6 Chapter : 6 Part (1)

July 8, 2097, 0:00 AM Japanese time.

The Far Eastern fleet of the New Soviet Union left the port of Vladivostok.

"The fleet of the New Soviet Union is approaching."

After this news, many enterprises and educational institutions located in the regions on the coast of the Sea of Japan took steps to suspend work and study.

People living along the coast in Sanin, Hokuriku, and Tohoku were ordered to advised to prepare for evacuation to shelters. The areas surrounding the cities were also encouraged to remain vigilant.

The Yokohama incident that took place the year before last was a sudden event –

there was no time to prepare, and people were not afraid of the approaching army until after the fact. By the time most people knew about it, it was already over – and Japan had won. In contrast, this time the New Soviet Union advanced openly, putting heavy pressure on the people and damaging their psyche.

At noon Japanese time, the New Soviet Union's fleet stopped 30 nautical miles north-west of the Noto Peninsula. It was a convenient spot, located on the border of two adjacent waters.

The Soviet fleet was as follows:

Two ships with Fleming launchers as their main armament, designed to attack ground targets.

Four ships with anti-aircraft and anti-ship rocket launchers.

Four ships with weapons to combat submarines and anti-ship rocket launchers.

Twelve small ships in battle formation.

An aircraft carrier with two destroyers as escorts following 10 nautical miles behind the rest of the fleet.

Against this fleet, the Japanese army sent four ships with anti-aircraft and anti-ship rocket launchers as well as six ships anti-ship rocket launchers and with weapons to combat submarines. In addition, each of the nearby cities (Maizuru, Kanazawa, and Niigata) had 8 small ships ready for combat.

Both sides had submarines that might have detected each other somewhere under the water.

The New Soviet Union's requirement had not changed since the day before –

they demanded the extradition of Liu Li Lei, a war criminal who killed many civilians with large-scale magic.

In response to this demand, the Japanese government had offered to hold a meeting in the International Criminal Court. They had responded from the perspective of human rights, stating that a unilateral New Soviet Union court was unacceptable to the rights of the refugee. However, the International Criminal Court had not functioned for more than half a century – it was currently a nominal organization, which, while technically existing, had no power.

Still, despite the government's stance on protecting human rights, the government received criticism for defending Liu – "Is it reasonable to endanger the lives of citizens for the sake of a foreigner?" they argued. However, when the news showed photos of Liu, the voices scorning the government lose their support as people felt sympathy seeing that Liu was just a 14-year-old girl. This might have been helped by the fact that Liu was beautiful.

Liu Li Lei was still at Komatsu base.

And today, Ichijou Akane visited Liu with her father, Ichijou Goki - head of the Ichijou family.

◊ ◊ ◊

Local time: July 8, afternoon. Masaki and Kichijouji were on Sado Island.

They had arrived there early in the morning, but not because they weren't aware of the movements of the New Soviet Union's fleet. The reports claimed the enemy was aiming west of Noto Peninsula, but Masaki trusted Kichijouji's opinion and instead headed to Sado Island while leaving the duty of guarding his sister while looking after Liu Li Lei to his father.

Masaki and Kichijouji stood on the upper observation platform of the lighthouse, located on the northern coast of the island. From there, it was possible to see the approach of enemy ships without letting themselves be detected easily.

"George... Will they really come here?"

Masaki asked Kichijouji this while looking at the horizon. Doubt had inevitable crept into his voice – the New Soviet Union's fleet was located north-west of the Noto Peninsula in a location similar to what the reports had predicted. Masaki was ready to repel this fleet with great enthusiasm by using the new magic he had received

yesterday, but Kichijouji had strongly insisted that the New Soviet Union would not invade Kanazawa or Komatsu, but rather Sado Island. Masaki could not ignore the words of his best friend, so he left the neighborhood of Kanazawa and Komatsu to his father and headed to Sado. However, the Ichijou family's news and information network reported that the enemy fleet continued to be northwest of the Noto Peninsula

– they would have to turn sharply east to head for Sado Island at this point.

"…At this rate, the new magic will be for naught" – this was the thought Masaki's impatience associated with.

"They will come. I'm certain."

In response to Masaki's doubt, Kichijouji was somehow still unnaturally filled with confidence.

Kichijouji had wondered why Sado Island was attacked from the day he lost his life – his hometown and his parents. His conclusion was that the Island of Sado held significant military value.

The distance from Sado Island to Honshu was 30 kilometers, and though the island was not in Japan's face, so to speak, it was still an island, and its proximity to the mainland made it a slightly unexpected target. Soldiers have to be sent by land – and there was enough space to invading troops, as well as a port ready for use by warships. It could be called a springboard for the New Soviet Union to invade Japan.

Rather than capture Hokkaido and move south, Sado Island provided a more effective base for conquering the central part of Japan.

When setting up a beachhead, the main challenge would be to ensure air supremacy, but that would be a problem everywhere. This possibility of an attack was a serious problem for Japan, as despite the attack from five years ago, there was only a single small defense unit deployed there.

In any case, Sado Island should have had a base for intercepting hostile naval forces because of its special situation. The main reason it didn't was likely because of overconfidence of the self-defense forces with the Niigata base nearby. Though this gave some safety to the island, the forces still had to travel to the island, which took time. This made it an especially appealing target for the New Soviet Union.

But Kichijouji also had another rationale for his actions.

"The Japanese fleet is not weak. The New Soviet Union does not want to face it. Even though the Great Asian Alliance has already surrendered, its troops are not completely disabled."

"Is that why they are planning a surprise attack?" Masaki asked.

"Exactly, Masaki."

◊ ◊ ◊

The National University of Magic and its nine subordinate schools all responded to the approach of Soviet fleet by closing school indefinitely, regardless of location.

This was not for the same reason as conventional educational institutions, in which the evacuation of students, teachers, and other staff was given the highest priority. It was a measure organized to allow their presence in the defense force as volunteer magicians.

Tatsuya should have appeared at the 101st brigade because of this, but instead he stayed home with Miyuki after visiting Minami at the Aoba clinic.

"Onii-sama, thanks for waiting."

After Miyuki finished cleaning the dishes from their lunch and dressed up, she came to the living room to get Tatsuya.

"Got it."

Tatsuya, who was following the current situation through military data transmissions and communications, turned off the wall display and stood up.

Together, they walked down to the underground garage and drove to the Aoba clinic in Chofu in Tatsuya's new favorite car. The road they drove on was empty due to the Soviet invasion, so the drive only took 5 minutes.

"Minami-chan, may I come in?"

"Please do!" Minami answered energetically. She was wide awake after hearing Miyuki from outside the hospital room. She seemed like a different person compared to the time she first went to the hospital, but this was natural as she was to be discharged the next day. Physically, she was nearly recovered.

"Tatsuya-san, Miyuki-san, thank you for coming. There are currently no anomalies."

When they entered the room, Yuuka - the eldest daughter of the Tsukuba family, one of the side branches of the Yotsuba clan - spoke to them. The Yotsuba clan did not discriminate against either sex when choosing the heir, and she was the heir of the Tsukuba branch.

"Yuuka-san, thanks. Your help was appreciated."

Tatsuya and Miyuki had asked Yuuka to guard Minami for them while they ate their lunch. Miyuki thanked Yuuka in past tense to indicate that they were once again taking the role of guarding Minami.

"It's my pleasure."

Yuuka got up from the couch, currently pushed against the wall. Yuuka had brought it in order to have more comfortable seating, and the hospital room was spacious enough to hold it, but the couch did not belong to Yuuka – it was paid for by the main house.

The couch had been in the room for 1 week, the amount of time Yuuka had participated in Minami's defense.

"I will be in the guard room on this floor, then."

"Later, I will also go there."

With a slight wave of her hand at Tatsuya, Yuuka left the room. Miyuki exchanged glances with Tatsuya, and after a bit of hesitation, she sat down on the sofa Yuuka had gotten up from. Tatsuya did not follow her – the sofa was single – and instead sat on the stool.

"Looks like you're prepared to be discharged," Tatsuya said.

"What kind of preparation even is there... there isn't enough baggage to make it tough..."

As Minami said, the suitcase at the entrance was very small, and considering she usually acted as a maid, it was unsurprising she would be ready.

"Tomorrow at 11 o'clock, right? If school's closure was only today, then it will only be me here to pick you up," Tatsuya said.

"Why waste so much time!" Minami exclaimed.

"It doesn't take much time."

Minami opened her mouth several times before closing it, trying to come up with a way to deny the help. In the end, she only sighed a little and closed her mouth, realizing she would not be able to convince Tatsuya.

"Um, Tatsuya-sama..."

Still, she couldn't suppress her desire to ask a question.

"Speak."

Hearing that, Minami asked her question.

"…Is it really okay for you to not go to the base?"

What she really meant to ask was, "why are you here?"

"It's all good. They sent someone as a replacement for me."

... He cannot leave this location to others.

... He will personally protect Minami.

So, Minami understood Tatsuya's answer.

◊ ◊ ◊

The high-speed transport catamaran Midway went along the aircraft carrier Independence's course for some time, but they eventually split up as Midway turned south and west. The ship headed for an area about 90 km south of Boso Peninsula.

On that ship, Regulus, Raymond, Vega, Deneb, Spica, and the twenty Parasites of Star Dust all headed towards Miyaki Island.

◊ ◊ ◊

"Are they already starting?"

