Chapter 29
SHIBA TATSUYA
The finals of Monolith Code in the first year section were underway, and Inei fought against the team from Third High all by himself, making himself both a pariah and a hero in the eyes of those watching the competition.
Though Shiba knew that his white haired cousin cared little for that, and seemed to be enjoying himself as clashed against Masaki. Normally he would be enjoying the match with his other classmates, or from the waiting area, but today was not the case.
Today, he had been called up by his commanding officer from the 101st division, Major Kazama, who sat beside him, sipping tea and watching the match.
"To think that someone apart from you could outclass The Crimson Prince like that," the Major remarked, and Shiba smiled as he saw Inei shrugging off the infamous 'Rupture' of the Ichijou clan singlehandedly as he faced off against Ichijou.
"I doubt even I could handle all three of the contestants without activating some of my more obscure powers," he remarked, for the rules of the competition were indeed rather strict, and Tatsuya's magic were mostly too destructive and lethal to be used in the competition.
"Well, you are more suited to other sorts of battles," the Major remarked, and the reference was clear. He was more suited to war and killing. Though he doubted Inei Yotsuba was any worse in those categories either, one did not have as many enemies as he did without being a skillful killer.
"Do it!" the Crimson Prince screamed suddenly, and he watched as the buildings around Inei-kun collapsed and began to fall down on him.
"Ohh, using the terrain like that, that is borderline illegal," Kazama-san commented and he shrugged.
"It does not matter," and as the debris fell down and dust clouds covered the camera, there was no sign of Inei Yotsuba, until there was.
In an instant all the debris, was cut down as it vanished into thin air only to reveal the unscathed form of Inei Yotsuba standing there with his hands clasped together, before suddenly Tatusya noticed how he tilted his head to the right, before the building behind him blew up.
BOOOM!
"Invisible bullet," he reasoned out. And now he understood why the Cardinal George was hiding until now, and he had to hand it to the young genius. Third High's strategy was rather sound, and would have been rather against any other student apart from Inei.
"Indeed, it seems the young Cardinal George has outdone himself and has transformed it so it could penetrate the Yotsuba's defense," Major Kazama added, and he seemed excited. Though it seemed to him that magic was incomplete and had a rather long activation sequence.
No.
As he examined the activation sequence he reaslied just what it was.
"It is Loop Casting," he began, and saw the major raise a brow as both Masaki and the other teammate began to distract Inei-kun once more, tumbling buildings on top of him while Masaki Ichijou bombarded him with rupture, giving Cardinal George the time he needed to set up another shot.
"No single attack could penetrate Inei's shield. So, Kichijou is loop-casting his Invisible Bullet, firing nearly a hundred of them straight at Inei. But doing so must have forced him to remove any and all other magic sequences from his CAD, and that is why he has stayed back and hidden in the match," he told the Major, who smiled.
"That is an inspired idea, but one should have expected it from the genius that is the Cardinal George," and that was subtle praise.
"It is, but in the end, it will be useless," he finished as he saw Ineo close his eyes, as Masaki shouted once more.
"Now!"
"This match was over the second it began...."
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INEI YOTSUBA
Third High's strategy was rather inspired. They were taking full advantage of their numerical advantage and coming after him in a rather interesting way. It was afar cry from their usual strategy of having Cardinal Geroge and Ichijou as Vanguards, but this time the young genius had chosen to stay behind.
And the reason was rather apparent.
'Invisible Bullet' was the boy's specialty, a magic that allowed him to form a sort of a vacuum bullet that was untraceable by the naked eye. It was a rather unique offensive magic that was rather difficult to master and was a credit to the boy.
The first shot had taken him by surprise, for it was not truly just one shot. No, he had used 'loop casting' to aggregate a hundred or so of that magic into one shot, and it had taken him by surprise by penetrating his psion shields.
But they had missed.
And now it was time to end this.
"NOW!" he heard Ichijou scream as he heard the air shift, and he closed his eyes as the attack raged towards him.
And the whole world shifted as he opened his eyes, which had turned red, and the whole world came into focus as he spotted the boy hiding in the distance, aiming at him with his specialized CAD.
"Cleave," he whispered, and felt the air ripple, as the magic 'Invisible Cannon' split into two and whipped past his face decimating two buildings behind him, much to the surprise of the Ichijou and Kichiouji.
