Chapter 21: A World Ending Crisis?!—Part 1

Irina and Osamu hurried inside a sophisticated looking building. She had made a rendezvous with him at Belova Industries, before she picked him up—literally—and flew off at inhuman speeds to their current location.

Osamu asked why it had taken her longer than usual. But she was not going to reveal that she had been really close to showing up in a night gown. She had returned home and slipped into her favorite suit, before going to get him.

Once inside, countless screens displayed intricate graphs, and thermal signatures. People ran to and fro across the vast hall frantically, carrying papers with coordinates and plots of potential trajectories.

More people tapped away at keyboards, their foreheads all slick with greasy sweat. Every now and then they’d freeze, staring at their screens with grim faces. But soon after, they’d shake their heads, and the tapping resumed with renewed urgency.

This place was the Tsukuba Space Center.

Right now, it was midnight. A spot that normally served as a popular tourist destination for lovers of space exploration had transformed to a central hub were many great minds converged to manage a global crisis.

“I-it’s massive…!”

All eyes moved turned to the owner of the scream. He wasn’t very mature looking, yet he was certainly an adult. After clattering across his keyboard, he pointed frenetically at a large screen at the front.

It was an asteroid—a really, big asteroid.

Figures flashed across smaller screens, prompting some to bring their hands over their mouths in shock.

“A thousand kilometers in diameter…” the director, Satoshi Arisawa, said in a dreary voice. “Coming in at thirty kilometers per second, we’ve got roughly thirteen hours till impact…right on top of Mount Fuji…”

He rummaged his fingers through the grey hairs on his head.

“How’d we miss this…?”

It was an unprecedented situation. An object this large never showed up on the radars? The whole scenario played out like it like it had simply appeared out of nowhere.

Irina watched all of this from behind a glass pane, observing the scrambling experts below. She asked, “Can I not just go up there and destroy it?”

The average person would have shouted, “Are you stupid?!”

Such a reaction was to be expected. But not Osamu. He knew exactly what Irina was capable of. A Hero who’d reached Stage IV was no joking matter.

He motioned her to come closer, and she leaned over, like a grownup listening to the whispers of a child…

“Listen, Irina. This is something that could affect the whole world. Taking matters into your own hands, even if it would be efficient, could yield very negative outcomes.”

She pondered on what he meant.

“The world both adores and fears power. When used carelessly, you get the latter. That’s why there’s procedure to these things. And luck’s on our side as we have some connections in JAXA.”

Just as Osamu finished speaking, the fellow who’d screamed at the statistics opened the door leading to the private area. He offered a respectful bow, as he was in the presence of his Clan’s leader—The Hero.

Irina nodded at him, and Osamu did the same.

Then came in the director.

“You must be the person young Aki here always tells me about,” he said, gesturing to the young man who closed the door. “The Hero… I can’t say I am fully comfortable knowing magic is real and all.

“It very much is, and we are thankful for your cooperation.” Osamu spoke on behalf of Irina. “So, how’s the convincing going on your end?”

“I talked to some people. They all said I’m crazy to leave the fate of the world to some ‘cult.’ Other countries are thinking of nuking the thing but aren’t sure of the firepower. Bottom line is: They’re skeptical, and too proud to seek help from what they don’t understand.”

Irina flared up after hearing that but Osamu stretched a hand out. “So, we let them try things on their own and act when all else fails, then…”

From below them, Irina heard them yell things like, “What if we tried to shift the trajectory by sending out all the ionic rockets we got? It would be like Hayabusa, only this time we push the asteroid!”

But deep down, they all knew that such tactics would not be enough.

● ● ●

The time was 10:00AM, and Kuro Kurosu was lounging lazily on his bed. He lay sideways, legs stretched out, propping his head with an arm.

With his TV remote in hand, he scrolled through several channels aimlessly. Kuro couldn’t get his mind off Talmarius’s comparisons of him and his great ancestor.

