There was no rush to enter the ballroom the moment the doors opened. Taking advantage of the lull, Yugen sat back, his eyes casually fixed on his terminal. Before long, Tatsuya and Ayako returned from their "errand" at the convenience store, looking as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Perhaps realizing that returning empty-handed would look suspicious, Tatsuya held a single bottle of mineral water in his hand.
"Welcome back, Tatsuya. Did you find the... item you were looking for?" Yugen asked knowingly.
"I did," Tatsuya replied smoothly. "I'll be in the side room for about five minutes. Let me know when it's time."
"Understood. In that case, I'll leave the rest to Lina."
"Me!?" Lina squeaked, startled. "Well... fine, I guess."
Yugen knew exactly why Tatsuya had ducked into the side room. He was likely setting his magical "traps" for Jasmine Williams and James J. Johnson. Tatsuya had briefed him on the plan beforehand, and Yugen had no objections.
While he waited, Yugen kept his gaze on his terminal, but his mind was elsewhere. Using his 'Osiris Sight,' he expanded his sensory perimeter to encompass the entirety of West Side New Island and the surrounding waters.
(The lingering presence of the deserters... they're moving north, west of Kume Island. Most likely planning to deploy "human torpedo" infiltration capsules.)
Technically, they were torpedo-shaped pods propelled by magic, designed to close in on the island for a sabotage mission. However, their every move was being monitored. The National Defense Forces and the Great Asian Alliance had already cast their net, with the "Man-Eating Tiger," Lu Ganghu, positioned at the vanguard.
Reflecting on Lu Ganghu's recent record, Yugen almost felt a flicker of pity. During the Chiaki Hirakawa incident, the Tiger had managed to injure Shuu, but his 'Steel Qigong' had been neutralized by Kana. He had then barely escaped after taking a direct hit from a 'Black Tortoise Heavy Piercing Palm,' a secret technique of the Shinkage-ryu.
During the Isao Sekimoto affair, Tatsuya had dismantled his magic entirely before Mari and Mika beat him senseless. Then, in Yokohama, a version of Leo and Erika—far stronger than their original counterparts thanks to Yugen's influence—had shattered his 'White Tiger Armor' and handed him a crushing defeat.
For an elite special forces ace, his reputation was in tatters. It wasn't that Lu Ganghu was weak; it was simply that the power ceiling of this world had been raised so drastically by Yugen's presence that the Tiger's "superhuman" strength now seemed pedestrian.
It's proof that no matter how monstrously strong you are, you can't defeat a true monster, Yugen thought, though he found it difficult to accept that the description likely applied to himself as well.
Shifting his focus, Yugen pinpointed the current coordinates of Jasmine Williams and James J. Johnson. They were in a maintenance stairwell that should have been locked.
(The security guards aren't approaching despite the cameras. They must have looped the feed... I'll wait for Tatsuya to finish his work before I add my own insurance.)
Once he confirmed that Tatsuya's magic had settled on the targets, Yugen wove his own subtle interference into the mix. As he finished, Lina moved to Tatsuya's side, and Miyuki turned to Yugen.
"Yugen-sama, shall we depart?"
"Yes, let's."
Miyuki had swept her hair up, forgoing her usual hair ornament. Her exposed neck was adorned with the pearl necklace Yugen had gifted her, its luster radiant under the hotel lights.
A short while earlier, in the maintenance stairwell...
Jasmine Williams and James J. Johnson—having just encountered Tatsuya and Ayako at the convenience store—slipped into the shadows of the stairwell. They breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension didn't dissipate.
"Jazz."
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