"You guys want to know why that was so short, right? Well, that was because NEXUS were supposed to be buffers for you guys but they fucked up since YOU acted too early, Yui."
Hacker said to the woman covered in bandages. It was hours later. The majority of NEXUS were arrested. That was a sole branch, however. NEXUS was part of a larger group that didn't have any relevance at this current time.
Hacker had secured exits for Yui and Asami. By luck, Hana came along as well. Those three, along with a few others who escaped by themselves, were the only ones to escape that situation.
A student died. But that student wasn't Ayato Kyouya.
"Hacker-chan, don't be too hard on her, she's recovering."
Asami said to the girl. She shrugged as if it wasn't her problem. (Well, it wasn't.)
"You do realise that without Hana and Asami, you would've been killed by Ayato Kyouya."
Yui couldn't say a word. Her entire body was scorched. It was being restored by a high-level healing spell but that would take a week or two to fully complete.
Hacker wanted to lay it all onto her. However, Hana had other ideas.
"Hey, is it true?"
"Hm?"
"Yuuji used us for his revenge? He wasn't going to do anything after Akari Chiori died?"
She asked.
Hacker sighed.
She was tired of being the one to explain everything. Since she saw everything from the sidelines, she had to. Although thinking again, Hacker found it cool. It was like an overseer explaining everything to a game character.
"No, he was a selfish man. He used his connections with the US Federation to join a group and create its own specialised role. After Akari Chiori, he wouldn't have gone for the collapse of the modern magician society. That's too much for a normal person."
The pink-haired girl said.
Yuuji Kaido acted like a lunatic but he was simply obsessed with Akari Chiori. His hatred of magicians stemmed from her. Without her, he wouldn't do anything else and would probably give himself up either way.
Meaning that the NEXUS would've been arrested sooner or later. They were betrayed.
Hana smashed her fist against her thigh with a pained look.
"Fuck! That bastard tricked us all!"
"You're skilled for a non-magician. You can join us if you want."
Asami suggested. Hana curved her brow.
"Huh?"
"Oi, Asami, I don't want a large group."
Hacker protested with a nonchalant expression.
"Why? You can get her magic items easily. She'll be powerful enough to take out an Association Magician."
She had a point. Hacker sighed when she thought about the advantages of having someone like Hana. Hana was physically gifted, perhaps on par with the average magician. She was well-trained in martial arts and firearms. She was a practically gifted soldier.
If this was the early 21st century, Hana would probably be referred to as a super soldier. A person who can turn the tide of a single battle.
"Fine..."
She gave in with a sigh and turned back to the bandaged corpse plugged into the machine.
"Well, anyways, where was I...? Ah right, you're weak, Yui."
Yui widened her only visible eye as a response to Hacker's words. She narrowed it to display her rejection of opinion.
"To be honest, I could beat you at full strength."
"But you're strong, Hacker-chan."
The blue-haired woman said to the girl.
"Maybe but the Mage Killer with multiple Magic Seals should be stronger. Why didn't you use your other Magic Seals?"
Hacker asked Yui.
It was a joke. More like a question for Yui to ask herself. Hacker continued.
"You know why because that ability of yours to absorb Magic Seals can only use Magic Seals that you can comprehend. You mindlessly killing those magicians backfired, hm?"
The girl taunted her. Yui turned her head as a way to ignore Hacker. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't move her hands to block her ears.
"You underestimated Ayato Kyouya and this is where you got yourself. When you recover, don't aim for the stars, aim for the sky."
Hacker advised the Mage Killer. Yui was silently seething.
"World Magicians are out of your reach but there are still first-class magicians and others out there. If you can comprehend their abilities and use it against Ayato Kyouya and win..."
There was hope. At least, there was that. Or so Yui believed.
"...is what I said, but that won't be easy with Ayato Kyouya's destructive Magic Seal."
"Uhm, isn't it something like recreation and destruction?"
Hana put her hand up, meekly asking. Hacker furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?"
"I remember when we were fighting, he destroyed Asami's threads and healed them as if reversing time. He hit Yui into the threads."
Hacker must've missed that part. She thought to herself. When she finally found her answer, she nervously smiled.
"Rewinding and destroying. That's a stupid but overpowered Magic Seal. Lucky that he can't use it at range."
She muttered.
"With that as his Magic Seal, I doubt that Yui will be able to beat him in a 1v1. As much as you want to kill him, I think an unfair battle would be far more efficient. You managed to bring him to the brink of death."
Yui's body reacted to her statement. Hacker looked at her.
"Yes, Ayato Kyouya isn't dead despite all of those injuries."
Asami grimaced thinking about the bloody boy. Hana shrugged it off since she thought that surviving near-death situations was a magician thing. Two cases have proven her right so far.
"Don't be too surprised or disheartened. He's survived this sort of thing for his entire life. Did the way he move seem like a cocky magician who just so happened to become a World Magician?"
Hacker asked Yui. She narrowed her eyes in response. It was true. During the entire fight, Ayato Kyouya separated them and fought without putting himself at a disadvantage.
It wasn't something that a normal school magician, even if he did become a World Magician, could do.
"No, it wasn't. It was the moves of a magician with experience. He fought you separately, if we exclude Hana, to avoid injuries but he couldn't outlast you all. But remember, he did this while using that artificial Divine Tool of his. I'm surprised it was so effective. It did chip away at his mana but he wasn't serious until he used his Magic Seal."
The truth struck Yui like an arrow. She was weak, she couldn't take on a World Magician. If she couldn't do that, she couldn't change current society.
There were 72 official World Magicians in the world. If she couldn't defeat the newest one, she couldn't kill the rest.
"You got away because I managed to get you."
Yui turned around and glared at Hacker. The girl shrugged.
"That looks tell me, 'why didn't you kill Ayato Kyouya?' That's because you wouldn't gain any credit for it. I don't see the use of killing him myself."
Hacker told her.
"Now, you get your beauty rest, Yui."
She said her. Hacker walked toward the door.
"I want to see your goal come to fruition. I won't let you die until I see it."
The girl announced, leaving the room.
·———·
"Where is he?!"
Kiara ran through the halls into the medical room.
"Miss, calm down—"
"Ayato!"
She screamed, pushing the doctor out of the way. The girl knelt at the bedside beside her unconscious brother.
He looked like a torn corpse.
"Ayato!"
The girl cried, looking at his body. Sure, he had been through similar situations but this was the first time she had seen her younger brother like this.
"He's alive. It's just that he's currently in a temporary coma. Even for a magician, the amount of pain he experienced was severe. It caused his brain to shut itself off to recover. He won't wake up for a while."
The doctor furrowed his brow, looking at the boy.
"It wouldn't be strange to predict that he won't wake up ever again..."
"That won't happen!"
Kiara roared at the man. She clenched her teeth while taking out her Seeker.
"I'll call the best healers. I won't let you die, I promise you as your older sister."
"Oh, by the way, those girls have woken up. Didn't you want to see them as soon as they did?"
He told the girl. Her finger stopped as she was about to dial someone. Kiara looked at her brother's face. His body was pale and bloody, yet he had a gentle expression as if he were in peace.
'Was living really that painful?'
She turned to the doctor and put her Seeker back in her pocket. Kiara stood up, wiping her tears.
"Let me see those girls. I have something to talk to them about."
"Ah, okay."
She wanted to let them know about Ayato's life. It was something that he asked her to do. One of the only things he's ever asked of her for 10 years.