Prologue Illustration by Chu [https://static.tildacdn.com/tild6231-3536-4636-a166-643239613733/prolog.jpg]
??.??. 2025
“Easy peasy they said, huh?”
A short guy in a hat with cat ears smirked as he stood on the roof of a tall apartment building, watching as a vehicle below was cautiously approaching a nearby house. His accomplice gave out a loud ‘tsk’ and took a drag from his cigarette. That one was a tall, grim man with dark hair gathered in a small ponytail. Both guys were younger than thirty, but the sarcastic cat-boy looked like a teenager in comparison with his gloomy friend. Even a big tribal tattoo on his shoulder didn’t contribute to his maturity.
There were also two girls standing farther from the end of the roof—one with a high ponytail of purely white hair, the other with a brown side-shaved head. Both wore black clothes. The shorty, however, was wearing a bright mustard-colored T-shirt with a cartoonish face and a slogan that read: “No Cat No Life” in the center.
New Tokyo City was far below them—a perfect place for those who adore urban landscapes. At night, this kingdom of skyscrapers and flashlights looked especially gorgeous. But the enforcers had no time to enjoy the view, as the luxury minivan stopped in front of a small warehouse right across their watchpoint. The car’s logo read PRISM; Professional Institution of Specialists in Magic.
“Pretty quick, aren’t they?” said the gloomy guy.
“Well, there’s gotta be something special in their Magical Anti-Crime Special Force brand.” His cat friend was still sneering.
“It’s obvious that someone reported we’d prepare this raid,” the white-haired girl named Niji said, looking confused. “But who?”
“Meh, who cares? Just look how many people are attending the party. We have Elio and Elia twins, Shadow, Hitomi-chan aaaaaaaand… holey moley, if it isn’t Aoi! That’s too bad. And there’s someone in the car. I’ll bet my hat that Takeshi-kun is working part-time as a driver… good thing I see no signs of my brain-damaged friend down there.”
“Nice timing with placing him in a hospital.” The girl with half-shaved hair smiled.
“Why me?” the gloomy guy asked. “He should’ve been watching the road instead of trying to hit me on the crosswalk.”
While he was speaking, the passengers left the car, all dressed in the matching black-and-white uniforms of PRISM. Firstly, the twin couple of melee Battle Mages, a boy and a girl with similar short-cut fair hair. Both had little tattoos on their necks, the right side for her and the left side for him. They jumped out from the minivan, eager to start a fight.
The next one was Shadow, a tall medic of striking appearance. Long silver hair fell from his shoulders to his lower back, emphasizing his celestial appearance. In contrast to the twins, Shadow was standing perfectly still, his right hand on his hip—an intricate symbol on the back of his hand.
He was joined by Hitomi, an elegant Asian beauty. Not a single dark hair was sticking out of her perfect bun, and a braid on the right side was symmetrical with the tattoo under her left eye. Two glowing lights were floating behind her back, shining like blue LEDs.
The last one to leave the car was Aoi—who was easily identified as a commander of the squad with her extreme height and severe face. She was also wearing a long black-and-white coat. On her hip there was a scabbard with a fancy-looking guard sticking out from it. Aoi touched her elegant rectangle-shaped glasses, observed the target building and began the briefing, pressing her back against the minivan.
All these people were a part of the Magical Anti-Crime Special Force, so they could easily be considered the best wizards of New Tokyo. And it was clear they had arrived there to take out their target, a gang of cursed mages hiding in the building nearby.
“Okay, change of plan,” said the gloomy guy. “We’ll fight them on the spot.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until they wipe out the others, and then…”
“No, Dammit. It wouldn’t.”
“You joke first, I die next,” the shorty muttered.
“What’s the strategy?” Niji asked. She felt the anxiety rising inside her, but she managed to stay cool-headed.
“We distract Shadow so he’s fully focused on healing,” the grumpy mage said, concentrating intensely. “Our top priority is to get by Elio and Elia’s replication. I am sure they will do burst damage, as they intend to finish everything ASAP. Dammit, can you handle Hitomi’s zoo and give us some support?”
“With pleasure!” the young man with the cat ear hat replied.
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“Then Niji, Rebecca and me will deal with the twins, so Shadow won’t have a chance to burn our mana. When he’s empty, I’ll go for him.”
“How about me just teleporting behind and taking out the healer?” asked Rebecca, the half-shaved girl. “This could save us some time, no?”
“No.”
“But…”
“Nah, it’s no use, Beckz. Grumpy has it personal.” Shorty’s voice was full of irony, but his friend ignored him again.
“We can offer them a fair fight,” he said.
“What did you have at math?” Dammit wondered. “You’ve forgotten Aoi and Takeshi are back singers. Four against six. You can add a lot of elioelia clones, so it doesn’t make us even, innit?”
“Just leave it to me. Okay, gotta go, there isn’t much time left.”
The tall mage got rid of his cigarette and scooped the surprised Niji over his shoulder. Then, grabbing Dammit as well, he jumped down from the building, large semi-transparent wings glowing behind his back. He made it to the ground with an accurate and soft thump not far from the minivan. A small ink-like smoke appeared next to him, and Rebecca emerged from it half a second later. The enforcer set Niji on her feet.
