Clash of Hexennacht:Volume1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Part 1

The blade thrust toward the sky.

It shot above the destroyed and abandoned city and toward the great vermilion bow that had its back to the moon in the heavens above.

The bow and sword were both colossal.

No one may have been looking up from the empty city below, but their five hundred meter lengths allowed much more distant people to see them.

The sword accelerated toward the sky and the great bow there. Its first movement after appearing was to ascend in a straight line with its rear accelerators fully activated.

Meanwhile, the great bow showed no sign of evading even though preparatory light was filling the central acceleration cannon. The sword raced onward with the unwavering gaze of someone catching up to a friend and tapping them on the shoulder.

A girl stood on the sword’s guard.

The armored girl pointed forward as the wind swept back her hair decorations made of light.

Beyond the large finger of her power arm, she saw her opponent: a girl in shrine maiden garb standing on the great bow’s upper radome.

The sword spoke as it picked up even more speed.

“I have a question, Horinouchi.”

The bow responded without falling back.

“What is it, Kagami Kagami!?”

As they spoke, the sword opened up. Sparks scattered from the moving parts rubbing together and the sub-frame above the internal frame activated. By the time the sword split apart and a cannon jutted out, light had filled the rear shell formation area and accelerator.

Meanwhile, the light in the vermilion bow also grew.

A voice spoke to that light.

“I had a thought.”

That thought being…

“You have your back to the moon, but that goes for the majority of this fight as well.”

So…

“When was the last time you looked up at the moon without thinking much of it?”

Horinouchi felt emotion welling up deep in her chest.

…This opponent…!

It was true she had kept her back to the moon during this battle. After all, she was a sharpshooter. It was best for her to remain above her opponent. But…

“————”

She saw her shadow falling on a giant building below.

The summer sun was high in the sky. The moonlight deep in that blue sky was weak and meaningless now, but the way her shadow fell meant she had her back to the heavens.

…It’s true.

She had not looked directly up at the moon.

Had that begun with this battle? No, it had not.

“I made a decision.”

Honestly, she thought. Did this opponent judge my actions and feel a meaning in them that had nothing to do with combat?

If so…

“I made a decision.”

She had done so ever since losing something precious to her.

“I decided I would only look up at the sky once I could do so forever more.”

“Wonderful,” said Kagami. “And when that happens, I may never be able to look up in the sky again.”

“…What?”

“Listen, Horinouchi.” Without answering her question, Kagami raised her pointing finger. “Let us settle this.”

The shellfire vertically linking the sky began from above.

On the back of the great bow, the spell bowstring was pulled to its limit and then released to strike the shell accelerator’s hammer.

The twang of the bowstring shook the sky and ether light rippled out to a diameter of a dozen kilometers as the shell was fired.

A chorus of ringing much like a shrine’s large bell shot straight down for five hundred meters. Launched by that sound and spraying light, a massive shell was fired.

It was shaped like an arrow, it measured over four hundred meters long, and it left the great vermilion bow to pierce the sky.

The tip was enough to split the atmosphere and create an explosion of air. The arrow made of ether soared through the resultant vacuum so it could tear into the sword that had nearly approached to close range. Meanwhile, the blade had yet to complete its firing preparations.

The shell had yet to fully form, but the accelerator was filled with light.

It would fire as soon as the shell was complete, but the great bow had already launched its attack.

However, the girl on the sword’s guard did not lower her raised hand.

She stared straight at the coming arrow, the great bow, the girl standing on it, the blue sky behind all that, and the moon.

“I hope it reaches.”

She did not command it to reach.

“Give me a path, wings raised toward the moon.”

Just as the great bow’s “attack” would change its name to a “hit”, the figure on the sword swung down her hand.

“Fire.”

Horinouchi saw Kagami give the order to fire far too late.

…She won’t make it in time!

The acceleration pathway was filled with light so it could fire as soon as the shell was formed, but Horinouchi’s own attack was already entering the muzzle.

She had won.

When the Magino Frame named Akerindou was fired at full power from close range, it ranked near the very top of any Magino Frame.

She had met those conditions here.

Kagami’s attack would be too late and it would be destroyed.

Horinouchi had won.

Part of her was disappointed by that, but she did not know if that was due to conceit or over this loss of the ability to admonish her current state.

“Break her, attack of Suzaku!”

With that cry, she cast a spell on the arrow. Akerindou helped pressurize it and a further acceleration spell was installed. And this was a direct installation rather than one that affected a certain range.

“Go!”

It went to break her opponent, but she heard a sound just before it did.

It was the scraping of metal and the scattering of sparks.

…Is that…?

It was the sound of the shell formation system sending the shell into the acceleration pathway.

The cold sound came from the very back of Kagami’s sword. Was she uselessly trying to fire her cannon, or…

“It can’t be…”

As Horinouchi spoke, the power came.

It was a cannon firing.

The shell raced down the sword’s acceleration pathway.

Horinouchi’s own shell destroyed the muzzle and seemed to dig into it.

That proved to be a problem.

…Oh, no.

When it hit, the arrow bent. It was slight, but its straight trajectory was thrown ever-so-slightly off, the pressure focused on the tip, and it swelled out. Needless to say, the vermilion arrow would then demonstrate its penetrative power, but…

“Did she time her attack to counter mine!?”

Horinouchi watched as the sword was destroyed.

Her attack should have caused it to fall apart and then split apart further down, but it had destroyed its own tip instead.

The force had come from within, and…

…I was right!

The destructive power did not just tear into Kagami’s sword.

The tip of the vermilion arrow was destroyed and it split apart as if deflected. A blue shell shot out from its center. That was the attack fired by Kagami’s Magino Frame.

She had targeted the arrow in the instant it hit as a counterattack.

“And you slowed the formation of the shell to make a longer and skinnier compressed shell, didn’t you!?”

The straight line of power was clearly skinnier than the muzzle the arrow had struck.

Kagami’s Magino Frame was an outdated Holy Knight-style and it did not specialize in shellfire.

That must have been why she decided to compress the shell even further and build up even more acceleration.

She had filled the acceleration pathway with light ahead of time so she could charge it up with an additional acceleration spell.

…And to fine-tune it so she could fire the skinnier shell without losing stability!

Horinouchi did not think she had been conceited.

She had simply fired Akerindou in the formal fashion.

Kagami however had used any means necessary to “get back at” her.

“In that case…!”

Horinouchi did not hesitate.

She set up a barrier, using her gaze to select the empty space between Akerindou and Kagami’s sword. She then cast a spatial stability spell on her own objects in that range.

She did not even think about whether she would make it in time. She simply cast the spell without looking down at her moving fingers.

“Be crushed!”

The spatial fixation also corrected the objects’ shapes to supplement their own indentation.

The spell cast on the arrow returned the swelling and splitting vermilion power to its original straight line.

The arrow tore into Kagami’s attack and attempted to crush it, but Horinouchi saw something in that instant.

That something was Kagami.

The fingertip she had swung down to signal her attack was now pointing straight at Horinouchi.

“Well done.”

In that instant, the two powers between them exploded.

Both shells could not withstand the collision of power and were destroyed. This led to a massive explosion.

“Lady Mitsuru!”

Koutarou looked up at the sky where the two powers collided and collapsed.

Below the moon, vermilion and blue explosions of light were accompanied by intense noise.

Horinouchi’s Akerindou and Kagami’s sword were swallowed up by the explosions, but Kagami’s half-destroyed Magino Frame collided with the other.

The men being healed cried out as they looked into the sky.

“The two Magino Frames…!”

They were intertwined and falling.

The sword’s blade had almost entirely broken away as it stabbed into Akerindou which had lost most of its bow shape.

“Manager!”

A transmission arrived. The spell circle had been sent from the operation room built below the Horinouchi mansion. The Horinouchi family had sent representatives to fight the Black Witch since ancient times. Just like similar families, corporations, and military organizations, it possessed a system to provide backup for those representatives.

One of the maids inside the command center spoke to him.

“Lady Mitsuru’s Magino Frame is falling!”

“I can see that! Where is it going to-…?

“You can’t tell?”

“I-I can tell it’s generally falling to the east of Tokyo Bay, but give me the details!”

While thinking the maids were being overly strict, he recalled that they were former witches themselves. To them, Mitsuru was a memento of the previous generation and their hope.

…Ah, they’re treating me like the unneeded man!

But regardless, he held the position of manager. Not even he knew if he had anything to be proud of outside that position, but he did have his ability as a butler.

At any rate, he received the requested details.

“Northeast of Tokyo Bay…Old Makuhari!”

The bay was the best place to see the fall and destruction.

A school was located at the center of Tokyo Bay.

As those inside scanned the two Magino Frames falling to the northeast, the school buildings had their shutters closed and a defensive spell barrier was placed in the sky above.

But despite the security measures, a few people were visible on the school buildings’ rooftops.

First, there was the western building engraved with the words “Special Equipment” which was covered by a solar power system.

Next, there was the eastern building engraved with the word “Spell” which was a midair building with no entrance on the surface.

Finally, there was the northern building which was a fully floating honors building.

The people atop or in front of those buildings spoke their various thoughts.

“Horinouchi.”

“So it’s finally happening.”

“Mother, this flower is finally blooming.”

Afterwards, they all returned to their duties. They turned their backs on the falling objects and looked up at the moon in the sky.

A moment later, an extremely massive quake ran through the earth at the northeast end of Tokyo Bay.

The sound resembled a solid impact or a crashing wave and it accompanied the explosion produced by a great bow and a sword.

The battle was not yet over, but…

“Has it been settled yet or not?” someone muttered.

In that moment, new lights appeared across the school.

They were spell circles. They displayed a warning, but that warning indicated a true emergency.

<Warning: Shifting into Fifth Security Mode. The Black Witch’s output has been detected.>

And that was not all.

“I can see it.”

Someone pointed it out from the spell building’s rooftop. The moon in the center of the sky was emitting light.

The Black Witch had been sealed in that moon which was beginning to act.

Koutarou spoke in response to the spell circle warnings opening here and there.

“Everyone, ensure the security and peace of your posts! Observation Team, record your observations of Lady Mitsuru and her opponent!”

“Manager! Don’t we need to observe the moon!?”

“Someone else will record the moon!”

Koutarou had a hunch.

…What did the Black Witch react to!?

That was obvious. The Black Witch’s heart had been moved by the battle between two witches below. One of those witches was the daughter of her opponent from the previous confrontation, and the other one…

…She clearly knows the Black Witch!

