Chapter 24
MAYUMI SAEGUSA
A few things were going right for Mayumi Saegusa as she sat beside the bed of her dear friend Mari, who was resting. As Mayumi sat there feeling rather ominous about all that had happened until this point.
The Nine School Competition was supposed to be a joyous affair, one worth celebration and elation as they utilized their gift of Magic to present a softer image of magicians all over the world. It was a platform to allow students to hone and showcase their mastery over different magics, and yet this year, the competition had spelled nothing but trouble.
First, there was an attack on their buses, and now there is this. A possible attempt at influencing the competition that had left her dearest friend bedridden. And though the doctors had assured them all that Mari was fine and was set to make a full recovery, Mayumi could not help but feel frustrated over her constant failures.
She was the school president. It was her damn job to protect the students, a job that she had been failing at until this point.
But not anymore, she thought as she looked out the window at the clear skies above, her red eyes glinting in the darkness of the room, a sign that she was actively using her innate magic, Multi Scope.
While calling her a prodigy, many believed that she had that title because of the quantity of the scions or her rather fast activation speed, yet the truth was while she was indeed blessed in both of those aspects, what made Mayumi Saegusa a true menace was this magic.
"Multi-Scope" allowed her to combine her magical sight with her natural sight allowing her to visualize an object from all around, similar to how a radar would.
And so now, with her competitions done, she would take over the burden of protecting the students from whichever entity was responsible for all the mayhem. For that, she would reply to her magic, pushing it beyond her limitations as she kept an eye on their hotel.
And it was because of that she felt him. His psions felt like a massive firelight in the darkness as he walked to the roof, making her frown. Then she felt another presence appear there—one foreign to her, yet, for some reason, she found it familiar.
'When had she felt this presence?' she asked herself, and for some reason her frustrations grew as she felt him halt and engage this person in talk, and she closed her eyes, as she turned her attention to the rooftop and saw him standing there, still clad in his clothes from the Ice Pilars' Break having only taken off the Black Coat.
And there she was, dressed in black clothes that made her blend into the night. He mouthed something to her and began to walk forward, jumping on the edge of the building before his psions roared forth.
"Inei-kun," she gasped, imagining the worst when suddenly he jumped, vanishing from his sight.
As much as she tried, she could find no trace of him anywhere in the building. Then, an instant later, the person standing beside him vanished as well. Mayumi bit her lip as she expanded her magical sight. The expansion gave her a headache, but she was able to locate him once more.
And all she felt at that moment from his expression and the psions emanating out of him was dread as he stared down a man. An employee from the Competition she realized rather quickly, and she got an inkling at what exactly was going on here.
The man fell down as Inei-kun's magic roused, and then she felt it suddenly. She felt them. Two cars.
One of them stopped outside the very building Inei-kun was in, and she saw two robotic-looking men walk in and enter the building. Just looking at them unsettled her of the sheer feeling their magic gave. It was unnatural, and yet those two were not what troubled her the most.
The other bus, filled with even more people than the first one, was heading straight towards their hotel, and she could tell that the men inside were armed. Heavily armed.
"Shit," she cursed as she pushed her chair and rose forth, and ran towards the window. She watched the car halt, and just as she was about to jump off, he fell from the sky.
BOOOM!
She felt it. The ground cracked under his feet as Inei-kun appeared right infront of the nondescript van, as the assailants jumped out of it. All of them armed to the teeth with guns and grenades.
"Inei-kun," she whispered, pale and worried, as she jumped down the building, slowing her fall with magic. She rushed towards him, her CAD in hand, and prepared her magic to attack them.
'You have caused some dear to me quite a lot of distress. So, I am afraid you are getting decommissioned,' she heard him whisper as he brought together his hands, and his psions roared forth as the men emptied their guns at him and threw even a few grenades at him.
"Domain Expansion..."
SCHOOM!
"...Malevolent Shrine!" she heard him whisper.
BOOOM!
"Inei-kun," and as she landed, she saw an explosion cover the whole area.
0000
INEI YOTSUBA
Inei was surprised when he heard his name getting called out from behind, and so as his senses realised just who it was standing behind him, he gasped as he saw shrapnel from the explosions rushing towards her. Towards Mayumi.
