Chapter 10
[Two-Way Invasion]
October 14, Thursday morning.
As Ichijou Masaki was finishing preparing to leave for Magic University, he received an unexpected call on his mobile terminal. From his father, no less.
Assuming it's an emergency, Masaki immediately picked up the call.
[Are you still in your apartment, Masaki?]
"Yeah, I was just about to leave."
[Good that I called then.]
Masaki furrowed his brow. His father seemed to be talking to himself on the other side of the line. Masaki has a feeling something happened for him to call.
[Masaki, get back here ASAP]
"...What happened?"
Masaki's sense of crisis multiplies at the tension that seeps through his father's, Gouki's voice.
[There have been telltale signs that GAU and the NSU are joining forces for an invasion.]
"What!?"
The news was even worse than Masaki had anticipated. [There are confirmed footage of a GAU military supply convoy heading for Vladivostok.]
"Are you really saying the GAU and NSU are teaming up..."
[In Vladivostok there are also signs that the NSU will be mobilizing their ships. The NDF assessment of their level of readiness estimates they could launch an invasion as early as tomorrow.]
Even through this audio-only call Masaki could feel that his father was taking the National Defense Forces reports very seriously from his voice alone.
"Got it! I'll be back ASAP."
Masaki ran out of the apartment carrying the backpack that is always ready for this kind of emergency, packed with a full set of combat gear.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, Tatsuya arrived at Miyakishima with Miyuki and Lina. The girls were voluntarily taking a day off from university.
They are closely monitoring the movements of the NSU forces gathered in Sakhalin by tapping into the HAPS (High-Altitude Platform Surveillance) cameras.. The reason why Miyakishima, as opposed to flying to Hokkaido, is that here they would have a quicker response time than if they were in the Sapporo area.
The distance from Miyakishima to Cape Soya on the other side of Sakhalin is about 1,300 kilometers. Tatsuya has his small private jet waiting at Miyakishima. With a top speed around Mach 7, a full throttle flight from Miyakishima to Cape Soya would take between 15 to 20 minutes, taking into account the time needed for acceleration and deceleration.
Through the intermediate of Kazama, Tatsuya arranged an agreement with Chief of the General Staff Akiyama so that if an NSU is observed to be initiating the invasion, he would be instantly given permission to fly in at full speed in return for his defense cooperation. This would probably be faster than rushing in a self-driving car from a hotel in Wakkanai City, let alone Sapporo.
And now Tatsuya waited with bated breath for the New Soviet Forces to make their move.
◇ ◇ ◇
It was just before noon when Masaki arrived at his parents' house in Kanazawa.
"Oh, welcome home, nii-san."
"Akane!?" His sister was the first to welcome him when he entered the house. "Why are you not at school?"
She is a second-year student at a Third High. And she should be there at this hour of the day, on a Thursday.
"No classes for me today. It's a public holiday, don't go saying I'm skipping school."
"Public holiday? I didn't hear that." Masaki looked back at her with a "I don't follow" face. "It's my fault, Masaki-san, please don't hold it against Akane," spoke a young girl, who appeared in the doorway from behind Akane.
"Leila-san... Are you on a public holiday, too?"
"She is on a movement control order at the request of the NDF," Masaki's question was answered by a deep male voice.
"Oyaji..." Masaki was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of Goki. His loss of words was different from his confusion just before with Akane and Leila being at home, and not at school. But then he composed himself and declared to his father in a firm voice, "I have returned."
"Good work, my son. I know you just arrived, but let me give you a quick rundown of the situation."
"Sure, I understand."
Masaki takes his backpack off and holds it with his left hand, takes over his shoes and follows Goki in. Akane and Leila, in turn, follow behind Masaki.
"Let me start by saying that neither the NSU nor GAU forces have left Vladivostok yet."
Gouki brought Masaki to the reception room where he usually receives business-related visitors, where he gave Masaki a briefing on the current situation.
The NSU moored in Vladivostok harbor are one medium-sized transport ship disguised as a civilian cargo ship and twelve smaller vessels presumed to be speedboats. I don't know what the transport vessel is for, but I assume they intend to use the speedboats to bring their operatives ashore. "What would they accomplish by sneaking in operatives...?" The question was not for Gouki, it was simply Masaki voicing his soliloquy.
But even though he knew that, Gouki nevertheless answered, "Some have suggested they might have plans to contact Leila."
"They're after Leila-san?"
"Remember that GAU agent who attempted to smother you last month?"
