A+A-

Chapter 9

The clock on the nuclear-powered submarine carrier, Virginia, was changed to the local time of the destination.

And now this clock showed the time: exactly 17:00. Tatsuya left the cabin and headed for the bridge, accompanied by the guard/surveillance soldier assigned to him.

Nobody forbade him to enter the bridge.

“Tatsuya.“

On the contrary, the captain of the ship, Colonel Michael Curtis, turned to him and addressed him extremely friendly.

He was the nephew of Wyatt Curtis and Tatsuya's most influential assistant during this mission. But Captain Curtis liked Tatsuya even without all that.

“We reach Midway Island in about an hour.“

“I see. Everything is on schedule.“

Tatsuya came to the bridge to confirm the start time of the operation, but the captain answered him before he even managed to ask.

“Preparation won't take much time. How about a conversation over a cup of coffee?“

As Captain Curtis said, preparing for a sortie should not take more than thirty minutes.

“Yes, with pleasure.“

Tatsuya had no reason to refuse.

The captain broke into a smile, called his senior assistant, and informed him that he would leave the bridge for a short while.

As a result, Captain Curtis led Tatsuya to the captain's cabin.

The captain’s cabin on the Virginia was so spacious that you wouldn’t even think that you were inside a submarine. Before the war, the Virginia itself was an ordinary giant

nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The internal space was of appropriate dimensions.

They sat at a table opposite each other, and the captain personally made coffee for himself and Tatsuya. Although the coffee was brewed automatically, its taste was excellent. It was an automatic coffee processor with an AI. The opinion that automatically brewed coffee loses in taste to brewed by hand is probably a prejudice.

“Tatsuya, the time is almost here.”

“Yes. I don’t even know how to thank you and the senator.“

“I understand that you wanted to give priority to Pearl and Hermes, but...”

The tone of Captain Curtis was a little apologetic. He was clearly a sincere and kind person.

“... We have already agreed on everything at the very beginning.“

“Don't worry about anything,” Tatsuya meant.

“Really. That was the deal. Therefore, you do not need to belittle your abilities.”

Said the captain and smiled broadly.

From this sincere smile, even Tatsuya slightly raised the corners of his lips.

“In addition, I can see at close range the combat abilities of the developer of flight magic. I'm so excited.“

The captain's eyes were filled with passion bordering on lust.

“Flying infantry and flying military equipment is a revolution in military technology.

With the presence of flight magic, even the methods of warfare themselves began to change. The presence of magicians in war will only grow. At the same time, the thinking of commanding officers is also fundamentally changing. And I have the honor to be on the scene of these changes. For me, as a military man, this is an endless grace.“

“What I'm trying to do is my own personal battle. I didn't think that it would be useful to someone from a tactical point of view.“

“No, we are here to change our awareness of what is happening. "Battle" is a group affair. The strength of an individual cannot be compared with the strength of a group of people. This principle has not changed, even when magic was used in battle. "Warriors, worth thousands of men" existed only in fiction. Even the most prominent soldiers had limited mobility.“

Captain Curtis realized that he was overexcited, and broke off to take a sip of coffee.

“Even the cavalry could not instantly move from one edge of the battlefield to another.

Using motorcycles doesn’t help much either. Although many other devices have been developed that increase the maneuverability of the infantry, but being bound by the restriction of movement on the ground, in the end, all these tools were only a substitute for horses. The magic of flight has broken through this limitation.“

“But even with flight magic, you won’t be able to move instantly.”

“In comparison with conventional means of transportation, this can be called one instant.“

This was Tatsuya's real opinion, not his modesty. However, Curtis insisted that it was a

"fallacy."

“Everything in the world is relative. Nothing ends in an instant. The mobility of flying infantry is “instantaneous” in the sense that it exceeds the response speed of ground units. A powerful unit suddenly appears right in front of you and turns the situation on the battlefield. For front-line commanders, there is no more terrible nightmare. And if this, moreover, is a single soldier, then ordinary common sense cannot be applied to him at all. Because it's like a war against Superman. In this case, all prepared measures become useless and you need to come up with new ones from scratch.“

Captain Curtis grinned, this time with an insidious grin.

“Therefore, I look forward to your battle. After all, it will serve as a model for developing response tactics.“

Even after the nuclear-powered submarine aircraft carrier arrived at the designated point and stood in standby mode, Tatsuya didn't advance for some time. But it was

conceived.

Tatsuya started July 22 at 19:30 local time. An air-car driven by Tatsuya flew into the dark post-sunset sky.

Midway Island is not one island, but a formation from Sand Island, Eastern Island and many very small islands. So perhaps it’s better to call it the Midway Archipelago.

Midway Prison is a large facility on the Eastern half of Sand Island. Tatsuya saw this object with the naked eye 10 minutes after departure.

There was no anti-aircraft fire.

"The stealth system seems to be demonstrating its designed effectiveness."

The main improvement of the new air-car was the stealth function. It was implemented on the basis of an artificial Relic, also used in the Stellar Furnace. The relic retained a magic sequence that prevented detection/recognition, and allowed it to deploy advanced stealth magic around the air-car's body, regardless of the driver’s magic skills.

The continuous operation time at this stage of development is about half a day. When the total operating time is 12 hours, for further use it will take 12 hours of downtime.

However, the time limit is reset if there is a pause of 12 hours or more whether or not the time limit is reached. For this mission, that was enough.

Tatsuya landed the air-car on the Northwest coast of Sand Island. From there, he headed towards the prison buildings in the "Freed Suit." The "Freed Suit" was also equipped with a stealth function, but not as good as in the new model of air-car, where the artificial Relic was used. When Tatsuya tried to fly over the high fence encircling the prison grounds, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded.

The turret mounted on the roof of the prison began to turn.

Tatsuya had heard from the Mitsuya family that the only weapons in Midway Prison were Fleming launchers and the soldiers' personal weapons. But now something else was turning, aiming directly at Tatsuya...

"Pulse Laser Cannon!"

It was an anti-aircraft laser cannon, going far beyond the use of anti-infantry.

Tatsuya didn't have time to think that he might've been deceived.

He activated his magic exactly at the same moment when he recognized the type of weapon.

A moment before the pulsed laser cannon was able to lock its aim on Tatsuya, the outline of the turret disappeared, scattering in flashes of lightning.

Tatsuya's decomposition magic, "Mist Dispersion" decomposed the barrel of the cannon and the pedestal on which it was mounted on down to the level of chemical elements.

The lightning flashes were caused by the fact that the electric current supplied to the cannon for charging the laser lost the conductor through which it moved and chaotically scattered throughout the gas cloud from the metal elements that were decomposed.

"That was dangerous..."

The bulletproof function of the Freed Suit is only resistant to physical bullets, and doesn't have heat resistance sufficient to withstand a high-energy laser. Depending on the aiming speed and rapid-fire of the laser cannon, there was also a risk of falling into an endless cycle of getting shot through the body at the same time as "Regrowth" is activated.

The endless cycle of damage and self-healing for Tatsuya, able to repair any damage, is a situation he should be most wary of. If he was to continue using “Regrowth” without stopping, then sooner or later his magic calculation area will no longer be able to withstand the continuous activation, and will ultimately overheat. Or rather he won’t be able to activate “Regrowth” at all. He will probably be able to withstand activating dozens of times, but if he does it hundreds of times in a short period of time, then the probability of activation failure immediately rises. This was one of the few ways to overcome Tatsuya's invulnerability.

The sense of danger made Tatsuya's perception sharpen even more.

The information about all anti-aircraft and anti-personnel weapons mounted on the roof and walls of the entire complex was instantly and simultaneously displayed in his

"field of vision".

"Mist Dispersion - Activation."

He activated the previous “Mist Dispersion” reflexively, only with his own invocation power.

This time, he relied on the help of the built-in CAD in his suit to “decompose” 12 gun platforms at the same time. They also included anti-aircraft installations, for which Tatsuya was now in their blind spot, as well as automatic gun turrets installed underneath the ground in the complex.

All interception weapons installed at Midway Prison, including Fleming anti-ship launchers, disappeared without a trace in five consecutive activation's of Tatsuya's decomposition magic.

Hovering in the sky above Midway Prison, which had been deprived of its weapons, Tatsuya began to use “Elemental Sight” to search for the building containing Canopus.

Tatsuya got “information” on Benjamin Canopus in February this year, after he prevented him from grabbing Gu Jie. As expected, while there was half of the Pacific Ocean between them, Tatsuya couldn't determine the location of a person he had contact with only once. But now, knowing what to look for on this island, on a specific territory, Tatsuya easily discovered him.

On this territory, about 1x1 km in size, there were ten strong-looking (from an unassuming point of view) buildings.

"Five buildings among them are prison blocks. One building is the administration office, two buildings are living quarters for personnel and soldiers, one building is the armory, and another is a training center."

Information about the person sought-after - Canopus - was found in the very center of the entire complex. The right place was on the third floor of a three-story building, at its southern end.

Tatsuya once again looked at the information about the internal structure of the aforementioned building.

At a short distance away from Canopus there were ten armed soldiers. These were prison guards. It wasn't clear whether they had gathered in one place to protect

Canopus, or to prevent his escape?

Canopus was the only prisoner on this floor. On the first and second floors there were eight prisoners. Of course, the prisoners were all male magicians.

"It goes without saying that my invasion is already known. If I enter from the roof, they will probably come to meet me."

There was also an option to outwit them by breaking in from the first floor. But now every second counted. Also this here wasn't his only mission. His real goal, in general, was the Pearl & Hermes base.

Tatsuya decided to attack from above, according to the expectations of the guards.

The muzzle of weapons pointed at Tatsuya coming down from the heavens. These short-barreled weapons resembled a PDW (Personal Self-Defense Weapon).

For soldiers guarding the building, preferring ease of use instead of power was a smart choice. In addition, when the enemy is Tatsuya, even if they were high powered, there would be no point.

The weapons fell to pieces on the roof of the building, even before one of them had time to shoot.

Caught in an unexpected situation, the two soldiers froze for a moment, but soon quickly reached for a waist holster.

But faster than they could do it, Tatsuya pulled a pistol-shaped CAD from his belt and aimed at them.

The custom modified Silver Horn "Trident".

At the same time as Tatsuya pulled the trigger, tiny holes appeared in the joints of the arms and legs of the two soldiers.

The soldiers made muffled screams, and fell in different directions - one on his back, and the other face down.

He used Trident instead of the built-in CAD in his suit because he knew about the surveillance cameras.

