Amanojaku | Divine Weakness

Prologue

August 11, 2092 AD | Okinawa
Kuroba Mahiru stood a few meters behind her cousin. Instead of the billowing white dress she'd worn for her summer trip, she now wore a full-body military suit that covered everything but her face. Instead, her identity was obscured with a mask as helmets tended to obstruct her enhanced sense.

Dimensional Hearing was an innate perception type ability, unique to Mahiru. Just as her cousin utilized Elemental Sight, she connected to the information dimension that magic resided in through her hearing. The slight pitch, tone, and frequency changes were all indicators of magic manifestations. Because of this heightened skill, she was unusually adept at passively understanding magic. Just like her cousins.

Speaking of her cousin, Mahiru glanced at the only other figure on the cliff with her. Unlike the rest of her family, who were hidden away and watching this scene through surveillance, she was standing in the middle of the battlefield alone with her cousin. And unlike her cousin, who was armed with a large rifle, she clutched a singular rectangular device in her small hand.

She would not be welcomed when she returned home. No longer would her mother tolerate her existence. She'd be kicked out of the main house and expelled from the succession line. There was only one rule for the Yotsuba successor candidates: 'Do not endanger your life.' By helping her spare of a cousin in the middle of the battlefield, she was no better than him.

"We have been spotted," Tatsuya's terse tone signaled.

"Roger," Mahiru answered, closing her eyes and focusing on the sounds. She supposed she was lucky. To be gifted with a sense to hear magical activation, her accuracy in pinpointing magic properties while it was still being activated was second to none. That coupled with her superior Interference Strength and Magic Toleration, she could accurately defend and attack. A perfect tactician.

Within a second, she'd already encompassed the entire cliff with her magic. The muted pinging sounds indicated that it was holding. All the bullets stopped in their tracks. The sounds were the signature of Null Vector, an acceleration and movement-type magic. Only possible with the combination of superior Interference Strength and Dimensional Hearing.

Tatsuya hefted the weapon before locking it onto the target. A soft click could be heard, and Mahiru readied for a different spell. Her cousin set aside the rifle before extending his right arm. Supporting with his left hand, he pointed his right hand like a gun before unleashing a torrent of destruction.

The destruction took the form of a blinding hue of white, obliterating everything in its wake. The volley of ammunition ceased abruptly, and a new threat made itself known. The destruction with nothing else in its wake, moved to destroy the nearest thing.

Tatsuya turned to Mahiru, counting down the impact. She prepared for another spell—her silver bullet, what her magical ability was essentially at its core.

Inverse was a non-systemic type of magic that would and could render any magic neutral, returning the real world to the state it was before. But because it was a reaction to any magic spell, the form it took on would differ on where it was applied. Therefore, Mahiru would be able to essentially create any type of magic she pleased depending on the initial spell.

Material Burst was a dispersion spell, needing matter to remain satiated. There was nothing to balance it other than a theoretical matter. And that was what she'd create.

The sounds crescendoed around her, and all she needed to do was pick them out. Inky pools emanated from around them, swarming the blinding light. Consuming it. She remained grounded, constantly envisioning herself connected with the ground below her. If she let go, there would be no returning to reality anymore.

A hand gripped her arm, and she ceased her thoughts. The pool dissipated, and just like that. It was over. An entire fleet had been obliterated by a thirteen and twelve-year-old.

She glanced at her cousin's passive expression before glancing up at the open sky. She knew the surveillance captured that. She knew what her aunt knew now. Whether that was a blessing or a curse, it wouldn't be until later she understood what her aunt wanted with her.

***

Secure Military Base
As the two figures reappeared on the monitors, Miyuki kept herself from clapping her hands together in relief. Both her brother and cousin were alive, and she didn't send them to their deaths. She could feel the corners of her eyes tearing up, and she swallowed them back. This wasn't the time or place.

"I told my sister," Miya murmured, glancing at the feed. "That perhaps what she wanted was hers all along, not mine." With that, she patted her daughter's head with an odd expression.

Miyuki could only glance at her mother in confusion. She didn't ask any questions—they were in public after all, but the eerie smile on her mother's face would remain in her memory for the rest of her life.