Chapter 28: Tedious Illusion

No one in their right minds would think that such a spacious area like the concert grounds felt so cramped. Spectators standing still as statues filled the entire place unmoving and in suspended animation. The euphoria that could have made the open space alive was missing. Everything was under a spell of an eerie type of trance. It was dead silent, and the awkward kind as Seijurou thought while he stared at his partner, blushing.

"Sensei.. could you search Kinjou instead?..", Seijurou awkwardly asked while he hopelessly thought of a way to search for his partner's ticket on her barely covered body. "She'll definitely chop my head off the moment she comes to be."

"Are you ordering me around, Erida?! Can't you see I'm busy here?..", exclaimed Yoshiki Mizuki while searching Hayama's pockets for his ticket. "We've got no time. Besides, looking at your partner.. there's only so much you can look for with such little cloth on her. Look underneath her bikini bottom.. or between her breasts, which seems could hold a lot more than a piece of paper."

The thought made Seijurou's nose burst into a bloodbath. "That's easier said than done.."

"What did you say, boy?! Quit zoning out and start working!..", shot Yoshiki back after hearing Seijurou's thoughts through Shinsuke's telepathic link. "Or your feelings for her are getting in the way? Set that 'petty teeny hormones crap' aside for now.. we're in the middle of a quest here!"

"Yanagi-senpai! I told you to disconnect me!..", said Seijurou in his thoughts. Then, he looked at Satsuki once more to plan his strategy to get the ward out. "The amount of cloth of her bottom covering her back side and front is just enough to place the ticket in there.. if she placed it there, it'd look inappropriate in public."

"You're actually feeling nauseous with those thoughts, Erida-kun?..", said Shinsuke through projection. "Glad to know you're still a healthy young man."

"Senpai.. stop peering through my thoughts!..", exclaimed Seijurou bashfully as he flushed with his current nosebleed. He proceeded to look at Satsuki's top, which made his situation even worse. "The most logical thing is for her to put it in between those.."

"I already told you that, boy. So, get on it!..", said Yoshiki as she searched the last of Hayama's pockets. "Stupid Hayama and his fashion sense.. this is beginning to become a drag."

"Hai, sensei..", answered Seijurou with a little more resolve as he approached his partner, still blushing though. "The moment the ticket comes into view.. I'll swiftly swipe it out as if nothing happened. That's it! That's the plan. Sorry, Kinjou.."

Seijurou carefully pulled the string of Satsuki's top for it not to completely fall off. However, as soon as he peeked through to search, a piece of paper fell to the ground, rendering Satsuki fully conscious and undoing the spell the illusion ward caused. She immediately turned as red as her swimsuit the moment she saw Seijurou pulling her top and peering through her chest.

Raising his head slowly to confirm his partner's wakefulness, Seijurou smirked awkwardly. "Ah.. shit."

Just about the same level of her total embarrassment, Satsuki smacked Seijurou with full force, making him fly a few paces away. She hugged her bosom as if she was naked and squealed loudly, completely vanquishing the previously engulfing silence.

It was not long before the perpetrators of the massive spell noticed the somewhat little disturbance. As both Satsuki and Hayama came to be, the cultists from the basement of the mansion sensed their awakening. Since Seijurou and Yoshiki were unaffected by the illusion to begin with, the dispelling of two more individuals caused a slight disruption.

The black ball of energy in the middle of a circular formation of a number of dark mages crackled violently inside the said candle lit basement. As the hooded men and women raised their palms to keep the spell in effect, their supposed leader could not help but frown at the little mishap. While the same Kanji text placed on the tickets blazed furiously under the sinister looking magic sphere, Atarashi himself pointed out the inconsistencies of the illusion's projection.

"It seems that some have broken out of the wards, great leader..", whispered Atarashi.

"It seems so, child..", a hooded man with advancing age answered in a raspy voice. "It cannot be helped.. some resist death well. They recognize the coming of the Shinigami."

"What do we do now?..", a hooded woman asked.

"We make them realize the consequences of their actions..", said the leader. "Let us take them out of the equation."

"As you wish, great leader..", said the cultists in unison.

