Ch 186: Escalation.

"So, how long are you going to pout, Mayumi?" smirked Akeno as she sat among her friends at the dinner table, and Mayumi turned her head away with a snort.

"Until the heat death of the universe! If you hadn't taught Airi that, I would have won!"

Mayumi was very disappointed that she had lost the Crowd Ball's final to Airi.

The Third High's representative didn't use Shunpo or any of the abilities she had gained after being in Akeno's tender care, but the passive attribute enhancement had still proven decisive. Just like Touko had won the finals in Battle Board.

Akeno only shrugged.

"After what happened, she needed something to feel stronger."

"Yes." sighed Mayumi. "I'm not saying you did wrong, but still, we're neck and neck in the global ranking. And with Airi participating in Fairy Dance as well… Argh! If we end up losing, look forward to receiving chocolates from me next Valentine Day. Ufufu…"

Mayumi cackled softly and displayed the expression one would expect of a witch stirring the content of a cauldron, and Akeno instinctively gulped.

"I'll look forward to it. Maybe. And we will teach you as well soon. You can get your revenge over Airi then."

"You better! Even if it will be too late to keep First High as the top school."

Akeno didn't care about the ranking.

The competition would conclude the next day with the finals of Monolith Code and Fairy Dance.

Eimi and Miyuki had dominated Pillar Crush. Eimi's favorite tactic was to levitate one of her own pillars and use it as a battering ram to destroy whole columns of the opponent's ice pillars. Miyuki, on the other hand, showed her mastery of temperature-based magic as she cast Nilfheim and Muspelheim over both sides of the field, creating a zone of supercooled air in her side and burning hot air around the opponent's pillars, causing them all to shatter after a few dozen seconds as the brutal difference between their inner and outer temperature caused them to fracture.

In the final, Miyuki defeated Eimi thanks to her much higher psion capacity.

The final of Speed Shooting had opposed Shizuku against Shiori. Shizuku won thanks to Tatsuya's brilliant strategy, creating a spell called Active Air Mine. The spell divided the are into eight zones, and Shizuku could activate any of them separately, causing the air to violently vibrate and shatter any clay disk going through it.

Shiori lost, but still made a good showing for herself, scoring 81 when Shizuku reached 100.

Had Airi obtained enough time to complete Shiori's training, she would have won.

Two victories for First High, and two for Third High. The result of the finals for Monolith Code and Fairy Dance would determine the victor. In case of a draw, the judges would confer and determine which school best showed off the capacity of the magicians' new generation.

"Still, I am confident that it will be a draw, at worst." said Rin.

"Because of your suggestion?" asked Erika. "I agree, Tatsuya-kun if going to wipe the floor with them in Monolith Code."

Everyone around the table nodded, aside from Tatsuya himself.

"Isn't that right? Onii-sama is invincible." exclaimed Miyuki as she fidgeted in happiness. All of Japan would soon witness a small part of her older brother's greatness. And she had a little surprise in store for the final.

Airi's victory was far from guaranteed.

…

Zhou Gongjin pressed the black module against the lock of the service door, and two seconds later, the door unlocked. He activated his Ghost Walker sequence, entered, and immediately headed for the room he knew contained the information infrastructure of the hotel. The plans for the building hadn't been hard to procure.

He didn't need anyone in the service passages, as expected. It was three hours past midnight. Only a handful of desk employees were still working at this time. The cooks and their assistants would start coming in about an hour to prepare breakfast for the guests, but they would be long gone by then.

He entered the room that controlled every electronics in the building and killed the lone guard who was turning to wonder why the door had opened by itself, closed the door behind him, and used his smartphone to make a call.

As an unmarked white van parked itself close to the service door, Zhou Gongjin was already checking on the registry to learn the room numbers he intended to visit. Eight people left the van and quickly entered using the door he had unlocked.

Leaving the room, her joined the men in the service hallway and they all entered one of the elevators.

"Fourth floor. Angie Sirius is in room 406, Akeno Himejima in room 409."

"Good." nodded Chen Xiangshan as she scratched his short beard. He somehow had a bad feeling about this operation, and he couldn't understand why.

Everything was going well so far, and Lu Ganghu standing behind him should be able to deal with any magician. Besides, as this hotel was reserved for the Nine Schools Competition, nearly all the guests were youngsters inexperienced in real combat.

The elevator's doors opened, revealing the fourth floor's empty hallway. Zhou Gongjin and Chen Xiangshan, the only two members of the group able to use Ghost Walker, walked to their respective doors while Lu Ganghu and the rest of the men took position.

