Hi, ITalkToSky here.
Sh4d0wgh0st: They are only admitting that they have a relation with the magicians of Okinawa. It will be elaborated on later, but they won't outright claim that they are. They just happen to call upon a favor from a certain scarlet devil who happens to be in the area. As for why this matters, well, it is to prevent the Japanese government from mobilizing them. "Just friend, don't even know who she is." Then just act dumb. Thick skin saves lives.
enumeaelish666: No, I really am not digging the route where Lunaire has a child with Maya. It might change in the future, but I am currently very much against it. That route requires a misplay from Lunaire, who very much so wants to play this as perfectly as he can. He saw what happened when he messed up in the original timeline. For that, he will want to keep Yotsuba at arm's length. Maya even further away because of how insane she can be. The old adage of "don't stick your dick in crazy."
Even if that somehow happened, there is a chance that it won't have much impact on how he acted. Unless he got drunk (his fault), he will feel no responsibility for that child, no different from donating at a sperm bank. Given how low atmospheric mana was, the child will probably be no different than a regular human if not trained in mana magic. There is no problem just leaving them with Yotsuba. If that is the case, it will just be pointless drama.
sugoijack9: Unfortunately, politics come for you whether you want it or not. The latter book of Mahouka is just politics since nothing can stand up to the might of Godsuya-sama. Yotsuba are arrogant but not that different from most other TMCs. They all hold multi-generational power and grip over Japanese politics. Yotsuba just has the biggest stick of them all.
Discord invite code: nSMHjar
Come over and say hi sometime.
00000
12:30 PM, Naka Ward, Yokohama
Among the men packed like sardines in a tin can, one remained glued to the display screen without even blinking. Cautiously, he kept cycling through both the visual and thermal cameras dotted around the exterior of the vehicles. His look became tenser by the minutes. Beads of sweat matted his brows. Even with nothing going on with the cityscape zipping along, it looked to his men that the lieutenant could not sit still.
The men knew. If this lieutenant admitted he was cold-blooded, the men would believe it. He rarely got stir-crazy and when he did, he looked nothing like he did at that moment.
It was not anticipation to take the fight where it hurt. No, it was more frantic. Like he knew something was wrong but just could not see it.
"Sir, is there a problem?"
"No, everything is normal."
"Err…"
"Get the men ready to disembark on the double."
"We are ready any time."
If those at the Yokohama Tower had enough time to set up some defense out front, it was reasonable to assume that whoever at the next target got ample time to prepare something more elaborate. Preferably something easy to bomb away in one swoop, but that would be too much to assume.
The capabilities behind this facility were not clearly known. The only thing they knew was that they were good, damn good. It was simply not out of the question for them to try their chances with an ambush.
They were treading hostile ground. Ambushes were par for the course. The lieutenant was hardly green. He knew this, hence the careful lookout. But something about him seemed more jittery that his adjutant could not put his finger on.
"Gunner, eyes up."
The sergeant looked to the gunner rather than second-guessing the platoon leader. Just in time for the said gunner to fire back at him.
"Take a look topside."
No question was asked as the sergeant hurled himself up to the observation cupola. "What the. It's suddenly so dark."
"What the hell is that? Fog? It's red. Above us, just above the buildings, some sort of dense cloud. I can't see the sky." The gunner reported what he saw from the autocannon-mounted camera.
"Out! Out! Get out! Go, go, go!"
"On the double people."
"Our stop, now move it."
"Heh, wish it was closer."
The lieutenant began yelling straight into the earpiece, while the sergeant shoved the rest of the first squad off the ramp.
Seeing the light of day for the first time in days, the men could not help but glance at the sky briefly. The sight unnerved them greatly.
The thick blanket of haze hovered a few meters over the taller buildings around, cutting off the sunlight from above almost entirely. It was as if the raincloud was brought down right above their head, thick, oppressive, and impenetrable. Most unnerving of all, it was red as if the sky rusted. No matter how one sold it, there was no way it was natural.
And then there was the fog on the ground level. Thin enough to be imperceivable through the camera. But outside, they felt the moisture and saw the distant images fading slowly the farther they looked.
"Thermal up."
"Thermal up."
"You, on me." the sergeant tilted his neck at the man next to him, before bounding over to the vehicle that the lieutenant took cover behind.
"Squad one, hold position. Squad two and three, fan off left and right through all. Have the magicians carry whoever the machine gunners are to the rooftop and set up overwatch. This is our stop. We sweep the area and keep the convoy moving."
"Heard that? Squad four, this is your lucky day." The sergeant chuckled darkly. "You guys are taking point."
The lieutenant spoke a few more words into the radio and the convoy began moving again. His platoon barely started sweeping the area, so it was a rather risky move to break cover and advance when they were clearly under enemy spells. Unfortunately, they did not have the luxury to play it safe.
Every second, the Japanese army crept ever closer.
"How was it? Pick up anything?"
"…No." It sounded like a soft grumble. "No, I don't feel anything."
"Well…shit." The sergeant accidentally swore in Mandarin. The two shared a look and a glance upward.
This was no natural weather and yet the veteran magician felt nothing from it. Whether it was some voodoo science that the company cooked up or the one behind this spell far outclassed them, none of the possibilities bode well.
"Well, at least thermal works."
Flicking his eyes to the side, the sergeant saw the squaddies and the rows of APCs from the other platoons rolling up in burning white, just to confirm.
"But it doesn't look like the fog is getting thicker."
"Are they just trying to deny the observation drone?"
"Then they wasted their effort. Those are all gone anyway."
"Hum…See anything up there?"
"No, sir. Everything is quiet."