The scale of their battle was not unheard of for witches, but it had progressed oddly. So…

“We will record this battle and its result!”

That was enough. After all…

“The Black Witch has shown an interest in the two of them!”

As soon as he said it, a pale light was added to the summer sunlight.

It was a heavenly light.

That light seemed to envelop the moon, it formed a ring of ether, and it took form at the moon’s north pole.

It looked small from where they were, but it was actually large enough to form an angel’s halo over the moon.

“She’s watching!”

The halo spread, formed an ellipse, and circled to the back of the moon.

It almost looked like an eyeball with the moon as the pupil.

There was no escaping that massive gaze.

And that was not all.

Light gathered in front of the moon.

<Warning>

“Manager! The amount of ether detected on the lunar surface is spiking!”

It was obvious what was happening.

“The Black Witch is interfering with the seal! She’s releasing her power!”

The communication officer’s voice filled the air as the light in the sky trembled. The ether light gained a shadow, grew black, and…

“It’s an arm!”

It really is, thought Koutarou. A long, slender black arm crawled out from the moon as if it to connect the sky with the falling wreckage of the two witches.

Destruction and a fall were synonymous.

Horinouchi realized the impact of her landing had vanished and that the Magino Frame had begun to destroy itself.

Akerindou’s great bow was half destroyed and it was losing its acceleration pathway for shells.

She opened a spell circle to check and saw a fatal crack in the Phlogiston Heart. It had not completely broken, but it would be unable to endure the damage and it would fall apart.

…And my mood feels about the same.

She could not continue to fight like this. That resignation stopped the heating of her heart, but…

“The sky!”

Her Magino Frame’s armor had shattered and fallen and she could see the shards turning to light and vanishing, but beyond that, she saw a colossal eyeball floating in the heavens and she saw a slender black hand reaching its claws her way.

The black hand and arm approaching through the sky trailed black light and she could not imagine how much power it took to create something like that.

…Is that…?

She knew what it was.

It was a portion of the Black Witch’s power. It had escaped the seal and it had to be more of an illusion than anything else. If it had the physical might something that size would normally wield, it would have disturbed the space between the moon and the earth and the sky would have split open.

That was an illusion. It may have been powerful, but it was not the Black Witch’s true power.

But even knowing that, a different understanding led her heart to tremble.

The Black Witch was focused on her.

She felt a chill because she recalled certain words.

…I…

I have always kept my back to the moon.

If the Black Witch had wanted, she could have suddenly grabbed Horinouchi from behind.

“————”

She had been naïve. Or should she say the situation had “corrected” itself. This was the sort of relationship the Black Witch and other witches were meant to have.

…Kh.

The black arm reached out quickly, earnestly, longingly. Its size had already become clear.

“It covers the sky!”

The opened hand was as wide as the moon.

It already hid the moon and the color black spread across Tokyo’s sky.

The massive fingers seemed to envelop everything and only the center of the palm could still be seen from here.

The fingers had surpassed Japan and were likely darkening the area from the central Pacific to Eastern Europe.

Horinouchi wondered what she could even do.

“Horinouchi!!”

She heard a voice.

She turned to her right and saw someone familiar rushing her way.

It was Kagami Kagami. The girl’s Magino Form was even more broken than Horinouchi’s, but she directly observed the other girl.

“Is your Phlogiston Heart still active!?”

Her voice filled the air.

“I wish to borrow your power!”

Horinouchi did not understand what was happening, but she felt an odd sense of trust in the voice she heard.

She had been fighting this enemy not long before. The girl had unknown origins, had opposed her for unknown reasons, and had harmed people close to her.

But they had the same objective.

…And this person…

Even now, she did not look away from the moon.

Had there ever been someone like this? Every ten years, this world experienced Hexennacht, which might as well have been a ritual sacrifice, yet this girl stared fearlessly into the sky even as the Black Witch’s power approached.

“Horinouchi!”

She reached out her hand, her power arm. She had already arrived right in front of Horinouchi.

“What are you going to do?”

“That is simple.”

Kagami swung her arms outward.

“I must strike her!”

Horinouchi knew what Kagami was going to do. She had seen the girl do it several times already.

The power of this witch named Kagami Kagami was most likely of the craft-style, which used some kind of special technique. The other witches used a ritual process to draw ether from the ley lines and form motors and armor from it.

…But she can suddenly “grab” the ether and “process” it.

The word “creation” may have been the closest match, but it was not an impossible technique. Some witches would improve themselves through divine protection and modifications, essentially turning their very existence into a spell.

However, that all came from their own spells and it reduced and heated the ether they possessed.

This girl was different.

There had not been an ether reading from the very beginning. That had not changed even now. Not only was it low for a witch, she had less than a normal person. Nevertheless, she could grab and process ether far more quickly than Horinouchi.

“I wish to borrow your power.”

How could she sound so confident?

Horinouchi did not understand.

There was so much here she did not understand.

But she could trust in herself. She had reached Rank #4 and became the Eastern Japanese representative because she had never allowed herself to be shaken.

Then, she thought. I will trust in what I’ve seen.

The girl in front of her could process ether and she could strategize. Horinouchi was not sure she could say this girl was her equal, but their battle had ended in a draw.

So…

“Suzaku!”

The servant must have been exhausted because it was sitting cross-legged in the spell circle on her shoulder.

…Are you really a bird?

She sometimes wondered that, but she let it slide since there was no real meaning in saying otherwise. She felt that was the adult thing to do. Anyway, the Suzaku seemed to have understood what she was thinking.

<Magino Frame: Release Portion of Structure>

<Warning: Releasing a portion of the structure will accelerate collapse of Phlogiston Heart. 15 Seconds.>

“I will lend you my power!”

Instead of leaving her Magino Frame to fall apart, she returned it to ether on her own. That would indeed be a source of power for Kagami who could process ether.

However…

“There’s no time!”

“I am aware.” Kagami smiled back over her shoulder. “You have my thanks.”

Koutarou realized he had made the right decision.

“Manager!”

One of the observers pointed at the opposite shore of Tokyo Bay rather than the black hand grabbing at them from the sky.

“Lady Mitsuru and her opponent’s Magino Frames are fusing!!”

He could see it about twenty-five kilometers away. Despite that great distance, the five hundred meter structure rose tall in his vision.

“Ohh…”

The air shook from the shrine bell-like ringing of Akerindou’s motors and the church bell-like ringing of Kagami’s sword.

The two sounds never joined together. They simply travelled solemnly and separately through the air.

Then the two Magino frames took a single form.

The sword was at the center and the great bow extended horizontally from the guard.

The weapon resembled both a bow gun and a great sword, but it was over a kilometer long.

“Could that…?”

Koutarou started speaking, but then shook his head.

“That cannot catch up to her mother.”

He swallowed the word “yet” and shouted to the others.

“Look!”

He listened to the ringing of the two types of bells and looked into the sky.

The five extended black fingers may have already reached the exosphere. They were beginning to gain a coloration closer to blue than black. The palm seemed to rapidly distort and expand due to the atmosphere’s lensing effect, and…

“After ten years, the Horinouchi family’s strike will reach the Black Witch!”

His shout was immediately followed by the world shaking.

The kilometer long cannon had fired its full power into the sky.

The recoil could not be buffered.

The shockwave of the blast created electrical discharges in the sky over a radius of several dozen kilometers and the ruined buildings to the north and east of Tokyo Bay were swept and blasted away.

As the wreckage flew into the air, stabbed into other ruins, and spread destruction as they rolled, the pressure of the blast itself shook the bay.

The bottom of the bay came into view along the coast of Makuhari on the northeastern end of the vast body of water.

The mud, sand, and the base of the broken manmade islands and reclaimed land were revealed wet in the sunlight and the water swelled outward.

The sound was not that of waves.

The water itself was compressed and seawater twisted and roared up from below the swelling ocean surface. It sounded a lot like the creaking of a ship.

In the center of the bay, Shihouin Academy reacted most quickly to the movement and noise. The academy’s defense system had already activated defense spells, but it now erected barrier walls which rose from the ocean to stop the coming tsunami. While sending warnings to the coast, their defense system sent barriers out as far into the ocean as it could to break the waves. This was only possible due to the relatively shallow depth of Tokyo Bay and the school also contacted U.A.H.J. and an organization founded by influential families such as the Horinouchi family and by the municipal office of reconstructed Yokohama. They cast wide-range spells to stop the waves on the coast and to secure and reinforce the waterways needed to allow the tsunami’s water to escape.

Also…

<Warning: Shockwave will arrive in 7 seconds.>

It felt like a physical blow.

From east to west, it transformed the tsunami into a massive amount of ocean spray.

That was the might of the explosive blast. It split the ocean open as a rapid vibration, turned to rain, and…

“…!”

The eastern windows on the coastal buildings shook and some cracked.

But everyone saw a certain sight through those windows or above their lowered heads.

In the center of the heavens above, an attack flew from the skyward-aimed sword bow.

“Oh…”

It pierced through the black hand trying to envelop the entire world.

It flew in a straight line.

As if to show just how defenseless the spread fingers of the black arm were, the shot of light pierced through it up to the elbow.

The destruction came afterwards.

The forearm was the first to scatter. The area a bit above the wrist swelled out from within and burst like splitting bark.

The rest was simple.

As the destruction raced up to the elbow, the wrist and hand were left in the sky, seemingly forgotten. They lost their strength, but they were not forgiven.

The hole in the palm spread from the other side and the fingers thrust outwards at crooked angles.

Then it finally collapsed.

It vanished in an instant.

Pale ether light shaped like an arm scattered in the heavens and finally disappeared.

The destruction from earth seemed to stop when it reached the upper arm, but the arm no longer functioned and that was enough.

It all vanished toward the moon and only the eye ring remained around the moon.

But that too gathered together as if narrowing.

“It’s vanishing!”

By the time the people stood up, threw open their windows or ran from their homes, and cheered, the black sky had vanished.

All that remained was the moon floating in the summer sky. And…

“Where’s the witch’s blade!?”

They all turned toward eastern Tokyo Bay.

By then, nothing remained. There were no rain clouds in the sky, but a salty rain fell. The approach of the tsunami left some of the coastal areas soaked and the receding waves roared through the waterways.

Everyone was seeing and experiencing a temporary change, but nothing remained in the sky or on the earth.

“What was that?”

The next thing they knew, the rain had passed and everything was back to normal.

“Okay.”

Horinouchi checked on the situation as she heard Kagami’s voice and saw the other girl lower her shoulders.

