After having lunch in the Game Development Department, Sensei and Yume headed to the location indicated by Himari, where they met Eimi, who guided them towards a certain club's temporary clubroom.

The two were a bit shocked at Eimi's rather loose clothing, which Eimi mentioned to be the result of her higher than average body temperature.

"Sensei, you think one of your magic swords can help Eimi?" Yume whispered to Sensei after listening to Eimi's explanation.

"There are a number of swords that can control air, but I'll have to test it out first," Sensei replied. "It'd be bad if she somehow blasted herself or someone else away."

…

Eventually, they arrived in the club room, where they were greeted by the sight of various computer terminals. After a bit of introduction, Yume decided to talk to Eimi on the side.

"So that's the President of the Abydos Student Council, Kuchinashi Yume," Himari commented as she observed Yume. "She's incredibly sociable unlike a certain someone here."

"Her strengths seem to lie in her optimism and ability to communicate with others. If Abydos didn't have the problems it did when she took over the position, she might have been able to focus on its once-strong tourism and maintain its once prestigious status." Rio ignored Himari's pot shot as she assessed Yume based on past reports about her and her own impressions of the girl before she turned her attention to Sensei. "You've been with her for quite some time, Sensei. What is your assessment of her?"

"In my opinion, Yume is someone who will cheer you up no matter how grim the situation becomes." Sensei smiled as he answered. "As for the rest, it would be better if you get to know her yourself."

"Perhaps once this is all over," Rio said with a curt smile. "Then I have another question: what kind of being is she?"

"A 'Student'," he said with a straight face.

Rio looked at him in confusion. "Was that an attempt in humor?"

"No, I think Sensei was serious just now, though he's clearly attempting to deflect," Himari said with a giggle.

"I had to try," Sensei said with a smile.

"I have a hunch, but I'd love to hear your explanation first," Himari said.

Sensei glanced at Yume, who nodded.

"If I were to be technical about it," Sensei started, "Yume is a Spirit who has formed a Familiar contract with me. This allows me to supply her with magical energy that lets her to materialize and interact with the physical realm. The downside of this contract is that she'd have to stay close to me until she learns how to regain enough energy to be able to move around freely even without my presence, as she otherwise risks dissipating completely."

"So what you're saying is that you formed a type of Familiar contract with the soul of Kuchinashi Yume so you can sustain her existence using your magical energy, correct?" Himari asked Sensei. "Wouldn't the Mystic energy powering our halos also work in that case?"

"It…should. After all, magical energy is just energy converted for a specific purpose. The important part is that the energy is able to process Ether, of which Kivotos has in abundance. It is what allows for a Spirit to materialize," Sensei explained as he, Rio, and Himari glanced at Yume, who demonstrated by dematerializing and materializing. "The issue is that Yume is currently barely able to generate enough Mystic energy to maintain her sense of self when I discovered her, making materialization all but impossible for her. I'm currently teaching her how to better control her energy."

"And her ability to fly? Is that something you taught her too?" Rio asked.

"Nope. That ability was something she learned before we formed a contract," Sensei said. "She has been around as an intangible spirit for about two years now after all. I only really noticed her as a result of my own Magecraft training. To be honest, a spirit being able to fly isn't too surprising for me, as spirits are intangible and not bound by gravity. What is surprising is how Yume's still able to do so even after gaining a physical form, though I've gotten used to it by now."

"Ether, familiars, spirits…All part of a discipline called Magecraft…How—" Himari muttered.

Sensei wondered that perhaps his explanation only caused more confusion to her, but Himari's next words laid those concerns to rest.

"—wonderful!" Himari's eyes were wide as if they were shimmering with excitement. "Your ability to conjure swords out of thin air is incredibly odd already, but I held back because there were more pressing matters and the fact that there are theoretically ways to replicate it by using pocket dimensions, but to make a contract with a spirit?! Oh, how exciting!"

"Huh." Sensei didn't know how to react to Himari's surprisingly accurate assessment of his abilities before he turned his attention to Rio, who had been taking notes of the conversation. "Is she always like this?"

