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Chapter 63
Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! • Episode 2-6 • Recapture ⑤
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Duke-class Diest. It was the largest and strongest of the currently identified Diest. It is said that even Witches can only win in a one-on-one fight if they are ranked first and second in the pecking order, and if they do appear, multiple Witches will be summoned, the highest priority target for defeat.
The size of the figure is so large that it could underlie an entire district, and if passed through the real world, it alone would destroy the town of Sakira.
This is certainly not the time for infighting amidst the emergence of a Duke-class. I don’t know what the Magic Bureau will do if the Witches fight each other and drain their magic, or if Simeracres-san’s release time runs out. That’s why Simeracres-san called a temporary truce and went to defeat it.
I must evacuate Elephant-san and the others and head there as soon as possible.
「Elephant-san, are you alright?」
「Sylph-chan… I’m sorry… I can’t move my body a bit… Earlier, that was…」
「A Duke-class came out. Please take refuge in the Magical World, Elephant-san. Elephant-san is a liability right now.」
I answer quickly to Elephant-san, who seems to be out of breath.
I really don’t want to say this to her, but if I don’t, Elephant-san might say that she will fight too.
Besides, this is my first time to fight a Duke-class. I cannot assure that even as a Witch to protect Elephant-san against an opponent that requires more than one person to take on.
「I see, right… just nearby… is Shadow-san not there…?」
「Yes, she’s lying right there.」
A Magical Girl in a black dress is lying face down a short distance away from Elephant-san.
「Please bring her… over here.」
「…Are you going to help this person as well?」
「I can’t let her go… being abandoned…」
「If Elephant-san says so…」
I would have left the person who hurt Elephant-san alone, but I knew that there was no way the kind Elephant-san could do such a thing. It seems that if I don’t do what she says here, she won’t evacuate herself, and I don’t have time to spend on persuasion.
I’m going to have to messily drag the fallen Shadow-san away and let Elephant-san lean against her—— I don’t envy her—— I watched as their bodies are enveloped in the light of the transition magic circle.
「I’m sorry… Our town, please protect it…!」
「Of course I will! I was saved by Elephant-san, so what I protected is as good as if Elephant-san had protected me!!」
「Thank you, Sylph-chan…」
Finally, with a relieved look on her face, Elephant-san metastasized in the light.
That’s right. Elephant-san wanted to protect this town herself, so she trained hard to take it back. And yet, it would be such a kick in the teeth to find herself unable to fight in such an important situation.
Please don’t worry, Elephant-san.
I will protect what you want to protect, Elephant-san, and I will show you!!
.
A giant, pitch-black snapping turtle that can crush a town and clear it with a single step. That was the Duke-class Diest, that appeared in Sakira Town.
Simeracres, who had left Tyrant Sylph behind and reached the Duke-class Diest ahead of the others, naturally felt the corners of her mouth lift up as she felt the tremendous sense of intimidation that her huge body emitted on her skin.
「Nice, nice, very nice! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a super big one! Gotta get my contribution in before they get in the way!
Strong 5th!」
The most powerful magic used by Simeracres is said to be Strong 4th. In fact, Simeracres has never used magic beyond that level in her everyday promotional activities and mercenary work, but she actually had another level of magic. It’s not that she was cutting corners to hide it. A trump card is something that is hidden to maximize its effectiveness in times of need, and it is a fool’s errand to show off one’s upper limit to others. The existence of Strong 5th, which should not be present in an interpersonal battle, is directly related to the disruption of the opponent’s strategy. In fact, even earlier, she wasn’t sure if Tyrant Sylph would have won if the fight had continued like that.
On the other hand, bargaining rarely works in a fight with a Diest. That is why Simeracres is not afraid to play this trump card when fighting powerful Diests. Unlike Magical Girls, for whom the option to kill is almost non-existent, there is no information left behind once the Diest is extinguished.
There is also a reason why Simeracres doesn’t usually use this magic, meaning it is very energy-inefficient. The magic is so powerful that it can temporarily fool physical damage and injuries into thinking it can fight, but it consumes a lot of magic power. That’s why she turned off the magic once after telling Tyrant Sylph that there was a temporary truce.
