To become a king and a magician

Xia Chuanhu patted his chest.

"Well, I don't really care. I generally don't object to what he wants to do, although he hasn't expressed it much."

"Oh, I see... I thought I was going to have another empress dowager."

"What are you talking about?" Xia Chuanhu tapped her head irritably. "It'll take four hours to get back. I'm going to take a nap first. Wake me up when it's time."

After saying that, Natsukawa Tora closed his eyes and took a nap. Although he had only just woken up, he was still quite tired after being so energetic in Akihabara for so long, plus the hangover.

(I should take a nap...)

With these thoughts in mind, Xia Chuanhu fell into a deep sleep, and in his dream, he vaguely heard what sounded like the train's announcement—

Next stop: Tokyo, next stop: Tokyo

100. The domain of the Möbius strip

In front of the train station in Fuyuki City.

"Haven't you found it yet?"

Seeing Atalanta running towards him, Mordred asked anxiously.

Atalanta shook her head: "No, I ran through every single carriage of that train we were on, and I couldn't find a trace of that guy. What about you?"

“I searched the station from top to bottom, but the result was the same as yours.”

It's now 7 PM, half an hour after the two boarded the Shinkansen and returned to Fuyuki City. Half an hour ago, Mordred, who had intended to wake Natsukawa Toramaru before they got off the train at his request, discovered that Natsukawa Toramaru, who had been sitting next to her, was nowhere to be found.

At first, Mordred thought he had gone to the restroom and didn't think much of it. However, after she, Atalanta, and Grey had all walked out of the station and waited in front of it for several minutes, Natsukawa Tora still hadn't come out. Realizing that something was wrong, the group immediately tried to call him, but strangely, they couldn't get through at all.

Even now, despite Atalanta and Mordred having searched the station and the train they just took, they still couldn't find him, as if Natsukawa Tora had suddenly vanished into thin air.

Atalanta glanced at Gray, who stood a short distance away, looking somewhat lost and dejected. She had been like this ever since Natsukawa Tora's disappearance was confirmed. For Gray, who had relied on him for everything, Natsukawa Tora's disappearance was tantamount to losing a family member.

With a slight sigh, Atalanta said, "Let's take Gray back first and calm her down. Even though it's like this, he's still that man; I don't think anything will happen to her."

"That's true..."

That was a man who could defeat Servants head-on and even pull down the moon; he was practically a quarter of her father. Mordred couldn't imagine what had happened to him... In the present situation, she could only assume that he was entangled in something and couldn't get away.

(Damn Master, where did you run off to...?)

------------------

While Mordred and the others were worried about Natsukawa Torato in Fuyuki City, far away at Tokyo Station...

Standing amidst the sea of ​​people in front of the station, Natsukawa Tora closed the phone, which was completely unreachable, and couldn't help but sigh: "Do I really have some kind of constitution similar to that of the Grim Reaper Elementary School Student? Every time I go to a new place, some kind of mess happens. Even when I'm on vacation with my family, I can't even get a break?"

Half an hour ago, he woke up thinking he was probably going to Fuyuki City. He packed up and prepared to get off the train, but when he actually got off, Natsukawa Torato found himself back in Tokyo.

Natsukawa Torato was certain he hadn't gotten on the wrong bus; it was definitely heading to Fuyuki City, but the final stop was here.

"Spatial teleportation magic? Or perhaps...?"

His gaze shifted to the clock in front of him. Although it was indeed nighttime, if Natsukawa Tora's eyesight was not impaired, the date on it was yesterday's.

Has time reversed?

Does this mean that everything in this area has been reverted to a certain point in time?

"No, that's not right either. If we really went back in time to a certain point, I wouldn't have walked out of the station. At this time last night, I was in the barbecue restaurant with Mordred."

Is it a partial reversal of time?

Or was it simply a matter of changing the time?

After pondering for a while with his chin in his hand, Xia Chuanhu turned around, pulled his suitcase, and walked back into the station—let's try it one more time to see if it's spatial teleportation or time reversal. Two or three more tests should be enough.

.......

Four hours later.

Back at Tokyo Station once again, Natsukawa Tora found a bench to sit on, allowing his aching legs to rest for a while.

"Damn, this even works?"

This was the third time he had been paged back to Tokyo Station. In the four hours that followed, Natsukawa Tora took the Shinkansen again, remaining fully alert throughout the journey and watching for any possible anomalies. However, nothing went wrong. When the Shinkansen finally stopped, he found himself back at Tokyo Station.

The second time, Natsukawa Tora didn't take a car, but instead tried to run back to Fuyuki along the Shinkansen tracks. However, as he ran, he ended up arriving in Tokyo again.

(Now I'm sure.)

This is neither time reversal nor spatial transfer, nor is it mental interference. Not to mention that ordinary mental magic is ineffective against him, even high-level mental magic will be automatically resisted by the spell left by Meryl.

This is a closed loop, a kind of barrier. While it's unclear if it works for everyone, at least for Natsukawa Torato, no matter what method he tries to use to leave, he will inevitably return to Tokyo Station. It's like a spiral staircase; it's clearly going upwards, but after going around in circles, it returns to the starting point.

There were no factors that affected this; the path he took was correct, and the time he spent was accurate. It's just that his destination and starting point were set to be the same.

