Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: If It Were Alice...
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"Teleport right away?"
[A bit short! You need to fly for about three minutes as Alice to get within range!]
"That's why A-Rank..."
Alice's teleport range was plenty wide, but the moment an A-Rank Abyss Being appeared, every Magical Girl in that city and the neighboring ones who could fight was summoned.
It wasn't just one strong monster showing up and calling it a day—usually, they brought along a few D- to C-Rank monsters, and in bad cases, even B-Ranks. The more Magical Girls, the better.
The strong ones fought while those with weaker combat skills handled protecting civilians and preventing major buildings from collapsing. That was the division of roles.
Alice would definitely be on combat duty, but... there was no time to worry about that now.
'Transform. Alice.'
-Fwhoosh!
Transforming into Alice, she immediately cast the standard Magical Girl spell to move to a spot nearby with no people or CCTV. Once she confirmed her vision had shifted, she kicked off the ground, floated her body, and created starlight beneath her feet to start moving.
'Maximum speed.'
-Phewww!
Pouring mana into the starlight accelerated it, and the wind already whipping her face grew even fiercer, lashing her long silver hair wildly.
'Tokki. Count down the time to the teleport spot.'
[Got it. 30, 29...]
She was moving so fast that the scenery blurred by dizzyingly, but she'd been through it countless times, so it didn't faze her.
Evacuation orders must have gone out—some people pointed her way with wide eyes while fleeing—but she was zipping past civilians too fast for them to even say "huh." Just evacuate quietly.
If someone could snap a photo at this speed, she wouldn't stop them. It wouldn't even show up in the picture anyway.
[8, 7, 6...]
-Crunch
If an Abyss Being had appeared, it was probably in a crowded area, and she hadn't flown in right away like usual. Factoring in detection, travel, and teleport, it had been about five minutes since it showed up.
No matter the situation she arrived at, she channeled mana into her staff and prepared to move in sync with Tokki's countdown.
[3, 2, 1! Teleport!]
-Fwhoosh!
'No intro lines today!'
Stuff like "Magical Girl Alice has arrived!" was for when she had the luxury. In a situation like this, no one would hear it anyway—just earn her some curses.
The instant her vision shifted, she spotted two D-Rank Abyss Beings about to pounce on people and hit them with a pre-charged Starlight Shower. Then, sensing the A-Rank Abyss Being through surrounding mana, she saw its massive fist plummeting right toward a cluster of two or three Magical Girls.
'Run there? Too late. Starlight Shower? Won't block it. Lunar Blast? By the time it's charged, it'll be smashed. Flying in? Also too late.'
Normal techniques were out.
That left only one option.
Stellar Shift.
-Fwhoosh!
"Unni... sorry... it's because of me... huh?"
"Don't say that! We promised, remember? Even if we die, we die together!"
"Ah, no, Unni... behind you..."
'Quit yapping and dodge already!!!!!'
"Leave this to Alice and get out of here!"
-Thud!
"Urk!"
[Hmm. A new Magical Girl? Those Mascots never tire. Following us into every dimension the Abyss invades.]
"P-please... get away."
"Th-thank you! Hey! Pull yourself together! We're alive!"
"Thank you for saving us! I'll DM you later!"
'Quit with the nonsense and scram!'
-Grrrind...
Right now, she was blocking the Abyss Being's descending fist with her staff.
Stopping something the size of a truck—no, a two-story building—with just one human was impossible, but that's what Magical Girls made possible.
'Damn... of all times, when I'm out of shape.'
As mentioned, Alice—more precisely, her current condition—was in no way good, not even as a polite exaggeration.
She'd done plenty of mental labor, fought Abyss Beings (not high-rank, but still), and skipped proper meals and rest.
Mental strength, mana, stamina—everything was heavily depleted for spellcasting.
Then, teleporting over and immediately blasting Starlight Shower at those two attacking Abyss Beings without time to recharge, followed by using Stellar Shift again to save those rookies and block the attack... To put Alice's state in perspective:
If peak condition was standing normally, this was like fighting with six sandbags strapped on, one foot raised off the ground using only the other for balance, swinging with just one arm.
