Chapter 446: Orthodox (4)
I turn my hammer into a drill, bore deep into the earth, and then unleash a full-power upward swing to create a massive crater.
Even as the words left my mouth, I knew how idiotic it sounded. I passed the suggestion to command as quickly as possible, asking for their thoughts.
Less than twenty seconds later, the reply came back: proceed as planned.
Command’s reasoning was that if an explosion on the scale of a nuclear blast occurred underground, a crater was a mathematical possibility. Even if geological variables prevented a massive one, the impact would still serve to mitigate the momentum of the stampede.
However, there was one problem.
"How am I supposed to get out?"
The moment I asked, the communication line went dead.
I’m not joking. They literally just cut the transmission.
And so.
"I asked, how am I supposed to get out?"
I turned to the Thunder God, the one who had actually come up with this plan.
Without letting her smile waver for a second, she took a step toward me.
She grabbed my head with both hands.
"Now, look over there."
Crack.
I’m pretty sure my neck just snapped.
Regardless, she forced me to look toward the Defense Force members preparing for battle.
Crack.
She twisted my head again. In the distance, though still far off, the herd of buffalo was charging toward us.
"Doesn't it feel like a minor problem now?"
I couldn't see her face, but I knew the Thunder God was smiling as she said that.
Well, she wasn't wrong. It did feel like a minor problem in comparison.
"I'll be back."
Crack.
I snapped my mangled neck back into place and headed toward The Enemy.
* * *
"I wasn't just buried under some dirt!"
Those were the first words I shouted at the Thunder God after finishing my task and returning to the Management Bureau.
"Welcome back~"
Un-ho was the first to react to my yelling, but I ignored him and marched straight up to her.
The Thunder God looked at me, sparks crackling around her—likely a side effect of her Thunder God Descent.
"What happened to you?"
Did I really have to explain it?
Well, they say venting helps relieve frustration.
"First, I got buried under a mountain of earth."
I’d expected that much, so I let it slide. The real issues started after that.
"Then, the buffalo started falling on top of me."
It was obvious in hindsight, but I’d completely forgotten that would happen until the moment it did.
"And then came the bombardment."
Being covered in dirt was bad enough, but as I crawled out from under a pile of carcasses, I was greeted by a rain of buffalo and an overwhelming storm of fire.
Fine, I’ll let that slide too. I’ll accept that those bastards kept shelling the area regardless of whether I was there or not.
"But why the hell did lightning strike me?"
Why did the Thunder God’s Spear fall there?
Wasn't the bombardment enough?
Thanks to that unexpected lightning strike, my limbs went numb, and I spent a good while rolling around on top of buffalo corpses.
Honestly, even until the moment I was being fried, I didn't think things would go this poorly. I’d been hit by a corrupted version of her spear before, after all.
Back then, the spear paralyzed my nerves and wrecked my biological parts, but it couldn't stop me from moving using Otherworldly Power.
However, the black-tinged yellow spear that struck me and the buffalo today was something else entirely.
A new version of the Thunder God’s Spear, glowing yellow with a black gradient.
In addition to the overwhelming electrical discharge of the original, it now possessed the ability to interfere with Otherworldly Power.
The mana flowing through me—the very power I use to move—was sealed away for a considerable amount of time.
The original spear was already a decisive weapon against living beings or machines, provided there was enough energy. Now, if it hits you right, it’s a finishing move that seals your abilities too.
"Oh, that? The buffalo weren't dying as fast as I expected, so I got permission from command, borrowed a nearby power plant, and gave them a zap."
Aha. I see.
Those bastards at command were accomplices.
There must be some bizarre inequality sign engraved in their brains that says the Thunder God, a pseudo-Mutant, is more important than me, a currently active Hero.
That fact was shocking enough, but there was something more important.
"You knew I was there, didn't you?"
"I knew."
"And you fired anyway?"
"I fired."
She was so nonchalant about it.
Wait, wasn't I the victim here?
"What if something went wrong with me?"
I only survived because it was me. Anyone else would have been crushed by buffalo, let alone the lightning.
I vented my rising anger at her, but.
"I fired because I knew nothing would go wrong."
The Thunder God replied without a hint of doubt, her tone flat as if stating the most obvious fact in the world.
Faced with such absolute certainty, my anger lost its target.
"Sigh."
With my fury cooled and nowhere to go, I slumped into a chair and let out a long sigh.
"Tastes ba—urk. Gwaaargh."
I stuffed a nearby blue leaf into Un-ho’s mouth to soothe my empty hands.
"Still, you could have picked me up once it was over."
Leaving me in a mountain of buffalo corpses was a bit much.
"I thought it would take too long to find you one by one."
Fair point. The entire area was a field of charred buffalo; finding me in that mess would have been difficult. Especially since I was burnt to a crisp myself.
"Besides, my condition was... like this. I didn't have much choice."
As she spoke, the Thunder God pulled back her sleeve and raised her right hand.
Her arm was translucent, the light passing through it.
It was a sign that despite receiving external energy, her consumption had been far greater than expected.
Realizing that she had been pushing herself just as hard, I quietly let my exhausted body rest.
I needed a brief respite before tackling the next task.
...Wait a minute.
"You can track my location with your electric field detection."
That thing she uses instead of sight.
In a sea of ash and corpses, a single Magical Girl flapping around alive would have stood out like a sore thumb.
The thought suddenly occurred to me, and I moved to protest.
But the Thunder God had already closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
Whether she was faking it or not, seeing her like that drained my will to argue.
I, too, quietly closed my eyes.
