"I've confirmed your position. He's at your two o'clock," Marcos replied curtly to Setsuna’s inquiry.
Shifting her gaze as directed, Setsuna spotted him pursuing the suspicious individual. She narrowed her eyes, focusing her vision.
"Can you take the shot, Setsuna?" Yugo asked.
"The distance isn't a problem. At that pace, I can easily put a shot through the bag, even with him moving."
"Good. Then I'll pin him down. Snipe the target the moment I stop him."
"Much appreciated. Give me fifteen seconds to set up, then make your move."
Setsuna issued the order after calculating the time required to knead her magic power and hone her focus to a razor edge, all while identifying the perfect sniping position from their current vantage point. Marcos signaled his understanding.
Yugo watched with bated breath. The next ten-plus seconds felt agonizingly long, but finally, the moment arrived.
"Now, Marcos!"
At Setsuna's signal, Marcos, who had been tailing the suspect, made his move. He accelerated his pace, closing the distance until he was just a few steps behind the man. He maintained a perfectly natural demeanor as he spoke.
"Excuse me, sir! I think you dropped something from your pocket."
"Hk!?"
Hearing Marcos's voice, the man flinched with obvious agitation. He lunged his hand into his pocket to check for his communication device, and in that opening, Setsuna drew her bowstring with a cold, faint smile.
"That’s more than enough, Marcos. At this distance, I won't miss...!"
The distance, the line of sight, the timing—it was all exactly as calculated. The carrier of the Birdcage had only stopped for a few seconds, but that was all Setsuna needed. A wind arrow, conjured from her pure magic power, pointed its lethal tip toward the man’s luggage.
As her magic power reached its peak, the bow groaned with the tension of the mated arrow. Setsuna waited for the absolute best instant to release her fingers, but then—
"Found you! You syndicate scum!"
"What!?"
At the very moment Setsuna was about to release her shot, someone lunged into the space between her and the target. The intruder screamed at the carrier at the top of his lungs, leveling a spear at the man as he continued to shout.
"I know you're with the criminal organization! Show me what's in that bag!"
"Is that Cyan!? What the hell is he doing!?"
Boasting a triumphant look as he provoked the suspect, Cyan pointed the tip of his spear at the luggage. Nearby, Marcos saw the carrier's face drain of color at the sudden intrusion as the man grabbed the communication device in his pocket.
"Setsuna! Fire now!" Marcos roared.
"I can't! He's right in the way! I can't get a clear aim...!"
If she had just a few more seconds, she might have been able to use her wind manipulation to curve the arrow around the interfering Cyan and his group. But the intrusion had been too sudden. Setsuna had pushed her concentration to its absolute limit, and having that focus shattered meant she couldn't immediately prepare a second shot.
"Boss! Some weird kid found us out! He's demanding to see the luggage!"
Obstructed by Cyan and his party, the carrier naturally used his communication device to report to his boss, Regen.
Immediately afterward, the luggage he was carrying seemed to burst apart from the inside. Regen, having already performed his transform into a Magic Armor Beast, leapt out of the bag along with a swarm of thugs.
"Tch! A little earlier than planned... but whatever. Men! Go wild! Tear this place apart!"
"Uooooh!"
"There you are, villains! We're your opponents!!"
Cyan, who had just systematically demolished the Security Force's carefully laid plan to prevent the tragedy, seemed utterly oblivious to his blunder. Striking a pose like a grand hero, he charged toward the emerging thugs alongside Woz and Torin.
"Jinba-san, the operation is a failure! Get the civilians out of here, now!"
In an instant, the Thanksgiving festival venue transformed into a hellish scene of pandemonium as innocent visitors were swept up in the sudden eruption of violence. While the standby Security Force rushed in to rescue those slow to flee, Yugo channeled magic power into his legs and leapt from the rooftop, plummeting toward the center of the fray.
"Transform!!"
His eyes locked onto a thug about to strike down a father and seize his child. Pumping magic power into his Blaster, Yugo thrust out his right leg, delivering a thunderous flying kick to the thug's head as he slammed into the ground.
"Get out of here! Quickly! Take the child and run!!"
Yugo didn't stop. He punched away another nearby thug and grabbed a third in a clinch just as the man tried to chase the fleeing family. He slammed the man into the pavement with a shoulder throw and a follow-up strike, but as another thug moved to intercept the pair, a golden shield interceded.
"I will not allow innocent lives to be harmed while Marcos Borg stands guard!"
"Gwah!?"
After catching the attack on his shield, Marcos caught the thug in his scissors and swung his arm with immense force. The man was hurled away, crashing into a stone wall and collapsing into a heap.
"Marcos, thanks for the save!"
"Did you seriously jump from that height? You're as reckless as ever!"
The two of them threw themselves into the task of repelling the thugs and clearing a path for the civilians. However, the sheer number of Regen's syndicate members was staggering, and their ranks showed no signs of thinning.
"Dammit! If it weren't for those fools interfering, we could have freed the hostages and ended this before it started...!"
Marcos ground his teeth, infuriated that a near-perfect operation had been sabotaged. He glared at the trio who had caused the mess. He didn't have the time to deal with them now, but he vowed to give them a piece of his mind once the dust settled.
Meanwhile, the three men who had ruined everything were growing increasingly agitated. Despite getting the "event" they wanted, the battle wasn't playing out according to their selfish expectations.