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At the airport, heavily armed security personnel watched as the aircraft's cabin door opened and signaled sharply.
The next second, four guards rushed inside in single file, weapons raised and aimed at the people within.
"Hands up!"
"Hands where we can see them! Now!"
Seeing the armed guards, Sayaka shot Yukina a look.
Both of them reached toward their instrument cases, as if preparing to take out the magic weapons hidden inside.
At that moment, Ryo suddenly stood up and said with a relaxed smile, "Alright. Let's get off."
"But the situation isn't clear yet. It's still dangerous… huh?"
Yukina stared in disbelief as Ryo calmly walked past one of the heavily armed guards.
Throughout the entire process, the alert guard noticed nothing at all. He kept his gun trained on an empty sofa, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hands up! Don't move!"
Yukina turned her head toward the vacant seat and opened her mouth, speechless.
"Yukina."
Sayaka tugged on her arm. Only then did Yukina realize that Ryo had already left.
She glanced at the flight attendant and the two pilots who had just emerged from the cockpit and said quickly, "Please stay here. I'm going after His Majesty."
Before any of them could reply, Yukina clenched her teeth and chased after him together with Sayaka.
"Nice view."
Standing at the top of the boarding stairs, Ryo looked around leisurely and commented.
Onrai Island shared the same climate as Itogami Island, locked in perpetual midsummer.
But unlike the artificial Itogami Island, Onrai was volcanic in origin. From where Ryo stood, he could see the exposed black rock of an extinct volcano.
Below it stretched a vast expanse of dense forest. Beyond the forest lay the urban area and coastline, where the harbor, power facilities, city hall, and even a walled-off school were clearly visible.
Compared to Itogami Island in its current state, Onrai Island was much smaller.
After taking it all in, Ryo descended the stairs at an unhurried pace.
"Wait for me!"
Yukina's anxious voice called out from behind.
Ryo glanced back and said to the two girls, "Keep up."
They hesitated, exchanged looks, then grit their teeth and followed him. By now, both had drawn the divine weapons issued by the Lion King Agency.
They weren't Ryo. In the heart of hostile territory, and with their duty as guards weighing on them, every nerve was stretched taut as they watched the security personnel who seemed to ignore them completely.
Lowering her voice, Yukina murmured, half to herself and half as a question. "Why did the plane suddenly lose all external signals and get locked onto by this island's air-defense systems?"
"I clearly remember looking out the window. We were still at cruising altitude, but when I came to, the plane had already descended…"
Beside her, Sayaka thought it over and said uncertainly, "It might have been some kind of spatial transfer spell. But who could set something like that up in midair?"
Yukina lowered her voice even further. "Maybe it wasn't set up in the sky… maybe it was placed on the plane itself. Then it just activated when the time was right."
Just then, Ryo, who had already stepped onto the ground ahead of them, suddenly stopped and turned back, "You figured it out?"
Yukina froze, then looked at him in surprise. "You knew from the start that someone had tampered with the plane?"
Ryo simply nodded. "It's time to pay a visit to the island's owner."
With that, he turned his gaze toward a figure surrounded by security personnel not far away.
It was a beautiful girl in a nun's habit, with snow-white hair and clear blue eyes.
Shizuri Castiella Kasugaya was her name.
Onrai Island might have special status, but it was small, so it had only one full-fledged anti-demon mage.
That mage was Shizuri's instructor. Earlier, her instructor had warned the airport of illegal intruders and sent Shizuri to deal with the situation, leading a security team made up mostly of civilians.
"Did you find anything?" Shizuri frowned as she questioned the Onrai Island guards.
One of them snapped to attention and replied grimly, "We didn't find anyone at all. It appears to be an unmanned aircraft."
"An unmanned aircraft? Are you kidding me?" Shizuri turned to look at the massive jet in front of her.
Sure, every country was developing drone technology, but who would build a passenger jet–shaped drone? It served no purpose, cost a fortune, and would only ever be made by an idiot as a toy.
"As ridiculous as it sounds, there was no one inside," the guard said with a pained expression.
"A ghost plane…" Shizuri bit lightly on her index fingernail, puzzled. "My instructor clearly said there were intruders on Onrai Island, but there's nobody on the plane. That doesn't add up. People don't just vanish… wait. Vanish?"
Her pupils shrank. In a flash, she drew a strange crimson longsword from her waist.
"Everyone, stay alert! The enemy is right here with us!"
Invisibility-type spells weren't rare, and that trait was common among magical beasts. Shizuri had read case studies of mages being ambushed and assassinated by invisible monsters.
If her guess was right, the intruders hadn't left at all. They were using invisibility magic, hiding around them and waiting for the right moment to strike.
The instant her command rang out, the guards raised their weapons and scanned their surroundings.
But just as Shizuri went on full alert, her vision blurred.
To her shock, the guards around her had turned their guns on her instead.
Red laser sights wavered across her body.
"When did this happen?" she blurted out.
Then she noticed three unfamiliar figures standing directly in front of her.
At their head was a handsome man with black hair and dark eyes, thin lips curved into a faint smile.
"Nice to meet you, miss."
Ryo smiled slightly and asked, "Would you mind telling me a bit about this island?"
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