"Himari has had a fascination with the unexplainable and the supernatural ever since I knew her, which is why I asked her to lead the Super Phenomenon Task Force," Rio said with her usual tone before glancing at Yume in curiosity. "But I must admit I am also interested in this topic. It's not often that one gets to observe a supernatural phenomenon with little to no risk."

The Super Phenomenon Task Force. A club created by Rio to investigate phenomena happening throughout Kivotos that cannot be explained by Science. Its main scope of investigation is Decagrammaton but—

Himari controlled her wheelchair to approach Sensei before grabbing his left hand with both hands. "You must tell me more, Sensei! Your Magecraft might have its roots from outside of Kivotos, but it is still proof of the supernatural! Very much in the purview of this club!"

It seemed that Sensei himself had become the topic of research for Himari.

"You can always join me when I give some lectures about it in SCHALE, but let's talk about that later," Sensei said with a smile as he turned his attention to the screen showing the former communications unit AI turned Prophet of Decagrammaton. "Have you decided on what to do with it?"

"We dismantle it. Completely," Rio said resolutely. "Building a replacement for Hub will be costly, but it is not a problem."

"Of course you would say that…" Himari said as she narrowed her eyes on Seminar's leader before she turned her attention back to Sensei. "Admittedly I wanted to at least keep its AI module disconnected from Millennium's network like what we're doing now, but Rio wouldn't budge, not wanting to risk Hod's AI from making a copy of itself and escaping."

"That is the most logical course of action. I thought you and I agreed on this."

"And that hasn't changed. I was just lamenting on how much knowledge would be lost. With that said…" Himari smiled as she turned to face Yume. "Miss Yume, as the Abydos Student Council President, you should be privy to some information regarding the Third Prophet Binah, correct?"

Sensei had a few run-ins with the Third Prophet, but it was highly mobile and could easily escape the moment it felt cornered, so he didn't have too much information over it and was curious on what Yume had to say about it.

"It was nice to talk to you, Miss Yume. I guess I'll monitor the screens then," Eimi said as she excused herself from the conversation.

"Same here, Eimi! Still, Binah…? Ah, the giant metal snake!" Yume said. "I think we had another name for it, but I can't remember it...I've seen it from a distance a few times back when the old main campus was still standing. For some reason it really disliked the railway that the Nephthys Group was building."

"I've already gotten wind of this from looking over the Nephthys Group's failed Trans-Desert Railway plan, but it's good to have an eyewitness report of its activities," Himari said.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about it?" Rio asked. "Like its capabilities, behavior, or where it came from."

"There were stories about a giant metal snake dating back to when Abydos was first founded, but the snake of that time seemed content doing nothing, only surfacing once in a while," Yume said as she tried to remember any other information. "It was really only during the past decade or so that it started becoming more aggressive for some reason. Ah, now that I think about it, the desertification also started speeding up at around the same time."

"There's no definite proof yet, but if there's a connection between its increased activity and the rate of desertification…perhaps due to its large size sending tons of sand over the surface and the disruption of the underground water reserves…" Rio mulled over it before she continued. "Is there anything else, Miss Yume?"

"I heard from my friends in the old council that it can fire missiles and…Oh! It apparently has a really nasty beam that can disintegrate anything it touches…" Yume shivered as she remembered the conversation. "Honestly, I think I fell unconscious after this due to how vivid the description was."

"I knew that the snake's mouth charging up was bad news," Sensei muttered.

"It's honestly surprising how quickly you were able to react and stop it from firing," Yume said. "I even thought you actually heard my warning."

"Ah, that explains the slight aching in my head at the time," Sensei said. "It did tip me off that it was about to do something, so thanks for that."

"I'm glad I can help!" Yume said with a smile. "I couldn't really do anything in my spirit form, but at the very least I wanted to cheer for you."

"We still don't know its origin, but knowing some of its capabilities will allow us to better prepare when we investigate it," Himari said. "But for now—"

The alarm system in the room activated, with the entire room now bathed in a red light.

"Eimi, what's going on?" Himari asked.

"Hod is starting to move!" Eimi exclaimed as she looked at the screen. "President Himari, your orders?"

