Lena and company waltzed into the airport's main entrance, through the terminal building, and out onto the apron. They were naturally stopped on the way by the National Guard and security personnel, but Spica used the authority of the Stars to move them out of the way.
While there is no formal vertical relationship between the federal and state forces outside of martial law, the federal military has no authority to give direct orders to airport personnel or close down the airport. However, the prestige in the name of the STARS alone had enough persuasion power to draw cooperation.
As they walked out of the terminal building, a single small jet was slowly driving down the taxiway. It appeared to have just left the apron after undergoing servicing and was about to take off.
"There!" Ryousuke shouted as soon as he saw it, "Laura Simons is in that plane! Rocky Dean is probably in it too!" Before anyone had the chance to ask why, Ryousuke continued in shouts.
He never faced Dean, but Ryousuke personally fought Laura twice earlier this year. In that moment, Ryousuke caught a hint of the same presence he felt.
"Are you positive!?" Spica asked back in surprise.
Although she too had engaged Laura at the western foot of Mount Shasta eleven days prior, and the STARS tracking team was able to capture Laura's unique psion pattern, due to some powerful cloaking magic at work they were unable to narrow down to a distinct enough psion pattern to track Laura.
But what Ryousuke sensed was no psion pattern. There was no natural scientific or magical explanation for it, it was the intuition honed with his martial arts training and experience that told him there was the sign, the feeling, the presence, or whatever should be called, of Laura.
"No doubt about it!" By the time his words reached Spica, he was already off at a full sprint.
With its athletic abilities magnified with magic, Ryousuke approached the small aircraft at a pace comparable to that of a self-propelled car.
But the plane with Dean and Laura on board is right before the runway. And seeing there are no other aircraft in the process of taking off, they'll be out of reach soon.
"Arya!" Lena calls out, looking to the owner of the name, but then not saying anything further.
Because both knew she had the means to stop the aircraft from taking off. Arya got the message, still, using the magic in public like this would make her a criminal.
"I'll stop it!" Arya decided to do it regardless.
"You have my permission, by the authority of the STARS!" Spica followed, covering the risk of the crime of unauthorized public use of magic with her authority.
Spica's unexpected support also encouraged Lena, "Then, Arya, please!"
"Understood! I'll do it now!" Now with a guarantee and Lena's final push, Arya Krishna Shastri ignited the magic that she was entrusted with.
The Strategic-Class Magic, pride of the Indo-Persian Federation's leading scientist and technological genius at the pinnacle of modern magic, Asha Chandrasekhar. Powerful enough to reduce even major cities to rubble, yet versatile that its power can be easily scaled down to antipersonal level at will.
[Agni Downburst]
Air in the uppermost reaches of the troposphere, at an altitude of 10 km, is compressed over a wide area and superheated due to adiabatic compression, all the while maintaining a high density to form a hot air mass that is heavier than the surrounding air.
The density and weight difference causes the mass of superheated air to plummet downwards. The downwards draft movement is further accelerated by magic.
Surrounding air in its travel path is compressed and pushed along until the collective mass of superheated air collides with the ground at a speed of up to one hundred meters per second.
First, the extreme heat incinerates the immediate area of impact.
Next, the blast from the release of the compressed air sweeps away a wide area around it.
Lastly, the downdraft from the air above delivers further destruction.
[Agni Downburst] full effect is accomplished through this three-stage strike.
Due to the mechanism described requiring the compression of a large volume of air to achieve the power scaling it prides itself on, the process takes a long time to complete. Not to mention the fact that the air mass needs to travel from the upper atmosphere to the surface, further increasing the time between activation and delivery.
The comparative time-consuming drawback is seen as the reason why it is inferior to "Heavy Metal Burst," which displays its power immediately, and "Tuman Bomba," which, as long as weather conditions are met, can also deliver immediate results.
But, in comparison to the same aforementioned magics, in limited power applications, it takes less time to launch. By trading reduced dimensions of the mass of superheated air and altitude of the initial point in the equation, is it possible to increase speed in exchange for power and scope.
This level of scalability is a factor that is simply not present in most of the other Strategic-Class Magics.
And it is what it allows for its use in the current scenario. A large-scale devastation is not what is needed, and for that matter, not harming the passengers as well. Just making the small jet unable to take off is good enough.
Arya narrowed down the power to a building-destroying scale and activated [Agni Downburst].
Right before the runway, the small plane was struck by a dense mass of heated air.
The temperature was not so high as to ignite the material that made up the plane, but the impact resulted in cracks in the main wings.
Ryousuke who was approaching the aircraft was also subjected to the blast of hot air, but his [Reactive Armor] denied the heat and the impact from affecting his body. Even if he was in range of a full-on [Agni Downburst], Ryousuke would probably be the only one to walk away from it.
And now that the plane was no longer in condition to fly, Ryousuke set out to capture Dean and Laura before they could make it out of the aircraft.
The plane suddenly shook so violently that Dean, momentarily forgetting they were still on the ground, thought, "We're going to crash!"
At which point Dean demanded an explanation from the crew of the private jet, "What the hell was that!?"
As the crew looked between themselves, seemingly no more aware of what was going on than he was by their expressions, it was Laura who offered Dean an explanation, "My Lord, we are under enemy attack!"
"Attack? Enemy? What enemy? And what was that shaking?" Dean shot a series of questions in a clearly distraught voice.
