Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 10 - Visitor Chapter (II) Read online

  Tatsuya never bothered with Lina’s expression. His eyes were focused on keeping Erika and Katsuto in his line of sight.

  "I will contact my side for that."

  In response to Katsuto’s reply, Tatsuya nodded in assent.

  Tatsuya glanced at Katsuto and Erika,

  Miyuki watched Tatsuya and Erika,

  Katsuto kept his eyes on Tatsuya and Lina,

  Erika was eyeing Tatsuya and Miyuki.

  Only Mikihiko was observing the entire scene, so of course he was the first one to detect the anomaly.

  "Watch out!"

  The hurriedly issued warning was kept short due to the pressing nature of the situation. In spite of this, the warning still achieved the desired effect. Katsuto cast a barrier to block the electricity being generated by the Dispersal System in midair while Tatsuya employed Counter Magic to dispel it.

  Miyuki and Erika both whipped their heads towards the caster who released the magic.

  As the two of them stood there in bemusement, the woman responsible for releasing the magic remained frozen. A human being of flesh and blood, no, even nonhumans would have found it impossible to cling onto their consciousness – that, was public knowledge.

  Yet here, all of this was overturned. The ice statue was covered in electricity.

  "Self-destruct!?"

  Lina was the one who released that mournful groan.

  "Everyone down!"

  Katsuto and Tatsuya called out at the same time. Tatsuya covered Miyuki while Mikihiko threw his arms around Mizuki. Katsuto, Erika, and Lina all crouched down in defensive positions.

  Bursting through Miyuki’s ice, Michaela’s body was wrapped in flames. Like a paper held before the flame, they were immediately extinguished.

  Afterwards – the dancing ashes dissipated before magic shot towards Tatsuya, Miyuki, Lina, Erika, and Katsuto from previously empty locations.

  Right now, the wintry sky might be covered in dark clouds that heralded the coming of snow at any moment. However, the thunderbolts from the rain were not coming from the clouds, but from seemingly random locations. This was not lightning, given that its speed was far short of tens of thousands of meters per second and was well within the visible spectrum. At most, this was about the speed of an arrow shot from a bow.

  Still, even an electrical ball of this size was sufficient to render all movement impossible. Taking ten shots from these at the same time would definitely result in death.

  Furthermore, even if the speed was slow enough for the eye to follow, there was no time to erect defensive barriers when fired at a distance within ten meters. The reason they could block the first attack was because there were still traces remaining of the barrier created to block what they had mistakenly assumed to be a suicide attack. If this attack had been launched out of the blue, there was no way they could have all escaped unscathed. In addition, the danger was still present.

  Before Miyuki could turn her head, Tatsuya had already used magic to erase the flash that suddenly appeared behind her back.

  The electric ball gathered over Erika’s head was dispersed by the charged ice particles Miyuki created.

  Katsuto blocked the flash while Lina’s plasma neutralized the current.

  There was no trace that an Activation Sequence was involved. Regardless of whether it was the electric ball or force that applied the rotational motion, both were phenomenon alterations that resulted from Magic Sequences forged by psions.

  By using the phenomenon alterations in the air that caused electrons to converge as a premonition, they barely managed to hold out against the attacks that could appear from anywhere.

  Again, there was no sign of a Magician. At the very least, they weren’t within Tatsuya’s "vision". Given that they could elude Tatsuya’s "vision", their opponent was no Magician.

  (So this is a Parasite!)

  Magic was something released from the pushions floating in the Idea’s seas.

  Mikihiko and Mizuki were sequestered a little further away from the other five in the shadows of the trailer.

  The flashes in the sky dissipated in front of Tatsuya and his companions. This was what Mizuki beheld with her eyes, since she was unable to see the magical harbingers and fallout. All of the magical shockwaves were being cut off by the barrier. Based on her earlier experience, Mikihiko arrived at the conclusion that this was absolutely necessary for Mizuki. Thanks to this, the two of them were able to avoid the lightning strikes. After abandoning the confines of flesh, the information body appeared to be unable to perceive light and sound, thus forced to use magic waves to feel out the world.