Black sparks like dark lightning began to spew out of the ominous looking orb as the pattern of the ancient text under it shifted. More of the menacing energy flowed through the enormous ball while its absence of color began to amplify. The nature of the spell was disquietingly changing from its already baleful effects.

All of a sudden, a loud knock was heard from upstairs. The mages looked in confusion towards each other. Some of them shot a skeptical glare at Atarashi.

"Did you make sure you weren't followed, aniki?..", asked one of the hooded men.

Atarashi grinned confidently. "I already made sure to dispose of unnecessary distractions."

"Then why is that I sense a foul presence?..", asked the great leader.

Cold sweat began to break out of Atarashi's forehead as he recalled of how he dealt with Nishida Aya earlier. "I do not know of what you speak of, great leader.. the enemy's emissary had been taken care of."

"Did you see through the disposal of this emissary with your own eyes, child?..", asked the old man. He only stared at Atarashi's unsure expression for a few moments before transferring his attention towards the others. "All of you.. see through it our guest gets a welcome he deserves. Atarashi-kun, stay and aid me in the ritual.. it is only a matter of time before all of the attendants become our pawns."

With their master's order, the cultists went up the staircase one by one. They all positioned themselves wide across the first floor in a strategic position as soon as they stepped into the greeting chamber. However, only one of them went to open the door to give the impression that no one was around.

When the door opened, a young smiling "Bard" greeted the hooded man. "Greetings! I'm Shouya, a travelling Bard. I assume you're the master of this place, yes?"

"I'm not and I have no knowledge of my master hiring a scoundrel as of the moment..", answered coldly by the cultist. "I'm afraid you're lost, Bard-shounen.."

"Indeed, I am lost.. but it seems you have quite a gathering here this evening.. and it would be an honor if I may offer my services..", said Shouya gleefully. Then, he took a peek inside the mansion. "Though having a party in this once great homestead in a decomposing state? You must be quite brave to stand under some wood being eaten by termites."

A droplet of sweat broke out of the cultist's head. "Are we finished here? We don't need your services. Get lost, boy."

"Quite a reaction to show for a humble musician and poet like me. But I must say.. my words can be tantalizing to the ears..", said Shouya in disappointment while he turned around to walk away. After that, he took his lute from his back and positioned it in place to play. "Such a shame really.. all creatures dance in glee to mesmerizing music."

A few moments after Shouya strummed to play a short song with his lute, the entire mansion crumbled into ruin. The mages desperately climbed out of the rubble after getting buried in the decrepit wood. Some of them stared at each other with bewilderment while others stayed down and nursed their injuries.

"You went a little too far there, Akiuta-senpai..", said Mariya as she emerged from the tall grass behind her.

"Well.. I only played a song telling the little critters to eat up, Mariya ojou-san..", replied Shouya while he awkwardly scratched his head. "Didn't know that place was crawling with that many termites, so.. oops?"

"You filthy scoundrel! You'll pay for this!..", yelled the man who opened the door before shooting a far ranging lightning spell.

An invisible barrier instantly prevented Shouya and Mariya from getting struck by the thunderous elemental attack. Mariya simply shook her head in dismay. "Seriously? Basic spells? Blocking that is second nature to me."

Whipping her healer's robe back revealing her shining white steel armor, Mariya charged at the "Electromancer" with vision blurring speed. The next thing everyone knew was her staff hitting the dark mage's nape, rendering the villain unconscious. Another mage, a "Pyromancer" this time, sprayed flames all over Mariya but instantly met the same fate.

"I already told you..", said Mariya with a smug look. "It's second nature."

Suddenly, a tall infernal demon appeared behind Mariya, somewhat catching her off guard. She just simply turned around and glared at the monster. Just before the flaming claws of the creature touched her, an arrow pierced its heart, instantly disintegrating it.

"Flashy moves there, Mariya-chan..", snickered Gouro from a distance while taking aim on another Youkai that just appeared. "But attacking head on says about your inexperience."

Mariya simply growled at her senior while taking on an "Ice Youkai" next. "Tsk. I was about to banish it myself if you hadn't interfered, Harukaze-senpai."

A blast of snow turned the entire surroundings into a small winter wonder land when Natsuo sliced clean the arm of the frozen demon. "You two at it again? But I also find it strange for our 'Healer' to jump straight into the frontlines."

