While Tatsuya ascended to high altitude to neutralize Seventh Plague, Yugen stood at 400 kilometers—already in the realm called space. Drifting without a spacesuit would mean death, so a silvery aura enveloped him, shielding his body.
His reason for venturing so far was singular: using Osiris Sight, Yugen had locked onto the USNA's most heinous strategic military satellite, Alcatraz. With a deep breath, he readied both Valkyrie and Odin.
"…Activation sequence, load."
While Seventh Plague was manageable, Alcatraz was an active military satellite. Simply decomposing it risked triggering its failsafe, launching nuclear missiles on Earth. Thus, Yugen needed to disable the missile linkage system before neutralizing Alcatraz itself.
The process required four stages: disabling encrypted communications, neutralizing communication functions, disarming its weaponry, and finally annihilating Alcatraz.
"Information-enhanced decomposition, quantum isolation, electron decomposition, composition conversion… Construction complete. Tsukuyomi… Activation ready."
Boosted by Osiris Sight, Yugen prepared the spell. The moment he sensed Tatsuya's Holy Trident activate, he pulled the triggers of Valkyrie and Odin simultaneously.
"Diamond Halberd, Getsuei Kanran—Activate!"
Diamond Halberd, a convergence-type spell, transformed all electronic components into pseudo-insulators, rendering circuits inert. Getsuei Kanran (Tsukuyomi: Five Elements Conflict—Moonshadow Gaze), the ultimate spell, bypassed physical and energy processes to decompose and neutralize matter at the subatomic level.
Alcatraz disintegrated into a cascade of particles, some raining toward Yugen. His aura shielded him, letting him pass through unscathed.
"Well, job's done. Time to head back."
With that, Yugen activated Mirror Gate and vanished, leaving only twinkling stars and the vast darkness of space behind.
Yugen reappeared at 30 kilometers, descending to South Shield Island. Sensing Tatsuya's safe return with Miyuki's support, he realized he'd overlooked his own descent speed. His grandfather's training deemed such falls trivial, and mastering Phase Shift Armor negated impact damage entirely. Combined with his skewed perspective, this led to a high-speed plummet, generating a shockwave and a cloud of dust.
"What!?" Lina gasped.
"Something crashed!?" Leo exclaimed.
The impact startled Tatsuya's group, their instinctive guard understandable. Tatsuya, quickly recognizing the figure, spoke up.
"No, it's fine," he said.
"Brother, what—" Miyuki began.
"Yare yare, forgetting to decelerate at the end? His training's lacking," Tatsuya remarked.
As the dust cleared, Yugen stood, approaching as if the fall were nothing. Miyuki, beaming, rushed to him and embraced him.
"Welcome back, Yugen-san," she said.
"Just got back, Miyuki," Yugen replied. "Thanks for the help, Lina… though you're out cold."
"Welcome back, big brother," Ceria said.
"I tried to stop her…" Mikihiko muttered.
In short, Ceria had "spoken" to Lina with physical language—a headlock that knocked her out. A faint white mist seemed to linger, so Yugen fired a psion-infused spirit particle to force her back into her body.
"Well, mission complete, I guess," Yugen said. "I'm tossing the cleanup to the adults."
"No tact, but yeah, the rest isn't our job," Tatsuya agreed.
The frozen submarine and landing craft were returned to their homeland. Ceria was disappointed, but Lina was temporarily placed under Kagurazaka custody as a "hostage." After a few days at the Kagurazaka Tokyo villa, Lina returned to Albuquerque via commercial flight. During her stay, she went on a date with Tatsuya, dragging Yugen and Miyuki along for a double date. Tatsuya seemed to enjoy Lina's enthusiasm, slowly grasping human happiness. Miyuki's quip, "Honoka might get jealous," drew a wry smile from Yugen.
Shia and the others, limited by the cruiser, were airlifted via a Kagurazaka airship to Tokyo Bay International Airport, then sent to the Japan Magic Association in Yokohama, reuniting with Kua.
The Ten Master Clans—specifically the Saegusa family—debated their custody, but the Kagurazaka family, spearheading the rescue, took responsibility. Until arrangements were finalized, the Kitayama family would care for them.
"Here, Tatsuya, take it," Yugen said, handing over a document.
"What's this reward amount?" Tatsuya asked, stunned. "Even Silver's deals never hit this."
The Navy's experiments with Seventh Plague warranted accountability, but the Southern Islands Arsenal's destruction, South Shield Island's base failure, and the unauthorized unsealing of magic experiments had disgraced the Guardians. The Kagurazaka family assumed control of the island to resolve the matter. Learning he'd manage it someday, Yugen sighed deeply.
Honest researchers like Morinaga found new jobs, but Yugen avoided asking about Kanemaru's fate—likely grim and not worth dwelling on. Orbital calculations revealed Seventh Plague's fall was accelerated by six months, a fact the USNA knew and concealed from the world.
