Angel Hunt (1)
Typically, the image of angels falls into that common category. Winged beauties. Or naked babies with wings. But if you dig even a little into angels, you can occasionally find glimpses of their 'inhuman' nature. Like winged eyeballs, for instance. Or bodies made of wings attached to a human head.
What do the angels look like in Esdinas Academy—in other words, in this world? Fortunately, they pursue beauty. Just as heroines possessed by angels sprout angelic wings on their backs or form halos without turning into grotesque forms, angels appear as beings clad in dresses or armor.
And when they possess earthly beings or descend—what's called 'descent' or possession.
Aaaahhh!!
The human soul gets eroded by the angelic entity and falls into eternal slumber.
"W-What's that?!"
"A-Angelica?! What's going on all of a sudden...!"
The female students facing off against Rydmila panic. Not just the halo suddenly floating above Angelica's head, but the wings unfurling from her back make everyone glance around nervously.
As for me, there's only one thing to do.
"I've got you."
Just as Unia said, I support her. Rustle. I stick to her back, slipping my hands under hers gripping the magitech bow she's thrust forward.
"......"
Unia falls silent. Not for focus—it's because my action defies expectations, and she smiles like she knew it all along.
Some probably thought I'd support her mana pouch.
I had that thought for a split second myself. Unia even hinted at it subtly. Truth be told, supporting her mana pouch here wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, if I held it from below, she'd shoot mana-forged arrows even more accurately and steadily than now. Partly because I'd help with mana control, but mainly due to her physique—she has to angle the magitech bow diagonally to shoot without wobbling.
If I were the Golden Sun, I'd do it that way. Slyly cup it from below—
—Th-That's not what I meant!
—Oh? Didn't know.
I could've caused a little WWE mishap, groped once like that, then switched to supporting her arms and body from behind like now. But I didn't.
Because the opponent is an angel.
"You know, Phoenix."
Unia channels mana into the magitech arrow.
"No matter what Angelica-senior is now, that's definitely 'dangerous,' right?"
"Yeah."
She's not the only one aiming weapons or staying wary of Angelica, who's starting to rampage in some bizarre way—but few keep as calm as Unia.
"I have dreams sometimes. Of those with pure white wings... descending from the sky and destroying everything."
This is the first time Unia's talked about her dreams.
"Actually, they're not exactly dreams. Grandma once said that. It's not a dream—it's one of the many possibilities that could happen someday."
Unia exhales steadily, adjusting the magitech bow's aim.
"And Grandma told me. You have the power. If those beings appear, you have the power to suppress them."
"......I see."
I pretend not to know, act like it's news to me, while subtly leaking mana backward. No eyes on my back, but up on that rooftop, others are perking up at Unia's words too. They're not chatting, just watching intently and urgently contacting academy staff—but they're thinking it.
The Ash Witch sent her disciple as a warning.
That prophecy is manifesting now in that form.
One shape of the apocalypse, possessing the girl called Angelica.
"Angelica, you—"
Kyaaaahhh!!
Angelica screams, unleashing a powerful shockwave around her.
"Danger!"
"Kyaaak?!"
Rydmila grabs the nearby academy students and leaps back in one bound, while Evangeline hides behind her bear doll Ban Dal but spreads its arms wide.
Splittersplit! A ferocious blade of mana slashes everything nearby. Her scream becomes a shockwave enveloping Angelica's surroundings, turning the area within a 30-meter radius into a wasteland swept by razor winds.
Flutter, flutter.
In the center of the clearing shredded by blade marks, Angelica scans the surroundings with lightless eyes. Wings spread, hovering about a meter in the air.
"...Levitation?"
"Different from float magic. She's still flapping those wings."
Unia fiddles with the arrow fletching while observing the foe. Amid the golden mana flowing through her hands, a faint 'ashen' mana seeps in.
It's not my intervention. Not mana I infused—it's Unia's innate mana.
"I don't know what's going on, but we'll subdue her!"
Rydmila coats her spear in green mana and charges Angelica.
True to her moniker Gale, she closes the distance instantly, diving straight at Angelica's front.
Clang!
"?!?!"
Rydmila's forward thrust is blocked in an instant. No barrier deployed—Angelica indifferently raises a hand and catches the spear with her bare palm.
"H-Hiiik?!"
Students scream and collapse in fear.
"W-What...?!"
"She... blocked Gale's spear?"
Bang!
"Kyaaak?!"