"Ah, that... Yeah..." Masaki nodded sheepishly at the question.
That was a bitter memory for Masaki. He was almost brainwashed last month by an agent of GAU's special magician unit Baxian last month who went by the name "Aikawa Keika."
"It was reported that the GAU agent confessed they were after you specifically because you are a strategic-class magician."
From that alone Masaki could tell the point his father was trying to make.
"So they may be after Leila-san, who's also a strategic-class magician?"
"Precisely," Gouki said with a nod. "It is the opinion of the NDF strategic intelligence analysts that they may attempt to bring Leila, or rather, their former apostle, Liu Lilei, back to their camp." Rather than leaving open for a silent understanding, he verbalized it without mincing words.
"In other words, kidnaping her and dragging her back?"
"Or performing some kind of suggestion or brainwashing so she can wreak havoc from the inside."
Masaki glanced at Akane and Leila with a look of understanding. "It was because of that reason, I was ordered to not go to school and stay sequestered here at the Ichijou house," with an apologetic tone, Leila answered Masaki's gaze.
"And, I have been assigned to be Lei-chan's chaperone for the time being," Akane added in what seemed to be for the comfort of her friend.
This wasn't a surprise, it's not the first time Akane has been asked by the NDF to keep an eye on the apostle Liu Lilei, whom they call Leila. The very reason as to why she was sheltered by the Ichijou and is now "Ichijou Leila" is so that they, Akane usually, would keep tabs if the enemy Liu Lilei would show up.
If such an occasion were to emerge, Akane was to use her [Nerve Disruption] magic she inherited from the Isshiki side of the family to subdue Liu Lilei. At the military's request for the Ichijou family to take custody, their measure was to have Akane accompany Liu Lilei at all times.
However, at the fact that both the watcher and the charge were pre-teen girls at the time of this change, they soon developed a close friendship, a time later Liu Lilei became a member of the Ichijou family, Ichijou Akane's cousin.
So, Akane's duty, who is still in high school, became more of a guard role, keeping an eye on any agents who might approach Leila.
"Oyaji. Did you call me back here to escort them both, then?"
"That, and because there is a possibility we may need you to deploy your strategic-class magic."
"So, they'll be my bodyguards, too?"
"Displeased?" Gouki asked as he peered sharply at Masaki with a hint of reproach in his eyes. "No." Masaki firmly met his gaze. "After they saved me last month, I have no doubts that they will protect me this time."
Goki nodded in satisfaction at his son's firm pledge of trust.
Leila turned a heated gaze on Masak.
Even Akane, for some reason, blushed at the cheeks.
◇ ◇ ◇
The transport vessels and speedboats left the Vladivostok port simultaneously at sundown.
"It looks like the diversion group has sailed, right?"
Captain Chen Jingna of the GAU special operations unit received a report of the start of the infiltration operation at the port of Rajin, located at the base of the Korean Peninsula.
Lu Weichen stood behind her, unperturbed by her musings. He simply assumed the previous line was a soliloquy of sorts, and that no answer was required.
Chen Jingna wiped her head around to stare straight at Lu Weichen's unsociable attitude. The clear look of annoyance in her face spoke volumes of her opinion in his assessment.
He stood impassive at that as well.
"How are your preparations, Lieutenant? Ready to depart?" Rather than reproach, Chen Jingna inquired about the state of readiness for their operation.
"Everything is in order, ma'am capitan." "Good. Then we will sail in one hour, as scheduled."
"Understood."
Satisfied with Lu Weichen's reply, Chen Jingna left him at the wharf and went back to a roofed area.
Satisfied with Lu Weichen's reply, Chen Jingna went back to a roofed area, leaving Lu Weichen standing there at the wharf. There he continued to monitor the preparations of the vessel disguised as a fishing boat they would be using for the infiltration.
◇ ◇ ◇
October 15, Friday, just after sunset.
A transport ship that left Vladivostok intruded into the contiguous waters off Sado Island. The Japanese Coast Guard, which was set on high alert in coordination with the NDF, sternly warned the vessel to stay clear out of its territorial waters.
The Coast Guard was ready to carry out an on-site inspection if any whiff of suspicious activity was observed, but the transport ship disguised as a civilian cargo ship obeyed the warning, slowed down, and leisurely changed course.
As it did, a large number of drones were deployed under the cover of darkness from the port side, which was a blind spot from the patrol vessels. Even the radar was unable to pick up the shadow swarm.