"It's because she's bored to death of not healing anything with us, Natsuo..", said Rika as she began to weave her own incantations. She then focused her spells on the few summoned enemy Youkai. "What measly summons.. allow me to show all of you how it's done."

As Rika finished her summoning chants, multiple ghost like apparitions wielding ethereal swords appeared all over the ruined mansion. And almost instantly, her conjured up creatures went straight for all the enemy demons, ultimately banishing them back to the void.

"Wraith Corsairs.. your go to move again?..", projected Shinsuke. "That's why Gouro keeps getting confused of you being a Necromancer, Rika."

"I wouldn't do such foul magic.. I didn't summon their souls into dead bodies, Shinsuke..", answered Rika while puppeteering her conjured spirits. "Aren't you joining us soon? There's too many of them.. might take a while to neutralize the situation."

Even if "FSG's Seven" seemed to have overwhelmed the cultists with combat prowess, the sheer number of their enemies constantly returning fire delayed the arrival of victory. They were considered as experienced and patient soldiers, and this would have been fine for them in a siege like battle, but considering the objectives of the quest, they were out of time.

"I see..", Shinsuke said in his fellow "Seven's" thoughts. "Don't worry.. I've been on my way there for quite a while."

Even if the whole of Shizuoka was on a standstill due to the cultists' magic, a full blown battle commenced on its outskirts. Much of the townspeople were under the blanket of the foul spell, but the muffled explosions coming from the ruins of the old mansion were certainly noticed by those who were able to break free of the illusion. It was evident when Satsuki and Seijurou saw the exchange of different colors lighting the sky from afar.

"Looks like it's getting busy up there on the hill outside of town..", commented Seijurou as he and his partner made a beeline through the suspended sea of people going towards the south.

"So it seems..", answered Satsuki in an uncharacteristically plain manner. She just pouted and pushed through ahead of Seijurou.

As he caressed his very sore looking face caused by Satsuki's blow earlier, Seijurou let off a sigh and just followed in silence. However, silence with Satsuki was not something he gladly shared with her in any given time. He just simply broke the awkwardness to get it out of his system. "Kinjou.. I'm sorry, okay? I was just trying to find the warding spell on you."

While clearly still very flustered, Satsuki continued to pout and just adjusted angrily her now donned battle gear around her chest. She just responded coldly again as they closed in towards the gates of the concert grounds. "I know.. no need to dwell on it."

"But you're clearly still mad at me."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

Satsuki sighed in frustration before stopping to face her battle partner. "Do you understand I can't marry anyone now with someone else seeing my bare body?!"

A droplet of sweat rolled out of Seijurou's head. "No, I don't.. and I didn't see anything besides what you've been displaying the whole day, which I've clearly pointed out that you should cover up."

"Ugh.. you don't know anything..", still pouting and flushing, Satsuki shot back and turned around to walk towards the gates again. "So stop saying sorry for things you don't understand."

Seijurou shook his head and smiled faintly as he thought about his dear partner's adorable pettiness. Just like always, he just followed her willingly while staring at her back. But unlike before, seeing her in front leading the way gave him a kind of relief he had felt for the first time. "Glad you're back, Kinjou.. I got really scared back there."

"But I'm not..", said Satsuki with a smirk forming on her face but did not turn to show it. "Because I have you to watch my back."

Just when an even bigger grin began to take shape on his face, Seijurou jumped forward to block a kick coming dangerously towards Satsuki's nape. Right after that, an elbow went close to hitting his eyebrow if not for Satsuki pulling him away in time. A flurry of punches, knee strikes and kicks came after, which the two effectively blocked and evaded.

"Cultists! They're here!..", yelled one of the many already seemingly conscious spectators while pointing towards the direction of Seijurou and Satsuki. "Go after them!"

"Let's get 'em!..", said another one of the onlookers as many charged at the two with the ferocious intent to kill. "Be careful! They fight well!"

The previously petrified audience was suddenly dashing towards Satsuki and Seijurou like a swarm of ants trying to take down a much larger prey. It seemed that each one desperately tried to take a bite out of the two battle partners as they were hopelessly being flung away.

"Avoid killing them, Erida-kun..", said Satsuki while hitting the aggressive mob with the blunt side of her katana.