With shared look and a nod, each of them placed a black box against the door locks, and opened the doors.

Their plan was simple: enter the rooms, hit their target with incapacitating magic while they were still asleep, jab a needle in their necks to keep them unconscious for a few hours, secure them in specially made bags, and carry them to the van. They would have been in and out of the hotel in less than five minutes.

But that was where their plan went off the rails.

Zhou Gongjin carefully moved toward the bed, not making a single sound, but when his eyes got used to the dark, he noticed that his target wasn't there.

With a frown, he turned on a flashlight and quickly searched the room, making certain she wasn't hiding anywhere. The only thing that seemed out of place was a crystal ball on the desk, the kind of thing tourists bought as souvenirs, or maybe presents. He picked it up and examined it. He frowned a little as he saw something strange under the base. There was a gauge with numbers from 0 to 20.

He considered taking it with him to study it later, but decided to put it back where it had been placed. Since it looked like Akeno Himejima wouldn't be secured today, he didn't want to spook her by stealing one of her belongings. He would have time to ask her about the gauge later.

If only Angie Sirius was taken tonight, Akeno would likely take some precautions for a while, then relax her guard.

Zhou Gongjin left the room empty-handed, and his mood soured when he saw Chen Xiangshan in the hallway, shaking his head at him. It seemed that he had been equally unlucky.

He sighed as he walked back to the group.

"The room was empty. Should we check on the other rooms?"

"…No." replied Chen Xiangshan with a low voice. "There will be other opportunities. If we simply leave now, they will know someone infiltrated the building, but they will not know why or who was targeted. We leave and destroy the video recordings."

Zhou nodded, and they al started walking back toward the elevator, when the heard the soft sound of a door opening further down the hallway.

They immediately turned and saw a young woman dressed in First High's uniform leave room 412. Zhou Gongjin remembered from the registry that this room was assigned to the girl named Honoka Mitsui.

More importantly, they recognized her as being Akeno Himejima. They wouldn't leave empty-handed after all.

"Huh?" exclaimed the girl as she stared at them with wide eyes.

"Get her!" ordered Chen Xiangshan, and Lu Ganghu trotted toward Akeno, a huge grin on his face as he surrounded his body with the enhanced Air Armor spell he was famous for.

…

Akeno was just done taking a shower after a fun play with Honoka, and was returning to her room to get some sleep when she noticed a group of people in the hallway, near the elevator. And while one of them was dressed somewhat like a butler, they certainly weren't part of the room service!

"Huh!" Exclaimed Akeno as she actually recognized three of them, from holograms Noah had shown her. She hadn't really memorized their names, but Bearded Guy was a strategist using a magic allowing him to infiltrate defensive lines undetected, the Big Guy coming at her was a brainless brute nicknamed the Man-Eating Tiger, and Butler Guy was the most dangerous of the lot.

But they weren't supposed to face each other before the Thesis Competition!

Akeno shoved those thoughts aside as those guys apparently didn't get the memo and had showed up early. She activated augment, and just before Big Guy reached her, Akeno touched the white gown and her coat that were completely unsuitable for battle and transferred them into her inventory.

Big Guy's eyes widened as Akeno suddenly was in her black silk underwear, but he didn't slow down.

Akeno, aware that this enemy used some kind of compressed air layer as armor to increase his defense, circulated her psions and concentrated them in her hands. She didn't need a CAD to do that as she didn't try to feed those psions into a magic sequence, and simply caused them to leak out of her hands like some kind of white noise.

A white noise that would disrupt any nearby sequence.

This was a tactic she had developed as a crude version of Gram Demolition, the best anti-magic counter Tatsuya could use. She hadn't come up with a name for it yet, but the result spoke for itself.

When the Man-Eating Tiger was about to grab her, Akeno used her enormous advantage in speed and strength to jump forward and deliver a palm strike to his torso, putting all of her body weight and inertia into the move.

With a mighty cracking sound, the air armor protecting him instantly dissipated around her palm, and Lu Ganghu's momentum instantly reversed as he flew several meters backward with a cry of surprise and pain. The collapsed on the ground, writhing, and his comrades were horrified to see that his thoracic cage was caved in.

That wasn't apparently enough for the nearly naked woman as she jumped high in the air toward Lu Ganghu, and landed with her right foot crushing his throat.

"Kill her!" ordered Chen Xiangshan, and the six goons raised their rifles.

Akeno created several layers of shields to cover herself, as well as six spears she threw not at the men armed with rifles or at Bearded Guy, but at the butler who was side-walking toward her while keeping his back against the wall, not wanting to place himself in the line of fire.

