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Chapter 6
Chapter 1 — Blow all of heaven and earth to smithereens! • Episode 1-1 • Transformation ⑤
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Enhanced Form. When you put it that way, it is easy to understand. It is a familiar setting not only for magical girls but also for transformed heroes. The patterns vary, from mastery at the end of training to awakening in a pinch, but it is common for a person to gain a significant power-up in order to face a powerful enemy. Even I know that much.
「Enhanced Form is usually something that comes with experience, right? It’s more like it’s because I’ve grown up… Isn’t it strange to suddenly have an Enhanced Form on my first transformation?」
「The Enhanced Forms of magical girls have a lot to do with predisposition and proficiency–ran! Simply put, the Enhanced Form is by far the hardest to handle compared to the initial form–ran! However, this is why it is theoretically possible for a person to assume an enhanced form at the first transformation if she has enough qualities and skills to compensate for the difficulty of handling the form–ran! In other words, that’s Ryōichi–ran!」
That’s a very rough explanation, but does it make sense? Anyway, it seems to me that I should consider that a magical girl can suddenly have an Enhanced Form. And although I say it’s an Enhanced Form, it may not be as big a deal as I think.
「You’re kind of getting this wrong, so I’ll tell you what in case you’re not sure–ran! Not everyone can be in the Enhanced Form of Magical Girl-ran! Roughly 30% can even make it to Phase 2–ran! Only a handful of geniuses make it to Phase 3–ran! Even if it’s not your first transformation, if you make it to Phase 3, you’re a genius–ran! Ryoichi needs to properly recognize her outrageousness–ran!」
「I–Is that so…?」
I can only give a few words of encouragement to Jack, who seems to be in a devil-may-care mood.
I really don’t feel anything myself. I don’t feel full of power, or a sense of all-around satisfaction, or any of the other sensations unique to power-up events….
「It’s quickest if you actually fight–ran! I just received a notification that a diest has appeared in this town! It looks like the other magical girls can’t come yet, so Ryōichi fights–ran!」
「Is it that sudden? I’m not ready!」
I agreed to become a Magical Girl, but I was not ready to throw myself into the battle for my life.
I know that magical girls are supposed to fight monsters, and that becoming a magical girl is synonymous with fighting. That’s why I really didn’t want to become a magical girl.
But that doesn’t mean he have to make me fight all of a sudden!? I haven’t even heard the explanation about Magical Girls yet!? It’s impossible! This is impossible!!
To begin with, what in the world is a Diest!?
「Sooner or later, you’ll still have to fight–ran! I mean, even if Ryōichi doesn’t want to, we’ll force her to shift!」
「Wai——」
「Transfer coordinates: Deception World, Sakira Town, Sector D」
No sooner had I uttered a complaint than a magic circle appeared, just as it had when I was taken to the magic library, and in an instant I was being moved outdoors.
The sky was cloudless and clear, and the glistening sun shone down on me. If I observe my surroundings, buildings and nature are commonplace, but people are nowhere to be seen. Jack called it a Deception World. Perhaps this is a different place from the real world.
I looked up at the sky and saw a large bird flying by that looked as if it had been painted black.
「Monsters crawling out of distortion, that’s what Diest is–ran! This is a deceptive world made to imitate reality, to lock up the Diests–ran! But we can’t keep them in here forever–ran! Once Diests realize this place is a fake, they try to move on to the real world–ran! You’ve got to take them down before the Diest gets away–ran! Otherwise, we’re in big trouble–ran!」
Unlike at the magic library, Jack, who had been transitioned with us, was talking fast and rambling.
As I guessed, that black bird seems to be a monster called Diest. If it looks big from a distance, it may actually be even bigger, so big in fact that it may be a monster that can be called a monstrous bird.
「Please be quiet.」
But strangely enough, there was no fear. I didn’t want to fight like that, I wasn’t even prepared for it, but the moment I saw the monster, I had no hesitation.
I don’t have such a lofty spirit of wanting to fight for someone or protect the world. Rather, I was the kind of person who, although I do not actively profess it, deep down in my gut, thinks that as long as I was good enough, I am good enough.
I am such a person, but for some reason I feel that I cannot leave those monsters alone and that I must defeat them.
「Fly Wing*」
The invisible force of the wind lifted my body.
After confirming the use of magic, I charge toward the monstrous bird without hesitation.
I naturally understood how to use magic. Just like when I was transformed, various magic comes to my mind.
