“He’s gone.”
Tatsuya knew this wasn’t the end. Nothing had been solved yet. Minoru would surely come again. But at least Tatsuya could rest a little easier knowing they were done for today.
✦ ✦ ✦
When Tatsuya returned to Minami’s hospital room, he simply told her that Minoru had gone home. Area Interference disrupted magic casting, but it did not block magic waves. Miyuki’s Area Interference was no different.
Even from a distance, Minami would have sensed Tatsuya and Minoru’s intense battle. Yet she didn’t ask for details. Tatsuya reported Minoru’s attack to Maya from a hospital phone and requested increased security before returning home.
Since they had left Pixie at First High that Tuesday, she wasn’t in the apartment. As soon as Tatsuya sat down on the living room sofa, Miyuki took it upon herself to bring him a cup of coffee. Tatsuya took a single sip before placing his cup back on the table. He felt exhausted, especially after Minoru’s attack, which had briefly drained his energy.
Miyuki stood on the opposite side of the coffee table hugging an empty tray to her chest.
“Are you all right, Tatsuya?” she asked timidly.
“It was a tough fight,” Tatsuya replied honestly, “but I’ll be okay.”
“Is Minoru stronger now that he is a parasite?”
“I think so. He was always quick at spell casting, but becoming a parasite has made him even faster. Plus, his new healing and regeneration abilities are a pain in the neck.”
“He can regenerate on command?” Miyuki gasped.
“Yeah. Remember that parasite we fought at First High’s school gates when Lina was here?”
“Yes. I believe Lina called her Mia. Come to think of it, she did have powerful self-healing abilities.”
“Well, Minoru is as good if not better than that.”
“Goodness. That sounds difficult,” Miyuki whispered solemnly.
“But the parasite’s abilities are the least of our worries,” Tatsuya said. “We need to be especially cautious of his original power and the power of someone else.”
“The power of someone else?” Miyuki echoed in confusion.
“That’s right.” Tatsuya nodded with an uncharacteristically grim expression. “Like me, Minoru has Elemental Sight. I had a feeling about it before, but he confirmed it for me today.”
When Tatsuya had attempted to cast a spell using Flash Cast, Minoru nullified it with a counter-spell, which reversed the act of casting. This was no coincidence or lucky hit. Minoru had read the output of Tatsuya’s magic program.
“Oh!” Miyuki gasped.
She didn’t seem either surprised by or suspicious of her brother’s claim. If Tatsuya was sure, it had to be true. She only had one question: “Then…is the other person you mentioned…who I think it is?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how he did it, but Minoru has absorbed all of Gongjin Zhou’s knowledge and abilities.”
No matter how surreal this sounded, Tatsuya knew it to be true.
“By Gongjin Zhou, do you mean the man we fought in Kyoto?” Miyuki asked to confirm.
“One and the same.”
“Did Minoru find some kind of document Gongjin had left behind and gain the abilities from there?”
That seemed like the most rational reasoning, but Tatsuya knew it wasn’t true. He shook his head.
“No. In simple terms, I’m almost certain Minoru absorbed Gongjin’s ghost.”
With one arm hugging the coffee tray to her chest, Miyuki had only one hand free to fly to her mouth in surprise.
“I had no idea the Kudou family was capable of that kind of magic,” she said.
But Tatsuya shook his head. “They aren’t. Spells used to merge the human body with spirits are unusual, to say the least. They have completely different objectives from modern magic. That said, there might be a spell aimed to control spiritual entities.”
Tatsuya paused to think of a concrete example for Miyuki to understand.
“Take Parasidolls, for instance,” he began. “To complete them, magic must be used to control their parasite core. Minoru might have adapted this type of magic and incorporated Gongjin’s ghost into himself in this way. Either way, his use of Gongjin’s Qimen Dunjia was a dead giveaway.”
“I see…,” Miyuki whispered.
To be honest, she found it hard to believe Minoru could have incorporated the spirit of a deceased magician into his body. She accepted it as fact only because Tatsuya had said it.
“We have to come up with a plan to fight back. Dealing with a combination of old Lab Nine’s magic, ancient magic from China, and parasite abilities won’t be easy using conventional methods.” Tatsuya furrowed his brow. “On top of all that, we have to inform Lord Kudou about his son. If Aunt Maya doesn’t mention it, I’ll have to bring it up myself. We’ll need the Kudou family’s support if we want to stop Minoru.”
With the need to allocate resources to counter the Dione Project already weighing heavily on his shoulders, the Minoru situation only made things worse. No wonder Tatsuya felt gloomy. Miyuki looked at him with concern.