She had received a system notification stating that this was man trying to use this Ghost Walker thing on her, but as this technique was a kind of interference with the target's brain and nerves, her immunity kicked in. She wanted to get rid of him while he thought his trick was working.

Butler noticed too late, and lowered his eyes to stare in shock at the spears piercing his chest and belly. He collapsed with a cry as well as one of he spears had damaged his spine.

Akeno created more spears. She aimed one at Butler's head, wanting to be sure, and one-shot the six goons before their bullets could overcome the third of her five shields.

"What kind of monster are you?" yelled Bearded Guy in abject shock, and Akeno received another Ghost Walker notification.

Akeno didn't say anything. She used Shunpo to appear in front of him, and as the man reached for his CAD, she seized his wrist and squeezed, breaking it. As the man started screaming, Akeno broke his other wrist. Two snap kicks shattered his knees, and Chen Xiangshan collapsed.

Between the screams and the gunshots, all the guests on the fourth floor were now awake, and hurriedly dressed before opening their doors, ready for a fight.

Mayumi was one of the first to witness the bodies, as well as the man screaming and throwing insults at Akeno standing over him in her underwear.

"W-What's happening, Akeno?"

"Ah, Mayumi. Can you keep an eye on that scum, please? I need to change first."

Mayumi could only nod as more and more doors started to open, and Akeno trotted to her room, disappearing inside.

Mayumi used a magic sequence to create a dry ice projectile and launched it at the wounded man. The projectile exploded in front of his face, turning into highly concentrated carbon dioxide, and the man inhaled it, losing consciousness seconds later.

As she took a closer look at the victim, she exclaimed in shock.

"Lu Ganghu!"

"Mayumi, do you know him?" asked Shizuku.

"He is a notorious magician of the Great Asian Union!"

"Was, you mean." nodded Erika. "Did you kill him?"

"Akeno did. She's gone back to her room to change. She wasn't wearing something suitable. They probably dragged her out of bed."

"Oh. That explains how they all went down so fat. I can tell how the fight went down just looking at their injuries and the crushed bullets on the ground."

Akeno quickly came back, dressed in her First High uniform. Everyone was up and about by now.

Mayumi noticed that Rin and Lina also came out of Akeno's room. And she suddenly remembered Akeno pointing out that Rin was one of her lovers. Surely Lina wasn't engaging in some carnal threesome?

She blushed and shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time to consider this.

Lina gasped at the corpses, but for some reason, she seemed more interested in the one with long dark blue hair dressed like a butler.

"What happened, Akeno?" asked Tatsuya intently.

"I couldn't sleep well, so I decided to take a stroll and stumbled upon those guys in the hallway near the elevator." shrugged Akeno. "They immediately ordered the big guy over here to "get me". I recognized him as a dangerous magician from the GAU, Man-Eating Tiger or something, meaning this had to be some kind of terrorist attack, and I defended myself."

"Yes, that's some 'defending yourself' you did there, Akeno." laughed Erica. "You didn't leave us anything to do."

"I left the leader alive, so we can question him."

They could hear the sounds of sirens approaching, and both guests from other floors and hotel staff were gathering.

"Mayumi, I'll be away from a few hours. Can you take charge of the crime scene, please?"

"Huh? Where are you going?"

Akeno smiled coldly at them.

"I am going to make a call to Kyouko. And then, I will bring something called 'consequences' to those behind this."

Tatsuya nodded, as he fully understood. In fact, if Akeno didn't do anything, he would. The GAU had just bared its fang at his sister in a senseless terrorist attack. They wouldn't get away with it.

"W-Wait, Akeno. You aren't going to start a war, are you?"

"Of course not. What will happen will be the doing of a terrorist organization who has nothing to do with Japan. We will wear masks."

"Still, this is too risky, please let the government deal with it."

"No." replied Akeno, walking toward the elevator.

"I'm coming." nodded Rin. "And so are the War Maidens."

"Yes, that will be plenty."

Once inside the elevator, Akeno pressed the button for the highest floor.

"What's the plan?" asked Rin.

"We're going to sink a few GAU warships, to teach them not to mess with us."

"Sounds good to me."

Once out of the elevator, Akeno found the stairs to the rooftop and forced open the door.

She took her smartphone and called Kyouko.

"Akeno? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, sorry. Is this line secure?"

"Give me a moment… Now you can speak."

"Do you know what just happened at the hotel?"

"No… Wait, there's some police movement."