Minoru, though still at Zama Base, was able to "feel" the course of the Midway transport vessel change, signaling that the attack on the Star Reactor Plant was underway.

Minoru was still inside the USNA transport aircraft. The plane was damaged and could not fly, and the cargo compartment hid the body of the sealed commander of the third detachment of Stars: Captain Arcturus, as a Parasite.

Minoru had been relentlessly trying to remove the seal on Arcturus. He was currently at the final stage.

"After this, his consciousness has to awaken!"

After preparing the spell, Minoru sent it into Arcturus's mind. The sequence of the mental intervention magic he had prepared for the last several hours entered into Arcturus' pushion information body through the psionic information body connecting the physical body to the mind.

Once the spell activated, Minoru felt Arcturus's mind awaken. Though his body was still asleep, Minoru finally felt Arcturus's spiritual body react.

"Well. . Now it's just a matter of time before the seal falls apart on the inside."

Based on his "inherited" knowledge, Minoru thought that the cracked seal would collapse from outside pressure if the shell was not repaired.

"That's just. ."

Something bothered him. He had aroused the mind of the man named Alexander Arcturus - the seal on the parasite was extremely strong, and its system was different from the spells of Zhou Gongjin and the Kudou Family, so he had used a spell to awaken the human mind.

In Parasites, the original human mind merged with the body of the parasite, so there was a non-zero chance of the human mind rejecting the parasite if only the human mind is awoken.

". .Even if this happens, they should simply merge again."

Arcturus's brain had already adapted to the parasite, so Minoru convinced himself the reaction rejecting the parasite would not kill him.

Using Parade and Ghost Walker, Minoru hid himself and walked out of the plane.

Ghost Walker covered the weakness Parade – the unnatural refraction of light – by deflecting people's attention.

Remaining invisible, Minoru walked through the base's gate and crossed a nearby park on foot before getting into a van parked on the opposite side of the road. The car, brought from Nara on the orders of Kudou Makoto, was designed to transport valuable materials or drugs requiring temperature control. Now, however, it had been filled with parasite dol s disguised as dummies.

◊ ◊ ◊

Masaki and Kichijouji did not have chairs or anything else to sit on while they waited on the observation deck of the lighthouse. There was the large CAD shaped like a suitcase, but it wasn't big enough for a high school student to sit on.

They were young enough that they didn't tire much from standing, but their youth did not affect their minds and they began to become bored and more relaxed. Still, they did their best to stay vigilant and overall were carefully watching for the New Soviet Union's invasion fleet.

"They're moving!" Kichijouji exclaimed while watching the movement of the Soviet fleet through a tablet terminal.

"Where!?" Masaki exclaimed.

"Small high-speed ships accompanied by ships with weapons designed to attack ground targets simultaneously began to move to the east. They have… monstrous acceleration. They will reach our location in less than an hour."

Hearing the answer, Kichijouji, Masaki sighed and said:

"Estimated maximum speed of about 140 knots. .? Approximately the same speed as our fastest ships, I guess. What about the interception forces?"

Kichijouji began digging for information from the tablet to answer Masaki's question.

"It looks like our missile destroyers are restraining the enemy destroyers and are not letting them do anything. Komatsu base aviation is being used to deter enemy aircraft carrier fighters. Eight small ships departed from Niigata base, but… the unfavorable outcome is undeniable."

"So we use it?"

"Yeah."

Kichijouji nodded to Masaki.

"We'll interfere with the enemy operation. Before Bezobrazov attacks with Tuman Bomba, you'll hit them with Ocean Blast, Masaki."

"Yes, I'll do it!"

Masaki nodded back in response to Kichijouji.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya and Miyuki were still visiting Minami at Aoba Clinic. Though Miyuki was with them, Tatsuya was an eighteen-year-old boy and Minami was a girl turning seventeen later in the year, so Tatsuya's long stay in the small hospital room (when compared to the side of the Yotsuba houses; the hospital room was relatively large for a hospital room) created an awkward atmosphere. Tatsuya left and went to the security room to get rid of the feeling.

The hospital was mostly under the Yotsuba family's control, and the floor Minami's room was on was reserved for individuals associated with the Yotsuba.

Because of this control, this floor had an additional security system installed in addition to the security equipment set up by the hospital. Among other purposes, this system was designed to track information from all over the hospital and display it in the floor's guard room.

"Ara, Tatsuya-san. Good job."

As Yuuka said she would be earlier, she was waiting for Tatsuya in the guard room.

"Yuuka-san, thank you for your help. Are you replaced soon?"

"According to the schedule, I am, but I want to stay here for a while today."

Though at times it made her seem impermanent, Yuuka was punctual. She was not the type of person to work overtime without a reason.

"Okay. To be honest, it will help me quite a bit."

Tatsuya was thankful for the help, but he understood Yuuka's reason for staying.

"In the current situation, that Ministry of Defense Bureaucrat cannot prioritize personal conflicts."

Yuuka was referring to Shibata Katsushige when she said "Ministry of Defense Bureaucrat" - the next head of the Shibata branch of the Yotsuba family. Katsushige's direct combat ability was probably the best among the side branches of the Yotsuba, and his inability to participate in the current battle against Minoru due to the situation with the New Soviet Union was definitely a hit to the force protecting Minami.

"…Listen, you think he'll attack today, right?" Yuuka confirmed.

"I just do not know exactly when."

Tatsuya answered with an indirect confirmation.

"I wonder if it was Kudou Minoru who created this situation."

"Hardly. Still, there is a chance that he knew about it in advance, so he is probably prepared."

"Maybe."

They both expected that Minoru would attack today, and they both thought that this time, he would come with help.

"He'll come with more than the Parasite dolls, right?" Yuuka asked.

Tatsuya had learned from Fumia and Yuuka from his report to Maya, but regardless of where they learned it, they both knew that Minoru had stolen Parasite dolls from the Kudou family.

"Minoru is no longer underestimating us," Tatsuya answered vaguely.

"And yet, I wonder if there won't be any trick to split our forces up. Do you think there'll be an attack on Miyaki Island?"

"We know that at least 1 member of Stars is a Parasite, so there's not a small chance for it to happen," Tatsuya answered.

Lina had drawn Tatsuya's attention to the possibility that the plant on Miyaki Island would be attacked, and Tatsuya was not the only one from the Yotsuba aware of the possibility of an attack on Miyaki Island. In addition to this, Lina had also confirmed that the soldier who had entered the country through Kansai International Airport was First Lieutenant Jacob Regulus of Stars.

"However, the other Parasites expelled were sealed in Zama, and since then, no military aircraft have flown in from USNA. Local staff should be able to cope with defending Miyaki Island on their own," Tatsuya continued.

Tatsuya had no way to know that new Parasites had penetrated the country from Yokosuka's base. He also had no way to know that the soldiers infected by the Parasites had been transferred from the transport plane to a high=speed transport vessel via a submarine. None of the Yotsuba were aware of these facts – even Maya herself.

"In an extreme case, it will be possible to count on the help of Shields-san," Tatsuya concluded.

Neither Tatsuya nor the Yotsuba were omnipotent – they were far from even reaching omniscience, and did not know the whole situation.

◊ ◊ ◊

The catamaran Midway rested low on the surface of the water and had a long form, and being fast, it also was somewhat stealthy. Still, even if it were possible to hide from radar detection, the high-performance cameras located on the stratospheric platform would still detect them, so they should not have been able to come close to Japanese territory without being detected – even if their target was a small island.

"Lieutenant Regulus. Have you ever had such an effective optical camouflage before?" Vega asked.

In fact, Regulus had neutralized the observation systems around Japan by modifying both visible light and all other electromagnetic waves around the ship, providing a powerful optical camouflage.

"This spell was given to us by Kudou Minoru to ensure the success of this operation,"

Regulus answered honestly.

By nature, the Parasites could not keep secrets from their comrades, but even if it was possible, even Regulus was too surprised with his new magic to even think about deception.

"Your magical skill improved dramatically after being given a single sequence of magic?"

Spica's question was one Regulus had asked himself.

"Isn't it because we are Parasites? Our minds are connected, so perhaps when we share sequences of magic with each other, we also share the skills in using them."

"Isn't it weird?" Raymond butted in.

"What's strange about it?" Regulus asked.

"When a magician becomes a Parasite, they tend to specialize in the same magic as they did before."

Raymond had more knowledge on this than the others because of his use of Hliðskjálf.

"Isn't that because we keep the personality?"

Raymond shook his head at Deneb's question.

"I don't doubt Parasite individuality, but we, the Parasites, are parts of a whole. In other words, I'm talking about a division of labor."

"Are you saying that's why sharing skills is weird?"

This time he nodded at Regulus's question.

"Giving another Parasite the ability to use one's skill is like using one's skill through the Parasite, so its weird – then again, Minoru is weird for a Parasite. He's different."

"I don't like this. ." Vega mumbled after she heard Raymond's reasoning.

"It's like Kudou Minoru is using Regulus as a familiar," she thought.

"…At the moment, focus on successful implementation of the mission. Regardless of the nature of the optical camouflage magic, it's proven useful by allowing us to get close to Miyaki Island."

The five Parasites present understood what Vega meant without saying it.

They were all there, and Minoru wasn't.

◊ ◊ ◊

Minoru smiled wryly while being driven from Zama to Chofu in the van he had received from the Kudou family. Though the beautiful and bewitching smile belonged to Minrou, the image of Zhou Gongjin peeked through.