"Contact front! Contact front!"
They were not sure who said it first as all the voices echoed deafeningly in their steel casket. The men leaned toward the ramp, ready to disembark, while the vehicle's crew primed the weapons.
"Single contact, in the middle of the road, coming straight at us."
That was no civilian.
"Open fire!"
There was not a shred of hesitation. They were the most forward of their elements. Whoever was in front of them was either neutral or hostile, and there was no such thing as neutral in their line of work.
The soldiers felt the familiar thundering staccato of autocannons rattling their bones. They squatted behind whatever cover they could find and peered through their scopes to find the target.
"Shit, that is a magician."
No one knew who yelled it first, but the message was quite evident. The small puffs of smoke bursting all around the approaching figure were the telltale sign of their airburst fragmentation grenades. Just one landing close would reduce any man into a bloody mess. The figure only drew closer at an easing pace, her frilly parasol waving all the while.
"Pin it down!" The lieutenant yelled before turning to the sergeant next to him. "Might be a trap."
"Yeah."
Strolling straight up to an armored column was not something a sane person would do. This was definitely a distraction, the two concluded. No further word was needed before the sergeant began yelling for the report from the squads that they spread out earlier.
Satisfied, the lieutenant snapped back, ready to begin his magic bombardment against the lone figure. Bait or not, a magician was still a magician. There was no telling how much damage they could do if left alone and therefore must be neutralized on sight.
Peppering fragmentation shells ground up the asphalt, but the small figure continued undeterred. That was another notch up the scale of annoyance. It might not be able to dish out the damage, but at the very least it was going to be difficult to kill.
The lieutenant was half right. It was indeed going to be a herculean task to even scratch the approaching figure, let alone killing.
But he assumed too soon.
He underestimated just the level of carnage that petite frame could inflict.
A bolt of light sparked into existence. Its baleful glare lit up the foggy street like the morning sun. The light twirled playfully in the darkness, beckoning.
Then, he was sent flying. The last thing he felt was the hot air lashing out of him hungrily before his consciousness slipped from his grasp.
"Ah, how boring...hah."
The vampire caught herself talking alone without thinking. Sakuya was elsewhere, much to her servant's protest. Remilia was quite happy to get some alone time to stretch out her wings and eagerly shooed her away. Soon enough, she came to regret that earlier gleefulness.
The enemies were simply too weak.
The armored vehicles they brought look tough, but before Remilia, they might as well be metal coffins. Her scarlet mana spears easily bored holes from end to end, pasting whatever unfortunate soul happens to be on board. It helped that the straight main street funneled them all into double columns.
Eyeing up a good angle, Remilia hopped to the side. A spear of weaved scarlet energy appeared without much fanfare. Dwarfing her by many times, it could be seen clearly across the misty battlefield. The enemy continued firing with ever-increasing desperation.
Remilia arched her back and snapped forward like a coiled spring. The spear was long gone but it left behind a glowing trail in the air from the point of origin to where it disappeared at the bend in the street.
Save for the first three APCs that upon witnessing the destruction of an entire column to their right veered off just enough to miss the deadly lance, the loss of armored assets on that street was total.
Remilia clicked her tongue at the lucky ones. Out of the three surviving machines, only one still had the semblance of composure to maintain fire. The autocannon barked out its response that only caught the shadow of the vampire. She was long gone to savage the men on foot.
Quickly flittering out of view, her victim only briefly caught the blurry visage of their killer in their very final moments. Every casual swipe and swing left only broken bodies and ruin in their wakes.
Though compared to the APCs, the foot soldiers gave a bit more of a struggle. If she did not permit it, they could not even train their rifles on her. That said, they were like cockroaches, as much of a nuisance as they were numerous.
Ah, Remilia sighed. The regret was coming back to bite her. If only she struck them before they disembarked, there would have been much less for her to root out.
As she carved out her bloody work, she felt a soft ping in her mind.
"Good work."
"Hmph, just who do you think you are talking to?"
"You will need to cut your fun short."
"What? Already? This better be important, Patche."
"You do not sound unhappy...But no matter. We found their real attack."
"Where?"
"Hah..." A deep sigh.
"Don't give me that. The sooner we take out the head honcho, the better. Is it not?" Remilia paused before cheerfully adding, "And you did great in finding them."
"Easy when they kicked up a ruckus. Now, hurry."
Remilia once again thanked the barrier they thought to set up in advance. It felt like overkill before. Even an imbecile would have realized that encasing an entire section of barrier in a thick impenetrable mist was not exactly subtle. Such a thing was to be done in the direst situation, like fighting an army.
Lo and behold, an army came. And Remilia gained a new appreciation.
The so-called mist barrier was the variation of the spells behind the veritable Scarlet Mist Incident, developed as their answer to crowd control. The dense array of scrying magic made it so that underneath the baleful mist, none could escape the eyes of its master. From the comfortable safety of their fortress, Patchouli could direct the natural disasters that were the others wherever most painful for the enemy.
Remilia leaped up to the buildings and dashed away, beelining straight toward the location Patchouli pointed her to. Her eyes gleamed with eagerness. Perhaps, she would find a worthy foe, the elites and the few.
The sound of combat quickly faded from her ears. Then there was silence.
No car. No people. Not even chirping birds.
The strangest of all was that such silence could exist within the maelstrom of battle that was Yokohama.
Designed against overwhelming numbers, the formation acted to isolate the enemy. Although passable, the bloody mist drowned out light and sound. As it ramped up to maximum strength, one could barely see past their noses nor hear anything further than a few paces away.