A bit of an embarrassing analogy, but that was pretty much Alice's real handicap right now.
If she'd had just ten—no, five seconds to gather mana, she wouldn't need this arm-wrestling match.
She admitted it. She'd failed at condition management today.
Magical Girls, especially Alice, were supposed to always maintain peak condition since you never knew when or where an Abyss Being might strike. Ending up like this was her misjudgment.
She hadn't expected an A-Rank to show up when she was in this state.
Abyss Beings didn't exactly follow human schedules.
-Grrrind...
[What is this, Magical Girl? You boldly block, but is this all you've got? If you're stalling for time, that's no fun.]
-Crunch
'If only I were in good shape, this would've been...'
Even in this state, Alice wasn't getting one-sidedly crushed by an A-Rank.
But she had no confidence in preventing the surrounding area from being devastated in the process.
If she just unloaded high-power spells without a thought for the aftermath, she could take down the A-Rank easily—but dozens of buildings would crumble, and hundreds or thousands of unevacuated civilians would be at risk.
In the end, being a Magical Girl wasn't just about raw power.
That didn't mean Alice planned to keep arm-wrestling this thing forever.
The scorching heat she'd felt approaching from afar had now spread everywhere.
-Boom!
"What the—Alice! Long time no see! Has your skill rusted or something?"
"As if!"
Thanks to the Magical Girl who burst in dropkicking the Abyss Being's fist—literally wreathed in blazing mana—the pressure on her eased. That brief gap was enough to pull back her staff and start charging mana.
"Watch out for the explosion!!"
Lunar Blast.
-Kaboom!!
[Urk! You dare!]
Thanks to the opening that Magical Girl created, Lunar Blast detonated. At point-blank range, the Abyss Being's fist shredded instantly.
But was an A-Rank Abyss Being called that for nothing?
[Do you think this is my first time conquering dimensions against idiots who rely solely on those Mascots' power? This is nothing!!]
Around twenty things like that shredded fist floated near the Abyss Being's black form. Exactly twenty-four.
"So, got any useful info to share? Weak points or whatever."
"Alice just got here too."
"Well, yeah. It hasn't been long since it appeared. Still, with this lineup, we've got enough firepower, right?"
Let me introduce this woman who casually stuck close like they were buddies: Rabis, S-Rank #5.
Her habit of glomming onto people everywhere was like Emerald's, but while Emerald came off sweet and mature, Rabis was so utterly casual that other Magical Girls found it uncomfortable.
Whatever, not her problem.
"Tokki. Alice and Rabis should be enough to take down an A-Rank Abyss Being. Send any other B-Rank and below Magical Girls joining later to civilian rescue and handling the tag-along Abyss Beings."
[Uh... There's a B-Rank support-type Magical Girl heading here now. Don't need her?]
"B-Rank support-type... We're good here already..."
"Hey! I can help! Against an A-Rank, controlling your power is tricky! A B-Rank support with experience should be plenty useful!"
"...Fine, we'll do that."
[OK. I'll let the Mascots know. That Magical Girl and any others joining after will focus on rescues and preventing follow-up damage instead of combat.]
[Ha, ha... You think two of you can take me on?! Me?!]
"Reminds me of nine years ago. There weren't as many Magical Girls back then, so a few of us had to handle takedowns, rescues, debris cleanup—everything. World's definitely improved, huh?"
"More people shining brightly—that's a good thing."
"Haha, that speech pattern of yours hasn't changed. Just like back then. I'll rush in, you handle ranged. No need to spell it out—you'll match me, right? Here we go!"
-Bang!
She had no idea what this woman said to Alice nine years ago or how they synced up back then.
She couldn't possibly know.
...Because she wasn't Alice.
Just someone impersonating her.
Hoping desperately not to get caught while clumsily following that light.
How could she know things only 'Alice' had experienced?
She just had to improvise.