Vega's suspicion on the transport vessel had been correct. To ensure the success of Stars' sabotage mission, Minoru used optical camouflage magic through Regulus.

Regulus believed he was using the magic himself, but in fact that Minoru was controlling the magic.

No matter the knowledge Zhou Gongjin had possessed, Minoru would not have been able to do this if he tried it on a person. He could have made a puppet like Gu Jie, but it would have been difficult to make the puppet act as if it had free will.

However, unlike people, Parasites had a common mind that blurred their ego, so Minoru was able to use Regulus as a medium from which to activate the magic.

Minoru saw no reason to be discrete. He didn't consider Regulus and Raymond to be close – he only saw them as prisoners of Parasites, and himself the Parasite's master.

He did not help Regulus and the others because they were Parasites. He helped them because their actions would give him a chance to abduct Minami. Still, the help went both ways – despite the lack of feeling, it was a mutually beneficial relationship, and this has not changed.

They helped each other to help themselves reach each of their own goals. He didn't care what they thought of him, because once they would alienate themselves from each other once they reached their goals.

Minoru felt a breeze as the car entered Chofu. The van he was in, loaded with Parasite dolls, was not alone. Five cars of the same make and model were making their way to the same destination on different routes. Minoru knew this through traffic control information, and not some psychic line of communication with the Parasite dolls – despite his powers, modern technology was still convenient.

"Minami-san, wait for me .. !"

All that was left was to wait for a convenient moment. Minoru hoped that the sabotage of the Star reactor plant would at least be partially successful, for he needed a good distraction.

◊ ◊ ◊

When Minoru arrived in Chofu, Minami had changed her hospital clothes for casual everyday clothes and left her room with Miyuki.

They sat on opposite sides of the table in the visiting room looking at a tablet about the size of an A4 sheet of paper (210x297 mm, ~8½x11in). When fully dep They sat across from each other across the table in the visiting room. On the table lay a folding tablet the size of an A4 sheet of paper. When unfolded, it became closer to the size of an A3 sheet (420x297mm). This terminal held all the second-year textbooks for First High.

The above makes it clear what they were doing: Miyuki was helping Minami with her studies.

Last week held the final exams for the first semester. Minami, unable to take them due to her special circumstances, received the right to take the exams separately when she returned. However, she still needed to understand the content she had missed.

She did not had time to study during the first half of her month of hospitalization, so now she had to make up for lost time. Modern school education was not taught by a teacher and was instead student driven – the amount of knowledge learned depended on the student's drive for studying at the terminal. Unfortunately, Minami was not one to easily grasp magic theory.

Unable to listen to Minami's agonizing sighs, Miyuki decided to take on the role of a teacher and help Minami. In contrast to when she was learning from the textbook, Minami sat with a straight face listening intently to Miyuki explaining the topics gracefully with a smile. This was in no small part due to her feelings of guilt at having made her mistress take on the responsibility of a tutor. She was worried about wasting Miyuki's time, so she focused too intently on Miyuki's every word as she read the texts and studied the graphics. Ironically, focusing too much on the action of listening distracted her and her learning productivity slowed down.

Suddenly, she heard her name whispered in her ear. Her eyes clouded over, and her face showed surprise.

"…Minami-chan, what happened?" Miyuki asked, concerned. Minami hastily focused on Miyuki.

"I apologize!"

"Don't overstrain yourself. . is something bothering you?"

"No, nothing like that! I was just a distracted. I sincerely apologize for..." Minami started.

"You don't need to apologize."

Miyuki interrupted the second attempt to apologize with a smile.

"Let's take a break. Want some tea?"

"Oh, let me!" Minami said, jumping up to go to the vending machine.

With a slightly bitter smile, Miyuki allowed Minami to do what she wanted.

◊ ◊ ◊

At the lighthouse on Sado Island, Masaki pointed the aiming device for Ocean Blast's CAD at the sea.

"Ah! Communication should now be established."

Hearing Kichijouji, Masaki turned the aiming device towards the left.

"I see them! It's just… there are only six outlines of ships. Weren't there twelve?"

"I need to correct the scaling. I'll do that now."

Kichijouji used a tablet terminal connected by cable to the monitor and console to adjust the image projected by Masaki's glasses.

"...it's fine now!"

"Keep the sight in this position," Kichijouji said as he got out another information terminal.

Using this, he sent a prewritten encrypted message to the Kanazawa base, reading:

"Requesting permission to conduct an attack."

Kichijouji saw the figures of ships heading north out of his peripheral vision - the high-speed warships from Niigata base. They were still accelerating, and their current speed was over 50 knots.

"George!?" Masaki shouted in urgency.

"Not yet!"

Kichijouji told Masaki to wait, as they had not yet received permission to attack.

"But it's time!"

"Not!"

Kichijouji tried to restrain the impatient Masaki from attacking without permission.

Masaki raised his glasses on his forehead and turned to Kichijouji, but Kichijouji opened his mouth to ask Masaki to return to aiming. However, at that moment their faces froze at the same time.

Beyond the horizon – directly above the friendly ships – signs of widespread magic appeared. Both Kichijouji and Masaki remembered the psion waves from the magic three months ago that caused the explosion over the sea. At the time, Ichijou Goki had overheated his magic calculation area trying to block the magic.

The sound of an explosion roared, and water burst up above the horizon.

"Tuman Bomba?!"

Kichijouji silently nodded at Masaki's question before trying to clarify the status of the allied ships through an information terminal connected to Masaki's CAD.

However, in the short period of time since he had last checked, data from all eight ships sent by the Niigata base had stopped being transmitted.

"George! Please help with aiming again!"

Masaki put the glasses back on and aimed in the same direction. At the same time, a message arrived at Kichijouji's terminal: "the attack is allowed."

His thoughts cursing the indecisiveness of the self-defense forces, Kichijouji once again brought the convoy of enemy ships to the monitor.

"Masaki, don't forget the time delay! Focus on the predicted frame!"

Kichijouji shouted to remind Masaki of the time lag before activation, before noticing some other ships on the monitor.

"It looks like there are fishing boats 20 kilometers to the north! Move the sight further south or you'll sink it!"

"Correcting it so the northernmost warship is on the border of the target area!" Masaki responded.

Masaki pulled the trigger after adjusting the scope. The activation sequence stored in the computer was recalculated based on the target dimensions and coordinates.

The resulting data was converted to an activation sequence before being sent to the induction stone. The induction stone transformed the data into a psionic signal and released it.

Masaki's magic calculation area took the activation sequence and built a magic sequence. The time delay was about 1 second.

The convoy of enemy ships was speeding across the sea at about 120 knots, or roughly 60 meters per second. Their current position perfectly matched the predicted frame.

"Done!"

Masaki shouted at the same time the magic was projected. The wedge shaped area containing all the enemy ships was filled with magic sequences. As soon as the copying was complete, all the sequences simultaneously overwrote the surrounding phenomenon.

The surface of the sea in the target area evaporated for a depth of 3 meters. This was the result of using Rupture with chain casting.

This was the Strategic Class magic Ocean Blast.

The water turned into steam expanded rapidly, causing an explosion as the water molecules accelerated. This high-power steam explosion blew up all 12 ships of the New Soviet Union.

Thus, the New Soviet Union's attack on Sado Island ended in failure. The Japanese army sacrificed eight ships, but due to Masaki's Ocean Blast, the entire

"special" group of ships sent by the New Soviet Union fleet were destroyed.

July 8, 2097, 14:07.

Ichijou Masaki became the newest Strategic-Class Magician.

◊ ◊ ◊

Miyaki Island, northeast coast.

Lina was in the CAD development center which had been opened last month.

Testing magic with a magician was necessary when developing CADs, and the higher the specification of CAD being developed, the higher the skill requirements for the magician.

It was not even worth mentioning that Lina was a world-class magician, and this made her an extremely valuable tester for developers. Combined with the face that she had more than enough free time, she frequently visited the CAD development even when the researchers had not made a request – and both sides felt the exchange was for the others sake. Still, building a friendly relationship with those around her wasn't out of the ordinary, given her situation.

When Lina had first escaped, her CAD had been taken. When she asked Tatsuya to return it, Tatsuya responded by giving her a new CAD of the latest model, and Lina was satisfied with this result. She didn't have any reason to complain as her new CAD provided by Tatsuya was more efficient that the one she originally had, but she was still slightly dissatisfied – while fleeing from the USNA, she left her weapon armament "Brionac" in the weapons warehouse of Stars. She could not take the device on missions without permission from the general staff, so she naturally could not take it to Japan, but when one is separated from something they like, their heart starts to hurt. Just spending 1 tranquil week on the island was enough for Lina to miss her beloved Brionac.

Brionac operated based on FAE theory, but Tatsuya had confirmed to Lina that he understood the theory. Lina believed that the team of scientists on the island would be able to create a copy of Brionac under the guidance of Tatsuya, so she had gotten close to the CAD developers based on the small change that would fulfill her selfish desire and create a substitute for Brionac for her. She was at the development center with this intention, so today, too, she enthusiastically responded to the requests of the developers in the hope that the opportunity would come that she could get them to create the armament. But in the midst of her work…

"Waa!?" Lina screamed, stunned at an unexpected surging psionic wave. "What was that!?"

