Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Vol. 30 Page 12

  Kazama tried to capture Tatsuya, using all his powers within the limits of what is permitted by the same conditions as the enemy. And as a result, was defeated. For Kazama, to say aloud the excuse “I was not serious” was a shameful act. But the same can be said about the fact that he could not fulfill the order. Therefore, he no longer wanted to argue with a superior officer.

  “... There is nothing to be done about the fact that he managed to leave.” We have no reason to get an arrest warrant. So from now on, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring of him in order to prevent at least a secret exit from the country.

  Saeki already realized that trying to blame Kazama was nothing more than her personal nagging. She left this question unattended, and spoke of a more pressing matter.

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  - Thank you. By the way, Your Excellency, what will you do with this?

  Kazama picked up and laid on the table a "resignation notice" that fell to the floor as a result of Tatsuya's collision with the table.

  Saeki took this envelope in her hand and silently threw it into the shredder standing next to the table.

  - Are you sure?

  - As he himself said, he is not a real officer. From the very beginning, he was not properly registered with the self-defense forces, so the notice of resignation in itself is something meaningless.

  “That is, you will ignore Tatsuya’s refusal from the title?”

  - No. Records created on a special basis about the "special officer Ooguro Ruue" will be deleted today.

  Saeki’s decision was unexpected for Kazama. He again asked, “Are you sure?”, This time in order to confirm the intentions of the boss.

  - Disloyal soldiers are bad for the army. If he says that he does not need the support of the army, then let him do what he wants.

  Saeki's words were not out of sympathy for Tatsuya. On the contrary, her voice, it seemed, at any moment could tremble with anger.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  American military base Pearl and Hermes, Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Local time: July 18, 20:00.

  Minoru came to Minami's clinic. The sun was already completely hidden behind the horizon, but the lighting in the room was turned off. In order not to interfere with Minami sleep.

  She had not slept all this time since yesterday, but the time she spent without sleep was very small. Overheating of the zone of calculation of magic depletes more the mind than the body. She could not normally maintain a state of wakefulness due to a lack of Page 118

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  "vitality of consciousness."

  At this base was a military doctor. But Minoru did not even hope for treatment from this doctor. Medicine will not help here. He knew that Minami's disease could not be cured by modern medicine.

  The zone for calculating magic, located in the subconscious area of the "function" of the mind, responsible for the construction of magic, like other human abilities, has certain limitations within which it can work. Continuous processing of requests that go beyond these restrictions will harm not only this function of the mind called the zone of calculation of magic. This disorder of the mind will also be transmitted to the physical body, which in the end can even lead to death. To prevent this, there is a “safety valve”

  in the magic calculation area that stops processing beyond the limits of possibilities.

  But sometimes the body has a need to demonstrate power that exceeds these strength limits. In such cases, the area for calculating magic can momentarily allow processing exceeding the limits. If at this moment the safety valve is so damaged that it becomes impossible to restore it, you can guess that if there is no limiter in the magic calculation zone, processing overload, or the so-called overheating, can easily happen. That was the true nature of the disease devouring Minami.

  The area for calculating magic, located in the area of the subconscious mind, was still a

  "black box" for both magicians and Parasites. At this stage in the development of knowledge of magic, it is impossible to restore this mechanism. The only way to prevent the magician from shortening his life from overheating the magic calculation area with a damaged fuse is to refuse to use magic.

  But Minami eventually used magic. In addition, a powerful, that is, causing a strong load. Right in front of Minoru.

  "If the human mind and body cannot stand the use of magic, then there is no choice but to become a non-human being, more suitable for magic..."

  Minoru thought this was the only right choice. With all his intelligence, he could not come up with another solution.

  "If it goes on like this, then Minami-san..."

  “You have no choice but to turn Minami into a Parasite,” the voice whispered in Minoru’s head. And that was not the voice of the divided consciousness of the Parasites. It was the inner voice of Minoru himself, not wanting Minami to die.

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  But at the same time, another “I” was also sitting inside him, reproaching him for trying to break the promise Minami made. And there was also Minoru inside him, tormenting himself with the question of whether there really were any other ways.

  He already had an answer. Any treatment is only a temporary measure. Now, even if the magic is sealed, it will not lead to an improvement in current symptoms.

  There is no other final solution than to become a Parasite.

  "She used magic through my fault."

  "If I were more attentive to what was happening around me, then Minami-san would not have to use magic."

  Minoru sat with his head hanging by the bed on which Minami was sleeping, and mentally lamented.

  “What shall I do...” - Minoru prayed in despair, peering into the emptiness of the night darkness.

  Minoru suddenly raised his head.

  "This answer did not come from within me."

  The magician's perception informed him of such a strangeness.

  "Something Dark... This is not ordinary darkness."

  This darkness had some kind of altered nature.

  It was not just a lack of light.

