“This is…”
Looking closely, something was stuck in the ground. A short sword with a red jewel, perhaps a [Magic Enchanted Armament]?
It was arranged in a circle, surrounding the area.
As Yuma hesitated, a voice came from above.
“Wow, that’s amazing… I didn’t think you could transform into Hell Garm. You’re definitely not a normal monster.”
He looked up. A man and a woman were standing on top of the building in front of him. He didn’t understand what they were saying, but he immediately recognized who they were.
“Albert!”
The tall man, with a slight smile, slowly raised both hands in front of him.
“Let’s settle this here, ‘Black Armor.’ I’ll use all my Magical Power for you.”
Yuma dashed off, trying to escape from the area where the flames weren’t rising. But flames erupted one after another from the short swords stuck in the ground.
The flames branched out sinuously, blocking his path.
“What is this!?”
The flames moved as if they had a will of their own, forming a cage-like shape.
It was a giant birdcage. A magical prison made of flames, with a radius of over ten meters. Albert, on top of the building, calmly admonished.
“Do you like it? The Third Tier Fire Magic.”
◇◇◇
“It seems Prometheus has succeeded in capturing ‘Black Armor’!”
A cheer spread through the large conference room of the Ministry of Defense, where the command headquarters was located.
“Immediately dispatch the other Seekers as well!”
Serizawa, the Defense Counselor, stood up from his seat and gave instructions in a loud voice. A staff member in charge of communications said, “Y-yes!” and connected the line to the Seekers.
Ignoring the frantically moving staff members, Defense Minister Takakura crossed his arms and glared at the monitor.
“Is there still no video feed from the location?”
“A Self-Defense Forces communication vehicle is heading there. We should be able to connect the relay soon.”
As Serizawa replied, Takakura opened his mouth while looking at the main monitor.
“Settle this here no matter what! No matter what…”
Serizawa silently listened to Takakura’s prayer-like mutterings.
◇◇◇
“What’s that?”
Kanzaki’s running feet stopped. A strange structure had appeared beyond the building.
A novel design, like modern art.
As he approached to confirm what it was, it wasn’t a structure. It was an aggregate of thinly stretched “flames.”
“Looks like a birdcage. Who’s making something like that?”
He went around the building and onto a large street. There, many Seekers were gathered, and Hell Garm could be seen inside the birdcage.
“Did they catch Hell Garm?”
As Kanzaki frowned, the body of the Hell Garm in question melted into a puddle.
After becoming a black puddle, it swelled up and took the shape of a person. Horns grew from its head, and its entire body was covered in black armor.
“Yuma!!”
He unintentionally let out a voice, but Kanzaki hurriedly closed his mouth.
Why is he captured? He could also become Hell Garm? Many questions ran through his head, but none of that mattered.
“I have to help Yuma somehow…”
He looked around. Then, his eyes stopped on the rooftop of a building. Someone was there.
“Albert! If that’s the case, is this his magic!?”
Kanzaki took out his smartphone and called Aisha.
“It’s me!”
“What happened? How is Yuma-kun?”
“I found Yuma. But he seems to be trapped by fire magic. It’s in the shape of a huge birdcage!”
“That’s…”
Aisha fell silent as if she was thinking about something.
“Hey! Say something. Can I break through by force!? If you want, I’ll help–”
“Don’t.”
There was a strange force in Aisha’s sharp words.
“Why!?”
“Is that Albert’s magic?”
“Yeah, it seems so. He’s standing on top of a building nearby!”
“If that’s the case, then that might be… ‘Third Tier Magic.'”
“What!? Third Tier?”
Kanzaki couldn’t believe his ears. He had never heard of such a thing.
“It’s just a rumor, but it’s said that Albert reached the ‘Third Tier Fire Magic’ in an experiment conducted in America. I didn’t know if it was true, but that ‘birdcage’ might be it.”
“Then, what should I do…”
“Keep the phone connected and tell me more details as you get closer. I might be able to figure out a way to break through.”
“O-okay! But is the communication environment okay? The call might get cut off midway.”
Aisha snorted.
“The government must have thought about that much. They should be using communication devices to amplify the surrounding radio waves. Don’t worry about unnecessary things, and just focus on helping Yuma-kun!”
“Got it!”
Kanzaki, with his smartphone in hand, headed towards the “birdcage” where the Seekers were gathering.
◇◇◇
“Trapped!? Isn’t this bad?”
Yuma grew impatient as he looked around. Surrounding him was a giant cage made of flames.
Only Albert could do something like this. He had to escape quickly.
Yuma clenched his right fist and unleashed a Seiken Zuki to break the prison. A fist wrapped in Water Magic.
The moment he touched the flames, thinking he could break through, the fire flickered and took the shape of countless snakes.
The fire snakes attacked Yuma all at once, and exploded when they touched his body.
“Uwaah!?”
He couldn’t help but step back. His arms and shoulders were burning hot.
“What is this fire!? I’ve never seen it before!”
At that moment, his eyes stopped on the short swords stuck in the ground. All the fire was erupting from the short swords arranged in a circle.
“Then, if I destroy those–“
Yuma pointed his left hand at the short sword, shaped it into a sword, and extended it in one go. The tip approached the short sword rapidly, but once again the flames flickered, this time swirling and attacking.
He blasted away the sword in his left hand with an explosion.
Furthermore, several flames took the shape of “snakes” and bit his legs and shoulders, exploding. Yuma pulled back his left hand, his face distorted in intense pain.
“Damn it! The flames are moving as if they have a will… What am I supposed to do with this?”
While Yuma was struggling inside the birdcage, many Seekers had gathered. The fastest among the overseas forces was the German Seeker Clan “Schutzengel.”
The leader, Matteo, was a veteran Seeker nearing fifty, a dignified gentleman with silver hair slicked back.
As he looked at the birdcage with interest, his eyes stopped on Albert on top of the building.
“Albert! Let us in, we’ll finish off ‘Black Armor’!”
Hearing that, Albert looked at Matteo while sending Magical Power to the birdcage.
“What do you want to do? There’s a possibility they might steal the credit.”
At the words of Mia, who was standing next to him, Albert smiled slightly and shook his head.
“It can’t be helped. ‘Black Armor’ is stronger than expected. We won’t be able to defeat him unless we all cooperate.”
Albert fine-tuned his Magical Power and created an entrance in the birdcage large enough for people to pass through.
The Seekers of “Schutzengel” passed through the flames and entered the birdcage. Matteo held the daggers in both hands and stared at the Black Armor.