The Magino Frame had vanished and they stood on the roof of an abandoned building. Only the blue sky and white moon could be seen above and the waves below had returned to the bottom of the bay. They were picking up speed, rolling the underwater wreckage and stones around and crashing against the ruins.

The underwater structures moved and crashed together and the ocean produced a kind of white noise as it tried to expel the air it had taken in.

She heard distant sirens from the opposite coast.

Their attack had caused secondary damages.

…We aren’t that much different from the Black Witch.

But the Horinouchi family, U.A.H.J., and other countermeasure organizations seemed to be functioning properly. The coastal areas were allowing the waves to escape and temporarily accumulate in the ruins and the only obvious damage being reported was broken windows from the shockwave. Of course, some of the shrines and temples near the coast had their ether tanks burst due to the backflow of their ether capacity support systems.

However, Horinouchi was focused on something else. The magic circle containing praise from Koutarou was crushed by the praise coming from the maids in the command center, but she ignored that.

…Kagami Kagami.

She had distinctly heard something during the cannon blast.

When the black arm had been destroyed and the moon had been revealed, that girl had spoken.

“I finally found you, Shouko!”

Shouko?

Who was that? No, more importantly…

…Who are you?

Horinouchi did not know, so she focused on what she could see before her.

“————”

Kagami’s entire body wobbled unsteadily. At the same time, she released her Magino Form and returned to her suit.

She was falling. No, collapsing.

It may have been exhaustion or the release of her tension, but Horinouchi had also lost her Magino Form.

She now wore her school uniform.

“Wait!”

She tried to catch Kagami by the back and shoulders and found she was surprisingly light. So as not to hold her too tightly, she supported her by wrapping an arm around her.

“You…”

A white and blue dragon servant stood at their feet.

Horinouchi remembered that she had helped with the experiments concerning that servant. She had had high hopes for it, but when the decision had been made to dispose of it as a failure, she had arranged a certain plan after taking the final readings.

She had made sure the lock spell would release if the servant wished to be free.

She could not let it just wait in its cage to be disposed of. That was hypocritical considering how the other servants like that had been treated, but when there was a connection to her…

…I remember.

After her mother had lost and died, she had heard some people lamenting.

Mankind had meant to seal away the Black Witch, but they had actually surrounded themselves by her cage where they simply waited to be killed.

Horinouchi had not wanted the servant to be in the same situation.

She had been looking down on the creature as she had granted it the right to live and die as it pleased, but she had also had a certain thought.

If she could end Hexennacht during this generation, that would no longer be hypocritical.

And so she had promised herself she would do just that.

But she had not expected the servant to choose the western ruins as its escape route. She had assumed it would go east, away from the danger and the people, but some part of its subconscious may have felt a connection to people. She had sent her tracking spell to the west, so she had ultimately caused Koutarou some trouble.

…But…

“Wait!”

It may have only been a small fraction, but she had torn into the Black Witch’s power with this girl she had met after all that.

Had she done the right thing? And if so…

…I…

Wondering what would happen, she looked to the person she could ask.

“—————”

She held her in her arms and looked to her face.

…“I finally found you”?

There had been no resentment in her voice. It had only contained anger towards something. And it had not been a simple rebuke. It had likely been a mixture of several different thoughts.

But…

“What does this mean?”

There was a slight smile on the unconscious girl’s face, but who could say if it was just the relaxing of her muscles as she passed out or if it was an expression of her emotions. Horinouchi still understood nothing.

“Who are you?”

She heard the beating of the air in the distance as Koutarou’s helicopter came to retrieve them.

Part 2

Music could be heard.

The morning air warmed as the sun rose. It may have been summer, but the air was still and calm this early in the morning. And that clear air contained music.

“What is this? The American national anthem?”

A few people in track suits stepped out onto the roof and the girl they found their answered them.

“I’m about to have a match, so I want to focus.”

“Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting?”

The few who had arrived started back inside, but the girl raised a hand to stop them.

“You’ll make things more difficult for me if you do that. As the representative of the special equipment division, I represent all of you, so it’ll be more difficult for me if you treat me differently. After all…”

She swept aside the red hair falling just above her shoulder.

“America represents the world and its strength can reach any part of that world.”

“Oh, oh. How reliable.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

The girl smiled bitterly and let the music play. The magic circle by her hand contained an acoustic spell which produced the music of a live orchestra.

The song was the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

—Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light

—What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

—Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

—O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

—And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air

—Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.

—Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

—O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

“I don’t understand much of the English, but it sure does sound cool.”

“I’m glad to hear that. When I first heard my dad performing this, I was too young to know what it meant either.” The girl looked at the others. “But are you all okay?”

“If you’re talking about the pre-summer break assignment, then we took care of yours as well, special equipment representative. But if we aren’t treating you differently, you’ll fail if you fall behind on your homework.”

“Doing mine for me isn’t treating me differently?”

“In the special equipment division, we take care of each other. No matter where in the world they are or who they are, as long as they’re one of us, we’ll treat them the same. It would be a problem for us all if someone was dragging us down, so we won’t let that happen.”

“Thanks,” said the girl.

And…

“Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

The special equipment building’s rooftop was covered in a solar power system and the students who had spent the night in the building working had gathered there to get some of the morning’s fresh air. Some light exercise was a daily ritual of the girl’s and more and more people had ended up joining in. Today, she smiled at the front of the group.

“Oh, honestly.”

She looked back toward the western coast of Tokyo Bay.

A few different areas there were covered in metal scaffolding and the sounds of construction could already be heard.

The previous day’s large-scale battle and its after effects had put a large burden on some of the embankments and flood gates. They had spells and divine protection, but physical reinforcement would strengthen it all and increase the number of hooks for adding in divine protection.

“Oh? Are those our first years?”

“Some of them went to help with the construction. They made several ridiculous requests such as making it baroque or like Todai-ji, so who knows what kind of flood gate they’re going to end up with.”

The girl responded to that with a small smile and stretched a little.

“Now, then.”

She pulled her arm back toward her side and then thrust it forward.

“I’m going to be aiming a little higher, so it’s time I did what I need to do.”

Horinouchi did not like the headmaster’s office.

It was not a simple sort of dislike; it was a complicated kind. And that was especially true today.

First of all, its location was a problem. It and the other teacher’s officers could have been in one of the school buildings, but they were instead located in the library on the northeast end of the school grounds.

The library was another problem. It was divided between normal books and reference books, so one category was naturally larger and the library had been built in a pyramid shape to accommodate that. The teacher’s offices were inside that building, so when someone said they were visiting a teacher’s office, a few people would always make a triangular gesture above their head and ask, “You mean here?”

The Middle Eastern witches in particular would insist that it provided “pyramid power” and would therefore keep flowers from withering, so perhaps the headmaster had designed it to keep herself from aging.

The headmaster herself was yet another problem. After all…

…She worked with my mother.

The three witches who had competed for the representative spot during the previous Hexennacht were known as the Three Sages and the headmaster was one of them.

Horinouchi’s mother had ultimately been the representative, but Horinouchi had of course been born at that point and the headmaster was the only person in the school who had known her since she was a child.

She found the headmaster was the only person here that she could not take the initiative with.

And there was another problem with the headmaster’s office unique to today.

…What in the world is going on?

She could not help but wonder why she was standing in the headmaster’s office with this person.

It was Kagami Kagami.

She and that girl in a suit stood facing the headmaster.

“Now, then. …Miss Kagami, was it? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

Kagami nodded while ignoring the silent glare Horinouchi was giving her.

A woman with glasses sat in front of her. Her semi-long hair was of a foreign color and she appeared to be in her early thirties, but as a witch, her appearance was not necessarily a reliable indicator of her age. However, Kagami did sense an indistinct aura coming from the woman.

…Should I call it a mystical aura?

She did not know the rules here. There were some things only she noticed and some things the others noticed as well, so she decided to set aside the headmaster’s aura for the moment.

“I did. Thank you very much, Lady Headmaster.”

“You don’t need to call me ‘lady’.”

“You have a thin handkerchief in your breast pocket, so I figured you had once worn a badge there.”

The headmaster flicked lightly at the handkerchief on her chest.

“This is…”

She smiled bitterly.

“…due to some old mischief.”

Horinouchi gave a blatant sigh, so there must have been a connection there. Regardless, the headmaster opened a magic circle with the hand she had used to flick the handkerchief.

The display had a floral shape.

“Anyway, this is the bill for using our dorms last night.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Now, now. To be honest, some witches are forceful enough to use their spatial teleportation to get out of paying, so I’m thankful you actually answered my invitation. Oh, and one other thing.”

She narrowed her eyes and threw another floral magic circle toward Horinouchi.

Horinouchi tilted her head and tried to avoid it.

“You don’t need to be that cruel,” said the headmaster with a bitter smile in her voice.

She pulled back her hand and the magic circle stopped next to Horinouchi’s face.

“What is this? Headmaster, could you tell me what you want before throwing things at me? It would be a real pain if it was a bomb, you know?”

“That’s for Koutarou. I had him get me some root vegetable seeds from Mount Kouya a while back and they have produced some lovely flowers, so I can send him back even more than he gave me.”

“Why can’t you send this to him directly?”

The headmaster placed a hand on her cheek, sighed, and shook her head.

“I just have no idea how to communicate with teenagers these days.”

It amused Kagami how much Horinouchi’s upper lip twisted, but the girl blushed as soon as she noticed Kagami watching.

“Wh-what are you looking at?”

“Oh, I just thought it was interesting that you too can give people looks like that.”

“That’s right, Miss Kagami. Miss Horinouchi is a lot cuter than she looks, so please take good care of her.”

“I will make sure to do so.”

They both ignored the voice yelling “do what!?”, but it still created a break in the conversation. The tension had already faded, so…

“Lady Headmaster.”

This seemed as good a time as any, so Kagami folded up the bill, placed it in her breast pocket, and spoke.

“To put it simply, I have come from another world.”

…She just said something odd!!

She’s really done it now! thought Horinouchi. What even is “another world”? What kind of made-up story is this?

But…

“Yes, that happens sometimes, Miss Kagami.”

“Headmaster!? You believe her!?”

“Witches can come from anywhere. And Miss Horinouchi, how about we move onto you?”

Only then did Horinouchi remember that she had been called here along with Kagami.

It made no sense to her. If it was to inform her that her rank had changed, why summon Kagami as well? That girl seemed to have a way of ruining Horinouchi’s usual pace, but listening to the headmaster made it sound like Kagami was the main topic here, so…

“By the way, headmaster! Why am I here, too!?”

