"Ah, good work, Aiba-senpai."
"Hm? Oh, hey... good work to you, too."
Yukina approached Asagi, who was working at a PC in Section Six, trying to seize control of the Keystone Gate.
Asagi was relaxed. Yukina, who had expected her to be frantically typing away, was surprised by her calm demeanor.
"Taking a break?"
"No, the program's running now. It takes a while, you know."
Saying that, Asagi glanced at the screen.
In the center were numbers and graphs showing the progress of the data.
Asagi's program was perfect. Once it was running, all she had to do was sit back.
She was the one who had managed the defenses here in the first place. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park, but it certainly wasn't difficult, though it was a feat only Asagi could pull off.
"So, it's just a matter of waiting for it to be reclaimed?"
"Yeah. But, it'd take too long to get everything back exactly as it was, so..."
Asagi explained.
"I'm restoring the security system from the deepest part first."
Kagetane and his group's destination was the deepest part. By restoring the security system from the depths upwards, they would eventually run into Kagetane's group. This was her way of buying time.
"That way, he might make it in time, right?"
Asagi said it in a light tone, but it was no easy feat. Restoring the system without authority was hacking.
"Y-Yeah,"
Yukina nodded, her face twitching. But she wasn't surprised by Asagi's skills. It was because she had referred to Shō as "he"—there was no one else she could be talking about in this situation.
"You said he helped you, senpai, right? When someone broke into your house?"
"Yeah. Although my house got blown up in return."
"Even so, he must trust you a lot, senpai...?"
"Huh? Ah... sorry about that. Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like that at all."
"Eh?! Oh, I-I see!! ...No! It's not like I was thinking anything...!"
Asagi gave a wry smile at Yukina's obvious reaction.
Asagi had no special feelings for Shō whatsoever.
(Besides, falling for someone just because they saved you once is something you only see in manga or novels. It's just not realistic.)
She only mentioned Shō because she was conscious of a person she knew being in the fight.
Then, a new person entered the room.
"Asagi-san, how much longer?"
It was Hayate. She was accompanied by Signum and Jakura.
"About 20 more minutes, I think. It won't get any faster than this. It might get slower, though."
"I see..."
Hayate was deep in thought.
"Yukina, we'll be heading to the site soon. Get ready; we'll meet in 5 minutes."
"Yes!"
Yukina gave a sharp reply to Signum and left the room. She wanted to get to where Shō was fighting as soon as possible.
"Asagi-san, please continue your work. Jakura will stay here, so if anything happens, let her know."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Jakura, I'm counting on you, too. Oh, and that call as well."
"Understood."
Hayate and Signum left the room, leaving Jakura behind.
(That call...?)
Asagi was curious, but Hayate didn't seem to have any intention of explaining it in detail. If she really wanted to know, Asagi had her "ways," but she had no intention of using them.
Jakura noticed her thoughts. She, too, said nothing, simply sitting in her chair and starting up her terminal.
(Well, the incident is reaching its climax, but... I didn't expect them to go this far, even if it's a bit of a suicide charge.)
Jakura smirked where Asagi couldn't see her.
But that was about to end.
Jakura made the final move ordered by Hayate.
Using Hayate's name, she contacted a certain school.
"Yes, a request from Section Six's Yagami Hayate... Yes. Could you connect me to Orimura Chifuyu?"
The final move was to contact IS Academy.
---------
"Hmph."
"Hmm... What should we do with her?"
"For now, we should just keep her contained, shouldn't we? She's just a little girl; forcibly interrogating her would violate regulations."
The scene changed to the infirmary. Lying on the bed, wrapped in bindings, was Kohina.
Kohina was facing the wall with a pout. It was a clear sign that she had no intention of speaking.
Shamaru and Fate looked troubled by her behavior.
Kohina, who had been captured by Shō, couldn't be transferred anywhere due to the state of emergency. She was being held by Section Six until the situation was resolved.
To Kagetane, she was his beloved daughter. While a villainous organization might use Kohina for negotiations, the Bureau would not resort to such means. Besides, they couldn't even contact Kagetane, so negotiation wasn't an option.
