Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Vol. 30 Read online

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  “That is, the goal of Wyatt Curtis is to destroy the parasites gathered at the base in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands with the hands of Shiba Tatsuya?“

  “I think something like that.”

  “You cannot let Shiba Tatsuya do something like that.”

  Saeki's tone of voice was annoyed and a little pushy.

  “... I am afraid that the intervention of the Japanese magician in the internal struggle for power in America may be mistakenly perceived by the USNA government as a message.

  And this is undesirable.“

  It seems that Saeki herself felt that because of this understatement, she looks a little hysterical, so she added a little explanation.

  But her true intention was a reluctance to give the Yotsuba family - civilians - to get strong ties in the American political world.

  At least that’s what Kazama thought when he heard Saeki’s words.

  Saeki did not know how Kazama took her words. At that moment, her mind was immersed deep in her thoughts.

  “... Shiba Tatsuya...“

  Without looking up, as if talking to herself, she named Tatsuya.

  And at that moment when Kazama looked at her, she continued:

  “... Call him as a special Ooguro officer.”

  In ordinary peacetime, in areas outside of hostilities, the army has no right to call civilians to itself. However, so that Tatsuya could be a participant in the hostilities, he was given special soldier status. If you use this as an excuse, then you can call Tatsuya to a military court. Or you can just call, as a superior officer calls a subordinate.

  “However, at the moment the situation does not correspond to the conditions provided for in the provision on special duties. You need a reason to call. What should I tell him?“

  Kazama doubted that it was worth abusing the status of "special officer" in the current situation, when a specific threat from the NSU had already passed.

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  “Tell him that this will be an interrogation, necessary to remove suspicions of secret contacts with foreign forces.“

  “... Okay.“

  "Complete nonsense," thought Kazama. But he did not object.

  Chapter 4

  July 18, 15:00 Japanese time and July 17 19:00 local time. The port of the Pearl & Hermes military base, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, included a U.S.

  Navy transport ship.

  This event in itself was not something special and deserving of special mention. There was nothing strange about the fact that a crowd of armed soldiers came ashore from this ship. Here, after all, there was a supply base for the Navy of the USNA. Of course, when landing on shore for rest, soldiers took personal weapons with them.

  Unusual in this situation was that the faces of these soldiers were very tense, as if they were landing on enemy territory. Hiding their steps and breathing, they headed not to the main building of the base, but to another ship in the port.

  Their goal was a fully submersible Coral transport vessel moored in the port. It was on this ship that Minoru and Minami climbed into the sea near Yokosuki. And remained there until now.

  There were no windows in the Coral cabins. Unlike civilian passenger ships, the design of warships usually involves a small number of windows, because they are a weak point. And Coral can actually be considered a submarine, and its interior is completely isolated from the external environment. Therefore, Minami, sitting in the cabin allotted to her, did not even know that sunset would soon be outside.

  Light and sound were blocked, but there was something that was still transmitted through this isolation. She caught the sixth sense that she was approaching a kind of

  "foul smelling atmosphere."

  She convinced herself that the "smell of gunpowder" at a military base is normal. But Page 86

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  she still did not leave a bad feeling.

  The doorbell rang faintly in the cabin. Minami walked quickly to the airtight door and unlocked it.

  They pulled the door out of the corridor.

  “May I come in?”

  As expected, Minoru came.

  - Yes, please.

  Minami took a step back and invited Minoru to the cabin.

  Minoru squeezed into Minami's cabin through a slightly ajar door and locked it behind him.

  “Something strange is happening outside.” A detachment of several dozen soldiers is sent towards this ship.

  Minami nodded back. Minoru’s words reminded her of what she was just thinking, and her thoughts switched from “this cannot be” to “as I thought.”

  - Raymond and Lieutenant Spica also do not understand the situation. I don’t think that the American military will send weapons at each other, but I think that it’s better for you and I to stick together.

  Minami nodded once more, now with a much more intense face than before.

  She did not think that it was wrong. On the contrary, she agreed with the idea that "it is better to stick together."

  During the attack on Miyakijima, on the Midway transport ship there was an attack squad consisting of more than 20 Parasites, and on the Coral, there were only three Parasites among the crew and passengers: Minoru, Raymond and Spica. The crew was selected by order from the Pentagon from the faction for a tough course towards Japan.

  It was ordered to support only one group of Parasites, showing a hostile attitude towards Japan.

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  But for military bureaucrats who have a physiological and religious hatred of the Parasites, there is no difference between the terms "cooperate with the Parasites" and

  "obey the Parasites." And the Coral crew in this case is not “the same American soldiers”, but “minions of the demons devouring our Motherland”.

  It’s impossible to even direct weapons at just “compatriots”, and you can already shoot at “demon minions” without hesitation. Moreover, this was an order from the commander. About this psychological state and such thoughts were now among the soldiers who were ordered to attack the Coral.

