The commander of Stars Team 3, Alexander Arcturus, was aboard the transport plane that had landed at Zama Base.
Is someone watching us? he thought as the plane taxied down the runway.
He had felt as if he was being observed from the moment they landed. Yet the gaze of whoever was watching lacked any sense of direction.
If they were using remote observation, the flow of power from their gaze would allow Arcturus to pinpoint its source. If they were using a familiar, the familiar itself would serve as the source of the gaze.
There was a special ability known as Multiscope, which allowed for complete surveillance from every angle, mimicking a setup of cameras in midair. There was also a chance that the culprit could be using multiple familiars from various angles, but this would still have a sense of direction.
The gaze Arcturus felt had no single source he could identify. It wasn’t coming from all directions, either. It was simply watching.
It was as if he were under the scrutiny of something divine, or even demonic. He was so absorbed in this imperceptible gaze that he was completely unaware of what was happening around him.
“What the heck is that?!”
“It’s a motorcycle!”
It wasn’t until one of his companions cried out that Arcturus noticed a strange flying object rapidly approaching. A small silhouette appeared on the plane’s exterior monitor. The monitor’s detection system automatically switched to night vision and zoomed in. But by the time the target became clear, it was already closing in on the plane.
Someone on what seemed to be a flying motorcycle stood firmly on the vehicle’s foot pegs with straightened knees and aimed what looked to be a handgun directly at the transport plane. Suddenly, a hole was blasted into the side of the plane.
The rider leaped from the motorcycle, which soared through the air. He then skillfully dove through the hole he had just created and tumbled into the aircraft. It wasn’t until this moment that alarms finally blared through the plane cabin.
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Tatsuya flew toward the transport plane on his motorcycle, drawing a handgun-shaped specialized CAD from his suit’s holster. He then cast Dismantle with his favorite CAD, the Silver Horn Custom Trident. The spell blew open a hole in the transport plane’s wall large enough for him to jump through.
He switched Wingless to autopilot and leaped through the opening he had created, rolling onto the cabin floor of the transport plane. Right after sticking his landing, he cast Regenerate, and the hole in the plane vanished.
Tatsuya had sealed himself in a confined space to prevent the parasites from escaping. The USNA military personnel sat frozen in their seats, unable to comprehend what was happening. The parasites were in a similar state of shock.
Tatsuya charged at the nearest parasite. He had returned both of his CADs to their holsters. Now, in his right hand, he gripped only a short, needlelike knife. Its slender blade was intricately etched with some kind of fine pattern.
Tatsuya’s target shook itself free from its shock and rose to its feet. Instead of using the knife, Tatsuya thrust his left fist forward. Just before coming into contact with the parasite, he opened his fist. At hyper-close range, he unleashed Piercing Psion Bullet.
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The parasite screamed and began convulsing violently. Tatsuya then drove his knife into the spot just below the parasite’s left collarbone.
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“That’s the signal!” Mikihiko whispered in the park two blocks down from the base.
He sensed the sealing talisman he had prepared embed itself in a parasite’s body.
The needlelike dagger in Tatsuya’s possession was a magic tool with a talisman for a blade. Mikihiko held a talisman that matched the dagger imprinted on a fan in his left hand. In one fell swoop, he whipped open the fan and activated a sealing spell.
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The convulsing parasite suddenly went limp, like a broken rag doll. It collapsed to the floor with the needlelike knife still embedded below its collarbone.
Tatsuya’s Piercing Psion Bullet had thrown its internal psions into a state of chaos. Just as the link between its mind and its body became disrupted, a sealing spell was poured in. The newly born parasite had no means to resist. Even if it managed to dispel the knife from its body, the sealing technique was already inscribed in its flesh. As long as no other magician could surpass Mikihiko’s expertise, the parasite would remain in a sleeplike state.
As if their colleague’s scream had broken their stupor, the other American soldiers suddenly sprang to their feet. They showed no sign of hesitation as they pulled out their weapons.
But Tatsuya dismantled over twenty assault carbines and submachine guns all at once. The disarmed soldiers were again thrown into a state of shock. Seizing his chance, Tatsuya swiftly took care of the next parasite.
His target spasmed, fell limp, and was sealed into a sleeplike state. Just then, the parasite Tatsuya had been wary of—the one that was significantly more powerful than the rest—made its move.
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Arcturus had no idea what was happening. The hole that had suddenly appeared in the plane wall vanished like some dream or illusion.
The intruder who had leaped through the hole, however, did not disappear. In fact, in a matter of seconds, he had sealed away a former Stardust member who had recently become a parasite.
Stardust were basically lab rats waiting for death. By turning into parasites, they should have been able to escape the inevitable fate of death. Yet now they found themselves in a state almost as good as dead.
The allied soldiers on board the plane aimed their weapons at the intruder. Although they were not parasites, they saw the intruder as a terrorist who had killed one of their own. They could not have known he had only sealed the parasite away.
The intruder was looking down the barrels of more than twenty guns. In the cramped transport aircraft cabin, there was no chance of escape. Even if his suit was bulletproof, being shot at from such close range by dozens of bullets would at least injure him in some way.
However, a powerful magic suddenly surged through the cabin. It wasn’t just strong. It was precise, efficient, and almost artistic in its execution. Over twenty assault rifles and submachine guns shattered to pieces, their components flung in all directions. Cylinders and rounds rolled across the floor, but not a single shot was fired.
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, or perhaps mesmerized by the power of the intruder’s magic, Arcturus found himself letting another comrade fall. The intruder sealed him away.
Arcturus drew his tomahawk and charged. His specialty was the midrange combat spell Dancing Blades. Though he excelled in elemental magic and remote weapon control, his expertise lay more in interference-type magic than direct attacks.
Fighting in such a confined space was not his cup of tea. But he was by no means your run-of-the-mill magician who could only use magic. Before joining the Stars, Arcturus was undefeated with his tomahawk in hand.
He advanced toward the intruder and swung his weapon. While not expecting to win with one hit, he doubted the intruder could evade his strike. Yet the intruder not only dodged but vanished from Arcturus’s sight.
Arcturus spun around. A third parasite who had come to his aid with a large knife in hand was convulsing uncontrollably. Once again, the intruder stabbed him with a needlelike dagger right beneath the collarbone.
It was only a matter of time before his last fellow parasite would be sealed away. And then, Arcturus realized—the intruder wasn’t the one casting the sealing spell. Even if he defeated this man, the seal would not disappear.
He hurled the tomahawk in his hand. It pierced through the aircraft wall and soared into the sky.