In the confusion, a rough gunshot echoes from behind Angelica.
"Students, evacuate!!"
About ten figures in black-dyed uniforms appear, aiming magitech rifles at Angelica. They resemble a modern SWAT team or special ops unit, but their gear is all magitech-based.
The academy has its own guards. And they're not the type to lose or get pushed back 1v1 against random students.
"Subdue her!!"
Rat-tat-tat!! The magitech rifles spew fire. Magic missiles aimed precisely at her wings explode on contact.
"That's...?"
"Reactive explosive mana rounds."
They look like mana rounds—more like reactive magitech grenades. Special ammo refined to carry explosion magic, detonating inside on impact.
Boom-boom-boom!! Angelica is engulfed in explosions instantly. Rydmila leaps back and lands lightly in that gap.
Flutter!
Angelica flaps her wings wide. Razor winds surge like shockwaves again, startling the guards into a big retreat.
"Wh-What...?!"
"How's the damage on those weird wings?!"
"C-Captain!! Not even a scratch!!"
The guards tap the visors over their faces and shout. There are scratches. They just regenerated faster.
As expected. No way divinity attributes are easy to handle.
I swallow it inwardly. Can't casually spill in-game lore settings.
"Miss Unia. That angel... doesn't seem suppressible by ordinary magic."
"Ordinary magic, got it."
"Yeah."
Angelica's body turns. She reaches toward the guards pulling triggers on her, golden blades like daggers glinting from her fingertips.
"Raaahhh!!"
With a kiai, bear doll Ban Dal charges forward, swinging a massive fist.
Thud—boom!! Angelica's body is shoved sideways by the punch, and she swings her hand toward Ban Dal.
Riiip! Razor winds shred the stuffed doll to pieces in an instant, and Evangeline riding its back kicks off urgently, leaping away.
Thud! A white flash plummets toward Evangeline.
"I-Instructor!"
"Danger."
Instructor Esta, watching from behind, scoops up Evangeline and retreats swiftly.
"Cardisha!"
A relaxed yet slightly tense voice echoes across the battlefield from the old school building, as multicolored mana rounds arc into the sky toward Angelica.
Red, blue, green, yellow. Likely basic four-attribute magic bombardment.
Boooom!!
"That's...!"
"Magitech barrage!!"
Mana smoke scatters from Cardisha-instructor's support fire from the old school rooftop.
Did that do it?
Bang!
No way.
But Angelica remains unscathed.
"White Sword Saint reports! Ordinary means won't work on the 'enemy'!"
Spot on. Her flesh is human, but the power flowing through it is heavenly.
...Mortals.
"!!"
A voice not Angelica's emerges from her mouth.
...Inferior, lowly creatures.
Like AI using TTS—human-like, yet devoid of human warmth.
Eliminate. Eliminate.
Angelica extends her hand sideways. Sharp mana blades form around it.
"Miss Unia."
"...Yeah, right now."
Unia raises the magitech bow high.
"My master said it."
Unia raises her voice so others hear.
"If a being with a ring on its head appears, target the ring."
"!!"
She's saying it for everyone.
"One shot."
I lift the magitech bow slightly. It's high enough that without my support from below, her arms would tremble soon.
"Hoo—."
"Miss Unia."
I whisper into her ear, infusing mana into my voice.
"If it's you, it'll definitely hit."
Hypnosis or brainwashing might seem like control, but it depends on the user.
"No—definitely nail it. I guarantee."
Twisted right, it's a form of mental armament.
"Right."
Unia's tense voice relaxes with a smile, and she releases.
"With you helping like this, no way I'd miss."
Whooosh—bang!! A golden arrow traces an ashen trajectory.
"Ah...!"
Unia gasps like she 'messed up' for a moment. But.
Rustle. I push mana forward. Faster than Unia's Pharma's Arrow, an invisible mana bird coils around it, adjusting the angle.
A bit higher.
The moment I shove mana to make her arrow surge upward from below.
Boom!
It pierces straight through above Angelica's head. Right through the center of the angel's symbol, the halo.
And then.
Ah, aaa...!
Aaaaaahhh!!!
Booom!!
She exploded.
"...Huh?"
"Whoa."
In the explosion.
"My god, her underwear got totally shredded too—"
"C-Cover your eyes!!"
Unia hurriedly covers my eyes, but I peek through her slightly parted fingers. Shattered halo. Destroyed clothes. And from within, one 'human' falling downward.