It's easy to understand if you call it a Möbius strip.

(Is this a concept-based interference magic that applies to the entire city of Tokyo?)

That's a big investment.

Who did this? What was their purpose? What benefits would it bring to keep him trapped in the Tokyo area?

Xia Chuanhu didn't know, but now he had another matter he was about to figure out.

"11:57 PM, three minutes to go."

The clock was ticking, and it was almost the next day. If things were as Natsukawa Tora suspected, then when the clock struck midnight, the date shouldn't change; it should revert to the previous day.

Or even earlier.

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye. After only glancing at his phone for a short while, the clock struck midnight.

"Knock knock knock~~~~"

On the bustling streets late at night, the chimes were quickly drowned out by the crowds, but that didn't stop Natsukawa Tiger from noticing the passage of time. Looking up at the clock, at the date that remained unchanged, Natsukawa Tiger sighed softly.

"As expected? This Tokyo will now begin to repeat this day over and over again—that's a bit troublesome."

"Click click click click click click..."

Just then, I heard a sound like metal scraping against the ground, as if something was being dragged along the ground.

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, Xia Chuanhu's eyes narrowed for a moment before he stood up: "It seems it really is aimed at me. However, this situation is still a bit beyond my expectations. Using something like this to deal with me, I really don't know what the mastermind behind it is thinking."

Black horned armor that looked like a phantom.

A jet-black demonic sword, shrouded in black lightning, existing between illusion and reality.

A body that appears and disappears like clouds and mist.

"Father... Father... Father..."

Similar to the rebellious knight, the shadowy ghost, invisible to ordinary people, appeared before Natsukawa Torato with murderous intent.

101. A devastating nine-hit combo!

Ayaka Sajo is currently running through the streets of Tokyo.

"Seriously, why would there be supernatural phenomena at this hour? It's so late."

A few minutes earlier, she had already gone to bed and was about to sleep when she suddenly received a call from Hier, who said that another paranormal phenomenon had been discovered and that she needed to deal with it immediately.

She was about to go to sleep, even if tomorrow is the weekend, it's not right to ask someone to work overtime so late at night, is it?

But no matter how unwilling she was to go, as the only magician in Tokyo, she had a duty to maintain the Tokyo magic scene and absolutely could not allow magic to be exposed to the surface of society.

Therefore, Ayaka Sajou must come out.

(I remember the location was a park near the station... We're almost there, it's just around the next corner.)

Her body could already sense the abnormality of the magic in the air; the strange magic was causing a stinging sensation in Ayaka Sajou's magic circuits. This was an intensity unlike any she had encountered before, on a completely different level from anything she had dealt with in the past.

Swallowing hard, Ayaka Sajo touched her ring—a Black Magic Mystic Code she made herself, capable of storing raven feathers and firing them as bullets.

(Hopefully it will come in handy.)

The park came into view; there weren't many people around, probably because the church had driven them away. Ayaka Sajou quickly crossed the road, releasing her crow feathers beforehand. Just as she stepped into the park, preparing to strike first—

"Bang------!"

A dark shadow suddenly flew past her! Like a kicked ball, it crashed directly into the grass not far away!

(Huh?)

Ayaka Sajou was momentarily stunned. What had just flown past? That stinging sensation from the magic circuit... it must be that supernatural phenomenon, right?

Turning her head, she saw an armored knight shrouded in black mist, resembling a mad warrior, holding a black magic sword in his hand.

Just the sight of such a being made Ayaka Sajou tremble involuntarily.

(Is this kind of thing... also a paranormal phenomenon?)

It's impossible, isn't it? No paranormal phenomenon has ever demonstrated this level of danger. After all, paranormal phenomena evolved from urban legends, merely rumors that have gained some form of reality; their intensity largely comes from people's imaginations. Unless it's a particularly vicious urban legend, the paranormal phenomena that evolved from it are unlikely to be very strong.

But this one in front of her... Ayaka Sajou could sense that this was definitely not something that could evolve from a mere "urban legend"; its quality was on a completely different level.

How do we deal with this kind of enemy?

"Huh? Someone's here? I've already moved the battlefield far enough away, and someone still managed to wander in by mistake. I guess it would have been better to just pull them into the alley."

Suddenly, just as Ayaka Sajou was trembling with fear, a somewhat familiar voice rang out from the opposite direction.

Ayaka Sajou remembered the voice; she had met its owner not long ago. But logically, he shouldn't be here. Hadn't he already boarded the Shinkansen back to Fuyuki City? Why was he here?

"This is a bit troublesome. I can't use magic right now. If I want to erase the memory... should I call Ayaka Sajou? Or should I just physically erase it... huh?"

As he said this, Natsukawa Tora, who emerged from the shadows on the other side, was momentarily stunned when his eyes met those of Sajou Ayaka.

"You... Ms. Ayaka Sajou? What are you doing here?"

“Mr. Natsukawa… this, this is what I wanted to ask—”

Ayaka Sajou hadn't finished speaking.

"AAAArrrrr——————!"

A roar like that of a wild beast suddenly resounded through the air, and the black knight who had been thrown into the grass earlier had now stood up again, sword in hand!

Ayaka Sajou's face turned deathly pale!