Furthermore, Section Six would soon have to go to the site, in preparation for Asagi reclaiming control.
Shamaru was assigned to stay behind as a watchman.
Then, someone else entered the room.
"Excuse me."
"Stiyl!!"
The red-haired priest pushed past his colleagues and burst into the infirmary.
"W-Wait, what are you...!"
Stiyl, who was nearly 2 meters tall, looked down at Kohina lying on the bed.
Kohina tilted her head.
"Is this the girl..."
Stiyl narrowed his eyes. He turned back to Fate.
"Who is scheduled to perform the interrogation?"
"Interrogation? There's no plan for that right now. Given her age, and with our lack of personnel, it's not a priority."
"Then I will do it. I have experience."
"What?!"
Fate and Shamaru's voices overlapped in response to Stiyl's suggestion.
Stiyl's words were true. As a priest of Necessarius, he had crushed many magical societies. He had also carried out witch hunts, which was a more accurate term for his methods of interrogation and torture.
"...Any interrogation of a suspect in the Bureau's custody must be conducted according to Bureau regulations. I cannot permit a non-Bureau member to perform an interrogation."
"Is this a time for such talk in an emergency? We need information, even a little. Am I wrong?"
Fate's voice hardened. She sensed the serious atmosphere surrounding Stiyl.
Fate and Stiyl glared at each other.
"Even so, excessive interrogation of this girl is not permitted."
"Stiyl. I understand your impatience, but you must restrain yourself."
Kanzaki, who was standing behind Stiyl, spoke up.
"She's right. I know you're worried about Index-chan, but wouldn't being rough with this girl make Index-chan sad?"
Shamaru's words made Stiyl's momentum falter.
"...Don't worry. You'll forget about us."
Stiyl murmured in a voice so low no one could hear.
A few moments of silence filled the room, but then,
"Index? Is that the girl?"
"!!"
It was Kohina who spoke.
Fate held back the magician who had gasped and gently questioned Kohina.
"Do you know her? She's a girl with silver hair and blue eyes."
"Yeah. That girl is with Papa. I'm the one who brought her. She looked pretty sick, though—"
After saying that much, Kohina's expression changed.
"Hmph..."
She turned away.
Fate and the others, who had attended the pre-raid meeting, already knew that Index was with Kagetane's group. But for Stiyl and his companions, what had only been Jakura's conjecture was now confirmed.
And with the additional information that she was "sick."
"I apologize for my previous rudeness. I truly am sorry."
"O-Oh. No, it wasn't rude at all..."
Fate was bewildered by Stiyl's sudden bow, but she quickly regained her composure.
"I have another request. Would you consider allowing Kanzaki, here, to participate in the raid?"
"...I'm sorry, but that's not possible..."
Fate shook her head. Even with his polite attitude, she couldn't add someone who might disrupt the chain of command to the operation.
"...In that case, we will have to move on our own. This is a situation where every second counts for us."
"That is..."
"We will take responsibility for protecting Index-chan. Isn't that enough?"
Shamaru's words were not accepted by Stiyl. His unyielding attitude reminded her of themselves in the past—desperate to save their master.
"Isn't there a reason for you to go so far?"
"..."
Stiyl hesitated. Since he had requested their cooperation, it was only right for him to explain the circumstances. In fact, doing so might make them more inclined to agree.
It was the same for Kanzaki.
"Understood. In that case..."
The two magicians decided to explain their—and Index's—situation.
---------
Meanwhile, Kagetane's group continued descending the Keystone Gate. They were already far below sea level.
But a problem arose.
"It's closed."
"...We've been had."
When Kagetane's group reached this level, a loud noise occurred simultaneously. Just as the ominous feeling had predicted, the bulkhead to the next area was closed.
"It's no good. It won't accept our commands."
"I didn't think it would be so fast..."
Kagetane operated the PC, but the bulkhead showed no sign of opening. Eustace immediately understood what this meant. Asagi had seized control back.
From here on, they would have to destroy the bulkhead to proceed. But this bulkhead was difficult to destroy, even with Kagetane's abilities.