The wounds that neutralized the soldiers looked like the traces of invisible bullets passing through them.

In order to create the impression that the invader with a hidden face and dressed in a completely black suit is using such a magic, Tatsuya decided to use his CAD in the form of a pistol, which can be easily connected with these “invisible bullets.”

Taking one of the pistols from an unconscious soldier, Tatsuya went through the door leading down the stairs.

There was no ambush on the way from the roof to the third floor.

But he didn't even have time to take one step down from the roof, as a certain sixth sense (not "Elemental Sight") - an intuitive sense of danger - made him get down and put his left hand in front of his face.

The field for modifying phenomenon, spread out from around his palm to decompose the bullet that flew at him from the wall opposite of him.

It looked as if the bullet ricocheted off that wall, but there was no bounce sound.

But Tatsuya wasn't surprised or puzzled. Along with the decomposition of the bullet, he read and analyzed what the magic properties activated by the enemy were.

The bullet was wrapped in a reflective force field the size of the bullet. It was magic, endowing the properties of bouncing, like a rubber ball, but it reacted only to certain substances. In this case, the installed condition for the rebound was assigned to the drywall, which covered the walls and ceiling.

A bullet flew right towards the side of Tatsuya, who was crouching on one knee, which made a sharp sound. Next, without any pause, the next bullet landed one step from where he stood. Apparently, when aiming, they relied on chance to some extent. So, was the first shot, which hit right on target, also an accident?

The fourth bullet didn't come.

Tatsuya didn't let them shoot.

From below, one could hear surprised screams and the sounds of PDW's falling apart all over the floor.

Of course, this happened because of Tatsuya's handiwork.

Confirming audibly the temporary neutralization of the enemies, Tatsuya ran down the stairs.

The enemy soldiers during this time managed to snatch pistols. Obviously, the local soldiers were quite well trained, as they didn't remain stunned or stand in a stupor after an unforeseen situation. However, at the current moment, they still didn't have time to aim.

Tatsuya pulled the trigger on Trident.

Holes appeared in the limbs of three soldiers who where in the first-row trying to shoot. Modern medicine can heal such wounds (cut nerves), but for this it is necessary to undergo treatment in a hospital. Simple first aid won't help restore mobility to their limbs. Moreover, from the dreadful pain caused by the decomposition of nerves, the victims of this attack lose consciousness. Even if someone manages to avoid the loss of consciousness, then usually no one is able to maintain the clarity in their thinking.

As if not paying attention to the comrades who had lost their combat readiness, two soldiers from the second row sent cylinders at Tatsuya, reminiscent of large flashlights.

Tatsuya recognized the psionic wave noise (cast jamming) which he was bombarded with coming from these "flashlights."

"Psionic wave noise (cast jamming) that obstructs the reading of activation sequence output from a CAD?"

Tatsuya not only felt, but understood this.

"An anti-magician device that mimics the nature of Antinite. But the effectiveness is lower than that of real Antinite"

Tatsuya erased the psionic wave noise by activating his decomposition magic without using his CAD.

Almost immediately after that, he pulled the trigger on Trident.

Blood spurted out from the extremities of not only the two soldiers who aimed, the

“Sorcery Disrupters” at Tatsuya, but also from the extremities of the remaining three soldiers of the defense detachment.

Before Tatsuya, no one else was left standing. As a precaution, he scanned the bodies of all the soldiers of the defense detachment with his “sight,” and using decomposition magic, he made all their weapons and explosives unusable.

After that, Tatsuya used magic to destroy the lock on the door of Canopus's cell.

The Trident, which was in his right hand, was put back in its holster. In his left hand, he continued to hold a pistol that he took from one of the previous soldiers he encountered.

Tatsuya opened the door to the cell, but didn't go inside, and remained standing still.

After about ten seconds had passed.

From the far corner, located in a blind spot when viewing from the entrance, a tall figure emerged and stood in front of Tatsuya.

The man's chin was smoothly shaved, and his brown hair was neatly combed. There were no signs of exhaustion in his light brown eyes. There wasn't any noticeable

“shabbiness,” which is usually associated with people who are labeled with the word

“prisoner”.

“Major Benjamin Canopus, I presume?“

Tatsuya knew who this man was. It was necessary to ask to somehow start a conversation.

“Right. And you are?“

“I came at the request of Senator Wyatt Curtis.”

“From Grand?“

Tatsuya was momentarily confused by the incomprehensible reply of Canopus, but in the end he decided to interpret this word as an abbreviation for granduncle (cousin).

This may have been respectful treatment used by the family, but Tatsuya had enough understanding to know that he was referring to Wyatt Curtis.

“I was asked to give you this.”

Tatsuya handed Canopus the ring handed over to him by the captain of the Virginia.

?

Canopus looked for a few seconds at the emblem engraved on the signet of the ring, after which he put it on the little finger of his left hand.

“Certainly this is...“

Canopus nodded slightly. The ring seemed to be enough to prove whose messenger Tatsuya was.

“The request that I received was to help in your jailbreak.”

“Understood.“

Canopus didn't ask about the reasons and the identity of Tatsuya. Tatsuya decided that Canopus apparently could not go against Wyatt Curtis's directions.

Although Canopus didn't refuse, he remained in place and asked:

“If you don't mind, then could we also take, with us, my subordinates who were captured with me?”

“Accepted. Do you know where they are imprisoned?“

“I know. I'll guide you.“

“Good. Here, take this.“

Nodding in response to Canopus' offer, Tatsuya handed him the pistol he picked up from the soldier on the roof.

“... Are you sure?“

“It can't be a replacement for a weaponized armed device, but just in case, it's for self-protection.“

Canopus preferred a weaponized armed device which combines a CAD and sword in the form of a Japanese katana. After Tatsuya's words, he frowned slightly because of the sense of caution that came from Tatsuya who might know of his fighting style.

“Thanks, this will help.“

But in the end, Canopus answered only this, and headed to the stairs.

Canopus led Tatsuya to another prison building, located 200 meters from the previous one.

They weren't attacked along the way. Canopus made an extremely surprised face when he saw that the pinpointed stationary gun turrets were wiped out, but Tatsuya who was walking behind him didn't see this.

The building was about the same size as the one in which Canopus was imprisoned, but there were many more cameras. Apparently, the previous building was intended for senior officers, and this building - for prisoners with a lower status.

Canopus moved along the corridor, from time to time looking for signs of someone's presence. Then they got to the stairs and went up to the second floor. In the end, they stopped in front of a door located approximately in the middle of the corridor on the second floor.

“Right here.“

Silently nodding back at Canopus' words, Tatsuya pulled out a combat knife with knuckle guard.

While swinging the knife down, a force field of decomposition magic was formed on the cutting edge of the knife.

The knife cut through the lock on the door without any resistance.

“Molecular divider? No...“

Without responding to Canopus' murmur, Tatsuya threw open the door to a room more like a guardhouse than a prison.

Walking past Tatsuya who was holding the door, Canopus cautiously entered the cell.

“Commander!“

“Ralph.“

But Canopus' tension eased when he heard a voice coming from the back of the room.

A slender young man with shortly-cut red hair hurriedly ran to Canopus. It was Ralph

Algol, the second lieutenant from the first detachment of the Stars, who was directly subordinate to Canopus.

Canopus slowly followed toward the young man.

When there was only one step between them, Canopus stopped and held out his hand for a handshake.

But the young man suddenly pushed off the floor and rushed past Canopus.

He tried to attack Tatsuya with a knife in his hand.

However, immediately after the figure, looking like Ralph Algol, began its rapid advance, a psionic stream rushed into him.

The face of the young man changed.

The physique and hair color remained the same, but he now had the face of another person.

“Gram Demolition!?“

Canopus' voice was too loud for a whisper.

The effect of "Gram Demolition," released by Tatsuya, wasn't only limited to removing the masking magic from a person who turned out to be not a young man, but a middle-aged man. The gait and posture of this man also became somewhat insecure.

Tatsuya lunged with his knife in the direction of the man who had lost the ability to control his body normally due to the psionic flow.

He struck the man in the body, not with the knife blade, but with the titanium alloy knuckle guard embedded in the handle. Having received a blow into the solar plexus, the man's eyes rolled back and collapsed to the floor.

“This looks like a member of the Coalsack squad...“

Canopus turned the collapsed man over and frowned, recognizing him.

Tatsuya heard him, but didn't ask for an explanation of what "Coalsack" was.

The situation didn't allow this.

Through the remaining open door, something the size of a fist flew into the chamber.

“Grenade!?“

The cry of Canopus described in a word what Tatsuya saw.

Canopus knocked over the table and lay down behind it.

While Tatsuya threw the grenade away with magic. The lack of magic power activated by the artificial magic calculation area using Flash Cast, in this situation was more than compensated for by the excessive activation speed.

But the enemy was also strong. The grenade thrown away by Tatsuya, flying through the doorway, bounced back inside the cell. And it didn't bounce off the door, because it was open. The fact was that in the doorway an anti-object barrier was deployed.

Tatsuya activated gravity controlled flight magic.

Explosion power is inversely proportional to the cube of distance. Before the explosion, they usually lie on the floor to avoid direct contact with fragments, but if we take into account the distance to the epicenter of the explosion in the current situation, then the distance from the grenade falling to the floor to the ceiling was greater than the distance that would be if they lay on the floor.

In addition, the process of forming an air cocoon, reducing air resistance during flight, was built into the flight magic spell. This cocoon was strong enough to withstand a headwind relative wind at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour. Therefore, one could expect that it would serve as a shield against the relatively weak explosion of a hand grenade.

However, Tatsuya's quick wits in this case were not particularly useful.

The grenade exploded. The blast wave wasn't so strong.

Instead of exploding into fragments, thick black smoke began to disperse in all directions.

"Smoke grenade."

Tatsuya abruptly canceled the flying magic and jumped to the floor. If the enemy’s goal was to block his field of vision, then remaining near the ceiling, he would be an easy

target.

The results of the smoke analysis were displayed on the screen integrated in the visor of the helmet.

... non-lethal...

... There are no paralytic components...

... There are no tear components...

... there is little damage to the respiratory system and the cornea...

"In other words, it's just a smoke screen to block the view."

Tatsuya felt the disappearance of the anti-object shield that blocked the doorway.

The field of view displayed on the visor of the helmet automatically switched to infrared mode. However, the silhouettes of people trying to get into the room were not visible.