“Like I needed your help to go down,” Niji grumbled as Dammit fell on his butt with a splat and overplayed clumsiness.
This splendid entrance didn’t scare anyone. On the contrary, Elio and Elia seemed to become even more excited. The four mages moved towards their rivals. Aoi raised her hand in an “It’s okay” signal and stepped forward. The clinking sound of her heels emphasized her confidence.
“Hi there, Aoi.” The dark mage’s voice was full of familiarity. “What a coincidence that we are all here at the same time. Now we have to decide who’s gonna get all the glory.”
“Are you out of your mind, Dasnor Hunt?” she replied in a low strict voice. “We are investigating a serious crime, not brawling for a pack of monsters.”
“They have killed a former M.A.G.E. member. According to the Codex, we can deal with them ourselves.”
“You wish to speak with me about the laws?”
“I don’t.”
“We have no time, Dasnor. First, their involvement in the case has not yet been proven. Second, the site is packed with Violets. Third, it’s a waste to spend our time on the argument, let alone have a useless fight. Our operation commences in three minutes. Please keep your distance. End of discussion.”
“But you’re well aware that we won’t give up as long as we’re here.”
“Attacking PRISM in the course of our duties?” Aoi frowned even more. “Too reckless even for your lot.”
“Why don’t we join forces?” Shadow flicked back his hair in a dandy manner. “After all, we are pursuing the same target.”
Dasnor twitched a little, then hissed with his eyes piercing the healer, “M.A.G.E. with Black and White? No way.”
“Hey, Aoi, we need some warm-up!” Elia exclaimed in a merry voice, and the twins jumped up to the commander. “Please! It’s a two-spell matter, no more than that!”
“Well, as there is no avoiding the fight, I see no sense in wasting our time anymore.” Aoi placed her hand on the scabbard.
“Wait a sec.” Dasnor stopped her with a gesture. “How about four-on-four? There is no dignity in an uneven setup, right?”
His manoeuvre was crazy but simple: to use this woman’s principles against her. He knew very well her strong sense of justice. The sense which denies all glory if your opponent is much weaker. But the situation was far from ordinary, and Dasnor wasn’t sure it would work like in more trivial circumstances. The Special Force commander was eager to finish the Violets as soon as possible, and the chances for successful negotiations were slim.
Heavy silence fell upon all the mages. Aoi turned and walked back to the car, while everybody was closely watching her distinct pace. When she reached the minivan, she spun and pulled out her sword, its blade covered with pale blue light. Aoi swiped and a magic cloud surrounded her teammates, going somewhere inside them. Apparently, it made them feel a lot more prepared for battle.
“I hope you still consider it fair,” she said and opened the car’s door.
After a high hive, Elio and Elia rushed forward. As Dasnor had predicted, the twins divided themselves into many copies which were attacking the enforcers with sharp throwing knives. The white-haired girl covered herself with an aura to deflect it. When the protective barrier stopped functioning, Niji Murasaki unleashed a sea of fire energy, wiping out a few clones. Dasnor and Rebecca were too busy dodging the knives to shorten the distance with the remaining doppelgangers. At some point one of the clones—or maybe even Elio himself—jumped on Niji with his dagger, but Dasnor was quick enough to grab her and pull out of the strike. Then he threw himself on the attacker and punched away his weapon. The melee between them proceeded at a much more intensive speed, and finally the defeated copy disappeared.
Meanwhile, Hitomi from PRISM had called a dark blue magical circle in front of her. She reached out her hand and exclaimed the spell. A semi-transparent creature crawled from the sigil, looking like a panther-sized fox with nine tails. Hitomi crossed the road with her summoned kitsune, heading towards smiling Dammit. He was backing away slowly, evading all attacks of the fox, while its master stopped still. When the shorty got bored of this fruitless attempt to get him, he stopped and placed his hands inside his pockets. He stretched a little bit and made somewhat of a polite bow, releasing a wave of his energy to erase the fox from this world.
“Cutie-pie, you need to learn it already.” He grinned at Hitomi with one of his brightest smiles.
“If I wanted to beat you, I would have done it already,” she chuckled. “You know very well that my job is to distract you, ne~?”
“Well, as long as you have mana… ah, wait?”
Puzzled, the mage observed how the girl made the arcane circle again, at this time summoning something long and gnarled. It was making otherworldly sounds with its shackles, and its face consisted of two deep hollows instead of eyes and an assortment of shark teeth.
“Ew, gross, the foxy was way more lovely… ouch!” Dammit got a heavy punch in his jaw from the gross one.
The twins got it much harder. Their doppelgangers were eliminated, and the originals were trapped inside a circle of elemental blaze by Niji. With a loud ‘pop’ Rebecca teleported right to them and Dasnor followed her, flying over the fire on his magical wings. Elio and Elia were pretty much exhausted after the failed attack, so they barely managed to continue the battle, only managing to do so thanks to Aoi’s buff and Shadow’s healing. The latter did all he could to support the twins, and he was forced to cast spells without a break.
Dasnor realized that this was the right moment. He escaped the melee and moved behind Shadow’s back at a fantastic speed. When he just stopped mid-air and swung, the healer half-turned to him, unfazed. Shadow raised his hand with the tattoo, his hair set flying and the symbol burning blue with a binding spell.