"We can't be exactly certain who, but that attack was magic. I believe it was a mass of air slamming into us from above." Laura appears to be the only one with intact composure as she responds. From their dynamic at the moment, it is hard to tell who was the one in charge.
"A mass of air? What kind of magic is that?"
"I can't say for certain, sir. But in any case, I don't believe this plane is capable of flying anymore."
These words brought Dean back to the present. He hurriedly looked out the window.
"The main wing is…" From a quick look through the window the large crack in the wing was evident to anyone who looked at it. Laura was right, this aircraft wasn't able take them anywhere.
"Grr… Screw it. Laura, we're off this plane. Master Zhu's men should be here any minute to pick us up."
Dean made no secret of his impatience. He was shaking from anger having come to the realization that his freedom, which was just within hands reach, had been violently wrenched away from him.
"My Lord, please wait. I'm afraid the enemy is waiting for us outside."
"Then we better not stay planted here!"
"Certainly, sir. But we also need to be ready to engage the enemy outside."
Dean calmed his ranting and lowered his voice, "…Be ready to fight our way out, you mean?"
"If you allow me a little more time, My Lord, my preparations will be done in about a minute."
Dean then finally realized that Laura has been working her magic within herself.
"Alright. We'll make our way out when you're ready."
"Yes, My Lord."
Hearing Laura's confirmation, Dean leaned back on his seat. He closed his eyes, he too was preparing magic himself if it ended up necessary.
But Dean wasn't allowed even this luxury.
Ryousuke endured the hot winds and strong gusts from the [Agni Downburst] lying face down in the ground, once it was over, he picked himself back up and resumed his rush towards the plane.
At the corner of his vision he spotted a self-propelled car racing from the edge of the airport, apparently with the same destination as his.
Too bad for them, they had just begun speeding up, while Ryousuke, who was accelerating with his magic, was much faster. Even if they picked up speed, he would still reach the plane first. So, Ryousuke discarded the option of intercepting the car and continued on his track.
He replaced the [Self-Acceleration] magic for [Acceleration] with his body as the target. Instead of achieving higher velocity by accelerating his travel in accordance with the movements of his body, he would directly accelerate his body like an object.
Generally magicians hesitate to pick this kind of generalistic magic given the high risk of ending up crashing into obstacles, to which Ryousuke and his [Reactive Armor] thoroughly welcome it.
Is it clear at immediate consideration that [Self-Acceleration] is at degrees of higher technical complexity than a simple and bare [Acceleration]. With the same magic power ─ Event Interference strength, more prominently in this case ─, and all else being equal, [Acceleration] is bound to produce a higher final acceleration.
There was a catch, unlike [Self-Accelerating] magic, where the legs move in coordination with the movement, in pure acceleration, being even faster, the legs are unable to keep up with the speed gained, making it quite difficult to maintain a sprint in such a state. That said, Ryousuke did not switch magics to increase his running speed.
Just before the speed was too much and he was about to trip and fall, Ryousuke kicked the pavement of the taxiway.
His body flew ─ no, was shot out into the air.
The velocity itself is low for an airborne object, starting at just a hundred kilometers per hour. Add the mass of the object (bodyweight) of about seventy-five kilograms to the equation and the resulting momentum is not that great. The closest comparison in terms of projectile mass would be a cannonball from an old cruiser's cannon, but with such a low velocity, it had inferior destructive power based on sheer momentum.
However the [Reactive Armor] covering Ryousuke's body doesn't know brittleness, its hardness being greater than cemented carbide. Its rigidity and indestructibility are qualities unseen and unattainable in any material.
Concentrate even such limited momentum into a pointed end of an object that never shatters, never deforms, and what happens?
What are the results of a collision resulting from the perfect spearhead ─ the sole of an extended foot, rather ─ and a surface?
And what would happen if the action of "kicking" was added to the motion?
Ryousuke, clad in [Reactive Armor], launched a flying kick at the window of the small plane.
This design has been popular for some time, it has in mind private travel rather than business travel, catering to passengers who would enjoy large windows, through which they could enjoy the scenery during the flight. Windows that happened to be large enough for a grown man to fit through.
And, as if etched in the universe that it would happen one day, the possibility turned into reality, as. Ryousuke kicked his way into the small aircraft through the large window. A vandalous and outright criminal act, for sure, but those implications were the last thing on his mind at the time.
"Ryousuke Tokami!" Laura screamed in shock.
She was the first to show a reaction, although Zhu Yuen Yun's men were equally as quick to respond to the new passenger.
Four crew members, male and female, pointed their muzzle at Ryousuke, shortly followed by a series of gunshots.
Bullets sprew over his body, but none caused a scratch, let alone draw blood, on Ryousuke.
"That nasty magic shield!" Laura exclaimed, unleashing one of her previously prepared spells.
A Gray thick fog suffuses the narrow cabin.
Laura's silhouette emerges from the mist.
Ryousuke was not dissuaded by the illusion and pushed forward toward the real Laura. He already grasped her position at the moment he first got into the plane.
Seeing that, Laura quickly used [Physical Enhancement] magic to strengthen her own muscles and grab one of the male crew members nearby of the four that had fired at Ryousuke and use him to shield herself. She threw that man onto the aisle towards Ryousuke without any concern, and dragged Dean by the boarding hatch.
They are in a hurry and need that hatch open, and Dean, as expected, does not make a fuss in this situation. Laura's earlier magic left him unable to even see her hand pulling him, so he has to let her do all the work, including opening the hatch.