“Well,” said the headmaster. “Miss Kagami here may not belong to our school, but she still defeated you. I was wondering what do about your change in rank.”

…You’re announcing my demotion in front of the person who defeated me?

Her pride did not like that at all, so she spoke up before the others could say anything more.

“I don’t mind if you lower me to 5th.”

That meant a drop in rank.

She had definitely lost the previous day’s match. It was being treated as a draw and there was probably some truth to that, but…

“Kagami is an outside witch with no preparation while I have the training and standards of a ranker.”

Their shells had cancelled each other out at the end of the match, but that was all the proof she needed.

Her own had been more powerful, but Kagami had found a way to respond. Horinouchi had also hurried and responded, but…

“I was a step behind. If you look past the result and focus on the flow of events and the momentum, then I was the clear loser. I have no objection to a drop in rank.”

“Please wait,” said Kagami with a tilt of the head. “I do not care about the ranks. As long as I can defeat the Black Witch, nothing else matters.”

“Weren’t you listening?”

How ignorant of the rules is she? Do I really have to say this here? No, I’m pretty sure I said it yesterday too, so has she already forgotten?

“Only one witch can challenge the Black Witch on Hexennacht!”

Kagami gave the headmaster a questioning look and the woman nodded.

“Allow me to explain.” She placed a hand on her chin. “Yes, that’s more or less how it works.”

“That is not an explanation!”

“Horinouchi, being too nitpicky is bad for your mental health.”

“That is none of your business!”

“I see.” Kagami waved a hand back and forth and bowed toward Horinouchi. “So I got in the way of your ambitions. I apologize.”

“That’s called the arrogance of a winner.”

Kagami raised her head with a corner of her mouth lightly raised.

“That is just who I am.”

…This girl.

While Horinouchi mentally clenched her teeth, the headmaster smiled and clapped her hands once.

“Okay,” she said. “Miss Kagami, your abilities look promising and you don’t seem to have any relatives, so I would like to invite you to join our academy.”

“Ehhhh!?”

“Yes, that seems like an excellent decision.”

“Ehhhh!?”

“Heh heh. I am glad to hear it, Miss Kagami. Yes.”

“Ehhhh!?”

“Indeed. I am glad to have a stable home close to others who understand me.”

“Um, is it just me or are you two completely ignoring me!?”

At some point, Kagami had walked up next to her and she placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Uh… I look forward to working with you, Horinouchi…”

Kagami looked up at the ceiling before looking back at Horinouchi with a smile.

“Horinouchi Manko.”

“My name is not Manko!”

She was afraid that would stick.

“Head Butler…or wait, are you acting as manager at the moment? Anyway, Lady Mitsuru has a message for you from the headmaster.”

“Yes, I am acting as the former at the moment. What is the message about?”

Koutarou fixed his suit’s collar. If it was not an emergency, he would have any message inspected at the command center first. It could be an annoyance, but he felt it was safer and took the pressure off of his master when she returned home.

…It is not good to live a rushed life.

That was his opinion as someone in a position that had served the Horinouchi family for generations. And in the mansion hall, the maid opened a magic circle to perform a double safety check.

“It is thanks for the seeds you provided her. Um…”

The maid summarized the contents.

“She wishes to invite Kagami – the witch who fought Lady Mitsuru – to the academy, so she wants the Horinouchi family to vouch for her. Also, a ranker cannot exactly stay in the dorms and there is an empty room in Lady Mitsuru’s living space, so she wants us to prepare it for that Kagami girl without asking Lady Mitsuru’s permission. Finally, Lady Mitsuru will be showing Kagami around the academy, so she wants you to provide assistance.”

“What does that have to do with thanking me for the seeds!?”

“That was what Lady Mitsuru said it was about when she forwarded the message.”

Before the maid had even finished her explanation, Koutarou had dashed out of the hall.

“I need to hurry to the academy! Check Lady Mitsuru’s movements via GPS! I need to be there waiting for her!”

“Head Butler, what about dinner?”

“I will stop at a convenience store on the way!”

“Then we’ll just do whatever,” said the maids as he left them behind and pulled a car key from his pocket.

He had to hurry. After all…

“The Head Butler of the Horinouchi family must be there before his master needs him!”

“Anyway, school is already out for the day, so I’ll show you around the academy real quick.”

Horinouchi chose the path they would take. If she was to give a simple tour of Shihouin Academy, there was only one real option.

…Down the center.

They first circled northward from the northeastern library.

“That floating school building to the north is for the honors division. It’s for those with abilities that don’t fit into the other divisions or those with exceptional power. Their lessons are mostly individualized guidance.”

But the two of them did not go there. A flower garden was located below the honors building and some students were tending to it, but…

“The powers of honors witches can be harder to use and they tend to be sharply focused in one direction, but you can think of them as the highest ranked division. However, when you look at the ranker ratios, their exceptional abilities make it easier to hit them with countermeasures, so very few of them make it to the higher levels.”

“But the initial attack works well, doesn’t it?”

Horinouchi could only agree with Kagami.

“Yes. The ones with more difficult countermeasures rise the farthest and they are only ever defeated because of the people who essentially act as ‘sacrifices’ until the countermeasure is ready.”

Horinouchi was one of those who stood atop that foundation. She did not look down on herself or pride herself for that fact. Tactics based on a system always came with rules.

At any rate, she chose to take the southward path. That route would cut across the school grounds from north to south.

It was also a path that she liked quite a bit. After all…

“Horinouchi, I see the center of the school has been made into a courtyard and nature park. Is that how witches do things?”

“Yes. It provides a place to focus your mind, to cultivate catalysts, and for the spirits to rest.”

And when the trees formed a roof overhead, something else could be glimpsed past them.

Tall structures were visible in every direction.

“Shihouin Academy has split its school building into the four cardinal directions. To the south is the general division, to the west is the special equipment division, to the east is the spell division, and to the north is the honors division.”

They passed by a few people. Horinouchi did not know if people were focused on her or if Kagami stood out in her suit, but the people stretched out on the grass and the people sitting in the trees holding brooms all looked their way. But she paid them no heed.

“The top four world witch rankings are each a part of one of those school buildings. I am #4 and essentially the representative of the general division.”

“I see,” replied Kagami. “Then I just have to defeat the higher ranks with you.”

“What?”

“From what I heard, there is also a buddy system. If you join up with me, things should be a lot easier, don’t you think?”

“Stop deciding things for me!”

Horinouchi was reminded of when she had been forced to say goodbye to her mother.

When it came to a battle, one could be lost no matter how powerful they were. Battles between normal witches followed certain rules and someone could step in if there was any danger, but that was not true of a battle with the Black Witch. With the buddy system, one’s mistake could mean losing their partner or vice versa, so…

“I fight on my own.”

Kagami immediately gave a dignified nod and held out a hand to stop Horinouchi.

“————”

Kagami moved only her gaze to look around.

Horinouchi understood.

This was the courtyard. The students who had begun their afterschool training had grown silent and had taken fighting stances.

They were prepared to challenge Horinouchi at any moment.

The previous day’s battle had left her Suzaku exhausted.

…I could probably summon my Magino Frame, but a full-on battle would be difficult.

However, these students were not about to overlook that. Not to mention that Horinouchi had shot back at the Black Witch. If these other students were to defeat her…

“I take it they are looking for an opening so they can defeat us and improve their rank,” said Kagami without bothering to whisper. “Wonderful. If everyone here can unify their hearts like this, then I look forward to when we can settle this.”

She began to walk in a random direction and tapped Horinouchi on the shoulder.

“Where can I get a good view?”

“To the south. If we pass through the general school building and leave through the front, we will reach a pier.”

“Then let’s go there,” said Kagami with her back still turned. “This is a nice place and I have something to tell you, Horinouchi.”

“Head Butler! The target is moving south! Most likely to the pier!”

“Ehhh!? Wait! Didn’t you just say she was headed west to the cafeteria!? Now I have to make a half circuit of the road around the academy!”

“Quite complaining and get going, Head Butler. You’re a man, aren’t you? If you delay Lady Mitsuru even a second, every last maid is going to greet you with fake smiles tomorrow.”

“Gender equality! I demand gender equality!”

The pier was empty.

Normally, the water-element witches would rest and hold their afterschool training there.

Their ships and floats were absent now, but that had to be due to the previous day.

…The ley lines in the water must still be disturbed.

Any training on the sea would have to wait until after the water had fundamentally calmed down. That meant the pool was likely crowded. She reminded herself that the pool was located between the general and special equipment buildings, but then…

…Wh-why am I still thinking like a tour guide!?

She looked forward and saw Kagami walking below the setting sun.

She passed through the decorative gate to the pier and walked along the wooden tile floor. Horinouchi followed five steps behind Kagami while feeling the movement of the waves in the soles of her feet.

“I want you to listen to something. Think of it as a nonsense story.”

Kagami began speaking without warning and did not give Horinouchi a chance to say anything.

“Once, in a world different from this one, there were two sisters.”

Only then was there a pause.

Feeling she was being invited to ask, Horinouchi spoke the question on her mind.

“What do you mean?”

Kagami claimed to be from another world. Horinouchi found it hard to believe, but the girl was clearly talking about herself here. And that she had a sister was of course new information.

“How about I give you a better understanding?”

Kagami had her back turned, but Horinouchi heard a bitter laugh and more words.

“There was no magic in that world.”

“…What?”

“You don’t believe me?”

It was not so much that she did not believe her than it was that she did not understand.

If there was no magic, did that mean there was no ether, no spells, and no divine protection? If so…

“What did they use for fuel and on what was the value of currency based? In fact, what kind of civilization could there have-…”

“Sadly, you can chalk that up to a lack of imagination. That world did not look all that different from this one.”

But there still had to have been a major difference on a fundamental level.

Of course, Kagami probably understood that. She spread her arms a little before continuing.

“Because of that and because the younger of the sisters was quite frail, the two of them enjoyed imagining a world that had everything.”

As for how…

“They expressed it in pictures and writing. The younger sister dreamed of being an author, so she began searching through the materials in the back of her mansion.”

“Materials?”

That probably meant she had looked around for history books and other reference materials for writing a book. There were similar people in Horinouchi’s class. In those girls’ case, their drawings and text became spells, but they said it was difficult to balance faithfulness to the reference materials with their own creativity. But in Kagami’s case…

“Their father was a collector and, one day, they found something.”

“What was it?”

“The Book of Creation.”

Kagami placed her hands on her hips after reaching the end of the pier.