The wave did not hold significant power, but she felt an unpleasant feeling around her resembling a stab in the back because of her surprise. Lina was not the only one to feel the wave – the other magicians in the engineering room frowned.

"Are these excessive psions from attempting to activate large scale magic? But to have this much power, the source would have to be Strategic Class magic…"

Given the current international situation, it would most likely be Tuman Bomba or Thunderclap Tower, but neither of the magicians responsible for operating that magic would have wasted their strength like a newbie.

"How new?"

Suddenly, Lina remembered something.

"When someone uses magic for the first time, the dispersion of wasted psions makes the magician's inexperience clear… it this the new Strategic Class Tatsuya was developing?"

Lina had come to the correct conclusion, but she had no way to check her reasoning before an alarm sounded.

"A suspicious ship is approaching us!?"

"They managed to approach the inner boundary of the adjacent waters without detection by using stealth magic!?"

"This stealth magic!?"

Hearing the numerous shouts of technician, Lina shifted her attention to the sea.

◊ ◊ ◊

"What caused that wave just now!?"

Minoru's concentration was disturbed by the sudden surge of psionic waves originating from Masaki's Ocean Blast. He had been sitting in a van parked 1

kilometer from Minami's hospital in Chofu, waiting for an opportunity while maintaining the catamaran Midway's stealth magic through Regulus.

"Damn…"

His concentration lapse had caused him to lose control over the stealth magic. He immediately started to reactivate the magic, but decided it was meaningless. The transport vessel should have already been detected by both radar and stratospheric surveillance systems, so it would be impossible to hide again. Once tracking systems focus on the object, it becomes impossible to hide again in a way to deceive the observers.

"…The distraction should be more effective when they are detected just before the attack than with a completely sudden attack."

Minoru convinced himself with this argument and now focused completely on the hospital.

◊ ◊ ◊

The sudden psion waves startled the Parasites on Midway.

"Lieutenant Regulus!?" Vega yelled.

Vega was not the only one surprised at the suddenly disabled stealth magic.

"I apologize! I lost concentration because of the surge of psions!"

Regulus believed that it had been he who had lost concentration, not realizing that he was not the one controlling the spell.

"I'll restore it!"

Regulus hastily tried to re-activate the stealth magic.

"Don't bother, Lieutenant. That's enough," Vega said, stopping Regulus. "We're near the goal, so there's no need for the disguise anymore. Let's just start the invasion."

Following the orders of Vega, Deneb left the cabin. They were not using any flying combat suits for this operation because the Parasite-turned Star Dust soldiers had poor compatibility with flight magic. They planned to use traditional landing craft to reach the island, and Deneb had left to lead preparation of their landing craft.

"Lieutenant Spica and Lieutenant Regulus prepare to support the landing."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Though Midway's main purpose was for transport, it was equipped with a small number of anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and anti-submarine weapons. Being a transport craft, it had no use for weapons against ground targets, so they would not be able to attack the island from the boat. However, the ship had an abundance of small bombs which Spica and Regulus could use to attack with the help of transport magic.

They would support the landing by doing this.

"Raymond Clark. I ask you to protect the ship in the unlikely event of an attack,"

Vega finished before leaving to prepare for the landing with Deneb.

◊ ◊ ◊

Miyaki Island was divided into an area that was previously used as a prison for criminal magicians and an area for construction of several new research facilities. The first area was located on the west coast, and the second – including the Star Reactor plant – was on the northeast coast.

A suspicious ship was approaching Miyaki Island from the northeast, and the research facility staff quickly realized that the target was the Star Reactor plant.

By the time the catamaran of unestablished affiliation began to decelerate, it was already in Japan's territorial waters, but had not yet attacked any of the objects on the island. Miyaki Island was defended by a small detachment of maritime police reinforced by the Yotsuba family, but they could not take any measures besides inspecting the vessel before hostile intent was established.

However, the police boat was not even dispatched for this because it was clear the suspicious vessel was pursuing military objectives. They would not be allowed to inspect the vessel, and the approach of a police boat would only result in the destruction of the boat and death of operators.

The defense squad magicians took positions to be able to activate shield magic at any time, but as if reacting to it, the suspicious ship fired bombs as it approached the coast from 4 kilometers away. These shots were not given velocity physically from something like a grenade launcher or Fleming launcher, but rather were produced by movement magic. The bombs were small but numerous, and under this hail of explosive shells, the members of the defense squadron created magic barriers.

One by one, light flowers bloomed in the air. The fragments hitting the magic barriers did not have much impulse, but the flashes from the explosions lowered the visibility of the defenders.

"Light grenades?" one of the magicians supporting the barriers shouted.

Though they were against light munitions, the defenders maintained the magic barriers on the chance that there could be a real bomb among the light shells.

Meanwhile, the suspicious vessel continued to approach, and two amphibious vehicles separated from it. The administrative building immediately sent a command to intercept the vehicles, but there were not enough magicians to form a serious fighting force. Many of them were still needed to protect from catamaran's bombs.

First, the interception team attempted to prevent the vehicles from making it to land by knocking them over, but both amphibious boats were protected by counter-magic and the interception team was unable to directly influence the phenomenon around the ship. The magicians on the island quickly discarded the plan of directly attacking the boats with magic and instead used magic on the water.

They reproduced tidal currents to create streams of water from the coast.

They caused explosions on the surface of the water to create waves.

They made ice harpoons underwater and launched them towards the bottom of the boats.

However, movement-slowing magic was used to neutralize all of the physical attacks on the vehicles.

The interception unit's failure was not due to a lack of magic power. They were subordinates of the Mashiba family, one of the side branches of the Yotsuba, and had been responsible for defense and security when the island was a prison. Though they were not blood relatives of the Mashiba, they had experience violently suppressing dangerous criminals, and held reasonable strength as magicians. They were strong, but the Parasites were stronger.

The magicians of the interception unit already knew their opponents were Parasites –

Miyaki Island had been equipped with experimental radars for detecting Parasite activity.

The landing craft began to bombard the interception team with bullets and grenades as they got closer, putting the team in a position where they couldn't even look out from cover to see where the fire was coming from.

The defense team could not send reinforcements to assist the interception team.

The bombardment from the catamaran continued periodically, so all of the defenders

were necessary. Meanwhile, the staff of the administrative building notified the main house of the Yotsuba and asked for instructions.

◊ ◊ ◊

The administrative building was not the only area observing the attack on the island. Lina was also watching the transmission from a camera behind the defense squad through a large display in the CAD building. Suddenly, she took off her helmet used to measure CADs and went to the engineer in charge of the testing.

"Hey."

"W-What?" he asked, slightly startled.

Lina's beauty was comparable to Miyuki. The thirty-year-old scientist swallowed his tongue as the unmatched beauty stood in front of him and spoke.

"Other than this measuring helmet, is there anything that's blast proof?"

Lina was accustomed to this place and spoke at ease, but her question seemed out of place in the CAD building. The researcher rounded his eyes at the request, surprised and suddenly feeling worried.

Ignoring the researcher's surprise, Lina continued.

"Also, is there any armored-clothing that allows movement?"

Lina wore a protective suit while testing CADs in case her magic got out of control.

The suit would at least work to soften the external shock, reducing Lina's injuries.

However, it wasn't made taking into account the need to move, so it was unsuitable for battle.

"T-there is, but…"

"What's the size?" Lina asked.

"I think it will fit," the researcher responded.

"How fast can you prepare it?"

"But why?"

The last question did not come from the researcher Lina was talking to until now, but from a different employee who looked to be 25 years old.

"That ship is a US Navy transport ship."

Lina said this while looking at the catamaran from the satellite view shown on the display.

"The attackers are Parasites, so I should be the one to deal with them."

"..." The researchers didn't have a response for Lina.

"I am not Sirius here," Lina said as her tone changed, "but I am not going to silently observe the mistakes of my comrades."

Even though she had been exiled, she still considered herself to be a USNA citizen and member of the USNA military.

Lina wanted to protect her army's dignity, not as "Sirius", but as an ordinary combat magician.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya received an emergency call from the main house while he was in the security room on Minami's floor. It was a special emergency line and not the usual telephone line, and while Tatsuya knew of the system's existence, he did not expect it would be used to communicate with him.

"Tatsuya-sama, I apologize, but this will only be a voice call."

"Hanabishi-san, get straight to the point."

Hanabishi Tajima spoke to Tatsuya through the dedicated wireline. He had the second highest rank among the butlers of the Yotsuba, and he was the father of Hanabishi Hyogo. One of his duties included the management of cases involving weapon usage – he worked to provide everything necessary for conducting combat.

The fact that Hanabishi had established contact combined with the current situation to give Tatsuya a rough idea of what happened.

"Miyaki Island was attacked, wasn't it?" Tatsuya asked.

"It was. Amphibious boats were sent from the Midway, a high-speed transport vessel belonging to the US Navy."

Unlike the Miyaki Island staff, the main Yotsuba staff had been able to determine the affiliation of the ship by its form.

"That is to say, an army warship was used?"

Tatsuya was a bit astonished at the openness of the USNA in this attack. Was the USNA going to stop hiding its hostility towards Japan, or would they perhaps insist on an obvious lie such as "it was a rebellion"?

"The landing party consists of 22 parasites. There are also responses from 3 Parasites on the main vessel. There are also responses from ordinary people, but they can be ignored as a fighting force," Hanabishi continued.