So, Eustace ordered the homunculus beside him.
"Astarte. Destroy it."
"Command accepted. Execute."
Astarte, who had been muttering, lowered Index from her back.
"Execute, Rosy-Fingered Dawn."
Transparent wings spread from her back. They were gigantic arms. An artificial familiar with a divine wave drive system implanted through a process of refinement, Rosy-Fingered Dawn.
The clenched fists pounded against the bulkhead.
The blow created a massive hole in the bulkhead.
"As expected of a familiar,"
Kagetane muttered at the unbelievable destructive power. A beast from another world that could crush walls built by humans with a single blow. If this power were to be converted into a weapon, it would cause more chaos in the world than it already had.
"Let's go. We're out of time."
Eustace, oblivious to Kagetane's gaze, began to walk through the hole.
But Astarte, who had dispelled the familiar, turned back—and picked Index up again. Meanwhile, Eustace continued to advance.
They would have to rely on Astarte for every bulkhead from now on.
They continued forward without further conversation, but then,
"Stop."
Kagetane's voice halted them.
Three figures stood before them.
"We finally caught up with you."
"We've been caught, have we?"
It was Tatehina, with Shō and Yō behind her.
Section Six had finally caught up.
---------
After meeting up with Tatehina-san, who had finished her discussion with the manager, we entered the Mirror World again. With the power system shut down, we had to force our way down using the elevator. We destroyed the bulkheads and moved at full speed.
Without any obstacles, we found Kagetane and his group in the Mirror World surprisingly quickly. For some reason, they were destroying the bulkheads that they should have been able to control.
"Does this mean that girl has taken back control?"
"Then are reinforcements from Section Six on their way now?"
"Hmm... But the AMF is still deployed. Maybe she prioritized taking back control of just the bulkheads to buy some time."
Just as I'd expect from Asagi. She was using a clever little trick like that.
Anyway,
"So, what's the plan?"
"Should we surprise them?"
Yō and I asked Tatehina-san for instructions. Kagetane's group didn't know we were watching them from inside the Mirror World. We had the perfect advantage. We might be able to subdue them easily this way.
"No, there's no need for such a gamble. Our mission is to stall Kagetane's group. We'll drag out the fight as long as possible to buy time for the main force from Section Six to arrive."
"Shō-kun isn't at his best, either," Tatehina-san added.
I certainly felt like the fatigue from the combos was gone. But there was a good chance my movements were still sluggish, and if even one of us went down, we'd be at a numerical disadvantage.
Tatehina-san must have made a calculated decision. We obediently followed her instructions. Yō wouldn't do anything reckless in a situation like this either.
We left the Mirror World. With our backs to the bulkhead, we confronted Kagetane and his group.
"We finally caught up with you."
"We've been caught, have we?"
Kagetane's bitter murmur was definitely sincere.
"I didn't think we would be caught so quickly. I suppose the Keystone Gate's defenses were weaker than we anticipated."
Kagetane didn't know we had come through the Mirror World. Of course, we had no intention of telling him.
"Let us not waste time, my brethren. Our destination is right before us. There is no reason to stop...!!"
Eustace cast off his robe. Beneath it, a rugged black armor appeared.
"The Holy Relic of Lotharingia, the Fortess's Robe Alcazaba... A nice piece of equipment. I thought the combination of a Lotharingia Exterminator and a Japanese deserter was strange, but what's the connection?"
Tatehina-san started making small talk. Just as she said, she was trying to buy time. But the two people in front of us weren't kind enough to go along with it.
"We will finally reclaim the stolen immortal body of our cathedral and return it to our faithful! Astarte, do it!"
"Command accepted. Execute."
Astarte, who had been muttering, lowered Index from her back. We had to do something about Index, too.
"Execute, Rosy-Fingered Dawn."
Rosy-Fingered Dawn, which had only been arms in past footage, became a complete giant. Astarte was absorbed into its core, and it became impenetrable to attacks from any direction.
"We have to get past you, or there is no way forward for us. We'll go all out here."
The battle began.
--------------------------------------------
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