The most insidious aspect of all was that its effect encompassed a wide range of electromagnetic radiation, not just light. Radio and infrared were the foundation of military communication and sensor systems. Their thermal vision did not work. Nor could they talk together on a comm link. They could barely hear each other even when they yelled.
There, enemies were alone. Only the sound of muffled gunshots and screams was their company.
Remilia hummed softly, a lullaby from her bygone past.
Special Purpose Amphibious Assault Ship, Qiying
"Is the radio and radar still down?"
"Yes, sir. We are receiving the signal from our men, but it is just too weak and degraded to be amplified. This is the best we can get."
"Negative here too, sir. I am not even registering a return radar pulse."
"What an insidious bunch! Damn it...still cannot pinpoint the caster?"
"No, sir. The signal is completely omnidirectional."
The commander stomped down on the command deck. He breathed heavily as his throat let out a guttural growl. The day just went from bad to worse. The early deployment, loss of drones, and then the complete collapse of communication in zero visibility...
This was a military nightmare. He knew it. His crew knew it. The soldiers on the ground probably knew it. This operation was messed up beyond all repairs. No amount of preparation could prepare them for this.
Could it get any worse?
The commander looked up and glared out the viewport. All he could see was a thick wall of mist, rusted red. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
"Captain Chen, any ideas."
"...There is nothing I can say, except that my men will put their lives on the line to accomplish the mission."
"Even when communications are down. Even when they can't see shit. You think they can just break into that fucking hell hole and then come all the way back?"
"We are among the best. In absence of additional order, they will try to achieve the objective or die trying...All we can do is to try and give them the best chance we could."
"..."
"Shit. Shit. Shit! God damn it, why?" The commander breathed in deep. "Transmit to all our troops, maximum signal strength."
"Yes, sir."
"Regimental HQ to all troops, until the mist clear, hold position. Consolidate your forces and hold your position at all costs. I repeat. Hold your position at all costs. Engage and neutralize all approaching threats."
Then, there was a pause, so short yet so long. No one made a peep of noise. Everyone felt the urge the turn around to see the look on their commander's face. None was under the impression that the decision just made was anything better than a guess. They were completely cut off in all sense. Just like the ground crews, everyone was on their own.
"That is all the time I can give you, Captain Chen." The commander grounded his teeth. "Make. It. Count."
Captain Chen had nothing to say. What else could he say in that situation? When he knew nothing more than anyone else in the room when all the plans spiral down the drain.
"Regi...HQ..."
Breaking the uncomfortable silence, one of the priority communication channels from the second company flared to life. The ship's radio mast began receiving, just barely. The ship communication officers busied themselves once again.
"We are receiving."
"Patch it to me.
Some cheered inwardly. They thought happily that their soldiers put an end to the culprit behind the radio interference spell or at least chased them away. The officer in charge of magic detection still looked grim, however.
"...company. We..."
"Scarlet Devil..."
"Repeat, we..."
"Scarlet Devil is..."
The communication officer in charge of the second company froze. The call was routed to the commander behind the podium, but he still could listen in. The two syllables chilled him to the core, and he blurted out accidentally.
"S-scarlet devil?"
Half of the people on the bridge peeled their eyes wide open. They looked to the side toward the operator in alarm, urging him to say that he was mishearing.
But unfortunately, the officer still heard the same two syllables. Repeated many times as if even all else failed, the company commander wanted them to hear it. Across the garbled transmission, pure and utter desperation could be felt.
"From Chongsheng (Okinawa)…"
"No, it can't be."
The mysterious group of magicians that utterly crushed an entire campaign in mere hours then vanished like the wind soon after. An awful nickname that inspired terror among the men who returned from the prisoner exchange.
Unlike Mahesvara, another obscure figure from the Okinawa campaign, Scarlet Devil and their group were widely known among the soldiers of the GAU. Although it was a big hit to the morale, there was no point in issuing a gag order when the Japanese heavily publicized the incident, mysterious magicians with no known affiliation.
To those that asked earlier whether their situation could get any worse.
Yes.
Very much so. And it had only begun.
Just outside the barrier
Five figures hunkered down on the rooftop. Even with all the explosions happening within Yokohama, they took the cake in terms of the bizarreness of their appearance. Body armor was no strange sight on the battlefield, but these appeared both anachronistic.
The shadowy black plates were cut out with muscled contours, reminiscent of the Roman armor of old. To further compound the uncanniness, the faces of the wearers were obscured by thick helmets, fashioned with sharp angular shapes. The glassy visor completely removed whatever sense of humanity that could be felt from the figures.
The five were watching, intently, at the gigantic dome of thick mist before them. They counted and waited in complete stillness. As a reward for their patience, a similar figure glided out of the mist.
"How was it? Was the other side clear? We lost contact with your radio?"
"What the...But I was flying straight?"
At least the mist was not directly harmful, but it can misdirect people, which was worrying, to say the least. The leading figure sighed and gestured for the man to head back into the wall of mist with another man to help keep direction. He did not have to wait long before the pair of men flew back out the same way they entered.
"Figured it wouldn't be that easy."
"What do we do now, Lieutenant?"
The unspoken doubt hung in the air. As soon as those two kids darted off like a bunch of loonies, Major Kazama ordered them to follow. And they did. The pieces did not line up on who these foreigners were or what they were trying to pull, but their orders were to keep tabs on and protect them.
Orders were orders.
And that line of thinking ran into a problem almost immediately when, out of a sudden, a section of the expansive skyline of Yokohama melted right into the mist. Anyone with half a brain cell could tell that this was unnatural. There was no metrological report of any likelihood of fog, and it was even the wrong season. And no natural weather only affected a specific area in the shape of a dome.
