Chapter: 64. Three Element Fusion
The alarm sounded loudly.
“This is a response to a domain unfolding, the location is… Noah Hall!”
“The frequency of the magical energy fluctuations matches, confirming it’s the Student Council President ‘Higashichou Seiryuu.'”
“What about the teachers? Have B-rank and above teachers head to the scene—”
In the command room of the artificial academy island’s District One, personnel on duty were quickly exchanging information, watching the red dots flashing on the large screen.
Because a recent attack had occurred in Ark Academy, even at this late hour, several teachers were available for mobilization.
Just as the personnel were about to contact the standby teachers, a voice from behind stopped them.
“Report the situation.” The voice was deep and authoritative.
“Chairman! Why is the Chairman here…. I understand now, multiple magical energy detectors on the artificial academy island have detected magical fluctuations from a domain unfolding at Noah Hall in District Seven of the artificial academy island.”
Initially puzzled by the Chairman’s presence in the command room, the on-duty personnel quickly shifted focus to report the situation.
“We quickly matched the frequency of the magical fluctuations with data from the Ark Academy database and confirmed it came from the Student Council President ‘Higashichou Seiryuu’s’ possession of ‘Aohane Authority.’”
“I see, it’s Higashichou-kun? What about the operational status of the barrier facilities in other areas?”
“Yes, all cognitive barriers and camouflage facilities in each district are functioning normally, and we haven’t received any malfunction reports from the scene; the ordinary people on the island have yet to notice this incident.”
“Good, keep a close watch on the operations of the facilities. Be ready to respond quickly if anything unexpected happens.”
“Yes, and we will call on the teachers currently on standby to support at Noah Hall—”
“—No, wait.” The Chairman interrupted the action of the on-duty personnel trying to call for resources again.
“This might be a good opportunity.”
“What?” The personnel asked, surprised.
“Though we don’t know who Higashichou-kun is facing, it could be a great training opportunity for him.”
“Training… you say? But considering the recent attack at Ark Academy, if they truly are the perpetrator from that incident, their strength could very well be A-rank or higher—”
“—Then there’s even less need to send teachers for reinforcement.” As the Chairman spoke, they moved toward the control panel in front of the on-duty personnel. “If the adversary possesses A-rank strength, sending ordinary teachers would only hinder Higashichou-kun. Although he’s just a student, let’s not forget that he is also a holder of authority.”
“Besides, he has already unfolded a domain, making it very difficult for others to enter, so let’s keep all the teachers on standby for now.”
“Yes… I understand.”
The Chairman’s reasoning convinced the few personnel on duty present.
Soon, the “standby” message was transmitted to the mobile terminals of every teacher and special science student.
Seeing everything was proceeding as planned, the Chairman shifted their gaze back to the big screen.
“This is your plan…” the Chairman murmured inwardly.
—————–
In the resting area not far from Noah Hall.
Behind the large floor-to-ceiling windows was a stylishly decorated café.
Teachers who were on night duty would take a moment to rest here after patrols.
“Are we on standby?”
At that moment, the teachers in the resting area, who had already prepared for battle, were just waiting for the command from the command room to rush to the scene at full speed.
However, upon seeing the standby order, they all showed puzzled expressions.
“In this situation, does the command room really intend to let the students handle it themselves?” a male teacher in sportswear shouted angrily.
“This magical reaction must be from the Student Council President, right?” Another teacher, peering through the large floor-to-ceiling window towards Noah Hall, had her eyes reflecting the glow of magical energy flowing.
“Does the command room think having the Student Council President on the scene means there’s no need for support?”
“This is absurd! Even if that child holds authority, they are still just a student with severely lacking real combat experience!”
“But I heard the perpetrator from the previous attack had at least A-rank strength, right? If that’s true, most of us teachers wouldn’t stand a chance, better leave it to the one with authority—”
“Hah? What are you talking about? Even if there’s danger, as teachers, we can’t just stay behind our students—”
“Come on, calm down. No matter how worried we are, since the command room has already issued orders, we can only temporarily remain on standby until another order comes.”