  Coral was designed for underwater movement, but during mooring at a port, about a quarter of its hull protrudes above sea level. However, unlike conventional submarines, it had a large hatch for loading or unloading cargo. That is, there was no such inconvenience inherent in submarines when at the same time only one person can enter or leave.

  More than 60 soldiers approached this cargo hatch, silently made a huge hole in it, and then surged into the ship.

  Coral's crew was shocked by this outrage.

  The crew is about 120 people. This is almost double that of soldiers breaking on board.

  Although they had a numerical superiority, the attacking and defending sides were very different in terms of readiness. Coral's crew were helpless in the face of a surprise attack and were killed one by one.

  The principle of reproduction of parasites was unknown. Last winter, the Parasites were unable to increase the number of their counterparts, neither in America nor in Japan.

  However, this year, according to currently available data, more than 50 people became Parasites not as a result of an experiment with a micro black hole, but as a result of the so-called secondary infection - by coming into contact with existing Parasites.

  Coral's crew spent about three days in a closed environment with the Parasites. They were shot only because there were suspicions that they were "infected." Since the principle of "infection" is unknown, it is likely that all crew members are converted to Parasites. The parasite cannot be "cured", therefore, in order to prevent the spread of

  "infection", "patients" should be "disposed of".... Such were the arguments of one radical conservative faction from the Ministry of Defense of the USNA.

  However, in the case when it is necessary to "get rid" of the entire crew completely, the Page 88

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  least risk will be if the ship is sunk by explosives from the outside, and not storm it. The crew is not unarmed. Possible losses in the assault squad as a result of a counterattack cannot be ignored.

  Such an opinion was expressed shortly before the start of this surprise attack. If it was possible to execute "divine justice" without any sacrifice, then you would not have to come up with something like that, and you would not have to choose the method of this "divine justice".

  The option to destroy the ship was rejected, as there was no certainty that this would kill the Parasites. Even if we talk about ordinary magicians, it is not known whether the sinking of the ship on which they are will kill them. And in the case of Parasites -

  demons - they may not be destroyed, even if they die.

  Therefore, the assault squad was ordered to shoot everyone with "silver-crystal bullets."

  The name "silver-crystal bullets" did not mean that they were made of "silver crystal."

  These bullets were made of a sharpened crystal core coated with pure 999 silver with the addition of a tiny fraction of nickel. It was an anti-demonic weapon used mainly by Protestant exorcists, who were active in the former USA.

  Unlike Catholics, Protestants traditionally did not have magical combat organizations.

  However, the need for exorcists existed all over the world even before the era when the existence of magic was revealed. In the former United States, one Protestant organization took advantage of the poverty of the traditions of local exorcists and created a culture-optimized firearm with anti-demonic weapons.

  Unfortunately, the attitude of the exorcists towards the Stars is not very friendly, because the Stars often take to themselves promising young magici
ans, on whom the organizations of exorcists have already laid their eyes. The supply was unable to get these bullets for Lina during the first Parasite incident. However, this time, for the sake of eradicating the Parasites that are eating away the Stars from within, the exorcist organizations agreed to cooperate with the conservative faction.

  However, it was not yet known whether silver-crystal bullets were effective against Parasites.

  The entire detachment defended three men in black robes walking in the tail. One of them was middle-aged, and the other two were young. Palatines hung on their neck Page 89

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  with crosses embroidered on them, and in their left hands each of them held a large cross 60 centimeters high. These were the same "exorcists" - magicians of ancient magic, regular army priests and pastors.

  They were not high-level exorcists and did not possess high magical attack power. But their task was not to kill the Parasites with magic. To fulfill the task entrusted to them, these three exorcists began to pray, raising the crosses in front of them.

  Vibrations from the blow that struck a hole in the cargo hatch reached the Minami cabin.

  Minoru rounded his eyes at first, but then immediately slightly covered them. Then he frowned, still remaining with his eyes half closed.

  - Block...?

  Opening his eyes, Minoru saw Minami watching him with a restless look.

  Minoru was puzzled for a moment whether he should explain to Minami the current unusual situation they were in, and came to the conclusion that if you did not say anything, it would cause more concern.

  “... A mental connection with Raymond and Lieutenant Spica does not work.”

  - Blocked?

  Minoru has not yet explained to Minami the details of the Parasite's abilities. She did not know about the difference between telepathy and the mental connection of the Parasites, therefore, she was not particularly surprised that something interfered with the "common thoughts" of the Parasites. Her train of thought was that if the activation of magic could be impeded by “Hindrances,” then mental communication could also be interrupted by something.

