Visitor Arc X is the tenth episode of the second season of the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei anime.
Summary[]
As instructed by Raymond, Tatsuya and his friends head to the outdoor training area behind First High School and detect the presence of parasites gathering at the scene. A clash with Lina, who is hell-bent on completing her mission, is inevitable.
Plot[]
February eighteenth. At First High, Tatsuya and Lina cross paths in the corridor. Lina is initially looking very stressed and upon seeing Tatsuya confirms he has heard about that night and the pair affirm they are not friends, living worlds apart.
That night Tatsuya, along with Miyuki, Leo, Erika and Pixie make their way through the forest training area behind First High. Tatsuya receives a call from Mizuki advising them parasites are approaching. Honoka confirms there are three there, the pair watching the events from the school’s roof while Mikihiko protects them. Honoka the reports Lina, disguised as Sirius, is approaching. Hearing this the five break into a sprint, as another group closes in.
Lina engages the three parasites in a fierce exchange while reflecting on her defeats by the Shiba siblings and is determined to prove her worth as the ‘Sirius’. As she is getting pushed back, Erika and Tatsuya arrive on scene and Erika quickly takes out one with a sword while Tatsuya brings down another with magic. Tatsuya then stuns the parasite within the host Erika took down, and radios Mikihiko who casts a spell to seal the parasites from the rooftop. They then seal the second but as they turn to the third, Lina kills the host and the parasite itself escapes.
The immediate fight over, Tatsuya challenges Lina over the killing, pointing out it’s going to make more work as the parasites will escape. Lina refuses, saying her duty is to kill the deserters, the rest isn’t her problem and leaves. Tatsuya turns to Erika and tells her the same, but she states drawing out her opponents suffering goes against her values so she can’t. He also tells Erika that Lina’s identity, which Erika had deduced, is a secret.
The Miyuki and the other two arrive as the conversation ends, but the five are surrounded by the Batto-tai, a special forces unit from the JGSDF under the influence of the Kudou Family. Tatsuya wonders why they are there as he and Miyuki move ahead, leaving Pixie with Erika and Leo who prepare to deal with the men from the Batto-tai.
Miyuki and Tatsuya find a unit of Batto-tai who have been killed as Lina engages the remaining six parasites at once. Tatsuya tries to co-ordinate with Lina, but she won’t listen. The speed of the parasites a threat to all of them, Tatsuya has Miyuki supress them all and he takes down three non-lethally, as Lina kills the remaining three. As Tatsuya moves to disable the three that he took down, there is a sudden explosion.
Meanwhile, Erika and Leo are locked in a frantic melee when they are suddenly attacked by a parasite, who launches from underground. Leo defends Pixie and Erika finished him, while the final parasite attacks Pixie but is brought down by Leo. The parasite then self-destructs. Tatsuya calls Pixie and asks her to come to his location whilst asking Honoka to support her and Leo and Erika to hold position.
From her position on the rooftop, Honoka wonders what Tatsuya meant as she watches Pixie with magic.
The parasites all converge on Pixies location and fuse into a single being and demand Pixie return to them, but she refuses, stating she belongs to Tatsuya. Pixie is surrounded by light as the parasites close in on her. Lina and Tatsuya arrive at Pixie’s location, and Lina asks what it is attacking Pixie, as she can sense the pressure of something but not see it at all. Miyuki scolds Lina, stating it is her fault for madly killing the parasites rather than listen and now they are loose and rampaging. She then asks how Lina plans to clean up the mess she made.
Miyuki’s statements make Lina snap, and she goes on an all-out attack against the parasite mass, but nothing affects it. The parasite then turns its attention to Lina and attacks her, forcing her on the defensive. Tatsuya starts supporting her with magic and Miyuki tries to neutralise it but as she cannot ‘see’ it she cannot hit it properly to lock the parasite down. Realising this cannot continue into a battle of attrition, Tatsuya realising a mental attack is the only option. Tatsuya calls Mikihiko and asks for him to supress the parasite mass for ten seconds. Mikihiko agrees and launches a larger scale Karura En, bathing the parasite mass in magical flames. Tatsuya then pulls Miyuki close and synchronises their consciousness to allow Miyuki to ‘see’ with his eyes. Miyuki then casts Cocytus and kills the parasite in a single spell.
The fight over, Lina realises Miyuki used ‘Lunar Magic’ the USNA’s name for Mental Interference type magic. As she turns to ask the Shiba siblings what they are, Tatsuya offers a deal. Lina keeps quiet about what she saw in exchange for Tatsuya’s entire group keeping Lina’s identity a secret. Tatsuya then lifts Miyuki into a princess carry, and walks of with Pixie, stopping only to briefly to offer Lina a way out of the military should she ever wish it.
Meanwhile, two groups stand over the pair of sealed parasites, one led by Kudou Retsu, the other Kuroba Ayako. Ayako leads the conversation and suggests that since both are there for the parasites and there are two, they should each take one. Retsu is amused and agrees to take the friendly approach and share the spoils. Ayako secretly gives her thanks to Tatsuya in her head as the exchange concludes.
As Tatsuya carries Miyuki, she asks him why he offered to help Lina, asking if he has feelings for her. Tatsuya states having her leave Stars, and ideally nationalise to Japan would be better for them, but he sympathises as she’s in a similar situation to himself, having had no real choice in where they are or who they became, with Lina most likely not even having the freedom to choose to go to school. Tatsuya finishes by stating he intends to make his own decision at some point and was simply offering one to Lina out of friendship. Hearing this Miyuki hugs Tatsuya tightly and tells him that Tatsuya’s offer will likely move Lina’s heart in the future, making her doubt her current self, so it was worth making.
The conversation over, the pair walk hand and hand under the starry sky.