"Shit," he cursed, turning all his attention towards the President as he roused his magic and pushed forth.
"Dismantle," and all the bullets and shrapnel rushing towards her was disintegrated into nothingness, as he felt a bullet pierce his shoulder.
He grunted as he held his shoulder and looked around at all the men lying on the ground. All of them reduced to arm-less, leg less humps of flesh as they looked at him with fear.
The bulet though. That had come from one of the 'generators' who was still rather functional despite the loss of its arms.
"An upgrade," he snarled as he roused his magic once more and activated his magic.
"Cleave," and in that moment, the generator was shredded to pieces as Mayumi rushed towards him.
"Inei-kun," she gasped, and only then he realized that the presence he had been feeling was her rather than Tatsuya as he had thought.
"What the hell were you thinking, Mayumi, jumping in the middle of a fight like that," he asked her tiredly as her eyes remained focused on his form.
"But they had you surrounded, and four of them had this weird magical sig..." as she looked around and saw the bodies lying around, she gulped down.
"Does it look like I needed any help?" he asked, and then her eyes landed on the wound on his shoulder, which had begun to bleed, and she rushed forth.
"You are injured," she asked, and he shrugged.
"It's nothing," and then they ere interrupted by the sound of sirens, and he looked around and saw police cars and ambulances rushing to the scene.
"What happened here, Mayumi?" Katsuto Jumonji appeared, clad in a full-blow bulletproof vest, as Inei raised a brow.
"I found out a little pest problem."
.
.
.
.
Miyuki would appear as well sometime later, as Inei told the authorities all that had happened. Though there really wasn't much to tell, and they would get much better intel from one of the goons he had incapacitated.
"You need to let me check your wound," the nurse began and Inei shook his head, his frustration made the nurse back off.
"I will be fine..." he said snarling. He did not want anyone else to see that. He would disintegrate the bullet and let his body heal the wound the next second.
"But si.."
"I said I am fine," he repeated with finality and before the nurse could say anything.
"I will handle him, Mayumi added, coming back to the ambulance, and the nurse looked towards the girl, her eyes shining.
"You are the Elfen Princess," she gasped, and Mayumi blushed at her nickname.
"Yes, I am in the flesh," she said, smiling as the nurse gushed out.
"My daughter is such a huge fan of yours," he watched as she fangirled on her, and Mayumi persuaded her to go away.
"He is rather stubborn, and I have a first aid box in my room. I will patch him up myself," she said. The nurse nodded, still skeptical, but well, how could one deny Mayumi?
"As you say, Princess."
.
.
.
And as he found himself back in his room, he was accompanied by none other than Mayumi looking at him with a raised brow.
"Where is the first aid box?" she asked, and he frowned.
"Were you serious? I can handle it on my own Mayumi-san," he said and she shook her head.
"I know why you refused the nurse," she cut in suddenly and he saw her looking at him with a soft gaze, her fists balled up.
"But I have already seen them. The scars and will not reveal them to anyone. So, let me help you. Please," she said and he sighed as he pointed towards the cupboard and she opened it out and took out the first aid box.
She placed it on the bed as he sat down on the edge and after hesitating for a bit, she began to unbutton his shirt and he removed it to reveal the bullet wound he had received, blood had soaked his shirt and vest and she began to clean it up.
"It has not hit anything major. I will disintegrate it now, and then you can stitch it up," he said and she nodded.
And then in a swift application of magic it was gone as she began to treat it up.
"Those people, who were they?" she asked and he raised a brow.
"They were the one's responsible for the attack on the school bus. I think they got rather scared by our school's performance today and decided to take a drastic step," he told her.
"You said that they were a gambling ring, right?" she asked, and he nodded.
No Head Dragon's main business was indeed gambling, though that was all but a front as they funnelled all their money to GAA, the remnant of Dahan.
"Will they attack again?" she asked, and he shook his head.
The attack on their own agent spoke of desperation and a desire to clean up the house. That means they had been warned about him coming after them, though that would not do them any good.
Their fates were sealed now, especially now that he had the location of their headquarters.
"No, they will not." He replied to her as he gave her a reassuring smile.
0000
Read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Help me write this and other such stories by becoming a Patr 0n. It would be pretty cool of you and would mean a lot to me.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a nice day!