The ordinary people remaining on the transport ship were almost certainly the crew. Were they volunteers in taking part of the attack on Japan, or were they blindly following orders? Tatsuya thought there was a chance they were being manipulated, but that was not the main problem.

"The defense squad will fail, right?"

"Unfortunately. Two people in the boats and two people on the transport vessel exhibit power comparable to the 'First-magnitude class' of the Stars. Shields-san has presumably already identified the Parasites from Stars," Hanabishi continued.

"…They will not be able to fight back against such a force."

Tatsuya immediately came to this conclusion. He had been mistaken in thinking that he prevented the entrance of Stars reinforcements into Japan.

"Looks like they fooled us…" Tatsuya said, but he easily suppressed this regret as if it were someone else's failure. "I'll hurry to Miyaki Island."

"Thank you. I will organize additional staff to protect the hospital."

"Clear."

"All the best," Hanabishi finished.

The emergency voice call was ended here.

The conversation between Tatsuya and Hanabishi had taken place through a device with the same microphone and speaker as a regular videophone rather than a personal communication device, so everyone in the room had heard the conversation without even having to strain their ears.

"Will that be okay?"

Yuuka, sitting next to Tatsuya, was asking whether the protection detail for Minami would be alright without Tatsuya. They both believed Minoru would attack that day, so the question was founded.

"Nothing good comes from talking about what is good and what is bad," Tatsuya vaguely replied as he slightly knitted his eyebrows. "I don't have a choice about going: I cannot allow them to destroy the Star Reactor plant."

"I don't think I need to say this, but this is clearly a ploy to divert attention," Yuuka responded.

"I understand that."

Without waiting for Yuuka's argument and without giving her the chance to stop him, Tatsuya headed to the dressing room. Once he changed, he headed to where Miyuki was helping Minami with her studies. They could not hide their surprise as Tatsuya's look.

"…Onii-sama, are you leaving?" Miyuki asked.

Tatsuya was wearing a "Liberated Suit", the flying combat armor developed by the Yotsuba as a replacement for the 101st Brigade's mobile suit.

"Miyaki Island was attacked by Parasites from the USNA military. There are a total of 25 enemies, and among them are four at the level of First-magnitude Star class according to Stars's classification of magicians. The defense there cannot cope, even if Lina joins."

Tatsuya's answer provided enough justification for Miyuki.

"I understand. Onii-sama, good luck in battle," Miyuki answered without any hidden feelings.

"You two should return to your room," Tatsuya instructed them.

"Okay."

"I will try to return as soon as possible… Miyuki, Minami, do not do anything reckless."

Both Miyuki and Minami understood why Tatsuya was saying that. While Tatsuya was absent, Minoru would certainly attack. His departure was a planned measure to take him away from Minami's defense.

"Of course," Miyuki responded with a smile, even while knowing that Minoru would attack. "Don't worry, Onii-sama. Leave this place to me."

There was no sign of anxiety in Miyuki's eyes.

◊ ◊ ◊

The resistance of Miyaki Island's defense squad ended up being much more intense than Deneb expected. It was not that it was fierce - neither Deneb's boat nor Vega's boat had been damaged. However, they still had not managed to get close to the shore. Though the boats were not stopped or thrown back, they were slowed down greatly, delaying their arrival.

It was not easy to defend against attacks against boats. If it had been only the Star Dust soldiers, the boats definitely have received damage – possible even sunk.

The boats were of standard design and not especially sturdy.

"These are the untouchables, yes? So they weren't just rumors."

Deneb muttered this with a ferocious grin on her face. She wasn't aware she had expressed her thoughts verbally. While she had always been a war-like character, Deneb had become especially so after her transformation into a Parasite. Despite her change, Deneb had failed to notice it, and her squad mates had not mentioned it, so she was still in the dark about her change in personality.

It took longer than planned, but they continued to move forward and eventually approached their goal. The moment they would land was near, and the faces of their enemies standing on the shore were became visible to the naked eye.

"

Although it took longer than planned, but continuing to move forward, after a while they approached the goal.

The moment of the landing was near. The faces of the enemies standing on the shore were already visible to the naked eye.

"Her...?"

Deneb frowned in doubt when she saw one of the people waiting on the shore. Gender did not affect magical ability, so it was not unusual for a female magician to stand on the front lines of a battle, but the enemy dressed in an armored suit and holding what looked like a grenade launcher attracted Deneb's attention. It was not because she was a woman, but because the weapon triggered some of Deneb's memories – she was sure she recognized it.

"That's her!" Deneb exclaimed.

The answer to Deneb's question arose in her subconscious and reached her conscious thought – it was the traitor disgracing the name of Sirius!

Deneb snatched her knife from her weapon belt and threw it towards the shore.

The knife flew straight towards the female magician, but just before it struck, she lost control over it and the knife fell to the cobblestone quay on which the magician stood.

Deneb specialized in melee combat because she was not very good at remote attacking magic. She really wanted to quit her duty leading the squadron and jump to the magician she had recognized as Sirius, but she restrained that desire with all her might.

"A little more. . Just a little. .!"

The magician she was looking at pulled the trigger of what looked like a grenade launcher. The barrel erupted fire and Deneb immediately felt it pierce the boat's multilayered shield.

Deneb was not the only one to recognize her enemy. With the help of the built-in long range view function of her helmet, Lina saw that the boats were commanded by Vega and Deneb.

"Charlotte, Leila, you too!?"

She knew every Parasite on the boats. Her feeling upon seeing Vega and Deneb among them was not anger or distorted joy from thinking, "serves you right," but compassion – Lina was truly good-natured.

"If they became Parasites, they should know the truth…"

But this logic was not enough to convince Lina, and her finger on the trigger was frozen by indecision. Psychologically, Lina lacked what it took to be a soldier.

Though she had more than enough power, she was too soft, and she was not suitable for the occupation. The only mental quality making her a suitable soldier until now was that she would not sympathize with the enemy to the point of endangering allies, but even this trait was not all that suitable for soldiers.

The firearm Lina was holding had a thick barrel, like a grenade launcher, but the muzzle was more like a large-caliber rifle – this gave the weapon a weird look, with an unusually thick barrel for what seemed to be more of a rifle. The weapon was made weirder by the lack of cutting inside the barrel, giving the weapon some resemblance to a shotgun.

However, the weapon was not a firearm, but a magic device. It was a prototype weapon with an integrated CAD developed at Miyaki Island. Lina pulled the trigger of the device entrusted to her by its developers.

The electrical conductor at the base of the thick trunk began to create plasma.

As it expanded, the pressure in the trunk increased, and the plasma tried to exit the trunk. However, the positive electric field generated by the barrel pulled electrons out of the plasma and repulsed the remaining cations, preventing them from exiting.

Once the electrons were separated from the cations, another electromagnetic field was created inside the trunk, accelerating the cations towards the barrel – the exit. At the same time, the original electric field created in the barrel was removed. The barrel was essentially turned into a miniature particle accelerator.

The cations ejected from the muzzle absorbed the released electrons, turning back into a cloud of neutral particles directed in a beam towards a target.

This weapon was a charged particle rifle. The principle was completely different than Lina's Brionac, and it was worse in power than the Brionac. But…

"It's quite powerful!"

The particle rifle was effective enough to excite Lina and make her forget about the depressing situation for a moment.

A beam of neutral plasma particles flew into the magic shield of Deneb's vehicle. The barrier magic in place was effective against particles moving at up to 10

times the speed of sound. It was not nearly enough to stop the plasma, with a mass comparable to a rifle bullet, flying at a speed exceeding 100 times the speed of sound.

The ray of neutral particles pierced through the magic shield and the boat, causing an explosion of steam on the opposite side. The Parasites on Deneb's boat all jumped into the sea. Now Lina turned the barrel towards Vega's vehicle.

Vega used gravity magic to lift the water from the ocean and make a shield of sorts, seeming to have grasped the principle of Lina's weapon. Lina reacted by activating gravity-neutralization magic with the thought-controlled CAD Tatsuya had given her.

Lina's magic did not interfere with the gravitational field – it overwrote it, returning the area to normal. Using gravity control magic, once can change the direction of the attraction force without changing its properties, and if Vega's magic only changed the vector of the gravity, then Lina's counter magic would not have had any effect.

Instead, Vega changed the gravitational field in that area, allowing Lina's magic to work.

Lina pulled the trigger of the particle rifle, and a bundle of neutral particles flew into Vega's magic shield. However, her rank as commander of the 4th detachment was not just for show: her strength exceeded Deneb's, and Vega's barrier withstood the particle beam.

"That's not all!" Lina shouted.

A moment later, the plasma that had seemingly scattered across the surface shone bright as its temperature shot up from Lina's special magic Muspelheim.

Usually, this magic only transformed ambient air into high-energy plasma, but this time the plasma particles emitted by the particle rifle were stil scattered in the area. Lina focused her magic on the area around Vega's ship, increasing power as the affected volume decreased. Vega's magic barrier collapsed as the area affected by Lina's magic contacted it. At the same time, Vega and the Star Dust soldiers jumped out of the boat.

A second later, plasma swallowed the vehicle.

The heat from Lina's magic ignited the hydrogen fuel and the boat went down. Lina sighed with relief as she lowered her weapon, but she still kept her guard up, and her Mirror Shield magic reflected an infrared beam of light – Regulus's fast-firing, high-energy infrared laser bullet, Laser Sniping. Though the magic had "fast firing" in its title, the nature of the magic caused it to have about a 1 second gap between each shot.

