Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Reddy Caught It!
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"Reddy...!"
"You're so damn lame! See? Without me, you can't do shit!"
Amid the chaos, Elrim suddenly appeared.
I mean, while plummeting from the sky, a sudden burst of red light flashed bang.
And from within it, Elrim popped out with a smug grin on her face.
Elrim grabbed my falling arm.
"E-Elrim?"
This wasn't a situation you could describe with just "surprised."
An illusion? While falling from the sky, Elrim suddenly shows up?
I looked around, but I was still getting tossed around by the wind pressure, plummeting down.
Unless she used teleportation or something, there was no way Elrim could just poof into this storm.
"Hmph. How 'bout that?"
"What? What the hell?!"
"How is it?!"
"How is what? I'm about to splat!"
"No! This!"
This crazy bitch. Even in a death-drop situation, she's asking how it is? Obviously terrifying.
My mana hadn't fully recovered yet, so my head was throbbing.
Meanwhile, Elrim didn't seem fazed by the wind whipping us around at all.
She shrugged her shoulders with her signature triumphant smirk.
"...Huh?"
But looking closely, something was off.
The red light that had appeared just before Elrim showed up.
Something the same color was fluttering around her.
Tiny red lights with fairy-like wings flapping.
"Redlight Stitch?"
"Hmph!"
It was a Redlight Stitch.
What the hell? She actually caught it?
Now that I looked, Elrim was a total mess.
Like she'd rolled around a ton trying to catch it.
"You actually caught it?!"
"Of course! This is easy for me!"
Elrim puffed out her chest and smirked.
Then the wind spun our bodies around.
"Good job! But what the hell is this? How'd you just poof in? No, before that—if you can save me, do it quick!"
"Hmph! Say 'Please save me, Universe's Strongest Superstar Elrim!' and I will!"
"Please save me, Universe's Strongest Superstar Elrim!"
Fuck, I could do that much.
No matter the protective magic, slamming into the ground naked-skydiving style was scary.
And if I survived, maybe I could take down a 2nd-grade beast too.
But Elrim didn't stop there.
"You do it right away when I tell you? So lame. That's not enough!"
"No!! Do I have to do the Grand Prostration too?!"
Even as I fell, I somehow balanced myself into the Grand Prostration pose.
It was my first time doing it from the sky, head pointed down toward the ground—way scarier.
"Ooh. Since you went that far, I'll graciously save you!"
Elrim spoke like she was doing me a huge favor.
At least I wouldn't fail. But how the hell was she planning to save us mid-fall?
"How're you gonna do it?"
"With Lechi!"
"Lechi?"
"Redlight Stitch. Lechi for short!"
She'd even named it already.
"With Lechi, you can teleport!"
"...Teleport?"
"Exactly—three times a day, Lechi moves you anywhere in your line of sight."
Oh. So that's what the Redlight Stitch did.
Three times a day was still an insane ability.
"Line of sight" could be tricky depending on the situation.
But here in the open sky, no issue.
"So you teleported from down there looking up at the sky?"
"Yep. Even this far. As long as you can see it."
True. The sky had no ceiling—you could see it from anywhere.
"Hmm. Got it. Save Hisenna too."
"W-Well, I only had two uses left, so I couldn't save both. I used one practicing..."
I see. Too bad—Hisenna would plummet and fail.
Should I be grateful she came for me instead?
"Anyway, let's get down quick. This is freaking terrifying."
We were still chatting away high in the sky.
Free-falling, resisting gravity's acceleration.
Knowing there was a way out made it feel like skydiving, but the anxiety lingered.
"Wait a sec! I need a clear view of the ground to teleport safely."
"Ah, gotcha."
Only to places in line of sight, right.
We were still too high up to see the ground clearly.
Fall a bit more, then. I gripped Elrim's arm tight.
Meanwhile, I recovered the last of my near-depleted mana.
With Elrim here, I deeply inhaled and exhaled natural mana, sneaking a peek at the gallery.
Posting on the gall while free-falling felt unique.
Have any gallers tried posting on the gall while skydiving?