  Their friends’ predicament was not as fortuitous. The Parasite’s attack was scattered because of its inclination to launch surprise attacks. Tatsuya’s group was not being overwhelmed, but neither were they able to retaliate since they had no idea where the next attack was coming from. The monster’s attacks failed to tell on Tatsuya and company, nor could they land a decisive strike on their opponent.

  "How strange…… Why hasn’t it fled yet……?"

  Mizuki’s ears caught wind of Mikihiko’s words.

  Upon hearing this, she suddenly started paying attention to details that hitherto escaped her grasp.

  As to why the vampire – or Parasite, repeatedly used ineffective attacks.

  While there was no way to ascertain if the Parasite possessed a will or judgment, assuming this was their innate nature or mechanical reflex, then there must be some sort of reason forcing them to keep up this obstinate assault.

  Exactly why is that?

  This question kept floating around in Mizuki’s mind.

  Before the phenomenon alteration could occur, Tatsuya had already broken down the Magic Sequence devised by the Parasite.

  Maybe it was because there was no replacement, but in the beginning he had not been able to grasp the key components of the Activation Sequence deployment. Now, Tatsuya was able to perfectly intercept the Parasite’s magic attacks.

  After obtaining the necessary opening to launch a counterattack, his mind also found the leisure to begin analyzing the conundrum at the same time.

  "Shiba, what do you think the reason is?"

  It was the same for Katsuto.

  Right now, with Miyuki, Erika, and Lina in tow, Katsuto and Tatsuya were arrayed in a formation where everyone had their backs to one another. Though they were unable to see each other’s faces, this was not going to disrupt their ability to understand each other’s questions.

  "I’m not certain if this is its intent or innate ability, but there must be some reason why we must be kept here."

  "So it could flee whenever it wants to."

  "At the very least, I have no way of restraining it."

  "Likewise. In the end, we don’t even know where it is."

  Katsuto was pretty much in the same boat as Tatsuya. Even if their perception through the Idea told them the target was right there, they had no idea how to handle it in the physical world. There was no clearly defined target in the material world. There was a very fragile connection to any physical existence, which gave the impression that there was only a frail thread that barely maintained the connection in order to invoke magic.

  In addition, their opponent was a quantum information body. Tatsuya couldn’t break down its design even if he could identify the target, which left Tatsuya with no viable means of attack.

  "Lina, do you know anything?"

  As he said this, Tatsuya turned and pointed his CAD at Erika before pulling the trigger. By her side, the magic harbinger dissipated like mist.

  "……The true form of the vampire is a nonphysical entity known as a Parasite."

  She had planned on maintaining her silence even in the face of Tatsuya’s interrogation, but swiftly reevaluated that this wasn’t the time and place. Lina replied back in a bitter tone.

  "The definition coined at the London Conference. I already knew that."

  Yet, Tatsuya’s rejoinder was so shocking that i
t struck Lina dumb for a solid ten seconds.

  "……Really, you guys. Don’t tell me that all high school students in Japan would say the same thing."

  "Relax. By all standards, we are exceptions."

  Whether Lina could understand the hidden nuances behind his reference as exceptions rather than special remained unknown.

  "Well?"

  Since Tatsuya himself wasn’t clearly conscious of this, it would hardly be surprising if Lina missed it.

  "Parasites possess the human body and bring about mutations in humans. Though there seems to be some connection with its compatibility with the host, the Parasite’s movements seemed to be based off the host’s self-preservation instincts."

  "In other words, it wants to possess one of us."

  "Most likely."

  "How?"

  "Uncertain, which is why I’m hoping someone will teach me."

  "……How very useless."

  "Well, excuse me!"

  During this rough exchange of insults, Tatsuya and Katsuto still cooperated to completely nullify the Parasite’s attacks. Regardless, rather than hoping, Tatsuya held the belief that the Parasite’s energy was finite.