The hatch opens, the ramp automatically descends.
"Please, run away!" Laura says to him while pushing Dean's body out the plane.
The sudden shove and renewed field of vision caused Dean to stumble more out of the plane than descend from it, but he managed to avoid an ugly fall.
Staggering back to his feet on the taxiway, Dean turns back and shouts, "Laura, come on, you too!"
He received no verbal answer. Instead, the hatch slowly closes.
There came a self- propelled car driven by one of Zhu Yuen Yun's men.
"Sir, please get in!" The driver shouts to Dean.
Dean hesitated for a moment and then followed the instruction.
After confirming Dean made it safely down the taxiway, Laura pressed the hatch's close switch.
Then she turned around.
Even before the hatch was fully closed, Laura couldn't help but notice the absence of the, before predominant, background noise of struggle, gunshots, blows to people and objects and people slamming into seats or falling to the floor.
She didn't need to check to know that the crew took it upon themselves to keep Ryousuke away from the hatch, and in the process, all of them, including the female crewmember, were knocked out.
Laura unleashed a series of magics, witchcrafts, that directly struck at the minds and emotions she prepared before.
Mesmerize, Confuse, Panic, and Sloth. Each of them aimed to affect Ryousuke in different ways.
However, her target stood unaffected. Laura could see him grasping for her presence amidst the gray bewitching mist.
Then Ryousuke suddenly moved.
And Laura reacted at once, jumping to the side.
Ryousuke's first struck a spot 30 centimeters from where Laura's head had been and digged into the hatch.
It would have barely missed her even if she hadn't moved, but at that position she would have been at arms reach. If it had not been for the last vestiges of the [Physical Enhancement], she would not have been able to even react in time.
Within the bewitching fog, Ryousuke turned his attention down to Laura on the floor. Unlike seconds ago, this time he was staring squarely at her face.
She was aware that Ryousuke had her in his sights.
After he kicked his way into the plane, a thick, gray fog suddenly filled the interior, completely obscuring Ryousuke's vision.
He didn't let that shock last for more than a moment.
He noticed that not only his ability to see with his eyes in the cabin was being obstructed with this fog, but also there was some magical aspect to it that didn't let him see psion light.
Not that it'll be a great problem for Ryousuke, he was never really gifted in the magical senses department. Besides, his [Reactive Armor] is currently up and ready to ward off any and all attacks. Of which also includes unsystematic magic that uses psion waves and psion bullets. The only downside is that, while [Reactive Armor] is deployed, his already poor magical perception becomes even more limited.
Ryousuke covered that deficiency with his honed ability of reading signs. After spending many years learning and cultivating martial arts in search of a way to fight that offsetted his limited magical qualities, it was one of his major accomplishments. Even in this magical fog, Ryousuke had a firm grasp of the presence of the crew standing in his way.
Alas, given he couldn't seem to get a clear picture of Laura, that witch seemed to be just as good at concealing her presence.
Although modern magicians put little importance on their and others' "presence," with their history of persecution, concealing one's presence was probably a skill that witches could not afford to neglect.
Nothing can be completely hidden, however. There was an indication one individual had fled outside, but Ryousuke could sense that Laura was still on board the plane.
That one was probably Dean, Ryousuke thought. He didn't try to get out of the plane and run after him, though. Ryousuke is convinced that it is Laura, not Dean, who should be captured. He is sure she is the real enemy that will bring misfortune and calamity to this world and harm Lena.
There was no rationale to his judgment. It could very well be that he just didn't like Laura, personally. He didn't care either way. Ryousuke was not a person to seek objective reasons for his beliefs.
He has no dream of changing society or the world. To him, society and the world were nothing more than a place to live in. He has no ambition to make a meaningful contribution, just as he doesn't want to leech off it. He doesn't have a reason to preserve it or destroy it; he has no desire to change it. The only thing of value he found was a woman, Lena Fehr.
To him, Lena is more important than the whole world. It is a similar feeling Tatsuya holds for Miyuki, but they clearly diverge on the fact that Tatsuya, despite that feeling, also has the will to change the world.
Tatsuya aspired to change the world for Miyuki's sake.
Meanwhile, Ryousuke is content as long as he can protect Lena's smile. If she wishes, he would give his life to fight to protect the world. But that action would never come from him, from his own initiative.
In a sense, Ryousuke is more like the "hero" of the story than Tatsuya.
The "hero" fights the "demons" at the behest of the "princess" and then defeats the enemy whom the "princess" identifies as the "Demon King." The "hero" is always at someone's side, the ally of justice. They are the ones who selflessly fulfill the wishes of others, not who seek to fulfill their own wishes.
But Ryousuke is aware he is too selfish and stubborn to be a "hero". He knows that they're only there because Lena feels she must stop Dean.
And yet, he's letting Dean get away because his gut is screaming that Laura is more dangerous, more capable of harming Lena than Dean.
Ryousuke began by taking out the enemies whose presence he was aware of.
Once the superfluous signs were gone, even vague signs would be easier to grasp.
Fortunately for him, besides Laura, the fog seemed to be also disrupting all the other enemies and they stopped firing.
Ryousuke tackled the nearest enemy. He hesitated for a moment because he could tell from the presence that it was a woman.
The female crew member was shoved forward, she missed the seat entirely and landed hard on her back on the floor. Despite the impact, she pulled the trigger of the pistol held in a tight grip. The tackle gave her a good idea of Ryousuke's position.