「Ehh!!! I’ve never heard of that before! I hid it from you! I shouldn’t have!」
「Haah!? Hey!? What are you holding onto!?」
The exception was the use of this against Tyrant Sylph because the request could not have been accomplished otherwise, and it was originally supposed to be used on the assumption that no other Magical Girls would have seen it.
It was determined that the Magical Girls of Sakira Town and the territory raiders were worn out from the recapture battle and would not show their faces in the fight against the Duke-class. She also made sure that there were no signs of Extend Traveler in the vicinity. Personality-wise, it was hard to imagine that Extend would see Simeracres and enter the battle without speaking to her, and she decided that if she didn’t speak to her, she was probably not here yet.
One irregularity, however, betrayed Simeracres’ expectations.
The Magical Girl with long white hair wears a Magical Girl-like top that looks like light blue ice, and a multi-layered skirt made of several pieces of lace joined together in a snowflake motif.
Fifth in the pecking order, the Ice Witch Permafrost suddenly appeared clinging to Simeracres, looking happy and excited.
「Anyway, why are you even here!?」
All Witches are notified of the outbreak when the Duke-class Diest appears. On top of that, the request for emergency dispatch was made to Magical Girls in close proximity or Witches whose turn came for a quota, but even if they had come using a long-distance transfer device, it was too early to do so.
The fact that she appeared here at the same time as Simeracres, who is in the area, does not make sense unless Permafrost was also in this town before the Duke-class appeared. However, if Simeracres’ memory is correct, Permafrost’s area of activity should have been a bit further north, not in this vicinity.
「I just visited to play! Mo～ I was just having fun, and now I’m mad!」
「Han, I’ll leave it at that for now.」
Since Simeracres was only hired as a mercenary for this turf war in Sakira Town, she had no idea or interest in how far the factions were actually involved in the current turf war. However, it would not pass muster that the head of the Naturalists was there at this time and happened to be in play. Even so, this young girl, the Ice Witch, has been reigning as a Witch since the time when Simeracres became a Magical Girl, looking just as she does now. She was mysterious, and she had no idea what she’s up to.
There was one more thing that bothered her. That is the lacking presence of Extend Traveler. Originally, the Expansion Witch was not directly related to the current turf war, since she was not active in Sakira Town, but Simeracres still expected her to play a part in the battle for the recapture of the town. It’s only an estimate, and it was possible that Extend has not been involved since the day of that attack. But perhaps, Extend was being driven out of combat by Permafrost.
Nevertheless, even if it had been either, it was none of Simeracres’ business. If she wasn’t here, that’s fine, and if she was there and can’t get out, that’s also fine. She concluded that the work would not be affected after the Duke-class was defeated, and she moved on.
「I move, you attack! Deal?」
「That’s the deal～! Field Magic, Frozen! Freeze! Diamond Storm! Icicle Burst!」
A whole district of Sakira town becomes covered with book ice, and the weather turns into a blizzard. The combination of Field Magic and freezing magic iced its legs, and it stopped moving for a moment, but soon resumed its steps by forcefully crushing the ice that clung to it. With each step, shards of shattered thin ice rolled up at high speed like a storm and sliced through Diest’s entire body, but were blown away when giant wings suddenly appeared from Diest’s back and struck the sky. Without a moment’s pause, a spear of ice slams into the Diest like a torrential downpour, chipping away at its body.
At first glance, the attack seems to have little effect, but the haze that makes up the body is indeed being chipped away. After all, the battle against Diest is a war of attrition in which they keep grinding away until their opponent’s regenerative power runs out unless a large difference in strength exists. Simeracres understood this and was in no hurry. She just concentrated on avoiding the high-speed tentacles extending from the Diest.
The higher the class of a Diest is, the larger, stronger, and more regenerative it becomes, but it also becomes less trapped in the form of the creature that is its motif. It’s as if it has grown wings and struck the sky, even though it cannot fly, it had also understood that its slow body is not suitable for attack and is lashing out with its high-speed tentacles. However, these days, even low-ranked Diest, which are called newer types, have such characteristics.
「Shit, I can’t see a thing! Can’t you do something about this blizzard!?」
「I can’t do such a detailed job!!」
Simeracres’ enhanced physical strength, along with her inhuman dynamic vision and reaction time, enabled her to avoid the tentacles just in time, but there were several dangerous moments earlier. Originally, powerful magic of the Nature System is incompatible to cooperate with proximity-type Magical Girls because it is large in scale and has no boundaries. But for Permafrost to reach its maximum firepower, ice environmental magic is essential.