"Like I can..", answered Seijurou as he bashed a group of deliriously violent bystanders with the Shield of Athena. "For some obviously magical reason.. they're seeing us as cultists."

"And they seem to hate cultists a lot..", pointed out Satsuki as she took another blunt swipe at the crowd. "This looks like it's not going to end soon."

"Now I know how it feels to be 'flash mobbed'..", said Seijurou while blocking another blow that went for Satsuki's head. "Though this is a little too violent."

Every time Seijurou and Satsuki got rid of one, it seemed two would replace and so on. The once calm sea of people suddenly transformed into savage waves, each time threatening to grow in strength like a tsunami. It would have been easy for the two to hold off fighters with little skill. However, since the whole affair may have been caused by one massive illusion spell, avoiding to take a life made it more difficult by tenfold.

"What now, Erida-kun?..", asked Satsuki while desperately holding off another angry mob. "Change of plans?"

"Obviously?! But I can't think of anything with all this..", answered Seijurou as he too miserably covered Satsuki's back. Once again, he asked himself the same question from earlier. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Atarashi grinned devilishly as he sensed the turnout of their adjustment of the spell. He nodded towards his master who was at the other side of the dark orb inside the basement of the mansion. "An astute solution as always, great leader."

"The Shinigami smiles upon us..", answered the cult leader. "His epiphany is at hand."

After nodding in agreement to his leader, Atarashi worriedly glanced upward. "What about the little skirmish upstairs?"

"A futile endeavor is all there is..", replied the leader with his deep husky voice. "Time is on our side.. all shall bow to His will."

Translation Notes:

Electromancer – an elemental mage specialized in lightning attacks.

Pyromancer – an elemental mage specialized in fire attacks.

Necromancer – a conjurer specialized in summoning the spirits of the dead into corpses.

Flash mob – a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. In this chapter however, the protagonist points out this flash mob is unentertainingly violent.

Monogatari Concepts:

Origins of the Round Table of Seven – it is said earlier that this is a Jihonian tradition of gathering the seven most powerful of any organization, whether it be in a school setting, in a company structure, or in the national level. However, it was actually derived from the seats of the Revered Seven with their version of the Dragon's Perch reserved for the coming of the Almighty. Just like how Jihonian's anticipate the coming of the Dragon, the Revered Seven themselves await for the Almighty's final judgment.

Currently, the greatest known gathering of Seven is the Jihonian Round Table. However, there are only five of them as of the moment with Yanagi Shinsuke expected to fill one empty seat after his graduation and succeeding inauguration into it.

Character Description:

Toho Kazuma – okay, I think I sort of owe this guy this one. After all, he was one of the first essential support characters introduced into the storyline. It's just so many things were happening in the story that I almost completely forgot to write his own description. So, gomen nasai, Kazuma-kun!

Arrogant, cunning and self centered at first impression, you might actually think that I was building Toho Kazuma as a villain earlier. However, it's just really his advanced skill in offensive magic that gives him the right to be boastful about, and he would do any means necessary to get to the top. He may not show it, but he does have a competitive attitude comparable to that of Jax's. Speaking of doing anything to be the best, it allowed him to become a great team player as it gave him the impression his classmates' help was a stepping stone to greatness. It might also seem that he was willing to even kill his classmates during practical activities in school, but he doesn't mean any harm at all. He is just all about showcasing his advanced magical capabilities.

When it comes to work, Kazuma's skill says it all. Just like other sorcerers, he did not learn how to weave all that magic overnight. He does have the diligence to fine tune his skills along with his resolve to be the best. He is not at the Heir's level yet, but his teachers say he's close. However, just as his build suggests, he doesn't spend time on honing his defensive abilities. Sorcerer's rely on heavy armor for defense while training offensive magic to the maximum. When not in school, he's usually just your typical carefree guy.

Kazuma stands at 177cm and weighs in at 66kg. Although seemingly massive with his armor, his physique isn't far off from Seijurou's. When not in his school uniform or armor, he's usually seen in comfortable trendy wear. Most people will point out that his pants never really reach his ankles. His favorite thing is Jihonian pop music (which explains why he's usually seen hanging out with any member of 3K. More on this in the future, by the way..).