But no matter how many times they fired, before, and now, it was useless. His personal magic armor stopped all the bullets, which fell inert to the ground without even ricocheting.
Ryousuke, still clad in [Reactive Armor], put pressure on the crew member's carotid artery and she immediately collapsed.
If left in this syncope state, there is a risk of sequelae. But he wasn't concerned about that.
Relying on the sound of the tackle and the body hitting the ground, the other crew members opened fire.
The bullets hit Ryousuke, but also the woman under him.
Harmless to Ryousuke, but lethal to the female crewmember. She was hit in a bad spot, the bullet gouged out her left temple, severely disfiguring her well-defined face. Thanks to the fog, Ryousuke was spared the sickening sight.
Ryousuke could not help but feel distraught for the woman being killed by her companions. But his body did not stop fighting. The smell of blood, if anything, stimulated his fighting instincts and heightened his aggression.
He springs up, rushing toward the gunfire.
His opponents were also quite skilled, they noticed Ryousuke's muffled footsteps and aimed a shot where he would be. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't see that their guns were ineffective due to the fog.
The sound of three or four shots tells Ryousuke the position of the shooter. Every time his opponents pulled the trigger it would only help him to gain more accurate coordinates of his unseen enemies.
Before the crewmember could fire the fifth shot, Ryousuke's fist connected with his body. Ryousuke was aiming at the solar plexus, but the crewmember bent his knees, in what appeared to be a gut instinct to duck the punch to the head while maintaining his firing position.
He would have been better off not taking evasive action, as Ryousuke's punch landed just above the heart, causing a severe cardiac concussion that will result in his death in a short period of time.
As this man was now unable to continue shooting, his companions must have linked the absence of gunfire to him being downed. Bullets rained down from two separate points that did not risk friendly fire.
With his new leads , Ryousuke dispatched one after the other. He was getting better at moving without the aid of vision, and was able to incapacitate both without killing.
The small jet's crew was down, Ryousuke did not drop his guard; they were not his target. With the distractions dealt with, he focused his attention on picking up the cloaked Laura.
And at about the same time.
Magic slammed against Ryousuke's consciousness.
Although, to him, it felt like a knock in the door. He could tell that something was trying to interfere, but there was no effect beyond that.
This was a familiar feeling to him. It was the sensation of [Reactive Armor] catching a mental interference-type magic.
[Reactive Armor]'s original design didn't include any sort of defense against mental attacks, solely specializing in dealing with attacks that have a physical nature.
But after working closely alongside Lena, a powerful user of mental-interference magic, Ryousuke enhanced his magic to account for mental defense.
However, this curiously did not come about as a deliberate effort on Ryousuke's part.
As it is, Lena's magic is not designed to attack ─ or undermine, for that matter ─ the mind. It brings about emotions that produce states of euphoria and relieves anxiety, and in good part for that reason, repeated applications have an addictive effect that may cause dependency. Which may well be the reason behind a significant portion of the member applications FEHR has received during its operation.
But Ryousuke was against the idea of becoming dependent on Lena. His desire was to support her, not the other way around. So, he resisted the feeling of happiness and security that surrounded Lena, which ended up being more arduous than withstanding pain.
As a result of his continued perseverance against her magic with all his mental strength, before he knew it, Ryousuke had acquired an unbreakable wall against mind-interference magic.
He could feel his mind being bombarded incessantly, where intensity was in no way compromised in favor of frequency. For Laura to be able to fire off so many powerful attacks in such rapid succession was likely due to her arsenal being well prepared in advance. Nevertheless, there was no hint that his mental bulwark had been breached.
He heard the sound of the hatch fully closing.
At that moment, he found out Laura's position. Rather, he was now sure of it.
By narrowing down the direction, the vaguely diffused signs converged into a human-sized presence.
There was no hesitation. The earlier intent on capture was gone the moment the hatch shut and his eyes locked on his target.
His fist crossed the distance to the human-shaped presence with full force. It jumped to the side.
Ryousuke drew back the extended arm as soon as he realized he was evaded, only to launch another punch, this time biting into the reinforced resin of the hatch. The proud result of modern material science, stronger than any alloy structural material, buckled with little resistance under the fist encased in [Reactive Armor].
Ryousuke jumped to the side and focused his eyes on the presence of the fallen figure. Even with his vision still obstructed by the fog, Ryousuke could clearly see the outline of a human figure. He didn't need to see the face to know that it was undoubtedly Laura Simons.
Without a second thought, Ryousuke took a mounted position over the fallen Laura.
Ryousuke pinned Laura in place with the mounted position. He opted for a not so rough approach, such as stomping on her, to ensure that she would not escape but also unscathed.
Spared by the violence, Laura was able to draw a magically bound hidden knife at Ryousuke's leg. But if a bullet couldn't pierce his defenses, there was little hope that a knife would do the job. Laura quickly abandoned that route and fired a cursed arrow.
Witchcraft art [Mistletoe Arrow]. This curse has two main characteristics: it always hits a target whose face and name are known to the caster, and it penetrates the body, ignoring any magic defending the body.
Unfortunately, for Laura, she misinterpreted Ryousuke's [Reactive Armor] as a magic that enhances his physical defense, when in fact its nature is that of an armor that envelops his entire body. The discrepancy between target definition and event rendered the curse invalid before even the power relationship between the magics was considered.