But Tatsuya’s “sight” at the same time caught the “image” of a person approaching quickly and soundlessly.

The silhouette, represented according to the information data, wore a stealth suit, equalizing the emitted infrared rays with the temperature of the outside air. To ensure visibility, ultrasound was also used. The man seemed to be a particularly advanced master, since he didn't wear special glasses for visualizing ultrasound. Just like a bat-man.

But in any case, since this person sent a weapon at us, you just need to counterattack.

Tatsuya repelled the enemy fist with his right hand that was holding a knife, after which he grabbed the enemy by the forehead with his left hand. And he activated vibrational magic, which sent a wave of vibrations through the palm of his left hand.

This wave of vibrations was produced by his artificial magic calculation area, unable to deliver high power. In other words, the injury won't be fatal.

But there was enough strength to cause a concussion.

The “bat-man” had his legs buckled, and he collapsed to the floor. Given that he

received a blow to the head, such a drop looked strange, but Tatsuya didn't even pay attention to it.

First of all, because he didn't have the time for it.

Following the fallen man, the next enemy was approaching. More precisely, not even one or two. There were eight of them in total.

"Is that already above my limit?"

Until now, Tatsuya fought so as not to kill the soldiers of the defense detachment. The work entrusted to him was the rescue of Canopus and the destruction of the Parasites.

He wasn't asked to kill the American soldiers who were not infected with Parasites.

Although there was no ban on killing, Tatsuya didn't want to produce unnecessary discontent.

However, this wasn't a priority over accomplishing the mission.

From outside, a cannonball flew into the room. It was an iron core, similar to a shot put competition. However, it flew at Tatsuya in a direct trajectory, and not in an arc, as in competitions. Its speed exceeded 200 km/h. There were no signs of magic working during its flight. It seems that the shell was accelerated by magic only at the time of the shot.

Something flat, reminiscent of a card, was also approaching with a curved trajectory. At first glance, it was just a piece of plastic, but the edges of this card were covered with high-strength resin, sharpened to perfect sharpness. There was no signs of magic visible here too. Probably, at the moment of throwing the card, its speed, angle and rotation were set by magic so that the trajectory of free movement intersected with the given target.

Both of these attacks were designed to make it difficult to detect with magic.

Tatsuya “decomposed” the ball and the card, and shot the hearts of all eight attackers.

Sensing the intent of murder that came from the floor in front of him, he threw a knife in that direction .

It was the "bat-man" who, despite having a concussion, tried to shoot Tatsuya with a spring-loaded dart. The knife cut through his throat, causing a mortal wound.

The first man he defeated - the red-haired man - didn't move. It seems that the battle has come to an end.

Causing a faint airflow, Tatsuya blew out the smoke screen into the corridor, which by that moment was still in the cell.

“Coalsack was completely destroyed, without being able to attack normally...“

With undisguised surprise in his voice Canopus murmured, who stood up on the other side of the toppled over table.

“Coalsack is the name of the team of these guys?”

Tatsuya asked Canopus, just to keep the conversation going.

“Yes. Coalsack Squad from Illegal MAP. One of the best squads for illegal assassinations in the States...“

Canopus looked at Tatsuya not with admiration, but with wariness in his eyes.

“Assassins shouldn't attack head on, right?”

Tatsuya meant that you should not be afraid of assassins attacking directly head on. But this wasn't a manifestation of modesty or, conversely, complacency. This again was only an attempt to keep the conversation going.

“Better tell me, does the Coalsack squad have only ten people?“

This is the only thing that Tatsuya asked. Simply put, he wondered if there were still enemies left.

“Yes. There is also another Illegal MAP unit called the Cone Nebula, but their specialization is seduction. It is unlikely that they will be sent in the current situation.“

“Understood.“

Tatsuya scanned the room with "Elemental Sight." He did this to make sure there were no other traps or ambushes, but he discovered something else.

“Major. Under the bed there is someone bound. This, incidentally, is it not your ally?“

Canopus rushed to the bed and peered under it.

“Ralph!“

He pulled a red-haired youth from under the bed - Ralph Algol. But he showed no signs of awakening, even when Canopus tried to shake him. Perhaps he was pumped full of some kind of drug.

Canopus untied Algol and put him on his left shoulder so that the upper half of his body hung down from behind, and he clasped the legs hanging in front of him with his left hand.

“It seems that there is nothing that threatens his life, but wouldn’t it be better to leave him here?“

“No, we'll take him with us.“

Canopus didn't listen to Tatsuya's advice.

But Tatsuya didn't particularly insist on his words. He didn't try to convince Canopus.

“Was the subordinate you wanted to pick up, only this one?”

Tatsuya asked instead.

“Sorry. There is one more.“

“Okay. Let's hurry.“

Canopus nodded in response to Tatsuya and ran with Algol on his shoulder.

Second Lieutenant, Ariana Lee Shaula, stationed in the female sector of the prison, was saved without any noticeable resistance. Unlike with Second Lieutenant Algol, Second Lieutenant Shaula wasn't bound or unconscious.

Tatsuya suspected it was a trap. But was there a trap or not, in which case his actions would be the same.

 

A+A-

“Let's steal a car. Do you have anything in mind?“

It was necessary to somehow get to the place where the air-car was parked. It was possible to take off with a “load” of three passengers, but mobility was greatly reduced.

It was unclear whether Canopus and Shaula would be able to protect themselves from shelling without CAD, and Algol still hasn’t woken up. Therefore, I would like to avoid the departure using the flight function of the Freed Suit.

“In front of the armory there is a general purpose vehicle.”

Shaula answered the question of Tatsuya.

“I saw it from my room window. Here.”

Anticipating the question of “how do you know this,” Shaula tried to lead Tatsuya and Canopus behind her.

“Wait. Point out the direction from behind me.“

But Tatsuya stopped her, overtook, and turned his back to her.

Shaula's face showed that she was confused. She could not understand why, at their first meeting, he had been completely open before her, turning his back.

She looked puzzled at Canopus. But Canopus only shook his head and didn't answer.

Canopus guessed the true identity of Tatsuya. Information about Tatsuya was imprinted in his memory in the form of a person who constantly showed vigilance of the highest category. Therefore, he was even worse than Shaula, and didn't understand why Tatsuya now showed such a lack of vigilance.... However, in the case of Tatsuya, this only meant that he could "see" including behind him.

As expected, there were soldiers in front of the armory.

About fifty people. Amount equivalent to one platoon. Too much for ordinary security.

Obviously, they were waiting for Tatsuya and those whom he led. Judging by what he

"saw," among them were even some quite powerful magicians.

They were on the other side of the building and were not visible with physical vision.

However, not only Tatsuya saw them, but they also noticed Tatsuya's group. The entire platoon of soldiers simultaneously aimed their gun barrels forward.

The weapon of each of them wasn't just a simple rifle, but a weaponized-armed device.

The unfolding activation sequence belonged to the magic of the movement system called "Bend Trajectory." This magic bends the trajectory of a flying object once. In

other words, it's bending magic. The main scope of application is shooting at enemies hiding behind obstacles.

Tatsuya pulled out Trident and pulled the trigger.

Bullets fired from the weaponized-armed devices simultaneously with the activation of Tatsuya's magic.

Bullets flew straight without bending the arc. This was the result of Tatsuya activating

"Gram Dispersion" by targeting the magic sequence of “Bend Trajectory” which activated in an area that lies within 100 meters in front of them.

These weaponized-armed devices didn't allow for automatic firing. Even if the CAD

provided a certain level of automation, the processing speed of the magicians using it didn't allow for them to keep up with this pace. In other words, all of the fired bullets flew straight, and fell into the void. The soldiers began to withdraw the following activation sequence.

But Tatsuya's next magic activated faster.

Blood spurted from the joints of the right foot of half of the fifty soldiers, and with a slight time lag the same thing happened with the remaining half. The resulting damage caused everyone to lose their balance. And a moment later the same thing happened with their left feet, and as a result, everyone simultaneously fell to the ground.

After that, in addition to everything, he made holes in their hands, which completely deprived the entire platoon of the defense detachment from combat readiness.

Previously, Tatsuya was already forced to abandon non-fatal attacks once, but now he didn't do the same, because he thought again about the fact that the destruction of a whole platoon could have undesirable consequences.

Since the opponents were magicians, there remained the risk of a counterattack, even if they could not move their limbs. But if this happens, then Tatsuya was ready to become serious again. Not in the sense that he was ready to take a hit to himself, but in the sense that he was ready to kill if they ended up counterattacking.

After making sure that the guards were temporarily neutralized, Tatsuya ran around the corner of the building.

Canopus and Shaula followed him with tense faces. For the two officers from the Stars elite, Tatsuya’s fighting power seemed unimaginable.

“Molecular Divider... Javelin?“

Shaula muttered. Obviously, she confused the magic of Tatsuya's partial decomposition with the magic, “Molecular Divider Javelin” used by First Lieutenant Zoe Spica from the fourth unit of the Stars. The effects of these two magics were indeed quite similar.

Under the dark evening sky, when even in the west there were no signs of the sun, Tatsuya and his three companions ran to the general purpose car. Canopus sat in the driver's seat. Behind him, sat Shaula, and still not awake Algol, was seated next to her.

Tatsuya took weapons from several nearby soldiers and stood next to the front passenger seat door.

Canopus looked at Tatsuya with suspicion, trying to look at him to urgently take his place, but he took out Trident and went to the armory.

"... The absence of people is confirmed."

There was no one inside the warehouse.

"... Getting information about the material of the object."

In the case of disassembling weapons or military equipment into parts, first you need to identify the information about the mechanical structure of the target object. The more complex and larger the object, the more information data is there.

When using "Regrowth," in addition to the information about the structure of an object, information about the materials that make up the object is also needed.

However, in the case of "Mist Dispersion," decomposing an object to the level of chemical elements, processing is possible even with the presence of only information about the materials that make up the object. Regardless of the size and mechanical complexity of the object. In the case of the "decomposition" of a large-scale object, Tatsuya will have less load when decomposing an object into chemical elements than when disassembling it into spare parts.

Tatsuya activated Mist Dispersion, choosing as a single target the entire armory depot and all the weapons stored in it.

The contours of the three-story building without windows floated...

And the next moment the building disappeared, as if it were an illusion.

The remains of the armory depot dispersed in the form of dust swirling in the wind.

Seeing an approaching cloud of dust, Shaula hastily closed the window next to where she was sitting in the car.