“It was not that our world never had magic.”

In other words…

“Magic was deemed dangerous, so all the world’s magic was concentrated into a single book.”

“And that was the Book of Creation?”

All she did was ask questions, but Horinouchi’s curiosity had been piqued.

What if all of this world’s magic were gathered together?

She had never imagined something like that before, but something like it had once been in Kagami’s grasp.

…I-I’m starting to believe her!

Well, it’s just a play on words. Yes, that’s how I need to think of it.

But Kagami must have understood what she was thinking.

“You do not need to know what the book contained.”

After all…

“It gave physical form to its owner’s imagination and linked that physical form to itself.”

Kagami noticed that Horinouchi was not reacting to what she had said.

…Honestly, what a clever girl.

She had likely directly grasped what Kagami was trying to say.

And after taking a few breaths, Kagami heard Horinouchi’s voice behind her.

“It gives physical form to its owner’s imagination? If you had a ridiculous artifact like that, you could become a god!”

“Yes.” Kagami crossed her arms and gathered strength in her hands. “A great many worlds were created.”

They truly were, she thought to herself. They were definitely crated in the space one could call “the palm of your hand”.

If one wished for it, countless worlds could be made in any form they wanted and those worlds would be as accessible as the other side of a small door.

Thinking back, it had been an entrancing and dangerous game. After all, to establish the worlds they created…

“Countless lives were created, lived, clashed when they grew in number, reached a mutual understanding, and lived once more.”

But there was more she had to say.

“Due to her illness, the younger sister constantly felt the shadow of death.”

“You mean…”

Yes.

“That may have been why each world obeyed the younger sister’s imagination and was destroyed.”

“Wait.”

“What is it?”

After her question, additional words reached her from behind.

“What happened to the older sister?” asked Horinouchi. “If the younger sister began destroying the created worlds, what happened to the older sister?”

Horinouchi looked to Kagami’s back.

The girl had her arms crossed and her sides slowly tensed at Horinouchi’s question. Strength filled the hands holding her arms in place and it looked like she was restraining her own body.

Kagami began with a sigh.

“The older sister was trapped in the expansion of the worlds and she had some authority over the worlds she created with her sister, although not as much authority as that sister. So she traveled across those many worlds to stop her sister, but…”

But…

“She did not make it in time,” she said. “And so I will defeat my sister.”

With that announcement, Horinouchi understood. She understood Kagami’s questions during the battle the day before, her joy when looking up at the moon, and her anger when firing that final shot.

…Her younger sister is the Black Witch!?

“Ha ha,” quietly laughed Kagami. “Listen.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“If her imagination of death will destroy this world, then I will stop her and end this even if it means killing her.”

“————”

Horinouchi could not say a thing.

She too had a starting point: ten years before when she lost her mother. She was where she was now because she had chosen her path as a witch to wipe away what she had felt back then and to make sure no one else would ever feel that way.

She did not want to lose anything and she did not want anyone else to lose anything, but…

…This girl…

She was prepared to lose something out of necessity.

That conflicted with Horinouchi, but Horinouchi was at a loss for words regardless.

That was partially due to what she had been told, but she had also noticed something in Kagami’s words.

Horinouchi did not want to lose anything or for anyone else to lose anything, but…

…If I kill the Black Witch, that will mean I am losing “her”.

The Black Witch was an enemy. She was both Horinouchi’s enemy and the world’s enemy. Going easy on her would mean a repeat of what had happened to them ten years before.

But Horinouchi’s starting point contained a contradiction all the same.

Part of that came from not knowing the Black Witch’s identity. She had thought of her as something like a natural disaster that could never be defeated no matter what. But…

“Horinouchi.”

Kagami turned around with a smile in her eyes.

“Did you actually believe all that?”

“Wh-what is that supposed to mean!?”

She felt like it had all slipped away from her.

It felt like all of her thoughts had been for nothing and it embarrassed her. She had thought too much about this other girl even though her standard policy was to avoid empathizing with others if at all possible. Her loss would be too painful otherwise, but so much of this information had been completely unexpected.

“Oh?”

Kagami looked behind her.

“You are the one from yesterday.”

“Eh?”

Horinouchi looked back and saw Koutarou at the end of the pier. He bowed.

“Lady Mitsuru, dinner is ready.”

“Whaaaaaat!? Head Butler! It’s still evening! What is this about dinner!?”

“Whaaaaat!? Lady Mitsuru is going to be spending the night in her school residence, and just how long would it take you to make dinner and carry it over to herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!?”

“D-don’t think I’ll forget this, Head Butler! When you get back, I’ll curse you!”

“I can’t exactly laugh that off when you’re an actual witch!”

Kagami followed Horinouchi as the girl walked back down the pier in a huff.

The butler named Koutarou then stepped between them. He seemed to be communicating with someone using a simple magic circle, but he closed it and bowed.

Kagami bowed back, but…

“Are you fine with this?”

“Are talking about what happened yesterday? While we work with U.A.H.J., our actions are based on different standards.”

“So it is up to Horinouchi? …But it would seem she does not like me very much.”

“That is not true.” He shook his head. “When she is in a bad mood, Lady Mitsuru hides what she truly thinks.”

With that said, his expression changed. He was glancing over at her from the side, but he was definitely looking at her.

“If I and the rest of the Horinouchi Group had been providing backup during that battle, Lady Mitsuru would not have fallen behind.”

“That sounds promising.”

“I am honored you think so. Personally, I would like for you to be Lady Mitsuru’s ally.”

“You get to the point quickly.”

“Yes.” Koutarou nodded. “I am sure you understand, but Lady Mitsuru is doing her best. …That said, progress is being made in the analysis of the compression technology used for unlocking the seal on Hexennacht and, now that the buddy system has been introduced, the other rankers will be pairing up while receiving support on a national level. Lady Mitsuru has been working hard to face all that alone as the head of the Horinouchi family.”

“As the head of the family?”

Kagami had more or less realized that, but it was a difficult subject to openly ask her about.

Realizing she was still soft, Kagami remembered that the best person to ask stood before her. This person could decide whether she should or should not be given that information about Horinouchi.

“Koutarou, this is an awkward question, but what happened to her parents?”

“The previous generation passed away at a young age. Her mother…”

Koutarou gave a silent bow before continuing quietly.

“Her mother was lost as the participant in the previous Hexennacht.”

So I was right, thought Kagami.

Even here, something that should not have been lost had been lost.

But Koutarou was not finished speaking.

“However, I believe she was fortunate that she at least had a chance to say goodbye.”

After stepping off of the pier, Horinouchi realized the other two were still halfway down the pier.

…They’re probably talking about me.

She felt she was being overly self-conscious, but Koutarou could take his support of her a little too far. She could guess he was trying to recruit Kagami. She felt it was none of his business, but she was also thankful. That was why she did not stop them. Instead…

“Hurry up, you two!”

But as she turned back, she noticed something.

As Kagami stood halfway down the pier, there were powerless tears spilling from her eyes.

…What?

Everything was a surprise with that girl and Horinouchi never understood what was going on.

“Wh-what is it now?”

But by then, Kagami must have noticed her tears because she wiped them away with a hand.

“Sorry. You may find it rude, but I asked about your mother.”

“Koutarou!”

Koutarou bowed deeply. It was a pose that showed he knew he had been impolite but still felt no remorse. She had known him long enough to know that, so she said what she needed to tell Kagami instead.

“You did not need to do that, but I am not someone to pity.”

“I do not pity you.”

Kagami’s eyes were still damp, but she raised her eyebrows.

“It saddens me that it was in a world we created that you lost your mother and were filled with sadness.” She breathed in. “I have power, so if I had not erred, I could have written a story of happiness for your family.”

When she heard that, Horinouchi realized that Kagami was telling the truth.

…Ah.

She did not know how much of a product of that girl and her sister they were. Based on what she had said, they had likely only created the overall “world” and had not been directly involved in creating the individuals. Perhaps they had only thought of certain stories that occurred there.

However, if they had done everything right, then Horinouchi would have been living happily with her mother and everyone else.

“But…it’s far too late for that.”

“Yes.” Kagami placed a hand on her shoulder. “It is far too late. And that is why I have something to tell you.”

That was…

“Well done getting through it all, Manko.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

She suddenly realized Kagami was smiling. She thought that girl’s expression changed too much, but she too had shown a variety of expressions that day, although more on the exasperation and annoyance side of things.

…I can’t stand this.

She sighed and let her shoulders droop.

“You don’t have anywhere to eat dinner or to spend the night, do you? Then you can come to my-…”

As soon as Horinouchi said that, Kagami’s expression changed again.

…What?

A moment later, the hand on her shoulder gave a tug as if pulling her down and it threw off her balance.

She pitched forward and was spun back behind Kagami.

“Lady Mitsuru!”

Horinouchi could not even respond to Koutarou’s call as she straightened back up.

She did not know why she had suddenly been pulled down, but…

…That sound!

She heard a metallic sound behind her.

When she turned around, she saw something there.

It was a green wall and it was large enough to seemingly cover the entire sky.

“Is this…?”

Kagami’s her right hand was held toward the sky. A defense spell magic circle and a shield of light had formed there. They were quite powerful.

Horinouchi knew what it was that girl was using her full strength to support.

“A Magino Device!?”

Koutarou recognized the Magino Device.

It was an aircraft-type that looked like a rectangular block standing vertically with armor panels covering it.

It was impressive that Kagami could support the five hundred meter device. After all, she stood on a pier, so the earth would not receive the enemy’s weight. She had put together an impromptu reinforcement spell to fill the space between her feet and the bottom of the sea.

…She is familiar with the battlefield!

With that thought, Koutarou looked up.

A Magino Device had suddenly appeared and made a physical strike.

…This is…

As soon as he decided he needed to tell her, Horinouchi gave a shout.

“This is the Rank 3 witch from the special equipment division and the American representative. Her name is Elsie Hunter!”

Koutarou had nearly opened his mouth to explain, but when he heard Horinouchi’s voice, he was glad he had not robbed her the opportunity to give her own explanation.

…I would expect no less of Lady Mitsuru!

He did not lament his wasted effort. In fact, it was more that he had let the chance slip away.

Regardless, even an outsider like him could tell what this was.

“Is a higher ranked witch challenging her to a ranker battle!?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Far above, a figure stood vertically atop the vertical Magino Device.

The short, redheaded girl wore a Magino Form that resembled a karate uniform.

“I’m Elsie Hunter. …Now, will you accept this ranker battle against me, lower rank?”

