Chapter 4

A man was hunched over a desk scribbling away on what looked like old parchment. He was young, but despite that his appearance was that of someone who looked like they had decades under their belt. His eyes were shadowed in dark circles, and his hair was messy, unkempt, and unwashed. His gaze was hyper focused on his scribbling, each stroke of his pen leaving a trail of mystical blue on the paper. The room was dark, so dark that the only illumination was from the magic spiraling off the paper he wrote on. Suddenly, a light flashed into the room as the door behind him swung open.

“Ichiro, are you still in here? Did you hear what happened in Tokyo yesterday?”

Another man walked in, middle aged but well-built and with a sharp face and features. A complete polar opposite to who Ichiro was in physical description. For magical talent, they were rather similar. Ichiro just took greater pleasure and interest in the discovery and study of possible new uses for magic rather than using it.

“Kyosuke, I’m guessing? No, I didn’t. I’ve been in this same spot for the last 56 hours.” He said, still hunched over the desk.

“Oh, well Kurosawa- 56 hours?! Man, you gotta learn to take a break. Have you had anything to drink?”

Ichiro held up a can of an energy drink before placing it down next to the row of ten other cans.

“That’s not healthy...” Kyosuke shook his head and fixed his slumping posture. “Anyway, Kurosawa and her team were attacked by a rogue mage.”

“Deaths?”

“Just one, a new recruit, barely out of training, only in the field a few days. Eris, I believe her name was.”

“Pitiful to lose her. And of Hiro and Yukino, er, Kurosawa?”

“Both alive. Hiro took blunt impact to the head and suffered a concussion, but Kurosawa had several broken bones due blunt trauma from what we believe was a civilian weapon.” Kyosuke paused before continuing. “The strangest part is that she claims the attacker was someone who we relocated.”

Relocated, a kinder word for what it means. It was a word The Secular used to mean that they wiped the memory of someone who witnessed a magical event and moved them to another place, be it country or city, and gave them a fake new life.

Hearing that, Ichiro stopped scribbling on the paper and slowly turned to look at Kyosuke. “What do you mean?” His voice was filled with disbelief.

“That’s quite it; the attacker is apparently Ryuki Yagami, someone we relocated over two years ago. And Kurosawa’s lenses confirmed what she told us. It really is him.”

“Yagami... Isn’t that-”

Before Ichiro could finish, a loud explosion rang out, shaking the entire room the two were in. And soon after, an alarm started to blare. Kyosuke ran out of the room without hesitation toward where he heard the explosion.

***

In a courtyard surrounded by concrete square buildings, a large cloud of smoke billowed out. Around it, a blue and green mystical screen-like projection was flickering across the sky. This compound of The Secular was one of many, and like the rest of the compounds, it hid in plain sight. This one was hidden near the coast in Yokohama and was used as a research facility due to usually being so isolated. Even if some civilian were to stumble across the place it stood, they would simply pass right through it without even noticing. Several mages ran toward the cloud and stared in awe at what they saw.

“Did someone’s firework hit it?” One mage said out loud.

“Are you an idiot? Fireworks wouldn’t make that big of an explosion.”

“Are you an even bigger idiot? These covering fields aren’t supposed to be affected by anything non-magical.” A third one responded.

“None of that matters, it’s clear someone with intent did this; we’re under attack.” Kyosuke said, a flame igniting around his one hand and a large sword with a blade bent like fire as a manifestation in the other. The other mages all readied themselves, too, following his order.

The smoke cloud stayed swirling in the air, clear to all who saw it that it was not natural smoke from a regular explosion, but rather a cloud made as a result of magic being continually manipulated to stay in the singular shape. One of the mages launched a ball made of fire into the cloud as a preemptive attack, and it smacked into something in the cloud, engulfing it and creating a large blazing fire. Following suit, the other mages all launched their own fire spells into the flame, adding fuel to the ever-growing inferno.

Where the cloud of mystical smoke once was, now stood a flame larger than a bonfire you would see at a festival. The mages all stood and watched, still on guard and ready for retaliation. But what happened next, even they couldn’t predict. Suddenly, the flame started to swirl in on itself, as if the fire was water circling down a drain. It spun into a single spot and then vanished. What stood in its place was a man in a biker gang-like outfit, fiery red hair, and his hand outstretched.

“It’s Ryuki!” Kyosuke shouted out.

The world went silent for a single moment only to be broken by the sound of a finger snap. Out from Ryuki’s hand came an expulsion of flame; all the fire that the mages produced from magic and threw at Ryuki was now being expelled back at them in a large wall of blazing heat. Each mage threw up their arms in a defensive pose and strengthened their mana shields as the wave of fire hit them. Most of the mages were thrown backward into the air by the pressure, and the ones still standing quickly readied themselves, producing their manifestations.

“Watch for his manifestation! He has a ballistic-”

Before Kyosuke could finish his warning, several loud bangs echoed out, and two mages were shot through the chest with orange bullets. The mages collapsed instantly, with the rest took evasive maneuvers. Kyosuke enhanced himself and charged toward Ryuki. Ryuki shot at him several times, but Kyosuke managed to dodge each one. Ryuki tilted his head subtly, impressed with the magical talent Kyosuke showed. In less than a second, Kyosuke sped up to Ryuki, getting next to him and brought his sword down toward him. Yet Ryuki only smirked.

“You all seem to fall for the same thing.” Ryuki quipped.

At the exact moment, much like what happened to Hiro, Kyosuke felt something hard and fast hit him in the shoulder, sending him flying backward. He couldn’t tell what hit him, and it didn’t break his mana shield, but the impact still left him reeling. Ryuki brought his foot over his head and stomped down on him, knocking him out.