Tatsuya quickly got into the passenger seat and said to Canopus, who was staring at him with round eyes from being astonished at what he just did.

“Drive.“

In front of the gate leading out of the prison complex, they were waiting for about the same number of soldiers as there was in front of the armory depot.

But Tatsuya's reaction this time was different.

He slowly pulled out a grenade he "confiscated" from the soldiers in front of the armory depot.

“Hey, what are you doing?!“

Ignoring the nervous Canopus, Tatsuya opened the window and pulled the clip out of the grenade. The handling of this type of weapon was exactly the same as 100 years ago.

?

The grenade was thrown with his right hand, and was accelerated by magic and flew straight towards the line of soldiers who stood in their way.

The enemy magician tried to influence the trajectory of the grenade, but Tatsuya easily

“decomposed” the magic sequence of their magic, “Vector Reversal”, which they used to try and stop the grenade.

An important principle when using magic is the rule that one and the same object or phenomenon cannot be simultaneously affected by several different magics. If you violate this rule, then in most cases the required force of interference in the phenomenon will increase, which ends up increasing the load on the magician. In addition to this, only one type of magic will work successfully. In the worst case scenario, all attempts to apply magic to the object will fail.

This principle is strictly respected in organized combat groups such as the regular army.

Therefore, in this case, only one magician tried to stop the approach of the grenade with magic.

And his magic was neutralized. Although such an unexpected development of events caused confusion, but he was prepared enough to try again to stop the grenade with the same magic.

But this one extra time was the last.

The second "Vector Reversal" was neutralized by Tatsuya, and the grenade reached the area above the heads of the soldiers.

But the problem didn't end with one grenade.

Tatsuya picked up four grenades when he was in front of the armory depot. And he threw all four grenades one after another at the soldiers who stood in a line opposite the gate to block their escape path.

The grenades successfully exploded three meters above the heads of the guards.

Shrapnel rained down on the soldiers from above.

To protect themselves from the shrapnel, they crouched, raising their hands above their heads.

The field of view of the soldiers shifted from the car carrying Tatsuya and the others.

When they looked up at the sound of the horn, the car that had just seemed small due to range was already right in front of them.

The guards, who where lined up in a row, reflexively jumped out of the way of the fleeing car.

The line was built from about a quarter of the soldiers gathered at the gates.

The remaining three quarters rained down a hail of bullets on to the car.

However, this stolen car, although it was a general purpose vehicle, was actually an armored military vehicle. In addition, to the fired bullets, only about 10% of them reached the targeted vehicle. In other words, the shooting from the guards didn't cause significant enough damage that could stop the vehicle.

The car with Canopus behind the wheel passed through the gates (which were the same gates where Tatsuya decomposed a pass-through iron door), thus escaping the prison complex.

After escaping from the Midway Prison complex, they were not pursued by either ground equipment or helicopters. Of course, the American army didn't overlook the invasion and jailbreak. It’s just that at the moment they were recovering from their losses and were regrouping.

“Stop here.“

Seeing the air-car, Tatsuya asked Canopus to stop the car.

Taking the place of the driver of the air-car, he left the door open and shouted to Canopus and Shaula:

“Get in.“

These two weren't frozen in confusion. Canopus pulled Algol from the back seat, putting him on his shoulder and ran to the air-car.

Shaula climbed into the back seat of the air-car and helped put Algol inside.

“Its okay if you don't close the doors.“

Nodding in response to Tatsuya’s advice, Canopus darted around the SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle)-like vehicle and sat in the front passenger seat.

Tatsuya pressed a button and all four doors closed simultaneously.

“What is this? An amphibious vehicle?”

Canopus asked instinctively, examining the interior of the car. Its windows were affixed and unopened, and in the place where ordinary cars had a trunk, equipment of unknown purpose was installed.

“No.“

Tatsuya answered and activated the flight magic.

“This is a flying car.“

Canopus swallowed, and Shaula screamed softly. With such background noise, Tatsuya sharply raised the air-car into the air.

“A notification about their return came from Mr. Shiba’s air-car.“

After the words of the signalman on the bridge, there was a noise of whispering.

“Thirty minutes after departure... that is, it took 20 minutes directly to work? Do we know what damage was done to Midway Prison?”

Colonel Michael Curtis, captain of the nuclear submarine carrier Virginia, asked the intelligence officer.

“Anti-ship, anti-aircraft and anti-personnel gun crews completely destroyed. The weapons warehouse also completely disappeared...“

The scouts reacted so quickly because Captain Curtis had previously ordered information to be collected at Midway Prison.

“Are the prison buildings themselves intact?”

The captain asked the intelligence officer in a slightly surprised tone.

“No serious damage was noticed.“

"This is a surprisingly good result..."

Captain Curtis thought so at first, but quickly changed his mind.

"Such limited damage can be interpreted as proof that the attacker could afford it."

"Midway is not only a military prison, but also a supply base, going as an addition to Pearl and Hermes."

"In just 20 minutes, and given that he restrained himself - this is a complete defeat..."

"... Tatsuya. If you weren’t a guest of Uncle, and we would have to fight with you, then all the power of Virginia wouldn't overcome you, and we would eventually go to the bottom."

"I would prefer to continue to have a good relationship with you."

“Prepare for a quick ascent. Prepare the take-off deck for the arrival of the air-car. And report this to Mr. Shibata.“

Captain Curtis hid his concern in the depths of his heart, and gave crew members orders to play a part in this mission.

About seven minutes have passed since the return signal was sent. In the sky above the sea around the surfaced Virginia, an air-car silhouette appeared.

Out of the dark night sea floated the gigantic hull of the Virginia. The air-car didn't circle around, but simply hovered in the sky during a flight over this nuclear aircraft carrier.

The outer shell of the Virginia parted, exposing the flight deck.

The air-car descended vertically and landed silently on the flight deck.

Crew members ran over to them.

Canopus was the first to leave the aircraft through the door of the front passenger seat,

and after him, Shaula through the rear right door.

Canopus pulled the unconscious Algol out of the car. The running crew members helped him and laid Algol on a stretcher.

Only after that did Tatsuya leave the air-car.

“For starters, congratulations on the successful completion of the first phase of the mission.”

Katsushige turned to Tatsuya, who came out from behind the back of the team members who had already started refueling (charging ultra-high capacitors) of the air-car.

“Thank you.”

Raising the visor of his helmet, Tatsuya answered Katsushige's congratulations.

“You're going to leave again soon, right? Leave the report to the main house to me.”

“Thanks.“

Tatsuya bowed slightly in response to Katsushige's suggestion.

“If possible, could you please convey a message about the rescue of Major Canopus to Miyakijima?”

Raising his head, Tatsuya asked Katsushige.

“Unfortunately that isn't possible. There is currently no person on Miyakijima capable of receiving telepathic messages.“

During this operation, all communication with the main house was carried out using the special abilities of telepaths. There were only a few subordinates in the Yotsuba family with telepathic abilities that allowed them to communicate at such a great distance, and all of them were directly subordinate to the head of the family. In this case, one of such valuable employees was temporarily handed over to Katsushige by the main house.

“Okay.“

“In the message that will be sent to the main house, I will add a request to relay the

message to Miyakijima.”

Tatsuya's request wasn't feasible, but in return Katsushige promised to remind the main house to let Miyuki and Lina know the news.

Charging the air-car was pretty fast. Less than ten minutes after the landing, Tatsuya again lifted the car into the air.

A telepathic communication session with the main house took place immediately after his departure.

The news of the rescue of Canopus was immediately transmitted by the main house to Miyakijima.

Immediately after receiving reports of the attack on Midway, a bustle began at Pearl & Hermes Base in preparation for sending soldiers.

The original target was a counter-offensive against the enemies who attacked Midway Prison Base.

However, in a subsequent report it was said that the attackers had abducted Major Canopus and Second Lieutenants Algol and Shaula, after which they fled in a small-sized aircraft. Therefore, the goal of sending fighters and destroyers with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons changed to a pursuit of the offenders.

While all the soldiers of the base (both sent and remaining) were very busy with preparations, Raymond (civilian) visited Minoru, who is in a separate room of the medical center allocated for Minami.

“Was it Tatsuya who attacked Midway?”

Although this topic (preparation for the operation) wasn't very suitable for a friendly conversation, Raymond clearly showed unhealthy interest in this.

“Most likely.“

Minoru answered him.

“Only Tatsuya-san knows how to hide traces of magic perfectly.”

“You mean, besides you?”

“My abilities are just the art of deception. I can't hide as skillfully as Tatsuya-san does.“

Minoru with a serious face shook his head in response to Raymond's joke.

“I see.“

With a distressed face, Raymond answered.

“Come on do not talk about it.“

However, he quickly regained his usual cheerful face. The current situation was rather chaotic, but it developed clearly as the "Seven Sages" — Raymond S. Clark liked.

"It appears that major Antares and Lieutenant Sargas were also sent to intercept on the destroyer Chevalier." ...Or what's it's name?" "Shaurma"?

Minoru, it seemed, wasn't at all interested in which name was correct, but Raymond could not leave this question open, so he took out a mobile terminal and sent a search request.

“Yeah, all the same, the “Chevalier.” And along with it, the “Shangri-La” will leave the port. It seems that they are going to send more than ten fighter class aircrafts "Horned Owls" [Eagle Owls].“

“Really!?“

The Shangri-La is an aircraft carrier assigned to the port of Pearl & Hermes Base. It is the "runway" of this base. The Horned Owls, code-named F-141, is the main strike force of the Shangri-La aircraft carrier. These are multi-purpose combat aircrafts with superior stealth system effectiveness.

In total, there were 60 “Horned Owls” on the Shangri-La. This means that more than one-sixth of them will be sent. Therefore, Minoru's surprise was natural.

“That alone says that Tatsuya was considered dangerous. In my opinion, this is a reasonable decision.”

Minoru didn't argue with these words of Raymond. Minoru fought with Tatsuya only in one-on-one magic battles. But it was thanks to a direct encounter with him that he realized that the true value of Tatsuya manifests itself at a tactical level and higher.

What just happened on Midway Island was direct evidence of this. Tatsuya was a threat that could destroy a military base without even using his Strategic-Class magic.

Therefore, the reaction of the USNA army should not be considered an exaggeration.

“I don't think that this base will be able to delay Tatsuya... Oh, it seems that Chevalier and Shangri-La left the port. Major Antares and Lieutenant Sargas are moving away.“

The port wasn't visible from the window of the infirmary window, so Raymond, apparently, sensed this through a channel connecting the Parasites.