Masaki was at the Komatsu Air Force Base when he heard about the movement of the transport ship that appeared off Sado Island. His current position at that specific air base, as opposed to somewhere like the Maizuru Naval Base, was to allow for some flexibility given the fact they still did not know whether the enemy would target Sado Island, the Niigata area, or Toyama Bay.
He was stationed at the Komatsu Air Base at the request of the NDF, so that he could respond quickly to enemy aggression with helicopters or military transport aircraft.
At the base with Masaki are Leila, Akane and Kichijouji, who arrived late from Tokyo. Gouki remained back at the Ichijou household to coordinate the magicians under the family's command if necessary.
"Did the transport turn back!?" Masaki couldn't help but to exclaim from his seat at the operations table at the information brought by the base's sergeant.
"But why...?" Masaki heard the mutter from Kichijouji. It was a quiet one, that Masaki only caught because they were sitting next to each other. Kichijouji then speaks up, "Excuse me, but is there any information on whether that transport ship dispatched anything into the sea or into the air?", posing the question to the sergeant who brought the news.
"Not that we are aware. The systems didn't detect any drones or small submersibles."
"Is that so..."
Kichijouji suspected the NSU transport ship may have been carrying small deployable ordnance, the NDF had the same idea, and had already checked it out.
Still, he could not think of any other reasonable explanation for the vessel's behaviour. They were too quick to give up, and they couldn't have hoped to do any meaningful action before they were spotted by the patrol boat, and then they wouldn't be able to scuttle away.
Both Kichijouji and Masaki were left puzzled about this.
◇ ◇ ◇
Located about 30 nautical miles (≈56 km) northwest of the Noto Peninsula is the spy ship with Lu Weichen and Chen Jingna on board. It received constant updates on the developments off Sado Island. Their plan was to wait for the diversion created by the drone attack and make a landing on the western coast of Noto Peninsula.
"Did the Japanese military detect the drone?"
"No signs of it so far."
Chen Jingna turned her head to the person who answered her question, Lu Weichen, with a satisfied look on her face, "Then it appears that our It seems that our secret weapon has outsmarted their military."
Lu Weichen responded succinctly without changing his expression, "All according to plan."
"Very much so, yes. And, at this course, our turn will come in just a little while longer. I'll take a break until then. You should do the same, Lieutenant." Without waiting for a reply, she left with the recommendation.
Lu Weichen bowed lightly to her back.
◇ ◇ ◇
One of the Four Great Elders, Kashiwa Kazutaka, usually resides in Tokyo, but he is originally from the Chuetsu region, where the traditional residence of the Kashiwa family is also located. When ordered to reconnoiter the Ten Master Clans, Izayoi Kanau set his eyes first on the Ichijou family because of their geographical proximity to Kashiwa's hometown.
Which is why he was conveniently near the area. He checked into a hotel in Toyama, to avoid Kanazawa, where he might have been noticed by the Ichijou family, while still maintaining easy and quick access to the area.
Given that he was in Hokuriku, it was only natural that he would catch wind of GAU's shikigami drones. The title of the head of the Izayoi family, said to be one of the most powerful ancient-style magicians, with a power rivaling a family of the Ten Master Clans, wasn't just for show.
The Shikigami drone was on course for the Joetsu region, bypassing the western side of Sado Island. Kanau immediately noticed the drone approaching unobstructed from the sky over the sea because the shikigami was continuously activating its concealment art.
More precisely, the waves from the other side led his senses to detect it. When he placed his attention on the object continuously emitting the magic waves, his perception caught up and identified it as an enemy unmanned weapon.
Apprised to that knowledge, Kanau did not hesitate.
While his allegiance was to the authority known as Kashiwa and not to the government, he was still a patriot. And were he not, he would never be taken into the inner circle of one of the Four Great Elders in the first place.
Kanau called the deputy commander of Komatsu Base using the direct address number given to him by Kashiwa.
◇ ◇ ◇
Having informed Masaki and Kichijouji of the transport's suspicious movements, the base sergeant received a radio comm. His face grew tense as he listened to the transmission, and, with an astonished look on his face, turned to Masaki.
"We have just received word that a number of drones are approaching the coast of the Joetsu region."
"Didn't you say no drones were detected!?" Masaki's voice rose in anger without him realizing it.
"It would appear that, because of a high-level magical cloaking, the drones did not show up on the radar. The information came from a credible civilian magician."
"A civilian magician?" Masaki whispers quizzically. Was there such a skilled magician in the Joetsu area?