As soon as Lina sensed the laser bullet's impact, she removed the shield and located Regulus. He was approximately 1 kilometer from the coast on the bow of the catamaran Midway. Once she found him, she restored her shield.

Lina's Mirror Shield blocked outside electromagnetic waves from getting in – it did not block particles going out and was like a one-way mirror.

Lina shot a beam of neutral particles through the mirror towards the ship.

"Huh?" Lina mumbled a moment after the shot. She had not felt the defeat of Midway after the shot.

Due to its nature, Mirror Shield block visible light coming from the outside, so Lina could not physically see what was going on, but Lina would hear an explosion if it reached the ship or feel psionic vibrations if the beam was stopped by a barrier. Lina quickly moved to a new position with movement magic in order to shoot straight down the laser snipers sights. She removed the mirror shield and looked at the transport ship.

"Zoe?!"

Zoe Spica stood next to Regulus on the prow of the ship. Her right arm was forward, pointing directly at Lina – she was in the process of activating Molecular Divider.

However, this magic was only medium range, and would not reach Lina from 1

kilometer away.

"…clear!"

Lina once again pulled the particle rifle's trigger, sending a beam of particles forward, but about halfway to the ship, the beam dispersed. The particles ended up scattering without reaching the ship.

"I thought so!" Lina shouted.

Molecular Divider inverts the polarity of electrons, cutting molecular bonds.

The electric field created in a straight line towards the particle beam inverted the

polarity of the electrons present in the beam. This turned the neutral particles into positive particles that repelled each other, dispersing the beam.

Regulus jumped away from Spica as Lina aimed the particle rifle towards him.

He moved forward in zigzags, using the water as a surface to prevent Lina from aiming. If Lina had been able to use Brionac, his attempts at evasion would have been useless – Lina could control Brionac's plasma even after firing, so it was impossible to evade unless one was moving at a speed faster than Lina could follow. But the particle rifle only sent a beam in a straight line, so advanced rifle shooting skills were necessary – skills Lina did not have.

Lina threw the particle rifle to the side and pulled out a pistol – a gun with an integrated CAD. Weapons with magically increased penetration power had been produced in Japan for a long time, so Lina had asked the CAD development center staff to give her some equipment more similar to the weapons she was used to.

The transport ship began to turn away from the island, but Lina didn't have the luxury to follow.

◊ ◊ ◊

A light blue car left the parking lot of Aoba clinic in Chofu with Tatsuya behind the wheel. He ignored the rules of the road and opted for flight, lifting off of the road. Minoru watched this occur through a camera in a combat quinoid that had not yet been turned into a Parasite doll.

"And so the mission begins," Minoru muttered, seemingly talking to himself.

In reality, however, it was not a monologue – Minoru was giving the order to start to the driver of the van, who dropped him off at the curb. The driver was a member of the Kudou family assigned to Minoru.

Minoru transmitted the order to start the other six vans by radio. In total, there were six, including the van Minoru was in. All six had parasite dolls and fighting guinoids in their cargo compartments, and though the vans were currently separated to avoid detection, they were heading towards the same destination – the hospital in which Minami lay.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya, ignoring the rules of the road and air traffic, flew off the public road directly, but the police did not bother to stop him and no chase was sent. The car, registered as an ordinary car – not an aircraft, had no need to keep the radio channel

for aircraft open. Combined with the fact that police helicopters could not keep up with the air car and the Air Force wasn't about to send fighters to chase a car that had started flying from the main road, even if a chase had been attempted, it wouldn't have been successful. In other words, law enforcement agencies had neither the means to deliver the order or stop the pursuit whether they wanted to or not.

The car's license plate had probably been captured by the street cameras, so there was a chance that trouble would come later, but that was not important at the moment. Besides, Tatsuya still had the claim that the self-defenses forces hadn't done anything to stop Miyaki Island – Japanese Territory – from being invaded by a foreign military force. Still, Tatsuya didn't want to use this as justification for legal exemption but as a means for bargaining.

Reaching the coastline, Tatsuya put the car on course to cross Tokyo Bay and the Urag channel in order to avoid flying over land again.

Tatsuya raised the aircar's speed to 900 kilometers per hours, Tatsuya headed for Miyaki Island.

◊ ◊ ◊

Holding a gun in her right hand and a knife in her left, Lina stood ready, preparing to meet the oncoming Regulus. However, it was not Regulus, but Deneb who attacked first.

"Lina!"

Deneb called out to Lina, shortening her name not because they were close, but because the Parasite's conversation previously had used Lina's shortened name to reference her.

"Leila!"

Lina did not freeze from the change in enemy and changed her aim to Deneb who was jumping out of the water, rushing her in a top-down attack. Lina at acked Deneb with the weight magic Hammer, which tracks an enemy and applies pressure to a detected surface. The magic struck at Deneb from her left side, but Deneb softened the blow by using movement magic towards the right.

As this played out, Regulus began to activate Laser Sniping, but instead of activating her Mirror Shield, Lina sent a knife attached to her belt at Regulus. She was using her magic "Dancing Blades" through her thought-controlled CAD, so she didn't

even need to touch the knife with her hand – it flew out of the holster and rushed to Regulus on its own.

Regulus's concentration was broken as he was forced to dodge, and the laser bullet flew towards the sky. However, Lina's attack was still not finished and she controlled the knife behind Regulus to strike the weapon device for Laser Sniping. Regulus threw the broken device with a knife now stuck through its hardware to the side, and as it fell into the water, the device blew up. Regulus quickly grasped the handle on his belt with his right hand and pulled – quickly turning what had been his thin belt into a rapier. The sword was not just sharp - Regulus had also added an electric shock over the entire blade.

Lina didn't have time to continue her attack on Regulus, as now the weight magic Hammer was being used on her – and it was more powerful than magic she had used.

"Vega!?" Lina shouted.

Weight magic attacks flew at Lina one after another.

"…You are still being familiar?"

Vega still had a grudge against Lina for "betrayal."

Lina quickly took a step backwards, but Vega followed her movement and went ashore. Holding her pistol and knife, Lina looked towards her left and right.

In front of her was Vega.

To the right, Regulus.

On the left, Deneb.

And behind them, the Star Dust soldiers-turned-Parasites began to come out onto the beach.

Despite Lina's attempted intervention, the sabotage unit of Stars had successfully made it onto Miyaki Island.

Lina had struggled to fight the three opponents of First-magnitude Star class.

With the addition of twenty Star Dust soldiers, she could not possibly cope alone.

"So, you're also Parasites now?" Lina spoke.

Lina tried to change the situation by speaking to Vega and Deneb in her native language. Neither bothered to answer Lina, but Deneb raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Now that you are Parasites, surely you know the truth. It wasn't me who caused the Parasites, and the idea that I have secret connections to Japan is also a false accusation!"

"If you have no connections with Japan, then why did you run here!?"

Deneb didn't hide her passion as she spoke with anger in response to Lina.

"To escape. From you, the rioters," Lina answered calmly. Though her heart raged towards Deneb, she suppressed her emotion and gathered her will into a fist.

"Right. Then it was a false accusation," Vega responded.

Vega's voice could not be called calm, but it also couldn't be considered excited – it was more apathetic, and Vega grinned in her response, continuing.

"But now you are helping a Japanese private military organization. As an American soldier, you came out against the States."

"Japan is a federal state. Planning an act as dishonorable as sabotage to take advantage of the New Soviet Union's attack is unacceptable," Lina answered.

"This was the decision made by the Pentagon – not we, simple soldiers fighting on the front line."

"Wow-wha…"

Lina was surprised momentarily, but quickly accepted it as fact – if the government was willing to use Parasites, they should also have been willing to risk sabotage.

While Vega and Lina had their verbal struggle, the Star Dust soldiers attacked the rest of the defensive squad and slowly continued to move inland. Lina saw this, but could not offer any assistance – if she ignored the three around her, she would instantly die. Lina was trapped.

"Traitor Sirius. It's good that you were here, because now, caught red-handed in a hostile act towards the States, we can shamelessly get rid of you!" Vega finished.

As soon as Vega finished her statement, Vega, Deneb, and Regulus – three members of Stars with the rank of First-magnitude class now merged with Parasites –

simultaneously attacked Lina.

Deneb breached the peace first as she waved a large knife at Lina and used movement magic to close the distance. Lina reacted with the same magic in the same direction, keeping her distance. Realizing that she couldn't catch up, Deneb fired her

pistol and Lina once again responded the same way, turning the battle into a shootout over shields.

Regulus followed Deneb, and using self-acceleration magic, he appeared in front of Lina. With his electrified blade, he struck her shield.

Stuck in place, Lina at acked Vega with gravitational magic, but Vega destroyed her gravitational field with Molecular Divider.

…more precisely, Lina's magic was interrupted because of the inconsistencies between the modification of phenomenon caused by Molecular Divider and Lina's gravitational magic encountered in the air, and the magics canceled each other out, destroying both Vega and Lina's magic.

As this was going on, Regulus continued to attack Lina's shield, and it began to tremble. The electrical surges emitted by Regulus' blade finally finished off Lina's barrier, breaking it. Deneb took her opportunity and shot Lina's left shoulder. While Lina's armored suit was able to stop the bullet from penetrating, the momentum of the bullet was transferred to her shoulder and the impact caused Lina to involuntarily drop her knife. She instantly activated Muspelheim in defense.