“Minoru, in my opinion, now is the time.”

Raymond's phrase was unsaid.

“For what?“

Although Minoru asked, he somehow understood what Raymond wanted to say.

“If Tatsuya gets here, this time you won't be able to escape. You're not going to fight him again, are you? So now is your chance. Now only Lieutenant Spica is left at this base.“

Raymond was telling the truth.

On this surface base - an artificial island - he can’t hide. No matter where he hides, he cannot escape from Tatsuya's "sight". Both Parade and Kimon Tonko have their limitations, and won't be particularly useful in this situation. If he was going to continue to run away, there was no choice but to go to sea.

“...It's useless.“

But Minoru shook his head helplessly.

“Minami-san can't move now.”

Minami is still recovering from the damage caused by the excessive use of magic that occurred the other day. The fact that she spends most of the day in a dream is the protective function of the body, which calms the violence of the, magic calculation area

by suppressing conscious activity and, thereby, reducing the stimulation of the subconscious region. If any irritating factor begins to act on it from outside, then consciousness will forcefully wake up, which is highly likely to serve as a trigger for overheating the magic calculation area.

“So you're the only who need to escape, Minoru. As long as you stay alive, you will always have a chance to get your girlfriend back.“

Minoru blinked his eyes in surprise.

Raymond's behavior this time wasn't as cynical as usual when he looked at everything around him as an interesting show. It seemed to Minoru that for some reason, Raymond was sincerely worried about him and Minami.

“No... after all, it's impossible.”

But Minoru didn't agree with Raymond's proposal.

He felt that if he parted with Minami now, he would never be able to even get close to her again. Both Tatsuya and Miyuki are not such irrational opponents. They will no longer give him a chance to take advantage of.

And above all, he absolutely didn't want to part with Minami.

But not because he wanted to cure her. And not because he wanted to take responsibility for the deterioration of her condition. In truth, he was simply attached to her.

“Minoru...“

Raymond no longer said anything that could pass as appeals to escape. Whether he changed himself, or it was a temporary whim, but it seems that he sincerely worried about Minoru.

“...Good. So I'll go with you.“

“What!? No, that won't do!“

Raymond's words shocked Minoru.

“Raymond. By the way, it is you yourself who have to run! If Tatsuya-san catches you,

then the Dion Project will be considered a Parasite conspiracy!“

There was no direct connection between the Parasites and the Dion Project. However, Tatsuya would easily be able to distort the truth in order to destroy the conspiracies directed against him. Minoru felt a certain sense of fear from Tatsuya, confirming that he was able to do something like that.

“If something like this happens, then it will be a problem for not only you and your father. This could escalate into a question of confidence in America, which, in turn, will disrupt the world order!“

Minoru has always been driven by personal feelings. For this reason, he didn't regret that he had gone astray... that he had ceased to be a man. But he didn't want to create problems for society.

“Well, good. That will be interesting too.“

Raymond had an innocent smile on his face. Such a face meant that he perfectly understood what he had said to Minoru.

“Raymond!“

“I'm not a human being either. I don’t care what will happen to the human world. The truth is that the Dion project was actually a conspiracy at the national level. So, if America is subjected to international criticism, then they're right.“

“But...“

“Minoru.”

After breaking an objection to Minoru, Raymond grinned.

“Instead of observing the affairs of states and the world as a whole, I would rather like to see what future awaits you.“

Minoru's eyes widened when he heard these unexpected words from Raymond.

“You two... how could I put it better... so romantic. You want to watch more than any pair of films. In truth, I’m even envious.“

“...“

“So I want to know how your story ends. And I want this story to have a happy ending.“

Raymond smiled shyly.

“Minoru, in order to eventually arrive at a happy ending, you must escape now.”

“Raymond...“

Raymond, who organized the second coming of the Parasites into this world by skillfully manipulating false information.

And Minoru, casting aside his humanity, killing his beloved grandfather, and causing a lot of chaos.

Despite such a backstory from these two, an atmosphere of kindness and understanding has now developed between them.

... However, in this world there is not only kindness.

“That would be problematic.“

Minoru and Raymond spun around at that voice and the sound of a door swinging open.

They were so carried away with their conversation that their attention didn't notice anything but themselves.

Therefore, they had the imprudence not to notice the approach of their fellow parasite.

They turned to see Zoe Spica holding up the index finger of her right hand.

Blood spurted.

“Minoru!“

The “Molecular Divider Javelin” pierced Minoru’s chest at the very moment the door opened.

“The wound is non-fatal.”

“What are you...!?“

Spica looked coldly at Raymond, who had faltered.

“Be silent.“

“...!“

“We must not allow damage to the States. You three should leave this place immediately.“

“Why...?“

Minoru asked in a pained voice, holding onto his chest and bending over.

“Kudou Minoru. Raymond Clark. If the Japanese get evidence that our army has harbored you – who are Parasites, then this will become an unfavorable diplomatic compromising evidence against the States.“

“... Minami-san still needs a break. And this happened to her because of your battle.“

“If you had not come here, this wouldn't have happened at all.”

Spica rejected Minoru’s protest. Then she signaled to the soldiers waiting behind her.

Four soldiers burst into the room of the medical room. They aimed their weapons at Minoru, Raymond, and Minami.

“We won't kill you if you obediently follow us.”

“... We will leave, but we will do it ourselves.”

Minoru straightened up. His voice was no longer painful, and there was no trace of a wound on his chest when he removed his hand.

“You...!?“

Noticing the disappearance of the wound, Spica in a hurry tried to activate magic.

However, she was unable to do anything.

She couldn't even scream.

Spica's body burst into flames.

The soldier's bodies bursting into the room also ignited.

The magic "Jintai Hakka" from the release system.

It neutralizes the magical protection of the human body, forcibly extracts electrons from the molecules of the cells of the body, and releases them from the body. It is called "Jintai Hakka," because an electric discharge passing through the skin looks like a phenomenon of spontaneous combustion of the human body. However, in fact, this is terrible magic, destroying cells at the molecular level, depriving them of the electrons used in inter-molecular bonds.

Minoru’s magic activation speed was higher than Spica’s activation speed and the speed at which well-trained soldiers would pull the trigger.

The fire didn't spread throughout the room. He didn’t hurt either Minami’s bed or Minami herself.

Minoru skillfully controlled the electrical discharge created by his “Jintai Hakka.”

Spica and four soldiers disappeared from this world in just a few moments.

From the "ashes" arouse the "parasite." The true body of the "parasite" that lived in Spica.

Minoru easily caught it and placed it inside himself.

“... Raymond.“

Minoru spoke to Raymond in a emotionless voice.

“Y-yes?“

“Apparently, I too can no longer stay here. Let's run away together.“

“...Good.”

Raymond answered with such a face, as if he had just comprehended what had happened.

“Can you wait a bit in the hallway?”

“...Okay.”

Said Raymond, and left the room.

Closing the door, Raymond turned anxiously, and before the door closed, he managed to see Minoru, with a sad face standing next to Minami's bed.

This evening, at Pearl & Hermes Base, there were many fiery flashes that resembled fireworks.

The number of these outbreaks was equal to the number of human lives.

Minoru and Raymond left the Pearl & Hermes base on the Coral transport ship, fearfully subjugating the survivors from the base.

Major Antares and First Lieutenant Sargas, who went to sea on the Chevalier destroyer, learned about the death of First Lieutenant Spica in almost real time.

“Commander...“

“Useless. Yes and pointless.“

Antares answered the unsaid question of Sargas.

Sargas didn't argue with this decision. He himself knew that it was useless and pointless, and therefore didn't say the rest of the phrase “let's go back?”.

The attacker on Midway also could not be ignored. And it wasn't just the honor of the army at stake. The combat magician, who alone stormed Midway by storm, even by his already demonstrated abilities, can be considered a threat that must be dealt with immediately. And if we assume that this is the same Strategic-Class Magician that caused "Scorched Halloween," then he should be dealt with all the more. In such a situation, their language didn't turn to say that you need to cancel the operation and return to the Pearl & Hermes base.

Plus, First Lieutenant Spica is already dead. The true body that dwelt in her was supposed to escape and itself would soon follow them. That is how the parasites nature. And they can’t do anything now.

... If they knew that Spica wasn't the only victim, then they would immediately ask the

captain to turn around and move back. They would undoubtedly have tried to stop the catastrophe that had struck Pearl & Hermes Base.

However, neither Antares nor Sargas had the same “vision” as Tatsuya or Minoru.

Perhaps they would have noticed the death-spreading magic of Minoru if they concentrated their magical perceptions in the direction behind them, but all their attention was directed west - towards Midway.

But disaster awaited them not only from behind.

About 8 minutes after re-deploying from the Virginia.

Tatsuya encountered the enemy about 100 kilometers west of the Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

Fighters merging with darkness flew by. If these were ordinary aircraft, then the distance over which they flew would be considered abnormal approach.

They were not displayed on the air-car radar. It looks like the adversary also had an excellent stealth system.

Masking the electromagnetic waves of the air-car also worked with visible light, but it didn't provide perfect transparency. From the point of view of an outside observer, the car was visible as flying in a kind of smokescreen, depending on the weather and light.

For example, in the current clear night sky it should have been seen as a kind of foggy cloud of ultramarine color. If the pilots were sufficiently big-eyed, then with such an approach, they should have noticed something.

Tatsuya turned on a radio transmitter he borrowed from the Virginia. It showed the frequencies used by the USNA Navy. Tatsuya found the frequency at which the pilots spoke to each other.

"UFO?"

From the speaker phrases with the word "UFO" were heard. Tatsuya inclined his head mentally, but then realized that it was a question of the air-car driven by him. Shrouded in fog and not emitting heat waves (more precisely, it emitted infrared rays, but their

frequency coincided with the frequency of the atmospheric air temperature), the air-car could really be called a UFO - an Unidentified Flying Object.

However, this wasn't the case when one could happily admire. If the aircraft of the American army associated the car with the expression "UFO", then this meant only one thing - it was discovered.

On the dashboard monitor, several windows with different data were displayed. One of these windows displayed the results of the reconciliation of fighters.

"F-141 Horned Owl?"

Although in terms of generalized characteristics they are inferior to the “Crowned Hawk” [Crowned Hawk Eagle], which is currently the main combat force of the Air Force of America, but as devices that combine stealth and good characteristics for operation at low speeds, they were preferred as airborne fighters on aircraft carriers .