"Do you have information on the swarm's current position? And how much time do we have before it reaches the coastline?" while Masaki muttered questions to himself, Kichijouji was preoccupied with how much time they had to respond.
"Nothing precise, the rough estimate is 30 minutes. A helicopter was scrambled from the Takada garrison, but since it is a transport bird, it is doubtful the crewman can down the drones with the onboard firepower."
"I see..." Kichijouji ponders.
Neither his, nor Masaki's magic would be of any help against these, most likely, military grade drones. His treasured [Invisible Bullet] falls well short of the range required, and Masaki's specialization in vaporizing liquids with the Ichijou family's [Rupture] is unlikely to have much effect on military drones, which run on solid-state batteries.
"I'll intercept them. Can you get a helicopter, no, a transport plane, to take me there." Before Kichijouji could come out of his reverie, Masaki volunteered himself to the task.
"Masaki?"
"I know, [Rupture] isn't going to work on drones. But you and I know that's not the only magic in my arsenal. I can take down a drone without a problem," Masaki stated assertively.
"...You're right. I'll be going with you," Kichijouji spoke, clear of any doubts.
"You will?"
"I may not have anything that can take down a drone flying at high speed, but even then I can still give some support with predicting the trajectory and such."
"─I'll be counting on you, then."
There was no need for any dramatic handshake or fist bump like you'd see in a cartoon. Their trust and confidence in each other was apparent in their eyes as they exchanged nods.
"I'll go too. No, sorry. Please, take me with you," Their moment was interrupted by a girl's voice.
"Leila-chan!?" Akane made a surprised exclamation. She sounded like she was against the idea.
"If it's a drone, then my magic should be useful." But Leila ignored the sound of Akane's voice for that moment. "Leila-san, that's not..." Masaki, like his sister, attempted to dissuade Leila.
"Wait, Masaki." But there, Kichijouji stepped in, "Leila-san has a point. Her magic would be more effective."
"Using [Thunderclap Tower] in an urban area would be more problematic than a drone strike, wouldn't it?"
"It's fine, I've got an idea."
"Still..."
"We don't have the time. I'll explain it on the plane."
Reminded of the current situation, Masaki gave up trying to refute the point. "Can you get us that transport plane?" And instead, spoke again to the sergeant, requesting an urgent transport.
"Understood. Please, follow me."
It would seem that, while Masaki and the rest were discussing, the sergeant was reporting and processing their request with his superiors. So when they were done, he immediately began to lead the way.
The group followed after the sergeant.
◇ ◇ ◇
Tatsuya in Miyakishima learned of the NSU and GAU joint operation basically as soon as it was launched in Hokuriku. Through the hacked HAPS cameras, he was also apprised of the movements of the naval vessels that had been mobilized to Vladivostok as well as Sakhalin. He was currently in the information processing and communications center of the Miyakishima Administration Building, often referred to as the "command center." Every information that could be gathered about the current situation, including that obtained via the hacking, was collected and processed in this room.
"Executive Director," Kyouko Fujibayashi, the person in charge of the hacking on this occasion, addressed Tatsuya by his job title within the Magian Company. "We are observing a strange noise in the ocean west of Sado Island, sir."
"Noise?" Tatsuya, who only had turned his head when Fujibayashi called out, turned to her completely.
"Yes. It doesn't match any known patterns, but I presume it may be some form of magic-based camouflage. I apologize, the best reasoning I can offer is based on intuition." For much of the uncertainty in her words, Fujibyashi spoke with clear confidence.
"I understand. Please pass on the image to me. I'll take a direct 'look' at it."
A monitor appeared from inside Tatsuya's desk, on which a real-time feed from the HAPS camera was displayed.
Using the footage as a reference point, Tatsuya exercises [Elemental Sight]. Once he reaches the place in the information dimension relative to the area shown on the feed, he is able to have a detailed view on that aforementioned "noise."
"Your intuition is sharp as ever, Fujibayashi-san. There is indeed cloaking magic at work there." First thing Tatsuya did after coming back to the real world from the information dimension was to congratulate Fujibayashi.
"Thank you, sir. Then, shall I pass this on to the NDF?" "Please do. Just keep it as there is a military drone with a high explosive ordnance hidden as a noise in the HAPS footage, since it cannot be detected by radar. No need for identification, they'll know immediately it's from us."
"Yes, sir. Executive Director, may I ask a question...?"