…
The teachers on site began to discuss among themselves.
The lively conversation was interrupted by a sudden exclamation from a teacher.
“Wait—! Maki-sensei! The order we received is standby! You cannot go out—”
Someone caught a glimpse of a flash of crimson hair heading outside in the dim environment.
“Sorry, standing by and doing nothing isn’t my style.” Maki replied without looking back.
Her voice was soft but reached the ears of everyone present.
Soon, Maria’s figure disappeared from the sight of the teachers.
“She really is that Maria-sensei, always doing her own thing…” some teachers sighed.
“But if it’s Maria-sensei going over, it should be a bit reassuring.”
“Yeah, after all, she used to be an ACE-level esper… if that incident hadn’t happened, she might still be active on the front lines.”
…
….
Maria, who had left the monitoring range, took off her coat, revealing the black battle suit worn underneath.
“Tch, Ritsu-san really knows how to cause trouble—” Maria glanced at the watch on her wrist; the small screen displayed a rough map and a blinking red dot.
That was the location of the tracker.
“This place… is it in the warehouse?” Maria quickly confirmed the location of Otori based on her memory and the position of the red dot.
Otori couldn’t know of the tracker’s presence.
This was a plan determined by the organization Maria belonged to after various experiments.
The esper Otori Ritsu had a significantly effective “Misfortune Halo.”
However, this misfortune halo had a small flaw.
If it was something Otori was unaware of, it likely wouldn’t affect him.
That’s why the organization had secretly placed such a tracker on him, partly to rescue him in case of any misfortunes, and partly to monitor his movements closely.
After confirming the location of Otori, Maria immediately mobilized her magical energy, using her esper ability to transform into a crimson beam of light racing towards her target.
As for the direction of Noah Hall, she never intended to go there from the very beginning.
Even though Higashichou Seiryuu was a student, the ‘Aohane Authority’ he possessed was very troublesome for Maria.
Since someone could keep him occupied at Noah Hall, that was all the better.
—————–
“Kanade-kun, step back—!”
Noah Hall.
Facing the massive sphere of light rushing towards the two, Mana stepped bravely in front of Kanade, summoning all the magical power within her and raising her hands to the approaching sphere of light.
“Storm—”
“Shadow—”
“Aohane—”
Mana’s crimson eyes shone with an overwhelming brilliance due to the surging magical power, while between her palms, the three types of esper authority coalesced into particles of light—
For Mana, who possessed the ridiculously overpowered ability “Fictional Authority,” there was a significant flaw.
She could not erase the authority’s ability.
The domain rank represented by authority far surpassed that of monarch power.
Even though Mana now grasped a hint of the threshold of “controlling the opponent’s abilities,” she could not exert it at this moment.
Therefore, the only thing she could do was—collide head-on.
In that brief moment.
Mana “fictionalized” the Aohane authority held by Seiryuu.
And simultaneously unleashed the three most powerful elemental abilities she owned.
Storm, Shadow, Aohane.
“Three Element Fusion—”
The immense magical power lifted Mana’s platinum hair, and her entire being was enveloped in dazzling white light.
In her palms, the compressed storm revolved around an inky black sphere, while the surface of the sphere flickered with arcs of lightning, the three distinct elements disintegrating and merging at that moment.
Shed of its outer form, it transformed into a purer light particle, returning to its original state—energy.
“Pierce through for me—!”
The huge energy in Mana’s hand transformed into a pitch-black spear, shooting towards the descending white sphere with astonishing momentum.
The collision of magical energies produced a shockwave capable of lifting dust.
The corridor beneath Mana was collapsing and crumbling.
But at the very last moment.
The pitch-black spear still pierced through the surface of the white sphere and penetrated the azure sky.