No, thought Koutarou.

…It has already begun!

The girl had suddenly summoned her Magino Frame and made a press attack using its great weight. Her power devices must not have heated up yet, so fortunately she had not been able to fire any cannons or other projectiles. However, even though she had swung down the five hundred meter Magino Device…

…She still doesn’t count this as a battle?

As he asked that, he saw Hunter raise her eyebrows in a smile.

She looked to Kagami who had stopped her Magino Device.

“With the surprise attack and weight, I thought you’d be crushed with this first attack, so I’m impressed you managed to stop it!”

The Magino Device suddenly vanished.

Hunter had removed the bonds of the ether.

As a massive amount of ether light scattered, she dropped down from several hundred meters up, now wearing her Normal Form. Her Normal Device looked like a miniature pile bunker and it was attached to her arm like a shield.

“Here I go!”

Her first strike pursued Kagami who had prepared to dodge.

Part 3

Horinouchi’s eyes pursued the battle that had just begun.

Both the Form and Device of Hunter’s Normal Frame were meant for close-range combat. Horinouchi had heard the girl fell into the witch classification of Karate-style, and her white jacket and belt confirmed that. However, her movements were more of a Peek-a-Boo style with one leg placed forward and she closed in on her opponent with tremendous speed.

…Not many witches can fight on the surface.

Normally, witches used their flight abilities such as flying on a broom.

But Hunter was different. She could likely fly if she had to, but her standard tactics kept her on the ground.

Kagami on the other hand had yet to summon even her Normal Frame. She sharpened a defense spell to an acute angle and intercepted Hunter with shield bash attacks.

She was only reacting and Horinouchi knew why.

…Hunter’s attacks are so fast.

Her blows linked together and never stopped. She pushed and pushed and pushed.

If Kagami fell back, Hunter would push further forward without ever stopping. This was only possible thanks to the acceleration spells opened on various parts of her body, but there was another reason.

“A stability spell near the soles of her feet!”

Horinouchi saw it below the girl’s feet.

Whenever she dashed or threw a punch, a spell circle would appear where her feet touched the ground.

“Lady Mitsuru! What is that!?”

“When she presses down on her feet, the force is sent into the ground regardless of the angle and she receives the feedback!”

To move was to kick off the ground with the bottoms of one’s feet.

The relationship between one’s feet and the ground was surprisingly important in combat.

For example, when attacking, if one’s feet were on the ground, they could use that to endure the reactionary force.

To strike the enemy was to push one’s weapon into them and that would naturally produce a reactionary force. If the enemy was tough enough, they would actually push back.

If one placed their feet down and held their ground, they could not be pushed back.

Simply put, planting one’s feet on the ground and pressing down allowed them to throw all of their strength and their weapon into their opponent and it prevented that opponent from pushing them back. This stability spell transferred any reactionary force into the ground.

“That lets her maintain her forward momentum even as she strikes and is struck!”

This was something that did not work when one’s feet were off the ground or in midair. Just like for a bullet, they could not press their feet down and they would be knocked back if their opponent’s defenses were stronger than them.

That was why high-speed clashes were the foundation for midair combat or projectiles.

The presence or absence of the ground below one’s feet made a great difference.

If it was there, they could send all of their attack power into their opponent. That allowed them to wield less overall strength and they could make more compact combination attacks because they did not have to rely on speed.

Without it there, they could not send all of their attack power into their opponent. That meant they had to increase the overall strength they wielded and attacks tended to grow longer and more sweeping because they had to rely on speed.

Hunter was the former type, but Horinouchi and Kagami were the latter type.

No, Kagami’s technique allowed her to rearrange her style to an extent, so she could adapt to the situation if needed. However, her standard tactics were based off of the witch who had taught her how things were done in “this world”.

…And that was me.

Horinouchi felt a little blue over indirectly tripping someone else up.

However, she sensed some danger in the combination of attacks and speed sounding from the coastal park.

“Lady Mitsuru, below Hunter’s feet!”

“I see it. She’s started to float a little.”

“Nicely detected, Lady Mitsuru!”

Koutarou is very good at raising people’s spirits.

But this was not the time for that. As Hunter picked up speed, she began to fly like a witch.

Her method was simple. She placed some distance between the stability spell below her feet and the corresponding stability spell on the ground.

That meant she was “borrowing” the ground as a foothold even while in midair.

Why would she do that?

…Because of the relationship between the direction of her feet on the ground and the reactionary force.

People’s attacks were generally oriented horizontally, so the reactionary force would of course come back in the opposite horizontal direction.

However, they could only resist it with the ground vertically below their feet.

That created a problem. A redirection process was needed to point that horizontal force down into the ground.

They had to redirect the coming reactionary force down toward their feet.

That took a lot of doing and created wasted movement and a time lag.

That was why most witches did not fight on the surface. When doing so, they needed to be on the ground yet that ground would not receive the reactionary forces like they wanted.

Hunter, however, had solved that problem.

Even with a gap between her feet and the corresponding ground, she linked them with her stability spell.

When she stepped on the midair spell circle, it would act just like the one on the ground. She was “borrowing” the ground while in midair.

So no matter where in the sky she was, she could brace herself against the ground from any angle. And she was currently beginning to fly more and more.

Without waiting to redirect the reactionary force into the ground below, she stepped out into the empty air.

“Midair dash!”

Ether light scattered as the karate girl moved forward.

Her steps were solid.

Even when she made an attack from a normally impossible angle, she was always “standing on the ground”, so it was entirely possible.

As a result, she pushed forward, ran into the air as if up a wall, circled around, and focused on the attacks she could only make while in midair.

It could all be summed up with a single adjective.

…She’s fast!

The rotational speed of her attacks was far greater than those of the average close-range combat witch.

Even Horinouchi had to admit that, so it had to be a truly unknown threat to Kagami. Horinouchi partially felt it was her own fault that Kagami was stuck on the defensive, so…

“How is Suzaku doing?”

While watching the battle, she opened her magic circle to the side. She checked on the Suzaku’s condition after the previous day’s battle and found the red servant sleeping in a futon. It was completely sprawled out even though its tail feathers caught on the blanket and its eyes were wide open.

…Is this thing really a bird?

Something always made her question that fact and it seemed to have shown up right away this time.

Regardless, if it was asleep, then it had yet to recover from the battle.

Kagami must have noticed what she was doing because the girl asked a question while continuing to defend.

“Horinouchi, can you summon that thing?”

Horinouchi started to say no, but Hunter cut in first.

“Will she summon it? Of course not. If I defeat you, she’ll get her #4 spot back!”

“Th-that is not what I-…”

“No,” said Kagami. “That is the reality of this world, isn’t it?”

She wanted to say no, but she knew better than anyone who it was that had come out on top during the previous day’s battle.

She had not been looking up at the moon, but…

“———”

As Hunter attacked, Kagami swung both hands.

…Is she summoning her Normal Frame!?

Horinouchi wanted to ask how she could it while undergoing that bombardment, but she was already seeing the answer.

She saw ether light.

As Hunter moved, the magic circle of her stability spell shattered and scattered into the air, but…

“Can I take that, Hunter? I have already made a reservation.”

The light immediately gathered around Kagami.

“Lady Mitsuru! That is-…”

Horinouchi replied at Koutarou’s urging.

“I can see it myself!”

“Head Butler, she just ignored you.”

“Well done, Lady Mitsuru! You need to focus on the battle more than commentary right now, don’t you!?”

“Having a positive outlook is fine, but she did just ignore you, Head Butler.”

“Someone! Someone please! My subordinates won’t stop shoving reality in my face!!”

Hunter gave a light whistle at her opponent’s technique.

…Just as I’d heard!

This girl could directly grab ether.

Ether was the element that made up all things and magic and spells were the techniques to use it as one pleased. However, this opponent made ether her own without using any spells based on the theory of magic.

She simply created whatever she imagined.

“Are you a god or something, Kagami Kagami?”

“No, I am a normal, powerless person.”

As she spoke, engines were created around her. It showed not even a hint of stopping and came to be with no ceremony. It was based on the Japanese style and the ether it used came from the fragments of Hunter’s broken magic circle.

“Are you a garbage collector!?”

“I am recycling it. You should call me ecological, representative of America, the great nation of consumption.”

The light fit together, and…

…Not good!

Her strength rushed in as a counterattack and it matched Hunter’s strikes in one aspect.

…The speed!

This opponent did not have a spell to secure her footing. Knowing that, she had sent out her greatest attack as soon as she summoned the Frame.

It was a large white and blue sword and a similarly-colored dragon servant could be seen in the magic circle.

“This is my justice. I suppose I will name it Dikaiosyne. Hunter, you can call my servant partner Dikaio.”

Hunter managed to avoid the thrust.

She created a foothold in front of herself, kicked forward in midair, and jumped upwards.

However, Kagami was already on the move. She sank down while keeping the tip of the blade in place to raise the sword vertically.

The pommel touched the stone pavement in the park and the tip of the blade was pointed up towards Hunter.

“Now, we can finally greet each other. Nice to meet you.”

The sword opened up and fired a blast of light from below as soon as soon as it reached cannon form.

Koutarou saw Kagami’s attack.

She fired a close-range cannon blast straight up from Dikaoi-whatever.

It scored a direct hit. Even with her incomplete Normal Frame, air blasts from her cannon had wiped out his unit and it was powerful enough to hold its own against Horinouchi.

However…

“She deflected it!?”

Hunter had raised the bunker shield attached to her left arm and deflected Kagami’s attack from head on.

But she was still knocked up into the air and she smashed her own footing spell. She let the hit launch her through the sky in order to distance herself from Kagami. It was mostly vertical distance.

However, she was not retreating. She made a half vertical rotation in midair, created some footing towards the heavens, and swung down her bunker shield as if to hit Kagami below.

“American-style downward air!”

While rapidly descending, she fired an ether spear from the bunker shield.

It was a pile bunker.

Hunter thought to herself as she dropped down and attacked.

…Here too.

She had seen it after being knocked upwards.

She had also seen it on top of her Magino Device earlier.

Around Tokyo Bay, the city of Tokyo was seriously damaged.

Its height had been worn down and giant holes had been torn down to the crust in places.

She knew what that was. She saw it far too much when she flew into the air for training.

It was mostly damage from Hexennacht ten years prior.

There would have been a few from before that too, but they had been overwritten by the more recent ones. The most damage had occurred ten years ago.

Tokyo was of course not the only place so badly damaged. The destruction had occurred on a global scale and everything had ground to a halt for mankind.

