Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: ...It's the Worst.
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"Haa, haa, fi, finally arrived...! Haa..."
[How about you get a movement skill too, Mia? Doesn't it get tiring running around like this every time?]
"I want, haa, to make one, but every time, haa, it fails."
[Sorry to interrupt while you're talking. That Magical Girl over there sent a message. I'll relay it for now.]
[Hey! If you've arrived, find a good spot and layer on as many mobility buffs as you can! I'm doing close combat! Alice over there is ranged, so keep that in mind! Oh! And on my side, prioritize buffs for attack stability over raw power! Honestly, I've got more than enough power already! Thanks, take care!]
"This cheeky voice must be Raviz... And one more... Senior Alice?!"
[Alice again? Mia, you're on a hot streak lately. Looks like her patrol area is around here?]
"A-A-A, A-Alice Se-Senior... Teaming up again... Th-That too, for an A-Rank raid... In a three-person party..."
[Mia?! I get that you're excited, but calm down! Your heart rate's spiking too high!]
"Y-Yeah, you're right. I can't get in Senior's way because of me."
Her heart, already pounding from rushing over, started racing uncontrollably upon hearing that Senior Alice was here too. But such a high heart rate could ruin everything, so she took deep breaths to suppress it.
Generally, the recommended number for subjugating an Abyss Being is four to five Magical Girls averaging that Being's rank.
For a C-Rank Abyss Being, that means a party like one B-Rank, two C-Ranks, and one D-Rank.
Declaring a three-person raid on an A-Rank Abyss Being might sound insanely dangerous at first glance, but S-Ranks—whether Abyss Beings or Magical Girls—operate on a whole different level from other ranks... Simply put, 'A-Rank' is a rank given to those who far surpass standard A-Rank benchmarks. So a party with two S-Rank Magical Girls has more than enough power to take down an A-Rank Abyss Being.
Two S-Rank Magical Girls specialized in offense, plus one B-Rank specialized in support... It's a rare combination you don't see every day.
S-Rank Magical Girls and B-Rank or higher support specialists are both pretty rare, so teams like this don't come together often.
Pure support specialists can't easily operate solo as Magical Girls if they can only support, so their ranks are measured based on their combat ability when self-buffing and acting alone without other Magical Girls. Rankings aren't solely about combat power, but they're designed so you can't advance without a solid baseline.
In other words, support-type Magical Girls can dramatically amplify their impact depending on the base combat power of their teammates. And naturally, higher ranks mean stronger buffs.
Right now, with two S-Rank Magical Girls no less... It was a dream scenario any support-type Magical Girl would kill for.
And one of them was the Senior Alice she always admired and loved.
[Uh, Mia...? You've got drool on your mouth... I get you're happy to see Alice, but...]
"N-No, I don't?!"
*-Slurp!*
[You can cast your spells properly, right...?]
"O-Of course! I just finished prepping!"
*-Thud!*
A staff imbued with sacred golden magic power slammed into the ground. Radiating from it, enormous wings of light unfurled, channeling the buffs she'd prepared amid her distracted thoughts straight to the seniors in the thick of battle.
[Whoa! These buffs pack a punch! Having a support really makes a difference! Thanks! Time to go wild!]
[Thank you, Mia! Alice will do her best too! Don't push yourself—leave it to Alice and Raviz!]
*-Thump thump*
"Ahh... I'm so happy..."
The thought that becoming a Magical Girl was the right choice welled up from her chest.
To stand on the same battlefield as the very Senior who made her one—and the one she loved—and hear thanks like this.
It brought far more joy than the fulfillment of saving people.
"...But Senior Alice's voice sounds a bit subdued today. Is she tired?"
[I wouldn't know. Doesn't it sound like her usual voice?]
"No. Senior's voice changes with her mood. When she's in top form, it's super lively, but right now it's about half a tone... no, maybe 0.2 tones lower. Back on that talk show, when the guest asked something rude, it dropped 0.1 tones. For it to be this low while fighting an Abyss Being... Her condition must be off."
[...Mia. When did you awaken analysis skills? I still can't hear the difference after you pointed it out.]
