Academy Midterm Test: Facing Class 1's Magical Girl Prodigy?! (8)
Usually, sparring matches tend to happen between opponents of similar skill levels. Of course, perfectly equal conditions and abilities are impossible, but it means there are always variables or tactics that can be used to stage a comeback.
But what if the gap in ability was overwhelming? For example, a fight between a kindergartener and an adult man. No, even that example isn’t enough. Imagine not just any adult, but a top-ranked competitor who dominated professional fighting tournaments going up against a preschool child. Could that be called a fair match?
Salbyeol stared at the opponent standing before him. No matter how hard he rubbed his eyes or smacked his head with his wings, it was unmistakably the same person from his memories.
‘No matter how I look at it, that’s Lady Cosmo! Does that mean Lady Cosmo’s hometown was here on Earth?!’
In Salbyeol’s memory, Cosmo—Kim Jihye—had been the supreme magical girl who ruled over all others with cold charisma. She was the one many called perhaps the strongest in all of Magica’s history.
Salbyeol had witnessed her power firsthand. The moment her unique magic activated and the battlefield was instantly reduced to ash, his honest reaction had been:
‘How is that even a magical girl?! That’s a monster!’
As a mascot, he had seen the magic of countless magical girls, but Cosmo’s was on an entirely different level. Her arrogant spells, which seemed to challenge the very origin of the universe, had slaughtered and obliterated monsters without mercy. And that cold-blooded face that never even twitched afterward remained vivid in his mind.
‘But… the vibe is a little different now, you know? The original Lady Cosmo was never this relaxed…’
This was why Salbyeol hadn’t been able to identify Kim Jihye as Cosmo at first glance. The atmosphere was so different that they hardly seemed like the same person. She lacked the venomous, murderous aura of the old Cosmo. All he saw was an ordinary girl who looked as if she had surrendered her entire body to drowsiness.
Even so, the reason he could be certain Kim Jihye and Cosmo were the same individual was thanks to her unique weapon. Though it was scratched and shabby compared to before, it was unmistakably Cosmo’s.
After that, Salbyeol thought hard about how to help Yun Yuri at least put up a decent fight against her. He had prepared countermeasures for the footwork that had defeated her in their first match. Even after the sparring test ended, he had trained with Yun Yuri late into every night. But beyond that… he wasn’t sure.
Her understanding of magic was vast, and her combat sense was already top-class. No matter how much he taught her now, he knew she wouldn’t be able to win.
In the end, Salbyeol decided to break the taboo.
“Listen carefully, you know. For this sparring match, I’ll support you, you know.”
“That’s cheating.”
Yuri naturally pushed back hard. It went against her belief in fighting fair and square with only her own power.
But Salbyeol stubbornly kept persuading her.
“But the opponent is that opponent, so it can’t be helped, you know. If we don’t do at least this much, forget winning—you’ll be defeated in less than a second, you know!”
“…Is it really that bad?”
It was taboo for a mascot to interfere in the sacred duels between magical girls, but this time it couldn’t be helped. Even Lady Cosmo would understand.
Salbyeol rationalized it that way.
Piiii—
An incredibly loud whistle filled the arena. At the same time, the noisy spectator seats fell silent in an instant.
“All right, we will now begin the long-awaited first-year sparring test finals!”
The silence from a moment ago seemed to have been building up to this; a thunderous cheer erupted.
At the same time, tension climbed from Yuri’s fingertips all the way to her chest. She had already been somewhat nervous, but Salbyeol’s fussing made her even more so.
“Huu.”
Regardless of the tension, what she had to do didn’t change. She would give it her all and claim final victory in the sparring test. That was the true first step she needed to take to become the greatest magical girl.
“Student Kim Jihye. Student Yun Yuri. Please prepare.”
“I absolutely won’t lose this time.”
“Yaaawn.”
Kim Jihye let out a huge yawn. Yuri didn’t know how to take that response to her resolve, but she knew the action wasn’t meant to dismiss her. Despite the relaxed demeanor, those eyes were quite chilly.
“Ugh.”
“Don’t be scared, you know! Lady Yuri can do this, you know!”
Despite the words meant to encourage her, Yuri saw that Salbyeol was trembling in fear even more than she was.
Just how strong was the opponent that Salbyeol was this terrified? From Yuri’s perspective, still unaware of Kim Jihye’s true strength, her curiosity surged.
“Both sides, please transform.”
“Huuuung… Transform.”
“Magical Girl Starlight! Appearing right here!”
Along with the transformation phrase, a sense of fullness flooded her entire body. At the same time, her fear vanished and courage bloomed. The unique weapon gripped tightly in her hand gave her a sense of stability, while the fluttering golden hair and gorgeous outfit made Yuri feel like someone truly special.