Yes, there was a literal dome of thick reddish fog, swallowing up a whole section of the city. And their two marks just plowed straight into it.
"Major, sir."
"Report," a gruff voice of their battalion commander barked back through the radio.
"The kids we were ordered to follow went into the...mist. Cannot pursue."
"I see. We see that from our position as well. Stanby."
Yokohama International Convention Center, Nishi Ward, Yokohama
Upon the rooftop of the convention hall, Kazama glared at the wall of mist while biting down a silent curse. But then again, what did he expect? Atelier was nothing if not full of surprises. Which was the reason he felt the need to always have eyes on them.
"Cut a hole in it. Leaving the whole thing intact if possible. We do not know what it does."
A curt shake of a head prompted to Kazama to turn back quizzically. He was not the only one reacting in such a manner. The rest of the 101 personnel no doubt reacted with similar surprise, concealed behind their glassy visors.
"Explain."
Tatsuya looked down briefly, hesitating for a brief second. There was no need for the major to know the exact reason as they would not be getting through that mist dome either way. Withholding information could prove useful for Yotsuba. However, he quickly shelved the thought.
It was something obvious if given time to ponder.
"My Elemental Sight cannot see anything. Just static."
"Isn't that..."
"Yes."
Just like the containment chamber of the Philosophie's induction stone. One of the very first attempts to crack it open involved Tatsuya. It was no surprise that they put two and two together.
"But that does not make any sense...Tch," Sanada stepped up from behind them. "Although unbelievable as it is, they have some way of treating material to be inert to magic. Fine! However, that is clearly magic. It is no normal fog...Unless it is some kind of...particle suspension. Maybe we can collect samples."
"A smokescreen or chaff, but made with their magic resistant material?"
"Yeah and..."
"That is preposterous. There are no conventional means to scatter those particulates that quickly. It engulfed the area within seconds. Not only that, but it is also seemingly unaffected by the wind at higher altitudes. Then, there is the strange warding effect that kept our people out."
"Then are you saying that it is a magic spell holding them together?! Yanagi, do you even realize how utterly insane it sounds? If those materials are being held up with magic without canceling it, then it means that it is selective, somehow. Can you even imagine?"
The implication made their backs chilled. Just the thought of material being selective on which magic can be acted upon. The sheer possibility was as endless as it was terrifying.
"Groundless theorizing will get us nowhere. I need to get closer to..." Sanada awkwardly paused.
"Yeah, as if you can get close."
Kazama listened quietly as his two trusted men came to a consensus. "Tatsuya, can you tell us any more about the barrier?"
"Negative."
"Then what we must do is clear. We worry about the foes in front of us for now. We can dig through whatever is left of that barrier after all this is over."
The men took a long look at the barrier on the horizon and nodded. The major continued evenly.
"Fujibayashi, the missile was launched from somewhere within Yamashita pier, yes?"
"Correct, Major. The surveillance drone that arrived in the area spotted two disguised transport ships moored there, unloading men and materials...Unfortunately, it was a light variant with no anti-ground missile..."
"Talking about missed opportunities," Yanagi mumbled under his breath.
"Currently, they have lost sight of the ships and..."
"That is enough, lieutenant...It might be too early to conclude such, but if the barrier is preventing not only people going in but also going out of the barrier..."
"The enemy reinforcement may be cut off at the moment."
"Yes...Fujibayashi, ask the drone operator to survey the edge of the mist and see if anyone exits it."
"Understood."
Brutally honest, what Kazama brought to the table was merely a drop in the bucket. There was only so much flying CAD available. Hell, even if he brought his whole unit over, it might not be adequate. 101 independent magic-equipped battalion was only a battalion in name. Their true number was only a full company. The enemies were cut off but still well more than they could chew on.
Holding the convention center would prevent the enemy from pushing further north and prevent the battle zone even further. His detachment would be enough if the enemy had no more artillery stashed somewhere. However, concentrating everything he had in this area would mean it would give free rein to the enemy to push west. And there were the guerilla causing chaos everywhere as well.
"You are to take a few men on an aggressive raid." Kazama's words struggled to leave his lips. "Eliminate as many hostiles as you can. Sow chaos among their ranks. Do whatever you can to buy time for that damn reinforcement."
"Understood."
"...You are the only one who can do this...I am sorry I cannot spare much more to guard your backs."
"That is alright, major."
"Hit them hard, with everything you got...We will defend this place with our lives, so don't you worry."
Kazama felt an undeniable sense of shame. Out of them all, Tatsuya was the only chance they got to put the hurt to the enemy without turning the whole endeavor into a suicide run.
"I will take my leave."
"Godspeed."
"Onii-sama, please wait."
Everyone was made aware of another presence other than the soldiers on the rooftop. A dainty woman with raven black hair stood at the door. There was a barely perceivable hunch of her back as she heaved softly. She leaned briefly on the metallic door to collect herself before stepping forward.
"Please wait a moment, Onii-sama."
"Miyuki..."
Miyuki went before her brother and reached her hand out to his cheek. She did not come to stop him, understanding as well as he did that it was not her place to stop him. This was his duty, and she was not about to drag him down.
On the contrary, she was here with a gift. To give him the wind beneath his wings.
There were no further words to be exchanged. That swirling confusion, understanding, and gratitude mixed in her eyes were all that was needed. So, he unlatched his helmet and turned to face her.
Like a knight before his princess, Tatsuya knelt on one knee, looking up.
Miyuki cupped her brother's cheeks, then brought her brother's face, his eyes closed, up to face her. Closing her own eyes, she bent down...
...and kissed his forehead, gently.