* * *
Two days later.
To be more precise, it had been about a day and a half since we spent half a day clearing the buffalo herd.
During that time, we had been running in all directions, resolving one emergency after another.
Short naps and rest during transit.
We had pushed through with almost no sleep.
For me, this was daily life, but unlike me, the Thunder God’s power was consumable, and she felt physical fatigue normally. I could sense her growing exhaustion.
When I brought it up, she simply said:
"Compared to the old days, this is heaven. I'm fine."
And so, she continued to resolve incidents one by one.
Each incident was something that could have leveled a city if left unchecked.
However, such events had become so common over the last two days that they weren't even worth describing in detail. After resolving four such matters, we finally had a brief break with three hours left until the operation's execution.
Now, Un-ho, the Thunder God, and I are standing in a plain far from the Management Bureau.
We had traveled far to avoid being detected by the Bureau’s surveillance. We expanded our detection range for about a minute to ensure no one was watching us.
"Are you ready?"
"No problem."
The Thunder God asked calmly, and I replied.
"Well then."
As the conversation ended, she pulled an ampoule from her coat.
"Hup."
She accelerated instantly and grabbed me from behind.
"What the—?"
That was a strange move.
If she were an enemy, I would have slammed an elbow into her face for such a maneuver.
But since it was her, I didn't raise my guard and simply turned my head.
"Stay still."
She whispered, holding me tight.
"We're touching."
Perhaps because we were so close, I felt a faint, stinging spark and a sensation that was more hard than soft.
The pressure began to increase, and unable to bear the stifling feeling, I started to struggle to break free.
"Just stay still, will you?"
The Thunder God raised her voice slightly, sounding annoyed by my resistance.
"Then don't cling to me!"
It wasn't my fault, so I raised my voice right back at her.
We spent about ten seconds bickering and struggling against the restraint.
"We have to be touching to move, so just stay still for a second!"
Finally, it was only after the Thunder God spoke with a hint of genuine anger that I stopped resisting.
She should have just said so from the start.
Then we wouldn't have wasted all this time.
As I grumbled internally, the Thunder God rested her head on top of mine and hugged me even tighter.
"Here we go."
That hurts, you jerk.
She spoke with her chin resting on my head, and the vibrations felt bizarre.
I twisted my body slightly in protest.
"We're both girls, so just stay still."
Excuse me?
The Thunder God said something that definitely warranted a retort.
But before I could react—
Kiiiing.
A sound more like something cracking than glass shattering rang in my ears.
Glug.
Simultaneously, a dark shadow pooled beneath our feet.
Glug.
With that sound, my vision went dark.
It was dark.
And slimy.
I couldn't even feel the Thunder God, who had been right there with me.
It felt like being trapped in lukewarm mucus; my senses and movements were dull.
In a space where all five senses seemed paralyzed, there was only one sensation that remained clear.
A scent.
The incredibly sweet scent of flowers.
I recognized the general category of the sensation.
But I needed to be more specific.
What kind of flower was this scent from?
As I searched my memories for the answer—
Glug.
I emerged into the light.
"You are about three minutes late."
My consciousness snapped awake at the sound of Al’shel’s mocking voice greeting me the moment I appeared.
Uh, okay. So.
It seems I just used that 'Here-and-There Slime' to teleport.
It felt like a long time, but looking back, it only took about six seconds.
"Hmm. Are you alright? I suppose the sensation is a bit strange the first time—"
While I was contemplating that peculiar sensation, Al’shel poked his head into my line of sight.
"Holy shit!"
Wham!
Startled, I reflexively threw a punch at the octopus in front of me.
"Guh-urk!"
And just like that, an octopus went flying across my vision.
The problem was that we weren't indoors; we were on the roof of a skyscraper with the open sky above us.
After flying through the air for a moment, the octopus began a freefall down the side of the building.
"Blub-glub-aaaaargh!"
A sound like a mix of bubbling foam and a scream faded away, courtesy of the Doppler effect.
...Silence fell.
Perhaps because it happened so suddenly, the entities gathered on the roof could only stare blankly at the spot where Al’shel had disappeared.
The Thunder God and Un-ho, who had come with me, were no different.
About twenty seconds passed.
Just as the harsh wind characteristic of high-rise buildings swept past us—
"Ah. Well. That was Chief of Staff Al’shel’s fault."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Seconded."
The entities gathered on the building each spoke up, bringing the situation to a close.
Caught up in the atmosphere, I, the guilty party with a conscience, decided to let it go too.
It's Al’shel, he'll be fine, I thought.
Finally, I spoke up.
To satisfy my curiosity.
"So, where are we?"
"Dubai."
One of the entities answered promptly.
"And this is where that mad scientist and my Adversary were confirmed to be, right?"
"Yes."
"Have you pinpointed their location?"
"We haven't been able to get specific details, but it is certain they are still in Dubai."
She answered my follow-up questions without hesitation.
I asked my final question.
"So, why are you all out here?"
"I'm not sure I understand the question."
True, even I thought the question was a bit vague.
Let me be more precise.
"The 13 Seats of The Society. Why are all of you out here?"
"Because it is necessary."
Hearing that answer, I looked at every person present.
Some faces were familiar from frequent encounters.
Others were unfamiliar.
But all of them stood there on the skyscraper roof, braving the sand-laden wind.
Excluding Enclu, who was a non-combatant.
Consisting of two O-Ranks and ten A-Ranks.
It was a total assembly of The Society's top executives.
Ah. Right. Al’shel is 'dead,' so he's not here.
One O-Rank. Ten A-Ranks.