Chapter 35
MAYUMI SAEGUSA
There was a limit to what magic could do. Magic was simply the application of psions that allowed those blessed with it to change natural phenomenon, that was the whole basis of magic.
But what she was witnessing at this moment was not magic. No. This was something else.
As soon as Mayumi Saegusa had been kidnapped by the GAA criminals, she had known that something much larger was at play, something far more sinister. In her mind, she had known that somehow, this involved him again.
For there was only one person, the GAA hated more than anything, and in so she had refused to be a part of any exchange, and days had passed in captivity, and with her hope dwindling every passing second until she had seen him walk in, his face covered by a mask, and yet she did not need to look at his face to know that it was him.
That he had given up himself for her.
And then she had glimpsed the seals surrounding him and had felt her heart break, for she still remembered the words of Miyuki about his birth and how that accursed magic sequence was inscribed into his very soul.
And then they had removed the cloak from his face, and he had smiled at her, reassuring her even as they lay surrounded by enemies, powerful enemies, before suddenly she felt her body vanish and cut through the very space as she was transported to this tower, where her injuries were treated by a Yotsuba physician.
And she had tried to warn Maya-sama to get her to rescue her son and was only brought here to the roof. As a result, and only now did she realize just why the whole world was so against Inei kun. Why the world feared him as much as they did?
Saegusa Mayumi was born with an innate magic, Multi-Scope. It allowed her to look at things from different angles, and now, as she stood on the rooftop, she could see the whole city in minute detail and the enemies, dying by the second.
All over the city, one by one, she watched as their very beings disintegrated into nothingness, at nothing but a simple gesture from the boy levitating over the city. They all died no matter what, each and everyone of them. Leaving behind nothing, not even a single trace, and there infront of her eyes within minutes thousands of people died with naught a scream, their whole bodies reduced to nothing.
And she could see him, his gaze. Those red eyes, they had not even shifted even a little bit at the slaughter he had just perpetrated before she saw him bring together his hands, and she heard a whisper.
"....Black Hole!"
And then she watched in an instant as the very space began to distort, as the two massive ships of GAA suddenly vanished from the shores as the people of the city rejoiced. And she could only stand there and gasp at the spectacle that she had witnessed, only now realizing the sheer gap between him and a normal magician.
Then he vanished from her vision, and she did not even need to use her magic. She closed her eyes and turned around and saw him standing there; even now, psions rushed off his body, trying to cleave it into two. The black line that ran down his right eye, cutting his body into two, leaked visible psion particles.
"You did not need to go so far," she whispered helplessly, knowing the sheer amount of trouble he had just landed himself in. Before today, Inei Totsuba was considered a threat for his potential.
But not now. From today onwards, the world would come after him, and his enemies would only be emboldened by what they had witnessed today. Life would only become harder for him now.
"I did," he answered, and she felt the pressure coming off of him lessen as he walked forward and held her face in his hands, caressing the bruise left on her face.
"The world needs to learn its lessons that they can come after me as much as they want, but I draw the line at you," he said as he smiled warmly at her, as she saw the psions coming off of him vanish, as he smiled.
"No one will dare come after you after today," and she felt her eyes tear up at those words; the sense of betrayal that she had long pushed down, a betrayal from none other than her own family, came over her as she put her head on his chest and wailed.
"Thank you," she whispered, through the sibs as his arms slowly wrapped themselves around her protectively.
"You never have to say that to me. Never...."
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KUDO RETSU
Kudo Retsu watched the smoke rising out of the city, and a sense of guilt seemed to take over him. He knew he was the cause of this destruction, that he had perpetrated it.
Yet it was all necessary, both for him and Japan. Japan could not make an enemy out of both GAA and USNA at the same time, and a singular wizard was a small price to pay for that. To avoid war, to save thousands of lives.
And then suddenly he felt it, as a massive magical sequence appeared over the city and he watched as a sole figure ascended to the skies of the city, one with those damnable white hair and red eyes, and as he stood there he could feel it, that gaze even in his office as he felt his presence loom all over the city.