Realizing this, Laura switches the type of curse.
She releases a "sound" from her throat that acts as the incantation chant of a magic that paralyzes the heart of whoever hears it, [Azrael]. This curse is mediated by sound.
She knows from their previous encounters on Mt. Shasta and Japan that sound is able to pass through, as Ryousuke could both hear and be heard while his shield was active. In other words, that magic armor allows sound to pass through. In that case, [Azrael], a curse that works upon hearing the "sound" should be effective.
That was what Laura expected, but this did not work for Ryousuke either. It could only mean that Ryousuke's magic power was simply greater than Laura's.
"I can't accept that," Laura thought. To admit that she was inferior in magic power to a zealot of that obnoxious detestable woman was akin to denying her own self-worth.
She has a visceral loathing for Lena. It may come across as irrational and immature, but Laura simply hates her.
She is like if the goodness of humanity had been distilled and bottled up in the form of a maiden. Her appearance, in the eyes of a "witch," is not simply the result of a genetic mutation. It is an embodiment of unsullied virginity. A reflection of holiness that rejects impurity and aging.
Same with the "Saint Lena" moniker touted by her admirers, it was the diametric contrast to the "Witch" that Laura held and was attributed to.
Being defeated by a "Knight in Shining Armor" of that "Saint" would tear Laura's pride to shreds. Hence, even after witnessing the ineffectiveness of [Azrael], she did not stop resisting. She unleashed every curse, every witchcraft at her command, one after the other, regardless if it was futile. She lastly even resorted to [Babel], knowing that it was pointless. In a direct confrontation against a magician, there was no advantage she could get from depriving them of their ability to communicate with others.
All it could do is buy her some time. In fact, it did.
Laura's magic is powerful. By the international evaluation of modern magic standards, it is comparable to offensive magic of an A-ranked magician.
Ryousuke was forced to focus his attention on the magic in order to fully defend against such an attack, and because of this, he was unable to do anything beyond holding her down.
Which ended up as a particularly bad spot for Laura to work. Once he warded off [Babel], Ryousuke was immediately back on the offensive, and the [Witch] was out of breath after using so many magics, especially one from a prehistoric civilization that was not originally hers.
Laura was not allowed to recover, as, before that could happen, Ryousuke then applied pressure to her neck. Although he couldn't use his sense of touch because of [Reactive Armor], his extensive experience and disciplined coordination allowed him to use just the right amount of force.
Short of five seconds later, Laura passed out. And once she did, the bewitching fog that had been fading since her dive to the ground was instantly cleared away.
Because of their positioning in relation to the small plane, Lena, Arya, and Spica were not able to see Dean get into the car on the other side of the aircraft. However, they could easily surmise that Dean boarded the small car that raced, stopped at the small plane and then drove away. Magical signs left it clear that Laura was still on board, fighting against Ryousuke.
"Let's go catch him," Spica urged Lena to go after Dean.
"Shall I stop it?" Arya suggested stopping the self-propelled car.
Spica showed concern, "Stopping a car with [Agni Downburst] would be a bit too much…" Different from the relatively fragile plane, a car would require a higher output of the same magic.
"It'll be fine. I have other magics." It appeared that Arya already had that consideration in mind.
"…No, we're not the police. Let's refrain from using more magic than we already have," Lena objected with a different point of view.
This time, there was no counterargument.
"Then let's hurry back to the entrance right away. We might be able to catch up with him," Spica suggested that they intercept Dean using the vehicle parked in front of the terminal building.
For a brief moment, Lena appeared to show concern over Ryousuke, who was still fighting on board the plane. She then shook her head and said, "Alright, let's go."
Lena, Spica and Arya's effort to follow the car with Dean in it was frustrated, however, as when they arrived at the vehicle parked in front of the terminal, they were greeted by two investigators of the NSB, the public safety department of the FBI, who firmly insisted they do not pursue Dean.
The agents apparently had been arguing with the officers left in the vehicle long before the trio arrived back.
Claiming that Dean being a national wanted terrorist suspect, the jurisdiction was theirs, they impeded the vehicle from leaving the scene, stating that the military should not interfere with the current ongoing pursuit.
They resorted to threatening arrest over Arya's [Agni Downburst] illegal use of magic. While Lena's [Ataraxia] went unnoticed, Arya's use of magic was clearly registered in the monitoring system.
Both of their arguments were valid, even if there is room for debate in Arya's use of magic, the Federal Military has no authority in the investigation of the case.
Faced with the wall of the federal and state laws, both Lena and Spica had no choice but to give up the pursuit.
"Is it the FBI that's chasing us?" Dean asks the driver, a hongmen member under Zhu Yuen Yun, from the backseat, his body twisted to look through the rear window. He sees an unmarked police car with red lights shining on it on their tail.
"It's possible, likely the NSB specifically."
"Looks like I have come up in the world, I even got the NSB to come after me," Dean laughs to himself. "I suppose that means they've got Laura."
"Don't worry, sir. We'll make sure to help her to the best of our ability."
"…I'll take your word for it, then." In the topic of Laura his true emotions leaked in a break of his usual auspicious tone. He couldn't help but to be concerned about her.
"Be assured we'll keep our word, sir. But, bringing us back to the situation at hand, I think it's time we did something about this."
The other man, seated in the passenger seat, looked behind, in a musing voice. Seemingly growing impatient with their disobedience to their order to stop, shots were being fired from the unmarked police car.
