Editing Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

Her full name was Mutou Natsumi.

Haruga Haruomi aka Hal called her "Mutou-san." She was Hal's classmate and fellow club member. Another classmate, addressed similarly as "Funaki-san," had a full name of Funaki Kyouka, actually.

What these two girls shared in common was their school, year level and homeroom.

In fact, they also lived near each other. Both of them were residents of Gasai in the Edogawa Ward.

However, their homes were separated by a fair distance. Even so, the two of them would often run into each other at the station or on the streets. Like this chance encounter while all residents were heading to the local designated shelter or some such would be very likely to happen.

"Dear me, isn't this Funaki-san? What a coincidence."

"Oh my, this must be what they call destined neighbors."

The short-haired girl with the outgoing personality, Mutou-san, greeted "Hi," prompting the twintailed girl who always greeted everyone cheerfully, Funaki-san, to respond with a smile.

This encounter was taking place in an elementary school's gym that served as the local designated shelter.

Serendipitously finding an acquaintance nearby due to a crowd of over a thousand gathered in one place, this was probably thanks to luck and living in the same area. Contributing factors probably included the fact that it was after 6pm when it would not be unusual for students to have returned home, right?

"The dragons are probably nearing Kantou by now, right?"

Despite being in the middle of an evacuation, Funaki-san spoke with an extraordinarily laid back air.

The Kantou region had been protected by the "emerald serpent" for many years. There were also many SDF bases nearby. Even if lesser dragons attacked, it had been a long while since the last time it evolved into a major tragedy. Consequently, the residents were not very tense.

But as an informed member of the UFO Research Club, Mutou-san shook her head.

"Hmm... Since they issued an evacuation order like this, I'm thinking that Tokyo Bay has already been breached. Rather than nearing Kantou, it's probably better to say that they're nearing Tokyo."

"Uh, how near is this 'near' you're talking about!?"

"I fear they might have reached Shin-Kiba or the Ariake area."

However, Mutou-san was not god.

She did not know that the dragons had not only breached Tokyo Bay but also reached the interior of New Town. Instead, she was just joking around to scare her classmate. Probably due to suddenly getting scared, Funaki-san's eyes began to well up with tears.

At this moment, a stretcher was lifted into the gym, startling the two girls.

"M-Mutou-san, he's so handsome! That guy is so handsome!"

"Uh, that's what surprised you? But yeah, that's definitely surprising too."

Funaki-san pointed at the young man lying on the stretcher.

A handsome silver-haired man. The deep-set features and pale complexion of his face were clearly not Japanese. Furthermore, his build was tall and slim.

It was unknown whether he was injured or not, but a pained expression surfaced on his face. His consciousness also seemed hazy.

Carrying the stretcher were not paramedics but two ordinary men. They were tirelessly speaking to people nearby, looking quite helpless.

&mdash;I heard that Gasai has been attacked by dragons. Yeah, this guy apparently got hurt there and so was sent here for treatment. Can someone have a look at him&mdash;?

After listening to the situation, nearby adults all gathered around a middle-aged man.

Mutou-san originally wanted to follow the crowd but gave up because there were too many people. Instead, she approached the stretcher that was placed on the gym's floor.

Funaki-san had already gone over there. Worriedly, she stared at the handsome silver-haired man.

"I-Is he hurting somewhere? But at a glance, I don't see any bleeding..."

"Well, it could be a fracture, internal damage, concussion or a pre-existing disease. Hmm, then all we can do is ask around to see if there's a doctor&mdash;"

The classmate was right, the young man definitely showed no external injuries.

Although Mutou-san herself was quite flustered herself, she still tried to handle the urgent situation. However, she noticed the young man was muttering something.

"Urgh... Although I know not where you came from, Zizou&mdash;Don't expect things to go your way...!"

After listening to this bizarre statement, Mutou-san went "eh?" in puzzlement.

At this moment, the young man pressed his right palm over his heart, causing a "bzzzt!" sound to emit from his body. Next to him, Mutou-san and Funaki-san trembled slightly, feeling as though their entire body had been electrified.