Vega, Deneb, and Regulus all leaped to the side to evade the generated plasma. When it dissipated, in the center of the area previously filled with high-energy plasma, Lina stood breathing heavily.

The three Parasites exchanged looks.

Lina pulled her pistol's trigger, but penetration magic was not applied to the bullet so Regulus stopped it with a magical barrier, and a Dancing Blade Lina had released earlier in the fight was knocked down by Deneb. Her two attacks stopped, Vega created a repulsive field which threw Lina back.

Lina was thrown down the road running along the cobbled promenade, and she fell onto the rocky surface of cooled lava. Vega, Deneb, and Regulus cautiously approached her, looking down at Lina.

Lina was unable to stand, barely finding the strength to climb onto one knee. Vega punched Lina back down, but despite her weakness, Lina's fighting strength had not faded. She grinned faintly.

Deneb pointed her pistol at Lina.

Regulus pointed the tip of his sword.

Lina bit her lip with regret.

But at that moment, a light blue car cut threw the air and landed as if it was aimed at the three Parasites.

Vega attacked the car with her repulsive force field, but the magic dispersed before it was completed. Vega rounded her eyes, Regulus and Deneb could hardly believe in their eyes as the aero car landed about 10 meters in front of Deneb. The three had dodged the air car by jumping back to the embankment.

The driver's door opened, and Tatsuya stepped onto the Miyaki Island battlefield dressed in the Freed Suit.

◊ ◊ ◊

Tatsuya had flown from Chofu to Miyaki Island in 20 minutes. If he had flown at subsonic speed the entire distance, he could have made it in 10, but the flight from Chofu to the sea and over Tokyo Bay required him to go at a slower speed.

Tatsuya knew about the situation on Miyaki Island even before he arrived. He was receiving the data from the island in real time, in addition to monitoring the psion wave oscillations from Lina's fight. However, there was no magic for teleportation, so Tatsuya could not instantly move from Chofu to Miyaki Island.

Restraining his growing impatience, Tatsuya focused on controlling the aircar.

A camera mounted on its nose caught sight of Miyaki Island, and without slowing down, Tatsuya headed towards the northeast coast that was now a battlefield. He didn't bother to use the runway at the airport and landed directly on the road running along the embankment where the battle was being fought. As he was landing, he dispersed the magic of an anti-gravity spell that was trying to prevent him from landing.

There were fighters from the defense squad still on the road, so Tatsuya slammed the on the breaks to not hit them. There were also enemies on the road, but Tatsuya didn't really care – his thought process amounted to "if I hit them with the car, I can save time." Tatsuya had no doubts about his ability.

Three Parasites fled from the path of the air car by enhancing their jump with movement magic. Tatsuya could tell that they were the Parasites of First-magnitude Star class with only one glance using elemental sight.

Like the rest of Japan, driving was done on the left side of the road on Miyaki Island, but Tatsuya ignored the law and stopped on the right side of the road for his convenience. Lina was barely standing on one knee on the hardened lava next to the road.

"Lina, can you continue?" Tatsuya asked.

He had already checked Lina's state by looking, but still asked the insensitive question.

"I can," Lina responded, not wanting to hold Tatsuya back.

With the last of her strength, Lina rose to her feet. She looked as if she was trying to stand during an earthquake, but she somehow managed to stay up.

"I will figure this out. Cover me."

Without waiting for Lina's answer, Tatsuya turned towards the three Parasites who were now on the embankment. This was probably for the best, as Tatsuya's cold voice made her shiver all over her body as goosebumps formed on her back. She wouldn't have been able to answer even if Tatsuya had waited.

Vega used magic to push Tatsuya back with his car, but the magic was demolished before the sequence had even been fixed on the Eidos of the target. Tatsuya had released a dense flow of psions from his whole body to vanquish the spell.

"Gram Demolition?!" Vega and Deneb cried out simultaneously.

Tatsuya raised his right hand. There was no gun-shaped CAD in his hand – he just pointed his finger and activated Mist Dispersion with the fully thought-controlled CAD built into his suit. The activation time was almost zero.

He erased the magic suppression zone almost instantly.

He tore down the Data Fortification magic around the Parasites so quickly that it could not be perceived.

He cut the intermolecular bonds of Regulus' tissues in essentially no time.

The man named Regulus had been completely erased, and all that remained of the Parasite was its true body. Now Tatsuya reached out with his other hand and shot Armor Piercing Psion Bullet. He wasn't aiming at the Parasite that had recently been in Regulus and instead shot at Vega.

Vega, struck in her chest by a dense shell of psions, fell backwards and violently convulsed. Rolling down the embankment in that state, she fell back into the sea.

In the blink of an eye, Regulus had been deleted and Vega thrown from the battlefield. Deneb was frozen in shock as Tatsuya sent another Armor Piercing Psion Bullet at Deneb. She fell back.

Deneb was not the only one frozen in place – Lina lifted her helmet flap and stared, dazed, at Deneb writhing on the road. She could hardly believe her eyes – Tatsuya had instantly neutralized these three whom she had been at her limit fighting against.

"Lina, look after this woman," Tatsuya told Lina.

He realized she was in shock and that she would now overestimate his combat power because of a misunderstanding. Tatsuya had only been able to neutralize the Parasites so quickly because of surprise, but he didn't have time to explain himself. The true body of the Parasite in Regulus had appeared, and it began its activity as an intangible life form as it searched for a new host. The real battle was now beginning.

Tatsuya concentrated psions inside his body before releasing them into the Parasite. He attacked from all six sides – front, back, left, right, top, and bottom.

The Parasite attempted to push back against the psionic currents, but realized it was impossible and tried to escape by moving away. However, pressure was being applied from the front, back, left, and right, and the top and bottom sides were closed tightly.

Surrounded by walls, the Parasite created a shell in an attempt to protect is pushionic information body, but the walls quickly ate into the shell, penetrating it. Trapped, the Parasite shrunk and hardened, mixing with the walls.

Tatsuya's psionic currents continued to converge, concentrating a progressively smaller area. Finally, all the Psions were compressed into a sphere with a 3-centimeter diameter. The sphere hung intangibly about 10 centimeters above the concrete embankment.

Tatsuya had sealed the Parasite that was recently Regulus in his Sealing Sphere.

◊ ◊ ◊

Miyuki and Minami followed the instructions Tatsuya gave right before he left and returned to Minami's ward. Miyuki read while sitting on the single couch while Minami continued preparing for her exams, sitting on the bed which had been raised to support a sitting position.

Miyuki, turning the electronic pages of her book, suddenly looked up.

"…he was pretty quick. Have our guards already discovered them?" Miyuki said.

"…Miyuki-sama?" Minami asked, confused.

Minami turned to Miyuki and asked for her to clarify, but Miyuki's words had mostly been her muttering to herself.

"Minami-chan, he is here."

Still, Miyuki didn't ignore Minami's question.

"Who… really?!"

Minami closed her textbook program and turned off her terminal as she got out of bed.

She was not in pajamas, however, so she wasn't panicking about having to change her clothes.

"Yes," Miyuki said while nodding.

Miyuki didn't answer with the name of who had arrived because Minami had of course figured it out: it could only be Minoru.

Miyuki called the security intercom, and Yuuka appeared on the small screen of the terminal.

"Miyuki-san, the company has arrived."

Before Miyuki could speak, Yuuka explained the situation that she had already figured out.

"I feel signs of Parasites from six directions," Miyuki responded.

"…So you already knew. The sensors are saying the same thing."

Miyuki was so ahead of ordinary magicians in her magical perception that she seemed to be at a different stage of evolution. Yuuka's surprise was based on this prejudiced notion, but Miyuki smiled broadly after hearing Yuuka's astonished voice.

"Shouldn't you expect this from the next head-sama?" Miyuki said, teasing Yuuka.

"In that case, perhaps you also know where Kudou Minoru is now?" Yuuka asked, moving on.

"The response from Minoru is quite blurry. It seems he is disguising himself by both Parade and Ghost Walker."

Miyuki's words made it seem like trying to detect him was pointless, but her tone contrasted this and Miyuki continued trying to find Minoru.

"I don't feel Minrou-kun's signs from other groups, so he's probably inside a car or other vehicle approaching from the northeast," Miyuki explained.

"A car from the northeast? Alright, I'll pass this information to the Juumonji family then."

"Thank you."

"Miyuki-san, please do not leave the ward. Even if he gets into the hospital, we'll figure this out," Yuuka warned.

"I understand."

"…Then I've said everything. Until next time."

Yuuka was slightly suspicious of Miyuki's quick agreement with the situation, but she didn't ask Miyuki about it.

When the intercom went down, Miyuki sighed a little.

"…Onii-sama will not have time to return," Miyuki assessed.

Miyuki was dissatisfied with the situation but held no grudge against Tatsuya for having left the defense against Minoru's attack.

◊ ◊ ◊

Minoru got out of the van about 200 meters from the hospital. There were tall building all around, so he could only see the highest floor of Aoba Clinic.

At the same time as Minoru, 6 Parasite dolls left the back of the van. The other cars held the same load. In total, Minoru had prepared a fighting force of 36 parasite dolls

– 15 already made in the former Ninth Laboratory, and 21 made by Minoru using the dummies in the factory in Ikoma.

