Chapter Thirty-Eight: Retreat
Thursday,
9:04 A.M.
As much as he wanted to take that course of action, Morgan simply couldn't do it now.
He already had his own plans, and acting on impulse would ruin everything.
Not to mention, doing anything drastic here would only draw more attention.
Both towards him, and towards the Key.
Now that he could use Mana, casting spells like a mage was within reach.
Furthermore.
The original time limit for maintaining his Territory without a CR Unit had expanded.
Virtually, he could go on for about ten minutes, more or less, depending on many factors.
Even with all the power he'd gained, he wasn't anywhere near calling himself the strongest.
Of course—
"You won't let us walk away that easily, will you?"
"Fufu… not only a member of those deserters, but also siding with Spirits, hm?"
Maya slowly drifted near them, meeting Morgan and Princess in the air above the ruins of Raizen High.
Naturally, it didn't take a genius to understand what was happening.
Once again, they were surrounded.
"Sorry to disappoint you. I'm no ally of Spirits. I'm simply doing whatever I want."
Originally, Maya had approached intending to speak.
But that filter over his face made it difficult to read him.
Unlike before, there were no distortions or gibberish in his voice.
And she could clearly sense he'd grown stronger.
'So… an anti-Wizard.'
If she had to summarize him, that was the most fitting label.
Even then, Maya had strategies in mind to counter his 'anti' capabilities, but—
"Now tell me, what's your goal?"
"Now tell me. What's your goal?"
"Release the second Spirit in your custody."
Maya blinked, taken aback for a second.
Was that his goal?
"Impossible. Besides, I thought you claimed you weren't an ally."
Morgan raised an eyebrow at how quickly Maya rejected the idea.
True enough, he didn't need to go through all the chaos he'd just caused.
He could have stayed hidden, grown stronger in the shadows.
But if he had, he would never have raised his [Divine Vibrations] to the level of
There were greater opportunities to seize by risking everything here.
And it had been worth it.
"Isn't DEM done with her?"
"You think so? If you seriously believe we'd let someone like her walk around freely, you're delusional."
Maya scoffed, tossing her hand aside as if exhausted by the question.
Her gaze even showed she wasn't impressed.
Rather than fighting, she had deemed it better to know their intentions.
No, Morgan's intentions.
And having analyzed Princess too.
She had judged she was a far cry from other spirits they'd encountered in other countries.
To put it into perspective.
Large Margin.
None of the AST members here had equipment capable of handling this situation.
Mana's suit was built for battling another Spirit Type, not someone like him.
Worse, she needed a counter to
Perhaps, maybe Adeptus I and II would be capable of overwhelming him.
"I see, then I guess I would have to do this on my own."
…Hm?
Maya blinked, eyes widening slightly as Morgan raised a single finger.
"We won't let you!"
"Die, Spirit!"
Before any other AST member could react, Mana and Origami launched the opening strike.
Origami slipped past Morgan entirely, heading straight for Princess who had remained quiet this whole time.
Like Morgan said, he wasn't an ally.
Yet Princess felt none of the hatred or bloodlust the AST usually directed at her from him.
He simply lacked interest.
But Origami on the other hand.
"You again?"
It was an exasperated sigh along with those words that left her mouth,.
Positioning her sword as a shield, she blocked
The same also happened.
Although different, Mana was also stopped in her tracks.
Before even reaching four meters near him, she was forcibly halted.
"I've heard of this… but seeing it is a pain."
Tsss!
A faint sound escaped Mana's suit as she tossed aside her initial
Her equipment was even different from the standard AST gear.
Two mechanical blades extended along her arms, shooting forward like fangs.
<
Maya instantly flew back, readying a rifle.
Equipped with a Territory, this anti-rifle is deadlier due to one property alone.
To put it in one word:
Forcing one Territory into another.
Or so was the principle behind this.
The bullet is coated in a mana-like substance and is shot forward.
Apart from Spirits, the only things that could combat Wizards are other Wizards and mana.
So, that was where it came from.
Thus, the weapon worked by loading its bullets with miniature realizers.
That made it exceptionally effective.
'I have my doubts it'll work, but if he stops this, then it's confirmed.'
Bang!
A bullet shot out from it, with Maya unaffected by the recoil.
Eliminating recoil was child's play, but she still kept an eye on the scope, at the line she had fired at.
Ching~!
The bullet was forcibly halted again.
'What's the principle?'
A frown creased her face.
"Aren't you too lax?"
"Commander, watch out."
Maya jerked forward. By the time she'd realized, a beam of light was hurtling straight at her.
Abandoning further analysis, she dodged it, moving to the side, when—
'It's following me!?'
Her eyes widened.
Quickly, her eyes darted around to spot Mana.
But even Mana was the same as her. Being chased by that beam of light.