"W-Was that static electricity just now...?"

Just as Funaki-san cocked her head in doubt, a bizarre phenomenon happened, far beyond the realm of mysterious static electricity.

People around them suddenly collapsed one after another. And not just a few or a couple dozen. All the people in the gym, hundreds of them&mdash;

"W-What's with everyone...?"

The sudden calamity caused Mutou-san to jump in surprise from the bottom of her heart.

But even so, she still approached the nearest old man and pressed her hand against his neck.

"So cold!?"

Mutou-san could not help but feel shocked because the old man's skin felt icy cold.

She hastily checked the pulse on his wrist and brought her ear against his lips&mdash;Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. Although it was frighteningly weak, the pulse was beating at least. There was also slight breathing.

"B-But at this rate, it's still bad. Are you okay!?"

Mutou-san tried to shake the old man by the shoulders. He did not wake up.

She also tried to pat his cheeks lightly. Still did not wake up. She then tried to shake him even harder. The man showed no signs of waking up at all.

With inexplicable unease surging in her heart, Mutou-san slowly looked around her in the gym.

Not everyone had fainted. Funaki-san was fine. Although the handsome young man was still tormented by unknown pain, his eyes still glinted with the light of consciousness.

There were six or seven more people like Mutou-san who were surprised by the sudden calamity&mdash;

Apart from that, everyone else had collapsed. Mutou-san's family, who had come to take shelter with her, had all fallen unconscious. Out of roughly a thousand people, to think that no more than ten remained fine...

"I-I will look outside!"

"Mutou-san!?'

Ignoring Funaki-san's call, Mutou-san ran out of the gym without looking back.

It was already night outside. Furthermore, white mist was hanging in the air. The mist was frighteningly dense, limiting visibility beyond five meters.

However, she stared intently amidst this vision-obscuring mist.

The hundreds of people over on the sports ground had all collapsed, rendered unconscious.

Mutou-san tried to wake several of them, but the result was the same as before. No one woke up.

"What on earth is going on...?"

Although well-informed, Mutou-san was not an expert in handling dragons.

Shocked and helpless, there was no way for her to reach the conclusion that "an elite's high-level magic" was responsible.


"Senpai, Nee-sama, Asya-san! Are you all okay!?"

"Although it's not quite correct to say we almost lost our lives, we survived at least..."

"Seeing you in good health too, Hazumi, I can finally stop worrying."

After meeting up with the unharmed Hazumi, Hal and Orihime remarked respectively.

Getting off the large escort ship that had arrived at the Shin-Kiba pier, the group immediately made their way to the reclaimed land.

Whether the harbor or this place, thick white mist was hanging everywhere. Dozens of policemen in tactical unit uniforms were collapsed on the ground in deep slumber.

"Because Minadzuki protected me... But Kenjou-san and the police&mdash;"

Hazumi tearfully reported to her cousin.

"I failed to protect everyone properly..."

"This can't be helped. Even if Luna and I were here, we probably wouldn't have been able to do anything."

Asya patted her junior on the shoulder to comfort her.

The runes of Ruruk Soun released by the old dragon, Exhos, had summoned thick white mist.

Almost all humans within range of the dense mist would fall into an unconscious state.

The MPD tactical teams and Kenjou stationed here to support Hazumi and Minadzuki had mostly fallen victim, rendered unconscious. Currently, the ones giving them aid were members of the JMSDF and JASDF who had entered port together with Hal's group.

Shin-Kiba's reclaimed land suddenly became noisy.

Meanwhile, Luna Francois said with a laid back expression, "It seems that the area swallowed by this dense mist is almost fully investigated."

She announced while confirming on her cellphone. Telephone lines were still operating normally, hence it was possible to contact the outside world and aggregate information.

In particular, as the Shootdown Ace, Luna had no ordinary relationship with the TPDO.

Added to that was her position as a cadre of SAURU. She ought to have powerful information gathering abilities at her disposal.

