April 27, Friday: Pre-Battle Preparations Takuma was absent, likely preparing his "Million Edge" for the mock battle, as Minami's email (and Kasumi's message) confirmed. Though not consecutive battles, Yugen needed Takuma at his best for tomorrow's duel.
After school, Yugen met Hattori, Kirihara, and Reika—Takuma's mentor—at the club headquarters. Since the mock battle stemmed from a prior clash involving club and discipline committee members, Tatsuya, who refereed as a student council mediator, joined the discussion. The agenda: Yugen and Takuma's approved mock battle.
Hattori opened, "Kagurazaka, what rules do you propose?" "Standard rules for me," Yugen replied. "But for Shippou, remove all restrictions—no handicaps, including lethal force." "Specifically?" "Let him use 'Million Edge' fully. If he loses without limits, he can't make excuses."
Reika gasped, "Are you serious? His 'Million Edge'—I should face it!" "I appreciate the offer, Reika, but Takuma claimed this as a pride-fueled fight with Saegusa, using near-lethal magic and defying Tatsuya's ruling. As a former Ten Master Clans member, I must show him what true strength means."
Reika's "Contact-Type Gram Demolition" was ideal against "Million Edge," but Yugen believed a former Twenty-Eight Assistant Houses member should resolve this dispute. Besides, he wouldn't have accepted without confidence—his newly developed swarm-control counter magic was ready, and Takuma would be its test subject.
"Words won't prove it," Yugen said, pulling out his device and accessing the room's monitor. A five-minute video played, leaving everyone silent. Tatsuya broke the quiet.
"When did you fight Saegusa-senpai?" "Last Sunday, at the Mitsuya estate's basement. I had her unleash 'Magic Shooter' and 'Dry Blizzard' at full power. The result speaks for itself."
The video showed Yugen enduring Mayumi's relentless attacks unscathed, not counterattacking. Facing Mayumi, a world-class precision sniper adept at swarm control, without a scratch was undeniable proof of Yugen's skill.
Hattori sighed, "Kirihara's right. We can't deny this. Kagurazaka, we'll remove all rules for Shippou, but Kirihara and Reika will supervise for safety." "Thank you," Yugen replied.
Hattori would referee, with Kirihara, Reika, Shizuku, Mikihiko, and Tatsuya as backups. As Yugen left, Tatsuya waited.
"Got a minute?" Tatsuya asked. "Sure. Curiosity?" "Something like that."
Heading to the student council room, Tatsuya spoke first.
"That magic against Saegusa-senpai wasn't just defensive, was it?" Tatsuya had noticed Mayumi's "Dry Blizzard" bullets dissolving around Yugen, as if absorbed into empty space, masked by advanced concealment.
"It's based on FAE theory—rather, 'PFE theory,'" Yugen explained. "Never heard of it." "No surprise. I'm the only one who knows it."
In fantasy worlds, magic alters physical laws, sustained by "magic elements" (mana, elements). Here, psions play that role, but their mechanics—consumption, recovery, residual psions—are poorly understood. Psions, non-material particles in the psychic dimension, record thoughts as Eidos, forming the basis of modern magic's activation sequences and formulas. Yet, what happens to spent psions or how they regenerate remains unclear. Residual psions—remnants from Eidos' restorative force clashing with altered phenomena—leave traces, but not the full picture.
Psions and Eidos have distinct restorative vectors. If identical, psionic formulas would dissipate without trace. Instead, a caster's magic power balances alteration and restoration. Poor psion control causes uneven alteration, leaving residual traces when Eidos' restoration fails. Modern magic systems subtly enable this, but Yugen skipped that issue.
His hypothesis: if psion restoration could temporarily cancel Eidos' restoration, physical law constraints could be loosened. This led to his Psyon Free Execution (PFE) theory, advancing FAE theory. By imbuing psions with counter-restorative force and injecting them into Idea, a law-ignoring domain emerges, akin to Heavenly God Magic. FAE has a millisecond lag; PFE allows up to a minute, though it consumes more psions. Yugen solved this by drawing psions from the environment, a technique absent in modern and ancient magic but found in lost Takayama-type ancient magic.
The idea sparked last spring when Tatsuya used "Pseudo-Cast Jamming." Studying Heavenly God Magic's law-altering process, Yugen sought a simpler FAE alternative. Tatsuya's jamming inspired reversing psion restoration to negate Eidos', with his reincarnation perk generating the formula effortlessly. PFE's pinnacle was Yugen's strategic magic, "Starlight Breaker," used last fall.
"It's a technique inspired by your jamming against Kirihara-senpai," Yugen said. "Not nullification, though." "Different from 'Round Blade'?" "Exactly. And it's a reimagined version of magic from someone close to you."
The magic, based on Maya Yotsuba's—arguably the strongest Ten Master Clans member—stunned Tatsuya, who gave a wry look.
"I see. She'd be thrilled to know," Tatsuya said. "She's unpredictable. Got a lap pillow from her in Yokohama." "Good luck," Tatsuya teased. "Don't act uninvolved, Tatsuya," Yugen shot back, knowing Maya tied them both.
Evening Call to the Shippou Head After dinner, Yugen initiated a video call. Takumi Shippou, head of the Shippou family, appeared.
"My apologies for the late hour, Lord Shippou. I'm Yugen Kagurazaka, heir to the Kagurazaka house." "Lord Kagurazaka, what's this about? My son?" "Yes. I thought you should know the circumstances."
Yugen wasn't shaking Takuma's resolve but felt duty-bound to inform Takumi of the mock battle, a clash of "Number Seven" houses over family pride. The Saegusa likely had their own intelligence, so Yugen saw no need to notify them.
Explaining, Yugen saw Takumi grimace.
"Not just to inform me, I presume?" Takumi asked. "Tomorrow, I face Takuma in a mock battle. I ask you to hold off on reprimands until after, so he can't claim a broken spirit as an excuse." "That foolish boy…"
Takumi cursed, knowing Yugen surpassed the "Crimson Prince." Last summer's news—Yugen's recruitment by the Joushima and Kagurazaka houses—shocked the Twenty-Eight Assistant Houses. Both families' heads outclassed the Ten Master Clans, making Takuma's challenge riskier than defying their peers.
"I understand," Takumi said. "I'm sorry for my son's selfishness." "No matter. I regret it came to this."
Takuma didn't know he'd provoked a Yotsuba affiliate, a near-worst-case scenario mitigated to the least bad outcome. Yugen also planned for Riri, a new Ten Master Clans member, to witness the battle to learn the meaning of their strength.
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