Guerrilla Sweep
Moments after Tatsuya's group vanished through the door, a massive explosion rocked the venue. Chaotic screams and shouts blended into a roar, fraying nerves further.
The chaos hadn't yet reached Azusa's front-row judge's seat—not yet.
But with the situation spiraling toward a panic with countless injuries, Azusa froze, unsure what to do.
"…chan, A-chan… Student Council President Nakajou Azusa!" Mayumi's sharp voice called from the stage.
Azusa stood, looking up. Mayumi stepped forward from the stage wing, fixing her with a commanding gaze.
"This'll turn into a real panic. People will get hurt. Use your power to calm them," Mayumi urged.
"But that's…!" Azusa's eyes widened.
Her emotion-interfering magic could quell panic—perfect for this moment—but such magic was heavily regulated, not to be used lightly by a minor.
"Your power's for times like this, isn't it? Not mine, not Mari's, not Suzune's—yours, Azusa," Mayumi pressed.
She wasn't being flippant. Calling her "Azusa," not "A-chan" or "Nakajou-san," was rare, used only a handful of times before. It signaled Mayumi's seriousness, her trust in Azusa's "Azusa Bow" magic.
"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility. The Saegusa name isn't just for show," Mayumi said with a playful wink to ease Azusa's tension.
Mentioning "Saegusa" was a jab at the idle, supposedly authoritative adults watching helplessly. Azusa trusted Mayumi's sincerity. She didn't want to dump the burden solely on her, but ignoring the call was impossible. Nodding firmly, Azusa turned to face the audience, where shoving matches were breaking out.
She pulled a chain from her neck, revealing a locket small enough to hide in a child's hand. Unclasping it, she gripped the locket—a minimalist CAD, built solely for one spell, stripped of buttons or displays for switching activation sequences. A wand for one magician, one magic.
Breathing deeply, Azusa poured psions into it. The "Azusa Bow," her unique emotion-interfering magic, activated.
At the main entrance, a fierce clash of rifles and magic raged. The guerrilla attackers, all East Asian in appearance, matched the intruders' attire, armed with standard assault rifles and anti-magician high-power rifles.
Tatsuya, leading the charge, halted behind the door's cover. Miyuki stopped behind him, but Erika and Leo, vying for third, were too eager, nearly rushing past.
"Stop! High-velocity anti-magician rounds!" Tatsuya shouted, grabbing Leo's collar and yanking him back.
"Guh!" Leo grunted.
"Tatsuya-sama, that was a bit rough…" Airi muttered.
"But it saved his life," Shizuku countered coolly.
The rest of the group—eight in total—arrived in a cluster. Tatsuya felt reassured by his friends' usual dynamic, but with no time for smiles, he turned to Miyuki.
"Miyuki, silence the guns."
His friends' faces collectively said, Huh?
"I understand, but so many at once…" Miyuki replied, her tone oddly shy.
Her bashful expression puzzled the group, but Tatsuya's next move clarified things.
"I know," he said, extending his left hand.
Miyuki gently intertwined her fingers with his, her shy look unmistakably un-sisterly. Honoka, Shizuku, Erika, Airi, Kyouko, Kanna, and Karen frowned, but Miyuki's expression shifted to a magician's focus. Her left hand subtly gripped her CAD. Tatsuya raised his right hand, pointing at the guerrillas from behind the door.
Miyuki's magic activated: Freeze Flame, a vibration-deceleration conceptual expansion spell.
Freeze Flame disrupted combustion, silencing any firearm or explosive. With thirty guerrillas remaining and Miyuki's limit at sixteen targets, she fired two volleys of Freeze Flame. Without checking the effect, Tatsuya leaped into the guerrilla ranks, his magic-infused hand slicing like a blade.
As he cut through enemies barehanded, a silver gust flashed past, blood spraying as guerrillas fell. Erika, wielding a wakizashi-style integrated CAD instead of her usual baton, used self-acceleration magic to slash carotid arteries with lethal precision.
Like Tatsuya, she didn't hesitate to kill. This wasn't her first time. Trained to wield deadly weapons, she knew hesitation in a kill-or-be-killed scenario was arrogant and foolish—a lesson etched into her core.
Mikihiko, too, shared this mindset. Raised in a family wielding magic as a weapon for generations, he harbored no doubts about its use.
"Tatsuya, Erika!" Mikihiko called from behind.
They split left and right. A real gust roared, carrying invisible kamaitachi blades that tore through the guerrillas' skin.
Note: With the heavy cuts, it's veering into IF territory or a Reminiscence arc… Anime-only folks might get lost…
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