It had taken at least five years for the damaged areas to recover. The sooner people had begun working at a solution, the sooner the area had recovered. Countless places around the world were still in the process of recovering.

The Tokyo area had been one of the earliest to recover. That was why Hunter had transferred to Shihouin Academy to train as a witch and why she had assumed she could focus on the Ranker battles there, but…

“Here too.”

There was destruction everywhere.

The decade-old scars were healing, but that was only because they had abandoned the places they decided were hopeless.

Mankind had marked their place and closed themselves inside a cage, so…

“————”

Hunter did not use her words.

She used her attitude and actions.

She was an American.

That nation had the world’s most powerful military and was proud of its position as the world police.

“Pierce, Hedgehog!!”

The ether spear was fired from the acceleration pathway. Kagami had the ground directly below her, so there was nowhere for the damage to escape. That meant a direct hit would lead to a single conclusion.

…Victory!

Hunter watched her attack land.

She saw Kagami.

The girl held her sword directly below, but the sword was no longer in its cannon form. It had closed into attack form and Kagami was not using it to defend.

“Hunter.”

She heard her speak.

“Earlier, you suddenly brought your Magino Frame down on me without even introducing yourself. That is a very interesting kind of handheld Magino, but I have a question and an answer. First…”

First…

“Question 1: With a Normal Frame, is it possible to summon a Magino Frame without superheating your Phlogiston Heart?”

…This girl!

“Answer 1: It is.”

After all…

“A witch always carries a Phlogiston Heart. Summoning the Frame may alter its accumulation amount and rate, but it is always there. That is why Horinouchi’s servant maintains its exhaustion even when she is not using her Frame. That proves that the Phlogiston Heart is jointly managed with the servant. In other words…”

“Are you saying you kept receiving my attacks earlier to speed up the superheating of your Phlogiston Heart!?”

“Would it be showing off if I said yes?”

Kagami kicked up her sword.

The rising blade struck Hunter’s pile bunker. The blade shattered, but…

“My charge is now complete.”

With those words, the entire sword exploded and became a cloud of ether light.

Horinouchi looked past the expanding ether light and exploding stone pavement. A massive object was appearing within the scattering wreckage and light.

Its construction was accompanied by the ringing of a large bell.

“That’s Kagami’s Dika-whatever!”

“That would be Dikaiosyne, Lady Mitsuru!”

“I would expect no less of you, Koutarou!”

I should write that down. Not Dukaiosyne or Dekaiosyne, but Dikaiosyne.

She typed it into a magic circle and the search told her it meant “justice” in Greek.

She wondered why Kagami would go that kind of trouble, but that seemed to be the kind of person Kagami was.

However, that was not the only thing to worry about at the moment.

Another Magino Device was appearing right in front of Dikaiosyne.

This was Hunter’s Magino Device and its form solidified along with the deafening sound of a large engine.

It had heavy armor and a multi-acceleration cannon in the center. Also…

…That’s a four blessing model!”

The acceleration reactor frame was not just held on either the left and right or the top and bottom. Instead, it was held from all four sides. Each individual acceleration unit was made smaller, so its initial speed would not be as great as a two blessing model like Horinouchi’s Akerindou. However, the speed of the shells would not drop by much and would be more stable. That meant one thing…

…It’s meant for sniping!

Akerindou also primarily used projectiles, but it used spells and such to give the shells homing ability and stable acceleration.

On the other hand, Hunter’s Magino Device itself would provide the stability and would use less after-the-fact spells to provide homing ability or anything like that.

But if it was more of a sniping weapon…

“You mustn’t move away from her, Kagami!”

Hunter swung both arms while having her Magino Device rapidly ascend.

She named what she rode.

“This is the Hedgehog, my Magino Device.”

She contacted someone from above the rear central radome.

“US Anti-Witch Combat Division of North American Aerospace Defense Command, please respond.”

“This is U.A.H.F. Representative Hunter, your Magino Device’s deployment calculations have already reached eighty percent. We are receiving the proper feedback.”

It had been a while since she had replied with “Thanks!” in English. Then the deployment calculations for the Hedgehog did indeed scroll across the spell circles opened in front of her hands.

Her Magino Device, the Hedgehog, was not hers alone.

It was much like how Horinouchi received backup from the Horinouchi family and from Shinto.

“The American representative receives backup from the US military.”

What did it matter if the other girl could create things with her imagination? Using diligent training, improvement, and cooperation was the American way, so…

“————”

Hunter swung both hands and accelerated the Magino Device’s construction. And…

“Ohhh!”

She broke out into song.

On the other end of the transmission, a large underground space was lined with consoles and magic circles. Everyone hurriedly working in front of the monitor light listened to it.

Their representative was singing while speeding up her work.

“That’s our national anthem, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’.”

She sang the second verse.

—On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

—Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

—What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

—As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

—Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

—In full glory reflected now shines on the stream

—’Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave

—O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

They all cheered at the witch’s song.

“Representative Hunter!”

One stood up and shouted into the magic circle showing the witch.

“The calculations are complete! They actually finished a bit ago, but, sorry, I wanted to hear it to the end. …Are you already on the move!?”

“Thanks!”

The karate girl was moving.

“I’d started by the second measure!”

Hunter had the Hedgehog float. It flew up into the sky, sweeping away the ether light spreading below.

The Hedgehog’s primary technique was its sniper cannon, but its long acceleration pathway strictly required the entire Device to be pointed accurately at her opponent. Those back in the States said that difficulty of use was similar to a handgun, but she did not entirely understand it herself.

Regardless…

…Fly.

She sent that instruction to the Normal Device Hedgehog on her left arm that now acted as the controller. A hedgehog-type servant appeared in a magic circle and nodded.

She would put even more distance between her and her enemy.

“Here I go!”

Once she gave that yell, another yell reached her from the sword that’s construction was not yet complete.

“Not so fast!”

It was Kagami, but…

…You haven’t finished constructing yours yet!

From what Hunter could see, Kagami had put together the external armor first in order to avoid Hunter’s attack. That meant the incomplete parts would be the acceleration system and the shell formation area on the back.

It could handle close-range attacks and defense, but it would not be able to pull off long-range attacks or movement.

However, her decision itself was right. Hunter was a sniper. She could still attack with her secondary cannon, but trying to defeat Kagami here would give that girl time to finish the acceleration system and shell formation area while the secondary cannon wore down her armor.

Hunter decided her best option was to fire her secondary cannon and fall back while avoiding the position directly in front of her enemy.

The sword attempted to turn her way, so she fired her secondary cannon to escape. Her output was still weak, so she could not focus much power on that secondary cannon.

Nevertheless, she managed to put some distance between them.

…Time to borrow some acceleration!

After that thought, her opponent began to move.

“I said not so fast, Hunter!”

The sword suddenly shot her way.

“What!?”

The sword’s accelerator should not have been complete, but as soon as Hunter wondered how this was possible, she found her answer. On the back of the sword, she saw light in the acceleration pathway where the shell formation area had yet to be included.

“You reversed the cannon’s acceleration pathway and fired an blast of air!?”

“I have tried firing air a few times already.”

This is ridiculous. Acceleration pathways are generally one-way! No, but this girl can “imagine”. Two-way ones do exist, so it isn’t that strange for her to choose one.

The rest was simple.

The sword blade collided with the Hedgehog’s upper armor.

The malleable composite ether armor was stronger than steel or normal composite armor, but it still bent and sparked. Also, a voice arrived from beyond the roar of impact.

“This is my greeting.”

As Hunter watched, a single part reached completion.

The shell formation area attached itself to the back of Kagami’s sword.

…Did she give up on the acceleration system and focused on that instead!?

She had used her cannon’s acceleration pathway for acceleration because her first priority had been reaching Hunter. It had also allowed her to stop creating the acceleration system and instead pour all of the ether into the shell formation area. That only left one thing.

“————”

A cannon blast struck Hunter from point blank range.

The blast tore apart the sky and briefly lit up the darkening heavens.

The shockwave shook the forest, tossed spray across the ocean, and caused the pier to hop up.

Rubble flew toward Horinouchi, but she activated the kind of reflective pseudo-defense spell sold to witches. As a boy, Koutarou excelled at defense, so he could get by on his own will-power.

“She did it!”

Kagami had scored a direct hit from close range and Horinouchi knew firsthand how powerful that Magino Frame’s main cannon was. Akerindou was a wonderful Magino Frame that focused entirely on attack and therefore had little defensive power, but it still took quite a bit of power to break it. Dikaiosyne had already proven it had that power.

“Ah.”

As the scattering cloud of ether dust cleared, the result came into view.

However…

“No damage!?”

Hunter’s Magino Frame floated in midair. Its surface shimmered from the heat of the hit, but it was entirely undamaged.

Hunter smiled bitterly. Several magic circles from those back in the States had appeared around her.

They had quickly divided up the work and calculated out a solution.

…A force redirection spell derived from my foothold stability spell.

The Hedgehog’s armor was physically quite strong as well, but she had cast a spell on it to further increase its defenses. Instead of hardening the armor, she had used the “foothold” spell.

“I had the damage ‘step’ out and away.”

Damage had permeated the entire five hundred meter form, but it had been allowed to escape from every single component. It all had to be done at once, so it had been far too much work for a single person.

However, Hunter could do it.

“The US has poured all of its military technology into this. It isn’t about to lose to something that’s powerful in just one way.”

“Representative Hunter, we could only do this because of your initial instructions.”

She heard the witch who acted as her commander back in U.S.A.H. Next, a male operator spoke up.

“You are synced with the Hedgehog. Without your reflexes and decisions, we cannot calculate anything. It all comes down to the one who provides the initial instructions.”

“Thanks,” said Hunter.

They’re all such nice people, she thought.

So…

“Can I fire!?”

“Taking the your coming movement into account, you will have thirteen percent power for that. You can fire use a non-physical shell!”

“The enemy Magino Frame lacks its mobility system, so it cannot pursue you!”

That settled it.

“Fire!!”

“Kagami, you need to put up your defenses!”

Even before she was told, Kagami had started switching Dikaiosyne from cannon mode to close-range attack mode.

“You never can seem to decide how politely to speak to me.”

“Just hurry up!”

“No need.”

“Eh?” said Horinouchi just before light exploded from Dikaiosyne.

Kagami lacked her main acceleration system. If she could not hold her ground in midair, then…

“This could be a problem!”

The impact produced a metallic sound and Kagami was blown away along with Dikaiosyne.

Horinouchi listened to the wind.

“…Ah.”