While they shared the same physical traits, Talamrius made it very clear that the difference in skill was still quite large. Apart from how he swung his sword, he differed greatly in yet another aspect: his Familiar.

“Oh, that reminds me…” Kuro lifted his right hand. “Come to me, Mischief.”

Black smoke crept along his raised hand, swirling above it. It exploded with a—

Poof!

“Squeak!”

The creature hovering above his palm produced a deep sounding squeak, contrary to what one would expect of a creature of this nature.

It had fuzzy black fur, two little fangs, and dark gleaming eyes. Flapping the two bat-shaped wings at its sides, it kept its spherical body balanced in the air.

This was Kuro’s Familiar. A far cry from the majestic steed Talamarius said his ancestor once rode.

A Familiar was a creature that could manifest in both Demons and Heroes once they’d reached Stage II. Each one would be unique to their master—the person that summoned them. Not all magic users manifested one, so those who did stood out from the rest.

“Squeak?”

“Something to snack on? There’s some left over takoyaki in the kitchen if you want.”

Kuro hadn’t called upon Mischief for some time. There weren’t many times that required his Familiar’s presence. But today, he felt like hanging out with Mischief, just like a pet owner would play with their pet.

He went back to scrolling through channels as Mischief flapped into the kitchen. He landed on a news channel.

“Hmm…?”

Kuro was half surprised by what was being broadcasted.

“Breaking news: An asteroid on a collision course for Earth is expected to strike around 1:00PM today. Experts cannot fully disclose the data, but estimate that—”

The screen went blank; Kuro had switched it off.

So that’s why my skin’s been crawling…

He climbed out of bed, and stepped outside his room. Kuro then tilted his head up to face the sky, squinting a little.

Woah… That’s a big one.

He had no problem spotting the interstellar object hurtling straight at them through space. If left unattended, it would definitely cause problems later.

“Hey, Mischief, could you bring my phone over?”

Kuro had made sure to check if someone was watching. Fortunately, no one did.

A beat later, Mischief fluttered over to him, his phone clenched between adorable fangs.

“Thanks.”

“Squeak.”

Kuro scrolled through posts on a social media platform called Chirp. He wanted to see how the world would react to this extinction-inducing threat. And the posts were precisely as he imagined they’d be.

“Lol there’s no way this is real. #FakeNews”

“Armageddon has finally come? Say your prayers…”

“What’s all this fuss about? Am I the only one who remembers we have magic on our side? Where’s Flame and Freeze? They call themselves Magicians for a reason, right? Can’t they hit it with some of that magic of theirs? #Magi-Twins”

Come to think of it, where are those Magicians…? Kuro thought as he pocketed his phone. “Get ready. We’re going to take a quick trip to Mount Fuji, Mischief.”

Meanwhile, at the Peak of Mount Fuji…

“Bro, you sure we can handle this? We’ve never fully launched the spell before.”

The Magician, Freeze, asked her brother in a laid-back tone. She performed some stretches as she warmed up.

“Oh, don’t worry, sis. One little space rock shouldn’t be a problem for our combined strength,” Flame answered, doing stretches of his own. “After all, we got all the steps from… you know who…”

Freeze frowned—or at least tried to. Her expression barely budged.

She then looked into the sky, and a complex spiral pattern with constantly rotating ancient symbols formed around her right eye.

“Far-Sight.” The spell she cast granted her vision beyond comprehension, enabling her to study the enormous “space rock” on its way to crush them.

Freeze took her eyes off the asteroid and exhaled fully, turning the air a bit misty under her chilly breath.

“Okay, sis. Prep time.” Flame parted his feet slightly, taking a wide stance. Immediately, a blue aura sparked around him, like he’d been set in fire.

Freeze did the same, and a similar aura engulfed her, too. But hers shimmered like ice in sunlight.

And a few hundred meters away from the base of the mountain, an amused Kuro lurked…