What kind of magic it is, how to handle it, the keywords to invoke it, and everything about it is in hand.
This is the power of magical girls.
「Wind Blade.」
Using the power I was originally given first as a magical girl, I began attacking the monstrous bird as soon as it approaches. Cutting through all things is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is a magic that shoots out sharp blades made of wind.
「Gueeeehh!」
The monstrous bird finally seemed to notice me after that attack and came closer, making strange noises.
The blade of wind that struck it directly wounded its pitch-black body, but it seemed to be far from fatal.
I evaded a monstrous bird that tried to skewer me from the front with its sharp beak and slammed a large stick into the base of its wing as if to pass me by.
The winged arms that grasp the wind are magic that allows me to move more freely in the air than when I am on the ground. Originally, this monstrous bird, which had the ability to fly and gain air superiority, would have been quite a formidable opponent, but it was not a good match.
「Wind Blade.」
When the magic was activated at the moment of the direct hit, it succeeded this time in severing its wings from the root.
「Gueeeeehhhh!!」
After watching the monstrous bird crash down with a screeching sound, I took a breath that all that was left was to attack it unilaterally from the sky.
But then something unexpected happened.
「Gieeeeeeehhhh!!」
The severed wing, which should have crashed with the monstrous bird, wriggled like liquid and returned to the monstrous bird.
The monster bird, having regained its wings, moved them toward me even though it was still falling. This is not a movement to return to the sky.
Immediately after, the pitch black feathers ejected from its wings flew like bullets. It must have been a surprise attack on me, who had been caught off guard.
However.
「Wind Armor.」
The attack, which was unleashed in agony, does not break through my defensive magic, and the black feathers are bounced away by the wind swirling around them as if to protect me.
However, I do not know if the monstrous bird is aiming to run out of time or stamina for our magic, but it repeatedly sends its feathers flying even after falling to the ground.
If the current attack had been more powerful, it would have been dangerous. I couldn’t even avoid it because of my initial delay, and no matter how much leeway I have, I can never let my guard down.
Still, I did not expect it to play out.
Maybe there is some special way to defeat the Diest.
「Ryōichi, be on your guard–ran! Now that was a close call–ran!」
Jack, who had been approaching me before I knew it, made a fuss about something obvious. I wish such advice had been given a little earlier, though.
I mean, you are hiding behind me so chastely, aren’t you? Don’t you have your own means of defense?
「The Diest only imitates the form of the creature–ran! So whether it’s severed or penetrated, it regenerates as long as it still has power–ran! Keep knocking them down until they can’t regenerate and they finally disappear–ran! This Vikant class should disappear after a few more times of the same–ran!!」
Please say those important things sooner.
「I don’t know what a Vikant class is, does it hurt that much?」
「Depends on the damage it does–ran! One attack is enough if it’s enough to leave no dust–ran!」
I check the magic I can use, but it seems I can’t use such a big magic. However, there was one magic that was very powerful, if not so powerful that it left no dust.
It would be difficult to use it on an opponent who is moving around, but fortunately the monster bird is staying in place like a fixed turret. If I want to use it, now is the time to do so.
「Do you know why that monster bird keeps attacking monotonously?」
「The Diest learns–ran! It’s attacking from a distance because it thinks it can’t compete in close quarters and in the air–ran! Ryōichi has yet to show anything but a wind blade for a long-range attack–ran!! That Diest decided that it could win a long range shootout–ran!!」
「But I am not damaged at all in the current situation, you know?」
「Looks like a defensive fight from the Diest–ran! Because it just block the feathers and don’t fight back–ran! In fact, isn’t that the case–ran?」
「I’m sorry to hear that. I’m just holding off on the attack for now because Jack is talking to me.」
I held myself in the air with my winged arms gripping the wind, using my arrow-shielding wind armor to block the monster bird’s attack, and then grasped my staff with both hands and pointed the tip at the monster bird in order to use my third magic. It is more magical than ever before and will be activated.
「Tornado Mixer**.」
Instantly, a huge tornado blasted out from the staff and swallowed the monster bird in a flash, smashing all the buildings in a straight line as it did so, turning up the ground and creating an empty space for several hundred meters.
Naturally, there was no monster bird there, and the black monster, shattered into pieces, seemed to have disappeared before long.
Thus, my first battle ended easily, without even a hint of a struggle.
KaiesV's notes:
* It is abbreviated from the phrase, "Winged arms grasping the wind." ** "Tornado that whittles away."