Chapter Thirty-Six: Fortitude
Thursday,
8:56 A.M.
"Hoh?"
Several hundred meters from Raizen High, another AST unit held a strict formation.
About twenty members arranged themselves in five-man cells.
…at the far rear stood Maya.
Or rather, Kumiyo Kyo.
Beside her were Origami and Mana.
Though for Maya, her role here was more about keeping a certain reckless member on a leash.
Maya had read Origami's files.
She knew just how tensed up Origami became whenever the topic of Spirits came up.
Not that Maya herself didn't understand that feeling.
However…
That wasn't the main concern today.
"Mmm. To think both of them would show up earlier than planned."
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she brushed her thumb across them.
Her eyes slid to the right.
"Easy, kid. The Spirit you're after isn't running anywhere, just wait a bit."
Maya's gaze flicked toward Origami, who was clearly tense.
Her fingers clamped around her laser blade, almost gritting her teeth.
Displaying an expression that clearly went against the restraint Maya was putting on her.
But—
Maya didn't pay much attention to her for now.
If anything, she admired her drive to eliminate every Spirit.
Yet, if it were only that simple.
Spirits didn't only spawn in Japan after all, and there were many different types.
Just as Maya was in thoughts.
"Um… what about him?"
Mana drifted a little closer, concerned with brushing her features.
A low hum escaped Maya as she uncrossed her arms and pulled out a small rectangular device.
On its screen was displayed a gridded map..
She closed her eyes briefly, tightening her grip on the device for a moment before letting out an exhale.
"He's fine."
According to the coordinates,
He was still at Raizen High, and the school itself had deep underground shelters hundreds of meters below.
Reinforced with carbon fibers, metal, resin, multiple materials compressed into thick defensive layers.
Sturdy enough to withstand a respectable portion of a spacequake's force.
"Everyone, get ready."
With that thought, Maya lifted a finger.
Click.
And then—
<
Maya thrust her hand forward.
"Move out!"
Thum—!
Raizen High.
East Wing — Extra-curricular classrooms.
Morgan had been watching.
The recoil from the clash outside shook the room he was in.
Leaning his back against a half-destroyed pillar, arms crossed,
he had watched everything happening beyond the shattered windows.
«Master…»
"Yeah, so… Aunt's really a wizard."
Even as he said it, his expression barely changed.
Of course, the development was shocking. It would've been a lie to claim he'd expected this.
He'd speculated she had connections to DEM and Wizards in general, sure.
But he had assumed something very different… and far worse.
Maybe that's why he didn't look as surprised as he should've.
His head dipped for a moment.
"Still, doesn't matter."
Morgan pushed away from the pillar, rolling his neck until a clean crack echoed.
His arms lowered.
"Avalon. Descend."
«Initializing phase 2»
Thanks to Fraxinus, it actually worked.
If not, sending Avalon would've been impossible.
At the very least, he wouldn't have delivered it this easily.
«10,000 meters till Alpha Point»
Judging by the situation outside, chaos wasn't an exaggeration.
This many AST units on one site was unnatural, at least was what Morgan thinks.
After all, there weren't many people capable of surviving a realizer experiment to begin with.
One could argue AST was chronically understaffed.
And for a reason.
If about twenty or more were actively operating, then Shido's work would have been more difficult.
Naturally, it was for this purpose that DEM created Bandersnatch.
They swapped out the need for expending human resources for AI.
And the worse case scenario is…
«Master, another group of more than twenty, has positioned itself outside Beta's radius»
"So, that's her true face, huh? Oddly, I also find that attractive."
Figures.
Morgan muttered, tossing his device onto the dusty floor. It clattered where it landed.
To cut down on operation time, he'd switched off his Territory.
«Is Master finally ready to admit it?»
"Shut it."
Morgan let out a weary breath and slipped toward the back of the building where a crack was made, lifting himself upward.
Whoosh!
A gust rushed against him.
Fresh air mixed with gunpowder, sulfur, cement, dust, and countless other sharp scents.
The wind tugged at his clothes and hair as he placed a finger against his lips.
Right now—
It wasn't just about him anymore. He didn't even need to think about it.
Enemy or not, if things came down to Maya…
He'd shove her out his way.
"Now then."
Bthum!
It was time.
CR Unit Avalon.
Built with a specific purpose in mind, stripped of anything resembling unnecessary weight.
While Territory could normally reduce mass, his approach was different.
As long as he grasped the underlying concept deeply enough.
He was willing to trade equipment for more computational power.
Following that theory…
Morgan could use his Territory endlessly.
But therein lies the flaw they discovered during the construction of Avalon.
For all its computational strength…
Morgan couldn't expand the reach of his Territory to affect others which others can easily do with even lower grade CR Units.
Instead, whenever [Avalon] was active, the radius of his Territory remained its three meters baseline.
Of course, that is unless he switched CR Units.