"In that case, with a high probability there is an aircraft carrier nearby."

In his heart, he wanted to ignore the aircraft carrier and just save Minami. But considering the difference in speed between the air-car and fighter jets, he decided that he needed to get rid of this interference now. The air-car was as maneuverable as the fighter jets, but it could not accelerate above the speed of sound. Therefore, it is easy to catch up to when driving in a straight line.

"I wouldn't like to cause serious damage to the USNA army, but..."

Completely disregarding the likelihood that he could be shot down, Tatsuya turned on the onboard CAD, which is completely separate from the flight device.

He completed the capture of the target with the help of his “sight”. Two "Horned Owls"

approached the air-car from different directions, as if trying to "take him in their pincers."

Tatsuya abruptly steered the car down vertically.

The after image of the air-car was pierced by machine gun fire.

Tatsuya became a little easier after the fact that the opponents shot at him first.... But what he was going to do, didn't change.

In addition to the two planes flying over him now, he “saw” eight more “Horned Owls”

approaching in pairs from four different sides. He, in principle, could bring them all down at the same time, but he preferred to do it consistently.

Tatsuya activated Mist Dispersion on two Owls.

The fighters (excluding the pilot and the ejection seat) turned to dust and disappeared, becoming a misty cloud.

Tatsuya feared that the ejection mechanism might not work properly and the parachutes wouldn't open, however, it seemed that his fears were in vain. He saw the pilots smoothly descend into the night sea by parachute. And at the current time of the year in this latitude, one didn't fear for their lives.

One of the recently approached “Horned Owls” launched a rocket at the air-car. The air-car wasn't supposed to be detected either by thermal, by electric, or by magnetic trails.

“Radio-controlled missile? Reckless behavior when their comrades are down in the sea,” thought Tatsuya.

He simultaneously laid out this rocket and all the remaining eight fighters.

From the radio came the devil-cursing screams. Listening to the selective swearing of downed pilots, Tatsuya set off toward the Pearl and Hermes Atoll in search of the aircraft carrier and the accompanying warships.

 

Major Antares and First Lieutenant Sargas were summoned to the combat information post of the destroyer.

“It seems like... an aircraft driven by the magic of flight.”

Sargas answered in a rather confident tone to the question of the captain, the commander of the operation, not from the bridge, but from this BEEP. The monitor just finished playing a short video sent from one of the Shangri-La fighters.

“Lieutenant. Is something like that already applied in practice?“

“As far as I know, this is not yet applied by our army in practice.“

“What do you think, Major Antares?”

The captain looked from Sargas to Antares.

“I have nothing to add, captain.”

“In that case, is this UFO from Japan?”

“I think so.“

The magic of flight was invented by the Japanese company FLT. In this case, it is quite reasonable to consider that this unidentified aircraft using magic of flight is a kind of Japanese experimental prototype.

“But why would the Japanese army attack a USNA owned base...?”

“The enemy is not necessarily related to the Japanese army.”

Antares objected, in response to the mutter of the captain.

“The inventor of flight magic is Taurus Silver... Shiba Tatsuya. He is one of the central figures of the same "Yotsuba." I think, with a high probability, this may be the apparatus of the original development of the Yotsuba.”

“All sent F-141's have stopped responding.“

In the oppressive silence that followed, the voice of the AI assistant was heard, responsible for observing the sky.

“The radars still don't record the enemy aircraft's position.“

“Increase the sensitivity of observation in the visible light range!“

The captain in an irritated voice gave the order to the AI.

All sensors were already trying to detect UFOs with maximum sensitivity. The captain’s order meant exceeding the maximum permissible load on the observation equipment in the visible light range. But the warning didn’t come back, like "there is a risk of sensors burning." Still, the military AI was trained to obey orders.

“... UFO detected. Distance 2 nautical miles.“

“What!?“

Distance 2 nautical miles. Approximately 3.7 kilometers. Immediately after the captain's scream, the piercing wail of a siren sounded.

The screen displays the damage status. All guns located from the bow to the center of the ship were destroyed. The automatic guns, anti-aircraft laser guns, and anti-aircraft/anti-submarine rocket launchers.

“Display the image from the forward deck!“

The cameras didn't seem to be affected, as a large window appeared on the main screen with a view from the center towards the bow of the ship.

There was no visible fire engulfing the guns and launchers.

The automatic and laser guns simply disappeared without a trace, and the rocket launchers disappeared as if they were uprooted.

“What is it...“

As if interrupting the captain, the siren sounded again.

“The ship has completely lost its ability to engage in air defense.“

The voice of the onboard AI responsible for counting the damage sounded out.

A report on the screen reported that all stationary guns mounted on the deck and sides of the ship were lost.

“Impossible... In an instant, to completely neutralize the whole ship...!?“

At the moment, they only have torpedoes left for armament. So the shout of the captain wasn't an exaggeration.

As if responding to his cry, the image of the deck disappeared from the screen.

“What happened!?“

“Signs of destruction of optical surveillance equipment are recorded.“

The onboard AI said in an unemotional voice.

The AI is just a program. The emotions of its voice are programmed so as not to undermine the psychological state of the crew. But in this situation, such a calm tone, on the contrary, only got on the nerves of the captain.

“Someone! Get on deck and report on the situation!“

Such an order made it clear that the captain was mad.

“Captain, we can go.“

Antares responded to the order.

“... May I ask you this?”

The captain asked Antares in a slightly calmed tone.

“Yes, sir.“

Antares and Sargas saluted the captain with a gesture accepted from the sailors.

The first ship Tatsuya discovered was the Chevalier destroyer. At first he wanted to flood it with one attack.

But this ship is most likely followed by an aircraft carrier and its escort ships. If you spend time on each of them, then the likelihood that Minami will be taken away again will only increase.

Minami's information was still marked with a marker, so there was no fear of losing sight of it, even if they escaped again. However, through the information dimension, Tatsuya already knew that Minami's health condition had worsened. True, recently, when he checked her condition before re-departing from Virginia, it suddenly for some reason improved. But vigilance still shouldn't be relaxed. Because the condition can worsen if she is dragged along by force. It was necessary to hurry.

However, Tatsuya changed his plans. Instead of sinking the ship, he neutralized all the ways in which this ship could harm his air-car.

He landed the air-car on a deck which there were no guns or launchers, and left it.

Two figures approached Tatsuya standing under the night sky.

“I was waiting for you, Parasites.”

The reason Tatsuya changed his plans was the Parasites "seen" by him on this destroyer.

If he sank the destroyer, then their discovery would take extra time. And that was undesirable.

Tatsuya's words made his purpose clear - the destruction of the Parasites.

Antares suddenly and without warning released magic.

When a person becomes a Parasite, then he has a decrease in the variety of magic used, but this is offset by a sharp jump in the speed of activation of the magic that he has left.

The “Nyx” of Antares was activated earlier than Tatsuya’s counter-magic, covering him with a thick layer of mental interference that impedes magical perception.

However, the next moment...

The darkness of Nyx silently shattered into pieces.

“...How!?“

Antares's voice complained about the absurdity of what was happening.

When magical perception is blocked, it is impossible to "see" neither the sequence of activation, nor the sequence of magic. If you cannot “discover” the magic that you need to resist, then you cannot aim with counter-magic.

"Nyx. Pretty problematic magic."

Tatsuya didn't answer Antares's question. But mentally, he acknowledged that Antares's magic was quite dangerous.

"Even if I don’t see the target visually, then I can "decompose" it, if I know what I'm dealing with."

The activated Nyx really interfered with the formation of visual images. But the processes that were carried out before the activation of Nyx could be "seen." Tatsuya can get current “information” from “information” seen in the past. And he can

decompose this information with "Gram Dispersion".

If you try to seal Tatsuya’s powers with Nyx, you shouldn’t even let him suspect the activation of magic. In other words, “Nyx” will work on Tatsuya only if it will be a complete surprise.

The destruction of Antares's magic served as this incentive, or so it was planned, but Sargas just now launched a magical attack at Tatsuya.

And again, Sargas' magic attacked Tatsuya's mind faster than he could neutralize it.

It was a pack of wolves that looked like shadows, with no details. More precisely, these were not wolves, but coyotes.

Countless all-black coyotes turned their fangs to Tatsuya's heart.

It was the magic “Ikel," classified as the mental interference magic in which Sargas was strong.

In Greek mythology, the children of the night goddess Nyx were called “Oneiroi,” the deities that control dreams. The name of this magic is "Ikel" - it was another (real) name of the so-called "Phobetor", one of such deities, which takes the images of animals in dreams. This magic damages the mind of the enemy with the help of animal illusions. An illusion in which nightmare fangs bite the victim’s heart leads to a weakening of the opponent’s mind.

But unfortunately for Sargas, Ikel was waiting for the same end as Nyx.

In terms of speed of completion of magic, Sargas was ahead of Tatsuya. But before Sargas' Ikel's effects could work, this magic was neutralized by Tatsuya's “Gram Dispersion” erasure.

Tatsuya pulled "Trident" out of his holster with his right hand.

Antares and Sargas, not giving up, continued to try to attack Tatsuya with magic of mental interference, but Tatsuya neutralized each of these attacks by decomposing their magic sequences.

Tatsuya continued to activate “Gram Dispersion” using the built-in CAD in his combat suit.

“It's impossible!“

“How!?“

There were lamentations and anger in the voices of the Parasites. What was happening caused a mess in their heads, and as a result a small gap formed in their ongoing magical attacks.

Tatsuya didn't miss this moment, and pulled the trigger of "Trident."

""Mist dispersion,” activation."

The bodies of Antares and Sargas trembled and began to blur.

The sea breeze picked up the remnants of their bodies and scattered them across the sky and the surface of the sea.

All that remains of them is two "Parasites."

The true bodies of the "demons" that turn people into Parasites.

"Recognition of the structure supporting pushion information bodies."

The true body of the Parasite is a Pushion informational body wrapped in a psionic cocoon. Or is it better to call jelly not a cocoon?

The psionic mass itself, which protects the "core" (the Pushion informational body), is formless, and besides it there is another psionic informational body - a kind of foundational support that ensures the existence of the Pushionic informational body in this world.

This psionic informational body, which has become a supporting pillar, must first be found among all this formless mass of psions.

Having set the search condition as the “Pushion informational body existing in this world” as a search condition, Tatsuya indirectly considered the desired structure.

"The magic of decomposition of the structure supporting Psionic informational bodies,

"Astral Dispersion,” activation.”