  Despite the fact that the lighting in the room was turned off, for some seconds ago it was not completely dark here, as it is now.

  The light from the corridor, penetrating through the ajar door, as well as the bed and Minami lying on it, were all slightly distinguishable.

  And now nothing was visible at all.

  Everything around Minoru was drowned in darkness.

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  No. He himself was obsessed with darkness.

  "... The magic of blocking perception !?"

  Minoru intuitively sensed that this darkness was a magical attack directed against him.

  He tried to determine the identity of the enemy using the "Elemental Sight".

  But could not "see." Not just could not know the identity of the enemy, but did not see anything. Even his magical vision was blocked by this darkness.

  "Reaches even reason... No, on the contrary. Does this magic block the feelings of the enemy directly from the side of the mind?"

  Minoru was not at a loss. He had a lot of knowledge. Knowledge of the Kudou family, knowledge of Zhou Gongjin. Minoru knew both magic that blocked five senses and magic that prevented perception beyond the five senses. For example, his "Parade" was magic, deceiving both of them.

  “It only obscures the“ eyes. ”And it doesn’t do any harm anymore.”

  If the ability to search for the enemy is blocked, then this is not the end. Minoru decided to erect a barrier against the magic of psychic intervention and wait for the enemy to proceed.

  I did not have to wait long.

  A voice came from the darkness. It was not a simple loud physical voice tearing apart eardrums, but a furious voice forcibly penetrating directly into his consciousness.

  This voice did not consist of clearly distinguishable words. It had neither Japanese nor English words, nor words from other languages.

  It was just a “sound” conveying meaning directly.

  “Hear...!“

  And this voice conveyed such an appeal.

  “Do not reject...!“

  And such a call was still present in this voice.

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  But what should I hear? What should I not reject?

  Minoru did not have magical compulsion from this voice, but a banal sense of curiosity.

  When he voluntarily directed consciousness towards this voice, the meaning conveyed by him... more precisely, the "intentions" became more specific.

  “Hear my voice! Hear our voice!“

  My, ours. This voice belonged to one and several speakers at the same time.

  This alone allowed Minoru to understand that the hosts of the voice were Parasites.

  “Do not reject my consciousness! Do not reject our consciousness!“

  Minoru "rejected" the assimilation of the plural consciousness of the Parasites using a magic barrier. Applying the magic developed by the Kudou family to subjugate parasite dolls, Minoru ordered the Parasite who lived inside him to “not enter” the collective consciousness.

  This voice was trying to get Minoru to undo this magic.

  "Two magic operators."

  In addition to the fact that they are trying to drag him into a collective consciousness, he determined from magical waves that more than one magician carries out an attack by magic of mental intervention. Enemies worked in pairs. The "Sight" was not available, but he was able to read the properties of the magic used by "touch".

  "This magic... it manipulates the mind like powerful hypnosis."

  Minoru made this conclus
ion by analyzing magic trying to manipulate his mind.

  "One of them obscures the" eyes ", and the other inspires thoughts."

  Continuing to follow this touch, you can even counterattack.

  "First, neutralize this" darkness "!"

  However, for the future, he decided to teach the opponents a lesson, completely breaking their magic, and, thereby, showing the difference in strength.

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  The magic chosen by Minoru was the Parade. The original purpose of this magic was not to allow the enemy to catch you, but even when he was already trapped in the trap created by the enemy of "Darkness", he did not hesitate to choose.

  "If the enemy is not Tatsuya-san...!"

  Minoru was sure that if the enemy was not Tatsuya, then with the help of the Parade he would easily hide from him, even if he had already fallen into the hands of this enemy.

  And in his thoughts there was not a bit of complacency.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  “hmm?“

  “Is he moving?“

  In one of the rooms at the Pearl & Hermes base, the voices of two men sounded simultaneously.

  The first voice belonged to Major Kevin Antares, and the second to First Lieutenant Eliya Sargas.

  Major Antares is the commander of the eleventh detachment of the Stars, and the first lieutenant Sargas is a member of the same detachment, having the class of the First stellar magnitude. They were both magicians specializing in the magic of psychic intervention, and both were converted to Parasites as a result of "secondary infection."

  When they became Parasites, the magic they knew best about did not change. On the contrary, they showed a tendency to go even deeper into their specialization.

  Antares was good at magic affecting many minds simultaneously, and Sargas was strong at magic that focuses on one target and makes a powerful attack on her mind.

  The magic that plunged Minoru’s mind into "darkness" was created by Antares, and it was called "Nyx *". This magic could be called the trump card of Antares. She intervened in the ability to perceive the mind, creating an area of hallucinations that blocks visual and auditory information.

  [The goddess of the night from Greek mythology. She is Nikta or Nyukta in other Page 123

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  translation options. In Japanese transliteration and English spelling - "Nyx".]