"From what I hear, it practically covers the entire Old Tokyo Concession, all of Tokyo New Town except for the all areas north of the Arakawa in the Adachi Ward, as well as parts of Ichikawa City and Urayasu City in Chiba Prefecture. Since I am not familiar with the geographic layout here, I don't know the scope of the white mist's effects at all."

"Oh my, in other words, it's quite far reaching."

"In addition, the majority of humans under its effects are 'frozen.'"

"Frozen, you say?"

"Yes. Complete loss of consciousness, extremely weak vital signs, a state of suspended animation akin to cold sleep. That is why I used the word frozen. By the way, not just humans but even cats, dogs, birds, cattle, horses, reptiles and fish have ostensibly fallen victim too."

"I see. Magic to force living organisms into suspended animation huh..."

"But it seems that a number of people were fortunately spared&mdash;They were not attacked by the magic."

"Isn't Tokyo New Town's population roughly seven hundred thousand?"

After listening to the information provided by Luna Francois, Asya murmured.

Tokyo's population had decreased substantially from over ten million in the past.

"I suppose it is because the magic is cast over an extremely wide area upon nonspecific targets? This follows the same principle as how there are always people who escape infection no matter how virulent a disease."

"T-Then how many people are unaffected!?"

"The precise number is obviously unknown but from what I hear, it doesn't seem to exceed 20%."

After replying readily to Hazumi, whose face was filled with worry, Luna continued.

"We will be of little help even if we were to stay here. Why not head over to where information is pooled? Oh dear? What is that place called, Harry? This city's police headquarters."

"Are you perhaps referring to the MPD at Kanegafuchi?"

"Yes, that one. True to the name of Harry, your reply truly hit the spot."

Incidentally, the vicinity of Kanegafuchi had been redeveloped into modernized commercial and office zones.

This district, rich in the trappings of ''Shitamachi'', the low-lying and traditional part of Tokyo, from the previous century was no more, transformed into an urban space similar to Shinjuku Fukutoshin in the past.

Hal shrugged and asked Luna Francois.

"Let me ask about something else. Is that totally sudden nickname actually referring to me?"

"Of course. Haruga Haruomi shortens to Harry. Don't you like it?"

"As long as it doesn't pop up without warning like just now. By the way, that nickname reminds me of a certain wizard who rose to prominence thanks to the clout of a father with strong asshole tendencies. That feels a bit annoying."

"Ah yes, Mr. Potter's son is a bit garbage, isn't he? But please rest assured."

Luna smiled tenderly.

"The Harry I am picturing is the dirty one."

"Although that guy isn't garbage, he's a sorry excuse of a human being with serious behavioral issues, right?"

"Who cares? I didn't have an easy time coming up with that one."

"As expected of you, Luna. How frivolous can you get? I can't believe you're still cracking these jokes in this emergency situation..."

"However, Asya, I saw it. Fifteen minutes prior, you were hiding away, wolfing down seven cans of beef stroganoff taken from military rations."

"W-When did you uncover a maiden's secret&mdash;!?"

"Fufufufu. Know that walls have ears♪"

"Umm, I understand that despite acting like this, all of you are actually thinking seriously about many matters&mdash;Because I believe that, I don't mind at all."

After listening to the conversation between Hal and the senior witches, Orihime sighed lightly.

At the same time, she hugged Hazumi who clearly had no idea how to react towards her elders' frivolous behavior.

"But I do hope you could stop saying things in front of Hazumi that could be a bad influence..."

"Don't worry. The current situation could be considered fortunate, actually, almost enough to hold a celebration party. After all, in a situation where an elite has cast high-level magic, the victims are merely sleeping as result. Instantly massacring all residents would be the worst-case scenario."

This comment, extreme yet to the point, was very much in the style of a master-class witch with serious personality flaws.

However, Luna Francois spoke softly with a pensive expression.

"The elite probably wanted to enchant the entire area of New Town and Old Tokyo, hence the level of the magic had to be decreased. Thus what resulted was not a death curse but something half-baked like cold sleep."

As one would expect, Luna Francois was evidently a very capable person.

No wonder Hal's childhood friend called her a "villain." In that case, communicating with her was easy. Hal spoke up.