Meanwhile, Morgan wasn't even paying attention to their attacks.
'Hou? Do not think for a second that I didn't notice you. Very well, I was planning on reaching out to you later on.'
His attention was directed towards the far east.
For a moment, his lips pressed thin before glancing towards Princess.
"Die already—just die!"
Origami slashed wildly at Princess, each strike deflected with little effort.
"Too sloppy."
She twirled in midair, landing a clean strike, but it was blocked by her territory.
But she wasn't surprised.
She'd learned a thing or two from watching Beta earlier. And thus—
"Hn?"
Princess extended a hand forward. On her hand was a black, swirling orb.
"Block this if you can."
She pushed her hand forward, slamming the attack head-on into the territory.
Crack–!
"Kuack!"
A sharp cry escaped Origami's lips as she was sent flying several meters away by the attack.
"Origami! Damn you!"
Someone particularly shouted that, only to fall on deaf ears as Princess clenched and unclenched her fist.
'So that's how it works.'
Reiryoku-reinforced attacks work on those pesky barriers as well.
It was right after then,
A troublesome expression creased her face when she staggered midair.
'Tsk. It's time already?'
She wearily thought.
All the more tired.
She was sick of this, sick of being chased like some kind of vermin or pest.
It was extremely uncomfortable.
Whenever she shows up, she causes unnecessary destruction.
Completely unintentional.
Yet, it made sense they would run after her life, but such a thing, she didn't want.
Wasn't it just better to remain in that vast void forever if that were the case?
Perhaps that is better.
But for some reason.
Her gaze drifted to Morgan.
For a fleeting moment, she was certain he was looking back over his shoulder.
...right.
Except for him, and when she thought about it, there was also that boy from earlier.
Could it be...
No, the male from before was kinder than this person.
Absurdly, in the middle of battle, she placed a hand under her chin, thinking about Shidou for a moment.
In the next moments however, she discarded those thoughts.
Twinkle~!
'...'
<
On the other hand,
Maya let out a sharp grunt.
At this point, she couldn't care less about Spirits.
This Anti-Wizard problem needed to be erased.
Coming to a halt, she drew a weapon from her compartment—
Tzz!
Electric current crackled along its frame as she aimed it at the beams chasing her and Mana.
"Eye for an eye, they say. So, a beam for a beam."
Tzz! Tzz! Tzz!
Three consecutive shots left the laser gun she was holding, intercepting the beams of light pursuing her and Mana.
Bzzt!
Luckily, it canceled itself out.
Worse yet—
"Looks like they're finished over there."
That tone, treating the entire fight like a nuisance, made Maya's face harden.
'I didn't think it would come to this. Looks like there's no choice.'
She straightened, brushing back her already disheveled hair.
Below, AST members lay scattered across the ground.
Not to mention.
Raizen High was destroyed beyond recognition.
They could not even use Realizers to fix it alone, due to the loss of many important structures.
In other words...
Raizen High would be shut down for a while.
"Haah…"
Maya released a weary sigh.
She finally gave the order. It didn't seem like X would pursue after them.
Like he'd said earlier, though he didn't imply it directly.
'I have no interest in you, huh…?'
Many of the remaining AST functionable units lifted the injured and withdrew from the area.
Leaving Morgan alone.
He looked up—
Snap!
A flash of light wrapped around him, bending the view and rendering him invisible.
He would've preferred to disarm now, but—
"Beta. Did you get it?"
«Approximately. Based on Kumiyo's travel logs, Beta has identified possible facility locations.»
Her holographic figure drifted beside him, projecting a gridded map with a single red highlight.
«Beta has narrowed it to this zone.»
Morgan nodded, touching down on the rooftop of a residential building.
The optical veil of his Territory slowly dissipated.
He scanned the area.
"Isn't it about time you finally showed yourself, my lovely miss?"
"Kihihihihi… My, my~ So you realized I have caught onto you, huh, my dear sir~?"
Dark red shadows swirled from the ground as a figure slowly emerged.
Red and black.
A beautiful face, uneven twin tails, and an appearance that would leave any male stunned.
Tokisaki Kurumi.
…
«Connecting…»
«Fetching API»
«Using computational powers for realization»
«Plotting Graph»
[Wizard Data]
[Name]: Morgan Sinclair
[Codename]: X
Capabilities
• [Magic Circuits]: By fusing mana from the surroundings into his veins, Master can store and repurpose it.
• [Mana Manipulation]: Having infused his veins with mana, Master can manipulate it to strengthen his body and cast spells.
• [Territory]: A subjective or personal reality a wizard and spirit can deploy.
Within these barriers, they are nigh-omnipotent.
• [Divine Vibrations: Anti-Effect]: By fusing mana with special opposing vibrations,
such vibrations can be used to cancel out any phenomena brought about by Reiryoku or Mana.