The swirl of light manifested, bright enough to sear the eyes, surging or roiling from every inch of Tatsuya's body. The torrent of uncontrolled psion emission interacted with the world to cast an ethereal light that commanded awe.
Normally, that would have been it. Psion did not interact much with the physical universe other than generating a light show. But the mindboggling intensity of the psion storm caused an almost palpable rush of wind around Tatsuya.
"Use it as you like."
"I will be back soon."
With his sister's gaze locked on his back, Tatsuya departed for the battlefield that was Yokohama.
"That was...different."
"A quirk or something. Not the weirdest I have seen."
"Fair. Who am I to judge if the special officer needs that to get going?"
"Ha, it did get him going alright. Would not blame him with a girlfriend like that."
"..."
The men in armor all snapped a look at the one that uttered the last comment. The glassy helmet concealed their expression, but the recipient of the sudden head-turning certainly felt the spook.
"What? Was it something I said?"
"You are the new guy, right."
"He must be."
"Should we tell him?"
"Maybe let him figure that out on his own?"
"I get why he thought so, but it doesn't make it any less funny."
"Guys..."
12:50 PM, Naka Ward, Yokohama
"Northwest, 500 meters."
"Understood."
Lunaire panned around, surveying the area as he often did when in flight. It was out of sheer force of habit as there was nothing to see in this endless expanse of rusty mist. He could be blind, and it would not make any difference.
In the absence of any sight reference, he could only rely on mana sense for navigation, perfectly double but bizarre. The muscle memory may know what to do, but sight still unconsciously plays a big role.
Before long, Lunaire arrived just over the area. He could barely hear anything, only the wind brushing against his ears that ceased a moment ago. But to his mana sight, he could see a furious firefight ensuing beneath him.
From one cluster, he recognized many of the mana emanations. They glowed with power, much stronger than the baseline human. Occasionally, they would pulse, very brightly and briefly, sending a ripple of mana out in all directions. Then, they would peek out of the cover to deliver a few bursts of fire against their adversaries.
Their attacks would be answered with a random stream of machinegun fire, forcing them to duck and change position. These were generally very inaccurate and often missed widely. Lunaire pitied them.
No matter how elite the soldiers were, they could not be expected to fight blindfolded. In this thick mist, they could only fire in the general direction of reverb from their enemies' guns. The prodigious output of their machinegun did them no good when they aimed off by more than several meters.
Lunaire's students fared much better, guided by their clumsy mana sense, but not by much. From the irregularity in the mana pulse that they let off, the magician reckoned that their resolution was quite bad, only able to tease out the rough location to fire. They found some marks, however. A few mana signatures on the GAU side stilled and slowly faded.
But it was too slow. Perhaps, they should be trained to shoot with only their mana sense later.
Wind Chime Rain
Lunaire muttered softly in his mind. The mist would mask his personal mana signature, so there was no need to be reserved.
Above, a moderate size magic circle glowed green in the sky. Rods of light materialized and fell sharply from above. Long and tapered, they were going for the kill.
And killed they did.
The barrage showered the entire length of the alley the entire GAU squad was occupying. The stakes of light carved a clean hole in asphalt and flesh alike. Light ballistic vests and ceramics plates were little more than wet toilet paper.
There was no escape. Just like that, 37 men lay dead in their pool of blood.
"Patchouli, you can lift the fog around my area."
There was no reply, but the reddish fog melted away like dew in the morning sun. Lunaire descended quickly to the street level.
"Any injuries?"
"Gather up everyone!" Sayaka yelled before turning to Lunaire. "None, save for a few lost buttons."
"Take care. You only have so much of those, and I doubt you want to take a hit of those things." Lunaire gestured with his chin toward the men lying at the end of the street. She could not clearly see where he was pointing, but she got the message.
An anti-magician rifle could bore a good hole into a concrete wall. It was not rocket science to imagine its effect on squishy human bodies. Losing a limb was the least that could happen.
"We will...So, where are we headed next?"
"That will be up to Patchouli. Oh, and before you leave."
Lunaire tugged on his sleeve buttons and yanked them out. Alice was going to give him an earful later when she had to mend them, but she would understand. He handed them over to Sayaka.
"Distribute them to those who lost one."
"Alright."
At this point, this was no longer strange to them. The core members of their organization were monsters in all including their species. There was no need to worry about them croaking from this level of enemy. Though, Sayaka appreciated the prudence of Lunaire leaving just one button on just in case of extreme circumstances.
"What, I don't carry anymore, so off you go." Lunaire coughed dryly at the thankful looks he was getting. "Oh yes, and do pick up whatever you can use from them. They are not going to be needing them anymore. Sorry, we could not really give you much in the field."
"That is alright."
"Hmm, maybe I should consider picking one up myself. Going with the theme."
Unexpectedly, after his poor attempt at humor, Sayaka rounded on him in an instant, blanching white. "No!"
"No? What is wrong?"
"I mean, please don't. Please, please don't."
"I don't understand...Oh, you are poking fun at my poor shooting. Haha, a good one."
Sayaka did not appear deterred by the deadpanned look and dry laugh he was giving. "J-just poor shooting does even cut it."
"I need a few magazines to hit and... Yeah, it is poor shooting b-"
"Inhumanly so, yes, indescribable," Sayaka mumbled with a blank look in her eyes. Her trembling voice whispered in a tongue inconceivable to the human vocal cord.
"Um...Lunaire-sama, please, please leave the shooting to us."
"Yes, leave it to us."
"We will need all the ammo, so we can't spare some for you. We need them all."