Rather than sticking their arms out of the windows to fire their guns, the bullets came from a firearm mounted in the front hood of the car and deployed like a retractable headlight.
Despite the larger firearm and the more powerful round that this configuration allowed, Dean's car bulletproofing capability proved superior. They proceeded undeterred under the hail of bullets, focusing on driving instead of worrying about weak points such as windows and tires.
That said, nothing could be done about the jarring sound of the bullets hitting the windows. Besides, they still needed to shake off the pursuit before they could reach their goal. They didn't have the time or resources to simply shake them off their tail and slip away, they needed to switch to a more aggressive policy of elimination.
They may not have a hidden weapon stashed in the rear like the undercover police car, but they are not without a means of fighting back.
The man in the passenger seat is a hongmen-associated Daoist, he isn't specialized in offensive magic as Triad's ancient-style magicians, but he has the capability to disable an self-propelled car with ease.
Because Zhu Yuen Yun does not want the situation to escalate further, to the point where the federal government would take notice, his men have been assisting Dean in a relatively discreet manner.
But now that they have the NSB of all parties chasing them in a car and opening fire with a weapon of that caliber on a public road near an airport, it begs the question, "How far are the police willing to go with that?". In this situation, Zhu Yuen Yun's men felt that it was long past the point where further restraint was going to be of any help.
However, they ended up not firing magic at the agents in the unmarked police car.
"I'll deal with the agents chasing us." Because Dean took upon himself with the task.
He relaxed his back against the seat and stroked the metal band of his classic wristwatch.
The watch is an original piece of an expensive brand highly prized for its traditional handicraft quality, more so than the value of the materials it works with, with the exception of its metal band. Perhaps the original was damaged earlier or before Dean's purchase, it has since been replaced with a new metal band, where part of which has an integrated CAD.
Despite dabbling with ancient-style magic, especially in methodology, that is mostly Laura's domain, Dean considers himself more of a modern magician and prefers to use the tools it has to offer.
As he is now using a CAD, the magic he is about to activate is not [Gjallarhorn]. It was his trump card until he got his hands on [Gjallarhorn], a magic he grew very accustomed with.
Dean activates [Dionysus], targeting the unmarked police car behind them.
[Dionysus] is a mental-interference magic.
Set apart from the majority of the type, which require a defined target for activation, with [Dionysus], like Lena's magic, is possible to define an area as the target, any individual in which will be subject to the magic's effects. As such, just by defining the area the car occupies as the target, it will affect everyone within, namely its passengers.
And, like that, the unmarked police car starts to wobble. It is not so much swerving, but it appears as if the movements of the steering wheel have been more generous than necessary.
That is enough for the stream of bullets coming from the mounted gun to constantly miss aim, punching holes in the pavement instead.
As they approached a curve in the road, Dean directed the driver to speed up. The curve was gentle, if they sped up it would still be possible to make the turn.
The police car attempted to do the same, only to slam into the guardrail. The car was not so fast that the damage of the collision would result in catching fire, but it did not look like it would be able to move anytime soon.
It looked like a classic drunk driving accident scene.
A fitting analogy given that the accident occurred as a result of Dean's magic.
His magic, [Dionysus], interferes with the cerebrum-psyche interaction, creating a state similar to inebriation. A state in which the individual's reasoning capacity, decision making and self-discipline are compromised.
It doesn't attempt to induce a drunken stupor, and because the person can still act freely, they are bound to make decisions uncurbed by laws and morals.
This intoxicated enchantment caused the NSB agents to cause a drunk driving accident while not having any alcohol in their systems.
And so the vehicle carrying Dean reached the submersible arranged by Zhu Yuen Yun without any further pursuit.
◇ ◇ ◇
After being captured by Ryousuke, Laura was taken into custody by the Stars.
Upon the news of their colleague's accident, The agents who blocked Lena and Spica's path at the airport left them to get to the scene.
In name of the STARS, Canopus personally thanked Lena and Ryousuke, the person who played the key role in capturing Laura, for their contributions with the FAIR effort, assuring them that it was the intention of the General Staff to provide financial support and to grant Ryousuke a green card, a permanent resident visa.
Laura was transported that day from the Travis Air Force Base in a sedated state to an underground magician research facility of the federal military in the foothills west of Roswell.
◇ ◇ ◇
These were the developments that followed:
In a matter of days, NSB gathered testimony from several airport employees who were at the time working on the reopening of the airport and found out that STARS took Laura in their custody.
The NSB, in other words, the FBI, then proceeded to make a request through the Department of Justice to the STARS for transfer of custody of Laura. The request was denied by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had command over the STARS. The argument of the Chiefs of Staff being that, in their failure to account and properly respond to Rocky Dean's mental-interference magic, the NSB was unfit to safely contain Laura Simons, who is known to hold equally powerful mental-interference magic.
Further denoting the STARS as the ones who solved both cases of terrorism through magic of [Babel] in July and this time in September with [Gjallarhorn], the Department of Defense got the Department of Justice to capitulate.
As such, Laura was to be held captive in the facility and used as a material for human experimentation in research with newly discovered sedatives that showed effects that can potentially prevent magic from being activated.
There were no records of a found bloodstone where she sealed the Daemon of [Babel] in her ear as soon as the time she was transferred to the institute.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Mr. Shiba, I was informed that we have succeeded in capturing Laura Shimons," Stuart, who was also a part of the response team at the Travis base, brought the news to Tatsuya, who was still waiting at the base.
