Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Magical Anomaly
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Something was off.
The monster had clearly been writhing in agony from her Magical Curse just moments ago.
So why, exactly...
"Ahahahahaha!!!"
...was it laughing like it was having the time of its life?
Was this thing not a monster at all, but a Magical lunatic?
Or maybe a Magical masochist?
Sora's pumpkin-colored eyes, shrunken back in confusion, quickly darted toward Taisi.
Maybe Taisi had even predicted this.
Her eyes flickered with hopeful curiosity.
But no.
"Wh-what's going on?!"
Taisi was just as flustered as Sora.
"Taisi, you didn't plan this, did you?"
"Absolutely not. I did take advantage of the monster pulling back every time it used its Magical Curse, but I never expected this kind of result."
Taisi's red eyes openly betrayed her anxiety and bewilderment.
In other words, even she hadn't seen this coming.
A new Magical variable had emerged.
This was bad.
Still...
It's okay.
Sora steadied her nerves as best she could.
She lowered her magic wand but didn't cancel the spell. Her plan had been to watch the situation a bit longer before recovering her magic power, and it had worked out as a Magical boon.
In that case...
She just needed to capitalize on this moment while the monster was laughing, ignoring both her and Taisi.
I might have to give up on capturing the Magical...
No helping it.
Kim Siyul's request to capture the Magical was important, but even more crucial was his survival.
If it meant facing Magical reprimands later, it was still a hundred times better than letting Kim Siyul come to harm.
That was Sora's judgment.
And something feels off anyway...
The monster's unnatural state lent even more weight to her decision. Leaving things as they were felt too risky.
"Taisi, stick right behind me."
"Got it."
Sora assumed her stance.
Eyes closed, head slightly bowed.
Knees straight, back ramrod straight.
Both hands reverently holding the magic wand to her heart.
Then, Sora opened her eyes.
Her gaze fixed straight ahead.
Both hands thrust high toward the sky.
"Burn with Kalpagni."
⟨ Kalpagni ⟩
An instant.
A fragment of time sliced razor-thin.
In that instant, the world flickered.
────!!!
The next instant, the world quickly regained its color.
But it wasn't quite the same. It had been overpainted with a slightly different hue.
Blue.
Blue flames rippled and engulfed everything.
Devouring all it touched at will.
A blue hell had manifested.
"Hoo... Hoo..."
In the midst of that hell, Sora panted heavily.
"Are you okay?"
"Honestly? Not at all."
She really wasn't.
To cast that spell just now, Sora had squeezed out every last drop of her remaining magic power.
Exhaustion was only natural.
Honestly, even standing was a struggle.
Still, thinking she'd taken down the monster brought a faint smile to Sora's lips─
"Wow, impressive."
─that she couldn't quite form.
"That one was really dangerous."
Because the monster had appeared perfectly fine right behind her.
The monster's utterly unforeseen reaction.
Doubt began to cloud Sora's eyes.
How?
The spell Sora had just cast carried massive Magical risk, but it offered equally enormous Magical returns.
One of those was instant activation.
Unlike normal spells with a trajectory, it burned through space itself in a single, simultaneous strike.
A spell with only a beginning and an end.
Unless you stopped it before it manifested, dodging after activation was impossible.
And yet, the monster had made the impossible a reality.
There wasn't a scratch on it.
Not even a speck of ash or ember.
It had been laughing so hysterically it couldn't have noticed the slightest precursor. How was this possible?
I don't get it.
Sora couldn't comprehend it.
At that moment, the monster's words snapped her out of her thoughts.
"You're the biggest threat here. Gotta give you credit."
It rubbed her the wrong way.
Who was this monster to judge her?
But she couldn't voice her displeasure.
"Guess I'll take you out first."
Before Sora could even open her mouth, the monster closed the distance in a flash.
Fast!
It was incomparably faster than before—so much so that she questioned if it was the same monster.
And as payback for casting that spell, Sora could barely move right now.
Of course, the monster couldn't use its Magical Curse anymore either, but it was still in far better shape than her. Unlike the helpless Sora, it could still attack.
In that case...
I have to endure!
She needed to hold out until she recovered even a little.
"I'll end it quick."