Thought I'd snagged a 2nd-grade beast, so I went all-out sprinting at the end
but this bastard suddenly goes rumble rumble and jumps;
Flew up like several kilometers
Then boom—earthquake right there
(Photo of the wrecked field from above)
Whole field smashed;;
Cadets on the ground all failed probably (tears)
I was flying on my broom so no quake damage
But massive wind pressure—lost broom, mamatong, and Churu
Nothing I could do as mamatong and Churu flew off... mana was bottomed out
Flying crazy high now, posting while falling
wtf what were you doing idiot!!! Save mamatong even if you die!!!
No Kim Muggle you madman!!
Hawawa, save the kittyㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Fuck; mamatong more important than you!
Fuck;
Figures it wouldn't go down that easy. Not sure on dimensional beast ranks but anyway, a beast that size without pattern variations? Suspicious
Looks like a herbivore probably
Doesn't seem like it'd rampage normally, probably used its trump card cuz it was really in danger
True, if they'd put a really violent beast everyone'd fail early
It was sleeping quietly till it got hit tbh
Why touch that good boy!
Came in right away;
Good form. Maintaining composure mid-fall
But skydiving while galling lmao
But the most legendary thing about this subjugation fest
Anyway falling now but think I'll pass
Was falling and suddenly red light flashes in front of me
And Reddy pops out of thin air fr;
Turns out Reddy caught a Redlight Stitch;
Effect is teleport 3x/day anywhere in sight range;
Isn't that broken af?
HOOOOOOH?! Reddy comeback-
Damn Reddy making me fall for her again; back to square one
Actually caught it? Impressive (shocked teacher kon)
Hawawa praising Reddy, effort never betrays youㅠ
Why's subsidy rice eater so quiet
Yeah he'd drop his paper and gall even mid-writing if Reddy mentioned
Missed it cuz paper-writing
Reddy faction wins lol
Hmm, that Redlight Stitch is a fine item
Perfect for cadet level.
Didn't think she'd actually catch it;
Ground cadets all failed, but you? Almost killed it—doesn't finishing blow count?
Oh lol free win sweet
By the time I finished reading comments, my mana had recovered decently.
As Wandering Battle Mage said, I could land and go for the finisher.
Might as well go all the way now.
That's when Elrim, who'd been scouting a landing spot, spoke up.
"Ugh... Landing on the ground looks risky."
"What're you talking about?"
"Look down."
Sure enough, the ground was a mess.
The whole field was flipped like a massive quake hit.
Earth crumbling, ocean field water and volcano lava spilling everywhere.
"Wrong spot and we could get stuck in a crack. Still new at this..."
Teleport into a fissure? Dangerous.
Body could get shredded instantly.
Normally teleport a bit above ground, but Elrim's control was iffy, and terrain sucked—landing anywhere was hazardous.
"How about on top of that thing?"
"On the beast?"
"Yeah. Almost dead anyway—hop on, finish it off."
"...Huh?!"
Elrim's eyes lit up at my words.
Too risky?
'Giant Footprint Brachio's body was huge—its back practically a plain.
Seemed safe to land there.
Of course, it'd buck us off if it thrashed.
But risky anywhere.
Better to challenge the 2nd-grade beast and fail than not.
"Not lame for once—good idea!"
Elrim agreed, probably thrilled at the attention from subjugating on its back.
"Looks good—let's go!"
"Wait. Now?"
"Yeah! Going!"
No time to prepare—Elrim yelled, and massive light from Lechi swallowed us.
When I opened my eyes, we were on Giant Footprint Brachio's back.
Its sky-piercing neck loomed ahead.
The vast back felt like another continent.
Every movement shook the "ground."
Vibrations stronger than expected—could fly off easy.
"Q-Quick, finish it!"
Elrim and I squeezed our mana, blasting its long neck with spells.
It was still bleeding profusely like before.
Writhing in agony.
Clearly on death's door—just a bit more.
"L-Lame! When's it dying?"
"Dunno! Why won't it?!"
Giant Footprint Brachio just kept thrashing, no sign of collapsing.
Thrashing intensified—we'd fly off.
We flattened ourselves, clutching its skin.
"Kyaaaaah!"
Any second now.
No, definitely. Grip slipping.
We hurled spells like mad; it thrashed harder.
Bam!—Bam!—Bam!—
Furious, it slammed its tail down boom boom.
Each impact pulverized the field below.
We got flung precariously each time.
"Heeeelp!!"
"Die alreadyyyy!!"