  Opponents who fall into this area fall into a state where they "do not see, even when they are watching" and "do not hear, even when they are listening." And its effect is not limited to the vision and hearing of the physical body. It covers all information recognized by the mind as visual and auditory. As a result, the magician also becomes unable to recognize information about Eidos, perceived visually, and information about psionic waves, perceived audibly. In other words, not only five senses, but also the sixth sense is “shrouded in darkness.”

  Antares used this magic to seal Minoru's remote aiming and prevent a counterattack from magic. This provided Sargas with a safe environment to destroy the mental barrier to Minoru. That was their strategy.

  As they planned, no counterattack came from Minoru.

  Minoru climbed so far with this girl and should not have left her so easily. However, now he left the corridor and quickly walked away. At least, that was the magical perception of Antares and Sargas.

  It was hard to think that Minoru would abandon his companion.

  The magic of the “Nyx” of Antares did not aim at one specific person. It was intended to affect many people at once, by targeting a specific area of physical space. Minoru realized this and planned to counterattack the enemy magicians, leaving this area and thereby regaining the ability of remote magic aiming.... So Antares interpreted the current behavior of Minoru.

  “Chasing the target.“

  In order not to subject his subordinate to danger, Antares began to move the hallucination zone created by the Nyx magic after Minoru.

  “Yes, commander.“

  Sargas also began to chase the moving Minoru as a target for magic.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  After Minoru activated the Parade, the magical darkness disappeared and the darkness Page 124

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  of the night returned.

  The magic that created the darkness was not interrupted. The area of influence of magic, depriving perception from the side of the mind, shifted away from Minoru.

  Minoru did not leave this place, but only moved information about his location. After all, the enemy pursued Minoru informationally, and therefore moved the coordinates of the aiming of magic.

  The speed of this reaction indicated a high level of magic skill of enemies.

  And this high skill, on the contrary, made them immediately fall for the Minoru trick. As he expected.

  Minoru subsequently activated the magic of psychic intervention with psionic light moving through the physical space as an intermediary.

  The magic was called Phobos. This is magic that sends psionic light into the enemy’s magical field of vision, painted in colors that evoke the image of fear itself. There is also magic called Deimos, which does not require an intermediary and sends fear directly, but it was not in Minoru’s repertoire yet.

  The Phobos effect is not lethal. However, people affected by it, regardless of their mental stamina, will be subject to indescribable horror, and their mind will noticeably weaken. Even those who have trained to resist fear cannot escape the fear brought by Phobos. And no matter how you try to suppress this fear, it will continue to come from the depths of your mind.

  After activating Phobos, Minoru realized that the magic of the “voice” that attacked his mental barrier before activating the “Parade” was interrupted. The “darkness” that had previously swallowed Minoru also disappeared. Both magic no longer had any effect on Minoru. But for him, now it only meant that the operators could no longer support the magic aimed at the dummy created by his Parade.

  ◊ ◊ ◊

  “Major Antares !? What happened!? Lieutenant Sargas, although you answer what happened !?“

  The first lieutenant Spica screamed in a panicky voice, looking at the two men writhing Page 125

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  in agony, who fell to the floor with the chairs on which they were sitting. It seemed to her that an attack of convulsions suddenly attacked the two.

  “It was now... Phobos?“

  Moaned Antares, waking up first.

  “... I agree with you, commander.”

  Agreed with Antares Sargas, clutching his hand in a sore head.

  “It was an attack by Kudou Minoru!”

  Spica's cry implied the question "how is this possible !?". In order to apply magic to an adversary that you cannot see physically, it is necessary to fix the “image” of the target in the information dimension. And “Phobos”, in particular, is magic that achieves the result by directly irradiating the enemy with psion light. And here we are not even talking about "Deimos", directly sending images. For a remote attack by Phobos, it is necessary to accurately determine the coordinates of the target through the information dimension. This was impossible to do in a state of difficulty obscured by the magic of the Nyx.

  “Major Antares, Lieutenant Sargas... well, and Lieutenant Spica at the same time.”

  At that moment, a mental voice so powerful (not loud) sounded in the minds of these three that it seemed as though a head would crack from it.

  “Mr. Kudou. Did you want something? “

  With a grimace, Spica answered him. She decided that it would be better if she answered Minoru, and not just Antares or Sargas who had just attacked him.

  “I think Raymond hears, too, so I won’t repeat it. I do not intend to take control of you.“

  Spica's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. It happened exactly what she was afraid of and what Antares was afraid of. They could not gain access to Minoru consciousness.

  No access - so you can not intervene. However, Minoru had access to their consciousness. If Minoru wants to, he will be able to correct her consciousness, and so that she won’t even notice it.

  This was "only possible theoretically," but in fact it was not known whether in practice Page 126

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  one Parasite could take control of other Parasites. However, Spica and other soldiers of the USNA army could not ignore the likelihood that they could fall under the control of the Japanese Minoru.