The monster sneered as it swung its leg.
Sora gritted her teeth, steeling her Magical resolve.
That instant.
"I told you, Magical Monkey can't escape the palm of Magical Buddha."
Taisi burst into the monster's blind spot.
Buddha's Palm
Thrusting out a palm swirling with magic power.
The classic long-range strike of Magical martial arts.
Taisi had recreated it with magic.
"Buddha lives forever!"
Well, the diagonal angle made it look more like a salute from some country than a proper Magical strike.
Anyway.
An explosive Magical brawl, manifested through a Magical Girl's body, unfolding in the monster's blind spot.
Simple, but powerful and sharp.
Even if you were focused, it wasn't easy to dodge. At least, Sora wasn't confident she could.
The monster had just begun its attack on her, too. Even if it noticed now, mid-motion evasion was impossible.
It would just eat the hit helplessly.
An inevitable outcome.
"Think I'd fall for that?"
"Huh?"
It should have been.
The monster abruptly halted in a bizarre pose and pulled back. Taisi's palm barely missed, slamming into empty air.
-Pahang!
Taisi's body jolted violently amid the hollow whoosh of displaced air.
"Nice try."
Because the monster had struck her abdomen.
With its knee. Deep.
A single physical blow.
Just that, and Taisi collapsed without a word.
Sora's mind grew even more chaotic.
What the hell is this thing!
Two questions tormented her relentlessly.
How had the monster dodged Taisi's attack?
How had it dropped Taisi in one hit?
At that moment, the monster shot Sora a mocking grin.
"Call it a power-up."
As it lightly kicked the fallen Taisi.
"I survived all those curses to the end, so I became the strongest curse itself."
Sora had no idea why the monster was suddenly spilling its abilities.
"You know, like when bugs are locked up together and only one survives. Don't remember what it's called, but something like that."
Did it sense her confusion?
Just a personal whim?
Petty boasting?
Or some twisted final mercy from the strong to the weak?
It could be all of those, or none. The monster's intentions were that inscrutable.
"Put simply, all my stats went up by about 300 times."
But there was one thing she could be sure of.
"Of course, I don't know what 'stats' even mean, but that's how you'd put it."
The monster's long-winded explanation implied two things.
"Naturally, with all my senses boosted 300-fold, I caught everything. Your spell had no travel time, so I had to react instantly, though."
One: It was confident it could say this without losing to her.
"Anyway."
And two:
"Gotta deal with you first."
It had no intention of letting Sora or Taisi live.
Thud. The ground cracked as the monster shot forward, its form blurring.
A speed even Sora's Magical Girl eyes struggled to track.
Her decision was swift.
"Fire will protect us!"
⟨ Fire Guardian ⟩
Blue flames enveloped Sora and Taisi separately. Beyond the flames, the monster clicked its tongue.
"What a pain in the ass, both of you."
Still, it mocked them soon enough.
"Won't last long, though, right?"
Sora clenched her teeth instead of replying.
She knew.
This spell wouldn't hold for long.
It was forced out of her barely recovered magic power. It couldn't last.
At least the monster wasn't attacking outright. It just kept circling, waiting for an opening.
Each time, the thud, thud of its feet on the ground echoed in her ears.
It's wary of my magic...
Sora bit her lip in frustration.
Even in its overwhelming advantage, the monster stayed cautious. Probably burned from nearly losing to Taisi and Sora earlier, it wasn't repeating mistakes.
Playing it safe even when it held all the cards made it a nightmare opponent.
Sora bit her lip harder.
What do I do...
She had no idea how to counter.
The spell was already straining to maintain.
A Magical counterattack now would buy maybe one spell at best. Dragging it out would leave her with nothing.
In the end, Sora rolled the Magical dice.
She closed her eyes and focused every nerve on her ears, parsing information from the sounds.
Stride length, path, patterns, habits.
Weaving raw data into something coherent, factoring in the monster's insanely heightened reaction speed.
How much time passed?
Finally, Sora's mind latched on.
There!
Where the monster would step next.
Sora dropped the fire barrier and swung her magic wand wide.
"Fire Wishes Ashes!"
⟨ Fire Wishes Ashes ⟩
To unleash her final Magical gambit.