The destruction of the support necessary for the existence in this world the pushion information body - the Parasite.

Having lost the "foundation of existence", the Pushion informational bodies leave this world.

Expelled from this world.

Two Parasites disappeared, leaving for the "other world."

After destroying the Parasites, Tatsuya no longer took any action against the destroyer, Chevalier.

Not wanting to waste extra time, he lost all interest in them.

Climbing into the air-car, he took off from the deck of the Chevalier.

On the way, he found an aircraft carrier and two escort ships, but he was going to ignore them.

But unfortunately, the enemy wasn't going to let him through just like that.

Mobile rocket launchers on the decks of the escort destroyers aimed at the air-car. The direction of their aiming was slightly shifted, as the radars were useless. Short-range laser guns were not used, probably for the same reason.

If you just fly by at full speed, you can avoid the attacks from the destroyers. Although it could not accelerate above the speed of sound, aiming in the visible light range at a high-speed flying object would still be extremely problematic.

However, new fighter aircrafts were preparing to take off from the aircraft carrier. This time, there was obviously more than the last ten. If this turns into an air battle again, then we can safely say that the probability of this fight coming to an end in a short time is extremely small.

Performing various erratic (left, right, up, down) maneuvers, Tatsuya directed his "sight"

at the escort destroyer, which was going in front of the aircraft carrier. These movements, by the way, really created the impression that this is a real "alien ship,"

which is usually meant when they say "UFO."

"The name of the ship is Mila Davis."

"No parasites on board detected."

"ABC weapons* on board not found."

[Special abbreviation for weapons that fall under all kinds of prohibitions. A (atomic), B

(biological), C (chemical).]

To begin with, he was convinced that sinking it wouldn't cause any problems.

"The goal is Mila Davis."

The target was the entire ship called Mila Davis. Instead of recognizing the destroyer as a set of separate parts, he recognized the entire ship as a whole, using the name of the ship as a key.

"Obtaining information on the materials forming "Mila Davis."

He didn't read the structure of the object associated with this name, but information about its materials, or rather information about the chemical elements that form these materials.

""Mist Dispersion"- activation."

Tatsuya activated "Mist Dispersion," aiming only at the general concept of the Mila Davis ship, that is, at the ship’s hull, its internal equipment, and the fuel it uses.

The magic that breaks down substances at the level of chemical elements has been activated.

The shape of the destroyer blurred and swam.

And its majestic image disappeared, turning into dust and smoke.

Only crew members who fell into the sea remained.

Having fallen into the sea with strong splashes, they hastily surfaced one by one. There was no longer any difference in rank between them. And the senior and junior officers, and the captain, and sailors - all in desperation looked around with faces expressing a complete incomprehension on what had happened.

Tatsuya turned on the transmitter, taken from the Virginia nuclear submarine carrier.

“This is the UFO pilot.“

Tatsuya involuntarily grinned at such a "title." However, these were serious negotiations. If the enemy thinks he’s fooling them, then he won’t be able to turn everything as smoothly as he wanted.

“We do not wish to continue military operations.”

Having made the most serious voice, Tatsuya said into the microphone of the transmitter.

“This is the USNA Navy aircraft carrier, "Shangri-La."“

They answered him. Although it was known in advance that this transmitter could provide communication, he was relieved when it was actually confirmed in practice.

Even Tatsuya was embarrassed by the realization that his “solo performance” could go unanswered, unnoticed.

“UFO pilot. State your demands.“

“My aircraft is currently heading toward Pearl & Hermes Base. I am not going to cause damage to the base until I myself am attacked. My enemies are Parasites.“

“...So, what is next?“

This was probably a question from the captain of the aircraft carrier. Tatsuya decided that this man was apparently aware of the Parasites.

“Focus on saving your comrades who have fallen in the water. Pilots of aircrafts sent earlier are also now in the water. I repeat, for my part there is no longer any intention to attack. I promise not to interfere with the rescue operation.“

“Accepted.“

The captain of the aircraft carrier quickly agreed.

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to focus on the rescue operation.”

“Thank you for understanding.“

“... If you destroy the Parasites, then I will only be glad. True, this is just my personal opinion...“

“... Was it worth saying now something like that?“

This communication channel has not been encrypted. Both the crew of the aircraft carrier and the crew of the second destroyer could easily hear this conversation.

“I don't care. The fleet won't bow to these non-human monsters.“

“I see.“

This captain, one way or another, turned out to be to Tatsuya's liking. If not for this situation, he would want to meet him face to face.

“Then, all the best.“

However, Tatsuya was now a terrorist who attacked the regular army. His voice was changed by the function built into the suit, as it was undesirable for anyone to hear his real voice.

“May God's blessing be with you.”

Tatsuya abruptly said goodbye in a slightly rude manner, and the captain answered him with words that made it difficult to understand whether he said this seriously, or with sarcasm.

After avoiding a battle with the aircraft carrier, Tatsuya now secured for himself an unhindered path to the base of Pearl and Hermes.

As the Mitsuya family told him, he saw a semi-floating artificial island. Based on its shape and size, it could be concluded that a floating pontoon mega-platform, originally intended for a surface airport, was converted into this base.

"But how is this to be understood...?"

Circling in the sky above the base, Tatsuya bowed his head inquiringly.

At first he thought that he hadn’t been attacked from the base because he received a warning from the captain of the Shangri-La aircraft carrier. But when Tatsuya approached the base, a sense of the demeanor of what was happening began to arise

in him.

... There were no signs of people at the base.

Even after reaching normal viewing distance, he didn't find human figures.

"There is only one person at the base - Minami...?"

The search with "Elemental Sight" yielded a shocking result.

Of the people there was only one, Minami. There were no signs of parasites.

"Are they using some kind of advanced concealment magic...?"

Tatsuya suspected the existence of magic unknown to him, capable of completely hiding the target from his "Elemental Sight".

He thought that Minoru had created concealment magic that completely hid even traces of the use of magic, or that the Stars had a user of such magic.

However, his intuition denied this. Tatsuya could not explain what this opinion was based on, but he came to the conclusion that there was nobody using magic on this base except him. Apart from Minami, this base really was completely deserted.

"The captain of the aircraft carrier clearly didn't know that such an unusual situation was at this base."

Despite the fact that the conversation with him took place on the radio, one could find out about such an abnormal situation by a nervous or excited voice. But Tatsuya didn't feel anything like that in his voice.

"... Anyone would be baffled."

If you land and see for yourself, you may be able to understand what is happening there. Or happened there.

"And even if nothing is clear, then you can just pick up Minami and get out of there."

Tatsuya came to this decision when he was already making his third round around the base.

Landing at the Pearl & Hermes base, Tatsuya stepped out of the air-car.

Standing on the surface of the artificial island, he discovered traces of magic that he didn't notice from the air.

"About 30... no, 40 minutes ago?"

In dozens, not, probably, even in more than a hundred different places at this base were the remains of a raging powerful magic.

"These traces... there can be no mistake. This is Minoru's "Jintai Hakka" magic."

This residual “smell” of magic, drifting in the air of the base, didn't differ from the same

“Jintai Hakka” of Minoru, with which he once attacked Tatsuya himself. This is deadly magic that destroys the human body at the molecular level by forcing the extraction of electrons from the cells that make up this body. The fact that this magic was used more than a hundred times meant that Minoru had committed the massacre of more than a hundred people.

"Minoru... what happened?"

He didn't think that the Parasite swallowed the mind of Minoru. But not because he

“didn’t want to believe it,” but only because he praised Minoru for his strength.

Including the power of his mind.

And given his obsession with Minami, it was very strange that he left her alone.

"Anyway... you need to get to Minami first."

When Tatsuya landed the air-car, he did it right near the building where the medical center was located. Of course, this wasn't an accident. He entered this deserted building to pick up Minami and take her back home.

Minami was found in a room on the third floor of this three-story building.

She wasn't in hospital clothes, but in a simple shirt with short sleeves and in trousers up to her ankles. Obviously, it was clothing intended for female soldiers of the USNA army.

“Minami.“

Sitting on the bed and looking out the window, Minami got up and looked back at Tatsuya's voice.

“Tatsuya-sama...“

From Minami's confused face, it was clear that her consciousness was only half awake.

When she saw Tatsuya, a smile and tears appeared on her face at the same time.

“I AM...“

A stream of tears flowed from her left eye.

“Minoru-sama left me.”

“Did Minoru say anything?”

“No. This happened while I was sleeping...“

Minami's voice was becoming intermittent.

Tears accumulated in the right eye also “broke through the dam” and ran down the stream.

Minoru obviously had a reason. And the reason is irresistible and compelling.

There may have been some major altercation between Minoru and the USNA army. The traces of the massacre at this base may be the result of a serious conflict between Minoru and the USNA army.

But Tatsuya didn't voice this assumption.

And he didn't ask whether she wanted to follow Minoru.

“Minami, come back.“

He told Minami just that.

“Tatsuya-sama...!“

Minami buried her head in Tatsuya's chest.

Clinging to him, she sobbed like a child.

Tatsuya gently stroked Minami's head and patted her on the back, as if soothing his youngest sister. It was these movements that he applied to Miyuki when they were still children.

“Ready?”

Tatsuya asked, a sidelong glance at Minami, who was hunched down in the front passenger seat.

“Yes.”

Minami answered, securely fastened with a four-point seat belt. Her eyes were still downcast, and her cheeks were still reddish. It seemed that she was very ashamed of the fact that she was sobbing, clinging to Tatsuya.... In addition to her cheeks, her forehead was also slightly red, but for another reason - she knocked it on the hard breastplate of Tatsuya's Freed Suit.

Tatsuya directed his sight forward and poured his psions into the flying device for the air-car.

“Come back. In our common home.“

“...Yes.“

This time, Minami nodded confidently in response to Tatsuya's words.

The air-car smoothly came off the surface.

Gradually increasing speed, he moved away from the base.

Minami looked around and looked at Pearl & Hermes Base from the passenger seat window.

And when she turned forward again, a previously noticeable shade of suffering completely disappeared from her eyes.

Aiming directly at Miyakijima, Tatsuya headed a little south from the route he arrived here.

Flying past the Virginia, he told them on the radio that he intended to fly straight home on his own.

Captain Curtis responded by congratulating him on the successful completion of the mission, and Shibata Katsushige said only one word: "Accepted."

About three hours have passed since the departure from the Pearl & Hermes base.

“Tatsuya-sama, um... is everything all right?”

Minami suddenly spoke to Tatsuya in an excited voice.