As her magical girl name suggested, Yuri’s identity as a magical girl was that of a star. Every accessory and her unique weapon—the staff—were all related to stars. A star that proudly shone as brilliantly as those twinkling in the dark night sky. That was what Yuri believed the strongest magical girl should be.
“Starlight, ready!”
“Cosmo is also ready… yawn.”
Holding her staff like a spear and taking her stance, Yuri—no, Starlight—thought back. In the previous match, hadn’t the other girl introduced herself using her real name instead of her magical girl name?
“It really… it really is Lady Cosmo, you know! What do we do, you know!”
She decided to ask later why the panicking Salbyeol knew the opponent. More important was the fact that by stating her magical girl name, the other girl was finally acknowledging her as an equal. That recognition made her heart swell more than any praise she had ever received from her teachers.
“Then let the match begin!”
At the judge’s command, Starlight kicked off the ground. Just as Salbyeol had instructed, she intended to seize the initiative no matter what. Fortunately, unlike last time, Cosmo didn’t immediately circle around to her rear. Instead, she seemed to be calmly waiting for Starlight’s attack.
“In that case… I’ll show you!”
She felt her whole body heating up. Heat rose, her pulse raced at tremendous speed, and both thought and movement accelerated together. A refreshing sensation spread through every part of her before gathering in her hand. The mana concentrated there flowed naturally into her unique weapon.
Starlight swung her staff wide and activated explosion magic at its tip at the same time.
Boom—
She loaded multiple magic missiles simultaneously. Multicast. The spells wove together faster and in a more refined, intuitive way than even Shin Seyeol could manage.
Five magic missiles flew at the highest speed she had ever produced. It was a direct hit. Yet the opponent showed no reaction. Since she hadn’t sensed any separate spell being cast, she must have taken Starlight’s attack one-sidedly.
Even so, the judges did not declare a winner.
The reason became clear soon enough.
“She barely… output the defense artifact in time.”
“…What does that mean?”
A girl with cherry-blossom pink hair fluttering approached with leisurely steps. Before transformation their heights had been similar, but to the current Starlight, she looked far too small and delicate. Nevertheless, a presence as overpowering as a giant pressed against her skin. Goosebumps rose all over her body.
“…Lady Cosmo modified the defense artifact right on the spot, you know.”
“What?”
“She analyzed the artifact’s circuits, improved the weak points, and used enhanced output to handle magic that ordinary artifacts couldn’t block, you know!”
As she listened to Salbyeol’s explanation, the brooch on Cosmo’s chest was blinking. It was the activation signal for the defense artifact.
“How… so quickly?”
“If you’re skilled, it’s possible. …You look like you could do it soon too?”
Cosmo narrowed her eyes as she spoke, but to Starlight it didn’t feel like praise at all.
“Anyway… it’s not over yet! In that case…”
Although the attack hadn’t gotten through, the artifact’s durability must have been reduced. If she poured on even higher-output attacks to drain it further, she might be able to nullify the artifact completely.
“Fireball!”
She drew up her mana and completed a spell with powerful output. It was closer to a perfect sphere than the fireballs taught in class, and the blazing heat was intense. Still, the mana consumption felt strangely low, which puzzled her—until she saw Salbyeol flapping his wings vigorously to assist with the casting and realized why.
“You have to conserve your mana as much as possible, you know! If you pour everything out now, you’ll definitely lose, you know.”
“Nice support, Salbyeol!”
The fireball launched with Salbyeol’s help traced a far more complex and irregular trajectory than when Starlight aimed it alone.
The shield magic taught in first year had directional properties, so identifying the attack’s path was crucial. Of course the artifact’s built-in shield was omnidirectional, but she couldn’t afford to let the opponent dodge. Starlight’s goal was to overwhelm the artifact’s defense with magic that exceeded its capacity. To do that, she had to ensure every spell landed.
The magic followed an unpredictable path and reached one meter in front of Cosmo. All that remained was the impact.
However.
“Terminate.”
The spell detonated on its own before it even reached her.
“Hyaaak!”
“As expected of Lady Cosmo, you know!”
The fireball that suddenly burst in midair unleashed a wave of heat and energy. The blast reached even where Starlight stood, obscuring her vision with scorching wind. Feeling the sudden wave of heat, Starlight considered herself lucky. Thanks to Salbyeol’s advice to conserve mana, she hadn’t fired two or three fireballs at once.
Even after the explosion’s shockwave, the opponent remained unharmed. She had used the defense artifact again.
“It’s still… not over, right?”
With those words, she finally understood why Salbyeol had been trembling so violently.