"Impossible," the red-haired boy gasped, as Inei's psions roared forth at his command, spreading all over the arena, making everyone in the arena still in fear and trepidation. He saw them still, their senses screaming at them in fear as their bodies refused their commands.
"You..." he saw Masaki struggle as the boy stepped forward, raising his CAD despite the pressure as he tried to fire at him making him a raise a brow.
"Impressive indeed, Ichijou. You truly are worthy of praise..." and it was genuine, he knew that the number of magicians that could bear such pressure was not more than double digits, and yet this young heir had so much courage.
"....but this match is over," and with that, he activated the magic that had only been added into his CAD last night, as his feet lifted off the ground as his body began to levitate into the air, slowly removing the chains of gravity from it as he rose into the skies above them all.
He could hear the announcer's gaps and the crowd's stilling silence at the display of magic thought by most to be a myth until today, as he raised his hand and twisted his index finger around the middle finger as he pushed his psions.
"Domain Expansion..." he whispered as a small shrill sound spread all over the arena.
"....Malevolent Shrine!"
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM!
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MAYA YOTSUBA
Maya Yotsuba watched dust cover the entire arena, as a smile blossomed on her lips. The actions of the Kudo clan, and their allies had not gone unnoticed by her or the rest of the Ten Master Clans. A little spat and rivalry between the heirs of the TMCs was nothing to worry over and was rather common given the proclivities of youth.
But this was not one of those spats. Inei was not being targeted by another young heir from a clan. No, he was being targeted by the damned 'elder' Retsu Kudo of the Kudo clan, for reasons that were rather shady. And so, she had offered to intervene, she had enough dirt on the Kudo's to bury them into their graves, if not enough military might to decimate them all in a single night.
But he had asked her to hold on, and now she understood his point.
"He has made them all look like incompetent fools," she remarked as Hayama nodded.
"Indeed, he has," and as the dust cleared, nothing was left of the buildings, and the whole city had been turned into a simple plain land, as the unconscious bodies of Third High students lay on the ground while Inei floated in the air looking down at them like a diety.
The camera focused on his face as his white hair sifted with the air. His face was expressionless as he stared straight into the camera, his eyes now red scarlet as he smiled and whispered.
"I win."
"I was a bit reluctant to let him handle all this, but it seems my son is not as politically naive as he made us all think," she added as she leaned back and sipped her tea as Hayama turned off the TV.
"I am afraid I do not understand," the ever-loyal butler added. And he wouldn't, given that he did not really understand the next generation of Yotsuba.
"Given the nature of our clan, one would think that Inei-kun flaunting his powers, even though he has but shown a fraction of them, would be against the usual protocol," she began and Hayama nodded.
"Indeed, I was surprised that you asked him to do so in the first place," he began, and indeed she had, though her own purpose had been to make a rather bold statement to the other clans about backing off.
Inei, on the other hand, had another use.
"The next generation of the Yotsuba have the ability to reshape our whole clan. One could say that they could make or break the clan in a way. The day the truth about Tatsuya and Miyuki is revealed the vultures will begin to circle us, for they are the most lethal blades in the world, both powerful enough to decimate the world," and wasn't that a chilling thought.
"Inei-kun is acting as the scabbard to that blade. He is the light of the Yotsuba clan, in whose shadow the rest of us can operate as we always have," she added, and Hayama nodded.
"That is interesting. What are we to do with the information we gathered about the secretive dealings of the Kudo clan and the Saegusa clan with the GAA?" Hayama asked, and she thought about it.
These conversations were rather incriminating and were damning enough to have them both removed from the Ten Master Clan Council. But Inei had asked her to wait, and so she would do just that.
"Forward them to him and wait. I will let the young ones handle this. They seem rather capable," and Hayama nodded, and then she had an idea.
"Miyuki has her matches on the final day, right?" she asked, and Hayama nodded dutifully.
"Lady Miyuki's Mirage Bat match is indeed on the last day. She is taking part in the senior's section," Hayama added, and it wasn't that interesting.
"Perhaps I should go and cheer her on. I might also get to meet the girl that has caught Inei's eyes," she smirked, and Hayama still smiled before he smiled.
"Shall I get the jet ready?"
"Yes, have it prepared. We will leave tomorrow."
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