He wore a large overcoat and a hat pulled down by the brim. Beneath
the hat, there was a gray cloth with a pattern of black bats that covered
the entire face. Charles Sullivan, he who had been bestowed the name
of Demus Second with Stars, was currently using all of his strength to
flee for his life.
However, no matter how he tried, he could not escape the pursuit. The
hunter chasing him was not from Stardust, but an executioner bearing
the name of the brightest star in the night sky.
A Magician with flaming red hair and golden eyes chased after
Sullivan. After transforming into Angie Sirius, Lina had already been
immersed in psion noise several times. Every time, she felt that she
was going to lose Sullivan’s trail,
“High Commander, take the next right.”
But Sullivan’s location was completely locked on by the psion radar
that was emanating from the mobile base disguised as a news van. In
this regard, the USNA was a step ahead of Japan. With a radar that
could identify psion wave signatures, it was practically impossible to
escape from within the radar’s sensitivity range. Furthermore, so long
as Lina had that miniature, hand held radar signal broadcaster, fleeing
out of radar range was out of the question.
“Clara, Rachel, switch to Sullivan’s forefront.”
Lina called out into her transmitter. Clara and Rachel were the
nicknames for Hunter Q and R, respectively. Lina, who hated referring
to people as letters, was the one who gave them those names, as they
were not their true names. Of course, “Clara” was spelled with a “C”
and not a “Q”, but Lina didn’t really care since they were only
nicknames.
Twenty to thirty meters ahead, the aura of magic combat intensified.
The two of them were currently stalling Sullivan’s progress. For Lina,
this was the simple matter of a single step. She was now completely in
control of Sullivan’s position.
Despite the late hour, the streets were not entirely void of people. Still,
this failed to warrant any concern when they were engaged in pursuit
that rivaled the speed of a motorcycle. Completely ignoring the
possibility of police intervention, Lina pulled out a small blade – a
dagger.
Maybe it was because their movements were too fast, but the scattered
pedestrians failed to take notice of the dagger. Also, the non-reflective
dark coloring would have been inconspicuous even in broad daylight.
Without bothering to hide her intention, Lina threw the dagger
forward.
This dagger was a Weaponized Integrated CAD. Just the act of
throwing was enough to activate Move-Type Magic, allowing the user
to manipulate its thrown trajectory towards the target. The dagger Lina
hurled changed directions several times in the air before flying
towards Sullivan’s back.
An instant before the dagger began its flight, Sullivan was aware that
even a vampire’s physical ability wasn’t enough to dodge the dagger
in time. However, if it was himself with his mental powers restored,
then he should be able to cast Trajectory Alteration in time.
With this in mind, Sullivan concentrated on the dagger and willed it to
fly towards one of the hunters closing in on his turned back. Friendly
fire indeed, Sullivan thought mentally. Now, the dagger en route
should have altered its flight path towards the hunter’s back.
A soundless scream of terror slipped from Sullivan’s lips.
His Trajectory Alteration ability completely failed to affect Lina’s
Move-Type Magic.
The difference in interference strength was simply too great.
Knowing that his ability was ineffective, Sullivan hurriedly raised his
right arm, where Lina’s dagger sank deeply upon impact.
Sullivan’s body stiffened.
His back was slashed to ribbons by R’s combat knife.
Those would have been fatal injuries on a normal person.
Yet Sullivan swept his arms around and sent R and her combat knife
flying.
At this time, the masked Magician appeared. Those golden pupils
peeking out from behind the mask beheld Sullivan’s eyes.
Lina halted and upholstered a pistol.
All of a sudden, the shadows in the street released an electrical attack
towards Lina.
Q, R, and Lina were completely unable to detect this surprise attack
before it sprang.
Nonetheless, the electric shock merely gave off a flash and faded
away before coming into contact with Lina’s body.
Lina had activated Wide Area Disruption on reflex and nullified the
vampire’s magic.
During this time, Lina’s arm remained in its aiming position.
The muzzle was directly pointed at Sullivan’s heart.