"Is this some kind of revenge for my tough love? I see. I see. I see how it is. But come on, my shooting might be terrible, but it is not like I will be hitting something that shouldn't be hit with all the enemies around anyway. At worst, I will just be making some noises."
"If only...If only...oh god."
"It's worse...So much worse. Oh, the horror..."
"From the gaps, it sings a chorus of a thousand mouths, deafening, yet unheard..."
"Please, I beg of you. Please go about your business with no firearms."
Lunaire rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Be that way...I will remember this."
1200 meters from Atelier de Dantalian HQ and production complex
"Oof."
Abruptly, the lead man seemingly bounced back, knocking himself and the sergeant behind to the ground. "Shit! Man down!"
The man shoved the fallen man above him to the side as he crawled to the side of the alleys, urging the other to do the same.
"Argh, fuck...I-I'm okay. I'm okay."
"Stay down...what hit you?"
"I don't know. It's like...I ran into a wall or something."
"This is not the time!" The sergeant hissed. "What hit you? And where?"
The man sprawled out on the ground and fell silent. His hand roamed around his own body, checking for any pain. Apart from his jumbled head, he felt nothing off sort. "Not injured."
"Then the hell knocked you out?"
"I don't know."
The sergeant was about to growl up some insult when the other man stood up. "Wait! Wait! Get down!"
The man did nothing of sort and step forward with his hand and reached out. The rest of the soldiers look at the scene in wonder until the outreached palm is pressed flatly against thin air.
"Look! I told you I ran into a wall." He ran his palm across the surface left and right. "It's like an invisible wall or something."
Wordlessly, the sergeant stood up and noticed that beyond the area where the soldier stood, there was a clearing where the fog seemed empty. Something was there. He unceremoniously kicked at the invisible wall. Hardly making any dent, he switched to his anti-magician rifle, much to the same effect. The steel-jacketed round mushroomed against thin air.
"...It is like a block of glass."
"Sergeant, whatever this thing is, it is covering the entire alley. We can't go around it."
"I can't target it with a spell for some reason. What is it?"
A quick gesture from the sergeant ushered the soldiers from behind moved up and try boosting each other above the wall but to no avail. One of them then suggested, "blow it up?"
The sergeant fell silent. Every squad had a limited chunk of plastic explosives to work with. Invisible as it was, there was no way to estimate the thickness or the nature of the material making up this roadblock. It was nothing they had ever seen before. The explosive they carried could be insufficient to dent it and they might need it to break into the facility. In the end, though, he nodded.
He imagined these invisible barricades were not around normally, so it would have to be rather light to be deployed so quickly. It was worth a shot compared to a detour. The convoy ran into big trouble, so there was not much time to try and flank the enemy.
"What seems to be the problem?"
The sergeant heard a low growl from behind him. He did not need to turn around to see whose shadow cast over him, a giant of a man, clad in bone white armor.
"Invisible barricade of some sort, captain. We were going to blow it up and..."
"There is no need for that."
The giant's massive stride took him up to the barrier in a second. For a second, he regarded the phenomena with curiosity. As a magician, he felt no psion activity in the area at all. Yet, there was a void in the rusted fog like something clear was occupying its space.
Then, he pulled back his fist. Air and static coiled around his fist like a whirlwind. Then, he punched with all his might.
Lu Ganghu expected different many things. He was unsure of the making of this mysterious obstacle, but most matter, even steel, would crumple under such a strike. Or if all else failed, his fist would have been stopped dead in its track. There would be no pain since his Steel Qigong would have protected him.
What he did not expect was for him to completely whiff.
His fist certainly intersected the area he wished to hit. Rather than hitting a solid plate of something, it went right through, like the previously solid material was thin air. The fog rushed in to fill in the void.
As a trained combatant, he quickly recovered his stance even from missing a strike with his whole body behind it. Lu doubled back with a glare. Secretly thankful to the fog for concealing the happening from the rest of his men.
Lu waved his hands around. His fist did not make a hole. It was like the whole giant chunk that occupied the entire alley was never there. "We move. Quickly!"
The sergeant stepped forward with a curious expression. There was no sound of impact, nor a hint of futuristic materials or electronics that could have possibly supported the invisible wall effect. The wall was just deleted with no trace.
"Mark this location. If the techies have the time, maybe they can look at this."
"That was...disappointing."
"No one asked for your opinion. And we are fucking late! Now, move!"
Unbeknown to the soldiers rushing down the alley, two pairs of eyes watched their movement with derisive amusement.
"Well, that could have been a ball-buster."
"Yeesh, imagine if I didn't have my barrier up..."
"Hahahaha, your wife would certainly be so disappointed. Hahahaha."
"Yeah, laugh it up. You weren't the one putting your balls on the line...You are so doing the next one."
"That's fine. And on that note, we better move."
One of the soldiers spotted them. A look of curiosity crossed their face, but they quickly shuffled along out of sight. The two cared very little about being spotted as they scurried away on all fours. No one would care about a few raccoons running about the city.
"Do you think that was enough? We didn't exactly buy a lot of time."
"Meh, good enough. They should be here at any minute."
"Ah, reminds me of the good old days."
"Of what?"
"Betting on stupid humans falling for our tricks."
"Now that you mentioned it," the other one snickered. "We should be thankful."
"Since we are at it, wanna bet if they will ever figure out to tap the ground with a stick?"
"...Nah, the odds are too stacked. I don't reckon many of those continentals know about Nurikabe trick and they don't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed."
For the uninitiated, Nurikabe, or "painted wall," described an inexplicable phenomenon where a person ran into an invisible wall. There was no way across as the wall extended as far to the left and right, forcing the person to take a detour. For those aware, it could also be dispelled by tapping at the floor near the invisible wall. This phenomenon was responsible by the youkai of the same name, or more likely by the prank of the Tanuki, who blocked the path with their scrotum.
