed at Yakumo's face.

But the enemy didn’t even budge or evade.

It was an illusion.

Tatsuya stopped his left jab a moment before his hand was fully extended, then opened his hand and pointed it down.

And with his palm in this position, he swung his left hand down.

This hand touched Yakumo's monastic attire. The illusion was canceled, and the real Yakumo appeared.

Tatsuya grabbed Yakumo by the collar of his monastic robes near the collarbone.

He tried to activate the magic of decomposition on the fingertips of his left hand. He tried to inflict damage by making holes with “decomposition” in the places where his left hand made contact with Yakumo's body.

But before Tatsuya managed to activate his magic, a side kick landed on his face from the right.

Tatsuya involuntarily had to remove his left hand and increase the distance away from Yakumo.

At the same time, Yakumo also stepped back to a spot behind a Mountain Cherry tree growing nearby.

“That was dangerous. I can’t thoughtlessly let you get so close.”

Yakumo mumbled in a tone in which the tension was read. It seems that the last attack almost managed to get him.

However, Tatsuya didn't have time to talk right now.

“What was that blow just now?"

Tatsuya couldn’t recognize the last attack that caused him damage.

“It wasn’t a left-handed hit. I saw Kokonoe Yakumo's left hand."

“With his right hand from that position, he couldn’t strike at that angle."

“The legs also don’t fit. I saw the left leg. As for the right leg, the angle is even greater than that of the right hand."

“...Was it 'Direct Pain?'”

Tatsuya involuntarily voiced the thought that came to him.

The magic of mental interference “Direct Pain." This is magic that causes pain directly to the mind, bypassing the physical body.

“Other than Fumiya, are there other users of it?"

“Direct Pain" is magic that is masterfully wielded by his second cousin Kuroba Fumiya. However, Tatsuya didn’t know anyone other than Fumiya who could put it into practice. Tatsuya considered this magic to be a kind of innate superpower that only Fumiya could use. But it turned out that...

“...Was I wrong?"

“Wrong. This isn’t 'Direct pain.'”

Seeing Tatsuya's doubt, Yakumo spoke to him.

“This technique is called “Gishin Anki.*” Pure Ninjutsu. Well, more precisely, only one of the many secret techniques in ninjutsu.”

[Literally, something like “dark spirit, deceiving the body."]

“'Gishin Anki'...”

“The technique, though secret, but it works very simply. This is a kind of illusion that causes the enemy to hallucinate that he “received a blow." Well, you've heard of hypnosis, haven't you? There is a phenomenon when the subject's skin blisters like a burn, when it's suggested that he's being touched by a red-hot iron rod. “Gishin Anki"

is a technique that allows you to do this, skipping the procedure of hypnosis. That is, it can be applied without words, simply by putting your own fighting spirit into it. At the same time, unlike “Direct Pain,” it's the physical body that feels the pain. And this pain won’t disappear until you destroy the illusion.”

Simultaneously with the completion of this monologue, a blow flew into Tatsuya's belly. He lost his breath, and he involuntarily stepped back half a step.

Yakumo's verbose speech wasn’t intended to boast of his scholarship and skills. Just a strong impression of the existence of the technique called “Gishin Anki" was supposed to enhance its effect.

In desperation, Tatsuya released “Decomposition." But this magic, as if entangled in the branches of the Mountain Cherry tree, ended up failing to activate.

The technique of “Body Substitution."

A high-level ninjutsu user like Yakumo simply can’t help but use “Body Substitution." Unlike the standard “Body Replacement," Yakumo left a double with his Eidos in the branches of the tree. That is, Tatsuya tried to apply magic to this deception. And if you decompose structural information that doesn’t have a material entity, then it simply doesn’t affect the material world.

Tatsuya realized his haste and clicked his tongue.

And he took the chance to prepare to meet the counter-attack of Yakumo.

Tatsuya was expecting an attack with the “Gishin Anki” technique.

Therefore, he directed “Elemental Sight" at himself.

He thought that if the pain was caused by a hallucination, the illusion technique should be directed straight at his body.

In the information dimension, the point of view isn’t fixed. Therefore, he could “see"

himself even without a mirror.

In the information dimension, Tatsuya “saw” how two large snakes crawled out of the ground right under his feet, twisting in a spiral around his body. These snakes were chains of magic sequences. In order to use only one illusion, Yakumo constructed dozens of magic sequences, divided into two groups.

Tatsuya covered his body with psion armor.

Contact-Type “Gram Demolition."

However, the snakes from the magic sequences weren't destroyed.

They didn't even jump away.

They just wriggled around the psionic armor. And the hallucination effect began to seep into the armor-forming psions.

Tatsuya canceled the contact-type “Gram Demolition" and activated “Gram Dispersion."

This time the magic sequences of the illusion were dispersed.

In order not to be deceived by the “Body Substitution” again, Tatsuya began to look for Yakumo's Eidos with his “sight.”

He found nine informational bodies of Yakumo. Probably one of them was real, and eight were doubles. The surname “Kokonoe*" and Nine Doubles. A very symbolic coincidence.

[Kokonoe ( ??): approximate translation (if surnames could be translated) - “nine-fold," “nine-layer"]

Instead of releasing the decomposition magic of information bodies to erase the duplicates themselves, Tatsuya tried to activate “decomposition” aimed simultaneously at nine information bodies at once. At this point, he has already increased the number of objects that he can simultaneously target up to thirty-two. If you don't follow the two-step procedure of erasing the doubles and targeting the real body, but simply target both the doubles and the real body at the same time, this will save some time and increase reliability.

However, immediately after Tatsuya set out to target nine information bodies, he was again attacked by the snakes of illusion magic.

