While Tatsuya, Katsuto, and Shoki fought their battles, Miyuki's group clashed with the enemy. Sporadic lightning strikes silenced enemy gunfire. Upright tanks and armored vehicles had stopped appearing.
"Saegusa-senpai arranged a heli for us, separate from the civilians'," Miyuki said, relaying Mayumi's message.
"Big spender, that Saegusa," Erika quipped, striking a goofy pose.
"It's probably to ensure our escape," Mizuki said.
"Still, mighty generous," Leo added.
"Thanks to her, we've got a way out," Mikihiko agreed.
The lull in enemy attacks allowed this chatter.
"There it is!" Erika pointed.
The group heard the heli's rotors but saw nothing. Miyuki's comms buzzed.
"Miyuki-san?" Mayumi's voice crackled. "It's too narrow to land. We're lowering ropes—grab them."
Before Miyuki could reply, five ropes dropped from thin air, shimmering with heat haze.
"Optical camouflage," Miyuki murmured. "Clever, Honoka."
Grabbing a rope, she stepped onto its foothold and tugged. It reeled up, the others scrambling to follow. Inside, Honoka projected a sky image onto a hemispherical screen, maintaining camouflage with no room to speak. Against a dynamic backdrop, it would've been impossible.
"Perfect for ambushes," Leo said.
"Maintaining that processing? I couldn't," Miyuki admitted.
"Even you, Miyuki-san?" Mizuki asked.
Honoka, focused, barely registered their awe.
"We're almost there," Mayumi said. "You can drop the camouflage if it's too much."
"I'm fine," Honoka replied, strained.
But picking up Mari's group of eight proved difficult. Under heavy fire from rifle- and missile-armed infantry, including mages, they were pinned. Unaware Kazuma was handling rear enemies alone, Mayumi's group, rattled by the missing member, moved to assist.
Mayumi alone provided support, her magic raining supersonic dry ice pellets that pierced enemy armor. With the advantage of invisibility, she subdued the area in under five minutes.
"Sorry for the wait, Mari," Mayumi called. "Ropes are coming—climb up."
"Thanks," Mari replied, uneasy, rallying Isori, Kanon, Kirihara, Tomoe, Sayaka, and the Hirakawa sisters.
Exhausted from battle, they let their guard down, reassured by the heli overhead. But guerrillas thrive on such lapses.
"Danger!" Mari shouted.
Kirihara reacted first, shoving Sayaka and Tomoe aside and swinging his blade. His high-frequency blade deflected a chest-aimed bullet, but a shot tore through his thigh, severing his leg.
"Kirihara-kun!" Sayaka and Tomoe screamed.
"Kei!" Kanon cried.
"Big sis!" Koharu wailed, as Chikara shielded her, shot in the back.
Isori, shielding Kanon, bled profusely. Both wounds were likely fatal.
"Kei! Stay with us!" Kanon sobbed.
"Kirihara-kun, hold on!" Sayaka pleaded.
"You're not dying here!" Tomoe urged.
"Big sis!" Koharu wept.
Mari tried to cast a spell, but an overwhelming interference force nullified it. She turned to its source.
Miyuki, leaping from the heli, landed weightlessly, her expression chillingly blank, right hand raised.
Her interference wasn't just sealing Tatsuya's power. Half her control always restrained her brother's magic. Unleashing his power freed her own.
She extended her hand. The world froze—not in ice, but in stillness. Minds, not bodies, were petrified.
Outer-System Mental Interference Magic: Cocytus.
Frozen minds couldn't revive, recognize death, or command it. Bound to their last posture, enemy bodies became statues, collapsing.
No one could explain Miyuki's act, but all felt the world's frozen illusion and instinctively knew what she'd done.
Miyuki glanced aside, then up, her lonely smile fading. She raised her voice, waving. "Onii-sama!"
All but Kirihara, Isori, and Koharu followed her gaze. A black-clad soldier landed, raising his visor and lowering his mask. Tatsuya, stern-faced, rushed to Isori.
"Onii-sama, please!" Miyuki clung to his right arm.
Tatsuya nodded, drawing his silver CAD.
"What are you—" Kanon began, but the trigger was pulled before she could stop him. She shut her eyes.
The spell took mere moments, but Miyuki saw Tatsuya's sweat-drenched brow, knowing his agony. Regrowth activated, tracing Eidos history to restore pre-injury states, erasing wounds as if they never were.
Isori's body shimmered, his wounds and blood vanishing, restored to an uninjured state. Tatsuya, without pausing, aimed at Kirihara, then Koharu. Their bloodstains vanished, Kirihara's leg reattached in a haze, both restored whole.
Tatsuya holstered his CAD, pulled Miyuki close, whispered, "Well done," and stepped back. Mask up, visor down, he tapped his belt and soared skyward.
Miyuki stared after him, his words echoing in her ears.
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