Editing Rental Magica Volume 1: Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 2===
 
 
It looked scary even if you saw it from above, but if you were to pull in closer, it would truly seem like a haunt of the wicked.
 
Here and there across the ocean were large whirlpools, shooting up violent currents of water like geysers.  The surface of the water reflected the pitch-black color of the sky, occasionally changing to red, blue, or some impossible color to reflect the shadows of the monsters lurking below the water's surface.
 
Floating near the verge of this haunt were two people and one animal.
 
"Wh, what's this...?"
 
Itsuki moaned, having finally recovered from his vertigo.
 
{A primordial sea--though somewhat unique, as it looks like it's been quite polluted with spell power,} Nekoyashiki's voice chimed in from beside.  Honami, putting her hand to the back of her neck, looked down at the demonic ocean.
 
"It's deeper than I thought.  It seems like it'll take some effort to find the core."
 
"This 'core' thing... where would it be?"
 
"I dunno.  But its form should be changed into something in the sea, so it might be a fish, or a stone at the ocean floor.  Moreover--"
 
"Moreover?"
 
Honami turned toward the summit of the mountain.
 
"--It looks like they've set up their resources over there."
 
From that direction, tens--no, hundreds of black pigeons were flapping toward them.  Furthermore, each and every one of their feathers was emitting a deep, black spell power.  These were clearly not normal pigeons.
 
Itsuki changed his expression.
 
"...  Are those by any chance... Adilisia's?"
 
{Yep, that's Shax--one of the seventy-two demons of Solomon, used for searching out hidden things.  It looks like they plan on finding the core, obstructing us all the while.}
 
"That's so like Addie, to evoke something so troublesome.  --President, hold on tight to the broom, and the cat."
 
"Wh, what are you doing?"
 
"Bite your tongue."
 
Suddenly, the swarm of pigeons began to close in on them.
 
The countless eyes stained with maliciousness sought the weakest target first--Itsuki.
 
"... eegh!"
 
Faster than he could scream, sharp beaks began to approach his eyeball, but--
 
Suddenly.
 
The two burst forward with the broom.
 
"-----Waaaaaaah!!!"
 
"Meeeeeowww!"
 
The broom instantaneously sped straight ahead so forcefully that Itsuki felt as though his organs were being wrenched from their positions and flung out of his mouth.
 
Rustle rustle rustle rustle!
 
The broom pierced the center of the black pigeons.
 
It was as if the broom was a single arrow.  Just like a cloud, the flock of black pigeons split into two parts.  Another word for a comet is "houkiboshi," and that was certainly true in this case.<ref>The word used for "comet" here is suisei (彗星), but another word meaning comet is houkiboshi (箒星).  The word for "broom" is "houki."</ref>
 
Slicing through the night sky, Itsuki and Honami soared toward the moon.  Just as they flew into the upper-air, Honami's hand grew misty.
 
'''"Above me is the goddess of the moon!  That is the one holding the divine protection of moonlight and mistletoe who will not oppose the curse of the north!"'''
 
As she chanted the spell, mistletoe spears rained down!
 
"JQWZYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
 
The flock of black pigeons let out an indescribable scream.
 
A fire arose, and a chunk of the swarm was destroyed.
 
However, the black pigeons showed no care for the wellbeing of their friends, and the flock split into three groups.  One headed into the ocean, one swept across the surface of the water, and the remaining group returned to the sky, rushing toward Itsuki and Honami.
 
Then, the flock of black pigeons spread their wings and let out another strange cry.
 
"President, cover your ears!"
 
"ZWQTYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
 
In ancient times, it was said that a dog's bark was blessed with the power to fend off evil spirits.
 
As for these black pigeons, it was the exact opposite--these were twisted, evil voices that let out curses causing people to be rotted to the bone.
 
"...!"
 
The black pigeons chased after the spinning, falling broom with cries of delight.
 
They had become a single body, as if they were one, giant monster.  The monster opened its jaw, and extended its tongue to devour the small broom and the humans.
 
However.
 
