From the rooftop of a building a short distance from the No Head Dragon's East Japan Branch, Tatsuya gripped his CAD, his eyes fixed on the target as he spoke to Kyoko.
"Is that the Generator?"
Kyoko nodded, her gaze steady. "That's right. It matches the characteristics of the one we captured. And despite all their frantic activity, it's completely expressionless."
"The end result of a magician crafted as a weapon…" Tatsuya muttered, then caught himself. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"
Kyoko's sharp glance made him retract his words.
"Tatsuya-kun, I know you're bothered by it, but you can't let it weigh on you too much."
"It's not like I'm dwelling on it. I don't have those kinds of emotions left to feel," Tatsuya replied coolly.
Kyoko fell silent, struck by the self-deprecating edge in his voice. She knew him well enough to understand that Tatsuya had few emotions left—if any. Yet, in this moment, the faintest flicker of something human surfaced, a rare glimpse she recognized because of their closeness.
"Have you finished converging the signals?" Tatsuya asked, shifting focus.
"Of course. I've hacked all their wireless communications to route through us, and Captain Sanada has already severed their wired lines."
"As expected of the 'Electron Sorceress,'" Tatsuya said, a hint of admiration in his tone. "That's one trick I could never pull off."
Kyoko smirked faintly. "I bet you could if you tried, Tatsuya-kun. But I won't lie—I don't mind the praise."
A ghost of a smile touched Tatsuya's lips before his expression hardened. He aimed his CAD at the No Head Dragon's East Japan Branch building, ready to unleash merciless magic.
"Trident…" Kyoko murmured, her voice tinged with awe and unease. "It's enough to make your skin crawl."
As her words suggested, Tatsuya's innate magic was so overwhelming that it could make an ordinary person faint from its sheer intensity.
Moments before Tatsuya activated his magic, the members of the No Head Dragon's East Japan Branch were frantically packing their belongings.
"To think a Generator would be captured with zero results," one muttered.
"And now the Imperial Army's special forces are sticking their noses in," another growled.
"Thanks to that, we're reduced to sneaking away like thieves in the night."
"Forget that! We need to deal with the brat who's been ruining our plans!"
"What's his name?"
"Shiba Tatsuya."
Without pausing their work, the members sifted through Tatsuya's data.
"What's with this file? Can't we dig up anything more detailed?"
"No matter how many databanks we hack, this is all we get on 'Shiba Tatsuya.'"
"Japan's supposed to have robust personal data systems. There's no way this is everything!"
"But that's all there is. It's like someone's deliberately hiding something."
"So he's not just some kid…"
Almost simultaneously with that murmur, one of the Generators let out a cry of agony. The group instantly realized its magical barrier had been breached—but the situation was far worse than they'd imagined.
In the next instant, the Generator's body seemed to glitch with static, then vanished without a trace. Only a faint scattering of phosphorus lingered, glowing like funeral pyres before triggering the sprinklers.
"Where is it?! Where's the attack coming from, Number Fourteen?!"
Despite their comrade's destruction, the Generators remained expressionless, one pointing toward the source of the attack. A No Head Dragon member aimed a rifle in that direction, maxing out the scope's magnification to identify the assailant.
A young man—no, a boy, barely more than a teenager—stood there. The moment the member saw him smirk, the scope shattered, its fragments piercing one of his eyes.
Terror, cold and unknowable, gripped the room. At that moment, a communication signal blared.
"Hello, gentlemen of the No Head Dragon East Japan Branch."
"Who the hell are you?!" one shouted.
The voice was unmistakably that of a teenage boy, yet this communication line was known only to the organization's top brass. No Head Dragon had no executives in their teens—or even their twenties.
"I owe you for what happened at Fuji. I'm here to return the favor."
"Number Fourteen, Number Sixteen, take him out!"
"We cannot."
"It's impossible."
Machines only do what they're capable of. Stripped of emotion, they don't even consider exceeding their limits.
"Don't talk back!"
"Why not fight for yourself instead of ordering machines around? Not that I'd let you."
As if on cue, another Generator vanished, leaving only a fleeting spark of combustion.
"Hi—hiii!"
A senior member, his eye pierced, bolted for the exit, but static flickered across his body. He, and everyone else, understood his fate. There was no escaping it.
"Now, let's get to the main event."
"Wait! Just wait a second!"
"What am I waiting for?"
Desperate, one of the executives tried to negotiate.
On a whim, Tatsuya decided to entertain the No Head Dragon executive.
"We're done meddling with the Nine Schools Competition," the voice pleaded.
"The competition ends tomorrow," Tatsuya replied dryly.
"Not just that! We'll pull out of Japan entirely. The West Japan Branch, too!"
"Do you even have the authority for that, 'Douglas Huang'?"
The man's shock was palpable when Tatsuya called his name. He likely hadn't expected to be identified. Still, Douglas Huang pressed on, grasping for survival.
"I'm the boss's right-hand man. Even he can't ignore my word!"
"Then tell me the boss's name."
Tatsuya's indulgence was a calculated ploy to extract information about No Head Dragon, as requested by his allies. He'd intended to erase them without mercy, but this was an opportunity. Yet, for a fleeting moment, Douglas's ingrained fear of his boss outweighed Tatsuya's terror, and he clammed up. To drive the point home, Tatsuya pulled the trigger on his CAD.
"James!?"
"Oh? That was 'James Zhu,' was it? My apologies to the international police still investigating him. Now, shall we move on to you, Douglas Huang?"
"Alright, I get it! The boss's name is 'Richard Sun'!"
"His public name?"
"…Sun Gongming."
Defeated by Tatsuya's terror, Douglas spilled everything he knew.
"That's all I've got."
"Well done. That's everything I needed to hear."
"Th-then—!"
"You're definitely the right-hand man of 'No Head Dragon Leader, Richard Sun.'"
Hope briefly lit Douglas's face, only to be snuffed out by Tatsuya's merciless magic.
"'Gregory'!? Why?! We haven't killed anyone!"
"Whether you've killed or spared lives doesn't matter. You crossed my line. That's reason enough for you to disappear."
"You devil!"
Tatsuya's lips curled into a faint, cold smile.
"Thanks to you, I got to draw out this 'devil's power' for the first time in a while. You stirred what little emotion I have left. For that, I'll give you my thanks."
"'Devil's Power'… You mean Demon Right!?"
With those final words, Douglas Huang ceased to exist.
"Now, Lieutenant, please relay that information to the Major," Tatsuya said, turning to Kyoko.
"Understood… Tatsuya-kun," she replied softly.
"What is it?"
Tatsuya removed his visor, revealing his face as he met her gaze.
"Doesn't it… hurt?" Kyoko asked, her voice trembling.
"Not really. I don't have the emotions to feel that way," he answered flatly.
At his words, Kyoko's expression wavered, on the verge of tears.
In a single night, several evils vanished from the world…
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