"No! It is different! Just look at how she's handed main DPS to Raviz against an A-Rank Abyss Being! Senior Alice could handle that level solo no problem..."
*-Kwaaaang!!!*
[Graaaah!!]
"Haha! What good are a ton of fists if the main body's such a wimp!"
"...Not that Raviz is weak. Just that Senior Alice is even stronger."
[True... Alice has had a reputation as the strongest Magical Girl since her debut. Rabbit A got so much envy from the other mascots back then.]
"Senior... You can't push yourself too hard..."
* * *
[Alice...? You okay...?]
"...I'm managing. Raviz can handle the aggro up close, so even if I just support, we can take an Abyss Being like this."
Earlier, when she'd blocked that punch with her staff, she'd twisted her left ankle.
A Magical Girl's recovery would heal it after a good night's sleep, but it was still distracting mid-battle.
At least the Magical Girl up front, even more specialized in close combat than Alice, was drawing all the aggro.
[If you're not at full strength, that support back there could heal you if you ask...]
"Alice... can't show weakness."
Alice always had to appear strong and bright.
People can't always be in top condition or great moods every day. Sometimes you're up, sometimes down, depending on what you've been through.
Of course, normal people can have off days.
But Alice couldn't.
Alice had to shine brilliantly at all times.
Unless it was an unavoidable situation with a rock-solid excuse—like an S-Rank raid—showing struggle against an A-Rank while bearing the S-Rank title... Her mind was already swarming with unpleasant scenarios.
People didn't want the image they had of Alice to shatter.
She'd been able to live as Alice for the past eight years, despite not truly being her, by obsessively matching the public persona of the original Alice and never stepping into territory where she couldn't convincingly impersonate her.
*-Vrrr!*
Her mental and magical energy weren't abundant, but the buffs from that support Magical Girl earlier were undeniably effective.
Thanks to them, she could still pull off spells like this in her current state.
[Raviz! I'll blast all the remaining fists at once—charge the main body right after!]
[Got it!]
Lunar Blast + Stellar Prism
Fractal Nova!
*-Kwaaaaaang!!!!*
[What?!]
She fired Lunar Blast—which could critically wound even a B-Rank Abyss Being against a single target—into a magically conjured prism to replicate it, multiplying the hits.
This time, targeting all sixteen remaining fists.
*-Throb throb*
*-Grind*
The technique shot in a straight line, so she had to precisely calculate the launch angle to avoid misses—and ensure any stray shots didn't hit other buildings or nearby helicopters.
One of Magical Girl Alice's ultimate techniques, something even she wouldn't find odd given her depleted mental energy screaming in fatigue and magic draining away in chunks.
*-Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!!!!!!!!!!
[Grahhhhaa!!]
"Did you forget about me, you punk!!"
*-Thud crash!*
[Grrrgh!!]
In an instant, the fists were shredded. Raviz dove into the main body's guard and slammed its solar plexus, the impact so massive it made the body convulse visibly from here.
If you thought of it as human, it'd be knocked out cold—but it was an Abyss Being. An A-Rank at that.
[You bast... Graaaahhh!!!]
*-Kwaaaang!
"Shut it! Your breath stinks!"
Ah. That's gonna drop.
A truck-sized hole blasted through its solar plexus—even an Abyss Being couldn't survive that.
It'd collapse soon.
Some regenerative types could heal even that, but judging by its other abilities, this A-Rank didn't have regeneration that strong.
Controlling twenty-four building-sized fists and regenerating fatal wounds that size would be cheating.
...Of course, expecting common sense from Abyss Beings was foolish, so she didn't let her guard down on the staff, ready for any last tricks.
Sure enough.
[Grooo...! I curse you...! A hero of reversal, who has wandered countless dimensions...!!!]
*-Kugugugugrum!!
With its dying gasps, red light began emanating from its body and the fallen fists around it.
'...Damn bastard.'
If you're beaten, just admit defeat and vanish cleanly. Self-destructing right before total annihilation was one of the most pathetic, worst-case patterns.