Aura: Koga Maryuin's Last War (AURA ～魔竜院光牙最後の闘い～)

Maryuin.

I must bring you down here and now!

ll must do it once and for all!

As a Holy Knight who serves the Holy Dragon Astaroy!

No... As a fighter for a noble cause, who loved his home...

I will destroy you now!

Maryuin! Why did you betray us?

That's your answer?

In that case...

Take this!

Maten Hoga!

The secret sword "Nanashiki."

Not... possible...

Holy Knight Balzac...

I will not apologize.

But when I'm finished with everything,

my time will come to join you...

When I kill the Holy Dragon Astaroy...

Farewell until then... my fellow fighter...

When the winner leaves, the remains suddenly begin to burn.

The blue flame, without creating any smoke,

consumes the very flesh and blood.

Not even a single drop of blood will remain.

The Oath of the Magical Flame.

It is a magical pledge

that a departing Knight is obligated to follow in the Mirror World

so that the dead will leave no trace of themselves.

This is the reason why almost no one knows the fact

that these relentless struggles are being played out

just behind the reality of modern Japanese society.

Excerpt from Myth of Maryuin, Volume Nine.

My high school debut was a success.

I spent almost the entirety

of my not-so-short spring break preparing to enter high school,

and as a reward, I got what I wanted.

Morning.

What's up, Issan?

Yo. You barely made it.

Just the usual oversleeping.

What were you two talking about?

About which club to join.

Have you decided?

Oh...

But when you join a club, you!'ll have no time to play.

I know...

Good morning, Kawai-kun, Kobayashi-kun, and Sato-kun.

Oh. Good morning.

Ah, yeah...

Good m...

You three are always together.

We formed a trio.

Wow, is that right? Congratulations.

You formed a sextet, too.

Huh?

S-s-s-s...

Sex... tits?

No! It means a group of six people.

Koba!

Oh, yes.

Well then, Kawai-kun, Kobayashi-kun, and Sato-kun.

See you guys later.

They all seemed fine.

Whatever. More importantly...

By the way, I wonder what this student is like.

This person, Sato.

Me?

No. I meant the other Sato who sits to your front left.

The female Sato.

Ah...

She hasn't showed up yet, not even once.

Maybe she won't come. It's already been a week since school started.

So what do you think?

Anything catch your eye?

I've never worn anything like these, so I don't know how to choose...

I think this one's cool. I've never worn anything like these, so I don't know how to choose...

Yeah. Well, if you want something you can wear to school,

Well, if you want something you can wear to school,

How about this one?

Let's see...

Hmm?

What?

Man...

Hmm?

Huh?

The Last War of Koga Maryuin

Oh. Well, um...

What are you doing here?

Oh...

It came.

What's that?

The Researcher, confirmation is complete.

Cross-check found a 99.8% match.

Wh-who is there?!

Wh-who is there?! Abnormality is detected due to the influences from the Phenomenal World,

Abnormality is detected due to the influences from the Phenomenal World,

however, it is recognized as an informational entity.

The physical interference level is three.

The holder of plenary powers requests the Researcher to take immediate action.

What action?

What is she gonna do?

Ferura...

Shamanic field driver... stand-by.

Are we gonna fight? Is this a battle?

It's a battle, huh?

Are you gonna shoot that? Stop it! Not here!

Step back, if you wanna save your life, Citizen of the Phenomenal World.

Citizen of the Phenomenal World?

Initiate attack.

Hey...

Mission failed.

Huh?!

Begin temporary evacuation.

Umm...

You, citizen of the Phenomenal World, you must come with me.

Come with you? I have something I need to do.

What? This way.

Hey, you're the one who removed the window?

Is that okay? If the school finds out, you could get in big trouble...

No need to worry.

In this Phenomenal World where no magical powers,

let alone Mana Converters exist,

no one can make visual confirmation of the Researcher.

I can. See you, I mean.

W-What?

Those eyes.

My eyes? What about them?

Are you saying I have supernatural eyes?

How come you know about the supernatural eyes?

Well, I just made it up.

I'm convinced.

I hear there used to be magic in the Phenomenal World as well.

The Researcher shall regard Citizen A of the Phenomenal World

as a possessor of supernatural eyes.

I don't care about that.

But look, I have a name, and that's Ichiro Sato.

And stop calling me a citizen of the Phenomenal World. It feels weird.

Understood.

Citizen A of the Phenomenal World will be referred to as Ichiro Sato.

Just call me Sato or Ichiro.

Ichiro.

R-right...

And you are...?

Hey! Who's there?

Crap!

Whoa! What's this?!

What?!

We'll lay low in here until the security guard withdraws.

Oh, okay.

By the way, what's your name?

The Researcher.

Is that a name?

Sounds more like a code name.

More precisely, an entity that belongs to a class called the Researcher.

The Researcher was sent to this world to collect Dragon Terminals.

Dragon Terminals... What are those?

Dragon as in the mythical beast? Or do you mean dinosaurs?

Unlike the commonly-known reptiles,

it refers to a general high-dimensional device with intelligence.

It moves from one dimension to another, and is able to adapt to any environment...

In other words, it's one heck of a device.

We should get moving now.

Ichiro. Deactivate your suspension mode.

A-are you alright? You can put your hands on me.

Proposal accepted.

This is where we part ways.

What?

The Researcher can no longer get a citizen from the Phenomenal World involved.

Rest assured, Ichiro. You can get back to your daily activities.

I see...

I'll help!

You saw that searching for Dragon Terminals comes with risks.

That decision is extremely ill-advised.

I know that.

But I'm not satisfied with what you call the "daily activities" of the Phenomenal World.

There's no evidence that you need satisfaction for vital activities.

...or with the "reality."

Reality. The word that's paired with fiction.

Ichiro, do you crave fiction and fantasy?

It's not like that, but...

I think that reality should be open 10 interpretation.

That's why when I saw you, looking like that, I didn't get too flustered.

I could accept it.

You accepted. Ichiro, did you accept the Researcher?

That's right. I didn't reject you, did 1?

I mean, you saved me, and...

Well, if there's anything out of the ordinary, I want to see it.

If something exciting and extraordinary exists...

I want to see it.

Not good enough?

Hmm?

Ah. I'm home.

Where have you been? It's very late.

I went to school. I forgot to bring something home.

Okay... How was school?

Not bad. I went out with some friends today,

and bought a cheap watch.

Good, good.

That's a good thing.

Y-yeah. Sorry.

Don't worry. That's all right. Do you have enough money?