Just before they reached, the broom turned up at a steep angle.
 
Drawing a brilliant half-circle, the broom turned around at the halfway point, and zoomed off in the opposite direction of the black pigeons.
 
{Oho, an immelmann ・ turn!}
 
Held against Itsuki's chest, the white cat's eyes sparkled.
 
Immelmann ・ turn.
 
It was an aerial combat technique developed during the Second World War.  However, for a witch to have mastered it was unthinkable!
 
'''"I will repeat!  Holding the protection of the moon and mistletoe, destroy the calamity in the northeast!"'''
 
The spears, just before striking the flock directly, split into four parts.
 
The separated parts of the mistletoe spears sliced through the feathers of the black pigeons.  In a moment, the pigeons stopped moving, and then immediately burst into balls of flame, dropping down toward the black surface of the ocean.
 
Honami first made sure that there were no more of the flock alive, and then let out a deep sigh.
 
"They were pretty low-quality, as expected.  Are you alright, president?"
 
"I'm... just a little... sick from all the moving..." Itsuki nodded with a blue face, holding his hand over his mouth.  It was a wonder that he hadn't been thrown off.
 
After it was all over, his tongue hurt, he felt sick, and he was in a mess.
 
"That's great.  If you were even a second too late with covering your ears, your heart might have stopped by now."
 
"...!"
 
Causing Itsuki to faint in agony from just one word, Honami looked over the surface of the water.
 
The remaining Shax flapping their wings over the black water seemed to make it even blacker.  They made Itsuki think of ants squirming in dirt.
 
{Hey, what are we going to do?}
 
"There's a huge difference in our numbers.  If we take them head-on, then the core will definitely be taken by Addie."
 
Honami made a rare frown and sighed.
 
"Is the 'job' of making the <Night> end really that important?" Itsuki asked from behind.
 
{Huh?}
 
"Eh?" Honami replied.
 
Suddenly, her eyes grew stern.
 
"You still don't understand, president."
 
"No, no, that's not what I meant!  I get that if <Astral> doesn't finish this offer, we'll get erased from the registry, but... isn't Adilisia the same?"
 
"Addie is..."
 
Honami fumbled around with her words.
 
''I definitely didn't think that he'd come this far without being serious, but...''
 
Even though they were the same demons, depending on the spell power and ceremonies, their abilities could greatly increase or decrease.  For Shax to have been evoked to the point that there was a flock of pigeons, a substantial amount of fetishes and power would have to have been expended.
 
<Goetia>.
 
Even among the magic group's large ranks, there were a select few among them who were the far off descendants of Solomon.
 
However, was this "work" something that required such a strenuous effort on <Goetia>'s part?
 
Honami didn't understand.
 
A <Night>, after all, was a natural disaster consisting of spell power.
 
From the scale of the damage, the <Organization> handled the assignment of a rank to the "work," but in this case, the recompense wasn't very large for the amount of effort required.  She didn't think the 'work' had the kind of merit that would cause <Goetia> to push away <Astral>.
 
''Or... is there something there?''
 
She followed her suspicion.
 
Was there something wrapped up in this <Night>?
 
"Honami?"
 
"I don't understand.  What do you think, Nekoyashiki-san?'
 
Honami expressed her opinion frankly.
 
{Hmm...  If you compare it to a standard <Night>, there's definitely an artificial feel to it...  What do you think, Mikan-san?}
 
{I don't understand it.  I'm no good at analyzing spell power.}
 
The sound of Mikan sulking could be heard from Byakko-kun's throat.
 
{I see, well, we'll handle the analytics on this side, you guys find the core--}
 
 
Then,
 
 
"--I cannot let you do that."
 
A cold voice echoed across the night air.
 
Directly below the broom was the demonic ocean of the <Night> that was periodically changing color.
 
In that ocean, a giant silver chimaera<ref>A silver chimaera (銀鮫 ''ginzame'') is a species of shark more widely known in Asia.</ref> was floating.  Its craggy, rocklike face bared a set of fearsomely long fangs.  Unlike a similar shark, its fangs looked like they could rip apart a whale.
 