When Yugen confronted the USNA President, it emerged that government officials, the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs, and the Aerospace Agency had hidden this. Public exposure would crater the USNA's credibility, revive the old EU, or embolden the New Soviet Union and Great Asian Alliance. The President, ensuring Lina's return, promised reparations for a quiet resolution. Yugen delegated negotiations to Chikahime, busy with his own cleanup.
"Negotiations squeezed a fortune for dismantling Seventh Plague and other nuclear-armed satellites," Yugen said. "Mother was furious when she heard."
"Even so, a trillion yen to me personally?" Tatsuya said, incredulous.
Even for Tatsuya, earning significantly through Taurus Silver, a trillion yen was staggering. The USNA paid the Kagurazaka family 30 trillion yen total, with Yugen receiving a 10% share—3 trillion yen—for resolving the crisis.
The USNA's hefty payment was simple: exposing Alcatraz would invite global condemnation and empower anti-magic factions. If magic's defensive value was further proven, anti-magic sentiment would face fierce backlash. Quick financial resolution was their best move. A fourth world war triggered by Seventh Plague's fall would dwarf the 30 trillion yen cost. Compared to the Cluster Wars' losses, the choice was obvious.
Unbeknownst to anti-magic factions, this was a cunning trap. Only the sharpest minds could counter such sudden moves calmly.
"What about Lina?" Yugen asked.
"I know she cares for me, but there's no rush," Tatsuya replied.
If Tatsuya sought fiancées, the USNA would likely push Lina forward. With Ceria already at Yugen's side, they might vie for information through her, though General Kudou's approval was questionable.
That night, Shizuka dragged Yugen to her bedroom, where Miyuki and Ceria clung to him as they slept. To say nothing happened would be a lie—a "night battle" ensued. Faced with alluring women taking the lead, inaction wasn't an option. The soundproof barrier was a rare act of restraint to spare others.
"Watching you, I learn a lot," Tatsuya said.
"Is that okay?" Yugen replied. "Including Miyuki?"
"No one in my family can talk love properly…" Tatsuya admitted.
The Yotsuba family's deep-rooted issues left Tatsuya ill-equipped for romance. Though emotionally restrained, he wasn't unresponsive. Yugen, hardly a love expert himself, found it ironic to be a reference. He judged magicians by their abilities in fitting contexts, a habit that, he sighed, might explain the affection he received.
"Anyway, that's your rightful reward," Yugen said. "I'm stuck with a baffling 3 trillion yen too, so just accept it. It'll cover Miyuki's birthday gift."
"There's such a thing as limits," Tatsuya muttered.
Tatsuya caught the playful tone in Yugen's words and didn't push back hard. Kua's plea, the adjusted bodies, and Meteorite Fall couldn't be ignored. Despite mixed feelings, Tatsuya reluctantly accepted the windfall.
March 24
Yugen visited FLT's Third Development Division's magic laboratory. Taurus Silver's achievements, backed by shareholder (mainly Miya) influence, secured a dedicated lab building. Sayuri, Tatsuya and Miyuki's nominal stepmother, looked displeased, but none could defy Miya's will.
With the Silver Blossom Series' second generation nearing launch, Yugen was summoned, as Ushiyama explained.
"The young master asked me to design a device," Ushiyama said. "He didn't want your help, but I'm stumped. Embarrassing, but I need your input."
The blueprint resembled a striking plate more than a bayonet, intended as an attachment for Trident to aid magic. Ushiyama noted it wasn't finalized. Yugen reached a conclusion.
(Given Tatsuya's magic, this is a prototype for Baryon Lance.)
Based on FAE theory, Tatsuya's new anti-personnel spell decomposed atomic nuclei, extracted neutrons for a neutron cannon, and restored nuclei via Reconstruction, leaving no evidence—a perfect crime. Yugen noted, "The feedback from reading multiple activation sequences in this attachment would be intense. (Even with his recklessness, he should care for himself more.)"
Yugen, using Round Blade for up to eight simultaneous sequences, saw no issue teaching this. Tatsuya's Flash Cast made instant Baryon Lance deployment brute force. Perhaps it was his competitive drive to surpass Phalanx.
Yugen's approach would combine Lightning Order and a separate linkage system—Connect Circle Cast—with Mirror Gate's coordinate fixation and Starlight Breaker's FAE theory, detonating neutrons directly at a target's coordinates, neutralizing them instantly. Even Phalanx's user would face overwhelming strain from multi-layered interference, leaving them defenseless. Only Yugen could pull this off, though Akashic Nova was faster for neutron cannons.
"Got it," Yugen said. "I'll prepare an attachment suited for Tatsuya's Trident, but keep it confidential."
"Understood, chief," Ushiyama replied.
"You're the chief," Yugen retorted.
After their usual banter, Yugen headed home. Checking his commuter, he saw Tatsuya's email about chaos at the Shiba household, prompting a detour—likely involving "her."
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