13:00 PM
Unlike the Magic Association HQ which was very closed to the main street, the Atelier manufactory was located much further into the depths of the city. Small roads and alleys crisscrossed the area like capillaries. Navigating only with a digital map and following the walls, the elite platoon led by Lu Ganghu made their way ever closer to their objective. They had to take a longer way to the east to circumvent the expected enemy position. It was only by sheer discipline that they did not lose anyone in the misty maze.
"Halt!"
The men snapped up their weapons at once. The magicians thumbed their CAD activation button, ready to cast at a moment's notice. Lu Ganghu glared at the impenetrable fog.
It was thick. It was quiet. It was no different than before. But Lu felt something shift. The faint breeze brushed against his ears he no longer felt muffled as if he was stuffed in a pillow. Rather than a solid wall of reddish vapor, he could slowly see the vortex. The mist was thinning.
Lu would have rejoiced if he somehow left the area of effect, but he had not moved since he stopped. No, something made it go away.
They finally could see their hands and feet again. Some thought that they somehow went missing while they were not looking.
"Get ready!"
Before them was a large crossing. According to the map, just a few hundred meters more from the turn, they would have visual contact with the facility.
Their long march was surprisingly uneventful. Even when their formation stretched out like a snake, each man holding on to the pack of the person in front, they made no contact with the enemy. It seemed that this was about to change.
"Hello there."
A white shadow swooped in from above. The rest of its figure quickly came into full focus. A person of small stature clad herself in the whitest dress. Bring crimson ribbon was tied behind her back, hanging loosely down. Like specks of fresh blood on a white canvas, her puffy dress was also decorated with more red ribbons. Her face remained blurry, however.
"It is most unfortunate that I cannot introduce myself. But do not worry, we will get acquainted in a different way, very much so."
The figure that could not be anything other than a little girl said such and swung her arm down in a slashing motion. Crimson motes of light coalesced into a bright spear in her hand.
"Ho...the Scarlet Devil herself."
"Ara, it seems that the world still remembers this old me. How heartening!"
Lu smiled faintly, amusement gleaming in his eyes. Despite the diminutive frame of his opponent, he showed no derision. The Japanese propaganda could embellish her feats but her contribution to GAU's humiliating defeat three years ago was not in question. Perhaps, like Chiba Naotsugu, this midget devil would be a worthy foe to put his skills to the test.
He stomped slowly toward her. His frame towered many times over her, clad in the best magically reinforced armor that GAU could provide. Lu could not see it, but he could sense that his adversary smiled all the wider.
"Ho, you are approaching me? Instead of running away, you are coming right to me?"
"..."
"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like."
"Ha."
"But before that."
Tracing the motion that would have been iconic if there was more witness afterward, Remilia arched her back and drew back the javelin in her hands. Facing such telegraphed movement, Lu would have snorted derisively had he not felt the hair on the back of his head standing on ends.
"Get down!"
Lu yelled to the men filling out of the alley behind him. He thought of taking and dissipating the blow. From where she was standing, whatever beamy thing she threw would have gone straight down the alleys where his platoon was all coming from. But Lu leaped out of the way.
Something in the pit of his stomach told him that if he took it head-on, he would die. Even with the vaunted armor enchanted by their very best Taoist, he would die. And Lu Ganghu would not survive long enough to become the Man-eating Tiger if not for his animalistic instincts.
The little girl sprung forward and loosed the javelin, which came lancing through whatever was in its path.
Lu leaped before the girl threw. But from the corners of his eyes, he saw the surface of his right gauntlet bubbled and boiled. It was a strange sight, he thought. Heated metal was supposed to glow.
Lu snapped himself out of his surprise and bounded forward. Whatever it was, it could not be allowed to fire again.
"Don't worry about me, shoot!"
White Tiger Armor was imbued with the property to amplify his famed Steel Qigong. Beyond that, the armor itself was heavy enough in its own right that only a man of his stature could use. It would be taxing for his reserve to deflect anti-magician round, but it was better than being dead. Any seconds he could buy from this bona fide monster was worth it.
"Brave."
Lu charged her with the ferocity befitting of his title. The girl did not move until the last moment that he threw out a blow. A whirlwind surrounded his striking arm.
Coiled Silken Force was a very versatile technique, a repose combining offense and defense into one move. This traditional technique produced a powerful spiraling force around the striking arm. Anything that came within the boundary would either be turned aside or crushed and twisted like in a grinder.
Yet, Lu saw a dainty little arm reach out from the side. It was pale but clad in a fiery crimson glow. The petite fingers formed a claw that dug deep into his wrist, warping metal and drawing blood. Then, he felt a pull, so strong that could probably rip his arm from its socket.
It was nothing fancy like redirecting the opponent's momentum. No, this was simply pure strength, raw unbridle strength.
Lu quickly threw a quick punch with his left, already prepared as a backup in case his first strike fell flat. In another split second, he would regain his footing enough to be able to knee his opponent as well.
"But, foolish."
If not for his finely honed vision, a flash of red would be the last thing he saw.
Like a viper, with her fingers pressed tight like a blade, she thrust straight for his throat. Her hand wreathed in the same scarlet energy that had thoroughly bypassed his defense. He instinctively moved his left fist to brush it aside.
It worked. But the hand brushed aside turned and drew across his left forearm in a slicing motion in a blink of an eye.
There was even more blood as Lu lost all sensation in his left hand. And then the pain came. Of the stump and the little bit of skin held together by his gauntlet.