And then, from its flat back, a golden-haired girl looked upward.
[[Image:Rental Magica v01 pg125.jpg|thumb|]]
"Addie."
 
"Adilisia."
 
At Itsuki and Honami's words, the girl's red lips twisted into a complacent smile.
 
"Since my apprentices told me to, I tried letting you have a go at finding the core, but in the end it did not buy us any time.  I am fine with that, this way is more exciting anyway."
 
She made a lovely smile.
 
Like smiling before plucking a flower, it was a smile injected with deadly poison.  Shivering from cold sweat, Itsuki blinked.
 
"Well then, are we gonna fight directly this time?  With your Forneus," Honami asked coldly.
 
Forneus was apparently the name of the silver chimaera that Adilisia was riding.  Even though it was beyond Itsuki's eye patch, he could perceive that Forneus' spell power was incomparable to Shax's earlier.
 
It wasn't a simple comparison of amounts.
 
It was an issue of dimensions.  If the black pigeons were hundreds of carelessly gathered knives, then this silver chimaera was machine gun that could cause a massacre by itself--it was that kind of difference.
 
"With this little darling?  Unthinkable.  I will not do any such thing."
 
Faster than Itsuki could relax, Adilisia smiled again, holding up a brass container with her right hand.
 
"I do not underestimate you that much," she called out.
 
 
'''"Come forth, Marbas.  King who rules over thirty-six armies!"'''
 
In the raging ocean waters, a golden lion stood towering over everything around it.
 
 
'''"Come forth, Glasya ・ Bolas.  Powerful count commanding thirty-six armies!"'''
 
Underneath the moon flapped a wolf with the wings of an eagle.
 
 
'''"Come forth, Eligol!  Firm knight governing sixty armies!"'''
 
Finally, next to the girl, a silver knight holding a spear and a snake appeared.
 
 
"Th, three of them!?"
 
Itsuki grabbed his eye patch, flailing backward.
 
Along with Forneus, that was four demons.  Studying the demons in his sight, his right eye hurt as if it were being ripped out of its socket.
 
With just that, he was able to understand.
 
--This was different.
 
Forget the black pigeons, even Forneus was an unfavorable comparison to the three that stood before him.  They gave off a demonic presence, as if just by existing they could make a human go insane.
 
The lion, the wolf, and the knight.
 
Especially the third one, the knight...
 
Adilisia, looking up, gave an elegant smile.
 
"These are the very best of the seventy-two demons, the evil spirits of blood and war.  With this, we can start having fun."
 
"I'm happy you think so highly of me.  How many years did it take you to evoke those?"
 
"Oh, roughly a year and a half.  I am glad to have the opportunity to hear your opinion of them."
 
"It's a real privilege," Honami exaggerated.
 
However, this time, her usual confidence was smeared with the color of a bluff.
 
{Ho, Honami-san?  Wait a second, do you really plan on going against her in your current condition?} the white cat whispered to Honami from Itsuki's arms.
 
"...  I know.  But I can't think to just let her get away freely."
 
Her voice was distressed.
 
Adilisia threw her hand to the side horizontal to her chest.
 
"Well then, my demons have worked up quite an appetite.  Eat all that you like!"
 
The thread of the thirst for blood loosely connected the two girls.
 
It was a replay of what had happened one week ago at night in the park.
 
However, who was on the offense and who was on the defense had completely switched.  That time, Adilisia had said that it was "not the time or place for this."  Itsuki now understood what she meant.  She had always been waiting for this opportunity.
 
"..."
 
Itsuki's throat was completely parched.
 
Goosebumps sprang up all over his body, and a chill began to expand in him as though his blood vessels had been turned into dry ice.
 
However.
 
"--W, wait a minute, Adilisia-san."
 
''Ah...''
 
Itsuki suddenly held his hand to his mouth.
 
He didn't have the intention to interfere.  Even so, his mouth had moved on its own.  Adilisia's face loosened just a bit upon seeing her panicking classmate.
 
"Oh my."
 