It's like running a high-spec game on a low-end computer.
While it's not an accurate representation, it was similar to it along the lines.
Not that Avalon in itself is inferior, but it trades many components to boost computational power alone.
As such, other features that should be displayed by it are extremely limited.
But for Morgan.
That alone is enough.
At the same time.
Raizen's Courtyard
Krack-thum!
A loud impact tore through the air, followed by a thunderous shockwave.
It wasn't surprising, something had just fallen from the sky at a speed well beyond sound.
Craters sprawled across the courtyard, parts of the building already collapsing under the force.
Raizen High was swallowed in smoke.
Brown dust coiled upward, swallowing the entire courtyard, even the entire school.
From the smoke alone, one could tell the magnitude of the impact the unidentified object caused.
Sure enough…
Most of the AST members, Princess included, hovered in midair, staring down.
Intercepting an object traveling that fast without preparation would've been suicidal.
Well, at the very least, for the unsuspecting.
However,
Tap!
Inside the crater made by the unidentified object.
Through the dust, a foot touched down with perfect balance, landing just before the black box.
Rectangular, about a meter tall.
Resembling a compact industrial fridge, it sat wedged deep into the crater.
A small crater spidered out around it.
Neither side moved.
Both sides were too cautious, too tense, watching for the slightest shift.
«Just as we predicted»
Using Fraxinus to drop Avalon had been his idea.
If Fraxinus could transport things with its Realizers.
He could use it.
Moreso, when he knew the coordinates.
Sending it straight to his feet was too easy.
"Yeah… even then, those people were planning to stop Avalon, huh?"
Morgan murmured as he brushed dust from the box's surface.
The dust around him began to settle.
"Open."
Tssss—!
The box split into multiple segments,
each panel gliding away as mechanical components unfolded and wrapped around him.
Meanwhile—
"What's going on?"
Ryoko Kusakabe was the first to speak.
Fortunately, she'd managed to pull most of her unit clear of the impact radius.
"At what speed did that thing fall…?"
She glanced up at the sky, her lips parting with a slight twitch.
No, she didn't even want to imagine it.
A bead of sweat trailed down her back as she shook her head.
Even with the Princess right in front of them, none of the units could act.
Still, that didn't stop them from moving.
Click!
Without hesitation, the formation split.
Half of them encircled Princess from above and the other half formed a perimeter on the ground.
"Hmph. Fighting among yourselves now, too?"
A dry scoff slipped from Princess's lips as she tightened her grip on her broadsword.
The irony was almost laughable.
Not only did they want to erase her kind, they were ready to tear apart their own.
Either way, it didn't change anything.
Both the mecha mecha girls and the strange human remained enemies to her.
The smoke finally thinned.
Sure enough, a lone silhouette emerged from the swirling dust as it cleared.
"Finally… he's here…"
Ryoko muttered under her breath, but the comms carried her words to every AST member.
His outfit was different from the one they'd seen earlier that week.
But that distorted, glitchy face confirmed it.
"X has appeared! Fire!"
In an instant, everyone changed to long-range loadouts, rocket launchers, anti-rifles, and more.
Under normal circumstances, this would've been excessive.
From their perspective, it wasn't nearly enough.
Boom!
Ratatata—!
The barrage resumed, this time directed at a new target.
"Heh, defend all you want. But that's merely a distraction."
Ryoko nervously murmured that, with sweat rolling down her features.
From afar, a glint shone for a brief moment.
It was Origami, who was stationed at least a kilometer away, lying prone at the top of a building.
She held an anti-tank rifle in her hand.
Cry Cry Cry
An Anti-Spirit rifle capable of piercing even a Territory if needed.
Originally constructed for Spirit assassination, but under Maya's direction, it had been further modified.
A forbidden weapon.
One who possesses this weapon, even if powerless under the right conditions, could kill a Wizard.
<
"Hn."
She forced the sound out as she tightened her finger on the trigger.
Tah!
From this distance, without the target moving unpredictably, it was impossible to miss.
And indeed—
The bullet didn't miss.
It travelled in a smooth path, unhindered by environmental constraints.
Such a work could have been considered clean, but-
A voice cracked over the comms, tinged with panic.
To their horror, the target was completely untouched.
Cry Cry Cry had done nothing.
For the members stationed there, the sight was even more disturbing when the smoke cleared.
Most of the firearms that were shot were frozen in the air, suspended by several golden ripples all around him.
"Is this all the AST can manage? I expected more."
Looking closer, it wasn't just X standing there anymore.
A CR Unit, if one could even call it that, had formed around him.
Through an Infrared visage, his actions could be seen from the smoke alone.
A crescent-shaped halo.
Mechanical wings.
It was a configuration missing elements they were certain a unit needed.
One that didn't follow any known structure.
But it was strange.
Somehow, this scene was more dreadful than shocking.