The fact that the ground is covered with ice is also not a good situation for Simeracres, but it is not a big problem while she can fly. As Simeracres stared at the sky with a grim face, wishing she could at least change the weather, she heard the voice of a young but dignified girl.
「Field Magic, Tempest.」
A massive storm involving a blizzard hits the Diest, collapsing structures and swallowing debris, automobiles, and other objects. Although not large enough to blow the Diest away, this massive storm is itself a powerful single magic, and no matter how much the turtle Diest moves its wings, it cannot dissipate. At last the Diest gave up trying to dissipate the storm and shut itself up in its shell to protect itself.
Simeracres, who was flying in the sky, was also nearly caught in the storm, but managed to land on the ground and kept her distance to avoid being caught in the storm.
A Magical Girl dressed like a priestess, Tyrant Sylph, speaks to Simeracres, who takes a break a short distance away from the Diest.
「Sorry to keep you waiting. What’s the status of the war? By the way, why is Permafrost-san here?」
「You guys really need to get a clue!! When you’re about to fight with someone, stop shooting big, stupid magic without thinking about your opponent!!!」
「Eh～ That’s boring～ Big moves are the most fun!」
「Visibility was poor, so I thought I’d try to attack while blowing away the blizzard.」
「At least call out to me first!」
「Ah, nice to meet you, Sylph-onee-chan! It’s Permafrost!」
「It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Tyrant Sylph.」
「This ain’t the time for you guys to be introducing yourselves to the world!!」
Simeracres gawks and shouts loudly as she is swept away by the self-paced Permafrost and the somewhat misaligned Tyrant Sylph. Sylph gives Simeracres a cold look as if to say,「What is this person doing here?」While Permafrost enjoys saying,「Simeracres is angry!」
Just before Simeracres was about to lose patience and drop her fists, a Magical Girl appeared in the air, dressed in a loose white cloth and looking like a mythical goddess.
「I was late. Who’s there?」
「It’s just me and these two. I don’t know why Extend didn’t show up, but I don’t understand either.」
The third from the pecking order, the Thread Witch: Wigs Crosseau. With the appearance of a Witch who could finally speak properly, Simeracres cooled down for once. She must have come using a long-distance transfer device. Now there are at least four Witches here.
After hearing Simeracres’ explanation, Crosseau decides that perhaps no more Witches will be summoned and begins to give instructions.
「I understand. Frost-san, Sylph-san, please deactivate your Field Magics. I know it’s a powerful magic when used alone, but it’s a hindrance when fighting together.」
「Fu～ It can’t be helped then～」
「If it gets rid of the blizzard, I’m fine with that.」
The thin ice covering the surface of the earth disappears and the fierce storm fizzles out. With the annoying attacks gone, the Diest, which had been hiding in its shell to protect itself, began walking again.
「Field Magic, Cocoon.」
Countless white threads suddenly appeared at the same time as Wigs Crosseau’s chants, entangling the Diest’s huge body and binding it to the earth. Although too misshapen and with too many exposed areas to be called a cocoon, the Diest was completely tied to the ground and its movements stopped. The huge black body is swaying slightly, as if trying to force itself to move as it did when it was iced underfoot by Permafrost, but the strings that bind it do not budge.
「My magic lacks direct firepower. The threads are wielded with strength so they don’t shred easily. Please do the cutting by everyone. I will handle all counterattacks.」
「So finally a decent turnout.」
「Unfair! It’s not fair that you’re the only one using big magic, Crosseau-onee-chan!」
「…Is it this much?」
Simeracres and Permafrost, who originally knew Wigs Crosseau’s ability, approached the Diest with their own reactions, but only Tyrant Sylph stared at Wigs Crosseau in a cold sweat.
Even with the Field Magic of Permafrost and Tyrant Sylph, it was not possible to completely shut down the Diest’s movement. The shelling of the Diest was a spontaneous act of it, not directly contained by the magic of Sylph. But Wigs Crosseau can do it. This fact made Tyrant Sylph realize the great difference in ability between herself and the Thread Witch.
「? Is there anything wrong?」
「! No, it was nothing.」
As if fleeing from Wigs Crosseau, which tilted her head curiously, Tyrant Sylph took off toward to the Diest.