And then it began, a slaughter unlike anything he had ever seen. As he watched GAA's forces get destroyed in seconds all over the city, he stood there in the sky like an actual god. Mesmerized by that display of power, he shook his head, lamenting his defeat as the door behind him slid open.
"It truly is impressive, isn't it?" a voice cut in, and he turned back and found himself staring at the familiar face of her past student, Japan's most feared magician, Maya Yotsuba.
"That power," she remarked as she walked into his room, and he knew in that instant that the game was over. That he had failed. Both Japan and his family.
"It is dangerous, that is what it is," he replied as he continued to gaze out at the city and watched the fighting come to an end all over the city as GAA's soldiers were reduced to nothing, with a single gesture of his hands.
"This is the kind of power that no single clan, let alone no single magician, should be allowed to have," he admonished, and he truly believed that.
"I tend to disagree," Maya Yotsuba added as she walked beside him, and smiled.
"This is exactly what we desired, what we needed all those years ago," and her scathing words cut him deep, for he knew of the time she spoke of, of the tragedy that had molded the woman beside her into this heartless and cruel being that she was.
"What happened then," he began, trying to mind his words.
"...was a great tragedy, but the world must come together. We must move forward and not let ourselves be bogged down by the mistakes of the past," he tried and saw her eyes dull at those words.
"It is easy to say those words, but do you have any idea what you did, sensei," she asked as she looked at him. Gone was his once student, replaced by Japan's Empress of Night as the doom around him descended into darkness as she activated her signature magic, Meteor Stream.
"You handed those scum another Japanese magician. A girl, do you have any idea of the danger you put her in," she asked, and that was one thing that weighed heavily on his conscience. And yet the plan for it had not come from him, it had come from Kouichi.
"We had an agreement," he made an excuse, and even to him, it was weak, and he saw her finger twitch as a beam of light rushed past his face and bruised his cheek.
"Do you really think that makes a difference," she asked, and he shook his head, knowing that it did not.
"You knew he cared for her, my son," she remarked, and he was surprised by the hint of emotion in that tone, the hint of seething rage.
"And you decided to use her for your sinister plan," she asked, and indeed. Truth was, Kudo Retsu knew that it would not be easy to defeat Inei Yotsuba, especially without the aid of Shiba Tatsuya, for that was just how powerful the boy was.
And Shiba Tatsuya would never move against the boy, and so their options were limited. And so they had no choice but to go with Kouichi's plan and make a rather desperate move.
"It was a mistake, my mistake," and now that the fate of their side was sealed he decided to take all the blame, for he knew what was to come. And though he may have lost he knew that he could not hand over the control of the TMC council to the Yotsuba.
And the only ones who could put up some resistance to them were the Saegusa, and if it ever came out that this was his plan, the Saegusa would lose their influence as well.
"And I am willing to pay the price for it," he said, and the world around him returned to normal once again.
"That you will, all of you will," she said as the world around him returned to normal as she deactivated her magic, and then the door to his room opened once more and he glanced back and was heartbroken at the face he saw.
"Kudo Retsu-sama, you need to come with me," and it was his own granddaughter, Fujibayashi, one who had connected him with General Kazama, the one famous throughout Japan as the Electron Sorceress.
"Then this is it," he smiled as he adjusted his suit gave Maya a nod, and began to make his way out of the room.
"The whole world has seen what has transpired today. You have put a huge target on both Japan and that boy. I just hope that you are ready for what is to come," he warned her, doing her one last kindness as a sensei.
"I know," she answered without turning back as he gave his granddaughter a nod and began to follow her, as he was escorted out of the room by three army men.
"Why?" she asked him as he was led to a military helicopter waiting for him on the rooftop, and her expression as she asked him that question tore at him.
"Why?" she asked again as she found himself unable to answer.
"Because of you all..." he finally answered her.
"...you and him, my grandson Minoru."
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