Tatsuya quickly realized the meaning of this question: "Is it normal to use magic continuously for so long?"

“Even after 10 hours there will be no problems. By the way, we will arrive in four hours.“

Tatsuya honestly answered her. Minami was amazed rather than delighted by this answer.

“Minami, how are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?“

In response, Tatsuya asked about Minami's well-being.

“No, everything is okay. Sorry for disturbing you.“

“But it looks like you were in the Pearl & Hermes base hospital...?”

He didn't tell Minami that he had been following her “information” for a long time.

Tatsuya directly “sees” the information itself, and these are not images or sounds. In other words, he didn't “spy” on her like a voyeur, however, if Minami finds out about this, she will certainly be ashamed, regardless of any explanation. At least, that was the logic that prompted him.

So Tatsuya pretended not to know that Minami was in critical condition 5 days ago.

“...Yes. But now everything is in order.“

Minami probably dodged the answer because she wanted to hide the fact that she had fainted.

However, Minami's voice lacked confidence.

Tatsuya's “sight” confirmed that her condition was stable. At least, the overheating of the magic calculation area has definitely recovered.

"Did Minoru do something? But there are no signs of parasitization..."

He, of course, was glad to see Minami improve, but something was wrong here.

Moreover, this happened immediately after separating with Minoru, so that cause-and-effect relationship was clearly traceable.

“I see. That's good.“

Out loud, Tatsuya answered only that.

NASA's reconnaissance satellites detected a haze-like shadow heading west across the Pacific Ocean.

At first, the NASA space forces personnel controlling the reconnaissance satellites thought that this shadow was just noise in the image from the surveillance camera.

However, the movement of this object, flying from the Pearl and Hermes atoll in the direction of Japan, was clearly artificial, so it was considered an aircraft with an advanced stealth system, and this was reported to the General Staff in the form of information requiring urgent action.

An aircraft that could not be identified by reconnaissance satellites posed a serious threat to national security. There was nothing strange in the fact that the General Staff issued a decree to order the submarine carrier hiding in Japanese territorial waters to capture or bring down this aircraft.

However, at the stage when this decision had to be transferred to the headquarters of the Navy, there was a certain “delay.” Departing from the principles of civilian control, the National Security Council didn't miss this decree because of the risk of a war with Japan, an allied state. As a result, this decision was returned to the General Staff.

The General Staff tried to defend its position, arguing that the goal would be missed if not to respond immediately. Their position was that the threat of national defense

should not be neglected.

Perhaps, from a military point of view, this was reasonable and correct. But in the end, they could not convince the politicians. The tragedy that happened on Midway Island and the Pearl & Hermes base has not yet been reported to the General Staff. Perhaps for this reason, they didn't have enough materials to convince others to agree with them.

No one in the entire federal army or the Department of Defense knew that Senator Wyatt Curtis was behind this interference.

July 24, just after midnight.

Touching the Kii Peninsula slightly, the typhoon accelerated and at the moment headed east. This meant that it was heading straight to Miyakijima.

“Miyuki... are you going to go to bed?”

Lina asked Miyuki, who was standing by the window and looking out of the room in a residential building in the western part of the island.

Mayumi, Honoka and the rest stayed only for one night and returned yesterday to the main Japanese island. And only Miyuki with Lina remained on Miyakijima.

“No. According to the message from the main house, Onii-sama should be back soon.“

There was a beaming smile on Miyuki's face. It even seemed to Lina that Miyuki radiates joy not only with her face, but with her whole body.

“In such a storm?“

This “aura of happiness” seemed to cover Lina, as her voice read simply doubt, not amazement.

“Just because there is such a storm.”

“Ah... I got it, of course.“

Lina quickly realized what Miyuki meant.

“He will return, hiding in the typhoon clouds.“

“Exactly.“

Miyuki confirmed that Lina’s guess is correct. By the way, Lina was able to stop saying

“hurricane”, but instead of “typhoon” [in Japanese] she said “typhoon”. It seemed like it was incurable.

There was heavy rain outside. The main part of the typhoon has not yet reached here, however, the night sky was densely covered with rain clouds moving east. Infrared cameras on reconnaissance satellites and stratospheric platforms were useless. The air-car didn't emit any electromagnetic waves, except for visible light, so it wasn't possible to detect it.

And in this darkness, Miyuki saw a “light."

“Onii-sama!“

“Uh?“

Hearing Miyuki's scream, Lina narrowed her eyes doubtfully.

But she saw nothing but raindrops glistening from the light from the window.

Lina wanted to ask Miyuki: “Where?”.

But before she could ask this, Miyuki turned around and headed for the exit.

“Hey! Wait, Miyuki!“

“Faster, Lina, keep up!“

Not listening to Lina's call to wait, Miyuki put on her shoes and left the room.

“Oh, okay!“

Lina was Miyuki's "acting bodyguard." She followed Miyuki, trying to maintain her composure.

Miyuki, of course, didn't run out in the rain.

She was waiting for Lina at the elevator.

Miyuki leaned the ID card against the reader and opened the panel, located just below the floor buttons.

Under it was hidden another button, labeled as "B".

Miyuki pressed the button without hesitation.

The elevator that smoothly went down brought them to a railed trailer, which looked a bit like a public transport electric booth.

Miyuki and Lina got into this four-seater car.

“Are we going to the airport?“

“Yes, please.”

Miyuki answered Lina's question. Hearing the answer, Lina pressed one of the buttons on the dashboard.

This button was labeled "Airport".

Using this metro, designed exclusively for important people, they got right to the airport terminal building.

It was already after midnight, but unlike ordinary civilian airports, the staff of this airport still worked.

Miyuki thought it was natural that everyone was waiting for Tatsuya to return.

“Miyuki-sama. Welcome.“

“Thanks for your work.“

Answering a courteously bowed employee, Miyuki headed for the door leading to the runway.

Lina followed her.

The double entry doors swung open inward.

“We have returned.“

“Welcome back, Onii-sama.”

Miyuki greeted Tatsuya with a very low bow, who was holding his helmet from the Freed suit under his arm.

Lina's eyes were not directed to this ceremony, which she had already seen several times, but to the girl standing behind Tatsuya.

Lina fled to Japan after Minami was hospitalized.

And when she came to Japan last winter, Minami wasn't yet assigned to Miyuki.

So this was their first meeting.

First, Lina wanted to ask Tatsuya to introduce them.

But when she saw how Minami looked at Miyuki, Lina decided to keep silent.

Tatsuya turned to Minami.

Minami hesitantly took a step forward.

“Welcome back, Minami-chan.”

Miyuki was the first to speak.

“Miyuki-sama, I...“

“I'm not going to demand an apology. Understood, Minami-chan.”

From these words, Minami trembled with her whole body.

“So... I still have no forgiveness?”

“From the very beginning, I had nothing to forgive you for. So what is customary to say when you return?”

“Can I... can I come back?”

“I already said that. Welcome back".

Miyuki smiled and spread her arms to the sides.

“So be it, I'll repeat myself. Minami-chan, “Welcome back.””

Minami stopped trembling.

She ran briskly towards Miyuki, fell to her knees in front of her and grabbed her legs wrapped in a skirt.

“Excuse me! Miyuki-sama, please forgive me, please, ah...!”

Crying with tears streaming down her face, Minami continued in a teary voice and continued to apologize mixed with sobs.

“Oh... I already said that there is no need to apologize?”

Looking at Minami with a smile filled with love on her face, Miyuki gently stroked her head.

Although Miyuki smiled, tears glittered in her eyes.

(End of Rescue Arc)

(Edited by /u/blakegriffin89, light edits made by englishmuffins10) Afterword

You reading the 30th volume of the series “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei”. Did you like it?

In this 30th volume, several new supporting characters appeared at once. But don’t worry. Even if you don't remember their names, it won't cause you any inconvenience with reading the series to the end. It will be enough for you to remember that Tatsuya and Miyuki get strong allies in America, and that the world famous Indo-Persian scientist suggested organizing the autonomy of the "race of magicians."

I think readers will remember that at the very end of the story of the Yokohama Invasion Arc, it was mentioned that “it was the day when the story of the glory and tribulations of the magician race begins”. The terms "magian" and "magist", as well as the path to becoming a global autonomy of the "magian" are nothing more than the same "story of glory and tribulations" mentioned in the Yokohama Invasion Arc. After

23 volumes (excluding SS), a return to this hidden in words hint took place. And unfortunately, in “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” you won't be able to fully unfold this hidden storyline. After all, this issue won't have time to be resolved before Tatsuya and Miyuki graduate from high school.

And now we move on to some behind-the-scenes moments in writing this story.

It goes without saying that all the names of ships and aircrafts mentioned in this volume are "completely fictitious and have nothing to do with the real ones." “Shangri-La” is another matter (it’s okay, it didn’t sink, right?), But I just couldn’t give it another name. I apologize if any historical parallels coincided.

Horned Owl is a member of the Strigidae family. Although, people with some English skills know that. Owls (striges) are also birds of prey, so they can be used for fighter names.

F-141 is a play on words from "one for one" (1x1). This phrase carries the meaning of

"one plane - one goal of destruction." This means that it won't lose in a one-on-one air battle. I hope that in the real future there won't be such a model number.

The “Crowned Hawk” is short for “Crowned Hawk-Eagle.” The “Crowned Hawk-Eagle,” is the largest bird of prey in Africa. Please do not pay attention to the fact that the American army uses the name of a bird that is not indigenous to the American continent.

I think many expected (hoped?) That this time the confrontation between Tatsuya and Minoru would end. However, as I once mentioned, Minoru is the "final boss." “Final”

means its storyline will hold out until the final volume. As to whether attention will be paid to him in the next volume, it is yet to be decided.

... But even though I called him the “final boss,” many probably have the feeling that it wasn’t Minoru who got in the way of Tatsuya, but, on the contrary, Tatsuya became an obstacle for Minoru.

Further more, I plan to take a break from the main series for one volume and release the third volume of the Shiba Tatsuya Assassination Plan. Afterwards, it is planned to release the next volume of the main series, which will be called "The Future".

And as a small preview of the Future Arc: the issue with Bezobrazov will finally be resolved in this arc. Besides Bezobrazov, other Strategic-Class Magicians will also act as enemies. The world will face the crisis of the Fourth World War and the First Magical

War, which will flare up around Japan. Do not miss it.

I'll meet you again in the next, 31st volume of “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei .”

(Satou Tsutomu)