"We have to stop it at all costs! Sensei, your—Sensei?" Himari said as she turned to Sensei, only to find him missing.

"Um…" Yume said. "Sensei is quickly making his way to where Hod is. Let me just—Huh? Okay, understood! He said to evacuate everyone in the vicinity!"

"On it," Rio said as she contacted Yuuka and the rest of Seminar to keep everyone away from Hod's location. "Toki, go after Sensei and assist him."

"Understood," Toki said as she left the room.

"I'm going after Sensei too!" Yume exclaimed as she dematerialized.

"Sensei really is—Okay, fine! Eimi, go after them! Rio and I will monitor the situation from here," Himari said as she contacted Sensei.

…

…

…

"Sensei, don't just run off like that!" Himari said over his earpiece. "We need your help to plan our next course of action! Unless you're telling me your plan is to stop Hod by yourself."

"That is my plan," Sensei said.

"That's far too reckless, Sensei!" "That's far too reckless, Sensei!"

Himari and Yume's voice both said at the same time.

"You're here already, Yume?" Sensei asked as he looked to his side where he felt Yume was.

"Honestly Sensei! You didn't have to jump from the window!" Yume said with a slightly contorted voice due to her being in a spiritual form.

"Sensei, I've contacted nearby students you personally know to help you with Hod!" Arona said. "Please hold out until they arrive!"

"You should have at least waited until you can get some back-up! Toki is not far behind you," Himari added. "I'll go and contact more—Oh? It seems you did contact some students. Very well, I'll inform them of the situation."

"I'm counting on you, Himari," Sensei said as the line disconnected. "You too, Arona."

"Sensei, what should I do?" Yume asked as she materialized while still flying beside Sensei. "I can fight too."

Seeing as they were now in front of the building where Hod was located, Sensei stopped and looked at Yume's expression. He had half a mind to have her sit out of the fight as he was worried about her, but as he saw Toki and Eimi in the distance, he discarded that thought.

"Alright, but focus on helping Toki," Sensei said as he projected a certain briefcase that Hoshino always carried around. Yume widened her eyes as she recognized it.

"The Iron Horus…" Yume muttered with nostalgia in her voice as Sensei handed it to her. Shortly after their reunion, Hoshino offered to return the Iron Horus to her, but Yume decided to entrust it to her junior.

But that didn't mean that she didn't miss it by her side sometimes. And now she was holding a nearly indistinguishable copy of her old shield save for a few details. "It looks a little different. There aren't any scratches on this one and…Why is there a four petal flower where the 'o' in Horus should be?"

I couldn't recreate the Iron Horus' energy shield so I had to replace it with a different shield from my collection. Unfortunately, it only has four petals instead of seven, Sensei explained via their mental link.

"It's fine. Can I keep it?" Yume asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Alright," Sensei said.

"Thank you, Sensei! I'll cherish this gift…" Yume said with a smile. "Perhaps I'll call this the 'Iron Horus Mk 2'!"

"Well, you are the original's previous owner, so it's well within your right to name this copy," Sensei said as he handed her one of his Redhawks. "Here, I'll lend you one of my guns too."

Sensei projected enough rounds, which Yume stored in the Iron Horus Mk 2's ammo holders.

"By the way, you should know that to activate the Iron Horus Mk 2's energy shield, you'll have to call out its name," Sensei explained. "It responds to 'Iron Horus', but just in case, its other name is—"

It was at this point that Toki and Eimi finally caught up to them.

"I finally caught up," Toki said with a slight heave.

"Sensei, we should create a plan before we enter the building," Eimi said.

"Alright," Sensei said as he switched to his phone's loudspeaker. "Himari, Rio, what can you tell us about Hub—Hod's capabilities?"

Author's Note:

Considering Himari's interest in the occult, it's not too surprising that she'd ask about Magecraft. And Rio herself would be a little curious of Yume too considering their shared status as Presidents of their respective schools.

As usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

On another note, I don't usually talk about future chapters, but I thought it'd be apt in this case.

Next chapter - Total Assault: Hod