Fujibayashi had something she was hesitant to say. Tatsuya inquired, "What is it?" in a perfunctory manner.
"Wouldn't it be more advisable if we dispose of the bombs?" Fujibayashi was suggesting they do so, to avoid the risk of those being dropped on a civilian area. She knew Tatsuya was very much capable of handling those.
"We can also handle that concern by preventing the bombs from being dropped in the first place. And if I use [Decomposition] to disassemble the bombs, they might know that I was peeking."
"I'd prefer they didn't know I was hacking their HAPS cameras," was what Tatsuya was saying.
"Understood," Fujibayashi retracted her advisory with a single word. Then, she sent a warning notice to the various bases in Hokuriku.
A modest and polite "Apologies for the interruption," and an energetic "Good Evening!" cut through the mid-operation atmosphere as Miyuki and Lina made their entrance known in the command center. Both of them were dressed in a racing-suit-like combat uniform.
"You're here. Sorry to drag you both, but the NSU forces in Sakhalin are about to make their move."
Tatsuya rose up from his seat. He too was wearing a similar combat uniform with a jumper on top. "Let's go." He first spoke to Miyuki and Lina. Then turned to Fujibayashi and the rest of the staff in the control room, "I'll leave the rest in your hands."
The room responded in unison with "Yes, sir," "Understood" and "Ok", among other replies. The last one was the only one who responded in a friendly manner.
◇ ◇ ◇
Shortly after the STOVL transport plane carrying Masaki and company took off from the base, the command center at Komatsu Air Base received new information about the enemy.
"Noise in the HAPS camera feed?"
"Yes. It seems to be the result of some new kind of cloaking magic. It seems to be concealing an enemy drone flying there." Kichijouji's question was answered by the copilot, a second lieutenant.
"What's its current position?" This time it was Masaki, questioning impatiently how close the enemy was.
Assuming the drone maintains its current speed and trajectory, it will reach the Joetsu City coastline in about 20 minutes. This aircraft will arrive on the drone's estimated path in fifteen minutes.
"So we will have only five minutes to intercept it before it is in range for an urban strike."
"It'll be by the skin of the teeth..."
Kichijouji and Masaki respectively muttered in a serious tone at the co-pilot's answer. "Leila-san. And you too, Masaki, you should listen as well. I'll tell you about the magic to destroy the drones that I mentioned back at the base."
Not only the two he mentioned, but Akane too was paying attention to Kichijouji's words.
"We'll have to do this while the drones are at sea. Thanks to this new information, we have a good idea of where they are." Masaki nodded broadly, while Akane and Leila just stared at Kichijoji.
"I should clarify I'm not pulling anti-drone magic out of my sleeve. My point is that drones are a ball of electronics at the end of the day. So if you fry and short-circuit those, they'll be unable to fly."
"If I'm getting you right, George, you're thinking of using Leila-san's [Thunderclap Tower] to down the drones? Wouldn't that have an impact on the city, even at this distance at the sea?" Masaki furrowed his brows in a concerned expression.
Kichijoji shook his head sideways, "While I am thinking of Leila-san using it, my intention was to reduce the scale to shoot down the drones one-by-one." Kichijouji cut himself off and looked at Leila, who nodded her head. "Besides, I won't be having her use the magic to the end." However, Kichijouji's line seemed to contradict his previous one.
"Not to the end?"
"Shinkurou-kun. Did you mean you want her to stop the magic halfway through?"
Masaki and Akane asked, puzzled.
"Leila-san, correct me if I'm wrong, how I understand [Thunderclap Tower] is that it is a magic that lowers the electrical resistance in an area and then causes an electron avalanche to produce lightning strikes."
"Yes, you're correct, but..."
"In this case, there is no need for the lightning part. We could cause a short circuit in the drone by sharply lowering its electrical resistance."
Akane and Leila looked at each other with a "Is that possible, really?" expressions..
"If I'm not mistaken, the electric resistance reduction rate is a fixed value in the magic sequence, but the electron avalanche is set as a variable, is that correct?""
"Yes... So I am to deploy [Thunderclap Tower] with the minimum possible electron avalanche size?" Leila asked Kichijouj, her expression reflected her comprehension of her role.
"Eh? Can you do that? I thought the strength of [Thunderclap Tower] was relative to the defined area target?" Akane cocked her head to the side.
"If I don't pay attention to it, yes." Leila answered her question.
"So you can limit lightning strikes to zero if you're intent on doing so?" This question came from Masaki.