It only lasted an instant. Ether light scattered through the sky like fireworks and the two massive structures vanished from overhead.

One had been blown away by a cannon blast and the other had accelerated using the recoil and…

“Wh-where did it go!?”

Koutarou, I didn’t mean you. You don’t have to raise your hand.

Kagami lost sight of her enemy, but that was not all.

“Where am I?”

How far had she been sent through the air? All she knew was that a few minutes had passed.

Lacking an acceleration system was troublesome, but Dikaiosyne was still functioning. Fortunately, the cannon blast had hit the closed blade. The blade was meant to double as a ram, so it had Dikaiosyne’s thickest armor and it was the first thing she had pictured in her head when making it.

…Heh heh heh. Isn’t it cool?

But the real problem was her location. She had assumed she was somewhere in Tokyo Bay, but…

…Is this…?

The geography visible down on her right was somewhat similar, but the bay was not deep enough and the entrance to the bay lacked the Uraga Channel made from the Miura Peninsula and the Bousou Peninsula.

Also, the landmass visible on the far side seemed to be the Miura Peninsula instead of the Bousou Peninsula.

“So would Mount Fuji be behind me?”

It was and that was something of a relief.

It proved that this world was no different from the world she had come from.

…And it proves this is one of the worlds we created.

She opened two magic circles while she thought: one to search for the enemy and one that controlled optics.

The first one told her there were no other Magino Frames within an eighty kilometer radius and she used the optical one to look across the horizon.

“Where is she?”

Where was Hunter’s Magino Frame?

Hunter floated among the clouds.

“Already close to Hawaii. The Hedgehog may be an armored sniper weapon, but it isn’t slow.”

Several islands were lit by the setting sun below.

She was over six thousand kilometers away from Japan, but it had taken less than ten minutes to arrive. More than eight or nine kilometers per second was easily over Mach 20. She had moved faster than a shell fired by the average Magino Frame.

Needless to say, that kind of speed was impossible even with the Hedgehog’s acceleration.

However, the “foothold” spell made it possible.

The moon could be seen overhead and a few manmade objects were visible between it and the earth.

“Satellites.”

The United States alone had a thousand of them orbiting the earth to observe the moon and protect the earth. Those manmade objects made a full revolution of the earth in an hour and a half, so what would happen if she worked with the United States to use one as her “foothold”.

The answer was movement at extreme speed.

That forcible swing-by allowed her to move anywhere in the world in a very short amount of time. That also meant she could quickly move to a sniping spot where her enemy could not detect her.

The frictional heat the Hedgehog had been unable to fully eliminate caused its surface to shimmer.

“Honestly.”

Its armor was more meant to endure that acceleration than it was to defend against attacks.

For lower Rankers, she only needed to collide with them during the initial swing-by acceleration. If she was confident enough, she would provide a shell the extreme acceleration of the swing-by and blow away her opponent with the shockwave as it passed by.

But that was not enough at the upper levels. If they could teleport, then even her acceleration seemed like a joke.

…That’s the problem with magic.

She was a witch too, but her home country had led to her focus more on the scientific or engineering side of it all. She thought of magic as a type of technology. That was why the clearly bizarre magical powers she sometimes saw at Shihouin Academy made for exhausting opponents.

At any rate, she had arrived at a good position. Hawaii was the westernmost point in the Pacific where she could receive the full backup of the United States. Guam and Okinawa had been wiped out ten years before, not to mention the Japanese mainland.

So…

“I’d rather not damage Japan here, but…”

“Representative Hunter, this is U.S.A.H. of the North American Aerospace Defense Command! We have synced with the seventh fleet deployed in the Pacific!”

“Output is at eighty-seven percent. You can now produce physical shells.”

“I see,” said Hunter with a nod.

The rest was simple. The magic circles surrounding her contained the calculations made by the others. Now she only had to act as the on-scene commander and the actual combatant.

“Cannon fully deployed. System all green. Full barrel open.”

“Finished inputting the enemy location. Coordinates confirmed. …Fire-time transformation and guidance processing confirmed. Swing-by trajectory path confirmed. Please fire the first shot within seventeen seconds!”

“You can fire, Representative Hunter!”

“Understood. Magino Frame Hedgehog…main cannon.”

Hunter thrust her right first straight forward.

“Fire!”

Koutarou was the first to notice.

During a battle between witches, the international organization named U.A.H. would remain silent as it had been created to oppose the Black Witch. This was to keep the battle fair, but it also meant the forces supporting the witches had to use everything at their disposal.

Currently, those two forces were the United States military and the Horinouchi family. The overall strength of the one dwarfed that of the other, but the Horinouchi family had been chosen as the Shinto representative for Hexennacht.

That meant the Horinouchi family had the cooperation of the Shinto network of all local Japanese deities. That network covered all of Japan’s territorial land, sea, and airspace.

All of Japan’s Shinto shrines and the Buddhist temples working with them had spread their protective barriers to their full detection range and the powerful shrines around the country were using their ley line control systems to detect the enemy. They had learned two things: the foreign presence had left Japan, and…

“Lady Mitsuru! A flying object is approaching from the southwest! It has exceeded Mach 25!”

“That’s an upper Ranker’s shell, isn’t it!?”

Horinouchi’s Akerindou could rival that in its initial speed and tension, but this had already arrived off the coast of Bousou and was approaching Kagami at tremendous speed.

“Kagami, please dodge it!!”

Oh, she’s being more polite again, thought Kagami, but she had something else to focus on.

“What? All the way from Hawaii?”

…Not bad.

This was Hunter’s cannon shot.

Horinouchi was Shinto, so she would be able to detect anything in Japanese territory. So if someone was going to target Mount Fuji, a shot from the south would be caught early by the Okinotori Islands and similar territories.

The best direction would be from the island-less east and Hawaii was a very American choice, but…

“This is not good.”

Mount Fuji was behind her.

She could avoid the shot if she tried, but…

“How troublesome.”

After all…

“I do not like correcting something I have already written.”

As she said that, one of her magic circles reacted.

The circle could detect anything within eighty kilometers and this flying object was moving at more than eight kilometers per second, so…

“It is already here, Hunter!”

A moment later, power itself collided with Dikaiosyne.

Dikaiosyne broke. The blade had the thickest armor, but before it could even bend, the force of the impact caused it to shrink, peel away as if melted, and then break into a top and bottom half.

The impact then tore into the rest of the sword, randomly striking different spots. The five hundred meter sword was forced into a spin and thrown into the Sea of Trees east of Mount Fuji. The crust of the Sea of Trees was smashed and earth shot to height of a few kilometers.

It sounded much like a broken bell and the shockwave tore into the Sea of Trees and blasted the crust away like a crashing wave.

The air current forced up by that earthen destruction was caught by the wind descending from Mount Fuji and fell back to earth a dozen kilometers further along.

Hunter’s shell had hit Kagami’s Magino Device.

“I did it!”

Hunter viewed the situation using the satellite that had provided her shell the final swing-by.

From her bird’s-eye-view in the evening sky, the eastern slope of Mount Fuji and the Sea of Trees looked like a dark shadow, but one of the operators in their headquarters enchanted the imagine with an engineering control spell.

The image grew brighter and more focused.

She could now see the destroyed land.

“Ah.”

She briefly gasped because she was bracing herself to see tremendous damage.

The shell had been made to apply buffering to anything outside a radius of two kilometers so it would only damage her enemy and that enemy’s immediate surroundings. This was a battle between witches, not a fight to the death.

However, the fragments could not all be eliminated and the collision with the other Magino Device had affected the surrounding area quite a bit. She refused to say she was “glad” it had happened in the Sea of Trees, but it was definitely better than in a populated area.

However, she saw something beyond the rising smoke and the massive amount of ether light.

“Is that…?”

It was a blade. It was badly broken, but it was definitely there.

On the dusk-lit earth, something was floating up from shell hit where it looked like something had gouged into the ground and then been dragged along.

The floating object was a sword.

No, it could no longer be called a sword. After all, the blade had broken, the guard had shattered, and ether light smoke was pouring from it.

However, Hunter knew something. No matter how damaged or injured they might be…

“A magic girl has not lost until her Phlogiston Heart breaks.”

She knew the individual named Kagami had to be struggling there. Even after all that destruction, her will was telling the sky she could still fight.

So…

“The enemy’s Magino Devi-…Frame is still functional!” came the report.

“That’s…”

Ridiculous, she thought, while also thinking, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

…I would do the same thing.

Hunter also had something to bear, so…

…How about you, Kagami Kagami?”

The analysis of the shell hit arrived. It showed her shell hitting a 3D model of the enemy Magino Frame. In the instant of impact, Kagami had tilted her blade as if twisting it.

“She slanted her Magino Device and kept it moving to reduce and distribute the damage!” reported an operator.

“So she avoided a direct hit? …Dammit.”

Hunter was angry and frustrated but also delighted.

This was a formidable opponent.

She raised her arms as if lifting the bird’s-eye-view footage before her eyes.

“I’ve already damaged you, so how are you going to escape this one?”

She did not know what Kagami would do, but she knew the girl would do something. She would do something just like she had done several times from the beginning of the battle until now. And so…

“Prepare to load the second shot! Let’s keep pushing and-…”

As she spoke, she saw something in front of her.

She was looking at Kagami’s sword in the satellite footage.

A figure was standing in the center of it.

It was Kagami Kagami.

That girl had chosen an outdated Holy Knight-style Form and its armor was broken in a few places. Perhaps to repair it, ether light was hovering around those spots, but that was not the problem.

…Oh, come on.

Kagami was looking up at her.

Her eyebrows were raised as her gaze turned directly toward Hunter.

This was a common sight. It was simply her enemy giving her an unyielding look.

However…

“Eh? W-wait a second…”

Hunter could not blame the operator for being confused.

“Are you returning my gaze through the surveillance satellite, Kagami Kagami!?”

…How ridiculous is this girl?

She wanted to know, but just how much did that correspond with her own goals? However, she already had the means prepared.

“Representative Hunter! The second shot’s swing-by trajectory has been confirmed!”

“Please fire within fifteen seconds!”

“Thanks,” Hunter said from the bottom of her heart.

And…

“Second shot…”

She prepared to say “fire”, but…

“Enough!!”

A sudden voice cut into the communication line.

It had to be someone with the authority to interfere in her communications with the United States.

“I, Shihouin Academy Headmaster Shihouin Cerisier, command both of you to stop. And…”

And…

“I will determine the outcome of this match. …Okay?”

Notes

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