  The information body’s energy transfer system remained a mystery to him, but Tatsuya felt that it was highly unlikely that their opponent could endlessly release magic. Once it arrived at the conclusion that it couldn’t possess one of the five people in Tatsuya’s group – either through consciousness or instinct – it might elect to try and find another host elsewhere. Of course, that being said, purposefully allowing a possession was out of the question. He wasn’t arrogant enough to put himself on such a pedestal.

  —Any strategy that would yield a breakthrough remained elusive.

  "Shoot…… Erika’s being targeted."

  Keeping Mizuki safely at his back, Mikihiko was completely focused on watching his companions as those words involuntarily slipped from his mouth.

  "Did it notice that Erika is the only one who can’t hurt it…..."

  The foundation of Erika’s magic techniques favored close quarters combat against physical foes. Beyond long range shockwaves that could weaken an enemy, she didn’t possess any other abilities to counter enemies without a physical body.

  Mikihiko might be loath to admit this, but he was seriously growing worried. If he was any calmer, he might have noticed Mizuki overhearing his every word, a realization that would have immediately prompted him to stop his careless words.

  "If we at least knew where it was, then there would be some way to retaliate……"

  At Mikihiko’s muttering, Mizuki steeled herself.

  "Yoshida-kun, please remove the barrier."

  "Eh?"

  Mikihiko’s panicked response was not because he had forgotten about Mizuki’s presence, but rather because of the unexpected nature of her request.

  "Shibata-san, what are you planning?"

  "I might be able to tell where it is exactly."

  At these words, Mikihiko finally realized that he had been verbalizing his internal thoughts out loud. A terribly rueful expression crossed his face.

  Yet, Mizuki seemed not to care. Buoyed by a fierce will, she pinned Mikihiko in place with her upward gaze.

  "……I can’t, the stimulation would be far too strong for you. Even if I suppressed the demonic aura, there would still be side effects. I don’t even know what will happen once the barrier comes down and you stare directly into that demonic aura. In the worst case scenario, there is the chance of going blind."

  "Since the moment I chose to become a Magician, I have long resolved myself to face that risk. Erika-chan is in serious danger, no? If I don’t provide any assistance now, then the power I hold will truly become pointless. My very purpose for being here becomes null and void."

  He knew exactly what Mizuki was trying to say. Mikihiko was educated under precisely the same set of values.

  However, Mizuki was a young girl born to an affluent but mundane – mundane referred to the fact that her family was not magically gifted – family who just happened to manifest her ancestor’s natural ability to see spirits. Her bloodline was so thin, her family so peripheral that if she had not been born, their connection to their magical practitioner of an ancestor would never have been known. She should have been raised by a pair of parents who knew nothing of the ways of Magicians.

  There was no reason she should have been so resolute. She was a young woman who didn’t need to bear such determination.

  You cannot say these words – say things like that, Mikihiko wanted to say. Those were words that were more befitting of people like himself who saw themselves as nothing more than that which accompanied magic, who used magic to obtain livelihood and recompense from their fellow man, and not the words of a young girl who just so happened to be born with magic. At least, that was how Mikihiko felt.

  Setting aside that he was only a "young man", this was what Mikihiko was considering.

  "……I understand."

  Finally, he could only bow before Mizuki’s request. How ironic was it that he had been given a shove from behind by the very same restrictive values that bound him as a scion of a famous magical family.

  Mikihiko pulled out a folded cloth from his sports jacket pocket and handed it to Mizuki. Seeing Mizuki accepting the cloth without fully comprehending, he motioned for her to "try and spread it out". That cloth was surprisingly thin and its area barely covered a shawl. This was an artifact for magical defense that was based off the "Ofudas" in Shinto artifacts.

  "Wear that around your neck. If you feel in danger, immediately pull it over your eyes. This should have the same effect as the glasses Shibata-san wears."

  Persuaded by Mikihiko’s stern tone, Mizuki tied the thin cloth around her neck without skepticism.