  However, the divided thoughts of Parasites and telepathy differ fundamentally. Each Parasite has an individual consciousness, but at the same time they all share one common consciousness. The mental communication of Parasites is like a dialogue with oneself, if you look at it from the point of view that all this happens inside one single consciousness. Even if somewhere between separate consciousnesses some kind of blocking mental waves are emitted, this should not interfere with communication Page 90

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  between fellow parasites. This will become possible only if it is possible to intervene immediately in the entire consciousness shared by all Parasites. In a single consciousness, covering all representatives of the species "Parasite".

  If it turns out that it is still possible to do this, it will mean that it is also quite possible to interfere with the magical abilities of the Parasites themselves and reduce their strength.

  “Minami-san, don't leave me.”

  Minoru stood in front of the door, closing Minami's back.

  Seeing that Minoru was unusually tense, Minami responded with a short "good."

  Strong tension was also visible on her face.

  No sound was heard from the other side through the completely soundproofed walls.

  Outside, only a depressing atmosphere was transmitted inside, from which tension gradually increased.

  Minoru was not only guarding the door. He also tried to get in touch with Raymond and Spica, and at the same time he tried to "look" to find out what was going on. However, using Eyes of Spirits, he could only read vague information.

  "A certain spell works here that impedes the mental processes of the Parasites... and indeed any non-human creatures...?"

  This was probably the work of the magician of ancient magic, specializing in the expulsion of all non-human beings hostile to people, such as evil spirits and ghosts. In the current situation, when the mental connection does not work, only such an option came to his mind.

  Magic and the “look” were not completely sealed. He was able to understand that there were murders outside, and was able to read information that three magicians prevented his magic.

  "... Do you need to deal with them first?" - Asked himself Minoru. Even if they simply block magic, it means that they interfere with Minoru's consciousness, in other words, into himself. This is an obvious act of aggression.

  “You won’t take my life. But don’t worry, I won’t take yours either,” Minoru mentally told himself to Minoru and decided to strike back.

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  In a blurred field of vision, he aimed "sight" at the magicians of ancient magic, preventing him from using magic.

  It didn’t turn out as smoothly as I wanted. To overcome the anti-demonic blocking spell, Minoru had to concentrate his mind as much as he had never done before. Because of this, his attention deviated from the surroundings. Distracted by a counterattack at a long distance, he did not notice what was happening very close by.

  To attack, Minoru chose Spark magic. It was the simplest spell from the magic of the release system, which he knew best. Usually a small amount of air is ionized using this magic, however, Minoru has forcibly displaced electrons not from the air, but from the clothes of enemy magicians.

  Created at zero distance, an electrical discharge spread across the skin of enemy magicians.

  The success of neutralizing enemies with electric discharge was confirmed by Minoru by the disappearance of interference in his mind.

  Having regained clarity of consciousness, Minoru looked around with “Eyes of Spirits”

  to find out what was happening around him.

  "...!"

  - Minoru-sama!

  He realized this at about the same moment that Minami's warning reached his ears.

  The door of the cabin, which, in theory, was locked, swung open. It had a simple non-magnetic lock with a metal deadbolt. That is why this hermetic door was almost impossible to open from the outside. The assumption that the bolt was shifted by psychokinesis came to mind only later, when the situation was resolved.

  And now, six gun barrels were looking at Minoru and Minami. Minoru activated Iskra with the power of thought. But this did not happen at the same time that Minoru recognized the soldiers. Even Parasites must follow a system called "magic" and cannot use it unknowingly. Constructing a sequence of magic is a process that occurs in the field of the subconscious, but the user must be aware of the magic that he is using.

  Parasites do not need not only CAD, but also activation sequences, but even they have time from recognition of the enemy to activation of magic is not zero.

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  After Minoru recognized the soldier with the weapon, it took him half a second to decide to use the Spark.

  During this time, the soldiers have already managed to pull the trigger.

  Bullets flew through ionized air.

  Six soldiers fell to the floor, struck by electric shock.

  And the bullets fired from six barrels...

  They were stopped by an anti-object shield deployed by Minami.

  There is an opinion that there is nothing easier and faster than thoughts, but a person’s reaction can sometimes be even faster than thinking. Exactly at the very moment when the enemies tried to enter the cabin, hardened by the rigorous training of the battle magician, Minami reflexively pressed the desired combination of buttons on the CAD

  and activated the barrier magic.

  Bullets that lost kinetic energy fell to the floor.

  Minami collapsed exhaustively to her knees.

  - Minami-san! How are you!?

  Instead of the Minami barrier, which lost its effectiveness, Minoru built a powerful anti-object, heat-resistant and electromagnetic-resistant shield. Even light did not penetrate inside this shield, so Minoru created a light source in the form of a weak plasma, which shone, but did not burn. Minoru dropped to one knee next to Minami and held her hand at the shoulder.