"We got attacked by nine people from the GAU, including the Man-Eating Tiger. I killed them all save from their leader I just incapacitated. And the GAU needs to get its nose bloodied a bit, to teach them a lesson. Could you please give me the closest concentration of GAU warships? They are about to receive the visit of a group of masked, unidentifiable terrorists.

"Damn it, Akeno, do you realize how big of an ask that is? You could trigger a war!"

"Kyouko, do you know how you stop a school bully? What you're suggesting is the equivalent of reporting to the teacher, and that doesn't work. You stop a high-school bully by giving them a bloody nose."

"Are you seriously comparing politicians and generals to high school bullies?"

"In the GAU case? Yes. Prove me wrong. And don't worry. If the GAU want a war, I will deal with them."

Akeno knew from the fiction that the GAU had repeatedly plotted against Japan, until the day Tatsuya vaporized their biggest military port, with the fleet anchored. Then they simply stopped.

Akeno intended to just destroy a bunch of ships and leave the port alone. Assuming Kyouko didn't point her to a GAU battlegroup at sea.

"And if I don't take action, we both know someone who will." added Akeno.

"…Fine, you win. I warn you, if this blows up in my face, you better be ready to compensate me. Give me a minute…"

Akeno busied herself by creating black steel masks for Rin and the Valkyries, modeled after various mythological beasts.

"…Seaport of Jinhae, in what was once South Korea. 1150 kilometers West of your position. One carrier, eight cruisers, fourteen frigates, four subs, five support vessels. Don't touch the hospital ship, at the very least."

"We won't. Thank you. Talk to you later." smiled Akeno.

She took Sanctuary form her inventory, and placed Rin as well as the Valkyries inside.

Akeno deployed her black wings and flew in the air, progressively gaining speed. She didn't go straight to the target, but headed a little north to fly over less land and more sea. Once she was far enough from any human habitation, she accelerated past the speed of sound. She would reach her destination in less than an hour.

[It's been a while, partner.] she thought. [I haven't used you since that fight against Lyta.]

[Indeed. I should be happy to have a strong host, but you are so strong compared to them that I feel a bit useless. I am looking forward to stretching my limbs a little.] replied Albion.

…

Colonel Canopus gulped at what he saw on his screen, displaying a real-time satellite view of the Jinhae port. One ship after another was sliced apart by giant golden swords, or riddled with glowing projectiles coming form fast-firing weapons. The magicians attacking the GAU were deliberately targeting the ships' ammunition storages, causing them to explode violently.

The GAU military had done its best to defend, starting to fire missiles at the incoming threat when the single, white-armored magician was still over thirty kilometers away, but all their weapons proved to be unable to catch the nimble target, or ineffective when they caught it. The white-armored magician had landed in the middle of the port, done something the Major couldn't clearly see, and suddenly, seven other magicians were present, opening fire on the warships and taking to the air. One of them was apparently unable to fly and was carried by one of the others, but that only meant that person could focus on the offense.

It took them less than three minutes for them to obliterate every single warship present. Once done, the attackers gathered together, seven of them suddenly disappeared, leaving only the white-armored one, and that magician flew into the cover of the nearest forest. The satellite surveillance hadn't been able to locate that magician afterward.

And less than two hours later, Akeno resurfaced at her hotel to be interviewed by the police in her role in stopping the terrorist attack.

The Colonel snorted as he thought about the carnage she and her accomplices had left behind. Thousands of dead soldiers, and the GAU would require two or three years to replace their lost ships. It was so ironic of her to pose as a heroine simply defending herself after this.

Still, he was glad he had taken her warning seriously. Akeno Himejima might be a rabid dog looking for a target, but she had no reason to choose the USNA.

…

Three days after the incident, and First High's victory in the Nine Schools Competition thanks to Tatsuya dominating Monolith Code and giving Miyuki flight magic, Akeno, Lina and Rin found someone waiting for them in front of their house.

"Kyouko? Is everything ok?" asked Akeno.

"Aside from the minor fact that I've been sacked for giving you that information and risking a war without first getting approval from my superiors, yes, everything's just fine." sarcastically replied Kyouko.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Kyouko. How about we have some tea inside?"

Akeno opened the door, and they all entered.

"It seems like I'll take you up on that offer after all, if it's still available." smiled Kyouko.

"It is, of course." nodded Akeno. "I think you will find it to be an adequate compensation."

Akeno didn't bother hiding her ability to create food or drinks and directly created ten cups full of hot tea behand serving them. The Valkyries materialized, accepted them with mutters of thanks, and sat either at the table or in the sofa or armchairs.

