That night, Tatsuya and his sister weren't the only ones active. While the Saegusa and Juumonji groups remained idle since Tatsuya hadn't requested their aid, the Chiba family had deployed a significant number of personnel at Erika's behest. However, Erika and her two friends had rushed to the scene alone for one simple reason: among the forces mobilized that night, they were the strongest.
The downside of their strength was that they now found themselves standing guard over the bound Parasites, waiting for a transport vehicle—only to be discovered by a far more troublesome party before their backup could arrive.
"Hey! You there! What do you think you're doing?!"
Two young men in police uniforms shouted as they skidded to a halt on their bicycles, illuminated by the streetlights. At the sight of them, Mikihiko's face paled with panic, Leo let a defiant smirk curl his lips, and Erika simply met them with a cold, challenging stare.
"What is this?! You're high school students, aren't you? What the hell is going on here?"
"Uh, well, you see..." Mikihiko began, his mind racing for a plausible excuse.
"And who exactly are you supposed to be?" Erika interrupted, her voice dripping with condescension.
"What did you say?!"
As Mikihiko desperately tried to weave an apology for what he thought was a legitimate police stop, Erika's aggressive counter-question only fanned the flames of the men's anger. Mikihiko stared at her, aghast at her lack of restraint.
"Didn't you hear me? I asked who you are," Erika repeated. "Didn't you get the memo? There aren't supposed to be any real cops in this district tonight. Orders were issued. Even my idiot brother isn't incompetent enough to miss a detail like that."
Erika's words were a total bluff, backed by nothing but her own intuition. Any real officer would have laughed in her face and arrested her on the spot. Instead, the young man standing before her flinched.
"Don't be ridiculous," he stammered.
"If you were going to play dress-up, you should have gone with plainclothes detectives," Erika teased. "I might have at least listened to your story then. Just listened, mind you."
The taller man moved to shout at her, but his partner held him back, stepping forward in his place. He was shorter but possessed a much sturdier, more athletic build.
"Trying to talk your way out of this won't work. We're looking at a flagrant case of assault. You're coming with us."
"Oh, so we're sticking to the script? Fine. But sorry to burst your bubble—we just apprehended these two in the middle of an attempted sexual assault. It's a citizen's arrest. We're just waiting for the actual police to arrive. There's no room on the stage for fakes like you. Do. You. Understand?"
Mikihiko watched his childhood friend spin the lie with such effortless conviction that he almost believed it himself. But because he was so distracted by Erika's performance, he was a split-second late in sensing the approaching presence.
"Miki!"
"Mikihiko!"
A black shadow dropped silently from above. By the time Mikihiko realized someone had leaped over the high cemetery wall, it was too late to mount a proper defense.
Impact slammed into his shoulder. He realized he had been shoved aside only after he had instinctively tucked into a forward roll. Above him, Leo's braced arm took the full force of a descending club.
"Tch!"
Leo tried to drive a gale-force fist into the attacker as they landed, but the blow only grazed the intruder before they retreated. In the dim glow of the streetlights, Mikihiko caught the glint of something metallic.
"Leo! Get back!"
Mikihiko whipped his left arm forward. A fan-shaped CAD slid from his sleeve, and he caught it with practiced ease. He moved to cast a support spell to aid Leo, but a ring-like object whistled through the air, clattering against his CAD. He managed to keep his grip, but the spell sequence was shattered.
As the skirmish intensified, Mikihiko realized they were being systematically herded away from the bound Parasites. The enemy hadn't broken through their line yet, but if they kept being pushed back, the prisoners would be snatched before reinforcements arrived. They had to end this now, even if it meant getting reckless.
Just as he reached that conclusion, the enemy seemed to decide the same. Their timing was identical, but the attackers moved a breath faster.
The sound of something heavy descending came from above. Leo kicked his opponent away while Erika unleashed a flurry of sharp strikes to create distance.
"Get down!"
Mikihiko's voice rang out as a cocoon of pressurized air enveloped Erika and Leo—a defensive barrier of his own making. A canister dropped from the sky and detonated before it hit the ground, blanketing the area in a thick, choking smokescreen.
Mikihiko summoned a gust of wind to clear the haze, revealing the truth of the situation. A massive metal claw, lowered by a thick cable, had clamped onto the Parasites and was being winched upward at high speed. The cable led to a pitch-black hull hovering silently in the night sky—an airship designed to blend into the darkness. The captives disappeared into the gondola.
Erika dropped into a low stance, her blade poised for a shockwave-enhanced upward slash. Her strike didn't have the power of a Strategic-Class spell, but it was more than enough to shred the gas bag of an airship and bring it down.
"Don't, Erika!"
At Mikihiko's shout, she reluctantly relaxed her stance. She knew as well as he did that crashing an airship in the middle of the city would be a catastrophe.
By the time they looked back down, the ground attackers had vanished. It was obvious the fake cops and the airship were part of the same operation.
"Well... this is a disaster," Erika muttered.
Mikihiko nodded in grim agreement. Erika turned toward him, her face suddenly wearing an unnervingly sweet, artificial smile.
"So... what exactly are we going to tell Tatsuya-kun?"
"Uh... we should probably call him, right?" Mikihiko looked to Leo for support.
Leo simply shrugged, looking away. "It's late. Wouldn't it be a bother to wake him up?"
"Aha! You're right. It is late. Let's just tell him tomorrow," Erika chirped.
"Yeah. Tomorrow sounds good," Mikihiko agreed.
The three of them shared a hollow, forced laugh that was quickly swallowed by the midnight breeze.
"He's going to be mad... isn't he?" Leo muttered.
"Who knows? Tatsuya's usually pretty forgiving, but..." Mikihiko trailed off.
"He's the type where his mouth might be smiling, but his eyes definitely aren't," Leo added.
At that thought, Erika and Mikihiko both instinctively hugged their own shoulders, shivering despite the lack of a chill.
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