In his rage, he punched out with his good hand. He did not try the same technique as before. His opponent was unfathomably fast. The spiraling force was projected forward like a screen. The intensity was much less than if it were concentrated around his arms, but it provided him the space to backpedal away.
All the while, he kept keen eyes on his enemy despite the pain. He saw an aura sparked and spattered as a high-powered round impacted. She leaned forward, seemingly to pursue him. Lu raised his guard for an attack, but the white figure disappeared.
Behind, he thought, catching a brief glimpse of haze rushing past him.
Lu was right. She was behind him, but he was not the target. Jumping in among the troops behind him, the girl pirouette, her arms stretched wide. A hail of blood-red crystals shot out in a circle, rending through muscles and bone.
Skilled operators and magicians, all fell before the onslaught, save for one. He managed to survive, barely. The crystal the size of a hand found his shoulder instead of his lung.
"At least a cut above the rest. I thought that would have wiped you all out. A pity." Then she leaped at him with a clawing action. Wreathed in the same unearthly energy, his throat was ripped out and he too fell to the ground. "Alas, just this one will do."
It finally clicked into place. They did not get this far. They were allowed to get this far.
Back in GAU, Lu would have laughed if someone had the audacity to try capturing him. But it happened before, a sobering experience. He could not begin to imagine the damage his motherland would suffer if they gained the knowledge in his head. Lu wanted to say with no uncertainty that he would die before he would break. But knowing the depth of depravity and despoilment of mind through magic, he could not afford to be captured.
The more rational part of his mind knew. This was the end of the line. The blasted fog was still around, and he had no doubt that the thrice-damned Atelier could control it. The time was too convenient. He had no way left to go.
He pressed his molar against a fake tooth at the back of his mouth. When all else failed, he was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
"Escaping now is too late. In fact, it has been too late since before you got this close."
"..."
"How was it? The taste of fear?"
"I am not afraid...of you."
"Then you will die braver than most...hehe. But not right now. We have uses for you. Since you took the initiative to offer yourself to us, it would be a shame not to use you fully."
Lu dropped into his stance. While there were times when discretion was the better part of valor, it was not this time. Running served no meaningful purpose. The outcome would be the same. No, he would not show such a sight. To him, there was no more pathetic sight than seeing a coward die.
"Ho, so you do have a backbone...but I do not have the time to entertain it."
As if on a cue, Lu's vision darkened. His knees wobbled as he collapsed face-first to the ground. His whole body felt numb, like a slab of iron.
"It finally works, huh, about time. I made sure to lather it on thick...Now, my hands are all sticky." Remilia walked toward the fallen GAU magician and squatted down to check his breathing. A few beats passed before she let off. "See, Reisen is just paranoid. What are the chances of them carrying a poison pill? Pfft, hahaha!"
13:10 PM
"Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you. This will diminish his enthusiasm."
From within the impenetrable curtain of bloody mist, hundreds of glowing lances cracked the air. Flying at a speed far exceeding human perception, they skewered anyone caught in its path. Some were nailed to the ground as if put on the stake, while others were pinned to the walls as they breathed their last. They soon disappeared, leaving the bodies slumped on the ground.
For the vehicles seemingly impervious to the lances, they were often be thrown like toys onto whoever unlucky enough to be around it.
The GAU infantry clung to whatever pieces of cover they could find while struggling to return fire. Their bullets streak off wildly into the mist, never hitting anything. On the other hand, the lances always found their mark.
Their entire line of advance was covered by the thick wall of mist, which could harbor any number of enemy magicians. The attacks came from every direction, front, left, right, and above.
Since they came under fire, they had not advanced an inch. Instead, they were being pushed back. The final fragmented order from their mothership was to hold the line.
Yet, when the mist curtain of death crept up toward them, no one dared to allow it to swallow them.
"All warfare is based on deception."
Unlike what the GAU squad leaders and company commanders feared, there was never a whole company of magicians surrounding them. There was only a handful lurking in the mist and only one within the range one would consider an arms reach.
Backing only be the petite sniper of the Di Avini family, Alice stood boldly, alone against her enemy. She observed silently as the infantries continue to fall to her attacks. Magic lances rapidly coalesced and launched at a relentless pace, targeting not only those at the front but also softening up the ones at the rear.
Alice prioritized the officers who appeared to be barking off the most commands. She missed a few, but those were quickly dealt with by the eagle-eyed sniper. They were snuffed out so quickly that some elected to do nothing or invite untimely death.
Without a doubt, this resulted in the soldiers breaking rank and chaos reigning everywhere. "Push up, Patchouli."
There was no response from the telepathic line. But the wall of mist obeyed and rolled forward in a tide upon a shore. The remaining GAU infantry cried out in terror as they struggled to get away.
"When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard."
After the bloody mist formation reached its full functionality, Patchouli deliberately redistributed the fog. The mist around and near the main road, upon which the bulk of the enemy was treading on, thinned. This allowed them to both see and operate their radio with limited effectiveness.
The way forward and the rest remained shrouded. A clever stratagem.
The enemy knew that stepping into the thick wall of fog would leave them blind and helpless. In this way, Patchouli stonewalled the advance of the enemy, while at the same time corralled the enemies that scattered into the numerous alleyways of Yokohama and were led onto the main road.
The stratagem had another layer.
The corridor with thin mist linked back to the port from which they had sprung from. With no way forward and a tantalizing way home, the enemies could only retreat.
All Alice had to do was methodically break them, to crush without mercy the will to resist.
Only by doing so, could the bloodshed be minimized, and so Alice prayed.
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