Right after the experiment was completed, Arcturus distinctly sensed something invading his mind.
Is this some kind of spirit? he wondered.
Unlike Regulus, he didn’t experience any pain or pressure, thanks to his proficiency in spirit magic. Though he excelled in movement-type magic, he had also studied ancient magic, which involved summoning spirits into himself to harness their power. In modern terms, this was much like magicians conjuring beasts to channel their power.
Arcturus was accustomed to the sensation of something other than himself dwelling within him. Even when the being invaded his mind without consent, he remained unfazed. He knew how to deal with intrusions into his psyche.
The problem was that the intruder—the parasite—lacked a sense of self. Parasites had a mental presence beyond their host but were devoid of any will, making them indistinguishable from the host’s own consciousness. The parasite entered Arcturus’s mind without any particular intention, seeping like water into a dry cloth and penetrating Arcturus’s core.
Once he realized the techniques he had mastered were ineffective against the intruder, fear began to sink in. He tried summoning a spirit to expel the intruder, but there was no response. At this point, the intruder had already crowded Arcturus’s inner mind and fused with his sense of self.
The invasion had silently turned into assimilation. Arcturus suddenly felt fulfilled.
This is the true unity I sought but could never attain through summoning spirits, he thought before his consciousness faded into oblivion.
My name is Alexander Arcturus.
The people of this world call me/us parasites.
And so, Arcturus became a parasite.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ow, ow, ow.”
Raymond was writhing on the administration tower rooftop.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow.”
Only expressions of excruciating pain escaped his lips from the sensation that something was infiltrating his psyche. He had never been trained to resist mental interference–type magic, so the pain was more than he could bear. In fact, the pain was so overwhelming that he wasn’t even aware of the oppressive sensation of something intruding his mind.
Yet Raymond’s strong sense of self vehemently rejected the intrusion. This powerful resistance intensified the pain. At the same time, since he was unaware of his body’s internal struggle, he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”
The relentless agony shattered Raymond’s mind. Perhaps it was a blessing that his resistance was relenting. As his sense of self waned, the pace of the invasion accelerated. Raymond lost the strength to thrash around; he couldn’t even yell out in pain anymore. Then, all of a sudden, he lay motionless on the rooftop.
His fading consciousness was like that of a dying body. The intrusion advanced rapidly, and assimilation progressed. Now unopposed, the entity invading his mind reshaped Raymond’s will in its own image, and Raymond’s will, in turn, imbued the entity with his essence.
✦ ✦ ✦
Raymond knew he lacked the power it took to be a protagonist. Yet deep down, he longed for the role. He yearned to be a hero in his own epic saga, conquering the universe with magic. That, he thought, would make all his dreams come true.
Tatsuya Shiba stood in the way of Raymond’s saga, denying its legitimacy. Yet the American boy knew that overpowering Tatsuya was impossible with his power alone. Even Sirius, the strongest Stars magician, wasn’t strong enough to compete. So Raymond sought the power of parasites.
He believed if he could get a parasite to possess a Stars magician, he could bring Tatsuya Shiba to his knees. He had set the stage of Tatsuya’s defeat at the hands of a parasite.
That is Raymond’s/our desire.
Raymond/we wish to defeat Tatsuya Shiba.
My name is Raymond Clark.
The people of this world call me/us parasites.
Together, we will make Tatsuya Shiba succumb to our power.
The voices within Raymond’s mind swore to make his twisted desires come true.
✦ ✦ ✦
Parasites had been called into the world once more. Regulus, Arcturus, and Raymond were not the only ones whose minds they took over. The three members of the Stars’ Team 6—the Orion Team, who had been waiting outside the building—had also become parasites.
After the experiment ended, the Stars-members-turned-parasites went back to their headquarters in New Mexico without anyone recognizing their internal transformation. Meanwhile, Raymond went back to his home in California as if nothing had changed.
✦ ✦ ✦
On Sunday, June 16, Minoru Kudou returned to the warehouse where the Parasidoll was stored. It was still before dawn, and the outside world was draped in darkness and silence. No one in Minoru’s family would know where he was. His father, his brother, and the servants all assumed he was asleep in his room.
The previous day, no one had scolded him for skipping school to visit Minami in Tokyo and returning home the same day. Only Minoru’s grandfather, Retsu, questioned him with a look of concern. But when Minoru explained the situation, his grandfather simply accepted it.
Minoru’s father and brother were much more neglectful, making him think they had given up on him at this point. Maybe they misunderstood Minoru’s actions as him finally giving up on life or decided to let him do as he pleased since he could die at any moment.
All things considered, Minoru was grateful for the misunderstanding. Every moment spent with his family and servants took him away from his goal. He wanted nothing more than to cure Minami, although he didn’t fully understand why he was so passionate about it. Or maybe he did but chose not to acknowledge it. Maybe he wanted to believe his motivation wasn’t merely driven by a shallow feeling of love at first sight that had awakened within him in the span of three days.
Unlike the last time he visited the warehouse, Minoru used an unlocking spell to open the doors. This spell used the Electron Goldworm spell he had learned from Gongjin Zhou. It was the same spell Xiangshan Chen used to infiltrate the Magic Association’s Kanto branch. Minoru’s version, however, was more refined than Chen’s and didn’t trigger any alarms.
The warehouse’s cool, dry air enveloped Minoru’s body as he entered. Again, there was no sign of spiritual energy.
“I guess this is the only way,” Minoru murmured.
The voice within him didn’t answer. He was speaking to himself, not Gongjin.
Minoru approached the coffin-like box at the back of the warehouse. Inside lay the frozen body of an East Asian man. It was one of the parasites Tatsuya and Mikihiko had sealed away the previous winter during an exercise in First High’s forest. There had been both a real and a fake corpse, and this was the real one. The body’s skin bore inscriptions and symbols designed to contain the parasite within.
This corpse served as the source of parasites used for Parasidolls. When the seal was partially relaxed, the parasite would escape and attempt to send out copies of itself to other bodies. These copies were then trapped within gynoids, and the corpse was sealed once again.
This was how the researchers of former Lab Nine, now known as Magic Technician Development Institute Nine, manufactured Parasidolls. Even though production had been suspended, a team of technicians updated the sealing program every twelve hours under the Kudou family’s jurisdiction.
Since the last update time was 4 AM, the magic effects were starting to weaken. Minoru pressed a switch on the side of the coffin, causing the lid to open. Thankfully, the corpse was dressed in white robes. Minoru had no desire to see the body of a naked man, even if it was a corpse.
He placed his right hand on the corpse’s chest, only to be met with a rigid sensation beneath his palm. Of course, there was no heartbeat. He then sent psions into the frozen body. After a few seconds, a surge of pushion waves responded as the dormant parasite within the corpse awakened.
Minoru swallowed hard. He clenched his teeth, pursed his lips tightly, and held his breath. After a moment of hesitation, he lifted the seal.