Magic VS Trick

Rei crouched in the bushes, eyes fixed on the impossible scene unfolding before him.

Enshin was trapped.

The red-masked man stepped forward, crimson blade in hand, glinting in the dim light. Every step screamed one thing: he intended to kill.

“They’re really going to kill him… just because they weren’t invited to a magic tournament?”

Rei thought, heart pounding.

His hands trembled. One wrong move, and he’d be next.

Yet he couldn’t look away.

Before his mind caught up, his body moved.

“Stop!” he shouted, his voice slicing through the chaos.

The red-masked commander froze mid-swing. The air seemed to still.

Enshin shook his head, surprised.

“Why did you come back? This isn’t a game! You could die, you know!”

Rei’s eyes locked on him, serious.

“I know. But I can’t just watch you die.”

The commander demon chuckled, cold and sarcastic.

“It’s cute. You want to save your master but… what can you do without magic?”

Rei blinked. Confusion crossed his face.

“Who said I don’t have magic?”

He dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a handful of marbles in all sorts of colors : black, yellow, blue.

He threw them on the ground.

BOOM.

Smoke. Light. Sound.

A blinding flash erupted, smoke curling into the night. A deafening bang rattled the trees.

The demons staggered back, disoriented

Rei’s small gadgets created chaos in the battlefield.

“How… what…?” The commander muttered, unease creeping into his voice.

Rei didn’t wait. He darted from the bushes toward Enshin.

“Run!” he yelled

Enshin’s frown deepened.

“I can’t come with you…”

Rei reached out and grabbed Enshin’s arm, trying to pull him out of the red shimmering barrier.

At first, he thought he could move him.

His hand tugged. Nothing.

Stepping forward, Rei noticed… he could pass through the barrier freely.

But Enshin… he remained trapped.

“What kind of trick… what is this… why can’t you move…?” the young boy whispered, voice trembling.

”No… don’t tell me… this… this is real magic?”

The smoke cleared. The demons shook off their disorientation, faces now sharp with renewed focus.

Rei stepped fully into the red shimmering sphere.

The demons froze.

“How… how can he pass through?” the commander whispered, eyes wide.

The assassin lunged straight at Rei.

No hesitation. No strategy. Just a brutal, deadly charge.

“Who cares? Everything in my way dies,” he growled.

Rei reacted instantly.

He grabbed Enshin’s fallen dagger from the ground.

Positioning himself in front of the exorcist, ready for the fight.

“Don’t sacrifice yourself for a stranger,”

Enshin said, frowning.

“You should run.”

Rei smiled faintly, eyes sharp.

“Even if I would like to, I can’t.”

The commander’s expression hardened.

“Right. We can’t let you live.”

Blood seeped from his palm, twisting in the air.

It hardened into sharp crimson projectiles, hovering for a split second before shooting toward Rei.

The blood projectiles tore through the air behind him, slicing tree bark and exploding against the ground.

At the same time, the assassin swung, dagger flashing.

Rei ducked. 

Rolled.

Then sprinted.

He leapt over roots, slid under branches, narrowly avoiding both blade and blood.

His movements flowed like a circus performer: flips, spins, graceful evasions.

“Stop running! It’s annoying, like bugs,” the assassin barked.

“Come on ! if I stop, you’ll kill me,” Rei called back, grinning.

“That’s why! Stay still!” the assassin shouted, exasperated.

Rei’s mind raced.

He couldn’t dodge forever. Eventually, he’d be cornered.

Suddenly, Enshin muttered, almost to himself.

“Shit… if only I could use my fire spell…”

Rei’s eyes widened.

Of course. Fire.

The demons’ attacks were weak against it. He remembered the clues from the exorcist’s battle.

He stopped running.

With a flourish, the boy pulled his magician’s hat from his head.

Enshin, puzzled, edged as close as the red barrier would allow. He muttered under his breath :

“What… what is he planning to do?”

“Ka… Kaitsuki! Wake up!” Rei shouted.

“Cast a fire spell!”

In a swirl of smoke, the white rabbit appeared, hopping elegantly from the hat.

“Yes, master!” it said, voice crisp and clear.

Flames shot forth, first striking the blood projectiles, turning them harmless, then roaring towards the assassin, pinning him in place.

Enshin’s eyes widened.

“Oh, right… the yokai! Its power isn’t blocked by the anti-magic spell!”

The commander frowned, uneasy.