"That's great to hear. Congratulations," Tatsuya reacted with a sociable congratulations.
Stuart responded with a wry smile, "That's the good news, at least. The bad news is that reports also say that Dean apparently got away."
"Did the FBI interfere with the pursuit?"
"It would seem so, yes. The NSB, their public safety division, claimed it was their turf, only to let Dean slip away… The sheer stubbornness of the judicial authorities baffles me, I'll tell you." Tatsuya offered some consolation with the "pass the buck" card, and Stuart jumped on the bandwagon. "This reminds me, Laura Simons is set to be brought here soon. Would you like to have an opportunity to have a look, Mister?"
"If that's possible, I'd appreciate it."
Intrigued by Tatsuya's sudden keen interest, "Then, please, this way," with that, Stuart volunteered to lead Tatsuya to the location.
Stuart led Tatsuya to a transport helicopter that had flown in from the San Francisco International Airport. Laura was on board, retrained on the stretcher she was lying on.
Laura was immobile, with her eyes closed.
"Is she sedated?" Tatsuya asked Spica, who was aboard the helicopter.
"Yes," Spica affirmed. "There are still too many unknowns about her and her witchcraft, so it was decided it was safer to keep her unconscious for the time being."
"May I have a moment to examine her? Of course, she can remain as is."
"Yes. You can have four or five minutes." Spica was only so comfortable giving the OK because Stuart would be with him.
So comfortable in fact that she told Stuart, "I'm going to step out for a minute," and then stepped out of the helicopter.
Tatsuya, at this point, was also not planning to outplay the STARS. He had two objectives with that request: First, he wanted to "see" and memorize Laura's EIDOS so that he would be able to locate her immediately in the event that she ever escaped again. Second, he wanted to check if there were any traces on Laura's body that would lead him to Dean.
The first was quick. Perhaps that's typical of modern witches, but the Eidos of Laura's body was quite distorted. It had been mended, remodeled several times and in several places.
It's not quite the same as a biological system incorporating foreign cells or implanted with artificial organs. This has been done mainly by magic, mainly through the use of drugs, most likely. As with magical treatment, the magic must have been continually casted over a long period of time until it gradually took root in the body.
That resulted in a rather distinctive Eidos. A device that identifies human psion waves would have difficulty discerning because it deviates too much from the standard pattern. However, by using a means of reading the Eidos directly, such as [Elemental Sight], the individual characteristics were clearly visible. Even if she managed to escape this time, it would be easy to track her.
Traces of Dean were also not too difficult to find. It begs the question if they frequently interfered with each other with magic, because there is a magical pathway established between Laura and Dean.
Tatsuya had only heard rumors, but it is said that there is a secret technique in ancient-style magic for transmitting "magic power" through intimate physical contact. He wondered if this magical pathway might have been formed and cemented by that technique.
Tatsuya tentatively reached via this pathway and, sure enough, he found Dean's current location without trouble. He felt that he hadn't even used more than about 10% of the resources of the magic calculation area.
That said, he only obtained the positional coordinates. There was just not enough information to be obtained from this magical pathway to establish a real-time link. For that, Tatsuya would probably need to devote more than half of his resources.
Those coordinates could still be useful to the military or the police to take action to capture him. If push comes to shove, he could access a reconnaissance satellite or hack into it, and with the feed as a guide, solve the issue with [Decomposition].
Dean's Gjallarhorn is a threat. It is difficult for Tatsuya to respond to it in a timely manner once it is used. Also, unlike modern magic, there is a likely chance the threat of a prehistoric civilization's magic will not disappear simply by eliminating the caster. He couldn't discard the possibility that it could become an independent information body like a Parasite and start disseminating its magic indiscriminately.
But for the time being, he could consider the Dean issue to be dealt with later.
With his two main goals accomplished, Tatsuya continued to observe Laura, half out of curiosity.
That is when he noticed a foreign body. A familiar piece of information was attached to Laura's left ear.
He immediately recognized what it was. It was extremely similar to the magic-imparting information body he had seen when accessing the ruins of Shambhala, what he tentatively termed a "daemon". A product of a very similar technological system, probably from the same era. In essence, highly likely a product of the Kla-Klo's magical technology.
This object that Laura Simons is donning is a magic of Kla-Klo. Could this be the daemon of [Babel]?
"I wonder why it's not embedded in her magic calculation area, this looks like an external terminal," Tatsuya wondered in his mind.
It is a very interesting piece. a so far unprecedented case to his knowledge. He "looked" at it deeper to figure out its structure and mechanisms.
"Mister."
A voice pulled him out of his reverie, causing Tatsuya to turn around with a start.
"…I'm sorry if you broke your concentration," Seeing the rare look of Tatsuya's startled expression, Stuart, who called out to him moments ago, apologizes with a remorseful look on her face.
"No, I should apologize too. Can I help you?" Tatsuya immediately regained his composure and asked the reason she called him.
"Ah, no, it's nothing important, I've been called, so I'll have to step away for a minute. I'll be back soon, so please wait here until then." And with that, Stuart hurriedly exited the helicopter, leaving Tatsuya alone in the cargo area.
He had already confirmed upon entering that there was no sort of surveillance system here, with the exception of the one guard at the entrance. That must be how much she trusts Tatsuya.
