The standoff between Shuji and the Battotai was shattered not by a blade, but by an explosive eruption of Psion waves nearby.
"Erika, Leo, look out!"
"The Parasites' true forms are heading your way!"
The voices of Mikihiko and Mizuki crackled through the comms, breathless and frantic. Though the warning was clipped, Erika instantly deduced the threat.
"Brother Shuji! The Parasites are converging on our position!"
Erika's warning seemed to rattle the Battotai more than Shuji himself. In her haste, Erika realized Shuji likely hadn't been briefed on the true nature of the Parasites. She scrambled to find the words to explain the danger, her focus wavering for a fraction of a second as she extended her sensory net in every direction—even beneath their feet.
Whether by calculated timing or sheer luck, the enemy struck the moment her attention flickered.
The ground behind Erika erupted. Soil and debris sprayed into the air as a silhouette leapt from the depths of the earth.
"Earth-burrowing?!" Leo roared.
Beyond the common "Five Elements" techniques known to the public, the specialized ninjutsu of ancient magical schools preserved arts of reconnaissance, escape, and ambush based on the Wu Xing—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Given that these philosophies originated on the mainland, the strike could have been a product of any number of ancient traditions. But there was no time for academic speculation. The assassin's target wasn't Erika—it was Pixie.
"Shield!"
Leo threw himself between the robot and the man's descending machete, catching the blade on the reinforced protector of his CAD.
"Leo, that's a Parasite!" Mikihiko's voice barked through the speaker.
Acting on instinct, Leo swung his left arm with enough force to send both the man and his machete flying. He made sure not to make direct skin contact, a lesson learned from the bitter experience of having his life force drained. However, even with Leo's monstrous strength, merely parrying the weapon wasn't enough to create a safe distance.
The Parasite prepared to swing again, but its feet never left the ground. The tip of a blade erupted from its chest.
Erika, having run the man through with her Mizukimaru, wore a flash of immediate regret. Tatsuya's warning—don't kill the hosts—echoed in her mind. She had brushed him off at the time, but clearly, his words had carried more weight with her than she cared to admit.
Nearby, another Parasite—realizing it was outmatched by the combined presence of the Battotai and Shuji—triggered its own self-destruction.
Shuji stood frozen, shell-shocked by the sight of a human being detonating before his eyes. Behind him, Erika and Leo grimaced, while the soldiers of the Battotai stared in hollow silence. In the chaos, no one noticed the shimmering clusters of Pushions—the essence of the spirits—drifting out from the fallen bodies.
"Pixie, regroup with me!"
Tatsuya's sharp, commanding voice over the comms broke the trance.
"Acknowledged," Pixie replied.
She broke into a sprint toward the source of the Psion explosion—the direction where Miyuki had gone, and where Tatsuya waited.
"Honoka, cover Pixie."
"Understood!"
Honoka's reply came as swift and sharp as an echo.
"Erika, Leo, stay where you are. Tell the others to hold their positions as well."
"Right… okay," Erika stammered, still finding her footing.
"Y-yeah, got it," Leo added.
Above them, two masses of Psions and Pushions began to drift through the air like storm clouds, tailing the retreating Pixie.
Twelve Parasites in total had been drawn into this world.
One inhabited the humanoid domestic helper robot, 3H-P94—Pixie.
Two had already been sealed.
Of the remaining nine: four hosts had been killed by Lina, one by Erika, and four had self-destructed.
Now, those nine spirits—stripped of their physical vessels—were converging.
They were spiritual information bodies summoned from the same alien dimension. Originally, they were twelve parts of a single "consciousness." Now, they sought to return to that singular state. Nine of them had already merged.
The resulting structure, a trunk branching into nine distinct heads, looked like a spectral twin to the Great Serpent of Japanese myth—only with one extra head.
This "Orochi" now lunged for its missing fragment. Its nine maws gaped, ready to swallow Pixie whole. But Pixie held her ground, her "will" forming an impenetrable bulwark against the crushing pressure.
That will was a gift, shared by the woman who had defined "her" current existence—the woman Pixie considered her "Mother." Even now, that resolve flowed from Honoka through the Psion circuits, a steady stream of defiant energy.
The will to say: I am not a part of you.
The will to say: I do not belong only to myself.
The will to say: I belong to him.
Under normal circumstances, the ego of a single human could never stand against the collective consciousness of such a monster. But Honoka was no ordinary human.
She was a descendant of the "Elements"—the "Light" Element. The Elements were the very first attempt at engineered magicians in this country, predating even the "Numbers" project.
During their development, a specific psychological trait had emerged with high frequency among their descendants: a tendency toward extreme dependence. They often identified a single person—usually of the opposite sex—and became utterly devoted to them.
The descendants of the Elements viewed this not as a flaw, but as a destiny etched into their very genes. Perhaps it was a convenient excuse to justify their obsession.
However, their "dependence" was not the "weak" emotion the world assumed it to be. Some scholars argued there was a far more accurate word for it.
Loyalty.
An unshakable, absolute conviction: "I belong to him." It was a pillar of will so frigid and firm that it repelled the combined malice of the Parasite hive-mind.
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