Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Crossover2 (section)

===Part 23===

'''(Heivia/Ground’s Nir)

They were up against the cutting-edge Second Generation Plasma Horn.

But Beatrice and Boo Boo’s response was extremely simple.

“That thing is tiny compared to the Thousand Dragon I fought before.”

Within the intense cannon fire, they first ran between the trees of the deep forest. Metal shells and electron beam weapons flew toward them like a horizontal storm, but they used more than one kind of movement.

For example, Boo Boo simply leaped to the side to dodge the shots.

For example, Beatrice used mirages and smokescreens to confuse the lock-on mechanism.

For example, Armelina summoned countless metal panels in front of her and diverted the shells’ paths by letting them pierce those panels.

All the while, Filinion made sure to always hide behind someone to maintain a safe location.

(They really know how to do this! I’m the one that could learn something from them!!)

The three girls had had a very difficult time when they had clashed with the former soldiers of a Guild named Elkiad. And this time they were up against the extraordinary firepower of an Object. It might seem like they would be powerless against it, but that was not the case.

Elkiad had predicted the movements of their targets and used multiple lines of fire to efficiently cover all routes, while the Object mechanically poured cannon fire down on them from a single direction. This was much easier to predict. It may have been like the difference between playing poker against a computer and actually setting chips down on a table in Macau or Las Vegas. The apparent rules where the same, but the atmosphere was entirely different. Someone who only aimlessly attacked from a position of absolute safety could never capture a beast that truly ran through the mountains.

But even then, they could not avoid the laser beams that locked on with EM waves and accurately shot down supersonic fighters or ballistic missiles at the speed of light.

That was where Magic came into play.

Specifically, White Witch Filinion’s support potions. With a potion that added a numeric visualization of the encounter and damage probabilities in the corner of their vision, they just had to take evasive action when the percentage shot up.

…The Pilot Elite Princess could predict where the lasers would be fired from the slight movements of the cannons and targeting lenses, so this was a lot like instantly allowing anyone to do that.

If Heivia had known about it, he might have thought that alone was enough to start a war. Knowing Magic or not simply made that much of a difference.

(Oh, crap! They all ran off, so I was left behind! If I don’t hide behind them and their crazy movements, I’ll be dead before I can-…)

Time seemed to freeze as a shell larger than his head approached right in front of him.

“…Dbwah!?”

Time ''seemed'' to slow down a billion-fold, but reality was cruel. A tremendous impact exploded on his face and he flipped backwards like he was performing a bridge. An unpleasant sound came from inside his neck, the handsome face was squished, and something like angel wings spread out around him.

No, the wings had come from his head.

He was still alive.

While lying on his back, he groaned, rolled over, and slowly sat up once he realized he had not awoken from this nightmare.

The wings shielding him wriggled and then receded into his head again. It happened so quickly it felt silly to even think about how it worked with the conservation of mass.

“I’ve been wondering. Is it really the Cultivated Muscles doing that? I feel like that isn’t enough to explain it.”

He still could not produce the wings at will, so he was not confident he could survive several more shells like that. After deciding to catch up with Boo Boo’s group and use them as shields, the squashed handsome face took off running through the forest.