Elrim and I screamed ourselves hoarse, unleashing spells.
My mana was spent; squeezed the last for final computation.
[Dangers of Unattended Low-Pressure Gas]
Explosion spell, resigned to it being last.
We'd get caught too, but endgame anyway.
Pop-boom—its skin burst; my grip failed.
Elrim and I flew off. But,
"I-It fell!"
Simultaneously, Giant Footprint Brachio's massive body toppled.
Ding-ding-ding-ding—
Mid-flight, score sounds rang out.
Success—subjugated the 2nd-grade beast.
Scores skyrocketed.
Our team's rank exploded upward nonstop.
"Kyahahahaha! Got it! We got it, lame!"
"Y-Yeah but we're dying!"
No time for leaderboard.
Our bodies launched skyward again.
Plummeting to fail.
Good is good, but why's Elrim so thrilled in this terror?
"We won't die anyway! We took down a 2nd-grade beast! Everyone's watching us!"
Yeah. That's Elrim.
I gave in, enjoying the flight.
Second time, less scary.
We hurtled toward the ruined ground.
Protective magic would trigger, back to waiting room.
But right before impact,
as protective magic activated,
a strange silhouette flashed at vision's edge.
A tall, gaunt man.
Definitely not cadet uniform.
-Hmm. Interesting indeed.
No one but cadets in subjugation field.
As his voice and doubt crossed my mind,
Flash—
Protective magic blacked out my vision.
***
When Giant Footprint Brachio had just awakened.
"Why now..."
The colossal body blotting the sky.
Even from field center's distance, it was clear.
A 2nd-grade beast several times academy building size rising.
'W-What do?!'
Elrim stomped in panic at the sight.
Ian's familiar sparking fight with senior Karin Dol Rimgopht,
Redlight Stitch suddenly zipping by,
2nd-grade beast that shouldn't wake, waking.
Everything panic-inducing.
But what rattled Elrim most was the second.
Miss Redlight Stitch now, who knows next sighting.
Hesitate and lose it.
Elrim decided.
'Everything's fucked anyway! Not my problem!'
Already on Karin Dol's shitlist.
2nd-grade beast rampaging too.
No steady scoring now.
Elrim wanted that Redlight Stitch.
No other chances anyway.
"L-Lame! Hisenna! Running cuz it's our chance!"
Lame excuse, Elrim pulled mana stone from pocket.
Bought solely for Redlight Stitch.
This spell boosted not just speed, but cognition too.
World seemed slowed, letting hyper-movement.
Inexperienced mages forcing it got killer headaches later.
But for the catch, she brought two.
Elrim activated stone; it glowed.
World slowed; she dashed.
'Where... there!'
Soon spotted it.
Tiny fairy-like red light and wings.
Acceleration stone better than expected?
Even with it, thought it'd be hard—surprisingly trackable.
Opportunity came quick.
Redlight Stitch neared feet; Elrim reached.
"Eek!"
Whoosh—
Missed.
Teased her, zigzagging deeper, deeper.
Elrim chased, missing narrowly repeatedly.
Ground still shaking.
Shakes closing in maybe.
Realized too late: heading field center.
'No, this way...'
Further and get stomped.
But each doubt, Redlight Stitch wagged tail.
Slowed, neared teasingly, then whoosh again.
Couldn't stop with it dangling.
'Argh...! Fail anyway, protective magic sends back!'
2nd-grade stomp just waiting room.
But catch it? Massive attention.
That happy thought energized her.
Chased red light again, again.
"Uuuueee!! Please get caught!!"
Miss after miss,
Elrim's patience nearing limit,
Swoosh—
Another chance;
Elrim lunged, vowing no miss.
Whoosh—
So fixated, missed forest ending.
Leapt reaching as forest cleared, vision flashed.
"Got...!"
Finally in hands?
Red light slipped between desperate hands.
Just squeeze.
But,
Snatch—
Sudden hand in view yoinked it pre-catch.
"Ughk-!"
Elrim hit dirt.
Lunged but missed—rolled on ground.
Dirty, but irrelevant.
Who snatched Redlight Stitch?
Elrim whipped head up desperately.
There,
stood a tall, bespectacled man—not a cadet.
Gazing down at Elrim with utter rapture.
"R-Reddy... Reddy...!"