However, her face immediately returned to its former frigidity.
 
"What on earth could you be thinking?  I warned you, you know.  I told you to pull out of this offer."
 
"That, that's..."
 
There was no way he could say he forgot.
 
"What is the matter?"
 
"Ah, no, it's just... why is this 'work' so important to you?  If there's a reason, we might be able to cooperate."
 
"..."
 
Adilisia, took a deep breath after a long silence.
 
"I have no reason to tell you that.  Still more, I have no weapons to lend to magicians," she declared clearly.
 
It was a complete rejection.
 
"Thanks, president.  --It's alright," Honami whispered gently to Itsuki, who couldn't manage to say anything.
 
 
And then.
 
The two witches confronted one another.
 
"...!!!"
 
Itsuki realized with horror that the cold atmosphere from earlier was better than this.
 
He remembered what Honami had said to him before.
 
--Once a true battle between magicians begins, it's already over.
 
--Eh, why?
 
--No matter what kind of magic you use, there's a certain amount of preparation required.  There's almost no kind of magic that just needs spells and movements to be used.  It's like a card game where you compete with limited hands.  The fight is generally decided by who brought the better cards.
 
That is to say, the next chant was it.
 
Rather than when the actual fight started, it was when the enemy was determined that the battle truly began.  Hypothesizing every attack, deducing every defense, the magicians set up a hand tailored to their opponent.
 
Adilisia said she had spent a year and a half.
 
In this fight, what could Honami do against Adilisia's year and a half of preparation?  This was the nature of the fight.
 
YIJYAAAAAAAAAA!
 
Suddenly, a painful voice reached them from behind.
 
When Itsuki turned around, he saw the Shax gathered at one point in the ocean.
 
"--It also seems that they have found the core of this <Night>."
 
As if boasting of a perfect victory, Adilisia laughed.
 
Then, something bizarre occurred.
 
 
<span style="font-size: 300%;"><center>*</center></span>
 
 
On the ground, in a circle of about eight meters in diameter, salt was being lightly scattered.
 
The lines of that salt were the purificiation of a sanctified place.
 
Though "kekkai"<ref>Spirit barrier</ref> is a Buddhist term, there was no difference between a spirit barrier in Shintou in this case.  It was an expression of the stern, unwavering will of the separation between ''here'' and ''there.''
 
That was why a <Night>--even if it were a primordial sea, could not enter the inside of the salt.  The cylindrical area of air excavated out of the sea somehow had a surreal appearance.
 
"Nekoyashiki-san?"
 
Mikan, waving her tamagushi inside the cylinder, raised her voice.
 
"How are they going to deal with that?  What will happen to president onii-chan?"
 
"No, it might seem like they're in a touchy situation, but I'm getting a spell power analysis report from Genbu-kun right now..."
 
Nekoyashiki scratched his cheek in a troubled manner.
 
Sitting in zazen beside Mikan, he held a black cat on his knee.
 
Genbu-kun was a constantly sleepy, fat cat.  Nekoyashiki used four cats in his shikineko, but among them, Byakko was the best at remote tuning while Genbu excelled at spell power analysis.
 
"Report?  Is there something there?"
 
Mikan opened her large eyes wide.
 
"Yes, how should I say this...  It's not quite clear, but..."
 
Stroking Genbu-kun's head, Nekoyashiki put on a sour look.  Incidentally, he only had his right eye open.  In order to keep in tune with Byakko-kun, he kept his left eye shut tight.
 
"Forget it.  If there's something weird hidden in there, my misogi will clear it up.  If you keep sulking like that, you'll get washed away by the ocean."
 
Mikan pointed her lips.
 
To her, Nekoyashiki made a wry smile--tinged slightly with impatience.
 
"Sorry...  If this analysis is certain... it looks like someone's magic is behind the core of this <Night>.  That is to say, it seems like it's because of that magic that the spell wave pollution is corrupted."
 
Mikan's breath stopped.
 
After several seconds, the little girl said,
 
"You mean... this <Night> is happening because of the influence of some other magic...?"