Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume1 Phase4 (section)

===Part 9===

Nirvelphany did not hesitate to pull the trigger and her right shoulder was sharply struck by the intense recoil produced by providing an element to the originally directionless mana. Deafening noise and blinding light filled the world. That ultra-long-range rifle could hit a fleeing target at 2000 esoule<ref>Approximately 2400 meters.</ref> or a stationary target at 10,000 esoule<ref>Approximately 12 kilometers.</ref>. If she could find a stable position and let it roar, no one standing on the same stage could escape it.

However…

“I see.”

She grinned upon seeing it pierce the empty space three grids to left of where she aimed, which was about 4 esoule<ref>Approximately 4.8 meters.</ref> to the side.

The long barrel had been pushed slightly to the side.

She saw gorgeous armor made from old-fashioned dark gray protectors and a tight miniskirt which had been chosen because their design was popular with the people rather than for any benefit in combat. She saw a beautiful face and long blonde hair braided in something like a ponytail. She saw a Striker wielding a bolt-action carbine with an axe-like bayonet.

Most likely, a normal person could not have used that footing pinned in midair.

To skip from piece to piece required the superhuman physical ability to accurately jump between those variously-sized footholds with no concern for the 150 esoule<ref>Approximately 180 meters.</ref> height and the blowing wind.

But the Demon Lord with the slit skirt was not the only one who met those conditions.

“I am Striker Henrietta Split Destrius. I protect the peace and public order of Sky City Celedileka with the trust and authority granted me by the king. Even if my personal and family pride have been trampled by the flow of time, I will always come running when the king or the people are endangered.”

That beautiful armored woman pressed her axe against the anti-dragon rifle’s barrel while speaking from extreme close range.

“Buff again. Primary Ex Massive.”

She ignored the scope as a gunshot burst out.

Nirvelphany saw Henrietta explosively swell out. No, the braided Striker’s movements had so far left the norm that it merely looked that way. They were engaging in close-quarters combat on this small and unstable footing. Their sorcery guns were large, heavyweight items, but Henrietta’s bolt-action carbine was a close-quarters weapon designed for this sort of thing, while Nirvelphany’s anti-dragon rifle was an ultra-long-range weapon designed for sniping.

Their battle was like two tornados clashing head on, but compatibility was still an issue. Nirvelphany had made a point of keeping her distance to avoid a direct fight with Ayato’s group, so she was not about to welcome some close-quarters combat with a specialist like Henrietta.

In truth, the Demon Lord abandoned the possibility of striking Henrietta’s jaw with her weapon’s thick stock.

She instead spun the gun around to aim the enormous muzzle at her opponent and pulled the trigger.

“!!”

Of course, Henrietta excelled at fighting at this close range. No matter how destructive the weapon, it could not hit her if she deflected the barrel to the side. As if to show how pointless and wasteful this was, a giant empty cartridge was ejected while its purple light faded like a withering flower.

But Nirvelphany fired again.

She fired and fired and fired and fired.

“I see. You dangerous individuals do know how to think in crafty ways!!”

By the time Henrietta realized what her opponent was up to, the close-range light, noise, and shockwave had robbed her of her senses and pummeled her body. Even if a direct hit was not possible, the secondary effects of the gunshot and muzzle flash were enough to beat down a human. Her breadth of possibility may have been weak so soon after awakening, but the anti-dragon rifle named Critical Disaster was an unruly enough weapon for ''the'' Demon Lord Nirvelphany to seek out painkillers.

Once the Striker’s movements were dulled, the anti-dragon rifle’s stock rose up along a crescent moon arc to land a clean hit on her slender jaw. With a dull sound, she hopped up even more intensely than from an uppercut.

“Gah!?”

They were on the small rubble pinned in the air by asphalt.

While it was something like a floating island, it was also much like the stepping stones decorating a pond.

It went without saying what happened once your feet left the ground.

“It is time you learned what it feels like to be a flightless bird, human.”

The Demon Lord twisted her lips into a crescent moon sneer.

However, her sadism was not fulfilled. The fall never came. Thick and invisible panels shot out like a horizontal extension of the small footholds and caught Henrietta’s back. Those panels were a floor of ice. Needless to say, they came from the twin handguns of the Mermaid on the tower rooftop 30 esoule<ref>Approximately 36 meters.</ref> away.

“Tch. A descendant of ''Nereid of Water'', one of the four lords? I see your bloodline continues to be a jack of all trades.”

Nirvelphany attempted to fire a finishing blow at Henrietta while the Striker lay collapsed on the ice, but her thoughts were cut off by a loud grinding sound. Henrietta had vanished from the ice. Since the surface of the ice had been torn through, she must have used that slight opening to rotate around, hop up, and escape.

“Buff yet again! Primary Ex Massive!!”

Nirvelphany heard that voice from directly behind her.

She went for a counter blow. She adjusted her grip on the giant anti-dragon rifle and spun around like a tornado to slam the thick stock into her opponent’s cheekbone.

But she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

It looked like the soles of two shoes pressed together. And she had forgotten something: Sorcery Hackers could hack any machine that operated using the power of mist mana. There was no distinction between public and private there. And the knights she herself had invited to stir things up had been soaring through the sky using various flight devices, hadn’t they?

Simply put, two hacking blades had pierced the armor and device of a knight using a rotating wing craft.

Ayato was using both hands to dangle down from the bottom of that flight device with a propeller on the top and back of the exposed cockpit, and the bottoms of his feet slammed full speed into Nirvelphany’s face.