Yakumo was an experienced combat magician. He wasn’t stupid enough to silently

wait for Tatsuya's attack.

Tatsuya neutralized this illusion with “Gram Dispersion.”

And again found every Eidos double of Yakumo.

But an instant before he had managed to aim the magic at them, the illusion reappeared and attacked him.

All this was repeated many times.

Apparently, Tatsuya and Yakumo had exactly the same speed of magic activation.

But it was Yakumo who made the very first move, so Tatsuya couldn’t overtake him in constructing magic.

Yakumo couldn’t attack, but at the same time Tatsuya couldn’t attack.

It all came down to a draw with alternating repetitive actions.

But the time went and repeated.

And the loss of time in this battle meant victory for Yakumo, and defeat for Tatsuya.

The illusion attacked, the illusion disappeared.

It took time to activate “Gram Dispersion” to erase the illusion, so Tatsuya didn't have time to attack.

To destroy the illusions it was necessary to abandon the attacks.

“... Do I really need to destroy these illusions?"

Tatsuya thought with another part of his consciousness, not responsible for the application of magic.

“If I don’t destroy the illusions, then I'll get hit by the “Gishin Anki” technique.”

“Then my body will have to endure the pain."

And at that moment the direction of his thoughts changed.

“But why should this pain bother me?"

“Even when something hurts, it doesn’t mean that the motor functions are damaged."

“It's only pain."

“Am I not already accustomed to such pain, which exists only in the form of sensations?”

Tatsuya's “Regrowth” during the reverse tracking process recognizes the information received by the object in a concentrated form in an instant. When using “Regrowth”

to heal wounds, all this pain accumulated from the moment of injury until the application of “Regrowth,” he feels in a single moment in a concentrated form.

He has already experienced pain tens or hundreds of times more intense than the pain of a fatal wound..

He experienced the pain of hundreds of people, amplified tens and hundreds of times.

“The pain can simply be ignored." - Thought Tatsuya.

Such determination greatly simplified the matter.

A sharp pain shot through Tatsuya's chest.

Ignoring it, Tatsuya activated the two-fold “decomposition."

First, he laid out the Data Reinforcement covering the shoulder joints of the nine information bodies corresponding to the doubles of Yakumo, and his real body.

Yakumo, himself, and his doubles became partially defenseless.

With an absolutely zero time delay, he laid out the tissues of the body.

Decomposition of the skin.

Muscle breakdown

Blood vessels, nerves and other tissues found in the body that met in a straight line —

everything was also decomposed.

A hole was drilled in the joint of the right shoulder.

The signs of Yakumo's presence faltered.

In the information dimension only the real body remained, and the duplicates disappeared.

At the same time, the figure of Yakumo appeared within sight of the naked eye.

Tatsuya instantly moved to Yakumo, who had dropped to one knee.

And he put the edge of his hand to Yakumo's throat, on the edge of which was prepared for the activation of “decomposition.”

“... Master. This is the end.”

“... I admit. I lost.”

The killing intent immediately disappeared from Tatsuya's eyes.

“No, I lost.... Minami has left Japan.”

Immediately after Yakumo was neutralized, he focused his “sight" on Minami. That's how he learned that Minami was already outside the territorial waters of Japan.

In international waters, the rule of sovereignty applies on board any vessel assigned to a State. For civilian vessels, this rule can be ignored, but encroachment on the sovereignty of military ships can easily ignite international conflict.

The easy solution to this problem has become impossible from this moment on.

“I see.”

Yakumo didn’t smile. He didn’t have his usual vague grin, which made it impossible to read his thoughts. Instead, a feeling of fatigue emanated from him, as if he had finished a job.

“Master.”

Tatsuya said and stretched out his hand to the right shoulder of Yakumo.

The hole in Yakumo's shoulder instantly disappeared.

“Thanks.”

Yakumo smiled wryly.

Between them, the familiar atmosphere reappeared.

“Can I hear the reason?”

“The reason why I prevented you?”

Tatsuya nodded silently in response to Yakumo's question.

“Alright.”

Yakumo agreed, continuing to sit on the ground.

But he didn't start right away. Muttering “Let me think...,” he seemed to be pondering how best to explain everything.

“In our country there are people who really don’t like the filth generated by demons.”

“I'm aware.”

Tatsuya nodded.

“No, I'm talking about an organization unknown to you.”

Yakumo shook his head with a bitter smile.

“The people in this organization don’t hold any positions in the government. They have no official status. But in our country they occupy second place in terms of influence.”

“Secret state rulers?”

“Well, you could say that. This time I worked at the request of these people. The request was to banish these monsters, “Parasites,” from our country as soon as possible.”

“... So you helped Minoru to escape?”

“Sealing monsters doesn’t seem like a good option for those people. Everyone understands that a seal is something that might break one day. Therefore, it is obvious that these people want to drive out the monsters, since they can’t be destroyed.”

“And you can’t go against these people?”

Tatsuya asked in a sarcastic tone.

Yakumo answered him in exactly the same tone:

“Among these people is also His Excellency Toudou Aoba.

The expression disappeared from Tatsuya's face.

With the face of Yakumo, too.

An awkward silence arose between them.

This silence was broken by Tatsuya.

“Master, you always said that you are a hermit...”

Even by this vague phrase, one could understand what Tatsuya wants to say.

At that moment, Yakumo's face broke into the bitterest smile of the evening.

“Yes, here you deftly got me.”

Yakumo muttered in such a tone as if they weren't speaking about him at all.

“That's for sure. This can no longer be called a mortal existence.”

In addition, Tatsuya said nothing more, but turned his back to Yakumo who continued to sit on the ground with his legs crossed, and walked away.