Web of light. Part 2. part 5

Kaya nodded quickly — she also wanted to "go back and forget everything as soon as possible" — you don't need to be an empath to read it on her face. But Hiroe raised her head, clenched her fists, and I saw grim determination in her eyes.

"Amakawa is right. We should at least try to find out what happened here. And we must not let him go alone."

Shizuka just came over and stood next to me, her lips pursed into a tight line, revealing her feelings. Lips — and bursting flashes of aura that could not be extinguished by amulet clothes. I defiantly took out my mobile phone, noting the expected "no network", and pressed the backlight...

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon. It gets dark at four. We have an hour and a half for everything. We walk for forty-five minutes to the center of the "Mystical House", then turn back. Don't put your weapon away. And we don't split up — you never know what. It seems that magic cannot be used to enter here — only a carrier of the Amakawa genes can trigger the "terminal" mechanism. Let's go. Let's not waste any time...

And we went. The vast territory under the dome of spatial technology did not give the effect of oppressive silence — but there was no wind either. Even lighting is like in the middle of a cloudy day that we left "on the surface", tasteless air and silence, broken only by our footsteps. Grass grew on the lawns in some places — smooth, as if trimmed, there were even natural flower beds: it was noticeable that those who lived here settled down seriously and for a long time. By the way, there must be another terminal — otherwise it's hard to imagine how so much concrete and iron were dragged through the mountainside in the middle of the forest. This one looks more like a back door... or an emergency exit, if you like. And then we got to the outer ring of buildings — and the first "corpses" began.

It was creepy: clothes lying without a body. Not removed, but fallen down so that it was clear: the body was there — and it dispersed, evaporated, disappeared without changing its position. Only Mizuchi and I ventured to the first pile of rags — the others were huddled in a pile about three meters away — even Hiroe, who for the first time in my memory was denied impeccable self-control. An ordinary twelve-year-old girl... Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to say something like "don't look, this won't happen to you" to Rinko and Kaname. Since we have agreed to play with open cards, we must be honest to the end. In particular, in order not to repeat the fate of the dead Yokai. I have almost no doubt whose grave the "hidden" of the Amakawa clan has become. "Under unknown circumstances, the vassals of the clan dropped out-and the list. Sixty-nine names." An attack from inside the clan complex was clearly not expected — most of the clothes we found were ordinary civilian rags of bright colors and a style more suitable for weekend walks. By the way, it was much warmer here than "outside" — the girls had to unbutton their jackets, but I still didn't put mine on. In many of the clothes found, there were traces of blows that turned out to be fatal: some melted and burned, some torn, some with neat round holes of decent caliber — and not a single trace of what caused them...

Of the forty-five minutes I had allotted for forward movement, thirty had already passed when the first signs of armed resistance appeared. Shell casings. A lot of shell casings from automatic weapons — and a melted spot in the place of another shooter. It soon became clear to me why armed Yokai were being burned with plasma. One of the spirits was unlucky enough to receive a fatal blow between his helmet and body armor. At the same time, the weapon and armor remained intact. I couldn't sort out the "ferry" lying on top of things on the spot — there were so many layers in it. Strengthening, strength-enhancing, and mana-absorbing constructs were combined with others unknown to me. There were significantly more unknowns. The armor was "working"-the familiar cloud of altered water vapor... or not steam, but what my ancestors used there (I hope it's not mercury vapor?) It surrounded objects, turning the stormtrooper's military kit into a real mobile armor. There was a pistol in the holster on his belt, and a rifle with a collimator sight lay a little to one side-probably a Japanese assault rifle, because it didn't look like a Kalash or an M-16, and from modern weapons I can only learn what is in Counter Strike-how-I wasn't interested in these issues... since the age of nine. I mean, nine years "there." However... I took out my cell phone and took a picture of the rifle first, then carefully pulled out the pistol (and recognized the Glock), and fixed it. Then a helmet-sphere, a general kind of camouflage...

I had no doubt that Amakawa was working with the military, or rather with the military representatives of Tsuchimikado. Or was it still an "out-of-the-circle" contact? It doesn't matter. Another important thing is that the parents didn't just let the loss of so much "goodness" go away — they also lived quietly in Japan after the incident, completely openly. Shizuka said about "ten years after the fire" — it is logical to connect these two events. More precisely, the burnt-out terminal B is a consequence of these events. 2007 minus ten — 1997. It's lovely, I was "here" for about two years. I'm so glad my parents didn't drag me to this military base. Or is it still a laboratory? However, I can hardly imagine a "failed experiment" that can shoot plasma and the result of which must be crushed by tanks... Okay. Five minutes left, and the tank is just around the corner. I'll take a look inside and let's get out of here. It's more than enough for the first time. I picked up the gun and held it in my hands... and he carefully put it in the holster, and that one on the clothes of the deceased warrior of our clan. Yes, there's nothing to bury... but this does not mean that a fighter who died with a weapon in his hands does not need honors. In fact, he died for the clan, and therefore for me... Besides, where am I going to put my guns in the hotel? It's still clear that we need to assemble an expedition separately and fully dig up everything that has survived.

The tank appeared to be intact only from the stern — the starboard side and frontal armor bore numerous chips and were completely blackened — apparently, the machine was too tough for the flamethrower. Protected from top to bottom by clan skill, she withstood all attacks with honor... except for the last one, which killed her crew. The turret hatch was open, and I peered inside, using my cell phone's display to light myself up. It's dark, cramped, and empty. Here are the clothes, one pile, another...

"Em... I feel something..." Kaya called from the ground. "In the car."..

Without waiting for the end of the sentence, the snake pushed me away from the hatchway with one movement, and jumped inside.

"I found it, you know." she spoke up just a minute later and showed herself. The badge.

It's just a badge like an army badge, a simple strengthening "Ferry". In the spectrum of glasses, he had a weak background of magic — I would not have seen him.

In response to my questioning look, Shizuka said only one word.

"The Shard".

Now we've definitely done everything we could.

"Let's go back," I commanded.

As we walked to the terminal, as we climbed the stairs, I kept waiting for a look to rest on my back — hating, interested, indifferent... but no. Intuition was silent, Kaya was also calm. The battlefield was abandoned and dead, as were all its participants...

We decided to repeat our journey so as not to get lost. I also had to call Rinko's parents and explain that we had entered a place where mobile phones do not catch — otherwise they were already starting to worry when they themselves could not "get us" an hour ago — and the rescuers almost did not get it! Kuzaki herself was still unable to explain herself, and Hiroe's smile was extremely crooked. And I... And I was sure that something "like that" had happened. The clan, officially called the "sixth", could not just lose its vassals without a trace. It was clear to me before that my father was not a fool, but now, looking at the combat kit of the dead spirit, I realized that Himari-with-a-katana was really a child's cat. Something like a babysitter toy. Well, she doesn't look like an assault combat unit — even the snake in the canon was able to swaddle her. Well, or she was trained to be a "ninja" — to get within striking distance, chop and knock down. Himari wasn't inside the "hidden"-I hope Kaya could really feel her... And I don't even know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. However, there was still hope for a picked-up "fragment" — perhaps it would be possible to pull out the "shell" of the murdered yokai from it — and perhaps he or she would be able to tell me something about what was there and what happened. Kso! The New Year is just around the corner, and here's the news. A wonderful, simply wonderful omen... However, it's easy for someone now.