“Come back, now!” he called.

The assassin hesitated, irritated.

“Why?” he muttered, but reluctantly teleported back to his master.

Doubt flickered in his eyes.

“How… how can you summoned a yokai… and use magic?”

Rei smirked, bluffing confidently.

“No matter how. What matters is I CAN do it.”

He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small gadget.

A flame appeared, dancing in his palm.

The commander stared, incredulous.

Impossible. Humans can’t create elements, they can only control them.

The red-masked demon paused.

His eyes narrowed, mind racing.

This kid crossed the barrier.  Invoked a yokai.  And even created flames.

Exactly like us…

“No way …” he muttered.

He looked straight at Rei.

“Don’t tell me…”

“You’re using the same demonic energy as us?”

The question hung heavy in the air.

Rei didn’t fully understand what the red-masked man meant, but he kept his expression unreadable.

“Why are you standing with an exorcist?”  

The commander shouted, his voice tight, cracking slightly, as if something had just gone terribly wrong.

“You know how they hate half-yokai ? Hunting us like we’re monsters”

The boy blinked.

Half-yokai? … Us ?

Again , Rei had no idea what the man was talking about, but he didn’t show it.

His expression remained calm.

“No matter who I am, I stand against violence.”

He stepped forward, eyes steady.

“And I’m ready to risk my life to protect anyone innocent , human or yokai alike.”

The commander blinked, momentarily taken aback.

Then he scoffed,

“There is no such thing as an innocent exorcist.”

Rei didn’t hesitate.

“Then what? There is no innocent half-yokai either?”

The words struck harder than any spell.

The commander froze.

Surprise flickered behind the mask.

“…Does that mean,” he asked slowly , “You would protect him even if he were a yokai?”

Rei nodded without hesitation.

“If it was a good one,”

“Yes.”

Silence.

The red-masked commander couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

In all his battles, he had never met someone like this young magician , so pure, so fearless, so… unpredictable.

“Tch. Again with the talking,” the assassin snapped.

He stepped forward.

Flames burst in front of him.

Kaitsuki landed lightly, fire dancing around its paws.

The assassin stopped short, snarling.

Rei sighed.

“You should leave,” he said casually.

“I already called the police before showing up.”

The commander stiffened.

“…What?”

Rei pointed vaguely toward the bushes.

“They should be here soon.”

As if on cue—

WEE—OOO—WEE—OOO—

Sirens echoed faintly through the forest.

The assassin clicked his tongue.

The commander stared at Rei, still trying to grasp what he was dealing with.

“I see now why you chose him,” he said, nodding slowly toward Enshin.

A long pause hung in the air.

“But this one alone… he won’t be enough to stop us.”

He signaled a retreat.

The demons melted back into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

The young magician remained tense, watching until the last trace of the demons vanished.

Moments later, the crimson prison that had trapped the exorcist shimmered and disappeared.

Enshin blinked, free at last.

“Quick… we need to get out before the police arrive,” he urged, still catching his breath.

Rei shook his head calmly.

“Nah. Don’t worry. I didn’t call them”

Enshin froze. “

Then… where did the sirens come from?”

Rei grinned, moving back toward the bushes where he had been hiding.

He tapped his phone, and the sirens abruptly stopped.

“How… how did you time that so perfectly?” Enshin asked, wide-eyed.

“Kaitsuki did it,” Rei replied casually.

“I just gave him the signal, and he made the sound.”

Enshin blinked, astonished.

“The yokai… can control your phone?”

Rei opened his mouth to explain

“Oh, about that…”

But a tiny voice interrupted

Kaitsuki’s small form peeked out of the hat, voice trailing off. “Almost empty… need to sleep.”

With a soft poof of smoke, the white rabbit vanished back into the magician’s hat.

Enshin, exhausted, leaned heavily against a tree.

He tried to stand, bracing himself, but his legs betrayed him. Slowly, he collapsed to the ground, back against the trunk, eyebrows furrowed.

He muttered under his breath, thinking about the tournament, hoping things would turn out as he expected.

Rei knelt beside him, panic rising.

“Mister… we need to call an ambulance!”

“No… no ambulance. I’m fine,” Enshin said, trying to play it cool.

He pushed himself up… and then collapsed again, this time fully unconscious.

Rei’s heart raced.

“Mister… Mister Enshin! Please, wake up!”

He looked around, desperate.

If I can’t call an ambulance . What should I do now?