"Reducing the occurrence to zero would be difficult, but I can get it down to a level where it is almost unobservable."
"Then, Leila-san, if you could, that would be a great help. Use these for sighting," saying this, Kichijouji presented Leila with a pair of AR goggles that were fitted in the plane for observation outside. The aircraft has no windows save for the cockpit. With these goggles it is possible to observe the outside of the aircraft as if you were looking through a large window. "Try them on, have a feel."
"Okay." Leila puts on the goggles. These days AR goggles are less than an inch thick and not too heavy, so as not to interfere with concentration. Leila's field of vision changed to a view of the outside of the aircraft as it flew through the air.
"I'll be drawing a line like this around the airspace where the drone is flying."
As soon as Kichijouji said this, an elliptical shape in red appeared in the view seen by Leila.
"So, where do I need to target?" Leila anticipated what Kichijouji would say next. Kichijouji nodded with a, "That's right."
Leila kept her goggles on and continued to look out around, even though Akane told her that "you can take it off for now," as if in a statement that she wasn't risking missing any single one of them.
"The enemy craft should enter visual range shortly," the co-pilot informed their four passengers.
"Visual range" refers to the distance at which an object, the drones in this case, can be seen by the naked eye. With the consideration that the drone was made invisible by cloaking magic, this update was given in reference with the reported position from the HAPS cameras and their visual distance.
The transport aircraft slows down to allow for easy targeting. This particular STOVL has the specs to not only land vertically but also hover for brief intervals, so there was no concern about stalling or crashing.
"Masaki, I'll send you the data as well," Kichijouji calls out to Masaki while operating the console. "Got it." Masaki puts on another pair of AR goggles.
"Masaki, Leila-san, can you two see it?"
He received a positive response from them both, "Yes." "Yes I can."
An elliptical, narrow vertical and wide horizontal line was moving in their field of view.
"─I'll be starting!"
Excess psion light emanated from Leila's body.
The drones, made invisible by ancient-style magic, revealed themselves as if in response.
Several of them.
"There were this many drones?"
They were now visible because of the event interference power of [Thunderclap Tower] drowning out the effects of the cloaking magic.
Static noise suffused the transport's radio.
It was an indication that there was a near airborne electrical discharge that didn't reach the occurrence of a lightning.
One by one, the drones fell into the sea.
Kichijouji's idea worked just as he envisioned. Even without a large-discharge like lighting strikes, the lowered electrical resistance alone was enough to cause the voltage flowing through the circuit itself to induce an electric breakdown and put the drones out of action.
Unfortunately for them, they did not shoot all the drones.
"Masaki! Four drones get away!" Just before Leila deployed her magic, four of the swarm flew out of range.
"Got it!"
Masaki fired a downward draft cannonball at the marked black spots in his AR goggles ─a symbolic representation based on the noise from the HAPS camera images─ slamming them on the sea.
The drone slams into the surface of the sea, triggering a massive explosion.
"It's carrying bombs!"
"After them, please!" Kichijouji shouts to the pilot as Masaki deduces it from the explosion.
By then, the transport had already started to make a sharp turn.
In a dizzying flurry of vision, Masaki shot down the second drone.
Another explosion. It was only happening now, as opposed to Leila's magic, because it was making a heavy impact on the surface of the sea.
"Masaki follows the priority targets and keeps shooting like that!"
"G-Got it!"
Kichijouji shouted at Masaki, who was faltering at the sight of the explosion.
Was he following what he was told, or did he abandon his thoughts and follow his instincts?
Was he not responding to his friend's voice, but instead to his own fighting instincts?
Masaki shots down the third drone.
But─
"Shit!"
(I won't make it in time─!)
The fourth crossed the coastline and was about to get in bombing range of a city.
Just then.
"What!?" "How!?" "Why!?"
All three who were wearing AR goggles, exclaimed in stupefied surprise to what they witnessed. Akane had not even a monitor with the HAPS feed in hand, so she didn't share the moment.
All of a sudden, the cloaking magic was broken, and the last drone was revealed.
The next moment, something fell from the drone one after another. It was probably the high-explosive bombs that the drones were carrying.
And the thing itself broke apart, falling down along the shore.
"...No way. Shiba...?" Masaki was the only one to let out a voice of those who saw that scene. In his mind, flashed images of Tatsuya dismantling tanks to pieces with his magic back then at the Uji base.
Stripped of its concealment, the drone was shot down by the air defense system.
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