"Did you manage to secure the culprit!?"
"Yeah, more or less. But he didn't have any useful information. It looks like he was meant to be a disposable pawn from the very start."
Jinba, having secured the suspect and conducted a brief interrogation, contacted Yugo to relay what he had learned.
As he had already mentioned, they hadn't been able to pry much of significance out of the man. Jinba was simply reporting the few details he deemed important.
"Apparently, the culprit was given the Explose and the chemicals by someone he described as a 'mastermind.' He seemed to have some idea of what would happen once he used them... but that's the extent of what he knows."
"A mastermind? Don't tell me—are Lost or Drop involved in this too!?"
At the mention of a mastermind, Yugo’s expression shifted, and his voice rose to a near-shout as he questioned Jinba.
He immediately suspected the involvement of the mysterious entities who had been pulling the strings behind the numerous incidents he had encountered thus far. However, Jinba was quick to dismiss the idea.
"No, it wasn't them. The one who provided the culprit with the necessary tools was Zaraki."
"Zaraki? You mean that wanted criminal from Yamato?"
"The very same," Jinba replied curtly.
As Yugo fell silent, Jinba continued.
"You’ve likely heard this already, but Zaraki was also the one who silenced Kurotobari—Garando. However, I don't believe he's the one drawing the whole picture."
"I agree. There must be a True Mastermind behind Zaraki."
Yugo didn't know much about Zaraki personally, but he found it hard to believe the man was the type to manufacture items that turned humans into Magic Armor Beasts.
Transformed humans had been appearing as Magic Armor Beasts since before Zaraki had even defected from Yamato, and it was well-documented that Lost and his associates were the ones instigating those cases.
Furthermore, Zaraki was a heinous criminal who had murdered many people in Yamato. If anything, his character was far better suited to the role of a frontline executioner than a behind-the-scenes planner.
If he truly possessed the ability to create items that turned people into Magic Armor Beasts, it would have been more natural for him to use that power himself rather than distribute it to others.
Besides, Lost and his crew had always personally scouted the individuals they intended to transform. It made little sense for them to suddenly start using Zaraki as an intermediary.
Remembering a conversation he’d had recently with the diplomat from Yamato, Koumaru Sakai, Yugo shared his theory with Jinba.
"Someone must have helped Zaraki when he defected from Yamato. Wouldn't that person be the one behind all this?"
"In exchange for helping Zaraki flee, the collaborator gave him the task of distributing the tools they had created... It’s certainly a possibility."
The outlines of the story were beginning to take shape, however vaguely.
The siblings at the Insect Museum, Garando's transformation into Kurotobari, and now this hospital incident... Behind Zaraki, who had likely made contact with each of the perpetrators, stood someone who could only be described as the True Mastermind.
Yugo briefly pondered the motives of this shadow figure—one who seemingly belonged to an organization separate from Lost or Drop—but he eventually shook his head and spoke into the radio.
"There's a lot I want to discuss, but we're not in a position for that right now. Let's talk once we’ve safely escaped."
"You're right. We need to prioritize the problem right in front of us."
They couldn't afford a calm discussion while a massive Magic Armor Beast loomed directly overhead.
Jinba agreed that they needed to get everyone out of the hospital and resolve the situation first. Yugo continued his report.
"We've recovered all the bombs on our end. Raiha’s been scanning the area, and it doesn't look like any new ones have appeared."
"Good. In that case, we’re going to initiate the plan to freeze Gigantrose with ice magic. It might get a bit cold in there, so just hang on."
While Jinba and his team had been moving to secure the culprit, Yugo's group had finished clearing the building of explosives.
With that confirmation, Jinba moved to the next phase of the operation. Now, they just had to wait for Gigantrose to freeze and cease its activity before they could finally rescue the civilians inside.
As Yugo took a breather after the call ended, Fee and the others approached him.
"You did it, Brother! Now everyone can finally get out of here!"
"That was a magnificent performance, Yugo-san!"
"It wasn't just me. It's only because everyone worked together."
"Heh! I never thought I’d hear such humble words coming from you."
"You really have changed, haven't you? Honestly, I'm quite impressed."
Yugo gave a wry smile at Verda and Peewee’s comments, which were colored with equal parts praise and genuine shock.
From their perspective, it was an understandable reaction. Still, it didn't feel bad to be acknowledged like this. He looked at the two of them.
"I really appreciate you guys helping out. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Having you here was a big help too. If it had been just us, we would've been in for a rough time."
"Exactly. Knowing how reckless you can be, Verda, you probably would've set off a bomb or two by accident."
"Hey! That’s uncalled for!"
The tension broke as the group burst into laughter at Peewee’s teasing and Verda’s indignant retort.
After thanking them once more, Fee and Yui went to rejoin the group waiting for evacuation, while Peewee and her team moved to get the civilians into an orderly line.
"Thank you as well, Raiha. If we hadn't known exactly where the bombs were, we never could have pulled this off. Everyone here owes their lives to you."
"No... I only did what I could. I’m just glad we’re all going to make it out safely."
Yugo nodded firmly at her words.
Raiha had been the MVP of the operation. Between the scouting, the constant detection, and guarding the civilians, she had likely drained her mental energy to its limit. He felt a deep sense of gratitude toward her for seeing through a role that was far more mentally taxing than his own physical combat.
As he watched her, Yugo suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, Raiha, didn't you have something you wanted to tell me? What was it?"
"Ah...! That’s right... I did...!"
The chaos of the incident had pushed it to the back of her mind, but Raiha had originally come to the hospital specifically to speak with him.
Yugo waited for her to resume their interrupted conversation, but the expression on her face suddenly shifted to one of profound confusion and alarm.
"...What? A sudden, massive surge of magic power? What is this...?"
"What's wrong? Did you find something?"
Raiha, who had been continuing her scan of the hospital as a precaution, whispered to herself as she felt something abnormal.
Sensing the shift in her demeanor, Yugo moved to her side. At that exact moment, Raiha looked up and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Above us! Something is coming!!"