Kyouko raised an eyebrow at yet another ability she didn't know about, but accepted the cup as well with a grateful nod.

"I do have a piece of good news, Kyouko." said Akeno as she sat down.

"I have talked to the people of Chaldea yesterday night. Alaya is getting close to locating the puller. She said three weeks at most."

"I see. That is indeed good news. Although it also means I don't have that much time to say goodbye to my family. If I go with you, there is no turning back, right?"

"That is unlikely." nodded Akeno.

"I happen to have nothing planned for a while, so I will make the most of it. And I may as well tell you what happened. The GAU people are mad. Really, really mad at you. But they do not seem to dare do something that may result in you paying them another visit."

"They know it was you wearing that white armor, even if they can't prove it without admitting their own wrongdoings. Sacking me was part of the government's efforts to placate them a little. Officially, it had nothing to do with them, you understand, and the diplomats only were heard by their GAU counterpart when they mentioned it between themselves with voices a little louder than they should."

"Yes, I'm sure it was a complete accident that the GAU heard them speak." nodded Rin.

"A complete accident, yes. Giving someone angry a victory, however small, if a well-known psychological trick to convince them to take the off ramp. If you need more information about the GAU, you can contact Captain Kazama at any time if you need."

"Have you questioned that bearded guy? What was their purpose when they came to the hotel?" wondered Akeno.

"We did. They somehow knew about the call you made to the Stars' commander and planned to abduct both Lina and you."

"Oh shoot." flinched Lina, placing her hands in front of her mouth as her eyes widened.

"The utter fools." sighed Rin as she shook her head.

"I see… Looking at the bright side, I think we will be free of interference until it is time for us to leave."

"You could say that, yes, after an example like that… This tea is really good." said Kyouko with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you. That's one of my favorites as well."

"So, what do I need to do to become Noah's subordinate?" asked Kyouko curiously.

"There will be a contract to sign and the training for you to learn Shunpo and our other abilities, but that can come later. Since we're now on limited time, you should use as much as possible to see your family and gather mementos."

"If the government is willing." suggested Rin. "How about we teach magecraft to our disciples every day of the week until Alya gives us the location?"

"I wouldn't mind. I'll ask the Captain later. And… Irs?"

"Yes, Mistress?" asked Geirskogul.

Kyouko didn't think about anything strange when hearing one of the War Maidens refer to Akeno as Mistress. Obviously, it was only to differentiate with Rin who they called 'Master', and to acknowledge Akeno's position as the leader above even Rin.

"Would you be willing to escort Kyouko until the time comes to go after the puller? Just in case the GAU would try to get revenge on us indirectly."

"I don't mind, consider it done, Mistress." nodded the Valkyrie.

"Thank you." smiled Akeno.

"I hope it won't prove necessary, but I appreciate it, thank you, Irs, Akeno." smiled Kyouko.

"Since I'm now going to be part of your faction, can you tell me more about Noah, and the other worlds? Our conversations so far were more about your agreement with the government Magecraft and things happening here, but I am curious about him as a person, and how it is to live in his home.

"Of course." smiled Akeno. "I will tell you a lot. One thing you should know about Noah I that he is somewhat of a scam artist, when it comes to women."

"A scam artist? That's not exactly reassuring." said Kyouko with a worried frown.

"I don't mean it in a bad way. And all those he 'scammed' are happier now that they were before meeting him. But to give you a concrete example, there are four young women in his harem that he made a deal with. They were to become his maids for three years, in exchange for him resurrecting the boy they loved."

"And he didn't keep his word?"

"He did. At least, he tried to, because the boy turned out to be alive all along. The girls only believed he was dead, but had never seen the body. What Noah did instead was help them reunite with that boy, and resurrect the boy's mother."

"That seems more than fair to me, considering the context. I do not see where the scam is." said Kyouko as she relaxed.

"What Noah didn't tell them when they decided to sign the maid contract, however, is that by the time he resurrected the boy in question, he would have made sure to seduce the four girls and steal them for himself. And a few months later, that was the case. They were happy being with Noah, and they viewed the boy more like a brother or close friend than a lover."

"I see. That was sneaky, but I guess that is still within the limits of fair game."

"Yes. Noah almost never lies, but 'All is fair in love and war' fits him to a T. If he wants you, he will use any method necessary to get his hands on you."

"And he wants me. I got it." nodded Kyouko. "That is hardly unexpected, though. When I came to your house today, I knew the offer you gave me implied becoming his lover, not just his subordinate. That's why I'd like to know more about him before it happens."