Tatsuya had no hesitation in betraying that trust.
He took advantage of their lower guard to remove the stone from Laura's ear and slip into his pocket. He did use [Decomposition] in the removing stage, but he wasn't so clumsy as to leave any trace to be detected.
"Did Rocky Dean actually manage to escape in the end?" Tatsuya inquired, sounding not so disappointed when Spica relayed the details of the day's events to him.
"The primary objective this time was not to take him into custody, that said, we were able to secure Laura Simons, that wasn't a particularly bad result," Canopus responded. "Unfortunately, to achieve that objective we had to rely on the unique skills of civilians to deal with the effects of [Gjallarhorn]. Which brings me to my next point: Mr. Shiba, at this point, do you propose any alternative solution?"
"The immediate option would be to gas them to sleep," Tatsuya wasn't fazed at being put on the spot by Canopus's question. "There are also magics that, while not as effective as Ms. Fehr's, are capable of calming the mind. It should be feasible to develop a counter-magic designed to calm the heightened emotions of a mob."
"…In that case, would you be willing to help us develop such magic?"
To this request, Tatsuya immediately responded, "Yes, of course. I have to give priority to the development of the stellar furnace, but if you would like to exchange ideas, please let me know so that I can make it work with my schedule."
Canopus made no further requests.
◇ ◇ ◇
He let Dean go, but at least Laura was dealt with.
He was able to gain direct access to the ruins of Kla-Klo, learn what kind of magic [Gjallarhorn] is and isn't, its capabilities, limitations as well as possible countermeasures.
Tatsuya felt safe to say that he had accomplished all of his goals in coming to the USNA. So, there is no need for him to prolong his stay.
And Tatsuya can bet he was not alone in this sentiment, as Canopus, and the DOD he answers to, had no intention of keeping him either.
Once the incident appeared to have been settled, preparations for his return to Japan began without a word to Tatsuya's side. Later that night, before 9:00 P.M., the same supersonic military transport that brought him to North America was ready for takeoff.
"Mr. Shiba, we're truly grateful for your assistance on this matter." Canopus had already returned to STARS headquarters in New Mexico. Spica stayed behind at the Travis base to see Tatsuya off. Likely more to keep an eye on him until he's effectively out of their borders, than a gesture of pure hospitality, but Tatsuya didn't really care either way.
There was no indication they were aware of the "rock" he snatched from Laura. And if they did, the thought was lost in the hurry of chasing after Dean and arranging for Laura's transfer. The sense of urgency was particularly acute in moving Laura away before the FBI or the DOJ could make any claims to her. Probably expecting the judicial authorities to be especially desperate to have anything to save face after the blunder of the FBI's Public Safety Division.
But to the military, more than her prize value, Laura is a valuable research subject. Not only does she hold clues to magic that may pose a threat to the USNA in the future, she will also help them uncover the occult techniques and lifestyle of the "witches".
This tug-of-war within the USNA authorities worked in Tatsuya's favor.
On the topic of the bloodstone object that Laura had used to contain [Babel], it was no longer in Tatsuya's possession.
During the three-hour window between taking the stone from Laura and boarding the transport, Tatsuya read out the full extent of the structure of the stone and the magic sequence embedded in it, and saved it in the form of data.
Afterwards, the stone was [Decomposed] to the molecular level. The magic sequence in the stone has yet to be fully decoded, but he wasn't sure of what kind of risk he could be taking by keeping the stone, either with himself or mixed in his carry-on luggage.
A psion information body, presumed to be the daemon of [Babel], slipped out of the pulverized stone and disappeared into the thin air.
If the black tablet, the [Guru's Tablet], left behind by the Kla-Klo, operates the function as he and his collaborators hypothesize it does, the daemon should have returned to the tablet via the information dimension.
Said [Guru's Tablet] is safely stored in Miyakishima after Minoru took it from FAIR. Tatsuya plans to look into it as soon as he returns to Japan.
"Second-Lieutenant Spica, thank you very much for your hospitality," Tatsuya bowed lightly to Spica with his back turned to the ramp of the transport plane.
"Sir, we should be thankful instead. We greatly appreciate all the help you've given us." For a moment, Tatsuya almost forgot Spica was an elite soldier, for a regular young woman by her jovial tone and expressive shake of the head.
That spurred a small act of generosity from him.
He leaned in and, in a low voice, that only Spica could hear, asked, "About Dean. I wonder if…" Her eyes widened. Seeing Spica stare at him like a shark after blood was spilled in the water, Tatsuya finally continued, "…I wonder if you are looking under the sea."
"Mister, why- how-… Pardon me. Thank you very much for your advice. I'll get right on it."
"I have a feeling that you'll have luck looking to the north," Tatsuya said his last words as he walked up the ramp.
Spica watched as Tatsuya disappeared into the interior of the plane, then quickly spun on her heel and took off running.
◇ ◇ ◇
September 29th, 4:00 P.M. Japanese Standard Time.
Tatsuya arrived at Zama Air Base.
It is a Wednesday, the last classes at the Magic University should have just finished.
Yet there was Miyuki and Lina waiting for him on the apron of the Zama Air Base.
Miyuki rushes in a short trot to Tatsuya as he gets off the transport, careful to maintain her ladylike bearing. Upon reaching Tatsuya, she stops, bows politely and says, "Welcome home."
Tatsuya waits for Miyuki to raise her head back and then pulls her into a hug.
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