"Can I make a request? I think the next course of action is to start assessing the damage or deploy rescue operations&mdash;But my hope is that first priority is given to searching and protecting Juujouji and Shirasaka's family."

"Understood. Leave it to me."

Luna replied very readily without even asking for reasons.

Listening to the above conversation, Hazumi panicked instead.

"N-No, we can't be the only ones to receive preferential treatment."

"You are so honest. But don't worry, this level of privilege is nothing special."

"Fair... enough. We will accept their kind gesture, Hazumi."

"N-Nee-sama!?"

"We are not like Asya-san and Luna-san, capable of staying calm at all times. Since worrying about family will divert our attention, we should make use of privilege to eliminate uncertain factors."

Concern for family versus sense of public duty. Justice versus responsibility.

Orihime weighed all of this then declared firmly. To think that she could display such open-minded mental strength, sure enough, she was no ordinary character.

Seeing his companion was so reliable, even Hal nodded at Hazumi himself.

The law-abiding junior fell silent, lost in thought. Finally, she nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Hazumi-san, as witches risking your lives, this sort of trivial thing is part and parcel of your rightful privileges. No need to let this weigh on your mind. By the way, there is something slightly problematic about what Orihime-san said just now..."

"Eh? Did I say something wrong?"

Confronted with her puzzled junior witch, Asya began to complain.

"Basically, lumping me together with Luna. Compared to Luna's villainous heart and evil, even the four devas of Buddhism become insignificant characters, let alone someone like me? I am just a frail and gentle girl. That's why&mdash;"

"U-Umm, Haruga-kun, what do you think...?"

"Don't ask for my opinion. Go ahead and speak your mind."

"I-In that case, I still think that my impressions of Asya-san and Luna-san are locked in close race."

"Haruomi! Please stop giving advice that could fracture friendship between girls!"

Just as they were chatting intensely, Hazumi suddenly pointed at the sky.

"E-Everyone look&mdash;!"

A blue Raptor was soaring through heavy mist in the night sky.

Raptors were normally the color of steel. However, the surface of this Raptor's body was coated with quite a striking color, resembling a brilliant sapphire.

After observing the ground's situation with its head down, the blue Raptor flew away.

"In other words, Tokyo has been occupied by the dragons..."

Hal recalled the final scene that had taken place at sea.

This had happened not long after white mist appeared at New and Old Tokyo&mdash;

'Confirm with your own eyes what mysterious phenomena the mist will cause. What I wish to tell your ape-like race is actually very simple.' ple.' ple.'

The old dragon, Exhos, had returned to the side of the escort ship carrying Hal and the others.

Hovering motionlessly in the air with his steel wings spread out, he said, 'No one may leave this "Tokyo" that is sealed by the mist. If you abide by this rule, I will respond with appropriate action.' tion.' tion.'

Exhos' head was a dragon skull.

Where eyeballs originally resided, there were the depressions of eye sockets, merely empty caves remaining. However, the two eye sockets were directed at the escort ship's deck&mdash;Haruga Haruomi with magic gun in hand.

'Because it seems there are others to be wary of apart from the Tyrannos of the Sword! I will neither belittle nor underestimate the authority of dragonslaying power. Allow me to uphold the rightful level of respect.' pect.' pect.'

At this moment, the old dragon, who had turned into white bones, began to snicker as though the situation was unfolding satisfactorily.

'Fufu. Naturally, I could also choose to dispose of you lot first&mdash;' ' '

GOAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH.

Genbu-Ou suddenly growled at this moment as though warning its compatriot. As a result, the old dragon, Exhos, suddenly switched to a solemn tone of voice.

'I understand, vassal of black. Let the jokes cease here. Well then, goodbye for now.' now.' now.'

After saying that, Exhos invoked Teleportation magic to disappear suddenly.

Then Genbu-Ou vanished together.

However, the whole time before vanishing, the gigantic and imposing turtle's eyes were watching the movements of Hal's magic gun intently as though keeping him under scrutiny. This too was the undeniable truth&mdash;