  Now, Mikihiko reached out with one hand and untied the cloth from her head and shifted it so that both sides were symmetrical on her shoulders as the cloth fell before her chest.

  Mizuki seemed to be overly nervous at the slight touches to her head and shoulders, but Mikihiko seemed intent on something else.

  "Promise me you will never force yourself. Erika would never want someone to sacrifice themselves for her."

  "……I promise."

  With Mikihiko’s eyes locked onto her, Mizuki forgot her embarrassment and nodded.

  After hearing Mikihiko’s whispered words, "We’re going in", Mizuki tightly clasped the two ends of the cloth that dangled down.

  A simple yes seemed like such a short reply, but she had to give it her all so that her voice didn’t quaver.

  Mizuki was so terrified that she couldn’t even tell herself not to be afraid.

  Yet amazingly, she never even thought of running away.

  For some mysterious reason, Mizuki sincerely believed that this was to be her role.

  Mikihiko muttered something that Mizuki could not understand.

  In the next instant, a wave of chaos came rushing forward.

  She didn’t even have time to register the pain in her eyes.

  Mizuki felt pain stabbing all over her body.

  She couldn’t even tell which part of her body was in pain.

  Pumping strength into her buckling knees, she opened her eyes.

  On an average day, how much had she missed by closing her eyes – Mizuki finally got that kind of feeling.

  Before her eyes that beheld another world, there was a foreign object sticking out like a sore thumb.

  Mizuki’s instincts told her that that was the Parasite.

  The magic shot out by the Parasite vanished when it came into contact with Katsuto’s barrier.

  Mizuki was able to see the tiny threads that seemed to be hidden in that electrical attack.

  The long, thin strands stalked towards Miyuki, Lina, and Erika, but were blocked aside by Katsuto’s barrier and torn to shreds by Tatsuya’s shots.

  Mizuki had no basis for this, but she believed those thin strands tucked inside the electrical att
ack would invade the human body through the body’s electrical current.

  She could only watch.

  "There."

  Her mouth moved on its own as her wrist spontaneously pointed. Mizuki was like the audience on the other side of the silver screen as she watched this sight.

  "Approximately 20 meters above Erika-chan’s head, one meter to the right, 50 meters to the rear. That is the point of contact."

  Mizuki pointed out the hole in the world that enabled these strands to slip out.

  Mikihiko didn’t even bother to waste time on speaking as his fingers danced across the CAD. It was a fan-shaped equipment. He opened the talisman that recorded Yamashina’s flames, infused his psions, and deployed the Activation Sequence.

  Anti-demon magic, Karura-En – specifically designed to counter things that were not information bodies. The independent information body that formed its "flames" shot towards the coordinates that Mizuki pointed at.

  While Tatsuya was aware of the concept of "ignition" despite the lack of any materialization of "something burning", he truly witnessed that the magic launched against the detached information body had brought harm to the Parasite.

  While that was the enemy’s situation before his eyes, Tatsuya could not help but be caught by surprise.

  SB Magic – the fundamentals of Spirit Magic were known to Tatsuya. Using free floating, independent information bodies in the Idea to interfere with information bodies that have been separated from the phenomena, then materializing the physical effects of the independent information body was the system how Spirit Magic worked.

  Right now, the magic displayed by Mikihiko functioned along the same theory. The difference was that the materialization effect was not happening in the physical dimension but in the nonphysical dimension.

  For magic that was designed to act upon the information body, this was neither rare nor astounding. The magic he wielded to break down information bodies was the same and was magic that, on some level, overwrote the information body itself.

  However, Mikihiko’s magic used one of the cornerstone principles behind the systems of magic theory by utilizing the fact that "if phenomena are accompanied by information bodies, then the information body that accompanies the phenomena is recorded in the Idea", thus using the information body that tagged along and not interfering with the physical dimension to directly interfere with the Idea. The "combustion" never occurred in the physical world, but something in the Idea was rewritten to "being burnt".