The base bodies (dummies) for the Parasite dolls were gynoids originally made for military use, but these dolls were dressed in casual clothes. They each was ankle-length pants combined with various blouses, T-shirts, and summer sweaters.

Since it was daytime, pedestrians were walking around. There weren't as many out as usual because of the New Soviet Union's invasion, but some people still went out for urgent errands. By giving the Parasite dolls casual clothes, the dolls could blend in with passers-by without giving off the feeling that something was wrong.

Contrary to the goal of blending in, however, Minoru didn't bother to hide his appearance at all with magic so his beauty stood out like a sore thumb. Pedestrians passing by even stopped to stare at him as if he had descended from heaven. Minoru couldn't even walk to a hospital without attracting attention.

Suddenly, Minoru stopped.

The crowd also stopped.

Minoru spoke, looking at the big young man who blocked his way.

"Juumonji-san, could you let me pass?" Minoru asked.

"I didn't think you'd appear at this time," Juumonji responded, ignoring Minoru's request.

"I'm not a vampire, so I don't have to wait until night," Minoru answered jokingly.

"You are not an ordinary vampire, but I wouldn't say that the description doesn't fit.

Vampires suck the blood of people and turn good into bad – at least, that's how it is in fantastic stories, but you are real," Katsuto said with a serious face.

"It's a shame you think that. I'm not attacking people who accidentally stopped me on my way," Minoru said.

"But now you are trying to turn one girl into something inhuman."

Minoru and Katsuto's conversation took place in front of pedestrians walking by on the street, but none of them really understood what was going on through the metaphor the conversation was using. Some of the passerby were whispering phrases like "what is this, a movie shoot?", but these were the minority. Most felt that the conversation was real and not just a figment of some story.

"Juumonji-san. Let me pass." Minoru made his request again, this time more forcefully.

"Kudou Minoru. You are under arrest."

This time Katsuto answered, but his answer more than just denied it.

"What charges?"

"Unauthorized transportation of military weapons on public vehicles."

While Katsuto was speaking, a detective behind him hidden in civilian clothes and working under the Juumonji family appeared with a police warrant.

After Katsuto's words about weapons and the appearance of the police, unrest appeared in the crowd of passerby.

"Are you talking about the Parasite dolls? Well, you caught me, but can you fight in a place with civilians?"

Minoru provoked Katsuto.

"So you plan to involve the civilians in this?!"

Katsuto created a barrier to lock Minoru in front of him as he was talking. However, Minoru switched places with one of the Parasite dolls behind him at the same time – it wasn't teleportation but Parade he had kept active through the conversation with Katsuto.

Minoru used stun magic on the detective, but the Katsuto defended his subordinate with barrier magic. To do this, however, he had to release the barrier around the Parasite doll that Minoru had swapped places with, and this doll attacked Katsuto.

Katsuto's barrier collided with the doll's barrier, giving off sparks of psionic light.

This Parasite doll specialized in anti-object barrier magic.

Like Parasites, Parasite dolls tended to specialize in specific magic. Though they had a lack of diversity, they were able to demonstrate powerful abilities in their field to such an extent that the doll specializing in barrier magic could resist against Katsuto.

Still, this was not enough to make it a fight on equal footing. Katsuto was forced to take his focus away from Minoru, but as soon as he became serious, he destroyed the barrier around the Parasite doll and crushed her mechanical body, being careful to not completely destroy the doll – he knew that death of the physical body of the Parasite releases the true body, and it was safe to assume that it worked the same for Parasites in machines as for Parasites in humans. Still, Katsuto couldn't leave the doll in serviceable condition, so he destroyed the head and limbs, leaving only the electronic brain and fuel cell of the gynoid.

Until this point, everything had been within Katsuto's expectations, but what happened next went beyond. The Parasite doll exploded.

The explosion itself was blocked by Katsuto's shield, but the destruction of the body meant that the Parasite had been released.

This was not the only exploding doll – other parasite dolls attacked other magicians of the Juumonji family standing in Minoru's way, and the Juumonji family could not ignore them. To stop Minoru, the Juumonji magicians hurried to neutralize the dolls.

And each of the neutralized dolls exploded.

Many Parasites were released, searching for new bodies. The non-material life forms attacked the Juumonji family as well as nearby civilians and people hiding in buildings.

Katsuto and his subordinates were forced to protect the civilians from the Parasites.

They didn't have time to chase Minoru.

◊ ◊ ◊

After erasing Regulus' physical body and locking the released Parasite into a Sealing Sphere, Tatsuya did the same with Deneb. Two completed Sealing Spheres hovered about 10 centimeters above the ground, and they would remain for about 12

more hours in their current state without outside interference. Further processing of the seal should be performed by specialists, so Tatsuya left the spheres to be dealt with later. During his flight to Miyaki Island, Tatsuya had asked Hanabishi Hyogo to send a magician with sealing skills, and Tatsuya had no doubt that Hyogo would find someone who could finish the job.

"Lina, I am leaving this place to you. Don't let anyone get close to the Sealing Spheres."

Lina was fascinated by Tatsuya's actions in dealing with the Parasites so efficiently, but she came to herself when he assigned her a task.

"Sealing Spheres? Are you talking about these things?" Lina asked.

"Yes."

Tatsuya replied to Lina without even looking before jumping onto the jetty. Lina only saw the back of his helmet and couldn't see his expression, but she somehow got the feeling that he had smacked his tongue.

Tatsuya ran east of the embankment chasing Vega who had fallen into the water. After being hit by Tatsuya's Armor Piercing Psion Bullet, Vega revealed the true nature of the Parasites.

Without bothering to breathe, Vega tried to swim underwater in an arc towards the east coast of the island. Still standing on the embankment, Tatsuya targeted Vega with Mist Dispersion. As if it were a survival instinct, Vega suddenly surfaced.

Tatsuya detected an increased number of psions as this happened – meaning Vega was beginning a counterattack.

When Vega had became a Parasite, her rate of activation drastically increased. Now, with her true nature fully manifested, the speed increased even further, but.

Vega's magic was not yet completed.

The magic she was in the process of building was dispelled.

The magic that protected her body was destroyed.

And then her physical body was erased.

The substances that made of the body of Charlotte Vega were divided into individual molecules. Once the body was deleted, the molecules dispersed – some remained in in their form, other were used in chemical reactions or dissolved in seawater.

Until this point, everything had gone according to Tatsuya's expectations, but at this point he miscalculated.

The true body of the Parasite was not exposed. The body appeared after erasing the physical body it had merged with, so Tatsuya could "see" the psionic envelope covering the Parasite, but he couldn't analyze the information body – its core. He could only feel its existence, and the Parasite drifted underwater.

This contracted the current hypothesis about the true form of the Parasites – the current belief was that the Parasite would relentlessly seek out a human body to stabilize its existence. Initially not belonging in the physical world, the Parasite was believed to be drawn to strong thoughts and emotions from people. This theory assumed that after the disappearance of the host, the Parasite would give the highest priority to search of a source of psions to stabilize itself in this world, which allowed the creation of Parasite dolls. Therefore, Tatsuya didn't expect the Parasite to move away from potential sources of stability.

"Is it… afraid?"

Parasite's were also a life form, so their behavior could be an instinct for self-preservation. The Parasite might just be frightened and trying to escape, but it was fairly difficult to be certain of that.

"…no, it doesn't matter right now," Tatsuya convinced himself.

The invasion of Miyaki Island was not over. The strongest 3 parasites had been defeated, but more than 10 were still fighting the defense squad. Tatsuya was also concerned about hurrying back to the hospital to take care of Minoru – he was convinced that the invasion of Miyaki Island was a diversion to get him away. Though he knew Miyuki was not the subject of the approaching danger, he didn't want to take any risks and wanted to get back to Chofu as quickly as he could.

"…do I make it right there?"

The psions were intangible particles and could only interfere or be interfered with by structurally organized nerve cells – non-systematic magic is just as effective underwater as in the air.

While Tatsuya was thinking, the Parasite that had recently been Vega began to move towards the sea, trying to escape from Tatsuya. Tatsuya instantly released a mass of psions in the sea.

The mass released towards the Parasite overtook it and flew in front, destroying almost half of its psionic sheath and core. Tatsuya sensed that its thickness had halved.

Tatsuya applied Sealing Sphere to the Parasite that had been Vega.

◊ ◊ ◊

Still in Minami's ward, Miyuki felt the true bodies of the Parasites appear near the hospital. She quickly turned on the intercom and called Yuuka again.

"Yuuka-san."

"What?" Yuuka answered.

Yuuka's voice was somewhat agitated.

"The true bodies of the Parasites have been released," Miyuki said.

"…understood."

"At this rate, civilians will suffer. Yuuka-san, please take your subordinates and seal the Parasites outside," Miyuki ordered.

"But there will be no protection inside the hospital," Yuuka protested.

"If ordinary people become victims, the anti-magic movement will rise again – and we have finally calmed it down with peaceful magic projects."

"But…"

"If the enemy gets inside, I'll think of something," Miyuki reassured Yuuka.

"…fine. I understand," Yuuka responded.

On the small display, Yuuka nodded reluctantly.

"You're right, Miyuki-san. I will seal the Parasites first so the city dwellers do not suffer. I will leave the hospital to you for now."

"I will try to hold out until you return, Yuuka-san," Miyuki said modestly.

But despite Miyuki's modest words, Yuuka understood that she did not see Minoru as a threat.

.